יום שבת, ט״ז אלול תשפ״וSaturday, August 29, 2026
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More than a professional rabbinic convention, the two-day gathering became a frank discussion about the challenges of leading a Sephardic community today and how to preserve the Sephardic mesorah as a living tradition.
By Avi Ganz
More than 20 years since I started my career as a baal tefilah and just holding my machzor conjures up all of these images and so many more emotions that have accompanied us on our tefillah journey.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
The machzor may stay the same; but by davening from our machzor, and spending time in shul with our community, hopefully our neshamas, our souls, will be stirred to change as we stand before Hashem.
By Eli Lebowicz
There’s a certain joy we get realizing that the number of pages in the machzor is only half as many as you first thought because of the English translation.
By Nachum Segal
Having grown up with the voluminous Adler machzor I quickly learned that the length of the machzor helps determine the length of High Holiday services.
Do we feel a profound longing to achieve our personal greatness? Do we feel empty until we achieve it? Or do we get caught up in the daily trivialities and forget to consider what our purpose might be?
Rav Mordechai Eliyahu was born in Jerusalem in 1929, the son of a leading kabbalist. At just 28, he became the youngest member ever to serve as a judge in the Israeli rabbinical courts – an early recognition of his remarkable scholarship.
An Israeli artificial intelligence startup that was valued at about $4 billion only three months ago is now reportedly on the verge of being acquired for roughly $7 billion by Anthropic, the American company behind the Claude AI chatbot. The potential acquisition of Decart would be one of the largest-ever purchases of an Israeli technology […]
By Arnold Fine
I’ll never forget how Mama said “Ah broch tsu mir” and clapped her hands to her face when she saw my sister wearing lipstick for the first time. This really seemed like a catastrophe. Who knew where it would lead?
By Irwin Cohen
I'm willing to share the future as it will possibly help some readers also. I'm lucky to have a wife that pushed me to go to the hospital.
Rav Eliyahu was respected across a wide spectrum of religious communities in Israel – a rare figure whose authority transcended internal divisions.
By Avi Ciment
You met some pretty amazing people in your career. From Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra, Ed Koch, Simon Wiesenthal, Yitzchak Rabin, Shamir, Ariel Sharon, Menachem Begin, Bibi and Bill Clinton. Who impressed you the most?
I’m concerned that while our broader American Jewish community has managed to, baruch Hashem, make high-level kashrus a priority, we have sometimes sacrificed the quality of the ingredients that we put in our bodies.
When I think of honey I also think of the commentators who say that the mann that fed the Jews during the 40 years in the desert was honey on little cakes.
I save all the honey for Rosh Hashanah time when my family has this cute tradition where we sit around the table for a honey tasting and we sample all the honey from around the world.
By Jordana Baruchov Grreenfield
We know that in the year ahead, not everything will feel like honey. There will be disappointments, detours, challenges, and moments we would never have chosen or foreseen. But perhaps the avodah of Rosh Hashanah is learning how to dip those moments into honey.
Sweetness comes from a teacher who delights in a child’s questions, the thrill of discovering a new idea, the joy of wrestling with a difficult text, and the feeling that Torah is alive and meaningful.
By Jessica Russak-Hoffman - JNS
“Of all the things left for Shlock Rock to do, this was one of them,” lead singer Lenny Solomon told JNS.
Though Lysov faces a stacked draw anchored by international superstars Tokito Oda and Alfie Hewett, his direct qualification underscores his steady rise on the world stage and guarantees a strong Israeli presence in the main draw.
While there are no Israeli players featured on either the Men’s or Women’s entry or qualifying lists this summer, four prominent international players on the official entry lists share Jewish heritage
Led by internationally recognized presenters, participants explored research-based strategies that strengthen thinking, boost problem-solving, and increase cognitive development.
This is our opportunity to strive for bigger and better things in the upcoming year.
By Solly Hess
How long should an engagement be? On the one hand, the longer it lasts, the more time you have to prepare for the wedding. From choosing the right venue to the caterer and the band, the more time you have, the better organized and executed your simcha will be. But then again, why wait? You […]
Many Jewish thinkers describe the Jewish calendar not as a simple cycle where we return to the same starting point each year, but as an upward spiral.
May this Elul give us the opportunity with renewed meaning and passion and we prepare our minds and souls (and voices) for the inspiring days ahead.
During this season of teshuvah (and really, throughout the entire year) we can review what we’ve written and decide what needs to be corrected, what needs to be rewritten.
On August 6, one day after Ohel was chosen as the successful bidder, a group of Camp Lavi parents obtained counsel and filed an objection to the sale of the camp to Ohel.
By Arnold Fine
Can you remember the really big, important “firsts” in your life?
The last month of the Jewish calendar is actually the most important – serving as preparation for the High Holidays.
I can probably read your thoughts: “Elul? I’m still in the Catskills! We haven’t even gone shopping at the Back-to-School sales yet!” That is true, but on the other hand, this week is Shabbos Mevorchim Elul, when we announce Rosh Chodesh Elul. Before you know it, we will be deep into Elul! Let us see how we can utilize this Shabbos to start getting ready.
In Tanach and today, it often has the connotation of a solitary guard or a group of guards (like an honor guard – a mishmar kavod) who stand at their post and provide protection for those within.
With the greatest irony, G-d places His desires in our hands. He longs, so to speak, to give us pure blessing, comfort, and glory. Yet, we sin and rob Him of this.
By Chaim Saiman
There are watches in heaven matching the watch periods on earth, and the night itself is genuinely dangerous – exile, dread, and demons all make their appearance. That dread is held at bay through Torah study.
Hashem was awake the whole time, waiting for us to join Him.
Tuesday afternoon the beis medrash is a ghost town. Thursday at ten, suddenly everybody's a masmid. What changed? Nothing in Shas. The cholent got here. Let's be honest about the incentive structure. The cholent is the real maggid shiur. The kugel is the second seder. Somewhere in between, two guys are actually killing a Tosfos, […]
We will bentch Rosh Chodesh this Shabbat and announce the coming month – Rosh Chodesh Elul yihyeh machar b’yom Rishon uvyom Sheini…
When we pray for Hashem’s return with the coming of Moshiach, the rebuilding of His House, the Beis HaMikdash, the restoration of His monarchy, the Malchus Beis Dovid, that is the ultimate ani l’Dodi, I am for My Beloved, for that is for Hashem Himself.
Elul is when we are supposed to put a halt on the wheels of habit and do some spiritual contemplating and penetrating soul-searching.
By Hillel Fuld
It is usually a term of endearment and some people use it as a nickname for a baby and even for an adult.
I had two bubbies. Although the truth is that we spelled it Bobby.
By Keshet Starr
No matter which kind of bubby you have, the name brings up a larger question – how do we connect across generations?
Bubby isn’t a title that comes with biology. It comes down to what someone does.
I promised myself that I would be the bubby I never was blessed with if I was zoche to have grandchildren.
Sometimes, in our little country, the most inspiring moments happen when and where you least expect them.
An hour in which nothing has to be managed, where the worst of it can be said out loud and the person hearing it neither flinches nor leaves, does something no technique accounts for.
By Miriam Feit
And I, for one, would really like to know - WHO is behind the curtain running this frightening show;
Most of this obscenity has taken place in Labour controlled towns. That party, in thrall to Muslim voters, has been most energetic in trying to cover the evil up.
By David Curwin
In the ceremony of Havdalah, the relevant sense is the last one. It marks the distinction between kodesh and chol, sacred and weekday: not physical separation, but making a distinction.
By Martin Bodek
I still dip the wine into my pockets and across my brow, so that I'll be rich and smart. One day. Hasn't worked yet.
I grew up going to sleepaway camps. Every Havdalah was with the whole camp. It was an experience, not just the fast 20 second deal which many people have. Singing Havdalah was one of my favorite parts of camp. After all, my name is Shira.
What about distinguishing between good and evil, between light and darkness? Can there be anything more obvious than that? Sadly, not at all.
We can only control what we can control. We can control our words and our actions. How people choose to interpret our words and our actions is beyond our control.
By Dr. Jon Lamm
The Nazis fought for total extermination... Therefore, to honor and to remember, to love and nurture, to daven and learn Torah, and to celebrate with Am Yisrael in our very own Eretz Yisrael is the ultimate act of defiance.
By Alan Zeitlin
In a debate between eight candidates seeking to be the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, none critiqued his Nazi tattoo or allegations women have made against him.
From kosher meals and Shabbos accommodations to hospice care and dignified Jewish burial, Calvary Hospital is ensuring that Jewish patients and families receive compassionate end-of-life care rooted in faith, tradition, and respect.
By Elie Klein
As I endure the indignity of my physical limitations, clash with the mental fog of “chemo brain,” and grapple with a slight loss of identity, I am also gaining the gift of true perspective, and I am so grateful.
By Alan Zeitlin
Claims that Jews control FIFA all rely on the same idea: that Jewish people are the secret master manipulators of the world.
The episode is not an isolated procedural lapse. It reflects a deeper assumption that runs through the National Institutions: that "Diaspora Jewry" holds one set of views, and that the institutions may speak in its name accordingly.
He is also toying with the concept of including an event plan board where users can make checklists and invite others to view their vendors and add their personal notes and comments.
If more experienced rabbis make aliyah, communities and institutions need to invest more seriously in developing the next generation of rabbinic leaders.
We can learn an important lesson from a shvitz. Just as the body seeks to return to its regulated state after being overheated, the soul seeks to return to its natural state of connection with Hashem.
Sometimes, I shvitz in worry, wondering when and how my kids will overcome their next challenge. Or how the war in Israel is going. Or the Jewish community here in America is faring.
By Anat Coleman
As temperatures climb, the city seems to shed layers. Shorts appear. Tank tops emerge. I remain covered. And start to shvitz.
In panic we feel sweat and call it threat. In our work we feel sweat and call it mine. Both times the body is simply telling the truth, and both times we paint over it with a meaning it never asked for.
I shvitz a lot – cooking meals on Friday for Shabbat, chasing after our three young children, rushing from one work event to another – and I'm grateful for all of it. The only thing I ask? Please just blast the A/C.
By Irwin Cohen
Fidrych had a great record of nine wins and two losses with an impressive earned run average of only 1.78 when he started for the American League at the All-Star Game.
But as Israel approaches another national election, here is a question worth asking: How many American Jews actually understand how Israel elects its government?
All of our nation’s suffering is rooted in the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. More precisely, our suffering is rooted in what the destruction reflects – distance between us and Hashem.
The year 2005 was the first time I ever truly felt the pain of Tishabaav.
Today Hatzalah is a lifesaving organization that also pioneered in the ambucycle, a motorcycle outfitted with everything necessary to start emergency medical treatment.
In my experience, the same volunteering spirit and leadership that compels people to join Hatzalah often is why they are the ones who often daven or blow shofar on the Yamim Noraim.
I think about the path that Hatzalah created for so many men to contribute and to be recognized for their contributions, and how important that was for their relationship to the Jewish community.
I’m also drawn toward the somewhat humorous Hatzalah culture that has become a bit of a meme, most recently in the comedy of Dovie Neuberger.
The Gemara teaches that Jews are responsible for one another. Few institutions translate that principle into action as literally as Hatzalah.
This Tisha B’av, it is imperative that we constantly remind ourselves that Achdut Bnai Yisrael does not happen by itself. It requires hard work, continuous perspective, introspection, due diligence and a love for acheinu.
Because the words of Torah gladden the heart, studying Torah is forbidden when Tisha B’Av is on a weekday, except for passages in Scripture that deal with the destruction of the Temple and other calamities.
A central halachic and emotional theme of the day is to avoid diverting our minds from this national mourning.
By Dovid Hirsch
It is estimated that at the time of the American Revolution, there were merely 2,500 Jews in the entire 13 colonies, most of them women and children. From that period, we have over 100 confirmed names of Jews who served the Patriot cause in uniform.
Our sense of responsibility toward fellow Jews is deepened because Torah commands us to care for one another.
Perhaps freedom is not political or economic. Maybe real liberty is internal – something no government, culture, or oppressor can ultimately control.
A free country does not stay free by accident. Liberty must be taught, cherished – and occasionally sung slightly off-key.
The freedom to worship is one of our most fundamental liberties and we should hold on to it for dear life.
Liberty demands an ever-watchful stewardship. It means having the courage to speak up when it is hard rather than carrying the day over in silence, which is easier.
By Nachum Segal
Rules and guidelines and values should be appreciated for all they add to our lives while, at the same time, a live and let live approach can exist at their side.
By Irwin Cohen
Israel was welcoming new residents on an ongoing basis as more than 700,000 arrived in the Jewish homeland in the three years since it became a state.
They are so frustrated by our ability to defend ourselves that they have made it their mission to destroy Israel and return to the good old days of Jewish helplessness.
A chok is a Torah law that transcends human logic. It asks us to trust even when we do not fully understand.
Does Hashem have a reason for everything, and that is why we follow the Torah? Or does Hashem decide some things arbitrarily, but we follow them anyway because Hashem said so?
The less trust exists in a relationship, the more explanation becomes necessary. But the deeper the trust, the less understanding needs to come first.
August 28, 2026 
