Investigators recovered an old cellphone and computer yesterday from Brooklyn kid-murder suspect Levi Aron’s home, sources said.
Cops spent most of their time in the basement of Aron’s Kensington home, and will check the phone and computer for evidence, sources said.
The cops hauled five boxes and three large bags of evidence from the East Second Street house of horrors yesterday, where Aron allegedly drugged, suffocated and butchered 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky,
(Source: NY Post)
Cutting Nails
One is permitted to cut nails during the three weeks.78 A mohel is permitted to cut his nail in order to perform a bris more efficiently.79
Reciting a Shehechiyanu and Buying New Items
It is a good practice80 to refrain from reciting a shehechiyanu on a fruit or garment during the three weeks81 (until the tenth of Av)82 (please note the below discussion only pertains to a fruit or garment that requires a shehechiyanu to be recited according to halacha. In addition this discussion is not referring to the nine days where the halachos are more stringent). Some say the custom is only to refrain from a shehechiyanu from the nine days (see below) but not before.83 The reason for the custom is since this time is a time of “unpleasant occurrences” it is not the time to say the beracha of shehechiyanu where we mention being brought to this time.84
A woman who is expecting is allowed to eat a fruit even if she will have to make a shehechiyanu on it since if she wants a food and does not have it there can be a danger.85
From the fact that one should not recite a shehechiyanu during these days, we learn that one should also not buy any clothing which would require him to recite a shehechiyanu.86
Some say one who mistakenly recited a beracha rishona on a fruit which requires a shehechiyanu should recite a shehechiyanu on it before eating it.87
According to the above, one would be permitted to buy a chashuv88 item during the three weeks as long as no shehechiyanu is recited on its purchase.89 Some still say that something which is “chashuv” should not be bought during this time.90 A sefer that one does not recite a shehechiyanu on (not chashuv, or according to those poskim that no shehechiyanu is recited on seforim) is permitted to be bought until Rosh Chodesh Av.91 Some say if avoiding the purchase of an item will cause a loss, one should just give a down payment for it and pay the rest after the three weeks, 92others are more lenient. Some say an item which one does not wear when he buys it (i.e. clothing which requires alternation) and he would recite a shehechiyanu when wearing it, would be permitted to buy during the three weeks in order to wear it after Tisha B’av.93 A new garment which one bought before the three weeks and recited a shehechiyanu on it (according to those who say a shehechiyanu is not recited at the time of wearing but at the time of the purchase) at that time is permitted to wear it for the first time until Rosh Chodesh Av.94
One is permitted to recite a shehechiyanu on a mitzvah such as a pidyon haben95or bris.96 In addition, one is permitted to recite hatov v’hameitiv during the entire three weeks.97 For example, one is permitted to buy a car until Rosh Chodesh Av if it will be used for his family.98
One who gives birth to a girl may recite a shehechiyanyu, even if the girl is born during the three weeks.99
Some have the custom that one should refrain from moving into a new home during the three weeks.100
Compiled by Rabbi Moishe Dovid Lebovits who can be reached at mlebovits@kof-k.org
Reviewed by Rabbi Ben-zion Schiffenbauer Shlita
All Piskei Harav Yisrael Belsky Shlita are Reviewed by Harav Yisrael Belsky Shlita
My daughter says this is a delicious weeknight dish, served over rice.
2 pounds pepper steak strips
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup ketchup
½ cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon pepper
1 onion, sliced
1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms, drained
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, ketchup, water, soy sauce and pepper. Add steak strips, onion, mushrooms and green pepper and mix well. Pour into 9 x 13-inch pan and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 2 hours.
By Emuna Braverman and Elizabeth Kurtz, of www.gourmetkoshercooking.com
www.gourmetkoshercooking.com is a new and exciting site where you will find over 900 great kosher recipes – with particular emphasis on ideas for Shabbos and holidays, the best new kosher products, gorgeous table top decor, articles on kosher wine and healthy eating, featured giveaways, travel, cooking with kids and much more. Content is updated weekly so visit us often. Your family will be glad you did!
Airlines are tossing consumers aside and grabbing the benefit of lower federal taxes on travel tickets.
By Saturday night, nearly all the major U.S. airlines had raised fares to offset taxes that expired the night before.
That means instead of passing along the savings, the airlines are pocketing the money while customers pay the same amount as before.
American, United, Continental, Delta, US Airways, Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue all raised fares, although details sometimes differed. Most of the increases were around 7.5 percent.
For consumers who wanted to shop around, only a few airlines were still passing the tax break on to passengers Saturday night, including Virgin America, Frontier Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
The expiring taxes can total $25 or more on a typical $300 round-trip ticket. They died after midnight Friday night when Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running.
That gave airlines a choice: They could do nothing — and pass the savings to customers — or grab some of the money themselves.
“We adjusted prices so the bottom-line price of a ticket remains the same as it was before … expiration of federal excise taxes,” said American spokesman Tim Smith. US Airways spokesman John McDonald said much the same thing — passengers will pay the same amount for a ticket as they did before the taxes expired.
They declined to say whether the increases would be rescinded if Congress revives the travel taxes.
(Source: USA Today)
Monsey, NY – A man believed to have left his 2-year-old daughter inside a parked car for two hours during Friday’s record-breaking heat is facing misdemeanor endangerment charges.
The girl was taken to Nyack Hospital about 2 p.m. after one of her parents called Hatzolah Ambulance to report the girl had been left in the vehicle as it was parked in their driveway, police said. The toddler was not seriously harmed during the incident.
Police believe the windows to the car had been cracked open, they said the alleged actions appear to have been inadvertent .
“He had been running errands, got back to the house and forgot that he had left his daughter in the car.”
He was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree reckless endangerment, misdemeanors. He was released without bail.
The girl was later released from Nyack Hospital to the custody of her parents. Investigation into the case remains ongoing.
(Source: Journal News / MidHudsonNews)
The heat wave is in its sixth day of sweltering temperatures and stifling humidity and has caused power outages across the Tri-state area.
Utilities are reporting record usage and are trying to keep-up with scattered outages. Some places in New York City and Westchester have been dealing with reduced voltage to protect the full grid.
By 5 p.m., Con Ed reported about 12,677 customers without power in New York City. The highest number of customers in the dark was in Queens with 6,632. There were 3,023 customers without power in the Bronx, 1,395 on Staten Island, 1,617 in Brooklyn and 10 in Manhatthan, according to its website.
In Westchester, 95 customers were without power.
By 5 p.m., the Long Island Power Authority reported 2,908 customers without power, 1,509 in Nassau County and 1,350 in Suffolk County.
In New Jersey, PSE&G reported about 4,100 customers statewide without power because of the heat. Jersey Central Power & Light has less than 1,o00 customers without power.
At 5 p.m., Connecticut Light & Power reported around 277 customers without power across the state.
As crews work to restore power around the Tri-state, customers in the dark spent the night sweating it out.
Con Ed is also asking customers to conserve energy by not using energy inefficient appliances and to set their thermostats no lower than 78 degrees. Banda said that each degree lowered saves six percent on cooling costs.
(Source: WCBSTV)
An off-duty New York City detective on vacation was shot at a high-end South Beach boutique hotel early Saturday morning and rushed to Jackson Memorial Ryder Trauma Center.
Miami Beach Police said they don’t know what led to the shooting, but believe it was a random incident. An undetermined number of suspects are at large.
The victim is thought to have been armed at the time of the shooting, and police officials believe he fired at least one shot. One of the suspects may be injured, they said.
The New York detective, not yet identified by police, underwent surgery. Officials said they have not been able to contact the officer’s family, which is why they cannot release his name.
The shooting occurred at approximately 7 a.m. in the bamboo and palm-tree shaded outdoor corridors of 1233 Collins Ave., where the luxury 1233 Lofts are located.
Police had blocked off all of Collins Avenue between 12th and 13th streets to public access and traffic was gridlocked on Collins Avenue as far south as Fifth Street Saturday afternoon. Drivers were being diverted through adjacent streets, creating additional traffic jams along side streets.
Police were still on the scene Saturday afternoon and said the area is expected to remain closed off to the public for at least several hours until the on-scene investigation is complete.
Miami Beach Police Detective Vivian Hernandez said the shooting victim was staying in an apartment unit at the 1233 Lofts, a hotel that also has rental units. Prices range from $199 to $599 a night.
Guests and employees in La Flora Hotel, located on Collins Avenue across from 1233 Lofts, said they heard multiple, consecutive gunshots.
“I heard about eight or nine shots,” said Sharon Curtis, a tourist from London staying at La Flora Hotel. “I was just shocked.”
Police have not released any descriptions of the suspects.
(Source: Miami Herald)
Iran’s president wants to shed the nation’s secrecy and forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons, but is opposed by the clerical leadership, which is worried about international reaction to such a move, an intelligence assessment hedged Friday.
That report, from what the Associated Press called “a nation with traditionally reliable intelligence from the region,” could not be confirmed and it contrasts with assessments by other countries that view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as relatively moderate on the nuclear issue compared to the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Attempts to interpret Iran’s goals are important because as it expands uranium enrichment, it is moving closer to being able to make a nuclear weapon, even as it asserts that it is not interested in such arms and its programs are geared only to making reactor fuel.
A US official cited one assessment he has seen suggesting Ahmadinejad may be more “moderate” — more open to talks with the international community on resolving nuclear concerns than Khamenei.
Haircuts
The custom of Ashkenazim49 is not to take haircuts from Shiva Asar B’tamuz until after Tisha B’av.50 This applies to both men and women.51 The reason for this is since one does not take a haircut so often, if we were allowed to take haircuts until Rosh Chodesh Av it would not be recognizable that we let our hair grow after Rosh Chodesh, therefore, the custom is to refrain from haircuts for the entire three week period.52 This stands true even for the honor of Shabbos.53 One is permitted to comb his hair even if some hair may fall out.54
Some say an Ashkenazi can give a Sefardi a haircut since the Sefardi is permitted to have a haircut until the week of Tisha B’av,55 but l’halacha one should not do so.56 Others say if a Sefardi (who is permitted to take a haircut until the week of Tisha B’av) wishes he can be stringent and not give haircuts to Ashkenazim, but according to the letter of the law doing so is permitted.57
An adult may not give a child a haircut,58 since one should teach his children about the churban,59 however, if it is for the need of the child then doing so is permitted until the week of Tisha B’av.60 One should avoid performing an upsherin of a child during the three weeks.61
The haircut which is forbidden refers to the head and beard (shaving).62 If one’s mustache is getting long and in the way of eating, it may be shaven.63
One who works in a place that if he does not shave or take a haircut he will lose his job, may shave or take a haircut during the three weeks, except for the week of Tisha B’av.64
A woman whose hair grows long enough that it starts coming out of her head covering may shave it.65 The same is true if the shaving is done for tznius reasons.66 Going for electrolysis is permitted for a woman.67 A woman is permitted to tweeze her eyebrows during the three weeks.68 A sheitel which needs to be fixed or cut is permitted until Rosh Chodesh Av.69 A girl70 who is involved with dating can shave before she goes on a date.71
Some say if one’s hair is so long that it is a chatzitzah for hilchos tefillin then one is permitted to take a haircut.72 It is permitted for the one who is making a bris (father of the child),73 the mohel, and sandek to shave for the bris, until the week of Tisha B ’av.74A chosson during his sheva berochos is permitted to shave since it is like a Yom Tov for him.75
The opinion of some poskim is to be lenient for a bar-mitzvah boy to take a haircut if the bar-mitzvah is before the week that Tisha B’av falls out,76 but other say this should not be done,77 and this is the custom of many.
Compiled by Rabbi Moishe Dovid Lebovits who can be reached at mlebovits@kof-k.org
Reviewed by Rabbi Ben-zion Schiffenbauer Shlita
All Piskei Harav Yisrael Belsky Shlita are Reviewed by Harav Yisrael Belsky Shlita
House Speaker John Boehner on Friday pulled out of negotiations with President Obama on raising the nation’s legal limit to borrow money, just days before an Aug. 2 deadline when the government can no longer pay all its bills and faces its first-ever possible default.
After informing the president in a phone call, Boehner sent a letter to lawmakers saying, “In the end, we couldn’t connect. Not because of different personalities, but because of different visions for our country.”
In a hastily arranged news conference in the White House briefing room, a visibly irritated Obama said that “it’s hard to understand why Speaker Boehner would walk away from this deal.”
“This was an extraordinarily fair deal,” he said, explaining that the White House offered more than $1 trillion in cuts to discretionary spending, both domestic and defense and $650 billion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in exchange for $1.2 trillion in new revenues.
Boehner will now work with Senate leaders on an alternative “to find a path forward,” he wrote in the letter to lawmakers. But Obama said he wants to see congressional leaders at the White House Saturday to figure out how to avoid a government default.
“We have now run out of time,” Obama said.
According to a GOP leadership aide close to the talks, the sides were moving forward toward a total package that would cut $3 trillion to 3.5 trillion over a decade. It would have included an incremental increase in the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling now and force another one late next winter.
But the aide said a disagreement over revenues “blew this up.”
It was a day for breaking records in New York.
At around 3:40 p.m. Friday, Con Edison announced that it hit an all-time, record-high 13,700 megawatt load, and said that number could go even higher.
Record heat and record power usage hit on Friday, but Con Ed was able to channel it initially with what it believes to be a minimum of inconvenience, reports CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer. As of 6 p.m., there were 7,000 power outages in the city and Westchester County and a little more than 350,000 customers coping with a 5-percent reduction in power, but officials said it was still early.
“We’re not out of the woods just yet,” Office of Emergency Management head Joe Bruno said.
Con Ed officials have been monitoring the soaring heat and the soaring usage from their command center. They have been relying on extra workers, lots of preparation and are asking customers to keep their thermostats at 78 degrees and turn off any appliances that are not absolutely necessary.
(Source: WCBSTV)
Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City and a Democrat, is crossing party lines to endorse Republican candidate Bob Turner in the race for Anthony Weiner’s vacated seat in the 9th Congressional District.
In a telephone interview, Koch told NY1 that he is backing Turner to send a message to President Barack Obama about his stance on Israel. An official announcement is to come Monday.
(Source: NY1)
The heat wave that has melted the tri-state for the past week has broken a record in New York City, hitting 103 degrees in Central Park by early afternoon.
The heat index was greater than 110 degrees in both New York City and Newark, where temps reached 106. It’s the seventh day of the scorching summer heat wave, and the heat is not expected to retreat until Sunday.
The previous Central Park record was 101 degrees, set in 1957.
Con Edison is warning customers to expect scattered outages for the next few days as the power grid is stressed at capacity. There were outages in every borough and Westchester County Friday, with the most in Brooklyn, at about 200 customers, the company said.
“We’re going to be in new territory, and for us that translates into a very high demand for electricity,” said John Miksad, senior vice president of Electric Operations for Con Ed.
(Source: NBC)
Norwegian police — reportedly including anti-terror units — were responding Friday to a shooting at a youth camp run by the ruling Labor Party, where authorities confirmed that several people were killed. The shooting came just hours after a powerful car-bomb tore through government buildings in Oslo, including the prime minister’s office, leaving seven people dead and 15 injured.
A gunman dressed in a police uniform opened fire at a Labor Party youth camp at Utoya, an island outside Oslo, on Friday, shooting several youths, party spokesman Per Gunnar Dahl told The Associated Press.
Sky News reports that several people have been killed on the island of Utoya and that one man has been arrested in the shooting there.
Police say they suspect that both incidents–youth camp shooting and bombing in Oslo– are linked.
It was the deadliest bombing since World War II in Oslo, normally associated with the Nobel Peace Prize that is awarded there.
In Oslo, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was working at home Friday and was unharmed by the bombing, according to senior adviser Oivind Ostang.
The square where the bomb exploded was covered in twisted metal and shattered glass, and carpeted in documents expelled from the surrounding buildings, which house government offices and the headquarters of some of Norway’s leading newspapers. Most of the windows were shattered in the 20-floor high rise where the prime minister and his administration works.
Oslo police said the explosion was caused by “one or more” bombs, but declined to speculate on who was behind the attack. They later sealed off the nearby offices of broadcaster TV 2 after discovering a suspicious package.
“So far, police cannot say anything about the scope of the damage, aside from that there’s been one or several explosions,” a police statement read.
An AP reporter who was in the office of Norwegian news agency NTB said the building shook from the blast and all employees evacuated as the alarm went off. Down in the street, he saw one person with a bleeding leg being led away from the area.
Public broadcaster NRK showed video of a blackened car lying on its side amid the debris.
Witness Ole Tommy Pedersen was standing at a bus stop 100 meters from the government high-rise at 3:30 p.m.when the explosion occurred.
“I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later,” Pedersen told AP.
The blast comes as Norway grapples with a homegrown terror plot linked to Al Qaeda. Two suspects are in jail awaiting charges.
Last week, a Norwegian prosecutor filed terror charges against an Iraqi-born cleric for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he is deported from the Scandinavian country. The indictment centered on statements that Mullah Krekar — the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam — made to various news media, including American network NBC.
Terrorism has also been a concern in neighboring Denmark since an uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad six years ago. Danish authorities say they have foiled several terror plots linked to the 2005 newspaper cartoons that triggered protests in Muslim countries. Last month, a Danish appeals court on Wednesday sentenced a Somali man to 10 years in prison for breaking into the home of the cartoonist.
(Source: Fox News)
The main defense lawyer for the man suspected of abducting and killing an 8-year-old boy he met on the street has acquired a new partner with experience in high-profile murder cases, including an insanity defense.
Pierre Bazile announced in an unusual statement on Friday that he had replaced attorney Gerard Marrone with Jennifer McCann on the team representing Levi Aron. Marrone left abruptly this week, saying in various media reports that he had “moral” issues about representing Aron.
Aron was indicted by a grand jury this week on multiple counts, including first-degree murder and kidnapping. He is accused of drugging Leiby Kletzky, smothering him and dismembering his body.
His lawyers have said he hears voices and has hallucinations.
Bazile announced in a statement that McCann “represented Kathleen Prisco, who famously killed her husband and was found not guilty by reason of insanity this past December.”
Bazile also boasted that McCann represented “convicted murderer and dismemberer Nathan Powell and won his appeal for a lesser sentence.”
“She has a reputation for being an aggressive attorney who diligently represents high-profile defendants,” he added.
Aron pleaded not guilty at an initial arraignment last week.
Bazile also blasted Marrone for his comments about the case, saying he is “disappointed by Mr. Marrone’s press comments.”
(Source: NBC NY)
At the end of this week’s parsha the Torah relates how Moshe was going to divide eretz Cana’an amongst the shevatim. The pasukim begin by stating that Moshe gave a portion to bnei Reuven and bnei Gad, and then gave a significantly larger portion to chatzi shevet Menashe. Thepasuk then goes back and discusses what Moshe gave to bnei Reuven and bnei Gad. There are three questions that come to mind when reading these pasukim. Firstly, why does the pasuk “squeeze in” which portions were given to chatzi shevet Menashe while relating whatMoshe gave to bnei Reuven and bnei Gad? Secondly, we find that Moshe made a condition with bnei Gad and bnei Reuven that they may only cross back over the Yarden after they fight together with the rest of klal Yisroel to conquer eretz Cana’an Why were there no conditions made with chatzi shevet Menashe? Lastly, why did chatzi shevet Menashe receive a significantly larger portion than bnei Gad and bnei Reuven. How did they merit such a large parcel of land?
The Netziv answers that Moshe looked at the piece of land where bnei Gad and bnei Reuven had requested as their inheritance and realized that the Torah there would be very weak. They were setting up homes and a community across the Yarden, but they would be neglectingTorah study. He understood that they couldn’t last there without Torah. It was known that shevet Menashe produced eminent Torah scholars; tremendous talmidei chachamim. Moshe wanted to ensure the spiritual success of this community, so he convinced chatzi shevet Menashe to stay behind, and help start up this new community on the other side of the Yarden. However, they didn’t want to move there. So Moshe had to influence them to move there by offering them a large portion of land. He placed them right in the middle of the areas of bnei Reuven andbnei Gad because it was this shevet, chatzi shevet Menashe, which strengthened and molded the spiritual aspect of this new community.
There’s a Yerushalmi in Bikurim that says one may not bring Bikurim from across the Yarden. The two reasons given are: 1) Because thepasuk says it must be from a land where ‘milk and honey flows’ (i.e. eretz Yisroel) and this is not considered eretz Yisroel; 2) because thepasuk says ‘from the land that I have given to you,’ and we deduce from here that it excludes the ‘land that you took’. What’s the difference between these two reasons?
The answer is chatzi shevet Menashe. They didn’t take the land, it was given to them. They were convinced to accept it. Based on the second reason given, they could very well bring Bikurim.
The gemarah in Shabbos says that Yerushalayim was only destroyed due to the lack of proper respect given to talmidei chachomim. What about the other reasons we’ve learnt, such as sinas chinum?
The answer is when you live amongst talmidei chochomim, they ensure that your city stays alive; they’re a shield which protects the city. But once they’re disgraced and belittled, they lose their shield and their ability to defend. One of the ways we can start to rebuild the BaisHamikdash is by appreciating talmidei chachomim and realizing the positive effects and the benefits we all have from them in our midst.
There was a Russian yid that would go to a daf yomi shiur every night. Week in week out he came every shiur, without fail, and within one minute he was out cold. He slept throughout the whole shiur.
One night the magid shiur walks over to him and asks, why do you even bother to come to the shiur? Every night for the last three years I watch you come, take your seat and fall asleep. I understand it’s tough, but why bother attending?
This yid answered him as follows. When I was a young boy I was sitting around with some friends and we were speaking against the Government and the KGB. All of my friends were coming up with ideas of how they can sabotage them and how they will try to take over. One day, the KGB stormed in and arrested everyone in the room, myself included. It eventually came the day when we all had to appear in court. The Judge would read out loud your name, what you were guilty of committing and the verdict with the punishments. By every one of my friends they did just that; but at my name, all the Judge said was my name and Siberia. I immediately stood up and protested. I said to the judge ‘you haven’t announced what I’m guilty of-all you said was that I’m going to Siberia! I haven’t said a bad word about the government in that room! The judge looked at me and answered: “az du zitz mit zey, dist du mit zey-if u sit with them you’re with them!
True, I’m not listening to you; but I’m sitting with you and I want to be treated like you and be part of your chabura. I hope that by me sitting here every single night I can one day be able to have the strength to stay up and be able to grasp the Torah. I hope Hashem treats me as if I’m part of this chabura.
It’s not enough to just to ‘have’ talmidei Chachamim around but to be around them and to be a part of them is something special; it’s something we must all strive for. Hopefully, in this merit we can be treated like them by the Ribono Shel Olam who in return can grant us our ultimate redemption: the coming of Moshiach.
HAVE A GREAT SHABBOS.
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A senior U.S. diplomat said Washington hopes an American government contractor imprisoned in Cuba will be released, even as the Maryland native was making a final appeal Friday to have his 15-year prison sentence be reduced or dismissed.
Alan Gross has been held since his arrest in December 2009, accused of bringing satellite and other communication equipment into the country illegally. He has acknowledged he was working on a USAID-funded democracy program, but says he meant no harm to the government and was only trying to help the island’s small Jewish community.
Cuba considers the $20 million-a-year programs a threat to its sovereignty and has used the case to expose what it sees as Washington’s long history of meddling in its internal affairs.
Julissa Reynoso, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, told The Associated Press the United States was following the case closely.
“We hope that Alan Gross is released,” she said.
Oral arguments in Friday’s hearing were expected to be handled by Gross’ Cuban attorney Nuris Pinero. It was not immediately clear if Gross himself would be present. A decision in the case is expected in coming weeks.
While U.S. officials have said they do not anticipate Gross’ conviction being overturned outright, there is hope that the end of the legal process might clear the way for his release on humanitarian grounds. Gross has lost 100 pounds in jail, and several of his family members are suffering from serious illnesses.
Cuban officials have said privately they are sympathetic to humanitarian appeals, but would not consider them until Cuba’s Supreme Court weighs in.
There are so many versions of these after-school and after-camp snacks. This is one of the easier ones – and one of the tastier ones as well.
4-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup margarine, softened
½ cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, baking soda, vanilla, margarine, honey and brown sugar until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips and coconut. Press into lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake for about 20 minutes – until lightly browned. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into bars.
By Emuna Braverman and Elizabeth Kurtz, of www.gourmetkoshercooking.com
www.gourmetkoshercooking.com is a new and exciting site where you will find over 900 great kosher recipes – with particular emphasis on ideas for Shabbos and holidays, the best new kosher products, gorgeous table top decor, articles on kosher wine and healthy eating, featured giveaways, travel, cooking with kids and much more. Content is updated weekly so visit us often. Your family will be glad you did!
Newest Fad
Many say singing without music is not permitted.43 Therefore, the newest fad to have music which simulates instrumental music (A capella) is not a viable loophole during the three weeks. Such singing defeats the whole purpose of the isssur because the musical experience is what is really ossur, which A capella singing provides in full.44 If there is singing without music then it may be permitted.
In addition, some say even if one sings into a CD without beats it is considered music and forbidden.45
Singing
Singing with one’s mouth is permitted during the three weeks.46 Some say singing songs which brings joy should not be done.47
According to some poskim listening to a CD of chazzanos without music is permitted even if one finds it enjoyable.48
Compiled by Rabbi Moishe Dovid Lebovits who can be reached at mlebovits@kof-k.org
Reviewed by Rabbi Ben-zion Schiffenbauer Shlita
All Piskei Harav Yisrael Belsky Shlita are Reviewed by Harav Yisrael Belsky Shlita
The heat wave that claimed lives as it staggered across the nation has settled into the tri-state, pushing temperatures to 97 degrees Thursday in Central Park and a record-breaking 103 degrees in Newark, N.J.
Today is expected to be even worse, reaching a heat index of 110 to 113 degrees and threatening to break records. It’s the seventh day of the scorching summer heat wave, and the heat is not expected to retreat until Sunday.
Con Edison is warning customers to expect scattered outages for the next few days as the power grid is stressed at capacity.
“We’re going to be in new territory, and for us that translates into a very high demand for electricity,” said John Miksad, senior vice president of Electric Operations for Con Ed.
“This is Day 1 of a three-day battle for us,” he added.
The MTA reported Thursday that the heat was causing malfunctions on the platform countdown clocks at about 13 stations. This is caused by equipment rooms heating to temperatures of 120 degrees and higher. In those cases, the equipment has to be shut off so it won’t be damaged.
Miksad said New York City would likely set electricity demand records in coming days.
He said Con Edison has extra crews and support personnel standing by, ready to respond to any heat-related disruptions that might occur. The utility is asking customers to set air-conditioners at 78 degrees or higher, turn off lights in empty rooms and put off running appliances until after 10 p.m.
Nearly all of New Jersey is under an excessive heat warning through Saturday evening as a large dome of high pressure brings stifling heat and humidity to the region.
An excessive heat warning is in effect through Friday evening for the five boroughs, the lower Hudson Valley and Rockland and Westchester counties in New York.
City cooling centers will be open. For center locations and hours, call 311.
The National Weather Service urges area residents to take extra precautions when working or spending time outdoors. Reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening and be aware of the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear light weight and loose fitting clothing when possible and drink plenty of water.
Forecasters say a sea breeze might provide some relief at the beaches, but for the most part, there will be little relief before Sunday. Highs Saturday are expected to hit the mid 90s before dropping to the mid 80s on Sunday.
Next week’s forecast looks more seasonable with highs in the low to mid 80s.
(Source: NBC New York)
