יום שני, ז׳ תמוז תשפ״וMonday, June 22, 2026
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Rabbi Yehuda L Oppenheimer, former Rav at several congregations in the United States, lives in Israel and is an educator, writer, and licensed tour guide. He eagerly looks forward to showing you our wonderful land on your next visit. He blogs at libibamizrach.blogspot.com and can be reached at lenopp@gmail.com or voice/WhatsApp at 053-624-1802.
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When complaints become constant, there is usually something deeper taking place. The words people use are not always the whole story. Sometimes the frustration we hear is only the outer layer of a more painful sense of loss.
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik famously began his work The Lonely Man of Faith with the stark words, “I am lonely.” He wasn't talking about a lack of friends. He was talking about the inherent loneliness of a person of faith, the realization that your deepest commitments might never be fully understood by the world around you.
Clothes do not make the man, but they frame the role he occupies.
Is it permissible to pressure someone to sell property they do not want to sell? May one try to obtain a job or position already held by another?
While I do not know what is truly the biggest issue facing Klal Yisrael – what about the intermarriage and apathy consuming the majority of American Jews, the crisis between charedim and the rest of Israeli society, or the frightening rise of antisemitism on both the right and the left? – one cannot deny the corrosive impact of this financial culture.
Yitzchak was not universally loved – but he was respected. He was not a trickster or fugitive; he was prosperous, assertive, blessed, and openly acknowledged as such by his neighbors.
It is truly heartbreaking that in the midst of a devastating war – nearly 1,000 brave Israeli soldiers have been killed, thousands more wounded, tens of thousands of families remain displaced, and the country is torn apart emotionally and ideologically over the seemingly irreconcilable goals of rescuing the long-suffering hostages and defeating Hamas – another battle has been declared.
Even when they acknowledge the crisis, it is often through a lens of self-congratulation, crediting their learning alone for the nation’s protection. This mindset ignores the heroic Torah learning within the Religious Zionist camp – learning that exists alongside military service and national responsibility.
Let us be honest. For many people, who are not unusually holy and spiritual, which night of Chanukah is the most exciting – the first, or the last?
Sadly, the charedi leadership sees it as a religious imperative of the highest order to resist any change regarding national service, even for those (estimated at 35%) who are not in yeshiva and not learning.
What is crucial for us to consider is why so many otherwise reasonable fellow Jews harbor such resentment against the charedi community.
There are two that would seem to me to be exactly on point, that should be better known. I hope that you will consider adding them to your daily tefillah, and perhaps suggest them for the congregation with whom you daven.
When they do not contain a clear message and require interpretation, a crucial question arises: Who is empowered to interpret the dream?
Why did it have to be so soon? Could he not have been allowed to accomplish some more things before leaving us?
But we citizens, especially religious citizens, must take this terrible debacle as a severe wake-up call to unite again as a people.
To anyone who scratches even an inch below the surface, the fight was not about the merits of Judicial reform.
They seem to believe that such tactics are patriotic acts of democracy – but only when engaged in by the Left.
The issue exercising the Left is the growing realization that they have lost their grip on power and they are angry and frustrated about it.
Once the decision came down, the attorney general and the heads of the opposition insisted that Deri immediately resign or that PM Netanyahu fire him. Deri's response? I will not resign.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This law has held true almost without fail in human history.
Throughout the world, Jews are successful, prominent and influential way out of proportion to their numbers. Our existence is no longer that of our frightful past of pogroms, expulsions and holocaust.
In summary, Yitzchak lives a life in which he is grudgingly tolerated and respected, not loved.
I am front and center for better or worse. And although I am naturally more comfortable sitting in the crowd than being up front, such is the role Hashem gave me, for better or worse. However, at the aufruf, wedding, and Sheva Brachos, I found myself primarily in a new role.
As Jews, we need to embrace this moment of awareness and embrace the fact that our race is "Jewish." We are not "white" or "black" or Asian, Aleutian Islander, or anything else. Our race is that we are Jewish, and we are proud of it.
Apparently, it was not only Moshe but the entire tribe of Levi who were, astoundingly, not subject to Pharaoh’s persecution. Why was that?
The majority of the agricultural sector of the State of Israel as it exists in the present reality – with most kibbutzim and moshavim being non-religious – is not willing to fully abide by the Shemittah laws.
A boy who by all counts was good and warm and loving and talented, and whose passing left unremitting grief. And yet, Shmuel and Aviva are positive and joyful; the pain is ever-present but they are determined to live with simcha.
Medinat Yisrael is not to be taken for granted – for those outside, who confidently assure themselves that “Next Year in Jerusalem” – it is the first time in recent memory that Jews want to come and cannot because of corona. For us in the Land, we look forward to the Shemittah year to remind us not to take it for granted.
The elites – the Kohanim in the Beit HaMikdash and too many others – in their zealous self-righteousness, religious coercion, and insensitivity to the way they were being perceived by others, contributed to a terrible culture of animosity and hatred.
As he put it, “Take away the Torah, and what will be left of us? A small, and unimportant people with a sub-American culture. We are on the stage of history only thanks to the Torah, the Mishnah, the Talmud - the great contribution of the Jewish people. Not only religiously but also nationally. This is the core of our identity.
How much I need to work on my Ahavat Yisrael, on my humility. How far I am from truly being an ohev Yisrael.
We all sense that we are living in momentous times and that the end may be near. So we need to pull together our brothers and sisters with ropes of love (as in the famous formulation of the Chazon Ish). Let’s find our fellow Jews and love them. Period.
As we live through these weeks of nechama, let’s remember that "nechama" doesn’t just mean comfort or consolation. It also means reconsidering...We need to reflect more, hit "send" less quickly, and respond less to provocations.
Rav Hirsch notes that “nega” comes from the root meaning “touch.” A person who has a nega has been “touched” by G-d and is being asked to take note of something.
Let’s hope that this special Pesach will mark the beginning of the end of this awful plague.
Perhaps this is the harbinger of the ge’ulah; some have pointed out that the gematria of “corona” is 361, which is the gematria of “Mashiach ba.”
This year, of course, January 1 is different. It is the date of the grand Siyum HaShas. It marks a time to celebrate the Torah in an almost unprecedented way, as hundreds of thousands join in celebrating the tremendous accomplishment of tens of thousands of learners.
All Rav Firer asked is that the performers at a concert devoted to honoring him and his organization – at which he would be sitting front and center – not include female singers. But as soon as this request became known, an explosion of vitriol ensued
What will happen in the next election is uncertain, but one thing is clear: The battle lines between the militantly secular and religious camps have been drawn, and underlying it all is a struggle for the future
Kahane hated how Reform and Conservative (and some Orthodox) leaders were destroying the neshamos of young Jews. He wanted to wake up sleeping Jews. He wanted to rouse us out of our apathy, laziness, and irresponsibility to stand up for other Jews. He was a Jew who loved other Jews with every fiber of his being and could not stand what was being done to them, most often by their fellow Jews.
Various great rabbis tried to influence its residents – the place was visited twice by the saintly Rav Kook, zt”l – but it seemed pointless.
I find it amazing how much people distort the views of Rabbi Meir Kahane, Hy”d. It is my experience that the vast majority of those who find Rabbi Kahane’s beliefs abhorrent have 1) never actually read his books; 2) tend to be liberal in their outlook to the extent that they are uncomfortable with Torah concepts that conflict with western liberal values; and 3) are afraid of the political power Kahane represents.
Our move to Lavon (where we are the ONLY observant family on the yishuv) was accomplished with the help and support of Ayelet HaShachar, an organization that – among many worthy activities – helps religious families move into secular areas, with the aim of bringing people together and lessening the social barriers between religious and secular people. We were joined by Israel's Chief Rabbi, Rav Lau, shlita.
And then the news hit this week. Once again, allegations surfaced. Only this time, I would have to admit and finally accept with a heavy heart, that I could no longer see him as a teacher of Torah.
In my 60 years on this planet and the many elections that I have observed, I have never seen such acrimony, hate, distortion, vilification of the other side, and bald-faced lying for political gain as in this season--And that includes the 2016 election, bad as it was.
The shocking tragedy on Shabbos indicates that perhaps the passionate arguments on all sides have gone as far as they ought to – and beyond. It is time to “know our place,” to simmer down, and to recognize that our political disputants are not evil and that any hint of violence is totally out of bounds since insane monsters out there will take such talk as an excuse to carry out nefarious deeds.
Interestingly, both might honestly believe they spoke the truth.
Given that there is far too little to corroborate the account of his accuser, and given who Kavanaugh is today, I would hope that he will be confirmed by the Senate and faithfully decide cases according to the Constitution’s original intent for many years to come.
The Chief Rabbinate is valiantly trying to hold the line so that Israel does not experience the problems that plague the rest of the Jewish world while the Farbers of the world are trying to break down their authority by playing to the emotions of people unaware of lies they are being fed
We were born with a soul that presses us to search for Him. How to do that search? Which direction to go?
This was a great week for the Orthodox Union (OU). This blog celebrates this fact.
I have no words to describe my contempt for the "Rabbinic" leaders of the Peleg, who -- in their unbelievable arrogance and shortsightedness -- have stood by and not only allowed but ENCOURAGED this desecration of G-d, including fighting police and army, while in turn often calling them murderers and Nazis for simply trying to move them out of the way of traffic.
Wherever God places us is for the best, that if we trust in Him and only Him, our lives will have joy, contentment, meaning, and purpose. Our family hopes to finally move to Eretz Yisrael after Sukkos, and I am confident that this year helped prepare me for some yet-to-be-accomplished worthy things.
The 6 Day War and the Reunification of Yerushalayim was marked, almost exclusively, in one of two ways. Those with a more Religious Zionist leaning, celebrated grandly; in the the "yeshivish olam," one was not even aware of the anniversary.
Yael (Ivanka) Trump is extraordinarily well-spoken, intelligent, beautiful and successful-a walking Kiddush Hashem. She brings honor and respect to Torah and our way of life in a way unparalleled perhaps since Queen Esther
Now that the masks have been removed and the true nature of Obama and Kerry have been revealed, one ought to stand in awe of the way that Netanyahu has handled himself over these many years.
Considering the menorah through history. What is its meaning?
Though Hashem's incredible gift of the State of Israel (despite its flaws), we have truly entered into a new level of interaction with and relationship to the world around us-- "The Isaac Covenant.”
Not only is the approach of “going to war” against the Reform &Conservative over a prayer area at the Kotel doomed to fail, it will only further strengthen them.
Justice Scalia stood for everything about constitutional interpretation that President Obama rejects
While Orthodox men are encouraged to achieve and celebrated for it, Orthodox women too often are not
We live in strange times; lately the news has gone from strange to stranger with all norms discarded
If these publications feel that NO picture of a woman should be shown, why show any picture at all?
Support ORA's(Org. for Resolution of Agunot) wonderful efforts towards solving the Agunah crisis
Har HaBayit is still Biyadein; Through our actions, its fate is in our hands
It is a reprehensible approach for a proud Jew anywhere in the world to avoid using Israeli produce.
Kollel life:A wonderful aspiration, but not the only one that young women should consider.
Here in Israel there are the many who load up their cars with food, and drink and candy and books to deliver them to soldiers and communities in the south.
Will Your brothers go to war, while you sit (in peace) here? (Bamidbar 32:6)
June 21, 2026 
