יום שישי, ג׳ אב תשפ״וFriday, July 17, 2026
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The partnership that could have-should have-been
Why would Yaakov want to leave the environment of the womb, a place where a celestial angel teaches the fetus all of the Torah?
How do the character traits of Esav and Yaakov find expression in the rival civilizations they produced?
The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. -Henry Ward Beecher
Abarbanel describes some of the spiritual depths to which the inhabitants of Yerushalayim had sunk at this twilight of prophecy. Those who should have been the leaders, the best among us, had become the worst.
The young man said, ‘I don’t want to listen to any mussar; it doesn’t interest me. Just leave me alone!’
The physical is not an end in itself- it is meant to serve as a vehicle for transcendent, spiritual, conscious living. This is the battle we face on a daily basis, a battle of perception.
Of Sarah we know that her beauty, as legendary as it was, was only one small fragment of her greatness.
Rabbi Sacks once said that he lectured hundreds of times a year, met thousands of people every month, and spoke constantly with people of every type throughout the world. Which question, do you suppose, was he asked most often?
Perhaps even more perplexing is the fact that we are taught that the only way to earn entry into the rarified grave of the Meoras HaMachpelah is to be one of the elite few who died by misa b’nashika, through the kiss of Hashem.
Long before Jerusalem was mentioned in the biblical text, Hebron was embedded as a site of pilgrimage for sacred memory.
Only a woman whose being was suffused with the characteristic of chesed would be a suitable wife for Yitzchak, and that was not a quality that could be discerned with a miracle.
Avraham was burying his wife, facing the death of his life’s partner, there was a deeper layer here. He was also planting the seeds for their eternal connection.
Following her death, Sarah's powerful legacy continued to influence Avraham and play a major role in their family's development into a nation.
When a Jew of any age or condition begins his day with tefillin, he takes the two most important forces in life and points them in the right direction.
If we are expected to pray for someone and we neglect to do so, we are robbing them of something that is rightfully theirs.
When judging others, Avraham Avinu did not compare the status of the tzaddik to himself. Rather, he expanded the definition of a tzaddik.
The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding. -Francis Bacon
How often do we create mental cages of our own? How often do we allow other people's opinions of us to become our reality?
Obviously, we need to understand what drove the mistakes we made and feel remorseful for them, but we cannot and must not ruminate on them.
A story is told in the Gemara (Shabbat 53b) of a man whose wife died, leaving him an infant son. The man was too poor to afford a wet nurse to feed his baby, so he miraculously grew breasts and nursed the baby himself.
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.
What can the dynamics between Yitzḥak and Yishmael in Parshat Vayeira teach us about Israel’s ideal relationship with the Muslim world?
While there is plenty of room for cooperation and interaction with other larger cultures, it is important for the Jewish people to remember that a key role God wants it to play is to often stand on the other side and follow our own path.
We are accustomed to talk about our difficulties and hardships, but not to share our deliverance from them.
When a person knows his destination, then as he comes closer the journey becomes easier…But when has no idea when his journey will end, it is more difficult, and he therefore merits reward for every step that he takes on this journey.
Yeshayahu is anticipating the future destruction and exile and is trying fruitlessly to inspire the people of his generation to return to Hashem before it’s too late.
It would seem that the crimes of idolatry and immorality are more heinous than theft, yet the generation would have escaped destruction if their sins had only been between man and G-d.
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.
May we all be inspired to follow in the footsteps of Avraham, and have the courage to embark on our own Lech Lecha journey,
How the leader of a universal spiritual movement learned to reorient himself to the understanding that his goals for humanity could only be achieved through the vehicle of a nation in a specific land.
Noach needed to continue to adhere to the chesed he was carrying out for the animals, and not to let up for even a moment, in order that he merit to remain alive.
Moments like a worldwide outage can and should be opportunities to consider our own relationship with technology and time
The first thing to understand in encountering our haftara is that there is no belief in millennial destruction that is axiomatic to Judaism.
Why does the Torah use the Name that connotes Divine mercy rather than Divine judgement when telling of the Creator's decision to destroy humankind? Could there be more to this story?
Let’s remember the litmus test for whether Hashem is happy with us is “If people are at ease with us, Hashem is at ease with us.” People are at ease with a gentle person!
A central question in the story of Noach is why Hashem specifically chose to destroy the world through a FLOOD. Hashem could have chosen any form of destruction, and yet, He chose water. Why?
When we examine the lives of the fathers of our nation, we see that they had to continually confront challenges and crises.
There's a hidden understanding of our Torah that has yet to reach the English-speaking Jewish world.
The Evil Inclination only comes in when there is an inviting accessible point of entry.
The process of life: The ideal is revealed, taken away, and then remains as our goal as we journey through life, trying to recreate that ideal. The KEY is to be inspired by the goal, not discouraged by the struggle.
One of the highlights of a Jewish man’s day is the public sanctification of Hashem’s Name. He does this with the answering of, “Amein, yehei shemei rabbah…” And Bereishis stands for, “Ameim, yehei shemei rabbah b’kol tefillah.”
A Jew who recognizes that he may lack merits, like the aravah, yet prays to Hashem because he has the will and desire to cling to Hashem – his prayers will be answered.
Teshuvah mei’ahava is the pure teshuvah where one regrets the transgression itself. It is this type of teshuvah that amazingly can convert a sin into an actual mitzvah.
There are unfortunately many people of Jewish extraction who believe the election of the Jews, our “chosenness,” to be a birthright or a guarantee of a sort of superiority over other nations.
You must tell yourselves: I am not my pain. I feel pain, but it alone does not define who I am.
A handful of pine-seed will cover mountains with the green majesty of forests. I too will set my face to the wind and throw my handful of seed on high. -Fiona Macleod
We have nothing to fear from our enemies if we have faith in Hashem; it is specifically the shaky and unstable sukkah that actually symbolizes Hashem’s strength and might.
Perhaps we might suggest that since this mitzvah symbolizes the Clouds of Glory that came without complaining, Hashem made it a free mitzvah to ensure that no one should complain about a mitzvah that commemorates no complaining.
We're going to talk about something that is probably one of the most practical pieces of advice for today. We're talking about handing over leadership.
It's not about if you will do what your parents ask, but how you will do it. It's not about if you will pray and keep Shabbat, but how.
In addition to one’s efforts to repent, there is the ‘essence of the day’ that atones. We don’t exactly know what the ‘essence’ is, but we know that it embodies the power of atonement.
Many wealthy people comfort themselves with the fact that they give move charity than the average person.
The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert. -Vince Lombardi
Almost always, the reason we are not willing to forgive offenses against us has almost nothing to do with the offense, and everything to do with it being done to us. Once we can internalize this, we can move to a God’s-eye perspective and forgive others more easily.
She began to weep softly as she recalled all the years that she had been happy and proud to be a giver, whereas this year she had nothing at all to give.
It goes without saying that we shouldn’t listen to other people’s secrets, nor should we pollute our ears with vulgar speech, and we shouldn’t allow gentile ballads to defile our souls.
Selichot prayers are attended by optimistic people, people who believe that it's possible to change ourselves and the world around us.
Opportunity dances with those who are ready on the dance floor. -H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
And so Moshe’s ultimate message here, according to Netziv, may be that even if the curses are fulfilled, that is no reason to abandon God.
For the remainder of Elul, as we continue to count down to Rosh Hashana, review your schedule regularly and make a conscious effort to have it reflect your values.
Do you know how to be thankful for what you have and to rejoice in it?
Honor is the reward of virtue. -Marcus Tullius Cicero
No matter our level in avodas Hashem, even the simplest person can be inspired by the largesse of Hashem’s chesed, wherein He cherishes every single good deed and thought of the person.
By dvora
In today’s world, Israel faces dangers. The turmoil and instability that abounds can be unsettling. Yet, as Jews, we can rejoice as our ancestors throughout history who saw optimism amid the darkness.
A huge white malach came into the courtroom, and Hashem turned to the millions of bad angels and proclaimed, ‘Dismissed!’
In Jewish tradition, noga tends to be ambiguous – it is a great demonstration of superficial beauty with a tendency to obscure what is essential.
Both transgressions - cheating with weights and measures and questioning Providence - have the same root, since they both indicate a lack of emunah in Hashem.
Exactly like Shabbat that arrives every seven days, the shmittah arrives every seven years and is meant to calm, refresh, and restart the entire economy
For the merchant, even honesty is a financial speculation. -Charles Baudelaire
It’s interesting to note here that in the West, the dove of Noach has come to represent peace, although this was neither the promise to Noach nor the sign of the promise.
One of the great challenges of our generation is protecting the gateways of our eyes. This is oh, so important, but it's only the beginning of our work with our eyes.
We too can access the powerful potential of these days – from the 1st of Elul to the 10th of Tishrei – and resolve to work on a specific area: from marriage, education of our children, learning, prayer, and character refinement to the relationship we have with our cell phone.
We falsely attribute to men a determined character -- putting together all their yesterdays -- and averaging them -- we presume we know them. -Henry David Thoreau
The Ishbitzer teaches that everyone comes into this world with Torah in his heart, cloaked in a disguise. We all have some special lesson to impart, some perspective that is uniquely our own, but is the opposite of what is readily apparent in our nature.
A leader is anyone who is on a mission, who empowers others, and who always looks for ways to contribute to the greater good. Leaders are great parents, great teachers, great friends. We are all potential leaders, we are all potential revolutionaries. We can all create change in the world.
The Zera Shimshon beseeches people to study his writings and promises that they will be granted family, life, wealth and honor in that merit.
My single biggest recommendation for this time of year is that people should make a ‘To-Do-Better List’ to have in their Machzor on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
One might think that there's nothing we understand better in the world than ourselves--after all, we spend every waking minute with ourselves. But is this self-understanding really the case?
Patience, listening, concentration, waiting patiently, the capacity to be here and now and not to run ahead, the ability to fully experience the moment – all of these are significantly diminished in the digital age., But Shabbat..
‘There is one small problem,’ Moshe told him. ‘You will not be able to use this currency here.'
If their weapons do not suffice to destroy us, then they will turn to the treachery of falsehood and hateful speech to overcome us.
We drag ourselves back to shul, to yeshiva, to a shiur. We are on autopilot, trusting the algorithm rather than our spiritual instinct.
Free will - choice - is the root of teshuva. Teshuva is about reengineering our will, recreating our desire, rewiring our wants. It’s about the decision to be better, to be great,
Let’s remember that as Rosh Hashanah approaches that we’re not just asking Hashem to allow us to live another year. We beg Hashem that 5782 should be a better year: better health, better wealth, better marriage, better nachas, better friends.
All of us, the entire Jewish People, according to our various streams, down through the generations past, present, and future, belong to this unique holiness. We were born that way.
If we were so concerned about every patient on a ventilator, scrupulously counted every coronavirus patient and victim, and carefully adhered to social distancing and wearing masks – how could this pandemic not have taught us to have greater appreciation for life under all circumstances?
A practical suggestion towards making a reality of the Mitzvos behind the meaning of the word “Eikev": Write down the two Mitzvos-going to a Beis Midrash, and going to Eretz Yisrael-on a piece of paper and hang it on the fridge. Each day, look at it and ask, “What have I done today in order to try and make these Mitzvos more of a reality?”
Who will guard the guards themselves? -Juvenal
In a very real way, davening is one of the final frontiers of Jewish life. Many learn a lot, engage in significant charity and have fine families, but their prayer is still very subpar.
It is difficult to understand why prayer not in fact a definitive mitzvah in the Torah.
In other words, it is not our strength at all that gives us the victory, but the workings of God.
Hashem is our go'el, our redeemer. The congregation of Israel was banished from the marital home because she had betrayed her Divine husband, but He never severed from her and He has been waiting for her repentance so that she could return.
It is interesting to note that the Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim (Chapter 307) rules that whereas it is not appropriate to read certain types of literature on Shabbos, if they are written in Hebrew, they may be read on Shabbos.
"I want the very best." That's what we tell ourselves, isn't it? As human beings, we understand that there is a spectrum of quality for everything, and we want only the best. We desire the best relationships, teachers, friends, food, clothing, experiences, the best of everything. But what makes something the best? Sometimes, it's the […]
At some point, I stopped and said to myself: 'Wait a minute, what is going on with me?' I felt a sense of obligation and began thinking: I represent something, but I know nothing about what I represent.
I just learned that all the gold in the world is not equivalent to the magnificence of one word of Torah. How foolish I was to sell fifty percent of my Torah ... for his gold coins.
Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things. -Alexander Hamilton
The Esh Kodesh teaches that each of us has an aspect of the Divine in us when we make moral choices to act or refrain from acting in certain ways.
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.
July 10, 2026 
