יום שישי, כ״ב אלול תשפ״וFriday, September 4, 2026
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What if we approached our fellow person in distress with the same amount of thought and consideration? What if we took time to think about the recommended guidelines instead of just saying or doing what popped into our minds?
While on the subject, there is one other sanctuary that we are indeed all familiar with, although we never refer to it with this term. And that is the chuppah.
A modern-day version of sanctuary would be a foreign embassy. If the good or bad guy being chased by local authorities could get into the embassy, he was untouchable.
It appears as though he is now unable to retain any new information. At the same time, he is still able to discuss his career from 70 years ago with a moderate amount of accuracy.
In the beginning, I think, you know, from the heat of the battle, they were all very rude, the Americans – I mean to the Germans. There came this Dr. Hauser, who was actually a very decent fellow, and this American officer who kept spitting all the time, just spitting as far away as he can. But later on they all behaved very well.
What I found most interesting about this letter that Rav Meir Shapiro also wrote down for himself many inscriptions. One side lists an outline for a sermon or shiur he was giving, with a brilliant array of sources jotted down in brevity, stringing together a concept and theme for his lecture.
Chief Taylor has been recognized and honored by the Mayor’s Office and the NYPD on numerous occasions including receiving a Proclamation of Excellence from Mayor Eric Adams and recipient of the September 2016, 61st Precinct “Cop of the Month Award” for making a firearm arrest while solo.
Some rabbanim through the centuries have encouraged Jews to mark Purim Katan specifically with a joyous feast... One of the great supporters of Purim Katan observance was the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
At the height of the minyan’s popularity, there were so many participants that 18 buses were chartered from Jerusalem, subsidized by Eitan Ben-David, another of the founding members. But events such as the Intifada, Covid, and the recent war have seen a fall in attendance.
By Adina Broder
Mistakes are evidence of effort. They show that we attempted to do something. Even though things didn’t work out as anticipated or hoped, at least we took a chance which provided us with the possibility of success.
It’s better that you not make a promise than to promise and then not pay.
I once heard someone say that our job is to keep them from making mistakes that are so bad, they can't recover from them.
By dvora
Life is a series of blunders, missteps, and errors in judgement. We take chances, we err, we grow.
I remember the first time I heard that failure creates courage. I was confused; I thought success made a person confident. Until I actually experienced it.
My mother never served me a meal like this! That is Hubby’s ultimate insult about a meal he is not pleased with.
So they needed someone to work in this dining room. When we first came, we really had to clean it up. We had to wash all the windows and bring it into shape. Then again, I don't know.
While I wasn't able to find confirmation as to his appearance at the event, it is worth noting that R. Kahaneman kept a relationship with the Rayatz's successor, R. Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, and there are records of their meeting and friendship until the passing of the Ponovezher Rav, in 1969.
Some of the older men were telling grand tales of where they were and what it was like attending previous Birkat HaChamah ceremonies, but the story that I will never forget was told by a 92-year white-bearded rabbi, who merited to attend his fourth(!) such service.
When there’s a war, we know there’s a risk, says Rav Eitam, but we also know that it’s important to protect Israel. We are paying a heavy price, but on the other hand, we are building the future of Am Yisrael.
By Sara Blau
My last name happens to be Blau – which means blue in German. And so, when I get a prompt for the word blue, I automatically associate it with my last name and the Patriarch of my husband's family; his grandfather Rabbi Moshe Yehudah HaKohen Blau.
By Keshet Starr
Throughout the Torah, water too, contains contradictions – it symbolizes Torah itself, but it can also connote chaos, as in the times of Noach when flood waters overwhelmed the earth and destroyed all but vestiges of humanity.
Blue holds a profound significance in Jewish life, symbolizing depth, wisdom, and divine intervention.
By Hillel Fuld
What is it about blue? Well, think about the color blue in nature. It barely exists. Even blueberries are not really blue. Blue is the rarest of colors. That is the lesson of techelet, the uniqueness of Hashem and His children, the Jewish nation.
There are many shades of blue. Royal blue, light blue, navy, are just a handful of colors. Keep expounding on the color blue and you might touch on techeiles. Which is another shade of blue, although people might argue that techeiles is its own color.
Mrs. H. is very stressed at all the new responsibilities she faces daily. She shares with me that she believes in G-d. I suggested that she needed to bring that belief into her consciousness daily.
They are trying to see me, to find out if I am a Pole from Miedzyrzec. If an authentic Pole, then they are afraid of me, I could denounce them as Jewish. If I am a Jewish girl from Miedzyrzec, who am I, they wondered.
Aviad is also working with Beit Daniella to create a religious dormitory. There are 20 secular post-hospitalization dormitories (hostels) and not one overnight dormitory for religious transitioning patients, she says.
While Rabbi Steinberg charted his own path, pursuing a career in medicine, the deeply rooted tradition of Torah study remained a mainstay of his life. More than anything else, though, it was the unprecedented synthesis of the two fields which warranted a festschrift at age 60.
The New World was ripe for change, isolated from the old communities in Europe and with a steady stream of immigrants, it wasn't long before efforts to create change in the Jewish tradition were being pushed.
We live in an age of great technological opportunities that also pose great spiritual risks. Every community is struggling with this in their own way. I hope that TorahApp helps people improve their Torah learning while finding their way through the maze of technology in a religiously uplifting manner.
There can hardly be a subject that might, at first blush, be considered more unsuitable for cartoons than the Holocaust. Yet they played a more crucial role in provoking anti-Nazi sentiment, generating support for the victims of the Shoah, and engendering publicity regarding the Holocaust, than hundreds of essays, articles, and newspaper reports ever could.
By Jordana Baruchov Grreenfield
Just like our prayers and our language; the shekel, our money currency, connects us to our past, present and future. It’s a testimony of us as a people.
By Chaim Saiman
Believers have long been challenged to develop a real and concrete relationship with an abstract G-d. Yet the evolution of the shekel is evidence that modern society has little trouble organizing itself around an abstraction.
In Judaism, quantification is everywhere. That is because halacha understands that just like offering too low a price for an object belittles it, so too does effort incommensurate with the value of an ethical act belittle it as well.
In Parshas Ki Sisa, after Hashem told Moshe to collect half a shekel from the men, He had to show Moshe a fiery image of this coin so that Moshe could comprehend the commandment.
In the modern State of Israel, in 1980 the currency became shekels (replacing the lira), and in 1985 the shekel was replaced with the New Israeli Shekel (NIS), which we use to this day.
It is quite rewarding to sit with others who share their stresses, fears and problems and help them to move toward solutions. This is essentially why I write this diary.
We talk a little bit about the war, and about what's happening to the people, and how they are scattered, and about people being sent off to Germany, and how will the war end, and what do I think of this, and what do I think of that.
On December 14, 2023, Sotheby’s in New York City held a sale comprising the third and final part of the Abraham Halpern (1936-2017) collection of Judaica... The sale results of this recent offering were a more modest affair. Here are the highlights.
Though safely outside Iran when the revolution broke out in Jan 1979, Habib returned to Iran to be with his community and lead them through the turmoil.
In the complaint, Nektalov states that when he and his family were made to deplane, he felt as though we were in Nazi Germany, and that we were being isolated, vilified, and herded for disposal.
By Alan Zeitlin
U.S. taxpayers deserve to know if their tax dollars are funding jihadi terrorists.
Though his struggle to remain faithful to Judaism while being true to his art remained a source of conflict throughout his life, the Hebrew-speaking Israëls was evidently a Zionist.
Nakash has many reasons for not wanting to leave Metullah. The most prosaic is that he likes being at home. Home is home, he says.
In the aftermath of the October 7 Pogrom, it's only natural to shiver as we think of the evil acts of the Hamas Nazis, yemach shemam. But that shiver must be followed up with lighting the greatest fire the world has ever seen, so that warmth reaches every single Jew, and spans the globe.
By Ariela Davis
We shiver at the great privilege of being part of this great people living in this beautiful land and of the sacrifice, the depth and beauty of being here. Even now. Especially now.
I keep dreaming of the day when the hostages are freed and we can hug them. I imagine that they will look at all the support they received from the Jewish people during their time in captivity and know how much we love them.
We hear stories of those who lived there. How they died, but more importantly, how they lived.
By Anat Coleman
Shivering is a signal; it behooves us to pay attention when our body communicates its needs and responses, urging us to tune in and understand these messages to ensure our well-being.
After other dreams which have included a baby, I have concluded that Hubby and the baby are indeed one in the same. A baby is totally dependent. Hubby is now totally dependent.
But just like the silver pendant of the unredeemed son, our dog tag is intended for our Father as well. This is not a case of an orphaned bechor, bereft of a father to redeem him, chas v'shalom.
The organization not only streamlines the process of finding the right match but also addresses concerns about the legitimacy and commitment of the sponsored talmid chacham.
I can still see the German women… Some of them were so sadistic. They just walked around and just hit everybody right and left. Right in front of me a boy bent down – he was working, and he bent down for something, and she put a bullet through his head.
Titles pages weren't in use in printed book until decades later, but the opening page features a beautiful floral border.
He was pedantic about textual matters, became a renowned spokesman for the traditional Jewish interpretation of scripture, and played a crucial role in providing basic materials to support the religious needs of an English-speaking community largely unfamiliar with Hebrew.
Per the book, the laudable and all-important goal of tikkun olam, or making the world a better place, is accomplished through mitzvot, defined by the theologians at the Jewish Book Council, and by the other characters to Grover, as good deeds.
There are the three mitzvot that are designated as signs, milah, Shabbos and tefillin, which serve as constant reminders of our unique relationship with Hashem via our bodies, our actions and our thoughts.
By Ira Stoll
The concept of a commandment implies the idea of a G-d that issues commands. Plenty of modern people find that concept challenging, reject it as well as all the commandments. They may find the idea of good deeds easier to accept.
I overheard my daughter in the kitchen last week offering our contractors food and drinks from where she planned to order lunch. She was thrilled to report that they took her up on her offer and she could do a mitzvah.
By David Curwin
As noted, mitzvah and tzivah both come from the root tz-v-h. It means to command, order.
Do friends who feel sorry for you suggest that you go to a therapist? Many of mine have.
We are walking back and on the way we pass a house, and the policeman says to us, You know, in this house lives another Polish employee of the Arbeitsamt. If you are already out of the ghetto, why don't you try him, maybe he will do something.
A small piece of paper with his handwriting that I sold this week was a result of an unusual scenario which he wrote about in his Mor Uktzia (siman 218 in his commentary on Shulchan Aruch).
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.
Although he could have completed the project in France, Chagall used the assignment as an excuse to travel to Eretz Yisrael, arriving there in February 1931. Feeling very much at home in a land of Yiddish and Russian speakers, he was impressed by the pioneering spirit of the kibbutzniks and he was deeply moved by the holy places.
The infamous Rabin-Arafat handshake set into motion a nightmarish sequence of events.
There are many rules about the etiquette of handshakes and even preferred ways to stand, which hand to extend and how many shakes you should do.
By Akiva Kra
We’ve all had experiences of handshakes gone wrong. Firstly, the sweaty palm can come at the worst of times. Even more awkward, not realizing a hand is extended to you can lead to a friend feeling insulted.
Think back to your childhood years, when some kids had secret handshakes. Handshakes are more than just trust; they can build a bond.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt”l, explained, when two Jews shake hands, the five fingers of one person become intertwined with the five fingers of the other, together forming a covenant reflecting the two tablets of the Ten Commandments.
My father and his brother Paul survived inside a hollow tree, in the extremely cold Polish winter. How?
Could it be an accident that a decision made 43 years ago to stand up against evil had a ripple effect continuing in our lives today? Perhaps this should not be taken for granted.
Some were sent to labor camps, which were almost like concentration camps except that they got better food. I mean, they were not persecuted, they were not beaten, they were not starving, they were not shot like the Jews were.
By Alan Zeitlin
It is extremely meaningful to help if even in a small way, he said. I think people are looking to see what they can do and what are the best uses of their talents.
Upon its release, critics acclaimed and celebrated the Biblical Prologue, but they were generally highly critical of the Story section of the film, which was broadly characterized as clichéd in both its narrative and characterizations.
It is impossible, it seems, that the Torah tells us Hashem was upset, without the anger being actualized in some respect.
Passionate feelings are a mirror into our values. They drive our actions. Our anger has mobilized our people during this time – to care for others, to lobby, to invent, to give, to write, to hold one another.
We know that Hashem is described as Erech Apayaim – being slow to anger. Does this mean that anger is good or bad? If Hashem gets angry, even slowly, where does that put us? Should we be even slower to anger? Or faster?
To effectively manage anger, it's essential to relinquish the need to control the upsetting event and the subsequent thoughts and feelings.
The painful events of the past few months have stirred up many difficult emotions, and for most of us, anger is one of them.
Hubby’s moment of adoration with the idea of renewing our vows may have come as a result of a dear friend who is also a Rabbi, who asked if he could look at our religious wedding contract.
Though an American native (she lives in Denver, Colorado), Kassai is especially equipped for this mission, as she attended medical school in Israel and has a fluent command of medical terminology in Hebrew.
Somebody hit me there with a… Blood started streaming down. Whoever was sitting behind me says, ‘Look, you are all bleeding.’ I said, ‘So what.'
Heenk, who is herself a non-Jew, felt some initial self-consciousness serving as torchbearer for European Jews and their descendants.
By Alan Zeitlin
He said, 'Hey nice, I’m a Jew too,’ Zippel recalled Irving saying. I said ‘Nice, Happy New Year.’ Then he said, ‘Don’t gotta bring a sign like that to the game.’ I was surprised he said that.
For centuries, this work was feared lost, until in the last decades a condensed version of this extensive work was discovered and published in 1982, under the title Mekor Chaim.
The barbed wire mezuzah that Ramon took with him into space – he joked about affixing it to the shuttle door – was by San Francisco Artist Aimee Golant, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
Given what our brothers and sisters in Israel are going through, we have to use our tears to bring comfort to those who are suffering and remind them that they are not alone.
By Jordana Baruchov Grreenfield
We look at life as a prozdor, a corridor getting ready to enter the next stage of life. It is all preparation for what is yet to come.
We live in unfathomable times. This entire year of 5784 has been a disaster to put it mildly. I write this as 14 precious souls serving the Jewish people defending us and our land have been lost over the weekend fighting a brutal enemy.
September 4, 2026 
