יום שישי, כ״ב אלול תשפ״וFriday, September 4, 2026
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In these turbulent times, we can only imagine the wisdom he might have shared, the guidance he would have offered. His voice is profoundly missed, especially now when his words could have offered clarity and hope.
Since the political climate is now propitious toward Jewish interests, we need to be proactive.
These illegals cannot be expected or trusted to integrate into our society as law abiding residents, and so should never be rewarded for their initial or subsequent unlawful behavior.
Our Gemara on amud beis notes that most people who fall ill eventually recover. This observation has legal implications in cases where a person on their deathbed bequeaths their estate to someone else, but later recovers.
There can be no uncertainty about the message that President-elect Trump’s appointments to his Middle East-related team has sent to Israel’s friends and foes alike.
We would like to serve Hashem with a clear mind, when we feel relaxed and calm. In fact, to some degree we expect that when we try to do what is right, G-d should ensure that life is smooth and easy. After all, if we are trying to do His Will, shouldn’t He at least make it convenient to do so?!
Torah Judaism makes all sorts of demands on us; of practice and belief, of moral stances that conflict with the culture around us. We have to contend with them, and prepare our children to contend with them.
Rivka. The name of my grandmother. A Holocaust survivor, a partisan, and a rebuilder of worlds.
By Solly Hess
We must be careful not to limit Rivka’s legacy to a few highlights – the switch of the blessings, her zerizus in helping Eliezer – we must see the big picture and understand the foundational role she played in our history.
By Anat Coleman
I was relieved to study the parsha further as an adult and have the opportunity to re-explore what may have actually occurred to/with Rivka.
Rivka didn’t gloat to Yitzchak about the prophecies that she received. She learned from her prophecies and from her life experience about what needed to be done in order to insure proper continuity.
At all events New Yorkers should not be fooled. And they must remember all of this political legerdemain, and hold the offending officeholders to account should they again run for office.
It is important that, in addition to our divine mandate, our presence in Eretz Yisrael is justified according to broadly accepted principles of justice and fairness.
There is nothing here even close to the insinuated quid pro quo that Mr. Trump got their message and determined to act in accordance with it.
When Hashem created the world and mankind, He intended for there to be peace and harmony amongst all with holiness, goodness and truth to rule over the whole world.
By Naama Klein
So, although on this occasion I had initially decided to go as a favor for a visiting friend, in the end it was I who gained the most from the mitzvah.
When we were young, we never believed that we would one day be 70 years of age, much less over 90. It all arrives too quickly. One day we wake up and wonder who the person staring back at us in the bathroom mirror, might be.
According to their misguided logic, life must have a seder – a specific order – with the oldest getting married first, followed by younger siblings. However, their thinking is so illogical.
I understand that you now want two copies, Levi said. However, you already told Shimon to give your Ketzos to me, so now it’s mine. You can’t retract unilaterally!
A perfect case of a child who was twice exceptional is Albert Einstein. Even though Einstein was brilliant when it came to visual and spatial reasoning, as a child he had behavioral problem, was a terrible speller, and had trouble verbally expressing himself.
The Priest Forbade Chametz ‘Acquired By Admission’ (Bava Basra 149a)
There was an unprecedented get-out-the-vote drive here among American olim during this election season, and for the first time since making aliyah my husband and I decided to cast absentee ballots.
The siddur’s opening pages include an introduction by Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Toledano, who describes the uniqueness and ancient character of the Moroccan nusach, while addressing much broader historical processes, which are usually not to be found in conservative siddurim...
I’m sure readers can point to their own parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, who moved to this country to improve their respective circumstances. Whether it was to flee antisemitism and pogroms, or perhaps to find a job, moving has always been an effective financial planning strategy.
Isn’t the father in serious violation of the Torah by neglecting his children and not making any effort to provide them an education? Name Withheld Via E-mail
Try hard not to overwhelm your kids when you talk to them or make them feel bad about their behavior.
Biden was supposed to be different. Pundits are calling him the Democratic Party's last unabashedly Zionist president.
According to the Rambam, mitzvot contribute not only to our spiritual development but also to our personal growth.
This discussion touches on a fundamental question: Are individuals truly self-made, or does familial and social support often play a role in their success?
You feel like you are close to an engagement and understandably want and expect the support of your family and friends. Yet, they are refusing to give you their blessing and have expressed concern instead.
As a fetus grows and develops, it's possible that it becomes human, or at least more human, even if that is not originally the case when it is first conceived as a zygote.
Written by Pinchas Schon, on behalf of the Mirrer Yeshiva Association in New York, and addressed to Rabbi Eliezer Silver, rav in Cincinnati and head of the Agudas Harabonim, it pleads for his assistance in the rescue efforts.
What should we do to cope with the tragedies we see, the dangers that family and friends face in Israel, and the increasing threats in America, all combined with the ghosts of the past?
It is at this time that the kindness of Hashem becomes evident, for Hashem will repay him many times over for all his generous acts of tzedakah in the past, corresponding to his singular deed of selflessness now.
He wrote many treatises, volumes of Jewish law, articles, encyclopedic works and compendia and was one of the first to distill and bring Jewish law to a secular law school.
Rav tells us that whoever goes to visit the sick, Nitzol m’dino shel Gehennom, will be saved from the punishment of Gehennom.
I recently read a story about an Israeli student at Harvard who was asked by a university employee if Jews orchestrated 9/11. This isn’t some random street in the middle of nowhere – it’s one of the most elite institutions in the world.
Presumably with Gelman’s assurance that the Shabbat Congress would be apolitical, the Rebbe did send a lengthy 22 Shevat (February 9), 1942 letter to the Congress, in which he emphasized the dangerous state in which the Jewish people find themselves...
By Marc Gronich
One of the reasons we lost the Senate [in 2018] was because we really didn’t have a strong farm team in the Assembly, Straniere said.
One unique feature of the Luchot is that there were two sets given to us. The original was created by Hashem and given to Moshe, whereas the second set was hewn by the hands of Moshe. However, the difference between these two sets is not simply practical; the two sets of Luchot are fundamentally different.
By most accounts, the cases brought against the now President-elect were conjured up, do not pass the smell test, and were designed only to bankrupt him, discredit him with voters, and distract him from engaging in effective campaigning.
Specifically, the daf discusses inheritance rights, and we are not talking about what kind of economy a presidential candidate inherited, but simply a question of inheritance of a private estate.
By Sandy Eller
Voting is the best evidence of visibility, and here on Long Island, the presidential and congressional election came and went, but we still have county and town and village offices, all of which are important sources of resources that our community needs every year, explained Kadinsky.
We didn’t think much about it, and, in fact, we wouldn’t have even noticed that he didn’t bring anything. But then on Sunday night we discovered many candy wrappers on the floor and an empty platter on the floor in Shalom’s room.
My husband Daniel and I moved from New York to Los Angeles 12 years ago, and during 10 of those years, we've had an orange tree in our backyard. This is common in LA, as the weather is ideal for growing produce.
The contest was arranged by a navel orange company. The ask? Send us a photo of your family enjoying our oranges.
By Akiva Kra
I wish I could write an easy, 150-word guide on how to peel an orange; A step-by-step process of how to get the first part of the peel off, how to peel any of it without squirting the juice everywhere and getting sticky hands, and explaining how to avoid so many of the other unaddressed challenges in this underappreciated task.
I always thought it was amazing that oranges are a winter fruit loaded with vitamin c and other antioxidants allowing us to prepare ourselves and defend ourselves from all the viruses that come our way during this time.
By hashgacha, the same day, I interviewed Nova survivor Ofri Reiner, who shared an incredible story about oranges. For many Nova survivors, oranges have become a symbol of hope.
From a halachic and ethical perspective, it is appropriate to use legal methods to reduce tax obligations. If the government considers a certain tax deduction or credit inappropriate, it has the authority to amend or eliminate it.
Almost everyone in Crown Heights can tell you stories of close calls they’ve had, and while a few might have been due to mental illness or drug usage, it’s generally made very clear during the incidents that this is specifically about targeting Jews...
Rav Shagar points out certain thematic similarities between the trial of Avraham and that of Iyov. But Avraham excels and demonstrates his qualities by virtue of the outcome of his test while Iyov is criticized by Chazal for his responses.
We can only speculate, but we cannot imagine that there was perfect harmony between Kelly and the, at least equally hard driving Trump, also used to giving orders.
This reality calls for more than just outrage; it demands action.
With little choice, and even less time, I bought the clothes, thanked her and Hashem, and went to spend an uplifting Rosh Hashana, wondering if I’d ever see her again, and have the opportunity to pay her back.
Why can I not get it through my thick skull that Hubby eats like a four-year old now? Pizza, cookies, candy, eggrolls, spaghetti, fruit, ice cream, would all suffice for him. But not for me, and do I not matter as well?
Shulchan Aruch rules that a borrower is believed that he repaid an IOU, even if the lender still holds it, unless the IOU includes a clause granting credibility to the lender that it was not repaid (ne’emanus), replied Rabbi Dayan.
Use graphic organizers. Graphic organizers can use key words, pictures, or icons. These mental images can help arrange the information in a coherent and streamlined manner.
What Pidyon Haben? ‘To Me, Daughters Are Dearer Than Sons’ (Bava Basra 141a)
New prayer houses such as these, which mix and match different traditions of prayer and custom, continue to be created all the time in many places. It is thus entirely natural that the siddur bookshelf also be enriched with new siddurim expressing this new trend, with approaches to prayer which previous generations would have found difficult to imagine.
The failed experiment of Gaza, which could have been a prosperous little Palestinian state, but was instead made an armed camp for attacks on Israel proves the point.
In one of countless conversations Avi and I had comparing the idiosyncrasies of the American Jewish community with those of Israel, he expressed his utter inability to understand the appeal of American college campuses to the American Jew.
Question: Isn’t the father in serious violation of the Torah by neglecting his children and not making any effort to provide them an education? Name Withheld Via E-mail
I am more often than not of the belief that another chance is the way to go. If the possibility even exists that this could be your match, you are looking at a lifetime of connection and happiness at best.
Although many Israelis realized how important the reparations agreement was for the economy and safety of Israel, nonetheless, for survivors and non-survivors alike, the notion that money could somehow atone for the suffering and mass murder inflicted upon the Jewish people was utterly unconscionable.
I believe that if we take just one life lesson from this tragedy we have the ability to infuse purpose into the pain. We can see glimmers of light that shine through the shards of glass that cut into the very heart of our nation.
Hashem chose this precise juncture to teach us the importance of respecting a wife. This is to teach us that even in trying times, when under extreme stress, we must hold dear to the responsibility to cherish and treat with great care our soul mate.
The book itself is described by its author as the final revelation of G-d in which all answers to all remaining questions with respect to the Tanach were answered.
Though we fulfill mitzvot for Hashem’s sake, He does not need our fulfillment, and it does not help or contribute to His existence in any way.
Everyone is put in this world to fulfill a mission. We do not know what anyone’s mission is, and we must try to see everyone as a creation of Hashem and to treat everyone with the respect they deserve.
We have no illusions that the president-elect will be able to simply pick up from where he left off four years ago. But we are convinced that he is determined to, at the least, provide an off-ramp from the calamitous direction in which the Biden Administration was taking us.
One significant obstacle that the prosecution faced throughout the case was that Beilis was broadly respected, even beloved, by the Gentiles in his neighborhood, some of whom referred to him affectionately as “our Mendel,” and their high regard for him as an honest man was such that many non-Jews either refused to testify against him or even testified in his favor.
If we accumulate extraordinary merit, Mashiach will come before the destined time. Without such merit, at the appointed time Hashem will bring events that stir us to repent.
Our story begins with a seemingly chance encounter on a Jerusalem street on Shabbos afternoon as Rabbi Wein was walking home from shul, when he met a man who seemed oddly out of place.
Despite all the awesome miracles that Og observed as the world was destroyed during the flood, and later at the time of the Dor Haflagah, he nevertheless remained a villain.
The goal of this column is to help you think about the spectrum of a topic in Torah and see the truth within every opinion of the sugya.
While the Biden administration never misses an opportunity to state that it will not allow Iran to become a nuclear power and that a preventative military option is on the table, it has long been apparent that imposing economic sanctions is as far as they are prepared to go.
By Max Wisotsky
Besides the learning, there was also another, unforeseen but extraordinary benefit which turned out to be not just a life-changing experience, but literally, a life-saving experience. Going to the Siyum HaShas in 2020 initiated a sequence of medically related developments that can only be called nissim, or miracles.
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
When people use visualization to think about their future selves, they are able to make better long-term choices in the present. The results are stronger when the conjured image is related to a specific goal and the image is vivid and realistic.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
All four narratives are about the human condition as such. Their message is universal and eternal, as befits a book about G-d who is universal and eternal.
By Sara Blau
When I think of IDF, I think of exceptional, special spiritual powers.
This sacrifice reminds me of our brave IDF members, who have had to give up so much time with their families in order to carry out the holy work of defending the State of Israel.
To fight in the IDF, the first Jewish fighting force in 2,000 years, is an amazing honor and is a life-changing experience.
The soldiers go out to war with the Shema on their lips. It's been very hard this past year and so many holy soldiers have been killed, but they went out in the name of Hashem, very devoted to the land and people of Israel.
For Jewish students across American campuses today, joining the new student uprising and belonging to the DEI community requires denying and denouncing your people and your peoplehood. Sadly many young U.S. Jews have done so.
The inability to fully understand the destination of one’s own growth can be compared to a child’s inability to grasp a complex scientific or spiritual concept.
By Marc Gronich
The U.S. House of Representatives is still up for grabs, but New York was not any help this year in keeping control of Congress in Republican hands.
Hashem’s greatest desire is to bestow His kindness upon us and to rejoice in our success.
September 4, 2026 
