יום חמישי, כ״א אלול תשפ״וThursday, September 3, 2026
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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.
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.
A good shmooze reveals ourselves to others and reveals others to us; it is a learning experience.
It’s been said that the Chofetz Chaim enjoyed a good schmooze, with the understanding that the halachos of lashon hara can and should be adhered to so that a schmooze can still serve the function of us maintaining a connection to Hashem.
By Nachum Segal
Some shmoozes result in important decisions being made, points of view being changed and relationships being solidified.
It’s the little light bulb moments, the pithy nuggets of wisdom, and the sharing of life perspective that came about during those teacher shmoozes.
The origin of the word confirms this negative association: Shmooze comes from the Yiddish shmuessen, which in turn derives from the Hebrew sh’muah, meaning tidings or rumor (read: juicy gossip).
The clerk in the registrar's office was having none of it. When she heard about the name I wanted to change, and why, she gave me a buck-up talk about having pride in my background (I had plenty, thank you), and not being worried about others' confusion.
By Maayan Zik
This venture seems like an introvert dipping her toes in extroverted waters, trying new things she’d never imagine doing before. This experience brings her tremendous blessings.
By The Honorable Rachel Freier
As Jewish mothers, we should learn from our matriarchs to use the unique inner strength we possess. Inner strength based on binah yeseirah – divinely inspired intuition.
One of the key lessons that Rivka teaches us about leadership is the importance of balancing confidence and a willingness to push boundaries with considerations of morals and character.
I see a lot of my grandmother in my daughter, who is also a preschool teacher, and it is shaping her persona, too.
True kavod habriyot is not about treating well those whom we know, or like, or feel comfortable with. It is about honoring the bit of the Divine inside every human being we encounter.
Kavod, honor, respect and esteem judged by societal standards, is in fact taught by chazal, a value and sense of self-esteem bestowed by us to other creations of Hashem.
Indeed, kavod is a two-way street. We often think of it as something we give though we receive much more from showing kavod.
Kavod means honor, but it means so much more. Related to the word kaved, or heavy, it refers to things that are weighty, that are deserving of our respect.
Kavod has two translations: honor and respect, which are similar but distinct. That’s why everyone who is honored is respected but not everyone who is respected is honored.
We need to take these awful suggestions and use them to create enough fire in our bellies in order for us to do the exact opposite.
If you ask me, it should be a wasteland for us.
I may have been too young to truly grasp the magnitude of the atrocities but I vividly see today, in my heart's mind, the pain and anguish that was.
It is no coincidence that as the number of Holocaust survivors declines, anti-Semitism surges.
By Akiva Kra
Well-known achronim, including Rav Chaim, the Netziv, Maharsham, and Tosfos Yom Tov are all buried there.
Created as a way to eat warm foods while still keeping Shabbat, it speaks of home, it speaks of tradition…it speaks of connection.
By Eli Lebowicz
I'm pretty sure the concept of chulent wouldn't exist if not for the Jews.
By Avi Ganz
Maybe therein lies the secret of the chulent: We Jews aren't one stereotype. Among the different backgrounds and traditions (and the many without a particular tradition) there are myriad characteristics, personalities, and (flavor) profiles.
There is nothing better than a steaming bowl of hearty, warm food when you enter your home from shul on a cold, wintry night.
Chulent shows that while our Torah is structured and dictates how and when we cook and how and when we eat, we still have enormous creative choices within its framework.
Have you taken the chance to appreciate the good moments which you have? Our experiences are so mixed and varied and happen so quickly.
By Keshet Starr
While recognizing the good seems like an easy task (And there are no thank-you notes involved!) recognition is actually more complicated than it seems.
By Hillel Fuld
The importance of gratitude in Judaism is paramount. The reason is that the Torah wants to teach us the importance of perspective.
You do not have to wait until you win an Academy Award to show hakaras hatov. You can thank people every single day.
It’s more than just thank you and covers much, much more than the act itself.
Shabbos is sacred to me, but in the scheme of things, with all the managing and juggling I do in a day, removing the wax from waxy candlesticks is not.
Waxy is a peculiar word which can also mean flexible and yielding; an elusive but desirable character trait whose development has allowed me to grudgingly accept that it’s okay that I don’t have the potato kugel gene.
It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when Jews had to place wax in their ears – it is said that this came from their wives' candles – in order to prevent them from hearing Christian sermons.
By Jordana Baruchov Grreenfield
This can be a wonderful metaphor for an interesting life lesson. How at times life can sting and burn you, and before you know it, it begins to take shape.
The presence of absence provides that lingering connection. For example, wax from the havdalah candle, marks on the arm after you take off tefillin, wine stains just about everywhere on Pesach, and a crease in the backyard lawn from the Sukkah.
The true power of a flickering flame is its ability to burst into an inferno. Because while wind is a risk to a fire, it also helps increase it.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
Even with the most disconnected Jew, even with just a flicker of the pintele Yid in so many of our fellow Jews, we all have the responsibility to reach out to even one person and reignite the sparks of Judaism.
We have a flicker inside of us. To quote Rav Kook: we have a divine spark burning inside, yearning to fight for what is right and just.
If I use my wisdom to teach, the student learns, and I come out wiser for it; if I share my love with another, I become more loving, not less. When you give a spiritual gift, the recipient gains, and you lose nothing.
Another thought that I see no point in exploring: The Jewish day begins at night, gets dark, and darker, then most dark, and less dark until darkness gives way to light.
By JJ Eleff
Whether you read plays by Shakespeare, books by Orwell, Hemingway, or watch a movie saga you will see a common theme: good vs. evil, light vs. dark.
Orthodox groups have registered their objection to the bill, on the grounds that a lengthier period of darkness in the morning would make it exceedingly difficult to daven shacharis and go to work for large parts of the year.
One would think that dark in cooking is a bad thing. Think about burned or rotten food, but there is so much goodness in dark.
He attributes his mega success to his blindness, but it didn’t seem so at first.
Just as there is not one ladder for every job, there isn't one way to connect with and pray to G-d.
When I graduated from college, I thought I was going to climb the corporate ladder.
When we climb a ladder, skipping a step is a near impossibility. That, of course, is a great analogy for our spiritual lives.
The profound message that Rambam extracts from the ladder dream may be instrumental in resolving the enigmatic ending to his Moreh Nevuchim.
All the years when I would leave Israel, I would stop at the top of the staircase going onto the El Al plane (remember those days) and I would say a tearful goodbye to the angels of Israel.
If Yitzchak perceived that Yaakov was in front of him, it is only because Yaakov’s voice expressed his unique personality.
Yaakov’s words were delivered softly, they were delivered with respect, humility and empathy. When Yaakov said something, he meant it. He genuinely cared; whereas Eisav’s words were superficial.
By Rachel Kohn
I know what it is like to have a distinctive voice, and it isn't because my voice is unique – it’s because I sound just like my mom.
By Nachum Segal
A voice can pierce a heart and be an effective means to uplift someone who is down. A few words in a sympathetic and loving voice can go a long way.
To me, to his family, he expressed his love constantly – teaching us that if you love someone, there’s no such thing as saying it too often.
Too often, our community's discourse about women's Torah learning treats it as suspect, a threat, a challenge: why does she want to learn?
By Chaim Saiman
Do publishing imprints and styles matter? Artscroll, Mesorah or Sha’ar? Koren, Maggid or Toby? Frum vs. academic publishers?
By Solly Hess
We may learn a new Rashi, hear a drasha that reveals a layer to a pasuk here and there, but overall we’ve seen this episode before. So why do we do it?
If a father teaches his children the laws of keeping Shabbos, it is the mother who teaches how to best experience and enjoy the Shabbos. It is our mothers and grandmothers who teach us how to feel, emote, and live Judaism.
By Maayan Zik
Faith is trusting that whatever may come, in the long term or, better yet, the short, everything will work out for our personal and/or communal good.
But what does “good” even mean? Passable? Pleasant? Positive? According to our tradition, isn’t everything good if G-d wanted it?
By Eli Lebowicz
One man in the Gemara was so optimistic, he was literally called Nachum Ish Gamzu (after gam zu l’tovah).
Hashem is pure tov, and He created an entire world just to share His tov – Himself – with us.
By Avi Ganz
To quote Hypocrates: "First, do no harm." Avoid what pulls us down – personally and collectively. But then pursue good. Asei tov.
I am not unaware of my country's faults and weaknesses, but I continue to be proud and thankful that I live in America.
In high school, you do Model UN and everyone learns about the existence of Djibouti and Burkina Faso. But that’s not what country means for Jews. If we’re talking Jewish, there is the country and there is the old country.
Country represents the sprouting of our nation’s home in the Promised Land where we are immigrants but we are finally home. Where we begin to picture the redemption and work together to bring about kvod shamayim.
Israel. Where every tiyul is something new. Where G-d shows all the colors, the vibrancy of life, the stark contrast between vast sea, open desert, and lush forest.
The issue of identification with a country can go far deeper and far longer past a simple yom tov, too. Immigrants from all over the world come to America, yet still retain the culture and flavor along with them.
Ruach is described in various contexts in Tanach as wind, spirit and breath. As the physical world had not yet been created, the first mention of ruach connotes a spiritual desire of Hashem.
Even the other Hebrew words for soul or spirit – like nefesh and neshamah – are related to the words for breathing.
It's crucial to remember that before Hashem created anything, before even light, the ruach Hashem was already everywhere, just waiting to be breathed into us...
Connecting our ruach to its source requires our avodas Hashem to not be confined to theological abstractions or routine religious observances.
Speech itself is referred to as ruach... This G-dly spirit gives us the power of intelligent speech that elevates and separates humans from other living creatures.
September 4, 2026 
