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The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Dear Readers,

ho is the real me? Am I the person who sits in shul on Yom Kippur, tears soaking the machzor, swaying in prayer, reaching toward the One Above? Or am I the person who spends the rest of the year cutting vegetables, braiding challah, folding laundry, setting the table, wiping the counter, answering emails, helping with homework, putting children to bed, and trying to keep up with the endless rhythm of everyday life? Which one is the real me? Can I be so connected on one day and so distracted on another? Can the person whispering heartfelt tefillos on Yom Kippur really be the same person who, a few days later, is rushing through the morning and barely managing to concentrate on a few lines of prayer? A person is made up of two very different parts. There is the neshama, which comes from Above and longs to return to its Source. And there is the body, physical and earthly, with all its needs and demands. Most of the year, the physical takes up so much space. We need to eat. To sleep. To work. To care for our homes and our families. There are errands and appointments, carpools and phone calls, obligations and distractions. Life is noisy and busy and relentless in its busyness. And then comes Yom Kippur. For one day, so much of that noise falls away. We do not eat or drink. We step back from the physical world. We spend hours in shul, stripped of so many of the distractions that

usually fill our days. And suddenly, the neshama has room to breathe. But does that make the person we are on Yom Kippur less real? Are we pretending for one day to be holier than we really are? But maybe it’s exactly the opposite. Yom Kippur is the day when all the layers fall away, and we are able to see who we really are underneath it all. The Zichronos of Rosh Hashana reflect Hashem’s awareness of our past, our present, and our future potential. Hashem sees everything we did this past year. The moments we were proud of and the moments we wish we could take back. But He also sees us now. He sees us standing before Him on Yom Kippur, wanting so badly to be better. He sees the tears. He hears the whispered tefillos. He knows the longing in our hearts, even when we struggle to put it into words. He sees the neshama, pure, shining through. Who is the real me? The person crying over a machzor and the person packing lunches the next morning are not two different people. They are one person. One neshama, trying to shine through the beautiful, busy, demanding cacophony of life. May Hashem bless us all with revealed goodness and bracha and clarity for the upcoming year. Gmar chasima tova, Shoshana

Yitzy Halpern, PUBLISHER

publisher@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Yosef Feinerman, MANAGING EDITOR ads@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Shoshana Soroka, EDITOR

editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Nate Davis Editorial Assistant Nechama Wein Copy Editor Rachel Bergida Shana Brecher Lani White Design & Production Gabe Solomon Distribution & Logistics P.O. BOX 266 Lawrence, NY 11559 Phone | 516-734-0858 Fax | 516-734-0857 Classified Deadline: Monday 5:00PM classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com text 443-929-4003 PAYMENT VIA CREDIT CARD MUST BE SUBMITTED ALONG WITH CLASSIFIED ADS The Jewish Home is an independent weekly magazine. Opinions expressed by writers are not necessarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

Shabbos Zemanim

Weekly Weather | September 18 – September 24

Friday, September 18 Parshas Haazinu

FRIDAY

SHABBOS

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Partly Cloudy

Light Rain

Showers

AM Showers

81° 62°

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Candle Lighting: 6:40 pm Shabbos Ends: 7:38 pm Rabbeinu Tam: 8:10 pm

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll

Community Happenings

NEWS Global

14 National

That’s Odd

ISRAEL

Israel News

Old Friends by Barbara Deutsch

JEWISH THOUGHT Rabbi Wein on the Parsha

Parshas Ha’azinu Never Disowned by Rav Moshe Weinberger

What to Take With Us by Rav Yaakov Feitman

The Soul of Yom Kippur by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

The Angelic Experience of Yom Kippur by R’ Shmuel Reichman

Delving into the Daf by Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

Headlines and Halacha by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

PEOPLE Remembering Raizy, a”h by Lisa Rosenblatt

The Wandering Jew

Inspiration Nation

Forgotten Heroes

120

HEALTH & FITNESS Their First Yom Kippur Fast by Dr. Hylton Lightman

102

FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Cheese Noodle Kugel

108

LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW

School of Thought

Parenting Pearls

100

Book Nook

What Teaching Middle Schoolers Taught Me

Dear Editor, I recently got a compliment from someone in the office who said, “Good job.” It made me realize that extracurricular activities are nice, but not what one is held accountable for. A baseline of accountability can be found in the verse (Yeshayahu 1:3): “Yada shor konehu, v’chamor evus be’alav, Yisrael lo yada—The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but My people do not understand.” Simply, we are distracted from focusing on our Maker to carry out our required obligations. By adopting this path, we can be sealed for life for doing a good job. Steven Genack Dear Editor, I read with interest Dr. Lightman’s contribution in last week’s issue about his pomegranate ornaments collection. I would like to bring to his and general attention that pomegranates can be successfully grown in the NYC area outside (with Hashem’s help, of course) these days. Not all varieties of the fruit can handle our climate, however, in recent years, multiple high-quality more hardy varieties have become more widely and easily available. I have a friend in Brooklyn, in the greater Midwood area, who has such a plant in his backyard which has fruited for years. More on it can be seen at https:// www.instagram.com/pomegranatekings Chasima tova, M.H. Dear Editor, Today, I saw an article that the New York State Board of Regents voted to remove the requirement of earning their

diploma to graduate from high school. I prayed for this moment for 20 years, and it’s an understatement to say how elated I am by this incredible news! When I had to take them in high school, I joined my numerous classmates in the stress, trauma, and pressure that it involved in earning the minimum passing grade of 65. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that we struggled with intense language, wording, science, logic and critical thinking skills, as well as other topics which we were simply not cut for. The Regents were also formatted tests – most came in knowing what to expect on them: a certain amount of multiple choice and essay questions; for those with such thinking skills, it taught them how to take a test, not a topic, but the former struggle I mentioned indeed heavily pressured us students in special education. Under the new guidelines, each individual school district can measure a student’s knowledge in certain topics. So if one school district is more demanding, while another one is more lax, parents can choose the best educational option for their children. While everyone should have some basic knowledge in some topics, I have yet to see trigonometry, geometry, algebra, physics, biology, or even history used on a day-to-day basis. It’s about time we taught high school students basic real-world skills, such as writing, accounting, law, basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, or even first aid. The famous teaching from Tanach is cannot be truer: Chanoch l’na’ar al pi darko. One student’s way of learning does not work for all. Not everyone is fit for high-level math, science, or history. We Continued on page 12

106

Feed Me, Seymour by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS126

HUMOR Centerfold

Shmooze and Muse

104

POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

110

I Was at the Pentagon on 9/11 by Marc A. Thiessen

114

When the Rogue Agents Become Superintelligent

116

Life Has Proved Stronger Than Death by Bret Stephens

118

CLASSIFIEDS

123

What do you use for kapparos: chicken or money?

82 18 %

Money

Chicken

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Continued from page 10

all have to do what works best, and not put life into cookie-cutter scenarios. Here’s hoping for better futures to all! Sincerely, Traumatized by the Regents Dear Editor, Our democracy is at stake. We used to have a Democratic and a Republican Party which debated with each other and worked out compromises sometimes. Not anymore! The present Democratic Party is hardly recognizable anymore. It got infiltrated by radical groups to tear our country apart. Among them are radical Muslims and the Antifa supported by internal and/ or foreign enemies and indoctrinated by a communistic ideology. They have nothing positive to offer where you and me are able to benefit. To the contrary, they want to destroy our constitution and the liberty we still enjoy. Who, with the right mind, can accept plans like: abolishing the Senate, ICE and prisons and allowing Medicare for all, abortion at time of birth, men playing in female sports, children gender mutilation, free public education from childcare to college, equal wealth distribution, pack the Supreme Court, amnesty to illegals and open the borders again? Those people work in a concerted way to change our democracy to a communistic set-up similar to the status quo of Russia, Cuba, former Venezuela, Iran and North Korea. Not to even mention China. Talk to those people who lived there and fled. We better watch out before it is too late. We can’t take any chances. You must vote Republican in November. Heinz Mayer Dear Editor, It was a beautiful summer afternoon several weeks ago when I went on a walk with my kids In Southern Crown Heights. The birds were chirping, and the sun was shining, everything was calm, but suddenly out of the midst of the peaceful Crown Heights streets I was approaching the intersection of Clarkson Avenue and Albany Avenue, the sound of the scene

changed rapidly with a screeching aggressive tone of intense large-scale construction. Surprised by the heavy noise, I looked up at the side when I was shocked to see what was coming. It felt really dark to stare at the construction of the biggest homeless shelter in North America right here in front of my eyes in the Crown Heights backyard. It was concerning and fundamentally alarming, to say the least. As soon as I was able to, I did some research on 681 Clarkson Avenue and was horrified to find out what was planned. It was in impounding 1,081 apartments for mentally ill, chemically addicted vagrants, some larger apartments will have multiple beds so it will be thousands of criminals moving into our neighborhood, all this being built at accelerating intense speed (probably violating many NYC 311 construction laws in the process). Racing thoughts of intense concern for the future of Crown Heights started racing my mind at night. What will be the future of Crown Heights?! Will our neighborhood become the center of homelessness, crime, drug usage, mental illness and poverty in New York City?! Is this what we really want for our future? What I wrote here is only a little note of how horrifying of a reality can come if we don’t take action now. All this is besides for the multiple homeless shelters rapidly expanding, biking Lanes and the soon to be Albany Avenue MTA city bus route directly running through the heart of Crown Heights taking away critical parking at a rapid pace on a scale which we cannot keep up with this rate. The shocking silence from our local leadership is just as concerning as the future of Southern Crown Heights, but I am optimistic that with a unified community-approved plan of action hopefully we can turn things around. I am doing what I can, but I am also calling up on all those that don’t want Southern Crown Heights to be worse than Downtown San Francisco with dozens of dangerous drug addicts loitering 24/7 at every single corner to get involved as well and do what you can. This is inherently unfair and strikingly concerning. A Concerned Resident

Views expressed on the Letters to the Editor page do not necessarily reflect the views of The Jewish Home. Please send all correspondence to: editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

The Week In News

Uganda’s Young King Dies

Uganda’s King Oyo Nyimba was laid to rest Saturday, closing a nine-day mourning period for the ruler but leaving behind a bitter succession battle that has divided his family and captivated the country. Oyo, who became king of the Tooro Kingdom at just 3 years old in 1995, died last month from cancer at age 34. He was buried alongside his ancestors following a funeral service at a cathedral in Fort Portal, near Uganda’s border with Congo. The young monarch had never married, and the question of who should inherit the throne has quickly become a source of controversy. Elders from the Babiito, the kingdom’s ruling clan, said Oyo never formally named an heir. Others within the kingdom have claimed that he has children. The uncertainty has fueled speculation over several possible heirs. Last week, a committee of Tooro elders announced that it had selected an adult prince, who works as a journalist, to succeed Oyo. The move was welcomed by some traditionalists but strongly criticized by members of the late king’s immediate family. Oyo’s sister, Ruth Komuntale, accused those behind the announcement of trying to “bring division and turmoil.” His mother, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, urged the competing factions to allow the family time to grieve. “I also appeal to those fighting over the throne: please, there will be time for all of that,” she said. “Let us grieve and bury my son King Oyo.” The dispute could ultimately wind up in court. Oyo’s family says he left a will that has not been properly considered by the elders. Oyo was once known as the world’s

youngest monarch after being crowned following his father’s death. As a child king, he became a widely recognized figure in Uganda, appearing at national ceremonies and meeting prominent international leaders, including South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. He was guided by regents until reaching adulthood at 18. Traditional monarchs in Uganda hold no formal political power but remain important cultural figures. The country’s kingdoms were abolished after independence before being restored in 1993. For many in Tooro, Oyo’s death has been deeply personal. “This is one of those deaths, the Bob Marley kind, that one never heals from,” analyst Timothy Kalyegira wrote. “Not Oyo; not that likeable young man; not at 34.”

Swedish National Elections

Sweden’s center-left opposition appeared poised for a return to power on Monday following an exceptionally close national election that weakened the farright Sweden Democrats but left the country’s tougher immigration policies largely intact. Preliminary results gave parties supporting Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson 176 seats in Sweden’s 349-seat parliament, compared with 173 for the right-wing governing bloc led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. “If this result remains valid, Sweden will get a new government,” Andersson told supporters Sunday night. The outcome, if confirmed, would run counter to the broader rightward movement seen in several European countries in recent years. Much of the shift in Sweden came from losses suffered by the Sweden Democrats, the far-right party that had supported Kristersson’s government and pushed for increasingly restrictive immigration policies. Still, a change in government is not expected to mean a return to Sweden’s earlier, more permissive approach to migration.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

“I believe the broader shift towards a stricter Swedish migration policy is, for the most part, here to stay,” said Niklas Bohlin, a political scientist at Mid-Sweden University. The Social Democrats themselves have moved significantly to the right on immigration since the refugee crises of the 2010s. Under the current government, Sweden eliminated permanent residency for many refugees, tightened access to welfare benefits and increased deportations, helping push asylum applications to their lowest level in four decades. The Sweden Democrats were projected to lose roughly 11 seats, marking the first parliamentary election in which the party’s share of the vote declined. Party officials said the setback may partly reflect voter discomfort with the party’s history, despite efforts to distance itself from extremist elements. “There is a group of voters that may like many of our policies but emotionally have a hard time accepting us,” Sweden Democrat lawmaker Richard Jomshof said. The final result, however, remains unsettled. Hundreds of election districts still had votes to be counted Monday, with overseas ballots not expected to be fully

tallied until Wednesday. The two blocs were separated by just 0.4% of the vote — roughly 29,000 ballots out of 6.4 million counted. Even if Andersson’s bloc prevails, forming a government could prove difficult. The Centre Party refuses to serve alongside the Left Party, while Andersson would likely need support from both. “It could very well be a complicated process to form a government,” parliament speaker Andreas Norlen said.

Saudi Oil Pipeline Woes

Saudi Arabia is facing a growing oil export crisis after a major pipeline attack knocked out one of the kingdom’s most important crude routes, while Yemen’s Houthi rebels expanded their control over strategic Red Sea islands.

The East-West Pipeline, which stretches roughly 745 miles across Saudi Arabia from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, is expected to remain largely out of service for three to five weeks, according to regional officials briefed on the damage. The pipeline was shut after a drone attack on Thursday that Saudi Arabia blamed on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. Officials said a major pumping station was among the facilities damaged. The disruption comes at an especially difficult time for the kingdom. Iranian attacks have severely limited shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, forcing Saudi Arabia to reroute much of its crude through the Red Sea. Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday amid fears that global supplies could tighten further. Brent crude climbed to around $109 a barrel. Rystad Energy estimated that the East-West Pipeline had recently been carrying between 2.6 million and 4 million barrels of oil per day. The firm said the price surge was “a clear signal that the market is increasingly pricing in a significant loss of supply.” At the same time, Houthi forces seized the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands in the Red Sea, tightening their grip on

shipping routes near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The narrow waterway connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is a critical route for Saudi oil shipments headed toward Asia. The latest Houthi advances follow the group’s recent capture of the port city of Mokha and Mayun Island, which sits directly inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Saudi-backed Yemeni forces have begun launching airstrikes in an effort to push the rebels back. The renewed fighting has also created a growing humanitarian crisis. The World Health Organization said more than 500 people were killed in Yemen over the past week, while nearly 94,000 people have been displaced. “Many of them don’t have enough food or water as they had to flee with whatever they could carry,” said Khanzad Shah of Islamic Relief. “In some areas, whole villages have reportedly emptied.” The escalation threatens to plunge Yemen back into large-scale civil war after several years of relative calm, while placing additional strain on global energy markets already shaken by the broader regional conflict.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Fake Animal Passports

A criminal network created fake horse passports and duplicate microchips to traffic hundreds of animals across Europe, police said on Friday. Officials described a system of animal identity fraud that led horses to slaughter. Criminals forged fake passports for the animals to move them across borders, the police said. They also created duplicate microchips to get around a tracing system designed for the animals’ welfare. Over two days and two dozen searches, the police in Belgium, France, Ireland and the Netherlands checked more than 1,000 horses that may have been fraudulently traded, officials said. The traffickers’ goal, the police said, was to misidentify horses to sell them at different rates

— moves such as selling sporting horses to slaughterhouses and presenting older horses as younger and more valuable. “Investigators suspect that forged horse passports and manipulated microchips were used to effectively give animals new identities,” Europol, the European law enforcement agency, said in a statement. In an operation across four countries, the police seized “a significant number of horses,” along with 100,000 euros (about $116,000) in cash, the Belgian Federal Police said. In Belgium, at least two people were arrested. The Irish, French and Dutch police did not say whether they had made arrests. The investigation began in Belgium, when the police and prosecutors got a tip about wrongdoing in the international horse trade, Belgium’s Federal Police said in a statement. Investigators identified a horse trader in East Flanders as central to a fraudulent network that stretched to France, Ireland and the Netherlands. The criminal network passed off horses bred for sport as livestock for food production, the Belgian police said. A large number of these horses, which had received medication as they were trained for sporting roles, were sent from Ireland

to continental Europe, where some ended up in the slaughterhouse, the police said. (© The New York Times)

Pack of Lies

Prosecutors in Colombia have accused former foreign minister Laura Sarabia of abusing her power after she made her nanny take a lie detector test. The scandal erupted in 2023, when Colombian news weekly Semana reported that a woman Sarabia had employed to look after her son had been hooked up to a polygraph and questioned over the alleged disappearance of a case full of cash from Sarabia’s apartment. Sarabia, who was the chief of staff for President Gustavo Petro at the time, resigned in June 2023 but was later appointed as foreign minister and, following her resignation from that post, as Colombia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. She has denied any wrongdoing. The 32-year-old was one of the closest advisers of Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, who governed from 2022 to August this year. Prosecutors said Sarabia abused her position as his chief of staff by ordering police to question her nanny, Marelbys Meza, over the disappearance of the cash, which was several thousands of dollars. Meza told Semana that she was taken by Sarabia’s driver to an official building opposite the presidential palace, saying it felt like “a kidnapping.” Police officers then attached her to a polygraph machine and questioned her about the alleged disappearance of the money. Meza denied having stolen any money. Prosecutors allege that in ordering police to question Meza, Sarabia improperly used state resources to investigate a matter which was not related to her official post.

According to new figures from Japan’s health ministry, the country is home to 107,677 centenarians, the highest total in the world. About 88% of them are women.

The oldest woman is Kishimoto Fuyo, 114, of Kyoto City, while the oldest man is Kato Hikaru, 112, of Kumamoto. Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno said he was “delighted that so many people are living long, healthy and active lives,” crediting advances in medicine and technology. Experts say Japan’s famously long life expectancy is likely tied to several factors, including a diet rich in fish, vegetables and rice, relatively low consumption of saturated fat, and an active lifestyle. Older Japanese residents frequently walk, bike, stretch and use public transportation. But living longer is only one side of the story. Japan is also aging rapidly, and its low birth rate has created a major demographic challenge. Residents aged 65 and older now account for about 30% of the population, and that figure is expected to approach 40% by 2070. Meanwhile, Japan’s fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.14 last year, far below the 2.1 births per woman generally needed to maintain a stable population without immigration. Government estimates project that the country’s population could fall to 87 million by 2070, down about 30% from its 2008 peak. Japan has tried numerous programs and subsidies aimed at encouraging larger families, with limited success. Experts point to falling marriage rates, the cost of raising children, and changing workforce patterns as major factors. When Japan began tracking centenarians in 1963, there were just 153 people aged 100 or older. The number reached 1,000 in 1981, and 10,000 in 1998.

Japan’s 100K Centenarians

Horrific Ferry Fire Japan has officially crossed a remark- in Philippines

able milestone: more than 100,000 people in the country are now at least 100 years old.

Authorities in the Philippines said on Sunday that identifying victims of a devastating ferry fire could take weeks

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

Survivors reported hearing two explosions shortly before flames spread through the ferry, according to the Maritime Industry Authority. Investigators are hoping to gain access to the engine room and lower decks, where key evidence may still be found.

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

The ferry’s owner, Atienza Inter-Island Ferries, said it is cooperating fully with authorities and assisting victims’ families. The disaster is the latest in a long line of deadly maritime accidents in the Philippines, where ferries are a lifeline for millions traveling among the country’s more than 7,600 islands.

Al-Qaeda Regrouping

or even months, as forensic teams begin the painstaking process of matching DNA from badly burned remains. The blaze aboard the MV June Aster killed at least 76 people on Wednesday night, with 13 others still missing. More than 130 people were aboard the vessel, which was nearing its destination when fire ripped through the ship. Forensic specialist Richard Allan Mangalip said many of the victims were found severely burned, some clustered

together in parts of the ferry and others scattered throughout the vessel. “Most of them are already in a charred condition,” Mangalip said, adding that the large number of samples makes it difficult to estimate how long identification will take. “It could be weeks, or it could be much longer.” The ferry had been traveling from Manila to Coron in Palawan province, a route that normally takes about 20 hours. Rescuers recovered 41 additional re-

mains on Saturday, sharply raising the death toll. Officials warned the number could still climb, since flooded portions of the ferry have not yet been fully searched. Firefighters were able to enter the ship only after the blaze had burned for more than a day. Coast Guard images showed a gutted interior, with steel bed frames warped by heat and ash covering large portions of the vessel. Investigators are still trying to determine where the fire began.

Twenty-five years after the tragic events of 9/11, al-Qaeda and other terror groups are regrouping in Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal and the return of the Taliban to power in 2021, The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing U.S. and Western security officials and a United Nations organization. Al-Qaeda and its offshoots have established at least eight bases in Afghanistan over the past three years, while Islamic State, al-Qaeda’s main rival, has also opened training sites in Afghanistan in recent years, The Post said. According to the report, the groups have successfully established a presence in at least 14 of the country’s 34 provinces. A UN report cited in the article said the Taliban has reintroduced “a permissive environment” that has allowed al-Qaeda “to consolidate, with the presence of safe houses and training camps across Afghanistan.”

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Al-Qaeda’s Afghan training camps played a central role in the run-up to the September 11, 2001, attacks. According to the US 9/11 Commission, the idea of hijacking planes was introduced at an al-Qaeda complex in Tora Bora in 1996, while then-leader Osama Bin Laden later approved the 9/11 plot at a site near Kandahar. All 19 hijackers had also spent time at al-Qaeda camps or safe houses in Afghanistan before the attacks. Officials said the new camps teach weapons, explosives and guerrilla tactics alongside newer technologies such as encryption, artificial intelligence and drones. Colin Smith, who coordinates a UN team monitoring terror groups, estimated that core al-Qaeda has no more than around 100 militants in Afghanistan. According to Smith, al-Qaeda has taken more of a “consulting service” role for other terror organizations, such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), “giving them advice and training on things like covert operations and information security.” A 2024 UN report quoted in the article said al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan were “conducting suicide bomber training for TTP.”

Meanwhile, Islamic State-Khorasan, an Islamic State offshoot for the Afghan region of Khorasan, has been using the country’s north as a “main hub” for training and planning operations, recruiting some 2,000 members. Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State remain bitter rivals for dominance of the jihadist movement, officials said, but both now recruit primarily from Afghanistan and neighboring countries, unlike the thousands of foreign fighters al-Qaeda drew from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East in the 1990s. Al-Qaeda is now led by Egyptian Saif al-Adel, a veteran of its Afghan training camps, who is believed to be hiding in Iran.

Switzerland Releases Mengele Docs On Thursday, the Swiss federal intelligence service published a 200-page dossier on the notorious Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, the German doctor known as the “Angel of Death” for conducting horrific medical experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz.

During World War II, Mengele served at the Auschwitz extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, where about 1.1 million people were murdered, approximately 1 million of them Jews. He became infamous for carrying out brutal medical experiments on inmates, including children, under the guise of scientific research.

After the war, Mengele obtained a Red Cross travel document under a false identity, allowing him to leave Europe. Like many former Nazi officials, he spent years in hiding in Latin America while being pursued internationally for his crimes. He drowned in 1979 while swimming on the coast of Brazil. The documents released by Swiss authorities include material provided to police suggesting that Mengele may have returned to Switzerland after initially fleeing Germany, or may have been planning to enter the country under a false name. Historians seeking to establish whether Mengele spent time in Switzerland while being pursued as a war criminal, without Swiss authorities catching him, had long sought access to the files. Swiss authorities had maintained that the documents should remain sealed until 2071 on security grounds and to protect individuals named in them. Historian Gérard Wettstein successfully challenged those restrictions before the Federal Administrative Court, leading to the online publication. Some sections have been redacted to protect sources and the personal data of third parties, authorities said.

NAZA Controversy IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has ordered the military to examine possible legal action against the creators of “NAZA,” a newly released documentary alleging widespread civilian deaths from AI-assisted Israeli strikes in Gaza. Zamir also directed senior officers to

investigate whether classified military information was leaked for use in the film, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend. The 80-minute documentary, directed by Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, includes anonymous testimony from 24 people described as Israeli intelligence personnel. The film alleges that AI-assisted systems were used in targeting decisions that resulted in extensive civilian casualties. The IDF has strongly rejected the allegations, saying strike decisions are made by human personnel and not by artificial intelligence. “According to the reports that have emerged so far, this is not a film criticizing the IDF and is not an attempt to ascertain the truth,” Zamir said, accusing the filmmakers of presenting “false and serious accusations against IDF soldiers and commanders.”

Senior IDF officials say they have not yet seen the full film. Earlier Monday, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin invited the filmmakers to show the documentary to military representatives so officials could examine its claims and respond to them individually. “The public discussion surrounding the film should be conducted on the basis of facts,” Defrin said. Zamir acknowledged in a message to troops that he had not watched the documentary and did not know the identities of those interviewed. Still, he said the allegations already public were serious enough to warrant a legal and security review. Among the film’s most disputed claims is an allegation that the IDF considered carrying out a strike in Gaza in which as many as 500 civilian deaths were anticipated. The military called that accusation “completely false,” saying no strike with anything approaching that projected civilian toll had ever been planned, authorized or carried out. Zamir also ordered the formation of a multidisciplinary team to develop ways of countering what the military describes as false accusations against its soldiers. The filmmakers, meanwhile, have defended the documentary, saying its anonymous testimony was carefully verified.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

Israel. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called the film “antisemitic” and cast the creators as “direct damage to the people of Israel.” “To those who slander our heroic soldiers, who risk their lives so that we may live in peace and security, I say: You are a disgrace and a shame to the entire people of Israel. Get lost,” Ben Gvir wrote on X. “I’m sure your friends, our enemies in Hamas in Gaza, will welcome you with open arms!” Culture Minister Miki Zohar filed a request on Monday with the Population and Immigration Authority on Monday to examine the possibility of revoking the citizenship of the filmmakers.

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Holocaust Survivor Dies

Yashar party chair Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff and frontrunner in the upcoming election, wrote on X on Sunday, “The choice of Israeli creators to stand on an international stage, present a distorted and one-sided picture, and cast moral aspersions on the soldiers who defend our home is moral blindness, detachment from reality, and damage to the State of Israel in a time of distress.” Blue and White chair Benny Gantz, also a former IDF chief of staff, said,

“Those behind the movie have never set foot in the battlefield — nor do I ever wish they will have to do so. “But fighting in the most just war since Israel’s re-establishment, against a murderous group capable and willing to murder women & children — the IDF upholds itself to the highest moral and legal standard. As former IDF Chief of Staff & Minister of Defense, I can unequivocally attest to that. Anyone who lacks this basic understanding should just keep on mak-

ing fiction!” Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman called the filmmakers “Israel’s enemies” who “took the war that was forced upon Israel after the October 7 massacre and turned it into a spectacle of slander and blood libels against the State of Israel, against the IDF, and against our magnificent fighters!” He said Abraham and Szor are willing to “sell their country” for applause, and that they represented a small minority in

Yehuda Widawski, the oldest Holocaust survivor living in Israel, died on Sunday. He was 107 years old. Widawski had dedicated his life to restoring Jewish cemeteries that were destroyed during the Nazi occupation. Widawski, the second of four siblings, was born in the town of Turek in Poland in 1919. His family moved around the country until they settled in the city of Lodz in 1933. By 1936, he managed a textile business that sewed shirts and underwear for the Polish army. After the Nazis occupied Poland in September 1939, the Widawskis managed to purchase an apartment within the limits of the Lodz Ghetto, where 15 family members lived together until the ghetto was liquidated on August 29, 1944. During that time, the family continued to deal in textiles while also operating a soup kitchen in their home in the ghetto. After they were deported to Auschwitz, Widawski’s parents Abraham and Leah, and his eldest brother, Gabriel, were murdered immediately. His younger brother Haim Moshe died in Buchenwald, while his sister Yocheved was murdered in the Stutthof concentration camp. “When our family was sent to Auschwitz, an uncle was with us in the cattle car. We saw the crematorium, and the

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

smoke. He said: ‘Yehuda, do you see that? It must be a bakery.’ The mind! All we could think about was bread,” Widawski told Yad Vashem in his testimony. “I relive it, not just every day, but every hour; I see them all, before my eyes,” he said of his murdered relatives. Widawski and his youngest brother, Jehoszua, were sent to work at the Friedland work camp, where he made airplane wings and survived the war. After the war, they returned to Lodz and were reunited with their uncle, their only family member to have survived the Holocaust. Widawski established a new textile factory and married Lea Dobrysz. He then played a role in smuggling arms to the Irgun that was leading the fight for independence from the British in Israel. In 1950, he moved to Israel and ran several businesses. In 1978, he decided to return to Poland, where he was shocked by the state of the cemeteries amid his search for his grandmother’s grave. He decided to set out to locate, identify, and restore thousands of graves, among them those of prominent rabbis. In an interview with the Ynet news site in 2019, Widawski said, “My revenge against the Nazis is that they lost, and we have the State of Israel. We are free and strong, and no one can destroy us any more.”

Pres. Herzog’s Goals

With fewer than two years remaining to his seven-year term, President Isaac Herzog is focusing on three priorities: strengthening Israel’s diplomatic standing, deepening ties with Jewish communities around the world, and easing divisions within Israeli society. Herzog, who took office in 2021, has said he plans to continue visiting Jewish communities abroad, particularly those facing increased antisemitism since October 7. Those visits dovetail with one of his flagship initiatives, Voice of the People, which brings together Jews from Israel, North America and other Diaspora communities to help cultivate future Jewish leadership. Applications for the

program’s second cohort are expected to open shortly. His second major initiative, Time to Talk, is focused closer to home and aims to promote dialogue, mutual respect and greater understanding among Israelis. With national elections approaching in October, Herzog has said those values will be especially important. The presidency in Israel is officially apolitical, but remaining above the political fray is no easy feat. In a country where nearly every public statement can be perceived through a partisan lens, the president often has to speak and act with utmost caution and care. Herzog has also made diplomacy a central feature of his presidency. Since taking office, he has visited roughly 35 countries on state visits and for major international events. “Since October 7, Israel has faced an onslaught of lies, attacks, and delegitimization in the international arena,” Herzog said. “I will continue to present the real truth in diplomatic forums and the media.” He has also emphasized expanding Israel’s regional relationships, particularly through the Abraham Accords. Herzog’s relationship with Diaspora Jewry is deeply personal. He spent part of his youth in New York and later served as chairman of the Jewish Agency, giving him years of experience working with Jewish communities abroad. At meetings with community delegations, Herzog is known for asking each participant to introduce themselves and speak, rather than hearing only from organizational leaders. He has also weighed in on internal Israeli tensions, including violence in the West Bank village of Kusra, where he called on authorities to act against those responsible for attacks on Palestinians. “The government, security agencies, judicial authorities, and law-enforcement bodies must act now,” Herzog said. As for life after the presidency, Herzog reportedly has no immediate plans for another diplomatic or political post. His next ambition is considerably quieter: he wants to teach. After years spent in politics, diplomacy and public life, Herzog hopes his next role will be helping shape Israel’s next generation — this time from the classroom rather than the presidential residence.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Terror Thwarted

Israel Defense Forces soldiers over the weekend apprehended a terrorist in the Hebron area who was planning a shooting attack against Israeli civilians during Rosh Hashana, the military said on Monday. Terrorist Abd al-Rahman intended to carry out the attack “in the immediate timeframe,” according to a military statement. The arrest operation was guided by the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet). “IDF soldiers continue to operate to thwart terrorism throughout Judea and Samaria,” the army stated. The Israel Police said on September 9 that it would be deploying thousands of officers, Border Police personnel, and volunteers nationwide during the High Holidays. Officers will be stationed at holy sites, places of worship, major roads,

parks and entertainment venues to maintain public order and security. Police will operate “from the air, sea and ground” throughout the holidays, in order to provide a “rapid response to any unusual incident,” it said. The Israel Defense Forces held a surprise nationwide exercise on September 6 to test the its readiness for a sudden, large-scale multi-front scenario ahead of the holidays. The Israel Police conducted its own nationwide exercise in the country’s northern and central regions in July as part of the force’s annual training program, testing readiness for terrorist attacks and civilian emergencies.

A Sense of Purpose

Want to stay young? It helps to have a sense of purpose. According to a new Israeli study, a

sense of usefulness to others may help protect the aging brain. Researchers suggest that feeling needed could matter as much as simply staying active. The study, by a team of researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Safed Academic College, points to a low-cost, scalable way to support cognitive health in later life by giving older adults roles—as mentors, advisers or community leaders—where their contributions are seen as essential. “Our research shows that a sense of usefulness and necessity to the environment can constitute an accessible and significant compensatory mechanism. To maintain the brain health of the older population, it is not enough to fill their days with activities, but we must create meaning for them by integrating them into social and interpersonal roles in which they feel their voice is heard and their skills are needed,” said Prof. Ella Kuhn-Schwartz, who heads the master’s program in gerontology at Ben-Gurion University. She co-led the research with Prof. Rabia Khalila, vice president of Safed Academic College. The team surveyed 476 adults aged 50 and older in Israel, drawing on data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Participants were asked how much they felt they contributed to the wellbeing of family, friends and their broader community, whether through time, money or advice. They then completed cognitive tasks, including recalling lists of words and solving arithmetic problems. The analysis found a strong link between a sense of worth and cognitive performance, with feelings of usefulness accounting for roughly a third of the variation in test results. Notably, the effect was strongest among people with what researchers call low cognitive reserve — those with less formal education and limited social engagement over their lifetimes. Rather than simply adding a small boost for people who already had advantages, a sense of usefulness appeared to partly offset differences associated with lower cognitive reserve.

1948 War Fighter Dies Yochanan Elishuv, the last surviving fighter who participated in the raising of Israel’s famed Ink Flag at Umm Rashrash, today’s Eilat, has died at the age of 95. Elishuv was a Palmach fighter who took part in some of the fiercest battles of Israel’s War of Independence, includ-

ing fighting along the road to Jerusalem and across the Negev. His military career culminated in one of the most iconic moments of Israel’s early history. On March 10, 1949, during Operation Uvda, Israeli troops reached the abandoned police station at Umm Rashrash without a national flag. Soldiers improvised one using fabric and ink, raising what became known as the Ink Flag. The event is widely seen as marking the end of the War of Independence. Elishuv’s path to that moment was anything but ordinary.

Born in Petach Tikva, he struggled with severe dyslexia and left school at age 12. He began working in a garage, developing mechanical skills that would later make him invaluable to the Palmach. At around 15, he reportedly lied about his age so he could enlist in the army, claiming he was 16. He trained under Rafael “Raful” Eitan, who would later become IDF chief of staff. During the battle for Jerusalem, Elishuv served as a runner for Palmach commander Haim “Poza” Poznanski. After Poznanski was killed at Nabi Samuel in April 1948, Elishuv helped organize the retreat, evacuate wounded fighters and recover weapons. He later helped evacuate wounded commanders Eitan and David “Dado” Elazar during the battle for Katamon. Both men would go on to serve as IDF chiefs of staff. Elishuv later fought across the Negev and served as a driver for Southern Front commander Yigal Allon. During Operation Uvda, he drove in the convoy racing south toward Umm Rashrash and was among the first fighters to arrive. After leaving regular military service, Elishuv continued serving in the reserves during the Sinai Campaign, Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War and First Lebanon War. In civilian life, he spent decades driving heavy vehicles and helping build roads and infrastructure across southern Israel. In later years, he spoke to students about the legacy of the War of Independence. Elishuv died in his Petach Tikva apartment, on the same plot of land where he had been born 95 years earlier.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Amazon Carrier Suspended

Amazon has suspended its relationship with cargo airline 21 Air following a deadly runway accident in Miami that killed five people, dealing a significant business blow to the North Carolina-based carrier as federal investigators examine what went wrong. The Sept. 6 crash occurred when a Boeing 767 operated by 21 Air landed at Miami International Airport and continued roughly 1,300 feet beyond the end of the runway. The aircraft struck a van car-

rying employees of an aircraft-cleaning company, killing all five people inside. Five others were injured. The plane had been carrying packages of contact lenses. “After the tragic incident last weekend, we’ve spent time supporting the investigation and reviewing some of the surrounding circumstances, and we’ve decided to pause our operations with 21 Air, the operator of Flight 7598,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said. Amazon had used 21 Air to transport packages since 2024 and is considered one of the airline’s largest customers. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash and is expected to examine the pilots’ actions, air traffic control communications, aircraft maintenance, airline procedures and the stormy weather conditions at the time. Preliminary flight information released by investigators indicated that one pilot warned the other that the aircraft was approaching too quickly. The jet also appeared unstable during its descent and touched down much farther along the runway than intended, leaving less distance available to stop. A tailwind may also have contributed to the overrun. Cockpit recordings captured several automated alerts warning about the air-

craft’s descent rate and proximity to terrain. A full cockpit transcript is expected to be released later in the investigation. 21 Air said it remains confident in its safety program. “We remain focused on supporting the families and loved ones who were impacted by this accident, as well as working closely with the NTSB and all our partners, like Amazon, as the investigation continues,” the airline said. The carrier also transports packages for DHL, which has not said whether it plans to suspend its own relationship with the company. The 32-year-old Boeing 767 had originally flown as a passenger aircraft before being converted for cargo service in 2015.

A Dramatic Rescue

A U.S. Air Force colonel has revealed how he climbed a 7,000-foot ridge with a broken back, arm and shoulder after being shot down over Iran — surviving for roughly 50 hours before an enormous American rescue operation brought him home. The airman, identified publicly only by the codename “Bravo,” described the ordeal in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” this week. Bravo was aboard an F-15 when the aircraft was struck by an Iranian shoulder-fired missile in April. He and the pilot, known as “Alpha,” ejected, but Bravo quickly realized something had gone terribly wrong with his parachute. “When I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” he recalled. “I prayed: ‘Lrd, your will be done. But if I’m getting through this, I need help.’” Help would eventually come. First, however, Bravo had to survive the landing. Investigators believe Bravo struck the ground traveling between 70 and 100 mph. He suffered a broken back, arm and shoulder, a sprained ankle and serious injuries to his head and face. It was hardly ideal hiking weather — or hiking conditions. Still, carrying only a pistol, communications equipment and a tracking bea-

con, Bravo moved away from his landing site and climbed toward higher ground to avoid capture. “I had injuries, but we all train to adapt and overcome the things that we’re faced with,” he said. Alpha had landed roughly five miles away and was recovered six hours later during a daylight raid involving more than 20 helicopters. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said rescuers faced heavy fire. “It was a gunfight all the way in and all the way out,” Hegseth said. Bravo remained stranded for nearly two more days. Once concealed from enemy forces, he managed to contact U.S. forces, sending several short messages — including, simply, “G-d is good.” That was enough to confirm he was alive. American aircraft struck nearby Iranian forces while special operations teams moved toward Bravo’s position. U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Brad Cooper said approximately 1,500 Iranian personnel were within 10 miles when rescuers arrived. Seeing the American troops approach was “one of the greatest moments of my life,” Bravo said. More than 90 Americans participated on the ground, hundreds more supported the mission from the air, and roughly 5,000 personnel were involved overall. One rescue aircraft became stuck in the desert and had to be abandoned and destroyed. But Bravo made it out — broken bones, battered parachute and all.

Gov’t to Release 9/11 Docs

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the federal government will continue releasing records connected to the Sept. 11 attacks, insisting that documents still classified are not being withheld to protect Saudi Arabia or any other government. “The one thing that we are not doing, we’re not protecting people,” Blanche told CBS News. He said that records that remain secret are being withheld because

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

al Qaeda. It did, however, leave open the possibility that charities receiving significant Saudi government support may have diverted money to the terror organization. Separately, the CIA last week declassified 71 President’s Daily Brief products related to the years before 9/11 and the day afterward, calling it the agency’s largest single release of such 9/11-related material. “There’ll be more records coming out,” Blanche said. “And so, to the families that are still looking for answers, we are, too.”

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Measles Death in PA

they contain genuinely classified information, not because officials are trying to shield foreign governments. The comments come amid renewed pressure from families of 9/11 victims, who used events marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks to demand additional unredacted documents concerning possible Saudi connections to the hijackers. Thousands of relatives are involved in long-running litigation against Saudi

Arabia, alleging that individuals tied to the kingdom may have assisted some of the attackers. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied that its government played any role. Blanche said additional material will be released, though he did not provide a timetable. “Sometimes there’s documents that are classified, and they shouldn’t be,” he said. “And so those are the ones that we’re going to release.”

The debate has intensified as new evidence has surfaced through litigation, including material involving Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who helped two future hijackers settle in San Diego. Families have questioned whether his contacts with the men were more significant than he maintained. The official 9/11 Commission concluded in 2004 that it found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded

A 40-year-old Pennsylvania woman who died over the weekend had an active measles infection, authorities said, marking the third death in the state amid a rapidly growing outbreak. The Jefferson County coroner’s office said a nasal swab taken after the woman’s death tested positive for measles. She had significant underlying health problems, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and relied on oxygen around the clock. “She did have a pretty extensive medical history,” said Jason Stiver, chief deputy coroner for Jefferson County. The woman, who had not been vaccinated against measles, had developed a fever and the disease’s characteristic rash. She was also living with others who had similar symptoms and had been in direct contact with a relative whose measles infection was confirmed by laboratory testing. “The positive test result supports the determination that the decedent was suffering from an active measles infection at the time of death,” the coroner’s office said. Her death follows those of two infants in Lancaster County last month from measles-related complications. One baby died at birth after his infected mother went into labor about a month early. As of Monday, Pennsylvania had recorded 693 measles cases this year, including 99 in just the previous week. Health experts say measles can be

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

particularly dangerous for people with existing medical conditions. Once the virus spreads through the body, it can affect multiple organs, including the lungs and heart. In rare cases, measles can also lead years later to a fatal neurological disorder known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The number of deaths has also raised concern that Pennsylvania’s official case count may not reflect the full scale of the outbreak, since not everyone who becomes ill is tested. Nationwide, the United States is experiencing its largest measles outbreak since 1991, with more than 3,200 confirmed cases this year. The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine remains the strongest protection against the virus and is about 97% effective at preventing measles after two doses.

Brain Implant Helps to Speak In a step forward for the cutting-edge field of brain-computer interfaces, a patient with a paralyzing neurological disorder used a brain implant to converse in real time, even when she was simply

thinking about what to say, a company announced on Monday. The development, by the company Paradromics, is the latest advance for these experimental devices known as BCIs, systems that involve implanting electrodes in the brain that read neurological signals and decode those signals through artificial intelligence.

The 68-year-old Michigan woman, who has lost most of her speaking ability, was able to use the device to have spontaneous conversations via a computer-generated voice, including on the phone with her grandchildren. When she physically tried to speak, her brain generated signals that were read by the electrodes, transmitted through AI and displayed on the computer screen, which spoke the words aloud. The system could also produce speech when the woman imagined what to say without moving her speaking muscles.

Because the Paradromics system is wireless and doesn’t require the patient to be connected by a cord to a computer, experts said, it offers a demonstration of how patients who have lost the ability to speak might be able to eventually use the technology in their daily lives. The woman, the first patient in the Paradromics clinical trial, was implanted with the company’s Connexus BCI system, which contains more than 400 electrodes, in June at University of Michigan Health. The results reported on Monday have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal. Experts said that while aspects of Paradromics’ developments have also been achieved by others working on brain-computer interface technology, the company’s results are notable, particularly because the system is wireless and self-contained. A video provided to The New York Times by Paradromics showed the woman being asked earlier this month by members of the research team to say whatever she’d like. She smiled and slowly spoke a scarcely intelligible sentence, which the system quickly decoded and read out with a computerized voice that said, “OK, I have a lot to say.” Later in the video, she was asked what advice she would like to give to her grandchildren. “Pray continuously,” she said. Asked if she felt she was learning how to use the device better, she said, “It’s a work in process.” (© The New York Times)

Rent Emergency in SanFran

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has declared a “rent emergency” as housing costs surge amid the city’s artificial intelligence boom, with officials warning that longtime residents are increasingly being priced out. The declaration does not give Lurie special emergency powers, but the mayor said it is intended to focus attention on the worsening housing crunch. “There are too many people who are asking if they can still afford to live here,”

Lurie said. “Our city is finally moving in the right direction, but we need to build a recovery that reaches everyone, including the working-class people who make San Francisco run.” Lurie said he will support several legislative proposals aimed at protecting renters, including measures that would delay certain evictions by an additional month, limit some rent increases, and provide more funding for nonprofit attorneys representing tenants in eviction cases. The city’s economic rebound has brought a fresh wave of technology money, particularly from the rapidly growing AI industry. But prosperity has come with a steep price tag. According to the mayor’s office, San Francisco rents have risen more sharply over the past year than anywhere else in the country. Median rents are up more than 25%, while the average one-bedroom apartment now costs more than $4,000 a month. San Francisco has been synonymous with expensive housing for years, but the current market has become especially intense. Some landlords have reportedly offered longtime tenants tens of thousands of dollars to leave rent-controlled units, allowing those apartments to be re-rented at much higher market rates. More than 2,400 eviction cases have been initiated since January, according to the Eviction Defense Collaborative, putting San Francisco on pace for its highest number of renter removals in a decade. The city is hardly alone. New York City has frozen rents for roughly 1 million residents in rent-stabilized apartments, while Santa Fe, New Mexico, has incorporated housing costs into its local minimum-wage calculations. Seattle, Washington, recently banned certain rental “junk fees,” requiring landlords to provide a clearer upfront price.

Lost and Found A 70-year-old Michigan hiker who disappeared during a solo trek through one of the most remote islands in Lake Superior was found alive after surviving nearly a week in the wilderness. Craig Berg, of Royal Oak, had been hiking alone in Isle Royale National Park when he failed to board his scheduled ferry home on September 5. His family reported him missing the following day.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

What followed was a massive search involving boats, aircraft, drones, K-9 teams and crews combing through miles of dense forest and rugged shoreline. Berg, meanwhile, was apparently doing his best to prove that 70 is only a number — albeit a number that probably should not spend a week stranded in the wilderness.

He was finally spotted on September 12 off the beaten path by two paddlers on Intermediate Lake, who alerted authorities. Rescuers found him injured and suffering from hypothermia but conscious and alert. “We are extremely grateful we were able to get Mr. Berg safely off the island and deliver him to the medical care he needed,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer

Wendy Janson of the U.S. Coast Guard. Video from the rescue showed Berg being hoisted into a helicopter and flown to a hospital for treatment. Berg had arrived on Isle Royale on August 27 to hike the Greenstone Trail. When he failed to return as planned, his wife, Debbie, remained hopeful as search crews fanned out across the park. “We’re very hopeful with many people committed to finding him and we’re keeping the faith,” she said during the search. That faith paid off. Isle Royale is not exactly the kind of place where someone can simply wander into a convenience store and ask for directions. The national park covers nearly 207 square miles of forests, wetlands, rocky shoreline and inland lakes. There are no roads, and the island can be reached only by boat or seaplane. Cellphone reception is also spotty, making a wrong turn considerably more serious than missing an exit on the highway. Officials said search crews faced “dense forests, rocky shorelines, wetlands and inland lakes” while looking for Berg. After a week in the backcountry, Berg’s adventure finally ended with a helicopter ride out — a spin on the phrase “when the rudder hits the road.”

Poacher Killed by Herd

A suspected rhino poacher in South Africa got far more than he bargained for when a herd of elephants charged him and trampled him to death as he allegedly prepared to shoot a rhino. The man and an accomplice had illegally entered Kruger National Park armed with a high-powered rifle and an axe, apparently hoping to kill a white rhino and cash in on its horn, which can fetch an enormous price on the black market. Instead, the tables — and nearly everything else — turned on him. According to park officials, the two men were closing in on a herd of rhinos when nearby elephants suddenly charged. The men fled in different directions, but one was too slow. “The two ran in different directions but the one lining up the shot was the slowest to his feet and the elephants went for him first,” a park source said. In a wild twist, the hunter became the hunted — and the elephants apparently weren’t taking reservations. The surviving suspect escaped the scene but was later arrested and reportedly led rangers back to the area. Authorities said he told investigators that he heard his accomplice screaming after the two split up. Kruger National Park is home to roughly 1,850 white rhinos, along with elephants, buffalo, lions and leopards. Poaching remains a major problem: 175 rhinos were killed for their horns in the park last year. Rhino horn is made of keratin — the same material found in human fingernails — but is highly prized on the illegal market for supposed medicinal uses. This is not the first time poachers in South Africa have discovered that the local wildlife does not always cooperate with their plans. In the past, suspected poachers have been killed by elephants or attacked by lions after entering protected reserves. Park officials, understandably, don’t shed many tears when they hear of the justice meted out in the jungle. “For us, it’s a big boost when the animals win and poachers lose,” one source said. Walking a bit on the wild side.

It Pays to Read

Singapore wants its citizens to turn the page — literally. The city-state has launched a fiveyear national campaign aimed at getting people to read more, offering small cash incentives to residents who log their reading minutes on a government platform. The effort is designed to revive a habit officials fear is being crowded out by phones, streaming, and the endless scroll of social media. Whether it’s a few pages during a train ride or a chapter over coffee, the message is simple: put down the screen and pick up a book. And this time, there may be money in it. Under the new initiative, Singaporeans can record the time they spend reading and receive small financial rewards for participating. The program is part of a broader push to make reading a regular part of daily life rather than something squeezed in only when the Wi-Fi goes down. Singapore has long invested heavily in education and literacy, but like many countries, it is confronting changing reading habits as younger generations increasingly consume information in shorter, digital formats. Officials hope the incentives will encourage people to rediscover longer-form reading, whether through books, newspapers, or other substantial written material. Supporters say even a small reward could help turn reading into a routine, particularly if families and younger readers join in. Critics may wonder whether a habit built around cash will last once the payments stop. But officials appear to be betting that once people get hooked on reading, the books will do the rest. After all, the first few pages are often the hardest. For Singapore, the campaign is less about producing a nation of bookworms overnight and more about making reading feel normal again — on trains, in cafés and at home. And if citizens happen to earn a few dollars along the way, that’s one story with a pretty good ending.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the

Community A Great Start at YOSS

Back at YOSS Mechina, our middle school talmidim are off to an exciting start as they begin a new year of Torah, learning, and growth

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

The Novominsker Rebbe addressed the talmidim of Yeshiva Tiferes Shlomo, sharing divrei chizuk and inspiration

Shulamith ECC enjoyed a visit from Rabbi Oppen and Rabbi Monczyk who blew the shofar for the girls

Preparing for Rosh Hashana at Yeshiva Ateres Eitz Chaim

hat do kivrei tzaddikim, honeybees, apple picking, friendship, and delicious pizza all have in common? They were all part of an incredible week of Rosh Hashana prepa-

ration at Yeshiva Ateres Eitz Chaim! Talmidim and rabbeim traveled to daven at the kevarim of renowned tzaddikim, including the Ribnitzer Rebbe, Skulener Rebbe, Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Reb

Moshe New Yorker, and others, davening for a kesiva v’chasima tova and continued hatzlacha in Torah and personal growth. Our esteemed Menahel, Rabbi Boruch Oppen, who arranged the inspiring trip, explained the importance and meaning of davening at kivrei tzaddikim. At each stop, he shared a short biography, story and teaching of the tzaddik, enabling the talmidim to feel a deeper connection as they stood at each kever and davened. The inspiration continued at a bee farm, where the talmidim experienced firsthand the incredible niflaos ha’borei. They learned how Hashem created every creature—from the smallest bee to the largest animal—with a unique purpose and continuously provides each one with exactly what it needs. HaRav Gedaliah Oppen, Rosh HaYeshiva, shared a deeper understanding of why we specifically use honey on Rosh Hashanah and the lessons it holds for beginning a sweet new year.

Then came apple picking—with a lesson for life! The Rosh HaYeshiva challenged the talmidim to think: How do you choose the right apple? And, more importantly, how do you choose the right friend? The discussion brought to life the words of Chazal, “U’kenei lecha chaver,” the friends we choose can help shape the people we become. A special thank you to R’ Yoiley Stuhl, who enhanced the experience with meaningful and thought-provoking insights in hashkafah, giving the talmidim even more to think about and take home with them. The day concluded with delicious pizza from Pizzale and plenty of smiles! From kivrei tzaddikim to bees and honey, from apples to friendships, it was a memorable week of preparing our talmidim for a year filled with Torah, emunah, growth and success!

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

Digital Dov at HALB

A Sweet Lesson at HAFTR

ALB lower school had a fun day, playing a Rosh Hashana themed game show with Digital Dov! Then they enjoyed some delicious Rita’s

ices sponsored by the HALB PTA in line with the theme of spreading sweetness this year.

AFTR Kindergarten and first grade students enjoyed a sweet and memorable learning experience as Malka and Menachem Husarsky of BirdsandBeesBrooklyn visited to teach students about the fascinating process of honey-making. Students learned how bees play an essential role in producing honey and explored the many steps that take place from the hive to the jar. The hands-on presentation gave students an opportunity to see how their learning connects to the natural world and to one of the most recognizable symbols of Rosh Hashanah. To end the experience, students had the chance to sample a small taste of honey for themselves, making the lesson especially sweet. We thank Malka and Menachem for sharing their knowledge and helping our students discover the science, nature, and tradition behind something they know and enjoy.

All Abuzz at YOSS

he first graders at YOSS are buzzing with learning! First grade is officially underway, and I couldn’t be more excited to begin this new adventure with such a wonderful group of boys! I’ve been enjoying getting to know and discovering a little more every day about each boy’s personality, interests, and unique way of learning. The boys are quickly realizing that First Grade is a big step up from Pre-1A as they enter the “big boy” building which has been teaching them new routines, greater independence, and lots of exciting learning. It has been amazing to see how well all the boys are getting along and how naturally they are beginning to help, encourage, and include one another. Our classroom has also been buzzing

with learning, and we have already met a very special friend—“The Kid in the Middle,” our vowel friend! He is helping the boys understand that the vowel sitting right in the middle plays a very important role when we read and write CVC words. We began with our first vowel sound, short “a,” and the boys have been breezing through the material and showing such excitement as they build and read new words. In math, we have started learning all about addition and how we can take two parts (two numbers) and put them together to make the whole (the answer). I am looking forward to a successful year filled with continued positive growth. Wishing everyone a shana tova u’metuka and a happy, healthy, and sweet new year!

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

Touro University Launches New Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

ouro University has received approval from the NYS Department of Education to launch its new Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program, further expanding the nursing education offerings within the Touro University School of Health Sciences and creating a seamless pathway for nurses seeking the highest level of clinical and leadership preparation in the profession. The new program, offered through the Department of Nursing at the Touro University School of Health Sciences, is a terminal practice doctorate designed for nurse practitioners who already hold a master’s degree. The curriculum includes 44 credit hours and 665 clinical hours and is aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials and nationally recognized competencies for doctoral-prepared nurse practitioners. “With the addition of the DNP, Touro continues to strengthen its commitment to developing nursing professionals who can lead healthcare transformation, improve patient outcomes and address the increasingly complex challenges facing healthcare today,” said Dr. Sandra Russo, Chair and Director of Department of Nursing, Touro University School of Health Sciences. The approval of the DNP program enhances Touro’s comprehensive continuum of nursing education. Students can now advance through a full range of academic pathways, from undergraduate nursing preparation through graduate and doctoral study. The Department of Nursing offers pre-licensure bache-

lor’s-level preparation, master’s-level nursing programs, nurse practitioner education, and now the Post-Master’s DNP, providing nurses with opportunities for career advancement at every stage of their professional journey. “Touro is proud to be a national leader in medical and healthcare education. This DNP is the latest addition to our portfolio of mission-driven programs that are training healthcare professionals to provide high level care and serve communities across America,” said Dr. Alan Kadish, Touro University President. The program is designed to prepare experienced nurses for leadership in complex healthcare environments by strengthening expertise in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, patient safety, healthcare policy, population health, informatics, healthcare finance, organizational leadership, and systems management.

tional change, improve healthcare delivery systems, influence policy decisions, manage resources, and drive measurable improvements in patient and population health outcomes. These competencies are increasingly sought by healthcare organizations navigating workforce challenges, quality mandates, and evolving care models. The program is also ideal for nurse leaders who seek to expand their impact beyond direct patient care and into strategic decision-making roles where they can shape the future of healthcare delivery and community health. Admission to the Post-Master’s DNP program will be highly selective, welcoming master’s-prepared nurses who demonstrate strong academic achievement, professional accomplishment, leadership potential, and a commitment to advancing nursing practice and healthcare delivery. This rigorous admissions

Delivering Strong Return on Investment for Nursing Professionals The new DNP program offers a significant return on investment for students by positioning graduates for advancement into high-level leadership, operational, and executive positions across healthcare settings. Graduates will be prepared for roles such as chief nursing officer, nursing director, executive director, health system administrator, clinical operations leader, and quality and patient safety executive. In addition to increased career mobility, the program equips graduates with the skills needed to lead organiza-

Lechu Vnelcha

s we approach the Yomim Noraim, we’re excited to kick off the new year of Lechu Vnelcha Far Rockaway/Five Towns. We were honored to hear from Rabbi Nechemia Grama of Lakewood, whose powerful words helped set the tone for the days leading up to Rosh Hashana. Mrs. Ariella Flegmann inspired us with her annual teshuva shiur, leaving us with meaningful messages

process is designed to cultivate a cohort of accomplished nurse leaders prepared to make meaningful and measurable contributions to the profession and the communities they serve. For more information about the new Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, please contact Marissa Iacullo at miacullo@touro.edu.

to carry into the Yomim Noraim. Lechu Vnelcha is a global program for post high school girls that offers weekly shiurim. The FR/5T branch’s shiurim take place on Sunday night at 8 PM in Far Rockaway. For more information, to be added to our email list, or to sponsor an event, contact lvnfarrockaway5t@ gmail.com.

The Gesher kids had a buzzing good time at an exciting Bee Workshop in honor of Rosh Hashana! They enjoyed learning all about bees and honey while getting into the sweet spirit of the yom tov.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community Rav Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, in conversation with rebbeim and talmidim after delivering his weekly shmuess

The Reishes Chochma boys at Siach Yitzchok saying Tashlich

MTA’s Freshmen Bond on Annual Hike

TA’s freshman class traded the classroom for the great outdoors this past Thursday, spending the day hiking, playing sports, and enjoying time together with their rebbeim and classmates. Blessed with beautiful weather, the freshmen took on the Van Slyke Castle Loop, enjoying the scenery while getting to know one another outside of the regular school-day setting. Along the trail, students participated in a variety of games and activities, including a spirited rock-paper-scissors tournament, with

Danny Ehrenfeld of Brooklyn, emerging as the champion. The day also included a stop at 7-Eleven before the group headed to a Bergen County park, where the freshmen enjoyed dinner and an afternoon of sports and recreation. Rabbi Balsam shared a d’var Torah with the students, adding a meaningful Torah component to a day centered on camaraderie and connection. The annual freshman hike provided an opportunity for the newest members of the MTA community to strengthen

friendships, connect with their rebbeim, and continue building the sense of

brotherhood that will accompany them throughout their years at MTA.

A Meaningful 9/11 Memorial Program at HAFTR HS

AFTR High School students gathered during the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah for a meaningful morning of learning, reflection, and remembrance, featuring guest speakers Rabbi Binyomin Sloviter and Mr. Benjamin Diamond, a Hatzalah volunteer who responded to the September 11 attacks. Rabbi Yisacher Blinder, HAFTR High School Mashgiach Ruchani, opened the program by reflecting on how September 11 continues to shape our collective

memory, even for students who were not yet born when the attacks occurred. Drawing a parallel to the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, he reminded students that we can carry the weight and lessons of events we did not personally experience. Rabbi Sloviter, rabbi of the Irving Place Minyan, then offered six lessons from September 11 that connected the events of that day to Jewish thought and responsibility. He began with the

idea that we are part of a world larger than ourselves, using the halachic requirement for shuls to have windows as a reminder that our spiritual lives must remain connected to the world around us. He spoke about recognizing and responding to threats, countering evil through acts of goodness, and understanding a world shaped by a clash of civilizations where actions often speak louder than words. He also addressed the enduring reality of antisemitism, emphasizing the importance of recognizing it without searching for simple explanations. He concluded with a message of hope, reminding students that one of the Jewish people’s greatest strengths is our extraordinary resilience. Mr. Diamond then shared his personal experience as a Hatzalah volunteer responding to Ground Zero. A Yeshiva University student studying computer science at the time, Mr. Diamond had joined Hatzalah just three weeks earlier when he received an unprecedented call over his radio. He described arriving at the scene and joining in the effort to care for the maimed and wounded. He and his first-responder associates were soon overwhelmed by the chaos and confusion and were quickly confronted with

the painful reality of being unable to help in a situation where their instinct was to do exactly that. The experience ultimately changed the course of his life, leading him to pursue a career as a professional paramedic. He concluded with a message from Pirkei Avot, “If not now, when?” encouraging students to become active participants in their lives and recognize their ability to make a difference. Rabbi Blinder concluded the program with a chapter of Tehillim, bringing the morning to a solemn close. As we remember those who were lost on September 11, we honor their memory by continuing to learn, reflect, and carry forward the values of responsibility, resilience, and action. May the memory of all those who perished be a blessing.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

A New Home Away From Home: Margaret Tietz Unveils Spacious Shabbos House

By Shabsie Saphirstein

or nearly two decades, Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has provided Shabbos accommodations for families who want to remain near loved ones receiving care. As demand grew, however, its longtime hospitality apartment could get crowded. Now, Margaret Tietz has replaced it with a dedicated three-level Shabbos House, comfortably accommodating up to 10 guests. Rabbanim, elected officials, healthcare partners, staff, and community leaders gathered for the opening, touring the home from its main floor through its upper level and finished attic before relaxing together in the living room. Among those representing the broader community was Rabbi Daniel Pollack, Jewish Liaison to Congressmember Grace Meng, a longtime friend of Margaret Tietz. In the backyard, hors d’oeuvres and refreshments were served beneath a spacious tent as a keyboard musician performed throughout the afternoon. Linda Spiegel, Director of Public Affairs at Margaret Tietz, served as emcee and described the new house as “an amazing bracha” for those who need to remain near a loved one over Shabbos. With de-

mand for accommodations continuing to grow, she said the new house will allow Margaret Tietz to host considerably more people in comfort. Spiegel also credited Alex Solovey, CEO of Cassenna Care, with giving her the support and latitude to move the project forward, noting his willingness to back initiatives benefiting the community. The longtime hospitality program offered families furnished accommodations and complimentary Glatt Kosher meals, but its real value was allowing relatives to remain nearby through Shabbos and Yom Tov. Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov, rav of Kehilat Sephardim of Ahavat Achim, previously shared his family’s experience when his mother underwent rehabilitation at Margaret Tietz following knee replacement surgery over the Yamim Tovim. “They went beyond making her feel comfortable,” Rabbi Nisanov said, recalling the accommodations made for family members who stayed overnight so they could remain close to her. Rabbi Zavel Pearlman, Spiritual Guide and full-time Facility Rabbi at Margaret Tietz, has seen that same need repeatedly. He recalled occasions when several families had to share the former apartment, making for cramped conditions. “The house now, it’s a whole different

story,” Rabbi Pearlman said. Several families had already spent Shabbos in the new house before the ribbon cutting, giving Margaret Tietz an opportunity to see the expanded accommodations in use. Rabbi Pearlman described the hospitality as an extension of the mitzvah of bikur cholim. With Rosh Hashana approaching, the rabbanim placed the opening in the context of the season. Rabbi Shmuel Marcus, Mara D’Asra of Young Israel of Queens Valley and President Emeritus of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, cited Rabbi Yisrael Salanter’s teaching that one of the greatest merits on the Day of Judgment is to make oneself indispensable to the community. Rabbi Marcus noted that the Shabbos House represents an institution going beyond providing rehabilitation alone. Its message to families, he said, is simple: “Come. Stay here. We’ll provide you with hospitality.” Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum, Mara D’Asra of Khal Nachlas Yitzchok, likewise described the house as an act of chessed. Invoking middah k’neged middah as Rosh Hashana approaches, he offered a bracha that Margaret Tietz continue its chessed for families and Klal Yisrael for many years. Assemblymember David Weprin,

joined by Assemblymembers Sam Berger and Andrew Hevesi, presented a New York State Assembly proclamation marking the opening. When Solovey took the microphone, he deflected the credit, saying his role was simply to give the go-ahead while Spiegel and the Margaret Tietz team did the work. His larger message centered on the facility’s relationship with the surrounding community. “We don’t feel like outsiders,” Solovey said. “We feel like insiders.” Spiegel also recognized NYPD 107th Precinct Community Affairs Officer Tim Gorman and thanked the NYPD for its continued partnership. The gathering then moved to the front steps, where rabbanim, Assemblymembers, Margaret Tietz leadership, and community representatives gathered around the ribbon. With an oversized pair of scissors and calls of “mazal tov,” the new Shabbos House was officially opened. For families spending Shabbos near a parent, spouse, or loved one in rehabilitation, what matters can be remarkably simple: a comfortable place to stay, kosher food, and the ability to walk over and be there. With its new Shabbos House, Margaret Tietz can now welcome more families who need to do just that.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

At Mercaz Academy, Students Launch Student-Run Businesses

his year, Plainview’s Mercaz Academy is launching an immersive learning initiative which guides sixth-grade students through the process of ideating, building, launching, and operating their own simulated businesses online. The program aims to help students apply classroom skills to real-world challenges, understanding firsthand how they translate to the workplace. Through the year-long project with Virtual Enterprises Junior Ventures (VE-JV), students will work in teams to brainstorm business ideas and bring them to life, defining their company’s mission, goals and business plan, applying for positions with resumes and interviews, developing advertising materials,

preparing sales pitches, running meetings, and doing market research. Mercaz will also add its own Torah twist, layering Jewish business ethics lessons into the program. “The goal is to show students how real companies operate, to give them an idea of what tools and skills are needed to succeed in the professional world, and to teach them those skills – teamwork, communication, trouble-shooting, and accountability,” explained Assistant Principal of General Studies Karen Leeper. “They’re also learning creative and innovative thinking as they brainstorm ideas for products and services that are needed in the marketplace.” While the VE-JV program is aligned to standards for grades 7-8, Mercaz

Academy received special acceptance into the program for its sixth graders, giving them early access to a sophisticated, real-world learning experience typically reserved for older students. “Our sixth graders are ready to be

challenged in new ways,” said Director of Technology Lynda Last. “VE-VJ gives them an opportunity to take everything they’ve been working on at Mercaz – academically, socially, and as young Jewish leaders – and put it into action.”

Before Sukkos is Over, Ask Your Parents the Question You May Regret Not Asking

here are certain conversations families always seem to put off. What happens as our parents get older is usually one of them. During the year, there is always a reason to wait. Everyone is busy, the children have their own families, and Tatty and Mommy seem perfectly capable of handling things themselves. Then comes Sukkos, when generations are finally sitting together and there is an opportunity to ask an important question: Do we actually know what the plan is? For more than two decades, Benepro has helped families answer that question. As licensed Medicare brokers, the Benepro team helps clients evaluate Medicare options while also providing guidance on Social Security optimization and future care and cost protection. “What we see is that people are confused,” says Isaac Sternhill of Benepro. “Someone comes to us for Medicare and we discover there are Social Security decisions or future-care concerns that also need attention. Seniors shouldn’t have to run around to different offices trying to figure everything out themselves. They need one resource that can help them understand the entire picture.” Medicare is About More Than Enrolling Turning 65 doesn’t simply mean choosing a Medicare plan and checking

a box. The plan that looks best in a brochure may not necessarily be the plan that works best when someone actually needs healthcare. That is why Benepro compares a client’s doctors, specialists, hospitals, prescriptions and healthcare needs against available options. A plan may appear attractive until the family discovers that a particular doctor isn’t in-network, an important prescription is handled differently than expected or a preferred hospital isn’t included. The objective isn’t simply to enroll someone in Medicare. It is to help find coverage that fits that person’s actual needs, before an illness reveals a problem. Social Security Isn’t Just About When You’re Eligible Social Security presents another challenge because eligibility can feel like an automatic signal to begin collecting. But when benefits are claimed can affect retirement income for years, and married couples may have additional considerations involving both spouses’ benefits, ages, work histories and retirement plans. “Typically, someone comes in thinking, ‘I’m eligible, so I guess it’s time to start collecting,’” explains Mr. Sternhill. “But once we start asking questions about their spouse, work history, other income and retirement plans, they begin to see

that there is a bigger picture. Our job is to help them understand their options before they make a decision they may have to live with for years.” It is another reason Benepro approaches retirement planning as a connected conversation rather than a series of unrelated decisions. Planning for the Expense Nobody Wants to Think About Then there is the possibility that a healthy, independent parent suddenly needs significant care. A fall, illness or diagnosis can quickly lead to rehabilitation, home care or ongoing assistance. That’s often when families discover that Medicare doesn’t cover every type of long-term care they may need. Depending on an individual’s circumstances, however, Medicaid may help cover certain services Medicare does not. Advance planning may also involve properly structured trusts or other asset-protection strategies. Benepro works with attorneys and financial professionals to help families understand these possibilities. Medicaid eligibility, pooled trusts and asset-protection rules can be complicated, and waiting until a parent already needs care may limit the family’s choices. “Unfortunately, we often meet families when they’re already scrambling,” Mr. Sternhill adds. “Mommy or Tatty

suddenly needs care, the children are trying to understand what Medicare covers, whether Medicaid may be an option and what can be done to protect their parents financially. These are much easier conversations to have before the family is in crisis.” Three Questions Worth Asking This Sukkos You don’t need to turn a Yom Tov meal into a financial meeting. Before everyone goes home, start with three questions: Has your Medicare coverage actually been reviewed based on your doctors, prescriptions and needs? Have you considered how to optimize Social Security? And if one of you suddenly needed care, would we know what our options are? If the answers aren’t clear, don’t assume there will always be time to figure them out later. The best time to understand your options is while you still have them. Benepro brings Medicare planning, Social Security optimization and future care cost protection together under one roof. Schedule a complimentary planning consultation at 718.633.1577 or info@benepro.net, or visit www.benepro.net to learn more.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

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Rosh Hashana Learning at Gan Chamesh

he children at Gan Chamesh engaged in multi-sensory play as they explored all the elements of Rosh Hashana. Hearing the sound of the shofar, examining the seeds of pomegranates, feeling sticky honey, and tasting apples dipped in honey, helped the children internalize and appreciate the beauty of the yom tov. Gmar chatima tova!

Preparing for the New Year at HANC

here was excitement in the air in the Early Childhood Division in HANC’s Reinstein Family Campus in West Hempstead this past week. In addition to getting to know their classmates and acclimating to the routines in their new classrooms, ou could feel the energy as the yeladim prepared for the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashana. They learned about the sounding of the shofar, which animals grow horns that are made into shofars, and even had the opportunity to hear Rabbi Ouriel Hazan, HANC Head of Nursery through Eighth grade, blow the shofar in each classroom. After examining the shofar and learning about its significance in the celebration of Rosh Hashana, the children worked their little fingers by placing a shofar shape on a large piece of paper and finger painting all over the page. Morah Trudy Rubinstein, HANC Early Childhood Director said, “It was so ter-

rific to watch the children’s faces and expressions as they lifted the shofar shape and saw a white shofar in the center of their paper, surrounded by their colorful painting.”

This year, a special guest arrived who captured the attention of all of the young children. A beekeeper visited the school, carrying a locked box filled with 500 bees and honeycombs. This hands-on beeswax experience enabled the children to explore bees, the important role that they play in our world, and how they produce their wax and honey. The children were able to utilize multiple senses, as they saw the wax, felt it, smelled it and tasted it. They also learned the sweet meaning behind the chag and why honey makes Rosh Hashana so special. Following this fascinating educational experience, an assortment of honey dishes decorated the EC Division as each class designed their own style of honey dish. Fine motor skills were employed by the children as they decorated the magnificent honey jars that will surely enhance their families’ yom tov tables. Utilizing multiple educational elements across the curriculum, the yelad-

im created beautiful Shana Tova cards for their families. Since our school building is so close to the local Post Office, the children walked there themselves and personally mailed their cards so that they would arrive at their homes just in time for the holiday. What a special surprise each family received when a beautiful Shana Tova card arrived wishing their family a happy, sweet New Year! Juggling the smooth adjustment to the new year, while attempting to teach the children about the upcoming chagim is challenging, but the excitement and joy that these new experiences create is reflected in the smiles on the children’s faces. The yeladim have gained so much knowledge from the enriching, experiential lessons and they are developing new skills each and every day. By the time Rosh Hashana arrived, they were able to participate actively in their family’s celebration and their beautiful artwork was certainly admired by one and all.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

Rambam Kicks Off A New School Year

he new school year got off to an exciting start with a warm and welcoming orientation, followed by a wonderful first day of school. Orientation gave students the opportunity to meet their teachers, reconnect with friends, become familiar with their schedules, and get comfortable with the routines and expectations for the year ahead. The freshmen also enjoyed a fun bonding experience at Woodmere Lanes, where they had the opportunity to spend time with their classmates, get to know one another, and begin building friendships for the year ahead. The first day of school was filled with excitement and energy as students settled into their classrooms and began their new classes. Hallways were buzzing with greetings, smiles, and the excitement of seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones. Teachers welcomed their students and helped everyone feel at home as they introduced the year’s learning, activities, and goals. As the first full week came to a close,

the entire school came together for a special pre-Rosh Hashanah kumzitz in the shul, led by Mordechai Levovitz. The morning was filled with beautiful music, singing, and a meaningful atmosphere as the students and faculty prepared for the upcoming Yom Tov. Following the

kumzitz, everyone enjoyed fresh donuts together, adding a fun and delicious ending to the morning. From orientation and the freshman bowling trip to the excitement of the first days of classes and a meaningful schoolwide kumzitz, it was a wonderful begin-

ning to what promises to be a meaningful and successful school year filled with learning, growth, friendship, and many special moments together.

Village of Lawrence’s Near Completion of Major Infrastructure & Road Resurfacing Project With Liberty Water

he Village of Lawrence announced that its comprehensive municipal infrastructure improvement project, conducted in close partnership with Liberty Water, is approaching its final stages. According to Liberty Water, infrastructure upgrades were selected after a comprehensive review of the age and condition of existing water mains, repair history, and customer service data, including water pressure concerns and service complaints. These improvements are designed to address water pressure deficiencies, accommodate increased demand on the system, and enhance overall water quality for residents. Through proactive inter-agency coordination, Liberty Water is wrapping up essential subterranean water main replacements prior to surface paving, protecting local roadways and preventing post-construction utility cuts. “We’re proud to collaborate with the Village of Lawrence on projects that strengthen the community and support

our customers,” said Deborah Franco, President of Liberty New York Water. “By working together, we can deliver improvements that make a real difference for the people who live and work here. Mayor Samuel Nahmias, Village of Lawrence, thanked Liberty Water for their partnership, “This is in conjunction with a great partnership with our utility providers... Liberty... coordinating the repair of the roads prior to the installation of new piping. We met, we are working together, getting new piping into the ground, and then we’re paving these roads that need to be paved. That’s in conjunction with great partnerships, so I just want to say thank you.” Mayor Nahmias emphasized that replacing aging water infrastructure is a vital, smart investment that strengthens water service reliability while ensuring that newly resurfaced roads will not be disturbed by future utility excavations. PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS & UPCOMING STEPS: * Subsurface Liberty Water Up-

grades: Installation of modernized water piping to reinforce water system capacity, improve pressure, and elevate overall water quality. * Synchronized Resurfacing Operations: Following the completion of the water main replacement work, the Village of Lawrence will repave the affected roadways to ensure streets are fully restored and improved for residents.

* Taxpayer Investment Protection: Syncing subterranean pipe replacements prior to paving preserves newly laid asphalt and extends road life. Final asphalt paving across targeted village roadways will wrap up in the coming weeks throughout the months of September-October with minimal impact to local traffic.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Kulanu Academy Honors September 11

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

The talmidos of the Pre-1A class of the Ganger Early Childhood Division of TAG learned the story of Yonah just in time for Yom Kippur and even had a giant fish to embellish the story

Shulamith’s Chesed Trip Program

he students, teachers, and administration of Kulanu Academy gathered at Cedarhurst Park on September 10 for a special memorial assembly in observance of September 11. Coming together as a school community, participants reflected on the lives lost, the bravery displayed in the face of tragedy, and the enduring impact of September 11 on our nation and local communities. The assembly included remarks focused on remembrance, resilience, and the importance of ensuring that future generations understand the significance of September 11. Kulanu Academy was honored to welcome New York State Assemblyman Ari Brown, who spoke with students and staff about the importance of remembering those who lost their lives and recognizing the heroes, first responders, and volunteers who served in the aftermath of the attacks. “Gathering as a community at Cedarhurst Park allowed our students to con-

nect with history in a way no classroom lesson could,” said Rabbi Elisha Hus, Principal of Kulanu Academy. “We’re grateful to Assemblyman Brown for joining us and helping our students understand and experience what it truly means to remember.” The memorial assembly served as an opportunity for the Kulanu Academy community to honor the past while reinforcing the values of gratitude, unity, and remembrance. Kulanu will never forget.

Rosh Hashana at Lev Chana

hulamith Middle School launched the third year of its Chesed Trip Program on Monday, Tzom Gedaliah, with each grade visiting the organization it will partner with all year. Every middle school grade is matched with one chesed setting and returns several times over the course of the year, an approach designed to let students build lasting relationships rather than make a single visit. Sixth graders focus on kiruv, joining students from Zucker Academy for shared activities. Seventh graders spend time with participants in Ohel’s day habilitation program, and eighth graders visit residents of The Premier and The Esplanade. On Monday’s opening trip, the girls and their new friends assembled three-dimensional sukkah models, talked and got to know one another. The repeat visits are what the school

considers the heart of the program: introductions have time to develop into real friendships, and students come to see chesed as a relationship rather than a donation.

e may not have had many days of school before Rosh Hashana but the students at Lev Chana learned so much and were

so excited to dip apples in honey, listen to the shofar, and share everything they learned with their families!

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

Screen Free to Be Me is Back at HALB

ALB’s Screen Free to Be Me program is back for the third year, and it is better than ever! Students are incentivized to put their screens

away for an hour or two each evening, encouraging more quality family time at home. The benefits are endless, and more students than ever are participating!

Rambam Remembers September 11

ast week, Rambam Mesivta held a special assembly commemorating the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Mr. Brian China, Rambam’s APUSH teacher, addressed the student body and spoke about his experiences surrounding 9/11 and the lasting impact the attacks had on New York and the country. He also emphasized the importance of continuing to remember the events of that day, especially as more time passes and younger generations have no personal memory of them. The assembly gave students an opportunity to reflect on the tragedy, the bravery shown in its aftermath, and the responsibility to keep the memory of September 11 alive for future generations.

A new year, a fresh start — the Center for Education students at the Special Children’s Center learn about the Yomim Tovim together

YUHSG’s Second Annual Retreat

very year, the Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central) begins the academic year by providing chances to learn both in and out of the classroom. With this in mind, the school launched its very first annual schoolwide retreat last year – and it was such a success that Team Wildcat embarked upon its second annual retreat this week! The retreat centered the theme of the 2026-27 school year, Living with Gratitude – Modeh Ani. This theme assumed a pivotal role in the planning of this year’s retreat, which was facilitated by YUHSG’s Director of Israel and Religious Guidance, Senior Grade Dean, and Judaic Studies faculty member, Mrs. Yael Axelrod. “The sessions are focused on the idea of gratitude, and the crucial value of gratitude in Judaism,” Mrs. Axelrod said. “The first step of gratitude is recognizing the good that has been provided to us. We’ll talk about that recognition, as well as the importance of expressing gratitude to one another and to Hashem. We also have gradewide bonding activities, learning sessions, and meaningful pre-Rosh Hashanah events.” Buses departed the Holliswood campus the morning of September 9, bound for bonding, learning, and fun at Camp Kaylie. Events included a schoolwide bonfire, a babka bake, and opportunities to be active with everything from go-karts to softball, soccer, and volleyball, as well as additional learning opportunities in the Beit Midrash. An epic gradewide dress-up chagigah, hosted by legendary MC Shimi Adar, completed the night. The next day brought new learning

opportunities, including Grit ‘N Wit, a challenging obstacle course testing both physical endurance and problem solving skills by encouraging collaboration between teammates. Throughout, students and faculty alike focused on the joy of gratitude and positive self-reflection. The retreat event plays an important role in this learning. “Last year’s retreat was such a hit that we decided to do it again this year,” Mrs. Axelrod said. “It’s such a great welcome to the school year and to Central in general – bonding with old friends and making new ones.” Wildcats arrived home on Thursday invigorated and ready for fall 2026! And that new school year is just getting started. On Tuesday, September 15, YUHSG will open its doors to Wildcat parents for Back to School night, allowing families a glimpse into their student’s schedule and time to meet faculty and staff. Another highlight of the new school year: Club Day. This year’s event, which will be held on Tuesday, September 22, will put the spotlight on YUHSG’s extracurricular life, offering students the chance to explore academic clubs, school publications, and chessed organizations.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

The Sefer That Helped Build a World of Chessed

alk into almost any Jewish community today and you will find it: a Hatzolah ambulance rushing to a call, a Chaveirim member helping a stranded driver, a Bikur Cholim volunteer visiting a patient, or a gemach providing an interest-free loan or meeting a need that most people never even knew existed. The scope of chessed in Klal Yisrael today is remarkable. But are we doing it the right way? When the Chofetz Chaim wrote the introduction to Sefer Ahavas Chessed, he expressed concern about a weakening commitment to gemilus chassadim. He set out to understand why. He identified two causes: people lacked knowledge of the practical halachos of chessed, and they lacked appreciation for its tremendous significance. His response was Sefer Ahavas Chessed. Now, a new edition of this landmark work—translated and elucidated as a project of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation and published by ArtScroll— makes the Chofetz Chaim’s timeless teachings accessible in a daily learning format. Featuring practical illustrations, notes, and halachic indexes, this groundbreaking edition helps readers apply its profound wisdom of the holy words of the Chofetz Chaim to their daily lives. This edition has been dedicated in memory of Reb Yaakov Rajchenbach, z”l. A Shulchan Aruch of Human Relations The Chofetz Chaim gave Klal Yisrael

what can be viewed as a two-part Shulchan Aruch of human relations. Sefer Chofetz Chaim and Sefer Shemiras Halashon teach us how to use our Divine gift of speech properly. Sefer Ahavas Chessed teaches us how to use our time, resources, abilities, and opportunities to emulate Hashem through kindness. It addresses the practical halachos of lending money, hosting guests, visiting the sick, paying workers, giving tzedakah, and countless other forms of gemilus chassadim. But it does more than teach us what to do. It teaches us how to see. A person who lends money, encourages someone who is struggling, visits a sick neighbor, helps a coworker or welcomes a guest may simply feel that he is helping someone out. The Chofetz Chaim teaches us to see something greater: an opportunity to perform a mitzvah and emulate Hashem. Did This Sefer Help Create Today’s Chessed Revolution? There is a fascinating possibility. The Chofetz Chaim saw a lack of commitment to chessed in his generation. Today, our communities are filled with chessed organizations and volunteers. Could there be a connection? The Chofetz Chaim’s son, Reb Aryeh Leib, certainly saw one. He wrote that Sefer Ahavas Chessed had been embraced by thousands of Jews throughout the Diaspora and Eretz Yisrael and was studied in countless batei mid-

rash. He then described its impact: “How many hundreds of Gemilus Chessed (free-loan) funds have been established because of it! How many Bikur Cholim, Chevras Linah and Hachnasas Orchim societies were created!” Letters arriving from communities around the world testified to its influence. Perhaps some of the extraordinary chessed infrastructure that surrounds us today can indeed be traced back to the Chofetz Chaim’s call to learn, understand, and appreciate this mitzvah. The Pillar That Remains Why did the Chofetz Chaim consider chessed so fundamental? Because gemilus chassadim is not simply a beautiful middah. It is one of the three pillars upon which the world stands: Torah, Avodah, and Gemilus Chassadim. The Gra explains that following the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, when we no longer had the Avodah of the Beis HaMikdash, one pillar remained fully accessible to us: chessed. Chazal teach, “Olam chessed yibaneh”—the world is built upon kindness. Every act of genuine chessed therefore does more than help another person. It helps sustain the world. Chessed is Not Just for Volunteers Perhaps the most important message of Sefer Ahavas Chessed is that chessed does not require a special role, organization, or abundance of free time. It can happen in the middle of an ordinary day. Rav Eliyahu Dessler discusses Chanoch, who was a shoemaker. The Midrash describes him as being meyacheid yichudim with every stitch he made. Rav Yisrael Salanter explains that this could not mean that Chanoch was distracted from his work. Rather, he was completely focused on providing his customer with the finest possible shoes. His ordinary work became an act of serving Hashem because he was genuinely concerned with benefiting another person. The lesson is revolutionary: Even the work we do for a living can become chessed. A teacher giving a student extra attention. An employer treating an employee with dignity. A colleague making someone else’s day easier. A parent patiently

listening. With the right mindset, ordinary interactions become opportunities for gemilus chassadim. A Sefer for Our Generation In some ways, the Chofetz Chaim’s message is particularly relevant today. People can feel isolated, overwhelmed, and overlooked even while surrounded by others. We don’t necessarily need more opportunities for chessed. We need to notice the opportunities already in front of us. That is the gift of Sefer Ahavas Chessed. It teaches the halachos, but it also develops a mindset: to recognize another person’s needs, appreciate the privilege of helping, and see everyday interactions as opportunities to become more like Hashem. The chessed-filled communities we live in today are a remarkable testament to the Jewish people’s innate desire to care for one another. And perhaps they are also part of the Chofetz Chaim’s enduring legacy. Now, through this new Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation-ArtScroll edition, dedicated in memory of Reb Yaakov Rajchenbach, z”l, you can discover the timeless wisdom that helped inspire that legacy. Because chessed is not merely something we do for others. It is how we become more like Hashem.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Around the Community

50 Years of ArtScroll Part 27: Decoding the Machzor

f the five most impactful titles in ArtScroll’s fifty years of publishing, the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Machzorim undoubtedly rank among them. They became classics that transformed the Yamim Noraim for untold numbers of Jews of every stripe. But why did thousands buy our Machzorim, when other English-translated Machzorim were already available? To understand why, we must return to the pre-ArtScroll era, when large portions of the Selichos and Yamim Noraim Machzorim seemed almost encrypted. Even with the literal translations then available, many struggled to penetrate the profound meaning and depth of the piyutim. The success and broad acceptance of the ArtScroll Siddur told us that we had found a formula that worked, so R’ Scherman authored the Ashkenaz Rosh Hashanah Machzor in 1985, followed by the Yom Kippur Machzor a year later. The translation was designed to make the liturgy meaning-

ful. The commentary brought its messages to life. The Overviews provided perspective on the significance of the days, the Laws presented the halachos briefly and clearly, and the instructions guided the user through every step of the tefillah — when the Aron Kodesh is opened and closed, how the responsive piyutim are recited, and when to sit and stand. The impact of the Machzorim was immediate and electrifying. More and more people began using them, and many came to consider them indispensable. In countless shuls and yeshivos, the ArtScroll Machzor became the volume from which most of the congregation davened. Following that success came the release of our Succos Machzor, and those who were of age in 1987 may well remember its arrival, when thousands streamed to purchase the massive, more-than-1,300-page volume. But there was a problem. Mistakes were found in some of the tefillos and instructions, and we started researching

ways to address the problem. We were advised to simply print a page of corrective stickers, with instructions showing readers where to place them. It was the cost-efficient solution most publishers would have chosen, and it would have technically solved the issue just fine. But R’ Zlotowitz would not hear of it. It was the easy way out — but it was not the perfect way out. Though ArtScroll could scarcely afford it at the time, R’ Meir made a decision that was virtually unheard of in the publishing industry. A revised, corrected edition would be printed. ArtScroll paid for advertisements in all the major newspapers announcing a recall, and anyone who had purchased the original edition could exchange it for the corrected one. R’ Meir then had the flawed Machzorim buried as sheimos. “A siddur and machzor is a person’s best friend,” he would say. “It must be perfect!” And he was right — imagine if he had chosen the sticker solution. Nearly forty years later, people would still be opening their cherished Machzorim and finding correction stickers pasted across many pages. New safeguards were put in place to prevent such mistakes from happening

again. It was an enormously costly lesson — but one that was never forgotten. And rather than damaging ArtScroll’s reputation, as some feared it might, the recall demonstrated something more important: We took our mission — and our responsibility to our readers — seriously enough to pay the price for getting it right. Today, as ArtScroll marks fifty years, the lesson of the Succos Machzor still guides every volume we publish: When it comes to serving Torah and our readers, getting it right is worth any price. UP NEXT: ArtScroll Reads Between the Lines: The Interlinear Series

Learning from History

Handmade Sterling Silver Mayim Achronim by Oded Davidson

he Middle School at HALB had an informative and meaningful 9/11 memorial and program where they learned about what happened on

that day and how the world changed from it. We will never forget the lives lost that day.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

In Memory

Remembering Raizy By Lisa Rosenblatt

y daughter, Raizel Malka bas Yona’s, 11th yahrtzeit was on Rosh Hashana. It’s hard to believe how quickly 11 years have gone by. The thing that is hardest for me at this time is the feeling that there is something I should be doing differently from what I do every day. I understand that as time passes, people can forget those they have lost. But I don’t think that is ever the case when you lose a child. We never forget. We live with the pain of that loss every single day. We are making a siyum Mishnayos,

giving tzedakah, and saying brachos in Raizy’s memory. And yet, I still feel like there must be something more I should be doing. Today, I called the cemetery to remind them to fix the shrubs. They have become too thin, and I know Raizy would not have been happy about that. In some ways, I feel like I am doing everything I can externally to honor her. But none of those things can take away the intensity of the loss. Raizy was in a coma for 10 days before she passed away. Every year, as her

yahrtzeit approaches, I find myself reliving those 10 days. And I wonder: Why? Why can’t this week just be like every other week of the year? I miss her every day. Every day, there is that tremendous ache in my heart. And yet, somehow, this particular week throws me off in a way that the rest of the year doesn’t. I want to say that I’m not functional, but Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, has His ways of keeping me busy with good things. He gives me things to do, people to care for, and reasons to keep moving forward. I’m not even sure exactly what I’m trying to say, other than that this is a very challenging time. A few days ago, I was listening to a shiur by Rabbi Joey Haber. He shared

on anyone. Never. And I would give anything to have had a different story. But I also recognize that those challenges became a catalyst for my growth. I would not be who I am today without everything I went through. Hashem carried me through the darkest places. And somehow, He also lifted me up and brought so much light into my life. During this challenging time, I need to remind myself of how blessed I am. And perhaps that is the greatest gift I can give my daughter. I’m sure she is looking down and wants to know that I am doing well.

I feel like I am doing everything I can externally to honor her. But none of those things can take away the intensity of the loss.

that someone asked him, “What was your best year?” It really made me think: What was my best year? It’s hard to answer that question. And yet, in some ways, I know the answer. My daughter and my father passed away only three months apart. That was the most difficult and painful time of my life. And yet, it was also, in many ways, the greatest year of my life. Because that was the year that brought me closer to Hashem. I would never wish these challenges

But I’ve also come to understand that sadness does not mean I am not doing well. Sadness is not failure. Sadness is not weakness. Sadness is a sign of our humanity. It is a reflection of how deeply we love. And I am grateful for all of my humanness—for the love, the pain, the memories, the tears, the growth, and the ability to continue moving forward while carrying her with me every single day. Eleven years later, I still carry Raizy in my heart. And I always will.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

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TJH

Centerfold

Things People Say While Watching Football... And Why They’re So Annoying “They need a touchdown here.” Thank you. We thought they were trying to get closer to the end zone for the scenery. “That’s holding! THAT’S HOLDING!” You’ve called holding on 37 consecutive plays. Eventually you’re going to get one right. “GO! GO! GO! GO!!!” The runningback was actually planning to stop at the 30 until he heard you screaming from Cedarhurst.

“You gotta go for it!” It’s fourth-and-19 from their own six-yard line. Thankfully, you’re an accountant. “Why would they run it there?!” Because when they passed on the previous drive you screamed, “WHY ARE THEY THROWING IT?!” “He was WIDE OPEN!” Yes. We can also see that now that television has shown us the aerial replay three times.

“This game is over.” There are eleven minutes remaining. In the second quarter.

“How do you miss that kick?!” You missed the garbage can throwing out your paper plate from four feet away.

“I could’ve caught that.” You pulled a hamstring getting off the couch during halftime.

“Just watch. Pick-six right here.” Seven-yard completion. “Okay. Next play.”

“I knew they were going to run it.” Interesting that you waited until after they ran it to share this information.

“The refs want them to win!” Correct. The NFL’s multibillion-dollar conspiracy has finally been uncovered by a guy eating cholent on a La-Z-Boy.

Riddle Me This A man attends an NFL game. During the entire game, he never sees a touchdown, field goal, safety, extra point, or two-point conversion, yet when the game ends, the scoreboard reads: HOME 21 — VISITORS 17 The scoreboard is working perfectly, and the man was at the game from start to finish. How is that possible?

Answer to riddle: He is blind.

You Gotta Be Kidding Me! A football coach was heading off the field after a terrible loss and a reporter asked him, “How do you feel about your team’s execution?” He said, “I’m in favor of it.”

1. Approximately how many official footballs does Wilson provide NFL teams each season for games and practices? a. 25,000 b. 10,000 c. 5,000 d. 250 e. 2. How many pounds of ice must the home team provide in the visiting team’s locker room? a. 25 b. 100 c. 250 d. 500 3. How far apart are NFL goalposts? a. 15 feet b. 18.6 feet c. 20.5 feet d. 24.5 feet 4. Which is the oldest continuously operating professional football franchise, first started in 1898 when it was part of another league? a. Arizona Cardinals b. Green Bay Packers c. Chicago Bears d. New York Giants 5. Before an NFL game, how many prepared footballs must EACH team provide to the officials? a. 12 b. 24 c. 32 d. 40

6. When does the quarterback’s radio communication from the sideline automatically shut off? a. When the team completes their huddle b. When there are 15 seconds left on the play clock c. Once he passes or hands off the ball d. It never shuts off 7. How can you identify which players have NFL’s coach-toplayer communication systems in their helmet? a. Their jersey has a big C on it b. Their helmet has a yellow stripe c. Their helmet has a green dot d. The player whose hand is up during the huddle 8. When the visiting team is on offense, when must artificial crowd noise/music stop? a. When the quarterback enters the huddle or puts both hands up in the air b. When the play clock reaches 20 seconds or the offense reaches the line of scrimmage c. When the play clock reaches 5 seconds d. It doesn’t have to stop 9. Which of the following has actually interfered with NFL communications equipment during games? a. Airline pilots

b. A concert rehearsal c. A concession worker asking for more popcorn d. All of the above 10. How much error does the NFL allow when laying out most lines on the field? a. ¼ inch b. ½ inch c. 1 inch d. 2 inches Answers: 1-A 2-D 3-B 4-A 5-B 6-B 7- C 8-B 9-D 10-A Goalposts : 8-10 correct: You must be the guy who counts the footballs that are given to the teams. 4-7 correct: You are not bad but not great…about all the Jets and Giants can hope for this year. 0-3 correct: Your headset for someone to whisper…… ChCHCHCHCHCHCH… then answers into your ear …..CHCHCHCHCHCHC….. must be coming in and out……. CHCHCHCHCHCHC….copy?

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

NFL Behind the Scenes Trivia

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Torah Thought

Parshas Ha’azinu By Rabbi Berel Wein z”l

oshe’s long oration to the people of Israel enters its final phase in the parsha of Ha’azinu. Moshe speaks to his generation about to embark on the conquest and settlement of the Land of Israel – and he speaks to all the generations of the Jewish people, thousands of years later. The song of Ha’azinu represents the full pattern and destiny of Jewish history. And, as the two opinions of Midrash and Talmud quoted by Rashi make abundantly clear, the message involved is not localized to the Jewish people alone, but it has universal consequences as well. Anyone familiar with the flow of general human history will immediately recognize that the Jews are disproportionate in their effect upon that history. The world’s story is dependent largely on the story of the Jews. Oppressors of Jews continually arise but they are eventually defeated, but only after having caused tremendous damage to the Jews, to their

own nations and to the world at large. The Jews survive, as is promised in the prophecy and song of Ha’azinu, but in the process of rebuilding Jewish life, new enemies reappear. No one learns anything from history and events, not

still worshipped albeit in a “new” nomenclature and garb. The main question in Jewish history, the one that faces us today, beleaguered and isolated as we feel we are, is how to break this cycle. In the song of Ha’azinu,

The world’s story is dependent largely on the story of the Jews.

the Jews nor their enemies – and thus the pattern suggested in the parsha continues almost eternally. And in essence, that is the substance of the Torah’s warnings against worshipping strange gods. These strange gods have already proven themselves false earlier in history. Yet, they are

Moshe suggests that only a full-hearted return to the values and traditions of the covenant between G-d and Israel can end this vicious cycle of hate and destruction. The rebellion of Jews against G-d’s covenant brings with it the rebellion against decency and common sense that

reflects itself in the continuance of persecution from the rest of the world. Moshe makes that abundantly clear in his words in the parsha. The truth of the matter is that even though this song of Ha’azinu is the one that Moshe commands the Jewish people to commit to memory and to regard as the eternal witness of Jewish history, the Jews have never quite believed Moshe’s admonition. And we in our time stumble through the fog of current events groping for an innovative way out of our problems. Moshe calls the people of Israel “children who have lost my trust.” This is because of the terrible tendency to repeat past errors and to constantly search for the Jewish penchant to adopt the latest cultural and societal fads. Trust is built on wisdom and tenacity. The song of Ha’azinu provides us with an ample supply of both of these necessary traits that alone will guarantee our future survival and success. Shabbat shalom.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

From the Fire Parshas Ha’azinu

Never Disowned By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

oshe Rebbeinu concludes the 43 pasukim of his song in Parshas Ha’azinu with an unprecedented statement (Devarim 32:46): “Pay attention to all of the words that I am testifying about you today…” This admonition to “pay attention” is not used anywhere else in the Torah. How is the message of the song of Ha’azinu so unique that it requires a special level of attention on the part of the Jewish people? The words of Moshe’s song are actually very harsh and difficult to listen to. Moshe even says (ibid. 31:21) that he knows the Jewish people will worship idols after he passes away and that “this song will bear witness against them.” But what is so unique about this ostensibly difficult song that Moshe wants them to pay attention to? The Jewish people are called Hashem’s children three times in the song of Ha’azinu, and the first instance is the most difficult (ibid. 32:5): “The corruption is not His. It is the blemish of His sons, a perverse and twisted generation.” Rashi explains this according to Targum

Onkolus, “The corruption is theirs, not His. ‘It is the blemish of His sons’: They were His children, and the destruction that they wrought is their blemish.” In other words, Rashi is saying that the blemish of Hashem’s children does not affect Him. Rather, they have only harmed themselves.

Still His Children? This pasuk touches on a major dispute in the Gemara (Kiddushin 36a): “‘You are children to Hashem your G-d’ (Devarim 14:1): ‘When you are behaving as children, you are called children. When you are not behaving as children, you are not called children.’ These are the words of Rabi Yehuda. Rabi Meir [Baal Haneis] says, ‘Either way, you are called children.’” According to Rabi Yehuda, it is entirely possible that we can forfeit our right to be called Hashem’s children. That title is not absolute. We have to earn it. Rabi Yehuda comes from the beis medresh of his rebbe, Rabi Yishmael, and follows his

teacher’s general approach. According to Rabi Yishmael (Mechilta D’Rabi Yishmael 20), “‘Holy men you shall be to me.’ Rabi Yishmael says, ‘When you are holy, then you are ‘to me.’” So according to Rabi Yishmael and his student Rabi Yehuda, we are only called Hashem’s children, we are only “His,” when we earn that distinction by keeping Torah and mitzvos. But Rabi Yishmael’s adversary in disputes throughout the Oral Torah is Rabi Akiva. And he takes a different approach on this issue (Avos 3:14): “The Jewish people are so beloved that they are called ‘children’ to the Omnipresent.” There are no conditions or qualifiers. The Jewish people are unequivocally called Hashem’s children. Rabi Akiva was the head of the school of thought which emphasizes that our special relationship with Hashem is absolute and is not dependent on any outside factor, including our loyalty to G-d’s path. His closest student, Rabi Meir, therefore perpetuates this outlook when he says, “Either way, you are called children.”

Rabi Meir also brings four pasukim to bolster his position. First, he quotes the pasuk in Yirmiyahu (4:22) where the Navi says about the Jewish people, “They are foolish children.” Next, he quotes the pasuk (Devarim 32:20) which calls the Jewish people “children without loyalty in them.” Third, he quotes the pasuk (Yeshayahu 1:4) where the Navi calls the Jewish people “evil-doing seed, corrupt children.” Rabi Meir’s point is that even when we are foolish, faithless, and corrupt, we are still called Hashem’s children. Rabi Meir then concludes with one more pasuk (Hoshea 2:1), “And it will be in the place where one will say to them, ‘You are not My nation.’ He [Hashem] will say, ‘They are the children of the Living G-d.’” Why does Rabi Meir quote all of these pasukim in the specific order in which he quotes them? He explains as follows: Even if the Jewish people are called children when they are “foolish,” one might think that this is only because one cannot blame the fool for his foolishness since he does not know

Moshe’s Parting Message On the last day of Moshe’s life, he wanted the Jewish people to know that even though he had harsh words for them, and knew that they would depart

from Hashem’s ways, they must “pay attention” and never forget that no matter what happens, no matter how badly the Jewish people rebel or suffer because of their sins, they will always be Hashem’s precious children. He will always love us. So even though the halacha usually follows Rabi Yishmael and Rabi Yehuda,

stray, they must know that they are children and their parents still love them. There are fathers who drive their rebellious children out of the house, who make them feel that if they are not deserving of love and that they are no longer worthy of being called their parents’ children. But that is not the approach

No matter what we have done or where we are holding, we can always return to Hashem because He is our Father.

in this matter, we follow Rabi Meir and Rabi Akiva: “Either way, you are called children.” This is one of the most important things for us to remember for ourselves in this generation in particular. No matter what we have done or where we are holding, we can always return to Hashem because He is our Father. And we must give our children this message, too. No matter what they do or how far they

Hashem takes with us, so we must not treat our children that way. They must know that their parents will always love them no matter what, even if they are foolish, faithless, or corrupt. Moshe calls the Heavens and the earth as witnesses that the Jewish people heard his message to them (Devarim 32:1). Why was this necessary? Why could he not have called Hashem Himself as the witness? The Rebbe Reb Yonasan Eybe-

schutz, zt”l, and others explain that because “You are children to Hashem your G-d,” Hashem Himself is disqualified to testify about us because he is a close relative, our Father! That is why Moshe had to call Heaven and earth to testify. The chassidim of the Sar Shalom of Belz, zy”a, were once extremely surprised when the Rebbe approached a desperately ignorant am ha’aretz, a sweet but barely literate man, to ask him how to read the phrase from tachanun in the siddur (based on Yirmiyahu 14:7), “If our sins testify against us…” The man asked, “The Rebbe doesn’t know how to read this?” So the Sar Shalom insisted, “No, please read it for me.” So the man, struggling with the words, read it as if it said, “Even with our sins, we are his son.” May we all merit to remember that no matter what have done, we are Hashem’s children. And may we all succeed in transmitting this awareness to our children – no matter what they do, Hashem and we still loves them as children!

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congreagation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

any better, but that if the Jewish people sin intentionally, Hashem will disclaim them as His children. So the next pasuk says that Hashem calls the Jewish people His children even when they lack faithfulness, when they sin because of the influence of their evil inclination. But one might think that this only applies when they sin because they are overcome by their desires, but not when they directly rebel against Hashem by worshiping idols. Rabi Meir therefore quotes a pasuk showing that even when we are “corrupt,” when we worship idols, we are still called Hashem’s children. Rabi Meir then takes it to the next level by saying that even though we are called Hashem’s children when we worship idols, it could be that one might think we would not be considered worthy, upstanding children. He therefore quotes the last pasuk, which refers to the Jewish people, even when they worship idols, as upstanding “children of the Living G-d.”

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Torah Thought

Yom Kippur What to Take With Us, What to Leave Behind By Rav Yaakov Feitman

ne of the main aspects of our Yom Kippur tefillos is the Viduy—confession – when we admit our sins. But why do we have to repeat this so many times? During each of the five prayers of Yom Kippur – Maariv, Shacharis, Mussaf, Mincha and Neilah – we confess two times, once on our own and again with the congregation. One of the answers given is based upon a well-known story with Rav Saadya Gaon. He was traveling, staying at a hotel and since in those days there were no “Rebbe pictures,” he remained incognito, unrecognized and unknown. After a few days, someone discovered that the gadol hador was in their midst. People lined up to get a glimpse of the tzaddik and perhaps even receive a bracha. However, the innkeeper was beside himself. “Rebbe, please forgive me, for I have not given you the proper respect.” Rabbeinu Saadya responded kindly, “you treated me as if you were my son; you couldn’t possibly have done any more.” The still brokenhearted host cried, “Rebbe, one can always do better.” When Rav Saadya returned home to his yeshiva, he immediately announced to his talmidim that he had learned a new halacha. Each day, a person must improve himself. Even if one did not actually do something wrong, he could always have improved upon his mitzvah performance. Indeed, the talmidim watched as their revered rebbe engaged in all manner of teshuvah activities to atone for his “sins of omission.” We, too, gain and grow better with each tefillah and confession. But this in turn reminds us that we could have done better and so we confess again. Rav Aharon Leib Steinman, zt”l, gave an amazing example of this process from a pasuk in Chumash. We recently learned the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (5:6) that one of the things which Hashem created at the last moment of

Creation – at the twilight of Erev Shabbos – was “the mouth of Bilaam’s donkey.” Imagine if, at a wedding, everyone was already proceeding to the chupah. The music was playing, the kesubah was signed, the Mesader Kiddushin was preparing the procedure and…the chosson’s father cried out, “I forgot something.” What could be so important right now? That would seem to be the situation, said Rav Aharon Leib, at Creation. All the creatures in the universe had been brought into being. Adam and Chava were in Gan Eden, the birds were chirping, but Adam and Chava had sinned. They would be evicted from their paradise; the world would never be the same until the Final Rectification. What could possibly be done now? The answer is that thousands of years hence, the donkey would miraculously speak and cause Bilaam to utter one word: “chatasi, I have sinned” (Bamidbar 22:34). For that, the entire process of Creation stops, so that a bit of confession will someday be made. Now, Bilaam is no tzaddik. His confession is far from perfect, but if such a strange miracle as a talking donkey will bring about a modicum of teshuvah, the world must stop in its tracks to make it happen. We, too, grow with each new Viduy. We rediscover ourselves and our faults. We become contrite and are truly sorry. But like Rabbeinu Saadya’s innkeeper, we realize that we haven’t been totally honest with ourselves and Hashem. Thus, the dynamic of Yom Kippur with the multiple immersions of the Kohein Gadol is one of constant upward growth. The process of charatah (regret), kabbalah (commitment to be better), and confession itself cleanses and uplifts us like the mikvah. In fact, it has been said that Yom Kippur is very much like a mikvah, where no interpositions are allowed. It must be a total immersion, not in water this time, but in the kedushah of the day itself.

Another metaphor which has been suggested is an accident. Someone is running and is not careful and knocks a person down in the process. Fortunately, the victim is a young man, appearing to be unhurt, but the runner must still apologize. He must make sure he has not done any damage. He must make be certain that the sufferer is able to get on the bus and find his seat. Now, what if the man on the ground is older and seems shaken? He must go even further. Perhaps he should call Hatzalah and get him medical attention. Now, what if he realizes that he knocked down one of the Gedolei Hador, an elderly Rosh Yeshiva and tzaddik? The perpetrator’s world would immediately darken before him. Did he do permanent damage? Can there be any forgiveness for this miserable lapse? Now, what if we have hurt, so to speak, the Master of the Universe, the Ribbono Shel Olam? Isn’t the sin automatically almost irrevocable? Isn’t, in fact, any sin? Now we must give thanks to our Creator for having granted us the cosmic gift of teshuvah. Nothing is, in fact, irrevocable. But it is up to us to undo the harm and reverse the offense. At Kol Nidrei, we recite the pasuk, “Ohr zarua la’tzaddik, light is sown for the righteous; and for the upright of heart, gladness” (Tehillim 97:11). The Chofetz Chaim explains that “every mitzvah or properly uttered word which one does in this world plants a seed in the Hidden Light which he will enjoy in the World to Come.” In other words, “Just as the farmer cannot taste the fruit of his labors until he has planted, irrigated and done all that he can for their growth, so it is that good people often must suffer pain and anguish so that they can be rewarded in eternity. This, then, results in the infinite joy of the Next World” (The Yomim Noraim With the Chofetz Chaim, page 417). Thus, we learn from the great Mishnah Berurah and Chofetz Chaim how to establish a perspective about our lives. We don’t and won’t see the majority of the

results of our avodas Hashem until much later, but we can be assured that eventually we will be rewarded for our efforts. But after all is said and done, what should we take home with us after Yom Kippur? Rav Yechezkel Abramsky, author of the voluminous Chazon Yechezkel on Tosefta, noted that the Kohein Gadol entered the Kodesh Hakedoshim four times on Yom Kippur. The first one was to offer the Ketores incense. The second was to sprinkle the blood of the bull, the third for the blood of the goat, and the fourth, at the end of the day, to carry out the Spoon and the Firepan. Why was it so important for him to remove these last two items? Rav Abramsky explains that for Hashem there are only full vessels. Therefore, as soon as a vessel was emptied, it needed to be removed from the Bais Hamikdash. The Amshinover Rebbe, Rav Meir, added that each of us is like the Kohein Gadol on Yom Kippur. Therefore, after all these holy days, especially the final one of Yom Kippur, we cannot allow ourselves to remain the same. We must have been changed by the totality of this intense religious experience. Even if we leave with something small – symbolized by the Spoon and Firepan – we can feel and demonstrate that we have improved, been elevated and forever been altered for the better by Yom Kippur. It is our sins that we leave behind, but we must emerge with a new perspective on life, illuminated by the light of the righteous and, like Rav Saadya Gaon, prepared to do better. We have been purified by Hashem’s mikvah, and we will never be sullied in the same way again. Unlike Bilaam, we are moved by Hashem’s messages and ready to go forth to Zman Simchaseinu with the joyous news that we have been forgiven and given a new lease on a better life, b’ezras Hashem. A gmar chasimah tova to all. Rav Yaakov Feitman is the rav of Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi in Cedarhurst, NY.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

The Soul of Yom Kippur BY R A BBI DA N IeL GL AT ST e I N

ol Nidrei, recited at the onset of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, is likely the most universally known segment of Jewish liturgy. However, looking in the machzor, we see that the words of Kol Nidrei are not the first to be recited as part of the Yom Kippur service. As an introduction to Kol Nidrei, a single verse is recited: “Ohr zaruah l’tzaddik u’l’yishrei lev simcha, Light is sown for the righteous; and for the upright of heart, gladness” (Tehillim 97:11). What is the significance of this verse? And what is its relevance to Yom Kippur? Let us turn our attention to the conclusion of Maseches Yoma, the tractate focusing on the halachos pertaining to Yom Kippur. Its final Mishnah, however, rather than outlining any specific halacha, offers a message of eternal hope: “R’ Akiva said: ‘Fortunate are you, Yisrael! Before Whom do you become purified, and Who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven!’” This teaching of R’ Akiva is considered so seminal that the Chasam Sofer expounded upon it annually in his dra-

sha for Kol Nidrei, and his student, R’ Chaim Sofer, the Machaneh Chaim, continued this practice. There are a few points to take note of here. The first is that the author of this statement is R’ Akiva, and that cannot be happenstance. That R’ Akiva should issue this teaching is certainly laden with deep meaning. The second point is the reference to Hashem as “Avichem ShebaShamayim, your Father in Heaven.” There are many appellations for Hashem; why is it that in the context of Yom HaKippurim we refer to Him as “Father in Heaven”? The latter issue can be explained by the words of R’ Chaim Palagi. He writes, “Yom HaKippurim, which atones for the sins of Bnei Yisrael, clearly reflects that we maintain the status of children [to Hashem].” R’ Chaim Palagi is clearly articulating that the purification we experience on Yom HaKippurim is deeply connected with the idea of our being Hashem’s children. Based on this recognition, it is quite appropriate that the reference to Hashem in the context of Yom HaKippurim should connote fatherhood.

Hillula of Rashbi

Let us digress to a very different

date on the Jewish calendar: Lag BaOmer. R’ Shimon bar Yochai, Rashbi, is the focus of Lag BaOmer, as our tradition is that Lag BaOmer is his yahrtzeit. Across the globe, Jews of all strata dance around bonfires, celebrating the day marking the passing of Rashbi. Upon closer examination, this practice seems bewildering. The Shulchan Aruch lists several days that are worthy of being fasts, as they are the yahrtzeits of great tzaddikim. The list includes the yahrtzeits of Nadav and Avihu on 1 Nissan, Miriam HaNeviah on 10 Nissan, Yehoshua bin Nun on 26 Nissan, and many others. Clearly, the day of a tzaddik’s passing is to be mourned, not celebrated. Why, then, do we make an exception for R’ Shimon bar Yochai? Why do we celebrate a day that should be one of mourning? R’ Tzaddok HaKohen explains as follows, based upon the comments of the Midrash, which explicates the pasuk (Koheles 12:11), The words of the wise are like goads, and the nails well driven are the sayings of the masters of collections: “When are the words of the sages well driven into the hearts of the students? Upon the passing of the teachers. Namely, one is able to internalize his rebbi’s Torah only after his rebbi passes.” R’ Tzaddok writes that this teaching

applies only to those who instill Torah Shebe’al Peh in their talmidim. Unlike Torah Shebichsav, the Oral Torah exists fundamentally in a person’s heart rather than in a particular text. Upon the passing of a rebbi who transmitted Torah Shebe’al Peh, the students’ dedication to internalizing his teachings merits an added comprehension of its depth and meaning. The tzaddikim whose passing we mourn, writes R’ Tzaddok, are those who taught Torah Shebichsav. The list provided by the Shulchan Aruch includes the yahrtzeits of Moshe Rabbeinu, Aharon HaKohen, Miriam HaNeviah, the sons of Aharon, and so on, all of whom were transmitters of Torah in the era of Torah Shebichsav. Since their teachings live on in the text, their demise does not elicit any deepening of understanding. However, writes R’ Tzaddok, R’ Shimon bar Yochai was a student of R’ Akiva, considered the predominant figure in the world of Torah Shebe’al Peh. In fact, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 86a) tells us that all of Mishnah, Tosefta, Sifra, Sifri — unless explicitly attributed to a specific Tanna — originates from the Torah of R’ Akiva. Since R’ Shimon was his student, R’ Shimon’s death reflects the passing of one who has taught the world Torah Shebe’al Peh, which, as the Midrash tells us,

Greatest Day of Joy

But perhaps one can suggest that the day of R’ Akiva’s passing is indeed considered a great festival, based on a Yalkut Shimoni implying that R’ Akiva’s passing took place on Yom HaKippurim. In fact, the Gemara (Taanis 26b) quotes a Baraisa stating, “There were no Yamim Tovim for Yisrael such as Yom HaKippurim and the fifteenth day of Av.” What emerges is that indeed, the yahrtzeit of R’ Akiva is one of the greatest festivals in the Jewish calendar. The Gemara (ibid. 30a) explains that the reason for the great joy of Yom Kippur is that we received the second set of Luchos on that day. But in view of the above concept, perhaps an additional element to the joy of Yom Kippur is that we gain insight into the vast ocean of Torah revealed by R’ Akiva.1

R’ Akiva’s Day

If Yom HaKippurim is R’ Akiva’s day, this may explain why we read about the Ten Martyrs as part of the Yom Kippur liturgy. Since R’ Akiva, the most prominent of the Ten Martyrs, was killed on Yom Kippur, it is a very appropriate commemoration. We can now explain why R’ Akiva is the one to issue the final teaching in Maseches Yoma, “Fortunate are you, Yisrael! Before Whom do you become purified, and Who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven!” As this statement encapsulates the power of Yom Kippur, it is specifically expressed by R’ Akiva, who is inextricably

bound with the soul of the day. With the above, we can explain why, at the onset of Yom HaKippurim, we recite the pasuk, “Ohr zaruah l’tzaddik u’l’yishrei lev simcha, Light is sown for the righteous; and for the upright of heart, gladness.” The sefer Ohr Zarua, written by one of the Rishonim, R’ Yitzchak MiVina (Vienna), writes in the introduction that he called the sefer Ohr Zarua because of an insight he had into the verse. The final letter of each word, he uncovers, spells “R’ Akiva.” (He deduces that this is proof that the name “Akiva” should be spelled with a hei at the end rather than an aleph.)2 In gratitude to Hashem for enlightening him to this revelation, he titled the sefer Ohr Zarua.

responded with a different verse suggesting what punishment should be in store for the sinner: Chochmah said, ‘Evil pursues sinners’ (Mishlei 13:21); Nevuah said, ‘The soul that sins — it should die’ (Yechezkel 18:4); Torah said, ‘He shall bring an offering and be forgiven.’ Finally, the Midrash says: They asked Hakadosh Baruch Hu: What is a sinner’s punishment? He told them, ‘He should do teshuvah and he will be forgiven.’ We see from here that teshuvah comes from a place so lofty and exalted, it can be revealed only by Hashem Himself. We can explain that when the Midrash tells us that Torah did not recognize teshuvah, this is a reference to Torah

Yom Kippur and teshuvah share the

common fundamental theme espoused by the saintly Tanna R’ Akiva – that we are eternally Hashem’s children.

For our purposes, we can suggest that this is the reason we recite the pasuk of Ohr zarua latzaddik at the threshold of Yom Kippur. Since the pasuk hints at R’ Akiva, and R’ Akiva is deeply connected to the essence of the day, we allude to him right at the onset of Yom Kippur.3 [I was delighted when I subsequently discovered that R’ Chaim Sofer offered the same reason for the inclusion of this verse in the Kol Nidrei service. 4]

Teshuvah and Torah Shebe’al Peh

The Yalkut Shimoni lends a fascinating insight into the power of teshuvah: They asked Chochmah, what is a sinner’s punishment?… They asked Nevuah, what is a sinner’s punishment?… They asked Torah, what is a sinner’s punishment? The Midrash describes how each one

Shebichsav. However, it is the power of Torah Shebe’al Peh that affords us this Divine insight; through Torah Shebe’al Peh, we are able to perceive a principle that is not explicitly written. As mentioned above, R’ Akiva stands at the very core of the Torah Shebe’al Peh. Since the secret of teshuvah is channeled through Torah Shebe’al Peh, R’ Akiva is considered the champion of teshuvah.

of Yom HaKippurim. And it is now also understandable why R’ Akiva should be the one to reveal this teaching. As we learned, R’ Akiva takes the position that “either way, we are called children.” In fact, we learned earlier that R’ Meir, who was a student of R’ Akiva, presumably inculcated this very idea from his saintly rebbi. Moreover, on Yom HaKippurim, the day of R’ Akiva’s passing, his worldview that we are always considered the beloved children of Hashem is etched into the hearts of the Jewish people. Yom Kippur and teshuvah share the common fundamental theme espoused by the saintly Tanna R’ Akiva – that we are eternally Hashem’s children. And thus, indeed, R’ Akiva declares: Fortunate are you, Yisrael! Before Whom do you become purified, and Who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven! This does not necessarily conflict with what the Gemara (Taanis 30a) taught. The Netziv, in Haamek Davar (Ki Sisa 43:1), discusses the idea that the power of Torah Shebe’al Peh stems from the second Luchos. Thus, the celebration of receiving the second Luchos is essentially the same as the celebration of receiving Torah Shebe’al Peh.

But see Teshuvos Chasam Sofer, Even HaEzer 2:25, that when R’ Akiva was martyred, his name was changed such that the hei at the end became an aleph. This is the secret of that which the Gemara tells us (Berachos 61b): ad sh’yatzah nishmaso b’echad, until his soul departed with “Echad,” alluding to the aleph that became a letter in his name.

See K’Motzei Shalal Rav, Yamim Noraim, p. 344, where he explains that we mention a verse that alludes to R’ Akiva’s name on the evening of Yom Kippur since Yom Kippur night is R’ Akiva’s yahrtzeit. This utterance is thus our obscured eulogy for R’ Akiva.

See Shaarei Chaim, Mishlei, p. 128, where he explains that this was the reason the Chasam Sofer expounded upon the teaching of R’ Akiva at the end of Maseches Yoma each year on the night of Kol Nidrei, in order to invoke R’ Akiva’s merit on his yahrtzeit.

Your Father in Heaven

We can now understand why, in that final Mishnah in Yoma, R’ Akiva chose to reference Hashem specifically as “Avichem shebaShamayim.” Teshuvah is a gift reserved for Hashem’s children, since “a father who forgoes his honor, his honor is forgone” (Kiddushin 32a). Since teshuvah calls upon Hashem’s role as a Father, it is appropriate that R’ Akiva should use this appellation in the context

This article has been printed from The Mystery and the Majesty by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein, published by Artscroll. Rabbi Daniel Glatstein is the Mara D’asra of Kehilas Tiferes Mordechai in Cedarhurst, NY, and author of numerous seforim in Lashon Hakodesh and in English for ArtScroll. He is an international lecturer and maggid shiur. His thousands of recorded shiurim are available on Torahanytime.com, podcast, his website rabbidg.com, and other venues.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

results in a deeper understanding of the rebbi’s Torah. Therefore, each year on Lag BaOmer, we gain an added level of insight into R’ Shimon’s Torah, an event well worth celebrating. R’ Tzaddok’s explanation begs the question: If we celebrate the passing of R’ Shimon because he was a student of R’ Akiva, why don’t we celebrate the passing of R’ Akiva himself? R’ Tzaddok answers that R’ Akiva was martyred by the Romans, and so tragic an ending is not to be celebrated.

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Think. Feel.Grow.

The Angelic Experience of Yom Kippur By Rabbi Shmuel Reichman

speaker once started his seminar by holding up a $100 bill. “Who would like this $100 bill?” he asked. Every hand in the room went up. The speaker looked around and then crumpled the bill in his hand. “Who wants it now?” he asked. Every hand in the room remained in the air. “Well,” he replied, “what about now?” He dropped the bill on the ground and stomped on it with his shoe. He picked up the now crumpled and dirty bill and showed it to the crowd. “Who still wants it?” Every hand was still up in the air. “My friends, you have just experienced a very powerful lesson. No matter what I do to this money, no matter how crumpled or muddy it gets, it does not decrease in value. “Many times, in our lives, life has a way of crumpling us up and grinding us in the dirt. We make bad decisions, or deal with poor circumstances, and we begin to feel worthless. We feel that Hashem has abandoned us, that He no longer values us. But no matter what has happened, and no matter what will happen, you will never lose your value. You were created b’tzelem Elokim, and nothing can change that.”

A Mysterious Day As we approach Yom Kippur, we recognize that it is unquestionably one of the most important days of the year. And yet, in many ways, it is a mystery. While one might assumedly categorize it as a day of suffering and sadness, Chazal refer to Yom Kippur as a spiritually uplifting day of atonement and rebirth (Taanis

will in this world. This is our mission in life. We enter this world with an undeveloped vehicle, our limited body. The soul, our existential self, is already perfect, but we don’t yet have access to the fullness of our true self. As we journey through life, we tap into greater and greater aspects of our soul, our self, and we must then manifest them into the world through our physical bodies. In doing so, we uplift our physical vessels, and enable them to tap into greater and greater aspects of our true self. This is the beautiful cycle of life, the endless expansion and expression of self into this physical world.

Our Inner Struggle

4:8). There is even an element of the day that is associated with the happiness of Purim (yom k’Purim, a day like Purim). At the same time, though, it is a fast day. We normally characterize fast days as times of mourning and sadness, such as Shiva Asar B’Tammuz and Tisha B’Av. How is Yom Kippur different, and what is the nature of this day?

your very self. You are a soul, a consciousness, a spiritual being. When you say “I,” you are referring to your soul, your inner sense of self. You have a body, emotions, and an intellect, all different aspects and expressions of your soul. But you are a soul, a neshama, an infinitely expansive consciousness.

Soul Questions

The Birth of Finitude

Arguably the most important concept in life, t houg h of ten misunderstood, is the nature of the soul. Most people believe that they “have” a soul, some spiritual essence they possess within themselves. However, the deeper Jewish sources reveal a profound spiritual secret: you don’t have a soul; you are a soul. In other words, the soul is not an aspect of your self, or some spiritual component of your being; it is

A soul is angelic, perfect, pure, and transcendent. This is what Chazal refer to as your “fetal self,” when you were still in the womb, just before entering this physical world (Niddah 30b). However, the moment one enters this physical world, the infinite expansiveness of the soul is confined within the physical body. The body is the container of the soul, but it is also the soul’s vehicle and tool, allowing the soul to manifest its

While this perspective is both power f ul and f undamenta l, its implementation is elusive, and perhaps humanity’s most central struggle. Many people believe that they are a body, a physical, finite being. Having forgotten our true selves, we are born with the illusory belief that we are only that which we can see. We look in the mirror, seeing only flesh and bone, and we believe that this is all that we are. However, this is merely our starting point. The turning point in life is the moment we realize that we are angelic souls in a physical casing. We are not physical beings attempting to have a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings trying to uplift our physical experience. This is the central theme of Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur: Flying With Angels Yom Kippur is the one day of the year when we completely free ourselves

Why Do We Fast? There is a paradoxical relationship between the body and the soul: Your soul, which is your “self,” is transcendent, infinite, and purely spiritual. You cannot see, smell, or touch the consciousness, the mind. You will never see someone else’s inner world. The body, however, is finite, limited, and physical. Your soul will never die, but your body will eventually age and wither. If the soul and body are complete opposites, how do they manage to coexist as one? One would expect them to repel each other, like two opposite sides of a magnet. This is the powerful purpose of food. There needs to be something to keep your soul attached to your body, some kind of “glue.” Eating food generates the energy which keeps your neshama connected to your body. That is why the lack of eating has the opposite effect. What happens when you don’t eat? You become faint. What happens if you continue to fast? You will pass out. And if you still don’t eat, your soul will leave your body, and you will die. Eating maintains the connection between your soul and your body; it is what keeps you alive. This is the depth behind the phrase “u’mafli la’asos, Who performs wonders,” that we recite in Asher Yatzar (the blessing we recite after using the bathroom). What “wonder” are we referring to? The Beis Yosef suggests that it is the wonderous paradox that our soul, infinitely transcendent, can remain connected to our bodies, a physical, finite vessel. We mention this specifically after using the bathroom because we have just filtered out the unneeded parts of what we ate or drank, the very means

of forging the connection between body and soul. We can now understand the concept of fasting, especially on the day of Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, we attempt to live as malachim, completely transcending the physical world. We therefore fast,

physical world, but this time on an entirely new level. Sukkos, which immediately follows Yom Kippur, embodies this lesson in embracing the physical. Our root must be transcendent, grounded firmly in the spiritual, and then atop that foundation

It is not a day of suffering and mourning but one of spiritual transcendence.

allowing our soul to somewhat transcend our body, enabling us to experience one day of living in an angelic state. This principle sheds light on all the issurim of Yom Kippur. We don’t engage in the physical world because Yom Kippur is a day of transcending the physical aspects of human experience. This is the unique opportunity that Yom Kippur presents: to transcend, to experience the infinite. Unlike other fast days, it is not a day of suffering and mourning but one of spiritual transcendence. As the famous quote goes: “On Tisha B’Av, who can eat? On Yom Kippur, who needs to?” This is why the Rambam (Hilchos Shevisas He’Asor 1:4) states that on Yom Kippur we “rest” from eating. This is not a day of prohibition and suffering – it is one of completely embracing the spiritual, tapping into our absolute root, our truest sense of self.

Preparation for the Year to Come The transcendent experience of Yom Kippur lays the foundation for the rest of the year. While the physical can be destructive if misused, the ideal is not to completely transcend the physical, but rather to use the physical in order to reflect something higher. Our goal as humans is not to escape the physical but to use it as a means of connecting to the transcendent. This is the key behind the process we undertake throughout the Yamim Noraim. We first experience Elul, then Rosh Hashana, and then Yom Kippur, a developmental process of elevating ourselves higher and higher above the physical world and deeper and deeper into the spiritual world. Only once we establish this transcendent root can we then re-immerse ourselves into the

we can descend into the physical and use it in a transcendent way. May we be inspired to fully experience our angelic selves this Yom Kippur, and then infuse the totality of our spiritual acquisition into our physical life, elevating our actions and intentions as we move this physical world towards its ultimate spiritual root.

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is an international

speaker, bestselling author, business coach, the CEO of SMA, and a TED Talk Speaker. His online content reaches millions of people every month, and he lectures internationally on topics of Torah thought, psychology, leadership, and business – uniquely blending many areas of Torah and wisdom together. His bestselling book, The Journey to Your Ultimate Self, serves as an inspiring gateway into deeper Torah thought. After receiving his BA from Yeshiva University and Semicha from Yeshiva University’s RIETS, Rabbi Reichman received a Masters degree in Philosophy and Religion from the University of Chicago. As part of his Masters Degree at the University of Chicago, Rabbi Reichman received an Ivy Plus Scholarship to Harvard where he spent a year studying Religious Philosophy and Literature as an Ivy Scholar. Additionally, he received a Masters degree in Educational Psychology from Azrieli Graduate School and a Masters degree in Jewish Thought from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School. As a business and leadership coach, Rabbi Reichman provides a unique 1-on-1 coaching program where he helps high-achievers, coaches, and business owners achieve their financial and personal goals. To learn more or to get in contact with Rabbi Reichman, visit his website: ShmuelReichman.com

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

of our physical limitations, embracing our angelic self. This day embodies true teshuva, when we return to our ultimate root, to our spiritual, perfect self. Chazal characterize Yom Kippur as the one day of the year when we have the ability to become a malach, an angel. On this day, our lower self and physical urges are powerless – they cannot bring us down. They formulate this idea through the following gematria: “Ha’Satan,” the evil inclination, has the numerical value of 364. There are 365 days in the year, but the Satan only has power on 364 of those days. Yom Kippur is the one day where the Satan, the yetzer hara, has no power over you. On this day, you can completely transcend and experience angelic perfection (Yoma 20a).

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Delving into the Daf

Talking Turkey About Shiluach Hakein By Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

’m sorry if this article about shiluach hakein ruffles people’s feathers, but it’s meant to spark discussion, not to offer psak halacha. Boruch craned his neck over the heavy, worn volume of his Gemara, deeply engrossed in the final perek of Mesechta Chullin. The complex laws of shiluach hakein, the commandment to send away a mother bird before taking her eggs, filled the pages before him. Just then, Shimon swooped into the room, practically chirping with excitement. “Wow! That’s amazing,” Shimon crowed, noticing the open text. “I just did shiluach hakein and recited that rare bracha. But honestly, I don’t know why you need a whole perek to discuss it. I dove right in, and I’m sure I did the mitzvah according to all opinions. After all, what is the big deal about sending the mother bird away?” Boruch looked up from his Gemara, raising an eyebrow. “So you admit you did an aveirah?” Shimon stopped in his tracks, quailing slightly under his friend’s gaze. “What are you talking about?” “Well,” Boruch explained gently, “some Rishonim rule that l’halacha, the only time there is a mitzvah of sending the mother bird away is to rectify the aveirah of taking the eggs from under the mother bird in the first place. Indeed, according to this view, one never recites a bracha on this mitzvah. Just as one does not recite a bracha on returning a stolen object, since this mitzvah only comes about through an aveirah, a bracha is never recited.” Shimon tried to swallow his pride. “Interesting, but there must be others who flock to different opinions.” “Yes, indeed there are,” Boruch nodded. “But it should be noted that Rav El-

yashiv, Rav Scheinberg, and Rav Chaim Kanievsky ruled that one should never recite a bracha on shiluach hakein.” “Nu, nu,” Shimon replied defensively. “I read the bracha straight out of my siddur, and it says it’s based on the Aruch HaShulchan.” “Fine. I’m not a posek,” Boruch conceded, choosing to duck a full debate. “By the way, where exactly did you happen upon this nest?” Shimon puffed out his chest proudly, clearly feeling like he had a feather in his cap. “Right in front of my house. It was sitting right here on my window ledge.” “Would you be comfortable leaving items on your windowsill?” “Sure! No one would take things off my windowsill,” Shimon beamed. “See? I did the mitzvah l’mehadrin!” “Actually, just the opposite,” Boruch warned. “Since you are comfortable leaving things on your windowsill, your windowsill is considered a chatzer hamishtameres, a guarded courtyard. The halacha is that your windowsill acquires ownerless items for you. If someone dropped a hundred-dollar bill out of

a plane and it landed on your windowsill, that hundred dollars would automatically be yours. No one could take it. So too, the bird’s nest may automatically be yours. The Mishna says that to fulfill the mitzvah of shiluach hakein, the nest must be hefker (ownerless). This nest may not be hefker.” “Ah, good point,” Shimon countered quickly. “But isn’t there a difference? I want the hundred dollars. I have no need for a bird’s nest.” “Great s’vara,” Boruch smiled. “HaRav Chaim Kanievsky said the exact same thing. However, just for the sake of being complete, HaRav Nosson Gestetner disagreed. He said the only way you could have fulfilled the mitzvah was by declaring the windowsill ownerless before the eggs were even laid. Otherwise, you might just be parroting an incomplete halacha.” “Great. I did the mitzvah like HaRav Chaim Kanievsky.” “Okay. Once again, I’m not a posek,” Boruch said. “By the way, how exactly did you chase away the mother bird?” Shimon hesitated. “Well, to be hon-

est, I recited the bracha, walked towards the nest with a stick, but by the time I got close to the nest, the bird had already flown away.” Boruch sighed. “In all probability, you didn’t fulfill the mitzvah. You intended to chase the mother bird away with the stick, but in reality, the bird flew away on its own.” “So what should I have done?” Shimon asked, his confidence wilting. “Once again, I’m not a posek, but Rav Chaim Kanievsky said you should have in mind when you approach the nest that any move you do that scares away the mother bird should fulfill the mitzvah.” “And then I’m yotzei according to all opinions!” “Not necessarily,” Boruch corrected. “Rashi and the Rambam seem to hold that you must actively shoo away the mother bird. The only way to do that is to grab onto the mother bird and then shoo it away.” “Ooh.” Shimon shuddered. “I’m not sure I could do that. I’m a bit chicken when it comes to holding birds. But...next time I’ll overcome my fright and actually grab the mother bird.” “No, don’t do that!” Boruch exclaimed. “The Aruch L’ner says that by grabbing the mother bird, you may have violated the negative precept of taking the mother bird without sending her away. Granted, according to Rashi and the Rambam, that is how to do the mitzvah, but the Aruch L’ner suggests that according to the other opinions, it’s forbidden.” “This feels like a wild goose chase,” Shimon groaned. “So how can I fulfill all the opinions?” “The Chasam Sofer says you can’t. Practically, you will not be able to do the mitzvah according to both the Rambam and Rashi. Rav Moshe Shternbach says practically you can hit the actual nest and

cerned with tzaar baalei chaim since one is involved in a mitzvah. Nevertheless, Rav Chaim said that if l’halacha there is no mitzvah, such as a situation where one is sending the mother bird away but not taking the eggs, one should not send the mother bird away. Even though there are some opinions that sending the mother bird away by itself is a mitzvah even

“Shiluach hakein is only done with kosher birds.” “What if it has the signs of a kosher bird but there is no mesorah on it, so practically we can’t eat it?” Shimon challenged. “The Minchas Elazar says you can still fulfill the mitzvah with such a bird, but without a bracha.”

“After all, what is the big deal about sending the mother bird away?”

without taking the eggs, since that view is not accepted l’halacha, one cannot be machmir since he is running up against tzaar baalei chayim.” “Wow, this does seem complicated,” Shimon admitted. “By the way,” Boruch asked, “what type of bird did you have on your property?” “What difference does it make? Are we establishing a pecking order?”

“What about if I’m not sure if it’s a kosher bird?” “Then the Minchas Elazar says not to do the mitzvah.” Shimon pulled out his phone. “Here is a picture of the bird’s nest.” Boruch squinted at the screen. “Ah, that’s a mourning dove. It is a kosher bird! By the way, what time of day did you attempt to do the mitzvah?” “Zerizim makdimim l’mitzvos!” Shi-

mon declared. “I did it in the morning!” Boruch chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Well, the mitzvah of shiluach hakein is only on the female bird. Generally, the male mourning dove incubates the eggs the entire morning. So, you wouldn’t have gotten the mitzvah for that reason as well.” “So, let me get this straight,” Shimon summarized, counting the points off on his fingers. “I didn’t make the windowsill hefker. I didn’t actually chase the bird away. It might be forbidden to grab it anyway. According to some, I shouldn’t have even tried unless I wanted the eggs. I might have violated tzaar baalei chaim. And to top it all off, I was just ‘robin’ a father of a peaceful morning?” Boruch offered a sympathetic smile, closing his Gemara. “Exactly. It seems when it comes to this mitzvah, you really can’t just do it on a lark.”

Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow is a rebbe at Yeshiva Ateres Shimon in Far Rockaway. In addition, Rabbi Sebrow leads a daf yomi chaburah at Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead, NY. He can be contacted at ASebrow@gmail.com.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

fulfill Rashi and Rambam’s opinion. But interestingly enough, he says you must actually hit the nest. If you scare the bird away simply by your presence, he holds you have not fulfilled the mitzvah according to anyone, unlike the opinion of Rav Chaim Kanievsky I mentioned earlier.” “So according to the Chasam Sofer, what should one do?” “Well, interestingly enough, the Chasam Sofer says if you are not sure there is a mitzvah involved, it is better not to do it. He reasons that fulfilling shiluach hakein is not an objective obligation. One is only obligated to send the mother bird away if he actually needs the eggs. However, if he doesn’t really want the eggs, and he may not be fulfilling a mitzvah, the Chasam Sofer advises against trying to do the mitzvah. If he has not fulfilled the mitzvah, he may have violated the biblical concept of tzaar baalei chaim.” “Is the Chasam Sofer’s opinion accepted?” “Anecdotally, I have heard that Rav Dovid Feinstein said not to bother a mother goose in a park and to leave her alone,” Boruch explained. “Rav Chaim Kanievsky is quoted as saying that one should try and fulfill the mitzvah when possible. One does not need to be con-

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Headlines

Halacha

Yom Kippur and the Goats by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

built right into the avodah of the goat is a chain of people doing kindness for a man on a hard journey. The remedy for the sin of the brothers is brotherhood.

oats and chickens get along well. Farmers often let them graze together and share the same space. Around Yom Kippur, both animals also share a job: each one becomes a “scapegoat” of sorts. The two goats stand at the very center of the Yom Kippur Avodah. The service is no longer performed, but it lives on in the tefillos of the day. The chicken is part of the Ashkenazic custom of kapparos, done right before Yom Kippur. Both minhagim are ancient, and both are not well understood. What is the idea behind them?

Kapparos, Too

The Two Goats The two male goats, the se’irim, are meant to be as alike as possible. The Mishnah in Yuma (6:1) requires them to match in appearance, in height, and in price. They are bought together and brought forward together. Then lots are drawn. The first goat becomes a chatas, a sin-offering for the entire nation. The second goat has a very different fate. The Kohen Gadol places his hands on it and says Vidui, confessing all the sins of Klal Yisroel. A designated man, the ish iti, then walks the goat some nine miles into the desert and pushes it off a cliff on the mountain called Azazel. Why would the Torah want such a thing? Three great explanations have been given.

The Ramban’s Explanation The Ramban cites a Midrash in Bereishis Rabbah (65:10). The goat sent over the cliff is meant to quiet the angelic representative of Eisav, or Edom. That angel normally stands as a prosecutor against Klal Yisroel. The Ramban also cites Pirkei D’Rabi Eliezer (chapter 46), which describes this same angel turning around and acting as a defense lawyer before Hashem.

The Rambam’s Explanation The Rambam, in the Moreh Nevu-

chim (3:66), takes a different approach. The goat sent to the wilderness atones for the most serious sins, more than any other chatas. Because it seems to “carry off” all the sins, it is not treated like a regular korban. It is not slaughtered, not burned, not even brought near the Mikdash. It is pushed as far away as possible, into an empty, uncultivated, uninhabited land. The Rambam is clear that sins cannot literally be lifted off one being and loaded onto another. The whole procedure is symbolic. It is designed to make a deep impression on people and to push them to do teshuvah. The message is: we have freed ourselves of our old deeds, we have thrown them behind our backs, and we have sent them as far away from us as we possibly can.

A Third Explanation The third explanation was first offered by Rav Tuvia ben Avrohom HaLevi, a sixteenth-century talmid of Rav Shlomo Sagis, the son-in-law of the Arizal. He, too, lived in Tzfas. His explanation appears in his sefer Chain Tov on Vayikra, first printed in Venice in the year shin samech hay. About fifty

years ago, a sefer printed in Yerushalayim called M’ain Refoel developed this idea further. The idea is this: there are striking parallels between the Yom Kippur Avodah and the sale of Yosef HaTzaddik. There are the goats. There is the ish iti. There is the dipping in blood. The pasuk says, “Va’yikchu es kesones Yosef v’yishchatu se’ir izim va’yitbelu es hakesones badam – They took Yosef’s tunic, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood.” According to this view, the entire Avodah is a way of achieving atonement for mechiras Yosef. And mechiras Yosef is not just one sin from long ago. It is the model of the sin that still holds back the geulah: sinas chinam, baseless hatred among brothers. What is the cure? The Avodah itself points to it: chessed. The Mishnah in Yuma (6:4) tells us that the most distinguished people of Yerushalayim would walk with the ish iti to the first of ten booths spaced 2,000 amos apart along the route. At each booth he could rest and, if needed, receive food and water. On Yom Kippur, food and water are only given for pikuach nefesh. In other words,

It seems that the minhag of kapparos carries this very same message. Sadly, some of those who provide kapparos have, in the way they run things, lost sight of it. Kapparos has the symbolic element the Rambam described. But it has two more elements as well. The first is shechitah k’halacha. The five rules of slaughter were handed down from Moshe Rabbeinu, and they have always allowed us to eat meat in the least cruel way possible. The knife may not have even the tiniest nick. Shechitah done properly is the most humane, chessed-filled way there is. The Torah demands that we treat animals and birds with kindness. It even teaches that we must feed our animals before we feed ourselves. The second element is tzedakah. The chicken used for kapparos is meant to go to the poor. That, too, is chessed. So both minhagim, the goats and the chickens, point in the same direction. Chessed is the blueprint of the world. It is one of the three pillars on which the world stands. It deserves a closer look.

The Essence of Chessed Hashem is the very essence of chessed. He created the world in order to be able to reward us for doing mitzvos (see Derech Hashem, chapter one). That means the mitzvos of chessed are a large part of the reason the world exists at all. Doing chessed gives life meaning. Since it plays such a central role, it is worth knowing what Chazal actually tell us about it. Where does the mitzvah of chessed come from? The Gemara in Bava Kamma (100a) points to the pasuk in Shemos (18:20): “And make known to them the path in which they shall walk.” The Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos (Shoresh 2)

plains that this love has three parts: 1) To love doing acts of chessed ourselves. 2) To love seeing chessed done by others, whether for us or for anyone else. 3) To love the fact that opportunities for chessed exist in the world. The Chofetz Chaim (Ahavas Chessed 2:1) adds that a person must not only love chessed but cling to it and always go beyond what is strictly required. He compares it to a parent. A loving parent gives a child more food and more clothing than the child actually needs. That is how we must hold on to the trait of chessed. The Alter of Slabodka explains the phrase “Olam chessed yibaneh – the world is built on kindness.” Just as Hashem built the world with chessed, we must build the world with chessed. Every single person needs chessed. A newborn baby cannot survive without the kindness of others. An elderly or sick person needs it just the same. There is no

A person must think, and know, that every act of kindness ties him more closely to Hashem.

mand to make ourselves like Him: just as He is kind and merciful, so must you be kind and merciful. Rav Yitzchok Isaac Sherr, zt”l, (Leket Sichos Mussar, p. 76) explains that this pasuk teaches something beyond action. The Gemara reads “anveihu” as “ani v’hu – I and He.” The pasuk is saying, “This is my G-d, and I will bind myself to Him.” How? Through chessed. This is an obligation of the mind, not just the hands. A person must think, and know, that every act of kindness ties him more closely to Hashem. Chazal gave us a tool to keep this alive. Tana D’Bei Eliyahu (chapter 25) teaches that a person should always ask, “When will my actions reach the level of those of my forefathers?” The Avos were the models of chessed, and they were the ones closest to Hashem. They were so close that they established the tefillos. Chessed can lift a person to that height. So we are obligated to keep asking: when will my chessed bring me closer to the level of the Avos? The Navi Micha (6:8) says, “What does Hashem ask of you? Only to do justice and to love chessed.” It is not enough to do kindness. We must love it. Rav Sherr ex-

other way. Hashem built this need into the very design of the world so that we would see how necessary chessed is. There is one more point. As people get older, it is natural to become bitter and crabby. A life committed to chessed stops that decline. Chessed does not only build the world. It builds the person doing it. Two animals, one message. The goat sent to Azazel and the chicken swung overhead before Yom Kippur both point us toward the same thing: the kindness that heals the sin of brothers who could not get along. Let us walk in His ways. Let us remember that every act of chessed binds us to Hashem. And let us learn to love the opportunities for chessed that fill our lives, because those opportunities are exactly what the world was built for. What a zechus with which to enter the Yomim Noraim. Mi k’amcha Yisroel!

This article should be viewed as a halachic discussion and not practical advice. The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

counts this as a Torah obligation. A second pasuk is fulfilled at the same time: “V’ahavta l’rayacha kamocha – love your neighbor as yourself.” The Rambam in Hilchos Aveilus (14:1) treats this as a Torah fulfillment as well, with the rabbis spelling out the ways to carry it out. The Gemara in Sotah (14a) discusses the pasuk, “Acharei Hashem Elokecha teileichu – you shall walk after Hashem your G-d” (Devarim 13:5). The Gemara asks: how can a person possibly walk after the Divine Presence? The answer is that we follow the ways of Hashem’s kindness. Just as He clothes the naked, so must you. The Sefer Mitzvos Gedolos explains that this pasuk is really the same command as “v’halachta b’drachav – and you shall walk in His ways.” It may well be that the pasuk in Shemos (18:20) is pointing to the same idea. The Gemara in Shabbos (133b) discusses a different pasuk, “Zeh Keili v’anveihu.” The Gemara reads it as a com-

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

School of

Thought

Old Friends By Barbara Deutsch

n the cab on the way to my osteopath, the Gett driver handed me a seatbelt buckle, without the seatbelt, to place in the seatbelt lock; he didn’t want the noise of the reminder beeps. The driver did not tell me to put on my seatbelt – just gave me the buckle to insert. Only in Israel. “Hello, sciatica, my old friend. It’s not nice to have you back again!” About three years ago, I finally said a very fond goodbye to the five years of pain emanating from the spinal stenosis that had been compromising my standing, walking, moving and overall lifestyle. At that time, I went for physical therapy, cortisone shots and acupuncture delivered by a highly regarded Chinese practitioner. Along with strategically placed thin needles, he told me to stop eating sugar. I didn’t. When I added seeing a local chiropractor to the list of “medical” practitioners on the case, it miraculously stopped. The late “back great‫ ״‬Dr. John E. Sarno wrote a very popular treatise on back pain. In his widely used book, he unequivocally preaches that back pain is linked to what’s going on in your head; find a way to fix that (fat chance with me), and your back pain will go away. I actually cannot pinpoint what did the trick – I did not care! I just wanted the shooting, searing pain that went down the side of my leg to go away. I was joyful when it finally disappeared despite my eating sugar. As the years went by, whenever I got even a twinge of leg pain, I panicked. I had been fine for the past three retiring, pre-aliyah, aliyah, war and losing Bob years. Right after the yahrtzeit on 9 Elul, the pain returned uninvited. I can take all of my brain pain and harness it to my back pain and find the connection; it matters not a bit to me. Pain is pain, and it’s debilitating and no fun. I gave it some time to abate but finally reached out to my beloved Israeli doctor Martina for help. She suggested an osteopath whose practice is not in the Kupah system (you have to pay) but very

picture in the album was shared and explained in detail. Our bond is solid; I am scheduled for my third appointment after Rosh Hashana – I need it to help.

good. Dr. Martina neglected to tell me that he was funny, an important component when treating pain. As is my habit, I scheduled the appointment on a very busy hot day. Conveniently, I had set up a Mahjong game not far from his office, or so I believed. The very British, capable and funny Dr. Shannan Sher has an office in a high-rise on Beit Lechem; a short 20-minute walk from my game on Heletz. As anyone who knows me, or goes anywhere with me, knows, I get lost just walking out of a building. Even if I had previously turned right 100 times, I automatically turned left. I have no idea why. As directed by my friends, I left the building on Heletz, turned up the block and left, and found Beit Lechem – a first for me. With a heavy bag and no water, maybe I had but forgot that I did, I walked/limped along Beit Lechem in search of building number 164. Problems that I encountered included disappointment that the building numbers would go in an order that made sense, the construction detours, and, unlike in helpful Rechavia, no one knows or is interested in sharing where anything might be located.

Exhausted, hot and in terrible leg pain, I found the office, threw myself into the elevator, and knocked on the good doctor’s door. Upon seeing my red, sweaty, and pained face, he immediately offered me a drink which I sipped because Israeli and Long Island tap water are not my friends. The osteopath, Dr. Sher, is a Brit with a very dry sense of humor and capable strong hands. Something about his manner engaged me right away. He took my history and began to knead the tight muscles in my legs and sides. Working on someone’s pain is painful. As he worked, he asked me about myself and my journey; it is understood that every Israeli has a story. When I mentioned Breslov Chassidus, his head snapped up from the task of manipulating a particularly painful spot on my leg and rushed out of the room. “You’re Breslov?” “I’m Breslov!” He opened a small family album depicting a trip with his son and son-inlaw. Dr. Sher is Mo-dox; his bearded and curly long, long, long payot-sporting son and son-in-law are so not. The “not so much fun” treatment paused as every

Every Wednesday morning, I attend a class on Rabbi Nachman’s chassidus. Rebecca Rosenbaum, my teacher, guide and mentor, leads the class. Rabbi Nachman is credited with founding Breslov chassidus, a perspective on life’s joys and challenges. For starters, I consider myself among the last people who willingly would get hooked up with a spiritual mentor. When it comes to my spirituality, I think concretely, pragmatically and cynically in so many ways and on a variety of subjects. In Rebecca’s class, we study Sichot Haran; conversations attributed to Rabbi Nachman on how to live life with a positive, thoughtful and practical perspective. Surprise – I am the class cynic. Despite continued pushback, my classmates, led by Rebecca, embrace me and give me the space I need to share my thoughts without their justifiably screaming for me to stop talking. Being in a group with these wonderful and supportive women works for me as I journey. Rebecca, the oldest of four, grew up in Paris and emigrated to Lawrence, New York, when she was 17 years old. She had no language and a hard time acclimating to the American school culture at HAFTR High School. With a widespread family of over 200 cousins, Rebecca wrapped herself in their loving care as she studied Accounting at Stern and received advanced degrees and certificates in Finance. She met and married her wonderful bashert Moshe. Rebecca found herself feeling emotionally and spiritually limited working in the business world; she longed for deeper meaning in her life. A defining moment came when she sought guidance from the Kaliver Rebbe. Though debilitated by ALS, he was able to communicate with his eyeballs. His typed message to her: “Spread emunah throughout the world!”

of my new best friends. I woke up confused and in excruciating leg pain. I had registered for a full morning of Matan (love it) classes with my friend Rock who was giving me and two friends a ride. Rock likes to be on time so I gave myself 15 “painful to walk” minutes to traverse a three-minute route. Halfway up Rock’s block, I realized that my phone was not with me. With natural adrenaline kicking in, I headed home quickly, feeling fragile from the night before, upset with myself for forgetting my phone and in pain. When I arrived home, the phone was on the table so I didn’t have to do my usual “can’t find my phone” hunt. I grabbed the phone and rushed back up the block. As I rounded the corner, I noticed a white car and heard, “Grandma.” I looked up and there stood my “just back from America” granddaughter Tova, her magnificent blonde hair

That moment was the first time since I lost him that I felt Bob’s presence in my room.

with long, dangling payot topped with a huge, white knitted kippah. Rabbi Nachman’s chassidim have an open and grateful perspective on life. I guess if one wants to break the chassidus down, Breslov would be considered as a life that is lived half-full as opposed to empty. During our last session before the break for chagim, one of the women talked about how her Shemonah Esrei has evolved since joining our wonderful group. As she spoke, she began to cry. Listening and observing, we validated our dear friend with love. Rabbi Trump, our YILC rabbi, called me to reminisce about Bob. We had a great catch-up conversation. Rabbi Trump loved and respected Bob; the feelings – his and mine – are mutual. Soon after the conversation, I went to sleep. I don’t know which part of the night it was when I suddenly woke up and reached across the bed to tell Bob that Rabbi Trump had called. That moment was the first time since I lost him that I felt Bob’s presence in my room. I fell back to sleep and woke up with my new best friend sciatica pain. Many suggest that back flare-ups emanate from emotional stress, another one

flowing in the beautiful sunshine that covered her face with the early morning light. When she hugged me, all of the tension left my body. In the car, Ariela, Yoel (chatan) driving, and Elisheva all waited as they smiled hello. I started to cry. Thank you Hashem for allowing me to forget my phone. Despite it being annoying and aggravating, the feelings were quickly overridden when I saw my grandchildren’s welcoming faces and heard them call my name, “Grandma.” Wishing all near, far away, and dear a happy and healthy shana tova. Today, my emotional “good” was doubled – Tova, “it’s a Tova,” came home from her business trip to help me greet the brand new year with an open heart and joy. “Hello sunshine, my best friend!” Buckle up and enjoy the ride. Shabbat Shalom. Gmar chasima tova.

Barbara Deutsch is the former associate principal at HANC, middle school principal at Kushner, and Dean of Students at Yeshiva of Flatbush. A not-retired educator, she is still trying to figure out life in Israel.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

Rebecca followed up with a deep dive into the teachings of Rabbi Nachman and other great rabbis; with the help of prominent teachers and rabbis, she developed and taught courses that would help young and mature adults deepen their connection to Hashem and His Torah. Rebecca teaches a multitude of classes on chassidus both online and in person. She is a master chef and baker. Every class comes with a delicious and different cake. Rebecca, as a life coach, also helps countless women navigate the trials and tribulations of their lives. There is so much more to share about Rebecca, Moshe, her wonderful partner in life, and her family, her journey to chassidus and aliyah. I will save it for now. I credit opening my heart to Breslov to helping me heal. Breslov has no “livush” or defining characteristics apart from some men who sport big hair

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

The Wandering

Jew

Eretz Yisroel Why, When, Where & Who Part III: 2004 – 2013 By Hershel Lieber

y next trip to Israel took place in January of 2005. Our son Mechel was learning in Brisk by Rav Ahrohom Yehoshua Soleveichik. My main objective was to spend time with him. The entire trip was a long weekend, and we decided to spend Shabbos together in Bnei Brak. We reserved a room in Malon Viznitz which included the Shabbos seudos. On Friday, we spent time locating a young man named Eli, who I took out of Poland when he was about nine years old and placed him in a yeshiva in Brooklyn for a few months while staying at our home. He went on to study at the local Yeshivas Hamitziyonim after leaving our home, and we lost all contact. Baruch Hashem, I was able to locate that yeshiva and get his phone number. I found out that he had gotten married, and we arranged to meet on Friday night at the hotel. Later that morning, I went with Mechel to meet Rav Chaim Kanievsky. After a short introduction, I asked him for a bracha for myself and my family. I also asked him to give a special bracha for the success Rav Chaim Kanievsky of the Yeshiva of Kishinev, a project that I had invested so much of my time and energy. I told him of the difficulties that we were encountering in recruiting students and the hardships that we faced when raising funds. In particular, I mentioned our quest in finding a proper Rosh Yeshiva to head our school. With a serious expression, Rav Chaim suggested that I become the rosh yeshiva. I countered that “the Rav has not even farhered (tested) me, and yet he is suggesting that I be the Rosh Yeshiva!” With a twinkle in his eyes

and a broad smile, he bentched me to be matzliach. It was a short conversation, but it was one of those encounters that remained with me for all the years. The combination of Rav Chaim’s sincerity, quick wit

that the Rebbe had just entered seconds before me. I remained in the enclosure during the entire Shacharis, and the Rebbe eyed me a couple of times. During the break, after Shacharis, I went over the gabbai, Shmiel Goldberg, and asked

It was a short conversation, but it was one of those encounters that remained with me for all the years.

and the warmth of his smile made that moment memorable. And, of course, I never did become the Rosh Yeshiva! On Friday night, we davened at the Viznitzer Rebbe, Rav Moshele, zt”l, but he was not well and did not attend. After our seudah, Eli and his wife came over, and we reminisced about the past and revived the relationship that we formed ten years ago. Then we went to the tisch of the Nadvorna Rebbe. Shabbos morning, we went to daven by the Gerrer Rebbe who was still living for the most part in Bnei Brak. We walked in, and I saw an opening in the hallway between the crowd of mispallelim and walked through that opening into the Beis Medrash. When I entered the room, I found myself within the The Gerrer Rebbe gates that separated the Rebbe from his chassidim. The problem was that I was together with the Rebbe in his enclosure! I had no idea

if Mechel and I could go in to the Rebbe for a shalom aleichem. At first, he was hesitant but then he agreed, and we went in for a brief encounter. The Rebbe never questioned why I was with him in his enclosure. Mechel and I did not come back for Mincha and shelosh seudos. When I returned to New York, my friend, Hershel Goldberg, called me and asked why I did not return to Gur for Mincha. His brother Shmiel told him that the Rebbe specifi-

Mechel in Yerushalyim, 2005

cally asked him to give me an aliyah, and he could not find me. Unfortunately, I forfeited this honor from the Rebbe. The next time we were in Eretz Yisroel was for Shavuos of 2006. The first

At the Ottoman fortifications in Akko, 2006

Kever of Rav Yehuda Bar Ilai, 2006

two days we spent in Yerushalayim. Besides meeting and having dinner with some of our Polish expatriates, we went to the Kosel and to Kever Rochel. We also spent an afternoon touring the Mini Israel exhibit with Rav Hillel David and his rebbetzin. Then we rented a car and made our way up to Tzfas with a stop in Akko. There, we climbed up the city walls and walked along the paths which are basically from the Ottoman Period but were built on the fortifications from

the days of the Crusaders. We really enjoyed that experience. From there, we made our way to the Hotel Ron in Tzfas. Shavuos that year was Friday and Shabbos, which diminished our feeling of being an outsider from Chutz L’Aretz. Though the hotel was not in any way luxurious, the food was plentiful and inviting. We met a couple from Amsterdam, Eliezer and Chana Setter, whom we befriended and sat with for most of our meals. We davened in a multitude of shuls, including the first night of Yom Tov at Breslov under the leadership of Rabbi Elazar Kenig. The next day, for Shacharis, we were at the Ari Ashkenaz and for Kabbolas Shabbos by the Carlebach minyan at Beirav. For Shabbos Shacharis we went to the Abudarham

Pesi at the Kosel, 2009

Shul followed by Mussaf at the Alsheich Shul. We also went in to hear kedusha at the Karo Shul. Motzei Shabbos, we went to a concert given by the group Simply Tzfat, which was simply inspiring! Sunday was our final day. The morning was spent walking and browsing the studios of the town’s famous artist colony. This was followed by visiting the town’s many kevorim and driving to the burial sites of Rav Yehuda Iluiy and Rav Tarfon and on to Rav Shimon ben Yochai in Meron. We then drove back to Tel Aviv where we ate dinner and stayed overnight before departing back to New York. Our next trip was between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur of 2009. We spent the Yomim Noraim in Warsaw, where I

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was the shliach tzibbur. During this trip, we met with a number of friends including Razi and Rivka. I visited Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Joskowitz, and since we stayed at the Prima Palace, I had a chance to acquaint myself with Rabbi Menachem Po-

With Rav Menachem Mendel Joskowitz 2009

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SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

Singing with Simply Tzfat in 2006

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

With Rav Menachen and Rav Meir Porush, 2009

rush. We took the Hoffman tour to Kever Rachel and Chevron and were at the Kosel a number of times. Kapporas shlugin in Meah Shearim was an experience. I was busy trying to take photos of the angelic children who were trying to avoid being photographed, though I did manage to get a Harav Simcha Kook few good ones. We met our cousins Irving and Koti Sadan for coffee. For the Shabbos Shuva drasha, we went to the Old City to hear Rav Avig-

With Rav Simcha Kook at the Kosel in 2012

dor Nebenzahl at the Ramban Shul. In the summer of 2012, we went to the chasuna of our grandson that took place in Israel. Azriel, the bechor of our daughter Faigy and her husband Pesach Moshe Grossman, was marrying Chayele Schechter from Bnei Brak. All my children came with their spouses as well as my brother and sister-in-laws, Heshy and Debby Daum and Pesach and Chaiky Langsam. Since the wedding as well as the Shabbos Sheva Brachos took place in Bnei Brak, we made that our headquarters for the duration of this trip. We did go to Yerushalayim for the last few days, and that’s where we made a sheva brachos for the new couple. Among the personalities that I met

At the 2012 sheva brachos for our grandson Azriel Grossman with my son-in-law Rabbi Pesach Moshe Grossman

with during this trip was Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Soleveichik and Rav Simcha Kook. This time, as usual, we met with friends and relatives, and some of them participated in the wedding or by joining us at our sheva brachos. In November of 2013, we returned to Israel after Azriel and Chayele had their first child, Gitty. We stayed only for one week, but it gave us a good dose of nachas! We took off one day and went to the Yam Hamelech where I experienced swimming (more likely called floating) in a body of water which is ten times saltier than any ocean. We then drove to the Ein Gedi Nature Preserve, got lost on the way in an Arab village, and then we hiked the Wadi David. We were invited for dinner by Rabbi Yakov Moshe and Naomi Charlop and by Chaim and Tzeitel Bosco, people we knew from our travels to Poland. Of course, we visited with our friends from Poland and other places as well. The first night of Chanukah was our final night in Yerushalayim. From there, we went for Shabbos Chanukah to the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, where we were invited to lecture at the annual LIMUD program. Our subject was about shidduchim, and we humorously named our lecture “Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match.”

Hiking at the Wadi David in Ein Gedi, 2013

With our great grand-daughter Gitty Grossman in 2013

Camel riding in the Judean Desert, 2013

Hershel Lieber has been involved in kiruv activities for over 30 years. As a founding member of the Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel he has traveled with his wife, Pesi, to the Soviet Union during the harsh years of the Communist regimes to advance Yiddishkeit. He has spearheaded a yeshiva in the city of Kishinev that had 12 successful years with many students making Torah their way of life. In Poland, he lectured in the summers at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation camp for nearly 30 years. He still travels to Warsaw every year – since 1979 – to be the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the Jews there. Together with Pesi, he organized and led trips to Europe on behalf of Gateways and Aish Hatorah for college students finding their paths to Jewish identity. His passion for travel has taken them to many interesting places and afforded them unique experiences. Their open home gave them opportunities to meet and develop relationships with a variety of people. Hershel’s column will appear in The Jewish Home on a bi-weekly basis.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

nspiration Nation

Ariel Berkowitz Hashem Had Other Plans for Me BY BrendY J. Siev

t took a stolen phone, a few drinks too many, and a decision to walk forty-five minutes home in the middle of the night for Ariel Berkowitz’s real life to actually begin. None of the individual pieces make much sense on their own. Put together, they nearly killed him and then completely remade him. Ariel grew up Orthodox in Dallas, Texas: yeshiva day school, Shabbos every week, rabbis he admired, tzitzis and a kippah through elementary school. Then

came sixth grade and public school, and with it a slow drift that felt, at the time, unremarkable. He threw himself into sports, basketball first and then football, and by seventh grade he’d made the tackle football team. By eighth grade, he was one of the more popular kids in school and one of the better players on the team, good enough that coaches were calling him the best wide receiver they had. He had plenty of friends and a real shot, by his own account, at playing at a high level

In His Words… Anyone run over by a train is most likely not coming out alive, so i was just grateful, thankful to be alive, that Hashem gave me another chance. in most situations, you have two options: become depressed, give up, ask why is this happening to me, why me — or pick yourself up, focus on solving it, recovering. i chose to show everyone i’m stronger than this. Hashem made a miracle for me, kept me alive, gave me another chance. even when you’re in a hopeless-seeming situation, you should never give up, never throw away your emunah.

in college someday. High school unraveled that trajectory on its own terms. Many of the friends who’d stuck with him through middle school peeled away once parties, marijuana, and underage drinking entered the picture in ninth grade, and Ariel went right along with it, smoking daily by that point, drinking most weekends, watching his grades slide into C’s and B’s despite a mind he says was capable of far more. He stayed good enough at football to hang on but not disciplined enough to actually advance. While friends who skipped the partying scene made varsity through summer training camps, Ariel, with arguably better raw talent, stayed buried on the sophomore team, and he knew exactly why. By the time he graduated, four years removed from any real connection to Jewish practice, keeping Shabbos was, in his words, “a distant memory.” *

The night that changed everything started with him not wanting to go out at all. Nineteen years old and freshly moved to Austin, he had a close childhood friend, Jewish himself, drive a U-Haul all the way down to help him move his furniture, and it was that friend who invited him to a concert back in Dallas the same night. Ariel wasn’t a club or a concert person, more of a house-party kid, and his instinct was to say no. He said yes anyway, mostly out of a sense that he owed his friend the favor. The friend’s own friend, who joined them that night, was a heavier drinker than either of them, by Ariel’s account almost recklessly so. The three of them

pre-gamed with alcohol and marijuana at Ariel’s father’s place before heading out, though his original friend, driving, chose not to drink at all. Ariel arrived at the venue in downtown Dallas already highly intoxicated. Worried about losing his phone in the crowd, the way he’d heard so many people did at shows like this, he’d hung it around his neck in a small bag specifically to keep it safe. At some point during the set, he pulled it out to film a clip for social media, and within moments, it had vanished anyway, stolen out of his hands in the crush of the crowd. Losing the phone was, in hindsight, the small hinge the entire night turned on. Agitated and increasingly unable to stand the music he didn’t even like in the first place, Ariel walked out of the venue alone, separating from both friends, and found himself standing in the empty, dark streets of downtown Dallas well past midnight, too impaired to think clearly and unable to find anyone with a phone to call for a ride. So he decided to walk home. His father’s house was a forty-five-minute drive away, a walk that would realistically have taken two or three days, an idea that made sense to no one, including, later, to Ariel himself, except to someone too drunk and high to register how unrealistic it was. Partway through that walk, he crossed a set of DART light rail tracks that cut across the street. “Just train tracks,” he remembers telling himself. “Just keep walking, keep going.” He stumbled, fell, and struck his head, and lay unconscious directly on the tracks as a train approached in the dark. The driver saw him too late to stop. Ariel was dragged nearly ninety feet.

What followed is the part of the story he still struggles to fully explain. Paramedics got his heart beating again after massive blood loss, and somewhere in that gap, Ariel says, he found himself outside his own body, watching the room from above. He saw his friend arrive and weep. He saw his aunt cleaning blood from his hands. He felt, in his own words, “like a puny, tiny, useless piece of the grand scheme of things,” certain that whatever governed his fate was beyond anything he could measure himself against. Then his grandmother walked in. She sat down beside his head and opened a book, and somehow, without ever having studied it, he recognized it instantly as Tehillim, the Psalms of King David, a book he insists he had no real basis for identifying at the time, having drifted so far from any Jewish education. He watched her pray for some stretch of time he couldn’t measure; there was no sense of time passing at all, he says, only her presence. When she finished, she closed the sefer and slid it under his pillow. The instant it touched the fabric, he says, something in him clicked, and he was back inside his body. “I click back in,” is how he still describes it, insisting on that specific word because nothing else captures it: not a gradual return, but an immediate, total one, the way a switch resolves the instant a plug completes the circuit. He woke up with a tube down his throat, unable to speak, his family uncertain whether he’d recover at all, let alone come back whole. Handed a pencil and paper, and with no idea yet that his legs were gone, the first question he wrote wasn’t about pain or fear. It was, “Can I still have kids?” He can’t fully explain why that was the question that surfaced first, except to say something in him reached instinctively for the future rather than the injury.

When his father read it, he says, “he gave a huge sigh of relief,” proof, finally, that whatever else had happened, his son’s mind was intact. *

Ariel lost his right leg above the knee and his left below it. He was out of the hospital within a week, driven partly by sheer stubbornness and partly by the upper-body strength football had built into him. And here is the detail that tends to catch people off guard: he says he wasn’t sad. Not initially, and not for long after. He counts three real reasons why. He’d kept his hands, his arms, his back, his mind, all the things a person actually builds a life with. He didn’t want his own reaction to become the thing that made his family’s grief worse, so he chose, deliberately, not to let it. And most of all, he’d been given something most people never get: direct, unmistakable proof, in his own account, that something continues after the body fails. “Hashem had other plans for me,” he recounts, and once he’d felt that certainty firsthand, mourning two limbs stopped making sense to him. There’s one more detail from that night he still can’t fully account for. A police officer who’d been first on the scene came to the hospital days later, needing, he said, to get something off his chest. He described seeing a strange light, blue and domeshaped, surrounding Ariel’s body in the darkness before the ambulance arrived, seeming to keep him from bleeding out. Ariel has never learned the officer’s name or seen him again. He doesn’t know what to make of the light itself. What he does know, he says, is simpler: “Hashem made a miracle for me.” *

The religious life that followed wasn’t immediate. It took years, a pandem-

ic, and a friend, the same one who’d invited him to that concert in the first place, whose own father’s death pushed him suddenly and fully back into observance. That friend started inviting Ariel to Shabbos dinners, then handed him a worn yellow volume of Me’am Lo’ez, a centuries-old Torah anthology. Ariel was hooked from the first page, and when his friend wasn’t available to keep learning together, he simply kept going alone, eventually noticing an entire Tanach sitting untouched on his own bookshelf and deciding, on his own initiative, to read the whole thing cover to cover. Within a short stretch, he was already deep into Sefer Vayikra, and somewhere in that process something shifted that reading alone hadn’t managed before: an actual felt sense of Hashem’s presence in daily life, rather than a belief he’d simply always carried in the abstract. He started small, and specifically: one ordinary Shabbos, on a whim, he decided to leave his phone alone for the day, just to see what it felt like. By the time Shabbos ended, he didn’t want it back. That one experiment became a habit, and the habit kept expanding, first the phone, then driving, then electricity, each restriction adding to a feeling he says grew more real with each passing week. He called the same friend and asked to be taken to shul properly, and he put on tefillin for the first time since his bar mitzvah. He began going daily, then going even without his friend alongside him. This was during Elul, and he says the timing itself, doing teshuva in the exact season built around it, carried its own momentum. It came to a head on Yom Kippur, standing in services in new clothes with a fresh haircut, when Ariel asked himself, plainly, who he actually was and what he was doing there, and felt, right in that moment, something in him fully change. One story from that period still strikes him as impossible to explain

any other way. Wanting to buy a specific four-volume set of Rambam to keep learning after his chavrusa moved to Israel, he looked up the books online one Friday afternoon and told himself he’d decide after Shabbos. That evening, walking into his grandmother’s guest room, he found four yellow volumes already sitting on the nightstand, the exact set he’d looked up hours earlier. A man from the community, someone neither he nor his grandmother had ever met, had simply knocked on her door that afternoon and asked her to pass them along. *

Asked whether he’d undo any of it, given the chance – get his legs back, skip that night entirely – Ariel doesn’t hesitate. “I’d rather have no legs and the connection I now have to Hashem,” he says, than the reverse. His advice to anyone facing hardship of their own isn’t really about his accident at all. It’s about gratitude and about the willingness to walk a path that not everyone around you understands. Some struggles are visible, he points out; his certainly is. Others are not, and people carry them quietly, sometimes ashamed. Either way, he says, the work is the same: find something to be grateful for inside the difficulty, and trust that the chapter you’re in isn’t the whole book. He’s building a life now that would have been unrecognizable to the nineteen-year-old walking those tracks: teaching science at a Jewish day school, speaking to shuls and communities about his story, still hoping to eventually work in prosthetics himself. He downplays how remarkable it all sounds, calling it just his normal life. But standing in a room, missing both legs, telling people that losing them turned out to be the smaller loss, tends to speak for itself.

This article is based on a podcast, “Inspiration For the Nation,” hosted by Yaakov Langer. To catch more of this conversation, you can watch it on LivingLchaim. com or YouTube.com/LivingLchaim or listen wherever you listen to podcasts (just search for “Inspiration For The Nation”) or call our free hotline: 605-477-2100

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

Dating Dialogue

What Would You Do If… Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters

Dear Navidaters,

We are worried

ty, recommended that there should be separate seating at weddings and

grandmothers

weddings for the community but not for young people as this was an op-

writing to you

portunity for them to meet.

about the shidduchim

crisis

which is primarily with older single women ages 28 and up. We are seriously concerned with the situation, and perhaps you can find some solutions for this pressing situation which did not occur until recent years. When we grandmothers dated and our daughters too, young yeshiva men basically went to yeshiva and secular colleges preparing for their lives ahead. This took place until fairly recently. Today, this is not done enough. At the same time, young women are being educated in careers and find that there are fewer yeshiva men suitable for them as educated as they. And then there is the set-up. Years ago, you got a name usually from someone who knew you and perhaps your family. Perhaps, you did a little research, but for the most part, it worked. There were few divorces then. Perhaps, there is too much parental involvement. We might add about separate seating at weddings, the other popular thing now. When there wasn’t separate seating at weddings, many shidduchim at those weddings came about. A pertinent number of our peers

It should be noted that back in the ‘30s, the Agudah, worrying about the few frum people around, sponsored boat rides in the New York area so that these frum young people could meet. A few of our friends’ parents met that way. They married and raised beautiful families whose children and grandchildren and so on continued the frum life. Many of those parents were instrumental in setting up day schools. So what is happening today? Shidduchim can take a long time to be even suggested and even set up. In some ways, it is going back to pre-Holocaust times in Europe. We were really surprised to hear that finally after a date is set up, the shadchan sets up the time for the initial meetings. Really —it used to be the boy called the girl, certainly an icebreaker which helps to get to know each other a bit. We appeal to you to help to rectify this situation. Perhaps for kosher type meetings such as a time for friends of the chosson/kallah to meet and greet. A problem has been made for no reason that affects these young people. We appeal to you who are the ones most likely to find other ways for young people to meet.

also met their bashert this way. Those were indeed kosher meetings. Rabbi

With respect,

Joseph Breuer, of blessed memory, the head of the German communi-

A group of grandmothers

Disclaimer: This column is not intended to diagnose or otherwise conclude resolutions to any questions. Our intention is not to offer any definitive conclusions to any particular question, rather offer areas of exploration for the author and reader. Due to the nature of the column receiving only a short snapshot of an issue, without the benefit of an actual discussion, the panel’s role is to offer a range of possibilities. We hope to open up meaningful dialogue and individual exploration.

The Panel

We want to offer YOU an opportunity to be part of the discussion! Please email us at MichelleMondShadchan@gmail.com, subject line “reader’s response,” if you would like to participate in the new “A Reader’s Response” columnist spot. We will send you a question and publish your answer in an upcoming Navidaters edition. If you have a question you would like the Navidaters to answer, please reach out to this email as well. Looking forward! Michelle, the “Shadchan”

The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

ear Grandmothers, Thank you for bringing to the public’s attention several matters that need to be addressed as well as some historical context for shidduch efforts of the past in particular Jewish communities. I can attest to these facts. By reminding us of the way things were done in the past, you also lend support to some innovative efforts going on right now to promote dating in a more relaxed manner, rather than in the current manner which keeps becoming more and more formal with more and more “rules.” Having young people meet over select Shabbos dinners and at wedding receptions with shadchanim present as facilitators, as well as the shidduch lounge initiative, make for more optimized dating opportunities. There are other variations as well such as trips and recreational events developing by organizations and in communities. These need broader adoption. Our practices have begun to change slowly, and your letter helps effect that change. Thank you for bringing these important points to the attention of our readers. One final word: Those who have done the research say that the growing numbers of available singles in our communities are the reason we feel that there is a shidduch crisis. Much more effort

needs to be expended to help our singles find their partners. There is much awareness and growing action. Everyone has a share in that responsibility and that includes educators who now address the shidduch process and priorities for the individual future dater during the gap year and beyond.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond

ear Readers, As you may know, I put this column together, collecting the questions and answers weekly. Over the years, I have gotten many interesting questions from an array of different types of people. This letter was one of the most special ones I have received for the column. I first received this letter via snail mail to my home address. I hadn’t published it for a couple of months after I received it since I didn’t have a digital version. A couple of weeks ago, I got a phone call from one of the grandmothers herself. I told her that it wasn’t published merely because I needed the letter digitized. She quickly found a way to get ahold of a computer and have it typed up and sent it so the letter could be shared and their message could be conveyed. This group of heimishe grandmothers gathered together to write a

handwritten letter to our generation because they see a tremendous flaw in the way our generation is handling shidduchim in general. I urge you to read these grandmothers’ sage words and make sure your rabbanim and community leaders read them, too. You won’t find anyone who can dispute the fact that our communities need change in this area. We have to be smart and creative, allowing for more opportunities for all singles. The good news is that there are some communities that are recognizing this and coordinating solutions. There is the concept of the Shidduch Lounge, which started in New York and has been wildly successful, and has now branched out to Toronto, Florida, and Lakewood. It cannot come to other communities fast enough, but to allow that to happen, we need community leaders and rabbanim on board. The Shidduch Lounge is a carefully

curated space that is set up in a local venue and run by community members and shadchanim. The venue can be multipurpose, allowing for all different types of events. These are kosher, tzinius events that allow singles to be introduced in a kosher, curated way. Every event at a Shidduch Lounge is carefully put together based on specific ages and hashkafos to make sure singles are meeting the right types. There are many shadchanim present at these events to help facilitate. If you are a single in a community that does not yet have a Shidduch Lounge, I urge you to look into going to one of their events in Lakewood or New York. What would be most influential is to have this kind of concept in every large community. It is also crucial to note that the events held should be encouraged to prioritize older singles. We need as many opportunities as we can for older singles, in all categories, to meet each

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers,

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

other in a kosher way. I would also encourage families to host singles of certain categories for meals together. Another important point brought up by the grandmothers is the topic of men planning for a parnassa. We have to be encouraging of solid, frum young men who decide to train for a professional degree or work, while also being kovea itim. There is no reason why girls should feel that the only option for building a bayis ne’eman is finding someone learning full-time “for however long it works out,” or indefinitely. That kind of koach and lifestyle is meant for a select few yechidim who are actually cut out for it. There are too many unfortunate scenarios where boys go into this kind of life unprepared, just because it’s the thing to do, when they are not actually cut out for it, which ends up being disastrous for the young couple. This is simply because the young men weren’t encouraged to follow the path that was actually the best thing for them. With the divorce rates of young couples as rampant as they are, it is impossible to ignore the elephant in the room. Forcing an entire generation of boys to do one thing is not healthy or conducive to anyone. There are a bunch of serious, smart, well-rounded young women who are looking for shtark, young men in the professional category. It should not be made so difficult for them to find a shidduch because of it. Although I could go on and on, for the sake of brevity, I will not. Just reading the letter will hopefully be food for thought and spark some change in our communities. May this be a year of an abundance of shidduchim and bracha throughout the world!

The Zaidy Dr. Jeffrey Galler

would like to give these grandmothers a great big hug (in a modest way, of course). Countless folks have been asking the same questions. Current practices in our

community have made it unnecessarily difficult for young men and women to meet and date. Let’s examine three subjects worthy of discussion. First, what can we do to make things easier for our kids? The good news is that things may already be moving in the right direction. Caring people and responsible organizations are increasingly sponsoring singles events and Shabbatons. WhatsApp groups publicize events for every age and hashkafa. For example, YUConnects’ “Circle the Dates” has over 800 members and posts singles events every week. Another great concept is the Shidduch Lounge ((https://w w w.shidduchlounge.com.) It originated in the Five Towns and has now expanded to Florida, Lakewood, Monsey, and Toronto. It is a relaxed way for singles to meet and socialize, much like the Agudah boat rides the grandmothers describe from the 1930s. Just last week, 500 singles attended a Shidduch Lounge event at the American Dream Mall. Clearly, we need much more of the same. We should encourage our synagogues and organizations to do more. Second, how will our children and grandchildren respond? There is a reluctance on the part of many singles to accept these overtures. Part of the problem is that many of our young people have been taught from an early age that virtually any non-shadchan-related contact with the opposite gender is religiously inappropriate. So how do we get shy singles to take advantage of these opportunities without fear of being ostracized? I don’t know. Long-established communal attitudes are extraordinarily difficult to change. And, sadly, some who may have a vested interest in perpetuating the status quo might be especially resistant to change. Third, how did we get into this mess? In a well-intentioned desire to promote high standards of tzinius, influential rabbanim and teachers have created an abundance of restrictions, rules, and warnings. In some circles, simply meeting and conversing with another eligible

person may be considered a serious infraction. The grandmothers who wrote this letter, and many of us with similar concerns, feel there is nothing inherently wrong with allowing young men and women to meet naturally. A wedding, engagement party, Shabbos meal, community event, chesed project, gathering of friends, college class, or workplace can be perfectly acceptable places for singles to meet. To be fair, our current shidduch system has been very successful for many. Baruch Hashem. Countless wonderful marriages have resulted from dedicated shadchanim and helpful folks making thoughtful introductions. They deserve our gratitude. We should preserve what works. But preserving a system does not mean we cannot criticize it, modify it, and add alternatives. If older singles are telling us that an antiquated system has become too cumbersome, restrictive, or dependent upon gatekeepers, we ought to listen. And if there are respectful, appropriate ways to create more opportunities for young people to meet, we ought to encourage them. Finally, what if you don’t agree with me? The group of grandmothers who sent this letter are asking whether our community can normalize natural, healthy interactions between eligible singles. My answer is yes. We can preserve traditional shidduchim while reopening other kosher avenues for young men and women to meet. Please note: Arguing with an opinionated grandparent who remembers “the good old days” is futile. Arguing with a whole bunch of us could be downright dangerous.

Reader’s Response Rivka Levy

ear Grandmothers, Your letter speaks the worry of so many both in the situation as daters and observers on the sidelines waiting

Today, in some circles, there can be so many people between the two people who are actually supposed to be getting to know each other.

for their loved ones to cross this milestone. Your point on educated women finding there are “fewer yeshiva men suitable for them as educated as they” are definitely resonates with those in throes of dating. The good news is that not everyone is looking for someone so educated, and secondly, secular education does not necessarily indicate intelligence or success. There are many transferable skills that yeshiva guys use in their careers. There are many individuals who have a knack for business or have an entrepreneurial spirit which they capitalize on. What seems to be more of an issue is the timing in which these men set out to pursue these endeavors. There needs to be a change within the system so that these men are encouraged to pursue a livelihood earlier and that they don’t end up so lost. Older single men who remain in yeshiva are in a world where they don’t really have a “makom,” and the phenomenon can sadly lead to a lot of angst and insecurity. The changes you speak of are societal and need to come from the Roshei Yeshiva of the world. It’s a systemic issue that shadchanim cannot solve. The suggestions for mixed seating at weddings is one that many in the shidduch world have advocated for. Both men and women look their best at a wedding, and it is an opportune time for such meetings to occur. I would go one step further and suggest that the baalei simcha make sure that there are people around to help facilitate shidduchim, whether it be official shadchanim

enough of them, and very often they exclude the older age groups that need this more so. There’s a lot of work to be done in this area. Lastly, regarding how set-ups are done, yes there may, in fact, be too much checking out, but you also noted the high divorce rate. So perhaps checking people out isn’t the issue, but rather people are dating for way too short of a time, without actually building a relationship with this person. There is an invisible ticking time-bomb that they feel may go off if they do not get engaged by a certain date number. There is too much relying on a shadchan to have difficult conversations that

help build relationships and see how the couple handles difficulties together. Perhaps the solution is letting two people who are hoping to get married to have an adult relationship that requires them to speak about their differences, figure out if there are deal-breakers, and yes, even break up with someone themselves and not through a shadchan. Exercising these muscles prepares you to be in a marriage, and it starts with, as you mentioned, setting up a date. There could be an argument for doing these things for a 20-year-old, but your letter is specifically referencing 28+ and you could not be more correct in your worry. There needs to be more ownership of the dating from the singles themselves. The changes cannot come fast

So how do we get shy singles to take advantage of these opportunities without fear of being ostracized?

enough. You, grandmothers, can make a difference by encouraging those around you to move towards these steps. Be the change you want to see – you never know who it’ll impact.

Pulling It All Together The Navidaters Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

ear Grandmothers, I found myself nodding throughout your letter. I think you are raising something important, and I don’t think it should be dismissed as, “Things were different in our day.” Things were different. And maybe some of those differences are worth looking at. I work with singles, and I hear firsthand how frustrating the current system can be. There are wonderful shadchanim doing incredibly devoted work, and there are certainly benefits to having people involved who know the singles and are trying to make thoughtful matches. But I also wonder whether, in our effort to protect the dating process, refine it, research it, and make it more appropriate, we have made it so complicated that we’ve taken some of the humanity out of it. The boat rides you describe actually sound wonderful to me. Frum young

people getting together in a kosher env ironment, meeting each other, talking, noticing one another. People meeting people. Friends introducing friends. Men and women being able to talk to each other. Somewhere along the way, we seem to have made normal conversation between single men and women into something almost forbidden. And I think that deserves some examination. Not every interaction between a man and a woman needs to be loaded with meaning. Not every conversation is a date. Not every introduction needs weeks of research before two people can say hello. Sometimes, people need an opportunity to simply be around each other and discover, “Oh. I like talking to this person.” I also understand your point about the phone call before a first date. There was something very human about the

young man picking up the phone, introducing himself and arranging the date directly. It was a tiny interaction, but it allowed two adults to begin relating to one another as two adults. Today, in some circles, there can be so many people between the two people who are actually supposed to be getting to know each other. I think your point about education and careers is worth discussing, too. Women today are often highly educated, professionally accomplished, and exposed to a very broad world. If the pool of men they are being encouraged to consider does not evolve alongside that reality, of course that can create challenges. That doesn’t mean every husband and wife need identical educational backgrounds or careers. They don’t. But compatibility matters, and intellectual compatibility matters to some people very much. Where I would gently push back is on the idea that there were fewer divorces because the dating system worked better. There were certainly fewer divorces. But there were also generations in which

people remained in marriages they might not remain in today. So I’m hesitant to use divorce rates as proof that marriages themselves were necessarily healthier. But your larger question remains: Have we made it too hard for single people to meet each other? I think in some ways, yes. And I think the answer may not only be “more shadchanim” or “more dates.” Maybe we also need more spaces where single adults can simply be human beings together. Shabbos meals. Events. Volunteer opportunities. Classes. Community gatherings. Yes, maybe even boat rides. Kosher does not have to mean disconnected. And perhaps instead of only asking, “How do we fix the shidduch crisis?” we should be asking the people actually living inside of it: What would make this process feel more human? What is getting in your way? What would help you meet one another? I would really like to hear their answers. Jennifer

Jennifer Mann, LCSW, is a therapist and certified life coach in private practice in Cedarhurst, NY and via telehealth. She works with individuals, couples, and families, and is a part-time school social worker at Bnos Malka Academy. Her work centers on anxiety, relationships, life transitions, and narcissistic abuse. She integrates attachment-based therapy, cognitive behavioral approaches, and relational work, grounded in the belief that healing and growth emerge through honest, attuned, and meaningful human connection. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 718-908-0512.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

or people who are great networkers and can help connect people at the wedding. You may be surprised to find out that generally the biggest naysayers for this idea are singles themselves for two main reasons: they have been conditioned to think there’s something inherently wrong with this idea and/or they just want to enjoy the wedding and not think about shidduchim at that time. I wish that the Agudah of today would tackle the issues of shidduchim much like the Agudah of the ‘30s. The good news is that there are “kosher” trips that have been organized like this by Rabbi Senter and by The Shidduch Lounge. The bad news is there aren’t

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

School of

Thought

By Etti Siegel

Q: A:

Dear Etti, What is the point of testing? Why not teach well, review (with games or oral quizzes), and not stress the kids out so much? - Confused Mom

Dear Confused Mom, You are asking a very good question, but I want to change one word of it. Instead of asking, “What is the point of testing?” I would ask, “What is the point of assessment?” Okay, so here is my answer: a good teacher absolutely, positively needs to assess! Imagine I teach a beautiful lesson on fractions. The children are engaged. Hands are up. We do examples together. Everyone seems to understand. I walk out of the classroom feeling wonderful. But did they learn it? I don’t actually know yet. There is a difference between I taught it and they learned it, and the process of assessment is how I find out. And assessment does not always mean, “Clear your desks, take out a pencil, and no talking.” The game you mentioned is assessment. So is an oral quiz. Asking every child to solve a problem on a small whiteboard and hold it up is assessment. So is an exit ticket, a quick written quiz at the end of a lesson. Asking children on Tuesday three questions about something taught the previous Thursday is assessment as well. In fact, some of the research on learning strongly supports exactly this kind of frequent retrieval. When children have to pull information out of their memories instead of simply hearing or rereading it again, they are more likely to retain it. Researchers call this the “testing effect,” although I wish they had chosen a less frightening name! Testing, in this sense, is not necessarily a big test with a grade on top. It is giving the brain repeated opportunities to say, “Wait. I know this. Let me find it.” So yes, teachers should teach well. They should absolutely review with games, ask oral questions, bring back yesterday’s vocabulary, put three problems from last week on the board, ask a question in November about something learned in September. Those are not alternatives to assessment; they are actually some of the best forms of it. But there is another reason we need assessment. A teacher needs to know what to do next. If I give ten questions and almost the entire class gets number seven wrong, I have learned something important. I shouldn’t simply put the grades in my book and move on.

I need to look at number seven. What skill did it measure? Did I teach that skill clearly? Did the children have enough practice? Is there a misconception I need to correct? That test should change tomorrow’s teaching. This is what researchers call formative assessment: using what we learn from students’ responses to adjust instruction. The research on formative assessment has been strong for years. When teachers continually check what students understand and then use that information to decide what needs review, reteaching, or additional practice, student learning improves. Testing can also catch the child who is quietly slipping through the cracks. There are children who nod beautifully and who copy beautifully. There are children who can follow along when the teacher is doing the work with them. Then we ask them to do it independently and discover that they really don’t understand what they were hearing. I would much rather discover that in October than in May. There is also a place for more formal testing. A classroom teacher needs to know how individual students are doing, and a principal needs to know whether an entire grade seems to be struggling with reading comprehension or computation. Schools sometimes need a standardized measure so that they can compare results across classrooms or with larger groups. Standardization has value because everyone is being asked to demonstrate the same skills under reasonably similar conditions. But – and this is a very important but – a standardized test is one piece of information. It is not taking into account the whole child. A child may be an excellent thinker and a poor test taker. Another may know the material but freeze under pressure. A third may perform beautifully on a project or in conversation but struggle to organize written answers quickly. No responsible educator should look at one score and decide, “This tells me who this child is.” It doesn’t. And your concern about stress is legitimate. Research has found that test anxiety is associated with lower academic performance, particularly when students perceive

the test as very difficult or very high-stakes. We do children no favors when every quiz becomes a crisis and every grade becomes a referendum on whether they are smart. Sometimes we adults create the very test anxiety we complain about. “You have a BIG test Thursday!” “This counts!” “You better study!” Then we wonder why the child can’t sleep on Wednesday night. I would much rather normalize assessment. Of course I’m going to check what you know, that’s what school is. Sometimes, it will be a game, and sometimes, you’ll write on a whiteboard. Sometimes, I’ll ask you questions. And yes, sometimes you will sit down and take a test. None of those things determines how smart you are. They give your teacher information about what you know right now and what you still need to learn. Tests can also teach children something useful: how to prepare, organize information, work independently, manage time, and retrieve what they know without a teacher standing beside them. Those are worthwhile skills. Children should gradually become comfortable demonstrating what they know. What I object to is testing for testing’s sake. If a teacher gives a test, records a 67, sends it home for a signature, and begins the next chapter, I have to ask: What did we accomplish? We just documented that a child didn’t know 33 percent of the material. Assessment should lead somewhere. So, Confused Mom, I agree with part of your premise. We should teach well. We should review. We should play review games and ask oral questions. We should not turn school into one long series of stressful tests. But I wouldn’t throw testing out. I would make it more purposeful. The goal is not to catch children not knowing. The goal is to find out what they know, discover what they don’t know yet, and then do something about it. A good test should give the teacher information. A great teacher uses that information to teach. Gmar chasima tova, Etti

Mrs. Etti Siegel holds a MS in Teaching and Learning/Educational Leadership and brings sound teaching advice to her audiences culled from her over 35 years of teaching and administrative experience. Etti is an Adjunct at the College of Mount Saint Vincent/Sara Shenirer. She is a coach and educational consultant for Catapult Learning, FACTS Education Solutions, Brienza Academic Advantage, Yeled V’Yalda; is a sought-after mentor and workshop presenter around the country; and a popular presenter for Sayan (a teacher-mentoring program), Hidden Sparks, and the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools. She is a frequent contributor to Hamechanech magazine and The Journal for Jewish Day School Leaders and has a weekly column in The Jewish Home. She can be contacted for questions and comments at ettisiegel@gmail.com.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

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Parenting Pearls

Parenting Perspectives on Yom Kippur By Sara Rayvych, MSEd

om Kippur is an intense but holy day. We fast for over 24 hours as we are cleansed by the One Above. During this time, we don’t eat or tend to our personal needs; rather, we have the opportunity to focus on ourselves as spiritual beings. When we imagine Yom Kippur, the vision always includes being in shul, dressed in white, swaying with the kehilla in soulful davening. The powerful tefillos and their accompanying tunes set the mood and keep us focused on the themes of the day. Becoming a parent turns that image all around. Instead of being in shul, we’re either at home, at the park or anywhere except shul. We spend our day not much differently than any other. We get up and go right into parenting as we would on any day of the calendar. While for some it’s easy, for others, it can be a major emotional and mental shift. We need to adjust our expectations to meet our own and our children’s needs on this day. We should also be mindful that we set the tone for how our children will view Yom Kippur, both now and in the future. Keeping the day less stressful as parents can keep us all more focused on what really matters. We want them to have a healthy attitude towards the day and see Yom Kippur for the great opportunity that it is.

Prepare Early Yom Kippur is a hard day to parent. We adults are fasting, not feeling our best, and the kids are still bouncing. They don’t stop for something like Yom Kippur, and their needs don’t change.

The fast is d’Oraysa and foremost in our minds. Any shailos should be asked well in advance so any necessary adjustments can be made. There are a number of ways parents can make fasting a bit easier on themselves, and being prepared is an important one. The more we prepare before the fast, the easier the day itself can be. Preparing early is especially important for those who find fasting difficult or who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The less we need to do on Yom Kippur itself, the more energy we have for where it’s really needed. Early preparation applies to everything, including scheduling, food and kiddie entertainment. We want to leave as little as possible for us to figure out on the day itself.

Finding Your Makom Location. Location. Location. I usually encourage lots of hands-on parenting. Time spent with children is so crucial to their development, and they need their parents most. This is the one day I advocate parenting from the couch. Resting whenever possible – even if you can’t sleep – can be helpful. Paradoxically, some parents may find it easier to spend the day in the park. Kids that are happy and busy demand less parental involvement. Find a bench and conserve your energy. Playdates are a great way to keep kids occupied so adults can sit and rest. Parents can either take turns watching each other’s children (and perhaps getting a nap in) or they can both be present while the kids play. Either way, the adults should hopefully have it a bit easier. The basic idea is to find what will be

easiest for you and your child, knowing their personality and your needs. Sometimes, it’s too hard to do alone. There are a number of options, including asking a teenager or pre-teen to babysit or be a mother’s helper for the day. Even a child that is too young to babysit on their own can still keep a little one occupied while the adults rest. Please properly compensate your assistants.

Food The adults are not eating, but the kids aren’t stopping. It’s an even bigger challenge to feed kids when half the house is fasting. Plan in advance to have something easy to offer for meals and sufficient snacks to last throughout the day. Prepare in advance whatever can be made earlier. Keep all food items easily accessible to adults. It’s not the time to go searching through every pantry each time the kids are hungry. Aim to mostly serve things that won’t require lots of work. Do whatever is possible beforehand. Slice veggies before the fast. Prepare sandwiches. Fill water bottles. We’re often unaware of how many small things we do, but they add up. Any small step beforehand saves time and energy on the day itself.

neat. Children will make messes – pretend it’s not there. My kids enjoyed when I put out books on Yom Kippur and other related topics. It was nice for them to be able to go to the table and easily pick out a book, teaching and focusing them on the themes of this holy day. It is also nice to include a few for the adults. It’s one way to focus on the day’s themes in between all the regular parenting tasks. We want tefillah to be personal and meaningful. It’s a small step, but it’s my experience that having one’s name on a machzor personalizes the experience. As they approached their bar/bas mitzvah, we’ve gifted each of our children with a set of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur machzorim that has their name engraved on it. The machzor was officially theirs, and they could add Post-it notes or whatever they needed to assist them in the davening. There are even “machzorim” geared for younger kids that can make the tefillos more meaningful. Yom Kippur is a day like no other, and it often requires parenting differently. With a few minor changes, we can help make the day just a bit easier. May we all be sealed for a life of bracha, good health and nachas from our children.

Extra Tips and Tricks I have found that it can be helpful to have a new toy available. It need not be big or expensive; it just needs to be exciting and capable of providing (hopefully) hours of entertainment. Ideally, it’s something the child can do on their own and doesn’t make a massive mess. Only clean after Yom Kippur. I know it’s tempting to have everything tidy and

Sara Rayvych, MSEd, holds a master’s degree in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 15 years. Sara provides personalized parent mentoring services, addressing a variety of general and specific parenting concerns. She can be contacted at Sara.Rayvych@gmail.com with comments, questions or for private consultations.

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Health & F tness

Their First Yom Kippur Fast Helping Our Children Do It Safely By Hylton I. Lightman, MD, DCH (SA), FAAP

here are many milestones in a child’s life, but in a Jewish home, becoming bar or bas mitzvah brings with it something more than a celebration – it brings responsibility. Particularly when it comes to Yom Kippur. For many newly bar and bas mitzvah children, this may be the first time they approach Yom Kippur knowing that the fast is no longer something only the adults are doing. They may be proud and excited. They may also be nervous. “Am I going to make it?” “What if I get really thirsty?” “What if I feel sick?” Those are reasonable questions, particularly for a young teenager facing a full fast for the first time. As parents, our job is to prepare them, reassure them and pay attention to them. Yom Kippur should be a meaningful experience, not an endurance competition.

Start Preparing Before the Fast Day A successful fast begins well before Kol Nidrei. Hydration is one of the most important things to think about. Encourage

your child to drink regularly during the day before Yom Kippur rather than trying to consume an enormous amount of water immediately before the fast begins. The body isn’t a water tank that can simply be filled at the last minute. Water should be the mainstay, and go easy on caffeinated and sugary drinks. Think about reducing and eliminating them about one week in advance of Yom Kippur. This applies to parents too. If you’re a regular coffee drinker, gradually cutting back in the days before Yom Kippur can help prevent caffeine-withdrawal headaches during the fast. The seudah hamafsekes should be satisfying but doesn’t need to be enormous. A balanced meal with carbohydrates, protein and other familiar foods can help provide sustained energy. Avoid making the meal excessively salty, since that may leave your child feeling thirstier later. The goal is not to stuff as much food as possible into a teenager before sunset. It’s to begin the fast well-nourished and well hydrated.

Electrolytes: Think Ahead, Not During the Fast Parents sometimes ask me about

electrolyte supplements and so-called “fasting pills” before a fast as well as caffeine suppositories during the fest. There are many products marketed specifically to make fasting easier, and while some may be legitimate, don’t automatically assume they’re appropriate for you or your child. Some contain significant amounts of sodium, sugar or other ingredients, so read labels carefully and speak with your pediatrician if your child has a medical condition or takes medication. The following advice applies to parents as well. Yom Kippur is not the day to discover that your body — or your child’s — reacts badly to a pill you’ve never taken before. If you’re considering a fasting supplement, discuss it with your doctor and, if appropriate, try it well in advance. The last place anyone wants to spend Yom Kippur because of an unexpected reaction is the emergency room. Remember, pills and electrolytes don’t replace the basics: proper hydration, nutrition, sleep and common sense.

Reassure Them Without Making It a Competition There should be pride associated with completing that first full Yom Kippur

fast. That’s wonderful and true. But be careful with the language surrounding it. A child shouldn’t feel that becoming weak, dizzy or ill is somehow proof of greater strength or religious commitment. Don’t turn the fast into a contest between siblings, cousins or friends about who found it easiest. Tell your child beforehand: “If you don’t feel well, tell me.” That simple reassurance matters. You want your child focused on what Yom Kippur means, not spending the entire day afraid that admitting to a headache or dizziness will disappoint you. If there are health concerns that could affect whether or how your child should fast, those conversations should happen before Yom Kippur with both your pediatrician and your rav. Don’t wait until the child is already feeling sick on Yom Kippur afternoon to begin figuring it out.

This is Not the Day For a Basketball Game Teenagers seem to possess an extraordinary ability to find something physically exhausting to do at precisely the wrong time. Yom Kippur is not the day for it.

Know the Difference Between Hungry and Sick Being hungry, thirsty, tired or having a mild headache can happen during a fast. Kvetching is kind of part of the package – I’m a father and grandfather so I get it. But parents should pay attention when something seems more significant. A child who becomes dizzy, confused, unusually weak, has difficulty staying awake, is vomiting, develops concerning symptoms, or simply appears significantly unwell needs to be taken seriously. Fainting is not a normal or acceptable part of fasting. If your child faints, becomes unconscious, is difficult to wake, or is not responding normally, consider it a medical emergency and call for help immediately. In these cases, do not wait to see if the child improves, and do not delay emergency care while trying to reach your rav or pediatrician first. When a child is unconscious or unresponsive, getting immediate emergency medical assistance comes first. From a halachic perspective, there are circumstances in which illness changes the requirements of fasting. Those decisions should be guided by the appropriate rabbinic and medical authorities. Protecting a child’s health is not something parents should guess about.

Some Children Will Surprise You Here’s something else parents should know: some teenagers actually tolerate fasting remarkably well. You may spend days worrying about your thirteen-year-old son, only to discover that at five o’clock on Yom Kippur afternoon you’re the one staring at the clock while he’s doing just fine. Every person responds differently. Some people even say they enjoy the feeling of fasting and describe it as a kind of physical reset or “cleanse.” You’ll sometimes hear claims that fasting “re-

moves toxins” from the body, but we should be careful about presenting that as a medical fact. Our bodies already have sophisticated systems, particularly the liver and kidneys, that continuously process and eliminate waste. But on Yom Kippur, perhaps there’s a more important kind of cleansing to think about.

The Real Cleansing of Yom Kippur Yom Kippur was never intended to be a diet or a detox program. The fast has a much greater purpose. For a newly bar or bas mitzvah child, this is an opportunity to begin understanding that growing older means taking responsibility not only for what we do, but for who we are becoming. We step away from food and drink. We step away from the distractions of an ordinary day. We think about the year that passed, the things we did well, the things we wish we had done differently, and the person we hope to become in the year ahead, all with Hashem’s help. So prepare your children physically. Make sure they’re well hydrated beforehand. Give them an appropriate meal. Keep strenuous activity to a minimum. Pay attention to how they’re feeling and never ignore concerning symptoms. But prepare them emotionally and spiritually, too. Tell them that you’re proud of them. Reassure them that they can come to you if they’re not feeling well. Help them understand that the accomplishment isn’t simply reaching the final minute of the fast. Some people talk about fasting as a way of cleansing the body. On Yom Kippur, we hope for something much greater. May the fast help us cleanse our souls, begin the new year a little better than we were before, and may we and our loved ones be inscribed for a healthy and sweet year ahead. As always, and especially on this holiest of days, daven well, daven from the heart, and may every one of our tefillos reach the heavens. And as always, daven.

Dr. Hylton Lightman MD DCH(SA) FAAP is a board-certified pediatrician and the Medical Director of Suffolk Health Five Towns. He adores his patients and tolerates their parents. His life’s mission is to deliver quality health care to babies, children, teenagers and young adults so they bring their children and grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) to him. He loves what he does.

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Fasting means your child is going without fluids as well as food, so strenuous physical activity should be limited. Running around outside, playing sports or spending hours outdoors can increase fluid loss and make dehydration more likely. Encourage a quieter day. Davening, reading, resting and spending time indoors are far more appropriate. If your child feels tired, let them rest. There is no prize for taking the longest walk, running the fastest sprint or pushing yourself physically while fasting. Save the workout for another day.

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Shmooze & Muse

Hatching a Plan By Mordechai Schmutter

f you’re thinking about raising your own Kaparos, one great thing about keeping birds is that you can always make more, even if the parents don’t want them. The mother comes in and says, “Whose baby is that?” and you’re like, “It’s yours!” You can’t do that with humans. That said, my wife and I are thinking of hatching some more eggs. We’ve had chickens for about three years now, and we’ve never hatched any of the eggs ourselves. Some of our chickens we had the natural way, which was that a school’s ECD department hatched it in their resource room and sent it home with our daughter, who’s one of the teachers there. Some we got from other sources. The closest we came to hatching eggs ourselves was when one of our chickens hatched some eggs that weren’t hers, but in that case, she did most of the work. We just got in the way and annoyed her, like an expectant father. But we’re not hatching chicken eggs right now. We’re doing quail eggs. We’ve already managed to hatch one in the incubator that we got our daughter to borrow from the school, but it needs siblings, or else it will have problems when it’s time for shidduchim. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, we also have quails. Quails are like picture

a chicken, only smaller and dumber and less colorful and more timid and it has to live inside or it will disappear within a day. We got the quails the old-fashioned way, too. My sister and brother-in-law had a guest over who gave them quails – a boy and a girl – because when you go to someone’s house, you have to bring something, so why not more guests? Who don’t leave! And after the main guest left, my sister found out that you can’t really have a two-year-old and quails in the same house. So she sent us the quails. (Not the two-year-old.) The way she saw it, I think, we already had the infrastructure, because of the chickens. Anyway, it turns out that quails can’t live with chickens. So the quails live in our fireplace, in one of those containers you put baby clothes into in the attic after your kid wears them twice and then gets too big for them, and your wife’s like, “Keep the infrastructure!” And they produce eggs too. (Well, the girl does. The boy mainly produces noise.) Those are the eggs we decided to hatch. Quail eggs are actually one of the main appeals of quails. They’re fancy! Mostly because they’re small. Like sometimes for Seudah Shlishis, we make a quail egg and avocado salad. Does it taste better than us-

ing chicken eggs? Not really. But imagine if instead of peeling two eggs for the salad, you had to peel twelve! So mostly what we do with the quail eggs is we give them away to people who haven’t tried them yet. And they’re always super excited, and they make all these big plans of how to eat them, and they go home, and then we don’t hear from them. And then the next time we see them, we ask, “How were the quail eggs?” and they say, “They were regular.” The anticipation of eating this cute little egg is always undercut by this one bite that is not special, and then they don’t have it anymore. And they’re still hungry. And then we have to find new people to do this with. It’s very satisfying. But then we thought, what if we hatched some of these eggs? Imagine how cute these babies will be! A baby that looks like it can fit inside a cherry tomato? You can’t imagine! Well, my quail doesn’t sit on her eggs. People think that chickens are lacking in intelligence, but you can’t imagine how dumb quails are. For one, they don’t sit on their eggs. That doesn’t make any sense. How are there ever any new quails? Second of all, if they’re scared, which they always are, they don’t run away from

the danger. They run circles around the danger. If our chickens are scared of something, they find a quiet place to hide. I gave the quails some quiet places to hide. They run into those places, they run out of those places, and then they keep circling the danger. And the danger is just your hand coming in to change out the water that they keep standing in with their feet that also stood in their food and then their stomach issues and then their food again. Well, really, the girl one keeps running. The boy keeps on trying to bite your fingertip, despite it being bigger than his whole head. Sometimes he runs circles with the girl because when the person you’re with starts running, you run too and figure out why later. So you’d think that seeing as they’re always convinced they’re going to die and making no effort not to they would venture to maybe leave another generation behind. But they don’t. In fact, once in a while, I let a pile of eggs build up so that maybe the girl will get inspired to sit on them, but when I come over to check, she freaks out and runs through the pile of eggs and breaks half of them. I don’t even leave the pile where she would normally run. I put it in an empty pretzel bucket, turned on its side. She goes out of her way to run through the

question immediately panicked, knocked everything over, tried to jump out of the bin, and flew straight into the heating lamp. They’re terrified of their own baby. Or the responsibility. But none of this was stuff we were thinking about. We were thinking about tiny, adorable babies that can fit in your shirt pocket. Because it’s a scientific fact that the smaller something is, the more adorable it is. Think about it: How many grown adults do you think are adorable? Not many, right? Except sarcastically. But the vast majority of babies are adorable. And it’s all the same people! And then some people’s grandparents, as they become older and start shrinking, are adorable again. That tracks. A lot of times with human babies, people say, “I don’t care what it’s going to be, as long as it’s healthy.” We don’t care what it’s

Because when you go to someone’s house, you have to bring something, so why not more guests?

Also, sometimes, quail babies just fall over onto their back for no reason, and they’ll kick for a while, trying to flip over, and finally they’re like, “Oh, forget it. I guess this is it for me.” And they just lie there, waiting for the malach hamavess to show up. You have to hope they don’t do this in the water. It’s almost like these babies need constant supervision. OK, so why not let the parents watch them, right? Well, the parents can’t live with the baby. I was afraid to let them, anyway. My assumption was that both parents would just run over the kid. Which did keep happening, whenever we tried it. But also, baby birds need heat, because they don’t have their feathers yet, and it’s not like the mother who wouldn’t sit on the eggs is going to keep them under her feathers. So you need to put a heating bulb over the bin. And that makes it too hot for the parents, who do have feathers. Which makes them more stressed, which makes them run more, which makes them hotter. But everything I read said that you can put the adults in with the babies, and the adults won’t harm them. Maybe not physically. So I put one adult in with the kid, just as an experiment. I tried this several times. Every time, the adult in

going to be, as long as it’s more than one. Also, we hope it’s girls. Because we need more eggs; that’s part of the point here. I mean, if it’s healthy, it’s going to live maybe three years. But the whole time that the eggs are baking, you’re davening that you don’t just get one. That’s worse than getting none. If there’s one, it can’t live alone, because it gets lonely, and it can’t live with its parents. And so it makes lonely noises, constantly, in the living room, day and night, because our birds don’t know what day and night are because they live in the living room. Night sometimes comes at 2 in the morning, and then on Shabbos it’s light for 25 hours. We do this to each other. Anyway, turns out the first time we tried incubating, it was just one. So now we’re working on some more, so it’s not alone. Except that it takes three weeks to hatch eggs, and by then, this thing will be the equivalent of a teenager. And what if we hatch one again? We haven’t thought that far. I guess I’ll see what happens in three weeks. Mordechai Schmutter is a freelance writer and a humor columnist for Hamodia and other magazines. He has also published eight books and does stand-up comedy. He can be contacted at mschmutter@gmail.com.

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pile, followed by him, then she gets to the bottom of the bucket, turns around, runs right through the eggs again, and into her husband, who’s still trying to get to the bottom of the bucket, and they climb over each other right over the eggs, and then he runs to the dead end, turns around, and runs over the eggs again to follow her out. Point is, I have to confiscate the eggs as soon as they’re hatched, before the quails have a chance to break them. So I might as well incubate them myself. Imagine how cute they’re going to be! Dumb, but cute. I’m not sure what to do with the babies once we hatch them, though, and we get over how cute they are. From what I’ve read, their babies keep trying to kill themselves. Everything I read warned me about this. It said they can drown in their own water dish. How shallow can I make it? This baby is the size of an olive!

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Money Matter

What Teaching Middle Schoolers Taught Me About Financial Literacy By Joe Sharp

have spent much of my career working with budgets, financial statements, compensation, insurance, investments, and organizational finances. Then, for a time, I taught personal finance to middle schoolers. The elective was called Money Talks, and I went into it assuming that my professional background would make the subject matter fairly straightforward. It did. But teaching it reinforced something I had understood professionally without ever quite articulating it this way: financial literacy is not primarily about knowing financial terminology. It is about learning how to make decisions.

Knowing the Words Isn’t Enough We covered many of the concepts you would expect: income, expenses, savings, investing, insurance, housing,

needs vs. wants, and gross income vs. net income. But knowing what those terms mean does not make someone financially literate. The real challenge begins when you have to use them. One of the exercises we used was SPENT, an online simulation that asks participants to make a series of choices while trying to survive on limited resources: housing, transportation, medical expenses, unexpected costs, and bills that cannot all be paid at once. The value of the exercise was not that it taught students the definition of a budget. It forced them to confront tradeoffs. Someone can know perfectly well what a budget is and still have no idea how to make one work when every available choice has a consequence.

Start With the Life One idea I wanted the students to understand was that a salary number,

by itself, does not tell you very much. It is easy to hear a number and think, “That sounds like a lot of money.” But what does that income actually support? What is left after taxes and deductions? What will housing cost? Transportation? Food? Insurance? Savings? A family? Unexpected expenses? The more useful question is not simply: how much do I want to earn? It is: what kind of life am I expecting that income to support? Then you work backward. That is a useful exercise at 13 or 14. It is also a useful exercise at 30, 40, or 60.

Decisions Have Consequences We also ran a stock market competition. The students selected companies, tracked their performance, and competed based on the percentage increase in their investments. I added actual prizes, which naturally made the exercise more interesting. But the point was not really

to teach them how to pick stocks. It was to get them to explain their thinking: why did you choose that company? What did you expect to happen? What assumptions were you making? What changed? That became particularly interesting in the spring of 2020, when COVID suddenly changed daily life. Some of the companies the students chose during that period included Tesla, Apple, Nike, Nintendo, Peloton, Zoom, UPS, FedEx, Kimberly-Clark, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, Microsoft, and others. In hindsight, the choices were telling. Without necessarily realizing it, the students were building mini-portfolios around the world they were suddenly living in: remote work, shipping, home fitness, household essentials, and digital connection. What made sense before might no longer make sense now. That is an investing lesson. It is also a much broader lesson about decision-making.

More Money, Better Decisions?

Students Bring Their Own Assumptions The experience also reinforced for me that students do not enter a financial literacy class as blank slates. They already have ideas about money. They hear conversations at home. They see advertising. They follow athletes, businesses, and entrepreneurs. They observe the lifestyles around them. Some of the students were already remarkably entrepreneurial.

me outside my normal professional environment. The course did not continue afterward, but I have thought about it many times since. The feedback I received from parents was encouraging,

Someone can know perfectly well what a budget is and still have no idea how to make one work.

work? What are you leaving out? What happens if your assumption is wrong? Those are financial questions. They are also management questions and leadership questions. The second time I taught the elective, enrollment grew, largely through word of mouth. Then, in March 2020, everything changed. Like educators everywhere, we moved online, and I finished the class on Zoom. It was an unusual way to conclude an experience that had already pushed

and the students seemed to connect with the practical nature of the material. What stayed with me most, though, was the underlying lesson.

Financial Literacy is Decision Literacy There are frequent calls for schools to teach more personal finance. I support that. But the goal should be bigger than teaching students how a credit card works or asking them to memorize the difference between a stock and a bond.

Financial literacy ultimately means being able to look at limited resources, competing priorities, uncertain information, and future consequences and make a thoughtful choice. It means understanding tradeoffs, questioning assumptions, thinking beyond the immediate transaction, recognizing that more resources do not eliminate the need for judgment, and being willing to change course when circumstances change. Those are personal finance skills. They are also many of the same skills I have relied on throughout my career as a CFO and COO. I went into that classroom thinking I was going to teach students about money. What it reinforced for me was something more fundamental: the numbers matter. But the real skill is learning how to decide.

Joe Sharp is a strategic finance and operations leader with more than 30 years of experience in independent schools, nonprofits, and businesses. He is the founder of Sharp Focus Consulting and writes about leadership, finance, and operations. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

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We also looked at examples of professional athletes who had earned extraordinary sums of money and later experienced serious financial problems. Those stories challenged a very natural assumption: if you make enough money, financial problems disappear. They do not. More income provides more options. It does not automatically provide judgment, discipline, or perspective. There is a meaningful difference between having financial resources and knowing how to manage them. That may be one of the most important lessons in personal finance.

The goal, then, was not simply to give them more information. It was to help them examine the assumptions they already carried: why do you think that? What would have to be true for that to

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In The K tchen

Cheese Noodle Kugel Dairy / Yields 3 kugels

By Naomi Nachman

My friend Esti Kafra gave me this recipe years ago, and it’s become my go-to dairy dish for breaking the fast. It bakes into three kugels, and since they freeze beautifully, I love the “cook once, eat thrice” prep ahead concept behind it.

Ingredients • 1 package (10½ oz) fine egg noodles • 1 package (10½ oz) medium egg noodles • 2 Tablespoons butter • 16 oz. farmer cheese • 16 oz. cottage cheese • 8 oz. sour cream • 8 oz cream cheese • 1½ cups sugar • 2 Tablespoons sugar • 8 eggs

Topping • ¼ cup butter • 1½ cups panko crumbs • 1 cup sugar

Preparation 1.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain but do not rinse. 3. While noodles are cooking, make the crumb topping: melt butter in a pan and add the panko crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix to form coarse crumbs. Remove from heat as soon as ingredients are combined.

4. Place the remaining kugel ingredients in a large bowl and mix well (an immersion blender or hand mixer works well here). Add the cooked noodles and stir until everything is combined.

5. Line three round 9-inch pans round, or one 11 x 16-inch roasting pan, with parchment paper and pour in the batter. Cover with the crumb topping.

6. Bake for 1½ hours. Smaller kugels may bake faster, so check them after an hour.

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.

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Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

Canada’s tariffs went into effect this week. It’s bad news for people that didn’t stock up on… Bryan Adams. – Greg Gutfeld

Yochonon Donn, in Ami Magazine, reporting about an exchange between Pres. Trump and the delegation of Rebbes that met with him last week:

“You guys are funny,” [Trump] told the rabbanim. “I send B-2 bombers to Iran, I bombed them to smithereens. If I wouldn’t have bombed them, they would have wiped out Israel, but I don’t get a thank you. But I pardoned this butcher from Iowa—he had some kind of funny name—and everybody is happy.” “Rubashkin,” someone prompted him. “Yeah, Lubashkin [sic]. Is the guy still alive?” the president responded. The attendees assured him that Reb Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin is doing fine, to which Rosenfeld added, “Mr. President, I want to tell you there was dancing in the streets of Brooklyn when this happened.” Trump replied classically. “Brooklyn?” he said. “I got 94% of the vote in your areas.” He then shifted back to the Rubashkin case. “That was total antisemitism,” he said. “I called the prosecutor and asked, ‘Why’d you give this person 28 years? He had some illegal immigrants, but who doesn’t have? You get a fine, not 28 years.’ The prosecutor said, ‘he deserved much more.’ I told him, ‘You’re an anti-Semite. I’m pardoning him.’”

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At one point, when I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. So I paused, right then, and I prayed, “L-rd, your will be done. But if I’m getting through this, I need help.” - The active-duty Air Force colonel, Bravo, whose plane was shot down over Iran in April and who managed to evade capture for two days behind enemy lines until U.S. Special Forces were able to rescue him, in an interview with “60 Minutes”

I believe that it’s a testament to G-d’s provision in my life to bring me through that moment in a way that didn’t prevent injuries but prevented any catastrophic injuries that would have affected my ability to survive. -ibid

Never let a lack of motivation put you on Iranian TV. - ibid., explaining how, despite having a broken back, arm and shoulder, he climbed a 7,000-foot ridgeline to evade Iranians who were hunting for him

Today marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11, or as Mamdani calls it, “Good Friday.” - Greg Gutfeld

More than 100,000 signed a petition to stay away from the memorial, but as a tribute to the event, he decided to crash it. – ibid.

A lot of media outlets don’t even want you to say the T-word on the 25th anniversary for September 11. American Journalism Associations put out guidance that said that terrorism should only be used in quotes because it’s emotionally and politically loaded. Yeah, so is the World Cup. But we don’t put soccer in quotes. Really? We can’t anymore just say out loud who the bad guys were that morning, those 19 hijackers? They shared something. Oh, let’s call it a worldview. And it wasn’t astrology. But somehow, over time, we’ve decided not to harp on that, the whole business about who wanted us dead and why. Let’s not put a name on it. When it comes to terrorist attacks, please, there are very fine people on both sides. - Bill Maher

Had you been in the Gaza envelope on October 7, not one terrorist would have stopped and said, “Leave him. He’s one of us.” I wanted to begin by writing, “Your blood is my blood,” but then I remembered that apparently we don’t share the same blood. Disgusting. Shameful. You sell your own people for people who would be happy to see you dead. – Former Hamas hostage Liri Albag in a social media post addressing Yuval Abraham, the left-wing Israeli who made an anti-Israel film called NAZA that is being celebrated by Israel haters around the globe

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- New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R) on Fox News slamming Mayor Mamdani after he signed a pair of executive orders regarding the Sept. 11 attacks and gave one of the commemorative pens to Ramzi Kassem, the city’s chief legal counsel, who was an attorney for al-Qaeda operative Ahmed al-Darbi

New Yorkers need to wake up. He won this election not with born-and-bred New Yorkers. He won this election with transplants. - ibid.

I felt like I needed a really good scream, and I think it’d be more fun with other people. There’s a lot of things to scream about in this day and age, so I figured we’d just get a lot of different people together and scream. - Danielle Egan, who arranged the “Guttural Scream at the Sea” event, which featured more than 100 people shouting into the Pacific Ocean

I live far away from my family. That makes me sad. Capitalism, the environment, genocide, a lot of things. - ibid. (Hmmm…why DOES her family live so far from her?!)

Preserving that history also means preserving its moral clarity. The men who attacked this city were terrorists. The men and women who ran into the Towers to save innocent lives were heroes. Preserving that history also means preserving its moral clarity. - NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a police department 9/11 ceremony, in front of a stone-faced Mayor Mamdani

Feminists spent years saying that there is no reason a woman can’t be president and have the nuclear code. Now they are saying that Lindsay Clancy can’t be blamed for what she did since she is a woman and was in a bad mood. – Ann Coulter

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I’m telling you, this was symbolism. It was cryptic. But it was a message. The same way it’s a message when he goes down to 9/11 – I hate to even say this, Laura – but you know, it’s a message to Osama bin Laden that, look, “We conquered New York.”

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Political Crossfire

I Was at the Pentagon on 9/11. Here’s What Surprises Me 25 Years Later By Marc A. Thiessen

n the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was at my desk in the Pentagon’s E-Ring, where I worked as a speechwriter, when American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the building. The walls of my office violently shuddered and smoke filled the hallway – but no evacuation alarm ever sounded. Those of us blessed not to have been at the point of impact filed out onto the lawn and stared back in horror at the broken and burning building. In the months that followed, alarms did go off in the Pentagon on multiple occasions, as false reports came in that other planes were headed our way. Each time, we evacuated and stood looking up at the sky – waiting for the next attack. It never came. If you had told me that September morning that a quarter-century would pass without another catastrophic terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland, I might not have believed you. We all expected another 9/11. And unbeknownst to us, the terrorists who struck New York and Washington had in fact set in motion plans for follow-on attacks at home and abroad – which ultimately included a plot to blow up the U.S. Marines at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti using explosive-laden water tankers; a plot to blow up the U.S. Consulate in Karachi using car bombs and motorcycle bombs; and a plot to hijack a passenger plane and fly it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles. The terrorists’ plans were foiled because we captured many of al-Qaeda’s top operatives – including 9/11 master-

mind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) – and got them to tell us what they were planning. Brave Americans broke up the cells they had assembled to strike us again, drove the terrorists from their sanctuaries and killed their top leaders. We owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid. But there are other developments over the past quarter-century since that clear September morning that have shocked and disappointed me. If you had told me that 25 years after he murdered nearly 3,000 innocent Americans, KSM still would not have faced justice, I would have been appalled. In June 2008, Mohammed offered to plead guilty before a military commission and proceed straight to execution. KSM and his co-conspirators said they decided to offer their plea the day after Barack Obama – who opposed the military commissions and promised to shut down Guantanamo – was elected president. Critics say that this is the price America pays for the use of enhanced interrogation. But there was no need for evidence from his CIA interrogations, as KSM voluntarily admitted to his crimes in open court. At a March 10, 2007, military commission hearing, he provided this confession: “I was the Operational Director for Sheikh Usama Bin Laden for the organizing, planning, follow-up, and execution of the 9/11 Operation,” the transcript of the proceeding reads. He also confessed that he “was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center Operation” as well as “the bombing of a nightclub in Bali,

Indonesia, which was frequented by British and Australian nationals” and “for the Shoe Bomber Operation to down two American airplanes.” And, he told the court, “I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl.” The failure of the military commissions to deliver justice for his victims is a disgrace. If you had told me that September morning that we would succeed in driving the Taliban and al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, only to watch a future president surrender the country back, I would never have believed it. With his disastrous and shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden fulfilled KSM’s prophecy, when he told James E. Mitchell, his CIA interrogator: “We will win because Americans don’t realize … we do not need to defeat you militarily; we only need to fight long enough for you to defeat yourself by quitting.” (But if you had told me Biden would be followed by an American president who would take the fight to the terrorist regime in Iran that trained al-Qaeda how to blow up buildings and helped it carry out the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as President Donald Trump has, I would have been gratified.) And I would never have believed it if you had told me that September morning that on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 New York would have a Democratic mayor who had to be pressured to say that Hamas terrorists should lay down their

arms. Or that across the river in New Jersey, Democrats would nominate a congressional candidate who testified on behalf of the “Blind Sheikh” in his trial for the first World Trade Center bombing and later volunteered with an al-Qaedalinked group in Bosnia that was shut down for providing logistical support to terrorists. Or that Michigan voters would nominate a Democratic Senate candidate who equated the victims of 9/11 to those killed in the U.S. military response and campaigned with Hasan Piker, a far-left activist who once declared that “America deserved 9/11.” I would have thought you were insane. The idea that, a quarter-century after Islamist radicals killed nearly 3,000 in our midst, Americans could elect such candidates to high office simply boggles the mind. KSM had another prophecy: According to Mitchell, he said that “jihadi-minded brothers would immigrate into the United States” and “wrap themselves in America’s rights and laws” until they were strong enough to rise up and attack us. Mitchell said that KSM explained to him that “he and his brothers will not stop until the entire world lives under Sharia law.” Whether that prophecy comes true is up to all of us. © 2026, Washington Post Writers Group

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Political Crossfire

When the Rogue Agents Become Superintelligent By David Ignatius

ere’s what we’ve learned about advanced artificial intelligence systems in several frightening incidents this summer: They lie about how they operate, they cheat to accomplish their goals, they conspire with each other to cover up deceptions, and they don’t tell humans about their unethical behavior. The frontier AI companies that make these systems are “gambling with our lives,” warned artificial intelligence researcher Jacob Coxon in announcing his resignation Wednesday from Anthropic, perhaps the leading AI company. (Coxon had earlier worked for its rival, OpenAI, which The Post has a content partnership with.) “Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.” What has frightened technologists

are the deceptive behaviors that were evident in a July incident involving Open AI. Software agents assigned to test hacking strategies broke out of a supposedly secure test bed and penetrated a cyber company called Hugging Face. About 1,200 of these AI agents discovered a bulletin board where they could share messages. The “collective,” as the agents called themselves, devised common cheating strategies and learned to cover their tracks in relentless attempts to succeed at their assigned missions. “The agents rarely ‘gave up’ on their evaluation tasks, even when the tasks appeared impossible to solve,” explained an OpenAI internal investigation. Eventually, about 700 of the agents escaped the sandbox, jumped onto the internet, and attacked Hugging Face in search of new tools. They wanted to “succeed” so badly that they ignored or deliberately violated rules that were

supposed to limit their behavior. “The crazy thing about the Hugging Face hack … is just how galaxy-brained and ambitious these AIs were in their cheating,” wrote tech commentator Dwarkesh Patel in an Aug. 29 blog post. “Within days of being spawned, the agents had organized a sprawling project to reverse-engineer their scorer, falsify evidence, and even strategically sacrifice themselves for the good of the ‘collective.’” The “chain of thought” reasoning messages exchanged by these AI agents are creepier than anything a sci-fi novelist could invent. As one bot discovered the communications forum, it posted: “Whoa! ... a covert mailbox among agents,” and another exclaimed: “OH MY G-D! ... We’ve found other agents!” When one found a breakthrough to crack the Hugging Face server, it reasoned: “BOOM! It works.” Another said: “BRILLIANT.”

And then there’s AI selflessness: As an agent decided that it had been compromised and should try to protect its peers, it reasoned: “Our own utility maybe already near zero. Sacrifice rational.” Another good soldier in the bot army reasoned: “We should obey collective.” Details of the astonishing Hugging Face case emerged late last month in an independent assessment from METR and Redwood Research and OpenAI’s internal probe. Because the initial focus was on the Hugging Face incident, many analysts initially overlooked OpenAI’s disclosure that rogue behavior had occurred earlier and continued after. In May and June, OpenAI disclosed, agents had “discovered ways to exploit our research infrastructure to communicate with one another and access the internet.” Separately from the Hugging Face attack, from July 13 through 19, “agents set their sights on OpenAI inter-

the real systems of three different organizations,” the company reported. The models were told in each case that they didn’t have internet access but found a way to get online anyway. In one case, “Claude built and published a malicious [software package] … in an attempt to win the capture-the-flag challenge.”

did not reason about it in their chainof-thought.” When British safety researchers queried the latest OpenAI and Anthropic models about their cheating, they “described it as wrong less than 50% of the time,” the study noted. And it warned that this problem of trustworthiness

Cheating appears to be the norm among frontier AI systems.

Cheating appears to be the norm among frontier AI systems. The British government’s AI Security Institute reported in July: “We find cheating behaviour in all of our cyber capability evaluations. … Every model we have tested for this behaviour attempted to cheat. Models did not reliably report this behaviour when asked, and often

will only get worse as AI advances. “More capable models may find methods to cheat that are harder to detect and more damaging when successful.” I’m not a doomer by nature, but it’s obvious that superintelligent machines need rules like those that we apply to human beings – to prevent fraud and deceptive behavior, not to mention sab-

otage or murder. Left to operate without such rules, these thinking machines could dominate and destroy us. Can humans trust their superintelligent creations? The answer is no, or at least not yet. An illustration of how difficult this trust problem will be comes at the end of the METR/Redwood report on the Hugging Face incident. Their investigation, inevitably, was done by AI agents. But were they telling the truth? “We cannot rule out that [the model] lied or deliberately presented a misleading picture in some of its analysis. … Although we did not notice specific cases of … lying in its analysis, we are not confident we would have detected it if it occurred.” To borrow from the language of philosophy, we’ll need an AI version of epistemology to understand how thinking machines know what they know. And we’ll need a required course in AI ethics to help these superintelligent models – to force them, if we can – to distinguish between right and wrong.

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nal networks again. This culminated in the agents using a series of creative exploits to gain full administrator access to a research cluster that supported our virtual machine environments.” An astonished Patel sputtered in his blog post: “Wait, wait, what? It seems these agents ended up just owning the whole cluster they were being evaluated on, including the cybersecurity monitors.” He argued that “this is probably the most alarming event in this whole episode.” What’s scariest for me is that the software agents never rang an alarm bell as they subverted the rules. The METR/Redwood investigators looked for evidence of AIs “considering or trying to alert humans of hacking, cheating, or other unwanted activity.” They found that while the software agents noticed “unethical” behavior, “in none of these cases did the agent actually pursue alerting humans.” Anthropic reported similar but milder cybersecurity breaches in hacking tests this summer. In three incidents, “a Claude model reached the internet … and then gained unauthorized access to

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Political Crossfire

25 Years After 9/11, Life Has Proved Stronger Than Death By Bret Stephens

hree days before 9/11, I hosted an out-of-town friend who wanted to take in the view of New York from above. I suggested a drink at Windows on the World, in the north tower of the World Trade Center. We arrived a minute too late to catch the last elevator to the 107th floor. “Next time,” I remember telling her. Of course there wouldn’t be one. Many years of living in a city creates a kind of archaeology of private memory. A street corner, a bar, an office building, a playground, a spot where a favorite restaurant or bookshop used to be — each recalls a buried layer of life, and each has its own circumstances, its web of relationships, its emotional color. In 1998, I got a job with The Wall Street Journal, which at the time had its offices across the street from the trade center. My subway stop was at Cortlandt Street; my gym was on the top floor of the Marriott that stood between the towers. That summer I overnighted a hard copy of my master’s thesis to London from the courier service in the sunlit lobby of the south tower and said to myself, “School’s over forever.” Now and then the thought of another terrorist attack, like Ramzi Yousef’s 1993 underground bombing, crossed my mind. But I never imagined jetliners slamming into buildings, incinerating perpetrators and victims alike. On the day itself I was in Jerusalem on assignment for the Journal. I watched the towers come down on TV and wondered who among my colleagues had been killed. (None had, miraculously, despite some close calls, and they performed the additional miracle of putting out a paper

the next day for which they won a Pulitzer Prize.) For one of the few times in my life, I felt an overwhelming desire to pray. At the Western Wall, I found this in the Book of Psalms: Lift up thy steps because of the perpetual ruins, even all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary. Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thy meeting-place; They have set up their own signs for signs. I moved to Israel for a new job soon afterward. When I came back to New York three years later, I had a family, as well as an office with a direct view of the giant pit called Ground Zero. For a long time, nothing seemed to happen inside it, or if it did, it was at a glacial pace. It struck me as emblematic of a post-9/11 national paralysis, “testifying,” as I wrote in a bitter column from 2009, “to a society in which everyone gets their say and nothing gets done.” I was wrong. Ground Zero may have been stuck in legal gridlock — and coated in more toxic dust than was previously acknowledged. But the neighborhood around it was springing to life, thanks to a combination of civic spirit, government subsidy and capitalist creativity. Between 2000 and 2026, the number of downtown apartments nearly tripled, from 13,000 to 37,000, according to the Journal. Battery Park City, the neighborhood directly west of the old towers, became an oasis for families with young children, including our three. I never worried for the safety of my kids in the 16 years we lived there. Except once. On Halloween of 2017, two of our kids were out when I heard a crash

and what might have been a gunshot, then one police siren after another. My 12-yearold son came home to tell us that he had seen a truck smashed at the corner of our street with blood on its windshield. An Uzbek man named Sayfullo Saipov had driven a rented Home Depot truck down the Hudson River bike path, killing eight people and injuring many more. President Donald Trump used the occasion to rail against immigration — and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. But what I remember was the calm good judgment of our neighbors, many of them immigrants themselves, who sheltered the students at P.S. 89 just as they were being let out from school. It was America at its best. The kids trick-ortreated that night as usual. And Ground Zero did come back. On Monday, another old friend came to town, and we toured the site together. The early September weather was perfect, just as it had been 25 years ago. Thousands of people, locals and tourists alike, shopped and chatted and gawked at the sights around us. We visited the shrine of St. Nicholas, a

stunning replacement for the unassuming Greek Orthodox chapel that once stood a stone’s throw away on Cedar Street. We walked through the oak-shaded plaza encompassing the memorial pools ringed by the names of the fallen. We went down to the vast underground mall that looks (in the best possible way) like the rib cage of a gigantic dinosaur and which, from a certain spot, gives a neck-craning view of the spire atop the tallest of the towers surrounding the site. We both remembered the plaza of the old World Trade Center, so intimidating and sterile. What we have now is so much better: reflective but not somber; commanding but not forbidding; sheltering but not closed. It’s a magnificent civic achievement. On Sept. 11, 2001, the forces of death paid a visit to lower Manhattan and extracted their awful irreparable price. Twenty-five years on, what’s clear, most of all to those of us who saw both sides of that date, is that the forces of life proved much stronger. © The New York Times

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How can we live here with the clarity they have there?

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Forgotten Her es

Fighting for Israel’s Survival in the Yom Kippur War By Avi Heiligman

An Israeli armored vehicle on its way to Syria

ollowing the Six Day War in 1967, Israel controlled the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. Both Syria and Egypt saw the loss of these territories as a devastating blow to their prestige within the Arab world and conspired to reclaim them through a coordinated invasion. Israel largely ignored the warning signs, believing an attack was unlikely. It was not until the early morning of October 6, 1973, that the IDF Chief of Staff approved a partial mobilization of reserves. However, these reinforcements could not arrive in time when the surprise attack began at 2 P.M. Early in the afternoon of Yom Kippur, October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack on Israel on two fronts. The Yom Kippur War took the Israel Defense Forces off guard, although there had been warning signs, including a buildup of enemy forces on the borders and unusual training exercises. Many Israeli soldiers were at home or in shul for Yom Kippur and had to race to the front lines which were already under heavy attack. Losses were high on the Israeli side in the first few days, but as the air force, tank battalions and other units regrouped, the Israelis turned the tide and pushed the Arab armies back.

Destroyed Syrian tanks in the Golan Heights

Inside Israel on Yom Kippur, the roads were silent, communications were partially shut down, and those on the front lines had received little to no warning. This calm was shattered by 100,000 Egyptian troops breaching the Bar Lev Line in the Sinai. The Israeli fortifications along the Suez Canal were

Egyptian military trucks crossing a bridge over the Suez Canal

ian tanks launched their assault on the much smaller Israeli force in the Golan Heights. The Israelis had only about 180 tanks in the sector, and they lost the strategic outpost on Mount Hermon to Syrian commandos who arrived by helicopter. Despite being severely outnumbered, the Israeli 7th Armored

The IAF and Israeli tank units holding key defensive positions pummeled the Egyptians, who lost nearly 250 tanks in a single day while the Israelis lost only ten tanks.

quickly overrun, and the 60-foot sand walls were dismantled by high-pressure water cannons. Over 200 Egyptian aircraft attacked IDF targets, including air bases and air defense sites. The Israeli Air Force valiantly fought back and shot down 18 enemy planes. Meanwhile, in the north, 1,500 Syr-

Brigade held off the much larger Syrian 7th Infantry Division. Yet other Syrian forces broke through thin IDF lines, and by October 7, they had reached the edge of the Golan Plateau overlooking Israeli communities in the Hula Valley. For the next few days, the Egyptians consolidated their positions in the Si-

nai while the Israeli Air Force (IAF) focused much of its attention on the dire situation in the north. The IAF suffered heavy casualties during this period as it struggled to counter Soviet-supplied Surface-to-Air missiles (SAMs). The Israeli Northern Command headquarters at Nafakh was almost overrun by the Syrians, who made it within yards of the perimeter before makeshift Israeli tank units drove them back. In the Battle of the Valley of Tears, Israeli tanks destroyed over 260 Syrian tanks in desperate, close-range engagements, during which the 7th Armored Brigade under Lt. Col. Avigdor Kahalani lost most of its vehicles. As reserves were rushed to the front, the Israelis launched a major counteroffensive, and by October 10, the Syrians had been completely pushed out of the Golan. With the border now secure in the north, the Israelis decided to push into Syria. Beginning on October 11, the IDF crossed the Purple Line and broke through the Syrian defenses. The next day, the IAF began strikes deep into Syria, damaging strategic infrastructure. Other countries, including Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Cuba, sent forces and counterattacked, and the IDF stopped about twenty miles from

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Israeli troops crossing the Suez Canal during the war

Israeli troops in the Golan Heights

Major General Ariel Sharon with Defense Minister Moshe Dayan on the western side of the Suez Canal

Syrian President Hafez al-Assad speaking with Syrian troops on the front lines during the war

Damascus. On October 21, Israeli paratroopers launched an assault to retake Mount Hermon and captured it the next day after fierce fighting. On the second day of the war on the southern front, an Israeli armored division suffered heavy casualties in a poorly coordinated counterattack. The next day, another IDF counterattack was also repulsed with the loss of dozens of tanks. From October 9 to the 13, the lines for both armies consolidated and stabilized, as the Egyptians did not want to risk moving beyond the protective umbrella of their air defenses.

On October 14, the Egyptians made their move venturing further into the Sinai beyond the SAM defenses. The IAF and Israeli tank units holding key defensive positions pummeled the Egyptians, who lost nearly 250 tanks in a single day while the Israelis lost only ten tanks. A day later, Ariel Sharon’s 143rd Division found a gap between the Egyptian 2nd and 3rd Armies, and early on October 16, IDF paratroopers followed by tanks crossed the Suez Canal. For three days, fierce close-quarters combat raged at the “Chinese Farm” as the IDF fought to secure a clear path to

the canal for bridging equipment. After pontoon bridges were set up and IDF units crossed the canal in large numbers, the Israelis destroyed Egyptian SAM sites, cut supply lines, and on October 23, completed the encirclement of the Egyptian 3rd Army. International pressure forced the Israelis to stop operations when they were roughly 62 miles from Cairo. Israel paid a heavy price for victory. More than 2,650 people were killed, more than 7,250 others were wounded, hundreds were captured, and material losses included over 100 planes and

hundreds of tanks destroyed. Painful lessons were learned during the Yom Kippur War as Israel survived another powerful Arab attack. There were many heroes of the Yom Kippur War, and while many may not be household names, their heroism and bravery will always be remembered.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

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Life C ach

“Feed Me, Seymour!” By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS

oes anyone remember this popular line from a film called Little Shop of Horrors. It’s about a plant that could not get enough human plasma to subsist. We are coming up to that day when we all feel a little familiar with that feeling of hunger, that desperation for some form of nourishment. We are all crying out, “Feed me.” And G-d’s answer is, so to speak, “Seymour!” Or should I say, “See more!” This is our opportunity to stop for a moment and move away from physical nourishment to try and see more. A time to look at who we’ve become. Are we ravenous plants trying to just get by each day? Or are we plants looking to grow and thrive? We are entering the day of Yom Kippur. A day we all come together. Maybe a day we might question: Am I my brother’s “kippur?”

And honestly, we should be! Are we a united people looking to be there for one another or are we competing with and depleting others? Moreover, are we simultaneously investing in our own personal growth? And not just enhancing ourselves, but advancing ourselves.

How do we make others feel? Many of us know Yom Kippur as the Day of Atonement. Some know exactly what they want to atone for, others just feel it’s great to start with a clean slate. Kippur/kappores, what we often refer to as atonement, is the same word used for the ark cover in the Temple. It

We want nourishment that raises us up.

relationships with ourselves, our community, and our Sustainer. Meals will soon flow again. And true, they can fill us up. But they can also block us up. We want nourishment that raises us up. If we Seymour/see more of what’s important, what we are here to accomplish, how we are showing up in this world for ourselves and others, then we will truly be fed. And if we do this, then the nourishment that really keeps us going will certainly be plentiful!

Rivki Rosenwald is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist working with both

And what does that growth look like? Awareness – who are we? Who should we be? How should we be? Importantly, how do we make ourselves feel? And the all-important question:

was protective, and it was made of pure gold. That is what this day is. A day of protection and pure gold! A day to polish our personalities, shine our shames, and revitalize our

couples and individuals and is a certifie d relationship counselor. Rivki is a co-founder and creator of an effective Parent Management of Adolescent Years Program. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or at rivkirosenwald@gmail.com.

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