יום שישי, כ״ה תמוז תשפ״וFriday, July 10, 2026
Follow Us
Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran is an educator, author, and lecturer. He can be reached at e1948s@aol.com.
Read More
Our nation’s first couple set the example for a satisfying, meaningful and lasting marriage. It is not a “perfect life” with no heartache or challenge. It is a life in which neither is taken for granted.
Beautiful leaves and reaching limbs without a strong foundation will simply cause the tree to fall, just as vanity rather than wisdom can bring down a man, a country, a people.
While it may seem "only human" to fear the stranger and the unknown, it is because we are "only" human that G-d commands us to be more, to rise above our limitations.
One thoughtful colleague suggested that if the rabbi was unable to say anything positive, he should, respectfully urge the family to find another to speak in his stead.
What is a bracha if not a motivator to do something – to eat the matzoh, to lay tefillin, to recite Kiddush? But mitzvos of the heart are natural and organic; they happen naturally.
How do we take that first step when, for the mourner, the immediacy of loss is such an unbearable, paralyzing weight?
Intellectually we appreciate that everyone is different. But in our daily interactions we lump our children, our students, even entire communities together as if they are a single entity.
Step into my library and you see countless reminders that miracles surround us, here, there, and everywhere. No matter where we look, our lives are touched by miracles. Our lives are miracles.
She said, were she not more righteous than me, she wouldn’t be privileged to have so many children.
Abraham was shown that his test was not only about his own faith…. By this test, G-d created the means for Abraham’s descendants to survive all adversity.
Lot recognized the dangers of Sodom, but he thought he had the inner strength and conviction to overcome all the sin and negativity that defined that place.
For the Jew, to know G-d is to study His Torah; to love G-d is to love Torah.
The Torah is a song? Torah certainly doesn’t feel like a song. We think of songs as relaxing, easy, accessible. Torah can certainly be that, but Torah is also so much more.
Sometimes “tomorrow” never comes. Sometimes it is too late, but it is never “too soon,” never too early to own up to one’s failings and errors.
We drag ourselves back to shul, to yeshiva, to a shiur. We are on autopilot, trusting the algorithm rather than our spiritual instinct.
It is a matter of perspective - do you look at G-d or at yourself? To look primarily at oneself is to always want more, to covet.
The guilty were sent to the cities of the Levi’im not to be imprisoned but to be placed in an environment of learning and spirituality, a setting where atonement and self-forgiveness could readily be achieved.
Just like Bilaam, we grow angry and blame others for our failings, for our inability to realize our goals, we blame circumstance and fate for our shortcomings when it is really our inability to see that has caused our failures.
On the streets where we b'nai melechim walk, our clothes are meant to honor not only ourselves but also the Melech.
In life, we have all sorts of rationalizations for our behaviors – they will make our life, our experience, our homes better, more inviting, larger… but they do not. The “sweetness” is a lure that diminishes our life.
Many modern Jews mistake Purim for a “Jewish Halloween” or an excuse for wild parties. This view has us put on masks, like carousers at a masquerade, to “hide” who we really are. Or, perhaps, as often proves to be the case at a masquerade, we don masks to reveal who we really are.
'A Tree Grows in Sinai'--and the Jewish Nation is built.
It sounds incongruous to say that Rav Shteinman who reached the advanced age of 104 was taken too soon but in fact it’s true; he was taken far too soon. That the rav was a great Torah scholar is a given. His true greatness, however, was in the humility, kindness, and understanding that animated his wisdom, guidance, and teaching.
Learning from Yaakov Avinu the importance of recognizing the "unique" in everyone.
Dreidel Rabbi? Two years ago, CBS’s “Sunday Morning” came to our home to showcase my dreidels. Countless dreidels seen by millions of people! Yes, that’s me. I can walk most anywhere only to have a stranger approach me and ask, “Aren’t you the Dreidel Rabbi?”
According to the Ramban, this week's parshah is a roadmap and guide for all generations on how to engage with Eisav and his descendants and, as such, each pasuk, each word, each letter, is vital as we make our way.
Avraham’s message to Eliezer was: You are my CEO. I trust you with my possessions and my material wealth, with the blessings of this world – but not with my spiritual future or the spiritual future of my progeny. That is why he made Eliezer take the oath.
With Avraham’s circumcision and their divine covenant--bris--established for all time, there was no longer a relationship of "formailty," between Avraham and HaShem, there was a new intimacy--a friendship.
Man cannot experience true meaning and purpose unless he brings joy to others. He is not exempt from military service simply because he is a newlywed but in order to bring happiness to his new bride, specifically during the challenging first year--shana rishona.
His point is that people cannot merely float, and to swim is to be actively engaged, to willfully employ skill to counter the physics of the water, of their environment.
Moshe’s final lesson is that we must do each mitzvah to the extent we are able. We are not to be compared to others in their performance or accomplishments. This is the Torah Moshe placed before us.
To free a servant is a difficult transition for both parties. A lifetime of experience and relationship is ending. The shofar is sounded “so that they will realize that this is something standard throughout the land, and that all do so.”
A closer and deeper reading will show that what is important is not gender; rather, when it comes to Eretz Israel, the important variable, the fundamental thing, is what makes something “mine.”
Bilam, accepting Balak’s invitation, became the model for all those who would rise after him. No need to mine history, fwe have contemporary examples of this strategy everywhere we turn. We live in an “age of Bilam.”
I was in New York during the last months of my father’s life. During that time, my father, z”l, stayed with my brother and sister-in-law in Toronto where they watched over and cared for him. I, of course, came in to visit as often as I could. No sooner had I returned home from one […]
Parshat Shelach begins and ends with seeing. It opens with the meraglim and closes with the commandment to look at tzizis. The lesson of the two? That it is not enough to simply look. We must also SEE.
God commands Moshe: s’eu et rosh. Count. But don’t simply count. Lift the head! This is God telling Moshe that every individual matters. Every life is the entire universe. No individual is ever swallowed up by the many.
In response to a conversation about the perils of the 'politically correct' environment we live in, I considered the gemara devoted to the need for absolute accuracy of scales and all their components
Oh, to live a life of study and prayer…Oh, how un-Jewish. Parshat Tzav opens with a discussion of 2 mitzvot that, instruct the kohanim to, basically, “take out the trash.”
Remember that each Jewish home is a mikdash me’at – a mini-sanctuary. Is this not reason enough to turn our attention – and our behavior – to the needs of our homes and our wives?
Why do we dress as we do? Why do we wear clothes at all? Because, as the expression goes, "clothes make the man," for example, the vestments of the Kohen Gadol.
In Parshat Mishpatim we encounter the famous phrase, "na’aseh v’nishma." Na’aseh talks to the fulfillment of mitzvot. Doing. Nishma refers to “hearing” or learning.
A consideration of the connection between the Jew and the tree as we approach Tu B’Shevat. Shabbat Shalom and Happy Tu B'Shevat
Who were these Egyptians who, after witnessing six plagues still ignored Moses’s warning? How could Pharoah and his court deny the reality before them?
The vituperation visited between Jews is beyond disheartening; it saps our holiness and divine inspiration, leaving us vulnerable to the greatest dangers imaginable – from both within and without
Dreidels are my talisman, my touchstone. They reassure me in the most innocent and delightful way that our miracles will continue. And so, wherever I am, anywhere on the globe, I look for dreidels.
Is there anything we can learn from Laban? The very thought of it seems absurd! Yet, for many in our community, there are lessons – important lessons – that we can learn from him.
Cynicism is insidious; sly; cunning. hard to silence, It is so obviously wrong on all levels- the personal, the communal, the religious, paralyzing even the most logical and appropriate response
In this age of J-Date, bar scenes, parties it seems that finding a mate is near impossible. But do we really believe it is any more or less difficult now than in the past?
I see people like Lot all the time, young and not so young, raised in Williamsburg, Boro Park, and other Abrahamic communities who are seduced willingly and not-so-willingly by contemporary Sodoms
The admonition not to mistreat gerim in this week's parsha is not limited to converts. Anyone in any social situation can feel like a ger, it’s just the inevitability of social dynamics
The Three Weeks are a hard. mournful time. But like any difficult time, it is also a time of opportunity; a time to take the difficult and learn from it, take the sadness and learn to appreciate joy
Those in the Orthodox world who demean the crowning event of modern Jewish life– the reestablishment of Israel as a Jewish homeland – must ask themselves: Am I like Pinchas? Is my zealousness true?
The key to a successful classroom? Smiles. When I saw a classroom with students participating, I saw a teacher with a smile on his face.
The Meraglim were without tzitzis? The mitzvah of tzitzis is instructive; it teaches the Jew how to look and see. – or they are a constant reminder of God’s Commandments.
We, the Jewish people, are like the candles of the menorah. Once “lit,” we must remain lit, a living source of light.
Torah teaches us not to attribute our success to our own strength. The innocent and the arrogant believe in themselves. The wise and the holy believe in God.
Numbers resonate in our consciousness and our world but no number has the power and significance of the number seven. It is the perfect number and Judaism’s most sacred number.
As Europe and some in the US join the “divestment” bandwagon, it would be wise to consider just what Israel has given, and continues to give, the world.
What does Chad Gadya – a song worthy of Dr. Seuss- about goats, cats, dogs, sticks and butchers – have to do with the leil shimurim, the night of geulah and redemption?
Talk is cheap. It is easy to speak. It is easy to judge and declare a fellow Jew or an entire segment of the Jewish community tamei. But a real "kohen" must dig deeper. It is incumbent on ALL Jews.
As we see with the chasidah-the stork- one who thinks of himself as a chasid but who contributes to the judgments and opinions that harms Klal Yisrael is, in fact, non-kosher,
It is not just the "Devil" in the details; there is beauty and order there as well-like the Mikdash
Recognizing fashion's power on people, God instructed that Aaron’s vestments evoke kavod and tiferet
Despite attacks throughout Israel, how can we embrace the glory of our Land? How do we bless God?
What if our children aren't an improvement on us? What if instead of pride they cause shame?
Imagine if every parent & teacher were to bless by acknowledging the special quality of each person?
Hanukah reminds us of the challenges in Galus. How we understand & react to Galus defines us as Jews
How shall we ever find our match? Enter the shadchan--matchmaker--filling us with hope & trepidation
Henny Machlis exemplified seeing only the good in other. She made everyone feel beloved & welcome.
We must account not only for the passing of time but for the way in which we move in time.
“Your children, look up there at the top of the chimney. Do you see the smoke coming out?” She looked up, confused by his words. He laughed harshly. “That smoke. There are your children!”
What makes a man dedicated to what is best, stray? What makes a leader, a rabbi, lose his way?
Peace/Shalom/Wholeness: A gift conferred; earned and received by God's grace; His blessing.
Lag B'Omer became the “Scholar's Festival” reminding all that derech eretz kadmah l’Torah-
The only way to become humble is honesty about our experiences; it's the only path to true humility
Too rarely appreciated for its symbolic weight; it can represent freedom and independence.
Jews cover the head not as ID but because wearing it makes concrete to ourselves our devotion to God
It’s easier to take Jews out of galus than to take galus out of Jews – Chassidic master
What is its message of the dreidel?” The complexity and hidden nature of history and miracles.
It is difficult to remain faithful in galut, the ultimate Rorschach test for all Jewish generations
Racheli Frankel: "I didn’t think they were thrown just anywhere. The tears of Hebron embraced them”
Yes, God judges, but His judgment is that of a loving father who longs for his child’s quick return.
But the world is forever challenging our Jewish principle and our practices.
The Rebbe’s deepest message is clear: Embrace and accept.
What defines kana’ut these days? Throwing rocks at passing cars on Shabbos? Burning an Israeli flag on Yom Ha’Atzmaut?
One who may leave his wife an agunah is not included in the general rule that we may not imprison on Shabbos.
“Fulfill my requests for good, grant my request, be mindful of us for deliverance and compassion...remember us for a good, long life…give us bread to eat, clothes to wear...”
Too often, as parents and teachers, we think it means talking at our children, delivering to them good and worthy content that they should simply hear and assimilate into their minds and hearts.
I was singing, dancing, jumping and, sweating. Just joy and happiness. One child on my shoulders after another. What happiness! And then, the little boy on my shoulders – he could not have been older than six – began to cry.
The only way for children to find a way back to the path is through parental love and understanding.
Nothing defines a community so much as its recognition of common leadership and willingness to respect its authority.
The road back is paved with love, understanding, hugs, and honest communication.
An educator must not be satisfied until that soul he refuses to handle, love, nourish and develop is registered in another school, one more caring and embracing.
No matter where we look, our lives are touched by miracles.
If a teacher thinks his task is merely “to teach” – that it is no great thing to teach, that “anybody can do that” -- he must immediately be set straight.
A fisherman living near the banks of a river was making his way home one evening, exhausted from his long labors. As he trudged along the path, he dreamed of what his life might be like if he were suddenly rich. Just then, his foot brushed against a leather pouch. He picked it up only to discover it filled with small stones. Falling back into his reverie, he absent-mindedly began throwing the pebbles into the water.
One of the beautiful customs of Rosh Hashanah is to eat an apple dipped in honey and other sweet foods as a way of asking Hashem to make things sweet for us in the coming year. People also wish each other a healthy and sweet New Year. However the best way to make the year sweet for ourselves and for others is to become “sweet” people, remembering to smile and treat each other in a sweet and friendly way.
July 3, 2026 
