As many of you know, I’ve been singing and playing at weddings for the past 25 years. In life, we often take for granted what we have and at times lose sight of the gifts Hashem gives us day in and day out. In the music business too, its easy to sing “another” wedding and not open our eyes and see the Simcha behind the Simcha. When I meet a Chosson & Kallah before the wedding to go over the Chuppah procession and songs for the wedding, I make a point in telling the young couple to not only appreciate the fact that you have grandparents (sometimes a great-grandparent) alive to witness their grandchildren walking down the aisle but to appreciate their parents as well, who have brought you to this day from the moment you were born.

Inside the Capitol, it’s as if the impeachment of President Donald Trump never happened. One week after the historic undertaking shuttered to a close, Congress is feverishly back at work emboldened but also arguably diminished by the outcome. Senate Republicans are flexing their new status as Trump’s unshakable allies, hitching their election pursuits to his and looking the other away as the president seems to dole out favoritism for friends and payback for critics with apparent impunity. They’re back to confirming record numbers of judicial nominees viewing impeachment politically as a net gain. “We won and they lost,” declared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party announced his resignation Wednesday after a disastrous caucus process beset by technical glitches led to a dayslong delay in reporting the results, inconsistencies in the numbers and no clear winner. The embarrassing episode also threatened Iowa’s cherished status as the first voting contest of the presidential primary season and led both front-runners to request a partial recanvass of the results. “The fact is that Democrats deserved better than what happened on caucus night. As chair of this party, I am deeply sorry for what happened and bear the responsibility for any failures on behalf of the Iowa Democratic Party,” Chairman Troy Price wrote in a resignation letter a week and a half after Iowa’s caucuses.

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Thursday extended the arrest of Rabbi Eliezer Berland for eight days. During the court hearing, Berland’s lawyer complained that his client isn’t feeling well because he just underwent a catheterization. In response, the judge said: “Give him Mentos or Tic Tacs!,” a barb to Berland since news reports said that police discovered that some of the “medications” provided by Berland’s followers to patients and their families were Mentos candies. Berland and his underlings were arrested this week on charges of exploitation, money laundering and tax evasion, an ongoing intrigue that was originally revealed by a Channel 13 News investigation. Israel Police has collected over 200 testimonies against the suspects.

The excitement of Tiveria residents is rising along with the Kinneret water level, as it reaches a level last seen in 1992. Israel’s Water Authority announced on Wednesday morning that the Kinneret rose another 2.5 centimeters in the last 24 hours and the water level is now 209,995 meters below sea level, a level last reached in 2013. Regardless of the fact that if the Kinneret’s water level continues to rise, Tiveria will be at risk of flooding, locals are happy to be worrying about flooding rather than the drought they’ve become accustomed to. In any case, if flooding seems imminent, Israel’s Water Authority will open the dam at Kibbutz Degania, which will allow the water to flow into the Yarden, which is exactly what they did in 1992. ים כנרת.

Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday sought to move past newly resurfaced years-old comments in which he defended the controversial “stop-and-frisk” policing tactic that has been found to disproportionately affect minorities. The billionaire former New York City mayor, who is now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, launched a two-day tour of the South intended to build relationships with African Americans, who are a crucial voting bloc for the party. During a stop in Chattanooga, he told reporters: “We’re going to do very well in the African American community.” “They need a good economy, they need better schools, they need more health care, they need jobs and those are the kinds of things that I can bring to the table,” he said.

Bernie Sanders is in talks with the Democratic National Committee to headline the first of two party fundraisers, where he will likely appear before the same big-dollar donors that he has repeatedly railed against on the campaign trail. A DNC official confirmed the conversations on Wednesday. They come as Sanders’ relationship with the party’s establishment takes on greater importance following a victory in Tuesday’s New Hampshire presidential primary and an essential tie for first place last week in Iowa’s caucuses.

The kever of Yechezkel Hanavi in Iraq still serves as a Muslim pilgrimage site and even the recent tension between Iraq and the United States hasn’t stopped pilgrims from flocking there, a recent Haaretz article reported. Even after the elimination of Iranian general Kassem Soleimaini in Baghdad, the rockets that were launched by pro-Iranian militias at US soldiers in Iraq in response and the thousands of Iraqis on the streets since October protesting governmental corruption, the kever remains a small island of silence and comfort for visitors, according to the report. “The navi Yechezkel is considered one of the 24 prophets who appear in the Koran,” said Ahmed Abdulerman, 31, who serves as a guide for visitors to the site.

A shooting at a Baltimore apartment complex Wednesday ended with the death of a former state corrections official who had been under investigation and the wounding of two fugitive task force officers, authorities said. The officers, one a Baltimore county detective and the other a detective in the city of Baltimore, were both assigned to the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and were trying to serve a warrant out of Pennsylvania for attempted murder, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman David Lutz. “Our worst fears became a reality when shots were fired and the two officers were hit,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said of the male officers, without specifying who fired. He said the suspect was fatally shot, but he did not say by whom.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore a free hotline that let detained immigrants report concerns about custody conditions until shortly after it was featured on the TV show “Orange Is the New Black.” U.S. District Court Judge André Birotte Jr. on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction ordering officials to restore the hotline that had been run by the nonprofit Freedom for Immigrants since 2013. Freedom for Immigrants alleged that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement yanked the line in August after it was featured on the Netflix show, which drew attention to the group’s criticism of immigration detention conditions.