יום שבת, כ״ו תמוז תשפ״וSaturday, July 11, 2026
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Over the past century, the desert has become an oasis, and the desolation a blessing. Israel has developed innovative agricultural expertise and water conservation technologies and has planted over 250 million trees. Eretz Yisrael is the only country that entered the twenty-first century with more trees than the century before.
Our society is results-focused. You can be the second-fastest runner in the world, but society doesn’t care. You lost. You’re not getting the endorsements.
When I am old, and my hair is silver or white or gray, I know that I won't remember this stress. All I will remember is the happy times, and I will probably say, I'd do anything to get back to that place.
By David Curwin
Interestingly, the English word “silver” may also have Semitic origins. One theory suggests that silver derives from the Akkadian word sarapu, meaning to smelt, refine.
By dvora
What exactly is a silver lining? It is a metaphor conveying a glimmer of hope, in the midst of despair.
By Akiva Kra
It's amazing how one metal can carry so many memories and so much importance. Oftentimes the tarnished silver candlesticks in a home carry more emotion and hold more memories than the colorful pictures around them.
There is an irony that a newspaper which has traditionally upheld the concept, practice and concept of free expression, if reader's comments are to be believed, is increasingly censoring and suppressing them.
In life, we are constantly seeking out the proper path to follow. But this world is somewhat fluid and unstable, with new challenges and vicissitudes arising constantly.
They have recruited so-called rabbis and as-a-Jews who protest genocide in Gaza, whether in newspaper ads or public gatherings, but have precious little to say about hostages and the treatment of their own people.
Jewish tradition does not shy away from acknowledging the importance of justice, and that includes expressing righteous indignation against acts of evil.
The con side emphasizes that congestion pricing disproportionately impacts low-income individuals who may or may not have access to alternative transportation options and are forced to drive into congestion toll areas...
A tiny baby, a bright spark of light in the darkness. A reminder that even now, Hashem is weaving together the pieces of our redemption. That He has not abandoned us. That our story is still unfolding. That the day will come when the suffering will end, when the exiles will return home, not in sorrow, but in joy.
Several minutes after entering the hospital room, my father gave a tremor that sent them running for help from the nurse's station. The nurse called the doctor. The doctor told them that my father's systems were closing down, hinting that perhaps the respirator plug should already be pulled.
As she continued to share experiences of caring for her son, I also shared different chapters that I had written about caring for my husband during his decline. In spite of her belief that her challenges were unique, I had a chapter written for almost every problem she was facing.
What difference does that make? asked Mr. Isaacs. You’re not a relevant party to the case. Mr. Weintraub is not related to any of the relevant parties: lender, borrower, or guarantor!
If the extremely wealthy are worried about the financial well-being of their descendants, how much more so should regular people be worried.
Withholding The Rod ‘A Rebellious Son Never Occurred And Never Will’ (Sanhedrin 71a)
Suddenly, it may start to feel like your like child does not want to speak to you at all. And this is especially difficult at this age since you may feel an even more pressing need to support and protect them as they gain independence.
In essence, the cases are not about the actual terror attacks, apparently all are in agreement that the PLO and PA bear responsibility, but about the legality of bringing terror’s sponsors and supporters before U.S. courts. And there lies the rub.
Facts are important, but numbers are not the full story. If five villages were attacked or 20 were attacked it would still be an issue. The big picture is that these charges against the Jewish residents of J&S have no basis in reality, Freedman was not quoting an eye witness, and these false accusations can and have resulted in real harm to individual Jews and to the State.
Investors also possess superpowers that can help them overcome financial challenges. If implemented, they can help families – even those with modest incomes – achieve wealth and prosperity.
By Mendi Glik
The song is about a “shtar tena’im – an engagement contract between a chatan and kallah, a groom and a bride. And we’re going to talk about this song and explain it. What a beautiful song!
Question: As I came into the synagogue, they were about to recite Keri’at Shema. I had as yet not put on my tefillin. What should one do in that situation? A Reader Via E-mail
Share your own experiences with overcoming challenges to show vulnerability and resilience.
By Alan Zeitlin
In a previous interview with The Jewish Press, Lax said he was falsely accused of discrimination since he stood up against antisemitism and would be exonerated. In October of 2023, an eight-month investigation found no evidence of any wrong-doing by Lax.
This inaugural printed Hebrew edition of the Prophets, with Kimhi’s scholarly annotations, was produced in 1485 by the esteemed Joshua Solomon ben Israel Nathan Soncino. This edition, which predates the Soncino family’s migration to Casal Maggiore, marked the completion of the family’s premier Biblical publication.
Rabbi Shimon’s original position was by no means a majority opinion. By comparison, Rabban Gamliel, son of Rabbi Judah HaNasi, said: Torah study is good together with an occupation, for the exertion of them both makes sin forgotten. All Torah study that is not joined with work will cease in the end, and leads to sin (Pirkei Avos 2:2).
Take a deep breath. You are doing so well. Dating someone you like, and feeling positive about your dates is huge. Everything was going nicely until your sister’s blanket statement about timelines and expectations through you off course.
When Israel enslaves their own brothers, they are also enslaving G-d’s very image and likeness on earth.
By Ariela Davis
While it was officially temporary, they viewed it as a full-on move, making the effort to settle and live their daily lives as if this was a long-term move.
This message of hope – that all is not lost and that one can always climb back from a spiritual morass without needing years to do so – is a vital lesson that is important to remember every day of our lives. This is one of the reminders of the tefillin.
A society is only as stable and moral as its commitment to protecting its most vulnerable members. Therefore, the laws in Mishpatim repeatedly return to the treatment of slaves.
Seeing the anger and hostility towards Israel and Jewish people around the globe blew my mind. It was maddening trying to explain why Hamas was evil to so many companies and individuals. I was in shock.
One is not promised that he will live longer than the number of years that he was destined to live. Rather, one who worships Hashem will live out his days.
By Alan Zeitlin
In 1995, it was uncommon for Orthodox Jews to desire to donate organs. I think the decision to donate organs made a tremendous impact on the Jewish community to consider donating in the future, Wolf said.
Captured by the Germans after being seriously wounded fighting for France during World War I, he was interned in a POW camp for two years, where he learned English from a fellow prisoner.
When we consider whether or not someone is an observant Jew, we usually ask whether he or she is shomer Shabbos. Why is this the defining feature of religious observance? What makes Shabbos a root mitzvah, why is its punishment so severe, and why do we see it as the measuring stick for all of Torah observance? What is the secret of Shabbos?
By Marc Gronich
While the governor offers highlights of her budget plan, the devil is always in the details, which are contained in a 142-page budget book.
Clothing serves as a metaphor for how a human is cloaked. Just as clothes cover the body, the body itself is a kind of cloak for the soul.
Trump’s real message to Hamas was that, as far as he was concerned, they were going deeper and deeper into the hole they have been digging for themselves which will soon lead to their demise.
Just as acronyms serve modern convenience, they also hold a unique place in Jewish history and culture, where many family names actually derive from meaningful acronyms. These surnames serve as more than mere identifiers.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
We might think that today batei din just adjudicate cases of divorce and conversion. Yet, Jewish courts can resolve business disputes and damages.
To me, the best part of beis din is that it allows us to not have to air our laundry in civil courts...
While din ensures that legal principles are upheld without deviation, it can sometimes lead to harsh or impractical outcomes.
Halacha, like other legal systems, provides us with rules and values around which we are meant to organize our lives. Our ability, however, to comply with halacha requires that we learn and teach its rules. After all, you can’t comply with the rules you don’t know.
The salient distinction is that civil law is secular and Jewish law is G-dly... Jewish law, by contrast, is a combination of civil and religious law, e.g., if one steals, he is simultaneously sinning against the victim and against G-d.
The problem was that after years of being neglected by his father because of football, Mike didn’t have any love for the game. Still, despite his resentment towards football, he loved his father, and so after Joe’s passing, Mike began to attend every game.
Whether or not it is proper to go by one’s English name is not a question that can be answered in a vacuum. Whatever the case, I would strongly recommend choosing names that express high and traditionally Jewish aspirations for children and for ourselves. Ultimately, G-d desires our hearts more than our names.
For America’s Jews – and Israel’s, and Americans generally for that matter – Trump’s return is the best news since Joe Biden entered the White House in 2020. And that’s reason to give thanks to the Almighty. May Trump and his team be good shlichim for all of us.
Without putting too fine a point on it, then, Donald Trump seems to believe that controversial policy proposals are really offers of solutions that ideally will trigger a deliberative process which will inform debate and hopefully lead to a meeting of the minds – albeit with a changed playing field and center of gravity.
As Jews, we hold onto the knowledge that Hashem is always with us. Just as He was with the hostages, He is with each and every one of us. Even when the world seems dark, we are never truly alone.
A hallmark of Rabbi Lamm’s scholarship was his synthesis of halacha and aggadah. For Rabbi Lamm, these were not separate spheres but complementary dimensions of a unified Torah.
When walking down a sunny Jerusalem street with my father, he would attach clip-on sunglasses to his bifocals. When we would walk into an office or store, he would just flip them up so that he could let in the light. Perfectly practical and reasonable.
The voice returned. Where is my Barbara? I responded again, I am here. No Hubby proclaimed, The other one! Barbara, my wife! She went to get my watch fixed. Where is she?
Start Of The Yeshiva Semester “Today Is Propitious…” (Sanhedrin 65b-66a)
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University discovered that children tend to lose approximately two and half months worth of material over the summer. That is, rather than retaining the material they have mastered during the school year, student who do not flex their academic muscles over the summer revert back to the skills they had in April as opposed to June. Researchers call this phenomenon summer brain drain.
Shrem’s unique musical talents quickly earned him the right to serve as the chief chazzan at some of the most central and well-known Syrian shuls in the city: at Magen David and then Bnei Yosef.
I believe that Agam and her mother were bequeathed with the moral courage needed in these times from the days that our mothers stood tall in Mitzrayim.
By Irwin Cohen
I know the readers are more intelligent than I am, but I may have experienced more than most in my 80-plus years.
The quintessence of the story is that Abraham wanted to make it well-known to people that they should recognize G-d as the Creator and be grateful to Him. In order to get the audience for this message, he planted an eshel tree to make his place known and easily found.
One should take the opportunity afforded by Tu B'Shvat to reflect and thank G-d for the fruits that He has created for our enjoyment.
Question: As I came into the synagogue, they were about to recite Keri’at Shema. I had as yet not put on my tefillin. What should one do in that situation? A Reader Via E-mail
While it may appear to these people that by getting their way they are winning the battle, they are, in fact, losing the war. In other words when people behave this way, they may temporarily get their way, but ultimately, they can lose the relationship.
The families of dead terrorists will say they are in need since their breadwinners are no longer alive. Of course, these terrorists are no longer alive because they either blew themselves up or were killed while attempting to commit murder.
This discrepancy between human and angelic perspectives plays a central role in Chazal’s account of the giving of the Torah, albeit in an entirely different vein. While no angels appear in the Torah’s version of the story, our Sages recount that at Sinai too, Moshe encounters conflict between himself and the angels.
We have spent most of our history as oppressed people. For almost two thousand years, we were scattered across the world; in over one hundred countries. Despite all this, we survived and continue to identify with our people and heritage.
By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman
The failure to observe the agricultural laws such as tithes, challah, and the Sabbatical year reflects an unbridled acquisitive drive and a failure to care for the poor and needy. G-d provides the antidote to this disease of greed through the laws of charity.
The poem was penned by Ber Oppenheimer, a prominent resident of Pressburg and a talmid chacham who authored Me Be'er, a sefer published in Vienna four years after the coronation.
By Avi Ciment
Our beloved Bibi and President Trump were both unified as one entity sharing one common goal: the destruction of evil.
By Mendi Glik
I can imagine Rabbi Nachman standing in the middle of the cold forests of Ukraine, yearning for and dreaming of Eretz Yisrael. The kedusha, the holiness of the land.
Why should the fact that the rodef is liable to be killed during his act of attempted murder affect whether or not he is chayiv to pay back the monetary damage he caused?
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
The custom of including the Ten Commandments as part of the Shema was once widespread, but from a certain point in time it was systematically opposed by the Sages. Why did they object to it?
You need to be fully engaged on your dates. Make eye contact, allow your body language to showcase your interest, and listen carefully to what your date is saying. Show them that you are fully present and happy to be with them.
Man will be disappointed when he realizes that Hashem is no longer in such close proximity as He was in this world.
By Baruch Lytle
Its humble presence on such an esteemed corner is a remarkable symbol of kindness, shining out to the world from a community that famously already knows a lot about kindness.
Tefillin is a daily reminder to avoid sin which would result in punishment and to do mitzvos which earn us great reward.
There cannot possibly be a substitute for the experience of encountering the knowledge of Hashem once it has directly impacted upon one’s consciousness.
Upon learning of Hamas’ machinations in suspending the release of the hostages, Trump declared a complete cancellation of the ceasefire if all remaining hostages are not released by Saturday at 12 noon.
The story of the relationship between Hitler and Bernile had been generally unknown until the Alexander Historical Auction House auctioned this photograph to an anonymous, international buyer for a winning bid of $11,520 on November 13, 2018.
When fear and panic spiral out of control, even well-intentioned caution can lead to the unjust suppression of legitimate questions and concerns.
Indeed, the various past delays in turning over hostages could well be explained by Hamas’ fear of showing the world evidence of their barbarism.
Most of humanity lies somewhere along the middle of the spectrum. Our point of free will is located in the decision sphere of whether or not to gossip, to hit snooze, to give charity, to smile, to eat right, etc. These are the battles of inches; sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose.
Were it not for [King] David, who was engaged in Torah learning, Yoav would not have been successful in battle, and were it not for Yoav’s skills as a warrior, [King] David would not have been able to study the Torah.
Just as there are no two more similar stories than the respective exiles of Yaakov and Moshe, it is hard to find two more disparate parallels than the roles of their respective fathers-in-law.
By Sara Blau
Most of us can’t handle unsolicited advice, and in-law relationships can be a touchy thing. And yet Moshe’s humility astounds me. To be able to receive the feedback and make the necessary improvements based on his father-in-law’s advice is truly something I admire.
By Avi Ganz
Lavan wasn't just a bad father-in-law; he was a bad person. In contrast, Yitro is a man with a significant past and what seems to be a very strong moral compass. And he wants to help.
I smile when I remember how, when we lived in Florida, they spent a week together converting a garage into two fully carpeted bedrooms with outlets and lights. There really wasn’t anything the two of them couldn’t repair together.
Yitro teaches us the importance of having a confidant in your family, who sees things through a different set of eyes, and can be trusted for sage advice.
The greatest challenge is to recognize one’s inner greatness and get past all the impediments that get in the way of that growth.
What made their task easier was the fact that except, perhaps, for the Russian collusion adventure, there were some arguable issues with some of the facts of the various cases even if they were of minor significance.
July 10, 2026 
