President Biden said that Russia has begun an “invasion” of Ukraine Tuesday while announcing new sanctions aimed at deterring further Russian aggression in Ukraine. Biden announced what he said was the “first tranche” in a series of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, targeting two Russian banks and the country’s sovereign debt. Biden said Putin’s recognition of two separatist “republics” in eastern Ukraine and his decision to deploy troops there was “bizarre,” and said that the Russian leader is “setting up a rationale to go much further.” “Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries in territories that belong to his neighbors?” Biden asked.

As the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine heightens on Tuesday, the frum community in Uman gathered the children to utilize the age-old power of tefillos of tinnokos shel beis rabban. Rav Yaakov Jan, the Rav of the frum kehilla in Uman and head of the local kashrus organization, instructed the Talmudei Torah and schools of the kehilla to end early and bring the children to Reb Nachman’s kever. The adults led the children in tefillos for peace and for the welfare of the Ukrainian government. Shlomi Elisha, deputy director of Hatzalah Ukraine told B’Chadrei Chareidim: “We’re anxiously monitoring the situation. We set up an operations room at Hatzalah, which centralizes all the referrals but we’re optimistic that everything will end with diplomacy.

Mayor Charles Burkett of Surfside, Florida, this week visited the Ohel, the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to pay tribute to victims of the June 2021 Surfside building collapse disaster, and to meet privately with family members of the victims. For the past eight months, victims’ families have been trying to recover, attempting to make sense of the disaster, whose cause remains under investigation. Mayor Burkett and the city of Surfside have been greatly supportive and have provided access to resources to help alleviate their pain. Mayor Burkett announced that he and his commissioners have approved the transfer of a parcel of land adjacent to the disaster site, and a plan for a Surfside memorial paying tribute to victims of the tragedy.

Rockland Hatzolah members surprised a senior member with an incredible gift after an accident totaled his vehicle. R’ Nesanel Sommers, a longtime Hatzolah member and well-known hero within the Monsey community, has been a selflessly devoted member of Rockland Hatzolah for over 40 years, and has responded to thousands of emergency calls over his volunteer career. Several weeks ago, R’ Nesanel was in a motor vehicle accident from which he thankfully suffered no injuries, but his car, a Toyota Camry, was rendered unusable. This caused tremendous pain to R’ Nesanel who was no longer able to respond to Hatzolah calls – his highest calling in life.

The Queens Jewish Community Council blasted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she accused Israel of placing Arab children in cages in Yehuda and Shomron (West Bank). “I don’t believe that a child should be in a cage on our border, and I don’t believe a child should be in a cage in the West Bank,” AOC told a gathering of Democratic Socialists of America members in Austin, Texas. The Queens Jewish Community Council condemned the congresswoman’s smearing of Israel. “The Queens Jewish community is concerned when a local elected official makes spurious and reckless suggestions aimed at Israel,” Michael Nussbaum, the president of the Council, told the NY Post. “Bombastic suggestions and lies are dangerous when spewed by sitting politicians anywhere on the political spectrum.

By: Sandy Eller With security concerns mounting in the wake of several recent anti-Semitic attacks targeting visibly Orthodox individuals, the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition hosted a meeting that gave leaders of numerous Flatbush shuls and yeshivas an opportunity to speak directly to members of the NYPD’s top brass. The FJCC forum was coordinated in conjunction with Patrol Borough Brooklyn South Commanding Officer Assistant Chief Michael Kemper and Commanding Officer of Brooklyn South Community Affairs Lieutenant Ira Jablonsky, by FJCC chairman Josh Mehlman.

Rav Yaakov Herzog, the “Rav of Saudi Arabia” and a resident of the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem, recently visited the Islamic Republic. Rav Herzog, who lived in Brooklyn until he was 12 and has a US passport, wasn’t afraid to film himself in full Chassidic garb narrating in Hebrew on the streets of Tehran and at the kevarim of Mordechai HaTzaddik and Esther HaMalka. He also met with members of the local Jewish community. The purpose of his visit is unknown as due to the sensitivity of the issue, he refused to be interviewed about his trip. Rav Herzog has already ended his visit to Iran, flying from there to Saudi Arabia.

A school board member in Montgomery County, Virginia stormed out of a meeting after a parent put her hypocrisy on public display. The parent excoriated the board members for forcing children to continue masking while in school. “We sat here last year and listened to you guys preach about Gov. Northam’s executive orders and how we must follow them,” she said, adding, “Here’s a governor who comes into office, but yet you don’t want to follow his orders.” Current Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has signed an executive order abolishing school mask mandates across the state. “Here’s a picture of you, right here, on Facebook with a crowd of people with no mask on,” the parent said, showing the picture on her phone for all to see.

Senator Ted Cruz tore into President Joe Biden’s “fecklessness,” blaming it for Europe now being on the “edge of war.” “Tragically, Europe is on the verge of war because of the weakness, the fecklessness of Joe Biden,” Cruz told Fox News. What specifically set the stage for the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine? Cruz says it was Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. “At the time [of the withdrawal from Afghanistan], I said as a result of this incredible weakness, all of our enemies across the globe are looking to Washington. They are taking the measure of the man in the Oval Office. And as a result, as I said back in August, the chances of Russia invading Ukraine have just risen tenfold. The chances of China invading Taiwan have just risen tenfold.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams said that he believes it is important for the city to crack down on fare evaders on Big Apple subways as part of reducing crime in the city. Adams was responding to veteran Hamodia reporter Reuvain Borchardt, who asked the mayor at a press conference whether fare evaders – and DAs who enable them by not prosecuting them – are contributing to New York City’s troubling crime wave. “It would seem that many of these homeless, mentally ill individuals who are committing these crimes and sleeping on the subways are probably not paying the fare. Would enforcing the fares reduce a lot of this crime and homelessness, and do you plan to aggressively enforce fares?” Borchardt asked. “I think it’s a big mistake – not enforcing fare evasion,” Adams responded.