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Held at the conclusion of the traditional shivah week of mourning for the young yeshiva student, the march began in Dimentman’s hometown of Shavei Shomron and continued to the yeshiva where he studied. It followed the exact route he had traveled with two friends on the day he was murdered by Arab terrorists as he traveled home from yeshiva.

A memorial service was held at the conclusion of the march, attended by mourners as well as Knesset members and other public figures.

Yigal Dilmoni, the director of the Yesha Council, spoke at the march, saying, “For the past 15 years, since the Expulsion [from Gush Katif], the yeshiva students continued to learn here. This is the status quo of this place – yeshiva students arriving here to strengthen the site, to strengthen the settlement enterprise.”

He emphasized, “The government must not award a prize to terrorism. The yeshiva must be legalized.

“Route 60 that leads right here – a route that has historic significance to the Jewish People – must be secured in an organized manner. We will reinforce the yeshiva of Homesh, and we call on the government to regularize the status of the community.”

Deri to Resign

Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday announced that MK Aryeh Deri, who chairs the Knesset’s Shas party, has signed a plea bargain admitting to two tax-related crimes. As part of the plea bargain, Deri also agreed to pay a fine of 180,000 NIS ($58,015). Following the agreement, Deri will resign from the Knesset, to be replaced by Rabbi Yossi Taib, who served as MK during Deri’s time as Interior Minister.

“I thank the Master of the World that these seven years of torturous investigations have come to a close. These years have been unbearably hard for my family and myself,” Deri said.

“The investigation began with a great tumult and with grave suspicions raised of terrible wrongdoings – and ended, in the words of the Attorney-General, Dr. Avichai Mandelblit, with ‘not even a little mouse out of this case.’”

He continued, “With regard to the disputes over taxes, I have decided to take responsibility for mistakes that were made, without any criminal intent, in order to put this matter behind me and avoid the necessity of an entire legal process.”

Deri concluded, “I wish to thank my attorney, Navot Tel Tzur, for his devoted work. I will continue to focus on my work for the public interest and will lead the Shas movement with all my strength and faith.”

A 4th Shot

Prof. Jacob Lavee became the first person in Israel to receive a fourth Covid vaccine when he was jabbed on Monday at the Sheba Medical Center.

“I did this with a full, full heart for two reasons — first, to protect myself,” the Israeli heart surgeon said. “And no less important, my desire to avoid transmitting the disease to our patients.”

Lavee was the first of some 150 health workers at the hospital outside Tel Aviv participating in the study to get the vaccine.

“I am definitely the first in Israel,” he said but noted that some immuno-compromised people had already received a fourth shot in some countries and conceded it was possible that others have illegally obtained additional vaccines.

The health workers who received the fourth dose had also been among the first people to receive the third dose and had a lower level of antibodies than their coworkers.

He expressed, “Do not fear the vaccine. It’s effective, it’s for the benefit of our future. Go get vaccinated.”

Sheba’s Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay, a lead researcher in the experiment, said the start of the process was “an exciting moment.”

“This study is expected to shed light on the additional benefit of giving a fourth dose, and lead us to understand whether and to whom it is worth giving a fourth dose,” she added. “There are many questions so it’s important to conduct this in a serious manner. It could be that we’ve reached a maximum and a fourth shot will not give much. That’s what we’re checking. In a few more days we’ll know if it’s safe and effective.”

The Sheba Medical Center said that under the study, 6,000 individuals will be given a fourth shot.

The study, the first of its kind in the world, is being carried out in conjunction with the Health Ministry and has been approved by the government’s senior panel on human medical trials.

Last Tuesday, the Health Ministry’s expert advisory panel had already signed off on distributing a fourth dose to those over the age of 60, along with others at risk. The program was delayed as authorities noticed that with the Omicron variant people are 50% to 70% less likely to need hospitalization than those with the Delta strain.

Congresswoman Carjacked

Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania was carjacked at gunpoint last Wednesday afternoon, in broad daylight as she was walking to her car. The carjacking occurred in south Philadelphia’s largest park, following a business meeting. Two armed men demanded Scanlon’s keys. One drove off in her car; the other followed in a dark colored vehicle.

Scanlon’s spokesperson, Lauren Cox, noted, “Wednesday afternoon, at around 2:45 p.m., Congresswoman Scanlon was carjacked at gunpoint in FDR Park following a meeting at that location. The Congresswoman was physically unharmed.

“She thanks the Philadelphia Police Department for their swift response and appreciates the efforts of both the Sergeant at Arms in D.C. and her local police department for coordinating with Philly PD to ensure her continued safety.”

Cox added that Scanlon’s personal belongings, including her government-issued ID and phones, were stolen during the carjacking.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said, “I’m appalled to learn of this violent crime that was perpetrated against my friend and colleague, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon. Everyone deserves to feel safe in our city, and sadly, as we know, that hasn’t always been the case this year. It’s disheartening, and quite frankly infuriating, that criminals feel emboldened to commit such a reckless crime in the middle of the day in what should be a place of tranquility and peace – one of Philadelphia’s beautiful parks.”

On the night of the carjacking, Scanlon’s blue Acura MDX was located in Delaware about 45 miles from where the incident occurred. Five suspects were found inside the vehicle.

America Was on the Move

The Redfin real estate organization has published a report on how lockdowns and working from home have changed the way Americans buy and sell houses.

According to the Manistee News Advocate, “This past year, home-sale prices hit the highest median of all time, the number of homes for sale fell to an all-time low, and there was record demand for second homes.”

Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather added, “The ongoing pandemic, including its seismic effect on the U.S. economy and the way Americans live and work, has made 2021’s housing market anything but typical. Remote work, low mortgage rates, a shortage of building materials, and wealth inequality that has allowed an influx of affluent Americans to buy vacation homes, to name just a few factors, have come together to create a historic year for real estate.”

He noted, “Buyers paid more for homes, bought sooner than they planned, searched outside their hometowns or all of the above. This year’s frenzied housing market has been one for the books—but it may become more balanced in 2022.”

According to Redfin, the typical U.S. home sold for nearly $400,000, and the national median home-sale price hit $386,000 in June, an alltime high and up 24.4 percent year over year. In addition, home supply dropped to its lowest level in history, with just 1.38 million homes for sale nationally in June, on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

At the same time, Redfin said, “the typical home sold in just 15 days, the lowest median days on market in history and down from 39 days in June 2020.”

“The speed of the market is due partly to the supply problem, which has led buyers to pounce on homes as soon as they are put on the market.”

As a result of this, over 60% of homes went off the market in two weeks, and 56.5% – a record high – were sold for above list price.

Redfin noted that 31.5% of users – nearly one-third – were looking to move to a different metropolitan area in the first quarter of 2021. This number, it said, represents an alltime high, as well as a 26% rise from the one year earlier.

Pentagon Cuts Cost-of-Living Stipend for Many

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced last week that troops in 15 metropolitan areas and 21 non-metropolitan counties in the continental U.S. will lose their costof-living allowance beginning on January 1, 2022.

According to Stars and Stripes, the change will strip approximately 48,000 troops of the Continental United States Cost-of-Living Allowance (CONUS COLA). At the same time, approximately 6,000 service members will retain their stipends, for which the Pentagon has allocated $8.5 million.

Included in the 2022 list for those receiving benefits this year are 20 non-metropolitan counties and six metropolitan areas, among them New York City, Staten Island, and Long Island; Boulder, Colorado; San Francisco, California; and Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Areas in which non-housing costs exceed 8% above national average are not eligible for COLA stipends. Among the locations cut from the list are Boston and Worcester, both in Massachusetts, and the Washington, D.C., area.

Truck Drivers to Canada Need to Be Vaxxed

American truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border will soon be required to be vaccinated, and some are concerned the requirement could contribute even more to a crippling supply chain crisis.

Canada is set to require “essential service providers, including truck drivers,” to be fully vaccinated upon entry into the country, starting January 15, 2022. Truck drivers entering the U.S. will face a similar requirement one week later, on January 22.

Last Wednesday, during a roundtable with northern-border state truck drivers, Montana’s Sen. Steve Daines warned, “These overreaching vaccine mandates will shutter Montana businesses and force Montanans out of work. It’s going to hurt our Montana trucking businesses and make this inflation and supply chain crisis even worse.”

Daines added, “It has made no sense to me. Why the President kept the northern border locked down and the southern border wide open? Canadians have a vaccination rate of about 80%. On the southern border, like when the Haitians were flooding

across, it was less than one percent.”

He noted, “Creating carveouts for some companies and not others shows how arbitrary and senseless this mandate really is. I am doing all I can to reverse this mandate and look forward to the Supreme Court taking this issue up.”

Steve Hanson, general manager of Hanson Trucking, said, “We pull probably 12 to 14 loads a day in and out of Canada. The concern that drivers have to be vaccinated to come back into the United States – get into Canada and come back here – is a big concern as far as our employment goes. As with any small business in Montana, two to three people can break a business quick.”

He added that 99% of his drivers had received the vaccine and called himself “lucky.” But he said that “some drivers have done it under protest” and the “biggest driver behind that protest is because it’s a mandate.”

Flu Back with a Vengeance

If you didn’t get the flu last year, be prepared. Although the U.S. flu seemed to have taken a year off last year, the virus is back in full swing this season. At least two children have died from the flu this season.

Last year’s flu season was the lowest on record, likely because COVID-19 measures – school closures, distancing, masks and canceled travel – prevented the spread of influenza, or because the coronavirus somehow pushed aside other viruses.

“This is setting itself up to be more of a normal flu season,” said Lynnette Brammer, who tracks flulike illnesses for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The childhood deaths, Brammer said, are “unfortunately what we would expect when flu activity picks up. It’s a sad reminder of how severe flu can be.”

Last year, when the flu season was very light, only one child died. In contrast, 199 children died from flu two years ago; 144 passed away from the virus the year before that.

According to CDC figures released early this week, there are seven states with high flu activity in the U.S., including Washington, D.C.: New Mexico, Kansas, Indiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Georgia and North Dakota.

It’s important to take precautions to prevent becoming ill with the flu.

“Cover your cough. Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick,” Brammer advises. “If you do get flu, there are antivirals you can talk to your doctor about that can prevent severe illness and help you stay out of the hospital.”

Miami Dolphins’ Winning and Losing Streak

When the Miami Dolphins won the New Orleans Saints on Monday 20-3, they managed to play their way back to the postseason picture.

The victory made a bit of NFL history for the team. They are now the first team in NFL history to have a seven-game losing streak and a seven-game winning run in the same season. The last time the Dolphins won seven successive games was back in 1985.

With 22 players out due to Covid-19 protocols, the Saints handed Ian Book his NFL debut at quarterback, but the 23-year-old had a tough evening as the Dolphins defense racked up eight sacks against him.

While Book struggled – he completed 12 of 20 passes and threw two interceptions – Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle’s rookie season goes from strength to strength.

With 10 receptions in Monday’s game, Waddle is now on 96 catches this season and just five shy of the all-time rookie record of 101 – set by Anquan Boldin in 2003 with the Arizona Cardinals.

“As far as importance, I wouldn’t say it’s like something I got my mind focused on,” Waddle told the NFL website, when asked about Boldin’s record. “I’m all for it as long as it

comes with some wins. It would obviously be pretty cool, ‘cause NFL is a special league so anything in this league to have a record in is always big.”

Waddle has also weighed in with five touchdowns this season, including one in Monday’s game.

On Monday, the NFL had 96 of its players test positive for Covid-19. With an additional 10 positive tests among players over the weekend, a total of 106 players have been placed on the league’s Reserve/Covid-19 list since December 25.

WeDash at DoorDash

If the CEO of DoorDash shows up at your door with dinner for the night, don’t be surprised. DoorDash is asking its employees – even its CEO – to again make a delivery at least once a month. The on-demand food delivery company in the New Year will reinstate a program, called WeDash, that it had paused during the pandemic.

DoorDash launched WeDash in 2013, when it started operations. Its founders said they wanted to engage the company in community and philanthropic efforts from the outset.

“As the company grew, the founders wanted everyone to experience different parts of the product so we could get closer to all our audiences and understand how the product works,” DoorDash explained.

“By engaging as a Dasher, supporting a merchant, or shadowing a customer experience agent, employees learn first-hand how the technology products we build empower local economies, which in turn helps us build a better product,” the company said.

The program, which extends to all non-delivery employees including engineers and senior executives, will return in January.

Granted, some employees are not excited to deliver pizzas.

“This is a valued program we’ve had since the company’s beginnings,” DoorDash said.

Thousands of Flights Cancelled

More than 2,800 flights were canceled as of Monday as Covid cases surge across the globe.

Of the more than 2,800 canceled flights, around 1,000 were within, into or out of the United States, according to FlightAware. Almost 11,000 flights are delayed.

Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights over the holiday weekend. In the United States, more than 1,200 flights were canceled and more than 5,000 were delayed on Sunday alone as staff and crew called out sick.

The cancellations come at the busiest time of year for air travel. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it screened millions of people each day over the holiday weekend, peaking at 2.19 million travelers on Thursday, December 23. On Wednesday, more people passed through TSA checkpoints than on the same day in 2019.

Alaska Airlines, which canceled 133 flights of 19% of its operations on Monday, attributed its cancellations and delays on winter weather in the Pacific Northwest. The airline said it canceled almost 250 mainline flights scheduled to arrive or depart from Seattle Sunday. As of Monday afternoon, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has the most delays and cancellations in the world, according to FlightAware.

“We’re working as quickly as possible to get all our affected guests rebooked on other flights, while operating safely,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

United Airlines said last week it had to cancel hundreds of flights because it lacked enough crew members to safely fly all of its scheduled routes.

“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” said a United memo.

European airlines are also experiencing a small number of cancellations amid record-breaking numbers of Covid-19 cases in several European nations.

A British Airways spokesperson said on Monday that the airline had canceled “a number of flights due to operational constraints” and is instead using larger aircrafts, where possible, to get customers to their destinations. According to tracking website FlightAware, 46 flights from British Airways were canceled on Monday.

Virgin Atlantic said that flying continues “as scheduled,” noting the exception of one of their London Heathrow – New York JFK rotations which saw cancellations on December 21.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that due to “a sharp drop in bookings” the airline will have to cancel 33,000 flights from mid-January to February 2022 or 10% of the group’s winter flight schedule.

No More Passenger Play in Teslas

Tesla will no longer allow video games to be played on its cars’ touchscreens when the vehicles are in motion. The decision, made Thursday, comes in response to an investigation of the feature by federal safety regulators.

In a Thursday statement, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) spokesperson said, “Following the opening of a preliminary evaluation of Tesla’s ‘Passenger Play,’ Tesla informed the agency that it is changing the functionality of this feature. In a new software update, ‘Passenger Play’ will now be locked and unusable when the vehicle is in motion.”

“Passenger Play” became available to drivers in December 2020. Although it was intended for passengers, drivers were also able to play while the car was being driven, documentation from the investigation showed.

Prior to December 2020, the gameplay was enabled only when the vehicle was parked. NHTSA noted that even if only passengers are playing the games, they “may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash.”

The agency added, “NHTSA constantly assesses how manufacturers identify and safeguard against distraction hazards that may arise due to faults, misuse, or intended use of convenience technologies, including infotainment screens.”

Kim Potter Found Guilty

Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter has been found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter.

Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot by Potter during a traffic stopturned arrest in Minneapolis’ Brooklyn Center suburb. During the stop, the officers discovered that Wright, who is Black, had an arrest warrant for a weapons violation, as well as an order of protection against him, and they tried to detain him. However, during the struggle, Potter shot Wright instead of Tasering him, and Wright crashed into an oncoming vehicle, injuring three people.

Attorneys for Potter, 49, requested that she be released on bail until sentencing, but the judge denied the motion, ordering that she be taken into custody.

In her ruling, Hennepin County District Court Judge Regina Chu said, “I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison thanked jurors for their “careful attention and deliberation.” Turning to law enforcement officers, Ellison said the verdict “restores trust, faith and hope” because it “shows that those of you who enforce the law are also willing to live by it.”

“We hold you in high regard. We also hold you to high standards. We don’t want you to be discouraged,” Ellison said.

Attorneys for the Wright family said, “If we are ever going to restore the confidence of Black and marginalized Americans in law enforcement, we need to have accountability and a commitment to listening and to creating meaningful change.”

Timber Co. Returns 125 Acres to Tribe

A Washington state timber company announced last week that they would return, for free, 125 acres of land to a Native American group.

The Port Blakely Companies, which operates in the United States and New Zealand, returned 125 acres of tidelands and two miles of coastline to the Squaxin Island Tribe. The area in question restores the tribe’s access to Puget Sound.

The Sound is home to some of the most plentiful shellfish areas in the state, a fact that Port Blakely said was a “key reason” why the tribe’s ancestors “made it home for thousands of years.”

The land will not be developed and will instead serve ceremonial purposes.

The Squaxin Island Tribe has also signed a separate agreement to purchase another 875 acres of forestland from the company. The purchase price of those acres has not been disclosed.

Port Blakely acquired the land in an 1854 treaty.

Port Blakely U.S. Forestry President Mike Warjone said, “Just an acknowledgment about the place would ring hollow if the only owner of record was still around, and the people it was stolen from were alive and well and right up the street. The obvious thing to do was simply give it back. Frankly, I feel a little like, why didn’t we think of this earlier? …. It’s about time.”

Squaxin Island Tribal Chair Kris Peters shared, “We are honored and grateful to reclaim these lands and for the return of the shoreline. The Squaxin people lived and stewarded this very land and waterway for thousands of years before it was taken from us in the mid- to late1800s.”

He added, “I can’t wait to drum, and sing, and dance out on those beaches, just like our people did hundreds, and thousands of years ago.”

Quarantine Decreasing

People who have Covid-19 can leave isolation after five days if they are no longer experiencing symptoms, U.S. health officials said, cutting the previously recommended period in half.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that following the initial five-day isolation period, people with Covid-19 should wear a mask for another five days when around other people. Previous guidelines required people who have tested positive for the virus to isolate for 10 days.

Covid-19 cases are expected to soar in the U.S. following the holidays. Shorter isolation and quarantine periods will allow people to return to work or to school sooner, potentially helping reduce widespread disruptions that could close schools or snarl supply chains.

Although Omicron is on the rise, studies show that symptoms are less severe than the Delta variant, especially for people who have been vaccinated and received booster shots. As such, public health officials have felt pressured to ease their stance on when infected or exposed people can return to their routines.

Last week, the CDC shortened its isolation guidance for health-care workers, saying those with mild or moderate Covid-19 could return to work after seven days with a negative antigen test.

The CDC’s shift in guidance was motivated by science showing that the majority of coronavirus trans-