Matzav.com

Yuval’s disappearance triggered an unprecedented nationwide search effort. Hundreds of police officers, Border Police troops, volunteer rescue teams, and civilians from across Israel joined the operation. The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) also assisted in the search, while Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy ordered police academy cadets to be deployed to reinforce the teams combing the area.

The dramatic rescue took place after a civilian volunteer participating in the search unexpectedly came across the missing boy.

According to the man, he had not intended to search the area where Yuval was ultimately found. After accidentally taking the wrong route while driving toward Nitzanim Beach, he suddenly noticed the child standing beneath a tree.

Overcome with emotion, the man recalled the moment he found Yuval.

“I took a wrong turn, and suddenly I noticed the child standing under a tree. There is a Hakadosh Boruch Hu in this world. Thank G-d. This is a child who brought the entire country to its feet.”

He also urged the public to offer thanks for the outcome.

“Everyone should say a chapter of Tehillim or Mizmor L’sodah. We accomplished this together, through unity and unconditional love.”

Earlier Friday, before Yuval was found, his mother, Dina Kogan, made an emotional public appeal for additional volunteers to join the search effort.

“We are in critical hours and my child is in mortal danger,” she told Ynet. “Maybe this is a kidnapping. The Shin Bet and the police are not enough. The entire country needs to be on its feet.”

According to authorities, Yuval was last seen Thursday at approximately 12:50 p.m. near Hofit Beach in Ashkelon while on an outing with his father.

His father, Dmitry (“Danny”) Kogan, said he lost sight of the boy for only a few minutes. When he began searching for him and was unable to locate him, he immediately contacted police, setting in motion the massive search operation that concluded Friday with the joyful discovery of the missing child alive.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] A record 3,698 Jews ascended the Har HaBayis on Tishah B’Av this year, according to organizers, surpassing last year’s total of 3,527 visitors.

While supporters hailed the turnout as a milestone, the overwhelming consensus of the leading poskim and Gedolei Yisroel—both past and present—has remained unequivocal that Jews are prohibited from ascending Har HaBayis under contemporary circumstances.

For decades, the foremost Gedolei HaPoskim across virtually every segment of the Torah world have ruled that entering Har HaBayis is strictly forbidden due to the inability to determine with certainty the precise boundaries of the areas where entry is prohibited because of tumas meis and the location of the Makom HaMikdash. Among those who have prohibited ascending Har HaBayis were Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rav Shmuel Wosner, Rav Nissim Karelitz, Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Rav Gershon Edelstein, and numerous other gedolim. They have consistently maintained that Jews must refrain from ascending the site until the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash.

Despite those longstanding prohibitions, organizers reported that 3,698 Jews visited Har HaBayis on Tishah B’Av, establishing a new record for the day. Last year, 3,527 visitors ascended the site on Tishah B’Av.

Rav Elisha Wolfson, Rosh Yeshiva of the Temple Mount Yeshiva, welcomed the increased attendance.

“It is moving to see the masses of the House of Israel coming to visit the site of the Temple. Thank God, we were privileged to pray on the Mount using Tisha B’Av prayer booklets and beneath shade canopies in the eastern section. There is no doubt that the process of returning to Zion is making groundbreaking progress year after year.”

He continued, “Now, after 59 years, the people of Israel are beginning to understand that the Holy One, blessed be He, has truly returned us to the site of the Temple.”

Rav Wolfson argued that yearning for Tzion should not be limited to prayer alone but should also find practical expression through visits to Har HaBayis, which he said should be conducted in accordance with the halachic guidelines advocated by his organization.

He also said conditions on Har HaBayis have changed significantly over the past two years, particularly since National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir assumed office. According to Rav Wolfson, when the yeshiva first began operating approximately six years ago, even silent prayer could lead to police detention.

“Today there are songs, prayers, and prostration on the Temple Mount. And starting today, there are also shade canopies and Tisha B’Av prayer booklets,” he said.

Rav Wolfson encouraged additional members of the public to participate by visiting Har HaBayis after making what he described as the necessary halachic preparations and by supporting the yeshiva’s ongoing activities.

According to Rav Wolfson, the yeshiva’s efforts continue throughout the year and are not limited to Tishah B’Av or Yomim Tovim. He said its talmidim ascend Har HaBayis daily after immersing in a mikveh, learn Torah at the site, and maintain a constant presence there.

“We’re carrying out an incredible revolution here and making these tremendous changes possible,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] A large police presence descended on Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ today after reports of possible gunfire sparked fears of an active threat, but the situation was quickly resolved when investigators determined the sounds came from maintenance work on the building’s roof.

The alarm was raised after several people called authorities to report what they believed were gunshots in the area, prompting an immediate and extensive response from the Lakewood Police Department and multiple emergency agencies.

Acting out of caution, law enforcement deployed dozens of armed officers to the campus, supported by K-9 teams and drones, while conducting a comprehensive search of the buildings to ensure there was no ongoing danger.

After completing the sweep, police confirmed that the loud noises were caused by an HVAC crew performing work on the roof. Authorities said there was never any threat to anyone.

{Matzav.com}

During the Nine Days, when Klal Yisroel mourns the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l strongly urged people to maintain personal hygiene and kavod habriyos, criticizing what he viewed as unnecessary stringencies. In one of his well-known derashos, he explained that the basic halachah does not prohibit bathing during the Nine Days, emphasizing the distinction between accepted minhagim and the strict letter of the law.

According to the enactment of Chazal, the prohibition against bathing applies only on Tishah B’Av itself. Over the generations, however, early authorities adopted the custom of refraining from bathing during the days leading up to the fast.

Among Sefardim, the accepted custom is to refrain from bathing in hot water only during the week in which Tishah B’Av falls. By contrast, among Ashkenazim, where the climate was historically cooler and people perspired less, the custom developed to avoid bathing throughout the entire Nine Days, even in cold water.

In his derashah, Rav Ovadia sharply criticized excessive stringencies that, in his view, resulted in unpleasant body odor and caused discomfort to others.

“Go to Bnei Brak and you’ll see—they don’t bathe. There’s sweat there… A person sits next to someone else—and with all due respect—he doesn’t smell good. Did the Torah say to do that? That’s not respect for other people. Someone sits next to him and suffers.”

Rav Ovadia stressed that, according to the minhag of Sefardim, bathing remains permissible even after Rosh Chodesh Av.

“We have the custom to bathe even after Rosh Chodesh Av. Our Chachamim never prohibited bathing. They prohibited it only on Tishah B’Av.”

He continued, “For our Sefardim, even hot water is permitted. Let them keep their own stringencies… They get upset; they don’t want to be lenient.”

Addressing the Ashkenazi minhag, Rav Ovadia related that he had once sought to permit bathing in cold water for laborers who work hard and perspire heavily, but encountered strong opposition.

“Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, alav hashalom, heard that I was being lenient regarding their customs and became very upset. I was afraid—I didn’t want to get involved with the Ashkenazim.”

The posek hador did not mince words when speaking about those who adopt stringencies where the Torah permits leniency, particularly when those chumros come at the expense of others.

“Someone who is machmir about this is a donkey. That’s what I call him—a donkey. He’s not acting like a human being. Why make stringencies against the Torah? What for? If the Torah permits it, do you want to be a big shot and be stricter than the Torah? What do you want? Everything has to be done with sound judgment and common sense… Someone who is machmir, as I said, is a donkey.”

Rav Ovadia concluded that people should follow the minhagim of their forefathers and bathe in accordance with those traditions. He added that women preparing for tevilah, as well as those who customarily immerse for taharah, may bathe and immerse as usual throughout the Nine Days. Only on Tishah B’Av itself does the prohibition on bathing fully apply.

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