יום שני, י״ז תשרי תשפ״זMonday, September 28, 2026
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By Irwin Cohen
I root for all of the Detroit teams and Detroit has been energized by the recent success of the Tigers baseball team and the football Lions. But now basketball has become my third favorite and the Brooklyn Nets have replaced the Detroit Pistons as my favorite hoopsters.
She ignored her gut and backed off, trusting implicitly that the two most important adults in her life wanted only the best for her. Too young, too unsure of herself, she let them convince her they knew better than her what she needed.
Despite the challenges of war, Israel’s economy is widely viewed as resilient and fundamentally strong, giving both local and international buyers confidence in the market’s long-term prospects.
The title page itself announces the work’s ambitions: a composition… measured and delved to uncover allegory and parable in the words of Chazal, standing on the shoulders of giants like the Ibn Ezra and the Rambam.
Five decades before Herzl’s Der Jundenstaat, Montefiore was arguably the first contemporary Zionist.
So where do we go from here? Don’t ask me. I have difficulty making decisions that affect my own life, let alone those of millions.
By Maayan Zik
Catastrophes can strengthen communal ties and can paradoxically be a catalyst for profound positive change.
We do not respond to catastrophe with questions of why and we do not think of calamities gone by in order to be sad. We respond as best as we can.
Catastrophe disrupts our sense of coherence simultaneously – spiritually, psychologically, neurologically. It fractures how we understand ourselves and the world, overwhelming the nervous system’s need for safety and control.
I had planned a different response to the word catastrophe, but living in Israel now, during the ballistic missile barrages from Iran, that word has taken on a new meaning.
Like the word, our personal understanding of these events can change. What once felt like a meaningless, destructive force can, with time and support, reveal its place in our life's narrative.
It has been a delight to receive letters throughout these three years from many of you sharing your journey or that of someone you care about.
Perfection—the henchman of procrastination—is deeply demoralizing. Neither intelligence nor talent grants immunity from its grip.
Chani was the first in the family to acknowledge the wisdom of renting out their home, and was more willing than the others to bite the bullet and do whatever was necessary to keep them afloat.
That this newly acquired manuscript – hidden away for centuries – should resurface now is a quiet miracle.
By Irwin Cohen
After Mr. Ploni finished telling his story, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said, Now I know why I smell Gan Eden on you. The neshamos you buried are clinging to you.
Basketball, Goodman asserts, is a vehicle that facilitates empowerment, and he’s confident that basketball will help these children emerge from a pervasive “down” state of mind and life in limbo – disrupted schedules, disrupted sleep, schools closed, extensive time in shelters, explosions and more.
Upon his return to London, Sir Moses was given a hero’s welcome, including a big ceremony and special synagogue services, and, when he met with Queen Victoria to present her with the firman, she honored him by permitting him to add the Lion of Judah holding a banner bearing the word 'Jerusalem' to his coat of arms.
The Torah singled out igniting fire as the paradigm for Shabbos observance, because our attitude toward one another on Shabbos is what will ensure its observance in future generations.
Acknowledge the fire, respond to the flame. If you don’t, well, you may as well be sloshing through life in a waterlogged rowboat. And who wants to live like that?
In our generation, we are witnessing the revealed yad Hashem – victories against all odds, survival amidst growing hate, and moral clarity in chaos. We are witnessing aish min haShamayim.
We must remember that an uncontrolled fire is destructive and terrifying, but a controlled one is a tremendous object of beauty.
There are many parallels between fire and water, most notably their coequal destructive potential and indispensability to human life.
For most of us, this is not pleasant to experience, but we understand that in a health emergency, this care is necessary. But they do not understand.
Compassion is the foundation of validation. How we speak to ourselves — and how we listen — is just as important as what we say.
Coin-like pieces such as this are classified as tokens. A token is not an official government-issued coin but privately made, and is used as a substitute for money or for other purposes like advertising.
Family accountant Izzy had the idea that the Elmans should move to a smaller place and rent out their house to catch up on their debts.
By Irwin Cohen
There were demographic disabilities within, as well as without, the new state. The Jews were less than three-fifths of the population; the Arabs, more than two-fifths.
The procedure itself is covered by medical insurance. This program is for ancillary costs, such as lost income, travel expenses, lodging, food, child and elder care, and medical aides not covered by insurance.
This 1620 edition is among the earliest printings of the complete Sifrei Levushim and was issued just a few years after the author's passing.
Recently, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth caused a stir when, pursuant to President Trump’s long overdue purge of content deemed to promote DEI, he absurdly flagged the name Enola Gay for removal, apparently because the name contained the word “gay” (sigh). In fact, the Enola Gay was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets.
In short, American taxpayers, especially in California, are unwittingly funding activists seeking to overthrow the traditional American order.
One potential challenge is that having real pride in one’s country may take away from one’s pride as a Jew, although it is certainly possible to take pride in two nations simultaneously.
In Israel, patriotism is not just about waving flags or singing anthems – it is about extraordinary acts of bravery and sacrifice.
A Jewish patriot knows: you can kill a Jew, but you cannot kill Judaism. In that very act of sacrifice, Judaism is preserved.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
In our own community, we balance sharing shortcomings of past generations with teaching how beautiful our mesorah is, its laws and the path it gives us to connect to Hashem and greater ethical refinement.
In Randle Cotgrave's dictionary, in the early 17th century, the word appears as concern for one's country. But it is the etymology of the term that may reveal to us what our tradition has to say about patriotism.
I'm ecstatic about receiving this award. The Jewish Press owners, the Klass and Greenwald families, have provided me with a wonderful opportunity to have my articles published in such a prestigious national weekly publication, Gronich said.
By Rena Vegh
Unfortunately, there are targets everywhere, to those who want to find one. As brusque as it might seem, you want that target to be somebody else – and so does Chai Defense.
If we can love our lives until the very last moments, there is every reason to celebrate, and less reason for sadness.
Sometimes I imagine being a grandfather and my grandkids calling me on the phone, saying, Saba, can you give me information about the October 7 war? We’re learning about it in school.
Recognizing that having an anxious thought doesn’t mean we must feel anxious allows us to break free from its grip and regain control.
But that’s just it! he said excitedly. If Velvel can’t change his habits in Brooklyn, let him leave Brooklyn! Listen to me! He should rent out his house and live somewhere else for a while!
This past week, I had the pleasure of acquiring a truly exceptional piece from this rich literary tradition – an Italian manuscript from 1715 that brings together, between two modest covers, some of the most beloved early Purim Torah classics in a beautifully unified volume.
Many of Dylan’s songs are replete with biblical references hearkening back to his Jewish studies in childhood.
What did they do so well that their legacy is that when I hear their names… I smile?
Laughing puts us at ease. It breaks the ice and creates warmth and connection between people. It boosts our physical and mental health. It helps our minds open to learn. And perhaps most fitting in this case, it is a powerful coping tool.
Moe would show his displeasure with his cohorts by slapping their faces, or poking their eyes out. It might have been fake, but we kids didn’t know that.
It's an amazing thing that G-d placed in our nature that we have the ability to create a circuit within another human being or audience that can, in turn, uplift ourselves through uplifting others.
The physical gags of the Three Stooges continue to be classics, and the kesubah of Moshe and Chana has stood the test of time. So did the marriage the kesubah solemnized.
But it’s not just those who live in Israel like Gutstein who are trying to leave the country. According to Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, as of June 17, there were around 38,000 tourists in Israel.
Hubby is no longer at my side, and I feel comfortable speaking about his name now that he has passed.
The theory of ironic processes explains that the more we deliberately attempt to suppress a specific thought, the more we find ourselves attached to it.
By Irwin Cohen
While American Jews tried to help, they were also surrounded by signs of growing antisemitism at home and disturbing admiration for Hitler in unexpected places.
By Baruch Lytle
The Rebbe Rashab says the commandment of techeiles is a perpetual one, and whenever we are capable of fulfilling it, it is clear that we must do so.
Rashi’s commentary was so foundational that it was chosen as the very first Hebrew book to be printed with a date.
By Baruch Lytle
When asked about the morale and reactions Cole is witnessing from the civilian population, Cole admitted, It's a mix, everyone has reason to be afraid, but Israelis are remaining strong right now.
Post-World War II Liverpool was generally very antisemitic and Lennon came from an anti-Jewish background. He was known to make impromptu antisemitic comments...
By Alan Zeitlin
We are so outnumbered, so if given the platform to speak, we have to take that opportunity even if we are incensed that other guests given an opportunity are antisemitic.
I look around and see people running around, busying themselves til they drop. No one wants to even stop to think because we are afraid to sit alone in our silence.
By Jordana Baruchov Grreenfield
What exactly is a schlepper? In that simple scene, he was the one carrying the bags. But the term schlep carries more than just physical weight – it has a certain heaviness to it.
I've learned to honor my own schlep seasons with self-compassion, when showing up is the highest form of courage I can muster.
By Avi Ganz
We have a tendency to relate to our ups and downs in terms of closeness and distance: an up brings us closer to our goals and to G-d, and a down does the opposite.
By Akiva Kra
Some schleps are just plain annoying. Like the 30-minute walk with a group to a friend’s house, only to find no one home. Or schlepping five bags of groceries in the rain because your driver bailed. Brutal.
We are not the same people we were when we went into the fray. For myself, I find that now I am quite prepared to express how I feel in situations where I probably should not.
It’s important to emphasize that diversion is not suppression. For instance, we wouldn’t say we’re suppressing thoughts of unicorns just because we’re not thinking about them; they’re simply irrelevant to us, so our attention is elsewhere.
One of the earliest printed maps in Hebrew, it captures both the geographic and spiritual journey of Am Yisrael.
By Irwin Cohen
Moments like these remind us that leadership on the world stage is not only strange, but often deeply troubling – especially when it comes to Israel.
The impressionists differed in their political and social opinions well before the Affair, and their varying attitudes toward France’s Jewish population proved to be one of the most divisive issues.
More broadly, the criminal justice system has become weaponized.
According to the Baal Shem Tov, every individual carries a divine spark and mission – their own inner degel. Healing begins when we reconnect with this inner identity.
Only when we feel a secure sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves can we really have the freedom to discover our individuality.
The Israeli flag flew in many places on our recent MDS 8th grade graduation trip to Israel. It flew over the graves of fallen soldiers in the freshest plots on Har Herzl, blew in the wind over the word Yizkor over a pile of cars, burned and shot at the site of the Nova pogrom.
As a member of the New York State Assembly, representing my district and my community, I often feel that I am waving an invisible degel. The manner in which I present myself, the things I say, the culture and traditions I honor, even the clothing I choose – these are all my degel.
By Ariela Davis
At last night’s ceremony at the Kotel in memory of the fallen soldiers, the camera repeatedly flashed to the flag waving in the wind as if it represented everything we were mourning that day. In many ways, it does.
A 96- year-old man, days before his life was to expire… still wanted to enjoy every moment of his life.
In the previous columns, we laid out the mechanics of bitachon. Now, we begin the step-by-step protocol to confront anxiety and fear head-on—starting with a powerful, science-backed technique to intercept anxiety the moment it strikes and shift both body and brain out of panic mode.
Breitbart became a great source of hope to all sorts of Jews, ranging from the wholly unaffiliated to Orthodox and Charedi rabbis, who could dream of a future of national empowerment and, ultimately, a Jewish state defended by Jewish strength.
In about thirty seconds, I had reconfigured our life. We would settle by the sea, my husband would become a Masada guide, and I would homeschool at the water’s edge.
We don’t have to wait until we feel inspired to reach for Hashem. We reach out because we feel dry, empty, arid. That’s the moment of connection – not after the storm, but during the drought.
The medrash in Bamidbar Rabbah tells us that the Torah was given through three mediums: fire, water, and the desert. The commonality between these three is that they are all free and accessible. So too, the Torah costs nothing as it is available to anyone who seeks it.
When it comes to Israel we want as much rain as possible in the winter so that our crops will grow and the land will flourish.
Moisture for crops and vegetation? No problem; we had dew every morning. Water to drink for man and beast? No reliance on oases for us, we had be’erah shel Miriam. And so it went for 40 years.
By Rena Vegh
At different points, members in the group yelled out as they revisited difficult feelings in the body or memories in the mind.
How is it possible that the earth still turns on its axis? Doesn’t everyone understand the void that now exists?
Anxiety and fear are distinct phenomena, each with unique origins and requiring different strategies for management. Anxiety prompts us to anticipate future dangers and imagine worst-case scenarios that might never occur. In contrast, fear is a reaction to a known threat that usually subsides once the threat is removed or conquered.
Beyond the specific questions, pay close attention to how the therapist responds. Do they listen attentively? Do they answer your questions clearly and respectfully? Do you feel a sense of warmth and genuine interest?
By Irwin Cohen
Without the Babe in April and May, the Yanks were close to the bottom and finished the season in seventh place in the eight team American League.
The Boston Globe reported that by the end of November 1967, more than 400,000 members of the Jewish faith are estimated to have observed the commandment to wear Phylacteries (tefillin) at the city’s Western Wall, formerly known as the Wailing Wall.
The Mishna (1:2) for Maseches Rosh Hashana states that there are four periods when Hashem sits in judgment: Pesach for grain, Shavuos for the fruit of trees, Sukkos for water, and Rosh Hashana for humanity.
Everything we do in life requires sustenance, and it’s no coincidence that the Torah uses the word lechem to describe not only bread, but all food in general.
By Maayan Zik
Lechem with the Hebrew letters lamed-chet-mem means bread, but can also be a stand in for abundance, livelihood, and sustenance.
September 25, 2026 
