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Shabbos, March 7, 2020 (11 Adar) marks the 100^th yahrzeit of Yosef Trumpeldor, an early pioneer hero who died defending Tel Chai in the Galilee against Arab marauders.

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq. released the following statement:

By Tuesday morning, February 25, roughly 100 rockets had targeted the southern region of Israel and as far as Ashkelon, Netivot and Sderot in barely two days time, all emerging from the Gaza Strip. Only two light body injuries were reported after 90% of the strikes were intercepted by the Iron Dome Defense System. According to Arutz Sheva, one rocket landed in the Eshkol Regional Council rendering one building uninhabitable. A Sderot playground on the grounds of Max and Ruth Schwartz Hesder of Sderot yeshiva was hit by a rocket, exploding just 65 feet from the school’s walls where Rabbi Asher Weiss was leading a class. “We will rebuild the playground, it will be the most beautiful in the city,” hesder yeshiva dean Rabbi Dovid Fendel promised as a specialized team of yeshiva scholars cordoned the area and remained on hand to aid those suffering from shock. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas reacted to this incident on twitter, “This is wrong. This is cowardly. This is disgusting. This is something every single one of my colleagues in Congress should be able to agree upon – that Israeli children should not have to live their lives in fear.” Hesder students typically serve in the Israeli military while continuing their advanced Talmudic studies.

Visit included trip to the site of the former death camp

 In late August 2019, I had the opportunity to visit Poland as a guest of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation. Together, our delegation of federal government employees spent one week diving into graduate level coursework on the heart-wrenching history of atrocities perpetrated against mankind, and atrocity prevention strategies so that we may better identify, counteract and prevent future acts of violence against humanity. Genocide has been perpetrated over the centuries all over the world, but the scope of the Holocaust is unparalleled. Two-thirds of the Jews in Europe were exterminated during this time. 

As part of the State’s 2020 Budget, the New York Legislature enacted sweeping changes to the criminal justice system. While a sizeable portion focuses on overhauling the current discovery and speedy trial laws, public attention has gravitated toward the dramatically transformed bail structure. Specifically, monetary release conditions or “cash bail” (e.g., cash, credit card, bonds) have been eliminated for virtually all misdemeanors and non-violent felonies – meaning that persons charged with “non-qualifying” offenses must be released from custody. Additionally, law enforcement officers must issue desk appearance tickets (a formal arrest without being held until arraignment) to individuals charged with misdemeanors and Class E felonies (the lowest class level of felony offenses) in lieu of effecting a custodial arrest unless they have an outstanding warrant, a temporary order of protection is being sought, or a driver’s license suspension is mandated.

CNN came under fire this week when two of their employees were exposed for vile, anti-Semitic tweets back in 2011. Although there has been one resignation so far, anyone familiar with CNN’s history should not be surprised that their vetting process did not catch this, prior to hiring these employees. They have long since turned a blind eye to a certain type of bigotry, namely bigotry towards Jews.