יום ראשון, י״ד חשוון תשפ״זSunday, October 25, 2026
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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.
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.
We keep the Torah simply because G-d said so. If we can begin to scratch the surface of the thought-process behind it – great. But that is just additional flavoring, a cherry on top.
To err is human, but to purify and rectify requires the divine touch of the Torah and its guidance.
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By Mendi Glik
Every time Levine composed a song, he wanted people to be comfortable with it right away. The tune should seem a little familiar, but with a chidush (something new).
I’m awakened by the loud chirping of birds, and my first thought is how lucky these birds are to have been hatched in this land of miracles, and their whistles and cooing and cawing is their hakarat haTov to Hashem their creator – songs of gratitude.
It’s important to remember that success should not come at the cost of your mental and emotional well-being. When stress becomes so overwhelming that it affects your sleep, happiness, and daily life, it’s a sign that something needs to change.
We know the Rebbe in a personal register, too. A grandparent who kept a letter of blessing in a drawer. A dollar received in a Sunday line to pass on to tzedakah. That closeness was real, and for most of us it was as far as the relationship ever went.
Doing something that she is good at can boost her self-esteem tremendously and provide her with an opportunity to make like-minded friends.
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By Marc Gronich
It was widely expressed by state lawmakers that the buffer zone is just a first step. “A buffer zone wasn’t just necessary but imperative. We were pleased that we were able to increase the distance that was originally 25 feet to 50 feet,” said Stern.
Unlike other works that address areas of life we interact with daily, the study of malachim introduces us to a concealed realm. Yet this hidden world can strengthen our emunah.
I recommend establishing a longer-term investment account focused primarily in equities. If an institution does not need the funds for many years, the stock market can allow those assets to appreciate meaningfully over time, potentially outpacing inflation and helping offset adverse currency fluctuations.
For bibliophiles and collectors of rabbinic history, booklets like Perush Derech Yemin represent the Holy Grail of ephemeral printing. B
The protests have also made her optimistic for the future. “The courage and bravery of the Iranian protesters this past year has filled me with enormous hope,” she said.
You need to let your friends and family know that you are ready to date so that they can peripherally assist you as well. You need to keep this circle tight and small.
A nudnik is someone who, when you ask how he's doing, tells you. Even when a nudnik agrees with you, it feels like an argument.
As a parent, I’m nudnicking the other way to my kids – did you say a bracha? Did you wash your hands? Did you bring a water bottle?
By Eli Lebowicz
Every writer needs an editor to do some gentle bothering, jabbing, pestering, bugging, prodding into making sure their assignment is in by a deadline. And if I didn’t have one, this never would’ve gotten finished in time. Thanks for being a nudnik.
By Sara Blau
The most effective thing I've found to counter an intrusive thought or a temptation is simply to notice it: There's that nudnik again – and keep walking.
On television, Jews are often portrayed in stereotypical ways – nudniks, nebbish sons, overbearing mothers, JAPY daughters, or going unorthodox. Up until a couple years ago, there was no concrete research to show just how pervasive this problem was.
The book explains that when a boy becomes bar mitzvah, profound spiritual effects are set into motion.
Parents should avoid discussing their child’s worries in front of him. Hearing about his own problems can often cause more anxiety and result in seeing his problems as larger than they are.
By Raffi Crouse
Albo insists that the highest form of divine service is performed from love rather than fear, and that even the commandments the mind resists should be done with joy, the way a person digs gladly through hard ground for a buried treasure.
How can I communicate more effectively with someone who often gets defensive or seems focused mainly on himself?
One of the strengths of this edition is the care invested in the actual text itself. Many students of the Rambam do not realize that over the centuries, often due to unintended copyist and printing errors, mistakes crept into some editions of the Mishneh Torah.
By Mendi Glik
When he sings at a chuppah and sees the chosson and kallah glowing, Faiden knows he is fulfilling his shlichus.
October 23, 2026 
