יום שישי, י״א תמוז תשפ״וFriday, June 26, 2026
Follow Us
Do Clothes Make the Man? ‘When Kohanim Are Wearing Their Holy Garments’ (Zevachim 17b)
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, zt”l, teaches that when we cry out woe is me, we begin to take stock; not just of our actions, but of our presence. Where am I? Who is it who is crying out this way? This is not confession as ritual. It is rupture, it is awakening, it is the guttural cry that breaks through inherited silence.
Yes, there are those who have unrealistic expectations and standards, both men and women alike. It is important to be able to compromise and never settle. But that is a whole other topic.
Or, beseech, Hashem, I want to give more tzedakah this year. Can I have a bump in my livelihood so I can help my children more, or provide for my elderly parents? My wife has been wonderful. I want to be able to get her a nicer sheitel, some jewelry. Help me please, Hashem, to accomplish these goals.
As Yom Kippur approaches, we are called to reflect not only on our choices, but also on the apparent randomness that shapes our lives.
Hashem realizes that the commitment to improve does not always last, but He chooses to accept teshuvah because He cares for His creations and their survival.
As we find ourselves between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Rav Amital is the perfect figure to reflect upon.
Most kids tell you what they need, even if they don’t have the words. If we hover over their homework and they can’t say ‘stop pressuring me’ or ‘trust me to do it,’ they might say something disrespectful. But they always try to tell us what they need.
Chazal say that for three days after Am Yisrael gathered all the loot from the Egyptians who drowned in the Red Sea, they neglected to study Torah, which set off a series of complaints and rebellions against Moshe and HaKadosh Baruch Hu Therefore, it was instituted that three days cannot pass without the Torah being read.
Printed with the Hadrat Kodesh commentary and following the customs of the Kahal Kadosh Ashkenazim, this impressive edition stands out not only for its rich liturgical content but also for its craftsmanship.
By Irwin Cohen
Harold is saving the best for last. He wants to have a bar mitzvah next year at 103. After all, it's only 90 years past due.
Effi ran up to the car to greet his brother-in-law, who addressed the rest of the crowd like a royal pausing to greet the peasants from his carriage.
Teshuvah is a dark and harrowing descent into the self, a journey through the hidden recesses of personality. It demands that we confront our failures and flaws without disguise.
By Mendi Glik
When preparing for a performance, it’s very important to know how to choose a piece. It’s not enough for the cantor just to like the music. It has to be a piece that matches his voice.
Clearly, Hashem could have created a universe in which there is no suffering and in which we can acknowledge and praise Him without having to overcome adversity. So, there is an inherent value to us, whether as individuals or as a species, in coming to this awareness through our own processes and gaining insight, and not just having it presented to us as perhaps the malachim do.
By Marc Gronich
The event was emceed by Assemblyman Kalman Yeger (D - Midwood), who spoke strongly about antisemitism in government, singling out New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, among others.
It’s sad. Our political-media discourse is stuck, narrow. A person is shaped by the landscape of their feed.
As members of Klal Yisrael, I would hope that we would all offer empathy and compassion. Telling someone NOT to feel is not our way. Discouraging someone from feeling sad or mad or hurt doesn’t work. It doesn’t erase feelings.
Did Mar Ukva crave the cheese so much that he couldn’t wait until the next day? On the other hand, there is no obligation to wait 24 hours before eating dairy. Why did Mar Ukva compare himself to vinegar, i.e. wine that has spoiled and has lost its value?
Hak-hel was (and will be again) a major event meant to unify the people and the Shevatim (tribes) to which they belonged. It also honors the Torah before all of Israel.
College campuses once served as places for open dialogue, where students could freely explore diverse ideas. But for Jewish students today, these spaces often feel hostile. From verbal assaults on Israel to an environment where their Jewish identity is marginalized or attacked, it’s clear that something profound has shifted.
Question: What is the proper means of teshuvah, the repentance that one should engage in during Elul as we approach the Yomim Nora’im (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur)? Zvi Unger Via E-mail
Every single time I get into the ice bath I don’t want to. But I do it anyway and when I do, I am rewiring and changing my brain, not metaphorically or symbolically, but literally.
In true cavalry to the rescue American tradition, U.S. ambassador to Israel said the other day that if Israel decided to apply sovereignty in parts of the West Bank the U.S. would respect that decision and would not dictate terms to Jerusalem.
If the soul and body are complete opposites, how do they manage to coexist as one? One would expect them to repel each other, like two opposite sides of a magnet.
What Moshe was saying was that once G-d has forbidden him to do something, then even if he was physically able to do the forbidden thing, he was spiritually unable to bring himself to do so.
Our main argument for forgiveness is that our sinful behaviors do not define us; they are an aberration, an external infection as it were.
Perhaps you’re thinking of cherubs. Those may be described as having a childlike face, based on the Talmud. But cherubs are also characterized in Tanach as weapon-wielding guardians, and several medieval Jewish thinkers see them as referring to intelligence, so that reference doesn’t fit either.
By Eli Lebowicz
Yes, we’re flawed, but that imperfectness makes us strive to do better.
By Adina Broder
Angels are perfect in obedience, yet they lack free will. This leads to a paradox: while it is true that they are incapable of sinning, they are also unable to choose virtue, being forced to comply with their directives without the option to disobey.
My hope is that our students see in their teachers not unattainable angels, but human beings reaching upwards – and that they too will be moved to live in an angelic way, lifting themselves and those around them closer to Hashem.
Angelic, to the Chumash, seems to mean something else entirely: something that is wildly interventionist – even sometimes violent. Angels do not stand by and passively watch. They engage.
As the Romantic movement reached its crescendo across Europe in the early nineteenth century, few collaborations seemed as unlikely – and as fruitful – as that between Lord Byron, the scion of English nobility and a literary enfant terrible, and Isaac Nathan, an observant Anglo-Jewish composer and musicologist.
Whatever the case, we know that the most important thing is doing the right thing, accepting and fulfilling G-d’s commands and commandments, working on ourselves by adopting the guidance of Torah and halacha. And this is what we should think if we have to stay home on Yom Kippur, as all of us must do at some point.
It seems that the New York State legislatures, with its extreme leftist Assembly and Senate leadership, have no intention of forcing Mamdani into moderation should he be elected New York’s Mayor. Yet Mamdani can only do what he says he wants to do if the legislature lets him do it.
Rosh Hashana is very much a gray zone because it’s the day on which we stand between what was and what can be. It’s the day on which we judge, and are judged, for how great our future can look tomorrow.
By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel
For Rav Kook, the call of this ideal shofar represents redemption through holiness; An awakening to return to our ancestral homeland out of great love and faith, and a desire to bring about the Redemption, fulfilling our destiny in the Land of Israel.
Because birth order can affect most children in the same ways, there are ways that you can help your children overcome weaknesses that birth order has thrown their way.
One may wear another person’s tallis for davening, even though it is not a requirement, because you thereby fulfill a mitzvah.
Any misstep is publicized globally, and with social media, it's on display almost immediately and intensely. That is the price of being royal – of being in the extremely tiny minority. Of having all eyes on you on the balcony.
Olas Shabbos B’Shabbato ‘An Offering of Appeasement’ (Zevachim 7b)
In some situations, divorce is the best solution; however, there are too many divorces due to interfering in-laws, immaturity in the couple, and other factors that can be remedied. I believe that many of the marriages that end in divorce can be saved.
At 18, many girls might be expected to spend their time scrolling through their phones or shopping in malls. The chesed program provides these teenagers with a purpose beyond themselves, transforming them into compassionate, mature young women who value the art of giving.
The shofar doesn’t sound to restore order; it sounds to rupture it. It doesn’t call us to purity; it calls us to have strategic clarity. It doesn’t ask us to return to innocence; it asks us to return to alignment. To choose life in systems that often don’t.
As a follower of Rabbi Hirsch, he believed in the formula of Torah im Derech Eretz, which he defined as steadfast loyalty to Torah and tradition combined with participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the country where the Jew has been welcomed as a citizen.
We recall that a person suffering from a phobia – such as claustrophobia – acknowledges reality. He is not deluded; he knows his fear is irrational. This is fundamentally different from someone who insists that their distorted perception is correct.
By Mendi Glik
Do not have any excuses. The Torah is not far away. You don’t have to reach the heavens or cross the ocean in order to learn Torah and do mitzvot.
By Irwin Cohen
First thing that impressed me about him was how he spoke about October 7. He was filled with compassion for the Jewish people and for the soldiers defending Israel. He bought protective vests, armored vests, for soldiers so they should be safer when they go into battle.
Chani and Mindy exchanged a glance, silently communicating, I’d get my dysfunctional family out of debt and back into their own house! But Mindy only said, I’d get a bigger house, for sure!
The inevitable result will be emigration – an exodus of Jewish New Yorkers comparable to or greater than that of the 1960s and ‘70s when rising crime rates, collapsing public schools and a weakening economy drove families away.
Switching yeshivas is a significant life decision. It will be disruptive, and another school may have a different style, hashkafa, or other attributes that don’t make it your first choice. However, tough choices need to be made to address your predicament.
Nitzavim has only 40 pesukim – the second shortest sedra, pasuk-wise. Only its sometimes partner Vayeilech has fewer (30).
Question: What is the proper means of teshuvah, the repentance one should engage in during Elul as we approach the Yomim Nora’im (Days of Awe)? Zvi Unger Via E-mail
The attack of October 7 and the unleashing of antisemitism have had a paradoxical effect: while they brought violence and tragedy, they also drew many hearts closer to Hashem, to religion, and to tradition.
In the eyes of many on the Left, particularly the young, he is as big a hero to them as Princip is to the Serbs. There are virtual statues and shrines being “erected” to him across the internet.
In order to enable free will, HaKadosh Baruch Hu hides Himself in His Creation. When I say hide, I mean behind a concept, for example The Laws of Nature. By hiding behind this "concept," HaKadosh Baruch Hu enables a person to see Him, or not.
Hashem is Hashem in the supernal realms in which He plans Creation as an ideal to be embodied, and He is Hashem in the physical world that He created and which we have inhabited since the first Rosh Hashana.
Mikneh Avraham occupies a singular place in the evolution of Hebrew grammatical literature.
The only way to appease one’s conscience when giving in to one’s most extreme desires is to violate all the prohibitions of the Torah, even those that do not give one any pleasure.
Young conservatives are disillusioned with politics, hostile to institutions, and suspicious of anything that sounds prepackaged. If you try to silence dissent, they tune you out.
By Marc Gronich
I’m not bottling it up. I’ve cried many times. I cry every single day. Someone said I have a heart of metal. That’s not correct.
The earliest instances of Lavi as a first name that I know about are all found in the halachic responsa of the Algerian Sage Rabbi Yitzchak bar Sheshet (1326–1408), also known as the Rivash.
We mourn the moment that it became fatally dangerous in the United States of America to express an opinion.
Before the recitation of the berachos preceding the blowing of the shofar, the shofar is placed on the bimah and covered with a tallis. If the ba’al tokei’a has more than one shofar, and/or other congregants have brought their own shofaros, they too are covered with the tallis on the bimah.
First, you need to believe in the system. You need to have faith in your parents and their research. You need to have confidence in their understanding of you and your wants and needs.
The protection of our charity extends to our children and grandchildren.
What begins as a disheartening struggle through fertility treatments gradually evolves into something far more transformative.
Although it has become one of the most familiar and participatory rituals of the High Holiday season that is embedded in contemporary Jewish practice, the extralegal origins of Tashlich and the controversies it once generated have largely been forgotten.
We notice what screams for attention: a fractured relationship, a career setback, a health scare. But what about what seems fine? A marriage that’s good enough. A spiritual life that’s lukewarm. A job that’s steady but uninspired. These don’t collapse from catastrophe. They wither from neglect.
By Zev Newman
What makes the book resonate is its sharp balance of the personal and historical.
We can readily understand the dilemma the three top democratic elected officials faced. Undoubtedly, he is not their preferred candidate and as noted, a particularly fraught one at that.
Goodman points out the Rambam is clearly hinting at his own suffering from his life – sea-voyage, or service of kings, indeed perhaps even a self-rebuke in the line they complain of the decrees and judgments of G-d. We are left speechless regarding the Rambam’s emotional courage, self-honesty, and humility.
Let’s get this year started with great wines, sweet and dry, ones that bring smiles to all those partaking in the Yom Tov meals. And may those smiles stay on for the whole year and beyond! L’chaim!
We have brief moments of inspiration, but they soon fade into oblivion, only to be resuscitated for a few more days the next year in the hopes that somehow this year might be different.
It insists that sweetness and substance go together. That what delights you also roots you. The juice is only there because the seed is there. The beauty of the moment is carrying something hard, lasting, alive.
By Ariela Davis
Of all the Rosh Hashana simanim, the pomegranate is the one that stands out most aligned with Rosh Hashana – be it from the fabled 613 seeds it holds (has anyone actually ever checked that?) or its majestic crown, reminding us that Hashem is the ultimate king.
How unusual it is to have a fruit with its own royal crown, and timed to ripen just as the holiday of G-d’s kingship arrives.
By Sara Blau
We ask Hashem: don’t judge us by our “peel” – the outer mistakes and shortcomings – but by the fruit inside, the pure intention and the desire to be close to You.
By Anat Coleman
I loved the idea that every pomegranate contains 613 seeds – one for each of the mitzvot – tucking sacred meaning into something as everyday as a piece of fruit.
The thematic motif of the book is the life lesson that Tamir wishes to impart: Just like in sports, often we will miss our goal. There is no need to dwell on it; instead, rebound and pivot in order to continue scoring in life.
We take it so for granted that we judge, that it doesn’t even occur to us that it’s not our place to always decide matters relating to other people’s lives.
We realize, too, when we are davening on Rosh Hashana that we have no idea how to articulate our wants and needs. What if you need a car? How does one phrase such a mundane request to Hashem? Like Elkanah, we can’t say nothing, but if we do say something, what should it be?
There is certainly a value in preserving one’s family nusach, minhagim, and even niggunim. Those, too, are compelling aspects of the mesorah. Fidelity to the past is not only comforting, but familiarity with the davening also enhances the spiritual experience.
What seems to rankle all of them is that the targets were ostensibly gathered to work on a cease fire and hostage release deal and the attack was therefore counterproductive.
On one side, you have something like a letter he wrote to a little girl in his congregation who had lost her pet bird – he turned it into a gentle lesson about memory and care. On the other, you see a leader constantly pressing forward, urging Senator Javits to speak on behalf of a day school.
Only when we negate our egos and acknowledge that the goodness and beracha in our lives comes not from our own independent efforts but from Hashem – our ultimate source and creator – can we then receive more beracha.
Although idol worship is less common and enticing in contemporary society, the prohibition against avodah zarah remains, at least conceptually, relevant.
If a person keeps in mind that everything belongs to Hashem, and knows the money is only entrusted to him, it is easier for him to tithe.
By Alan Magill
I was astounded at this tremendous mitzvah she was doing. She was dispensing HOPE in a big dose.
Several Acharonim resolve the matter by ruling that if the recipient is needy, it becomes a tzedakah pledge so that we are stringent to interpret the commitment for as long as he needs...
While at different points there is negative press surrounding the use of time outs, many psychologists and educators believe that when used correctly, a time out can be effective and valuable.
The great month of Elul has begun. The spirit of preparation for the Days of Mercy and Judgment have begun to envelop us, and with it the knowledge that it’s time to focus on teshuvah.
June 19, 2026 
