The state education commissioner of NJ issued a decision (see here) on the Lakewood school funding lawsuit brought by R' Aaron Lang over the last 7 years to fix the funding formula for Lakewood and have the state pay more for Lakewood school education. The ruling stated that Lakewood BOE is providing a thorough and Efficient education and therefore the Commissioner does not need not to rule on the issue of the funding formula if it is constitutional or not. R' Lang said  property taxes will more than double. No one will be able to live here and you will not be able to sell your homes. He  will continue litigating the case in the courts.

The crux of the case is that the Lakewood school district is not providing a T&E Thorough and efficient education because of a lack of funds from the state.  Reb Lang explained that  you need to establish the  T & E claim before arguing formula is unconstitutional. Previously, the administrative law judge agreed that Lakewood is not providing a T&E which paved the way for the case to continue about the funding formula but now the commissioner rejected that and  said that Lakewood is providing a T&E and therefore deferred on the funding formula decision 

R' Aaron Lang responded on Twitter that he will now take the case to the judicial courts where it should have been in the first place and not within the Dept. of Education. He said tax payers will be on the hook to pay back massive BOE loans A home paying $15K will pay $35K a year. Why should the legislature not remove the tax cap for a town that owes so much? Can you imagine how sick your BOE is to oppose the litigation?  you will have a billion dollar tax debt that must be repaid within a decade.

Reb Aaron a musmach of BMG a attorney and math teacher in the lakewood public school has been litigating this free of charge on behalf of the Lakewood children and tax payers. He got no recognition from the township  govt Vaad BOE or other leaders instead there have been several attempts to obstruct the case to pull it away from him and he was even demoted by the BOE. He vows to continue litigating despite the setbacks he wrote on twitter  "I will still litigate this but this town, with all its false claims of hakaros hatov, which really just means kissing up to politicians and kissing down to gangstellach",

 Weather: Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High around 85F

- Kent road at Lakewood /Howell border scheduled to reopen today after 8 months of construction

- Ben & Jerry's Ice cream announced it will  boycott sales in West Bank settlements, and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem because of the occupation on Palestine.

-  Officials confirm A tornado touched down in Burlington County  on Motzei shabbos it was between 86 and 110 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. It lasted six minutes and was classified as a "weak storm," but it left much damage in its wake, where one tree was completely uprooted, according to officials. It touched down east of the intersection of Route 206 and Columbus-Jobstown Road just before 10:30 p.m. It lasted for 7.9 miles was 800 miles wide, and it dissipated before it reached the Ocean County line. (Patch)

- Food distribution update from Lakewood BOE: The Lakewood School District is currently providing meals under the Summer Food Service Programs until September 8, 2021. On September 9, 2021, the

 For the kolell youngeleit of Lakewood, and Bochurim of BMG summer 2021 vacation begins now as they rest up before resuming to the shtender for upcoming Elul Zman. The learning of course continues in local Botei medrashim some with special bein hazmanim programs. During these weeks one experiences a feeling of relaxation and serenity in Lakewood. As opposed to last year with covid19 restrictions this year more people will be heading out to vacation however hotel prices and other travel costs have gone up due to inflation work force shortage and other factors.

Weather: Abundant sunshine. High near 90F

-Gourmet Glatt and seasons have announced that they too will not be carrying Ben & Jerry's products at their location  because of their decision to boycott of  sales in the west bank of Israel and east Jerusalem (Lakewood locations may not carry the cholov stam ice cream however there are parve products made with almond milk)

- Jnews Kiryat Acco update second asifa took place with 50 more attendees, the committee currently has 4 buildings for potential housing options watch video Here 

- The kent road opening at Lakewood/Howell border has been delayed to August 6

- Lakewood planning board meeting today at 6:00 pm, On the Agenda Kikar Shabbos application to expand shopping area on Monmouth Ave. Bnos Devorah Oak Street Major Site Plan for a school. Meeting will be in person see agenda Here  watch livestream here 

- Snip It barber shop has opened in the new shopping center in Jackson across from the wawa on East Veterans. A Grand opening event took place yesterday, walk ins welcome no appointment needed 1135 East Veterans Highway Jackson NJ 08527.  Aisle 9 will  be opening a second location there as well. 

-  James St will be shut today 7:00 am between Williams and Sunset for construction with no access. Expected to reopen Thursday night.  the NPGS Shopping Plaza will remain open and will be accessible from Sunset Road.

- NJ.com reports on Lamg Lawsuit: While the decision did not go the petitioners’ way, it nonetheless allows Lang to file an appeal with the Appellate Division of State Superior Court. Depending which way that appeal goes, Lang fully expects that either he or his adversaries at the state Department of Education will then appeal the case to the Supreme Court of New Jersey, which then will have the truly final say on whether Lakewood Public Schools and the state aid formula are meeting their obligation

 This morning James street was shut from route 9 to Sunset causing heavy backups in the surrounding roads as residents sat in traffic for over an hour. The closure comes in middle of the morning rush and camp traffic leaving no alternative but to sit in wasting precious time on the road

 In an interview with the APP Lakewood Mayor Ray Coles talks about improving traffic flow as the town puts up a few stop signs in Lexington Ave and 7th and some no parking restrictions on sunset and prospect streets.  Coles than says that the roads that the town controls can be widened and fix but the problem is the county and state roads "Coles hopes that eventually the town will be able to widen streets and introduce traffic lights in some of the most backed up areas. The problem, however, is that many of the worst spots occur along county and state roads the Township Committee has less control over. Fixes on those roads often require years of planning. "If they were township roads we can ... widen or fix or whatever on our own," Coles said.

There is no mention of the lack of planning or upgrading infrastructure together with the growth of the town. No care that people waste their days lose money come late to yeshiva or work and sit frustrated in daily traffic ruining the quality of daily life. These fixes are a diversion and do nothing for the heart of the issue as people sit daily in traffic all day to and from yeshiva or work or car pool for over an hour. A few weeks ago the planning board recommended to widen Pine street, a Lakewood township road  as a condition for newly improved projects in Cedarbridge but the mayor said that a ruling pertaining to county roads that you can not tie road improvements on condition of new construction applies to the township roads as well. So much for controlling and widening local roads.

Livestream of Levaya on LNN 4:30 pm

Matzav.com - It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rabbi Menashe Tzvi Winkler. He was 102 years old. Reb Menashe Tzvi passed away this morning in Lakewood, where he settled over a decade ago, living in Lakewood Commons. The levayah will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Lakewood Commons Shul, located at 44 Coles Way, in Lakewood, NJ.

Reb Menashe Tzvi grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark, where his father was the rov of Machzikei Hadas. He was one of two children – he had one brother, Efraim – and was named after his two zeides

His father, amazingly, was fifty years old when he got married. A Yerushalmi who had learnt under Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Reb Menashe Tzvi’s father was a choshuve talmid chochom and community leader who knew Shas, both Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, as well as Sifri, Sifra and Tosefta. He was also a member of the Moetzes Gedolai Hatorah.

At the time of Reb Menashe Tzvi’s childhood, there were five thousand Jewish people living in Copenhagen. The kehillah, Machzikei Hadas, had three hundred to four hundred people. His father taught his limudei kodesh and also established a cheder with a rebbi he brought in from Pressburg, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Knoepfelmacher, who had been one of the best bochurim in the Pressburg Yeshiva. The rebbi taught Reb Menashe Tzvi at home as well from when he was seven years old until he was fourteen. Reb Menashe Tzvi’s parents hired a frum girl to teach him limudei chol twice a week, since they didn’t want to send him to public school. When he reached the fifth grade, however, he had to attend school, which he  did through the eighth grade.

The last time Reb Menashe Tzvi saw his father, he was twelve years old. His father was traveling to America on a mission for Keren Hatorah, the organization of Agudas Yisrael for yeshivos worldwide. His father was an eloquent speaker who spoke a beautiful German. He went to raise money among German Jews in Washington Heights. One Shabbos, while in America, his father had a heart attack. They sent Reb Menashe Tzvi’s mother a telegram saying that he was “hingeshiden,” meaning niftar. Reb Menashe Tzvi was thirteen at that time and his brother was eleven.

When Reb Menashe Tzvi was fourteen years old, his mother allowed him to go to Radin to join the Chofetz Chaim’s yeshiva. Why did she choose Radin? Whenever meshulachim for yeshivos came to Copenhagen, they usually stayed at the Winkler house. When Rav Yitzchok Grozalsky, a big talmid chochom who was a meshulach from the Radin Yeshiva, stayed at their home, he suggested to Reb Menashe Tzvi’s mother that she send him to Radin.

Reb Menashe Tzvi traveled to meet the Chofetz Chaim where he was staying in a village in the middle of a pine tree forest close to Radin. This was three weeks before the Chofetz Chaim was niftar and he was very weak. Reb Menashe Tzvi shook hands with him. He was sitting in a beach chair covered with netting to protect him from the flies. The Chofetz Chaim greeted Reb Menashe Tzvi and bentched him: “Shalom Aleichem. Zei gezunt… Shteigen in lernen…” Reb Hershel Geier, from the town of Kamenitz, was with him. Read rest of article at Matzav

 Food Distribution Times and locations may change, check for updates

 - Bnos Melech distribution  Bgan weekday box R&S Shabbos box 7:30 - 9:30 pm 550 James1

-Yeshiva Ktana weekly Summer boxes 6:00pm - 8:00 pm behind the building on 120 2nd street on Division

- Toras Zev Cross st  6:15 pm

- Yeahiva 950 Massachusetts 5:45 pm

- Bnos Esther Malka 488 Old Whitesville 5:00 pm

- OTL box at SCHI Oak st and Center on Prospect st  at 6:00 pm

- Jackson Dinner box 2 distributions 1. Royal Grove area 12 Knight Dr  6:30 pm-7:15 2. at school 1025 Larson 7:15 - 8:00

- TRJCC  Meals boxes for Toms River residents 5:00 pm.  at The Hatzolah Garage 2139 Lakewood Rd (Rt 9.) Toms River, NJ.

- Belz 5:45 pm at 388 Chestnut st

- Yeshiva Ohr Avrohom Chaim at 1839 New Central distribution  at 1:30 pm  Box includes Pizza crusts, shredded cheese, pizza sauce, k j Sweet Chicken tenders, french fries, Raw challah, bloomeos, apple cider, bell peppers, apples, assorted milk

 -Gelbsteins boxes at public school locations 3:30 pm  Middle school , Clifton school

 - The main entrance to Hurricane Harbor was temporarily closed following a routine safety check by the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit,"  Jackson Township police and New Jersey State Police responded and the park entrance was reopened following a thorough investigation that found nothing dangerous, officials said.

תורה תורה חגרי שק

- There will be a livestream video of the Levaya in Lakewood Here 11:00 am

- Updated: The mitah will be escorted from his home to the yeshiva in Long Beach at 4:00 pm divrei hesped will be delivered  dial in  hook up number 202-926-4500 conf# 8733990. The Aron will continue to Lakewood. The Levaya will be tomorrow in Lakewood, BMG bais Yitzchok binyan Herzka 7th and private way at 11am with kevura  in Lakewood bais olam

Matzav: It is with great sadness to  report the passing of Rav Yitzchok Feigelstock zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Mesivta of Long Beach.

Rav Feigelstock, one of the ziknei roshei yeshivos in the United States, was a member of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of Agudas Yisroel of America.

Rav Feigelstock learned in his younger years at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, becoming a leading talmid of Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l, who held Rav Feigelstock in tremendously high esteem.

Rav Feigelstock later went on to lead his own yeshiva, Mesivta of Long Beach, turning it into one of the most prestigious Torah institutions in America.  For over half of a century, he led the yeshiva, guiding talmidim through their yeshiva years and well beyond.

Rav Feigelstock’s shiurim, shmuessen and divrei Torah inspired bnei Torah during their formative years, as they were enthralled by his unique combination of high level lomdus with penetrating hashkafah, a beacon of purity and clarity.

Yehi zichro boruch

 Kashrus organizations are under pressure to remove the hashgacha certification from Ben & Jerry's Ice cream. 

Jpost- Kashrut authorities are being called on to remove their kosher certification from all Ben & Jerry's ice cream products after their decision to boycott West Bank settlements and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.

In response to the announcement made earlier this week, Jews in countries across the world have announced their intentions to boycott the product, with some going as far as to launch campaigns aimed at Kashrut certification organizations.

The Australian Kashrut Authority (KA) announced on Wednesday via their Facebook page that they would be removing Ben & Jerry's ice cream from their list of kosher approved products, and said that while the brand would still be certified kosher under the US based Kof-K certification, they themselves would be ending their long standing decision to list the ice-cream in their kosher product list.

In their statement, the KA stated that the decision was made "in support of those who proudly reside in Yehuda ve Shomron (Judea & Samaria)."

 Despite the KA's reassurance that the American Kof-K certification would continue to certify the product, many US based Jews are campaigning for this to change.

Nachman Mostofsky, executive director of Amariah, a religious Jewish organization that claims to promote "the communal values of traditional Torah-true Judaism," tweeted a statement on Tuesday, saying that he had spoken to Kof-K, encouraging them to remove their certification from the product.

He encouraged others to do the same, and said that he had not been the only person to phone them that morning.

A similar statement was shared on the Amariah Twitter account, in which they said that as well as Kof-K, "the [OU Kosher] and [cRc Kosher] and any other certification should refuse them as well."

While some approved of this idea, others were less certain and questioned the choice of the KA, and the campaign against Kof-K, from a halachic point of view. As Kashrut refers only to how food must be prepared according to Jewish Law, the removal of a kashrut certificate due to political decisions could lead to misinformation.

Twitter user @AvrahamAdler replied to the Amariah announcement: "bottom line, people must know whether or not it is kosher. If [Ben & Jerry's] change their formulation and stop being kosher, that’s a real problem. People can choose on their own to stop supporting B&J #Antisemitism, but not at expense of Halacha. Halacha transcends emotions."

 Weather: Partly to mostly cloudy. High 82F

- Preparations underway at BMG for the Levaya of Harav Yitzchok Feigelstock zatzal Rosh Yeshiva mesivta of Long Beach. Misaskim and LCSW has set up command at 7th and Private way the roadway in front will be closed at 11:00 am

-LPD: The section of James Street between Williams and Sunset that was closed for construction, is now fully open. LNN reports the construction was done by the conrail train company to prepare the area for the ttffic light at the James/Williams intersection

- Glory market in Jackson at the corner of Cedar swamp rd near the 195 entrance will close and a wawa will be constructed on the site

Israel: 40% of new Covid patients were vaccinated, compared to just 1% who had been infected previously""Covid recovered pts were far less likely to become infected than ppl who were vaccinated against Covid, according to data presented to Israeli Health Ministry"(INN)

- Eighty fully vaccinated Massachusetts residents have died from COVID-19 and the number of breakthrough cases reported across the state has surpassed 5,000, new public health data shows.(source)

- Agudah statement on Ben and Jerry's

The recent announcement by the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company that it would no longer sell its products in Yehudah, Shomron or East Jerusalem has brought the issue of BDS once again to the forefront of public discourse.

Agudath Israel is on longstanding record opposing BDS as a form of antisemitism. Agudah has advocated for anti-BDS laws across the United States, and has defended their constitutionality in courts of law.

This case illustrates why economic boycott against Israel is so objectionable, and why it is so important to stand firm against BDS. We urge all states that have anti-BDS laws to apply those laws as appropriate in this case. And we urge all states that have not as yet enacted anti-BDS laws to use this case as impetus to pass such legislation

 Levaya is taking place in Bais Medrash Govoha Bais Yitzchok corner 7th and Private way at 11:00 am Call on number 857-347-0100,  Conf # 125005 Kevura 2:30 pm in the Lakewood Bais Olam.

TOMS RIVER, NJ —(patch) Toms River residents who have been trying to rent out their private home swimming pools through websites are being warned they will face charges for violating the township's ordinances.

Private pool rentals have been a hot-button issue in Toms River for a few years, and were banned in 2018 under the township's short-term rentals ordinance.

That has not stopped some homeowners from trying to rent their swimming pools out on an hourly or daily basis through several websites that operate similar to Airbnb. The most popular, Swimply, was recently highlighted in articles in the Wall Street Journal and Insider.

Hot weather, lengthy delays in getting swimming pools installed because demand skyrocketed last summer during the pandemic, and a spike in the price of pool chlorine that USA Today reported was fueled by a fire at a Louisiana plant, have led more people to use the websites to seek a place to take a dip.

"Homeowners place photos of their pools online and offer to rent them for several hours or the entire day," township officials said. Town ordinances consider the rental of a home's amenities, including the swimming pool, to be a commercial use in a residential neighborhood.

"It is also illegal to advertise, either in print or online, the illegal pool rentals," officials said.

Homeowners violating the ordinance will be issued summonses and face fines of up to $2,000 per occurrence, 90 days in jail and/or 90 days of community service. In 2020, a Toms River homeowner was cited for having 85 children dropped off by bus to use the pool for a fee.

"We have ordinances in place to protect not only the integrity and peacefulness of neighborhoods but the overall health and safety of residents," Mayor Maurice Hill said.

Toms River's Code Enforcement officials and the town's Quality-of-Life unit are checking the listings and will issue summonses to anyone found violating the law.

"These rentals illegally convert private swimming pools into public pools in violation of state, local, and Ocean County Health Department regulations," Hill said.

Homeowners who violate the township's ordinance also can face state enforcement actions, and the private rentals may compromise their homeowner insurance coverage, Hill said.