יום שישי, כ״ד אב תשפ״וFriday, August 7, 2026
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDVXpaqNZc]
Rebbetzin Fruma Schapiro, along with her husband, Rabbi Nochum Schapiro, run the Chabad North Shore in St. Ives, Australia, which is a suburb of Sydney.
Rebbetzin Fruma shares deep insights about the Jewish holiday of Shavuos (Shavuot.) This is such a powerful holiday when G-d Himself gave the Jews the Torah while they were standing at the foot of Mt. Sinai. She explains to us the reason why we study Torah all night on the first night of Shavuos. She also shares with us why we eat dairy products of this holiday, and why we read the Book of Ruth in synagogue.
Rebbetzin Fruma gives us the reason behind the custom of decorating our homes and synagogues with flowers in honor of this holiday. Hint: Shavuos is the day of judgement for the trees!
Most importantly, Rebbetzin Fruma shares with us the importance and the relevance of Shavuos and Torah in our lives today. She emphasizes that after the giving of the Torah on Shavuos, the spiritual and the material converged into permanence; they were no longer separate entities. We have the power and the privilege of elevating every area of our material lives into the spiritual realm.
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
By Moshe Herman
Danit Schusterman was a Chabad Emissary in Maui, Hawaii before moving to New York. She is the author of "A Jewish Homeschool Blog" and the Maui Kosher cookbook. In this authentic interview, Danit shares with us the power of "action-oriented" love. She explains to us that in order to develop a good relationship with your child, it has to be based on connection and trust. As parents (and teachers), we need to connect with our children where they are. Get to know your children (or students). Figure out what they like to do and what they are good at doing. Then, actively support them in that interest, EVEN IF YOU don't share that same interest. True love is doing for a person what makes THEM happy, not necessarily what makes you happy. When you create a bond with people through connection, you end up on the same team. Once you are on the same team, the power struggles decrease because your kids (and students) know that you love them and care about them for WHO THEY ARE, and that your love for them is unconditional. That is how they thrive, and that is how healthy family (and classroom) dynamics are created.
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
By Moshe Herman
Investing is more than just throwing money in the stock market. If everyone’s goal was to grow their portfolio, then shouldn’t everyone do the same thing?
In this week’s show, Doug and his son Efraim, go through the 6-step checklist that every investor needs to use. Listen to understand why it’s so important to have a goals that match your values and beliefs before you put money in the market.
The 6-Step Checklist to Investing
Set goals for you and your family
Get the facts about all your holdings and where you are saving money and paying money
Identify upcoming potential financial opportunities and challenges, in order to prepare accordingly
Create an actual investment plan that is suitable to your tolerance risk level
Action! Implement your financial plan
Review and follow up on a regular basis. Some numbers need to be looked at monthly, quarterly, and annually
The Goldstein On Gelt Show is a financial podcast. Click on the player below to listen.
Rebbetzin Yael Kaisman explains to us how to achieve our true greatness; it's based on internal success, not external success. Hashem gives us "gifts" in life. Those "gifts" include our talents, abilities, skills, and financial circumstances, as well as our situation in life (both good and seemingly bad.) The way we use those "gifts" to develop our internal strength and to refine our personality traits and characteristics is what defines our true success. People praise us and applaud us for achieving external success, but no one but ourselves and Hashem sees our internal success. At the end of our life, we will ultimately be judged by our internal success and all the hard work and effort we put into developing who we are as people. Hashem is in control of everything. We have no control over our external success, but we do have control over our internal success, and internal success is forever!
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
By Moshe Herman
Rebbetzin Miriam Lipskier is the co-founder and Director of the Chabad Student Center at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. In this powerful interview, she teaches us that while previous generations of Jews had to deal with outside forces persecuting them (enslavement in Egypt, Spanish Inquisition, pograms, Holocaust, etc.), our generation is battling our own personal darkness that is within us. The work of our generation is to transform chaos into light. We need to work on getting rid of our depression and anxiety through revealing Hashem's light in this world, specifically by revealing Hashem's light within ourselves. We each have a mission and a purpose in the world. A large part of our mission is to refine our character traits by bringing Hashem into the picture. Rebbetzin Miriam emphasizes that each one of us is worthy exactly because a piece of G-d is inside of us; the light of G-d has infinite value inside of us.
Moshiach now!
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
Sometimes people are upset that they send me questions for this column and I don’t seem to use them, but rest assured that everything I get goes into a file and I try to get to it eventually. And by “eventually,” I mean, “Here are some questions that were sent in like 2,200 years ago that I am just now getting around to answering.” So hang in there.
Dear Mordechai,
I’m a soldier in the Greek army, which is a pretty good job, plus I get dental. But this morning I was waiting in line to be issued an official animal, and the guy handed me an elephant. I think they were out of horses. What do I do with it? I don’t even know where the brakes are.
Afraid of Heights
Dear Afraid,
Just go with it. The elephant is kind of like a modern-day tank, in that it’s big, has a huge turret for dousing enemies in water, and has a thick hull that provides protection if you climb inside. Most people sit on top, though, and they’re impervious to pretty much everything the enemy comes at them with, except giraffes. It’s also great for rolling over the traffic of all those horses and soldiers on the way to fight the Jews, because you have a considerably large army, and traffic is a nightmare. Everyone’s always going in the same direction at the same times of the day. Maybe you should telecommute.
Dear Mordechai,
I’m currently living in a cave in the wilderness. Where do I light my candles so everyone can see them from the street?
Sent from my iPhone
Dear Sent,
This question is highly anachronistic. You’re giving me a headache. The short answer is you want to light at the mouth of the cave, opposite the mezuzah.
Dear Mordechai,
If I’m against Antiochus, does that make me anti-Antiochus? Or pro Ochus? And what’s Ochus?
A Semite
Dear Semite,
I think Antiochus is the wife of Uncle Yochus, that creepy uncle who showed up to parties and opened all the food, made everyone compete in weird games and shared his political beliefs and ate all the cheese.
Dear Mordechai,
So in the Greek’s big plan of us adopting their culture, do I have to start giving my kids Greek names?
Anonymous the “Greek”
Dear Anonymous,
Well, according to the Greeks, their culture has a lot of gorgeous names that you should be honored to name your child, like Antiochus, Klonimus, Frivolous, Mischievous, Stimulus, Ambiguous, Omnivorous, Calculus, Cumulus, Abacus, Miraculous, Harmonious, Sanctimonious, and Erroneous, and you can even modify a Jewish name, such as Chonius, Yonius, or Plonialmonius. A lot of Greek names also end in “ees,” like Socrates, Hypotheses, Parentheses, Antifreeze, Analyses, Lebanese, Japanese, and Maccabees. Point is, any of these are fine Greek names, none of which fit into the boxes on medical forms; you can name your child at his secret bris and then put on his birth certificate as a middle name for work.
Dear Mordechai,
I just made a dreidel out of some clay I found in the cave. How long will it take to be dry and ready?
Top Sculptor
Dear Top,
In my experience, at least eight days. Slightly less if you can keep it in the sun.
Dear Mordechai,
I’m really good at archery, and I’m thinking of representing my people in these new Olympics, but when I wrote the local registration office to ask about uniforms, they told me there were none, whatever that means. How does anyone know what country I’m representing? And where do I put my number?
By Moshe Herman
Ari Fuld's broadcast for Yom Hashoah - May 5, 2016.
"Fools Who Want Peace But Get War"
Have people learned anything from WWII and the Holocaust? People wanted peace with Hitler, and they got war. Today, it's Iran and Islamic Jihadists, but the West still gives more and more hoping they will avoid conflict, but this only entices an enemy's appetite. Join Ari Fuld as he teaches us some forgotten history that can really make us 'Bulletproof'!
Rebbetzin Shterna Ginsberg is the co-founder, along with her husband, of Mosdos Chinuch Gan Yisroel, where she has served as an educator since 1998.
In 2012, Rebbetzin Shterna founded Energized Living https://www.energizedliving.org/
Rebbetzin Shterna shares with us some of the life changing principles from her book, Your Awesome Self. She reminds us that there is really only one operative truth in this world, and that is Hashem. Rebbetzin Shterna gives us practical tools for how we can stop listening to that voice of shame inside of our head, telling us that we are not good enough, and instead, start tuning into our authentic truth--each one of us is a holy neshama; a divine spark of Hashem. No one is better than us, and we are not better than anyone else. In this podcast, we learn how to develop a true sense of self and to see how that sense of self is connected directly to Hashem. Learn how to let your authentic self shine and empower yourself!
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
By Moshe Herman
Rebbetzin Chanie Goldman is the co-director of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish Center at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She shares her special journey as the Chabad rebbetzin on a college campus, as well as the mother of a child with Downs Syndrome. The life lessons she shares with us are meaningful and deep. She tells us that all Jews are one soul and that soul is part of Hashem. Our true essence is Hashem. We need to really work on looking at each other as neshamas, instead of focusing on our outside characteristics. Each soul is inherently valuable, not because of what it contributes, but because it is a part of G-d...we are innately holy.
Regarding our own personal struggles, we need to know:
It's not GOING to be good, it's ALREADY good!
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
By Moshe Herman
Rebbetzin Sara Oppenheim, along with her husband, Rabbi Chanoch Oppenheim, run the Charlotte Torah Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Rebbetzin Sara deeply explores both the story of Passover, and its meaning and relevance in our lives today. She shares with us KEY elements that will help us in living our best life. She challenges us to recognize the we are not in control over most things in our life; G-d is ultimately in control. Once we recognize that, we can have a relationship with G-d and let Him into every area of our lives--then we will see how bright we will shine!
Passover is not a commemoration of past events. Every year, on this holiday, we can tap into the energy from the original Passover, in order to free ourselves from our own personal Mitzrayim. When we have faith in Hashem (G-d), and trust in Him, we can attain personal freedom, and live a life of inner peace.
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
By Moshe Herman
Rebbetzin Tamar Taback is the founder of the Nexus School for Transformational Torah. In this conversation, she delves deeply into the meaning of the 22-verse poem known as the Ayshet Chayil. She shares with us that you are ALREADY an aishet chayil. Hashem made each one of us unique and innately precious to Him. We need to give ourselves permission to be ourselves. Rebbetzin Taback talks about the 4 levels of interpretation of this poem that is sung to a woman, by her husband, on Friday night before kiddush (blessing over the wine.) She also gives us three way to help us rise more deeply into our own aishet chayil:
1. Start each day with prayer--connecting with your Creator first thing in the morning is very powerful.
2. Do what you already do with more awareness and intention.
3. Make Torah learning a priority--it will make a significant difference in your life.
Rebbetzin Taback wrote a book called Rising! Into Your Aishet Chayil, spinning the story of feminine growth through Torah. 22 verses = 19 women. $18 https://www.school.thenexus.org/cours...
Visit The Nexus, home to Rebbetzin Taback's free shiur treasury and the Nexus School of Transformational Torah for Women, including the flagship Rise! into your highest Feminine series (and more). Subscribe at www.thenexus.org, or contact info@thenexus.org.
To watch the first class of Chava, foundations of femininity free, click HERE: https://thenexus.org/riseseries/.
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpUb3CVeQUI]
Rebbetzin Devorah Buxbaum is the co-founder of the LEV Experience. She talks about the power that we, as human beings, have to positively affect ourselves AND those around us JUST with our thoughts. We are able to affect POWERFUL changes in our lives and in those around us, simply by rewiring our thoughts. First, we need to be aware of our thoughts. Then, we need to envision our goal in detail--really create a strong visual in our minds of how we will think and feel when we actually reach our goal. Make our vision so real that we can almost feel it as reality. Then, we need to rewrite the narrative that we tell ourselves. Instead of thinking negative thoughts like we will never reach our goal, we don't deserve it, etc., we need to think of the type of person we will be WHEN we reach our goal. Our thoughts create our reality! Rebbetzin Devorah thoroughly explains each step in detail. She also talks about how we can love others the way we love ourselves (Ahavas Yisroel.) The things she says about loving yourself first, before you can love someone else, are truly eye opening.
Contact: atrebbetzins@gmail.com
By Vera Kessler
By Moshe Herman
There’s lots of talk about how alternative energy sources are good for the environment, but how does green energy affect the financial markets?
Listen to Doug’s discussion with Arie Addi, the tech lead at Mada Analytics, an Israeli startup, supporting alternative energy solutions using a Machine Learning approach.
Discover how green energy and fossil fuels have a growing influence on financial markets.
If you want to invest in renewable energy, what is the best way? Should you invest in ETFs or individual stocks? Tune in to hear the pros and cons of each. How diversified are individual funds, and what does it mean when a fund is “weighted?”
By Moshe Herman
August 7, 2026 
