The famous Agudas Yisroel Shul in the Aguda neighborhood of Bnei Brak caught fire early Shabbos morning and suffered incredible damage including the burning of many sifrei kodesh. According to reports, many of the seforim and furniture in the Shul was new as the shul was undergoing reconstruction. According to a report in BChadrei Charedim the cause of the fire was determined as an electrical power shortage that occurred just after 4:00 a.m. Shabbos morning. No one was hurt, and  Baruch Hashem the Sifrei Torah were undamaged. They were taken by the Gabboim to the house of the Rav of the Kehila for safekeeping. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Located in the vibrant Torah community of North Miami Beach, Florida, Yeshiva of Miami strives to provide our talmidim with a satisfying Yeshiva experience which affords them the opportunity to grow and develop as B’nei Torah at a pace and in a way that is sustainable for them. Under the dedicated leadership of Rabbi Dovid Wechsler, Rosh Mesivta, the Yeshiva is committed to this mission because  every boy deserves to love Yeshiva. Baruch Hashem, enrollment has more than quadrupled in the past 18 months, and we are anticipating continued growth in the coming years. As the semester draws to a close, the Yeshiva joins many schools around the country that will enjoy a midwinter break.

Two U.S. service members were killed and two others injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement Saturday. In keeping with defense department rules, the U.S. military did not identify the service members. The Taliban immediately took responsibility for the attack. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, said it occurred in the southern Kandahar province. More than 2,400 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Last year was one of the deadliest for the United States, with 23 American troops killed, even as Washington engaged in peace talks with the Taliban. The latest attack seemed certain to stall fresh efforts to restart the on-again, off-again peace talks between Washington and the Taliban. U.S.

Texas will no longer accept the resettlement of new refugees, becoming the first state known to do so under a recent Trump administration order, Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday. Abbott’s announcement could have major implications for refugees coming to the United States. Texas has large refugee populations in several of its cities and has long been a leader in settling refugees, taking in more than any other state during the 2018 governmental fiscal year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Since the 2002 fiscal year, Texas has resettled an estimated 88,300 refugees, second only to California, according to the Pew Research Center.

In the pitch black, pre-dawn sky on the outskirts of the Iranian capital Tehran, a tiny fast-moving light can be seen racing up through the trees, as someone films from the ground. Then there is a flash of light as it seems to collide with something in the air. It is the ill-fated Ukrainian International airliner which had taken off Wednesday just hours after Iran had fired missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq in retaliation for the slaying of its top military man, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Western leaders have said the plane seemed to have been unintentionally brought down by a surface-to-air missile near Tehran. Iran denies that a missile was to blame for the crash.

We are saddened to report the petira early this morning of Rebbetzin Leah Gertzulin, a”h. Rebbetzin Gertzulin was the wife of HaRav Nosson Eliyohu Gertzulin, zt”l, who served as Mashgiach Ruchani and Rosh Yeshiva of Mesifta Torah Vodaath for over half-a-century. She was 95 years old. Rebbetzin Gertzulin was born in Brooklyn in 1924, at a time when America was a spiritual wasteland. Her father, HaRav Moshe Dovid Zwerdling was a Rov in Crown Heights, and later in Brighton Beach, and a rebbe in Yeshiva HaRav Dovid Lebovits. Her mother, Rebbetzin Tziporah, was a direct descendant of HaRav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. Despite the great challenges of that time, they were determined to raise their daughter, and her two sisters al pi derecho haTorah.

The Trump administration on Friday announced a new wave of sanctions on Iran following this week’s missile strikes by the Islamic Republic on U.S. bases in Iraq. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the new sanctions will target eight senior Iranian officials involved in “destabilizing” activities in the Middle East as well as Tuesday’s missile strike, which came in retaliation for the U.S. killing of a senior Iranian general in a drone strike. Mnuchin said President Donald Trump will issue an executive order imposing sanctions on anyone involved in the Iranian textile, construction, manufacturing or mining sectors. They will also impose separate sanctions against the steel and iron sectors.

South Korea said Friday it conveyed a message by President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wishing him a happy birthday, which is believed to be Jan. 8. Returning from a visit to Washington on Friday, Chung Eui-yong, South Korea’s presidential national security director, told reporters that Trump requested Seoul to deliver the message to Kim during a meeting at the White House this week. Chung didn’t disclose what the message specifically said, but said Seoul sent it to Pyongyang on Thursday through “proper means.” Kim last week opened the new year expressing deep frustrations over stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration and vowed to bolster his nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against “gangster-like” U.S. sanctions and pressure.

President Donald Trump used his first campaign election rally of 2020 to argue that he served up “American justice” by ordering a drone strike to take out Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, while jeering Democratic leaders for questioning his decision to carry out the attack without first consulting Congress. Trump’s remarks on Thursday careened from mockery of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, who heads the House Intelligence Committee, to a suggestion that he should have won the Nobel Prize, a preview of the sharp-edged reelection campaign that he will wage. The president made his comments shortly after the Democratic-controlled House approved a resolution asserting that Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran.

Michael Bloomberg is adding three experienced California Democrats to his presidential campaign in the state that awards the most primary delegates, including the former head of Sen. Kamala Harris’ state campaign operation. Courtni Pugh, who led Harris’ strategy in the senator’s home state, is joining Bloomberg’s team as a senior adviser focused on paid media targeting constituency groups such as Latino and black voters, the campaign announced Friday. Bloomberg also has hired Crystal Strait, the former head of the state’s Planned Parenthood chapter, as political director, and Alex Gallardo Rooker, a vice chair of the state Democratic party, as a senior adviser. Strait, who also has worked for the state party and former California Sen.