By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky Yated Ne’eman How does one manage Not to cry As he ponders Wonders, “Why?” He chose them Not “Me,” not “I” To write the saga Of Mumbai What’s there to write? What’s there to say? About a morbid Dreadful day A day of carnage In Bombay Brought to our homes From far away A world so distant So far-flung The banner of Hashem Was hung A song of comfort  Was once sung And now it mourns Its martyred young Who did not know Someone who’d gone And felt the warmth of Nariman? Satmar, Volov Bobov too Anyone who was a Jew Frum or Not it was not odd In Mumbai their home — Chabad An oasis of Yiddishkeit In a foreign land Where Yidden came To bond To band Where golus took A tiny break An Indian respite Where somehow Diverse worlds would meet And everyone would fit But terror’s sword Reached far and wide And found us ’round the world Yishmael’s flag It would not hide Its filthy wrath unfurled A tearful lesson Did us teach A thought we all must know That until we Correct the breach There’s no place they won’t go To run To hide We all can try But where we are Is still Mumbai Not the comforts Of Boro Park Nor fancy homes In Sutton Park Can keep the light From turning dark A bustling metropolis Where the Torah’s Words do reign A tiny, lonely shtetel Somewhere in the Ukraine   Are no safer than The Nariman Where Yidden Came to pray To find a breath Of ruchniyus In the smog of Old Bombay A hotel In Netanya Or a bus in Tel Aviv A rural street In Iowa Where Yidden Hardly live There’s golus in Bnei Brak And hatred on the wall Skinheads in Toronto And bombs in Montreal There’s always a reminder That nowhere Are we free And that there is No “type” of Yid For every “them” is me No matter where we’re standing Whatever street you’re on We need the understanding Of “Golus Nariman” No matter where we travel No matter where we fly Golus seems to find us For everywhere’s Mumbai There are no sects in golus And no rift does exist For we are “one” To all of “them” To every terrorist But if everywhere is golus And all Jews are just one Perhaps there is nechama In the mayhem that was done We were all shot together We limp as we are maimed The dreadful storm we’ll weather With each bullet that they aimed We’re Toldos Avram Yitzchak Chabad and Bobov, too We are Israeli tourists And a Mexicana Jew Maybe we are still standing Indeed we’re still alive But maybe we are Moishele The baby who’d survive   For Klal Yisroel’s yasom Whose tears wet every heart Is the symbol of our history A message to impart That no matter how they’ll kill us Whatever time or where Moishele will yet live on A hope for our despair Amongst the smoke and rubble A babe ‘mongst the reeds A plant amidst the trouble The Almighty always seeds Until Moshiach’s heralding When all the dead revive The Moisheles declare our fate “Klal Yisroel will survive!”

Deep pain & feelings of sadness. No other words can describe my feelings at this very moment. I am overcome with emotions just sitting and looking at the photos taken at the funerals of the holy Kedoshim who were brutally tortured – and killed at the hand of murderous subhumans. There is no words in the English language to adequately describe the type of evil that these terrorists posses. It is beyond human comprehension. On the other hand, the amount of Achdus shown on YWN in the past few days is incredible. The amount of Tehillim recited – praying for a miracle, woman organizing as many people to take Challah in their Zechus, and finally the learning of the entire Shisha Sidrei Mishnah in the memory of the Kedoshim (Click HERE to participate). The work of so many organizations trying to assist the grieving families, the Chesed of ZAKA, Misaskim, as well as the tireless activists who activated and used their contacts in the NYPD, The US State Department, the Port Authority PD….the Israeli Air Force – and all Israeli Government Agencies…..the list is endless…. Mi Kiamcha Yisroel? The incredible amount of people attempting to access the YWN website at once crashed our servers a few times – as the Jewish Nation looked for some hope and encouragement – and maybe a miracle. How we all sat glued to the screens for three days straight, Tehillim in hand, Davening that we would see the hostages in the Mumbai Chabad House emerge unharmed…. The reciting of Tehillim in places from the Lakewood Bais Medrash, at Kiryas Yoel at the Kever of the Satmar Rebbe, the Kever of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, in classrooms, Batei Midrashim and and in Shuls across the globe…. Mi Kiamcha Yisroel? Chabad, Satmar, Bobov, Litvish, Sephardic, Dati Leumi, Kipa Sruga, Streimel, etc. It made no difference. Jews were murdered, and we all felt it. This tragic story has perhaps accomplished one thing: It brought Klal Yisroel together as one nation, just as when we stood under Har Sinai. As night begins to fall in Eretz Yisroel, the Kedoshim are all buried, and the grieving families begin to sit Shiva, YWN reflects on the events of the past few days, and only hopes that we never need to bring such horror, tragedy, and sad news to Klal Yisroel. Our dream would be to post the following headline: “MOSHIACH HAS ARRIVED!” YWN would like to thank our dedicated staff – in NYC, Florida, California, and of course Yechiel Spira at the helm of the YWN Israel Bureau – who remained awake for three days straight to bring you the latest, and most accurate information available. Photos & videos of today’s heart-wrenching funerals (taken by Yehuda Boltshauser & Co: Aaron Getz / Somcha Jesse / Rafael Ovadia), along with various images from this tragic incident have been uploaded. YWN Editor.

The following is an exclusive interview with Rabbi Menachem Genack, Rabbinic Administrator of OU Kosher, conducted by Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger of Yated Ne’eman. As it was too late to appear in this week’s Yated, at the suggestion of Rabbi Genack, the interview is being presented here to YWN readers: Q: Reports last week stated that the Orthodox Union has said it would consider withdrawing its kashrus certification of Agriprocessors, in Postville, Iowa, unless new management is hired, after Iowa’s attorney general filed criminal charges against Agriprocessors for knowingly employing underage workers. Are the reports true and what is the reasoning behind the OU’s decision? A: This story is not just a local story related to one plant. It has become a national story. It’s been on the front page of the New York Times, presidential candidates have spoken about it, Barack Obama has spoken about it. It puts it into everyone’s eyesight. After the federal raid back in May, the OU had two requests of the Rubashkins who own the Agriprocessors plant. One request was that they put in place a new compliance officer to make sure that the company is running in consonance with all state and federal laws and regulations. To that end, they appointed James Martin, a former Senior Federal U.S. Attorney, to serve as Chief Compliance Officer and oversee all of these issues. In addition, they hired a former OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) representative. In our opinion, these were both very good appointments, on a public relations basis, and, more importantly, in terms of making sure that the plant is indeed in compliance. The second thing we requested was that they appoint a new CEO, to manage the plant and put in place a management team. This did not and does not mean to exclude the Rubashkins by any means; they own the company. However, they have been besieged from all sides. Some of the allegations are wrong, some might be valid, and many are certainly not valid, but they were being paralyzed by all these things swirling around them and they didn’t have the capacity to move the company forward. They desperately needed someone to come in and present a new face to talk to the world, to deal with the public, to put procedures in place, and move forward past these allegations. Since then, the OU has been talking to the Rubashkins on a constant basis to retain a new management team. We told them then that if criminal charges – state or federal – and the federal investigation is still in progress — are filed, we have to have a position in terms of kashrus generally, for the well-being of kashrus – not just the OU – that we are in control of the situation and that we can move forward. They’ve been looking for a new CEO, but, for whatever reason, haven’t put one in place yet. Our goal in this is not, by any means, to close down Agri. Our goal is to make sure that people have a favorable view of what’s happening there and schechita in general. In addition, our goal is very much to be helpful to the Rubashkins to move from the status quo – where the company is now – to a new reality,