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Elections are over: The hard part comes when the ballots are counted the cameras are gone

BY MICHAEL FREUND — Sat, 31 Oct 2026 10:42:37 GMT

By the time we read this week’s haftarah, Israelis will have gone to the polls to elect a new Knesset. After months of political arguments, accusations, and promises, the votes will have been cast.

Parashat Vayera: What a vote cannot decide

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 12:00:20 GMT

God gifted us with traits that distinguish us from the rest of creation: self-awareness, complex emotions, cognitive speech, creativity, imagination, dreams, and political instincts.

Parashat Vayera: Bridging heaven and earth

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 11:59:32 GMT

When we seek the higher values behind our everyday actions, daily life itself becomes a form of sacred service, allowing us to experience something of the Garden of Eden here on earth.

Parashat Lech Lecha: Having the courage to stand alone

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:10:51 GMT

Abraham’s willingness to stand alone would become a defining feature of our nation. As his descendants, we would desperately need that same strength.

Parashat Lech Lecha: There is no wisdom like that gained through experience

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:10:27 GMT

Abraham, our forefather, is commanded to journey to an unknown land, and God tells him, “that I will show you.” God’s light will illuminate the way.

Parashat Noah: How prayer becomes an ark that carries us through turbulent times - opinion

BY MEIRA RAANAN — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 11:59:22 GMT

As the Jewish holiday season ends, the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings remind us how prayer, art, and music can sustain us through the year ahead.

Parashat Noah: The main thing is the intention

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 11:59:07 GMT

Noah’s sacrifice after the Flood offers a lesson in sincere faith and the importance of doing good without seeking recognition.

Jonathan and David: When elections turn friends into enemies

BY MICHAEL FREUND — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 18:02:28 GMT

In the weeks ahead, Israelis will argue fiercely about the election and the country’s future. Jews elsewhere will have their own arguments about Israel, politics, and the Jewish community's future.

Parashat Bereishit: The world of water

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:51:15 GMT

Water is also the thread that connects the festival of Sukkot, which we recently concluded, with the first Torah portion, Parashat Bereishit, read on the first Shabbat after Sukkot.

‘You are standing today’: A Jewish lesson for America, 25 years after 9/11

BY MICHAEL FREUND — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 21:52:57 GMT

As we approach the 25th anniversary of that terrible day, this week’s haftarah (Isaiah 61:10-63:9) offers a powerful perspective on destruction, rebuilding, and memory.

Israel after Oct. 7: What Moses teaches us about survival and responsibility

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 21:50:05 GMT

As Israel emerges from three years of war, Moshe’s ancient message offers a powerful reminder: surviving tragedy is only the beginning. We must also decide what we stand for.

Parashat Nitzavim: Why we are all responsible for one another

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:50:38 GMT

In a world increasingly focused on personal success, Parashat Nitzavim reminds us that no one stands alone. Our fate is bound together, and we are responsible for one another.

Parashat Ki Tavo: The finest generation

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 11:45:00 GMT

Elul's call to confession requires more than admitting failure. Authentic teshuva also means recognizing personal growth and the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of this generation.

Parashat Ki Tavo: The power of joy

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 11:44:46 GMT

Parashat Ki Tavo teaches that joy is not a luxury but a religious obligation, revealed through gratitude, generosity and serving God with a sincere and joyful heart.

Haftarat Ki Tetze: When others destroy, Jews rebuild and make things greater

BY MICHAEL FREUND — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 22:13:13 GMT

Jerusalem has endured exile and loss, but Isaiah tells her not to look only at what has been destroyed. She must look ahead to what will be rebuilt.

Parashat Ki Tetze: Set adrift on the island of Elul

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:57:13 GMT

Parashat Ki Tetze abruptly shifts from collective responsibilities to personal ones. It is the densest legal section of the Torah, containing more commandments than any other parasha.

Parashat Ki Tetze: Creating a deep bond and the secret of marriage

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:55:26 GMT

The relationship between a man and a woman is also, in a sense, a reflection of the relationship between a person and his Creator.

What is the connection between Zionism and planting trees in Israel?

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 16:55:26 GMT

Trees have repeatedly been destroyed by war, fires, and other causes, but we have always planted again as an expression of Jewish resilience and rebuilding.

Parashat Shoftim: Wholehearted – and well

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:56:35 GMT

“Wholeheartedness is greater than wisdom, but great wisdom is required of a Jew before he reaches the level of ‘You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God.’” - Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz.

Parashat Re'eh: The choice to choose

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:33:17 GMT

Even those who observe Jewish tradition have areas of choice that they have already conquered, while their struggles lie elsewhere, each person according to their own level and circumstances.

Parashat Eikev: With respect for the past

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:25:41 GMT

Moses shattered the Tablets, yet their fragments were preserved beside the new ones. Their message endures, what appears broken can still carry holiness, meaning, and strength.

Parashat Eikev: The things we step on

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:15:00 GMT

Parshat Eikev teaches that the greatest threats to our values begin not with rejecting them, but with neglecting the small practices that keep them alive.

On Shabbat Nachamu, Isaiah reminds us that human power is just an illusion

BY MICHAEL FREUND — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:01:27 GMT

Isaiah declares, “Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as the dust on the scales... All the nations are as nothing before Him” (Isaiah 40:15,17).

Parashat Va'ethanan: The positive within the negative

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:54:34 GMT

The Ten Commandments are not an independent list of fundamental principles, but rather the nucleus from which the entire Torah unfolds - its genetic code.

Parashat Va'ethanan: Behind the curtain

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:49:42 GMT

At Sinai, the people were instructed to remain outside the boundary. In the Sanctuary, the holiest place stood behind a curtain.

Parashat Devarim: Always relevant

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:12:20 GMT

The Torah remains unchanged, yet its message can be expressed anew in the language, challenges, and circumstances of every generation.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Don’t borrow identity

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 11:51:31 GMT

Public debate has become louder, more bitter, and less capable of self-correction because opinions have hardened into identities.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Slow and steady

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 11:47:41 GMT

The most important movement is not always what is visible externally, but what takes place within a person.

Parashat Pinchas: What Joshua learned from Moses about true leadership

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:54:06 GMT

We often encounter people who seem to be pursuing the very same path on which we hope to succeed, and naturally, we may sometimes fear that their success will diminish our own opportunities.

Parashat Pinchas: A prophet for difficult times

BY MICHAEL FREUND — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:53:50 GMT

The Three Weeks do not ask us to despair. They ask us to remember what we lost, why we lost it, and, above all, that God has never stopped remembering us.