At a gathering at Slabodka Yeshiva marking the shloshim since the passing of Rav Nachman Plonczek zt”l—one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Slabodka—the renowned posek Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein delivered an emotional hesped that also touched on the devastating wave of wildfires affecting Eretz Yisroel in recent days.
Speaking in the main bais medrash of Yeshivas Slabodka, Rav Zilberstein addressed the bochurim. He emphasized that amid the chaos and uncertainty, the true security for Klal Yisroel lies in the eish haTorah, the holy fire of Torah.

President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget plan would slash non-defense domestic spending by $163 billion while increasing expenditures on national security, according to White House statements Friday. The plan shows a desire to crack down on diversity programs and initiatives to address climate change. But it doesn’t include details about what Trump wants on income taxes, tariffs, entitlement programs or the budget deficit — a sign of the challenge confronting the president when he’s promising to cut taxes and repay the federal debt without doing major damage to economic growth. Budgets do not become law but serve as a touchstone for the upcoming fiscal year debates.

American employers added a surprising 177,000 jobs in April as the job market showed resilience in the face of President Donald Trump’s trade wars. Hiring fell slightly from a revised 185,000 in March, but that is above economist projections of 135,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%, the Labor Department reported Friday. Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies – including massive import taxes – have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market and raised fears that the American economy is headed toward recession. Friday’s report showed employment, one of the strongest aspects of the U.S.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman There certainly may be heated discussions in the shuls of New York where there are multipl

Nearly four months after wildfires reduced thousands of Los Angeles-area homes to rubble and ash, some residents are starting to rebuild. In the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, construction workers recently began placing wooden beams to frame a house on a lot where only a charred fireplace remains standing. In the seaside city of Malibu and foothills neighborhood of Altadena, many land parcels where homes once stood are being cleared of debris. Hundreds of homeowners have sought city or county approval for new home designs and other permits to eventually rebuild or repair damaged homes, though few have gotten the green light to break ground. Some 17,000 homes, businesses and other structures burned to the ground in the Jan. 7 fires. It’s uncertain how much will be rebuilt.

President Donald Trump on Friday re-upped his threat to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, escalating a showdown with the first major college that has defied the administration’s efforts to crack down on campus activism. He’s underscoring that pledge even as federal law prohibits senior members of the executive branch from asking the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or an investigation. The White House has said any IRS actions will be conducted independently of the president. “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status,” Trump wrote on his social media site Friday morning from Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending the weekend.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he will revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, the latest move in the escalating clash between the administration and the Ivy League school. “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. The president had previously suggested the university should lose its tax-exempt status. His latest statement came after Harvard sued the administration over its decision to freeze more than $2 billion in funding to the Ivy League school. The administration claimed the university was refusing to follow the administration’s demands that it take actions aimed at ending antisemitism on campus.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on President Trump: “It’s important to get engaged immediately…I’m pleased to have the opportunity for quite a comprehensive set of meetings that will take place on Tuesday.”

The CDC says 216 children have died this flu season, the most since the 2009-2010 H1N1 (swine flu) season 15 years ago.

Frustrated by delays in the production of a new Air Force One, President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly decided to overhaul a jet once operated by the Qatari government as a temporary substitute.
“I’m not happy with Boeing,” Trump said in February about the drawn-out progress on the Air Force One replacements. “We may buy a plane or get a plane, or something.”

More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report released Friday. The 216 pediatric deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eclipse the 207 reported last year. It’s the most since the 2009-2010 H1N1 global flu pandemic. It’s a startlingly high number, given that the flu season is still going on. The final pediatric death tally for the 2023-2024 flu season wasn’t counted until autumn. “This number that we have now is almost certainly an undercount, and one that — when the season is declared over, and they compile all the data — it’s almost certain to go up,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A 70-year-old Jewish man was viciously assaulted on Wednesday night in the quiet French town of Anduze, near Alès. According to a report by Entrevue, the victim—wearing a kippah and tzitzis—was feeding stray cats in the street when a drunken man approached him and demanded money. When the elderly man refused, he attacked. Eyewitnesses say the attacker, a 45-year-old man known to local police for previous theft-related offenses, launched into a brutal assault—punching and kicking the defenseless victim while shouting antisemitic slurs, including “dirty Jew.” Local authorities arrested the suspect on Thursday morning.

CBS: “In April, Border Patrol made 8,400 migrant apprehensions… The last time the U.S. averaged fewer than 9,000 monthly apprehensions was in the late 1960s.”

BREAKING: According to Axios, Stephen Miller is now the top contender for President Trump’s new National Security Advisor.

The IDF says one of the leaders of a terror network in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank was killed by troops earlier today. Abu Lail, 39, was involved in several shooting attacks on troops in the Nablus area, along with transferring weapons to other operatives in Nablus and Jenin, and providing shelter for wanted Palestinians.

In a powerful letter, Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl, rov of the Old City of Yerushalayim and noted posek, has issued a public call urging Torah Jews around the world to vote for the Eretz HaKodesh slate in the current WZO elections.
The rov describes Eretz HaKodesh as “a clear and strong voice from the bnei haYeshivos and the Torah-faithful communities who seek to increase holiness in the Land, to spread Torah and prayer, and to reinforce the voice of Torah that resonates throughout the batei midrash in Eretz Yisrael.”

Family getting up: Wednesday (5/07/25)Morning

The United States is pulling back from its role in brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine, according to a statement Thursday from a senior State Department official.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters that the U.S. “will not be the mediators” going forward. Her comments reflect President Trump’s growing dissatisfaction with the stagnant negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian governments.
“We are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings,” Bruce said, emphasizing that while the U.S. still supports a peaceful resolution, it will no longer take the lead.

President Trump introduced his 2026 budget blueprint on Friday, laying out plans to slash $163 billion from a variety of government programs including education, foreign assistance, and environmental initiatives, while ramping up military spending past the $1 trillion threshold.
The proposed reductions to non-defense discretionary funding represent a 22.6% decrease compared to current appropriations, according to documents released by the White House.
At the same time, Trump is requesting a 13% increase in defense allocations, pushing the Department of Defense budget to $1.01 trillion. Additionally, the administration is asking for $175 billion to address border security, aiming to, as the budget puts it, “at long last, finally secure our border.”

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