As Pesach approaches, thousands of families cannot afford holiday provisions. The Gedolei Hador, aware of the situation and Kupat Ha’ir’s Kimcha D’Pischa project, have issued an unprecedented letter: Maran Rabbi Dov Landau, Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, Rabbi B. D. Povarsky, Rabbi M.Y. Shelzinger, and Rabbi M.H. Hirsch say: Whoever donates for six people’s holiday meals will merit to see a simcha in their homes before Rosh Hashana תשפ”ו. The cost for Seder night, Shabbos, Yom Tov, and Chol HaMoed meals is $990 for six people. With a donation of $33/month for 30 months, you can bring joy to these families.

President Donald Trump’s sharp tariff hikes last week have sent the stock market into a tailspin, raised alarm bells among Wall Street executives, and heightened many economists’ worries that the U.S. could tip into recession. The tariffs, set to take effect Wednesday, include a 10% blanket duty on nearly all countries and additional import taxes on 60 nations. The increases are so large and are taking effect so rapidly that they are likely to be disruptive to the economy, economists say, even if they are partially rolled back through negotiations in the coming weeks or months. Economists at Goldman Sachs have raised their assessment of the odds the U.S. will experience a recession — where the economy shrinks and unemployment rises — to 45%, from 35% last week.

An Israeli political source admitted on Tuesday morning that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not receive advance notice of the step announced by President Trump during the joint press conference on Monday—the initiation of direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program. The source noted that while the possibility that Trump would renew contacts with Iran was taken into account, it was evident at the joint press conference between the US President and the Prime Minister that Netanyahu was not aware of the move in advance and was surprised by the announcement. The source added that the fact that Trump promised that Israel would receive reports on any developments that arise from the negotiations is very positive.

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld

In Shemos, Perek Yud Bais the Torah tells us that we have a mitzvah to bring a Korban Pesach on Erev Pesach. Was the bracha of shehecheyanu recited when they brought the Korban Pesach since it is a mitzvah that occurs infrequently?

The Nesiv Chaim in siman taf lamed bais says that they did not say the bracha of shehecheyanu while shechting the Korban Pesach. They relied on the shehecheyanu that would be said on the night of Pesach during Kiddush. This is similar to the fact that we don’t make a bracha of shehechyanu while building the sukka, but rather we say the bracha of shehecheyanu during Kiddush when we also have the building of the sukka in mind.

Congestion pricing in Manhattan will continue through the fall under a deal made between the Trump administration and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as revealed in newly filed court records. The fate of the initiative will then ultimately be determined by a federal judge.
This development follows a ride last week by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Mayor Eric Adams on New York City’s subway, during which Duffy harshly criticized the MTA for what he called excessive expenditures.
The agreement outlined in the court documents establishes that the tolling equipment — including cameras and sensors — will remain operational through October, as detailed in a letter submitted to the judge overseeing the legal battle.

The maamad is scheduled to take place on Sunday, Yud Beis Sivan, June 8, and will once again serve as a powerful expression of achdus, hisorerus, and chizuk for lomdei Torah and their supporters. Read the full story on Lakewood Alerts. 

Great excitement is sweeping through the Vizhnitzer kehillos as news spreads that the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Bnei Brak, Rav Yisroel Hager, is expected to return to Eretz Yisroel this Thursday after spending over six weeks in Los Angeles undergoing medical treatment.
Sources within the chassidus convey that the Rebbe’s return, initially scheduled for earlier in the week, has been delayed by one day. B’ezras Hashem, the Rebbe is now slated to land in Eretz Yisroel on Thursday, the 12th of Nissan, depending on his health condition.

Wall Street could soon be in the claws of another bear market as the Trump administration’s tariff blitz fuels fears that the added taxes on imported goods from around the world will sink the global economy. The last bear market happened in 2022, but this decline feels more like the sudden, turbulent bear market of 2020, when the benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled 34% in a one-month period, the shortest bear market ever. Here are some common questions about bear markets: Why is it called a bear market? A bear market is a term used by Wall Street when an index such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 20% or more from a recent high for a sustained period of time. Why use a bear to refer to a market slump?

BEIJING (AP) — China threatened to “resolutely take countermeasures to