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By: BJL Newsroom
Baltimore, MD – October 28, 2026 - The Adas invites the Baltimore community to a special Enhanced Shabbos this coming Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, October 30/31, featuring an immersive Shabbos of Torah learning led by Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lebovits, Assistant Rav of the kehillah.
Under the theme “One Shabbos. One Sugya.”, participants will explore the sugya of קובע מקום לתפילתו through a series of shiurim and discussions throughout Shabbos. The program will offer an opportunity to delve into the sugya be'iyun, with mareh mekomos provided for participants.
The learning will begin Friday night with an introductory shiur between Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv. On Shabbos morning, Rabbi Lebovits will deliver a 30-minute shiur before Shacharis, fo...
This past Monday, on ט״ו מרחשון, was the yahrtzeit of Rav Michoel Eliezer Hakohen Forshlager, zt״l. I have been visiting his kever for many years, and I was there again this year. I have watched the number of people coming grow, especially on his yahrtzeit. This year, hundreds traveled from out of town to daven. Food and drinks were prepared for those making the trip, and people came with tefillos, hoping for yeshuos. It is moving to see so many people turn to a tzaddik for help. But I believe the story of Rav Forshlager himself is also part of what draws them.
Rav Forshlager was born in Poland and grew up in the world of the Sochatchover Rebbe, the Avnei Nezer. From childhood, his devotion to Torah was extraordinary. As a young boy, he traveled a great distance to be near the...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing a nationwide upgrade to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cards, requiring states to issue chip-enabled cards with tap-to-pay technology to help prevent thieves from stealing food benefits.
Under the proposed rule, states would transition from the magnetic-stripe cards currently used by many SNAP recipients to cards with more secure chip and near-field communication (NFC) technology. Retailers accepting SNAP would also need equipment capable of processing chip and contactless payments. The USDA is proposing a two-year implementation period after the final rule is published.
Magnetic-stripe cards are vulnerable to skimming, in which criminals use devices attached to payment terminals to copy card information. Stolen details ca...
Agudath Israel of America and the Aleph Institute are warning community members who are not U.S. citizens to be especially careful about voting eligibility, following reports of individuals being detained at U.S. airports and placed in immigration detention over allegations of unlawful voting.
Non-U.S. citizens, including green card holders and visa holders, are not eligible to vote in federal elections, even if they are registered or receive a ballot in the mail. The mistake can be easy to make: For example, one can become registered to vote through their driver’s license application, and even receive a ballot in the mail, despite their ineligibility to vote. Being registered or receiving a ballot does not mean a person is legally eligible to vote - and you won’t be stopp...
It was an exciting first week at Miriam’s Library as the center officially launched its new after-school program, welcoming more than 50 children registered across six hands-on classes filled with creativity, learning, and fun.
The excitement began on Sunday, October 25, when 15 girls gathered at Miriam’s Library, located at 201 Milford Mill Road, for the inaugural Baking & Decorating class, led by Shira Perlman, owner of Delightfully Sweet. With over 26 years of experience in baking and cake decorating, Perlman brought her expertise and enthusiasm to the young bakers.
The energy continued as Miriam’s Library rolled out its other exciting offerings, including Merch Making, Hairstyling & Braiding, Guitar, Mosaic Art, and 3D Printing & Design. Each class gives...
With nearly 3.5 million votes counted Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc held 56 seats and the opposition bloc 48, according to partial Central Elections Committee data. Neither side had reached the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority.
The figures were preliminary, with additional votes, including soldiers’ double-envelope ballots, still to be counted. Official results were expected by the end of Wednesday.
Turnout reached 77.7% by the close of polls Tuesday, up 7.1 percentage points from the 2022 election. The IDF reported that nearly 80% of soldiers voted.
Several smaller parties remained below the 3.25% electoral threshold. Opposition leaders called for a change in government, while Netanyahu declared Likud the country’s largest party and...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has reportedly discussed challenging Israel’s election results if he loses, with party operatives preparing allegations of possible voter fraud in Arab communities.
Likud was preparing complaints concerning polling stations in Arab towns, while Haaretz reported that party figures had discussed claiming the election was “stolen” if Netanyahu failed to win. One source close to Netanyahu said discussions had included a campaign similar to President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread fraud after the 2020 U.S. election.
The reports come amid concerns over Likud’s plans to send thousands of activists to monitor polling sites in Arab-majority communities. The activists have no official authority to demand ident...
Israelis turned out in higher numbers than in the last election during the first hours of voting for the 26th Knesset on Tuesday, with turnout at 16.7% as of 10 a.m. Israel time, according to Israel's Central Elections Committee.
That compares with 15.9% at the same hour in the 2022 election. About 1.2 million votes had been cast by 10 a.m., which The Times of Israel said was the highest turnout at that hour since at least 1996, the year Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won his first term.
The committee's official hour-by-hour turnout records only go back to 1996. Some media reports, citing archival figures that may not be precise, said it was the highest turnout since the 1981 election.
Turnout among IDF soldiers was also running higher. According to the military, 30% of sol...
Port Discovery Children's Museum in Baltimore will open a new exhibit called B'More You in the summer of 2027, the museum announced.
The museum said the exhibit draws on the "energy, creativity, and connection of Baltimore neighborhoods."
B'More You will cover 4,500 square feet and will include a park and a rowhome modeled on Baltimore's own. Its activities are designed to help children solve problems, work together and explore the world around them.
The new exhibit will take the place of Adventure Expeditions, one of the museum's original exhibits, which closed in September.
According to the museum, some elements of Adventure Expeditions will be preserved, repurposed or reimagined as part of the new space.
B'More You is part of a larger plan by the museu...
The FBI has arrested a CIA contractor accused of leaking classified defense and Middle East intelligence to a person who then published it online, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Ian Brinksman, 42, was arrested on Friday. According to the Justice Department, he has worked at a Virginia-based U.S. government agency since 2020 and was hired by a contractor to that agency in 2022. He held a Top Secret clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Brinksman provided services to the CIA as a contractor.
According to the criminal complaint, Brinksman had an ongoing personal relationship with a person the Justice Department calls "Individual 1," who said she had published reporting based on cla...
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has signed an executive order describing how the proposed Baltimore Baby Fund would provide financial help to families with newborns if city voters approve it on November 3, WMAR-2 News reported.
The measure will appear on the ballot as Question I, according to WMAR-2's earlier reporting.
Under the plan, every Baltimore City newborn enrolled in the program would be eligible for a one-time cash payment. The amount has not been set.
Some expectant and new parents could receive more help depending on eligibility. That could include a payment during pregnancy, monthly cash assistance after the baby is born, and a contribution to a Maryland 529 college savings account.
Families could also be connected with B'More for Healthy Babies for care coordinati...
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Dictionary.com has named “maxxing” its 2026 Word of the Year, recognizing a popular online trend centered on maximizing or improving different aspects of life.
Derived from “maximizing,” the term is paired with other words to describe specific goals. “Looksmaxxing” focuses on improving physical appearance, “sleepmaxxing” on getting better sleep, and “gymmaxxing” on improving fitness. The trend has spread across social media, with some variations focused on serious self-improvement and others taking a more humorous approach to everyday activities.
So, what about Torahmaxxing? It could mean adding another chavrusa, squeezing a few extra minutes of learning into the day, or finding more opportunities to do chessed. If people are lo...
President Donald Trump renewed his public endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, urging Israelis to reelect him in Tuesday’s election and declaring that the two leaders must “finish the job” against Iran.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump repeated an endorsement he first issued a week earlier, saying he and Netanyahu had worked well together and describing the Israeli prime minister as an “outstanding warrior prime minister.”
Trump credited their partnership with military operations against Iran, claiming that the country’s military and economy had been severely weakened. He also pointed to the naval blockade and the removal of senior Iranian leaders as evidence of the campaign’s impact.
“Vote for Bibi Netanyahu...
Hashem is different. He is unlike anything in the world He created. No physical description captures His essence. Whenever we describe Him, we rely upon approximations, using language and images that the human mind can comprehend. Hashem exists beyond human experience and understanding.
So are we. Hashem created us different from the natural world. He gifted us with traits which distinguish us from the rest of creation: self-awareness, complex emotions, cognitive speech, creativity, imagination, dreams, and social and political instincts.
Chief among these qualities is our free will. We can choose between right and wrong. Hashem implanted within us a moral instinct to distinguish good from evil. He also revealed His will to help us navigate a complex world.
The gift of free will lends...
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center is notifying 3,182 patients that some of their personal health information may have been exposed after a hospital worker uploaded a spreadsheet of patient data to an outside artificial intelligence tool that the hospital had not approved.
The hospital said it discovered the problem on September 21, 2026, during an internal review. According to the report, the upload took place that same day.
The spreadsheet covered patients who were admitted and treated at the hospital between May and September of this year.
Information that may have been exposed includes patient names, admission and treatment dates, medical record numbers, account numbers, the department that provided treatment, medications given and the names of providers.
The hospital said the sp...
Baltimore, MD – October 26, 2026 - A person of interest was taken into custody after a fire broke out Sunday evening at a mosque on Harford Road in East Baltimore.
Firefighters responded shortly after 5 p.m. to the 2600 block of Harford Road, near Clifton Park, where the building was engulfed in flames. Crews worked to extinguish the fire, and police took a person of interest into custody in connection with the incident.
No injuries were reported. Authorities have not released further details about the investigation, and the cause of the fire has not been confirmed.
This article was independently written by the BJL Newsroom based on reporting from The Baltimore Sun and WBFF.
When one of our babies needs help, we all show up
That's what our community does. We take care of each other, especially the littlest ones.
Right now, a 3-month-old baby named Baruch is in the hospital fighting a serious kidney condition. His treatments aren't fully covered, and no family should have to carry that alone.
So let's carry it together. Every gift, big or small, helps a family focus on what matters most: getting their baby healthy and home.
I look at my tiny baby sleeping peacefully in the ICU.
But my heart knows the truth this is only the beginning of our battle.
A battle for his life and for my strength to keep going.
My name is Miriam.
My baby’s name is Baruch.
He is only two months ...
