יום שני, י״א אלול תשפ״וMonday, August 24, 2026
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It’s fascinating to realize that the People of Israel growing into a mighty nation in Egypt was a reward for the heroism of the Hebrew midwives.
On April 14, 1912, at 11:40 p.m., the Titanic struck an iceberg. It sank at 2:20 a.m. on April 15. Thus, this month (both according to the Jewish and secular calendars) marks the centennial of the disaster. Despite the passage of time, the tragedy still fascinates people and continues to be a source of lessons learned - both good and bad.
By Tibbi Singer
This is too funny not to be true. Egypt's national soccer team is "forced" to break the Arab Youth and Sports Ministers’ decision to boycott Adidas, after the sportswear company sponsored the Jerusalem marathon… because the national team do not have an alternative kit to wear. "We have no choice but to wear Adidas in the UAE camp as we don’t have any other outfits," said the team's Executive Director.
At this time of the year, "Jewish eyes are smiling" as we look back to our Egyptian experience of 3300 years ago and the great salvation that HaShem had brought forth for us. But on this 10th of Nisan, corresponding to the general calendar of April 2, the eyes of all enlightened nations are on Egypt, but for different reasons. The Moslem Brotherhood political party in Egypt, that now controls the two houses of the Egyptian Parliament, is going to have their man as the next president of that country. This group is among the most radical Islamists in the world, and they have an unabashed, open, straightforward Islamic agenda. Not only will they turn Egyptian society back 300 years, their end game is to uproot the Jewish State.
In the vernacular of our sages and in our prayers, Pesach is titled, “Z’man chayrusaynu- Time of our freedom.” Although we did attain freedom at the time of our redemption from Egypt, titling the holiday as such doesn’t seem to encapsulate the root of the holiday’s greatness.
Question: In the Torah’s description of the ten plagues Hashem inflicted upon Egypt, we find the Hebrew preposition “beit” [meaning “in” or “with”] only in connection with the plague of locust: "Neteh yadcha al eretz Mitzrayim ba'arbeh." Why is this so? And why do most of the commentators on Chumash ignore this question. Menachem (Via E-Mail)
By Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel
It has been said ‘It is easier to take the Jew out of the Exile, than to take the Exile out of the Jew’. While in Egypt, the Jewish people could not even hear Hashem’s promise of Redemption because of their “shortness of spirit.” Their bondage wasn’t merely a physical bondage, but a mental one. And so, while still in Egypt, Hashem began the process of taking the Jew out of the psychology of Exile, ridding him of his slave mentality.
In 1620 and 1630, William Bradford and John Winthrop delivered sermons on the Mayflower and Arbella, referring to the deliverance from “modern day Egypt and Pharaoh,” to “the crossing of the modern day Red Sea” and to New Zion/Canaan as the destination of the Pilgrims on board.
As one that has trained and followed rabbis throughout their careers, I can generally say that rabbis gain detractors not so much because of their sermons, vision, lectures or the like, but rather when they fail to return phone calls, when they avoid bikur cholim, and when they fail to respond to emails. One can deal with refusal, disagreements, debates and the answer 'no', but how should one deal with being totally and utterly ignored?!
The population of Africa is involved in a series of disputes with a tribal background, where the Islamist and ethnic components play an important, and sometimes critical, role. Saudi Arabian money, Wahhabi propaganda, the presence of terror organizations, and wide distribution of weapons do not contribute to a calming of tensions between the various demographics in Africa.
To the modern mind, korbanos may seem foreign or hard to understand. Yet they were a key component of the service of Hashem. Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt”l, explains that offerings served many purposes, including a primary purpose of expressing thanks to Hashem. Thus, following the book of Exodus comes the book dealing with sacrifices as an expression of thanks for the deliverance from slavery in Egypt.
By Barry Rubin
In 2012-2013, the vultures in the Middle East are coming home to roost. Of course, the main cause of developments in the region is the long, failed legacy of radical Arab nationalism which is now being replaced by what we’ll be calling in 20 or 30 years the long, failed legacy of revolutionary Islamism. But the secondary cause is the mistaken policy of President Barack Obama.
By Barry Rubin
Reality: Those who are, or will soon be, governing Egypt view themselves as being at war with Israel for all practical purposes. It matters relatively little that there is still a peace treaty. In Cairo, there are no thoughts of peace.
Despite the intense suffering of slavery in Egypt, it was there that Israel became a nation – not just in the spiritual sense, but in the physical sense: it was there that our numbers swelled. This is to the credit of the Jewish women, who despite their oppression at the hands of Egypt relentlessly encouraged the growth of Israel. This provides a glimpse of the greatness of the Jewish women of that generation. Likewise in our times, it is the Jewish woman’s selfless devotion to service of Hashem that builds and sustains Israel.
By Rafi Harkham
The resolution read, "Egypt after the revolution will never be a friend of the Zionist entity, the number one enemy of Egypt and the Arab nation." It also supported Palestinian resistance "in all its kinds and forms."
The real question is "What is happiness?" We seem to be a very unhappy generation. Even when we say “This makes me happy”, “I am happy”, “I would be happy if you would do this”, “I will be happy to do that”, do we really mean happiness? Do we even know what happiness feels like?
Al Ahram reports that a women's demonstration has been planned for Thursday to coincide with International Women’s Day, in downtown Cairo. Organizers are expected to provide parliamentary leaders with 100 suggested names of prominent female Egyptian figures for inclusion in a constituent assembly that will be mandated with drawing up a new constitution. Despite the […]
Perhaps you can’t really define a people without also defining its enemies. Certainly many believe that if the Jews could get rid of the idea of peoplehood, then they wouldn’t have enemies.The experience of the 19th century assimilationists and post-Oslo Israel tells us that this strategy doesn’t work in the real world. Even if we refuse to remember Amalek, he remembers us. And if we don’t have the support of self-conscious peoplehood (and its concrete representation, the Jewish state), how can we fight him?
By Barry Rubin
The new Middle East strategic battle is heating up and this is only the start. It has nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with two more serious lines of battle: Arabs versus Persians and Sunni versus Shia Muslims.
By Barry Rubin
It is now conceivable that the two leading presidential candidates will be Islamists and thus Egypt will have an Islamist president. That would mean the timetable for turning the country into an Islamist Sharia state could be vastly accelerated.
Al-Ahram reports that the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) on Monday referred several articles of the law governing parliamentary polls to the State Council, the legal body tasked with deciding disputes related to the exercise of state power. The move is raising doubts in Cairo as to whether Egypt's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections were constitutional. The […]
A Swedish NGO worker was prevented from boarding a flight from Egypt to Cyprus Monday. According to Cairo International Airport Authorities, Jean Eric was on a list of people banned from leaving Egypt due to their involvement in ongoing investigations into NGOs that have been the recipients of foreign funding. "During the passport check-in process for […]
Obama administration officials and US Congressman have suggested that the $2 billion in yearly military and economic aid to Egypt has been jeopardized by the Egyptian government's clampdown and prosecution of pro-democracy groups and individuals.
Egypt's prosecution of pro-democracy NGOs reflects unresolved suspicions and hostilities towards the West and democracy.
The arrest comes as tensions between the US and Egypt have increased due to Egypt's prosecution of pro-democracy NGO organizations.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey will visit Egypt amid rising tensions between the US and Egypt over the prosecution of NGO workers in Egypt.
After its conquest by Joshua, the land of Israel was divided into twelve equal parts in accordance with the number of the tribes of Israel. Each male member of each tribe that actually left Egypt was entitled to a piece of land equal in size to the total size allocated to his whole tribe divided by the number of men of twenty or over in his tribe that left Egypt.
Kamal al-Ganzouri: Egypt "will not back down because of aid or other reasons."
The fact that the aid is conditioned on Egypt's compliance with its peace treaty with Israel is unpopular in Egypt.
The Obama administration has expressed serious concern about these developments and has threatened to cut billions of dollars in American aid.
By Barry Rubin
The Islamists are not “moderate” and many of the alleged moderates are not moderate. Hence, the hope for moderation and real democracy is limited by the small numbers of those who hold them.
Efraim Halevy served as Mossad's chief from 1998-2002.
Pipeline has been attacked at least a dozen times since Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was deposed in February 2011.
“And Hashem turned back the sea by a strong east-wind all the night” (14:21). The wind was entirely unnecessary, for it was naturally unable to split the sea open and create a pathway, as the verse concludes "And it made the sea into dry land and the waters were split apart." This was entirely a […]
Adel Imam was sentenced to three months for his roles in a play and a movie.
Ali Akbar Salehi said that Iran is prepared to upgrade its diplomatic relations with Egypt to the Ambassadorial level.
The Freedom and Justice Party will lead the Labor, Planning and Budget committees.
Egypt's military receives $1.3 billion a year from the US.
Move comes amid a recent crackdown on pro-democracy NGOs.
“For I have made heavy his heart and the heart of his servants in order that I should put these signs of mine in his midst and in order that you should relate in the ears of your son and your son’s son how I dealt with Egypt, and you should know that I am Hashem” (10:1-2).
Muslim Brotherhood spokesman: ""We will reject any request from the Israeli embassy to meet."
Mohamed Saad el-Katatni quoted as saying that Camp David accord "needs reevaluation".
Incident comes amid growing lawlessness and discontent among Sinai Bedouin
By Barry Rubin
Why would anyone even think of making peace with Israel when they are enthusiastic believers in total victory, the idea that events are on their side for wiping out Israel? Everyone in the Middle East understands these attitudes are triumphing, no matter which side they are on.
Islamist parties expected to fair well in upcoming Libyan elections.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party wins 235 seats; the ultra-conservative Salafist Al-Nur party wins 121 seats.
“And Amram took Yocheved.... And she bore to him Aharon and Moshe” (6:20). The names that were given in Egypt were not repetitions of previous names but were original expressions of genuine devotion to Hashem.
The Muslim Brotherhood did not initiate the current upheavals in the Middle East, but the Islamist parties in Egypt, as in Tunisia and Libya, have been the chief beneficiaries of the collapse of longstanding authoritarian repressive regimes across North Africa.
Israel fears protesters may incite anti-Israel violence on anniversary of January 25 Revolution.
Mubarak lawyer: "There is no evidence to prove that Mubarak gave orders to open fire on the protesters."
Amr Moussa is said to be leading the Egyptian presidential race.
By Sam Ser
“The Syrian people are living their worst period,” parliament member Imad Ghalioun said in an interview from Egypt on Sunday night.
Withdrawal seen as a blow to pro-democracy camp in Egypt.
The more conservative Salafists are expected to gain 25% of the total seats.
On the twentieth day of Teves we mark the 808th yahrzeit of Rabeinu Moshe ben Maimon, the Rambam (Maimonides). The Rambam (Maimonides) lived from 1135 to 1204. His scholarly works are world-renowned and it is about him that we say, “From Moses to Moses there never arose so great a person as Moses.”
Egypt's military-led government originally rejected the IMF's offer in June 2011.
Number two US diplomat William Burns meets with Mohamed Morsi, head of Freedom and Justice Party.
Until recently, most of the Arab countries had boycotted Hamas. But now many Arab leaders are competing who will embrace Hamas stronger than the other.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry says it informed Israel that it would not be "appropriate" for Jewish pilgrims to make the annual visit.
This year six Arab countries experienced severe shocks that brought about the fall of some rulers or serious threat to their rule. The process began at the end of 2010, and continues until today.
Jewish access to venerated Rabbi's tomb near Delta city of Damanhour under threat.
Ptolemy, King of Egypt, had requested of Elazar Kohen Gadol, that he send sages to his country to translate the Torah. Elazar complied by sending 72 sages. They were wined and dined and then the king put to them 72 questions, to test their wisdom.
Nearly eighty-five years have passed since Sarah Aaronson shot herself in the head, putting an end to the torture her Turkish interrogators inflicted upon her for refusing to disclose information about her associates in the NILI, an anti-Turkish spying organization that supplied the British with intelligence.
King Ptolemy of Egypt had heard that the Jews possessed the Torah, the five books of Moshe, which contained much wisdom and excellent laws. He desired to have this Torah translated into Greek so that he, too, might learn its contents.
August 21, 2026 
