יום שבת, ד׳ אב תשפ״וSaturday, July 18, 2026
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Before you study, clarify your question. As you study, speak the words. After you study, note one connection to something you've learned before.
By Jeff Cohen
Rabbi Hauer epitomized loving every Jew and making everyone feel like the most important person in the world when he spoke with you.
He gave perspective without minimizing pain – seeing the larger story when the rest of us saw only fragments. That was his essence: he saw the good, spoke the good, and brought out the good in others.
Before his national acclaim as a leader within the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Hauer built something enduring here in Baltimore – a model of what a synagogue rabbi could and should be.
We were all still in euphoria from Hoshana Rabbah, and the return of the hostages, so we went into the holiday in a very happy frame of mind.
An important figure on the postcolonial left for decades, Mahmood Mamdani has called Israel an apartheid state, championed the BDS movement, and portrayed America as the fountainhead of global evil.
This, even though in the course of her campaign for Attorney General, Ms. James – who was a leader in the legal assault on Trump – herself declared that she was running in order to bring Donald Trump down.
We coronate Hakadosh Baruch Hu and ask for His forgiveness together, not as individuals. Hashem is truly king only when we coronate Him together.
The reason that the Left needs to promote the lie of Israeli genocide is that it absolves Hamas of the guilt of their actual genocide and it justifies their pledge of repeating it.
The revenues that Hamas controlled were large enough to transform Gaza into a thriving Mediterranean enclave – a model for Palestinian society. But the Islamist group chose a different path. Prioritizing terrorism and military spending, it invested staggering sums in tunnels and weapons, including rockets and rocket factories.
While we can appreciate their dilemma, it is nonetheless dismaying that they have failed to distance themselves from some of his beyond the pale positions.
One widely made anti-Israel argument is that its alleged withholding or conditioning aid to Gaza as part of its war against Hamas amounts to collective punishment because it impacts negatively on the innocent as well as the guilty. But the thing is, the same collective punishment argument has not been directed at Hamas where it actually does apply.
Throughout history, Torah has at times stood as a Divine, untouchable document, and at other times woven into the currents of Jewish experience, carried and shaped by the people of Israel. Its dual nature – both Divine and national – has been reflected in every generation’s approach to learning, observance, and communal life.
Both the letter and resolution stipulate a demilitarized state with Hamas playing no role, but as noted, that is a pipe-dream and essentially just a wave to political correctness.
By Zvi S. Rosen
One would have to be a moral idiot to think the death of 60,000, many of them fighters, is worth comparing or mentioning in the same breath as the industrial murder of 6,000,000 based on ethnicity.
It was especially haunting to see this image: Rabbi Daniel Walker, who valiantly protected his synagogue and tended to his congregants amidst the horrific violence, wearing his traditional white kittel, stained by blood at the bottom. And yet, in the face of this terrible destruction, we see another model of holiness. Sometimes, when the evil cannot be banished, the High Priest must deal with it directly, even if he gets bloodied in the process.
For decades, Britain opened its doors to mass migration from Muslim-majority countries. Many of these immigrants have become part of the national fabric, however, successive governments refused to build an integration strategy. Instead, they embraced a shallow multiculturalism, encouraging communities to live side by side, rather than together.
To be sure, we continue to believe Hamas perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre primarily to derail the Abraham Accords.
The late Rabbi Dr. Lord Jonathan Sacks, during Germany’s attempted ban on brit milah in 2012, pointed out the root of the problem. He deemed the move to be an attack on the Jewish people.
Like the other peace initiatives, the Palestinians have been offered over the past decades, the problem is that it’s by no means clear that they regard a chance to end their long war against the Jewish presence in the land of Israel or even the latest chapter of it that began two years ago as a desirable outcome.
While there may have been some apparent or technical irregularities on Trump’s part, they never rose to the level of violations about which anyone makes into a federal case.
That history is worth remembering now. It is what happens when leaders handcuff the police and abandon law-abiding citizens. And it will happen again if Mamdani wins the mayoralty. The cycle will repeat, and more brutally than before.
To the extent that the so-called “moderate” Palestinian Authority can be trusted – not an easy notion to accept – it is the implacable Hamas enemy that will soon resume being in charge of compliance, whatever it is that will be required of the Palestinians and there is no doubt about their untrustworthiness.
Some will argue that silence is cowardice, that in critical times rabbis must declare who to vote for. That is nonsense.
Mamdani’s primary win has alarmed many in part because it was also unexpected, with nearly every major poll predicting a Cuomo victory in the weeks leading up to the primary.
His anti-Israel outrages including sympathy for Hamas are in a special category and a special concern for our community. It’s time we all wake up to what would be coming with a Mamdani victory.
Most kids tell you what they need, even if they don’t have the words. If we hover over their homework and they can’t say ‘stop pressuring me’ or ‘trust me to do it,’ they might say something disrespectful. But they always try to tell us what they need.
Teshuvah is a dark and harrowing descent into the self, a journey through the hidden recesses of personality. It demands that we confront our failures and flaws without disguise.
College campuses once served as places for open dialogue, where students could freely explore diverse ideas. But for Jewish students today, these spaces often feel hostile. From verbal assaults on Israel to an environment where their Jewish identity is marginalized or attacked, it’s clear that something profound has shifted.
Every single time I get into the ice bath I don’t want to. But I do it anyway and when I do, I am rewiring and changing my brain, not metaphorically or symbolically, but literally.
In true cavalry to the rescue American tradition, U.S. ambassador to Israel said the other day that if Israel decided to apply sovereignty in parts of the West Bank the U.S. would respect that decision and would not dictate terms to Jerusalem.
It seems that the New York State legislatures, with its extreme leftist Assembly and Senate leadership, have no intention of forcing Mamdani into moderation should he be elected New York’s Mayor. Yet Mamdani can only do what he says he wants to do if the legislature lets him do it.
The inevitable result will be emigration – an exodus of Jewish New Yorkers comparable to or greater than that of the 1960s and ‘70s when rising crime rates, collapsing public schools and a weakening economy drove families away.
The attack of October 7 and the unleashing of antisemitism have had a paradoxical effect: while they brought violence and tragedy, they also drew many hearts closer to Hashem, to religion, and to tradition.
In the eyes of many on the Left, particularly the young, he is as big a hero to them as Princip is to the Serbs. There are virtual statues and shrines being “erected” to him across the internet.
Young conservatives are disillusioned with politics, hostile to institutions, and suspicious of anything that sounds prepackaged. If you try to silence dissent, they tune you out.
We mourn the moment that it became fatally dangerous in the United States of America to express an opinion.
We can readily understand the dilemma the three top democratic elected officials faced. Undoubtedly, he is not their preferred candidate and as noted, a particularly fraught one at that.
We realize, too, when we are davening on Rosh Hashana that we have no idea how to articulate our wants and needs. What if you need a car? How does one phrase such a mundane request to Hashem? Like Elkanah, we can’t say nothing, but if we do say something, what should it be?
What seems to rankle all of them is that the targets were ostensibly gathered to work on a cease fire and hostage release deal and the attack was therefore counterproductive.
I wrote this book because I lived at the paradox at the heart of so many modern lives: the pursuit of material success while at the same time yearning for meaning.
The larger Jewish community he’d spent his career serving helped him in his time of need. It wasn’t easy for him to let someone else take the helm, but it meant so much to be taken care of.
We don’t know whether Smotrich reflected the views of Prime Minister Netanyahu and or the Israeli government when he spoke. And it is certainly not for us to choose for Israel.
The fight has also been distorted by the actions of left-wing and left-leaning media outlets that applied a magnifying glass to Israel’s every move while blindly accepting casualty figures from the Hamas health ministry, relying on the claims of so-called journalists who were in reality Hamas operatives and agents of influence.
The New York Sun has reported that Mamdani plans to spend $65million on gender affirming care and has promised to investigate New York hospitals that stop providing the services and create an Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs at City Hall. Would this really address a pressing need for the city? He should be asked to tell us how.
By Sara Lehmann
According to Sliwa, the dangers of a mayor Mamdani would be irreparable. Unlike previous decades, when NYC rotted and was then resuscitated, Sliwa does not believe NYC would recoup this time.
Although protesters feel justified blocking highways and disturbing the families and neighbors of elected officials, many Israelis find the practice abhorrent.
By Baruch Lytle
The Jewish community has to organize itself. The gentile community has a history of promising the Jews they are going to be there when you need them, and then suddenly the Jews find themselves helped by no one.
Of course, the media is typically playing fast and loose with the facts. Even under the Biden administration, American defense officials were reporting that Israel was taking measures to spare enemy civilians from avoidable harm that were unprecedented in modern warfare.
According to the DSA, terrorists have legitimate grievances, and the root cause of terrorism is – you guessed it – America’s “imperialist” foreign policy. In the eyes of Mamdani’s comrades – DSA members actually call each other that – the nation’s power, prestige, global reach and influence is a menace.
According to The New York Times, the party’s divisions over Israel and the war in Gaza were on “messy display” at the meeting as members debated dueling resolutions about how to respond to Israel’s Gaza policy.
Elul is a deep dive into ourselves, into the hidden recesses of who we are. Without this introspection, we cannot grow into better people. Even as the national situation rightly demands our attention, we must not forget this personal journey into the inner worlds that shape us.
Although the court, by invalidating the fine, literally gutted the lawsuit and neutralized it, there was not a majority who were prepared to formally throw out the case altogether.
To equate Munich and Yalta isn’t just sloppy history. It erases the essential difference between surrender and solidarity in the face of total war.
By Jason Ciment
Elul has started. It’s the time of year when we find ourselves reflecting on the past, hoping we didn’t mess up too badly, and wondering if we’ll make it through the U’netaneh Tokef of Rosh Hashana with a clean slate. The end of the year is a great catalyst to thinking about goals – […]
Of course, an enormously important part of the mix is the apparent full support of President Trump which sends a powerful message to Israel’s enemies.
Why a recent rabbis’ letter is not what the Jewish State needs right now.
By Alan Zeitlin
The idea that the entire country of Israel is immoral is a fantasy of Jew-haters.
As the weeks went on, it became disappointingly apparent to me that my father and I were not inspired by the same things. I desperately wanted to connect to the ideas that he thought worthy of preservation, and while I was able to appreciate them intellectually, my heart remained perversely neutral.
Plainly, for that crowd, it is of no moment what the laws or tradition may require. What counts is whether the results work for you.
Roosevelt knew his words had to do more than rally the public – they had to silence powerful and influential Americans who still imagined a deal with Germany might be possible.
Chaos Theory deals with systems that are highly dependent and sensitive to initial conditions. Small variations in the starting point can lead to vastly dramatic changed outcomes. Those altered outcomes may only become apparent over time.
He really was an amazing speaker. The Torah just flowed from his lips. He was so brilliant, but also so modest.
It is frightening to see that this sort of thing is embedded in our higher education. It is not hyperbole to suggest that our students – our future leaders – are in the thrall of dedicated ideologues who are proselytizing in the guise of educating.
Western liberals have shown a troubling tolerance for these totalitarians.
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.
This wasn’t just anti-Israel opinion; it was a call for the elimination of an entire nation and its people. This type of speech has no place in civilized discourse, and defending it as a form of free expression only emboldens those who seek to delegitimize Israel and harm Jewish communities.
By Ariela Davis
I am endlessly grateful to Hashem for the miracles he performed for us in getting our footing in this amazing country... I’m grateful to Hashem for providing us with work that we find challenging and fulfilling and also proud that we were able to recreate ourselves.
Huckabee went on to challenge Starmer on how much food his government had sent to Gaza, noting that Israel has already contributed more than two million tons although Hamas seized much of it. Indeed, has anyone seen a malnourished Hamas terrorist in any of the pictures of them shooting their rifles into the air?
By Marc Gronich
Delgado said he felt unsatisfied in his role as Hochul’s teammate. Following public disagreements with her, he said in February 2025 that he would not seek reelection as lieutenant governor in 2026.
I am not saying I know exactly how Israel should or should not act, what the day after plan should be, which leaders or parties know best, or so on.
Our people now embark on a project greater than the Great Wall of China – not forged from stone and mortar, but carved deep into the fabric of history.
The Trump campus antisemitism campaign includes lawsuits and suspensions of massive research grants in the hundreds of millions of dollars. UCLA has recently had $584 million in research funding suspended.
By Aryeh Werth
In the war of ideas, we don't have an army . . . if we lose in the battle of ideas, then we won't be able to win in the battle on the ground.– Naftali Bennett interview with The Jewish Press
Some might argue that the old democratic socialists were comfortable with an Israel governed by the Labor Party – then a proud member of the Socialist International – during an era when the kibbutz movement still loomed large, and that they would have felt far less affinity for today’s capitalist “Startup Nation.”
The sense that Israel should give up trying to eradicate Hamas and that Hamas’s fictions had to be taken seriously despite its history of fabrications and staged crises was palpable and not at all helpful.
By Avi Ciment
Why would anyone follow the Torah if they didn’t believe in its Divine authorship?
Recollection is a deeply human act. It asks us to step beyond the immediacy of the present and re-enter the chambers of earlier experience.
It is being alleged that President Obama intended to scuttle the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server and mishandling of highly classified information during her time as secretary of state and a reported Obama and Hillary Clinton plan to falsely tie Donald Trump to Russia.
Bret Stephens’s recent New York Times column, “No, Israel Is Not Committing a Genocide in Gaza,” attempts to dispel this inflammatory charge against the Jewish state. His argument is that those who make this claim must answer one fundamental question: why, after 22 months, is even Hamas’s purported death toll so low? However, that […]
By Adina Broder
One might wonder how a person like Nevuzardan could be absolved for his many heinous crimes. The answer is that Hashem forgives anyone who is sincere in his repentance.
The influential Columbia University professor and Palestinian political activist, Edward Said, characterized Israel’s founding as a manifestation of Western imperialism.
It seems that Schumer, Jeffries, and Hochul may be willing to risk being labeled soft on antisemitism since antisemitism appears more and more to be finding a place in the Democratic Party.
Though less stringent and with their fated character not having been painfully reinforced over and over again, those other dates do not have an antipode, an escape hatch, if you will, embedded within them as Tisha B’Av does: the consolation that the day holds the potential for – indeed the promise of – total transformation.
My parents were very makpid about the Three Weeks, particularly my father. He did not allow us to go on any unnecessary outings starting from Shiva Asar B’Tammuz, and even once we were grown and out of the house, he would keep tabs on all of us, reminding us that the period of Bein HaMitzorim was a dangerous time.
The Columbia agreement prohibits programs that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes in student admissions and faculty hiring.
July 17, 2026 
