יום ראשון, ה׳ כסלו תשפ״זSunday, November 15, 2026
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I am sure that after all these years, Rabbi Sholom Klass is looking down, from his lofty abode, upon The Jewish Press and its current progression as a beacon for the Jewish community and its continual support for the State of Israel, and feeling great pride.
Those who are skilled in producing surprises Are as infinitely varied as heaven and earth, And as inexhaustible as the great rivers. -Sun Tzu
The overarching texts and principles that guide the Seder Tu B’Shvat are the two trees that were created in the Garden of Eden and the biblical passage stating that the human being is a tree of the field (Devarim 20:19).
The Jewish people possess unique resilience. While all nations experience decline, Jews are distinguished by their ability to recover and rebuild. Unlike other civilizations that fade after their historical peaks, the Jewish people have consistently risen after setbacks.
Seeing the Egyptians close in on them, the Jews did what they had originally done to escape oppression; they cried out to G-d to save them. But this time, G-d threw the ball into their court and said, “a titzak elei, daber el benei Yisrael veyisau – Why are you crying out to me, speak to the Israelites and let them start moving (14:15).
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
What is the place of song in Judaism?
It is critical to understand that Israel did not seek out this conflict... The objective has always been clear: a stable, peaceful region where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side, with dignity and security.
There is a general principle that when one sees someone in the act of violating an aveirah, the witness should warn them before the aveirah takes place. Why then, in the case of rodef, does the Gemara say that hasra’ah is not required?
This concept is consistent with the Gemara in Masechtas Sanhedrin that states categorically, Adam la’amal peh nivrah – A person was created primarily for the toil of the mouth. In other words, the greatest arena of achievement in life is in one’s control of their speech.
In order to perform acts of kindness with each other, they would each have to overlook the deficits and defects of the other.
As I often remark, the spiritual, physical, and emotional patterns of life are the same, since they are all designed by the same Creator. The image of the smaller flame being drawn to the larger flame reflects the same principle of spiritual excess.
Cheit ha’egel, the sin of the golden calf, is perhaps the most infamous event in the Torah, a sin compared to the original sin of Adam HaRishon and one that has repercussions throughout Jewish history. Yet, what is most striking about this sin is not the act itself but its timing.
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
Wisdom is not conceptualized here in any form of abstract internal intellect. Everything revolves around active listening, relevant and organized speech, and intellectual humility.
Even the animals have been singing to G-d every day, since Creation. Every time you hear a bird chirping, a rooster crowing, a donkey braying etc., they are singing praise to G-d. If you want to know what they are singing, refer to Sefer Perek Shira.
Based on those advertisements, I have come to a realization of the ideal manner in which a person in our community should spend his year. I may have missed some events, so don’t take any omission to mean they shouldn’t be on this list:
If you are attending one or you are sponsoring one, make sure that at minimum kosher food is served, and there is no behavior contrary to Jewish modesty.
New York City CANDLE LIGHTING TIME February 7, 2025 – 9 Shevat 5785 5:03 p.m. NYC E.S.T. Sabbath Ends: 6:05 p.m. NYC E.S.T. Sabbath Ends: Rabbenu Tam 6:35 p.m. NYC E.S.T. Weekly Reading: Beshalach Weekly Haftara: U’Devorah Isha (Judges 4:4-5:31; Sefardim: Judges 5:1-31) Daf Yomi: Sanhedrin 52 Mishna Yomit: Makos 3:12-13 Halacha Yomit: […]
Most people will not initially see the former hostages in person. At best, we will see videos but not much more. For those of us in that category, does seeing the hostages returning home online or hearing the news warrant a beracha?
Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz discusses the Drafting of Yeshiva Students to the IDF in the eyes of Halacha.
Israel was on the brink of war and Yehudit served in the Haganah as a medic. She would have liked to have become a nurse but that was impossible in her circumstances.
David bought the food and other items necessary for Shabbos, keeping all the receipts. The total cost came out significantly less than projected – only $600.
A Future Investment ‘… A Halacha For The Days Of Moshiach’ (Sanhedrin 51b)
In an effort to beat his competitors – both in the print and book sales business – Chinsky joined others in 1901 to found the Hebrew Publishing Company, the largest and oldest Jewish New York-based publishing house.
How does the bracha of kiddush levana relates to Kabalas Pnei HaShechina?
Question: May a mohel perform a bris for a non-Orthodox couple who adopt a Gentile infant whom they wish to raise as Jewish? Name withheld Los Angeles, CA
For 210 years, they labored in Egypt under extremely harsh conditions. But like a small child with a dirty shirt, they didn’t even realize how inappropriate it was for them to be slaves.
According to the Museum of the City of New York, a garment worker in 1905 was expected to sew at a rate twice that of her 1900 counterpart. The factories had scant safety or fire protection, mandated a 65-hour work week, and expected workers to provide their own basic materials such as needles and thread.
The universe is impressive on two levels: the macro and the micro. Its sheer size, even of the relatively small amount we know, is massive. Within just our planet, the number and diversity of creations and creatures are incredible.
" I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Judaism is not a religion of blind obedience. Indeed, astonishingly in a religion of 613 commandments, there is no Hebrew word that means to obey.
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
While the commentaries analyze each miracle on its own, the overall thrust of the presentation seems to be that G-d showed an added level of care for the continual functioning of the Temple.
The Kerem Shlomo says further that if the children receive a Torah true chinuch they can recognize that their parents seek Hashem, and they are therefore galvanized to give over that same chinuch to their children.
The fundamental idea of how important is the trait and the power of keeping ones mouth shut is echoed in Pirkei Avos where it teaches us, Shimon b’no omeir, Kol yomai gadalti bein hachachamim, v’lo matzasi l’guf tov m’shtika – Shimon, his [Rabban Gamli’eil’s] son said, All my life I grew up amongst the sages and I never found anything better for the body than the art of silence.
In the fascinating and unjustifiably obscure text Semichat Chachamim by R’ Naftali Katz HaCohen, the question is asked why Rosh Hashana in Tishrei and the one in Nissan, the new year for kings and for festivals, seem to be reversed.
The defiant or symptomatic child may indeed bear responsibility for his or her actions, but deeper questions must be asked: What unhealthy ideas about control, body image, or communication exist within the family?
Had Hashem created us in Olam Haba, the goodness we would have received would have been free, unearned. This is the type of perfection that malachim enjoy. However, this is not the ultimate enjoyment.
According to Meir Panim, the entire episode of Am Yisrael in Egypt and the Exodus, was to atone for this sin. This is why we are commanded to eat matzos when we left Egypt, to atone for the chametz bread baked by Chava.
Most of us meander through life with a tube of figurative cover-up. We don’t like admitting our vulnerabilities, so we pretend they don’t exist.
The modern state acknowledged that G-d-given scriptural difference when they enacted the Law of Return, namely that all Jews, no matter their country of origin, are considered as native to the land of Israel. Indeed, the Jew and Israel are all at once one.
By Yaffa Tova
The turmoil called everyday life whisked me along and before I knew it my children’s children were in that unrelenting ride of shidduchim. It was time for us to take a step back and allow our children to move into the driver seat, but once having driven down the road one’s antennas are ever sensitive for signs of new possibilities.
During the evening, someone was riding a bike and crashed into the branch. He wasn’t injured, but that bike also was ruined. What’s the story with these bikes that were ruined by our tree? Mrs. Feiner asked her husband. I suppose that we are liable for them, said Mr. Feiner, but I’ll check.
A Wedding Dance ‘It Is To Be Said While Standing...’ (Sanhedrin 42a)
Offhand, one could think of scarier pests than frogs.
According to the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 93:10), Aba Kohen Bardela says that the shock and shame of the brothers is nothing compared to what each and every one of us will experience on the Day of Judgement, when we go up to Heaven after 120.
The name Rechovot Hanahar (Streets of the River), derived from its mention in Bereishit 36:31, was interpreted by Kabbalah as referring among other things to the period before Creation, and was also tied to names such as Nahar Shalom – one of the famous books by the Rashash himself.
The entirety of the Gaza population, under Hamas’s rule, has become part of this deadly philosophy. One cannot ignore the reality that Hamas, as the governing body, has indoctrinated its people with a worldview that is grounded in violence.
Question: I live in a small community where it is sometimes a struggle to get a minyan together. When this occurs on Shabbos, it is extremely upsetting. I am so concerned that I was wondering – may we ask some of the non-observant Jews who live in the neighborhood to join us to complete a minyan? Name withheld Via E-mail
Even a katan has enough da'as to qualify as a rodef; by engaging in this type of act, the katan shows that he has at least some form of da'as.
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.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Outside the promised land Jews in the biblical age are in danger if they tell the truth. They are at constant risk of being killed or at best enslaved.
It is possible to be enslaved but not to suffer brutality, and also to be tormented without being a slave.
While I respect many of the moral accomplishments of the West, I believe that Judaism still has much to offer in critique of the West’s many remaining failings.
When a person is beleaguered with problems that disrupt his avodas Hashem and his Torah learning, he may ponder why he is suffering when his friend – who is not as devout – enjoys the good life, is well-to-do and at peace.
Reb Moshe asks, Why would we need someone coming out of a coma to teach us something so obvious?
How often in ancient and contemporary Jewish history have we seen things become desperate before they improved? And yet we persevered and survived. And with this perseverance, our faith in G-d as our ultimate savior survived too.
The very experience the Avot lacked, their descendants had. The Jewish people in Egypt had the history of Hashem’s interactions with the Avot to build upon. He had fulfilled His promise to give the Avot the land of Israel, and they had successfully inhabited it.
Hashem was internally good, but He was not actively expressing this goodness by giving or doing good unto others. Hashem chose to express His capacity for doing good unto others by creating man, upon whom Hashem would bestow the ultimate goodness.
This staff was given by G-d to Adam HaRishon. It was then passed down from generation to generation, to Shet, Chanoch, Metushelach, Noach, Shem, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov and then to Yosef.
This raises an important question: When should leaders and authorities confront and rebuke immoral behavior, and when is it wise to remain silent?
Sometimes we may wonder why we need to daven so much. Isn’t praying three times a day on a weekday a bit much?
By dvora
I was terrified of the fall that seemed inevitable. Suddenly I felt my hands holding onto a handle which I had not seen before. Now holding onto the handle I was able to steady myself. The crisis was over. Days later I thought that Hashem put my hands on that handle.
On his way home from work, Mr. Appel pondered the issue. I sense that Mr. Berger is really disappointed, he said to himself. Is it right of us to refuse him?
D’tzach, Adash, B’achav ‘Everyone Is Qualified To Judge’ (Sanhedrin 36b)
Nowadays, stressing the shva na is an accepted and fairly common element in many siddurim. But when Ishei Yisrael appeared, it wasn’t common at all.
In Israel, elections are held on a national level with voters casting ballots for political parties rather than for individual candidates. This system, while effective in ensuring that political parties gain power based on their collective support, undermines individual representation.
Each of us is like a diamond, and each of us has the potential to be brilliant. -Simon T. Bailey
Question: I live in a small community where it is sometimes a struggle to get a minyan together. When this occurs on Shabbos this is extremely upsetting. I am so concerned that I was wondering – may we ask some of the non-observant Jews who live in the neighborhood to join us to complete a minyan? Name withheld Via E-mail
Did Pharaoh's Daughter Speak Hebrew?
Historical perspective should humble us. It should make us realize how little we understand the true nature of what is going on around us. But it should also make us realize that things truly worthwhile have a staying power.
Another fundamental nafka minah is whether one needs to have kavanah (intent) in order to be categorized as a rodef.
The double language of reckoning also encompasses two aspects of the Divine Judgment that the true redeemer would have to know to invoke – Hashem will do good to Israel and lead us out of our misfortune, and He will also punish those who tormented us and hold them accountable.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Consider, now, the choices Moses faced in his life. On the one hand he could have lived as a prince of Egypt, in luxury and at ease. That might have been his fate had he not intervened.
The thought process of believing that rather than having a child murdered he would separate from his wife was incorrect. Miriam revealed the will of Heaven that the exact opposite was appropriate.
While the yeitzer hara has many arrows in his quiver, and his aim is focused on getting us to speak lashon hara and to fight with our spouse, to look at the wrong things, and to say hurtful words, there is nothing that the yeitzer hara tries harder to accomplish than to stop people from learning Torah.
Regardless of the interpretation, it is essential to recognize that the relationship between the parents of married children is not akin to the attachment one has with other blood relatives.
GRATITUDE, We don’t need to wait for something extraordinary to say thank you.
The Torah describes the voluntary gifts that the Jewish people donate toward the building of the Mishkan, the place where Hashem was most potently manifest in the physical world. The emphasis of these donations is their voluntary nature – Hashem commands Moshe to collect from Klal Yisrael whatever their hearts inspire them to give.
It’s one of the sad realities of life – we often fail to take advantage of the things closest to us. The things we can do at any time often become the things we don’t do at any time.
By Guest Author
The students of Talmud Torah Netzach Yisrael in Beit Shemesh have launched a meaningful learning project in memory of a fallen soldier from Jerusalem that they never met.
Interestingly, some argue the exact opposite: her original name was Batya, but she changed it to Bitya as an act of humility.
The Torah’s claim about the revelation at Har Sinai also reinforces our belief in Hashem (in addition to our faith in the Torah’s Divine origin). The claim that an entire nation (as opposed to a limited group) consisting of millions of people (as opposed to a small group) is hard to fabricate, as people would wonder why they had not heard about it from their own ancestors.
When Yosef entered, Pharaoh tested him – he said hello to him in Dutch, Greek, and Danish and each time Yosef conversed with him fluently in each language and ascended another step until finally he was on the top 70th step together with Pharaoh.
Sunday afternoon they dropped by for a visit. He had small pieces of shrapnel on his face and left hand, and he said that the surgeon told him that, over time, the body would rid itself of the shrapnel. That was comforting to know.
Indeed, the Torah requires redeeming the firstborn son (bechor), and also entitles him to a double portion in his father’s estate, but not in his mother’s, replied Rabbi Dayan (Y.D. 305:1; C.M. 277:1).
A Parrot Or A Lie Detector? ‘… We Admonish The Witnesses’ (Sanhedrin 29a)
It was difficult for him to write without errors, but his ambition was so extraordinary. It would have been worth it to me to stand there for hours in the sun or the rain just for the opportunity to help him in his quest.
Question: I live in a small community where it is sometimes a struggle to get a minyan together. When this occurs on Shabbos this is extremely upsetting. I am so concerned that I was wondering – may we ask some of the non-observant Jews who live in the neighborhood to join us to complete a minyan? Name withheld Via E-mail
Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world. -Lawrence G. Lovasik
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
On the surface, Joseph holds all the power. His family are entirely dependent on him. But at a deeper level it is the other way round. He still yearns for their acceptance, their recognition, their closeness.
We are actually doing a chesed for the rodef by preventing him from spiritually destroying himself. The rodef now gets to die without the blemish of murder tainting his soul.
When Lavan decided to trick Yaakov, and essentially Rachel too, Rachel nevertheless played along and gave the secret codes to Leah to enable her to succeed in the ploy. Rachel realized that what was happening must be the will of Hashem, and that it was not possible for Yaakov to have only one wife.
Even as Western society has become uncomfortable with religion, it has also become increasingly uncomfortable with its own discomfort.
Every individual who finds himself in challenging times only needs to know how to recognize the smile of Hashem from Above.
It’s always important to remember how different we are, and to thank Hashem that He allowed us the privilege to be part of this Holy Nation.
Because the person who is betting doesn’t fully commit to losing, and therefore, when the winning bettor collects winnings from the losers, he is essentially stealing their money.
November 13, 2026 
