יום חמישי, ב׳ אב תשפ״וThursday, July 16, 2026
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I shvitz a lot – cooking meals on Friday for Shabbat, chasing after our three young children, rushing from one work event to another – and I'm grateful for all of it. The only thing I ask? Please just blast the A/C.
In panic we feel sweat and call it threat. In our work we feel sweat and call it mine. Both times the body is simply telling the truth, and both times we paint over it with a meaning it never asked for.
By Anat Coleman
As temperatures climb, the city seems to shed layers. Shorts appear. Tank tops emerge. I remain covered. And start to shvitz.
Sometimes, I shvitz in worry, wondering when and how my kids will overcome their next challenge. Or how the war in Israel is going. Or the Jewish community here in America is faring.
We can learn an important lesson from a shvitz. Just as the body seeks to return to its regulated state after being overheated, the soul seeks to return to its natural state of connection with Hashem.
By Irwin Cohen
Fidrych had a great record of nine wins and two losses with an impressive earned run average of only 1.78 when he started for the American League at the All-Star Game.
But as Israel approaches another national election, here is a question worth asking: How many American Jews actually understand how Israel elects its government?
All of our nation’s suffering is rooted in the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. More precisely, our suffering is rooted in what the destruction reflects – distance between us and Hashem.
The year 2005 was the first time I ever truly felt the pain of Tishabaav.
Today Hatzalah is a lifesaving organization that also pioneered in the ambucycle, a motorcycle outfitted with everything necessary to start emergency medical treatment.
In my experience, the same volunteering spirit and leadership that compels people to join Hatzalah often is why they are the ones who often daven or blow shofar on the Yamim Noraim.
I think about the path that Hatzalah created for so many men to contribute and to be recognized for their contributions, and how important that was for their relationship to the Jewish community.
I’m also drawn toward the somewhat humorous Hatzalah culture that has become a bit of a meme, most recently in the comedy of Dovie Neuberger.
The Gemara teaches that Jews are responsible for one another. Few institutions translate that principle into action as literally as Hatzalah.
This Tisha B’av, it is imperative that we constantly remind ourselves that Achdut Bnai Yisrael does not happen by itself. It requires hard work, continuous perspective, introspection, due diligence and a love for acheinu.
Because the words of Torah gladden the heart, studying Torah is forbidden when Tisha B’Av is on a weekday, except for passages in Scripture that deal with the destruction of the Temple and other calamities.
A central halachic and emotional theme of the day is to avoid diverting our minds from this national mourning.
By Dovid Hirsch
It is estimated that at the time of the American Revolution, there were merely 2,500 Jews in the entire 13 colonies, most of them women and children. From that period, we have over 100 confirmed names of Jews who served the Patriot cause in uniform.
Our sense of responsibility toward fellow Jews is deepened because Torah commands us to care for one another.
Perhaps freedom is not political or economic. Maybe real liberty is internal – something no government, culture, or oppressor can ultimately control.
A free country does not stay free by accident. Liberty must be taught, cherished – and occasionally sung slightly off-key.
The freedom to worship is one of our most fundamental liberties and we should hold on to it for dear life.
Liberty demands an ever-watchful stewardship. It means having the courage to speak up when it is hard rather than carrying the day over in silence, which is easier.
By Nachum Segal
Rules and guidelines and values should be appreciated for all they add to our lives while, at the same time, a live and let live approach can exist at their side.
By Irwin Cohen
Israel was welcoming new residents on an ongoing basis as more than 700,000 arrived in the Jewish homeland in the three years since it became a state.
They are so frustrated by our ability to defend ourselves that they have made it their mission to destroy Israel and return to the good old days of Jewish helplessness.
A chok is a Torah law that transcends human logic. It asks us to trust even when we do not fully understand.
Does Hashem have a reason for everything, and that is why we follow the Torah? Or does Hashem decide some things arbitrarily, but we follow them anyway because Hashem said so?
The less trust exists in a relationship, the more explanation becomes necessary. But the deeper the trust, the less understanding needs to come first.
We keep the Torah simply because G-d said so. If we can begin to scratch the surface of the thought-process behind it – great. But that is just additional flavoring, a cherry on top.
To err is human, but to purify and rectify requires the divine touch of the Torah and its guidance.
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By Mendi Glik
Every time Levine composed a song, he wanted people to be comfortable with it right away. The tune should seem a little familiar, but with a chidush (something new).
I’m awakened by the loud chirping of birds, and my first thought is how lucky these birds are to have been hatched in this land of miracles, and their whistles and cooing and cawing is their hakarat haTov to Hashem their creator – songs of gratitude.
It’s important to remember that success should not come at the cost of your mental and emotional well-being. When stress becomes so overwhelming that it affects your sleep, happiness, and daily life, it’s a sign that something needs to change.
We know the Rebbe in a personal register, too. A grandparent who kept a letter of blessing in a drawer. A dollar received in a Sunday line to pass on to tzedakah. That closeness was real, and for most of us it was as far as the relationship ever went.
Doing something that she is good at can boost her self-esteem tremendously and provide her with an opportunity to make like-minded friends.
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By Marc Gronich
It was widely expressed by state lawmakers that the buffer zone is just a first step. “A buffer zone wasn’t just necessary but imperative. We were pleased that we were able to increase the distance that was originally 25 feet to 50 feet,” said Stern.
Unlike other works that address areas of life we interact with daily, the study of malachim introduces us to a concealed realm. Yet this hidden world can strengthen our emunah.
I recommend establishing a longer-term investment account focused primarily in equities. If an institution does not need the funds for many years, the stock market can allow those assets to appreciate meaningfully over time, potentially outpacing inflation and helping offset adverse currency fluctuations.
For bibliophiles and collectors of rabbinic history, booklets like Perush Derech Yemin represent the Holy Grail of ephemeral printing. B
The protests have also made her optimistic for the future. “The courage and bravery of the Iranian protesters this past year has filled me with enormous hope,” she said.
You need to let your friends and family know that you are ready to date so that they can peripherally assist you as well. You need to keep this circle tight and small.
Historians of American education and Jewish life have noted that his dictionary familiarized non-Jewish Americans with Hebrew-derived terms without attaching stigma to Jewish identity, but for Jewish educators, this was a double-edged sword...
A nudnik is someone who, when you ask how he's doing, tells you. Even when a nudnik agrees with you, it feels like an argument.
As a parent, I’m nudnicking the other way to my kids – did you say a bracha? Did you wash your hands? Did you bring a water bottle?
By Eli Lebowicz
Every writer needs an editor to do some gentle bothering, jabbing, pestering, bugging, prodding into making sure their assignment is in by a deadline. And if I didn’t have one, this never would’ve gotten finished in time. Thanks for being a nudnik.
By Sara Blau
The most effective thing I've found to counter an intrusive thought or a temptation is simply to notice it: There's that nudnik again – and keep walking.
On television, Jews are often portrayed in stereotypical ways – nudniks, nebbish sons, overbearing mothers, JAPY daughters, or going unorthodox. Up until a couple years ago, there was no concrete research to show just how pervasive this problem was.
The book explains that when a boy becomes bar mitzvah, profound spiritual effects are set into motion.
Parents should avoid discussing their child’s worries in front of him. Hearing about his own problems can often cause more anxiety and result in seeing his problems as larger than they are.
By Raffi Crouse
Albo insists that the highest form of divine service is performed from love rather than fear, and that even the commandments the mind resists should be done with joy, the way a person digs gladly through hard ground for a buried treasure.
How can I communicate more effectively with someone who often gets defensive or seems focused mainly on himself?
One of the strengths of this edition is the care invested in the actual text itself. Many students of the Rambam do not realize that over the centuries, often due to unintended copyist and printing errors, mistakes crept into some editions of the Mishneh Torah.
By Mendi Glik
When he sings at a chuppah and sees the chosson and kallah glowing, Faiden knows he is fulfilling his shlichus.
Balancing work, community responsibilities, and family life is not easy. However, consistently making time for your family can have a profound impact on your children's upbringing and on marital harmony.
SpaceX's proposed IPO, targeting up to $75 billion in proceeds, would shatter the previous record held by Saudi Aramco, which raised $29.4 billion in 2019. Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire. The numbers are staggering, almost cartoonish. And yet the market believes. Why?
When a guy doesn’t pick up a girl for a date, it steals some of that thoughtfulness from the date. It diminishes effort and energy. It robs the date of the romance it could have had. That’s a loss to both you and to him.
One of the most distinctive features of Bene Israel religious life is its special devotion to the Prophet Elijah. While Elijah occupies an honored place throughout the Jewish world, among the Bene Israel he became an especially beloved figure.
We need to cut the red tape that makes it overly costly and time-consuming to build new housing (or just to fix up your house) or to open a new business. We need to provide training for young people who wish to enter careers that are well-paying and that our community needs more of.
I was fortunate enough to be the high bidder of the item, and thought little of it over the years.
Born consistently resisted efforts by younger physicists to portray Einstein as obsolete or reactionary, and he publicly emphasized Einstein’s foundational role in creating the conceptual framework without which quantum theory itself could not exist.
When a sovereign government fails to govern, neutralize hostile actors within its borders, and protect its neighbors from domestic threats, it forfeits its monopoly on defensive authority.
Throughout his life, my father, who closely studied history and politics, educated those around him about the dangers of antisemitism and its tendency to surface in every generation.
By Avi Ganz
At the same time, the Jews of Cape Town or Teaneck, Boro Park or Antwerp are just as Jewish as the Jews of Bnei Brak, Tiberias, and Jerusalem. All of them have a divinely-gifted share in the Land of Israel.
Starting from the aliyah that marks the bar mitzvah, life is marked by aliyot. And as soon as we reach one height, we begin scaling the next.
Aliyah isn’t just the uplifting of a soul. In a quite different meaning of the same word, aliyah refers to the men, women and children who have uprooted themselves and have returned home to the land of Israel.
It is the vertical that reminds us about our creator and that gives us a sense of proportion between our powers and His.
Strip away the punditry and the word still means what it always meant: a Yid going up. The mountain hasn't moved. The Beis HaMikdash is still missing. The longing in the word is still older than any flag.
Iran’s entire asymmetric military strategy relies on its ability to inflict intolerable economic pain on the West by disrupting global energy markets.
New York law adds one more step that catches many new owners off guard: before the job is really done, the LLC has to be published in a newspaper. A printed one.
By Irwin Cohen
Cox racked up 2,504 career victories, fourth best in baseball history among managers. The respected and beloved baseball lifer was 84 when he died.
By Mendi Glik
At his parents’ home, everyone sang – not professionally, but they all loved to sing. He has bli ayin hara 11 siblings, so you can just imagine their Shabbat table when they were growing up. Not only did everyone sing, but every sibling wanted to be the lead singer.
Dysgraphia is not simply a motor problem, but also involves information processing skills (transferring thoughts from the mind through the hand onto the paper).
Unfortunately, many people associate needing an emergency alert device with feeling old, weak, or vulnerable. In reality, the exact opposite is true.
By Miriam Feit
A miracle is every movement and every word we say, A friendly gesture, or a smile that graces our day;
I became less of an operator and more of a leader. With exceptional people around me, I could delegate. I could focus on the few things only the CEO could do.
Selling the home, paying off the mortgage, and accepting a large tax bill may feel painful. Few people enjoy writing large checks to the IRS. However, taxes are sometimes the price of simplifying life and unlocking financial flexibility.
By Marc Gronich
How is it possible that when we’re living in a world where you need police protection to observe your faith, for Yom Kippur, for Rosh Hashanah, for any of the holy days, that’s not a scandal?
Rather than silently altering the text or replacing problematic passages with revised wording, the printers chose a different approach. Wherever material was omitted, they simply left a blank space on the page.
You are not missing anything. Everything has been going smoothly because it can. You don’t need conflict or disagreement. You don’t need an issue to address or a problem to fix.
Under no circumstances does Golding recommend glossing over the horrors.
Although he did not court the approval of Jewish newspapers, he was acutely aware of their influence in liberal circles, writing privately that “Approval or disapproval in the Jewish press is of minor concern, provided that the law stands and the state remains firm.”
In attempting to justify his unprecedented absence, Mayor Mamdani said that he has made his “views on the Israeli government abundantly clear.” Yet the Israel Day Parade is not a political rally for the Knesset, nor is it a blanket endorsement of every specific policy enacted by the government in Jerusalem.
Intellectually I know that tznius is a middah, an outlook, a shield that guards our inner selves from becoming diluted, but invariably, one of the first images that pops into my mind when I hear the word tznius is that young teenage girl on her first day of school.
It is certainly harder in the heat of summer, but it makes it even more meaningful to make a kiddush Hashem when people know how dedicated you are to Judaism.
With such acceptance, one can attain wisdom, since one who acknowledges the limits of his or her knowledge is more receptive to new ideas.
Tznius is not about limitation; it is about elevation. It is about recognizing that dignity creates strength and that there is beauty in refinement and self-control.
By Ariela Davis
I try to enforce tznius dress code for my students at school and it upsets me if any of my own daughters try to push the limits but… to be honest, tznius does take center stage in our education system far more than halacha affords it in Shulchan Aruch.
After winning a decisive military victory in Operation Epic Fury, the United States cannot afford to sign a flawed document just to secure a fleeting public relations win.
By Mendi Glik
Over the years, Cohen was in close contact with his uncle. He used to send him songs and consult with him. Shloime taught him that to sing is to pray.
Your child’s fears are very real and should not be ignored. That would only make them grow. However, bedtime is not the time to address those fears in a genuine matter.
July 10, 2026 
