Jewish Life
Jewish life, community news, and Torah perspective.
Watch: Ahavat Hashem Gordon Got Married
Thai boxing and kickboxing fighter Ahavat Hashem Gordon got married tonight to Oren Levi in Hadera. Watch.
Yinon Magal Returns from Abroad: "This Is How You Start a Show!" | Watch
During the Patriots program broadcast today (Sunday), host Yinon Magal returned to the studio after an absence and opened the show in an unusual and moving way. Magal chose to recite the HaGomel blessing live…
Daily Rambam (1 Chapter): Daily Rambam: Fasts 5
Have you ever noticed how a small compromise can slowly become a habit? There's an ancient insight that describes this perfectly. It says we start with 'ropes of nothingness', as thin as a spider web.…
Hidden Payments – Seven Bituach Leumi Benefits That People Don't Know About
The state social security system in Israel operates on a much larger scale than most citizens think. The main trap is that many payments are not automatic but require active steps from the recipient. People…
Dramatic shift for.the Temple Mount?
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Tzfat, stated 'We are working on building a synagogue on the Temple Mount.'
The millions in the ketubah are over: The Rabbinate set a new ceiling for grooms
Revolution in the ketubah: The Chief Rabbinate Council set for the first time a uniform threshold for amounts recorded in marriage ceremonies - no less than 36,000 shekels and no more than 360,000, following ketubahs…
You won everything with me: the unthinkable journey of Eli-ah and Ziv from captivity to the wedding canopy
Eli-ah Cohen was in Hamas captivity while Ziv Abud fought for him all over the world with the dresses that became a symbol of the struggle. Now, after a severe injury, grueling rehabilitation, and emotional…
Too old for aliyah? This centenarian Jewish couple proved age is no barrier to moving to Israel
Sitting in their apartment on a sweltering summer afternoon, bowed by old age but not broken, Sandy and Rosalie tell the story of their lives, their aliyah, and their future
When does Shabbat end? This astrophysicist thinks we’ve been getting it wrong
Aster Taylor observes Shabbat on their own time — literally. For the past year, Taylor, a Ph.D. candidate in astrophysics at the University of Michigan, has been keeping Shabbat according to a schedule they devised…
What Parshat Ki Teitzei Asks Jewish People to Do Today
A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org. At the end of the 19th century, the United States Post Office employed a remarkable woman whose work required detective instinct, linguistic brilliance, an encyclopedic knowledge of geography, and an…
‘Shema’: One people, one love
For one extraordinary moment, American Jews of every background, denomination and degree of observance raised their voices in unison in words that Jews have recited for thousands of years
London church celebrating contribution of Jewish émigrés
St John’s Waterloo will hold a symposium and a concert on September 9, telling the story of musicians who fled Nazi Europe
Ki Tetsé: Getting Rid of Hatred (video)
Ki Tetsé contains 74 mitzvot, more than any other Parasha. These laws concern family life, justice, war, and daily conduct. They include the treatment of captive women, the inheritance of the firstborn, the rebellious son,…
💍 MAZEL TOV: Hamas captivity survivor Eliya Cohen and Nova massacre survivor Ziv Abud just got married.
On October 7, 2023, Eliya Cohen and Ziv Abud were at the Nova Music Festival when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel. Ziv survived the massacre in a roadside bomb shelter,
Jews have long fought antisemitism in court. Is the law built for the fight?
When historian James Loeffler set out to write a history of antisemitism and free speech in America, he kept running into the same complaint from opposite ends of the political spectrum: that antisemitism is somehow…
A Plot Where 120 Unknowns Are Buried — and How the Fallen Soldier Was Identified After 78 Years
120 out of 136 graves in the Cyprus immigrant section remain unidentified — including the grave of Shlomo Chaimson, who was shot in the detention camp in 1948. However, a complex cross-referencing of map fragments…
On the Renewal of the Sanhedrin
From the appointment of judges and kings to the laws of war, the Torah portion of Shoftim outlines the Jewish system of governance. Could the path to renewing the Sanhedrin in our times grow specifically…
Rabbi Gideon Langman, beloved of Jerusalem and hero of the Six-Day War, passed away
Rabbi Gideon Langman, beloved of Jerusalem, educator, longtime volunteer in Magen David Adom, ZAKA and the police, and a reserve armored soldier for decades, passed away. Throughout his life, he combined educational work, security service,…
Good news in religious education: A technological high school for girls will open in Samaria
The Samaria Regional Council will open at the beginning of the school year a religious technological high school for girls in Havat Yair for grades 9–12. The school will be managed by Zehava Tamir and…
Parsha: Parashat Hashavua: Ki Tavo
Ancient wisdom teaches that the heaviest burdens can transform into the brightest blessings. In this week's Torah portion, a passage filled with curses points to a deeper truth: love and unity can turn affliction into…
Alex Rif: How a Personal Aliyah Story Became Public Work
Alex Rif walked this path almost literally. But then she turned it from a private biography into a public and cultural program. Rif was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and came to Israel in 1991 at…
Forty-four years and one verse
An experience is also a picture. You stand before it and gaze back at it, and the date is in the past
Massive Plan to Expand City in the Judean Lowlands Faces Opposition
The District Planning and Building Committee is expected to discuss the expansion of Beit Shemesh east of Highway 10, on sensitive green areas. The Jewish National Fund (KKL) opposes and argues: the city can grow…
Instead of the wedding canopy – to the police station: Groom and bride blocked Route 40 and were fined
A convoy of vehicles accompanying the couple deliberately created massive traffic jams and serious disruption to traffic • Police officers from the Rotem district stopped the nuisance, detained the groom and bride at the station…
The kippah in his pocket: Don’t hide your Judaism, you never know who needs to see it - opinion
Recently, my son spent three weeks on an intensive residential course in Australia – long days outdoors, very little sleep, and a great deal of mud. The organizers made sure he had kosher food
Amid bombs, drone-strikes and blackouts, these non-Jewish Ukrainian students are studying Yiddish
Daryna Kahaniuk, a 19-year-old student of English philology at the University of Lviv, was in the middle of an online Yiddish class when the air raid started. Outside, the sirens were wailing. Her phone blared…
Jewish Leaders Must Treat Community Members as Their Brothers and Sisters
A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org. Last week, California State Senator Scott Wiener introduced a proposal that is pure San Francisco. He wants the tunnel through Yerba Buena Island, which connects the two halves of the…
Grossinger’s Catskills resort to be redeveloped as year-round destination
The 1,029-acre former Jewish vacation resort, which closed in 1986 and inspired the film “Dirty Dancing,” will feature new golf, equestrian, hospitality, residential and wellness facilities
The Jewish stomach: 3,000 years of indigestion, anxiety – and finally Tums
The story of the chalky reflux treatment invented in 1928 by the gentile pharmacist James Harvey Howe Sr – and which I carry in my tallit bag – is, like many unexamined aspects of American…
Ki Teitzei: A Torah Portion Full of Mitzvot (Video)
Ki Teitzei: The Torah Portion with 74 Mitzvot (Video) "So shall you do with regard to everything lost by your brother that you find; you may not hide yourself." (Deuteronomy 22:3) Ki Teitzei: "It may…
War and uncertainty drives Israelis seeking quiet abroad
When Iris Meiri-Snir moved from Israel to northern Italy last month, she gave up a job she loved, proximity to her children and grandchildren, and the social and professional ties she had built over a…
Thousands of avreichim and yeshiva students await publication of rabbinate exam dates in Cheshvan
Thousands of avreichim and yeshiva students are waiting for the publication of the dates of the Chief Rabbinate exams in the month of Cheshvan. The uncertainty regarding the exam dates makes it difficult for them…
The Budget Is Enormous, the Challenges No Less: The 5787 School Year Opens
The 5787 school year opens with the second-largest budget in the country, new programs, and a series of ambitious goals. Alongside the enormous investment stand teacher shortages, difficulties in special education, gaps that begin in…
Daily Tanya: Tanya Yomi: 10 Elul
Before you were born, you made a promise to yourself. A classic Jewish text called the Tanya describes an oath each person takes before entering the world: to be righteous, to choose growth. But this…
Israelis Not Returning Home – Alarming Knesset Data
In recent years, the number of Israelis returning to the country after prolonged residence abroad has sharply declined. According to a report by the Knesset Research and Information Center, between 2020 and 2024, the number…
Ki Teitzei: Drafting Yeshiva students
My father, the Rav HaNazir, and Rav Tzvi Yehudah were of the opinion that everyone is obligated to go out and fight. This was a milhemet mitzvah, a compulsory war, in which all are expected…
I now live in 'injury time': The couples who decided to turn their lives around
What do you do when children spread their wings and the home empties? Dozens of couples in chapter two, cancer survivors, and people who simply tired of the routine, meet at the 'Couples Club' to…
"Mobilizing for Reserve Soldiers": The Reservists' Fair Sets Out
After three years of war - it's time to say thank you. In a new series of fairs in four locations across the country, hundreds of businesses owned by reservists from all fields will participate:…
Tracing roots: Why every Jew should reclaim family histories disrupted by the Holocaust - opinion
Among Jews, tracing ancestry is a voyage of discovery. Many Jews of European background grew up believing that their relatives on both sides of their families had been murdered during the Holocaust
Nigeria has more than 100 synagogues — but hardly any rabbis. This summer camp wants to change that.
On summer mornings in Abuja, Nigeria, a small fleet of cars fan out across the sprawling capital city carrying unusual cargo: children headed to Jewish day camp. In a one-story synagogue on a dirt road…
The Two Narratives for the Jews of Ukraine
Some windows glow in a residential building left without heating and facing long power cuts after critical civil infrastructure was hit by recent Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv,…
Research shows Jewish young adults engage informally and are open to deeper engagement
Three-quarters of Jewish young adults in the United States say they do something Jewish regularly, often at home with family or friends, according to new research from Sense Worldwide, commissioned and released by the Jim…
Dressed-to-impress roasted salmon for Rosh Hashanah
Clad in a fetching coat of herbs and pomegranate, this simple showstopper is bound to be a winner
Deeply Moved to Now Be Franco-Israeli
Writer Rachel Khan has officially made aliyah, realizing a project she describes as a childhood dream. Here she shares the emotion of her new nationality. Today I am thinking of my grandparents, of my Herck…
Tens of Thousands at Selichot at the Western Wall: Hostage Survivors Participated in Special Thanksgiving Prayer
Tens of thousands participated in the Selichot ceremony at the Western Wall, alongside hostage survivors who recited a special thanksgiving prayer for their return.
The Extraordinary Letter from the Religious Education Forum to Minister Kisch: 'Enough is Enough'
Less than ten days before the start of the school year, the Religious Education Forum warns that salary budgets for Jewish studies teachers are still delayed. The forum demands that Education Minister Yoav Kisch intervene…
Hayom Yom: Parashat Hashavua: Ki Tavo
What if the moments that feel like curses could become your greatest blessings? This week's Torah portion describes a scene: the entire community standing between two mountains, symbolizing a choice. It opens with gratitude for…
Tishrei Vacation: Which Date Can Save a Family Over $1,000?
August isn't over yet, but those already planning a trip abroad for the Jewish holidays of Tishrei can save significantly if they choose their dates carefully. A price comparison for travel packages to popular destinations…
A nation of one
We are not just a united nation. We are a nation of one, so interconnected that we are like a single person. A look at the parasha's topics shows it
The Race Against Time to Save the Tourism Capital of the North: 'They Asked if It's Allowed to Walk Here in a Swimsuit'
Tiberias is already looking toward 2030 and preparing for the possibility of a papal visit and millions of pilgrims, but Mayor Yossi Naveh knows that before the great vision, a city awaits him that is…
Haredi protesters block Jerusalem cafe amid ongoing months-long dispute over Shabbat opening
This marks the eighth consecutive week of protests. Several MKs, including Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, have joined counterprotests in previous weeks
Jack Ukeles, who used data and idealism to shape Jewish communal life, dies at 89
(JTA) — Throughout a storied career of more than five decades that included key roles in teaching courses at elite universities, policy planning for city and state governments and community surveys for Jewish organizations around…
The Jewish History of Prague (PART TWO)
Tombstones are seen at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic, April 20, 2020. Photo: Reuters / David W Cerny. Part One of this article appeared here. The Thirty Years War The devastation of…
Jewish educators return from Israel after eight-day education mission
Twenty-four educators gain new perspectives and resources during an eight-day Jewish National Fund-USA and Muss mission, strengthening their ability to inspire the next generation of Zionists
The forgotten sheaf: this week’s parashah, Ki Tetzei
When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow—in order that…
Ki Teitzei: The Laws That Govern War (video)
If peace, shalom, is one of the six values, along with Torah, prayer, altruism, truth, and justice, by which the universe is sustained and endures, war can and must only be an exception to this.
Rabbi Sabato's Recipe: How to Merit Sons Who Are Torah Scholars
Rabbi Chaim Sabato presented the answer to a question that occupies many parents: The attitude towards Torah and Torah scholars begins at home and passes to the children.
Record for Bnei Akiva: 314 Female Coordinators to Enter Branches
On September 1, 314 female coordinators (komeriyot) will enter Bnei Akiva branches from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat, compared to 275 last year. This represents an increase of about 14% in the number of coordinators who…
Daily Tehillim: Parashat Hashavua: Ki Teitzei
We often carry the weight of yesterday or worry about tomorrow. But the truth is, the past has already passed, and the future hasn't arrived. The only moment we ever really have is this one.…
611 Shekels Already on August 20 — Who Is Eligible for the Payment
The child allowance from the National Insurance Institute is a basic social benefit that helps families cover the costs of raising children. Families residing in Israel are entitled to this benefit for each child up…
