Yeshiva World News

The White House has created a new Twitter account to promote the international agreement to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.

@TheIranDeal urges people to tweet their questions and promises to “set the record straight.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday the account also would serve as a forum for those who were involved in negotiating the agreement.

The White House also set up an online resource page at Whitehouse.gov/irandeal offering facts, graphics and videos.

Congress has 60 days to review the agreement, which has attracted heavy opposition from Republican legislators.

© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or

(AP)

Amid mounting reports of corruption in the Jerusalem Religious Council and kashrus services, Israel Police raided the offices of the Netanya Religious Council.

In this case, the raid was prompted by an investigation into illegal activities in the religious council uncovered during an undercover investigation. Police arrived at the location on Tuesday morning 5 Menachem Av.

The extent of the alleged corruption and monetary law-breaking activities have not been revealed by police at this time.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

All parents dream that their child will one day grow to be a talmid chocham, a baal chesed, and a yarei shamayim. But how to set our children on the right track to achieving those goals? Of course we have our hand as parents, but surely a powerful percentage of chinuch comes from outside of the home. Consequently, we know, it is absolutely essential that a boy’s cheder experience be the best that  it can be.

Founded over 15 years ago through the efforts of Rav C. L. Rottenberg shlita, Cheder Ateres Tzvi is located in Suffern, NY, just ten minutes from the center of Monsey. Its location allows for it to be both conveniently central, and peacefully removed. The beautiful campus is located on 3 lush green acres guaranteed to give its students the opportune environment to learn and be inspired.

Its team of dedicated and experienced Rebbeim includes Menahel Rabbi Greenfeld, who has many years of experience in educating and guiding young talmidim. Cheder Ateres Tzvi is regarded throughout Monsey for its exceptional concern for each and every boy. The cheder encourages parents to actively collaborate with Rebbeim in guiding their child through his learning and growth.

The curriculum at Cheder Ateres Tzvi excels both in education and in its emphasis on midos tovos. Learning in Yiddish gives the talmidim a connection to the way that heimishe chedarim have always been. In addition to the cheder’s high caliber limudei kodesh program, the cheder prides itself on an exceptional English program. Their English program features a well-developed curriculum and is a feature which sets it apart from other chedarim.

This year it is under the distinguished rabbinic leadership of HaRav Chaim Leibush Rottenberg shlita,  HaRav Moshe Yaakov Horowitz shlita, and HaRav Yaakov Moshe Twersky shlita.

If you’re interested in learning more about how this remarkable heimishe cheder can unlock your child’s potential, email ChederATS@gmail.com or call 8453691515. Limited space is available.

The general tapped to be the next Army chief of staff says if legal issues could be resolved he thinks it would be appropriate, in some cases, to arm soldiers manning recruiting stations.

At his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Gen. Mark Milley responded to questions about last week’s one-man assault on two U.S. military facilities, including a recruiting station, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Four Marines and a sailor were killed.

Separately, the U.S. military also has outlined security upgrades for recruiting stations, reserve centers and other facilities, military officials have said.

Milley is currently head of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

(AP)

Shortly following his retirement, it is reported that during his tenure as chief of police, Yochanan Danino spent no less than NIS 900,000 for travel abroad. The former chief’s retirement party is also under investigation as it had a reported price tag in excess of NIS 400,000.

The NIS 900,000 sum includes travel for Danino and his entourage from 2012-2015. He flew abroad 12 times during this time period and in most cases, he brought a delegation of officers with him. According to the Walla News report, funding for officers accompanying Danino did not always come from the department but from Israeli organizations including the Abraham Fund and even from a Chinese police organization.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Nearly three-fourths of Americans think the United States should have diplomatic ties with Cuba, but they’re not sure how far to go in lifting sanctions, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Monday as full diplomatic relations between the two countries were formally restored.

“Relations between Cuba and the U.S. I think are long overdue. There’s no threat there,” said Alex Bega, 30, of Los Angeles. “I think the sanctions we have on them are pretty much obsolete.”

The resumption of normal ties ended decades of acrimony between the two nations that was hardened when President John F. Kennedy and Cuba’s Fidel Castro fought over Soviet expansion in the Americas. The new diplomatic status, however, does not erase lingering disputes, such as mutual claims for economic reparations, Havana’s desire to end a more than 50-year-old trade embargo and the U.S. push for Cuba to improve human rights and democracy.

The new poll also found that 58 percent of Americans approve of President Barack Obama’s handling of the U.S. relationship with Havana while 40 disapprove. By contrast, only 39 percent approve of his handling of the U.S. role in world affairs more generally, while 59 percent disapprove.

“I just disapprove of his politics in general,” said Julie Smith, 40, a university administrator from Bowling Green, Kentucky. “I just don’t think that us trying to improve relations with Cuba is beneficial to the United States.”

Respondents were split on what to do about the sanctions on Cuba. Forty-eight percent thought they should be decreased or eliminated entirely while 47 percent favored keeping them at their current level or increasing them. Five percent didn’t answer.

The story was different when it came to Iran.

Seventy-seven percent said they thought sanctions on Tehran should be kept where they are or increased, according to the poll, which was conducted just days before the U.S. signed an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief. Under the agreement, Iran’s nuclear program will be curbed for a decade in exchange for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of relief from international sanctions.

Mary Barry, 57, of Arlington, Texas, is happy that the Obama administration opened diplomatic efforts with both Cuba and Iran, but is wary about lifting sanctions on the two countries.

“I think we need to have diplomatic relations with Iran and monitor their nuclear weapon,” said Berry, who works producing and staging corporate business meetings. But, she said: “I think we need to keep the sanctions in place on Iran to make sure they’re doing what they’ve promised they’re going to do because I think Iran is a country that you can’t really trust.”

On Cuba, she thinks it’s “just time” to restore diplomatic relations. But she favors a gradual lifting of sanctions on Cuba. “I don’t think they should be lifted immediately,” she said.

There is some momentum in Congress, however, to lift the trade embargo.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., backs a bipartisan bill in the Senate to lift the embargo, which she said must be done for the U.S. to avoid losing investment opportunities that will come with loosening of travel restrictions to the island.

“Once millions of American tourists are going, they will need places to stay and they will need food to eat. … So when they come, they are going to be starting to sleep in Spanish hotels and eat German foods because those countries will be able to supply what they need in the tourism industry, not to mention the computers and Wi-Fi and everything else,” Klobuchar said in an interview.

She predicted the legislation, which has 20 co-sponsors so far, would pass, although maybe not this year. “I know there are some people who have long been opposed to this,” she said.

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey thinks the Obama administration’s work to restore relations is an attempt to validate the Castro regime’s “brutal behavior.”

“I remain deeply concerned with ongoing human rights violations in Cuba,” Menendez said Monday. “There have been over 2,800 political arrests on the island this year alone.”

The AP-GfK Poll of 1,004 adults was conducted online July 9 to July 13, using a sample drawn from GfK’s probability-based KnowledgePanel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Respondents were first selected randomly using phone or mail survey methods, and later interviewed online. People selected for KnowledgePanel who didn’t otherwise have access to the Internet were provided access at no cost to them.

(AP)

All Bnei Brak mikve employees will take first aid courses and first aid equipment will be placed in the city’s mikvaos. The plan is the initiative of Bnei Brak Councilman Ezra Avraham Green, who is responsible for the city’s mikvaos. Green will be working with Asher Slomowitz, who is the head of Hatzalah Gush Dan.

It was explained that tens of thousands of people use the city’s mikvaos monthly, so it is quite obvious why the first aid course are essential.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Real estate mogul and Republican presidential contender Donald Trump says he’s apologized to Sen. John McCain about comments mocking his war hero status.

Trump questioned McCain’s military service during a speech to supporters over the weekend saying he wasn’t a war hero.

“He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,” said Trump.

But on Tuesday, Trump said it’s time to move forward.

“He’s already been apologized to. I sent the statement. I gave news conferences. The issue is really about vets and taking care of the vets. Our vets are being treated horribly. I hope people weren’t offended,” said Trump.

McCain, a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War, was shot down. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war for years.

The backlash has been intense.

The Des Moines Register, the largest newspaper in early-voting Iowa, published an editorial Monday night calling on Trump to drop out of the race.

But despite the comments, Trump is leading in the polls among the GOP.

On Tuesday, ‘the Donald’ tweeted: “Just got great national poll numbers- double digit lead! Thank you, we will all MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’

The tough-talking New York City native has the support of 24 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, according to the Washington Post.

The latest poll numbers are a jump of sixfold since late May.

In early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Trump backers are arguing the controversy is being overblown by the media and opponents who fear his sudden rise in the polls.

(AP)

On Monday, 4 Menachem Av, Honenu attorneys Yuval Zemer and Aharon Roza were finally allowed to meet with some of the youths who have been detained for more than one week on suspicion of involvement with an arson incident at a church in the region of the Kinneret.

The detainees revealed to the attorneys that they were abused by the ISA interrogators who threatened them, humiliated them and shouted at them. They are being held in an ISA facility, in solitary confinement under extremely harsh conditions including interrogation on Shabbos.

Zemer stated that his client, a 16-year-old minor, was “extremely brutally” interrogated and was prevented from meeting with an attorney for five days. At a deliberation on his case it was revealed that he was interrogated eight times in three days, three by the police and five by the ISA.

“For many hours he was interrogated while he was handcuffed to his chair and several interrogators were shouting at him and threatening him. Also, despite the fact that he is religious he was interrogated twice on Shabbos, without there being any justification for doing so,” said Honenu attorney Yuval Zemer and added that, “These actions were meant to break his spirit but did not succeed. The very use of such methods indicates the desperation of the investigators, who know that he is being held on suspicions which are not connected in any way to the incident.”

Unfortunately abuse of detainees by ISA interrogators is not a new phenomenon. In February 2013, 16-year-old youths were held in cells meant for terrorists. Later on during the case detainees were released due to lack of progress in the investigation. Also in May 2014, there were several cases in which the ISA placed detainees under extreme physical and psychological pressure, including interrogations 21 hours a day and interrogations on Shabbos, which prompted the father of a detainee to request intervention by the Chief Rabbis of Israel so that his son would not be forced to violate Shabbos. In June 2014, following reports by Honenu on the abuse by ISA interrogators of detainees, Member of Knesset David Azoulai (Shas) asked the Prime Minister to look into the matter.

Almost one year later the abuse had not ceased. In March of 2015 two detainees were held for prolonged interrogations by the ISA for 11 days, during the first nine of which they were banned from meeting with an attorney. The detainees described severe interrogations during which their interrogators insulted them, threatened them and shouted at them while they were shackled to a small chair attached to the floor, sometimes for 16 hours straight.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Iranian lawmakers set up a special committee to review the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers last week after the country’s foreign minister earlier on Tuesday presented parliament with a copy of the agreement.

The development came a day after the U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed the deal, which reins in Iran’s nuclear program and authorized measures leading to the end of U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran.

Under Iran’s constitution, parliament has a right to reject any deal — even one negotiated by the foreign ministry — but it is unlikely that the lawmakers would act against it after the deal won an endorsement from the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who headed the Iranian negotiating team during the talks in Vienna, first submitted the text to the house on Tuesday. Hours later, the official IRNA news agency reported the formation of a 15-member special committee of lawmakers to review the deal.

The committee is apparently a way to provide the lawmakers — especially hard-liners who had vehemently opposed to deal from the start, though they have mostly remained silent about it since last week — with an opportunity to discuss various points and air their opinions on it.

Zarif, in a speech in parliament that was broadcast on state radio, hailed the Security Council resolution as “unique” and said he expected it to be “the last resolution about Iran’s nuclear issue” — a reference to numerous past U.N. measures that imposed tough sanctions on Tehran.

It remained unclear whether the committee will formalize a statement at the end of its review, and whether lawmakers would vote on that — or on the deal in general.

The Security Council also approved a provision that would automatically reinstate the harsh measures if Tehran reneges on its promises given in Vienna.

Zarif, apparently trying to defuse concerns by hard-liners over snap-back sanctions, said such a move would exact a “heavy price” on the other side as well.

“If for any reason, Security Council sanctions are re-imposed, Iran will not be obliged to abide by its commitments” under the nuclear deal, Zarif said, adding that it is not in the interest of both sides to go back to the pre-deal situation.

Under the agreement, Iran’s nuclear program will be curbed for a decade in exchange for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of relief from international sanctions. Many key penalties on the Iranian economy, such as those related to the energy and financial sectors, could be lifted by the end of the year.

One prominent official who has spoken against the deal is the head of the powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, who said last week that his force has “some concerns” about the draft.

Those points, he said on Saturday, “are clearly in contradiction and violation of important red lines of Iran, especially regarding arms capabilities.”

“They will never be acceptable to us,” Jafari was quoted as saying at the time, without elaborating.

The United States and its Western allies believe Tehran’s real goal is to build atomic weapons but Iran insists its nuclear program is purely peaceful, aimed at producing nuclear energy and medical isotopes.

Zarif said Tuesday that the U.N. resolution also opens the way for Iran to commercially trade its uranium. Under the deal, Iran has to dismantle two thirds of its already installed centrifuges for enriching uranium and get rid of 98 percent of its uranium stockpile.

(AP)

Police have labeled the death of Rabbi Asher Toledano, director of the mosdos in Yavniel a suicide but family members insist the rav was murdered. Family members explain he was murdered due to his control over the estate of Rav Shick ZT”L, the Tzaddik of Yavniel.

Rabbi Toledano died of his injuries in Poriah Hospital in Tiveria. He arrived with a plastic zip tie locked around his neck. It is pointed out the rav arrived in the hospital on the day there was to be a court hearing to rule over Rabbi Toledano’s control of the mosdos.

A son told police that a month before the petira of the tzaddik, his father was appointed head of the mosdos and now he was killed in connection to the dispute over control of the mosdos that began with Rav Shick’s petira. He adds the appointment was also mentioned in Rav Shick’s will, a will that was written in the last days of his life. However, following Rav Shick’s petira the Yavniel community has split over who runs the mosdos. Speaking with Channel 2 evening news, Yedid Toledano, the son, explained his father was murdered as the power struggle continues and the police determination that the death was suicide is incorrect. “My father was a victim. I urged him to leave a number of times, and he knew he could pay with his life, and this is what occurred”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

British prosecutors have charged two men with trying to join the Islamic State extremist group in Syria.

One of the men is also charged with planning a terrorist attack on U.S. military personnel in Britain.

The Crown Prosecution Service said Tuesday that 24-year-old Junead Ahmed Khan and his 22-year-old uncle Shazib Ahmed Khan have been charged with trying to join the extremist group. Junead Khan was also charged with plotting to attack U.S. military personnel.

“We have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to charge Junead Khan and Shazib Khan with the intention of committing acts of terrorism,” said Deborah Walsh, deputy head of Counter Terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service.

The men were arrested last week in Luton, north of London.

A third man who had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism at the same time has been released without being charged. He has not been named.

British officials say some 700 Britons have traveled to Syria in support of the militant group.

The two are scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later Tuesday.

(AP)

The Jerusalem City Council has approved funding for the Reform Movement affiliated Hebrew Union College, Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) reports on Tuesday, 5 Menachem Av. According to the report, the approval for funding was made with the knowledge of chareidi city councilmen.

Councilman Chanan Rubin of the Hisorarus party told Galei Tzahal “I spoke with chareidi councilman and told them there is a concept of ’70 faces to torah’ and this is a Jewish concept. The understood that Jerusalem is a city that has a diverse population and worthy of support for the Jewish renewal in the city. I really appreciate their courage”.

He added “While the chareidi parties had an interest in approving the allocation towards receiving money for their organizations, it still represents a move that cannot be taken for granted in Jerusalem politics”.

Deputy Mayor (Bnei Torah) Chaim Epstein told Galei Tzahal “It is a disgrace that chareidi councilman from Shas and Yahadut Hatorah sit in such a meeting and do not bother reading the details”.

Yahadut Hatorah councilman deny the matter was even raised during the meeting, denying the accuracy of the report.

Jerusalem City Hall states “The city gives subsidies and grants to organizations and institutions in accordance with the law and in accordance with criteria defined and transparent so that any organization meeting the criteria may receive support”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A group of parents whose children were killed in the Germanwings plane crash in March have written a scathing letter to Lufthansa’s CEO, accusing him of ignoring their needs and feelings.

The parents of 16 students from the town of Haltern killed in the crash have accused Carsten Spohr of never having spoken with relatives to apologize.

In the letter, provided Tuesday by their lawyer, they say “we’ve heard nothing from you.”

Lufthansa says Spohr has talked with many victims’ families and attended several memorials.

The letter comes amid negotiations with Lufthansa, Germanwings’ parent airline, over compensation.

Lufthansa has offered around 100,000 euros ($108,000) per family, depending upon its size.

The families say in their letter the offer “deeply insults us, and above all else our children.”

(AP)

A snapshot of things to know about Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who’s declaring his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday:

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THE BRIEF

Kasich rose to prominence in 1997, when as House Budget chairman he became the chief architect of a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969. He rode his reputation as a fiscal conservative to a White House bid in 2000, but soon dropped out. After 18 years in Congress, Kasich left Washington in 2001 for a decade-long stint as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. He staged a political comeback in 2010, narrowly defeating a once-popular Democratic incumbent to become Ohio governor. He proceeded to cut, reshape or privatize much of Ohio government, erasing a projected $8 billion budget gap and seeing employment restored to pre-recession levels. Labor unions, armed with video of Kasich calling a police officer an idiot, prevailed in a 2011 clash, winning repeal of a law he’d signed curtailing collective bargaining rights for public employees. Kasich cites his Christian faith for his pragmatic mix of policy positions — favoring income-tax cuts and smaller government while supporting Medicaid expansion under the federal health care law and certain tax increases. He says he hasn’t abandoned the conservative agenda but redefines it around core American values.

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RESUME REVIEW

Kasich defeated an incumbent Democrat in 1978 to become the youngest person elected to the Ohio Senate, at age 26. Four years later, he was elected to the U.S. House, where he served nine terms. In a three-year blaze of activity after his work as lead negotiator on the balanced budget, he wrote a best-selling book, declined re-election to Congress, made a brief run for president and landed a show on Fox News, “Heartland with John Kasich.” In 2001, the year he left Washington, he began his years at Lehman Brothers. He’s been governor since January 2011.

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PERSONAL STORY

Kasich was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, on May 13, 1952, the son of a mail carrier. His grandparents were Hungarian, Czech and Croatian immigrants. Kasich left the blue-collar town outside Pittsburgh to attend Ohio State University in Columbus, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science. As a freshman, he wrote to President Richard Nixon praising his leadership and requesting a meeting. Nixon obliged, giving him 20 minutes. Kasich was raised Catholic but turned to a more fundamentalist brand of Christianity after his parents were killed by a drunk driver. John and Karen Waldbillig Kasich have twin 15-year-old daughters, Emma and Reese. They chose to live in their own home in a Columbus suburb rather than the governor’s residence.

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CALLING CARD MOMENT

Kasich endured years of litigation, political resistance and media investigations after he privatized Ohio’s economic development department, designing the nonprofit JobsOhio to “move at the speed of business.” In March, he announced that Ohio had regained the more than the 406,000 private-sector jobs lost during the recession, a fulfilment of a campaign promise and, as he saw it, a vindication of his effort. Ohio’s recovery mirrored national trends. But he said JobsOhio, tax cuts and innovation in government set an example for other states.

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EARLY STATE ACTION

Kasich has been a frequent visitor to New Hampshire and South Carolina and, in June, made his first trip to Iowa since running for president 15 years ago. Kasich also traveled extensively around the country earlier this year to champion a federal balanced budget amendment. He’s off to early-voting states after his announcement.

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READING LIST

Kasich wrote “Courage is Contagious” in 1998, chronicling the stories of 20 “everyday Americans” working to improve their communities. Kasich has written two subsequent books: “Stand for Something: The Battle for America’s Soul” in 2006 and “Every Other Monday: Twenty Years of Life, Lunch, Faith, and Friendship” in 2011, featuring discussions and anecdotes from his twice-a-month prayer group.

(AP)