President Trump has been discussing with his campaign advisers whether or not to participate in the general election debates in 2020, two people close to the situation told The New York Times.
According to the sources, Trump doesn’t trust the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonprofit organization that puts on the debates. Specifically, Trump is apprehensive of who will be chosen by the organization to moderate the debates, the Times reports.
Trump’s campaign reportedly declined to comment on what their plan was for the debates at a state-of-the-race campaign briefing in Arlington, Va.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

By Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman, Rabbi, Ahavas Israel Passaic
I received a phone call early this morning.
It was from Mayor Hector Lora the mayor of Passaic.
I consider Mr. Lora a good friend, a sensitive individual and a caring man.
He was my first phone call today.
He said that he had heard that the horrific attack in Jersey City was no random attack as first was reported, rather, it was a targeted anti-Semitic incident.
He then informed me that although there is no credible threat against the Jewish community in Passaic, he is placing a mobile police command center in front of the Shul on Van Houten Ave.

BREAKING: The House has approved the second article of Impeachment for President Trump. 23 I’s and 17 no’s.
This makes President Trump the third President to face impeachment in the House after President Clinton and President Andrew Jackson.
The case will now be vote on in the House next week before it is tried before the Senate where it will most likely be struck down by the Republican majority.
{Matzav.com}

[1606]באר_הפרשה_וישלח

The House Judiciary committee’s markup continues into an unprecedented third day after Chairman Nadler called the committee into recess late Thursday night.

Natan Sharansky, the former Russian Prisoner of Zion who would later become head of Israel’s Jewish Agency, was named on Tuesday as the winner of the 2020 Genesis Prize in recognition of his “extraordinary lifelong struggle for human rights, political freedom and his service to the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
The Genesis Prize Foundation will confer the $1 million prize to Sharansky at an award ceremony to be held on June 18 in Jerusalem.
The prize, which was once dubbed the “Jewish Nobel” by Time magazine, was established in 2012 to honor “extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity and commitment to Jewish values.”

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said Friday it’s his opinion that the shooters who killed a police officer and three civilians on Tuesday afternoon had an even more sinister objective – killing students at a religious school next door.
“My opinion is that as more info comes out it’ll become increasingly clear that the target was the 50 children at the Yeshiva attached to that store,” the mayor wrote on Twitter just after 8 a.m. “We will never know 100% but the doorway to the yeshiva was 3 feet away (and) it seems he goes in that direction 1st.”
The two attackers, who identified with the Black Israelite group that is known for their anti Semitic views, killed four people during Tuesday’s rampage.

There are certain things one might expect to do in the Meadowlands of New Jersey, but skiing hasn’t been one of them, at least not until last week. The area, primarily known for Giants football games and as the final resting place for more than a few Sopranos characters, is now home to North America’s first indoor ski slope.
Big Snow, as it’s known, rises 16 stories at an angle from the surrounding marshland, like a massive cruise ship run aground. It’s a strange sight from the outside and even more surreal within, as skiers and snowboarders descend a 1,000-foot-long, 200-foot-wide expanse of snow, kept at a chilly 28F year-round and serviced by a chairlift that ascends to the icicle-draped rafters-all within sight of the Manhattan skyline.

Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg released a doctor’s letter Thursday that described him as a “77-year-old man in outstanding health” who has no medical concerns that would prevent him from serving as president of the United States.
Bloomberg is the second septuagenarian presidential contender to assure the public of their health, following a glowing report by a doctor for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Other candidates in the Democratic race, including former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have promised to release medical details before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.
The current presidential field is the oldest in history, with four candidates in their 70s competing to challenge President Donald Trump, 73, in next year’s election.

Officials are warning about a number of fake GoFundMe pages claiming to benefit hero New Jersey Detective Joseph Seals, who was shot and killed in the line of duty on Tuesday.
Shameless scammers set up at least four fundraising pages, that combined, raised about $16,000, according to the New Jersey Police Benevolent Association.
“Warning – We have been alerted that there are numerous GoFundMe pages set up for Det. Joseph Seals most, if not all, are fake,” the organization tweeted Wednesday morning.
A Chessed Fund page was opened by Jewish activists to raise money for Seals family to show appreciation for the cop who died in the line of duty.