יום שישי, כ״ה תמוז תשפ״וFriday, July 10, 2026
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Let's not forget that we come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
I passionately believe that focusing on healthy habits for people of all sizes is so much more important than focusing on weight loss.
It is ours. It has always been ours. We can always return because it is a right that we have possessed since birth.
By Wendy Boxer
The warm breadcrumb chicken is like a warm sunny day in the middle of winter. And even the sweet potatoes and pickles taste better.
Can you be happy for 100 days in a row?
I realized that I am an integral part of that man who wished to win – I am also a part of a nation; I felt like I was standing there and shouting, “I won.”
As I powerfully belted out the song, Ani Maamin B’emunah Sheleima – which means “I believe in God with full faith” – a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
The first issue the girls had to deal with was finding sponsors willing to donate goods and services for the event.
Girls don't usually learn Gemara. Everyone knows that.
The poetry slam required entrants to compose original poetry with powerful imagery and energetic rhythm bringing their poems to life – making it palpable to the audience.
“I was so inspired by the beautiful lessons I learned and by the holiness around me that I just couldn't stop writing songs!” she says.
Every moment was a gift. I held each one, savoring.
By Mimi Weiss
We arrived in Auschwitz on Thursday, January 30, 2014. My seminary was taking us to see where the prisoners were kept. When we got there, I stepped off the bus in complete and total silence. I was in the back, and when we got to the gate I hesitated and started shaking uncontrollably. I couldn't […]
From the moment Israel was declared a Jewish state, it has been the subject of controversy and struggle.
David looked up. “Hatzlacha, Dina,” he smiled. “I hope everything goes well.”
There’s so much he could do Resources are not few He refuses to end all His SILENCE.
Playing a musical instrument can help build faith in yourself as you observe yourself do something splendidly.
The task of studying Latin may not be a worthy endeavor to most of the population, but for those who plan on going into medicine or law it may not be such a bad idea.
By Michelle Katz and Sarah Katz
JLIC campus couples serve as tremendous role models for Jewish students on campus...
A program that started with a handful of volunteers has grown exponentially to include students from a wider array of backgrounds.
People’s clothing can earn them a derogative title, or even an assumption of their personality! This is wrong in so many ways.
By Leah Mishael
In the hands of a child with talent, passion and persistence, an instrument can change a life.
These monsters constantly attack When we dare to try to fight back
By Rayzel Reich
This past Friday it was finally almost official. It was going to happen. Be’ezras Hashem.
By Miriam K.
If you're part of the 95% of Americans who own an Apple device, you're being spied on at this very moment.
They are presented as freedom fighters attempting to further their cause, and not as the bloodthirsty murders they were.
By Miriam Wade
I am naive, but only in an optimistic sense, seeing the good in the world like only a 20-year old can.
Believe it or not, some schools actually have therapists or guidance counselors on staff.
"Grandpa," I wondered, as the swing began to slow down, "why are there numbers on your arm?"
This devastating loss For weeks is the top news, But the assassination of politicians Is squeezed onto page two.
This past summer was a powerful one for the Jewish people. I will always remember where I was on June 12th when I found out that Gilad, Eyal and Naftali were kidnapped. I will always remember the look on my sister’s face on June 30th when she told me that they were found. I will […]
I witnessed the true strength of Am Yisrael during those few days.
Is a missed opportunity to do a mitzvah considered a sin?
By Rayzel Reich
The sounds and scents of the kitchen are cozy, familiar, but loud in the silence.
This Holy Day comes once a year With prayers and begging and pleading and tears,
While multitasking is not ideal, it is often necessary and unavoidable.
By Rivka Hia
One minute you're shaving shwarma off a pit, then the shwarma guy tells you he read a (fake) WhatsApp that the boys are dead.
By Ayala Shemen
King David prayed to give me my destined glory from his palace; his son to mold me into the mountain that everyone faces when they call to our Creator.
What Hashem desires most is that we learn to connect with each other as children in the same family.
He wondered what it was like to live in Israel, to be religious.
Help me and the rest of them Know what I really mean.
This man, who is coming to speak to all of you today, is a holy man.
You’ve been taken from me my child I’ve been alone for many years, That you will never return Is my deepest hidden fear.
By Blumie Abend
Shining faces and broad smiles surrounded me and I knew my own face had a silly grin plastered on it all evening.
By Samuel Shmuel Simcha Magaseyev
One by one they would come, Dressed in their scary uniform, All with the same game,
By Aliza Mayer
“Beauty is not always seen, but felt by the heart, ” said Hellen Keller.
By Eden Malka
The following poem was written by Eden Malka, a student at the Yeshivah of Flatbush who will take part in the school’s Witness Theater in honor of Yom HaShoah.
One important factor in helping us laugh is not taking yourself too seriously.
Are we wealthy, are we paupers? Are we kings or are we slaves?
By M. Meisels
Should I make conversation with her? How should I start? A million questions zoomed through Leah’s mind until she finally said, “Shalom, do you speak English?” Leah questioned.
I walked into the trap he set, And there a terrible fate I met.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest recorded use of LOL was in the 1960s and it referred “little old lady.” LOL was first used for its official meaning in the 1980s.
Her faith she had to hide, To find out the king tried But no answer would ever come from His wife.
What made this apple decay and grow mold, This is a message for both young and old.
By Blumie Abend
Never sacrifice the people who matter for anything of lesser importance...
When a child is trembling with fear, When guns command him to raise his hands in the air You know beyond a shadow of doubt The World Has Gone Upside Down.
By Sari Abraham
I stood there on the steps, rather stunned. I couldn’t believe he was serious; surely this was just a chocolate-obtaining-method of flattery. But I sure wasn’t taking a chance.
By Eli Davis
"Fear absolutely no one or nothing but G-d, and love every single Jew no matter who he/she is and no matter what he/she is doing.”
The voyage is going peacefully A salty tang in the air, But when the storm decides to strike The sailors are unprepared.
By Rivka Herman
My sister went to take a shower. I really didn’t appreciate being alone. As I waited for my turn to shower, I suddenly heard voices coming from my parents' bedroom, down the dark hallway.
Every child wants to "fit in," and not be the “uncool kid." This is why teenagers steal, from a high-end store or a schoolmate. Some kids even get bullied for their appearance. So they just make believe they are too sick and not have to suffer what they call “torture."
By Malky Ashur
The wind whistled outside my house, as the lights flickered but thankfully didn’t turn completely off. Being in this situation reminded me of the terrible week and a half in late October when my family and community lost all electrical power due to Superstorm Sandy.
“Nechama Gitty Shapiro is leaving,” said the secretary, poking her head into the classroom. My classmates all turned towards me and whispered, “Where are you going?”
I look into the flickering flames of the Shabbos candles and I am thankful for the warmth and light that emanates from them and illuminates our home.
By Blumie Abend
Today is day six without a phone. Besides for feeling slightly isolated, it’s not too bad. I’ve been doing things that I know I would not be doing if my phone was sitting next to me, shiny screen beckoning.
He strengthened his resolve Knew his life he would lose, But when the king uttered the words With great pride he refused.
Just like you I too have a soul A soul that is G-dly Just like you. Now my friend I ask you, Am I different from you?
By Sara Ben-Zvi
When you wake up in the morning, and see the sunlight streaming into your room, do you say thank you to the One Who deserves thanks the most?
By Chava Adams
Those people. The ones that hang out at the library, or in certain sections of town, walking, talking...
When I was fourteen years old I understood that I might never return to Moscow and live at home with my parents. While I had lived the bulk of my life in Moscow, at the start of high school I was going to assimilate into the American system of education and the world of American teenageism. I was excited.
By Sari Abraham
At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to use it at all. I had thought the concept was perfect. A rose-colored background, surrounding black encroaching from all sides. It would be a cave of warmth, a hiding place within the darkness.
By A. B.
17 July I hope you all had an enjoyable and meaningful fast and now sit satisfied and full as you think back to your inspiration. I wanted to share one thing I gained this year.
I was entering 3 months in which my connection to my Judaism would be up to me, and I feared I would lose everything.
Students in the Lubavitch Senior School in London were asked to recreate a historical event. Miriam Ives, age 15, wrote a letter to a newspaper in the guise of a soldier during the Crimean War.
By S. Goldfarb
I always knew I wanted to be perfect, but it wasn’t until my seminary year that I decided I wanted to be publicly perfect. It was at that point in my life that the imagery of me as a public figure and a rebbetzin was born.
I hear my alarm clock buzzing But my body refuses to budge It needs another shot of caffeine In the form of a latte with mocha-fudge
It can be a daunting process sending teens off for their first year of study in Eretz Yisroel. For most teens, this will be their first complete year away from the comfort of home and the guidance of their parents. As if that isn’t enough, they’ll be about a full day’s travel away from home.
By Elke Weiss
At the American Jewish Historical Society, there was an excellent program about Jewish women in the Civil War. The audience learned about such colorful women as Phoebe Yates Pember who served as a nurse, with 15,000 patients coming under her direct care during the war and Clara Solomon, a teenager who chronicled the Civil War.
By Chava Adams
Miri was a special child. I didn’t know that at first. She had thick, dark hair, round face, and a slow smile. “I’m six,” she said. But then I learned what it felt like when Miri wrapped her arms around you and hugged. Her face upturned, that slow smile spreading across it. Reaching her eyes, that would grow, and grow and grow, liquid ovals of brown above cheeks tinged deep pink.
The girl that can’t cry has a heart so cold buried under frozen tears rhythm; untold.
By Elke Weiss
The importance of death customs has been ingrained in me since birth. When I served as a shomeret for my grandmother, I was instructed not to eat, drink or perform a mitzvah in the same room. In the shock of death, it seemed rather inane to be told it would be considered mocking the dead. My grandmother was gone; she couldn’t do those things because she didn’t exist anymore, a fact that still makes me tear up.
By Chava Adams
Another tree is down. I’m driving down Lakewood Avenue, figuring that maybe, just maybe, the tree that blocked the middle of North Lake Drive has been removed, and I can go through. After all, they had a whole day. I’m sure things have been taken care of.
The tear is rolling down my cheek. It lands atop my lips. I lick my lips to remove the dryness and the saltiness soaks into my tongue. I take a long deep breath and begin to think. Why? How could she do that to me? We’re best friends. We’ve known each other practically since we were born. How could she go and do such a horrible thing?
Nearly half a million of them fought in Red Army uniforms, under communist slogans but with a personal vengeance that was solely the result of Jewish experience. More than the “Greatest Generation,” they were the living superheroes hidden in plain sight.
Leah Katz, a TeenZone camper at Oorah’s TheZone summer camp and an 11th grader at Midwood High School, read her winning essay about how TheZone changed her views on Judaism at the Jewish Heritage Awards Ceremony held at Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’s office in April. The purpose of the Jewish Heritage Essay Contest is to acquaint public school students with Jewish history and customs and to help foster a deeper understanding of Jewish culture. The contest is open to students of all ethnic and religious backgrounds. Leah’s essay is reproduced in full below.
By Alti Bukalov
You have probably been planning your marriage since you were about three. Let’s fast-forward to a big milestone– your twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. (Don’t worry, you don’t look a day over twenty one!) Now, would you appreciate your husband buying you a dozen roses that some florist recommended?
It was September 25, 2006. Tammy, an oblivious, petite, third grader lay in bed, counting her stationary collection, when she decided she needed a drink. As she descended the staircase, she was surprised to see her mother dressed in this bubby-like gown.
By Rayzel Reich
I didn’t need that much garlic. After all… how much garlic, exactly, could I put into the chicken without overdoing it? But something made me leave the white, rounded head on the counter after cracking off a few bulbs, rather than putting it back in the fridge. Maybe I’d need more.
A small shoe a rusted silver bell a worn blanket a sign of the glory it once had The First Stage of Life
I can feel the fear pulsing through my veins, blocking out everything around me. I walk down the long, unembellished hall, which is dimly lit with fiery torches at every bend. I can’t help but wonder if it was purposely built this way to terrorize me. As I slowly edge towards the doors, I keep telling myself it’s going to be fine…but what if it’s not? I can feel my stomach twisting as I turn the last corner and come to a complete stop.
July 10, 2026 
