יום ראשון, כ״ג תשרי תשפ״זSunday, October 4, 2026
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By Adina Broder
Forgiveness by our fellow man results in him putting aside his pain and resentment, even though those feelings were justified. This is an incredible act of emotional generosity.
An apology is so much more than just saying the words I’m sorry.
Slicha takes on a different significance during Yom Kippur when we are reminded that not one human exists without fault.
By dvora
On a personal level, man to man, when you forgive someone for a perceived slight, you reclaim your peace of mind.
Why are we so stubborn as adults, who should know with so much more reason and logic, that if we just say sorry, we would be able to move on from arguments so much faster.
We will not even discuss the stains which are under the dining table from food accidents, which only compound the unique new decor.
By Alan Zeitlin
Each comic shined, discussing everything from recent attacks by Israel to the presidential election to dating.
These marranos who returned to Judaism openly were often adults, with little or no real Jewish education or knowledge. The need to integrate them in to the new communities resulted in a new phenomenon, siddurim that were completely in the vernacular, in this case the Spanish or Portuguese, of these new immigrants.
Raban (1890-1970), who acquired his reputation through the designs he made for Bezalel, was undoubtedly one of the most important artists in pre-State Eretz Yisrael.
Besides the rigors of the Depression, life in New York was complicated by Zeydie’s delicate constitution. He could only digest white bread, for example, not rye or pumpernickel. Then he lost an eye in an industrial accident and was unable to work steadily.
Perhaps it's a benefit to us that we can't see real kings today. It allows us to strengthen our desire, so as we gather in shul this year, we not only crown Hashem as our melech...
Even if we have a theoretical understanding of the sort of mighty and absolute monarch used as a metaphor for G-d, it is very distant from our actual experience.
These ideas come together when you consider one of the most powerful paragraphs we say – Adon Olam. It opens with a mind-blowing statement – Hashem is the Master of time (olam), who reigned (malach) before any form was created.
Perhaps this is why Aleinu, a declaration of faith and belief in G-d as king, is a centerpiece of the Mussaf on Rosh Hashana. In saying it, we are challenged to ask a simple yet uncomfortable question. Have we made G-d our King?
By David Curwin
It’s also notable that while the Torah mentions many foreign kings, none of Israel’s leaders, including Moshe, are ever given the title melech.
Pasha is also the name of a beautiful butterfly which exists in the Middle East and Africa. I am quite sure that it not what Hubby had in mind. The word Pasha equated with powerful, and Hubby will retain that definition.
In this correspondence written by Emmanuel and family members in Salonica and Curacao, familial matters are interspersed with much important historical material and records.
Some critics maintain that the poem was actually a prophetic pre-history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as Melville brilliantly considers the friction between science and issues of faith and doubt and the interplay between Jewish life and practices in the biblical past and presents contemporary Jewish life in the Ottoman empire in late-nineteenth century Eretz Yisrael.
It’s heartening to see the once virid foliage turn crackly and dull, but this is requisite needed for its overall survival.
Leaves represent the cycles of life and how where we seem to be can be deceiving, and how we are all connected.
By Keshet Starr
As a kid who grew up in a place without seasons, watching the leaves fall in autumn is still magical. And yet, the beauty of the changing colors masks the harder elements of the cold winter to come.
The question to be asked is this: how many leaves do we need to add to the table to accommodate the guests coming for the Shabbat meal?
By Hillel Fuld
Just as leaves blow in the wind and are impossible to retrieve, so to, a word. Once it’s out there, it’s impossible to get it back. But this concept doesn’t stop with words.
It was important that I began this chapter with the newsflash, or you might think that this chapter will reveal some secrets about the once teenage-heart-throb. Nope.
I recently acquired a fine copy of a first edition of his Chochmat Adam, published in Vilna in 1815. His Chayei Adam, published prior, did not contain any approbation.
De Santis stated, I am committed to deepening the relationship between Florida and the State of Israel. This specialty license plate serves as a visible symbol of our steadfast support and friendship.
He believed that when Zionism succeeds in normalizing Jewish life, Hebrew writers would become capable of producing works of literate genius; as such, as a means to fulfill his vision of national revival, he devoted himself to encouraging Hebrew writers to compose works that blended Judaism with humanism.
Nevertheless, we must face the facts. It has been said that the measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.
...our relationship with G-d is anything but impersonal. Like a marriage, it takes body and soul, words and actions, commitments, failures, and fixing.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
A beautiful imagery developed from Chabad thought envisions G-d being in the field and this is our opportunity to come closer to Hashem, so to speak, panim el panim, face to face.
Call out to Hashem when He is found, call Him when He is close. He is not just approachable, to every Jew He is dodi, My beloved.
Enigmatically and somewhat controversially, Rambam interprets the nature of this loving relationship to depend on intellectual understanding of G-d and His works: according to the level of knowledge, so can be the love.
The gematria of dodi is 24. The gematria of Hashem’s name is 26. To reach a level of G-dliness we must add two – oneself and Hashem, in a mutually caring and giving relationship.
By Adi
By re-imagining rehabilitation, ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran is advancing ability for all – empowering children, adolescents and adults with severe disabilities and pioneering cutting edge therapeutic and recovery services for anyone touched by disability.
On occasion, Hubby decides to be an independent human being who resists my regimen and refuses to ingest even one more pill. I cannot really blame him as I look at my own selection of vitamins, prescribed meds and cure-alls and wonder how I will ever get them all down the hatch.
Originally the censors focused on religious works, particularly Kabbalastic and chasidic works. However, with time, they took on a political bent as well, promoting ideas favorable to the government and eliminating any words of opposition that were suspected in any of the printed works.
By Alan Zeitlin
The message is that politics come before the safety of the Jews, Sheinkopf said.
Kipnis was a leading pioneer of the Diaspora-negating Zionist narrative and one of its most active proponents, and much of his work was purposely designed to replace Diasporan poems, stories, narratives, culture and traditions.
Kipnis was a leading pioneer of the Diaspora-negating Zionist narrative and one of its most active proponents, and much of his work was purposely designed to replace Diasporan poems, stories, narratives, culture and traditions.
She is not only my mother-in-law, but also, the first Jewish mother I've ever known, so I'm a convert. Yes, it's different from having a non-Jewish mother, but in a wonderful way.
By Eli Lebowicz
We actually had a baby earlier this year and my in-laws lived with us for a month afterwards, because I needed more comedy material. And boy did that work.
The Gemara is reminding us of the potency of this unique relationship and that it must be treated with care.
The stereotype of the meddling, overbearing shvigger can cause tension even before the relationship has a chance to develop. For many, the fear of not meeting expectations or navigating potential conflicts is significant.
As we saw in the recent Olympics relay races, the baton is passed forward and the passer steps away; so too when a man or woman marries, parents have to let go of their biological baton.
Hubby goes to his memory-day-care center, Melabev, and the staff there have mentioned his decline over the past six years. But somehow, the past year has been the worst. Of course, how foolish of me to have expected otherwise.
The star attraction of the auction was The David Moss Haggadah, which is a masterful work of modern manuscript-making by the artist David Moss.
This week I acquired a copy of this now scarce title, titled Baruch Hagever, a memorial book for Baruch Goldstein, the perpetrator of the Hebron mass shooting.
By Alan Zeitlin
I experienced the love of G-d amid the terror, which is such a dichotomy and a mind trip, he said. It’s like, what’s going on here? If you start to think about it, it’s too much to handle, but when you are active in the moment, you just look at it and that your mission is to play music every day...
To assure that its graduating students would not experience financial problems, the school paid each of them 1,000 francs, but that largesse proved unnecessary because virtually all of them quickly gained meaningful employment, in most cases very well paid jobs, because the skills that they had gained in Mikveh Israel were in high demand.
There have always been men who exploited their power over women (or children, or other men). But this is not characteristic of all men, and saying so is a terrible slur.
By Jordana Baruchov Grreenfield
In essence, shira connects to the soul by expressing, reflecting, and amplifying the deepest aspects of our human experience, making it a powerful medium for both personal and spiritual connection.
I’d been singing Birkat HaMazon since childhood. I never had stopped to consider how it sounded to others. Which is the best way to sing of all. Now I sing all the time. On or off tune, I don’t know or care.
By Akiva Kra
Song clearly can reflect deep emotions and also can represent unbound joy. However, not every time is meant to have singing.
My name is Shira. But it’s not Shira. It’s actually Tzivya Chaya Liba. I didn’t like that name very much, and I have a feeling my parents didn’t either.
A song is the pen of the heart. It expresses the deepest parts of our hearts and souls, that which cannot be expressed through the medium of finite syllables.
It is my contention that the exasperation which so many caregivers experience is a combination of exhaustion because of the physical necessities involved while being a caregiver, and the emotional gutting which is experienced from those we loved all our lives… who barely know us now, and are treating us poorly.
This year, the camp faced another significant challenge: a dramatic increase in participants. Due to the October 7 events and subsequent Swords of Iron War, 200 newly bereaved children joined the camp, doubling the number of participants to 400.
Following his elder brother's murder, the Baba Sali was appointed head of the community, but fearing continuing antisemitism, his family and much of the community moved to the town of Boudenib, where the yeshiva he led was resettled.
By Alan Zeitlin
November said while poetry will likely remain a marginalized genre compared to fiction, those who are passionate about poetry work hard to hone their craft and take great joy in the way poetry provides a vehicle for communicating poignant truths in a compressed space.
Perhaps as a result of what he himself characterized as his mother’s “made-up Judaism, Hirschfeld rejected Orthodox Judaism. Nonetheless, he always believed that he belonged to a great heritage going back through centuries, and I’ve always felt that I am very close to Jewish life, customs, food, even though I never attend synagogue. But I’ve never thought of myself as anything but Jewish.
It seems like forshpayz specifically refers to cold appetizers. In contrast, smorgasbord can include hot, cold, and a broader array of eats.
By Maayan Zik
Of course, I was generally aware of appetizers, but had no idea it held such a special space in the hearts of Eastern European Jews.
Jewish culture is just like the melting pot of America. We come in all colors, stripes, and flavors, and we are all lovable. The initial taste might be foreign at first, but when you really sit down to enjoy the meal together, you will grow to love it, too.
Picture this: It’s Sunday morning, you’ve just grabbed bagels and lox from your favorite appetizing shop. That smoked salmon? Forshpayz. Cream cheese schmear? Forshpayz. Whitefish salad? Forshpayz. This isn’t just any starter; it’s a whole production number.
It’s not just my stomach that craves forshpayz all year long; it’s my neshama.
When I returned later in the evening, Hubby was in bed but wide awake. I asked him if he remembered his birthday party. He said no” I asked if he remembered the wonderful birthday cake with his picture on it. He said Yes! thus, a bit of the day was actually savored.
These satirical works were written in the style and language of the Talmud, duplicating the layout and fonts of the standard Talmudic page, with a main text in the center flanked by commentaries in Rashi text.
The teacher who relayed this example to me told me that at the end of about a few months of this training, they could have turned any academic material that you can possibly imagine into an excuse to have these political conversations.
By Marc Gronich
I’ve always been interested in the afflictions of mental illness. My grandmother committed suicide. We’ve had a streak of mental illness in my family tragically. I myself am mentally ill. My career was destroyed by my bizarre criminal acts, Wachtler said.
Over the course of his life, his inventions and over 150 U.S. and international patents have contributed to the advancement of military defense, including tracking systems for submarines, and to television technology, video gaming, electronic toys, and other electronic consumer products.
Boker tov is not merely a salutation to others wishing them a “good morning,” it is also a mandate for myself to set a proper mindset to start my day.
By Nachum Segal
Kudos to those who give better impressions of themselves and our people by regularly adhering to these practices.
Let us all pray to Hashem for many more boker tov's when all our enemies will be destroyed.
By Martin Bodek
Reminds me of a famous Nathan Birnbaum vort: “The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and having the two as close together as possible.”
Since October 7/Simchat Torah, there has been no good morning, there has been only waking to realize that we are still in this endless nightmare of grief, pain, and uncertainty.
To add insult to injury, Dr. N. was concerned that Hubby jolted his teeth badly when he fell, and wants Hubby to eat soft foods for a few days to let the gums get over the trauma. Hubby is a difficult eater at the best of times, but he will likely be willing to eat ice cream multiple times per day to get some calories for subsistence.
In this poster, the organization expresses the idea that the majority of German Jews identify more with their German identity than with their Judaism, and that Zionists, who are not willing to assimilate, should be ousted.
While each legal and business situation is unique, the importance of the evening in helping the Jewish public conduct their own due diligence in the real world cannot be underestimated.
Poe's best-known fiction works are Gothic horror, and his most recurring themes deal with questions of death and other macabre topics, such as its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns about premature burial, and the reanimation of the dead.
The real-life edition of sardines is even more challenging. Sometimes it feels impossible. Where is Hashem in the world?
My father, who is a big sardine consumer, is currently in Israel as a new-ish oleh. Because sardine cans are nonperishable and highly unappealing to most of us, whenever he visits, he is usually able to dig up an old can in the back of the pantry that was probably leftover from the last time he was here.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
Packed with protein, Omega 3-a, Vitamin D, iron, calcium. B-12, magnesium, zinc. Improves bone, brain, eyes, heart health and eases inflammation.
How have we contributed to a more equitable world? Will we produce in ways that will benefit the diversity of mankind?
It seems that Eastern European Jews ate canned sardines out of necessity and certainly not as a delicacy. In Mediterranean cuisine, eating fresh sardines is an indulgence.
At this point, Hubby is getting frenetic. His aide, Violet, has been working with me all day to ensure the meal goes beautifully and she is feeling stressed. We really do not need this drama, literally minutes before our guests are to arrive.
A collection I acquired recently contained an unusual surviving document, an envelope sent by Leo Baeck from the Theresienstadt concentration camp, to Saly Mayer (1882-1950), leader of Switzerland's Jewry and the head of the Joint Distribution Committee in Switzerland.
As the sun set over Jerusalem the Golden, reunited at last, Jews of all backgrounds and ethnicities gathered at the Wall on Tisha B’Av for the first time in two millennia.
Is it defending democracy to bring criminal charges against people who never entered the Capitol on January 6 and to invoke farfetched extensions to charge conspiracy and justify multi-year jail sentences to the point where one defendant committed suicide?
By Anat Coleman
Jewish tradition recognizes that there are appropriate times to cry and intentionally carves out times for emotional reflection and preparation, emphasizing that life isn't solely about constant happiness but involves growth through allowing and experiencing a full range of emotions.
By Solly Hess
If we measure strength in holding back tears, we’ve got it wrong.
Maybe you just have to realize that whatever pain you’re going through in your life right now is existentially rooted to an original pain: the removal of Hashem’s direct presence in the world through the destruction of the Temples.
October 2, 2026 
