יום שישי, ג׳ אב תשפ״וFriday, July 17, 2026
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Rabbi Aaron I. Reichel, Esq., is a New York attorney who has written many articles on secular and Jewish topics, and has written, edited, and/or supplemented various biographies, most notably of Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein ("The Maverick Rabbi"), Harry Fischel, and Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen.
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It seems to be pretty clear that although the war with Iran went basically as anticipated, from the point of view of the Americans and the Israelis, the peace “agreement” is not quite what was anticipated.
While we hope and pray for continued miracles, we of course have to do all in our power to make miracles unnecessary, and one way is to do a better job explaining to the world which people are interested in genocide and which people are interested in preventing it.
The whole topic of premonitions took on added twists and turns with the most recent Trump near assassination.
Many people fault the United States and Israel for “initiating” a war (or trying to end it?) when they did, not because they think their opponent should not eventually be fought but because they feel that the threat from Iran was not imminent.
The massive armada of vehicles and people to personally search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage – police officer Ran Gvili – will be forever etched into the minds and hearts not just of Jews but of people of good will throughout the world.
The reima is described in the Talmud as an animal so large that it was of mythic dimensions, and even its cub was described as too large to fit onto Noach’s ark, but it survived the flood by clinging onto the boat, according to Rabbi Yochanan, with only its head within the boat.
Many American rabbis and other leaders at the time encouraged people to pray for Israel, to pay for Israel, and even to make aliyah, but relatively few did more than preaching, praying, and donating.
We must respect the feelings of individual mourners who may have personal or practical or psychological reasons and/or wounds rationalizing their not wanting to discuss their deceased relatives, but the main point of sitting shiva is to set up a mourning process that will help people adjust to the pain of loss.
This article refers to the classic coin and usage, and does not address the fact that an actual Judean Bronze coin now can fetch hundreds of dollars or more on the open market.
In a world saturated with the stench of antisemitism, the Gemara puffs a pleasant breath of fresh air.
One may not sell lions to Gentiles, according to the Talmud, because lions can cause injury to the public (Avodah Zarah 16), to put it mildly.
The road to Gehinnom is paved with good intentions – such as the unwarranted benefit of the doubt that too-credulous well-intended leaders and negotiators give their undeserving counterparts.
Inactivity on our part is not an option. Head-shaking and hand-wringing are not the kinds of options or actions that will help. Communications to President Trump, one way or another – or, better still, in all possible ways – can help.
Originally, Menashe behaved so badly that he seemed to have forfeited his place in the World to Come. But then he did such teshuva that not only did he earn a place in the World to Come, but G-d himself interfered with the nature He had created and made a special opening or tunnel through which Menashe could come into the World to Come.
One of the Ten Commandments outlaws kidnapping, though, unfortunately, the death penalty imposed by the Bible did not and is not likely to deter the forces of Hamas – even though they are subject to the Noahide laws which include setting up court systems which should theoretically mete out justice...
Nowadays, there is more than enough violence around even without drunkenness. And, of course, an all too contemporary translation of violence happens to be chamas (Hamas).
Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency is in the process of cutting government programs, and openly doing so with a chain saw rather than with a scalpel, and it is clear that what is good and ideal to many of us is bad and wasteful to many others of us.
Were it not for [King] David, who was engaged in Torah learning, Yoav would not have been successful in battle, and were it not for Yoav’s skills as a warrior, [King] David would not have been able to study the Torah.
Kinas sofrim (the envy of scholars) can actually be a good thing; it’s the Torah phrase for healthy competitiveness in the learning of Torah, to fight for the truth.
As to the U.S. budget, strict judgment would require that money should be spent by the government on necessities. The problem is that there is no agreement on what is necessary; hence, the need for compromise.
Because the Talmud pointed out that thorns are not necessarily destructive but may even be worth maintaining with human intervention, like pre-Industrial Revolution gas stations, we now have two additional reasons to be thankful on Thanksgiving and on every other day of the year – for the cacti and for the camels.
Specifically, the daf discusses inheritance rights, and we are not talking about what kind of economy a presidential candidate inherited, but simply a question of inheritance of a private estate.
In discussing the swords, the bows, and the arrows, we may also note that the only time we read of Jacob actually fighting in the Torah, in any depth or detail, he was fighting an angel, and with no weapon at all.
The rabbis clearly concluded that if any information gets into the wrong hands, it can cause harm, but that doesn’t mean that devices or information for the benefit of humanity – or for the protection of innocent people – should never be invented, activated, or shared, even if there will be collateral damages.
Historically, it has been considered a blessing to live in the United States of America, though all too many people have been feeling cursed lately – some literally – for a variety of different reasons, an intolerable situation which will hopefully be resolved soon.
One can’t help but speculate about what happened in Israel on October 7, which led many people around the world to conclude that they were safe only as far as they could get away from Israel and Gaza...
The Talmud notes that when the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed for the second time, there was an increase in the number of ascetics within the Jewish community, who decided to limit themselves by not eating meat or drinking wine. Rabbi Yehoshua asked them why they restricted themselves in this way.
Both the U.S. and Israel signed a document in support of the ICC under pressure, but neither of these countries ratified the treaty that established the ICC, and as such neither is obligated to submit to the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Imagine how different things would have been earlier this week had the walls supporting the roof of the structure on which the assassin was perched not have been at a height from which the assassin could have peered into the area around the podium where former President Trump was standing.
Herod may have been the greatest builder of all time (or one of the greatest), but he certainly was not the greatest savior, saving the life of Ben Buta but then arranging for the gouging out of Ben Buta’s eyes (indirectly) to disqualify him from ever serving on a future Sanhedrin which could rule against Herod’s royal aspirations as did the rabbis he murdered.
Let us all hope and pray that no more civilian lives will be lost, Israeli or Arab. But query whether it is realistic to expect this to happen if the leadership of the Israelis, the Arabs, and the Americans all have their way.
Three wars are being fought right now; the war in Gaza, the war about the War in Gaza, and the war of antisemitism against civilian Jews unprotected by human shields.
What is not often noted is that the Talmud says that issuers of such insults are among the three categories of sinners who do not rise up from Gehinnom, even though this isn’t explicitly categorized as one of the 613 commandments, positive or negative (though it can be indirectly included in at least one of them).
The diversity and creativity of the topics that were covered and the speakers from all over the world were nothing short of mind-boggling.
Somehow, what piques my interest about this more than anything else is how the King of the Jungle, symbolizing ferocity more than any other animal – or at least as much – could have possibly been relied on for protection, let alone could have reached an understanding about guardianship and payment for it.
Without even getting into the Congressional testimony of Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, on genocide against Jews or her scholarship, or lack of it (against the scholarship of scholars she allegedly plagiarized), this article will focus on the students at Harvard who may still be among the best and the brightest.
Nebuchadnezzar, the warrior king, has been likened to an ox, whose intent was to cause damage and mayhem, not merely to satisfy personal desires, akin to Hamas.
With every passing year, there are fewer old timers who remember the old times, the old melodies, and the other traditions.
Can Israel really rely on subjective reasonableness when many of the advocates of rule by subjective reasonableness now regularly block roads in mass demonstrations?
At the turn of the century, Hunter was the place to be for many of the elite traditional Jews of New York every summer.
The lowest level would be when introducing oneself at a social, political or other event, with no agenda other than to impress the person being addressed.
During the pandemic, it seems that the scientists, the politicians, the pundits and the potential victims are all like blind people walking, stumbling, and groping in the dark, day and night.
Despite the pitiful figure he must have made, he still was able to recognize his worth in the eyes of G-d, and his faith in G-d was undiminished.
Rabbi Tendler was the wittiest teacher I had at Yeshiva University – secular or holy... Like a baseball pitcher tipping off which pitch would come next, he used to form a subtle expression on his face just as he was about to come up with a wisecrack.
Illegal immigrants who sneak into America are a far cry from Avraham Avinu or Yosef HaTzaddik who did not pose a threat to anyone. Most immigrants of course, also do not pose a threat, but it must be admitted that at least some of them are drug peddlers, kidnappers, and gang members who traumatize, terrorize, and torture innocent Americans.
Today, both synagogues serve the entire Upper West Side community, as do so many of the other amazing other synagogues of this incredibly vibrant and competitive neighborhood.
Rabbi Cohen was raised in holiness by the original codifier of some of Rav Kook’s writings when Rav Kook was still alive.
Today, with health portals being used in so many medical offices and hospitals, this front-end cleanup of patient medical history may actually become a reality.
One of the most challenging questions posed is whether there are fundamental differences between divine justice and human justice.
Reb Shlomo brought countless Jews closer to Judaism by his music, stories, charm, and now,this play
Rabbi Dr. Natan Ophir (Offenbacher) has just written a blockbuster magnum opus about Reb Shlomo that is sweeping in scope and destined to become the definitive biography of a unique personality whose influence on Jewish prayer as expressed musically may be more far-reaching than that of anyone since King David.
It seems that from time immemorial, or more specifically from some time after G-d first declared that a person’s days shall be limited to 120 years, at best (Genesis 6:3), Jews have been blessing each other with the wish “May you live to be 120.” I have noticed, however, that many people look at that goal with trepidation, as if it is not necessarily something positive to live for.
July 17, 2026 
