Moshe Dayan

 Moshe Dayan as IDF Chief of Staff.

Getty Images

Afghanistan 8/24/21

Soldiers guard the perimeter of Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul as rescue flights continue to take off from Afghanistan. President Biden announced today that over 70,000 people have been airlifted out of the war-torn country since the complete Taliban takeover on August 15th. However, President Biden doubled down and declared that the United States was ready and on pace to meet the August 31st withdrawal deadline from the country.

NY Times

Ghazni City

A Taliban fighter stands outside the Governor's House in Ghazni City following the capture of the area earlier this month.

EPA

Nightfall in Kabul 8/22/21

 Nightfall in Kabul at the end of one of the longest and most arduous weeks in recent memory.

Victor J Blue/NYT

Jerusalem Fire 8/16/21

An Israeli firefighting plane douses the surrounding hillside of Jerusalem after a major forest fire engulfed the area. Numerous homes have been evacuated and the Israeli government has reached out to European partners for assistance in controlling the massive blaze. Fire and Rescue commissioner Dedi Simchi described the fire as largest in Israel since the 2010 Carmel forest fires. Nearly 5,000 acres of forest have been engulfed within the past 48 hours. Arson or human neglect are the suspected causes of the blaze.

Olivier Fitoussi/Flash 90

Kabul has Fallen 8/15/21

A very sad day. President Ashraf Ghani has fled to Tajikistan and the government of Afghanistan has now officially surrendered to the Taliban. After nearly twenty years, the US war in Afghanistan is officially over.

By the end of the day, Taliban fighters had taken the Afghan presidential palace and announced that they have taken control of the country.

Below -- An American military helicopter lands atop the US embassy in Kabul to assist in evacuating personnel and infrastructure. The US flag has already come down. My thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan.

Jim Huylebroek/NYT

Leon Kopelman Z"L

Leon Kopelman, the last known surviving fighter from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, has passed away at the age of 97. Kopelman was born in Poland in 1924 and the Jewish Combat Organization, the ZOB, during his time in the Warsaw ghetto. He later joined the Polish resistance and continued to fight the Nazis. After the war he immigrated to Israel, where he also served as a soldier in the IDF during the War of Independence in 1948. May his memory be a blessing.

Leon Kopelman family