A large,  joyful event took place in Dnipro, Ukraine’s magnificent Menorah Center – the first chag hasemicha held by Lemaan Yilmedu, an organization facilitating the semicha learning for Anash around the globe. The event was joined by a delegation of Rabbonim from Eretz Yisroel; Chief Rabbi of Holon Eliyahu Yochanan Gurary, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat-Ata Chaim Shlomo Diskin, Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva from Ramat Aviv Chaim Yosef Ginzburg, and Rabbi Yisroel Yehuda Leib Mel • Full Story, Photos

At the end of December, a select group of Jewish future leaders participated in YAHAD’s four-day unique Leadership School seminar aimed at ensuring a thriving and vibrant future for Jewry across the former Soviet Union. “Our young leaders,” says YAHAD’s director, Rabbi Mendi Wilansky, “learn how to confront the unique reality of post-Soviet Jewry and make Judaism accessible and welcoming to its future generations” • Full Story, Photos

A helicopter crashed Monday off of Chaifa’s coast in Israel’s north, with the three crew members onboard rescued and taken to hospital • Full Story

Ontario is moving schools online for at least two weeks, temporarily closing indoor dining and gyms and pausing non-urgent medical procedures as it faces record-high case counts that, according to public health officials, threaten to overwhelm the province’s health-care system • Full Story

Israel’s Health Ministry announced Monday that it will permit the entry of some tourists into the country starting next week. The Health Ministry said it would ease restrictions both on air travel into and out of the country, including exempting vaccinated and confirmed recovered travelers from low and medium-risk countries from quarantine, once they have received negative PCR test results, or have waited 24 hours without symptoms • Full Story

Crews were out treating roads across the Tri-State area overnight in preparation for the first significant snowfall of the season. In New York City, about 700 sanitation trucks were out spreading salt ahead of the snow’s arrival • Full Story

In honor of Chof Teves and the Rambam’s Yahrtzeit, as well as Chof Daled Teves, the Rambam app that was launched earlier this year has released a new version, with features including side by side English translation • Full Story

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced the experiment of the fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine, saying it will now be offered to medical staff and adults over the age of 60 • Full Story

First stage of kashrus reform advanced by Minister Matan Kahana will enable every religious council to provide certification anywhere in Israel • Full Story

Under the auspices of Dnipro Shliach Rabbi Moshe Weber, the ‘Shluchim Shtetl’ camp for yaldei hashluchim from all over Ukraine, has kicked off this year’s exciting winter camp. 90 boys convened in the city of Dnipro, where the camp is being hosted for the first time. The camp provides the kids of Ukraine’s dedicated, hardworking Shluchim with an unforgettable experience, both spiritually and physically • Photos

President Joe Biden cannot require teachers in the Head Start early education program to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a Louisiana federal judge ruled Saturday, handing a victory to 24 states, not including NY, that had sued the federal government • Full Story

Children under the age of 12 will no longer face arrest and prosecution for virtually all crimes in New York under a bill signed into law late this week by Gov. Kathy Hochul