Wednesday October 29 News Updates Lakewood

Weather: ° Cloudy skies. High around 55F.

Winds 10 to 15 mph. 

Tonight 51° with rain showers at times. Chance of rain 70%.

A storm system will bring heavy rainfall to New Jersey on Thursday, with potential for minor flooding and gusty winds up to 50 mph that are expected to continue into Friday night  which is observed as Halloween  The rain will begin Wednesday night and become widespread Thursday afternoon into Thursday night.

Today, 7 Cheshvan, marks the yahrtzeit of Rav Meir Shapiro zt”l, founder of Daf Yomi and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin

Thursday of בה"ב tomorrow 

- BDE tragedy in Boro Park Reb Noach Klein Z’L (84) of Williamsburg was Nifter after being hit by a car on 18th ave and 49th st in Boro Park tonight, outside of his popular store, Unique Silver.(KH)

- Agudah: In light of the massive atzeres tefillah set to take place in Yerushalayim Thursday afternoon in protest of the harassment and shocking imprisonment of lomdei Torah in Eretz Yisroel, Chavrei Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America have requested that Klal Yisroel join together in tefillah.

Rabbonim of kehillos across the country have been informed of the request of the Chavrei HaMoetzes that, tomorrow morning, immediately following Shacharis, every kehillah and Yeshiva is asked to recite three kappitlach Tehillim — coordinated with the time of the atzeres in Eretz Yisroel — as we unite our voices with our brethren across the ocean.

- Trump posts: "I (WE!) just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax. Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue. It took courage to do so, and for that we are all grateful. MAGA!!!"

Donald Trump declared victory in the "War on the Climate Change Hoax" after Bill Gates softened his stance, saying climate change won't destroy humanity but still requires innovation and adaptation.

- BDE: Petira of Rav Ezra Dovid Halevi Neuberger zt”l, Rosh Kollel and Maggid Shiur at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel Baltimore youngest son  of  Rav Naftoli  Neuberger ZTL son-in-law of Rav Meir Hershkowitz ZTL R"Y of Stamford. He was 68. Levaya tomorrow at Yeshiva Ner Yisroel 1:30 pm.

- VoteHub: Where in New Jersey had the most voters on Day 4 of in-person early voting?

Lakewood led the statewide list with 1474 new voters on Tuesday, followed by Jersey City with 1123 voters and Middletown with 948 voters. Jackson Howell Brick Toms River Manalapan Union all in the top 10 Grand total of 71,415 ballots were cast on Tuesday.

- Over 825,000 votes cast in New Jersey so far Turnout so far is 13.5% for November 4 general election Democrats have a significant advantage in mail-in ballots: 57% of the requested ballots came from Democrats and 20% from Republicans. Both parties are returning Votes By Mail at a relatively consistent rate: 60.2% for Democrats, 58.6% for Republicans, and 36.6% for unaffiliateds and independents.(Nj Globe)

-  The Democratic advantage among voted ballots has grown to +218,283. Meanwhile, 145,000 ballots cast so far are by unaffiliated voters.

-Tomorrow, Suffolk University will be releasing a NJ statewide poll of likely voters

- Satmar Ahronim leadership announced they will not endorse Cuomo in the mayoral race. In an open letter, they praised Zohran Mamdani’s outreach and positive gestures toward the community, urging followers not to oppose him. The Zalis in Williamsburg also said they will not endorse any candidate in the race for mayor.

In a statement, Satmar leadership condemned the vicious campaign portraying Mamdani as hostile to Jews, calling it “false and dangerous.” Mamdani also gave an exclusive interview to the Yiddish magazine Der Moment, addressing issues important to Jewish voters.

- Lights out of New Jersey's Newark Airport are operating at an approximate 40-minute delay this evening following a 75-minute full ground stop which was ordered by the FAA at 3:30 this afternoon due to "staffing issues" reportedly related to the federal government shutdown.(Onejersey)

-Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch with a decisive instruction to participate in the atzeres : "One must come even from a very far distance, and it is very difficult, even with mesiras nefesh" "The government will understand that it is impossible to continue like this! Now we are praying but if that does not succeed, there are other ways"

- The Quinnipiac University poll finds that, if elections were held today, 60 percent of New York city Jews would vote for Cuomo, and 16% for Mamdani. The survey has a relatively small sample size of 170 Jews, with a ±9.2% margin of error for Jewish respondents.Twelve percent of Jews would vote for Republican Curtis Sliwa, while the remainder are undecided, favor another candidate, or refused to answer.

- Pundits comment on election data so far 

the New Jersey Early Voting file is in for 10/29. Cumulative In-Person Through Day 4 of 9

Republican In Person - 122,628

Democratic In Person - 127,543

All Others In Person - 61,030

DEM Raw Vote Edge: 4,915 (D +1.58%)

Democrats won Tuesday's turnout by just under 700 votes;

-Impressive showing for Mikie Sherrill so far. It looks like every single county in NJ is seeing a net increase in the percentage of Democratic early votes cast compared to this time in 2024. "At current rates of voting by (vote-by-mail) and (In-Person early Voting) Jack will need to win E-Day by 63%-37%, or 750K to 450K."

- The WZO World Zionist Congress was forced to move its Thursday sessions to Wednesday due to expected road closures and disruptions from the Atzeres protests against the IDF draft in Yerushalayim.

 Tensions also arose after reports that some Charedi delegates planned to join the demonstrations, prompting WZO Vice Chairman Dr. Yizhar Hess to condemn the idea. "National service is defined as a core Zionist value in the Jerusalem Platform, and as signatories on that platform, the ultra-Orthodox factions must immediately reject the planned participation of any of their delegates in tomorrow’s anti-Zionist demonstration," said Hess. "WZO must demand repayment from any delegate who traveled to Israel on the dime of the Zionist Movement and participates in promoting draft dodging.”

- Rav Moshe Shternbuch of the Eidah Hacharedis issued a letter calling on everyone to join the atzeres tomorrow 

- Yeshiva Ateres Shlomo headed by R Shalom Ber  Sorotzkin will gather  at Mosad Harav Kook building near the strings bridge during the atzeres.

-WZO: The World Jewish Congress is meeting this week in Yerushalayim as some 2,500 participants from 42 countries descend upon binyanei Hauma International Convention Center for the 39th World Zionist Congress from October 28-30. About a third of the resolutions on the table promise to be controversial, one insider estimated. Among the controversial bills are calls for Israel to extend sovereignty over the Temple Mount and the West Bank and resolutions calling for equal army conscription for all Israeli citizens,

- Hurricane Melissa slammed into southwest Jamaica overnight, killing seven and leaving over half a million without power. Officials say 25,000 tourists are stranded as the storm heads toward Cuba, where 700,000 have been evacuated.

-The Lakewood Police Department, Goal: Zero, a bold initiative to tackle the growing number of traffic fatalities in New Jersey. The upcoming enforcement event will take place on Thursday, October 29, 2025, focusing on State Highway 70 from Brick to Toms River. This operation is part of a coordinated effort with Monmouth County and Ocean County law enforcement. Together, these actions will cover over 50 miles of roadway to promote safe driving practices.

- If you haven’t filed an application for New Jersey’s property tax benefits, it’s time to get in gear.The deadline to file is Friday, Oct. 31. File Here 

- Badatz eidah hacharedis protest on the draft has been postponed to Monday 

- Jack Ciattarelli met with the BMG Roshei Yeshiva at the home of Rav Malkiel Kotler and pledged to work toward passing a school voucher program in New Jersey, similar to those in Ohio and Virginia. He also expressed support for tax credits for private school tuition included in the Trump “Big Beautiful Bill.”

- Mikie Sherill will have a  campaign event  today in Manchester

-  There's a discussion if one can make the ברכת חכם הרזים at the upcoming atzeres tefilah tomorrow a bracha that is said when one sees 600,000 yiddin.

Yeshiva chemdas hatorah continues legal battle for project to add 500 cars to lakewood's James & cross more  

- Tefillos for Toldo Avrohom Yitzchok rebbe shllita who was hospitalized name is 

 שמואל יעקב בן יענטא 

-Mir yeshiva will go by foot to the million man atzeres leaving the yeshiva at 2:10 pm and  will gather and stage at  at Malchei Yisrael street and Haturim 

Brisk yeshiva has yet to announce if they will participate 

Chabad will join the atzeres

- There will be no Agudah Convention weekend this year the first time in quite a while. What was once the premier event of the year has slowly petered out as Klal Yisroel has grown, with many of today’s new organizations tracing their roots to those conventions. It is unclear whether this pause is only for this year or signals a new direction going forward. The first Agudah convention in America took place in Cincinnati in 1923.

- Election updates 

Mikei Sherril will campaign in Manchester today 

Lakewood numbers over 12,000 have cast votes already including 1,472 in person votes yesterday  and 7,2415 mail in ballots returned so far

- Day 4 NJ in person voting: 71,415 ballots

DEM 40.3% | 28,747 ballots

GOP 39.3 | 28,073 ballots…

- Ned Thompson Republican Assemblyman candidate for Lakewood and Howell responds to remarks by Mikie Sherrill that she will  push  LGBT  education into our schools "I will not allow radical leftists like Mikie Sherrill and Trenton Democrats to shove this garbage into our schools.Make no mistake: a Republican victory for myself and Jack Ciattarelli comes down to turnout. Plain and simple. If we sit this election out and don’t encourage our friends, family, and neighbors to vote, our families will suffer for it, and Marxist Mikie Sherrill will become your governor.

-The mayor of Tzefas paid a visit to the homes of the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva Rav Malkiekl Kotler and Rav Yeruchom Olshin

- In BMG today a donor offered to pay every  talmid $100 if they  learn one hour uninterrupted as a zechus for someone undergoing a complicated surgery  there are 10,oo talmidim if all sign up thats $1 million

- In Eretz Yisrael they began to say Vesain Tal Umatar today  7 Cheshvan if someone from chutz Laaretz plans to travel to EY  for a short period of time and return before the date of Dec 4 when you say it in the US , the halacha is more complex, and there are different opinions. Some poskim say you should insert the request of ותן טל ומטר in  Shema Koleinu  while continuing to say Vesain bracha in your regulr quiet shemona esrei

- Ten GOP senators have signed on to back Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) bill to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as the government shutdown threatens a program lapse in November. 

- Trump Seals the Deal! President Trump has officially locked in a massive $350B trade pact with South Korea, $200B in direct U.S. investments, $100B in LNG buys, and slashed tariffs from 25% to 15%

- President Trump called for Special Counsel Jack Smith to be imprisoned after new documents showed the Biden-era FBI secretly investigated more than 160 Republicans including Trump officials without clear cause.

-Zohran Mamdani leads the NYC mayoral race with 46%, trailed by Cuomo (31%) and Sliwa (21%), per a new Manhattan Institute poll one week before Election Day.

Letter from Rav Ezriel Auerbach about not joining the Atzeres

Mir Yeshiva instructions for Talmidim going to the  Ateres

Miahpacha cover about Atzeres