News

Dirshu Shas Yidden Tested on Shas for the Second Time

It was an absolute unique maamad that transpired in the home of HaGaon HaRav Berel Povarsky, shlita, senior Rosh Yeshiva at the Ponovezh Yeshiva. Rav Berel was so deeply moved by what he saw that at the end of the event he exclaimed, “I am so overjoyed that Baruch Hashem, Klal Yisroel is not orphaned. We have true bekiim in Shas with whom we can go and greet Moshiach!”

Measles has certainly been the hot topic as of late, discussed in many shuls, newspapers, and Facebook groups. We know that measles has been an issue for months, so why are we just waking up now? What is measles and why should we be afraid of contracting it? How did a once-eradicated disease rear its ugly head? Why our community? What should we be doing to stop it from spreading further?

The t’filin are 89 years old, but no one looking at them could know their history, where they had been, or what their owner had endured while he was a prisoner during World War II.

­ Sunday, April 14, Flushing

 Part 1 or a 3 part series.

What went wrong at this year's "A Different Pesach Program" and who saved the day? Last year Ben Atkin, the owner of A Different Pesach Program ran two Pesach programs. This year he combined the two into one and planned to have 1,000 guests. He hired an operations manager so he would not need to be on site. Ben put deposits on 120 homes, advertised extensively and as Pesach grew near he was in the unenviable position of having about only half the guests he expected and a fraction of what he had last year. The reservations he was expecting just did not come through in the numbers he expected. Financially, the program was no longer feasible but it was also very late to cancel. Where would his guests go? Many were flying in and had already purchased tickets. Some money was already lost on canceling homes that were not needed, advertising dollars could not be recouped, food was already being prepared by the truckload. All of the homes were paid for except about $900 was still due on each of 11 homes.

The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) recently praised a decision by Airbnb to abandon its plan to delist homes in Judea and Samaria in Israel. The company also announced that it would contribute any proceeds that are generated from bookings in those regions to non-profit humanitarian organizations. After its initial declaration about placing restrictions on bookings in Israel, Airbnb was sued over its policy, both in the United States and Israel.