A whopping 93% of tourists who visited Israel in 2018 rated their experience as “good to excellent,” according to the annual Israel Tourism Ministry Inbound Tourism Survey, released on Sunday.
Among the 15,000 tourists surveyed, 53.2% said their views on Israel improved during their visit, with just 1.5% saying their view changed for the worse. Another 41% said their opinion of Israel stayed the same.
The age group 25-44 was the largest at 35.8% of visitors, followed by ages 55 and over and 24 and under.
The visitors were predominantly Christian (54.9%), followed by Jews (27.5%). Among the Christian tourists, the largest denomination was Catholic.

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
The gemara in Nazir, daf chof gimmel, amud bais and Sanhedrin, daf kuf heh, amud bais and in Horiyus, daf yud gimel, amud bais quotes Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav that one should learn Torah and do mitzvos even if it is not done lishma because the act that was not lishma will end up being lishma. We find that in the z’chus of the forty two korbanos that Balak brought, he was zocheh to have Rus as his granddaughter.
The gemara says that the reason shelo lishma is okay is because one will reach lishma eventually, yet we see that Balak never reached lishma. How was he then zocheh to having such a wonderful reward of Rus as his descendant?

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
The gemara in Nazir, daf chof gimmel, amud bais and Sanhedrin, daf kuf heh, amud bais and in Horiyus, daf yud gimel, amud bais quotes Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav that one should learn Torah and do mitzvos even if it is not done lishma because the act that was not lishma will end up being lishma. We find that in the z’chus of the forty two korbanos that Balak brought, he was zocheh to have Rus as his granddaughter.
The gemara says that the reason shelo lishma is okay is because one will reach lishma eventually, yet we see that Balak never reached lishma. How was he then zocheh to having such a wonderful reward of Rus as his descendant?

Governor Cuomo has signed a bill into law, raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21.
“New York is taking aggressive action to stamp out smoking among teens and children, but tobacco and e-cigarette use still persists thanks to irresponsible corporate marketing campaigns targeting young people,” Governor Cuomo said. “By raising the smoking age from 18 to 21, we can stop cigarettes and e-cigarettes from getting into the hands of young people in the first place and prevent an entire generation of New Yorkers from forming costly and potentially deadly addictions.”
The governor’s office says that about 28,000 adult New Yorkers die every year as a result of smoking.

Boeing announced Wednesday that it will set aside $50 million for financial assistance for families affected by a pair of fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes.
The $50 million is an initial expenditure of a previously announced $100 million fund designated for family and community needs for those affected by the crashes, the company said in a statement.
“The tragic loss of life in both accidents continues to weigh heavily on all of us at Boeing, and we have the utmost sympathy for the loved ones of those on board,” Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. “We hope affected families receive needed assistance as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad met on Tuesday in Damascus with an unnamed senior Iranian official to discuss ways to deal with Israeli airstrikes in the war-torn country, reported regime-affiliated Syrian newspaper Al-Watan.
The strikes comes as Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah, continue to build a military arsenal north of Israel.
According to the report, the Iranian official also discussed with Assad the Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan and presented Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s plan to contend with it.
The report comes against the backdrop of recent attacks on pro-Iranian forces in Syria, some which have been attributed to Israel though it denies involvement.

Rav Chaim ben Atar, the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh, (1696-1743). Born into a well-respected family in Sali, Morocco, Rav Chaim spent his early years learning with his grandfather, whose name he shared. Rav Chaim’s dream was to go to Israel. With 30 followers he arrived in Israel, four days before Rosh HaShanah in 1742 and settled in Acco. Rav Chaim and his students spent Yom Kippur in the cave of Eliyahu HaNavi on Mount Carmel. Purim was spent in Tzfat and Miron, where a great deal of time was spent studying the holy Zohar. On the 15th of Elul of 1743, Rav Chaim finally arrived in Jerusalem with his group. He immediately established a yeshiva called Knesses Yisrael and second secretive yeshiva for the study of Kabbalah.