[COMMUNICATED]
A 25-year-old man’s serious medical emergency was turned into a full-blown fight for his life last week, after an almost unbelievable series of events.
Yosef Shafer of Haifa went for routine testing after experiencing several unusual symptoms. It was discovered that his left kidney had failed, and surgery was immediately scheduled for after Shavuos. Despite being in tremendous pain, the couple opted to wait the two months, so as to have the procedure covered by their insurance. Yosef is a maintenance man in a boys’ school, and they live very simply.

Ecuador blew through nearly a million dollars a year hosting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its embassy in London, officials revealed Saturday.
The country shelled out a total of $6.5 million on behalf of Assange, who went into hiding there in August 2012 but was dragged out and arrested on Thursday. Most of that $6.5 million was spent on security, according to the Daily Mail. The rest was used for medical expenses, food and washing his clothing.
The 47-year-old asylum seeker was reportedly abusive toward the embassy staff, ate with his fingers, infrequently bathed or did laundry — and even smeared feces on the walls.
 
Read more at NY POST.

According to the latest demographic information, nearly 1 million of the 5.3 million Jews who live in the U.S. observe the Jewish Sabbath. An additional 2 million Jews around the world also observe Shabbos, including those in Israel, Europe, South America, and Australia. Despite the large number of observant households, appliance purchases can be difficult to ensure a stress-free experience.

PROGRAM:
11:35 Adrian Garbacz opens program
14:20 Yechiel Eisenstadt – Dinner Chaiman
21:40 The Rosh Hayshiva Shlita
38:18 Yaakov Young – Young Leadership Award presentation
42:55 Binyomin Greenstein – Alumnus of the Year Award presentation
47:30 Meilich Rubin – Kesser Shem tov Award presentation
50:45 Harav Chaim Boruch Rubin presents award
55:35 Mendy Horowicz – Harav Nosson Tzvi Memorial Award presintation
1:00:30 Mendy Horowicz responds
1:05:08 Yechiel Eisenstadt introduces Ralph Herzka
1:07:04 Ralph Herzka – Campaign Chairman
1:13:54 Jordan Slone – Guest of Honor presentation
1:18:25 Jordan Slone responds
1:23:49 Ralph Herzka thanks Co-chairman Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed President Donald Trump, who shared a grim video featuring Rep. Ilhan Omar’s controversial 9/11 remarks alongside footage of the Twin Towers being attacked.
“Members of Congress have a duty to respond to the President’s explicit attack today,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Friday. “@IlhanMN’s life is in danger. For our colleagues to be silent is to be complicit in the outright, dangerous targeting of a member of Congress. We must speak out.”
She also shared an image of the words of “First they came … ,” the famous poem by German theologian Martin Niemöller that was inspired by the tragedies of the Holocaust.
The poem reads:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro attempted to curb criticism over his comments that the Holocaust could be forgiven Saturday, saying that his words were being misinterpreted.
Bolsonaro on Thursday told a group of evangelical pastors in Rio de Janiero that “We can forgive, but we cannot forget. That quote is mine. Those that forget their past are sentenced not to have a future.”
In a clarification posted by Israel’s ambassador to Brazil Yossi Shelley late Saturday, Bolsonaro blamed “those who want to push me away from my Jewish friends,” for taking his speech out of context.

President Trump tweeted on Saturday night that his administration has the legal right to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities and demanded it happen.
“Just out: The USA has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Cities,” he wrote. “We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California, which is well known or its poor management & high taxes!”
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley on Saturday told Fox News shortly before the announcement that the administration was working with DHS and ICE to try to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities.

One of Europe’s leading Orthodox rabbis on Friday called on Jewish parents to ensure that their children are properly vaccinated with the Passover holiday approaching, as a measles outbreak among Orthodox Jewish communities in New York showed no signs of abating.
“It is well known how dangerous measles is and the need to ensure all vaccinations are up to date,” Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt — the president of the Conference of European Rabbis — said in a statement.
Goldschmidt noted as the Jewish community prepared “for Pesach … they need to be aware that they may be exposing themselves and their families to the disease and to take the necessary precautions.”

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center and Israel’s president both rebuffed Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for comments on the Holocaust on Saturday.
“We can forgive, but we cannot forget. That quote is mine. Those that forget their past are sentenced not to have a future,” Bolsonaro had said on Friday, talking about the Holocaust, according to AP.
The Yad Vashem memorial issued an official statement on Saturday, voicing their disagreement. “It is not in anyone’s position to determine who and if Holocaust crimes can be forgiven,” the statement said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday swore in a new government headed by a loyalist from his dominant Fatah party, a move rejected by his Islamist rival Hamas as a blow to unity efforts.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, an economist and longtime Abbas adviser, will serve as prime minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA). Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Finance Minister Shukri Bishara will continue in their positions.
Shtayyeh was named Palestinian prime minister on March 10, replacing the independent university president Rami Al-Hamdallah. He will run the ministries of interior and religious affairs until new appointees are named for the two posts.