by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 20, 2023 | Ki Teitzei
Soon after the Communists gained power in Russia, they began placing restrictions on Jewish practices. Ultimately, all Jewish educational institutions were forced to shutter, while those spotted in synagogues risked being fired from their jobs. As the decades passed,...
by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 17, 2023 | Ki Teitzei
John Wayne was one of Hollywood’s most famous and most successful actors, appearing in more than 175 movies. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award, winning the Oscar for Best Actor in 1969 for True Grit. And his powerful performance in The Searchers has...
by Mindy Rubenstein | f 17, 2023 | Elul, Repentance
My great-grandparents, Moshe and Kayla (Morris and Katy) Tanenbaum, for whom I am named, came from religious families in Ukraine and tried to preserve their Jewish life even in the U.S. Katy’s father, Fishel Rubin, was a rabbi and sent his daughter far away from the...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 10, 2023 | Re’eih
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki Several verses in this week’s Torah portion address the topic of charity for the poor. The subject is mentioned in the context of a discussion of the forgiving of loans during the Sabbatical year. During the Sabbatical year, every seventh year,...
by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 26, 2023 | Kindness and Compassion, Re’eih
Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (1793–1876) was one of the great Hassidic rabbis of his generation, and a tremendous Torah scholar. He had 15 children, all of them holy, and many great and holy Jews among his descendants. When it came time to marry off his youngest...
