The Torah world of Petach Tikvah is mourning the petirah of Rav Hillel Yosef Meltzer zt”l, one of the city’s prominent talmidei chachomim and marbitzei Torah, who was niftar at the age of 57 after a prolonged illness involving serious kidney complications. In recent weeks, he had been connected to an ECMO machine as his condition worsened.
Rav Meltzer was a son of HaGaon Rav Shmaryahu Meltzer.

Burger King’s Israeli branch has agreed to provide meal vouchers worth 480,000 shekels (approximately $128,000) to IDF combat soldiers, including those serving in reserves, as part of a resolution in a class-action case. A total of 8,727 vouchers—each valued at 55 shekels ($14.70)—will be redeemable at the chain’s kosher locations and will be available to both religious and secular service members.

For the first time, Israel has transferred long-range surface-to-surface missiles to militias in Iraq, defying US President Donald Trump ahead of direct US-Tehran talks, the UK-based The Times reported on Wednesday. The move significantly bolsters Tehran’s influence in the region as the missiles are capable of reaching Europe. The report contradicts a Reuters report earlier this week that the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are considering disarming due to pressure from the Trump administration. A source told The Times that these reports are false. “The efforts seen in the last 48 hours to create a picture that the militias are disarming is a ruse,” he said.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai stirred up a storm online after he said on Nadav Perry’s podcast that anyone who is religious is opposed to democracy. Perry: “You’re saying something harsh that I don’t accept. Are you saying that anyone who believes in a supreme being cannot accept democracy in the same breath?” Huldai replied without hesitation: “No. Because if you believe in Him, it means He is supreme. It can’t be that the Supreme Court will decide against what is written and what you believe in. Therefore, religion, by its very nature, is anti-democratic.” “Those who are religious go to the Rav for everything. It’s already determined and written and the Rav tells you if something is according to Halacha or not. If Halacha is the law – then we are Iran,” Huldai added.

The last person convicted in Germany for crimes committed during the Holocaust, Irmgard Furchner, died at the age of 99, a German court announced on Monday. In 2022, Furchner, who served as a secretary at the Nazi concentration camp Stutthof during World War II, received a two-year suspended sentence for complicity in the murders of more than 10,000 people. Her trial marked the first prosecution of a woman in Germany for Nazi-era crimes in decades. The Stutthof concentration camp, located near Gdansk in occupied Poland, was established by Nazi Germany in 1939. Around 65,000 people lost their lives at Stutthof, many of them non-Jewish Poles, as well as Jews deported from Warsaw, Bialystok, and forced-labor camps in the occupied Baltic states.

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(Translated by Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow – Email asebrow@gmail.com for sources) Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l was renowned for his concise, often one-word answers to halachic questions. Over the years, various individuals compiled and published collections of the questions they asked him—and the succinct responses they received in return. Below is a translation of several questions related to Birchas Ilanos (the blessing recited upon seeing blossoming fruit trees in the spring). Please note: while these insights are fascinating and can spark meaningful discussion, all those who published these collections emphasized that the responses should not be relied upon halacha l’maaseh (for practical halachic rulings).

On Wednesday, Israel’s Minister of Defense, Yisroel Katz, traveled to the Morag Corridor in the Gaza Strip, accompanied by Major General Yaniv Asor, the Commander of the Southern Command, Brigadier General Moran Omer, the Commander of the 36th Division, and various other military leaders.
While at the site, the military commanders provided Katz with an update on the ongoing IDF operations in the area and the progress made in securing the region.