יום שני, י״ג אב תשפ״וMonday, July 27, 2026
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For generations, a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael was the great hope – Hatikvah – of countless Jews. In 1948, that hope was realized. Yet, hope did not end there – Od lo avda tikvateinu – nor did the challenges.
If a person feels like change is impossible, we encourage hope. If they feel like they can't be fixed, we show them their value.
When we focus on this healing future that exists beyond time, we bring tomorrow's comfort into today's pain. Our suffering doesn't disappear, but it changes as the light of our destination brightens our difficult journey.
This Pesach will be the second year of a wartime Seder and so our Hope for Hashem’s protection will be even more pronounced.
Imber’s words testify to the enduring spirit of Am Yisrael. Even in the shadow of loss, our hope remains. Our deep connection to the land, to our people, and to the promise of renewal endures.
But if "all Jews are Jews, except the Jews I really don't like" is your stance, then you don't actually believe in achdut.
By Solly Hess
There have been moments of national unity in the U.S., where Americans banded together after terrifying circumstances. Think of the kindness and care shown to one another after 9/11. Sadly, that grand-scale unity is more of a distant memory than the ubiquitous flags on everyone’s car window.
Let us also remember that the biggest obstacle to achdut is ego. As people strive to defend their image and self-importance, this can become its own type of avodah zarah that undermines the spiritual values that they think they are fighting for.
According to Ohr HaChaim: The kingdom of Israel will only endure if the heads of the people assemble together (keep the peace amongst themselves).
When we look at others, we should recognize that they carry a spark of Hashem Echad within them. When we think about ourselves, we must also remember that we, too, hold a part of Hashem Echad.
We each have our own characteristics and prefer our own path of worship. Our paths are unique to ourselves, but here is where we differ from angels: angels cannot veer from their characters, we can.
By Keshet Starr
In many ways, the twelve tribes are a beautiful symbol of Jewish unity; twelve different groups within a larger nation, each contributing in their own way.
Each of my children has different strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles. With Hashem’s help, they will all find their own individual paths.
The picture will become clearer when Moshiach comes. In the meantime, let’s daven and pray for an easier time and a redemption of mercy for the people of Israel!
By Hillel Fuld
Interestingly, the word shevet is spelled the same way in Hebrew as other words including the month of Shevat, and the Hebrew word for cloning.
Spring is also allergy season. Time to stock up on the Zyrtec. For some reason, this always surprises me and feels terribly unjust. Why, oh why, just as things are getting so beautiful do I also have to feel goopy and miserable?
Each year, when the snow starts to melt for the last time of the season and I hear the sounds of children dragging their bikes out of the shed, or the rhythmic bounce of a basketball on the court next door, I feel grateful for the change in seasons.
Spring reminds me that each and every day is truly a blessing.
Passover in the spring is all about remembering that freedom. But it's not just ancient history; it's about us, now, shaking off whatever is holding us back.
By Maayan Zik
Judaism teaches, Ein mazel l’Yisrael, which means The Jewish people aren’t ruled by mazel. That’s another way of saying that while circumstances influence us, they don’t control us.
I believe, and tell my children and talmidim so, that we have the opportunity to be matzliach in ways the defy luck of the draw, nature and happenstance.
By Ariela Davis
How many of us who live relatively happy lives with families and full refrigerators and spend much of our time focusing on what we don’t have and complaining about the small things that don’t go our way?
Lucky people make successful decisions by using their intuition and gut feelings.
The images of the Bibas family – two redheaded, cherub-cheeked babies and their mother – will forever be burned in our minds along with all of the others we refuse to forget.
One of the most curious mitzvot we have is to remember to blot out Amalek. The worst way to rid them from our psyche is to annually read about them. We must forever remember the importance of stamping out evil in the world.
By Eli Lebowicz
There’s stuff I remember that I’d be fine forgetting, like getting out first in the 4th grade spelling bee on the easiest word possible (wholesome, by the way).
The years ahead were filled with grandchildren who have given me wonderful memories, and now my life is filled with great-grandchildren and we are making memories together. With Hashem’s help we will go on making memories for many more years.
The Torah’s commandment to remember is about shaping the future. The Holocaust and October 7 teach us that the world can change in an instant – and that if we don’t take history seriously, it will repeat itself.
Our society is results-focused. You can be the second-fastest runner in the world, but society doesn’t care. You lost. You’re not getting the endorsements.
When I am old, and my hair is silver or white or gray, I know that I won't remember this stress. All I will remember is the happy times, and I will probably say, I'd do anything to get back to that place.
By David Curwin
Interestingly, the English word “silver” may also have Semitic origins. One theory suggests that silver derives from the Akkadian word sarapu, meaning to smelt, refine.
By dvora
What exactly is a silver lining? It is a metaphor conveying a glimmer of hope, in the midst of despair.
By Akiva Kra
It's amazing how one metal can carry so many memories and so much importance. Oftentimes the tarnished silver candlesticks in a home carry more emotion and hold more memories than the colorful pictures around them.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
We might think that today batei din just adjudicate cases of divorce and conversion. Yet, Jewish courts can resolve business disputes and damages.
To me, the best part of beis din is that it allows us to not have to air our laundry in civil courts...
By Chaim Saiman
While din ensures that legal principles are upheld without deviation, it can sometimes lead to harsh or impractical outcomes.
Halacha, like other legal systems, provides us with rules and values around which we are meant to organize our lives. Our ability, however, to comply with halacha requires that we learn and teach its rules. After all, you can’t comply with the rules you don’t know.
The salient distinction is that civil law is secular and Jewish law is G-dly... Jewish law, by contrast, is a combination of civil and religious law, e.g., if one steals, he is simultaneously sinning against the victim and against G-d.
Just as there are no two more similar stories than the respective exiles of Yaakov and Moshe, it is hard to find two more disparate parallels than the roles of their respective fathers-in-law.
By Sara Blau
Most of us can’t handle unsolicited advice, and in-law relationships can be a touchy thing. And yet Moshe’s humility astounds me. To be able to receive the feedback and make the necessary improvements based on his father-in-law’s advice is truly something I admire.
By Avi Ganz
Lavan wasn't just a bad father-in-law; he was a bad person. In contrast, Yitro is a man with a significant past and what seems to be a very strong moral compass. And he wants to help.
I smile when I remember how, when we lived in Florida, they spent a week together converting a garage into two fully carpeted bedrooms with outlets and lights. There really wasn’t anything the two of them couldn’t repair together.
Yitro teaches us the importance of having a confidant in your family, who sees things through a different set of eyes, and can be trusted for sage advice.
When Noach sends off the raven, the Torah provides no reason, but rather Noach unceremoniously ejects the poor bird from the ark. No wonder it flounders and goes nowhere. With the dove, though, the text adds these words to see whether the waters had abated.
The dove’s unwavering loyalty mirrors my devotion to my family, community, and faith. I aim to spread positivity, wisdom, and spiritual nourishment.
The dove was sent by Noah three times. It returned to the ark twice, portraying the middot of commitment and loyalty, both to Noah and its mate. It took its responsibilities to heart.
I cannot think of doves without considering their counterparts, ravens. I'm from Baltimore, a city that named its football team after Poe’s famous poem. Perhaps next year thinking about the Ravens will bring me a bit more joy…
Despite being part of the pigeon family – a far less beloved creature, typically associated with urban grime – doves represent purity. (Contrary to universal imagery, however, they come in other colors besides white.)
By Nachum Segal
This Torah discussion and the family custom of giving it the exclusive slot at a family bar mitzvah gave us all a common thread and association. I have always found that connection very meaningful.
By JJ Eleff
Dozens of men worldwide who had no connection to a rabbi are now members of a shul in their neighborhood. IDF soldiers fighting on the front lines to protect us have a new source of protection that they wrap daily.
As a mother, tefillin is something else to think about for my teenage sons' trips and carpools, something else to organize during bar mitzvah planning.
Not just because it's a physical way to literally tie into Judaism and to prepare for prayer and not just because it's the same action that my father, sheyichyehi, my grandfather, and my ancestors have done since Sinai.
Once Jews were allowed to daven at the Kotel again for the first time in 20 years, Chabad set up a table at the Kotel encouraging Jews to put on tefillin.
By Adina Broder
Since real truth is unique to Hashem, the word emes is considered Hashem’s seal or signature.
This world is a journey of uncovering that infinite truth of who you actually are. When you align with your divine core, you're not becoming something new – you're revealing what was always there.
By Anat Coleman
Much of the time, people are already aware of the truth of the situation and have avoided thinking about it or taking action until it reaches a crescendo.
I’m proud to be a Jew. I’m proud of my roots and that I get to wear a kippah on my head every day. I’m proud I get to put on tefillin and be part of our amazing religion.
Isn’t it ironic that Am Yisrael can’t agree on how to pronounce the word emes – or is it emet? It’s a small detail, but it reminds us that we live in a world where the very essence of truth is challenged. Today, the concept of truth feels fractured. Phrases like “your truth” and […]
By Ariela Davis
Living in Israel has provided me many eye-opening experiences to see that mentschlichkeit isn’t something unique to the frum world, or in my experience, even the Jewish world and is sometimes even missing in some aspects of the Torah world.
When it comes right down to it, there are way too many loud voices and zealots who are not really interested in a higher goal, but only in their ego, their position, etc. We must remember what our true goals are (or should be), which is shalom, loving others and bringing them closer to Torah.
By Martin Bodek
Know what’s funny? I was going to get into a whole etymology about the word origin and definition, but I got nostalgic. As a famous comedian used to say when completing his act, This isn’t the story I wanted to tell you.
How the Machlis family never reacts negatively to their outrageous guests is beyond me. How they continue to host with such dignity and grace, no matter what, is truly unreal.
Treat people with whom you disagree with respect and fairness. One is entitled to argue – even with one’s spouse – as long as you are fair.
Historically, Greece wasn't precisely the antagonist during the Maccabean era; instead, it was the Assyrian Greeks, a faction of the Greek Empire based in Syria.
As it is written in Eshet Chayil: Sheker hachen v'hevel hayofi, ishah yir'at Hashem hi tithalal. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the L-rd is to be praised.
By Eli Lebowicz
Sure, people will say not to drive a German car, decide to skip movies with Mel Gibson, or never listen to a Kanye song, but I've never heard of anyone protesting driving a Ford Mustang or choosing to avoid Disney World.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that in Hebrew, the name for ancient Greece, Yavan, has another meaning: quicksand – Water mixes with sand, dirt and clay. You step in it and you can't get out. The more you try to climb up, the further down you go.
I will turn to the Greeks of this season and tell our readers an adorable thing one of my grandsons said 14 years ago, after his grandfather died a few days before Chanukah.
We should focus philosophically on Hashem’s radical oneness, that Hashem is one being and is non-physical, and thus cannot be broken down into parts but remains forever singular and perfect.
Does faith emerge from recitation of Shema in shul, daily, on Shabbat, or when belted out as Yom Kippur wanes? These are powerful moments, but I think it’s the quieter, private moments of a child’s bedtime recitation of Shema that leaves the most lasting imprint on the developing mind.
He described his deep connection to the Torah of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt"l, despite never having heard his voice. This is not surprising – many people connect to the Torah of our great commentators and leaders who lived decades or centuries earlier, whose voices they never heard.
When we say Shema we do not declare our faith as much as instruct our faith. Listen, Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One! We simultaneously declare it aloud and actively listen, accepting this as true in our hearts.
By David Curwin
In Modern Hebrew, shama typically means “to hear,” while the other two verbs convey to listen. Yet the earlier nuance of shama persists in the word mashmaut, significance, originally, that which is understood.
By Avi Ganz
While we often think of Chanukah as a tale of great victory for the Jews (and for good reason! The Al Hanissim only mentions this aspect of the story), the fact is that Chanukah and its accompanying tails of bravery were and are about the temporary victory of a few brave and strong-hearted men.
About a week later when my melt Google doc remained blank and silent, I realized that my word was actually too good. Although theoretically I had many options, all of them fell flat when I tried to write them down.
The Chofetz Chaim said that Chazal gave us the holidays of Chanukah and Purim in the winter, representing the long and dark galus, to give us hope for eventual redemption.
By dvora
It is a metaphor for a world experiencing a severe meltdown of morals and rationality. A dangerous, combustible situation, spreading everywhere.
By Solly Hess
The Judaica items around us can either be inanimate relics that turn sections of our living rooms into mini-museums, or they can be used as intended – keepers of our heritage that remind us of a full and storied past while propelling our history forward.
Each of us must ask: is this Judaica enriching my practice or serving as a status symbol? Does it deepen my joy in the mitzvah, or overshadow it?
By Hillel Fuld
When I hear the word Judaica, I think about our rich history and our indigenous land, Judea. That’s right, what the world calls The West Bank today is actually Judea and Samaria.
By Keshet Starr
On one hand, there’s a value in a hiddur mitzvah, adding elegance and beauty to our observance. But on the other hand, what happens when the focus on beauty and presentation obscures the mitzvah itself?
What about the Judaica shops! Yes, the shops that sold Jewish books, music, candle sticks, sefarim and many other Judaica.
Descended from the illustrious lineage of Hillel and Rabbi Gamliel, who were heads of the Sanhedrin, he was famously wealthy yet he was personally content with little.
July 24, 2026 
