Vandals broke into the Jewish cemetery in Damascus overnight Wednesday and vandalized the kever of Hamekubal HaRav Chaim Vital, Z’tl, one of the talmidim of the Ari, z’tl. The intruders dug a pit near the kever to look for remains. Bachour Simantov, one of the few remaining Jews in Syria, told Kan News that he informed local authorities about the incident and they promised to find those responsible for the incident. The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic Countries issued a statement saying: “We are shocked and saddened by the desecration of the tomb of Rabbi Chaim Vital, z”tl this Thursday in Damascus.” “Jews have lived in Syria for thousands of years and are an integral part of its history.

A Border Police commando and an IDF officer were killed on Friday in intense battles with terrorists in the Shijaiyah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City. The Border Police officer was named as Sgt. Neta Yitzchak Kahane, H’yd, 19, a commando in the elite Yamas undercover unit from Moshav Eitan, a religious moshav in south-central Israel. The IDF officer was named as Cpt. Ido Voloch, H’yd, 21, from Jerusalem, a platoon commander in the 401st Armored Brigade’s 46th Battalion. The incident began when Hamas terrorists opened fire on soldiers engaging in efforts to expand the buffer zone along the Gazan border, sparking a fierce gun battle, during which Kahane, H’yd, was killed.

A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing eight people and injuring around 750 others. Helicopters dumped water from the air on the raging fire hours after the initial explosion, which happened at the Shahid Rajaei port just as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni gave the casualty figure in an interview on state television. But there were few details on what sparked the blaze just outside of Bandar Abbas, which burned into Saturday night, causing other containers to reportedly explode.

The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation Friday into allegations of “race-based discrimination” by New York state officials after President Trump spoke out in support of the Massapequa School District’s use of its “Massapequa Chiefs” nickname, The Post has learned.
Federal officials will examine whether the New York State Board of Regents is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial and national origin discrimination by any institution receiving federal funding, by enforcing its ban on Native American-related school mascots and symbols.

Israel bid farewell on Thursday to Nechama Grossman, the nation’s oldest Holocaust survivor, who passed away at the remarkable age of 109. Her passing coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day devoted to memorializing the six million Jews who perished. Grossman’s funeral was held the next day in Arad, the southern city where she had made her home for most of her life.
Born in 1915, Grossman survived the horrors of Europe during the Holocaust and eventually made her way to Israel, settling in Arad and raising a family there. Her resilience became a living testament to the strength of the Jewish people in the aftermath of unimaginable suffering.

During a conversation with reporters today, President Donald Trump shared that he had recently discussed the situation in Gaza with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.“I told him to be good to Gaza,” Trump stated, mentioning that he had encouraged Netanyahu to ensure the provision of medicine and food to the residents of the area.
Addressing Iran, Trump was clear and to the point, saying, “The Iran deal is simple. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.” He also noted that ongoing discussions between the United States and Iran were “going very well.”
Earlier this week, Trump revealed that he and Netanyahu had spoken and touched upon several important topics. He emphasized that the United States and Israel were fully aligned on each matter they discussed.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man was stabbed to death during the morning rush hour in the New York City subway system Friday after a dispute with an

Rabbi A.D. Motzen, Agudath Israel’s national director of government affairs with executive director of the Indiana Nonpublic Education Association John Elcesser and associate director Chris Bunson, outside House chambers just prior to the vote.
A high res version of the image above is available for download here or by clicking on the image.
In the early hours of Friday morning, the Indiana General Assembly voted in favor a budget that provides school vouchers to all students in the state regardless of their income. This victory for families comes sixteen years after Indiana passed its first school choice program in 2009.