יום שבת, י״ט תמוז תשפ״וSaturday, July 4, 2026
Follow Us
I look up from time to time, my eyes focused in the same direction. Six kilometers distant is the Kotel, where people are praying, putting a note between the stones.
Geula was not the same as it is now. There were so many shopkeepers that lived there. Some were religious, some not. But it was a community. We all were one. And Ruti and I would go everywhere together.
By dvora
My mother always prayed they would get to their 50th anniversary. They were blessed to have celebrated their 60th anniversary, too. Their love was a perennial one, always there, year after year.
By Naama Klein
Instead of completing my online purchase within a few minutes once we arrived, I was dismayed to encounter any number of unfamiliar error messages, particularly the warning of potential credit card fraud.
Curiel has been researching his family tree for decades and has learned some astounding facts. There was a Rav Israel Ben Meir di Curiel, a Sage in Tzfat, who sat on the Beit Din in the 16th century along with Rav Yossef Caro. There were also 35 Jews named Curiel murdered in the Holocaust.
When Mrs. Rosner was done with her account of the saga, I told her, Mrs. Rosner, my food is really good. I want you to keep whatever you took and enjoy it in good health! Just remember to heat it up before Shabbos as everything tastes better when it’s warm!
By Risa Rotman
My husband, Chaim, felt it was his obligation to create a Kiddush Hashem at every moment in his life. He felt strongly about dressing as a chareidi Jew wherever he went.
It was a wretched situation for my father, my mother and me – an only child – who had left my job to look after my mother; we had no idea where to turn, what to do.
He continued with his barrage of insults, which The Jewish Press surely would find unfit to print, and this was in front of the whole congregation. Thousands of men became silent, trying to understand what Reb Chaim did to deserve such treatment.
By dvora
My childhood was filled with a tremendous amount of stress and abuse. By the time I was three years old, that stress had manifested in a physical illness, Crohn’s disease.
By Eliana Klein
His oldest daughter, aka my granddaughter, had given the bright orange rubber bracelet to him several days earlier, and not wishing to insult her, he was still wearing it. It had been distributed by Hatzalah and their number was printed prominently on it.
While, it’s very sad that so many people have to wait so long for their bashert, predominantly, it isn’t their fault. We try to find reasons why people aren’t married and tell them if only they tried this segulah, that event, that matchmaker, this person… they would be married.
During the day, except for the number which had been branded onto his arm, similar to what used to be done to cattle, no one would know that the smiling, sweet, hard-working Moshe had such a nightmarish past.
Maybe the family had decided to obtain some other tefillin. He didn’t know. But he was sure that Hashem had guided his steps to just this spot to save his father’s tefillin which had obviously been discarded in error.
Avadim hayenu – we were slaves in Egypt. I looked around the table, wondering what our new Russian friends were thinking, if they were recalling their time as Jews in the modern slavery of the oppressive, antisemitic USSR.
By Bryna Conway
The first Shabbat after we moved into our house, we decided to go to shul. This was not out of any religious fervor, more an acknowledgement of our new start, a new phase in our lives – and curiosity to see what the people were like.
By dvora
Mommie assumed that within three days’ time, I would forget what I had experienced, but through a series of different occurrences, I did, in fact move to Crown Heights, as a young married woman, with my dear husband, as well as my long-awaited kinderlach who are indeed brachas from the Rebbe!
By Risa Rotman
I knew the exact address was one of three buildings. I would just look for this unique family name on those three buildings’ entrances and I would find where to go. But just at that moment my mind froze, and I couldn’t think what that unique name was.
Eventually one of her daughters persuaded her to go to her doctor and after some tests he diagnosed early onset dementia. It was a tremendous shock to everyone, but the children realized that they would have to learn to help her and their father come to terms with this new reality.
By Adina Perez
Later at night I got a phone call from my younger sister that lives up north in Israel. She wanted to talk to me about an incident that happened between us, which she felt she had never really asked forgiveness for. I couldn't remember anything and it took me some time till I understood what she was talking about.
By Naama Klein
Sadly, I could not even properly enjoy that sumptuous finale to an incredible, opulent meal, because by then my watch registered less than an hour to go before licht bentching!
By dvora
From the very beginning, I felt that our kitten was a gilgul, a Jewish soul sent back to earth to rectify his past.
Boaz and Fradel had already been blessed with two children, a girl Shayna 9, and a boy Shneur 3, but it had been a difficult journey fraught with the kinds of difficulty that infertile couples face.
By Naama Klein
Long story short, another potential customer managed to jump the queue ahead of me, and she happily walked off with both wigs, after I had effectively negotiated them down to a fair price!
Yaakov stood there, hoping and praying that someone more positive would stop to help him soon, but no one appeared.
We went into Shabbat in a state of not knowing, hoping and praying for the best. We went to shul, family came round to distract us, but I found myself surreptitiously glancing at my watch too many times, counting the hours...
Immediately the cogs in my brain started spinning. Shabbos afternoon? Why did her friend bring something? Was the kallah celebrating her Shabbos Kallah this week?
By dvora
We met some other young women and discussed how we would spend our short time there. They unanimously chose to go to the Eiffel Tower and see it lit up at night. I preferred another destination.
If I had used my electric oven the previous week, after the original test, that leak behind it could have blown up the house and caused me serious injury.
By Eliana Klein
In fact, one of my young daughters-in-law is a certified optometrist, so she likewise was able to weigh in, armed with professional clinical knowledge, instead of merely hearsay or anecdotal information.
The pandemic might mean these celebrations will be shared on Zoom, and hugs will be virtual, but we will pretend we are together for milestones. And, maybe, sometime during 2023, the pandemic will be history.
By Risa Rotman
Suddenly I saw a woman arise from her chair just over to the side of me. I was about to sit when a woman approximately my age ran ahead and grabbed the chair and the one beside it for her teenage daughter. I made a small face but then let go.
I don’t know what happened, but at some point a number of the people started walking away from the lobby. No one said anything to us. What did they know that we didn’t?
Two sets of neighbors, joined by a wall and a hedge, but worlds apart.
Some of the inmates were observant upon entering the prison, or came from religious backgrounds.
By Naama Klein
My son-in-law reluctantly agreed to accept twenty shekel, but this perfect stranger insisted that he take fifty. And when my son-in-law asked for his address so that he could send him the money, the man waved him off, instructing him to pay it forward when the opportunity arose.
Although he felt the town was receptive to greater spiritual influence, Rabbi Gold says that aside from the physical and spiritual considerations, however, was the much greater problem of trying to find money to open a religious school, his first project.
Avi tried to appeal to the bus driver once more but to no avail. He was determined to leave on time. But oddly enough he still hadn’t moved even though it was already several minutes past the allotted time.
By Naama Klein
Kelly regularly jumped up to greet me in her signature style, licking me exuberantly while rhythmically wagging her tail. Well, she certainly knew how to make a guest feel welcome (if not utterly terrified!).
By dvora
Out of this unobtrusive instrument, came the sounds of classical music, beautifully played.
By Naama Klein
I was one very confused middle-aged woman with too many demands on her time and too few hours in her day. And it was not yet 9 a.m.!
As is the policy with kidney donations in Israel, if the two are not previously acquainted the donor and recipient don’t meet each other until after the procedure.
By dvora
Like solders, they marched off! When the job was finished, I took out my wallet to pay the children. Irina stopped me.
By Ann Goldberg
Shlomo rushed off to pay the seller and return home happily with his prize...only to find that the stall was empty. Obviously the lulav seller had packed up and gone home as yom tov was fast approaching.
There weren't many people out that night because of the weather but Rabbi Palach continued to approach whoever he saw and asked the same question, offering the same warm invitation to come hear a Torah class.
Miriam married at 31, and she and Shlomo had seven kids, including a set of twins. But Miriam wanted more children – not hers, other people’s. She wanted a house full of unwanted children.
By Naama Klein
Since it was a fairly last-minute decision, (again my dear husband, being my dear husband), he was kind enough to do the shopping for that meal on his way home from work on Thursday.
To my utter amazement, he did have the required part with him! He gave me that astounding news as he re-entered my house with the box, and told me that that was the last one of those particular parts that he had with him!
David told Yossi about his loss and the two of them began searching in the river. Talk about a needle in a haystack!
The trip took a bit longer than they expected, which put them a bit off schedule because in addition to wanting to get back to the kids, it was a Monday and that was when Yaakov, at eight o'clock, gave his class to the neighborhood kids.
By Naama Klein
With no choice, and a heavy heart, we forked over the three thousand shekel (There went my sheitel fund.) and remembered to thank the volunteer committee as well.
I slept in fits and starts that night. Thoughts were tumbling around in my mind like clothes in a washing machine, entangled together.
David Rousso can also trace his family back to the Spanish expulsion during the Inquisition. Although he’s not a hundred percent sure, he thinks his family hailed from Cordoba/Saragossa.
By dvora
A “small-world connection” to be sure but this knowledge is not the surprise that Hashem yisborach had awaiting me.
This was a real shock to Dave. He was an excellent worker and was doing fine in the firm, but he thought he could go much farther and succeed much more in Ronnie's new firm.
In a big company with several branches throughout our metropolitan area, what are the odds that the same man who had installed the system 17 years before would be the person who arrived now to evaluate and repair it? But, of course, there are no “odds” or “coincidences” with Hashem.
He told me that he recognized the system and the color-coding, because he had been the very man who had installed the system!
Shalom could barely believe the siyata dishmaya. He told her to return the following day and he would try and get some money to help her.
By Naama Klein
Like her husband, my daughter-in-law is extremely handy (although they are both Jewish!), and she has an incredible knack for home organizing as well as choosing inexpensive accents that pack a punch.
When Ayala arrived home that night, she wasn’t feeling well. On a whim, she decided to do a pregnancy test. She felt sort of silly. She had only just davened at Miriam’s kever, but something spurred her on.
Amnon lived in a kibbutz located halfway between Jerusalem and Bet Shemesh. Yet he knew nothing about Judaism and had never spoken to a haredi Jew. Tali found herself not only in a new job, but in the position of Defender of Her Faith.
Rabbi Sha'air spoke to the mother and the child and was about to accept and register the boy when the mother said: I must tell you, Rabbi. I don't have any money to pay you. Not now, and it's not likely that I'll have any money to pay you later in the year either.
By dvora
When I think back, there were other amazing occurrences that happened that day!
By Risa Rotman
Once I found the correct hole, the pipe was easily snapped into place and I felt like a conquering hero (with Hashem’s help, of course). Throughout the whole procedure, I asked for His help and he led me to a positive outcome.
Yes, everything was quiet now, but who knew what the next day would bring. But with Rav Frank's promise, and knowing how well their son was doing in yeshiva and how much he wanted to stay and continue learning there, they agreed to let him stay.
When Jewish genealogical records became available online, his wife found the gravestones of his paternal great-grandfather and of the great-grandfather’s brother. Both tombstones clearly said “ha-Levi” on them!
To make sure that everyone was equally involved in the writing of the sefer Torah, the writing of the first few verses took place at four separate venues, the homes of relatives of the fallen, where the sofer wrote the words of different parashot.
The passengers didn't take this antagonistic behavior sitting down. Literally. They were up in arms, and gave back what they got.
Jon was a very fine, smart boy with great potential. If he would stay on, he would grow tremendously in Torah and would most probably choose a religious way of life.
By Alan Magill
One day, I was in the basement of a building and I had just finished collecting the change there and was about to leave when I saw money on the ground. I picked it up and it was two one-hundred-dollar bills in a rubber band. I wanted to find its owner and return it but I knew that would take time.
My next test was booked for Thursday, August 17, 1967. I couldn’t have known when I was given this date, and not one later in the month, what siyata dishmaya I had received.
By Risa Rotman
Ok, I thought. No big deal. I know snow. But then the electricity went out. The house was cold. It was dark. I had a lot of food prepared in my freezer for post-birth. I started to get nervous.
How shocking and unexpected was Mrs. Goodman's urgent phone call to her daughter! Normally an active and healthy woman, Mrs. Goodman's doctor had diagnosed her with terminal cancer and gave her less than a month to live.
Rafi felt so strongly in all his senses that he was right – that what he thought was up was up, and what he thought was down was down. And yet as he checked the device again and again, it told him the opposite.
We were there for each other. If help was needed, there was a shoulder to lean on, both for small, transient upsets such as a difference of opinion with our mothers, and for persistent worries, too.
By T. Gestetner
Within minutes, David the handyman was dressed and outside, walking with Yedidya toward their shack. When they arrived, the house was dark. It seems there had been an electrical short, too.
By Bella Sofer
My husband got out of the car and suddenly I see him turning the knob of the garage door and hey, presto, the handle turns and the door magically swings inward!
Believe it or not, in my native country in Ireland and later still in France, I never knew that it was possible while outdoors in the bitter winter weather not to suffer from the freezing cold, no matter how many layers I wore.
Package? No, I not in America and no package here. Maybe you vant Shulem Fastag? Ich bin Shlomi Fastag. Shulem he live cross street. I not go to America.
The time came for the case to be called up and there was Mr. Cohen, facing the judge alone (of course, he knew that he wasn't alone, but his lawyer wasn't there.)
Like many good Brits, come what may, Anne's father would buy a weekly ticket in the football pools. He always used the same numbers; the birthdays of his two children.
By Bryna Conway
I had suddenly grasped that I would have to change my whole attitude to Yitzhak, see him in a different guise from the irritating boy I had defined him as.
By Naama Klein
My wonderful machateinista, hearing my tale of woe, took it upon herself to assist in the apartment quest, contacting every realtor she knew and requesting leads.
My husband was stalling before calling a professional. Ever since he lost his job, we were tight, financially speaking, and a house visit would be an extra burden on our faltering budget. As it was, I was finding it challenging to keep my spirits up.
How would Liat and her husband cope with this double bris over Rosh Hashanah? Who would help them?
By dvora
I had no need for my prayer book because, amazingly, my sincere heartfelt prayer came out spontaneously and instantly; I did not have to even think about what to say.
By Naama Klein
When we finally yet inevitably bit the proverbial bullet and introduced ourselves to one another, we discovered that we had multiple connections in common, including mutual friends and close family members.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but living next door to your family turned out to be immensely significant to me.
By Alan Magill
I asked Rabbi Buchwald, "If I became observant, would I have to give up all of those things I love?" He answered right away. "No Alan, you don't have to give those things up. You just need to put Judaism first."
Naama realized how much she needed to see her baby brother. He was her little darling and she couldn’t bear the thought of him being alone for even a minute.
If it ain't yours, you gotta give it to Lost and Found. Here, I'll take it fer you, he offered as he grabbed the bag. Tali jerked the bag away from him. I'll do it myself, thank you. Where is this Lost and Found office?
After doing some research, Arieh discovered that his great-great-grandfather was in fact Rav Naftali Hertz HaLevi Videnboim from Bialystok, and he had been the first Chief Rabbi of Jaffa as well as a Mekubal himself.
By Naama Klein
She watched with mounting anxiety as it not only continued to burn brightly, but somehow reignited the used matches from the previous night, causing a mini bonfire on the tray!
By dvora
I was overcome with gratitude to HaKodesh Boruch Hu for making it possible for Daddy to receive the honor that he provided for others, throughout his lifetime.
Miri has been carrying around guilt for the accident for over 60 years; for something she had zero responsibility for. She had misinterpreted the situation and blamed herself needlessly enduring enormous pain.
The ride had put her in a wonderful mood. The morning went well, and she looked forward to grabbing a quick lunch before returning to the main office.
By Eliana Klein
On the one hand, I was genuinely rejoicing for her; on the other I was already experiencing some degree of anxiety regarding the less-than-ideal timing.
By Naama Klein
My sister and brother-in-law were among the would-be travelers, but their motivation was to visit our elderly mother, whose health had declined in virtually every respect over the prolonged period of isolation.
July 3, 2026 
