Former NBA star Amar’e Yehoshafat Stoudemire, who completed his geirus several years ago, celebrated his wedding last night.
The simcha was attended by close friends and family, marking a significant milestone in Stoudemire’s personal journey.
Stoudemire, known for his illustrious basketball career with the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, long expressed a deep connection to Yiddishkeit. He began exploring his roots in 2010 after learning about his family’s heritage from his mother. This exploration led him to visit Eretz Yisroel and eventually undergo a formal conversion process. In 2020, he completed his geirus, adopting the Hebrew name Yehoshafat Ben Avraham.

The annual convention of the Ichud Bnei HaYeshivos was held this week at the Galey Tamar Hotel in Ashkelon, drawing community coordinators, mechanchim, shluchei derabbonon, and rabbanim from across Eretz Yisroel.
The conference began with opening remarks from the Rosh Yeshiva of Ateres Shlomo, Rav Chaim Feinstein, who delivered words of chizuk and hisorerus.

There has been a serious decline in the medical condition of the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Kol Yaakov, Rav Yehuda Ades, a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah.
Rav Ades was transported to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Yerushalayim following a worsening in his condition due to pneumonia.
This past winter, Rav Ades was gravely ill and hospitalized in critical condition in the ICU. With rachamei Shmoayim, he recovered and was able to return home and resume his learning schedule at his yeshiva in Bayit Vegan.

it is with great sadness that Matzav.comreports the petirah of Rav Menachem Rotenberg zt”l, who for many years served as mashgiach ruchani at Yeshivas Kol Torah. He was niftar this morning at the age of 79.
Rav Menachem was born in 1946 in Yerushalayim to his father, Rav Avraham, who had been expelled from Germany by the Nazi regime due to his status as a Polish Jew, and his mother, Mrs. Sheina, originally from Poznan, Poland.

As fresh data revealed that the overwhelming majority of chareidi men summoned for military duty have refused to report, Avigdor Lieberman urged law enforcement on Wednesday to take legal action against prominent gedolei Torah who have publicly advocated for draft resistance.
Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beytenu party, singled out former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchok Yosef and Slabodka rosh yeshiva Rav Dov Landau, accusing these gedolim of inciting yeshiva students to ignore enlistment orders.

At a special event that took place in Kiryas Yoel, the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum, distributed a total of one million dollars in cash to kollel yungeleit who had successfully completed rigorous exams on the entirety of Shulchan Aruch.
The initiative was generously funded by philanthropist Reb Yossi Brach, who personally took part in the distribution alongside the Rebbe.
The event, held in the main beis medrash of the kollelim in Kiryas Yoel, was attended by hundreds of yungeleit who had participated in the learning program and undergone the comprehensive tests. Each one was handed $6,000 in cash as a token of recognition and chizuk.

In a fiery speech delivered Wednesday, MK Moshe Gafni of Yahadut HaTorah sharply criticized the Religious Zionist Party and Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer for taking part in a demonstration calling for the drafting of bnei yeshiva into the IDF.
Speaking at the annual gathering of the Yeshiva Student Union in Ashkelon, Gafni painted a grim picture of the current government’s makeup: “We face a nearly impossible reality.
“Our partners are secular, Torah study isn’t at the forefront of their minds, and that’s at best. At worst, they oppose it.”

As part of the annual tradition before Pesach, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation conducted its routine clearing of the kvitlach placed between the stones of the Kosel on Wednesday morning.
Tens of thousands of notes, which had been tucked into the crevices over the past six months, were carefully removed and taken for proper genizah.
Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, rov of the Kosel and mekomos hakedoshim, personally oversaw the operation, as he does each year.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.comreports the petirah of Rebbetzin Chaya Bas Tzion Gutfarb a”h, wife of the legendary Reb Yossele Gutfarb, one of the prominent figures of the Zichron Moshe beis medrash in Yerushalayim. She was 68.
Rebbetzin Gutfarb was born in Yerushalayim on the 22nd of Kislev 68 years ago to her illustrious parents, Rav Eliyahu Yehuda and Rebbetzin Ettel Lubetsky. Raised in a home of Torah and yiras Shamayim, she carried forth that legacy with dignity and devotion throughout her life.

The Skverer chassidus is reeling after the sudden and tragic passing of Rav Yitzchok Spitzer zt”l, one of the prominent dayanim of the Skverer kehillah in New Square. He was 67 years old.
Rav Spitzer collapsed in the midst of his avodas hakodesh of certifying the kashrus of a private mikvah in the community. Despite immediate efforts to revive him, he was niftar on the spot, leaving behind a devastated family and a community in mourning.
The levayah was held on Tuesday, departing from the main Skverer Beis Medrash. Rav Spitzer will be laid to rest in the beis hachayim of New Square.