יום שני, כ״ח תמוז תשפ״וMonday, July 13, 2026
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For many American Jews who profess to be strong supporters of Israel, their support is actually conditional, subject to partisan loyalties, ideological commitments, or domestic policy preferences.
By Maayan Zik
Judaism teaches, Ein mazel l’Yisrael, which means The Jewish people aren’t ruled by mazel. That’s another way of saying that while circumstances influence us, they don’t control us.
I believe, and tell my children and talmidim so, that we have the opportunity to be matzliach in ways the defy luck of the draw, nature and happenstance.
By Ariela Davis
How many of us who live relatively happy lives with families and full refrigerators and spend much of our time focusing on what we don’t have and complaining about the small things that don’t go our way?
Lucky people make successful decisions by using their intuition and gut feelings.
When we think of who we are and what defines us we often think of our physical bodies. Ask someone who he is, and he will generally point towards his heart. But is that really who we are? Is our body what defines us?
What can we learn from the Purim story that can help us navigate living with this partial redemption? How do we move to a paradigm of complete redemption?
Tefillah is central to our identity. It is an essential reflection of the human soul and part of what characterizes man as distinct from animal. Hashem provides for the whole world; only man appreciates and prays for it.
Like the notorious Trump criminal cases, the Adams variety also had the odor of creative and selective prosecutions that exploited technical and insignificant violations of law.
Purim is a day of celebrating with friends, family, community, and even strangers. It is a day of revelry and study, a day to give as generously as we can, a day of recognizing G-d’s watchful providence and love. Can we really do all of those things and work?
Why does one news report matter? One reason is that so many newspapers, major ones as well as small town ones depend on the AP for their international coverage.
Every once in a while we are treated to the induction ceremony of soldiers which takes place in the large open area above the Kotel. Sweet and handsome, these 18 year olds solemnly swear to defend our country, promised to us centuries ago by Hashem to our holy Forefathers.
At the end of this experiment, she made the decision which would allow her to return to a reasonable quality of her own life, as Dad was declining further and further into his dementia and age-related issues. She has committed to keeping her husband at home, and with the best possible care that can be provided.
There is a dispute whether nowadays beis din is halachically authorized to enforce payment of ‘fire’ damage; many maintain that the answer is yes.
What are the causes behind output failure? Are we discussing actual dysfunctions of the brain – or does the term merely whitewash certain flaws in character?
What You Pray For ‘… Acts As Befitting Your People’ (Sanhedrin 85a)
We were watching a documentary about people with Dysphagia, and realized that some people can’t swallow at all and need a feeding tube. So, we came up with a way to help kids with feeding tubes who might be feeling bad about how they look, explained Dunn and Sobelman.
With Purim rapidly approaching, below is a blueprint of how to prudently spend your money to enhance the holiday instead of just trying to one up your friends.
By Irwin Cohen
I first got to hear him at the big beautiful Beth El shul in Boro Park when I visited my sister and brother-in-law, Shmuel Kunda. I also got to know him personally over the last few years, as he also had a place in Century Village in West Palm Beach.
The real question is where was man? Where was man when six million were being shoved into cattle cars and burned in the crematoria? We were waiting for someone to say something, do something, bomb the railway stations as we were taken to the concentration camps. No one did a thing. The world remained silent.
By Mendi Glik
In our column we’re going to have some oldies together with some contemporary music. I’m not only going to suggest Purim songs, but also other upbeat songs that will cause you to hold hamantaschen in one hand, a good bottle of wine (or whiskey) in the other hand, and start dancing! Hora!
Question: If someone heard Megillat Esther in shul, and he then has to read the Megillah at home for his wife and other members of his household, does he recite the blessings again? Menachem Via E-mail
This article is written leilui nishmas Sarah Shaindel bas Yitzchask Shraga HaLevi.
Israel’s mourning is not just for Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri – it is for every victim of terror, every life that was cut short in the name of hate and destruction.
The Munich Talmud or The Survivors Talmud boasts vibrant title pages, capturing the historic moment of printing in postwar Germany.
Even after the pogroms of 1391 and the expulsion from Spain in 1492, those expelled from Catalonia maintained their customs and nusachs – at least partially – which they took with them to new places, including North Africa (primarily Algeria and Tunis), Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and the Land of Israel.
Beneath that surface lies a deeper level: the shape of this language’s letters, its numerology, its roots and apparent synonyms. All this leads to a fractal-within-a-fractal of information contained in its perfect communications, in every word and letter.
Nobody will care about his resume or yours. Nobody will gape at your age difference. And nobody will ask how you could have dated a teacher. EVERYBODY will be too busy admiring your blessed connection and your wonderful happiness.
Nowadays, there is more than enough violence around even without drunkenness. And, of course, an all too contemporary translation of violence happens to be chamas (Hamas).
The ultimate insult was that the very identity the original Irish had fought to preserve was now being co-opted and celebrated, but in a way that removed its political and historical significance. The newcomers had taken what they once tried to erase and sinisterly made it their own.
Bitachon means knowing that Hashem not only supervises all aspects of our lives—down to the tiniest detail—but that He actively optimizes the entirety of our lives and life experiences toward our greatest good and growth.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
The word kavod – dignity or honor – appears sixteen times, but in fourteen (2x7) of these cases the reference is to the glory of G-d.
In the back of the Choshen Mishpat there was a slip of parchment, known as the Urim Ve’tumim, containing G-d’s ineffable name. G-d was behind every decision the judges rendered. Even those decisions, which in hindsight appeared wrong, were right, because G-d was behind them.
What’s even more special about the Purim feast is that there is such an emphasis on drinking wine, despite the fact that we don’t even make Kiddush!
The nexus of all worlds, the point of conjunction of the physical and spiritual poles is the golden Mizbe’ach.
Even when they acknowledge the crisis, it is often through a lens of self-congratulation, crediting their learning alone for the nation’s protection. This mindset ignores the heroic Torah learning within the Religious Zionist camp – learning that exists alongside military service and national responsibility.
Some human beings will always use that freedom for nefarious ends. No miracle, no revelation, not even the most undeniable display of divine power, will erase evil from this world. It remains our mission to fight it, both for our own survival and for the moral future of humanity.
By Ariela Davis
The experience of retraining to be a teacher is analogous to navigating through an underground labyrinth of bureaucracy. An outdated map with helpful comments scribbled on the margins is available as a guide; plentiful voices above ground of those who’ve ‘made it’ topside are available if called upon.
Our sages teach us, Words that exit from the heart [of the one who utters them] enter into the heart [of the listener]. This suggests that if someone does not truly believe or feel that which he is saying out loud it has no effect or impact on the listener.
By Eve Glover
Purim is a hopeful and mysterious time of victory over our enemies, and there is something triumphant about how Abeles captures the people in her photographs, like a young girl in a lavender dress who became Queen Esther, holding a scepter up in the sunlight.
The Megillah is called Esther, which means hidden. This is because the Divine Hand was cloaked under the guise of palace intrigue, and within the lust and caprice of the royal court.
Although he would not become famous for his Jewish work until some thirty years later, Oppenheim painted one of his most famous works, Return of a Jewish Volunteer from the Wars of Liberation to His Family Still Living in Accordance with Old Customs, in 1833.
Our Gemara on amud aleph continues its discussion of various indirect forms of murder, including the case of one who causes a snake to bite a person. There is a dispute regarding how direct this action is, and according to our Gemara’s analysis, it depends on where the venom is located.
By Marc Gronich
Cuomo announced his mayoral bid on Saturday, March 1. The following day, he received the endorsements of the New York City and Vicinity District Council of Carpenters, which represents more than 20,000 of skilled tradespeople in New York.
If Esther failed to act, Hashem would find another way to save the Jews, but she and her family line would be lost.
Elon Musk’s extraordinary deep dive into every nook and cranny of federal spending and employment reflects a desire to root out the waste and inefficiency – and possible corruption – that necessarily hobble the federal bottom line.
By Alan Zeitlin
Collier, who is Jewish and lived in Israel in the past has been a staunch critic of the BBC for a long time, accusing it of anti-Israel bias. But he said this documentary is more egregious.
Torah is not simply a guide to living a life of truth; it is the blueprint and DNA of this physical world.
The images of the Bibas family – two redheaded, cherub-cheeked babies and their mother – will forever be burned in our minds along with all of the others we refuse to forget.
One of the most curious mitzvot we have is to remember to blot out Amalek. The worst way to rid them from our psyche is to annually read about them. We must forever remember the importance of stamping out evil in the world.
By Eli Lebowicz
There’s stuff I remember that I’d be fine forgetting, like getting out first in the 4th grade spelling bee on the easiest word possible (wholesome, by the way).
The years ahead were filled with grandchildren who have given me wonderful memories, and now my life is filled with great-grandchildren and we are making memories together. With Hashem’s help we will go on making memories for many more years.
The Torah’s commandment to remember is about shaping the future. The Holocaust and October 7 teach us that the world can change in an instant – and that if we don’t take history seriously, it will repeat itself.
How often do we try to live life on our terms, even when the reality of the situation is clearly otherwise?
It is a matter of debate whether the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 represents the beginning of the Final Redemption, the ingathering of the exiles.
Even drinking for adults on Purim needs to be directed to enhance the festive nature of Purim and not be a cause of revelry or lead to inappropriate behavior.
Israel has insisted that Hamas must acknowledge the overarching understanding that the precondition to phase two negotiations is that Hamas must disarm, cease to exist as a political or military entity and have no involvement in the post-war governance of Gaza.
When a person passes away, we tear our clothing. It’s a sign of mourning, of the unbearable loss. And when we are buried, we are dressed in tachrichim, simple linen shrouds. Clothing marks every stage of life – from birth to mourning to the final journey. And each type of clothing holds meaning.
By Naama Klein
Lo and behold, both my niece and nephew decided on an arrangement that I had rejected just a few minutes earlier! And although it was not particularly my taste, I was so beyond grateful that they both agreed that the style, the colors, the flowers, basically everything about it, would be to our mutual in-laws' liking.
A panicked Mom called her trusted daughter who arrived like an angel at 2 a.m. to be with Mom and Dad. The aide returned in the morning, ashamed of himself, having somehow blacked-out, and waking that next morning. It would be a fair analysis to say that all-hell-broke-loose.
The following month, Mr. Gold again approached Mr. Neuman for the money. What do you mean?! asked Mr. Neuman. You said that I don’t have to pay and that you don’t need my money. That was mechila on your part – you relieved me of the need to pay!
Short-term emotions are in the moment emotions that can cloud our decision-making process. Short-term emotions can make you replay conversations over and over again until you can’t think straight – even if nothing has changed since you first starting thinking about it.
One’s Lifetime Partner ‘The Only Poor In Israel [Are] The Subtly Wicked...’ (Sanhedrin 76a)
A somewhat peculiar fact is that while glass and porcelain Judaica generally achieve disappointing results in the United States, they do remarkably better in the salerooms of Europe.
Phillip Feldheim died in New York City in 1990. Ten years later the first edition of the siddur bearing his name – Tefilat Shai – appeared in Jerusalem.
By Mendi Glik
I still make sure to sing mostly the tunes and melodies my father sings. But at the same time I also love and enjoy listening to the new versions, new tunes that the different singers perform on their albums. But the melodies from the albums stay in the car, or wherever I listen to music.
These anti-British forces formed a pro-German government, winning the support of the Iraqi Army and administration. They had hoped that an Axis victory in the war would facilitate independence for Iraq.
Question: If someone heard Megillat Esther in shul, and he then has to read the Megillah at home for his wife and other members of his household, does he recite the blessings again? Menachem Via E-mail
It would also be prudent to limit the information you share with your parents. This will help you limit the opinions you get. This may be hard if you are used to sharing everything with your mothers and if you are close with them.
How Bitachon Works is not a collection of stories, parables, or motivational quotes. Instead, it draws on the wisdom of the Torah, classic sources, and principles of human nature to provide a logical exploration of bitachon — a clear framework for understanding how it operates and how to access it.
Kunitz's intellectual pursuits and actions frequently placed him in tension with more traditional rabbis, yet he earned respect for his profound knowledge of Talmudic texts and his pivotal role in the evolution of Jewish intellectual life.
Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency is in the process of cutting government programs, and openly doing so with a chain saw rather than with a scalpel, and it is clear that what is good and ideal to many of us is bad and wasteful to many others of us.
We should care about our appearances and do what we want to make us feel good both inside and out. What this might mean to one person might be different to another.
Mishkenei Elyon is a small but profound text that explains the spiritual significance of the detailed structure of the third Beit HaMikdash that was witnessed and reported on by the navi Yechezkel.
What of the journalists who write not about Kfir, not about Ariel, not about their mother, not about the hostages who sit in terror, but only about how the next dead, injured, or kidnapped Israeli effectively endangers the ceasefire. What of the people who tore down posters of two little red headed children, of babies, and then felt righteous?
By Irwin Cohen
During my Fox interview I pointed out many facts that many overlook, such as history unfolding during his playing career. Greenberg began his playing career with the Detroit Tigers in 1933, the same year as Hitler, leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, became chancellor of Germany.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
The famous Butterfly Effect – the beating of a butterfly’s wing somewhere may cause a tsunami elsewhere, thousands of miles away – tells us that small actions can have large consequences. That is the message the Tabernacle was intended to convey.
As we have previously mentioned, Rav Moshe Feinstein holds that a fetus is a full nefesh, and even though one is not chayiv missah for aborting a fetus, it still violates the issur of retzicha.
By Eve Glover
Storch has implemented risk management practices at the Western Wall, Ben Gurion Airport, and the Malha Mall in Jerusalem. He was honored with the Maccabiah Award in 1997 for his devotion to protecting Israeli citizens, a commitment that is unwavering.
In this world, we are limited by human understanding. There is so much that we can't understand. That makes no sense.
When G-d created the world, He did it with words. Every action of creation was accomplished using words. And G-d said, Let there be light. And G-d said, Let us create man. Creation is realized by G-d using words.
By Aryeh Werth
Our hostages are alive. They are holding on, fighting to survive. And yet, we can see it in their eyes, in their frail bodies – they are running out of time. - Ilay David
It is a known fact that the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, is selective about which areas he strives to get us to stray. For example, the relationship he tries the hardest to wreck is the one we have with our spouse.
The author, with some reluctance, calls out three groups of individuals who – in his opinion – respond to tragedies in a manner that is inconsistent with Torah and Jewish philosophy.
When the Kohen would light the menorah in the lower word, the menorah in the heavens was lit simultaneously, lighting up the lives of the Jewish people.
In an interview, Tolkien, while not specifically characterizing the Jews as warlike, nonetheless spoke to an explicit connection with biblical characterizations of the Jews, with the biblical narrative describing many wars of conquest, much as Tolkien does in The Return of the King, the third book of his trilogy; in a BBC interview, he referred to the immense warlike capacity of the Jews, which we tend to forget nowadays.
When you wake up each morning, the day holds infinite potential. You have the time to do anything, go anywhere, meet anyone, etc. But that’s only potential, for in reality, you haven’t done anything yet, and in reality, you can’t do everything, only something.
By Marc Gronich
Hochul’s proposed $252 billion budget for 2025 is $15 billion over the amount the legislature passed and $19 billion more than what she proposed last year.
Clearly, the Torah anticipates that the gentiles will be impressed with the Torah’s laws, and they would not be impressed if those laws didn’t reflect common-sense morality and justice.
Even the most cursory review of the curricula of the PA’s educational system would find pervasive demonization of Israel and Jews and support for terrorism.
By Alan Zeitlin
Did Hamas think that after massacring 1,200 people, taking more than 250 hostages, burning people alive, videotaping it and posting it online, Israel would send over a fruit basket?
July 10, 2026 
