יום ראשון, י״ג תמוז תשפ״וSunday, June 28, 2026
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Does Hashem have a reason for everything, and that is why we follow the Torah? Or does Hashem decide some things arbitrarily, but we follow them anyway because Hashem said so?
The less trust exists in a relationship, the more explanation becomes necessary. But the deeper the trust, the less understanding needs to come first.
We keep the Torah simply because G-d said so. If we can begin to scratch the surface of the thought-process behind it – great. But that is just additional flavoring, a cherry on top.
To err is human, but to purify and rectify requires the divine touch of the Torah and its guidance.
A chok is a Torah law that transcends human logic. It asks us to trust even when we do not fully understand.
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A nudnik is someone who, when you ask how he's doing, tells you. Even when a nudnik agrees with you, it feels like an argument.
As a parent, I’m nudnicking the other way to my kids – did you say a bracha? Did you wash your hands? Did you bring a water bottle?
By Eli Lebowicz
Every writer needs an editor to do some gentle bothering, jabbing, pestering, bugging, prodding into making sure their assignment is in by a deadline. And if I didn’t have one, this never would’ve gotten finished in time. Thanks for being a nudnik.
By Sara Blau
The most effective thing I've found to counter an intrusive thought or a temptation is simply to notice it: There's that nudnik again – and keep walking.
On television, Jews are often portrayed in stereotypical ways – nudniks, nebbish sons, overbearing mothers, JAPY daughters, or going unorthodox. Up until a couple years ago, there was no concrete research to show just how pervasive this problem was.
By Avi Ganz
At the same time, the Jews of Cape Town or Teaneck, Boro Park or Antwerp are just as Jewish as the Jews of Bnei Brak, Tiberias, and Jerusalem. All of them have a divinely-gifted share in the Land of Israel.
Starting from the aliyah that marks the bar mitzvah, life is marked by aliyot. And as soon as we reach one height, we begin scaling the next.
Aliyah isn’t just the uplifting of a soul. In a quite different meaning of the same word, aliyah refers to the men, women and children who have uprooted themselves and have returned home to the land of Israel.
It is the vertical that reminds us about our creator and that gives us a sense of proportion between our powers and His.
Strip away the punditry and the word still means what it always meant: a Yid going up. The mountain hasn't moved. The Beis HaMikdash is still missing. The longing in the word is still older than any flag.
Intellectually I know that tznius is a middah, an outlook, a shield that guards our inner selves from becoming diluted, but invariably, one of the first images that pops into my mind when I hear the word tznius is that young teenage girl on her first day of school.
It is certainly harder in the heat of summer, but it makes it even more meaningful to make a kiddush Hashem when people know how dedicated you are to Judaism.
With such acceptance, one can attain wisdom, since one who acknowledges the limits of his or her knowledge is more receptive to new ideas.
Tznius is not about limitation; it is about elevation. It is about recognizing that dignity creates strength and that there is beauty in refinement and self-control.
By Ariela Davis
I try to enforce tznius dress code for my students at school and it upsets me if any of my own daughters try to push the limits but… to be honest, tznius does take center stage in our education system far more than halacha affords it in Shulchan Aruch.
Dying with a weapon in defense of Jewish life in Israel is not the same as dying helplessly in exile. Perhaps both belong to the same Jewish story, but they tell different chapters.
By Maayan Zik
Tzom unlocks teshuvah because fasting is an act of self-denial that asserts that you are more than your appetites, which is the very foundation of repentance.
Fasting is an expression of closeness – achieved or desired. And when we think about it, isn't that really the point of all of our own fasts as well?
Jewish wisdom teaches that every person is made up of two parts: the physical self and the spiritual self, the body and the soul. They are meant to work together in harmony.
By Ruchi Koval
The first thing that pops into my head is “tzom kal,” because no one in America calls it a “tzom” – they call it a “fast day.”
So much of what we accept as true about ourselves, about others, about the world, is based on appearance. It looks like what we know, so we assume it is what we know.
By Keshet Starr
Beyond the lack of post-meal dietary limitations, what is the deeper meaning behind dairy, especially on Shavuot? After all, this holiday is not only about the deliciousness of the cheesecake and that Insta-worthy cheese-pull on your lasagna.
How can something that is produced in a pure meat entity bring forth its opposite?
The pro of being milchig is that you don’t have to wait any time at all to eat fleishig. You just wash your mouth out with water and then have fleishig. Some actually wait thirty minutes.
By Hillel Fuld
The word milchig refers to dairy food as it pertains to mixing meat and milk, a prohibition we learn from the Torah commandment not to cook a calf in its mother’s milk.
I recently outsourced my wisdom, only to discover that the person who I outsourced it to wasn’t on the mark.
By Adina Broder
While intelligence can be innate and knowledge can be acquired relatively quickly, wisdom tends to develop over time.
Perhaps not everyone will succeed in becoming a chacham, but certainly we can each be a talmid chacham – a student of wisdom.
After reading all those sad pages in all those sad books that sit on that very sad shelf, the most profound, deepest wisdom I’ve learned is: we just don’t know.
A wise person doesn’t have to know everything, but they should constantly be learning from everyone, not just from those who they feel are on their own level of learning.
My day job is teaching contract law, while I am learning Bava Batra at night. Often, the substance of these two periods of study can be remarkably similar. Yet the experience of engaging with them is fundamentally different. It's the difference between "learning" and "shteiging."
Not every bochur is built to be a talmid chacham in the classic sense, and that’s not a problem to be fixed. The pressure to fit one mold has real costs, making some question who they are and what they’re for.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
It is a Yiddish word derived from the German meaning to ascend or rise.
Ideally, it should be something we do in every aspect of our spiritual lives. Nevertheless, its most common use is to refer to the growth one experiences in intense Torah study.
There is a fundamental difference between the Torah we learn and the other disciplines that we study. In mathematics, my effort is immaterial. Either I know the equations or I do not.
Between British pubs, American delis, and supermarket branding departments, “nosh” has become one of those rare words that somehow means both comfort food and moral superiority at the same time – depending entirely on who’s selling it.
By Anat Coleman
To an outsider, it might seem excessive. After all, snacks can be bought almost anywhere. Isn’t part of being on vacation about letting go, being spontaneous, and indulging in what’s around you?
By Eli Lebowicz
Nosh as the noun also feels like it’s the comfort food you go to when coping with something tough that’s happened.
I know most people think of sweets when it comes to nosh, but I prefer a more salty, savory treat like pretzels or potato chips.
A nosh wasn’t a full meal. It was just a little something – standing in the kitchen, grabbing a bite of this and a taste of that. No rules, no plates, just enjoying food in the moment.
By Martin Bodek
Mayim – like “horse” and “sheep” – is both singular and plural, with a singular literal meaning, and a plural of figurative meanings.
By dvora
There is one additional component, without which none of earth’s bounty could thrive. It is simple yet complicated; it is a formless, shapeless, colorless liquid which has sustained human life, plant life, animal life. And that is water – mayim.
By Avi Ganz
Our default setting, as natural as water in a seabed, is "Knowledge of the L-rd." Without the distractions and challenges of our lives, we would be so powerfully aware of Hashem's presence.
Water adapts, taking the shape of whatever holds it, while also maintaining a quiet strength that allows it to carve through stone over time.
By David Curwin
In ancient scripts, the letter was often drawn with a wavy or zigzag shape, fitting for a word connected to water.
The reason the word “grace” seems a bit off may be because it has a rich and contentious Christian history.
In life we need to move gracefully as well. Sometimes there’s an unexpected turn, and we need to react. We need to learn how to react gracefully.
Grace isn’t about lowering the bar or pretending things are fine. Instead, it’s about not being harsh or rigid, with yourself or with someone else.
I didn’t know it then, but I was simply stepping into something that fit better. We don’t always understand why we are where we are, but hopefully, with time, it begins to make perfect sense.
You can pre-package grace. This means deciding ahead of time that when someone you care about – a spouse, partner, child, parent, or colleague – inevitably disappoints or hurts you, you will respond with forgiveness.
By Solly Hess
As my kids can probably tell you, I smile wider when they’re standing with me under the tallis during Birkat Kohanim.
I kiss the tzitzis of the tallis, their strings reminding me of the 613 opportunities we are given to weave holiness into everyday life.
Studies in neuroscience show that physical rituals and sensory cues can regulate the nervous system and anchor attention.
Clothes play a significant role in Jewish law and lore. The first recorded clothes were made from fig-leaves and worn by Adam and Chava.
I choose a more lightweight version of the tallis I replaced, with the identical pattern, and cleaned and remounted the atarah I had been wearing. Cowardly? Indecisive? Perhaps.
As a real cultural institution, the fool represents society's ability to self-criticize but in a contained, limited manner.
By Maayan Zik
Rashi explains that this spirit of folly leads a person to rationalize their actions and imagine there will be no real consequences.
I mean, I married a man who, at our wedding, in front of our family and friends, got up to the microphone and sang a song in fake Chinese.
How about those 25 new child care centers? Not opening. Because many of the New Yorkers raising the next generation know that nothing is free, and what is billed as "free" is not of good quality.
By David Curwin
In Hebrew, na’ar shows up in three separate forms: a noun and two unrelated verbs.
These days are meant to be days of reflection and introspection, not only days of sadness, nostalgia, and appreciation.
On a yahrzeit, we are commemorating something one step deeper. After 120, the body may no longer be here, but a person’s actions, deeds, influence, and light still remains.
In a world often focused on the immediate and the material, a yahrzeit reminds us that our actions echo far beyond this lifetime.
I believe this tradition serves as a powerful healing method for those seeking that connection.
At birth, nobody knows how the story ends. At death, the ledger is complete. You don't celebrate a ship launching. You celebrate it arriving at port.
It wasn’t until my husband and I began building a real relationship with our shul’s rabbi that I began to understand the depth of the word rav.
I shelved it for future perusal, knowing that when the time was right, it would call to me, and a few weeks later that call came in the form of an email with the word prompt “Rav.”
It was foolish. But instead of feeling stung and stupid, I felt the love and concern of a zeidy scolding his granddaughter, trying to protect and only wanting the best for her.
When a rabbi's output of political letters exceeds their published Torah scholarship, it creates cause for concern.
There were many hespedim written about him, and a book published. But they just don’t do him justice. How could words capture his empathy? Wisdom? The way he made you feel like you were oh-so-important and valued?
The word mussar takes me back to the uncomfortable moments from childhood when I was on the receiving end of rebuke, and the equally difficult moments when now as an adult, as the teacher or the parent, it is my responsibility to be on the giving end.
By Anat Coleman
Before giving someone mussar, ask yourself if you're helping them improve, or easing your own irritation? Are you seeking their growth, or your need to feel right?
By Avi Ganz
Rav Chaim, zt"l, like other Mussar Greats, teaches that mussar isn't a negative thing at all!
By Ruchi Koval
Frum friends word association: mussar = scary, my principal, I did something wrong, I’m in trouble. Non-frum friends word association: character development, kindness, patience, forgiveness, giving the benefit of the doubt.
While halacha sets mandatory, objective boundaries of behavior, mussar goes beyond the letter of the law and addresses internal, subjective and personal refinement.
I used to dismiss a vort as a shallow thought meant for light conversation or sharing a cute idea. However, looking back, it represents a way of bringing Torah into every conversation...
I’ve realized that if I only associate a vort with a sequined dress and a party, I’m missing the actual power of the concept. The traditional definition, a meaningful connection to the words of Torah, has evolved from an event into a daily mission.
By Hillel Fuld
The first one is a small short thought about the Torah. A longer thought might be called a d’var Torah, but a short idea is often referred to as a vort.
The basic meaning is as follows. There is a simcha! One of your children is engaged to someone and a simcha is to be had for all. Everyone is invited for a vort. That means come over and have a schnapps with a piece of cake.
June 26, 2026 
