So Hard to Leave
12/10/2024 12:30:16 PM
Dec10
As the realization took hold that in just a few short hours my flight is due to take off and I will be leaving the Land of Israel a sadness gripped me. Here I am, having the Zechus to spend time in the Land that Moshe Rabbeinu pined to step foot in, yet, was never allowed to enter, and, I am here, yet, I am leaving.
Read more... Moma Rochel
12/10/2024 12:18:25 PM
Dec10
There are certain places which transcend time and place and override cultural and religious differences. Kever Rochel is one of those places. It is a place apart from partisan politics and religious sectarianism.
Read more... Time to Say Good Shabbos
12/06/2024 12:09:59 PM
Dec6
As I write these words the Sun has just risen over the hills surrounding Yerushalayim. I have just learned the Parsha and although I have been learning the Parsha for over half a century, a new question arose in my heart.
Read more... Chessed Meets Gevura in the Face of Death
12/04/2024 02:15:05 PM
Dec4
Yesterday, when I made my way down south to see firsthand the destruction wrought by our enemies, there were two reactions which I was privileged to witness time and again.
Read more... The Holy Ones
12/04/2024 02:00:39 PM
Dec4
From the moment i disembarked from the plane, I knew where I had to go. I had to go south and bear witness personally to the single most brutal day in the history of the Jews since the Holocuast.
Read more... Kol HaNearim
11/21/2024 02:56:17 PM
Nov21
As the bidding for Kol HaNearim began, Yechezkel Rosenberg* sat nervously in his seat. His thoughts were centered around one question: ”Would he be able to purchase Kol HaNearim? ” His mind drifted back to a vanished world.
Read more... You Never Know
11/15/2024 12:17:10 PM
Nov15
This is not a story about politics.In fact, the players in this story are just props who appear on stage in a production scripted by the master playwriter Himself. In today's news, I noticed the following few lines about the goings-on in Washington this morning:
Read more... The Art of Listening
11/15/2024 12:13:18 PM
Nov15
Baruch and Miriam looked at each other, each in a state of shock. The Levaya had concluded, and all that remained was the Kel Moleh. Yet, before the Kel Moleh, Mr. Yosef Greenberg* attempted to stand up from his wheelchair. Baruch and Miriam rushed to their elderly father's side. They were unsure what their father's intentions were.
Read more... Yishai Netanel ben Sarah Tova
11/15/2024 12:07:53 PM
Nov15
The situation in Israel seems to get more frightening by the day. Although we believe B'Emunah Sheleima (with complete and total confidence) that Hashem has everything in His plan book, we daven that all should go as quickly and safely for our brothers and sisters in harm's way.
Read more... The Kittel
11/15/2024 11:55:51 AM
Nov15
I spoke to my son Tuvia at his army base just minutes before the fast began. He asked me, Ta, when do I know if I am allowed to eat on Yom Kippur? How do I know if I am required to go on a mission whose length is unknown if I should eat beforehand? I did not know what to answer.
Read more... One on Compassion
11/15/2024 11:12:10 AM
Nov15
With Rosh Hashana Hashanah just days away, and Droshos to prepare and write up, and congregants to meet with, this was the last thing I thought I needed. I do my best to avoid mediating financial disputes.They usually end with all sides disgruntled and having negative feelings towards me, and no one satisfied with my attempts at Solomonic solutions.
Read more... The Flight with Ori
09/19/2024 03:35:02 PM
Sep19
I was flying solo on the 1 AM El Al flight to Newark. I had just completed an overwhelming and exhausting six days in Israel to attend my grandson's Bar Mitzvah. I left the day after Tisha Bav-Wednesday, August 14, and was returning on Wednesday morning, August 21. I was not expecting any conversation as I sat in my aisle seat quietly and wiped out. Yet, as so often happens, Hashem has His plans for us.
Read more... Results
09/18/2024 12:06:13 PM
Sep18
So I decided to go off line for 36 hours, meaning, I am still writing- however, I am not checking my email or phone messages etc. Why did I do this? Very simple.
Read more... False Advertising
09/18/2024 12:02:22 PM
Sep18
I decided to go for a walk the other day and passed a spot which not only sells alcholic beverages, it actively promotes consumption of alcohol as a more effective way of dealing with mental health than conventional therapy.
Read more... Tensely Proud
09/18/2024 11:55:53 AM
Sep18
For most of you today is a regular Sunday- however, for me, this day is anything but regular. You see today for me was a very different type of Sunday. I am sure everyone has their own peckel and, often I spend time listening to other’s worries and fears. Please indulge me as I would like to share with you my own personal peckel.
Read more... Rav Kook ZT"L
09/12/2024 03:10:43 PM
Sep12
Today is the 89th Yahrtzeit of HaRav Avrohom Yiztchok HaKohen Kook ZT”L. Rav Kook needs no introduction to most of us. As the first Chief Rabbi of what was then British Mandatory Palestine in Eretz Yisroel and Rav Kook was one of the Gedolei Yisroel. His literary output is amazing. He wrote in all aspects of Judaism.
Read more... In Memory of Malki Lazar Z"L
09/05/2024 03:36:12 PM
Sep5
It was Wednesday afternoon, Erev July 4. I had a doctor's appointment in Ho-Ho-Kus. I glanced at my ETA and was shocked that my normally thirty-minute drive was now 57 minutes! The AAA projection of 70.9 million travelers heading on the roads for Independence Day was being fulfilled on my screen. However, I realized that perhaps this delay could facilitate a potential Mitzvah.
Read more... The Cuckoo Clock
09/03/2024 02:31:53 PM
Sep3
I observe a daily morning ritual, like clockwork. To be more precise, the ritual is clockwork. Before I leave my house for shul at 6 a.m., I descend the stairs and head straight to the eastern wall of our dining room, where I make a beeline for the object of my avodah, approaching it with a sense of purpose and reverence.
Read more... Tu B'av
08/20/2024 03:06:53 PM
Aug20
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: ”There were no days more joyous than the 15th of Av (Tu B'Av) and Yom Kippur, for on those days the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white clothing, in order not to embarrass those who did not have...and the daughters of Jerusalem would dance in the vineyards.” (Mishna Ta’anit 4:8). This year, no one is dancing.
Read more... Erev Tu B'av
08/20/2024 03:02:42 PM
Aug20
In Shul this morning, during Chazaras HaShatz something amazing occurred. As I was listening to the repetition of the Shmoneh Esrei, suddenly I noticed the Kohanim standing in front of the Aron HaKodesh. Was it a Yom Tov today? Why are the Kohanim going to the Duchan?
Read more... In Loving Memory of Elon Weiss ZT"L
08/08/2024 12:46:51 PM
Aug8
'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few' (Winston Churchill- August 20, 1940) Over the phone, I could hear the electronic doors closing on the light rail in Yerushalayim. I asked my son, Meir, ”Where are you going?” ”Har Herzl.” My heart sank as tears welled up in my eyes. I knew Har Herzel was the military cemetery.
Read more... I am not alone ...
07/26/2024 11:07:15 AM
Jul26
The man seemed from another era as he slowly and carefully walked into the office and quietly sat down. The wrinkles running across his face revealed his painful past. Laibel Leibstein* had recently turned 90. He had lived in Boro Park for years, yet sometimes still confused the streets.
Read more... Mah-Jongg!
07/11/2024 11:36:47 AM
Jul11
”Four Crak! Three Bam! Eight Dot!” The words roll off the tongues of the four women, intensity focused on the small rectangular tiles before them. The tension builds as the women, all concentrating on the strange-looking tiles before them, as if they are on a life-saving mission, are vying to be able to scream out the coveted utterance only known to the select initiated group of Jewish women world over.
Read more... Rav Shneur Kotler and the Lubavitcher Rebbe
07/11/2024 10:44:13 AM
Jul11
Today is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Zalman Kotler ZT’L Rosh Yeshiva of Beis Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, who passed away in 1982. It is also the Yahrtzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who passed away in 1994. Both these individuals left an indelible and everlasting impact on the Jewish world.
Read more... The KLOP
07/05/2024 12:21:44 PM
Jul5
KLOP- Yiddish Definition: 1- v. To knock in order to call attention. 2- 2- n. A bang, hit, blow. The man was so excited as he awoke in the morning. He was up and about and keen on doing his Chessed project. It was Rosh Chodesh, and he knew that the regular Chiyuvim (mourners) who generally lead the davening were precluded from doing so because of the semi-holiday of Rosh Chodesh.
Read more... Shlomo the Caterer
07/03/2024 03:02:04 PM
Jul3
The war has taken a terrible toll on the Jewish people. The loss of the precious Neshomos of those killed on Simchas Torah and the brave soldiers who give their lives Al Kiddush Hashem are the most painful of the sacrifices made by the people of Israel. Yet, during these more than six months of the war, there have been many difficulties faced by simple people in Israel in their daily quest to support their families. Shlomo Tal* is one of those.
Read more... You Never Know
06/11/2024 11:53:38 AM
Jun11
Shavuos is a difficult time for a Rav. The Rav is expected(?) to lead the Shul in learning throughout the night. (Full disclosure, I have not stayed up the entire night in years.) Yet, as difficult as learning the entire night may be, preparing for the night's learning is harder.
Read more... The New Suit
05/31/2024 10:12:38 AM
May31
Last Shabbos, the 17th of Iyar, the 32nd day of the Omer, was the 38th Yahrtzeit of my Rebbe, Rav Nissan Alpert ZT”L (1927 – May 25, 1986). I spoke about him in Shul that Shabbos. However, nothing could have prepared for what transpired that following day in Shul on Lag B'Omer.
Read more... R’ Avrohom Aronovitch ZT”L- On His Seventh Yahrtzeit
05/29/2024 11:29:44 AM
May29
I have a personal sadness on this day. Today is the seventh Yahrtzeit of Rav Avrohom Aronovitch. Rav Aronovitch was a special man; he was a teacher of Torah and a lover of Jews. He was the first person in town to ensure we all observed the Mitzvah of not wearing Shatnez. He was a wonderful father and husband to his family. Yet, to me, he was my friend.
Read more... The Hockey Puck of Love
05/16/2024 11:22:58 AM
May16
When his father, an academic who enjoyed physics over sports, asked his fourteen-year-old son where he would like to go, the young boy did not hesitate.
Wed, July 9 2025
13 Tammuz 5785
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Wed, July 9 2025 13 Tammuz 5785