The New York City Emergency Management Department today issued a hazardous travel advisory through Wednesday evening. According to National Weather Service, there is the potential for scattered snow showers and gusty winds that may reduce visibility and create hazardous travel throughout today. Snow squalls are also possible. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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Commercial airlines are rerouting flights throughout the Middle East to avoid potential danger during heightened tensions between the United States and Iran. Jumbled schedules could effect as many as 15,000 passengers per day, lengthen flight times by an average of 30 to 90 minutes, and severely bruise the bottom line for airlines, industry analysts said. There is anxiety that the conflict between the longtime foes could intensify following Iranian ballistic missile strikes Wednesday on two Iraqi bases that house U.S. troops. The attacks were retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike near Baghdad last week.

Today, Councilman Kalman Yeger took to the floor of the New York City Council to publicly condemn politicians and members of the media who “tinker at the fringes of antisemitism.” If it had a title, the three minute speech would be called “You Did This.” In his remarks, Councilman Yeger repeatedly used the phrase to excoriate those who pretend to stand with the Jewish community, but actually stand with anti-semites. Councilman Yeger specifically pointed to “those who spent Sunday posing for pictures with Jews, but spend the other 364 days of the year festering hate against my community.” Councilman Yeger said, “we have the right to live in our city like anyone else. We have the right to go about our day without being assaulted. We are not doing this to anyone.

Donald Trump once warned Barack Obama not to “play the Iran card” to boost his political prospects by starting a war. Eight years later, Trump is showing no reluctance to capitalize politically on his order to kill a top Iranian general, drawing accusations that he is weaponizing foreign policy for his campaign’s own gain. Trump’s campaign has used the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, as a cudgel against the president’s Democratic political rivals and to divert attention from his impending impeachment trial in the Senate. “Americans want to see their President acting decisively and defending the nation’s interests and that’s exactly what President Trump did,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.

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The attached video is fascinating and the Psak Halacha is timely: A Rav from Monsey asked Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky if guards with weapons should be posted at shuls in America due to the recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents. Rav Chaim first answered that everyone should do as they want. But then Rav Chaim was told that the mispallelim want to do what the Rav tells them and Harav Chaim said not to post guards. The second question was should some mispallelim acquire weapons to bring to shul? Harav Chaim answered that they should if it’s pikuach nefesh. The question was explained further that it’s not a matter of “immediate” pikuach nefesh, but of potential pikuach nefesh due to the recent spike in anti-Semitic attacks. Harav Chaim answered that mispallelim can bring weapons to shul.

Two men were caught on surveillance video drawing swastikas and other profanities outside a deli in Brooklyn, police said Wednesday. In the Dec. 22 footage, a man pulled out what appears to be a marker from his pocket and started scribbling on the wall outside Acapulco Restaurant & Deli on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint. A second man standing next to the first also wrote on the wall. Police say the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is searching for the suspects. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

January 7, 2020 Dear Mayor de Blasio, We took these liberties for granted- to live, work, worship and safely walk the streets of our neighborhoods. Freedom used to be a hallmark of this great democracy we call home. Now no place is sacred, no place is safe; Houses of worship, schools, grocery stores, subways and city buses, parks, populated city streets, the list goes on and on. Now, men, women and children live in fear of daily violence and the next act of terror. They have a choice: stay locked in their homes or take a grave risk. We are in the throes of a surging wave of hate crime, encompassing acts of murder, assault, intimidation, vandalism and property damage.

Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg of Congregation Netzach Yisroel in Monsey will be delivering the Invocation at the NY “State of the State” address at 1:30PM today. This will mark the first time a Chassidish Rav has given the blessing. NY Governor Cuomo visited the home of Rabbi Rottenberg following the vicious attack in his home on Chanukah. Governor Cuomo’s 2020 State of the State agenda includes more than 30 proposals that he has outlined on his website. The proposals include those that would not immediately impact the budget, as well as those that could bring in revenues for the state. Currently, the state is beginning the new year facing a $6 billion budget gap.   

According to a ruling of the High Court of Justice on Wednesday, the Israeli customs office will begin checking packages that are shipped via the Israeli Postal Service in the same fashion that they check packages brought through private couriers. The decision to change the status quo of operations came about due to a petition that was received by the High Court of Justice by various customs agents and trade agencies who have claimed that there is discrimination against private companies and that the post office is being shown favoritism because they bring in the vast majority of imported packages to Israel.