יום שישי, ד׳ תמוז תשפ״וFriday, June 19, 2026
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Back in 1960 bibliography, Yaakov Ya’ari made the first attempt to actually count how many times Jews have published versions of the Passover Haggada, and he came up with an incredible 2,717 different editions.
Sheps comments at the beginning of the Haggadah that we are all teachers on Seder night and we are all students.
By Mendi Glik
Shabbat is the peak of the week, explains Meir. And for him, the peak of Shabbat was always singing zemirot.
It now occurred to him that he had not exactly come equipped with a dating wardrobe (oops). Well, how was he supposed to know?
Allocating a portion of his gifts to charity reinforces the idea that financial blessings come with obligations. It teaches gratitude, perspective, and the importance of contributing to something larger than oneself.
The text is comfortable speaking to the parts of us that are ashamed, tired, guarded, or dry, and it refuses to treat those parts as distractions from avodas Hashem.
At some point, every single boy or girl who has dated longer than a year has heard the dreaded, “Maybe you are too picky.” from someone invested in their shidduch process.
In assessing Rousseau’s relationship to Judaism, it is crucial to recognize how distinctive his position was within the intellectual milieu of his day.
It should be noted that Carlson offers no hard evidence to support what in the final analysis are only his own opinions.
The word mussar takes me back to the uncomfortable moments from childhood when I was on the receiving end of rebuke, and the equally difficult moments when now as an adult, as the teacher or the parent, it is my responsibility to be on the giving end.
By Anat Coleman
Before giving someone mussar, ask yourself if you're helping them improve, or easing your own irritation? Are you seeking their growth, or your need to feel right?
By Avi Ganz
Rav Chaim, zt"l, like other Mussar Greats, teaches that mussar isn't a negative thing at all!
By Ruchi Koval
Frum friends word association: mussar = scary, my principal, I did something wrong, I’m in trouble. Non-frum friends word association: character development, kindness, patience, forgiveness, giving the benefit of the doubt.
While halacha sets mandatory, objective boundaries of behavior, mussar goes beyond the letter of the law and addresses internal, subjective and personal refinement.
Allying with Moscow or Beijing offers only empty rhetoric and faulty hardware when a true existential crisis erupts. Allying with Washington and Jerusalem offers the protection of the most lethal, capable, and technologically advanced military apparatus in human history.
By Mendi Glik
Perhaps one of the most famous and most beloved songs about Rabbi Elimelech is the well-known popular Yiddish folk song “Der Rebbe Elimelech,” or “Harabi Elimelech” in Hebrew.
Written contemporaneously with his more widely recognized Ikveta DeMeshicha, Da’as Torah has, inexplicably, remained eclipsed.
By Anonymous
I would study her face when I dropped her off, searching for clues. Did she want to be there? Was she hopeful? Resentful? When I picked her up, I watched again. How had the day gone?
After a few minutes that felt like an hour, Effi returned bearing a tray with not only the coffees but the plain glazed donuts she’d requested and a chocolate-peanut butter brownie. It was exactly the same fare they’d eaten eight years ago when they’d gone on a date in Lakewood!
When Moshe asks to see the Divine presence, G-d responds: You will see my back, but my face cannot be seen (Shemot 33:23). We do not see providence as it unfolds. We see it only after it has passed.
By Adi
Instead of developing prototypes, entrants were asked to prepare compelling presentations that clearly explain how their original solutions would solve the persistent accessibility issues they chose to tackle.
After the war, Meitner moved to Cambridge, England, where she spent the last decades of her life and remained active as a lecturer and mentor, especially encouraging young women to pursue careers in science.
Both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu recognized that the traditional Western diplomatic approach – appeasement, nuclear deals, and localized ceasefires – only nurtured Khamenei’s imperial project.
At its core, investing means allocating capital to a productive enterprise. When you buy a stock, you’re purchasing a stake in a business that sells goods or services and generates cash flow.
I used to dismiss a vort as a shallow thought meant for light conversation or sharing a cute idea. However, looking back, it represents a way of bringing Torah into every conversation...
I’ve realized that if I only associate a vort with a sequined dress and a party, I’m missing the actual power of the concept. The traditional definition, a meaningful connection to the words of Torah, has evolved from an event into a daily mission.
By Hillel Fuld
The first one is a small short thought about the Torah. A longer thought might be called a d’var Torah, but a short idea is often referred to as a vort.
The basic meaning is as follows. There is a simcha! One of your children is engaged to someone and a simcha is to be had for all. Everyone is invited for a vort. That means come over and have a schnapps with a piece of cake.
By Keshet Starr
Words can allow us to connect with others, to compliment them when they need a boost, and to help them feel less alone when they are struggling. Words can be a bridge, or a buoy to those lost in suffering.
This is the hypocrisy of the modern academic bureaucracy. Hate speech is treated as a severe disciplinable infraction that demands immediate removal – unless the target is Jewish, in which case it is elevated to protected political discourse.
By Alan Zeitlin
YU (20-8 overall, 16-0 in Conference) relies a lot on star shooting guard Zevi Samet, who is from Monsey and manages to keep his kippah on while nailing 3-pointers.
It is the only book in Tanach where G-d’s name does not appear. There is no open miracle, no prophecy, no explicit divine intervention.
This 13th of Adar, traditionally Ta’anis Esther, Erev Purim, marks the 22nd yahrzeit of our dear Rabbi Dr. Ephraim R. Wolf, HaRav Ephraim Reuven ben Nachum Chaim, zt”l. It’s no exaggeration to say that the Modern Orthodox community in Great Neck was shaped by him. When Rabbi Wolf became the spiritual leader of the […]
I always enjoy getting up close to a Kaufmann painting because the depth of detail in his works is so realistic and lifelike. Kaufmann was known for his portraits of religious Jews.
Effi called that he needed a few more minutes, so Ralph and Chani chatted about Beyda and Lieba as he wrapped up whatever he was working on. Finally, Effi approached them, and Chani rose and nodded self-consciously as the two of them said goodbye.
By Irwin Cohen
The spring training memories that mostly pop up in the television of my mind are from 50 years ago in 1976.
While the Megillah takes only 30-40 minutes to read, the actual story unfolded over nearly 10 years. By the time the threat becomes clear, the decree has already been sealed.
By Mendi Glik
What I like about Simche Friedman’s Purim medley, which he released last year, is that it’s not too electronic. The beat is a freilach style, upbeat, and makes you jump.
By Marc Gronich
In a recorded video message shown at the convention, President Donald Trump endorsed the candidacy of Blakeman and the Republican slate of candidates. Former Long Island Congressman Peter King and former Governor George Pataki also had prominent speaking roles.
Hegai provided not only access but instruction. He was not a prince or a general. But he knew the king. He understood the king. He knew what resonated, what was rewarded, what fell flat. He saw Esther’s potential and invested in developing it.
By Asher Klass
Renewal is recognized as the leading organization for all altruistic kidney donations in the United States, surpassing all other kidney organizations and all non-Jewish communities in this endeavor.
Esther believes in herself, not because she knows she’s externally beautiful or talented or popular, but because she knows that G-d believes in her.
Esther believes in herself, not because she knows she’s externally beautiful or talented or popular, but because she knows that G-d believes in her.
Liu, Hughes, and the other USA Olympians give me hope that despite our differences, we remain strong; we remain winners.
Liu, Hughes, and the other USA Olympians give me hope that despite our differences, we remain strong; we remain winners.
Hindenburg never visited Eretz Yisrael, nor did he express particular interest in Zionism.... At the same time, there is also no evidence that he was hostile to Zionist aspirations; it simply lay far outside his field of concern, as his worldview was shaped by Germany’s past, not by the national movements of other peoples.
Plainly, for this mayor, private enterprise is inherently exploitative and the enemy, while public ownership is inherently virtuous and must be cut all possible slack.
By Jason Maoz
That need to help others became the focal point of Larry’s life. Even as a young entrepreneur starting a new business... Larry made time for community endeavors, and his involvement only grew over the years.
By Nachum Segal
When one is sitting in a lecture or Torah class and tries to offer an out of the ordinary approach to one of the presenter's points, very often that can be classified as a kvetch.
The truth is no one likes a complainer. To hear constant complaints drains emotional energy and makes the listener feel bad.
By Akiva Kra
Complaints create instant connection. Someone mentions the weather, the food, or how the kugel managed to be both dry and somehow soggy, and suddenly everyone is involved.
By Ariela Davis
Why notice the things that don’t go right and instead focus on the good, we wonder?
We are admonished to live our lives, b'simcha – in joy. But kvetches wallow in misery, because they have no hakarat hatov, no recognition of the chesed Hashem has bestowed on them.
By prioritizing quick exits and a Board of Peace over the total defeat of a genocidal proxy, the United States didn’t end the war or the Hamas threat – it merely enabled the next chapter.
Chani suddenly realized that Effi was also in the bakery! Her heart gave a lurch as she spied him sitting off in a corner with Ralph and the Krausses, hunched over a laptop working on something.
By Mendi Glik
A good Purim party needs music – good music. When you build your playlist for your upcoming Purim party, don’t forget to check the two columns from last year – you’ll find some good suggestions. And now let’s look at some more.
By Miriam Feit
Talking about miracles – I can definitely say: I hope for a special miracle on this Purim day!
While wealthy families may not worry about paying monthly bills, they face a different, and sometimes more complex, set of challenges. As wealth increases, so does exposure to lawsuits, taxes, poor investment decisions, complicated family dynamics, and spiritual drift. Thoughtful planning becomes essential.
Rav Menasseh is perhaps most remembered for his diplomatic mission to England, where he petitioned Oliver Cromwell to formally readmit the Jews, who had been expelled since 1290.
The big change, however, has been the increasing inclusion of free gifts presumably aimed at guilting the recipient into contributing.
At Sinai, the Jewish people received the Torah, experienced direct prophecy, and felt G-d's presence in an overwhelming, transformative way. It was the founding moment of the nation.
By Alan Zeitlin
Canadian-Israeli David Greaves, president of the Israeli Olympic Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, told The Jewish Press: It was shameful and careless and is the reason why Jews are unsafe in the streets of many places around the world. Imagine the uproar if he did that to an athlete from any other nation.
He rarely left the apartment; his only outings were to visit his wife’s gravesite and recite the traditional Kaddish on the anniversary of her death.
How can a university like Georgetown honestly teach the history of the Middle East or the geopolitics of terrorism when its bills are largely paid by the very regime that funds the Muslim Brotherhood?
Because Mitzrayim (Egypt) comes from the word meitzar – constraint, limitation. Egypt represents the boundaries that hold us back, exactly what the yetzer hara wants: for us to be satisfied with sababa.
It seems that we need cool new words every couple of years or so to denote cool.
By Martin Bodek
If I was to translate it into modern slang, it would be no worries, which is an overused phrase, because "no problem" is now underused because it is not allowed to be used anymore. Someone declared it evil, and I'm not sure why.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
When someone will ask you how your day is going, let’s give it a twist: Baruch Hashem, sababa!
No matter where I am in Israel – whether it’s the calm of Yehuda and Shomron, the soul of Jerusalem, or the vibrant pulse of Tel Aviv – it’s always sababa.
The Mayor seems to be interested in tenant suffering only when it can be used as a cudgel against the private sector. When the suffering happens under public auspices, he spins it as a function of federal underfunding rather than a failure of municipal mismanagement and responsibility.
By Mendi Glik
At age six, Harris started to play the violin. His parents sent him to music school because his uncle had given him a violin, and he joined the school orchestra, which he played in for five years.
By Irwin Cohen
Another great place to consider, as housing is much cheaper than up north in the East and down I-95, is Jacksonville, at the northern end of Florida (a two-hour drive south of Savannah). It has a community a bit larger and is also worth considering for a move and visit.
Mrs. Moskowitz surveyed Chani with admiration. You chose your profession well!” she exclaimed, putting an arm around her and giving her a little hug. “You have such insight into people!
Even under ideal conditions, managing property requires time, expertise, and patience. Once family dynamics enter the picture, routine business decisions can quickly become emotional, and disagreements that might otherwise be manageable can strain relationships.
Eruvin is not merely a legal tractate; it is a cartographic one. Its sugyot are saturated with geometry, spatial reasoning, and the precise delineation of Shabbat domains.
When the United States entered World War I, the Army lacked an official cryptographic service, and Riverbank’s Department of Codes and Ciphers, where the Friedmans worked, became the de facto center for American codebreaking.
In the real world, allowing a mentally ill person to sleep in a tent in sub-zero weather is not respecting their rights; it is abetting their deaths.
By Marc Gronich
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor said, I'm counting on every city and state official to establish the rule, not abolishing freedom of speech but protection of every house of worship. Every house of worship, be it a synagogue, be it a church, be it a mosque, whatever.
Many of us picture piety as passively throwing up our hands and allowing G-d to do the fighting on our behalf. The truth is that we are experiencing a deficiency of the chutzpah required to proudly advocate authentic Jewish values to the world (Kovetz Ma’amarim, vol. 1, p. 262).
There’s a classic definition, often attributed to Leo Rosten: chutzpah is the man who kills his parents and then pleads for mercy because he’s an orphan. Extreme, yes – but the structure holds.
As the world seems to fill more each day with truly heinous chutzpah (a “Globalize the Intifada” march right down the road from where Jews were just massacred!), we can take heart from the Gemara’s teaching in Sota 49b: In the lead-up to Moshiach, chutzpah will multiply.
Chutzpah, by definition, is boldness bordering on nerve. So really, expecting this article now is not ironic; it’s a live demonstration. It’s the literary equivalent of asking someone to deliver a shiur while waiting on a Disney line.
Diminishing your former spouse’s character in your children’s eyes will only diminish you in your children’s eyes. As hard as that reality may be, it’s the truth.
For Israel though, there is a special problem. By aligning with Turkey – a nation that has arguably become the primary champion of the Palestinian cause on the global scene – the Saudis are signaling that the Palestinian veto is back.
By Anonymous
I still believed that if I sat with her long enough, in the right way, she would open up. That I just hadn’t found the right approach yet. I know now that this was wishful thinking.
When we have watched one marriage unravel, especially that of our own child, the heart and amygdala become hyper-alert. What once might have registered as background noise now sounds like an alarm.
It’s important to point out that good financial planning primarily focuses on smart lifestyle planning. There is no savvy investment or tax strategy that will magically solve financial stress.
