יום רביעי, כ״ד חשוון תשפ״זWednesday, November 4, 2026
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Having assessed the lump as less than life-threatening, Dr. N. kindly used the opportunity to administer the standardized Memory Test of which I have spoken. The same questions posed to Hubby, as in the years gone by, but different answers this time.
By Alan Zeitlin
One former leader, who was brought to Poland by the ACJF in September 2022, was former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was given the AJCF Fighting Hatred award. Some of his comments were shared on social media, and Simony said he was “deeply impressed” by Schwarzenegger’s words.
For this column, I thought I would share some interesting items relating to Pesach that have appeared at auction, are in a museum, or are from my personal collection.
Ayeka was a call to action – where are you going in life and what would you like to change?
By Eve Glover
After experiencing devastating periods of starvation, food is nostalgia and comfort. When these survivors cook recipes they remember by heart, it transports them to happier times spent with loved ones.
The Shadal’s beliefs, teaching, and writings were characterized by the strictest fidelity to halacha, and he was perhaps the fiercest critic of Jewish Science and higher Torah criticism.
David Ben Gurion famously remarked that In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
Two more random thoughts about miracles: Everyone, religious or not, hopes for a miracle. And when times are trying, we even pray for one.
By Akiva Kra
While miracles are everywhere, the revival of the dead, a talking donkey, and an oil jug that pours endlessly certainly stand out.
By dvora
Through centuries, we survive, we thrive Though dispersed throughout the world
As I was crossing Yafo Street towards Sbarro, the driver, for no reason, ran across the street from where he was waiting for me, grabbed me by the shirt, and told me not to bother since he was in a rush and not in the mood for pizza.
The necessity to advise your loved one’s doctor of the changing realities, may present itself as an awkward situation to navigate. This problem does not only apply with family of those with memory loss or dementia.
At the end of Vayikra, several blank leaves were bound, containing eight handwritten pages, with a detailed report of the extreme weather conditions during the autumn and winter of the following years: 1839, 1842, 1844, 1847, 1850, 1852, 1854, 1855, 1856, 1860 and 1861.
R. Auerbach’s recognition of the State of Israel was so profound that he ascribed to it the term “The Kingdom of Israel,” a term which he applied broadly to a broad range of halachic issues, such as the definition of Eretz Yisrael.
According to the Kabbala, the ancient tomb also holds the first human couple – Adam and Eve.
It is not surprising therefore that the only word we have to associate with this concept, rishon, comes from the most basic human feature, the head, a connection made by the 12th-13th century figure, Rabbi David Kimhi.
Being first is usually considered a good thing – first come, first served and all that.
Lots of people who did things that ultimately led to our world being safer, better, and stronger had to put up with much mockery and criticism.
The confluence of being a first-born and a kohein (and also a rabbi) obligates me to live an elevated life as a role model to others.
Perhaps I was in a rush, or my mind was elsewhere, but at least one of my pills, probably a vitamin D 1000, went into my larynx and blocked my airways. I began choking, and it became worse and worse.
At end of his writings in this volume, R. Guttentag writes in Hebrew "These comments were written in the city of Kolshek, in 1903, in my stay there for a few days while in hiding from the ambushing Russians who were searching for me to conscript me to the Army."
Freleng, who was self-taught and had no formal training in animation, began his incredible career at United Film Advancement Services at age 17, where he met a fellow animator who later introduced him to Walt Disney, who invited him to join the Disney Studio in California.
Seven is typified by the sanctity of Shabbos. Each week is influenced by the Shabbos that preceded it and by the build up toward the following Shabbos. In other words, seven represents the yearning to infuse the mundane with the spiritual.
What she produced is a singular work describing the life of a Jewish woman, filled with faith, mussar, and stories that impart lessons to her descendants. At the outset of the project Glikl states that she plans to write seven little books. Why seven?
By Chaim Saiman
There is little consensus on how the Torah’s social vision should apply to our present condition, whether viewed in terms of tilling the soil or understanding what Shemittah means in an economy that runs on high tech rather than agriculture.
By Avi Ganz
As early civilization was arranging the calendar, they weren't looking at the Jewish Bible for direction, they were looking to the universe for their relative place within it.
The Ramban suggests the miraculous is hidden within the mundane. That teva itself is really all miracles. That we wake up, breath, survive and thrive is all miraculous. Nothing can ever be taken for granted.
By Alan Zeitlin
Deciding to do comedy full-time was part exciting and part downright terrifying, Lebowicz told The Jewish Press.
After two years of Covid-19 lock-downs, I must admit that the superficiality of my old mantra is more than embarrassing. It was a product of a Beverly Hills business in the world of fashion.
The Jews of Ponovezh were from the first to suffer. In the spring of 1915, the Germans had approached the Baltic coast, Zeimelis and Bauska. Nikolai Nikolaevich, the Tsar’s uncle, had to explain the defeat and he accused all Jews as being spies and expelled them all in 24 hours.
Carvalho’s broad public fame was not based entirely upon his critical role in the Dreyfus case, which was but one of the many famous cases in which he served as a graphology expert.
By JJ Eleff
Morals are degrading, the stories keep getting crazier, and everything seems backwards. But then I remind myself that no matter the culture, background, religion, or nationality, when a baby is born there is a bliss that transcends it all.
To be honest, when I saw this as the word prompt, I felt a pit in my stomach. There is so much pain and struggle associated with this word.
By Hillel Fuld
Why did G-d even create this thing called pregnancy? Why not just make babies come to this world without the nine-month pregnancy period?
The reason we are put here on earth is not only to be a great person and correct our issues that will come up during our lives, but also to have children that will follow in the path of Torah and continue the branches of our tree.
By Keshet Starr
Many psychological studies demonstrate the pleasure we get from anticipation. Waiting for a vacation, for example, is statistically even more fun than the vacation itself.
The sefer Torah was commissioned by everyone in shul. Every single congregant has a share in the writing of this unique sefer Torah. Most of the shul members are almost as old as the shul, and they are by no means wealthy.
There is only so much that one’s brain can deal with when assaulted with non-stop noise. In our case, each query requires an answer, and often the same one many times over.
I asked the team behind The Address what inspired them to open this specialty department store. They said that they saw the demographic of shoppers at the mall and wanted to try to cater to their needs.
They were made in huge numbers – many tens of thousands – and as such, are easily found in the marketplace. Whether Russian or Latvian in origin, the value is the same: $150-$200 per cup.
The Jewish Agency has accepted upon itself the responsibility for the children of the diaspora, to bring them to Eretz Yisrael and settle them in Eretz Yisrael.
Beautiful flowers will grow in the garden, they are the Children of Israel. From the heat of the sun they will swim, from heaven’s dew they will bloom again!
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
All of us have a daily opportunity to model lives filled with Yiddishkeit together with integrating secular wisdom and modernity.
Sometimes these points of chachma come in bursts, overwhelming me, too much at once. So much potential, so much to do. What do I do first?
Usually, the mind is viewed as the seat of the intellect, of chachma, and emotions are associated with the heart. A term like chacham lev sounds like a paradox, but of course, it isn't one.
On some occasions chachma-related teachings appear downright bizarre: say to wisdom – you are my sister. While chachma bagoyim ta’amin (you can accept that non-Jews have wisdom), wisdom of the Greeks remains strictly off-limits.
Jewish students from many local high schools gathered in Industry City, Brooklyn to spend a full day creating prototypes of products that would benefit people living in the global south.
Hubby was really enjoying sharing his memory of a nighttime adventure that never happened. He was smiling and decided that I had not fully understood… so repeated it again.
His few months in Riga, from Dec 1939 to early 1940 when this letter was sent, found the Rebbe in the midst of a huge displacement of Jews and every attempt was made to ensure the escape of every person possible.
LBJ was an important initiator in providing American aid to Israel. As early as 1951, with Israel in desperate need of money and material to settle the massive influx of Jewish immigrants, he successfully lobbied the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for $150 million (equivalent to $1.66 billion in 2022 dollars) in support.
This Purim I won’t go overboard like the time I dressed as the Kotel, and invited strangers (female only) to kiss and pray before me.
Mordechai reminds Esther – and all of us – that engaging in advocacy in support of the Jewish people is important not because politics needs our intervention; it is important for our own personal futures.
Purim provides just enough time to engage with the fascinating ideas and narrative of Megillat Esther.
Things happen to us that seem haphazard and random; there seems to be no system in place, no direction to this cold and harsh universe. This is not true.
We, like Adam and Chava, must train ourselves to stop focusing on what we don’t have.
It has surprised me to learn that many of my friends have no idea what medications their spouses take each day.
As a teenager he desired to go to Eretz Yisrael, where his grandparents were living, but the realities of WWII made that impossible.
Omaha's relative isolation as a Jewish community allowed Rav Grodzinsky to focus more of his time on his writings, and in the ensuing decades, he wrote and published an impressive array of halakhic works.
Sabin’s interest in Eretz Yisrael began when he first traveled to the Middle East in 1943... The visit triggered his memories of his grandfather’s Torah stories about ancient Egypt and the Exodus and reawakened his Jewish feelings.
I have a wall of windows in my apartment, and every evening I try to watch the sunset. First it’s bright yellow and then it’s pink and orange and all of it is golden. Yes, my JERUSALEM OF GOLD, I will love you.
The funny thing about trends is our personal tastes and preferences seemingly go out the window.
Nestled in the brushed velvet was a chevron shaped gold necklace; a style that was very popular for a very hot second.
When someone questioned the show of wealth, R' Meir Shlomo explained, Why was gold created? For the Beis HaMikdash. With the Beis HaMikdash destroyed, gold exists exclusively for tzaddikim like him.
As it says in Tehilim 119:72: The Torah of your mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
The number of patients who enter a hospital with an entirely different complaint, who are then put on a catheter, which then results in sepsis which kills them, is shocking.
In 1939, escaping the Nazi invasion of Poland, Rav Baruch Ber, already in ill health, led the Yeshiva to the safe haven at the time of Vilna. Shortly after his arrival, he passed away, and tens of thousands attended his funeral in the main shul in Vilna.
Although most of the prominent Jews in colonial America were strong supporters of the colonialists and their struggle for independence, Hart was a conspicuous exception.
By Rachel Kohn
I would translate bitcachon as security. It's true that faith can be blind, trust can be baseless, and it is even possible to have a false sense of security.
Having bitachon that Hashem is doing things for a purpose, even when my brain is screaming that it is painful and unfair, is a much bigger challenge for me.
It makes sense if you are struggling with bitachon right now. We know Hashem is running the world, but we also feel hurt and confused by some of the current events.
Knowing my coach believed in me during the timeout gave me the confidence to make the free throws. Similarly in our daily lives we must remember that everything we need is already within me because Hashem believes in me.
We have bitachon that our bid on a new home will get accepted. We have bitachon that our child gets accepted into the school that they are applying to. That isn’t bitachon.
When I was truly unable to cope with caring for Hubby 24/7, social services came to assess him and decided that I was the one who needed the most help: Time to myself. Time to breathe.
While demographic shifts and the rise of the internet has eradicated any Jewish book-row, this visitor log allowed me to recreate in my mind the world that was, and perhaps one day will be again.
By Sandy Eller
After being liberated in January 1945 by the Red Army, the 51-year-old Friedmann discovered that the hundreds of works he had left behind in Berlin and in Prague were all gone, looted by the Nazis, who stole some 600,000 Jewish-owned pieces of art during the Holocaust.
Through his lawyer, Peter Zürcher, Lutz threatened SS commanders with war crime charges if the Jews of the Pest ghetto were not protected and, as a result, most of the 70,000 Jews of the Pest ghetto survived until the Russian Army liberated the city on January 18, 1945.
By Solly Hess
How often do we sit and reminisce? Reaching far back as we long to recapture those defining moments of growth and joy and to see and feel the people we no longer can.
Scientists say that smell can immediately trigger an intense emotion or vivid memory. And the Kabbalah says that smell connects the spiritual and the physical.
By Jordana Baruchov Grreenfield
Now on the flip side you can also use scent to create an emotion and hopefully evoke a memory or lasting impression.
By Anat Coleman
There is a special category of berachot on things that give us enjoyment, including fragrant scents. Such berachot are made on the object which gives us enjoyment.
To me the scent produced by the kitoret is symbolic of Am Yisrael.
October 30, 2026 
