יום ראשון, ה׳ כסלו תשפ״זSunday, November 15, 2026
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Is it appropriate to discuss politics at the Shabbos table?
Hashem in His infinite wisdom created the holidays for His children.
Can a Jew living anywhere in the world not feel loyalty to the Land of Israel and his own people?
No serious rav – even a Modern Orthodox rav – would ever sign a “Rabbis’ Letter” if co-signed by women rabbis.
If this was a test, we have failed miserably. Hashem Yirachem aleynu that we have fallen to such a level.
Inner refinement is in our control, and tending to it is the most effective way to change a healthy relationship.
To this day, the PFLP is on the official U.S. list of terrorist groups. But for some reason, that hasn’t stopped the Biden administration from planning to resume U.S. financial assistance to the PA – even though the PFLP remains the PA’s second largest faction.
Freedom is not only about rights or privileges, but also about responsibilities.
By Irwin Cohen
Gone are the days of the big games between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox as the BoSox are more in a rebuilding phase and have their best pitcher, Chris Sale, out for the season because of surgery.
I was in a place of bittul – of nothingness. I woke up each morning in a daze, not knowing what to do with myself. Life seemed eerily silent except for some annoying noise I heard every morning that I couldn’t place.
In America today, more people fear the print, electronic, and social media than fear G-d.
He assured me that his goal is certainly not to rebuild Jewry on the blood-stained soil of Germany, but what can he do?
The author writes in his introduction that he believes Sephardic Jews need to view themselves as Levantines, no longer as Sephardim, and adapt and modernize themselves to continue to be competitive in business.
A Cake Walk ‘Through It the Water Trickled Out’ (Shekalim 17a)
Question: Why do we read Shir HaShirim on the Shabbat of Passover? Also, why don’t we recite a blessing before reading it as we do before reading Megillat Esther? Menachem
By Tzvi Fishman
I left the station with the feeling that he had played a game of pinball in my brain.
The Hebrew word for despairing – me’ya’eish – is spelled with two yuds, which spell the name of Hashem.
While sometimes the letters spell out the party name or represent the party leader’s name or platform, there isn’t always a clear connection between the two.
The Rebbe wasn’t worrying about Lubavitcher chassidim, chassidim in general, or even observant Jews – he was worrying about one Jew who may be isolated from Torah in one corner of the world!
Tourist and religious sites have been packed over the holiday. If infection numbers don't spike the week after Passover, expect whatever restrictions remain to be significantly eased or completely eliminated.
An American project to eliminate poverty and violence in Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala? With an estimated price tag of $700 million? Is he for real?
Szyk’s sui generis work is notable for its rejection of contemporary avant garde artistic styles in favor of medieval painting, particularly as expressed in illuminated renaissance manuscripts.
It is truly ironic that the person most closely associated with official admonitions of compliance (or else) with corona health rules should now be prominently identified with their violation.
Is being on time a Jewish value?
News From Across The Pond.
It’s hard for people to understand children can have a learning disability that affects only writing. Most people assume if you have no trouble reading, then writing should be a cinch.
Remarkably, I just came across a fascinating remnant of the ghetto’s defiant Jewish spirit this week: a Russian-Yiddish Dictionary.
It can certainly be uncomfortable to mingle and connect with other guests solely to bolster and expand your shidduch reputation and reach.
You read that right: The number of incidents "soared" and "jumped" to 28 – in a city of 8.4 million people.
By Naama Klein
Did I mention that my daughter-in-law has seemingly unlimited excess energy, and is one of the best cooks and bakers I know?
Freedom is the ability to strive to find the good where no one else sees it. And also to articulate it, with passion.
Positive thinking has wonderful effects on your mind as well as your body. It lowers stress levels, which in turn affects every part of your being.
The real motivator for the British was to win over the Jews, and Zionism seemed like a promising card to play.
Pristine Exemplar ‘Let Him Fill His Mouth With Water’ (Shekalim 9a)
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
From a Jewish calendrical perspective, Rosh Hashanah, the Ten Days of Repentance, and Yom Kippur embody a fresh start perspective with change embedded in the framework of the new year.
If the malach wouldn’t have struck him, Nevuchadnezzar would have disgraced all of David HaMelech’s praises and songs in Sefer Tehillim.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
There are times when each of us has to decide, not just “What shall I do?” but “What kind of person shall I be?”
My husband Tzvi has settled into working remotely, and the kids love being able to drop in to supervise his work.
The Four Questions were composed as a prelude for the father to fulfill his biblical obligation. But what often happens is that a big to-do surrounds the Four Questions while the answers are not given the attention they deserve.
By Tzvi Fishman
We also prepare the guys physically and spiritually for the army along with teaching them the tools needed to deal with the often frustrating bureaucracy in Israel.
Question: My family custom is not to don tefillin on Chol HaMo’ed. What should I do if I come to a shul where it’s the custom to don tefillin on these days? M. Jakobowitz
Chametz this year has to be sold on Friday since Chazal prohibited transactions on Shabbos, and some say that you can’t even sell on Friday with the stipulation that the sale take effect on Shabbos.
The Seder is not just an educational and intellectual experience; it’s also a unique opportunity to say thank you together with our loved ones to Hashem for the fact that He chose us as His nation and gave us His wonderful mitzvos.
Rabbeinu Tam has an ingenious solution for how to have Seudah Shlishit on Erev Pesach: eat matzah ashirah [egg matzah].
Cuozzo pointedly ignores the fact that the Bronx, which adjoins Manhattan and which has areas with scant Orthodox populations, has a 10% positivity rate.
As far as Iran is concerned, if for nothing else than being seen as reversing a major Trump policy, Biden is anxious to return to the Iran deal. Yet he has also indicated that he respects some of the Trump criticisms of it terms.
The military governor of Jerusalem decided to allocate the scant matzah supplies to the city’s civilians, but Rav Goren could not stand the very idea that the first Jewish soldiers to fight for Jerusalem in two millennia would be forced to eat chametz on Pesach.
Israeli archaeologist Dr. Shmuel Yeivin (1896-1982) writes that some scholars have proposed that “chermesh” is a “sickle” while “magal” is a larger “scythe.”
The good trend continues: All bad numbers are down. However, it does seem that all the folks willing to get the vaccine have received it already. Very few people are going to get it now.
Is it appropriate to introduce “gimmicks” at the Seder (like 10 toys for the 10 makos) in an effort to make it more fun for children? Or should the Seder be more dignified and formal?
It's written that only in happiness can we be redeemed. We leave the bad behind and in peace we will be led to salvation.
The Sefer Chassidim says that a person is supposed to conduct himself with a non-Jew the same way he conducts himself with a Jew.
News From Across The Pond.
It took approximately two weeks, but finally a doctor checked him out. He was given permission to sit down for guard duty, and he didn’t take part in various physical exercises and marches. There was no way that he could train other soldiers with this medical issue.
Rav Yeruchum continues to say that before the geula, Hashem will take away anything that anyone could possibly think of relying on. This is in order for us to realize that the only thing that we can rely on is Hashem.
What if your child is not simply a late bloomer? What if he needs early intervention in order to help him attain language?
By Marc Gronich
This year Kassar, 62, is trying to advance legislation to make it easier for voters to influence policy and legislation without having to run for office.
Shevile Olam Chadash gives us insight into the widespread longing for the New World felt by the oppressed Jews in Eastern Europe...
Torah study shouldn’t be saved for our retirement. We should run to learn.
I always say that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. If we can all learn how to parent effectively, then this world would be a better place.
In Our Days ‘We Do Not Seize a Surety From Children’ (Shekalim 3b)
Newspeak restricted vocabulary so as to limit the people's ability to think “dangerous” and "subversive" concepts such as personal identity, self-expression and free will.
More and more American women have come to rely on the government, not on a husband. The results have been calamitous.
Although yearly statements may show gains, there is no obligation to give maaser until shares are redeemed.
You wonder how to convince girls that you are in fact a good bet, without the promise of a glitzy future.
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
Perhaps one of the goals of the requirement to bring these sacrifices is to create psychological safety for sin and failure. The institution of sacrifices balances the normalization of failure with responsibility and accountability.
One year later, we are free from lockdown, but still unable to celebrate a seder with family, as it is currently nearly impossible to travel between Israel and North America.
Experts generally support coronavirus vaccination programs, but Daniel said not all scientists do and “the idea of science being settled is a fallacy of what science actually stands for.”
The Shechinah is [so to speak] together with the Jewish people when they are in exile, and when they’re redeemed, Almighty G-d has dictated a redemption for Himself as well. He will come out of exile with them.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Politics involves difficult judgments. A leader must balance competing claims and will sometimes get it wrong.
By Tzvi Fishman
When I entered the Knesset, I was put under a magnifying glass because of who I am – both from secular and charedi society. Instead of evaluating my professional achievements, each side questioned my suitability and tested me.
Hashem seeks people who are willing to subjugate their hearts to Him.
We have a calling to emulate the ways of G-d, to constantly renew the way we live life, to keep things fresh and invigorating.
By Avi Ciment
Recently, a number of campaigns have exposed horrible men who ignore seruvs issued by beis din. Did these "religious" men forget the mishnah warning us to treat all mitzvot equally?
I love them all and they are all winners, but if you ask me for my favorite, I will have to go with our simple elastic headbands. They are so simple, yet different, and are flying off the shelves.
I never thought I would get so excited over a conversation with friends around a dinner table. I never was so enthusiastic about candies thrown at the bridegroom when he received an aliyah to the Torah.
Question: Since Erev Pesach is on Shabbos this year, when does one burn the chametz? Also, can you discuss some of the other Pesach laws unique to Erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos? M. Aronowitz
The Shulchan Aruch does not even mention the opinion of the Rif and Rambam and states explicitly that the requirement of guarding applies only to the matzah used for the Seder.
The Times also reports that Speaker Pelosi had initially only been willing to support an allocation of up to $200 million but ultimately went along, apparently after a deft parliamentary maneuver by Schumer.
We have long felt that Democratic attacks on former Barr – that he acted as Trump’s personal lawyer rather than “the peoples’ lawyer” – was simple politicking.
We said it's crazy to underwrite the Palestinian Authority and send American taxpayer money there while they’re threatening Israel. It’s not only immoral; it violates the Taylor Force Act.
Pursuant to another corporate legend, when Berlitz was forced to take a leave of absence due to exhaustion, he put Joly in charge of the language classes only to discover to his chagrin that his trusted assistant did not speak a word of English.
Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed this week that Israel in on the verge of diplomatic agreements with at least four additional Muslim countries.
Is listening to rap or heavy metal music appropriate?
The opposite ends of love and joy, to pain and sorrow are great. We tend to live somewhere in the middle between great joy and great pain.
News From Across The Pond.
By Marc Gronich
This situation cannot and should not be resolved in the press; I believe the best way to get to the truth is through a full and thorough outside review and I am directing all state employees to comply with that effort.
There are dissenting opinions by health experts globally, especially now, a year later, but it’s not that simple to uproot yourself and go to a less hysterical jurisdiction.
November 13, 2026 
