The Kosel
08/08/2023 09:52:14 AM
Aug8
This Morning We Decided To Make Our Way Back to the Wall. When one walks in the early morning to the Wall, one sees people from all types. The common denominator of these people is that their main focus is to pour out their hearts to Hashem.
Read more... Sunrise at the Kosel
08/03/2023 10:25:20 AM
Aug3
This morning, my wife and I made our way to the Kosel to daven Vasikin. As we arrived, we were awestruck by the amount of people who gathered at the Wall by 5 a.m. There were all types of Jews from all over the world. There were Ashkenazim and Sephardim, Chassidim and non-Chassidim.
Read more... Tu B'Av and the Churva Shul
08/02/2023 10:21:23 AM
Aug2
“How Great are your ways Hashem!” Today on Tu Bav, less than a week after we fasted, sat on the ground and cried for Yerushaalayim, I finally felt the consoling Hand of He who consoles all. I did not thankfully have to wait for some Messeianic time or some “time in the world to come.” I was privileged to be consoled today in the here and now.
Read more... Giveret Mizrachi
08/02/2023 10:05:56 AM
Aug2
Mrs. Mizrachi,* or “Geveret Mizrachi” as she prefers to be called, collects for various aniyim, needy people, in Eretz Yisrael. Geveret Mizrachi has been coming to the shul for as long as I can remember.
From before vasikin at 4:58 until the final stragglers file out of the 10:30 Shacharis, Geveret Mizrachi sits like a soldier by the front door.
She is quick with a smile and even...Read more...
You Never Know Where the Other Person Is
07/28/2023 09:58:37 AM
Jul28
The other day I received a phone call from a congregant. They began the conversation by saying, “Good Morning Rabbi Eisenman. Do you have a minute?”
Read more... The Nine Days
07/20/2023 02:05:54 PM
Jul20
Based on the vantage point from my side of the desk, it seems to me that many people dread the Nine Days. The thought of becoming non-carnivorous and adopting a modified herbivore (a true herbivore does not eat fish) lifestyle is so traumatic for some people that I have had to transform myself into a culinary expert on various meat analogue delicacies to properly guide people.
Read more... The Letter and The Lesson
07/13/2023 11:25:58 AM
Jul13
When Saralah Goldstein* called me with the good news that her son was accepted in Mesivta, I shared her joy. When she told me the name of the Mesivta, I was ecstatic and in disbelief. Her husband had passed away several years ago, and she raised her two boys and two girls by herself. She was far from a woman of means, and although her oldest son Yanky*, was a fine young man, he was not at the top of the class.
Read more... Smash the Sparrow Campaign
" >07/12/2023 03:20:08 PM
Jul12
One day in 1958, Mao Zedong, the father of the People's Republic of China, decided that it was time to eradicate sparrows from China. The dictator was informed by Chinese "experts" that each sparrow eats about 4.5 kg of grains in a year. For every one million sparrows killed, food could be provided for an estimated 60,000 people.Mao Zedong ordered to kill all the sparrows.
Read more... Reflections of the Fourth
" >07/05/2023 02:22:22 PM
Jul5
As the day began yesterday, I knew it was July 4. Its most practical manifestation was my "freedom" to park my car on my block without worrying about alternate side parking regulations as street cleaning was suspended for the holiday.
Read more... Final Payment
07/03/2023 02:35:21 PM
Jul3
The love of his life was learning Torah, yet, his learning was limited to Yiddish translations. Every morning from 3 to 6, he would learn through his well-worn Yiddish copy of the Chayei Adam and the Beis Yehudah Chumash. He would then head to Shul, ensuring he was first there.
Read more... The Heroine
06/23/2023 10:27:44 AM
Jun23
Recently I was told about an incident that occurred in a local Shul.The source of the story is impeccable; therefore, I do not doubt its veracity.It seems that after the COVID crisis had passed, the Shul reopened. However, the older veteran-gabbai, could not resume his duties as he was told by his doctors not to return to Shul due to his compromised immune condition.
Read more... Age is Only a Number
06/07/2023 01:45:14 PM
Jun7
When Syliva Rubin* arrived at the assisted living complex, her sole emotion was loneliness. At 61, Syliva had made the cut to be granted the privilege of being part of the facility; however, the last thing she felt was privileged. She was consumed with a sense of misery and melancholy.
Read more... You Have a Nice Beard
06/01/2023 11:43:03 AM
Jun1
Yesterday, I was walking down the street, minding my own business, when surprisingly, a woman - who had to be in her sixties- says to me, ”What a nice beard you have. ” I was taken a back.
Read more... Cell Phones
05/30/2023 02:45:39 PM
May30
Now that the weather has taken a turn for the warm and pleasant it was my turn to go out and take a walk and enjoy the fresh air and warmth. As I was walking near the park on Tennyson, I noticed a familiar face.
Read more... Rus
05/30/2023 02:33:35 PM
May30
Rus is one of my favorite heroines in the Tanach. She is the one who lives and breathes the famous quote from President Harry Truman. ”It's amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets the credit, ”
Read more... Hashem Loves Me
05/19/2023 12:19:53 PM
May19
It was Seder night. The youngest in the family, Chizkiyahu, had just opened the door at ”Shepoch Chamasecha” and the fourth cup was poured.Everyone was satiated from their mother's delicious meal, and now it was time to sit back and sing Hallel to Hashem.
Read more... Happy Mother's Day
05/16/2023 02:21:47 PM
May16
This past Sunday was Mother's Day. I was planning to write this Vort on Sunday; however, as they say, ”Mann tracht un G-tt lacht”. (In English, ”Man plans and G-d laughs”)
Read more... Esther Jaffe A"H
05/04/2023 02:23:33 PM
May4
At 3:20 PM on Friday, March 3, I suddenly saw them.The large contingent of Hatzalah vehicles amassing in front of my next-door neighbor's home was alarming.
Read more... Rav Bender's Realignment
04/20/2023 01:52:29 PM
Apr20
The excitement in the room was palpable.It was an event marking the beginning of the learning of Mishnayos for the third-grade boys at Yeshiva Darchei Torah.Parents and grandparents were all in attendance celebrating their son’s or grandson’s first immersion into Torah Shebe’al Peh.
Read more... Sasha Mindel bas Rav Chaim Yehuda
04/19/2023 11:44:15 AM
Apr19
This Shabbos, Parshas Shimini 2023, was the Yahrtzeit of a woman who passed away 169 years ago.On the 24th of Nissan in the year 1854, on Parshas Shimini, Sasha Mindel Hertzberg, née Kluger, passed away.
Read more... The Final Preparation
04/05/2023 01:34:19 PM
Apr5
We are all familiar with the Four Sons. A more accurate translation would be Four Traits of the Human Personality.
Read more... My Mother's Parker 51
04/03/2023 03:11:19 PM
Apr3
This past Friday, the Ninth of Nissan, was Leah bas Meir's (my mother-Lorraine Eisenman) eighth Yahrtzeit. I present one more memory of her.
Read more... Leah bas Meir A"H
04/03/2023 02:59:03 PM
Apr3
My mother, Lorraine Eisenman (January 16, 1930, 16th of Teves 5690- March 29, 2015- Nissan 9, 5775), was born in the South Bronx in the Hunts Point section.
Read more... 
The White Purim
03/08/2023 12:35:01 PM
Mar8
Today as I made my way to Shul, snow was all over the grass and falling from the sky! It should be a sign from Hashem that He has forgiven our sins, and we are off to a clean slate.
Read more... Yoel Moshe ben Yosef Nosson Z"L
03/06/2023 12:30:26 PM
Mar6
Today is the 24th Yahrtzeit of my father Z”L. He was born on the 30th day of Tishrei 5686- October 1, 1925. He passed away on Taanis Esther in 1999.
Read more... Oakley
03/02/2023 02:02:14 PM
Mar2
It was time. Bernard Hillstein (name changed) had finally conceded he could no longer live alone and had to enter an assisted living facility. He always craved warmer weather.
Read more... M'She Nichnas Adar....
03/01/2023 03:27:25 PM
Mar1
We all remember the Zoom days when people were warned to be careful to note how they dressed and acted while on camera. However; there is always room and reason to be vigilant.
Read more... Moshe Rabbeinu and Zayin Adar, and Chevra Kadisha
02/28/2023 12:39:30 PM
Feb28
Today in Chevra Kadishas worldwide, the Yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu is observed fasting and, after the fast, with a Seudas Mitzvah. At the Seuda, the members of the Chevra Kadisha are recognized for their efforts on behalf of the community. What is the connection between Zayin Adar, the Yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu, and Chevra Kadishas? Why is this day picked to recognize the work of the Chevra Kadisha?
Read more... PIP Revisited
02/28/2023 12:36:23 PM
Feb28
I have become more mellow after reaching my mid-sixties. I no longer feel axiomatic and certainly not dogmatic regarding certain ideas I once felt. I have realized that people are different; their needs, hopes, and dreams differ.
I realized some people revel and look forward to making Purim special and are not interested in making PURIM PASHUT.
Therefore, I have changed. Those who want to keep the original PIP or Purim...Read more...
Sun, May 11 2025
13 Iyyar 5785
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Sun, May 11 2025 13 Iyyar 5785