https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2BIvV68-ZI Following the success of our first cohort, we have now opened applications for our second cycle.  An eighteen month high-calibre training programme dedicated to mentoring a next generation of community and outreach rabbonim. In an ever-changing world, we want our rabbonim to understand the significant challenges that await them and learn how to respond in a wise, Torah-true way.  Our doctors have extensive on-the-job training, so should our rabbis. We are currently open for applications for our second cohort, starting in September 2020 in London.

A recent speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping that has been published by state media indicates for the first time that he was leading the response to a new virus outbreak from early on in the crisis. The publication of the Feb. 3 speech was an apparent attempt to demonstrate that the Communist Party leadership had acted decisively from the beginning, but also opens up the Chinese leader to criticism over why the public was not alerted sooner. In the speech, Xi said he gave instructions on fighting the virus on Jan. 7 and ordered the shutdown that began on Jan. 23 of cities at the epicenter of the outbreak. His remarks were published by state media late Saturday. “On Jan.

A Breslover man visiting Uman made a grisly discovery while purchasing a pair of slippers. The man decided to have the slippers checked for Shatnez, and inside the sole of the slippers, pages from Seforim were found stuffed inside. The man decided to investigate this further, and found hundreds of pairs of slippers that were made this way, and were for sale in stores in and around Uman. (YWN World Headquarters- NYC)

President Donald Trump made a dramatic entrance at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, setting off a raucous celebration at the famed NASCAR track. Thousands cheered as Air Force One performed a flyover and landed at Daytona International Airport a few hundred yards behind the track. Trump’s motorcade arrived a few minutes later, prompting another loud ovation. Both entrances were broadcast on giant video boards around the superspeedway. At least a dozen drivers were escorted from the pre-race meeting to a private introduction with Trump. “I got to meet the president! How cool is that?” driver Aric Almirola said. Trump is the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, meaning he will give the command for drivers to start their engines.

UK Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan visited Achim Global’s business center in Bnei Brak last Thursday, to hear what’s new with haredi entrepreneurs. The visit comes as part of the British Embassy’s ongoing interest in promoting entrepreneurism within the haredi community and improving its economy overall. Chairman of Achim Global Motti Eichler took the ambassador on a tour of the premises, beginning with the panoramic view from the rooftop deck on the ninth floor of the building, which overlooks Bnei Brak and Gush Dan.

For I.S. Leevy Johnson, the Democrats’ search for a challenger to take on President Donald Trump is personal. “There is what I call an ‘ABT mood’ in the black community: Anybody but Trump,” said the 77-year-old who was the first black graduate of the University of South Carolina’s law school. “It has people of color very motivated and excited about voting this time because they know how his administration has adversely affected them.” Now, as the election calendar turns to Nevada and South Carolina, states with substantial minority populations, that “anybody” moves closer to being identified. But the next stage in the nominating fight will test candidates such as Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Two stories today are making headlines in just how insane the new “bail reform” law that New York Democrats shoved down the throats of every New Yorker on January 1st actually are. In one story, a 19-year-old thug named Elijah Hodge was released after his latest in a long line of arrests – for allegedly joyriding in a stolen car in Brooklyn. Hodge was previously charged with an attack on a plainclothes NYPD captain in Midtown last October. An NYPD source tells YWN that he was also charged in the attacks of six elderly Hasidic Jews who were walking to Shul in Williamsburg this past August. In those incidents, at least two of the victims were punched in the face, and all 6 had their pockets emptied.

Authorities in Mississippi were bracing Sunday for the possibility of catastrophic flooding in and around the state capital of Jackson as water levels rise precipitously in a river swollen by days of torrential rain. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said water from the rain-swollen Pearl River would continue to rise throughout the day, and he warned the state is facing a “precarious situation that can turn at any moment.” Officials called on residents to pay attention to evacuation orders, check on road closures before traveling and stay out of flood waters — warning that seemingly placid waters could mask quickly moving currents and pollution. Law enforcement officials have been going door to door telling people in affected areas to evacuate, Reeves said.

An Arab arrived at one of the inspection posts near Mearas Hamachpeila in Chevron on Sunday morning and Border Police asked him to remove his belongings from his bag and pockets. The Arab refused and then physically attacked one of the Border Police officers. The officer, together with the other Border Police soldiers, overcame the suspect, searched his belongings and found a knife in his bag. A preliminary investigation revealed that the Arab, a 16-year-old Dura resident, left his house that morning with a knife in order to carry out a stabbing attack. The suspect was handed over to security forces for interrogation. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Last week, the New York State Legislature held its annual joint Senate and Assembly budget hearings on the topic of education in New York State. These hearings directly impact the final budget allocations for education-related expenses in the state. The Legislature heard testimony from Interim State Education Commissioner Shannon Tahoe, New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, and other stakeholders. Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, Agudath Israel’s Director of New York Government Relations, testified on matters of concern to the Orthodox community. On the matter of substantial equivalency, he related how over 140,000 individuals and groups commented last summer opposing the regulations proposed by the New York State Education Department.