יום חמישי, כ׳ תשרי תשפ״זThursday, October 1, 2026
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There is little evidence of communal Jewish life or rabbinical leadership until the middle of the nineteenth century, when German Jews began a large American emigration to escape Germany’s tyrannical antisemitic laws.
As an influencer who speaks to many women on a daily basis, I find myself saying "oy" when someone shares an unfortunate situation with me. I guess it's my version of "oy gevalt" without the gevalt.
Some of the comments complained that religious Jews should not be speaking about this in public.
You can say things like, “It’s “mamesh a gevalt.” In this context it means wow – that is an unbelievable thing.
By Hillel Fuld
It could mean that someone is alarmed or realized something very bad. Alternatively, it could be used to express gratitude to Hashem.
By Keshet Starr
According to Webster’s dictionary, gevalt is an expression of alarm, while oy indicates exasperation or dismay.
René believed that Hashem was with him the whole time because the numbers the Nazis engraved on his arm added up to 26 – the gematria of Hashem’s name.
By Guest Author
Former Trump administration Mid East envoy Jason Greenblatt shows how rejecting conventional thinking brought peace.
There’s nothing wrong with trying your best. In fact, giving it your best shot is what you should attempt to do every day...
By Anna Freiman
His mother, Devora, promised him that his life would not end here. She would fulfill his dream of being the first professional soccer player to step on the field with a kippah. In just two years, Devora has done just that.
Rabbi Steinberg also points out that while most people familiar with Hebrew are aware of the three-letter shoresh, there are also opinions that there is an entire category of two-letter roots as well.
A previous owner of the book apparently found several passages of the book not to his liking, and these passages were neatly burned out.
I am sure you have a lot to offer someone and it would be good to start focusing on your positive attributes in order to help pull yourself out of this depression.
Controlling behavior is always a red flag. A healthy relationship includes compromise and at the very least a willingness to listen.
If you are baffled by this definition, you are not alone. Yet, this confusion hasn’t stopped many folks from enthusiastically investing in and utilizing this asset.
Trump challenged the notion that America has to be an honest broker indifferent to its ally’s interests; instead, he felt that America should be a smart broker.
By Jeremy Wayne
The country was once home to the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world, and Jews have lived here – largely free from oppression apart from some rocky periods – for more than 2,000 years.
The Jews of Europe, who had their own dreams of a land that they heard of – i.e., Eretz Yisrael, about which their mothers had sung to them in two thousand years of lullabies – were unable to fly “over the rainbow” or go anywhere else.
By Marc Gronich
When state lawmakers arrived in Albany for an extraordinary session of the Legislature, called by Governor Kathy Hochul a week after the decision was rendered, a bill was not ready for debate – costing taxpayers money unnecessarily.
By Rabbanit Dr. Adena Berkowitz
Look at the bustling city it has become – with yeshivas, seminaries, mosdos, restaurants, apartments, hotels, archeology come to life and the kaleidoscope of Jews, Sabras and those ingathered from all over the world.
Walking up Rachel Imeinu Street it is hard to feel lonely. For thousands of years, Rachel has been masterfully offering solace to lonely, wandering Jews.
Calling it home is perhaps the greatest gift I ever gave myself (with Hashem’s help, of course), one that I receive anew each day.
When we had to return to the U.S. 12 years later there was an ache in my soul.
his ability to compromise is an indispensable part of a successful relationship. Without compromise, marriages could never work.
I strongly believe in something I call “cozy time.” This is the time when you put your children to sleep. It would be most advantageous for each child to get five to ten minutes of alone time with both of you every night.
Created in 1979 as a tribute to Simon Rockower by his sons, the Simon Rockower Awards committee seek out only the epitome of successful, honorable Jewish journalism.
When speaking to children about protecting privacy, specify the information that should not be shared, such as their name, address, phone number, email address, school name and the like.
While the student body at many of the major American yeshivas was slowly growing in the post-war period, the Selective Service draft resulted in a great portion of the students continuing their studies indefinitely to avoid the draft.
You want to make a life with this wonderful guy, but you worry that when he sees where and how you have grown up, he will think less of you, less of your family. You feel ashamed.
This sefer can be used at the Shabbos table for parsha review and discussion question prompts, even if not everyone sitting down at the meal has read the book.
With a conversational, upbeat and humorous style that is both down to earth and sophisticated, Rabbi Viders in this, his second book, connects snippets of history and everyday life with the eternity of the Torah’s truth and values.
With the loss of the Alma oil fields – which Egypt has renamed the Shuab Ali fields – Israel’s energy costs in the first year after the agreement increased by about one-third to about $2 billion, even though Israel had adopted policies to reduce oil consumption.
By JJ Eleff
One of the things I love about the DansDeals forums is the diversity in our members – people coming together from all different walks of life. We frequently discuss our differences and educate each other on the beauty of our own traditions and customs.
By The Honorable Rachel Freier
Knowing that my children and grandchildren create another link in the chain makes tradition not just a word in my family but a way of life.
Adherence to traditions will fade away if there is no understanding of why we do what we do.
By Anat Coleman
At the height of the pandemic, for example, New Yorkers came together in a new tradition of making noise at 7 p.m. each evening in support of our essential workers.
If what you say is a received tradition we accept it. (But) if you have derived it logically then we have a response.
By Marc Gronich
I think it’s important to understand that 58 percent of the religious-based hate crimes are against Jews out of a population of only 2 percent, said Alison Pure-Slovin, director of the Midwest Region of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, based in Chicago.
As children enter elementary school, and reading becomes an integral part of the curriculum, children with learning disorders begin to struggle academically.
It appears that you have to try to navigate this situation in a loving manner and try to help your husband understand that you get headaches from a hot house.
By Nathan Lewin
His name may not appear in the index of chronicles of Jewish life over the past half-century, but his influence as “rey-eh David” – the intimate of rulers – was felt and appreciated immediately.
A cache of documents I acquired this week tells of the efforts of a group that during World War II founded the organization Sabbath Observers in Civil Service to defend and support those in the U.S. Military who were Sabbath observant.
You need to recognize that while you like each other and see promise in a future together, something in one or both of you is preventing an emotional connection from developing to the point that you can commit to one another.
While you seem less enthusiastic about your son’s plans, your in-laws may be ecstatic about the idea. They may be more than willing to pick up the tab.
By dvora
Even with so much attention directed at events of the day, the focus of the Breakfast always came back to COJO Flatbush... To all the things COJO does for those in need.
By Yael Zoldan
I've long been in the camp of people who believe that food is either good (think Haagen Dasz) or good for you (think brussels sprouts) but rarely, if ever, both.
I was intrigued by how the writer looked to find Hashem’s message in frustrating, mundane stories.
The great visionary of the Jewish State did not bother to provide his children with even the rudiments of Jewish education or a Jewish identity; in fact, he taught them that assimilation, liberalism, and an enlightened education would finally bring an end to antisemitism and Jewish isolation.
By Marc Gronich
From one of my favorite TV shows I learned that you have to go to visit the rabbi three times to show you’re serious.
Maybe the most important lesson I learned during those years was from a rebbe who remarked that the most essential character trait developed in yeshiva by a ben Torah is curiosity.
While there is something to be said for being an eclectic learner, who in many ways pieced together my own derech, I deeply wish that I had started learning seriously earlier in my life, and that I had a derech in learning, particularly when it comes to Gemara.
By Rachel Kohn
With its derivation from the Hebrew word "to sit," yeshiva can be seen to connote continuity through hunkering down...
If next year’s tuition contract has given you sticker shock, remember that the challenge to afford tuition is nothing new.
This video highlighted something else. It was like an old couple, with decades of carpools and those daily pedestrian responsibilities of families, reading their first love letters. This video reminded us of that first love.
By Bennett Ruda
Can the current rise in antisemitism as anti-Zionism pressuring American Jews to criticize Israel actually have a positive dimension?
When still in school, it’s easier to make friends because you are forced into social situations. As an adult, making friends can be harder – especially because your life is busy.
By Irwin Cohen
It's hard enough to be a good player in the major leagues, But Robinson had to listen to racial taunts from other teams and fans in the stands when the Dodgers played on the road.
When a person gives you unsolicited advice, you can say, I appreciate your suggestion, but what I really need is a listening ear and support through my situation.
Sure, it’s annoying for employees to remember multiple passwords. However, it makes your system more secure.
We can perhaps discuss the importance of honesty. You did not give your sisters the chance to accept your choice with dignity before you began dating.
Schwartz spent the coming years traversing the country, studying the history of its villages and towns and attempting to determine the locations of biblical sites.
Failure to acknowledge the hierarchy of values causes us to risk losing sight of the forest for the trees.
The catacombs also include beautiful illustrations of animals, which include birds, peacocks, ducks, and eagles; bulls, sheep and rams; and hens and roosters; as well as flowers and fruit trees, many of which may symbolize paradise.
She was always appreciative of everything Hashem created in the world, even the small things that would usually pass by someone, such as an exotic flower or a serene sunset...
Would that we could sweat out impatience, addictions, anger, and our many other self-destructive behaviors that leave us worse off, closed off, and far off the mark!
By Maayan Zik
One of the most important schvitz-making projects of our lives is the journey to be more of ourselves.
Language academics created an entire discipline – phonoaesthetics – to figure out what makes a word pleasant-sounding. Idyllic appears on that list, and so does mellifluous and cellar door. Shvitz doesn’t.
Yiddish – and by extension, modern Hebrew – offers us yet another use for this term – the 'shvitzer,' or braggart, someone who's trying too hard and constantly showing off.
Hashem views the past, present, and future in synchronization. We too must broaden our scope.
Do sensory processing disorders affect academics? The answer, unfortunately, is a resounding yes.
It's extremely daunting and time consuming to basically put two strangers together and be a frequent go-between, negotiator, and adviser, but when it happens, and eventually children are born, you become a partner with Hashem in creating worlds.
OCD responds extremely well to cognitive-behavioral therapy. Research has demonstrated that cognitive-behavioral therapy is indeed most effective in treating OCD.
These books constituted a complete collection of texts necessary for everyday Jewish life, something that had existed among the Western Sephardim and Ashkenazim for over 200 years.
Financial planning is not only about the accumulation of wealth, it is also about the transmission of values to the next generation.
It is frustrating to feel like an afterthought. While I would like to give your date the benefit of the doubt and assume he most certainly wanted to be there, how he presented himself made you feel otherwise.
Why unpack that can of worms when it seems like the repository of our experiential faith has never been deeper and more sound?
Notably – and not surprising in Nazi Germany – the reviewer praised Mitchell’s description of the patriarchal character and racial and social hierarchy in the antebellum South.
By Marc Gronich
Gun-free zones don’t work, Zeldin agreed. They actually become a target for innocent civilians to be attacked because the person carrying out the offense knows they are going to encounter less resistance.
By Marc Gronich
Suozzi brought up the potential conflict of interest between Hochul’s husband, Bill, who is the general counsel for the company holding the vendor concession contract for the stadium, Delaware North.
By Avi Ganz
The Gemara (Kiddushin 30b) says, I have created the yetzer hara and I have created the Torah for it as a spice. A spice? Not a defense, an antidote or a vaccine?
By Eli Lebowicz
When Sodom is destroyed, Lot’s wife looks back at the city because the angels said not to, and she gets turned into a pillar of salt.
If you describe someone as salty? It’s someone who is not in the best of moods. A sailor with salty language is not speaking eloquently; a salty person is one who is upset over minor nuisances.
Something that is salty in terms of cooking means it’s not seasoned properly, but too much salt or being salty could also be applied to balance as well.
Lot’s wife was indeed warned not to look back, a warning she ignored. But when she did, she saw the city she loved, and which she missed dearly, in a state of utter desolation.
Widen your options. Don’t go with a “whether or not” decision. Instead think “and” instead of “or.”
A trip highlight was being able to share Torah and meals with the small Sephardi community in the capital city of San Salvador over Shabbos.
Judaism is not just a religion, but a relationship. Our challenges are tailor-made to build character. When passing our tests, we grow and gain self-respect.
October 2, 2026 
