During his questioning session by police in Mercaz Klal in Yerushalaim, Rabbi Eliezer Berland was transported to Shaare Zedek Hospital for emergency medical care. Rabbi Berland, who was arrested for the exploitation of sick and ill people, has had his arraignment extended twice by a local judge after he was arrested last week Sunday. Police are expected to ask that his arraignment be extended once again. As part of his interrogation, the Rabbi was brought to the police station at Merkaz Klal on Jaffa Street in Yerushalayim. According to reports, he began to feel ill while being questioned and was taken to the hospital claiming to be suffering from pains. Three hours later, the Rabbi was released from the hospital back into police custody.

From the opening bell, Democrats unleashed an aggressive verbal assault on New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg and raised new questions about Bernie Sanders’ take-no-prisoners politics in a contentious debate Wednesday night that threatened to scramble even further the party’s urgent quest to defeat President Donald Trump. The former New York City mayor was forced to defend his divisive record on race, gender and Wall Street in his debate-stage debut, while Sanders, appearing in his ninth of the 2020 primary season, tried to beat back pointed questions about his health and his embrace of democratic socialism.

If you earn six figures and haven’t been filing your taxes, the IRS may come knocking. The agency said Wednesday that it is stepping up its efforts to visit high-income taxpayers who failed in prior years to file their tax returns on time. Revenue officers across the country will increase face-to-face visits with taxpayers who had income of more than $100,000 during a tax year and did not file a return in 2018 or prior years. “The IRS is committed to fairness in the tax system, and we want to remind people across all income categories that they need to file their taxes,” Paul Mamo, director of collection operations for the IRS small-business and self-employed division said in a statement. The IRS is increasing the face-to-face visits after hiring additional enforcement personnel.

Thousands of secular Jews began putting on tefillin recently as part of “Operation Ron” – an initiative named after Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai “in honor” of his recent ban of tefillin stands outside schools, initiated by Israeli journalist Boaz Golan, according to a 0404 News report. Chabad houses around the world are reporting an increase in requests to put on tefillin. In Israel, many Israelis are also putting on tefillin with one Israeli reporting that he began to lay tefillin “after 12 years of not doing so.” Another Israeli reported that he began to put on tefillin only in protest against Huldai. Moshe Bukai, an Israeli living in the US, posted a video of himself putting on tefillin, noting that he decided to put on tefillin after years of not doing so.

Federal Reserve officials were mostly optimistic about the U.S. and global economies last month, though they noted the risk posed by China’s viral outbreak and said they were ready to keep their benchmark interest rate at its current low level in the coming months. Fed policymakers observed at their Jan. 28-29 meeting that risks to the U.S. economy had faded since their previous meeting in December, according to minutes released Wednesday. The Trump administration had reached a preliminary trade agreement with China, and Congress approved an updated trade pact with Canada and Mexico.

President Donald Trump asserts that he is the nation’s top cop, a title more typically accorded the attorney general. Even the Trump-cheerleading White House website sides with the attorney general, describing him as the “chief law enforcement officer of the federal government.” But the president’s claim is consistent with the robust view of executive power that Trump and his supporters have put forth since he took office in 2017. And some conservative legal minds think Trump is right, but that it’s better public policy to keep law enforcement at arm’s length. Several veterans of President Barack Obama’s administration described Trump’s assertion as dangerous and simply wrong on the law.

The passengers aboard the Diamond Princess began disembarking on Wednesday after two weeks in quarantine off of Yokohama port due to an outbreak of the coronavirus. The process will be slow and is estimated to last until Friday, with about 500 passengers slated to disembark on Wednesday. Two of the 12 Israeli passengers, Edna and Henry Ben Shabbat, left the ship early Wednesday morning and the other Israelis are scheduled to leave on Thursday by 6 p.m. The couple said that they were subject to many many medical examinations before being allowed off the ship.

A small instrument inside the drones that targeted the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry and those in the arsenal of Yemen’s Houthi rebels match components recovered in downed Iranian drones in Afghanistan and Iraq, two reports say. These gyroscopes have only been found inside drones manufactured by Iran, Conflict Armament Research said in a report released on Wednesday. That follows a recently released report from the United Nations saying its experts saw a similar gyroscope from an Iranian drone obtained by the U.S. military in Afghanistan, as well as inweaponsshipmentsseized in the Arabian Sea bound for Yemen. The discovery further ties Iran to an attack that briefly halved Saudi Arabia’s oil output and saw energy prices spike by a level unseen since the 1991 Gulf War.

Israel’s military will set up a special branch in its general staff dedicated to threats from Iran, it said Tuesday. The military said it will appoint a major general to head the command, which is part of a broader restructuring in the general staff. A statement by the military offered few details about the new command, saying the nature of the new branch’s work was “yet to be determined.” But the move highlights the importance Israel places on the threats it views coming from Iran. Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. In Gaza, it supplies Islamic Jihad with cash, weapons and training, and also supports Hamas. Israel also accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.

There’s the story of nightmarish turmoil. The high-risk doctor sat with the hopeful young couple in his office. His face was drawn.  “We don’t know if the baby will make it,” he said grimly, and all their hopes and dreams come crashing down. The ending, though, was miraculous. And wondrous. And joyful. “It’s a healthy little boy!”  The doctor’s exuberant words were the happiest they’d ever heard. It was like waking up from a nightmare and realizing that life was a dream. It was an ending of unbelievable miracles.  ENTER THE AUCTION HERE • • • • • Then there’s a story of frightening uncertainty. He was always a quiet baby. He didn’t cry. But he didn’t smile much, either. Each time he turned away a hug, Rochel’s heart clenched in dread.