Traditional Judaism Updates
The Jewish Press reports:
Traditional Judaism
JERUSALEM – A burgeoning bribery scandal threatens to bring down the government of Ehud Olmert, with Israeli law enforcement sources saying a development in the case is imminent.
Law enforcement sources said Tuesday’s development might lead to an indictment against the prime minister.
When the story first broke last week, Israel’s Channel 1 quoted a senior legal source as saying, “Olmert is in a grave situation. Separate court procedures related to the investigation and the gag order were held on Tuesday, with the court accepting a request by police not to lift the gag on the case.
“The investigation team must be given leeway.”
Though the near-complete news blackout on the case remains in effect in Israel, the New York Post on Tuesday disclosed that the “foreign national” mentioned in news reports is Long Island-based millionaire financier Morris Talansky, who allegedly passed money to Olmert while the latter was mayor of Jerusalem in the 1990’s.
Talansky was prepared to talk to Israeli authorities, the Post reported.
Talansky had been “questioned about the alleged scheme almost immediately after arriving in the country for Passover, and he implicated Olmert,” the Post reported.
Yitzchok noted that the difference between the current case and previous investigations of Olmert is that “here there is a witness who admits that something was done illegally, while in previous cases there was apparent proof that Olmert did something illegal but no one came forward.
Olmert tried to downplay news of the investigation, telling cabinet members Sunday that “a wave of rumors has been sweeping the country since Wednesday; some of those rumors are wicked and malicious.
Shlomo Greenwald writes:
The yeshiva and its affiliates also have a unique approach to teaching and learning Gemara. Students are encouraged to work at understanding the logical steps in any portion and to place a high value on the Gemara’ initial assumptions, even if these are later rejected.
Rabbi Leibowitz was intimately involved in many aspects of the yeshiva. For example, according to Rabbi Schwartz, several times a year he would personally travel to potential new sites for affiliated yeshivas.
Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, which moved to Kew Gardens Hills in Queens recently, has 500 students between its high school and rabbinical schoo. A Queens elementary school that Rabbi Leibowitz started in 1957, Tiferes Moshe, has another 600 students. All the affiliates number another several thousand students.
Rabbi Dovid Harris and Rabbi Akiva Grunblatt will succeed Rabbi Leibowitz as roshei yeshiva.
“The rosh yeshiva is irreplaceable,” Rabbi Schwartz said. “It’s the combination of his warm personality, his level of Torah erudition, and his ability to develop students. He also represented a connection to the previous generation of gedolim.”
Rabbi Leibowitz’s first wife, Pesha Leibowitz, died in 2002. He had no children, and is survived by his second wife Danielle Leibowitz.
Posted on: Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 5:31 pm 
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