After being engulfed in a scandal surrounding President Trump’s payoff to adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, the National Enquirer has been sold to a man named James Cohen, whose family founded Hudson News, a retailer located inside U.S. and Canadian airports.
By: Harry Cherry
David Pecker, a longtime friend and associate of President Trump, who is the Chairman and CEO of American Media, the Enquirer’s parent company, would repeatedly purchase rights to stories which, if published, would be damaging to Mr. Trump, in order to squash them, according to four people familiar with the publication’s routine practices.
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that American Media wanted to sell the Enquirer because a hedge fund manager who owns a controlling interest in the tabloid became “disgusted” with the paper’s practice of doing Mr. Trump’s public-relations bidding.
The Enquirer has been battling Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who alleged in February that the paper tried to extort him by threatening to release additional damaging photographs of Mr. Bezos with his mistress, Lauren Sanchez, in addition to photographs released as part of its original scoop on Mr. Bezos, if he did not meet certain demands.
“AMI’s claim of newsworthiness is that the photos are necessary to show Amazon shareholders that my business judgment is terrible,” Mr. Bezos wrote in a blog post after the Enquirer published photos of him with Mrs. Sanchez, his mistress. “I founded Amazon in my garage 24 years ago, and drove all the packages to the post office myself.”
“Today, Amazon employs more than 600,000 people, just finished its most profitable year ever, even while investing heavily in new initiatives, and it’s usually somewhere between the #1 and #5 most valuable company in the world,” Mr. Bezos continued.
Mr. Pecker and AMI’s counsel, Dylan Howard, entered into legal non-prosecution agreements with the federal government in exchange for meeting certain demands leveled by the federal government.
AMI said Thursday that the sale of the National Enquirer and it’s two parent companies to Mr. Cohen include “a multi-year service contract that will generate substantial fees for American Media to provide publishing, financial and distribution services for the tabloid brands.”
American Media announced on April 10th that it was “exploring strategic options” for various print publications, including the National Enquirer.
“We have been keenly focused on leveraging the popularity of our celebrity glossy, teen and active lifestyle brands while developing new and robust platforms including broadcast and audio programming, and a live events business, that now deliver significant revenue streams,” Mr. Pecker recently said in a statement. “Because of this focus, we feel the future opportunities with the tabloids can be best exploited by a different ownership.”
The petitioners are from a Brooklyn neighborhood with the highest number of New York measles cases, after residents who returned from Israel in the fall infected others.
By: WIN Staff
Amid a measles outbreak in certain areas of the United States, findings have shown that the virus was brought to the U.S. from Israel and Ukraine and passed on to members of the communities of those infected, many of whom had not been vaccinated, reports the AFP news agency.
With the backdrop of the Israeli connection and an argument made by some that vaccinations are religiously problematic, authorities in New York City have issued an order demanding that residents of Williamsburg, a neighborhood with a large Hasidic population and where the incidence of measles in the city has been the most concentrated, get inoculated if they have not done so already.
The outbreak reportedly began after unvaccinated individuals returned from celebrating the holiday of Sukkot in Israel. However, the attempt to compel vaccination is being challenged in court, reports TheJewish Press.
A court hearing is scheduled Thursday, says the news outlet.
In a petition to block health officials from enforcing the vaccination order, five parents are arguing they have a right to send their children to school without vaccinating them because of the state’s “religious exemption.”
They also claim that the number of those infected does not constitute an epidemic. They maintain, as well, that the vaccination can have side effects and that less drastic steps – such as quarantining those infected – could be taken instead, according to The Jewish Press.
On Monday, the United Talmudical Academy childcare preschool program in Williamsburg was ordered closed by the city health department due to its repeated refusal to turn over attendance and health records documenting vaccination compliance. The program serves 250 children between the ages of 3 and 5 and is the first program to be closed by the city because of the outbreak, says The New York Times.
Even if not on the scale of an epidemic, it is the country’s largest measles outbreak in decades, the newspaper adds.
As of last week, New York City health officials had reported 285 measles cases since the fall, mostly in children under the age of 18. Twenty-one people have been hospitalized, five in intensive care units, according to the latest figures.
Orthodox Jewish doctors urge vaccination
Meanwhile, to counter the argument that vaccinating runs contrary to Jewish law, an online petition has been published stating: “We, the undersigned doctors who faithfully serve the Orthodox Jewish communities of North America, strongly urge all members of our community to receive all recommended vaccinations.” The names of hundreds of signatories appear on the petition.
A total of 555 cases of measles have been recorded in the United States since January 1, most of them in New York and Clark County in Washington state, reports AFP.
Three new cases of measles were identified Wednesday in Michigan, and those people may have exposed others to the virus, according to state health officials cited by the Detroit Free Press.
The statewide total is now up to 43 measles cases this year, says the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, adding that this is the highest number of measles cases in the state since 1991, when 65 were reported.
Jerusalem, Israel – Passover is a joyous time for Israel’s soldiers. Many are on leave from the
army and return home to celebrate the traditional Seder meal. However, holiday joy is
tempered with worry and stress for those soldiers who come from families which struggle
financially. While on base they would be treated to a delicious Seder meal by the army, at
home the situation is more difficult, with food needing to be shared with parents,
grandparents, and siblings. Additionally, “lone soldiers” (orphans, those who immigrated to
Israel alone, and anyone else who for whatever reason receives no financial support from
their parents) also struggle financially and have trouble arranging and paying for their
holiday meals while on leave from the army.
To address this unfortunate situation, every year before Passover (and before Rosh Hashana
as well) hundreds of such soldiers are provided with large food packages by Yashar LaChayal,
a non-profit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid for soldiers of the Israel
Defense Forces. Besides basic food supplies to help the soldiers and their families with
preparing for the holiday meals, the Passover packages also contain special additions for the
Seder: Grape juice, decorative grape juice cups, Passover cake and cookies, Matzah, and
Haggadahs (books traditionally read during the Seder)!
On April 15 in Ma’ale Adumim, Yashar LaChayal’s volunteers put together food packages for
850 soldiers from over a dozen units throughout the Israel Defense Forces. The units
included the Golani, Nachal, and Kfir Brigades, Home Front Command, the Netzach Yehuda
Battalion (a special unit populated by soldiers from ultra-Orthodox backgrounds), Egoz
Special Forces, the Iron Dome unit, and Arayot HaYarden, one of Israel’s first coed infantry
units. Throughout the day, representatives of each unit arrived to pick up food packages for
those in their units who will benefit from them. In addition, assistance was provided to
bereaved families of soldiers who fell in Israel’s defense.
The food packaging event was supported by the municipality of Ma’ale Adumim and was
attended by Mayor Benny Kashriel. Besides individual donors from around the world, large
quantities of the food packages were sponsored by organizations and Synagogues which
support Israel’s soldiers through Yashar LaChayal. The Synagogues include the following
ones from New Jersey: Congregation Bnai Yeshurun of Teaneck, the Young Israel of East
Brunswick, and the East Brunswick Jewish Center.
For more information about Yashar LaChayal and its other projects which support Israel’s
soldiers, visit: www.yasharlachayal.org and facebook.com/yasharlachayal.
In the spirit of the Passover holiday, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (Keren L’Yedidut) is sponsoring NIS 500 gift coupons for 8500 lone soldiers and soldiers from low-income families, all of which add up to a combined value of over NIS 4 million. The initiative, which was launched in cooperation with Yachad Lema’an Hachayal, an organization under the Israeli Defense Ministry’s umbrella that funnels donations to Israeli soldiers and military units, is dedicated this year to the memory of the late Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the founder and former president of The Fellowship.
The gift coupons, which are valid in the Shufersal supermarket chain, are aimed at giving the soldiers the opportunity to purchase not only food but clothing, footwear, sports apparel, electronics and other products they may want or need. The 8500 soldiers have received necessary referrals for eligibility from respective IDF units.
Among those receiving the gift coupon are 6581 lone soldiers, 54% of whom are serving as combat soldiers or as soldiers providing combat support. Fifty-five percent of the lone soldiers who are entitled to a coupon come from 76 different countries between them all. Of the countries of origin with the largest number of lone soldiers, 882 are from the United States, (about 24% of soldiers who are new immigrants or “olim”), 596 from the Ukraine (about 16% of soldiers who are olim) and 479 from Russia (approximately 13% of soldiers who are olim). These lone soldiers, who moved to Israel from all over the globe, do not merely make up a composite melting pot within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but also help to enrich the Israeli army and contribute to its overall strength.
“The IDF is the people’s army, and as such it is not immune to dealing with the social challenges that characterize Israel,” noted President of The Fellowship, Yael Eckstein. “Every year, thousands of soldiers from low-income families and thousands of lone soldiers who have come to Israel by themselves in order to enlist in the IDF, serve in the Israeli army. Together with the army and partners such as Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) and Yachad Lema’an Hachayal, The Fellowship has developed a series of unique solutions through which soldiers receive assistance as part of an effort to enable them to serve in tranquility.”
As neo-Nazis and extremists prepare to gather in Sofia and elsewhere in Europe this weekend on the date of Adolf Hitler’s 130th birthday, the World Jewish Congress is calling on governments across the continent to condemn and oppose neo-Nazi movements. In addition to the conference of fascists who refer to themselves as European nationalists in Sofia, other planned events include meetings in various locations across France, a hiking trip and picnic in Ukraine, a rock concert in Italy and another two conventions in separate locations in Germany.
The WJC, under the leadership of President Ronald S. Lauder, has embarked on a widespread social media campaign to raise awareness about the proliferation of neo-Nazi gatherings across Europe, with an array of informational and visual content, calling on users everywhere to share employing the hashtags #NazisOut and #NazisRaus (a current anti-fascist slogan being used in Europe). The content will be posted on the World Jewish Congress’ Twitter page,www.twitter.com/worldjewishcong, throughout the weekend, highlighting the connection between pre-WWII era Nazi gatherings and contemporary neo-Nazi movements.
WJC CEO and Executive Vice President Robert Singer appealed directly to Bulgarian Interior Minister Mladen Marinov ahead the Bulgarian National Union’s three-day conference in Sofia, urging him to speak out against the extremist gathering. “Bulgaria should not be seen as a legitimate meeting place for those seeking to promote such hateful and destructive politics,” Singer wrote.
In his letter, Singer expressed his gratitude to the Bulgarian government for the productive and warm relationship developed in recent years and noted that the WJC was deeply encouraged by the government’s efforts to combat antisemitism and promote tolerance in Bulgaria as part of its “long tradition of being a bastion of ethnic and cultural diversity and tolerance.”.
That said, Singer wrote, “we are strongly opposed to the pan-European neo-Nazi conference scheduled to take place under the auspices of an extremist Bulgarian political movement. We urge you do to strongly denounce this event, as well as to do all in your power to prevent this odious meeting from occurring, in keeping with the Bulgarian values of tolerance. The spirit of this conference is part and parcel with the inciting and violent nature of the annual [neo-Nazi] Lukov march and should be met with the same condemnation and denunciation.”
“We offer the best deal in New York,” explained David G. Greenfield, CEO of Met Council. “You give us access to the needy people and we will give you all the kosher food they need for Pesach.” That’s how Met Council was able to expand America’s largest free Pesach food distribution from 120 locations last year to 129 locations across New York this year. New locations range from Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Flatbush to Mosdos Vorka in Boro Park to National Council of Jewish Women on the Upper West Side.
Six months before Pesach, Met Council’s food team, led by Jessica Chait, began working day and night to ensure that all who are hungry will have food to eat before Pesach. Millions of dollars were raised, the orders — everything from 82,000 pounds of chicken to 77,000 pounds of eggs to 79,000 cans of tuna to 54,000 pounds of Matzah were placed — and the Met Council overflow warehouse began accepting food earmarked for Pesach. Three weeks before Pesach, Met Council began making deliveries across the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester. All told, over 181,000 New Yorkers will receive food before Pesach from Met Council – America’s largest free kosher for Pesach food distribution.
“I am proud that once again we have expanded the Met Council Pesach food distribution,” said Mr. Greenfield. “This year we gave out more food to more people at more locations than ever before. As importantly, we gave out higher quality food. Everything from the apples to the oranges to the potatoes were bigger and better than ever before and even the items like grape juice are of the highest quality. We distribute Kedem grape juice, the very same brand most of us drink at home,” Greenfield explained about his commitment to securing the finest products for Pesach.
Just about every organization that gives out free kosher food in New York gets it from Met Council. Some of Met Council’s 129 partners include Hatzolah, Bais Yaakov of Borough Park, Boro Park JCC, Tomchei Shabbos of Queens, UJC of the East Side and COJO Staten Island.
Met Council’s food team is led by Jessica Chait, the newly hired Managing Director of Food Programs. Jessica and her team of ten employees work year-round with Food Bank and City Harvest to ensure that Met Council is well stocked with Kosher for Pesach items.
“Passover is a joyous time but, for too many, it also represents a significant hardship,” said Chait. “I’m incredibly proud of the work Met Council does to help more than 181,000 New Yorkers meet their food needs during this season and also enable them to celebrate the holiday with dignity.”
It’s not only the actual food that Met Council distributes. Met Council also has the largest Kosher for Pesach Visa credit card program in the United States. “In addition to the traditional food distributions, we also gave out more than 2,100 Visa cards to pre-screened clients that need a financial boost to buy additional food before Yom Tov,” Greenfield explained. These Visa credit cards, up to $500 per family, are branded by Met Council and are coded to only work in select supermarkets across New York.
“We are truly fortunate to have a community that really understands the mitzvah of Kimcha D’Pischa. Literally, every mosod, shul, and organization in New York participates in this mitzvah. It’s our zchus at the Met Council to be serving them by providing the food needed to celebrate Pesach,” Greenfield concluded.
The Staten Island Council of Jewish Organizations (COJO-SI) held its annual Passover/Pesach food drive and distribution Wednesday, April 17, 2019, at the Young Israel of Staten Island Synagogue located in the Willowbrook section of Staten Island. Thanks to the efforts of COJO-SI approximately 800 families in Staten Island are able to enjoy Passover 2019 with the traditional foods necessary to experience festive Sedarim and holiday meals.
This year marks the 41st year of COJO-SI helping make sure that all members of the Staten Island community can celebrate Passover in a dignified manner in accordance with Jewish traditions and customs.
Mendy Mirocznik, President of COJO-SI thanked Scott Maurer, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice-President of COJO-SI and his team of volunteers for doing a great job in organizing the Passover food drive and distribution.
Mirocznik further thanked the generous COJO-SI food pantry partners who made this Passover food drive and distribution possible, such as Met Council, Food Bank for New York City, City Harvest, and Mr. Kevin Mannix CEO and Owner of Staten Island Shoprite.
The following elected officials and community leaders attended and participated with the food distribution, among them Congressman Max Rose, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, Councilman Joe Borelli, Chief Kenneth Corey, commanding officer, Patrol Borough Staten Island, Ted Kantor from the New York State Court Officers Association, Daniel Hartley representing New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Patrick Lewis representing Mayor Bill de Blasio, Donald De Rosa and Pinny Hikind representing New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and William Matarazzo representing Senator Andrew Lanza.
The best part was how community coming together and working together for the good and welfare of Staten Island.
Mirocznik concluded, “That the COJO-SI Passover Food Relief is just one component of our pantry that services all people of Staten Island. Our goal is to make sure that no person goes hungry in Staten Island.” Scott Maurer CEO of COJO-SI agreed and added, “that my dream is that no one should experience poverty and hunger and the pantry should go out of business due to a lack of clients in need. However, until we reach that day, we here at COJO-SI are in the business of combating hunger.”
Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will hold a news conference Thursday morning regarding special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, the Justice Department announced.
Edited by: JV Staff
Barr also plans to release a redacted version Thursday of the nearly 400-page report by Mueller on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election that was aimed at helping Donald Trump win the presidency.
In a radio interview Wednesday, Trump floated the idea that he, too, may hold a news conference. “Attorney General Barr is going to be giving a press conference, maybe I’ll do one after that, we’ll see,” Trump said in an interview with WMAL Radio’s Larry O’Connor.
Mueller investigated the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia and whether Trump, as president, obstructed justice by trying to thwart the probe. Sparring over the report in advance of its release is rampant.
Barr released a four-page summary of Mueller’s findings three weeks ago, saying the prosecutor had concluded that Trump and his campaign did not collude with Russia to help him win but had reached no conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice. But with Mueller not reaching a decision on the obstruction issue, Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided no obstruction charges against Trump were warranted.
Also Wednesday, The New York Times reported that White House lawyers have had numerous conversations with Justice Department officials about the report. The Times, quoting unnamed sources, said the conversations have helped the White House prepare its rebuttal and strategize its response.
The Justice Department and the White House declined to comment on the report. (VOA News)
Normally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wouldn’t be the name one immediately associates with pop star Ariana Grande, actor Dwayne Johnson, or soccer star Alex Morgan, but all have at least one thing in common. They made the list of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People 2019.
By: WIN Staff
Israel’s prime minister thanked TIME in a tweet on Wednesday: “Thank you to TIME International magazine for choosing me as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. I will continue to operate with all my strength for our state.”
TIME asked David French, staff writer for conservative magazine National Review, to write the remarks for the Netanyahu entry on its site. “Israel is Bibi’s nation,” Mr. French says, referring to the prime minister by his nickname.
Despite facing existential dangers, he writes, “Israel grows more prosperous. It grows more powerful. And as the election shows, sufficient numbers of Israelis believe not just that Netanyahu is partly responsible for that success but that he’s the nation’s indispensable man. And so he won again, in spite of facing serious allegations of corruption. Bibi certainly deserves his share of credit for Israel’s strength, but persuading Israelis that he alone could achieve it is his true political accomplishment.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu was recently elected to his fifth term as premier on April 9.
On Tuesday, Israel’s right-wing and religious parties endorsed Netanyahu for another term, giving him an absolute majority of 65 seats in the next Knesset. He needs only 61 seats to cobble together a governing coalition. (World Israel News)
One of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims filed a defamation lawsuit against attorney Alan Dershowitz on Tuesday, claiming that Dershowitz was involved in sex trafficking.
By: Harry Cherry
The plaintiff, Virginia Giuffre, said in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in a federal court in Manhattan that she was trafficked and abused by pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s and that Alan Dershowitz falsely claimed that she lied about what happened.
Giuffre said that Dershowitz was one of Epstein’s co-conspirators and participated in sex trafficking, alleging that he was “one of the men to whom Epstein lent out” for sex.
“One of the persons with whom Epstein acted in concert was Dershowitz,” the civil complaint says. “When Epstein was arrested for sex trafficking in 2006, Dershowitz defended his friend and client by falsely attacking the veracity of his accusers, including calling the children whom Epstein had abused (and, in the case of Plaintiff, the Defendant himself had also abused), liars and prostitutes.”
Dershowitz told NBC News in an interview on Tuesday that he intends his innocence in a court of law.
“I welcome this lawsuit. I’ve been looking for an opportunity to prove in court that this woman made up the whole story,” Dershowitz told NBC News on Tuesday. “I will prove that she committed perjury. I never met her.”
In connection with Giuffre lawsuit, Maria Farmer, a separate woman, alleged in an affidavit sworn until penalty of perjury that she was an employee of Epstein’s tasked with purchasing art, but also controlled entry to Epstein’s Manhattan home.
Under penalty of perjury, she swore that she witnessed “school-age girls” entering Epstein’s home and that they were “escorted upstairs,” adding that Dershowitz visited Epstein “a number of times,” according to NBC News.
“I can prove that Maria Farmer never met me,” he told NBC News. “I never met Jeffrey Epstein until after she stopped working for him…She could have never have seen me.”
“We look forward to proving these allegations in a court of law,” Joshua Schiller, Giuffre’s lawyer, told NBC News in a statement.
“Ms. Guiffre’s complaint is supported by detailed factual allegations, contemporaneous documents, and sworn affidavits,” Sigrid McCawley, an attorney who also represents Giuffre, told NBC News. “Mr. Dershowitz’s response in court will have to be more than the conclusory denials and ad hominem attacks on victims and their lawyers that continue to be the core of his desperate media strategy.”
Jeffrey Epstein entered a guilty plea at the state level to charges of soliciting prostitution and spent 13 months in jail — but was given special privileges, such as the ability to leave jail for work-related reasons. He was never pursued by federal prosecutors, as part of an agreement between prosecutors and his defense team.
In a letter sent in February to Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., the Department of Justice’s office of professional responsibility wrote that it had “opened an investigation into allegations that Department attorneys may have committed professional misconduct in the manner in which the Epstein criminal matter was resolved.”
In response to the Department of Justice, Sasse wrote in a letter that “the victims of Epstein’s child sex trafficking” deserve the investigation.
“Jeffrey Epstein is a child rapist and there’s not a single mom or dad in America who shouldn’t be horrified by the fact that he received a pathetically soft sentence,” he added.
Alex Acosta, the former U.S. Attorney in Miami, who is now President Trump’s Labor secretary, was found by OPR investigators to have committed “professional misconduct” with his handling of the Epstein case.
The manhunt for Sol Pais, a Florida teenager who appeared to be obsessed with the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Col., according to officials, came to a close on Wednesday after she had been found dead.
By: Harry Cherry
“There is a no longer a threat to the community,” the FBI’s Denver field office said Wednesday afternoon on Twitter. “More information to follow shortly.”
18-year old Miami native Sol Pais took a flight from Miami to Denver on Monday and purchased a shotgun as well as ammunition upon her arrival.
Pais threatened to “commit an act of violence in the Denver metropolitan area” amid the 20th anniversary of the Columbine mass shooting, law enforcement officials said.
A notice sent out by a local school district to parents on Tuesday said that all schools were on a “secure perimeter” following a recommendation from the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
Local reporters said that on Tuesday when he officially knocked on the door at Pais’s home in the Miami area, that federal law enforcement officials answered the door.
Pais’s father told local reporters in the Miami area on Tuesday that the situation his family was experiencing with their daughter was “like a bad dream.”
“She can come home. I think she wants to be ok,” her father told local FOX affiliate WSVN. “I think it’s maybe she has a mental problem.”
“We are fully assisting the FBI in their investigation,” Miami-Dade Public Schools, the district where Pais attended school, said early Wednesday in a statement. “As far as the case goes, I want to stress that, at this time, there have been no threats to M-DCPS schools. The threats appear limited to schools in Colorado.”
One of Pais’s local neighbors told CBS-4, a Miami-based CBS news affiliate, that Pais kept to herself.
“She always kept to herself. She never got in trouble at school,” the woman, Patricia Bilstin, told reporters. “So surprising, and I feel sorry for the family.”
Before being found deceased at the scene, Pais was last seen Wednesday in the Columbine area, where she was wearing a dark t-shirt and camouflage pants, local officials said.
A local Colorado woman told a Denver-based CBS affiliate on Wednesday that while hiking she was told to leave the area because “a naked woman matching the description with a gun was spotted in the area running through the woods.”
Prior to the discovery of her body on Wednesday, according to Denver’s CBS-4, between 20 and 30 law enforcement officials were searching for Pais near the Echo Lake Campground in Evergreen, Colorado.
80 years ago, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising broke out on April 19, 1943, the eve of the Jewish festival of Passover. German troops stormed the ghetto, intent on completing the deportation process within three days, yet were ambushed by Jewish rebels. Photo Credit: Muzeum Getta Warszawskiego
76 years ago, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising broke out on April 19, 1943, the eve of the Jewish festival of Passover. German troops stormed the ghetto, intent on completing the deportation process within three days, yet were ambushed by Jewish rebels. This year, close to eight decades later, in a magnificent show of spiritual triumph, families of ghetto survivors celebrate the Jewish festival of redemption together.
Edited by: JV Staff
For the first time since the Warsaw ghetto was liquidated during World War II and all its residents were killed or deported to death camps, one hundred Diaspora Jewish families will celebrate a Passover seder in the ghetto, along with the Rabbi of the local Lubavitch Jewish community and his family. Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler, Chief Rabbi of Chabad-Poland is hosting a special Passover seder in the heart of what was formerly the Warsaw ghetto with approximately one hundred Jewish families from Israel, Europe and the USA as his guests.
Mr. Yosef Nachum and Nakmi’a Ben-Shem (previously Feldschuh) will be flying in from Israel to participate in the seder. Daughter Sharon Ben-Shem expresses, “Child prodigy Josima Feldschuh, the celebrated young pianist of the Warsaw Ghetto, was my aunt. She perished on April 21, 1943 shortly before her fourteenth birthday, while in hiding. Her very last meal took place the prior evening—the seder night of 1943! This year, we will be joining the seder in Poland together with her family—her brother (my father) and sister (my aunt) and I (her niece). We will be in Warsaw, in the seder night, in her city, precisely on the day that she passed away.
“Warsaw was also home to my grandmother’s immediate and extended family. It is deeply meaningful to us to be celebrating this festival of Passover together as free Jews in a place where so many, including our own family, perished tragically.”
Numbering among local guests are the members of the Spielman family, whose uncle Vlaidslav Spielman was a world-famous pianist. Albert Stankovski, director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum which is currently being constructed by the Polish government, will also attend.
“Before the War, approximately one-third of Warsaw was Jewish,” recounts Stankovski. “Commemorating pre-War Jewish Warsaw and celebrating the growth of the current Jewish community is of utmost importance to us. The Passover celebration organized by Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler and Chabad Lubavitch is a vital part of this process. The at the Warsaw Ghetto Museum are likewise dedicated to this goal. We aim to preserve, for future generations, the memory of the Jews of Warsaw who were imprisoned behind the ghetto walls during the German occupation and subsequently murdered in the German camps.” The Warsaw Ghetto Museum will be housed in the historic building of the former Children’ Hospital established by Jewish families Bersohn and Bauman as a clinic for children of all faiths. The exhibition at 60 Sienna Street is due to open on the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
In 1991, Rabbi Shalom Stambler and his family were sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Warsaw with the mission of revitalizing Jewish life in Poland. Since then, the Stamblers has invested enormous energies to cultivate Jewish life, culture and resources in a city where Judaism was largely wiped out during the war. The communal Passover seder is one of their latest effort to rejuvenate the community and spread awareness of Jewish identity and Jewish life in Poland. The seder will be divided into three groups and led in three different languages—Polish, Hebrew and English. Toward the end of the evening, they will merge and conclude the seder as one.
The star of the evening is, undoubtedly, Yossi Stambler, Rabbi Stambler’s 13 year old son, who will lead the seder in Hebrew, while his father leads a parallel seder in Polish. Despite his youth, the boy has earned a reputation as a talented orator.
The English-language seder will be led by several young Lubavitch rabbis from the USA who are traveling to Poland specially to participate in the event. One of them, Rabbi Levi Goldschmidt, is a great-great grandson of Rabbi Tzvi Hersch Gur-Aryeh, a Jewish dignitary in Warsaw before the war. Gur-Aryeh was slaughtered in the ghetto massacre on Pesach. Holocaust historian Dr. Hillel Zaidman writes that on the eve of Passover 1943, Rabbi Gur-Aryeh and his family, along with other Lubavitch chassidim, covertly baked matzah at grave risk to their lives in order to be able to properly fulfill the commandments pertaining to the Jewish festival. The rabbi and his family perished together in the uprising. The lone survivor of the illustrious family was Chaya, a daughter who was married to Rabbi Nachum Goldschmidt and lived in Tel Aviv. Coming full circle, the Goldschmidt’s grandson, who lives in New York, will be returning to his ancestor’s native land where he will co-host the seder in English.
Rabbi Shalom Stambler shares, “It is very significant for us to be celebrating Jewish holidays, and particularly the seder night, which symbolizes Jewish freedom and the day that we united as a nation, in a place that not long ago others sought to destroy us. Throughout the ages, the Jewish people have been oppressed by many nations, yet we have always emerged triumphant!”
The White House on Sunday, echoing President Donald Trump, said sending undocumented migrants to sanctuary cities throughout the United States that have protected them from deportation remains a possibility even though government agencies have said it would be impractical and there is no money allocated to do it.
“We certainly are looking at all options as long as opposition Democrats refuse to acknowledge the crisis at the border,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told the “Fox News Sunday” show. Nobody thinks this is the ideal solution,” sending migrants to sanctuary cities. But she said mayors of cities “who want this… should be looking to help” Trump resolve the crisis at the border. She accused Congress of wanting to spend “all of its time investigating the president” rather than dealing with the immigration turmoil at the border. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
“We certainly are looking at all options as long as opposition Democrats refuse to acknowledge the crisis at the border,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told the “Fox News Sunday” show.
Trump said late Saturday on Twitter, “Democrats must change the Immigration Laws FAST. If not, Sanctuary Cities must immediately ACT to take care of the Illegal Immigrants–and this includes Gang Members, Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers, and Criminals of all shapes, sizes and kinds. CHANGE THE LAWS NOW!”
Hundreds of cities, along with California, the country’s most populous state, have declared themselves as havens for migrants who have illegally crossed the southern U.S. border with Mexico, refusing the help U.S. immigration officials to track down the immigrants so they can be deported.
U.S. border authorities apprehended more than 100,000 undocumented migrants, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, at the border in March, nearly twice that in the same month in 2018.
“The USA has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Cities,” Trump said. “We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California, which is well known for its poor management & high taxes!”
Trump said late Saturday on Twitter, “Democrats must change the Immigration Laws FAST. If not, Sanctuary Cities must immediately ACT to take care of the Illegal Immigrants–and this includes Gang Members, Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers, and Criminals of all shapes, sizes and kinds. CHANGE THE LAWS NOW!” Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The U.S. now houses thousands of migrants at the border but is running out of beds and instead is releasing new arrivals into the U.S. on their promise to appear at asylum hearings that might not occur for two years.
The Department of Homeland Security has said that Congress has not appropriated any money to transport the migrants from the border to far-flung sanctuary cities across the U.S., while the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency has called it an “unnecessary operational burden.”
Sanders said, “Nobody thinks this is the ideal solution,” sending migrants to sanctuary cities. But she said mayors of cities “who want this… should be looking to help” Trump resolve the crisis at the border. She accused Congress of wanting to spend “all of its time investigating the president” rather than dealing with the immigration turmoil at the border.
Trump tweeted, “So interesting to see the Mayor of Oakland and other Sanctuary Cities NOT WANT our currently ‘detained immigrants’ after release due to the ridiculous court ordered 20-day rule. If they don’t want to serve our Nation by taking care of them, why should other cities & towns?”
Trump was referring to a court ruling prohibiting the U.S. from detaining migrant minors, those under 18 years old, for more than 20 days, before being required to release them to relatives in the U.S. or other care givers.
A key Republican lawmaker, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told another Fox News show, “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” that after the current two-week congressional recess ends, he would introduce legislation that would authorize the detention of children beyond 20 days, “toughen up our asylum standards,” and allow migrant children to be returned to Central American countries, which is not now allowed once they have entered the United States.
“We’re never going to change this with troops and walls at the border,” Graham said of the immigration crisis. “Doing what we’re doing is not working.”
Border fence between United States and Mexico in Nogales, Arizona. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
He added, “If you get one foot into the United States,” migrants can seek asylum. “The word is out that if you come with a minor, you’re never going to get deported. We need to change that narrative. We need troops at the border. We need a law. But these U.S. laws are insane.”
The plan would put thousands of immigrants in cities that are not only welcoming to them, but also more likely to rebuff federal officials carrying out deportation orders. Many of these locations have more resources to help immigrants make their legal cases to stay in the United States than smaller cities, with some of the nation’s biggest immigration advocacy groups based in places like San Francisco, New York City and Chicago. The downside for the immigrants would be a high cost of living in the cities, according to an AP report.
AP also reported that the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University announced this week that an analysis found that immigrants in sanctuary cities such as New York and Los Angeles are 20% less likely to be arrested out in the community than in cities without such policies.
“With immigrants being less likely to commit crimes than the U.S. born population, and with sanctuary jurisdictions being safer and more productive than non-sanctuary jurisdictions, the data damns this proposal as a politically motivated stunt that seeks to play politics with peoples’ lives,” said George Gascon, district attorney for San Francisco.
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated over the situation at the border, where tens of thousands of immigrant families are crossing each month, many to claim asylum. His administration has attempted several efforts to stop the flow and he recently shook up the top ranks of the Department of Homeland Security.
The idea to ship immigrants to Democratic strongholds was considered twice in recent months, but the White House and Department of Homeland Security said the plan had been rejected. But Trump said Friday he was still considering the idea.
“Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only,” Trump tweeted. He added that, “The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy–so this should make them very happy!”
The transportation of immigrants who are arrested at the border to large and faraway cities would be burdensome and costly at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement is already stretched thin, having released more than 125,000 immigrants into the country pending their immigration court date since Dec. 21. They are currently being released mainly in border states.
The AP report indicated that flights chartered by ICE cost about $7,785 per flight hour, according to the agency, and require multiple staffers, including an in-flight medical professional. The agency also uses commercial flights. Doing longer transports would increase liability for the agency, especially considering that many of the immigrants in its care are families with young children.
And despite the consideration given to releasing the immigrants on the streets to sanctuary cities, the Trump administration actually has plenty of jail space to detain families. As of April 11, the nation’s three facilities to detain immigrant families were nowhere near capacity, including a Pennsylvania facility housing only nine immigrants.
It’s also unclear how long the immigrants would stay in these cities because they are required to provide an address to federal authorities, typically of a family member, as a condition of their release.
“It’s illogical,” said Angela Chan, policy director and senior attorney with the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus. “It’s just alarming that they are spending so much effort and so much time to engage in political theater.”
According to the AP report, the Trump administration has long pushed back against cities with sanctuary policies, which generally prohibit local authorities to cooperate with federal immigration police, often by refusing to hold people arrested on local charges past their release date at the request of immigration officers. More than 100 local governments around the country have adopted a variety of these policies.
“New York City will always be the ultimate city of immigrants, the president’s empty threats won’t change that,” New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said in a statement.
But Trump seemed ready to step up his fight with the cities, vowing to “give them an unlimited supply” of immigrants from the border.
The historic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, with centuries-old historical treasures such as some of the oldest stained-glass windows in the world, burned to the ground in a large fire on Monday — ultimately collapsing portions of the spire, bringing additional turmoil to Paris following months of protests by so-called "Yellow vest" protesters. Photo Credit: YouTube
The historic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, with centuries-old historical treasures such as some of the oldest stained-glass windows in the world, burned to the ground in a large fire on Monday — ultimately collapsing portions of the spire, bringing additional turmoil to Paris following months of protests by so-called “Yellow vest” protesters.
“Everything is burning, nothing will remain from the frame,” Andre Finot, the spokesperson for the Notre Dame cathedral told reporters Monday evening.
Mr. Finot added that the cause of the fire is currently unknown, however, early French media reports quoted fire officials, who said that the blaze could be “potentially linked” to a costly renovation on the Church’s spire.
First responders tried to salvage top-notch artwork in the cathedral, officials said Monday.
The fire started around 6:30 p.m. local time — causing the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to cancel a planned address about the “Yellow Vest” protests throughout France–- which has caused widespread damage and violent riots throughout the country.
“It is like losing a member of one’s own family,” Pierre Guillaume, a Paris resident, told The New York Times. “For me, there are so many memories tied up in it.” The 12th-century cathedral is one of the most infamous religious attraction throughout the world, along the Seine river.
“It’s been 800 years that the Cathedral watches over Paris,” Camille Pascal, a French historian, told BFM. “Happy and unfortunate events for centuries have been marked by the bells of Notre Dame.”
“We can be only horrified by what we see,” he added.
“This is just horrible,” Mohamed Megdoul, a local film producer told The Times. “A thousand years of history which is being wiped away.”
“This belonged to the whole world, and now it is disappearing,” he continued.
“So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” President Donald Trump posted on Twitter, responding to the disaster. “Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”
The Cathedral was quickly evacuated shortly after the blaze began — resulting in no casualties thus far.
French law enforcement officials began, minutes later, blowing whistles, directing residents, visitors, and tourists and move away from the blaze, reports said.
“A terrible fire is underway at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris,” Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, said on Twitter. “I invite everyone to respect the security perimeter.”
“There’s a history of churches and synagogues and other houses of worship falling victim to construction fires,” Glenn Corbett, a Professor of Fire Science at John Jay College, which is located in New York, told The Times.
French President Emanuel Macron said on Twitter that he is “sad tonight to see this part of us burn.” Speaking in a televised address to the nation, said he wants the Notre Dame Cathedral to be rebuilt in five years. “We will rebuild Notre Dame even more beautiful and I want that to be done in the next five years,” he said.
He continued: “Throughout our history, we have built towns, ports, churches. Many have been burnt due to revolutions, wars, due to mankind’s mistakes. Each time we have rebuilt them.
“The fire of Notre Dame reminds us that our story never ends. And that we will always have challenges to overcome. What we believe to be indestructible can also be touched,” Macron said.
The full restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral will take between “10 to 15 years,” according to Frédéric Létoffé, the head of the group of companies for the Restoration of Historic Monuments, as was reported by CNN.
Létoffé, speaking at a news conference in Paris on Tuesday, said the site will need to be secured before any restoration work can take place.
“This will require a lot of work since, beyond shoring and reinforcement, it will be necessary to build a scaffolding with an umbrella to be able to cover the entire roof that went missing, to ensure protection against weathering” he said.
The exact cause of the blaze wasn’t known, but French media quoted the fire brigade as saying it was “potentially linked” to a 6 million-euro ($6.8 million) renovation project on the church’s spire and its 250 tons of lead. The Paris Prosecutor’s office, which was investigating, said it was treating it as an accident.
Notre Dame, a survivor of wars and revolutions, has stood for centuries as not merely the greatest of the Gothic cathedrals and a towering jewel of Western architecture.
And so it was that across the globe Monday, a stunned and helpless art world wept alongside the people of France as a massive fire ravaged the beloved cathedral, according to an AP report.
Construction on Notre Dame — French for “Our Lady” — began in the 12th century and continued for nearly 200 years. It sustained damage and fell into neglect during the French Revolution, but received renewed attention following the 1831 publication of Victor Hugo’s novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.” This led to two decades of restorations, including the cathedral’s famous flying buttresses and a reconstructed spire, according to the AP report.
While most kings were crowned elsewhere, Napoleon Bonaparte made sure he was crowned there in 1804, and married there in 1810.
Aside from the structure, art experts were concerned about the fate of countless priceless artworks and artifacts inside, including relics like the crown of thorns, which is only occasionally displayed.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said he was praying for Notre Dame, which he called “second maybe to St. Peter’s Basilica, (in) … the ability of a church to lift our minds and hearts back to the Lord.”
“For the French, my God, for the world, Notre Dame Cathedral represents what’s most notable, what’s most uplifting, what’s most inspirational about the human project,” he said.
Jeremy Corbyn, who leads the UK's Labour party allegedly said behind closed doors that evidence of anti-Semitism inside the left-wing political party has been "mislaid, ignored or not used," according to The Sunday Times. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Jeremy Corbyn, who leads the UK’s Labour party allegedly said behind closed doors that evidence of anti-Semitism inside the left-wing political party has been “mislaid, ignored or not used,” according to The Sunday Times.
Dame Margaret Hodge, a member of Mr. Corbyn’s recorded a meeting with him in February where he made the remarks.
“The point of him (Falconer) is that he will look at the speed of dealing with cases, the administration of them, and the collation of the evidence before it is put before appropriate panels and things,” Mr. Corbyn said in the recording, according to the Sunday Times. “Because I was concerned that evidence was either being mislaid, ignored or not used and that there had to be some better system.”
Mr. Corbin also said that he receives a lot of death threats.
“You see, I get a huge amount of abusive stuff, mostly, some of it’s quite threatening, you know, murder and stuff,” he said.
The Jewish Labour movement recently passed a vote of no confidence in Mr. Corbyn over his handling of allegations of antisemitism which have engulfed Britain’s Labour party.
A spokesperson for the Labour party pushed back against claims that Mr. Corbyn and party leaders ignored allegations of antisemitism.
“This shows Jeremy Corbyn’s desire to make procedures as robust and efficient as possible and to rebuild trust with the Jewish community,” Mr. Corbyn’s spokesperson said. “We don’t comment on staffing matters. Complaints are being handled in the usual way.”
“The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms,” the party’s spokesperson continued. “All complaints about antisemitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”
They added: “Jeremy Corbyn was referring to concerns about longstanding, inherited procedures and expressed his commitment to make them as robust and efficient as possible and to rebuild trust with the Jewish community–which is the right thing to do.”
“Before Jennie Formby became general secretary, we were alarmed that at times it seemed that former compliance unit staffers were targeting Jewish activists not in breach of rules while obstructing action on clear-cut cases of antisemitism,” a source inside the Labour party told Sky News.
“If Labour does not re-confirm its support for a confirmatory public vote on any Brexit deal in its manifesto then it will hemorrhage votes to parties who do have a clear message,” said Richard Corbett, who leads the Labour party in the European parliament.
