יום ראשון, י״ז אלול תשפ״וSunday, August 30, 2026
Follow Us
It is always a wonderful feeling to meet someone that really seems to “get you.”
We wish to express our desire to achieve closeness with Hashem as we approach Him to ask for our daily needs and requests.
Yosef, on the other hand, was involved in worldly affairs. He was on such a high spiritual level that this involvement didn’t disturb his service of G-d.
The Gemara says that when a guest is escorted out of a city, he is protected from harm along his journey.
By Tzvi Fishman
The Hague is called the International Court of Justice? It is the International Court of Evil.
Question: Should the congregation say “Amen” after the berachah of “habocher b’amo Yisrael b’ahavah” (right before Shema)? I have seen different shuls do different things. M. Goldman
By Shlomo S. Lieberman, LCSW-R
“Why don’t they tell us this stuff before we get married?”
Amazon claims Amazon Transcribe Medical is fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), but some fear that patients’ privacy isn’t completely protected.
How should a person regard behavior by a tzaddik that seems very strange (for example, living in solitude for the last 20 years of one’s life as the Kotzker Rebbe apparently did)?
Machzor Kol Bo, first printed in 1699 and of disputed authorship, retells the R. Akiva story and observes that it “was on this basis that the custom of reciting Kaddish became widespread.”
Perhaps there is also a growing appreciation of the patently absurd claim – advanced by some New York politicians – that President Trump and white supremacists are responsible for the recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks.
By Zev Golan
Molcho won a reputation for being able to answer any question posed about the Torah, and people came from far away to pose questions to him.
What was deeply unnerving was the role of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court – the FISA court – itself in the whole sordid episode.
That opportunity has finally been presented to us – nearly any Jew on earth who wishes to escape the prison of exile can do so. Tragically, half of our people are willfully blind to what is happening, though they cover their blindness with rationalizations
The simple reality is that it is a dangerous world out there – and not just for Jews. But Jews are particularly vulnerable because we are seen as easy targets. We get picked on because the bullies know we won't fight back.
The greatest myth of them all – the foundation on which every pro-Palestinian lie is based: The Jews are building settlements on Palestine.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Joseph is helping his brothers to revise their memory of the past. In doing so, he is challenging one of our most fundamental assumptions about time, namely its asymmetry. We can change the future. We cannot change the past. But is that entirely true?
By Baruch Lytle
“Thank G-d, I had the presence of mind to go after him to his car. I got his license plate and that’s how he was caught so quickly.”
By Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum
Underlying the question "Should we bring back the JDL?" is the presumption that we possess the ability, the power, the wherewithal, and the will to revive the JDL and that anyone can lead it.
If women were given the gift of 9 portions of speech as opposed to the men who were given only one portion, we must realize that Hashem gave us a gift and wants us to use it wisely.
By Tzvi Fishman
From my experience working with young Russian olim, the fact is that they don't want to convert. Why should they? They already enjoy full privileges as Israeli citizens under Israel's 1970 Law of Return.
Instead of choosing to hide her pain, Franciska took a difficult situation and found a way to shine a light on it to help women seeking to find solace within their hardest moments.
By Judy Waldman
While many of the Zionists moved to Petaluma to learn the trade of chicken ranching as a means to having a productive income in Palestine, in the end, only two ever made the translocation.
When there is an apparent mistake, there is a mitzvah of hashavas aveidah to alert the store manager or staff to the error.
Question: Why is there an extra month in the Jewish calendar every few years? And who decides whether a particular year should be a leap year or not? Name Withheld Toronto, Ontario
Who is wise? The one who sees the birthing – i.e., the one who sees the forces in the past that gave birth to and shaped our present as well as the forces of the past and present that will give birth to and shape the future.
This year, of course, January 1 is different. It is the date of the grand Siyum HaShas. It marks a time to celebrate the Torah in an almost unprecedented way, as hundreds of thousands join in celebrating the tremendous accomplishment of tens of thousands of learners.
Our schools are immersed in standards, educational assessments, and prescribed curricula. All of these things are ultimately good – they help create standardized and measurable learning goals.
The printed invitation, entirely in Hebrew, begins with an acrostic poem that spells out the name of the bride and groom, Moshe and Chanah.
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
The act of lighting the menorah is an expression of gratitude.
Rabbi Hirsch ties “komer” to the emotional manipulation commonly employed by idolatrous priests.
In overcoming our impatience on the road, we perform a truly heroic act.
So, fellow Jews, there you have it. We may not intend to be racist, but we just are, and we must work on bettering ourselves if we want anti-Semites to stop attacking us.
The Zohar tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu visits Bisya every day in Gan Eden to inquire after her well being.
For whom was this work written? There have been other attempts to introduce the Talmud to beginners, but none of them appeal across the board as does Introduction to the Talmud.
You privately decide that you all look more like tree doubles, but worried about being turned into lumber you wisely keep quiet.
The heart is the repository of one’s feelings and emotions. If we act toward our spouses with feeling, not only with a sense of duty and quid pro quo, we create a sanctuary.
In order to prove that the oil was undefiled, wouldn’t it have been sufficient if its seal remained unbroken, even without the kohen gadol’s personal seal?
By Eliana Klein
The bus driver signaled to the hordes of frustrated people at the various bus stops that he could not stop for them, but some brave/foolhardy souls literally stood in front of the bus trying to block its path in their frenzied determination to get on their way.
How ironic it is then that so many people call this great president, president Trump, an anti-Semite! Why is that so?
By Irwin Cohen
The biggest name who died in 2019 was a superstar as a player and a trailblazer as a manager.
By Tzvi Fishman
The Jewish Press asked Rav Kustiner if the IDF command has responded to the storm of protest. “Not that I am aware of,” he replied. “I am only a very tiny screw in the system. They don’t ask my opinion.”
News From Across The Pond.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Mikketz represents the most sudden and radical transformation in the Torah. Joseph, in a single day, moves from zero to hero, from forgotten, languishing prisoner to viceroy of Egypt, the most powerful man in the land, in control of the nation’s economy.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
Jerusalem is facing a double attack in the form of both illegal and legal Arab construction. This comes together with watered-down levels of Jewish construction in non-critical areas. The bottom line is that if not enough homes are built for Jews, and too many are built for Arabs
In exciting news to both Madeb and myself, we learned that there would be three new wines from Burgundy produced by the Aegerter winery.
Sorrow And Joy 'Proclaim Your Troubles So Your Friends Pray For You' (Niddah 66a)
In Iran, Persian Jews didn’t have the opportunity to learn. When they came here, they actually wanted to celebrate Iranian non-Jewish holidays – because that’s what they knew.
The ACLU made a public records request from Boston Robotics and is demanding more transparency in how the police plan to test and deploy robotic dogs.
As Stalin’s closest confidant, as a member of the Politburo, and as chairman of the Soviet Presidium, Kaganovich established the unification of state security forces that later became the infamous KGB.
By Tzvi Fishman
After the outburst of yelling, the voice sweetened with promises to give us exclusive scoops in the future if we cooperated. We went ahead and published the story.
Aron Spielman, the founder of “Jews For Trump,” said the account’s follower count spiked by more than 50 percent as a result of the video.
The story quoted several witnesses who “expressed relief that the shootings did not appear to be an act of anti-Semitism.”
Should a person avoid the company of someone who constantly swears but is otherwise a decent fellow?
By declaring that the ICC would investigate that claim the Court is saying that it believes that it has legal merit.
In the impeachment of President Trump, however, no identified crime of any nature found in the federal criminal statutes was alleged.
They were not willing to compromise on quality regardless of the difficulties that come with producing kosher wines.
By Sandy Eller
The menorahs are polished, the dreidels are ready to make their annual appearance and donuts and latkes seem to be just about everywhere. Yup, Chanukah is here and whether you are looking for new recipes to enhance your holiday celebrations or gifts that will hit the spot, these two fabulous new cookbooks may just be […]
Recall is not the same as understanding. Just because you can say something does not mean you actually grasp it.
How unlikely that these kohanim, whose sole job was ministering to Hashem and to the spiritual needs of our people, would all of a sudden become masters of artillery.
By Pnina Baim
In the spirit of taking full advantage of the desire to stay indoors during these chilly nights, let’s organize our homes so that we can find the peace of mind we deserve.
In the Middle East in the 19th century – in Syria especially – rabbis sensed that the masses had been deleteriously affected by contact with their Arab neighbors over centuries.
Mechilah requires a willingness to forgo and release the other party of liability.
By Sandy Eller
When we bought our house in 1990, it never occurred to me that I would one day be living near a location that would draw 25,000 visitors in a single day.
Even according to the Rambam, if an exceptionally pious and G-d-fearing man sees that his generation is degenerate in a certain matter, he may sanctify G-d’s name and sacrifice himself even to avoid a minor mitzvah so that people learn from his example.
Leaders need to pay special attention to the law of unintended consequences.
Here are three crucial truths from Tanya, the fundamental text that Chabad chassidim study in its entirety every year, concluding it on the 19th of Kislev:
Blacks cannot be racist, which is of course a racist statement. Try telling that to the Black Hebrew Israelite who lives near me and keeps pretending to point a gun at me and firing. Muslims like Omar or Tlaib cannot be anti-Semitic because they are Semites too. Try telling that to Hamas whose founding charter calls for the killing of Jews anywhere in the world. Socialists cannot be anti-Semitic. Try telling that to Jeremy Corbyn who laid a wreath at the grave of one of the Munich killers.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
So, yes, Yerushalayim is becoming a more "open" city, but that means we need to significantly increase and expand the Jewish presence in it. Only a strong Jewish majority will ensure and secure Jerusalem for generations to come and enable us to continue to advance toward the Jerusalem envisioned by our prophets
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
The Torah shows us the genius of Reuven’s strategy in stopping his brothers from committing murder.
The character trait that makes me personally identify with Judah – is his humanness and the fact that he makes mistakes in his lifetime but has the strength and ability to own up to his wrongdoings and start over.
By Tzvi Fishman
"Not only is Hanukah really a foolish and unnecessary holiday, it is also one that is dangerously fanatical and illiberal."
By Roni
Herzlich 2 has been in the works for a few years and the attention to detail, precision production, and careful selection of songs rewards the listener with a very rich and enjoyable experience.
The redemption and salvation are commensurate with the distress and challenges of galus.
Question: Why is there an extra month in the Jewish calendar every few years? And who decides whether a particular year should be a leap year or not? Name Withheld Toronto, Ontario
Not all appearances of “hashlachah” carry a negative connotation. Some connote throwing something deliberately to bring about certain results.
It is completely understandable that you would feel like there are so many other single girls in your position – because there are.
During the study, the researchers also found 18,739 inauthentic social media accounts. They reported them to their respective social media platforms. But three weeks later, 95 percent of them were still online.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
I know of no comparable passage in the Torah: three verses dedicated to an apparently trivial, eminently forgettable detail of someone having to ask directions from a stranger. Who was this unnamed man? And what conceivable message does the episode hold for future generations, for us?
In mainstream black culture, many were introduced to the Black Hebrew Israelites following the release of a song by rapper Kedrick Lamar in 2017, in which he says, “I'm not a politician, I'm not 'bout a religion. I'm a Israelite, don't call me black no mo.”
Honoring Abdullah only reinforces his perception that there will be no consequences for his anti-Israel actions – that Jews will keep praising him no matter what. He needs to hear the opposite.
It is unpleasant to see a small person win. It is unnerving to see a lowly person, a person abused and ostensibly stripped of honor and dignity, maintain his humanity and kindness. It is unnerving to see him demonstrate a G-dly element, an element that is higher than animalism.
News From Across The Pond.
The vast majority of Jewish groups welcomed the executive order, but several far-left Jewish leaders suggested that the classification of Jews as members of a nation – rather than adherents of a religion – is both inaccurate and potentially dangerous, as hostile governments and others around the world may use it to isolate Jewish communities, arguing that Jews are a nation unto themselves and cannot be considered part of their host countries.
Self-Evident? ‘What Uncleanness Is There In A Nasal Discharge?’ (Niddah 55b-56a)
Abe started taking out the money from all of his pockets and passed it onto the two Russian-accented guards, who were wearing pouches. The two men looked bewildered and incredulous.
While it may be that these people pose some level of a threat to us, the vast majority of attacks have not been carried out by White Nationalists.
August 28, 2026 
