יום שבת, ט״ו תשרי תשפ״זSaturday, September 26, 2026
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A mourner whose hair grows long as a result of the prohibition against taking a haircut, or one who decides to become a nazir, is excused from any halachic concerns related to long hair or chatzitza.
The conception of beauty was a fundamental point of contention in the battle between the Jewish People and the Greeks. The Greeks did not believe in using the physical to reflect anything higher; they viewed physical beauty as an end unto itself.
In light of the war in Israel and antisemitism rising worldwide, we must make every effort to broadcast our Judaism proudly in the public square and to communicate to the world at large that we will not be intimidated into hiding our religion or religious practices.
During these times we have the ability, the power, and the energy to see and merit the miracles that Hashem did back then during the miraculous stories of the Maccabees, unto our very days today.
The volunteering spirit overcame his hesitations, and he left his unfinished job to answer the call for help. Danny was pleasantly surprised when he arrived at the scene of the vehicle on the side of the road. It was a Hatzalah ambulance that had conked out!
Even if I said then that it would be okay, that was to placate you, so long as it didn’t make a difference, but it doesn’t grant you rights beyond the contract when I need you at 9.
Honoring A Father’s Wishes ‘ He shall give it to whom he has trespassed.’ (Bava Kamma 40b)
When Tamar's life was threatened, she did not save herself by throwing Yehuda "under the bus".
Question: My husband and I are Ashkenazi, yet my children go to school with Sefardim. My son came home and said that only my husband is to light the Chanukah candles. In my parent’s home, we all lit our own candles on Chanukah to celebrate the great miracle that saved our people for all future generations. Who is correct? Name Withheld Via E-Mail
Torah teaches us that time is extremely precious, and every moment must be used to its fullest advantage. Why then do we use time to repeat things already known?
The lighting of the menorah was one mitzvah among many mitzvot, arguably not even the most important mitzvah, that had come to be neglected under the oppression of the Seleucid Greeks.
We can say Modim for our health. What about for our car and for our phone? Most of us would be crippled, so to speak, if we were missing just one of these. We could also incorporate into our Modim prayer that we are able to pay the mortgage or pay the rent.
As internal conflict over the Hebrew clan's direction leads to tragic consequences for Yosef and Yehuda, each must discover his own messianic potential.
By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel
Unfortunately today we find ourselves embroiled in a milchemet mitzvah, a national security situation which threatens our very existence and demands everyone’s participation.
To become fully alive a person must have goals and aims that transcend himself. -Herbert A. Otto
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
In the end Joseph and his brothers had to live through real trauma before they were able to recognize one another’s humanity, and much of the rest of their story – the longest single narrative in the Torah – is about just that.
The potency of a mitzvah lies in the individual’s optimal and enthusiastic execution of the mitzvah with all the proper kavanos (intentions), including mastery of the laws pertaining to this particular mitzvah, and consummating the mitzvah to fulfill the will of Hashem.
Do "clothes make the woman"?
Before one prays, one must prepare for the experience. There must be a meditative time in which the individual focuses on the significance of the act that he is about to perform.
One excellent way to combat cognitive bias in relationship communication is to constantly work on not jumping to conclusions. No matter what we think we hear, or what we believe we know, we should be careful to ask for clarification before reacting.
The prophet Zecharia foretells of the Messianic Era – which will occur long after the Canaanites had ceased to exist as a nation – when there will no longer be any c’naani in the Holy Temple (Zecharia 14:21).
The rules of the dreidel game require each player to contribute some coins to a central fund, the proceeds of which are used to pay out the winners.
In essence the manner that we relate to tragic events is by empathizing with those who are affected as if it is us who are personally affected. This is called carrying the yoke of others upon ourselves.
We often choose to avoid confronting those who offend us. We are too hurt to speak it out, and doing so is uncomfortable. Unaddressed, though, our feelings fester and grow, and the hatred, distance, and demonization intensify.
To be honest there were many Shabbos mornings when I fell back to sleep without saying Kerias Shema, but it made a deep impression on me. Now, years later, I still try to be particular to say Shema before the earlier time.
How do we understand and perceive Hashem? Is Hashem within time and space, limited to this world alone, as Pantheists believe? Or is Hashem completely transcendent, beyond time, space, and this physical world, as many of the ancient philosophers believed?
As we read the book of Bereshit week after week, we see how to the naked eye it seems like things just got worse from chapter to chapter. Yet all the harsh events that befall the Jewish people, especially Joseph, we're all sent forth just to save Jacob and his family, and later the entire Jewish people.
From the outset, there was seething sibling rivalry that eventually erupted explosively. The sons of Leah regarded the sons of the maidservants Zilpah and Bilhah with disdain, and they hated Yosef.
During the night, there was a thunderstorm. Strong winds broke a large branch off a tree nearby. The branch fell on Ari’s car, damaging it significantly and breaking a car seat.
A Matter Of Anticipation ‘A Stone Flew From His Hand, And Another Put Out His Head from A Window …’ (Bava Kamma 33a)
Rashi brings from Chaza"l that the "Nachala" of Yaakov, as opposed to Avraham, is limitless.
We know that we are entering the final stages of ikvesa d’Meshicha – the footsteps of Mashiach. How long it will last we cannot know.
Question: I read your Q&A column, “Kaddish Elevates,” with great interest. However, I feel that there is something you left out: the appropriate phrases or pauses where we are to respond “Amen.” I have not seen why we don’t answer “Amen” after the phrase in Kaddish – Be’alma di’vera chir’utei – In the world He created according to His will.” Is this not one of the greatest praises – that Hashem gave us a world with such benefit that we at times don't understand that benefit. Are we not to acknowledge Hashem's greatness at all times irrespective of outcome? Menachem Via e-mail
We were so worried about those terrorists, but when we returned to the place that we had seen them, no one was in sight. That was miracle number one.
Rabbis reported that people are lighting Shabbat candles, purchasing and donning tefillin – some for the first time – saying the Shema prayer daily, and baking challah.
The Torah is ambiguous regarding who, exactly, is right in this story. Did, indeed, the brothers go too far? Did Yaakov face a battle shortly thereafter, as one midrash indicates? Were they both right on some level?
As Yaakov returns back home to his land, he and his family are met with new challenges that ultimately transform them into the nation of Israel.
The Yaros Devash teaches us that Yerushalayim is called Kisei Hashem, the Throne of Hashem.
By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel
A report issued after Protective Edge by high-level military officials, including top generals from the U.S. and Europe, found that Israel’s conduct in the 2014 Gaza Conflict met and in some respects exceeded the highest standards we set for our own nations’ militaries.
One might wonder, why is it all worth it? Why work to attain a higher intellectual or spiritual level if it incurs greater liability.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
It is one thing to commit a crime, another to witness someone committing a crime and failing to prevent it. We might hold a bystander guilty, but not in the same degree.
“Flattery is all right if you don't inhale.” -Adlai E. Stevenson
Ya'akov's youth resembles that of his passive and isolated[…] father, his adult life resembles the trials and tribulations of Abraham among the nations.
You may be a wonderful, accomplished, and successful individual, but as long as you are not on speaking terms with your own sibling, you will not be whole. As long as a family is torn by mistrust and conflict, none of its members can be whole.
The Arizal finds not only this earthly, historic struggle in these passages but the roots of corruption in Creation.
R’ Dancziger points out that our sages tell us that before all else Yaakov Avinu prayed, not that he did teshuva. We would think that repentance would have been the more instinctive response if Yaakov Avinu thought he might have sinned. Why did he engage in prayer?
In Modern Hebrew, the term miklat came to refer to a bomb shelter, which likewise receives those fleeing air raids and protects them.
Most people believe that they “have” a soul, some spiritual essence they possess within themselves. However, the deeper Jewish sources reveal a profound spiritual secret: You don’t have a soul, you are a soul.
Even the one honored with lighting the menorah in the synagogue is required to light the menorah again at home, as the mitzvah of lighting the Chanuka menorah is discharged only when performed in one's home.
The Italians enjoy their pasta, the Eskimos live in the snow, and we thrive with prayer!
Though we are motivated to be proud of our country Israel, on a personal level when it involves one’s family it is best to be safe and not invite danger in displaying the Israeli flag outside one’s home.
We cannot ignore the fact that everything is coming from the Torah at the exact time. The Torah teaches us where to look for guidance, support and anything we need.
New York CityCANDLE LIGHTING TIMEDecember 1, 2023 – 18 Kislev 57844:11 p.m. NYC E.S.T. Sabbath Ends: 5:14 p.m. NYC E.S.T.Sabbath Ends Rabbenu Tam: 5:42 p.m. E.S.T.Weekly Reading: VaYishlachWeekly Haftara: Chazon Ovadiah (Obadiah 1:1-21)Daf Yomi: Bava Kama 29Mishna Yomit: Yevamos 11:1-2Halacha Yomit: Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim 537:4-6Rambam Yomi: Hilchos She’ar Avos ha’Tum’ah chap. 18-20Earliest time […]
What adjustments are we making to our lives and routines to reflect that for so many of our people, nothing is normal?
By dvora
For quite a few years I have come to realize that when a day presents a lot of problems, it’s probably very good – because Hashem is involved and is offering a special opportunity.
Even though you told me to repay Moshe, argued Mr. Stern, essentially, I owe you. Giving to your son is in lieu of giving to you. If you're willing to forgo, why do we need to involve Moshe?
Taking The Law Into One’s Own Hands ‘Break His Teeth And Tell Him I Am Taking Mine’ (Bava Kamma 27b)
In connection to the Kinus HaShluchim HaOlomi, the global conference of the Rebbe’s emissaries, the following is a selection of freely translated priceless letters and answers from the Rebbe about the greatness of shlichus.
Carl Jung once remarked that our ability to influence others correlates with their perception of our openness to being influenced by them.
Tens of thousands of us studied Mishnayot in memory of those killed on Simchat Torah. Acheinu allowed us to do so together with Jews around the country and the world.
Before becoming Israel, Yaakov had to first spend several years in exile learning to be more like Esav.
Rashi suggests here that while Yaakov has faith that G-d will bring him back in one piece and that his children will inherit the land promised to his fathers, he does not know whether all of his children will be worthy of this promise.
As we mark the holiday of Thanksgiving this weekend, it is an opportunity to remind ourselves that the most authentic thanks is for that which we are tempted to take for granted and not even recognize at all
He who knows he has enough is rich. -Lao-Tzu
If we are constantly looking for the ideal, we may never find it, but if we start doing the possible, we may find that the ideal is just down the road
Yaakov is now so confident in his newly acquired ability to protect himself from the scammers of the world, that he feels that he doesn’t need G-d’s help. So he heads straight for the web of deception in Charan. Something makes him pause, however.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
What Jacob shows, by his sheer quick-wittedness, is that the strength of the strong can also be their weakness.
There are people who, while they voice Hashem will help, they really put their trust solely in the doctor, or in the medicine, but not in Hashem.
It appears that we have circumstances where the day became dark, even though it was still daytime and, in contrast scenarios where there was light in the darkness. Both portend good for the Jewish nation.
Hashem’s bounty descends from the sources of His will, and the deeds of the tzaddik ascend from the dust of the earth from which we are all made.
Question: Now that we have begun the new cycle of the Torah reading, I read in the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch that one is to say a blessing upon seeing a rainbow but that it is forbidden to gaze upon it excessively. Is this not such a beautiful phenomenon? Why should there be any prohibition connected with it? Zelig Aronson Via Email
By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel
For the families of the 240 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza – desperately waiting for their return – no price is too high, no demand too great, to get their loved ones back. But this question is far from simple, and the subject of much discussion and debate among contemporary poskim.
Isn’t that the story of our lives? Aren’t we always thinking that just around the next bend is the key to happiness?
A widespread custom is to avoid using a metallic mezuzah case. This is because metal represents the sword and the shortening of life, while a mezuzah represents mitzvot and the lengthening of life.
The purpose of rebuke is simple: Rebuke helps us see where we have gone wrong, clarifying what we must change and improve in order to fulfill our purpose and actualize our true potential.
Although Eretz Yisrael finds itself in the midst of a war, most places there do not rise to the level of a makom sakana.
As Jewish people we must hug, love and support the families that are grieving and be strong and powerful to keep on moving forward towards destroying the enemy and evil that surrounds us from all corner.
A Reflection on the Washington Rally
Why does Yitzchak's blessing seem to start mid-sentence?
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.
By Naama Klein
For all of you readers who think that my husband committed the ultimate offense and forgot the date of our wedding anniversary AND that his issues with Social Security would therefore pale in comparison to his issues with me, allow me to clarify.
Is It Trespass? ‘Reuven Didn't Benefit and Shimon Didn't Lose’ (Bava Kamma 20a)
The sense of brotherhood is so genuine because aside from the fact that Israel is now caught in an existential struggle, it is fighting as a family.
When settling with the sister so that she should not claim her share, presumably the full burden should be on the bechor, because she could claim only the additional share of the bechor.
When a Jew loses his own self-respect, when he no longer knows how a Jew thinks, speaks or acts, he adopts non-Jewish attitudes.
How do the character traits of Esav and Yaakov find expression in the rival civilizations they produced?
We are meant to realize that our success hinges on working together – not just to defend ourselves but also to realize our joint mission in Hashem’s world.
It seems that Rivkah understood that she had twins, but she thought that they belonged to the same nation. She worried that they were engaged in a civil war.
You may have students who bother you, who have messy hair or unkempt clothes. Maybe a kid who has a disorganized backpack. You might have a student who has an annoying habit. That student is someone’s entire life.
I am convinced that meeting Yitzchak was a much more intense experience than meeting Avraham.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Isaac loved Esau because he simply did not know who or what Esau was. But there is another possible answer: that Isaac loved Esau precisely because he did know what Esau was.
Typically, when we think of Esav’s hatred for Yaakov, we don’t first think of the Roman Empire or about gentiles in general. In fact this relationship remains complicated, but ultimately our role of being a light unto the nations entails uplifting them as well.
Why was Yaakov so anxious to leave such a wonderful teacher-the angel who taught him Torah in his mother’s womb. ? Why leave the world's best study partner?
September 25, 2026 
