Wednesday December 10 News Updates Lakewood

 Weather"48° Partly cloudy skies this morning occasional showers during the afternoon. Chance of rain 50%. 

- NYC Mayor elect Mamdani is at Satmer Reb Ahron Kuf Alef Kislev celebration in Brooklyn.

- Giyus: Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned in a position paper that the government’s proposed legislation on ultra-Orthodox military enlistment would reduce, not increase, recruitment. She argued that the bill prioritizes the interests of yeshivas and draft-exempt students over the Israel Defense Forces’ urgent manpower needs. According to her, the legislation would weaken the army’s ability to enforce conscription, worsen the burden on reservists, and entrench long-term inequality between communities that serve and those that do not. 

Likud and charedi politicians hit back at Baharav-Miara, accusing her of deflecting from an alleged scandal involving the leaked video of IDF soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee.

- TRUMP: "We have just seized a tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized, actually."

-BDE: Petirah of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Widroff z”l Lakewood (A country place) Brooklyn,  he was 84. A  Renowned Daf Yomi Maggid Shiur Talmid Chochom and Marbitz Torah talmid of Tirah Vodaas. survived by ybl"c his wife and children. The levaya will take place  Thursday  11:00 am at the chapel off 7th street in Lakewood.

- Trump: THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT’S TRUMP GOLD CARD IS HERE TODAY! A direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent. Live Site opens in 30 minutes! https://trumpcard.gov

- The Federal Reserve just CUT interest rates by 0.25 points, lowering interest rates to 3.5%-3.75%

- Rav Shmuel Markovitz Shlita R"Y Ponovezh will deliver a shiur today in BMG Beren hall on the sugya of ערעור הבעל  He is currently in Lakewood for  a simcha.

- The Powerball jackpot hist $930 million drawing tonight at 11 pm 

- The OJBA Expo for builders is taking place today at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ

- Tonight: Dayan Rav Ahron Dovid Dunner shlita of London, who is in Lakewood for a grandchild’s wedding, will be speaking this evening as part of the “Hashkafa in the Workplace” series. The event will include a Q&A and will take place at the Torah Links Learning Center, 1301 Central Avenue, Lakewood, at 8:15 p.m.

- NJ lawmakers advanced a bill requiring dine-in restaurants to use reusable utensils and banning automatic distribution of single-use plastic  utensils or condiments. For take-out and online orders, disposable items would be included only upon request. the measure is aimed at reducing plastic waste in New Jersey’s landfills and waterways.

- BDE: Petirah of Rabbi Mordechai Gewirtz z”l, a longtime mechanech who served in Denver, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Queens before moving to Lakewood in recent years, he was 75. The levaya will take place today at 11 a.m. at the Lakewood Chapel on 7th Street. He is survived by his children: R’ Yossi, R’ Henoch, R’ Dovid, and R’ Naftali. Kevurah will be in Eretz Yisrael.

- A week after Agudath Israel’s Inaugural National Action Summit, Agudah published articles describing how the event “inspires, educates, and mobilizes participants to take action for Klal Yisroel.” Yet no concrete details were provided about what was actually discussed or what solutions if any emerged from the various tracks. Unlike the annual conventions, there are no video or audio recordings of the sessions, leaving the public unable to hear or review what took place.

- It was publicly revealed by a letter on behalf of Lakewood mosdos that more than 750 special-needs children were out of school due to an administrative overlap at the state level. According to a public letter, this situation continued for months and was resolved within a single day only after it was brought to the attention of one community member. Surprisingly, no one in the Lakewood community seemed aware that 750 special-needs children had been without schooling an issue that should have sparked public outrage and a communal campaign..

- Emergency services are on high alert as Storm Byron brings heavy rain, strong winds, and flooding from the North to the Negev, with risks expected to peak Thursday into Friday. Cyprus, Greece and Israel are searching for a missing Israeli yacht that vanished during storm Byron with four people on board and no distress signal.

- BDE: Petirah of Rav Shlomo Steinhauz, ZT”L, longtime R”M in Yeshiva Tiferes Yaakov in Gateshead, was niftar after suddenly collapsing while preparing his shiur today. He was 77. A veteran maggid shiur, he taught countless talmidim over the years. This tragic loss comes just a few months after the petirah of the mashgiach, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Dunner, ZT”L, at age 48 following an illness.

- With the ongoing construction and nightly road closures at James/Pine Street and Route 9, crews have installed new traffic lights featuring turn-only options to help ease congestion at the busy intersection.

- The Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Yeruchom Olshin shlita, met with the Sadigerer Rebbe in Lakewood last week and personally inscribed a set of his seforim, Yoreach LaMoedim, which he presented to the Rebbe as a gift.

- Giyus: After consulting with its rabbis, Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party will support the coalition’s Charedi draft exemption bill. The rabbis cited concerns about the IDF’s ability to absorb frum recruits and stressed the need of keeping the government stable, despite opposition from Minister Ofir Sofer. The coalition is considering amending a clause allowing some Charedi recruits to serve in non-military security agencies to secure Smotrich’s full backing.

Naftali Bennett accuses Smotrich’s party of ‘betraying’ Zionism and Judaism by backing charedi giyus draft law

-A Lakewood child experienced an allergic reaction after eating a chocolate pretzel and was treated at the hospital. The child is BH now doing well. The mother reported that the product label did not indicate any allergens. The company is investigating, and parents are reminded to be extra diligent, as stores and manufacturers are responsible for clearly listing all ingredients on labels.(Kol Mevaser).

- Elon Musk now doubts whether his government-reform effort, DOGE, justified the turmoil it created.” he said the project was only “somewhat successful” and voiced frustration that despite uncovering an estimated $100–$200 billion in annual “zombie payments,” DOGE was able to eliminate only a small portion of them.

- A new study reveals that Instacart has been using an algorithm that charges different customers different prices for the same grocery items at the same stores, without disclosure. Examples include Skippy Peanut Butter at a Target in Ohio, where prices ranged from $2.99 to $3.59, and Oscar Mayer Deli Turkey at a Seattle Safeway, with five different prices spanning a 23% difference.

- Trump goes after Fake news NYT who reported he's in poor physical health and not as sharp as he used to be. "There has never been a President that has worked as hard as me! My hours are the longest, and my results are among the best. I’ve stopped Eight Wars, saving many millions of lives in the process, created the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country, brought Business back into the United States at levels never seen before, rebuilt our Military, created the Largest Tax Cuts and Regulation Cuts, EVER, closed our open and very dangerous Southern Border, when previous Administrations were unable to do so, and created an “aura” around the United States of America that has led every Country in the World to respect us more than ever before. In addition to all of that, I go out of my way to do long, thorough, and very boring Medical Examinations at the Great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, seen and supervised by top doctors, all of whom have given me PERFECT Marks  Some have even said they have never seen such Strong Results. I do these Tests because I owe it to our Country. In addition to the Medical, I have done something that no other President has done, on three separate occasions, the last one being recently, by taking what is known as a Cognitive Examination, something which few people would be able to do very well, including those working at The New York Times, and I ACED all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know.

- New Jersey lawmakers are again debating whether to eliminate the NJGPA, the high school exit exam required for graduation. The state Assembly voted 55–17 to end the test, reviving a push that previously stalled in the Senate. Supporters of ending the NJGPA argue that the standardized exam has created an unfair barrier to graduation, particularly for students from disadvantaged communities. The bill now puts renewed pressure on Senate leaders who blocked a similar effort two years ago.