Mountains are central to our history. The first mountain we encounter is Har Hamoriah, where Avrohom Avinu approached to bring his son Yitzchok as a korban.

On that mountain, malochim appeared to Avrohom and Yitzchok. On that mountain, Yaakov Avinu experienced kedusha and received tremendous brachos. On that mountain, the Bais Hamikdosh was built.

The mountain that hosted so much holiness also experienced great tragedy. Though it witnessed immense kedusha, during the time of the churban its holiness was defiled and tumah found a resting place there. We anxiously await the day when the Shechinah will once again return there together with the Bais Hamikdosh Hashlishi.

The Torah also speaks about Har Gerizim and Har Eivol, the mountains near Shechem. Upon one, eternal brachos were proclaimed. Upon the other, eternal curses were declared for those who do not follow the Torah. The mountain of blessings was lush and green, while the other remained barren and desolate. They remain that way until today.

In Nach, we read about the mountain upon which Eliyohu Hanovi confronted the false prophets of the avodah zorah known as Baal.

But of all the mountains, the one most central to who we are is Har Sinai. Though physically small, it towers over the entire landscape of Jewish history. On Shavuos, we picture millions of Yidden encamped around it, overwhelmed with tangible awe. They had traveled for forty-five days, following Moshe Rabbeinu through a hot and dusty desert in order to reach it.

Their journey had truly begun at brias ha’olam, when the world itself was created. The nation was moving toward its ultimate destiny. Bereishis, Chazal teach us, bishvil haTorah shenikreis reishis – the world was created so that the Torah could eventually be given to the Jewish people.

There was thunder and lightning. The sound of the shofar echoed powerfully, growing louder and louder. Smoke rose from the mountain, which stood beneath a thick cloud. The Divine Voice reverberated throughout creation, shaking the foundations of the earth. The Bnei Yisroel trembled with fear as they watched their leader ascend the mountain and disappear into the arofel, the thick fog.

On Shavuos, as we revisit the story of Moshe Rabbeinu ascending Har Sinai, we are reminded that the road to the highest levels of kedusha is rarely smooth or clear. More often, it passes through fog, smoke, and uncertainty. The Torah tells us, “Vayavo Moshe besoch he’anan,” and later, “Moshe nigash el ha’arofel asher shom ha’Elokim.” Moshe entered the cloud and approached the dense darkness where Hashem’s Presence rested. Moshe Rabbeinu did not receive the Torah beneath calm and peaceful skies. It came amid thunder, lightning, smoke, and heavy fog.

Perhaps that itself was part of the lesson.

A person may think that drawing closer to Hashem always comes with clarity, serenity, and immediate inspiration. But the Torah teaches otherwise. Very often, before reaching greater light, a person must first pass through confusion. Before attaining deeper holiness, he encounters resistance, distraction, and what Chazal call tishtush hamochin, a fogging of the mind and spirit.

Wherever there is kedusha, there is tumah attempting to oppose it. The greater the potential for holiness, the stronger the forces that seek to obstruct and contaminate it. To demonstrate this, at the very moment the world was about to become forever elevated through Kabbolas HaTorah, Har Sinai was surrounded by arofel, darkness, and smoke.

That pattern has repeated itself throughout history.

Whenever Yidden sought to build Torah, strengthen themselves spiritually, or establish places of purity and growth, opposition inevitably arose. Sometimes the resistance came from external persecution and hardship. At other times, it emerged internally, through confusion, cynicism, temptation, or spiritual exhaustion. The greater and stronger the structure of kedusha becomes, the more aggressively tumah attempts to seep through the cracks and poison it.

Yet, those who seek taharah do not become lost in the fog or frightened by it. They understand that it is part of the process. Moshe Rabbeinu moved forward into the arofel because he knew that beyond it rested the Shechinah itself.

The challenge facing those who strive for greatness in Torah and avodas Hashem is to continue advancing even when clarity fades. To keep learning, davening, building, and striving despite the noise, confusion, and distractions swirling around them. The yeitzer hora tries to convince a person that if he feels uninspired, overwhelmed, or spiritually blocked, he should retreat. But the lesson of Har Sinai teaches the exact opposite. Sometimes, the greatest growth occurs precisely when one pushes through the fog rather than surrendering to it.

This is the foundation of the nisyonos involving emunah and bitachon. It is easy to believe when everything is clear. But we must also recognize the Hand of Hashem when it is hidden, when life becomes difficult and events do not unfold the way we hoped.

Throughout the generations, our forefathers understood this truth. They knew that there are periods of darkness and hester, and that the path to kedusha, survival, and a blessed Yiddishe life is not by avoiding struggle, but by refusing to allow struggle to define or stop us.

That message is especially relevant in our generation, when distractions are endless and confusion is everywhere, when moral boundaries become blurred and spiritual fog surrounds us. We live in an age of superficiality, shortened attention spans, and short memories. It is easy to lose clarity regarding who we are and what we are meant to strive for. This is the modern form of arofel.

We must continue pushing our way through the fog, recognizing that if we persevere – if we maintain our sense of kedusha and Torah values – we can continue climbing until we reach the place we seek, “asher shom ha’Elokim,” the place beyond the darkness where Hashem resides.

The Brisker Rov was the mesader kiddushin at a wedding. Standing under the chupah, it came time for the chosson to place the ring on the kallah’s finger and declare her his wife. As the young man attempted to put the ring on her finger, he became so nervous that he began shaking and dropped the ring.

His father bent down, picked up the ring from the floor, and handed it back to the chosson. Once again, the chosson’s hand trembled, and as he tried to place the ring on his kallah’s finger, it slipped and fell to the ground. His father picked it up and returned it to him.

The nervous chosson made a third attempt to place the ring on the girl’s finger. Once again, the seemingly simple task escaped him and the ring dropped to the floor. This time, people began murmuring. Someone turned to the rov and remarked, “This seems like a sign that they should not be getting married. Perhaps their match is simply not bashert.”

The rov shook his head. “No, no,” he replied. “This is a sign that the couple was meant to marry now and not three minutes earlier.”

Upon hearing those words, the young man relaxed. His father handed him the ring once more, he placed it on the kallah’s finger, and declared, “Harei at mekudeshes li… kedas Moshe v’Yisroel.”

The study of Torah is difficult, and many times, while learning, we feel as though we are trapped in arofel, lost in a fog of confusion. We cannot follow the back-and-forth of the Gemara or understand the kushya or teretz of Tosafos. We convince ourselves that the sugya is beyond our ability to comprehend. We feel tempted to close the Gemara and find something easier to occupy ourselves with.

But we must remember that this is the way of the Torah. It does not come easily. Nevertheless, we immerse ourselves in it, and after much toil, we slowly begin to understand and appreciate its beauty and brilliance.

Rav Shmuel Auerbach related a story that he heard from a direct witness, ish mipi ish. One of the holy tzaddikim of Yerushalayim possessed a kemei’a that he would lend to people in need of a yeshuah. The Kabbalistic parchment had been written by the Taz, author of the Turei Zohov on Shulchan Aruch. The kemei’a was known to be exceptionally powerful, and many who used it saw their problems resolved.

The owner of the kemei’a was extremely curious about what was written on the concealed parchment that possessed such extraordinary power. Although opening an amulet generally causes it to lose its effectiveness, he reasoned that perhaps he could copy the secret names of Hashem and the malochim written on it onto a new parchment and preserve its power to help those in desperate need.

When he carefully opened the ancient sacred document, he was astonished to discover that it did not contain holy names or the names of ministering angels. Instead, in the handwriting of the Taz, there was only a single sentence: “Dear Creator of the world, in the merit of my deep toil to understand the words of Tosafos in Chullin on daf 96, please bring salvation and blessings to the person wearing this amulet.”

That is the power of Torah. This is the reward for laboring to understand the words of a Tosafos.

The Torah grants life to those who struggle through the arofel in order to understand and absorb its holy words and messages. The strength it gives its faithful adherents is eternal. But to attain a true understanding of Torah, we must possess patience, discipline, and wisdom. We must never give up or surrender.

The first Jews who received the Torah had their own arofel: the slavery of Mitzrayim and the descent into the deepest levels of tumah. Their faith sustained them as they followed Moshe Rabbeinu out of the country and through the Yam Suf. Within forty-nine days, they prepared themselves to receive the Torah at Har Sinai. They fought their way through the fog of Mitzrayim’s tumah and elevated themselves to the highest levels attainable by man.

On Shavuos, we read Megillas Rus, the story of Na’ami and her daughter-in-law, Rus. Two courageous women survived tremendous tragedy and rose above their personal arofel to become the ancestors of Dovid Hamelech and ultimately Moshiach. Rus HaMoaviah rose above the depravity of her homeland and became a devoted giyores. Nothing deterred her from remaining loyal to Torah and the Jewish people. She endured poverty and loneliness while pursuing the path she had chosen. In return, she merited royal descendants and eternal blessings. We continue to await the arrival of her descendant, the ultimate redeemer.

Rus had every reason to return to Moav and to the wealth she had left behind when she married into the family of Elimelech, yet she so eloquently bound her destiny to the Jewish people. Her story inspires us to persevere during difficult times. It is yet another reminder that those who follow the path of Hashem and cling to Torah and mitzvos with determination will ultimately flourish and succeed.

Rather than retreating, she moved forward. Instead of surrendering to what appeared to be overwhelming obstacles, she demonstrated that commitment to Torah is always preferable to any alternative. We, too, must never give up, no matter what difficulties we encounter in the observance or study of Torah.

When Hashem appeared to the Bnei Yisroel and offered them the Torah, they responded in unison, “Na’aseh venishma – We will do and we will hear whatever You tell us.” Their response was so praiseworthy that the Gemara in Maseches Shabbos (88a) relates that afterward, malochim placed two crowns upon the head of every Jew, one for na’aseh and one for nishma. A bas kol rang out proclaiming, “Who taught My children this secret?”

Many ask what was so extraordinary about na’aseh venishma that it elicited such a dramatic response. Perhaps we can explain that by responding in this manner, they were declaring: “Na’aseh – we will live according to the dictates of the Torah and follow its commandments. Venishma – and we will accomplish this through dedicating ourselves to the study of Torah. No difficulty will stop us from working as hard as we can to understand the words of the Torah. We will not become lost or deterred in the arofel.”

Na’aseh venishma. We have been repeating that pledge for thousands of years. Wherever we are, whatever language we speak, regardless of our geographical distance from major Jewish centers, despite the ravages of exile, golus, churban, and pogroms, we continue proclaiming together, “Na’aseh venishma.”

Those words are what distinguish us and what have sustained us throughout the ages. We have been protected by the Torah and by our loyalty to it and to what it demands of us. The other nations that once filled the world have disappeared throughout history. We remain because of those two words that guide and define us.

On the Yom Tov of Kabbolas HaTorah, we once again stand at Har Sinai and proclaim, “Na’aseh venishma.” We receive the Torah anew and are reminded of our mission and purpose. Shavuos is not merely a commemoration of what our ancestors accepted long ago, but a renewal of our own commitment to live as people shaped and elevated by Torah, today and every day.

My uncle, Rav Avrohom Chaim Levin, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Telz, once recalled a difficult period in the yeshiva when an incident had deeply shaken the rosh yeshiva, Rav Elya Meir Bloch. The atmosphere in the bais medrash was tense as the talmidim gathered to hear the rosh yeshiva speak. They expected a fiery rebuke, a painful description of how low a person can fall. As they entered and took their seats for the shmuess, they feared what he would say.

But Rav Elya Meir spoke about something entirely different.

“We already know how low a person can sink,” he said. “Now let us speak about how high a person can rise.”

And with the classic mussar emphasis on gadlus ha’adam, he delivered a shmuess about possibility, about the greatness contained within every Jew, and the heights each person can attain.

The great mashgiach, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, would say that while it is a serious failing for a person not to recognize his deficiencies, it is an even greater failing not to recognize his strengths and qualities. A person who ignores his weaknesses cannot improve himself, but a person who ignores his greatness cannot even begin the journey upward.

Perhaps this is one of the central messages of Shavuos as well.

The Torah was not given to malochim. It was given to human beings who struggle, fail, become discouraged, and sometimes lose clarity. Yet, Hashem looked at those very human beings and entrusted them with His Torah because of what they are capable of becoming.

The yeitzer hora wants a person to focus obsessively on his weaknesses and failures, convincing him that holiness and greatness belong only to others. But the yeitzer tov reminds us that the opposite is true.

The fire of Har Sinai burns within the heart of every Jew.

The fire of Torah possesses the power to illuminate the neshomah and burn away the tumah that seeks to envelop it. Even during periods of arofel and choshech, confusion and spiritual exhaustion, every Yid possesses the strength to continue moving forward, to walk through darkness with purpose, and to strive upward as a kadosh reaching toward Heaven.

So often in life, there is a temptation to surrender, to convince ourselves that the burdens are too heavy, the distractions are too powerful, and the challenges are too overwhelming. A person may feel that he has stumbled too many times to ever rise again.

But the nation that declared “Na’aseh venishma” is not a nation that gives up.

The very essence of those words was the willingness to continue forward despite uncertainty, despite difficulty, despite not fully understanding what lay ahead. At Har Sinai, Klal Yisroel demonstrated that it understood that greatness is achieved by accepting the challenge of growth.

Every Shavuos, as we once again accept the Torah, we are reminded not only of our obligations, but also of our greatness. We remember that we were created for more than mediocrity and distraction. We were created to rise, to horeveh in Torah, to grow, and to become a great nation of great people.

For those who carry the words “Na’aseh venishma” within their souls, no challenge is insurmountable and no height is beyond reach.

We speak about greatness, holiness, and climbing toward Heaven. We speak about the crowns that were placed upon our heads at Har Sinai, about walking through the arofel, about becoming anshei kodesh while living in a difficult physical world filled with challenges. But all of this can sound lofty and distant, as though true greatness belongs only to malochim and not to ordinary people like us.

The Torah teaches otherwise.

There was once a great commotion in the town of Sadigura. Rav Yisroel of Ruzhin had come to visit, and crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of the great tzaddik and perhaps receive a brocha. A young child heard the excitement and asked what it was about.

“A rebbe as holy as a malach has come to town,” they told him. “The heilige Ruzhiner is here.”

Curious and sincere, the child pushed his way through the crowd until he stood before the rebbe. He carefully walked around him, studying him from every angle.

The rebbe noticed and asked the boy what he was looking for. “I was told that the rebbe is a malach, and my cheder rebbi taught us that in Akdamus it says that malochim have six wings. I am looking for your wings.”

The rebbe looked down at the cherubic young boy and smiled. Pointing to the six sons accompanying him, he said, “These are my six wings.”

The Torah does not ask us to escape our humanity and become malochim. It asks us to elevate our humanity. True greatness is not found in withdrawing from life, but in sanctifying it. The wings that lift a Jew Heavenward are not hidden somewhere beyond this world. They are built here – through raising children, building families, learning Torah, refining our character, helping others, persevering through struggle, and remaining loyal to Hashem and His Torah.

Moshe Rabbeinu entered the arofel not to stop being human, but to demonstrate that a human being can ascend far beyond what he imagined possible. Klal Yisroel stood at Har Sinai and affirmed that ordinary people of flesh and blood could live lives infused with kedusha and eternal meaning.

And every year on Shavuos, we stand there once again, hearing the call to greatness and reminding ourselves that despite the darkness of the times, despite the distractions of life, our weaknesses, and our struggles, we are the people to whom Hashem spoke at Har Sinai, and we are the people to whom He gave the Torah. That upward path still exists.

We are not malochim. But we possess the wings that can carry us as high as we wish to go.

Let’s go.

Ashreichem Yisroel.

Gut Yom Tov.

A Shavuos Chinuch Message

S_havuos_ is an intense time of year. We are accustomed to hearing from our rabbeim that just as Rosh Hashanah is a Yom Hadin regarding what will transpire in the coming year — who will live and who will die — Shavuos is also a Yom Hadin regarding Torah and ruchniyus. On Shavuos, it is paskened how much ruchniyus we will have and how much of a connection to Torah we will attain. Our rabbeim said this in the name of the Shelah Hakadosh and others.

I remember as a bochur, as we approached the Shloshes Yemei Hagbolah, and especially during the long seder that most yeshivos have right before Yom Tov, that there was an intensity in the air, a feeling of, “I had better learn, because my whole year of Torah is dependent on this.”

We felt a strong pressure. For many bochurim, it was a good thing. It was a motivator. It got us into it. However, for others, it was too much. There were those who felt, “I am not really into it. I don’t feel the mesikus haTorah.” They were constantly gauging themselves: “Am I really learning well? Do I really love Torah? Did I say Ahavah Rabbah with enough kavanah? After all, this Ahavah Rabbah is certainly the most important Ahavah Rabbah of the year…” And if they weren’t sure that they were doing it right, they didn’t feel good. They didn’t respond well to the pressure, and some therefore thought, “I sort of want this pressure to be over. Pass the cheesecake…”

Pressured Parents = Pressured Parenting

This feeling of pressure is not limited to yeshiva bochurim. In some ways, parents feel an even greater sense of pressure than their children. If our child comes home from school with a less-than-perfect mark, or if we see that the child does not have such a cheishek for learning, we feel a certain innate pressure building up.

Some parents especially feel that pressure around Shavuos time. It starts with the tens of emails and reminders hanging in shuls not to forget to say the Tefillas HaShelah on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan. The Tefillas HaShelah is a wonderful tefillah. It is full of feeling and contains what are probably the most important bakashos any parent can have. It should be said with seriousness, and even with tears if they come naturally. Yet, at the same time, there is this feeling of pressure for parents as we approach Shavuos. We look at our children and wonder: Do they really have a kesher with Torah? How many times will they get up for a coffee and a shmooze during Shavuos night? Is he really learning? Is she really ehrlich? What does she have on her SD card that I don’t know about?

Being a parent and hoping that your children are going down the right path is something that is fraught with anxiety today, and for good reason. Nevertheless, we must understand that if we are anxious, our children sense our anxiety. Then they become anxious and begin to associate ruchniyus, Torah, and Yiddishkeit with a sense of pressure and anxiety.

Home Should Be a Cocoon of Love

The great mashgiach of Lakewood, Rav Matisyohu Salomon, would often speak about the fact that the tremendous love and closeness that a father feels for his child could sometimes work against him and at times create pressure and friction. He therefore advised many parents to hire someone else to learn with their children, as he himself did for his own children.

Similarly, Rav Matisyohu did not feel that the Shabbos table is the time to “interrogate” a child to see whether he knows the parshas hashovua. The Shabbos table, the mashgiach felt, should be a calm, happy, low-pressure, relaxed family time. The pressure of having to know the answers to the questions contradicts the very purpose of what the Shabbos seudah — and indeed the Yiddishe home — is meant to be.

A child who comes home from school should feel like he is coming home to a place where he is loved and accepted unconditionally, regardless of his conduct in school. The home is not a continuation of school. It is the natural place where a child should feel comfortable and free of pressure. When one asks questions on the child’s parsha sheets, the child may feel, “If I know the answers, I am accepted and loved, and if I don’t…”

Not Even a Tiny Bit of Anxiety

I have the zechus of being in the middle of writing a book about the Zidichover Rebbe of Chicago, Rav Yehoshua Heschel Eichenstein, whose second yahrtzeit will be marked later this month. A cousin of his once asked him why he rarely learned with his children, and the rebbe replied, “I will tell you the truth. When I was growing up, if a father was learning with a child and the child didn’t know the Gemara or Chumash, he got a frask. Thus, for many kids (and their parents), learning with a parent became a source of anxiety. Even if I wouldn’t hit my children for lack of knowledge, I don’t want to even have a tiny bit of anxiety as a result of learning with them, and I don’t want them to detect even a smidgen of anxiety or disappointment on my part.”

He strengthened his point when his son, as an adult, asked him why he had not demanded more of them as children.

“I always wanted my children to feel comfortable,” he told his son warmly. “I wanted them to feel like their home was a safe haven, not a place where a taskmaster was driving them.”

The Two Parts of Shavuos

Shavuos is a time of great ruchniyus opportunity. It is a time when we bond with Hashem, a time when we should exude tremendous simcha that we have the great matanah of the Torah and that we were chosen by Hashem to be the nation that received His Torah. Indeed, it is such a time of simcha that it is the only Yom Tov regarding which the Gemara teaches us that we must display our simcha by also indulging in “chatzi lochem.”

The Gemara teaches that there is a machlokes regarding the other Yomim Tovim as to whether one is obligated to indulge in gashmiyus, in seudos and delicious foods in honor of Yom Tov. However, the Gemara continues, that machlokes applies only to the other Yomim Tovim. When it comes to Shavuos, everyone agrees that a person must also have lochem, at least half for oneself (referring to the gashmiyus), and half for Hashem (referring to the ruchniyus). Yes, everyone agrees that on Shavuos, one must also have the lochem — the gashmiyus — such as delicious seudos and the like.

How Chatzi Lochem Can Lead to Increased Chatzi LaHashem

To truly be dovuk in Hashem, a Yid must not feel constant pressure and anxiety, because that can often boomerang and produce the opposite effect. Sometimes, the very fact that there are beautiful seudos and an atmosphere of simcha can help a person imbibe the ruchniyus of the Yom Tov in a healthy way, without undue anxiety and pressure, and without constantly gauging whether he is really “dovuk in Torah” or whether one’s child is “really going on the proper path.”

Attaining ruchniyus for oneself can be tricky and counterintuitive. Sometimes, too much can lead to too little. In that way, the yeitzer hora is a really sly fox.

When it comes to trying to ensure that the ruchniyus of one’s children is progressing properly, it is perhaps even more complicated. What seems right can sometimes be wrong — and often the opposite. Each child is a world unto himself. His needs are unique, and just because his brother or sister needs something, or because a certain type of chinuch worked for one’s siblings, does not mean that it will work for him.

Children Are Too Important and Too Individual for a Set Brocha

The aforementioned Zidichover Rebbe of Chicago would often illustrate the importance of individuality in chinuch with the following thought. In Shemoneh Esrei, we don’t find any brocha where one should daven for his children. Why? After all, aren’t children the most important gift in a person’s life? We find that people can have everything — wealth, honor, a good marriage — but if they don’t have children, they feel that they have nothing. If children are so important, why didn’t the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah create a separate tefillah or brocha in Shemoneh Esrei on their behalf?

The rebbe strengthened his question further by asking: Isn’t the whole idea of tefillah learned from Chana, when she davened for a child, for Shmuel Hanovi?

The rebbe answered that the reason the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah instituted a set text for Shemoneh Esrei was because they understood that there would come a time when people would not be able to daven with proper kavanah. They therefore wanted to institute a uniform nusach that would “work” even when people could not properly focus.

Children, however, are so important that every person will daven and find the right words even without a set brocha.

Not only that, the rebbe continued, but it is not possible to create one uniform nusach wherein one davens for one’s children, because each child needs something different. What is good for one child may be harmful for another. Each child is an individual, and therefore each parent must daven for each child on an individual basis, with tefillos begging Hashem to provide that child’s individual needs and strengths.

A gutten, freilichen Shavuos, full of chatzi laHashem and also chatzi lochem!

I hope my readers will forgive me. On Lag Ba’omer, I boruch Hashem participated in four weddings, then two more before Shabbos. No complaints, chas veshalom. Simchos are great. But I am a bit obsessed with chasunos right now, so let’s explore the famous Shavuos–chasunah analogy.

The Gemara (Eruvin 54a) famously states that “this world that we must someday leave is like a wedding. Grab and eat, grab and drink.” As we all know, Chazal meant that this world passes quickly and we must seize every possible mitzvah and moment of learning.

The Chofetz Chaim elaborated: “This world is like a chasunah hall. Every day there is a different wedding. One day this group is dancing, the next day another. The dancers from the night before are gone. Others have taken their place. While you are there, snatch what you can.”

The Chofetz Chaim doesn’t need my emendations. However, after last week, I would humbly add as follows. Sometimes we see some of the same people. They may have danced more energetically at the last wedding; they may have spent longer in the middle circle. Perhaps here they were closer relatives or friends; perhaps at the other they were just peripheral. For myself, once I was from the chosson’s side, once from the kallah. We must know our place and recognize our role wherever we go. The common denominator is that we should try to bring joy wherever we go and contribute to the event.

The Steipler Gaon added an important factor to the metaphor. He noted that at the table, there is no need to struggle for food. The waiters attend to the guests, making sure that they receive their desired portion. But at one end of the hall, there is a bar. Leaving aside all other considerations, here it is self-service (at least some places). If you don’t take something for yourself, you end up thirsty and unhappy. This world, too, he concluded, is self-service. We must get up and take what we require. Chatof ve’echol, chatof ve’ishti.

We can now add that when we were young, our parents fed us and made sure we absorbed what we needed. Later, to change metaphors, our teachers fill us with knowledge, wisdom and good thoughts. Later, when we reach maturity, we are expected to forage for ourselves. While we may watch many people at these wonderful affairs, when we get home, we must attend to ourselves. Often, after a vacation or Pesach in a hotel, the children look around on the first morning home, asking, “Where’s the waiter? Isn’t there a tea room?” The answer is, “No. Go get it yourself.” That is the message of the Gemara and the reminder of Shavuos. We must chap every opportunity to learn Torah and do mitzvos, for the clock is ticking loudly and rapidly.

Rav Reuven Karelenstein adds a pithy point to the wedding scenario. The wedding preparations take months. There are many things to accomplish. A date must be set, housing obtained, a menu formulated, the band, flowers and music must be chosen, photographers must be hired, kibbudim shared and decided upon. But on the great day, if there is no ring, there is no marriage. Even if the chosson carefully said, “Harei at mekudeshes,” but forgot the crucial “li,” they are not married. It was all for naught. That is the moshol, but the nimshol is poignant and distressing. If we come into the world and forget our purpose; if we strive, spend, run, jump and avoid why we were placed here, it was a tragic waste of energy, potential and incredible resources lost forever.

The Medrash (Tanchuma, beginning of Chukas) tells the story of someone who was traveling from Eretz Yisrael to Bavel. He witnessed the strange sight of two birds fighting with each other, to the point that one actually killed the other. However, the winner quickly flew and returned with a certain herb. He placed it upon the dead bird, bringing it back to life. Our traveler thereupon seized the magic blade of grass and began bringing the dead back to life. He spotted a dead lion, used his new device and brought it back with a roar. Unfortunately, the lion promptly ate him. The Medrash concludes that the man was a fool. If you are given the power to resurrect the dead, don’t use it to commit suicide yourself.

Chazal (Tomid 32a) ask, “What should a person do to live? He should kill himself.” Of course, this doesn’t mean literally. It does mean that we should use all our energies, resources, wherewithal, talents and gifts to serve Hashem and accept the Torah unconditionally. One of the reasons Hashem picked up the mountain, holding it above us, was to instill yiras Shomayim in us. In fact, meforshim (see Oheiv Yisroel, Parshas Shekalim) teach that fear of Hashem is only completely instilled in a person when he is moser nefesh for Torah or a mitzvah. Rav Elimelech Biderman (Be’er Hachaim, Shavuos, page 442) cites stories and peirushim proving that this includes a small act or even thought of yiras Shomayim.

One example is from the Sheim M’Shmuel (Naso 5674). He states that if someone undertakes to become a nozir, he is immediately forbidden to become tomei, even for the seven closest relatives to whom a Kohein may and indeed must make himself tomei. This shows us that even the tiny moment when a person makes a vow or other commitment, he is filled with a higher kedusha even than a Kohein. This shows us that if we accomplish something difficult, even for a moment, we have justified our stay here on earth.

Rav Meilech goes on to demonstrate that being moser nefesh for Hashem’s Torah and mitzvos brings one the miracles he may need. The Mishnah (Avos 5:5) relates that one of the miracles in the Bais Hamikdosh was that the Bais Hamikdosh was totally full and cramped with people who had come to fulfill the mitzvah of visiting there on Yom Tov. The neis was that although they could barely fit when they were standing near each other, when they prostrated themselves, there was still room for all. Rav Meilech explains that the neis only happened because people were willing to stand in cramped quarters, being moser nefesh for the mitzvah.

It is well known that Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach was of the opinion that Shavuos is the Yom Hadin for Torah. He derived this from his uncle Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer’s reading of a Ran, but he treated the statement literally. To the rosh yeshiva, on Shavuos it is decided if we would succeed in our Torah studies that year and to what extent. It is interesting to recall that Rabbi Shlomo Lorencz, longtime member of the Knesset and confident of many gedolei Yisroel, floated an idea to the Chazon Ish about the yeshiva world. He wanted to differentiate between two types of yeshivos. One would be for the brightest, most excellent of students and the other for those with limited capabilities. He felt that this would allow for the future leaders of Torah to grow in an atmosphere conducive to their talents and the others, too, would gain without facing challenges too difficult for them.

The Chazon Ish was adamantly opposed to such an arrangement. He explained that we never know who will emerge as those future leaders. It could be that through mesirus nefesh and diligence, an apparently limited talmid would rapidly grow into the gadol we would later revere and seek for guidance. As we now know, the Netziv of Volozhin was one such initially weak talmid, as was Rav Pesach Pruskin, the rebbi of none other than the posek hador, Rav Moshe Feinstein. Not only do we never know, but Mattan Torah was for everyone, because we are all invited to the wedding. Yes, sometimes we have to get up and feed ourselves — Torah and middos — but if we make the effort, we will own the Kabbolas HaTorah and can grow beyond what anyone, including ourselves, thought was possible. May we all have a successful and productive Shavuos, growing by leaps and bounds at the most beautiful wedding of all.

Last Shabbos, the Shabbos before Shavuos, is always Parshas Bamidbar. It is known by some as Shabbos Derech Eretz. The Mishnah in Avos teaches us that derech eretz kodmah laTorah, that proper conduct precedes Torah, and so before we can receive the Torah on Shavuos, we pause for a Shabbos of mentchlichkeit, of refinement, of derech eretz.

But for many Americans, it had a different name. President Trump named it Shabbos 250 in honor of the United States semiquincentennial. I guess that our president, who has no qualms about vilifying his opponents and is not known for his genteel civility, chose another name for the Shabbos. But that is fine.

After all, as part of his Jewish American Heritage Month proclamation, he designated this past Shabbos a “National Sabbath” as part of his vision to “Rededicate 250” in honor of the 250th anniversary of American Independence.

And honestly? Credit where credit is due. This is a president who, whatever else one wants to say about him, has shown a genuine warmth toward the Jewish people, one that we have not always enjoyed from the Oval Office. He moved the embassy to Yerushalayim when every predecessor balked. He pardoned Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin. And has surrounded himself with Jewish advisors who keep Shabbos, daven three times a day, and don’t think twice about leaving the West Wing early on a Friday afternoon. So when the man asks his Jewish citizens to honor the Shabbos, the appropriate first response is not cynicism.

I am not exactly sure what Shabbos has to do with the 250th anniversary of American independence. The president advocating for shemiras Shabbos is quite a curious notion, but, in fact, many Yidden were kvelling. After all, no sitting president ever asked Jews to keep Shabbos. George Washington wrote a nice haskamah letter to the Touro Synagogue. President Reagan gave a drosha at Temple Hillel, where former Ambassador David Friedman’s father served as the rabbi. But “Yidden, heet Shabbos!” — words immortalized by the Munkatcher Rebbe — were not expected to be echoed by Donald Trump.

Like all things Jewish, and all things Trump, the reaction was mixed. Some were excited, others suspicious.

Truth be told, he is not the first political figure to make the pitch. Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, who was shomer Shabbos his entire career in Washington, wrote a book in 2011 called The Gift of Rest, an open exposition on Shabbos addressed to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, with across-the-board endorsements from leaders of the Mormons, the Southern Baptists, and of course prominent Jews. Even Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist killed last year, left behind a posthumous bestseller called Stop, in the Name of G-d, about the value of keeping a Shabbos. Shabbos has somehow become a crossover product. The world, it seems, has discovered or are at least becoming curious about what we have been doing in our homes and shuls since Har Sinai.

But as much as the world dabbles in this “day of rest” idea, we can’t forget that Shabbos is exclusively our and belongs to no one else. It is that special sign, the ois between the Ribono Shel Olam and Klal Yisroel alone. Not for the world. Not even for the world to experiment with. Akum sheshovas chayov misah. A nochri who keeps Shabbos in the way that we do crosses a line. It is our sign, our signature, our weekly testimony that Hashem made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and that we, His chosen, were the ones who said na’aseh venishma when everyone else refused even to read. Even for a nishma first.

Which is exactly why, charming as the president’s gesture was, we cannot afford to outsource our Shabbos to the goodwill of the goyim. We are the guardians. The umos ha’olam may admire the institution from a respectful distance, and that is sweet, but the responsibility for protecting Shabbos belongs to us alone, and history has more than once required us to prove it.

Think of the Shabbos marches in pre-war Europe, when frum Yidden in Lithuania, even in Germany, paraded through the streets to protest the Sabbath desecration that was creeping into Jewish life. Think of the great Shabbos rallies in New York and Chicago in the early twentieth century, when our great-grandparents who had crossed an ocean and lost jobs every Monday morning for keeping the seventh day took to the streets to demand that Shabbos be honored in the home, the shul, and the workplace. Rav Yaakov Yosef Herman, of All for the Boss fame, lost positions, lost income, and lost respectability in the eyes of his neighbors all because Shabbos was non-negotiable. They didn’t have presidential proclamations. They had mesirus nefesh.

It did not come with slogans, or pomp and internet sign-ups, or half-baked commitments to make a president proud. It came with mesirus nefesh for the entire Shabbos to make the Ribono Shel Olam proud. And as gracious as the president is, let’s not forget our job.

A talmid of Rav Shlomo Freifeld once told me how he was the driver for my zaide, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, together with Rav Yitzchok Hutner. The driver got lost in an area of Brooklyn not friendly to bearded rabbis. As he meandered through the mean streets, Rav Hutner became nervous. “Freg a politzmahn,” he implored. “Ask a policeman.” My zaide, well versed in the streets of Neherda’ah, said, “Don’t worry. Go two blocks. Make a left. After the first light, another left. Then an immediate right, and there’s the entrance to the highway.” Rav Hutner was insistent. “Please. Ask a policeman.” So the bochur found a police car and asked. The officer took one look at the two sages in the back seat, understood the gravity of the situation, and began: “Turn around, go four blocks, and make a left. After the first light, another left. Then an immediate right and you’ll see the entrance to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.”

My zaide turned to his dear friend with a smile. “Nu, Reb Yitzchok. Az d’goy zugt, dos iz es besser? When the gentile tells you, are you happier?”

It is a fair question to carry into Shavuos. Yes, we were flattered by the Presidential Proclamation. Yes, we appreciate the president’s recognition. But our Shabbos was beautiful before it was a “National Sabbath,” and it will be beautiful long after the bunting from the 250th comes down, even if it is only a comparable handful of Yidden keeping Shabbos kehilchasa.

This week, as we did 3,338 years ago, we stand at Har Sinai again and once again answer na’aseh venishma before we’ve even heard the question. The other nations were offered the Torah and passed on it. We said yes before we read the fine print. The Ohr Hameir, a talmid of Rav Zev Wolf of Zhitomir, who was a talmid of the Maggid of Mezritch, explains that shemiras Shabbos is a weekly embodiment of that very na’aseh venishma. We stop creating, we surrender control, and we enter Hashem’s world before we fully understand it. Every Shabbos, we relive the moment our nation chose emunah before everything.

That may not be what the president had in mind, but it is certainly what we must have in mind.

So thank you, Mr. President. The recognition is appreciated, the warmth is felt, and the gesture is historic.

But the gift of Shabbos was never in question for the people who already knew it. We were guarding it in Hungary. We were guarding it on the Lower East Side. We were guarding it in Kelm and Slabodka and Telshe. We are guarding it now. We will not have to wait another 250 years for another National Shabbos.

For Trump, it may be Shabbos 250.

For us, it’s Shabbos 3,338.

Just Saying.

Rav Dov Landau’s Statement Sends the Country into a Tizzy

The Israeli political world is in an uproar. While we projected last week that the next election will take place in half a year, on Tuesday, 16 Cheshvan 5787/October 27, 2026, the events of the end of the week changed everything. It all began with a statement issued by Rav Dov Landau, especially the instructions in his own handwriting that accompanied it. This reshuffled the deck and may have set the stage for sweeping change.

The biggest question at this moment is what the chareidi parties will do: Will they spearhead an initiative to move up the election, or will they leave the date of the election in place but act as if the current government does not exist? Then there is another question, although it concerns a scenario that doesn’t seem very realistic right now: What will happen if Netanyahu manages to have the draft law quickly passed at the beginning of the week? Will the chareidim return to business as usual? Will they even return to the government? (Remember, the chareidi ministers resigned from their positions in protest over the failure to pass a draft law.) The reason this seems unrealistic is that even Netanyahu might have no real interest in passing the law at this time. He might prefer to enter an election without having passed the draft law, which is bound to be one of the hot topics of the election campaign. On the other hand, he does have a good reason to pass the law immediately—so that the chareidi parties do not look for different partners after the election. Moreover, if he wants to pass the law in the coming days, he may encounter less resistance within the ranks of his own party. The Likud members are beginning to understand that their opposition to the draft law might lead to the fall of the right-wing government in the next election.

What grabbed the country’s attention in particular was Rav Landau’s declaration that the chareidim will no longer maintain their allegiance to the right-wing bloc. In the past, the chareidi parties worked with all their might to ensure that the political right would remain in power; that will no longer be true. Everyone began talking about the prospect of an early election as if it was sensational news, but let’s put things in perspective. For one thing, the opposition has no real reason to celebrate, since they aren’t really in the picture. If the government falls, it will have nothing to do with their efforts, and if the election is moved up, they will not be able to claim credit for it. They have no impact on these events. Another point, no less important, is that even if the election takes place earlier, it will be moved up only by a month or two; the difference isn’t all that dramatic.

This week, coalition members Ofir Katz (the coalition whip and a member of the Likud party), Uri Maklev, Yinon Azulai, Tzvika Fogel (of Ben-Gvir’s party), and Ohad Tal (also of Ben-Gvir’s party) submitted a bill to dissolve the Knesset. Let me repeat that: This bill came from members of the coalition. If an early election is inevitable, the coalition prefers to have it result from a bill they submit rather than one that comes from the opposition. This is a political move rather than a matter of public image; the coalition prefers to remain in control of every political measure.

An Election in Elul May Benefit the Religious Parties

As soon as the Knesset approves a bill for its own dissolution, the law determines the sequence of events that ensues. The bill may even pass this Wednesday, before Shavuos, given that the opposition has promised to introduce their own bills to dissolve the Knesset then, in the hope that they will receive the support of at least some of the chareidi representatives. Personally, however, I beg to differ with the confidence expressed by Lapid and company. I don’t think that any chareidi member of the Knesset will support the bill, at least to avoid supporting sinners. At the same time, the Likud might decide to bring its own bill to the Knesset for a vote, which would receive the support of the coalition. And if that happens, the government will enter a transitional period before the election. But while it is possible that this will occur on Wednesday, I would wager that it won’t happen all that fast. After all, there is no real rush. According to the timetable set forth in the law, the election will not be held before the end of Elul in any event. Therefore, the most we can expect is for the election to be advanced by about a month and a half.

For the chareidi parties, however, this difference in timing may make a very big difference. If the election is moved up to Tuesday, September 15, for instance, it will take place on the fourth of Tishrei, or the day after Tzom Gedaliah, in the middle of the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. This would be an excellent development for the chareidi parties, especially the Shas party. It is a time when tens of thousands of Jews who are tempted to vote for all sorts of other parties come to the Kosel every night to recite Selichos, and it is certainly an excellent time for the chareidim to attract voters. Even if the election is moved up to September 1 or September 8, a week or two prior to the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, it will still be taking place toward the end of Elul and just before Rosh Hashanah¸ when the Jewish spark and commitment to tradition within every Jew can more easily be rekindled. For the Shas party in particular, with its vast Sephardic voter base, this is an especially conducive time to attract undecided voters. The Likud party, meanwhile, has no objection to the chareidim receiving more votes on account of the election’s timing, but only on the condition that the right-wing bloc remains intact.

Meanwhile, there are others in the government, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who are not interested in having the election moved up even by a single day. They would prefer to use all the time remaining to them to pass new laws that will help them remain in power or at least will restrict the power of the Supreme Court. Finance Minister Smotrich is likewise uninterested in an early election, since he is in the middle of creating a budgetary revolution for the settlements in Yehuda and Shomron. He would prefer to have the election held later, after he has finished allocating funds for those communities; he believes that he will fare better at that time, whereas the current polls are showing his party floundering around the threshold.

In short, we have an interesting week ahead of us, and possibly an interesting month. Of course, that is nothing new; we are often living in interesting times here in Israel.

The Right–Wing Bloc May Retain Its Strength

Everyone has known all along that there would be an election within the next few months, but now that there is a possibility that it will be held earlier, all the political parties have been thrown into turmoil—the Likud party above all. Everyone in the Likud was preparing for primaries, but the dozens of candidates—those who are in the Knesset and hope to be reelected, and those who are not yet in the Knesset but hope to join its ranks—will have to move up their own preparations now as well. And there is another important point to keep in mind: According to the party constitution, a new party member must complete a 16-month qualifying period in order to be eligible to participate in the Likud primaries for the Knesset list. This means that anyone who joined the party in recent months will be able to vote in the primaries only if the general election and the primaries are held on their original dates. But if the Knesset dissolves earlier and the election is moved up, the Likud primaries will be held earlier as well. In that case, according to estimates within the party, between 10,000 and 20,000 new party members will not have completed their qualifying periods and will not be able to participate in the vote.

Now, why should this interest us? I will tell you a secret: There are thousands of chareidim who registered in the Likud as new members. This doesn’t mean that they would vote for the Likud in the general election, but they will certainly vote in the primaries. And their votes can make a very big difference.

But let’s take a look at the other side of the political map as well. As you know, there has already been one merger in the anti-Netanyahu camp: Naftoli Bennett and Yair Lapid have joined forces. It was very unclear if this alliance would bear fruit, and for the time being, the polls show that it hasn’t made much of a difference. Lately, there has been talk of another merger, this time between Gadi Eizenkot and Yvette Lieberman. Each of them heads a party that is worth between seven and ten mandates in the Knesset, and they hope that a union between the two parties will create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, leading them to rake in at least twenty mandates. The final goal is ostensibly for all four parties to unite, in the hope that they will be able to cross the threshold of 61 mandates as a bloc. That hope, however, is the stuff of fantasy. The opposition can never win 61 mandates on their own; they actually hope to cross that threshold with the Arabs’ support and to establish a coalition along with them. The opposition might not admit to this, but it is truly the only option for them, and it would be a very bad scenario for the chareidim. For now, however, the right-wing bloc has been maintaining its strength, and all the polls show the Likud party emerging as the largest party in the next election as well.

What about the chareidi parties? Rumor has it that Shas is planning to replace some of its representatives in the Knesset; however, I am not sure if that is true. The Shas party members in the Knesset have all been highly successful. Within United Torah Judaism, which includes both Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisroel, there will probably be the usual arguments over the rotation agreement and which faction will lead the slate, and each faction will threaten to run separately, but there will be a shared list in the end as always. Will any of the representatives be replaced? Degel HaTorah has no reason to replace anyone, and within Agudas Yisroel, of course, it depends on what the rebbes decide. At this point, the Agudah is represented by Yitzchok Goldknopf of Ger, Yisroel Eichler of Belz, Yaakov Tessler of Vizhnitz, and Moishe Roth of Sanz. I would project that none of them will leave.

Free Speech Meets Double Standards

Naftoli Bennett recently filed a libel suit against Minister Idit Silman, a former member of his party who was actually responsible for bringing down the infamous Lapid-Bennett government. Silman claimed that Bennett took psychiatric medication, in a bid to demonstrate that he is psychologically fragile and not suited to lead the country, and Bennett decided to take her to court for it. It is unclear why this would be considered a libelous statement, given that we live in a generation when no one is ashamed—or, at least, no one is supposed to be ashamed—of suffering from emotional disorders. It is said that half the country has been categorized as suffering from anxiety, while the other half lives on antidepressants. In any event, keeping in mind that Bennett decided to sue Silman, one must wonder why he felt justified commenting, “Because of the chareidim, our soldiers are being killed.” What could possibly justify voicing that thought, which is surely more slanderous than any comment about someone’s mental state? Bennett has apparently failed to hold himself to the same standards that he imposes on his critics.

Are you wondering, perhaps, if this was a single slip that does not represent Bennett’s true mindset? Unfortunately, that is not the case. This week, after the chief of staff of the IDF addressed the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Bennett repeated his claim: “The ongoing draft evasion is costing the lives of our soldiers.” This clearly wasn’t a fluke; on the contrary, it is part of an organized campaign. And accusing others of causing the deaths of soldiers is far worse than claiming that a politician takes medication for anxiety.

Yair Lapid, Bennett’s close ally, is guilty of the same incitement and slander. Yesh Atid regularly sends text messages to anyone whose phone number is recorded in their database of supporters. About a month ago, Lapid wrote to his voters, “Pay attention: The government stole millions of shekels of your money in the middle of the night and passed it on to Deri and chareidi activists. You fight in the army, you run to bomb shelters, and they steal. Now is the time to lift up your heads; Yesh Atid will put an end to this thievery and return the money to the public. You can count on us.” Again, why is this appalling rhetoric permitted at all?

This, at least, can help us understand the common ground between Bennett 2026 and Yesh Atid. These two political parties are toxic, their rhetoric dripping with venom. But our question stands: Why are they permitted to speak in ways that are prohibited to others such as Idit Silman? In fact, the left seems to have given itself the right to make any statement of any kind, no matter how vicious or slanderous it is. And that is aside from the fact that they have launched a massive campaign of delegitimization against the current government and the chareidi public, branding them as enemies of the state and parasites.

Drone Crosses Border, Injuring Three

Last week, I wrote about the problem of the Hezbollah drones. These primitive, simple devices have proven themselves quite dangerous. The highly advanced Israeli army does not know how to contend with a weapon that is so old and unsophisticated. The drones have already killed several IDF soldiers in Lebanon, and over the past two weeks, 17 victims were evacuated to Rambam Hospital in Haifa suffering from various degrees of injuries inflicted by the explosive drones. A soldier who visited a wounded friend related, “Almost every day, helicopters have been landing here carrying soldiers wounded by the drones. The Israeli forces in Lebanon are completely exposed, and no one knows when a drone is about to strike, since there are no warning systems. The drone simply appears and explodes. It is insane that the army still hasn’t come up with a development to prevent these drone strikes, which are the greatest threat facing our troops in Lebanon now.”

Another soldier serving in Lebanon added, “Our troops have not received any instructions for dealing with this threat. The only means of protection we have is the fishing nets placed on military vehicles. The drones with fiber optic cables arrive quietly, taking our soldiers by surprise. The forces are constantly worried about the threat, since they don’t know when or where the drones will catch them. There is no way to intercept these drones, which have become the greatest nightmare of our forces in Lebanon.”

A doctor reported that the soldiers wounded by the drones suffered injuries primarily on their faces, necks, arms, and legs, areas of the body that have less protection. A helmet and sturdy vest can prevent more serious injuries.

The defense establishment is working around the clock to find a solution that will reduce the drone threat level within a period of days to weeks. Over 100 proposals have already been examined, and some of those ideas will indeed be implemented for soldiers in the field. This week, it was reported that combat teams in southern Lebanon are expected to receive drone-detection kits. Defense officials admit that the equipment isn’t 100 percent effective, but it is a system that might give the soldiers the priceless seconds they need to take cover when an incoming drone is detected. Meanwhile, as you probably understood, the IDF has been protecting its vehicles, and sometimes its soldiers, with a type of netting that is supposed to catch a drone several meters before impact.

Last weekend, a drone crossed the border and injured three Israeli civilians, one of whom was critically wounded. The victims were struck in the parking lot of the grotto site at Rosh HaNikra, near the Lebanese border. The victims, residents of Metulla, are workers at the tourist site, which is currently closed to visitors. The IDF condemned the drone strike as a “blatant violation of the understandings of the ceasefire on the part of the terror organization Hezbollah.” Residents of the north, meanwhile, accused the government of abandoning them and called for the fighting in Lebanon to increase and for Hezbollah to be completely eliminated. The prime minister has already talked about eradicating both Hezbollah and Hamas, but it seems that the IDF hasn’t yet fully accomplished that goal.

Moshiach Patch Infuriates Chief of Staff

A major uproar erupted last week over an incident in the IDF. One might say that this incident illustrates the army’s lack of tolerance and accommodation for chareidim; however, it is possible that the chief of staff was correct and that the issue was one of discipline rather than religion.

Here is what happened: Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir paid a visit to soldiers from the Nachal Brigade serving in the Shomron. Many of the soldiers in the brigade are religious, and Zamir encountered a soldier wearing a patch with the word “Moshiach” on his uniform. These patches have become somewhat fashionable in the army in recent times, perhaps as part of the general atmosphere of greater spiritual awareness in the country as a whole since October 7. However, the chief of staff complained to the soldier’s commander about the patch and ordered him to be disciplined, and the soldier was sentenced to 30 days in military prison.

When the story became public, it triggered a firestorm of outrage. The backlash against the chief of staff and the commander was ferocious. Parents of soldiers wrote bitterly, “The facts cry out to the heavens. This is a soldier who just completed two rounds of fighting in Lebanon. He doesn’t wear a yarmulke at all, but he chose to wear a patch expressing a common sentiment of hope and faith among Am Yisroel and its soldiers. This soldier was in the middle of a shift on guard duty when the chief of staff noticed him, and instead of being appreciated for his service, he found himself placed behind bars for a full month and removed from the battlefield. This is not the way to treat a hero. Belief in the coming of Moshiach has been a cornerstone of Jewish history and culture,” the parents continued. “It has accompanied us throughout the exile, amid pogroms and revivals. When the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Force chooses to send a soldier to jail for expressing basic Jewish faith, he is spitting in the faces of thousands of fighters, religious and secular alike, who draw their courage from tradition and faith. The army of the Jews cannot and does not need to fight against its faith.”

The parents demanded the soldier’s immediate release, and his mother wrote an emotional letter as well.

The army tried to minimize the damage by defending its actions. The commander of the brigade wrote to the soldiers, “It is important for you to know that the full responsibility rests on me. I acted as I did because discipline is a basic value that begins with us, the commanders, and encompasses all our soldiers. Unfortunately, the lack of discipline both in operational events and on routine duty is a threat to human life. The patch isn’t the real story here; the story is the values that we teach. The Nachal Brigade must serve as an example and a model in this area as well; that is our duty. Anything is preferable to a soldier being killed because of a lack of discipline. I believe in this path, and the background noise around it is part of it. Please ignore it.” In other words, he insisted that the soldier wearing the patch was punished to preserve discipline, not for ideological reasons.

What is the truth here? Is the army fighting against any display of Jewish faith, or is it merely part of an effort to enforce military discipline, including the rule against wearing anything that is not part of a military uniform? I imagine that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Netanyahu’s Secret Trip to Abu Dhabi

This wasn’t the only news story that caused an uproar in Israel this week. Last Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Office released an official statement consisting of a couple of lines: “In the middle of Operation Roaring Lion, Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu secretly visited the United Arab Emirates and met with the president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. This visit led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.”

This led to a veritable explosion among the public. Why was it necessary to publicize the matter, especially at this time? What did Netanyahu hope to gain? For now, it is impossible to determine the answers to these questions. It might have been an effort to drum up further public approval in advance of the election, or perhaps to distract the public from the furor over the draft law. Alternatively, it is possible that the story had already been leaked and Netanyahu preferred to announce it publicly before anyone else would report it. In any event, it certainly caught the country’s attention.

Perhaps I should elaborate a bit on this story. The secret visit took place during the war, on March 26, and was several hours long. Netanyahu visited the city of Al Ain, which is on the border between the UAE and Oman and is about 250 kilometers from the coast of Iran. Interestingly, on the very same day, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ navy was eliminated.

The response from the Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates was surprisingly furious: “The United Arab Emirates denies the reports being spread regarding the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to this country or a reception for any Israeli military delegation on its territory. The UAE emphasizes that its relations with Israel are open relations established within the framework of the Abraham Accords and are not based on secrecy or confidential arrangements. Any claim of visits or arrangements that were not announced to the public has no basis in fact, unless it was publicized by officially authorized bodies in the United Arab Emirates.”

This begs the question: If the public announcement of Netanyahu’s visit angered them so greatly, why did Israel reveal it?

In light of the denial, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, Ziv Agmon—who was dismissed after he was recorded mocking Knesset members from the Likud party—published his version of the story: “Having accompanied the prime minister on this historic trip, which was top secret until today, I can attest that the prime minister received a royal reception in Abu Dhabi. The sheikh honored the prime minister greatly and personally transported him in his private vehicle from the plane to his palace. The things that the prime minister accomplished during this visit will be spoken about for generations.”

Without getting into all the details or understanding all the motivations, I can say one thing with certainty: Leaving Israel for another country, especially an Arab country, in the middle of a war and spending at least a day and a half there without anyone’s knowledge is an incredible accomplishment on its own. In the modern era, when everything is exposed to the public and it is almost impossible to keep a secret, it is amazing that Netanyahu was able to leave Israel for two days and meet with the head of an Arab state without anyone being aware of it.

Despite Global Turmoil, the Judges Continue Attacking Bnei Torah

The world is in a state of upheaval, whether it is in Ukraine, in China, or in the Straits of Hormuz. Israel is at war and the residents of the north are trembling with fear … yet the Supreme Court is going about its business as always. And that business, unfortunately, is the business of persecuting the chareidi public. Anti-religious organizations and other entities are still filing petitions against anything and everything connected to chareidim, and the judges continue listening to their petitions and issuing verdicts intended to restrict and suffocate the chareidim even more. No one can deny that they are driven by powerful hatred for the Torah and those who study it, along with the single-minded goal of toppling the Netanyahu government. The leftists are doing everything in their power to frustrate the chareidim, hoping that their frustration will spill over to Netanyahu and break the alliance between them. Among the latest petitions, one was filed by a Reform organization known as Chiddush, while another came from a member of the Knesset who belongs to the Labor party (which has since renamed itself the Democrats party). The petitioners’ identities are all we need to know in order to divine their motives.

The Knesset Finance Committee previously approved a transfer of 1.1 billion shekels for chareidi schools. These funds, as usual, had mostly been transferred to the schools already during the academic year of 5786 and were approved retroactively by the committee (although the Finance Ministry approved the actual transfers before they took place). The petitioners immediately complained to the Supreme Court that the retroactive approvals were illegal, and the judges accepted their arguments and demanded explanations. The government explained that this is a standard procedure and that the judges themselves receive salaries that are approved only retroactively, after they have been paid for the year. This didn’t exactly convince the judges, but after it became clear that most of the money had already been transferred in practice, the judges decided that it was a fait accompli and there was no reason for them to issue a ruling. During that hearing, Treasury representatives argued that it has been the standard practice for years for the government to approve expenditures at the end of the year even after they were already carried out.

However, the petitions quickly expanded to encompass the legitimacy of the funding itself, and the petitioners argued that the funding is illegal because chareidi schools do not actually teach the core curriculum. That is, even though the schools declare that they do teach the core subjects (in the case of girls’ schools or the lower classes in the chareidi school networks), the petitioners claimed that it is untrue. The judges discussed this issue last weekend and ordered the state to explain how it verifies that schools receiving government funding are indeed teaching the core curriculum of secular subjects. The judges decided that the government must answer their question within two weeks and that the Supreme Court would issue an amended interim order permitting the transfer of funds only to such schools.

In other words, the chareidi school system is about to absorb another economic blow.

It should also be clear that this isn’t the end of the story. The judge asked the government representatives, “How can you trust schools that claim to teach the core curriculum when they admit that they do not have teachers who are trained to teach those subjects?” One can already guess that the judges will rule that the government is not permitted to fund such schools even if they claim to be teaching the core curriculum, unless they can prove that they actually do so and can identify teachers on their faculties who are qualified in those fields.

Another stunning turnaround.

Another dissident once denounced as a dangerous conspiracy theorist now sitting at the peak of power — armed with the authority to act.

Four years ago, Tulsi Gabbard was just a private citizen, a former Hawaiian congresswoman who went public with her concerns about a sprawling network of U.S.-funded biological laboratories operating overseas.

Back in March 2022, Gabbard publicly accused the Biden administration of concealing the existence of biolabs in Ukraine and other foreign countries, and researching dangerous pathogens.

Her warning came days after senior Biden official Victoria Nuland acknowledged during congressional testimony that Ukraine possessed “biological research facilities” — a statement that contradicted wholesale denials circulating from government officials and major media outlets.

As reported by Yated at the time, Nuland was responding to questions from then Senator Marco Rubio of Florida (now Secretary of State), during her testimony at a March 2022 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

Sen. Marco Rubio: Does Ukraine have chemical or biological weapons?

Victoria Nuland: Ukraine has biological research facilities, which in fact, we are now quite concerned Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of. So, we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach.”

Nuland’s testimony was seen by many as confirmation that the United States was in fact funding bioweapons facilities in Ukraine.

Sounding the Alarm

“There are 25 plus U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine, which, if breached, would release and spread deadly pathogens to the United States and the world, causing untold suffering and death,” Gabbard said in a podcast. She called for the labs to be secured and the pathogens destroyed, emphasizing the biosecurity risks, and warning of possible outbreaks.

“Instead of covering this up,” she urged, “the Biden-Harris administration needs to work with Russia, Ukraine, the EU, the UN, NATO and all relevant parties to immediately implement a cease-fire in the vicinity of these labs until they’re secured and all these pathogens destroyed.”

Gabbard noted that in addition to the biolabs in Ukraine, “the United States funds over 100 such facilities around the world that are engaging in dangerous research, including gain of function similar to the lab in Wuhan.”

“After realizing how dangerous and vulnerable these labs are, they should have all been shut down two years ago,” Gabbard insisted. “But they have not been.”

“Why is this research something that is so critical, not being done in secure labs within the United States?” Gabbard asked on a Fox News show in 2023. “Why is this research being outsourced? And if they have nothing to hide, why are they trying so hard to hide it?”

Another witness at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that heard the shocking testimony from Victoria Nuland was Dr. Steven Quay, chief executive officer at Atossa Therapeutics Inc. He co-wrote a Wall Street Journal column citing four studies that provide strong evidence for the lab-leak theory.

One study, published by Nature Medicine, concluded the original Covid-19 pathogen was 99.5% optimized for human infection, which is strong confirmation of the lab-leak hypothesis.

Quay was asked at the Senate hearing by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., if he was concerned about the expansion of Chinese GOF research. In response, Quay pointed out that in December 2019, Chinese researchers were “doing synthetic biology on a cloning vector of the Nipah virus, which is 60% lethal.”

“We just experienced a 1% lethal virus,” Quay said, referring to Covid-19. Noting the Black Plague “was a 20% lethal event that set the world back 250 years, a pandemic of the Nipah virus (associated with encephalitis, a severe swelling of the brain), would set us back a millennium.”

‘Conspiracy Queen’

As a May 2025 Yated article reported, Gabbard made allegations about the Biden administration covering up its funding of overseas biolabs when the federal and media censorship machine was running at full speed.

Not surprisingly, she was immediately mocked as the queen of conspiracy theories and trashed by Democrats in Congress and their media allies.

“Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda. Her treasonous lies may well cost lives,” Senator Mitt Romney spewed out.

USA Today raced to “fact check,” slamming Gabbard’s allegations as “Russian disinformation.”

“Russia Teams Up with China to Amplify False Claim of U.S. labs in Ukraine,” the paper’s headlines warned darkly.

Forbes, Newsweek, the New York Times and many other mainstream outlets joined in the attack.

By 2024, Homeland Security had branded Tulsi Gabbard a security threat and placed her on the Secondary Security Screening Selection (“SSSS”) travel restriction list for ‘enhanced’ searches at airports. (DHS later claimed it was a ‘mistake.’)

It’s worth recalling the false messaging that came from the highest levels of the federal government at this time. In a March 9, 2022, statement, the Biden administration denied the existence of “US-owned or US-operated chemical or biological laboratories in Ukraine,” dismissing the claims as Chinese and Russian propaganda.

“The Russian accusations are absurd. They’re laughable. There is nothing to it,” White House Press Secretary John Kirby told a news conference. “It’s classic Russian propaganda. If I were you, I wouldn’t give it a drop of ink worth paying attention to.”

Stunning Reversal

Today, Tulsi Gabbard holds the post of Director of the Office of National Intelligence, one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the world.

According to an “exclusive report” in the NY Post last week, Gabbard has opened an investigation into those same foreign biolabs she warned about in 2022— transforming a subject once spurned as malign “misinformation” and conspiracy theory into a vital national security concern.

The DNI announced her office’s investigation of more than 120 biological laboratories abroad that the U.S. government had allegedly funded for decades. The Biden administration’s denials and dishonest messaging about the biolabs are now the subject of intense scrutiny.

The Post quoted the Director of National Intelligence saying her team is going “to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain and what ‘research’ is being conducted.”

The goal is “to end dangerous gain-of-function research—risky experiments aimed at making viruses more deadly—that threatens the health and well-being of the American people and the world,” Gabbard said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have,” Gabbard told the NY Post. “Yet despite the known, obvious dangers, politicians, so-called health professionals, like Dr. Fauci, and many within the Biden administration’s national security team, lied to the American people about the existence of these US-funded and supported biolabs.”

‘Worse, they threatened those who attempted to expose the truth.”

Trump Bars All Funding for Gain-of-Function Research

In May of last year, President Trump signed an Executive Order immediately halting all U.S. government funding for gain-of-function research “in China, Iran and other foreign countries.” 

“Dangerous gain-of-function research on biological agents and pathogens has the potential to significantly endanger the lives of American citizens,” the order reads. “If left unrestricted, its effects can include widespread mortality, an impaired public health system, disrupted American livelihoods, and diminished economic and national security.

“The Biden Administration allowed dangerous gain-of-function research within the United States with insufficient levels of oversight,” the Order noted.

In a statement to the press, Trump reasoned that Covid-19 had proved that dangerous pathogens “can leak out innocently, stupidly and incompetently, and half destroy the world.”

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, from 2014 to 2023, the United States funded overseas pathogen research with $1.4 billion. However, during the same period, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General could not even identify how many studies on potential pandemic pathogens (PPP) were conducted with this money.

The explosive clause in Trump’s order detailing U.S. government funding for gain-of-function research “in China, Iran and other foreign countries” should have dominated headlines. Instead, the media largely ignored it — as though the prospect of deadly pathogens falling into the hands of hostile regimes was not worth mentioning. [See Sidebar]

Under new guidance from Gabbard, the U.S. Intelligence Community will review research at all US-funded biolabs, particularly at facilities where gain-of-function experiments could increase the transmissibility and lethality of viruses.

National Intelligence officials noted that the foreign labs extend into more than 30 countries, and date all the way back to a Department of Defense program that sought to dispose of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) after the end of the Cold War.

More than 40 of the biolabs under review are located in Ukraine — and could “be at risk of compromise” due to Russia’s war, National Intelligence officials noted.

Subterfuge Kept the Grant Money Flowing

In 2014, the Obama administration paused funding for gain-of-function experiments in 22 fields, including those involving SARS, influenza and MERS, because of the increased risk such experimentation carries of causing a pandemic.

Yet EcoHealth Alliance director Peter Daszak, reportedly in collusion with Fauci, diverted $600,000 in grants from the NIH to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to a lab known to have engaged in GOF experimentation.

Gabbard’s office, working alongside NIH leadership and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has set out to trace the paper trail of NIH grants linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, targeting gain-of-function research and its potential role in causing the pandemic through a lab-leak.

Her office has launched a comprehensive probe into more than 120 overseas biolabs that have received U.S. tax dollars, aiming to catalog the pathogens and research being conducted.

The administration has published details about the financial links between U.S. agencies and the Wuhan lab, actively focusing on former NIH director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role in the funding.

During a recent television appearance, Tulsi Gabbard went further than any senior U.S. official in publicly addressing Fauci’s alleged role in pathogenenic research. She said that preliminary findings “make it clear that Anthony Fauci helped fund the research” that in all likelihood “caused the pandemic.”

“We are working on being able to share that specific link very soon,” Gabbard said, hinting that Fauci may be at the top of those soon to be subpoenaed. “During a Senate hearing on May 11, 2021, Fauci said under oath that the NIH never carried out gain-of-function research in Wuhan. He denied the allegations over and over to Senator Rand Paul. But the facts say otherwise. Is it any wonder that he sought a preemptive pardon from President Biden?”

“And the reason why this is so important is not just what happened in the past,” the National Intelligence director continued. “It’s because this gain-of-function research is happening in biolabs around the world. Who knows what kinds of pathogens are in these labs that could create another Covid-like pandemic?”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the Trump administration is righting the wrongs of the Biden administration.

“The prior administration bankrolled dangerous gain-of-function research and foreign biolabs with American tax dollars, then deliberately hid it from the American people,” Hegseth said in a statement.

“The declassification of this discovery shows how little oversight this work had. Under President Trump’s leadership, DNI Tulsi Gabbard and the entire Cabinet are righting these historic wrongs and delivering justice for those on the front lines and the ones they protect. The era of lies and betrayal is over.”

***

A Time Bomb Built Over Decades

In May 2025, standing at President Trump’s side in the Oval Office as the president signed the newest executive order, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy detailed the little-known history of how gain-of-function and bioweapons research in this country accelerated so drastically over the past seven decades.

“GOF research began in 1947. By 1969,” Kennedy said, “the CIA said it had reached nuclear-level equivalency [as a potential bioweapon,] that it could kill the entire U.S. population for $0.29 per person.”

The HHS director recapped how GOF research was recognized early on as a dangerous, fruitless avenue. Leaders who sought to shut it down, however, were outmaneuvered by individuals who championed the experimentation.

“By 1969, President Nixon went to Fort Deitrich and announced a unilateral end to gain-of-function research, which was called ‘dual use’ research, meaning it was intended for both vaccination development and military purposes,” Kennedy said.

“Nixon then persuaded 180 countries to sign the bioweapons charter of 1973 that ended gain-of-function research around the globe.”

A fateful twist came with the passage of the Patriot Act in 2002 following the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers, the HHS chief recounted. “The Patriot Act had a little-known provision in it that said that although the Bioweapons Charter and the Geneva Charter are still in effect, US officials who violated it cannot be prosecuted.”

“That relaunched the bioweapons arms race, and that was driven by gain-of-function research,” he said.

***

Lab Accident Caused Ebola Outbreak

Experts say that in 2014, several pathogens escaped from U.S. labs in Africa, causing the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa.  President Obama declared a moratorium on future use of bioweapons research and instead, much of that research was moved offshore to the Wuhan lab and other sites.

“GOF research and bioweapons have become a global preoccupation,” Kennedy said at the signing of the May 25 Executive Order. “Russia is deeply engaged in this research, as is Iran and other countries.”

“In the entire history of gain-of-function research, we can’t find a single good thing that has come out of it,” he declared.

NIH director Jay Battacharya who was also present at the signing ceremony noted that the fallacy of GOF research is “believing that it can protect us, either against pandemics or against bioterror attacks from other nations. That belief is an illusion,” he said.

“Any nation that engages in this research endangers their own population and that of the world.”

The president signed the order last Monday “to improve the safety and security of biological research in the U.S. and around the world.” But experts say it’s not at all certain that the gain-of-function genie can be put back in the bottle.

Battacharya has observed that countries around the world are doing this research, which he says has become cheap, easy, and convenient. Any mad scientist determined enough to create his own bioweapon can order equipment from Amazon for next-day delivery and quickly start creating Ebola viruses from scratch.

Picture this scenario. You wake up in the morning, feel unrested and grumpy. As you stare into the mirror at your droopy eyes and the bags under them, your mind starts filling with messages to yourself.

“I’m sooo tired!”

“How can I function on so little sleep?”

“I’ll never be able to make it through the day!”

If the reason for your interrupted sleep hap­pens to be a family member, at this point you may start harboring resentful thoughts about them as well. You add some visuals about all the disasters that will likely accrue to your fa­tigue in the coming hours, along with the prob­able headache you’ll get and the difficulty you’ll have trying to behave, on so little sleep, like a pleasant and rational human being to those around you.

You fill your head with so many negative ob­servations that there’s no room for a single ray of optimism to intrude. And all that negativity feels perfectly natural. As if you’re confiding your woes to a good friend. Your self-pity feels like a cushion to lay your weary head on. You may not have had enough sleep, but kvetching to yourself about it feels like some sort of minor compensation or consolation prize.

It’s not. What all those gloomy messages ac­tually do is weaken whatever life force you pos­sess this morning. They make it much more likely that your dire predictions for the day will come true. As comforting as they may feel, they’re no friend of yours.

Suppose, instead, you try to tell yourself one positive thing as you slump tiredly in front of the mirror. Just one. It can be a simple message, such as: It’s all good.

Your immediate reaction may be to recoil from such a thought. Incredulously, you ask yourself how being utterly exhausted before the day even begins could possibly be a good thing? Maybe Pollyanna was able to thrive on such a sugary diet, but you’re more realistic than that!

But suppose… just suppose… you have the self-discipline to take the thought one step fur­ther. To try to figure out how there might possi­bly be some good amid the awfulness. It may not be easy. After all, you can’t erase the fact that you didn’t get enough sleep. You can’t change your fatigue into a barrelful of energy, right?

That’s correct. But it’s a law of na­ture that two things cannot fill the same space at the same time. While you can’t turn the clock back and produce a restful sleep, what you can do is dis­place those negative reflections and gloomy predictions with some positive thoughts. Such as: “I work from home, so I can catch a nap later if I need one.” Or, “I’ll try for an early night tonight.” Or “I’ll really appreciate a good night’s sleep the next time it happens!”

Or even the last-ditch fallback: “It could be worse…” Because it can al­ways be worse.

I’m not saying that any of these thoughts have the power to fill you with pep. What it does have the power to do is diminish your grumpiness and fill you with a better attitude. Maybe even something approximating good cheer. Or at least, better cheer.

And that’s worth a lot.

A Harsh Landscape

There’s a mitzvah in the Torah to re­frain from hating another Jew in one’s heart. This might run counter to some modern-day psychological thinking. Isn’t it better to harbor feelings of ha­tred inside one’s heart, some might ask, than speaking that emotion out loud? If you’re feeling outraged, out­maneuvered or misunderstood, why not clench your mental fists and think, “I hate you, I hate you!” to ease some of your frustration? A person’s private thoughts can’t do any damage, right?

Wrong. As we’ve started to explore above, thoughts can do plenty of dam­age. Starting with turning you into a hate-filled person.

The Torah demands that we expunge hateful feelings toward our broth­ers and sisters by whatever means are necessary. Ideally, we can try to be melamed zechus on the perpetrator of our pain. That means seeking out their good traits, or remembering past kind­nesses, which may help to overcome our anger and diminish the hatred in our hearts.

Alternatively, you can find the cour­age to speak up. To courteously air your grievance and give the other person a chance to explain himself. A great deal of fury and dislike are the result of ei­ther miscommunication or lack of communication. Talking it out, hon­estly and respectfully, is a route that can take a person from hating his fel­low man… to actually loving him!

Pirkei Avos teaches that jealousy, lust, and a desire for honor are things that remove a person from the world. How does this work? Simple. When a person fills his head with such thoughts, he creates a private little bubble in which nothing exists but himself and his de­sires.

When we allow our thoughts to focus on “I don’t have” and “I want” to the exclusion of all else, we are basically stepping out of the world of goodness and gratitude, into a bleak, harsh place that can never make us happy.

That’s why our Torah urges us not to go there. When it comes to unwhole­some desires… don’t even think about it!

A Sacred Place

The mind is not meant to be a gar­bage dump of negative thoughts and emotions. It should be a sacred place, a light-filled place of positivity and goodness. Trying to live up to that ideal is not being unrealistic or Pollyanna-ish. On the contrary: it’s facing reality and deciding how we choose to relate to it. It’s opting for happiness over per­petual disgruntlement. It’s being our own best friend.

There’s nothing wrong with ac­knowledging grumpiness when it comes up, or even with kvetching a lit­tle to elicit the sympathy and support of someone close to us. But overall, let’s try to keep our thoughts buoyant. Let’s move away from the myth that what we keep inside our heads has no effect on anything. Because, in fact, the opposite is true.

Every great thing in this world be­gins with a thought. So does every horror. If we focus on cultivating the beautiful and exalted, even inside the privacy of our own minds, it follows that the world will be a less horrible place. More: it will become more beau­tiful and exalted place. It’s up to us.

So, the next time you wake up grumpy and unrested, or come away from a conversation angry and dis­satisfied, and feel the inclination to fill your mind with thoughts of gloom, doom and self-pity… Stop right there. Don’t even think about it!

Ko Somar L’Bais Yaakov V’Sageid Livnei Yisroel

The Yeshiva as the House of Life

There is a great difference between one who learns Torah and one who lives Torah within a yeshiva. Torah can indeed be learned in many places; in one’s home, in shul, or while traveling. Yet Chazal reveal that the yeshiva is not merely the top setting for learning. It is a “bais chayeihem,” a house of life, without which Torah itself is lacking the dimension essential to its full vitality. The supremacy of the yeshiva is not only where Torah is learned; it is where Torah becomes life.

The Gemara in Bava Kamma (99b) and Bava Metzia (30b) expounds the posuk, “V’hodata lahem es haderech — and you shall inform them.” Rav Yosef interprets this as “Zeh bais chayeihem,” the house of their lives. Rashi explains that “the house of their lives” means talmud Torah. The Maharsha, in Bava Metzia, asks a penetrating question: the beginning of the posuk already speaks of limud Torah, “V’hizhartah es hachukim v’es hatoros.” Why then is talmud Torah repeated in the phrase “V’Hodata lahem”?

He explains that it’s not a repetition but an addition: Torah is not merely to be learned, but must be learned in a specific makom. “Bais chayeihem,” implies that they must establish “botei midrashos” for limud haTorah. Torah must be learned and lived in a yeshiva.

This is a profound point. A man who learns alone may know halachos and sugyos. He may even be deeply involved. But if he is detached from the bais midrash, he lacks the full “chiyus” of Torah. Limud haTorah demands a specific home, and that home is the yeshiva.

This is echoed in the Rambam in Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:12. After quoting Chazal, “Ein haTorah miskayemes ela b’mi shememis atzmo aleha — Torah is preserved only in one who kills himself over it,” the Rambam adds on the words “be’ohalei chachomim” in the tents of the chachomim, referring to botei medrashos. Torah is sustained not just through ameilus, but needs its immersion in a specific makom, an environment where Torah is the air one breathes with pilpul chaveirim, in a yeshiva.

The Maharsha himself testifies to this reality. In his Chiddushei Maharsha on Shabbos (75) and on Sanhedrin (42), he notes that he refrained from recording certain chiddushim because he had not learned them at the time in the yeshiva.

One who carefully examines the language of the Maharsha will see that the reason he refrained from writing was not that he lacked what to say, but rather that his words were not worthy in his eyes to be recorded in his Chiddushei Halachos. This is because they had not yet been clarified and refined within the koslei hayeshiva.

This teaches a standard. A chiddush is not evaluated only by its content. It must emerge from yeshiva learning. The yeshiva is where ideas are tested, refined, sharpened, and measured by rebbeim and talmidim alike. Without that, even knowledge and brilliance are incomplete.

The Irreplaceable Supremacy of Learning in a Yeshiva

In Gur Aryeh on Parshas Toldos (25-20), the Maharal deepens the matter further. The Maharal asks why the Torah emphasizes Yitzchok’s age, that he was forty years old, when he married Rivka. The Maharal explains that the Torah is clarifying why Yitzchok seemingly delayed his marriage for so long. Yitzchok waited until he was forty, only because Rivka, his destined zivug, was born when he was thirty-seven. He was required to wait three years for her to reach the age of maturity before he could take her as a wife.

The Maharal then asks: if so, why did Yaakov wait until the age of eighty-four to marry?

His answer is foundational. Yaakov was “ish tam yoshev ohalim,” a dweller of tents, meaning, he was a yeshivaman, immersed in Torah in the Yeshiva of Shem v’Eiver. And regarding such a person, Chazal say, “Yasok b’Torah v’achar kach yisa eisha — let him study Torah and afterwards marry,” unlike Yitzchok, whose fundamental learning was in the house of Avrohom Aveinu. The Maharal thereby makes an extraordinary distinction. Delaying marriage to learn Torah is not a blanket rule for every learner. It applies specifically to those who are rooted in yeshiva. Yaakov lived in the tents of Torah. That altered the whole calculus of his life. Yitzchok, on the other hand, primarily learned in the house of Avrohom Avinu, in a domestic setting. For someone learning at home, the obligation to marry at age eighteen without any mitigating factors remains firm.

This reveals the incomparable elevation of yeshiva learning. The yeshiva is so powerful that it shapes the rhythm of life itself. The standing of one who learns within the framework of a yeshiva is fundamentally different from that of one who learns at home.

The Chasam Sofer, in his Teshuvos on Choshen Mishpat (9), takes this distinction a step further. Addressing the sugya that limud Torah is greater than honoring one’s parents, he explains that there was never even a hava amina that Yaakov should be punished for the fourteen years he spent in the Yeshiva of Shem and Eiver, like he was punished for the years he spent with Lavan. His explanation is incisive. Some obligations can be fulfilled at home, but the distinct limud haTorah in a yeshiva cannot. “Learning in the bais medrash of Shem and Eiver,” he explains, “is impossible to fulfill in one’s home.”

That is the key. The yeshiva is not merely better in degree. It is different in kind. There is a form of Torah learning that cannot be replicated, even in the home of a father like Yitzchok Avinu or a father who is himself a great talmid chochom.

To illustrate the profound nature of this distinction, the Chasam Sofer discusses a wealthy man who earmarked a portion of his estate to support an impoverished, brilliant bochur in a yeshiva, to develop him into a moreh horaah. When that yeshiva unexpectedly closed, a complex halachic question emerged: Could the allocation instead be redirected to fund private learning with the av bais din of Amsterdam? This preeminent gaon had offered to personally teach the young man alongside his own son, guaranteeing to mold them both into morei horaah. On the surface, the alternative was incredibly attractive; it offered direct access to a towering rabbinic authority and an arguably superior path to success. Yet, the Chasam Sofer firmly ruled against diverting the funds, maintaining that the bochur must be sent to an actual yeshiva.

The implication is unmistakable: Even the undivided attention of a singular gaon, in a setting tailored for maximum growth, cannot substitute for a yeshiva. The yeshiva framework is not interchangeable with one-on-one teaching, no matter how extraordinary the rebbi. Ultimately, a bais midrash fosters something far greater than the sum of its parts.

This conceptual difference illuminates the precise phrasing of Rabbi Nehorai in Avos (4:14). He does not say, “Galeh l’makom lilmod Torah — Exile yourself to a place to study Torah.” Rather, he instructs, “Hevei goleh l’makom Torah — Exile yourself to a place of Torah.” This nuance carries immense weight. Torah learning can occur anywhere, but a “place of Torah” possesses its own independent reality and spiritual atmosphere. One must physically and mentally relocate there because Torah is not merely a body of knowledge to be acquired; it is the vital environment in which a person is fundamentally formed.

The Father’s Role
Teaching, Directing, Guiding

Within this framework, the precise role of the father becomes clear.

A father is commanded to teach Torah to his son: “v’shinantem l’vanecha.” He is the first rebbi, the one who introduces the child to the words of Torah, builds his yesodos, and points him toward a life of learning.

But crucially, the father does not replace the yeshiva. He prepares him for it. The father himself either teaches or facilitates an appointee, the rebbi. The father is the gavra, but the makom is a yeshiva.

The ultimate formation of a ben Torah occurs outside the home, inside the demanding, life-giving ecosystem of the yeshiva. A father’s greatness is found not in holding his son within his own domestic orbit, but in sending him outward to the place where Torah becomes identity.

This illuminates the deeper meaning behind Chazal’s timeless directive: “Hevei goleh l’makom Torah.” True growth requires displacement. It demands entry into an ecosystem where Torah is not merely studied, but defines the very air one breathes.

This is precisely the sentiment expressed by the Chazon Ish in one of his letters regarding the nature of yeshivos. He wrote that for centuries, the yeshivos of Bovel “have been wandering and moving,” yet “nis’chalfu shemosam v’lo nis’chalfa nafshom — their names may have changed, but their soul has not.” This is a breathtaking formulation. A yeshiva is not a mere structure of stone; it is a living nefesh. Its physical building may alter, its city may shift, and its name may change, but the inner soul of the yeshiva endures. It functions as a collective Torah organism, a continuous chain of life binding generations together.

The mashgiach, Rav Yeruchom Levovitz, consistently insisted that a yeshiva must remain completely true to its traditional archetype. Hashem is eternal, the Torah is eternal, and just as change is impossible within the Torah itself, it is equally impossible within the essence of the yeshiva. The Torah and the yeshiva do not represent distinct ideals; they are fundamentally intertwined.

Consequently, a single truth becomes evident: the tzuras hayeshiva, preserved in its authentic form, is not simply one option among many. It represents the Torah world in its most vital, generative state.

One can certainly learn at home, learn while traveling, or advance significantly under isolated conditions. But to claim that such learning is equivalent to yeshiva learning is to misunderstand the profound architecture of Torah as delineated by Chazal and the gedolei Yisroel. A yeshiva k’tzurasa is not a subjective choice; it is the definitive bais chayeihem of the Torah.

A Home That Teaches
The Inner Architecture of Bais Yaakov and the Nature of Girls’ Chinuch

When describing a young woman who has fallen into immorality, the Torah uses an unusual expression: liznos bais aviha, she has acted immorally in her father’s house (Devarim 22:21). The consequence of her actions is equally localized: ve’hotzi’u es hana’ara el pesach bais aviha, they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house. Regarding a bas kohen, the Torah goes so far as to state, “Es aviha hi mechellas — she desecrates her father.”

We find no such language regarding a son. Even the ben sorer u’moreh, the wayward and rebellious son, is judged at the shaar mekomo, the public gate of his city, rather than at the threshold of his parental home. This distinction demands analysis: why is a daughter’s failure defined in such strict relation to her father’s house? This is especially perplexing because, according to many Rishonim, there is no formal chiyuv chinuch for a father to educate his daughter. The halachic obligation of education is mandated exclusively from father to son. One might logically assume that the son, being the primary recipient of instruction, would be the one to desecrate his father’s house through failure, yet the Torah indicates the opposite.

In general, why is there no obligation to mechanech one’s daughter? She also must be prepared for mitzvos.

The Son_
Formation Through Instruction and Friction_

The Gemara establishes the concept of chiyuv chinuch as a formal and legal obligation upon a father to actively train his son in the performance of mitzvos. This obligation is deliberate and structured because the growth of a boy is characterized by outward movement. He leaves the narrow confines of the home and encounters competing external influences. He is by nature outward-moving. He is formed through engagement, intellectual challenge, and the friction of ideas beyond himself.

Regarding girls, the posuk says, “Kol kevudah bas melech p’nimah — The entire dignity of the king’s daughter is inward” (Tehillim 45:14). This is not merely a directive regarding modesty; it is a definition of environment. A daughter’s makom**,** her primary ecosystem, is within the home. She is rooted in the presence of her parents and woven into the ongoing rhythm of family life. She does not primarily grow through exposure to the outside world but through continuous immersion in the inner life of the home.

Therefore, the formal and active obligation of chinuch was stated specifically regarding sons, not daughters. While a daughter is equally obligated in practical mitzvos, her path of development follows a different model entirely.

The Daughter
Formation Through Atmosphere and Inwardness

From this divergence emerge two distinct systems of growth:

The Son**:** He is shaped through instruction, exposure, and deliberate teaching. The Father and the yeshiva build the mind of Torah, training him through limud haTorah and asiyas hamitzvos.

The Daughter**:** She is shaped through environment, observation, and atmosphere. The home builds the heart of Torah life, training her to live through consistency and quiet formation.

That is why the daughter’s failure is defined in strict relation to her father’s house. Precisely because her entire spiritual formation was meant to take place within those walls. Her values, her sensitivities, and her worldview were absorbed there. If she strays, the Torah does not view it as an isolated breakdown of personal choice; it is seen as a reflection of the environment that raised her. The judgment at the doorway stands as a piercing declaration to the parents: “Re’u gedolim sh’gidaltem — see the results of what you have raised.” If she was constantly present, constantly observing, and yet emerged with distorted values, it reveals that something vital within the home’s atmosphere was lacking.

The Echo of the Home
Shusa de’Yanuka

This principle of environmental reflection is reinforced by the Gemara in Sukkah (56b) in the tragic account of Miriam bas Bilgah, a Kohen’s daughter who publicly disgraced the mizbei’ach. The Sages penalized not only Miriam but her father and his entire priestly watch. To justify extending the consequences to her family, our Sages cite the folk wisdom: “Shuta de’yanuka be’shuka, o de’avuha o de’imeha — What a child says in the marketplace comes from either the father or the mother.” As Rashi clarifies, she must have heard that tone of disrespect at home. A child whose world is centered in the home does not invent values independently; she echoes what she has absorbed.

This divergence leads to a critical distinction: Boys must be taught; girls absorb_._ The very metzius of a woman is to build a bayis, but this capacity cannot be taught abstractly. It is absorbed, often imperceptibly, from the climate in which she is raised.

The education of boys can be transferred into formal structures. But the education of girls is not primarily informational; it is atmospheric.

Less About In-Formation
More About Formation

For his daughter, however, the father’s responsibility shifts from direct instruction to authentic modeling. He must live consistently, embody Torah values transparently, and maintain an environment of absolute truth. The distinction is absolute: the son listens to what the father says, while the daughter becomes what the father is.

The Genesis of Bais Yaakov as a Surrogate Home

In previous generations, the education of a Jewish girl occurred organically through immersion, rendering a formal and institutionalized system unnecessary. This absence did not suggest that her role was secondary. On the contrary, it proved that the home was functioning at its highest potential. This natural system depended entirely upon the presence of an authentic and insulated Torah home. In such an environment, a daughter absorbed the essence of her heritage simply by existing within its walls.

The Erosion of
Natural Transmission

When the kedusha of the home began to weaken under the pressure of external influences, and the allure of the street became more compelling than the home, the natural transmission of our mesorah faltered. Eventually, the home alone could no longer guarantee the proper formation of a bas Yisroel. While this system had functioned naturally for centuries, the shifting cultural climate demanded a new approach.

Bais Yaakov
A Revolutionary Surrogate

The establishment of Bais Yaakov emerged as a revolutionary development in Jewish history. This movement must be understood with absolute precision. Bais Yaakov was not designed to imitate the architecture of the yeshiva. It was built to recreate the atmosphere of the home. Its purpose is to function as a culture and a lived experience of Torah. It steps into the breach to provide the warmth and spiritual climate that the contemporary street attempts to erode.

From Intuitive Absorption to Formal Instruction

Concepts that a daughter once absorbed through natural osmosis must now be conveyed through formal study. Halacha, emunah, hashkofah, mussar, and the timeless narratives of Tanach now require structured lessons and textual analysis. The profound appreciation for Torah and talmidei chachomim, which was once an intuitive part of her identity, must now be explicitly taught. Even the foundational understanding of her purpose in this world is now a matter of instruction.

The Gemara asks through what merit women earn their share in Torah. They conclude that it is earned by sending their children to learn, encouraging their husbands to learn, and waiting for their return. In a fragmented world, this noble identity is no longer simply felt; it must be learned.

Conclusion
Returning to the Ideal

The ultimate aspiration of the Torah world is not for Bais Yaakov to permanently replace the home. Instead, its mission is to inspire a generation of daughters who will build homes so authentic and vibrant that institutional intervention becomes unnecessary once more. Bais Yaakov exists to safeguard a timeless ideal in a world that has lost its form. Its success is measured by its ability to restore the crown of “kevudah bas melech p’nimah,” bringing the Jewish home to its original glory.

A yeshiva k’tzurasa for a boy, and an authentic bayis or its Bais Yaakov surrogate for a girl, are not matters of mere educational preference or sociological tradition. They are the authentic bais chayeihem, as they constitute the true center of existence and stand as the indispensable sources of life for the entire Torah world. Only by preserving the unique, intentional nature of both these spheres can the mission of chinuch fulfill its ultimate purpose.

“Uveyom habikkurim behakrivchem mincha chadoshoh laHashem… Vehikravtem olah lerei’ach nichoach laHashem porim bnei vokor shnayim ayil echad shivah kevosim bnei shanah.

The Baal HaTurim notes that by all the olos written regarding the moados, the word olas is written choseir, whereas by Atzeres it is written molei. This is a remez that on the sixth of Sivan the Torah was given.

The matter requires biur. Why was this remez placed specifically in the olah of Atzeres and specifically in the korbanos of Parshas Pinchos? In Parshas Emor, the olah of Shavuos was already stated earlier, and such a remez should have seemingly appeared there.

It appears as follows.

In Parshas Pinchos, by the mussafim of all moados, it says, “Use’ir izim echad lechatos.” Yet, by Yom Habikkurim it says, “Se’ir izim echad lechaper aleichem,” and does not state “lechatos.”

The Daas Zekeinim and Chizkuni bring from the Yerushalmi: “By all korbanos, the word cheit is written, but by Atzeres it is not written. Hashem said to them, ‘Since you accepted upon yourselves ohl Torah, I consider it upon you as though you never sinned in your .’”

Likewise, the Pesikta says that Hashem said to Yisroel, “My children, read this parsha every year and I shall consider it upon you as though you are standing before Har Sinai and receiving the Torah, as it says, ‘Bayom hazeh ba’u Midbar Sinai.’”

Thus, the reading itself renews a certain maamad of Kabbolas HaTorah, and through that, it is ke’ilu lo chataseim miyemeichem.

However, this seems difficult, for in Parshas Emor the Torah says explicitly, “Va’asisem se’ir izim echad lechatos,” regarding the korbanos of Chag Habikkurim. If Atzeres is the day on which cheit is erased through kabbolas ohl Torah, why does the Torah there write lechatos openly?

The answer depends on a sharp chiluk.

The Daas Zekeinim asks why, in the Tefillas Mussaf of Shavuos, we do not mention two se’irim, since, in truth, there are two se’irei Atzeres, one in Emor and one in Pinchos.

He answers that the tefillah of Mussaf corresponds to the korban mussaf, and one of the se’irim was not a korban mussaf but was brought in the morning because of the shtei halechem.

Rashi also explains, “Eilu le’atzman ve’eilu le’atzman” — those of Emor come because of the lechem and those of Pinchos are the mussafim.

Hence, the se’ir of Pinchos is a din in chovas hayom, while the se’ir of Emor is bound to the korbanos haba’in al halechem.

The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 6b teaches: “Atzeres is sometimes on the fifth, sometimes on the sixth, and sometimes on the seventh of Sivan.” If both Nissan and Iyar are molei, it is the fifth; if both are choseir, it is the seventh; and if one is molei and one is choseir, it is the sixth.

It follows that, essentially, the Yom Tov of Yom HaBbkkurim is not inherently fixed to the sixth of Sivan, but to the fiftieth day of the Omer. Only when one month is molei and one is choseir does it coincide with the sixth of Sivan.

This creates a fundamental distinction between the time of Kiddush Hachodesh al pi re’iyah and al pi cheshbon.

When they sanctified months by testimony, Shavuos could fall on the fifth, sixth, or seventh. But according to the fixed calculation, it always falls on the sixth, since the arrangement is always one molei and one choseir.

Thus, the inherent kedushas hayom of Yom Habikkurim is not necessarily Zeman Matan Toraseinu. Rather, under the cheshbon, they meet in one place.

The shittah of Rabbeinu Chananel and the Gaonim is that in the midbar, the months were not fixed by re’iyah, but by cheshbon.

Rabbeinu Bachya, in Parshas Bo (12:2), explains that the Ananei Hakavod covered them by day, and the amud ha’eish by night, so they never saw the sun or the moon. Therefore, the months in the midbar were set by calculation.

And in Menachos 45b, it is explicit that all korbanos written in Chumash Hapekudim, meaning Parshas Pinchos, were offered in the midbar. But the korbanos written in Toras Kohanim, meaning Parshas Emor, including the korbanos connected with the shtei halechem, were not offered in the midbar, since the Omer and shtei halechem come only from Eretz Yisroel.

Accordingly, the matter is illuminated.

The korbanos of Pinchos were already brought in the midbar. At that time, the months were fixed by cheshbon, and therefore Shavuos always fell on the sixth of Sivan, the very day of Matan Torah.

Hence, regarding those korbanos, the Torah can write “lechaper aleichem” and omit “lechatos,” because the korban is bound to the day of Kabbolas HaTorah, and once Klal Yisroel accepts ohl Torah, it is ke’ilu lo chataseim miyemeichem.

But the korbanos of Emor were not brought in the midbar. Their actual chiyuv began only after entering Eretz Yisroel, when the Ananei Hakavod had departed and Kiddush Hachodesh returned to re’iyah. Then Atzeres could be on the fifth, sixth, or seventh of Sivan.

Since that korban is not necessarily tied to the sixth of Sivan, it cannot be defined as the korban of the day on which Kabbolas HaTorah removes cheit. Therefore, the Torah there writes explicitly “se’ir izim echad lechatos.”

This also explains the Baal Haturim with great precision.

The remez that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan is placed specifically by “vehikravtem olah” in Parshas Pinchos, because those korbanos were offered in the midbar, when Shavuos always coincided with the sixth of Sivan. But by the olah of Parshas Emor, which was not brought in the midbar and belongs to the era of kiddush al pi re’iyah, there is no necessary identity between Chag Habikkurim and the sixth of Sivan. Therefore, the remez of “beshisha beSivan nitnah Torah” belongs only there, in the olas Atzeres of Parshas Pinchos.

This week’s parsha of Bamidbar opens a new sefer in the Torah and introduces the counting of the Bnei Yisroel and the precise arrangement of their encampments as they journeyed toward the Promised Land. Chazal instituted that Parshas Bamidbar is always lained on the Shabbos preceding Shavuos, and that connection is deeply significant. As we stand at the culmination of the days of Sefirah, during which we prepared ourselves for Kabbolas HaTorah, the lessons embedded in this parsha become especially relevant.

Rashi, on the opening posuk, explains that Hakadosh Boruch Hu counts the Jewish people because of His love for them. A person repeatedly counts and checks his treasured possessions not because he has forgotten them, but precisely because they are precious to him. What we value, we do not lose sight of.

The Gemara in Bava Metzia teaches that when a person loses money, we assume that he has already realized the loss and despaired of recovering it, because people instinctively and constantly check their pockets to make sure that their valuables are still there. Rarely does someone lose a wallet or checkbook without immediately noticing the loss. We carefully monitor what matters deeply to us.

That is the message of the census in Bamidbar. Every Jew counts because every Jew matters. Though we are many millions strong, no individual is expendable, interchangeable, or insignificant. No Jew should ever feel like a faceless statistic swallowed by the masses. No person should ever be made to feel that the world would manage fine without him.

The Torah’s insistence on counting every individual teaches that human worth is not measured by prominence, accomplishment, wealth, or influence. Every person is precious because every person bears the tzelem Elokim. Every neshomah is counted because every neshomah matters.

This lesson is particularly timely during the days of Sefirah. Chazal teach that the talmidim of Rabi Akiva perished because they failed to accord one another proper respect. It is difficult to understand how the disciples of the great Rabi Akiva – the very Tanna who proclaimed “Ve’ahavta lerei’acha kamocha zeh klal gadol baTorah” – could have stumbled in this area. Perhaps the sheer size of their numbers contributed to the failing. When there are 24,000 students, it becomes easier for an individual to feel less indispensable. The uniqueness of each talmid becomes blurred within the vastness of the crowd. Familiarity and scale can dull sensitivity.

But the Torah demands the opposite perspective. The greater the crowd, the greater the responsibility to ensure that no individual disappears within it.

The iconic Mirrer mashgiach, Rav Yeruchom Levovitz, whose 90th yahrtzeit falls this Sivan, was once asked how he could possibly guide and influence the hundreds of bochurim in the Mirrer Yeshiva. How could one person serve as mashgiach to three hundred talmidim, each with different struggles, personalities, strengths, and aspirations?

Reb Yeruchom answered with a perspective that revealed the essence of Torah leadership and chinuch. He said, “I am not one mashgiach over three hundred bochurim. There are three hundred bochurim, and each one has one mashgiach.”

In those few words, he defined what it means to care for people.

Most people who viewed the Mir bais medrash saw a large yeshiva filled with hundreds of students. But Rav Yeruchom did not see a crowd. He saw individuals. He did not relate to his talmidim as part of a mass, nor did he speak to them as interchangeable members of a group. Every bochur was an olam malei, a complete world unto himself, with unique strengths to cultivate, weaknesses to address, and greatness waiting to be uncovered.

That was the secret of his influence. People flourish when they know that they are seen and when they are addressed as individuals, not merely as another member of the group.

Rav Yeruchom understood that chinuch and leadership cannot be built on generalities alone. A successful mashgiach, rebbi, rov, or parent is not someone who merely delivers shmuessen to a room full of listeners. A good mechanech listens, notices, understands, and connects. He recognizes when someone is discouraged, when someone else is struggling, when one person needs guidance, and when another simply needs encouragement and belief.

Rav Yeruchom did not ask, “How do I manage three hundred students?” He looked at each one and asked, “What does this bochur need from me?”

That perspective reflects the Torah’s view of Klal Yisroel. When Hashem commands Moshe to count the Jewish people in Parshas Bamidbar, the counting was not about statistics. It was about affirming the value of every individual. Each Jew was counted because each Jew mattered.

The greatness of a leader, a teacher, or anyone else lies in the ability to look beyond the crowd and see the individual standing before him.

There are people who speak to you without making eye contact. They may technically be talking to you, but they are not really looking at you. And when they do not look at you, you sense that they do not truly care about you. Their eyes drift beyond you or past you, because their minds are occupied elsewhere – with themselves or with something else entirely. People like that cannot genuinely connect.

And when someone does not truly look at you, you instinctively feel that he does not truly care about you.

Real connection demands presence. It requires more than speaking. It requires listening. More than hearing words, it requires recognizing the person saying them. The people who influence us most are not always the most brilliant or eloquent. They are the people who make us feel seen, understood, and valued.

My rebbi, Rav Elya Svei, was one of the leading roshei yeshiva of his generation and was sought out by people across the world for guidance and counsel. Yet, when I, or any other young bochur, stood before him in the bais medrash, speaking with him in learning or discussing personal matters with him in his office, there was no one else in the room.

He looked at you. He focused on you and your issue. At that moment, there was nobody else and nothing else more important. And because of that, the talmid felt that he mattered.

One time, when I was sitting with Rav Elozor Menachem Man Shach, the conversation continued for quite some time while people waited impatiently outside the room for their turn to speak with him. There was noise and commotion beyond the door, but Rav Shach did not hear any of it. He heard me. He looked at me. He focused on me, despite the fact that I was an American yungerman in my twenties.

One of the attendants entered the room and informed him that a certain dignitary was waiting outside, hinting that the gadol hador should quickly finish up with his anonymous American guest. Rav Shach looked at him quizzically and said, “But I’m speaking now to Lipschutz.”

The other person would have to wait.

To Rav Shach, to a gadol b’Yisroel, every Jew was choshuv. Every Yid deserved simas lev, to be focused on and treated with respect.

And that is part of what the Torah is teaching through the counting in Parshas Bamidbar. Hashem does not look at Klal Yisroel as an anonymous mass. He counts each Jew individually because He sees each Jew individually. Every person carries a unique mission, a unique struggle, and a unique worth.

This is one of the great lessons the Torah seeks to teach us before Kabbolas HaTorah. The talmidim of Rabi Akiva failed because they did not sufficiently honor one another as unique and irreplaceable individuals. They saw each other as part of a group instead of appreciating the value of each individual comprising the group.

In a large yeshiva, in a thriving community, or even within a family, it is easy for people to become numbers, faces in the crowd, individuals whose struggles and strengths go unnoticed. Parshas Bamidbar reminds us that this is not the Torah’s view of a Jew. Hashem counts us because Hashem treasures us. And those who seek to walk in His ways must learn to view others the same way.

People are often quick to criticize, quick to dismiss, and quick to condemn without fully understanding another person’s struggles, circumstances, or intentions. One of the central avodos of Sefirah is learning to restore dignity to other people – to see them, value them, and treat them with the respect due to someone created b’tzelem Elokim. The counting of the Bnei Yisroel was a public declaration of love, importance, and worth.

This message carries enormous relevance in our generation. Not many decades ago, the Jewish people stood on the brink of destruction. Every surviving Jew was cherished and appreciated. During those terrible years, Jews instinctively understood that every person mattered. Yet, prosperity and growth can sometimes weaken that sensitivity. When communities flourish and botei medrash and schools overflow, there is a danger of unconsciously taking individuals for granted.

There was a time when yeshivos struggled desperately to find students. Today, many institutions are bursting at the seams with talmidim and talmidos. But abundance must never diminish appreciation. A great yeshiva, even when crowded, never makes a single bochur feel invisible. A good school, even when it has more students than it ever dreamed possible, never makes a student feel superfluous. No child is extra. No student lacks needs, emotions, and feelings that must be attended to. There is room and a place for everyone. A thriving community must never allow any individual to feel forgotten.

The parsha continues by describing the arrangement of the encampments: “Ish al machaneihu v’ish al diglo.” Every shevet had its designated place. Every individual camped where he belonged.

The Torah here teaches another fundamental principle: Greatness comes not only from recognizing your value, but also from recognizing your place.

Every shevet has a mission. Every person has a role. The harmony of Klal Yisroel depended upon each individual understanding where he belonged. One of life’s great temptations is the assumption that we could do better if only we occupied someone else’s position. We imagine that if we stood where others stand, if we had their platform, influence, authority, or responsibilities, we would accomplish more than they do and fix what they are doing wrong. And so, people abandon their own mission while attempting to live someone else’s.

The Torah’s carefully ordered encampment teaches that greatness is not achieved by invading another person’s territory. It is achieved by maximizing the potential of the position Hashem assigned to us.

Since the country is focused on war, perhaps we can illustrate this with a moshol about a group of friends who were drafted into the army. One was assigned to the infantry, another to the air force, and another to the navy. Each was jealous, convinced that the other had been given a better, easier, or more prestigious role.

Eventually, they approached their commanders and requested transfers to different units. But the commanders explained that each was performing a vital role. An army cannot function with only infantry, only pilots, or only sailors. Every division is essential, and every role is indispensable to the success of the whole.

What creates the strongest and most effective fighting force is not uniformity, but rather when every soldier in every branch rises to his fullest potential and fulfills his mission with excellence. Only then can the army achieve victory.

So too with Klal Yisroel. Each person has a unique role and shlichus in this world. Instead of looking at others and wishing to be in their place, we are meant to focus on fulfilling our own mission with dedication and integrity. That is what builds the strength of the klal and brings each of us to our personal and collective purpose.

Sefirah is meant to restore order to our inner world. Just as the encampments in the desert were arranged with precision and purpose, these weeks are meant to help us organize ourselves spiritually and emotionally in preparation for Matan Torah. Much as the month of Elul prepares us for Rosh Hashanah, Sefirah prepares us for Shavuos.

Ever since the second day of Pesach, we have counted upward, day by day, from Yetzias Mitzrayim toward Kabbolas HaTorah.

And so, as Shavuos approaches, we must ask ourselves some questions. Have we grown during these weeks? Have we refined our middos? Have we become more patient, more humble, more respectful, more disciplined? Have we become more worthy of receiving the Torah anew?

Forty-nine days separate Pesach from Shavuos because transformation takes time. Forty-nine shaarei kedusha must be approached. Forty-nine steps must be climbed. Each day is another opportunity to rise beyond the distractions, superficiality, and moral confusion that dominate the world around us.

As the Am Hanivchar, we are called upon to live differently. Before we can stand at Har Sinai and realize our destiny, we must elevate ourselves and become better than we are – more refined, more compassionate, more elevated, more selfless.

Let us seek to excel in our roles, in our learning, and in our understanding of Torah.

Let us show, through the way we speak to one another and care for one another, that we have learned the tragic lesson of Rabi Akiva’s talmidim. Let us demonstrate through our actions that we are worthy of receiving the Torah.

May we all be zoche to growth in Torah and mitzvos and merit the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu bekarov.

Sometimes, a small, innocent anecdote can paint the picture of an entire society — or a mentality that permeates an entire society — and it is scary. Very scary.

The following true story is one such example.

Reb Yitzchok*, a mesivta rebbi in an out-of-town mesivta, was walking together with a bochur in his shiur, shmoozing about Torah. Reb Yitzchok related a thought from the Chofetz Chaim, who asks rhetorically, “What is the ultimate goal that we are supposed to attain in yeshiva? What should we leave with when it is time for us to leave yeshiva?”

Reb Yitzchok then answered that a person should be overflowing with Torah and yiras Shomayim, but before he could finish explaining, the bochur interjected, “Why? For what?”

Then, without even waiting for an answer, the bochur, apparently thinking that he understood the answer on his own, answered his own question.

My dear readers, listen to the answer, for it contains an entire worldview.

He said, “Oh! So that he can be chal.”

Sometimes, the most powerful words are those spoken innocently, without even a trace of malice. The bochur gave a simple answer and was completely satisfied with the answer he gave. Why? Because that is the world in which he lives.

The Definition of “Chal” and What It Means to Us

Now, for those who are not so proficient in today’s yeshivishe shprach, let me explain what it means “to be chal.” In halachic terms, being chal or a chalos means that there is a practical halachic change or outcome that takes place.

For example, when a man gives a ring to a woman and says, “Harei at mekudeshes…,” in front of kosher witnesses, and she accepts it, the kiddushin is chal. The woman has now attained the status of a married woman.

In the colloquial sense, being “chal” means being relevant. You are somebody. You matter. You have status. And if you are “not chal,” then you are not worthy of being a somebody. You do not matter and you have no status.

What that bochur was saying — so innocently that he himself did not realize that an entire worldview was emerging from his mouth — was that the reason it is important to be overflowing with Torah and yiras Shomayim during one’s yeshiva years is because otherwise you are not relevant. You are not an item. You have no status and no societal worth.

He did not say, “Because that is the purpose of man.” He also did not say, “Because there is no greater way to bring nachas ruach to Hashem.” He did not even say, “So that I will become a talmid chochom who knows Hashem’s Torah and is able to properly fulfill the commandments of the Torah and Hashem, the Nosein HaTorah, Who gave us those laws.”

Nothing Worse Than “Not Being Chal”

He said, “Because otherwise you are not chal. You have no value. You didn’t ‘make it.’”

The implication is that the entire purpose of everything a person does — even the Torah one learns — is to “be chal,” to make it.

Society is sending us a message. It is everywhere. You have to be a somebody. You have to be noticed. You have to make a splash. You have to “be chal,” because, chas veshalom, there is nothing worse than “not being chal.”

Some Painful Questions

In light of this, let us ask some pointed, painful questions:

Why am I wearing a specific type of pants? Because they are comfortable? Because they are nice? Or because if I wear this type of pants, I show that I am the type of person who is “chal”?

Do I really like this kind of outfit, shaitel, or shoes, or am I simply trying to be “chal”?

Why am I driving this car? Because it drives smoothly, suits my needs, is the right price, and I like the way it looks? Or because it is the type of car that makes me “chal”?

Why am I holding my guests hostage? They have taken the time and effort to attend my child’s wedding, and I am making a chupah that lasts nearly an hour, complete with musical interludes and accompaniment. My guests were not looking to attend a concert in the middle of a wedding. They have things to do.

It costs me tens of thousands of extra — sometimes borrowed — dollars that could be better spent elsewhere, but I am doing it anyway. Why? Is it because I want them to be beautifully serenaded, or is it because by making such a chupah, I am “chal”?

Why am I insisting that my son or daughter attend this yeshiva, school, or seminary, even though it really is not a good fit for him or her? Is it because if I do not send them there, I am not “chal”?

Am I really sacrificing my children, whom I love more than anything else, on the molech of being chal? Really?!

The Difference Between Self-Worth, Self-Esteem, and Being “Chal”

The bottom line is that we, as a society, project certain messages to ourselves and our children. One very damaging, false, and untrue message is that there is some kind of intrinsic value in “being chal.”

Yes, having a feeling of self-worth and self-esteem is critical. A human being needs to know and feel that he has intrinsic value, that he has a mission, that Hashem has entrusted him with a shlichus in this world. But being “chal” is the diametric opposite of that concept.

“Being chal” really means that the only value I have is if society thinks I am a “somebody” and if I “made it.”

If there is no picture of me in the paper putting up a mezuzah at the latest business opening or in a new bais medrash, then I am not chal.

I am not even going to go down the path of social media and how being “chal” is the entire tachlis of social media, podcasting, and the like. I hope most readers are not there yet, but make no mistake about it — this culture is permeating our world, our yeshivos, and even the most hallowed places in our lives.

A Tragedy of All Tragedies

For example, as a writer for the Yated, there are people who think that I have some kind of control over what goes into the paper aside from the columns that I write. I have had people call me asking if I could place pictures of them putting up a mezuzah or reciting a brocha under a chupah in the paper.

Of course, I direct them elsewhere and explain that I have no control over such content, but when I hang up, I always shake my head, wondering, “Wasn’t he embarrassed to ask that outright?”

That is my instinctive reaction, followed by the realization that he has no choice.

Yes, it may be embarrassing for him in front of one person — me — but what is the alternative? That he might, chas veshalom, not be chal?

That is the tragedy of all tragedies.

What is a little embarrassment in front of one person if, as a result, he can become “chal” in front of tens of thousands of readers? Is it even a question?

My dear readers, please forgive me if these words sound somewhat cynical. There are writers, like my dear friend and colleague Rabbi Yossi Rosenberg, who know how to communicate these kinds of sensitive points with humor. I was not blessed with that talent, so I simply have to write things in the jarring way in which I see them.

But rabbosai, we have a problem — a real problem.

Understanding the Problem

Are our youth receiving the message that the overarching goal in life is to be chal?

Are they not getting the message that the most important thing in life is to serve Hashem, to help others, or lehachayos ruach shefolim ulehachayos lev nidkaim? Are they not getting the message that the most important tafkid in life is to become the best bochur, husband, wife, father, or mother that I can be?

If the message they are receiving is that the overarching goal in life is to be chal, to be the best in the eyes of others, then we are in trouble. Deep trouble.

If your goals in life are not to bring nachas ruach to Hashem, to serve Him in whatever situation we find ourselves, inside the bais medrash or outside the bais medrash, but rather to “make it,” to attain a certain status, “to be chal,” then we are truly on a terribly wrong and twisted path.

Now, I have no idea how to “reset” this program. The first step is recognizing the magnitude of the problem.

And it is big.

It is chal…

Since we are now in the period just before Mattan Torah, it is a good idea to listen to Hashem’s instructions about how to prepare for this annual event. The posuk (Shemos 19:1) tells us that as soon as we reached Midbar Sinai, Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu to tells us, “You shall be to me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Bnei Yisroel.” Rashi adds a cryptic phrase: “no less and no more.” Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein (Borchi Nafshi, Vayikra, page 450) recalls that when he was learning in Yeshivas Slabodka, his rosh yeshiva, Rav Eizik Sher, explained the profound lesson Rashi is teaching with these four magic words.

“It would seem odd,” the rosh yeshiva began, “that Hashem would wish to withhold Moshe from supplementing His words. After all, Moshe would surely be able to inspire us about our great fortune in becoming Hashem’s holy nation and having the privilege of serving Him.”

The famed baal mussar answered that as opposed to the excessive amount of propaganda and publicity to which we are all subjected on a daily basis, Hashem has no need or desire to persuade us of anything. He simply presents us with the facts. We are about to receive the Torah. If we prepare ourselves properly, we will be showered with tremendous blessings. We will be the most fortunate people in the world. That is all Hashem needs to say. Anything more would not only be superfluous, it would be counterproductive and unseemly for the Creator of the universe.

Rav Zilberstein adds a contemporary corollary that is even truer than when he wrote it about twenty years ago. “The plague of advertisements and commercialization is worse than ever before. We are inundated with misinformation and disinformation from every side, all of which is almost unavoidable.”

To digress for a moment, my rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, also wrote about this subject soon after he arrived in the United States. His first publication after arriving on these shores was about the dangers of the false press and deceptive media (see Rebbetzin Bruriah David’s Sefer Hazikaron Pachad Yitzchok). Imagine what Rav Huner would have had to say about the internet and AI.

Rav Zilberstein goes on to castigate what seems relatively innocent compared to the horrific lures of today’s media. He criticizes those who sell and advertise drinks with names such as “taam hachaim – the taste of life.”

“This is the taste of life?” he says. “It is only Torah and mitzvos that are the true taste of life.”

Ironically and very sadly, we almost laugh at this worry when compared with the true evils and spurious lies we face constantly. I don’t know if this one has come to Rav Zilberstein yet, but my rebbi would surely have directed the full force of one of his maamorim at this phenomenon. A so-called influencer on the Democratic side of the political spectrum has actually been advocating for shoplifting and other forms of robbery as legitimate ways of political expression. Others have rushed to the side of a recent murderer who killed someone in cold blood because he disagreed with his politics.

While the antidote to all of this is surely a proper kabbolas haTorah, as Rav Zilberstein says, we must first shield our children and ourselves from these baleful influences. One way of doing this, as Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu even before Mattan Torah, is to remember who we are and how must think and act. My rebbi was careful to announce in every volume of his Pachad Yitzchok that we will be learning Hilchos Deios and Chovos Halevavos — the laws of how to think and the obligations of our hearts. These expressions are a stark reminder that before we act, we must cleanse our thoughts and attitudes from the pollution around us. Becoming a goy kadosh and a mamleches kohanim is part of the antidote to the depravities that now fill the world.

Rav Chaim Friedlander (Sifsei Chaim, Shemos, page 302) offers us an incredible metaphor for understanding the task given to us at Har Sinai. He notes that somehow or other, human beings are involved in everything that happens on earth. Whether good or evil, it is man who does things, sometimes for better, sometimes for words. He explains that the reason for this is, as the Ramchal (Daas Tevunos 124) teaches, that since the world was created for mankind, every one of our actions affect the world at large. We may add from the often-quoted line of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch that it is our task to be an ohr lagoyim, a light unto the nations. When we are worthy, we influence them to the best that a human being can be. When we don’t, anti-Semitism sets in to remind us that the world does indeed revolve around us. Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky explained this to mean that we want nothing for ourselves, only to elevate the world to the levels that it can attain when Am Yisroel keeps the Torah.

Rav Shimshon Pincus (Sichos, page 220), too, points out that Hashem’s message even before Matan Torah was that He had created us to be a unique entity in the world. As the Kuzari (1:26) famously taught, there were once four levels of creation: the inanimate, agricultural, animal and man. But then Hashem made a new species in the universe, Am Yisroel. This was even before we had heard a word from Hashem or performed a single mitzvah.

The Baal Shem Tov and Chassidus in general always taught that a Yid is different just because of his holy neshomah. That is what we learned from Rav Zilberstein and Rav Scher.

During the Shloshes Yemei Hagbolah, when we prepare to receive the Torah once again, we must recognize the sublime nature of being a Yid. Everyone knows that we are different. For the enlightened ones, this is a compliment. For our enemies, this is a source of jealousy and enmity. But the fact of mamleches kohanim and goy kadosh is indisputable.

In truth, this process began on Pesach, when we began counting Sefirah. Every day brought us one step closer to being the nation Hashem wants us to be. He created us with that holiness and purity. It is our task not to ruin or diminish it.

The Sheim M’Shmuel (Shemos, page 246) goes even further. The promise of being the mamleches kohanim and goy kadosh ensures our eternality. He quotes from Chazal (Sanhedrin 92a) that being a member of the goy kadosh is defined by living by the rules of eternity. This may be a reference to the teachings of both the Ramchal and Chassidus that it is our ultimate task to restore the glory of Adam Harishon before he sinned, before the edict of death had changed everything. When we think in the glorious terms of malchus, kedusha and service of Hashem (kohanim), we are transported from limited creatures to the infinite neshamos that are a part of Hashem Himself

If we try our best to absorb these ideals now, before Shavuos, we can hopefully ascend to the heights of our potential as man and Am Yisroel to be mekadesh Sheim Shomayim and bring the geulah sheleimah bemeheirah beyomeinu. Amein.

From what I understand, the tickets sold out in four hours. Every available seat for the fifth Maamad Adirei HaTorah were gone within four hours of going on sale. The event is scheduled for May 31st at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, but I heard that the demand was so overwhelming that organizers weighed a move to a venue that holds many more.

I’m not sure if that is true, but they don’t say that stuff about me and you.

But maybe they do. At least in a way. I find myself reflecting on a Gemara that we all know, yet is so cryptic in so many ways. Every year, in the weeks between Pesach and Shavuos, we review it, and now, on the cusp of one of the largest gatherings celebrating limud with rabbeim, chavrusos and yeshiva, I find it more pertinent than ever.

Yevamos 62b. Twenty-four thousand talmidim of Rabi Akiva. Ascara. The worst. Why? The Gemara tells us, with unsettling brevity, that they died because lo nohagu kavod zeh bozeh — translated in the American vernacular, they did not treat one another with proper respect. What I cannot stop wondering, despite the countless conjectures through all of my rabbeim’s shmuessen and postulations, is: What, precisely, did they do or fail to do?

Indeed, throughout my schooling, every one of my rabbeim and teachers seized the opportunity for lessons in betterment of bein adam lachaveiro. The twenty-four thousand have served as the cautionary tale of choice for every conceivable interpersonal failing. In kindergarten, they apparently did not share their snacks. In yeshiva, they allegedly held less than charitable opinions of certain chavrusos. In bais medrash, maybe they were mevatel the chaburos that their friends gave. It seems that the nebulous vacuum invited every “baal mussar” to fill it with whatever we happen to be guilty of in any given season.

But there is a source in Koheles Rabbah (perek yud alef) that seems to cut through the ambiguity with remarkable clarity. Rabi Akiva himself, in an almost autobiographical soliloquy, relates how he had 12,000 talmidim (the Medrash does not say pairs) who were niftar between Pesach and Atzeres. In his opening statement, he offers no reason. Only when he goes on to describe how he then taught seven (not five) new talmidim does he give us a window into what the aveirah may have been. Addressing his surviving talmidim in the aftermath of the catastrophe, he tells them directly: “Harishonim lo meisu ela mipnei shehoysah eineihem tzarah baTorah zeh lazeh. Atem lo tihiyu kein. The earlier ones died only because their eyes were tzarah toward one another in Torah. You should not be this way.”

The Medrash goes on to tell us how those seven talmidim, among them Rabi Shimon bar Yochai, reacted: “Miyad amdu umilu kol Eretz Yisroel Torah. Immediately they stood up and filled all of Eretz Yisroel with Torah.”

Just seven talmidim. Not twelve thousand. Sheva yechidim who heard the mussar, internalized it, and miyad, without delay, without a vaad, without a five-year plan, went out and filled an entire land with Torah.

Not in sharing snacks. Not even in accepting someone as a chavrusa or smiling at a shtickel Torah, but something totally different. It was not a lack of kavod in the usual social sense. Somehow it seems that there was a tzimtzum in their harbotzas Torah.

I thought about this while thinking about the Adirei HaTorah and the unimaginable amount of harbotzas and hafotzas Torah that has emanated from the bais medrash of Rav Aharon Kotler since the founding of Bais Medrash Govoah in America.

But even added to the actual proliferation of Torah itself, Rabi Akiva, who once boasted as a shepherd of his animosity toward talmidei chachomim, became the symbol of “V’ahavta lereiacha kamocha.” And where does it manifest most? Zeh klal gadol baTorah! The love. The sharing. The proliferation must be in Torah.

An event that fills an arena with tens of thousands declaring their love for Torah and those who learn it is indeed extraordinary. The chashivus haTorah on display is real, and it matters.

And it transcends more than just the internal pilpul in the halls of the yeshiva. “Miyad amdu umilu kol Eretz Yisroel Torah. Immediately they stood up and filled all of Eretz Yisroel with Torah.”

Fill the land with Torah. Establish kollelim. Build yeshivos. Grow talmidim. That is the celebration.

I was reminded of this a while back when I was at a Shabbaton in Kisvarda, Hungary, where I watched Rav Dovid Cohen, the Chevroner rosh yeshiva, interact with a group of Hungarian baalei teshuvah. Over the Shabbos, perhaps six or seven young men, newcomers to learning, offered divrei Torah — brief, tentative, the kind a seasoned talmid chochom might receive with patient tolerance and move on.

That is not what happened. Every time one of these young men finished speaking, Rav Cohen rose from his seat, walked over, took the fellow’s hand in both of his, and told him — warmly and specifically — why what he had said was beautiful.

The opposite of tzoras ayin. In the hands of a gadol, it looked effortless. It was not.

A while back, a former talmid met me and shared a story from his sophomore year in high school. He had been given hagbah based entirely on the assumption that a young man of his size must know what he is doing. He did not. The Torah began to wobble. The boys began to shout. He got it back to the shulchan, but the experience was, in his words, mortifying.

What he remembered, twenty-five years later, was that a relatively small rebbi walked over quietly afterward and taught him exactly how to do it. How to lift the Torah. He demonstrated. That Shabbos in shul, the boy did it perfectly. He told me that he has performed hagbah many dozens of times since.

I have an extremely vague memory of this. At the time, it did not occur to me to think of it as anything. But teaching someone how to show the Torah to the world may indeed be the greatest achievement in one’s life. Indeed, it is the voice from Sinai that penetrates an entire world.

As tens of thousands prepare to gather on May 31st to fill an arena with Torah, Torah, Torah, let us carry one additional kinyan into the room.

Eineihem tzarah b’Torah zeh l’zeh. Rabi Akiva told his surviving students: You should not be this way.

That many people in an arena is a maamad. Thousands of men who will then go home and fill the world with Torah is only paving a pathway to geulah.

Just saying.

Republicans Poised to Flip up to 14 US House Seats

“Republicans just won the redistricting war — and boosted their slim hopes for holding the House in November,” an explosive article in the left-wing Politico proclaimed.

The article went on to explain that, against all expectations, a liberal Virginia Supreme Court struck down a congressional map that would have potentially netted Democrats as many as four seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

Only 3 extra seats are needed to flip the U.S. House of Representatives to a Democratic majority.

“Shell-shocked Democrats are scrambling to pick up the pieces after the Virginia Court quashed a new map designed to help them seize control of the House in November’s midterms,” The Hill wrote, echoing the media’s doomsday tone over the Democratic defeat.

The ruling constitutes a significant setback to the party’s efforts to counteract the Republicans’ redistricting push in red states around the country, political analysts say.

“House Democrats fell into a state of anguish after the ruling came out,” reported Axios. “Depression dominated Democrats’ public statements and private text threads as the party absorbed its third redistricting loss in 12 days.”

With mid-term elections around the corner, fierce battles between the major political parties over congressional redistricting have erupted across America, as Democrats and Republicans seek to secure a majority in the House of Representatives in November.

The race to redistrict to gain an electoral advantage received a major boost after last week’s bombshell Supreme Court decision that ruled that “gerrymandering” by race (manipulating voting districts based purely on race) was unconstitutional.

On the heels of that landmark decision, new court rulings in Virginia and Tennessee striking down Democrats’ race-based districts have all but locked in Republican gains through “redistricting,” giving them as much as a 10-seat boost,” Politico reported.

Virginia Victory

Virginia’s legal battle unfolded after voters approved the Democrat-backed referendum in an April special election by a narrow margin.

Republicans quickly challenged the process in court, arguing that Democrats rushed the amendment through the Legislature to bypass constitutional safeguards and secure an unfair advantage.

Democrats lost at the trial court; the case went all the way to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which tossed it out.

The referendum was so flawed, experts say, that not even Virginia’s liberal Supreme Court could rescue it. The justices struck down the entire plan, ruling that all votes for or against the proposed redistricting amendment were unconstitutional.

Virginia Circuit Court Justice Jack Hurley said the Democratic-led legislature had violated procedural requirements by placing a referendum on the ballot that missed the deadline for such an initiative, because early voting for the 2025 election had already started.

“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the majority wrote.

Using even stronger language later in the opinion, Hurley underscored that the legislature’s failure to follow the rules “incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.” The state’s Supreme Court said Virginia will therefore need to use its congressional map from 2021 instead.

Immediately following the stinging defeat, Virginia’s Democrats launched an overnight petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. Legal experts say the petition stands little chance of succeeding, with even a NY Times article predicting it would be rejected.

“Some legal experts believe the petition will fail,” the paper admitted, “because the case is not about federal law or the U.S. Constitution but rather a challenge to a state law which is outside federal jurisdiction.”

After investing eight months and nearly $70 million to pass the referendum,” the Times wrote, “the ruling was a huge blow to Democrats.” This was $70 million of donor money that can no longer be spent on the midterm races.

Virginia Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, the main plaintiff in the case, told Fox News that the entire state of Virginia should be applauding the state supreme court.

The Supreme Court ruling today affirms what we all know: you cannot violate the Constitution to change the Constitution,” McDougle said. “The Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed that even the General Assembly must follow the law. This ruling is not a partisan one — it is a constitutional one.”

“The rule of law is the foundation of our Commonwealth,” the Virginia Senate Minority Leader added, “and today it has been upheld.”

Furious Pushback

Furious Democratic leaders have vowed to fight the verdict. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, accused Virginia’s high court of “defying the will of the voters,” saying he was exploring “how to unravel this decision.”

He pledged to “employ maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time,” a fitting priority for the aspiring Jeffries, who stands first in line to become the House Speaker should Democrats reclaim the House in November.

Democrats had hoped the Virginia changes—later invalidated by the Supreme Court—would help offset Republican gains elsewhere, particularly after GOP-led states such as Texas redrew congressional boundaries favorable to Republicans.

Democrats had been aiming to implement maps that would turn their party’s current 6-5 edge in the U.S. House into a 10-1 advantage, but those hopes are fading.

“The recent court ruling gives Republicans a decisive edge in the redistricting war,” Politico said.

Chaos at Tennessee Capitol

The court rulings outlawing the use of race in districting have thrown the Democratic Party into a state of frustration and frenzy, media outlets report.

“Fury and Desperation Grip Dems After Friday’s Ruling,” the NY Times declared after the Virginia Supreme Court handed down its opinion.

“Democrats in Panic Mode after GOP Set to Gain 10 Seats_,” Sky News_ reported. “Chaos erupts at Tennessee Capitol as Redistricting Maps Move Forward,” a local Tennessee paper cautioned.

The paper quoted the shocking observations of an eyewitness to the proceedings at the Tennessee Capitol as Democrats and protesters resorted to throwing fits inside the Capitol building.

“The final vote in the Tennessee State House sounded less like a legislative proceeding and more like a group meltdown in a psychiatric ward,” the eyewitness wrote. Demonstrators howled, Democrats pounded their desks, flailed their arms and stomped out, and state troopers removed raucous gallery members.

“One Democrat Senator leaped onto on a table waving a banner, and refused to come down.

“Despite the cacophony, the Republicans calmly approved the map, presumably using sign language to communicate their “yea” votes through the racket.”

After the Capitol cleared out, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally called out Rep. Charlane Oliver for her crude and raucous protest from the top of her desk, as a vote was taken on a new congressional map.

“Senator Oliver’s outrageous and unprecedented display on the Senate floor today was disgraceful. She disrespected her colleagues, her constituents and this state,” McNally said. “There is simply no excuse for what she did.”

“The Senate floor is for deliberative debate, not calculated performative disruption,” McNally said. “It was conduct unbecoming of a senator — pure and simple.”

Despite the orchestrated uproar, Tennessee Republicans got the vote done. Governor Bill Lee has already signed the redistricting bill designed to give Republicans one more seat in Congress and protect President Trump’s control over the House.

Tennessee currently has eight Republicans and one Democrat — Rep. Steve Cohen, whose district is centered in the city of Memphis — in its House delegation. Under the new map, Republicans would be favored to sweep all nine seats, while Tennessee’s only Democratic representative may lose his seat.

Under the old map, Cohen’s “majority-minority” district seat was created under the Voting Rights Act, whereby voting districts are designed so that one racial minority group forms the majority.

But last week, the Supreme Court overturned that regulation, and effectively ruled that courts must first determine that there’s a provable case of racial discrimination before ordering race-based redistricting.

A mismatch between the size of a minority population and its share of congressional representation, on its own, is no longer treated as sufficient evidence of unlawful discrimination.

Mayhem in Alabama

Alabama is one of several states attempting to install new congressional district boundaries ahead of the November midterm elections. Its capital, Montgomery, was the scene of mayhem last month, similar to the raucous uproar in Memphis, as Republican lawmakers completed the redistricting vote during a thunderstorm evacuation.

Observers described Democrat officials screaming incoherently, gibberish, refusing to leave the lectern, and pulling fire alarms that blared incessantly throughout the proceedings.

As the thunderstorm escalated, evacuation notices lit up everyone’s phones, water began floating lawmakers’ cars away, and floodwaters seeped into the state house’s ground floor, puddling in the hallways.

Ironically, the violent storm ended a Democratic filibuster, which allowed Republicans to call the vote. The lawmakers cast their votes even as they were evacuating the chamber amid blaring fire alarms, with State Senator Greg Albritton standing guard at the chamber doors, making sure each member voted before they left.

The video scenes from the two legislatures “were so troubling and bizarre they almost defy description,” a journalist wrote. “Terrible optics for Democrats. Where one might expect dignity and professionalism, there was only mob mania; petulant, adolescent acting out. It smacked of desperation.”

Alabama Gets Green Light to Redraw Map

In yet another win for the GOP in the “gerrymandering wars,” Alabama received the green light from the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to enact the redistricting effort the state had voted for in late April—one that could boost Republicans in two Democrat-controlled voting districts.

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices cited their blockbuster ruling in the Louisiana case last week that outlawed racial districting. A lower court had ordered Alabama’s congressional map to include two majority-black voting districts. The Supreme Court ruling this week vacated that order.

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signaled last week that Alabama was “ready to quickly act” should the courts issue favorable rulings related to redistricting.

Trump and GOP allies argue the recent court ruling restores fairness after years of aggressive Democrat gerrymandering efforts in blue states nationwide.

Republicans currently hold a slim majority of just 3 seats in the House of Representatives, with 218 seats for GOP members to 215 for Democrats. (As of April 23, 2026, there is one vacant seat due to the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Ca. A special election to fill that seat will be held on Aug. 4, 2026.)

With Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina poised to redistrict ahead of November elections, Republicans are potentially positioned to flip between 10-14 US House seats in their favor.

Just one year ago, it was unthinkable that 10 House districts would be redrawn mid-decade to favor Republicans. Less than a month ago, the media was running a stream of articles hailing the Democrats’ push to win back a House majority, citing pundits who predicted that Democrats would sail to victory in November.

Rarely has a political situation changed so sharply in so short a time.

In the end, it was the courts — not fellow Republicans — that ultimately handed the biggest redistricting wins to Trump. Many GOP lawmakers across the country were not willing to heed calls to redraw their states’ maps.

“We expected corporate media’s gaslighting that Trump’s redistricting battle plan would backfire. But too many Republicans who should have known better also boarded the doom bus,” wrote Florida attorney and political commentator Jeff Childers.

“For example, Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-CA, said, “It was a mistake to go down this road.” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, called GOP gerrymandering “bad for our country” and said, “nobody should ever go down this route.”

***

Democrats’ Desperate Measures 

The judicial defeat in Virginia has so rattled Democrats, some panicked voices have advocated doing something so radical, it sounds like something only a hardened demagogue would dream up.

A NY Times article reported the apparently leaked details of an “angry private call” between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and top Virginia Democrats aimed at restoring a congressional (gerrymandered) map voided by the court.

“The conversation reflected the desperation and fury that have gripped the party after the state Supreme Court struck down the map,” the paper said. The individuals on the call floated a bizarre scheme: why not just fire all the Virginia judges who ruled against them and start over with new ones that would toe the line?

Calling the plan “audacious and possibly far-fetched,” the Times article explained that since Democrats control the legislature, they could rapidly pass a new law to lower the retirement age to 54.

Why 54? Does a human brain suddenly lose its ability to grasp judicial law at age 54? No scientific evidence was cited in the call. The number 54 was presumably chosen because that is the age of the youngest justice currently sitting on the Virginia Supreme Court. (The oldest is 73.)

The apparent plan is for Virginia Democrats to legally declare that every justice on the state’s highest court is too old and senile to do their jobs and force them all into immediate retirement.

Virginia judges are appointed by the General Assembly, where Democrats hold majorities in both chambers and can presumably pull off this outrageous move if all party members cooperate.

Virginia Democrats “could then fill vacancies on the court with sympathetic Democratic judges,” the Times article said. Party leaders advocated this sweeping scheme even though the vote was 4-3, with three judges voting in favor of approving Virginia Democrats’ racially based districting referendum.

No matter. For the sake of “protecting democracy” –getting rid of undesirable judges who don’t rule in the Party’s favor —all must be thrown under the bus.

“To Lefties driving today’s Democratic Party,” wrote a NY Post editorial, “it’s not “democracy” unless it’s hard-wired to let Democrats run roughshod — and when their power-grab schemes run afoul of the rule of law, their only answer is to devise a fresh scheme.”

Not all Democrats applauded the plan. Former U.S. Representative James Moran, D-Va., expressed reservations to Fox News Digital, saying such a move “could backfire” on his party. “We do have to keep our credibility,” he said. “We have to do things that pass the legitimacy test.”

***

Protests Inside State Capitols Likely to Intensify

Political analysts say the extremist confrontations now erupting across the country may be a preview of the coming midterm elections, with chaotic protests inside state capitols likely to intensify in the months ahead.

Some predict the Democratic Party will rally and overcome GOP gains in the frenzied run-up to the November elections. Others say the country may be witnessing the slow unraveling of a major political party.

Campaign strategists in both parties have sounded a note of caution, pointing out that if the political environment turns sharply against Trump and Republicans — perhaps fueled by rising gas prices and lowered approval ratings — Democrats may still succeed in unseating a couple of Republican seats in November.

With the Virginia map tossed, Republicans could wind up netting a dozen House seats in the redistricting wars, but that might not save the GOP majority, writes the NY Post, noting that the president’s job approval rating is currently mired in the low forties.

“The ‘old’ map still gives Dems an excellent chance to pick up two or three seats in Virginia,” the article said. “And even the Texas gerrymander that started the whole thing could blow up in Republicans’ faces if Hispanics in that state revert to their pre-2024 voting patterns.”

In counterpoint to this possible scenario, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche cast the Supreme Court’s rejection of Virginia’s gerrymandered map as part of a far broader political realignment.

Responding to the ruling, he issued a blunt warning about what he sees as the emerging landscape for Democrats:

“Combine these court wins with nationwide photo ID,” he said, “with the end of mass mail-in ballots, and with falling oil prices once the Iranian situation is resolved, and all of a sudden the Dems are staring down the barrel of a 2026 midterm bloodbath.”

Knesset Summer Session Opens with Draft Law on Center Stage

The Knesset began its summer session this week, and the secular media used the occasion to continue railing against the draft law (or “draft evasion law,” as they put it). They feared that Netanyahu would somehow manage to pass the law this summer. In fact, the national-religious right was opposed to the law, and there were a number of members of the Likud party who vowed to vote against it as well, even if it meant that they would be disciplined by Netanyahu. However, something has changed. As the anti-Netanyahu bloc drew closer to 60 mandates in the polls, the Likud and Religious Zionism began to fear a new threat—that the chareidim would join forces with Bennett, Eizenkot, and Lieberman to form a centrist-chareidi government. (Personally, I don’t believe there is the slightest chance that the left-wing bloc will manage to accumulate 60 mandates, since there is a definite right-wing majority in the country, but that is a story for a different time.) After all, the chareidi parties would certainly get everything they want in such a government—not only government funding but a new draft law as well, and one that satisfies every one of their demands. Despite their repeated insistence that the draft exemption for yeshiva students must not be allowed to stand, Netanyahu’s political rivals are likely to give up anything in exchange for power, even if it means giving in to the chareidim. Remember, the Bennett-Lapid-Lieberman government was willing to fork over billions of shekels to the Arabs and to refrain from attacking Gaza in order to receive and retain the Arabs’ support in the government. Surely, then, some funding for chareidim and a new draft law would not even make them blink. Perhaps they will even grant lomdei Torah a full exemption from the draft.

But what about the judges, you ask? Won’t they strike down a law that exempts yeshiva students from military service, as they have always done? In the scenario we are discussing, there is no cause for concern. As soon as there is a government that suits the judges—i.e., a government that will cancel the judicial reform and leave them comfortably in power—they will play along. After all, they are the ultimate politicians.

This is the reason that the right-wing politicians have begun to reconsider their stances on the draft law, wondering if perhaps it would be best for them to have the law passed before the next election. Which would mean that it must be passed during the Knesset’s summer session.

However, after writing these words there was a dramatic change. Following an announcement by Netanyahu that there is no majority for the draft law and another request to delay its implementation until after the elections, Rav Dov Landau called for new elections and told Degel HaTorah lawmakers to withdraw support from the coalition.

“We no longer have trust in Netanyahu,” Rav Landau said. “From here on, we will do only what is good for chareidim and the yeshiva world. We must act to dissolve the Knesset as soon as possible. The concept of a ‘bloc’ no longer exists as far as we are concerned.”

Opposition parties Yesh Atid and The Democrats moved quickly to introduce a bill dissolving the Knesset.

In March, chareidi parties backed the budget on the understanding that the draft law would return to the agenda two weeks after Pesach.

Does Netanyahu Have a Chance of Passing the Law?

This past Shabbos, 17 yeshiva and kollel students were being held in military prison. All of them were arrested over the past two months and sentenced to time behind bars. There were also attempts made last week to arrest three more yeshiva bochurim, but those attempts failed. And as if that wasn’t enough to make the atmosphere tense and foreboding, yeshiva bochurim all around the country feel threatened. There is also the economic stranglehold tightening around the chareidi community. All of that can change in an instant if a draft law is passed: No one will be classified as a draft evader anymore, and government funding will return. There will certainly be petitions and court sessions that are likely to continue for an entire year, but even one year of quiet can be beneficial. However, if the legal advisors of the Knesset are opposed to the law, then the Supreme Court will strike it down in an instant. That is the problem.

Within the coalition, some believe that even if Netanyahu would want to pass the draft law, he would not be successful. Boaz Bismut, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee who has been overseeing the discussions, says that his committee has no problem with approving any bill that receives the chareidim’s approval, with or without the legal advisors’ support. And when the law is brought to a vote in the Knesset, many are confident that if Netanyahu wants to pass it, it will pass. However, Netanyahu will face a challenge in dealing with the members of the Knesset on the back benches, who know that they will no longer be present in the Knesset’s next term since they will likely not make the cut in the Likud primaries. Ostensibly, these politicians will have no problem flexing their muscles and bucking the prime minister’s orders—although, on the other hand, this would be the death knell for their political careers. As far as the chareidim are concerned, though, this isn’t their problem. Mustering a majority in the Knesset will be Netanyahu’s headache.

And now, someone else spoke about against the draft law—Ophir Sofer, a member of Smotrich’s party who serves as minister of immigration and absorption. Sofer announced that he would vote against the bill if it is brought to the Knesset, provoking an angry reaction from Moshe Gafni. “He has no concept of the importance of learning Torah,” Gafni fumed. “It would be better for him to focus on his job as minister of immigrant absorption rather than meddling in the affairs of the yeshiva world.” Gafni went on to attack the members of the religious Zionist camp who have been opposing the Torah world, while Smotrich hurried to defend Sofer.

Aryeh Deri has announced several times, including this past week, that his Shas party will accept any decision made by the gedolim of Degel HaTorah.

We have to daven to Hashem to have mercy on us.

A Debate in the Knesset Will Not End Youth Violence

The chareidi press tends to avoid reporting on crime. Therefore, I assume that you are unaware of the maelstrom of outrage and controversy surrounding the subject of the mounting violence among youths in Israel. One recent egregious incident took place in Petach Tikvah, leaving residents of the city shaken. To make a long story short, a group of youths attacked another boy when he left the pizzeria where he worked as a waiter. The other boys were angered by the fact that the victim had asked them not to make a mess in the store, which led to a fierce quarrel that ultimately turned deadly. The young pizzeria employee was murdered for no reason other than that he had tried to quiet a group of rowdy youths. A similar incident took place in Beer Sheva as well. The secular media has been rehashing these stories for the past two weeks, bemoaning the depths to which Israeli society has sunk. And then, to make matters even worse, there is a group of youths, children of Eritrean infiltrators, who have been roaming the streets of Tel Aviv and beating other children, leaving much of the country wondering how the scourge of violence can be eliminated.

When the Knesset opened its summer session this week, several urgent motions for the agenda were filed on the subject of violence among young people. The minister of education will respond to the motions and committees will meet to discuss it … but then what? The leaders of Petach Tikvah, as well as Tel Aviv and Beer Sheva, need to understand that the solution to the problem lies in education; until they realize that, nothing will change. Even stiff penalties will not serve as deterrence.

In defense of Mayor Rami Greenberg of Petach Tikvah, whom I have never met, it must be noted that after the terrible murder outside the pizzeria, he decided to focus on outreach among the youths of his city. Prior to Lag Ba’omer, Greenberg announced that he would attend the bonfire held by Mishnas Shimshon for hundreds of students from their midrashot, with the goal of bolstering their activities. Mishnas Shimshon is a network of organizations that includes the Ohel Yiskah kollel in the neighborhood of Amishav, the Nefesh Shimshon kiruv project, and Lev L’Gibborei Yisroel, whose participants visit wounded soldiers undergoing rehabilitation in Tel Hashomer Hospital. The organization was founded by Rav Moshe Pincus in memory of his illustrious grandfather, Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus. The yungeleit in the kollel spend time learning with the soldiers as well as with other irreligious residents, adults and youths. Rav Pincus has enjoyed incredible siyata d’shmaya, and his programs have attracted hundreds of youths from the city. Mayor Greenberg deserves to be applauded for promoting the work of these institutions.

Herzog Recommends a Plea Bargain

Do you still remember Netanyahu’s request for a pardon and President Trump’s involvement in the matter? Well, after weeks without a development, something has finally happened. Netanyahu hasn’t received the pardon he requested, but the president’s office has begun putting pressure on both sides in the case (Netanyahu’s defense team and the prosecution) to reach some sort of agreement that will terminate the trial. President Herzog did not accept Netanyahu’s request for a pardon, nor did he reject it; he simply made an effort to promote dialogue between the two sides, with the goal of fostering an agreement. A letter from Michal Tzuk, the legal advisor to the president, invited the attorney general, the state prosecutor, and Netanyahu’s attorneys to meet in the president’s residence to discuss the possibility of arriving at some sort of mutual understanding. The president’s staff explained that this is a preliminary stage before Hertzog begins his deliberations over the request for a pardon. The president would prefer to see the two sides reach an agreement that will put an end to the trial, and will consider a pardon only if that option fails. The letter stresses that accepting the presidents’ invitation should not be construed as an agreement with the other side or a withdrawal of their claims in court.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Prosecutor Amit Aisman accepted the president’s invitation, which means only that they are ready to talk; this doesn’t necessarily signal their willingness to accept a deal. They also made two significant qualifications: There are to be no preconditions to the discussions, and the talks must not interfere with the progress of the trial. They refused to answer whether the talks will be held in the president’s residence. The prime minister, for his part, hasn’t yet given an official answer to Herzog’s request. It is not a simple matter for him; if he agrees to the talks, it might signal that he is open to the possibility of a plea bargain, which would lead to the question of whether he is prepared to admit to having committed a crime, to accept responsibility, to step down from his position, or to agree to moral turpitude. A refusal, on the other hand, might also tarnish his public image, indicating that he is unwilling to try to end his criminal trial even when the president gives him an opportunity to do so.

Herzog explained that he chose what he believes to be the best path forward. Netanyahu’s trial, he asserted, is one of the most divisive and polarizing topics in Israeli society, and he felt that it would be best to try to reach an agreement to end the trial without having to deal with the dramatic question of whether a sitting prime minister should be given a pardon even without having been convicted of a crime. In other words, Herzog is trying to find a middle ground, neither accepting nor rejecting the notion of pardoning the prime minister. The main question is whether he is calling for an actual plea bargain, which generally requires the defendant to admit at least to part of the allegations against him and to accept a penalty of some kind, or for criminal arbitration, which does not require anything of the defendant.

Musings in the Wake of Lag Ba’omer

The smoke of the Lag Ba’omer bonfires dissipated days ago, but I still find myself preoccupied by the events that led up to this year’s hillula. I read stories about the people who longed to visit Meron on Lag Ba’omer and managed to get there in spite of the many obstacles and the authorities’ opposition, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were truly correct in their actions. Did they have the gift of nevuah to inform them that no missiles would fall while they were there, and that the police would show restraint and would refrain from beating them or causing harm? Then again, masses of people visited the mountain on the day after Lag Ba’omer, all with official permission, and this, in my mind, gave rise to the opposite question: What made the Home Front Command so certain that there would be no missiles on the 34th day of the Omer? Were they blessed with prophecy of some kind? What made it safer to be in Meron on that day than on the day before?

I found myself confused, left with the distinctly unpleasant feeling that the decisions had nothing to do with the actual degree of danger and instead were based on the type of people who were affected. Was it really too risky to open Meron to the public on Lag Ba’omer, or was it contempt for the religious populace that drove that decision? Yes, we must give thanks to Hashem for the fact that there was no tragedy; at the same time, there is no avoiding the suspicion that the decision makers were not free of bias or personal agendas. That would also explain why there was a sweeping ban on visiting the Kosel, which the secular government considers nothing more than a tourist site, during the war with Iran. Perhaps they view Meron as a place of recreation, rather than holiness, as well.

As it turns out, this isn’t without precedent. The Israeli newspaper Hamevasser dedicated its weekly supplement to Meron last week and featured copious information about the history of Lag Ba’omer in Meron. One of the articles reported on the events of Lag Ba’omer in the year 5716, when severe restrictions were placed on the hillula out of concern for public safety. There was a fierce debate in the media at the time as to whether the Ministry of Religious Affairs had agreed to the restrictions or possibly even participated in imposing them, or the ministry worked behind the scenes to limit the damage and at least to make it possible for the regular participants in the hillula to receive permits to attend. The ministry claimed that the decision had come from the police, and the police did not respond. According to a report in the newspaper Shearim, dated on the 29th of Iyar 5716, “The public wants to know and must receive an explanation as to whether the restrictions imposed by the police on the traditional pilgrimage to Meron were necessary, and if it was possible to make any corrections or repairs in advance to avoid an affront to the sensitivities of tens of thousands of celebrants who gather in Meron every year on Lag Ba’omer.”

The same question could easily be asked about the hillula that was restricted this year, many decades after that incident: Were the limitations imposed by the police and the Home Front Command truly necessary?

In any event, this Lag Ba’omer also taught us that Rabi Shimon is not limited by geography, and every Jew can connect to Rabi Shimon bar Yochai anywhere, not only in Meron—whether it is in Beit Shemesh, at Rav Shefa in Yerushalayim, in Givat Shaul, or in Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, where the festivities were arranged by the bochurim while the neighborhood rabbonim closed their eyes. Shloimy Breuer, an extremely serious yeshiva bochur, managed to organize and produce a remarkable event, recruiting the musical services of Yehuda Appel on the keyboard, Yaakov Raphael with a guitar, and Mottele Rokach as a singer. Together, the group swept hundreds of bochurim to the heights of inspiration—of course, only after the conclusion of the night seder. The enthusiasm and passion that typify Meron on Lag Ba’omer echoed through the streets of Rishon Letzion, sweeping even the non-chareidi residents along with them.

Terror in Israel and Deaths in Lebanon

I haven’t written much about security-related matters, but the country is still suffering from the schemes of bloodthirsty terrorists. Last weekend, Border Guard officers arrested three terrorists who were planning to carry out attacks, including a Palestinian Authority policeman and an ISIS activist from Yehuda and Shomron. In the villages of Dura and Deir al-Asad, security forces arrested two terrorists who were planning to carry out attacks “in the immediate future.” In another operation in Shechem, another terrorist was arrested for past involvement in terror. And on a somewhat unrelated note, an Israeli soldier was taken into custody this week on suspicion of having stolen weapons, while another soldier was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran. And I haven’t even mentioned what is happening within Iran, which has led to nail-biting tension in Israel. No one here has the slightest interest in spending more time running to bomb shelters or panicking at the sound of an air raid siren; on the other hand, we all agree that the Iranian nuclear threat must be completely eliminated.

As I mentioned last week, Israel is also facing the threat of drones operated by Hezbollah in Lebanon. This new variety of drones has proven difficult for the IDF to evade, and the weapons are continuing to cause Israeli injuries and fatalities. The army is currently working on ways to defeat the primitive drones, and IDF soldiers have been armed with weapons that might be able to overcome them. Meanwhile, we are still burying fallen soldiers; may Hashem protect us.

Ruminations of the Bereaved

This week, I received a copy of Otzma, the magazine published by an organization dedicated to assisting widows and orphans of IDF soldiers and security personnel. Leafing through this periodical gave me a small sense of the pain and grief experienced by tens of thousands of widows and orphans. The stories, many of which took place over the past couple of years, since Simchas Torah of 2023, are deeply saddening. For instance, there is the story of Motti Wieder: For many years, Motti habitually traveled to Har Hazeisim on Yom Hazikaron to visit the kever of his father, Chaim Tzvi Wieder, who was killed in the Yom Kippur War. Fifty-one years after the loss of his father, he received a visit from IDF officials, this time to inform him that his son Elyashiv Eitan, a combat soldier in the Golani brigade, had been killed in Lebanon. This left him with a terrible decision to make every year: Should he visit his father’s kever on Har Hazeisim or his son’s resting place on Mount Herzl? Elyashiv was born during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, and his bris was held on erev Sukkos when the family returned from the kever on Har Hazeisim.

This issue of Otzma contained a supplement titled Gaaguim (“Yearnings”), which consisted of poems written by bereaved parents, widows, and orphans. Sadly, I felt that there was a vital element that had been left out of the publication: the concept of emunah. The true source of consolation for these bereaved families should be the fact that their loved ones died al kiddush Hashem and thus attained some of the loftiest levels of holiness. With all due respect to the activities arranged by the organization—hikes at sunrise, surfing lessons, and a trip to the Secret Forest in Cyprus—I wonder why there is no mention of special tefillos, trips to holy sites, or other Jewish-oriented initiatives to benefit the souls of the deceased.

The opening pages of Gaaguim contain letters from President Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and Police Commissioner Levi. The chief of staff quoted Yossi Gamzu, Netanyahu quoted a poet, and Herzog quoted himself. No one bothered to cite a single posuk about the soul or the Jewish spirit. However, the opening letter in Otzma written by the chairwoman of the organization, Zahava Gross-Meidan, stirred my emotions. As a widow whose husband was killed in IDF service, she knows how to express the pain and grief that haunt bereaved families. “Over the past two years,” she wrote, “too many names have been added to the weight we carry on our hearts…. On this day, along with remembering the deceased, we choose life once again and pray for the strength to accompany us forward. Those who pin their hopes on Hashem will have renewed strength…. Even when it seems as if the world has stopped and our hearts are completely broken, we still have a force within us that renews itself every day—the power of faith, community, and choosing life.”

It’s a pity that the politicians didn’t take a page out of her book and include some mention of Hashem and Jewish faith in their own letters as well.

The Day of Liberation and Salvation

While Netanyahu’s letter in the magazine may not have had much in the way of Jewish content, he sometimes knows how to write like a Jew. This week, there will be a fascinating event that I find more meaningful with every passing year: the celebration of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The rest of the world commemorates the event on May 9, but I am referring to its Hebrew anniversary, the 26th of Iyar. In Moscow and in many other capital cities in Europe, this historic event is commemorated on its Hebrew anniversary and with Jewish rituals such as Kaddish, Kel Malei Rachamim, and other tefillos. The idea to mark the date specifically according to the Hebrew calendar originated with a man named Gavriel (German) Zakharyaev, whom I have mentioned in numerous articles in the past. Thanks to his advocacy, a law was passed in Israel calling for the occasion to be marked on its Hebrew date, and the annual event at the Kosel organized by Zakharyaev has therefore become an official occasion. The event is attended by a large crowd of cheder children from Yerushalayim representing the hundreds of boys who learned six million mishnayos in memory of the Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

I met Gavriel Zakharyaev several years ago, when his assistant, Dovid Mordechaiev, asked for permission to organize a hachnossas sefer Torah in the Knesset. The idea sounded bizarre and unrealistic at first, but it ultimately came to fruition. On the same day, Zakharyaev donated three sifrei Torah to three different places: One small sefer was delivered to the home of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, a second was placed at the Kosel, and the third was gifted to the Knesset. A few months later, the Knesset administration asked for the sefer Torah to be transferred to a different shul, since the Knesset is prohibited by law from accepting gifts. But I digress.

The annual event at the Kosel will be held this Wednesday. The guest of honor at the event is usually either Rav Yisroel Meir Lau or his son, Rav Moshe Chaim Lau, and the minister of religious affairs (a post held by Michoel Malchieli in recent years) is typically in attendance as well. At the same time, Mr. Zakharyaev appears as the guest of honor at a parallel event in Moscow, while concurrent events are held in capital cities all around Europe and attended by the rabbonim of various countries, including Tunisia.

But let me return to my main point: In honor of the upcoming events, Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote a letter in which he mentioned the tribulations that the Jewish people have endured in recent years. “Let us remember,” Netanyahu wrote, “that our duty to subdue evil regimes isn’t a one-time task…. Just look at the historic revolution we have created in this War of Revival. The small country of Israel and its great friend, the United States, are carrying the entirety of Western civilization on their backs. Our soldiers, filled with a sense of mission, are standing strong on all fronts to guarantee the eternity of Israel, with Hashem’s help, and we all stand with them.” Netanyahu went on to acknowledge the IDF veterans and to thank the organizers of the events being held in Yerushalayim, Moscow, and other cities, and concluded, “I must give my warmest thanks to German Zakharyaev, one of the leaders of the Russian-Jewish Congress, who was the driving force behind commemorating this important date on the Hebrew calendar.”

In the House of Hashem

Last weekend, I attended an American wedding. No, I wasn’t in Boro Park or Lakewood; I was in Yerushalayim, but it was an American wedding nonetheless. The father of the chosson was Rav Yitzchok Meir Green of Boro Park; I can still remember attending his engagement celebration many years ago. His father-in-law was the late Rav Avrohom Noach Klein, a prodigious baal tzedokah in Boro Park. To this day, the family still manages the tzedokah fund that he established, distributing funds to various institutions and needy individuals to honor his memory. On that note, I remember that Rav Chaim Kanievsky came to visit us during the shiva for my father; it was quite unusual for him to make the trip from Bnei Brak to Beer Yaakov, but he arrived and said to us, “Every act of tzedokah, every Kaddish, every mishnah, and every mitzvah that you perform in his memory will benefit your father in the World of Truth. Just imagine that he has no pillow, and then you perform an act that provides him with a pillow.” To borrow Rav Chaim’s analogy, I tend to believe that Rav Avrohom Noach has plenty of “pillows” in Shomayim thanks to his family’s ongoing good deeds.

The kallah’s father was Rav Naftoli Etzioni (Holtz), who is a descendant of the Chiddushei HoRim and the Tiferes Shlomo. The kallah’s grandmother, Rebbetzin Chaya Pietrkowski, lives in Lakewood. In short, it was an American simcha despite being held at the Nof simcha hall in Yerushalayim.

At the wedding, I met many members of the family of Rav Yisroel Green of Boro Park. Many years ago, when I learned in America as a yeshiva bochur, first in Lakewood and then in South Fallsburg, Rav Yisroel Green and his rebbetzin opened their home to me. The Midrash states that when Hashem instructed Moshe to travel to Mitzrayim to demand the release of Bnei Yisroel, Moshe said, “Master of the Universe, I cannot do it, for Yisro received me and opened his home to me, and I am like a son to him, and when someone opens his door to his friend, he owes his life to him.” That line neatly encapsulates the depth of my own feelings of gratitude to the Green family. And I was the second generation to benefit from their largesse; their home and Reb Yisroel’s office in Manhattan (where he later worked together with his partner, the illustrious baal tzedokah Reb Yossel Neuman) were open to my father during his time in America as well. In addition, Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro was hosted in their home when he visited America. I could easily write an entire article about Rav Yisroel Green; however, he would not want me to do that.

Rav Yitzchok Meir, the father of the chosson, is an outstanding talmid chochom. During the wedding, he shared an incredible vort with us on the statement of Chazal, “Rabi Shimon says: All of Yisroel are royalty.” This statement is quoted with regard to the halachic issues of going outdoors on Shabbos while wearing jewelry or using rose oil for medical purposes on Shabbos. Rabbi Green proposed an outstanding chiddush, which I will not quote here. However, I will quote the following thought, which he shared with my table: “On Shabbos Shuvah in the year 5755, I joined you for the morning seudah. You may not remember it, but I remember that I told you a vort that I had heard from the Pnei Menachem at a tish on the previous Shabbos. He quoted the posuk, ‘I ask for one thing from Hashem, which I shall request—that I dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life.’ The Pnei Menachem asked: How is it possible for a person to be in the ‘house of Hashem’ at all times? After all, a person must eat, sleep, and perhaps engage in business as well. The Pnei Menachem answered his question with a roar: ‘When a person thinks about Hashem in everything he does, then he is in Hashem’s House even when he is involved in gashmiyus!’”

Suppose you’re in the market for a house. You have a mental picture of the kind of place you want, along with a list of pre­ferred features. Day after day, you trudge around behind a Realtor, checking out the options.

There are so many different parts to a house. So much that can be right… and so much that can be just plain wrong. How do you weigh one against the other? Suppose you find a house that’s mostly what you want, but is lacking in some ways. How do you judge whether or not it’s a good buy?

To help you figure it out, you bring an inspec­tor on board. The inspector’s job is to check the place out from top to bottom, with the aim of ascertaining its overall “health.” He doesn’t concern himself with things that can easily be remedied, such as torn window screens or an aging boiler. His job is to discover, and to share with you, the potential buyer, the pluses and minuses of the house’s condition where it counts.

It would be the height of folly to reject an oth­erwise fine prospect because you don’t like the color of the living room walls. Obviously, that’s something you can change without too much trouble. However, if the inspector tells you that the place needs a new roof, requires an overhaul of its entire HVAC system, and has a problem with termites in the basement, that’s definitely food for thought. These are serious problems which call for serious repairs and a serious out­lay of money.

If, however, the inspector declares the house fundamentally sound, you’ve got something to work with. All the smaller details which aren’t precisely to your liking can be either dealt with or put up with. If the basic picture is healthy, you’re good to go.

A person’s physical health follows a similar rule. He may be plagued by such trivial annoy­ances as dandruff, ingrown toenails and a ten­dency toward acne. She may deplore her frizzy hair or suffer from occasional heartburn. But if the doctor pronounces their vital organs to be in good shape, they can, with good justification, call themselves healthy.

To follow the analogy: When engaged in the search for a life partner, it’s useful to set our­selves up as house inspectors rather than buy­ers. Doctors rather than patients.

A buyer can be fickle, and a patient can be ir­ritated by trivial complaints. But the question we should ask ourselves is whether or not a par­ticular candidate for marriage is fundamentally

sound. Our focus ought to be on the condition at the basic level, rather than the fixable or can-be-lived-with de­tails on the perimeter.

I’ll never forget a girl I knew long ago, who declared that she would nev­er marry a boy who wore brown suits. Sometime later, a mutual friend in­formed me that she’d just run into that girl, now happily engaged and walking with her chosson who was wearing… a brown suit! That long-ago kallah was smart enough to separate the vital from the trivial. She chose a husband who had the important qualities that she was looking for, and she was will­ing to either put up with, or work on changing, the kind of clothes he chose to wear.

On the Same Team

They say you should never mar­ry someone in the hope that they’ll change. That doesn’t mean that they’ll never change. It does mean that you can’t depend on it happening.

Many years ago, I knew someone who was not enjoying her marriage to a difficult man. She went to speak to a rov, who told her flatly that she couldn’t expect her husband to change. The choice lay before her: either to di­vorce him, or to undertake to change herself. By finding new inner strengths and different ways of coping with the things that bothered her about his per­sonality, she could recreate their re­lationship to make it both more func­tional and more satisfying.

She decided to stay in the marriage and do the necessary personal work to help smooth away the rough edges. And she’s still there all these years lat­er, with a healthier if not perfect mar­riage, enjoying plenty of nachas from their children and grandchildren.

It’s not always easy for an outsider to take a couple’s “temperature” to see if the marriage is healthy. That’s because what you see is not the whole picture. You sometimes run into couples who enjoy mock bickering in public as a way of being entertaining. Regardless of whether you approve of this mode of social behavior, what matters much more is how they treat each other when they’re out of the public eye. How they behave in private is the true barometer of the relationship.

The reverse is true, too. A couple who acts friendly and even affectionate in front of others but rips off the mask to treat each other nastily in private, is a couple that’s in trouble. It’s not the outer charade that defines the health of the relationship, but the inner reality. And only the two of them are privy to that knowledge.

Over the course of their years to­gether, it’s only natural for the first, dazzling impression to fray around the edges. Where you once believed your partner to be a pattern of perfection, you gradually become aware of the hu­man imperfections which he, like ev­eryone else, contends with. Over time, he also discovers the areas where you’re lacking. These discoveries can be dis­illusioning, but they don’t have to be devastating. What’s called for when that happens is to separate the basics from the trivial.

If the middos are there, and the good­will is there, you’ve got something to work with. Minor faults can be over­looked or smoothed away. Major ones require more effort. But as long as the foundations of the building are solid, your home will endure.

Someone wise once told me that a critical ingredient in a good marriage is for husband and wife to be “for” each other. They need to both be playing on the same team. They have to have each other’s backs. Then, when a disagree­ment crops up or a major argument erupts, on a basic level they’re still for each other.

There’s no worse feeling than ap­proaching your own front door know­ing that you’re about to enter enemy territory. Unfortunately, in marriages where the foundational level is flawed and left to flounder, this can happen. Let enough negative water flow under the bridge of the relationship, and it will start to crumble.

Your spouse, for all his shortcom­ings, must be on your side, and vice versa. That’s basic. So is principle that both of your middos must be kept in good shape. Like a house or car, main­tenance is crucial. Even good mid­dos can deteriorate if allowed to slide through lethargy or lack of focus. And problematic middos must certainly be noticed and weeded out.

Nobody is perfect down to every last detail. You’ll each have things to work on and areas that can stand some im­provement. But at bottom, a marriage thrives when both parties, like a good house, are fundamentally sound. Then, even if there are things to be worked on (and there always are), there’s a solid basis for success.

As President Donald Trump prepared to leave for his delayed visit with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing, he warned that the future of the shaky ceasefire with Iran is comparable to that of a gravely ill patient on “life support” with no more than a 1% chance of recovery. Trump issued that dire prognosis to White House reporters after flatly rejecting as “unbelievably weak” the latest response to his demands that Iran’s leaders give up their nuclear weapons program, re-open the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz, halt its production of ballistic missiles, and end support for its terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

After reading the latest Iranian proposal, Trump responded in a written message on his Truth Social account, declaring, “I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.”

In an earlier Truth Social post, Trump wrote that, “Iran has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World, for 47 years, [but] they will be laughing no longer!” signaling his dissatisfaction with Iran’s latest response to his demands, which Trump had been led to believe he would receive on Friday, May 8, but which was not delivered by Pakistani mediators to U.S. negotiators until Sunday, May 10.

Trump told White House reporters Monday that among several non-starters in Iran’s response was a demand that the U.S. recognize Iran’s sovereign right to dictate which ships will be permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The strait has long been considered to be international waters, and therefore open to free passage by ships flying the flags of all nations. The Iranian response also demanded the withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from the region, and billions of dollars in cash reparations from the United States for the damage Iran suffered during the 40-day campaign of joint U.S.-Israeli air strikes.

Iran’s Latest Offer to Trump Was “A Waste of Time”

Trump said that he considered their latest response to be so unacceptable that he did not “waste his time” by reading it to the end. In its response, Iran refuses to even begin discussions on the fate of its nuclear weapon program until 30 days after the U.S. had agreed to Iran’s initial demands for a permanent ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under full Iranian control, including the right to charge tolls for any ship passing through. The main problem with that proposal is that the most crucial issue from the American point of view, the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, would be left completely unresolved until a later stage in the negotiations, while Trump has demanded that the first requirement of any deal would be for Iran to make an immediate and binding commitment to end its uranium enrichment for as long as 20 years, turn over all of its highly enriched uranium and pledge never to seek to develop a nuclear weapon capability again.

According to a report from Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, last week’s Iranian response also demanded the immediate end of the American naval blockade of Iran’s ports in the Persian Gulf, a guarantee of no further attacks, an end to all Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the release of all of Iran’s financial assets that are frozen in foreign banks and the lifting of all U.S. sanctions on Iran’s economy, including the ban on Iranian oil exports.

Iran Keeps Going Back on Its Concessions

Trump told White House reporters that the latest written Iranian peace proposal, which was presented to the U.S. through Pakistani mediators last week, also omitted several key concessions to which Iran’s leaders had verbally agreed. One of them was the surrender of Iran’s 972-pound (440 kilograms) stockpile of 60% highly enriched uranium, which American weapons experts believe is enough for Iran to quickly build 11 nuclear weapons with a minimal amount of further enrichment to 90% purity. According to Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the U.N.’s nuclear monitor, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), about 440 pounds from that stockpile was buried by the 15-ton bunker buster bombs that American B-2 warplanes dropped last June, destroying the tunnels of the underground Iranian nuclear facility at Isfahan.

Trump also said reporters that in a discussion of the current disposition of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile two days earlier, Iran’s negotiators had told their American counterparts, “You’re going to have to [go into the bombed sites] to take it.” That was because what Trump had referred to as the dangerous “nuclear dust” of highly enriched uranium is now buried so deep under the rubble of the bombed nuclear sites that only the U.S. and China have the sophisticated excavation tools necessary to retrieve it. But, Trump said, that key concession was also entirely missing from the written response that Iran presented last week.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Iranians had proposed diluting some of its 60% highly enriched uranium so that it would no longer be suitable for making a nuclear weapon, and transferring the remainder to a third country, such as Russia, for safekeeping.

Trump Says Iran Is Defeated, but the War Is Not Yet Over

Meanwhile, in an interview with independent television journalist Sharyl Attkisson, Trump emphasized that the Iranian site that contained the highly enriched uranium was being “very well surveilled” by the U.S. Space Force, and warned that “if anybody got near the place, we will know about it, and we’ll blow them up.” He also said that the enriched uranium could be easily removed by U.S. forces “whenever we want.”

Trump also made it clear that when he says that Iran has been defeated, he was not saying that all U.S. combat operations against Iran are now finished. “No, I didn’t say that,” he said, and then explained that while Iran is “defeated, that doesn’t mean they are done [fighting].”

Trump also said that if he decided to resume the air strikes on Iran, the U.S. military could “go in for two more weeks and do every single target. We have certain targets that we wanted, and we’ve done probably 70 percent of them, but we have other targets that we could conceivably hit… that would just be final touches” of the plan for Iran’s complete destruction.

Last week, the White House also sought to portray “Operation Epic Fury,” the original military campaign against Iran, which began on February 28 with the joint U.S.-Israeli decapitation raid on Tehran, as having, in fact, ended with Trump’s ceasefire announcement on April 7, long before the operation had reached the 60-day limit for congressional authorization under the 1973 War Powers Act.

On the other side, in an interview with Iranian state media, General Akrami Nia, a spokesman for the Iranian military, said that its forces were at “full readiness” to protect the sites where the enriched uranium is stored, against the possibility that American or Israeli forces might try “to steal it through infiltration or helicopter-borne operations.”

Trump said that Iranian negotiators had also verbally “guaranteed that Iran wouldn’t obtain nuclear weapons for a very long period of time,” but that promise, too, had been omitted from the official written proposal that Iran presented through the Pakistanis.

Iran’s Leadership Is Divided Between Pragmatists and “Lunatics”

Nevertheless, when White House reporters asked Trump whether he thought that a peace deal was still possible with the current leaders of Iran’s Islamic regime, he responded that it was.

Trump said that one of the reasons that a deal has remained elusive is the fact that the United States and Israel had wiped out the top ranks of its leadership on the first day of the war, and that more than two months later, those dead Iranian leaders have not yet been fully replaced.

The president then added that breaking the current diplomatic deadlock depends upon the outcome of the increasingly bitter dispute between the more pragmatic Iranian government officials who desperately want to reach an agreement to end the conflict with the United States, against the hardline “lunatics” of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who want to keep fighting the U.S. to the bitter end, regardless of the suffering it will cause for the Iranian people. Trump also said these “lunatics” believe that their stubborn resistance will eventually force him to give in to their demands. But they are wrong.

Trump also offered a response to his critics who complain that he has no clear plan for dealing with Iran’s obstinate leaders. “I do have a plan,” Trump insisted. “The plan is that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump indicated that another fundamental problem with trying to negotiate any deal with Iran’s current leaders is the lack of certainty. For example, he said that when Iran’s negotiators had agreed to his demand that it abandon its nuclear ambitions, “it [didn’t] mean much because the next day they forgot.” Trump also added a warning that if Iran did not agree to the latest deal that he has offered them, it was “going to [suffer] a lot of pain.”

Last week, while Iran was reviewing President Trump’s latest offer, he revealed some of its specifics. “It’s an offer that basically said they will not have nuclear weapons. They’re going to hand us the nuclear dust and many other things that we want,” Trump explained.

Over the weekend, as the White House was waiting for the latest Iranian proposal to arrive, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met in Miami with the Qatari Premier Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who has been serving as one of the key intermediaries in the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

Trump Planning His Next Move Against Iran

On the day before Trump left Washington for his trip to China, he held a high-level meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss America’s next step in the ongoing conflict with Iran. The other participants included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and Trump’s special negotiating envoy Steve Witkoff.

They discussed America’s various diplomatic and military options now that the extended ceasefire has transformed the conflict from a war of missile and drone attacks by Iran on Israel and U.S. allies, in response to the intensive campaign of air strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran, into a war of slow economic attrition for both sides due to the extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz to virtually all maritime traffic.

Many believe that Trump decided to wait until after his trip before making his next move against Iran in the hope that he could persuade China’s leader that it is very much in his own country’s best interests to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program and to permit the resumption of free passage for all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

One of Trump’s current options is to restart Project Freedom, a military initiative under which American guided missile destroyers and up to 100 American warplanes to escort commercial maritime traffic to assure their safe passage through a new passage in the Strait of Hormuz along its southern coastline that is within the territorial waters of Oman, and as far away from the Iranian coastline on the other side of the strait as possible.

Iran’s Leaders Are Betting That Trump Will Give In to Their Demands

Meanwhile, the continued American naval blockade of Iran’s Persian Gulf ports means a loss to Iran’s economy of more than $440 million a day, most of that from lost oil export income.

Nevertheless, Iran’s ability to maintain its closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the face of the massive American military buildup has apparently encouraged its current hardline leaders to believe that they can dictate terms to President Trump. They are betting that Trump will be forced to accept their demands to get them to reopen the strait to all maritime traffic, because if the spike in the price of gas at the pump for American consumers due to the global oil shortage continues for much longer, it will threaten Trump’s hopes for maintaining Republican control over the House and Senate in the upcoming November midterm election.

As a result, according to Raz Zimmt, the director of the Iran research program at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, “Iran is not prepared to return to the prewar status quo and is demanding long-term economic and security guarantees that the war will not resume and that it will be able to derive economic benefit from the situation.”

The growing confidence of Iran’s regime that it will not only survive the current conflict but actually emerge triumphant was reflected in a recent post on X by Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in which he declared: “We will never bow down to the enemy, and if there is talk of dialogue or negotiation, it does not mean surrender or retreat.”

Iran Claims Its New Supreme Leader Is Recovering From His Injuries

Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, according to Iranian reports, has recovered from the serious injuries he received from an Israeli bombing on February 28, the first day of the war. Iran’s military chief, Ali Abdollahi, has told Iranian state television that during a recent meeting with him, he received “new directives and guidance for the continuation of operations to confront the enemy.”

In a previous Iranian state media press release, Khamenei was reported to have issued a written statement on April 30 declaring that Iran will never give up its nuclear weapons program. “We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the [Gulf] of Oman share a common destiny,” the statement said. “Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice have no place in it — except at the bottom of its waters.”

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reports that for the first time since he was injured, an Iranian official, Mazaher Hosseini, has issued a report confirming the nature of those injuries to Khamenei’s back and kneecap. Hosseini also reported that since his back problem has been resolved, and his injury appears to be healing, Khamenei is expected to resume a normal schedule of public appearances soon.

As Iran Keeps Attacking Its Neighbors, the UAE Quietly Strikes Back

Meanwhile, Iran has continued to attack its Persian Gulf oil-producing neighbors. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Qatar have all reported that they had come under attack again, likely by Iranian drones, on Sunday.

The Defense Ministry of the UAE said that Iran launched two attack drones at it on Sunday, both of which the UAE claimed were “successfully engaged.” While Iran denied having launched those drones at the UAE, it also warned the UAE that it risked a “crushing response” if it were to take any retaliatory actions against Iran in response.

That warning was particularly interesting because of a report by the Wall Street Journal that back in April, shortly after Trump announced the ceasefire, the UAE secretly launched its own retaliatory strike against Iran’s oil refinery on Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, independent of the ongoing U.S. and Israeli air strikes. Iran did report at that time that the refinery had been attacked, igniting a large fire which would disable its operations for a few months. Even though Iran did not make any specific accusation as to who was responsible for that attack, it did launch retaliatory attacks against both the UAE and Kuwait at that time.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration was aware that the UAE had carried out the attack. However, instead of being upset about the violation of the newly announced ceasefire, the Trump administration, according to the report, “welcomed the participation of the UAE, and any other Gulf states that want[ed] to join in the fight” against Iran.

While the UAE’s foreign ministry declined to confirm or deny on the Wall Street Journal report, it did point to its previous statements, issued immediately after some of the 2,800 times during the 40 days of war following February 28 that Iran attacked the UAE with ballistic missiles and drones, in which the UAE reserved the right to retaliate military at whoever was responsible for targeted it with a hostile act.

Shortly before the first air strike of the war by the U.S. and Israel, all of the Gulf countries agreed not to participate, nor permit their airspace or air bases to be used for attacks on Iran.

Nevertheless, once the war started, Iran decided to launch numerous missile and drone attacks against all of the Gulf’s population centers, energy infrastructure, and airports. This was an apparent effort to generate more diplomatic pressure on the United States from the Gulf states it had targeted to halt its air strikes on Iran.

The retaliatory attack by the UAE on Iran was also significant because it represented a break with the unanimous practice by all of the other neighboring Persian Gulf states, which chose not to respond in kind when they were attacked by Iran many times during the 40-day war, even though many of those Iranian attacks did significant physical damage and caused several casualties.

Iran Has Damaged Its Image Among Its Friends

However, because Iran’s attacks on the UAE were far more numerous than against any other target, they did significantly more economic damage by forcing the UAE to close its airports, hurting its tourism business. It also damaged the UAE’s luxurious hotels and many other buildings, hurting the country’s real estate market and triggering a wave of worker furloughs and layoffs. According to the Wall Street Journal report, the repeated Iranian attacks generated a “fundamental shift in the [UAE’s] strategic outlook. . . that now sees Iran as a rogue actor bent on undermining the country’s economic and social model based on expatriate talent and a reputation for safety and stability.”

The report that the UAE did join at least once in attacking Iran did not come as a complete surprise because of the publication in mid-March of news photos taken of a jet fighter in one incident, and a drone in a second incident, flying over Iran, which did not appear to belong to Iran, Israel, or the U.S. The jet fighter in the first picture was later identified as a French Mirage, and the drone in the second photo was identified as a Chinese-made Wing Loong drone, both of which are known to be in regular use by the military of the UAE.

It was also no surprise that the UAE decided to retaliate against Iran with an air strike because, according to former U.S. Air Force General Dave Deptula, the UAE’s air force is widely known in the region to be well-trained and well-equipped with a variety of modern warplanes and surveillance drones. As a result, General Deptula asked, rhetorically, “If you have that capable of an air force, why would you sit back and absorb attacks from Iran without responding?”

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the UAE also retaliated against Iran using non-military means. For example, it backed a draft resolution at the United Nations that authorized the use of force if necessary to in order to break Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz to all maritime traffic. It also reportedly closed several schools and social clubs in the city of Dubai that have known ties to Iran, and began denying applications submitted by Iranian citizens for tourist visas and transit rights through its territory.

Iran responded to that move by publicly accusing the UAE of joining with the U.S. and Israel in their attacks on Iran.

In addition, the UAE has broken with its oil-exporting Persian Gulf neighbors by recently announcing its resignation from OPEC, thereby declaring its independence from the global oil-producing cartel. The UAE was also the only state in the region that received Israeli assistance in defending itself against Iranian attacks in the form of an operational Iron Dome missile defense battery, complete with a small contingent of Israeli troops trained in its use.

Other reports of suspected Iranian attacks on its neighbors include a statement on X Sunday from the general staff of the Kuwait army, which said that, “At dawn today, the armed forces detected several hostile drones in Kuwaiti airspace, which were dealt with in accordance with established procedures.”

That was in addition to reports in April by the Kuwaiti army of two separate drone attacks on its northern border posts, as well as an undefined infrastructure target causing significant damage.

Also on Sunday, Qatar’s Defense Ministry reported that a commercial cargo vessel coming from Abu Dhabi was attacked by a drone in Qatari territorial waters, causing a small fire that was contained before doing extensive damage. However, in that case, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that “the bulk carrier that was struck near the coast of Qatar was sailing under a U.S. flag and belonged to the United States.”

The Shaky Ceasefire Is Hanging by a Thread

All of these attacks took place despite the ceasefire with Iran that President Trump announced on April 7. That truce is supposedly still in place, but “hanging by a thread,” because Trump is rapidly running out of patience while waiting for a more acceptable response from Iran’s new hardline leaders. Each new Iranian attack on its neighbors, or American interdiction of a ship traveling to or from an Iranian Persian Gulf port, is making the continuation of the currently shaky ceasefire increasingly unlikely.

The IRGC’s navy on Sunday also issued a warning in response to an incident the previous Friday in which U.S. warplanes opened fire and disabled two old Iranian oil tankers, which had been retired from regular service. They were apparently being moved to Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal in the Persian Gulf to serve as makeshift floating storage tanks for oil being pumped by Iranian wells that can no longer be shipped because of the American naval blockade of Iran’s Persian Gulf ports.

Iran is trying to store as much of that excess oil as possible to avoid the necessity of shutting down its oil wells, which might cause lasting damage, reducing their total oil production capacity.

The IRGC Navy warned that any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” against one of the many U.S. military bases in the region or one of its “enemy” ships.

Netanyahu’s Revealing “60 Minutes” Interview

Meanwhile, in a lengthy interview with CBS News “60 Minutes” reporter Major Garrett, Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu said that the war against Iran would not be finished, from the Israeli point of view, until all of the large stockpile of 60% enriched uranium was “taken out of Iran.”

In addition, Netanyahu explained. “There are still enrichment sites [in Iran] which have to be dismantled. There are still proxies that Iran supports. There are ballistic missiles they want to produce. Now we’ve degraded a lot of it, but all of that is still there, and there is work to be done.”

When he was then asked how Iran’s enriched uranium could be removed from the country, Netanyahu replied simply that “You go in, and you take it out.”

“If you have an agreement, you go in, and you take it out. Why not? That’s the best way,” he said, but he also made it clear that if there was no agreement, the U.S. and Israel would eventually have to go into Iran to remove it by force.

Netanyahu also said that Iran is not really interested in a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon, because it wants Hezbollah fighters to remain in their military positions in South Lebanon, threatening Israel’s border permanently in order to “hold its people [living in northern Israel] hostage.”

The prime minister also suggested that “If this [Iranian] regime is indeed weakened or possibly toppled, I think it’s the end of Hezbollah. It’s [also] the end of Hamas, [and] it’s probably the end of the Houthis, because the whole scaffolding of the terrorist proxy network that Iran built collapses if the regime in Iran collapses.”

However, Netanyahu then clarified that even though the toppling of the Islamic regime would be the ideal outcome, it was possible, but not guaranteed.

Netanyahu Ready to Start Reducing Israel’s Dependence on the U.S.

Netanyahu also stated that he intends to start immediately the process of weaning Israel off the current level of military support it receives from the U.S., which is $3.8 billion each year. He wants to bring that number down to “zero over the next decade,” because that is the only way, he believes, to establish Israel’s status as a truly independent military power.

He also said that when he told that to President Trump, and to his own people in Israel, “their jaws dropped,” in amazement and disbelief.

“I don’t want to wait for the next Congress” to start that process, Netanyahu insisted, “I want to start now.”

At the end of the interview, Netanyahu revealed how he was changed by the impact of Hamas’ heinous attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. “Before October 7, I was considered perhaps the most restrained prime minister in Israel’s history,” Bibi said, with regard to his reluctance to engage Israel in military battles. “Obviously, it changed on October 7, because they [Hamas] were going to annihilate us.

Netanyahu also said that when it first took place, “I didn’t think it was just an attack by Hamas. I saw it as it was an attack by the [entire] Iranian axis to try to annihilate us. . .

Israel Is Now in the Ultimate Battle Between Good and Evil

“And I said on the second day of the war, ‘We’re going to change the Middle East. We’re going to change this condition where they’re ganging up on us, thinking they’re going to wipe out the one and only Jewish state, wipe out 3,500 years of Jewish history. It’s not going to happen, not on my watch. And I said to Israel’s citizens, ‘Not on your watch’ either.”

It is clear that Netanyahu sees the battle against Hamas in Gaza, the battle against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the remaining threat from Iran’s reduced but still dangerous nuclear and ballistic missile threat, and Iran’s continuing support for its network of Islamic terrorism, as a parts of a historic, global war between the forces of good and the forces of evil, with Israel and the Jewish people once again on the front line.

As we learn the parsha each week and study the words of different meforshim, there are, invariably, ideas in the Torah that feel less like commentary and more like a quiet unveiling of history itself. The Meshech Chochmah in Parshas Bechukosai offers one of those. In a few penetrating lines, he not only explains the Tochacha, but maps the spiritual psychology of golus and the conditions that make the geulah possible.

The Tochacha is like a cascade of consequences: If Klal Yisroel follows the mitzvos, there will be brocha and hatzlocha. If not, chalilah, there are curses of increasing severity. In the posuk that discusses our period of golus (26:44), “V’af gam zos behiyosam b’eretz oyveihem lo me’astim velo ge’altim lechalosam lehofer brisi itom,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu promises that even when we are dispossessed and forced to live in foreign lands, He will not forsake us or allow us to be obliterated, nor will He annul the bris that He has with us.

The Meshech Chochmah explains that golus is not simply random suffering. It follows a tragic but recognizable progression. The way the Hashgocha works is that after being settled in a country for a few hundred years, a storm erupts and we are blown out of that place where we have grown comfortable. We move to a new exile. There is pain, instability, and dislocation. We feel like strangers. And then we come together, strengthen ourselves, and build up our Torah institutions. The foreign land becomes familiar. Livelihoods stabilize. Houses are built. Children who have never seen anything else are raised there. And then something subtle but seismic occurs: The Jew begins to feel at home.

The feeling of comfort in golus is the turning point.

Because once Jews feel comfortable in a foreign country, golus stops feeling like golus. The longing to return home, the yearning for the Bais Hamikdosh, begins to fade. The tension between what is and what should be disappears. And at that moment, history begins to move again, not gently, but forcefully.

And then, sometimes painfully, the illusion breaks. The Jewish people once again begin hearing those hate-filled voices that shout at them to leave and go somewhere else.

So has it been throughout the ages.

In recent days, Jews in England, particularly in London, have been reminded of this pattern in a most jarring way. A stabbing attack in Golders Green left two Jewish people who were walking on a street wounded. It was declared a terrorist incident.

Leading up to it, there were arson attacks targeting Jewish individuals, shuls, and even Hatzolah ambulances.

Authorities have raised the national threat level to “severe,” meaning further attacks are considered highly likely.

This is not fringe discomfort. It is a shift in atmosphere. Reports indicate thousands of antisemitic incidents a year, with many Jews expressing fear about openly living as Jews. And not only in England, but throughout Europe, Jews do not feel safe.

In this country, as well, there has been a marked increase in antisemitic incidents. Not too long ago, it was political suicide to speak against Jews and Israel, but today, there are Democrats who do so without jeopardizing their standing in the party.

What is perhaps most haunting is not only the violence, but the sense that something once assumed to be stable no longer feels so.

And here, the Meshech Chochmah’s words echo with unsettling clarity. Golus contains within it a built-in instability. When Jews begin to feel fully at home, Hakadosh Boruch Hu has a way of reminding them that they are not.

There is no justification for hatred or violence. Those who commit such acts are responsible, morally and humanly, for what they do. But we must know that it is not random. There is a pattern, a rhythm, and it is meant to keep us connected to where we belong, to remind us who we are, to keep alive the bris, the connection, with Hashem.

Golus begins with distance, moves toward comfort, and then, when that comfort becomes too complete, it is disrupted, because golus, by its very nature, cannot become permanent.

And so, what we are witnessing, painful as it is, carries a message that Jews have heard before across centuries and continents. We are not home. These reminders come to spark us to work toward geulah, to do what we must to bring about the redemption. Recognizing that golus is inherently incomplete is the first step in preparing to leave it.

In earlier generations, when the Jewish people were blessed with leaders who could discern and convey the Yad Hashem in all that transpired, people were not as confounded by events at home and abroad. In the times of the nevi’im, people were often forewarned before a calamity would strike, so that they could accept teshuvah upon themselves and prevent the tragedy. And even when they did not, afterward they were taught that it was the Yad Hashem that had struck, and they would engage in whatever was necessary to correct their ways.

Even after our people lost nevuah and Hashem began conducting the world through hester, people still had enough faith to recognize that nothing happens on its own and that everything takes place through Hashem.

As time went on and people became increasingly less learned, they lost the ability to see Hashem’s Hand in the various manifestations of His din. They began attributing events to natural causes, without recognizing that what they were witnessing were Divine messages directed at them.

We read the news and wonder what we can do to affect the situation. What can we do to temper the hatred for Jews? What can we do to bring about peace in Eretz Yisroel and peace in the world? What can we do about the internal war on the chareidi community in Israel? What can we do to bring stability and prosperity to our suffering brethren?

We won’t get the answers to these questions by following statuses, scrolling through pundits, or reading popular columns of analysis, interpretation, and speculation.

The answers are found in this week’s parsha, Bechukosai.

The posuk states quite simply, “Im bechukosai teileichu v’es mitzvosai tishmeru va’asisem osam.” If you will follow the chukim and mitzvos of the Torah, you will be blessed.

The Torah promises that if you follow the chukim and mitzvos, “vishavtem lovetach b’artzechem…venosati shalom ba’aretz ushechavtem v’ein macharid…v’cherev lo saavor b’artzechem, you will live safely in your land, there will be peace in the land, and you will sleep with no fear.”

Everything that is happening today is clearly prescribed in this week’s parsha. The history of the Jewish people is all in Parshas Bechukosai. When we were good, life was good. And when the people sinned and strayed, then what the pesukim say will happen (26:14–44) happens.

The posuk states, “Im bechukosai teileichu v’es mitzvosai tishmeru va’asisem osam.” The Toras Kohanim expounds on the words “Im bechukosai teileichu” that “Melameid sheHakadosh Boruch Hu misaveh sheyihiyu Yisroel ameilim baTorah…” From here we see that Hashem desires that the Jewish people be ameil in Torah.

Chazal teach us that “Im bechukosai teileichu” is not only a promise of brocha for those who observe the chukim, but the words contain a deeper charge, namely, “shetihiyu ameilim baTorah,” that we must toil in Torah. The brachos are a reward for observing the mitzvos, but they also flow from immersing in Torah, from laboring over it and living with it.

When we study the Torah, we are connecting with Hashem in the most direct way possible. We are engaging with His word, and it shapes us, our neshamos, our thinking, and the way we live. Through Torah, we become refined, purposeful, and more aligned with what we are meant to be.

“Shetihiyu ameilim baTorah” is the heartbeat of yeshivos and kollelim, those unique places where Torah is not just studied, but lived with intensity and dedication. It is there that ordinary people rise beyond themselves, where human beings, through effort and persistence, elevate themselves and become connected to something far greater. It is through that striving that we merit the brachos of Heaven.

That connection to the Torah strengthens us in the face of a world filled with distractions and pressures. Ameilus gives a person clarity and resilience, enabling us to withstand the constant pull of a society that often leads in the opposite direction.

This avodah is especially relevant during these days of Sefirah. As we count toward Shavuos, we are preparing ourselves to receive the Torah anew. Each day of the count presents an opportunity for growth, for refining our middos, for becoming more fitting recipients of the Torah.

We, maaminim bnei maaminim, are meant to see the Yad Hashem in everything that unfolds around us—in every bomb, in every missile, in every mission, in every antisemitic act, and in everything we have been blessed with.

But that vision does not come automatically. It is sharpened and deepened through Torah. The more a person is immersed in Torah, the more clearly he perceives Hashem’s presence, in moments of challenge and in moments of brocha.

What we must do is clear. We need to increase our Torah learning, approaching it with greater focus and depth. We need to strengthen our observance of mitzvos, performing them with more care and awareness. We need to daven with more kavonah, paying attention to the words and thinking about what we are saying. We need to be more mindful of what we allow into our lives, what we read, what we watch, what we bring into our homes, where we go, and what we put into our mouths.

We take pride in our mesorah, in the harchakos and takanos that preserve our distinctiveness and elevate us. We do not seek to mirror the world around us or mimic it. We are striving toward a different goal, aware that we are away and remaining focused on getting home.

Foreigners who cannot find meaningful employment in their home country travel to countries such as ours, working hard and sending money back to their families and saving for the day they can return home. The same way, through Torah, mitzvos, and teshuvah and correcting the failings that caused us to be sent into golus in the first place, such as lashon hora and sinas chinom, we get closer to the day we can return. Each word of Torah, each mitzvah, brings us nearer to the geulah.

As we are maavir sedrah this week and study the combined parshiyos, we should take the time to work on understanding the pesukim and their eternal messages about us, about the world, and about life.

Because the message of Parshas Bechukosai is not only a warning, it is a direction. Golus is meant to be transient. The instability, the discomfort, and the reminders that are repeated throughout our history are not there to confuse us, but to awaken us. They push us to ask not only what is happening, but what is being asked of us.

The answer is as clear today as it was when it was first given: “Im bechukosai teileichu.” To live with the Torah. To toil in it. To allow it to shape us, elevate us, and reconnect us to where we truly belong.

If golus begins when we forget who we are, then geulah begins when we remember.

The parsha of the tochacha also contains nechomah, for just as we are told that if we sin we will be struck down by our enemies and chased out of Eretz Yisroel, we are promised that Hashem’s bris with the avos will not be forgotten and we will be brought back home.

May it happen speedily in our day.

I remember it like yesterday. It was a levayah held on Chol Hamoed. The nifteres was someone I knew, a fine, distinguished matriarch of a large family who had led a wonderful life.

I knew that the levayah would not be long because it was Chol Hamoed, and the Shulchan Aruch unequivocally does not permit hespeidim in such an instance. I figured that there would be some Tehillim and that’s it. Well, I guess I was naïve.

I remember a son getting up and saying, “It is Chol Hamoed and we are not allowed to be maspid… Nevertheless, for our choshuve mother, I will just say a few words of divrei preidah.” He then proceeded to deliver a full-blown hesped. By relabeling it “divrei preidah — words of goodbye,” he must have assumed, wrongly, that it was halachically permitted.

I know that perhaps there are bigger aveiros that a person can do than say a hesped on one’s mother on Chol Hamoed, but that incident got me thinking about what can happen when the Shulchan Aruch is not a “brick wall” that cannot be penetrated, but becomes like silly putty, molded by using different language to justify conduct that is not permitted.

When you decide that you are the arbiter of morality and simply change language to justify what you want to do, that is when things go off the rails.

When Reality Turns to Fantasy

I thought about this long-forgotten story last week after the assassination attempt on President Trump by a man named Cole Allen. I have always been fascinated by manifestos that people leave behind to justify murder. I remember trying to wrap my mind around the logic of the “Unabomber” when reading parts of his long manifesto and realizing how, at some point, his logic shifted from reality to fantasy.

Thus, last week, when I read the manifesto that Cole Allen had written as he fully anticipated being killed in his attempt to kill Trump, I was struck by how “normal” he sounded. He sounded like almost any commentator on left-wing media outlets and like many sitting members of Congress.

The only difference was his ultimate maskanah, his conclusion. If Trump was such an evil person, then he had to be removed. Murdering Trump, according to Cole Allen, was not a criminal act, but rather a heroic one that would save America and the world.

He then went into detail explaining the hierarchy of his moral code. Murdering Trump and members of his cabinet was, to him, the greatest mitzvah. But what about collateral damage? The Secret Service was also fair game, but he said that he would try not to kill hotel employees, and he would use the type of bullets that do not penetrate walls so that he would not inadvertently kill more people than necessary.

Let’s think for a moment about what was going on in the warped mind of Cole Allen, because it is a siman of what is going on in the warped minds of so many Americans on the left and even on the right.

They simply create their own moral code. There is no fixed definition of morality. I define morality by what I believe is moral. It is moral to kill the president. It is moral to kill members of the cabinet. It is even somewhat moral to kill journalists, because they are perceived as complicit. It is less morally justified to kill bystanders or minority hotel employees. You see what happens when there is no Shulchan Aruch, no fixed standard?

How Murder and Similar Crimes Can Become “Permissible”

Now let’s turn to a widely discussed podcast recently produced by the New York Times, because if you want to understand where Cole Allen got his “heter” to murder so many people in cold blood, all you need to do is listen to that podcast.

On the program, New York Times writer Nadja Spiegelman was joined by two far-left commentators, and they discussed topics such as stealing and murder, concepts that appear in the Ten Commandments and have been part of the moral code even for the umos ha’olam for centuries.

They began by discussing theft. All agreed that it is permissible to steal from wealthy individuals such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, because he is excessively rich and it is unfair that he earns so much at the expense of others. They described how they had stolen from Whole Foods, an upscale chain store in Manhattan and Los Angeles, and even coined a term to justify it: “microlooting.” Ms. Spiegelman admitted that she and her friend “microloot” — what in plain English is called shoplifting — because it is a political act, a form of retribution against large corporations.

Another guest on that program was Hasan Piker, an extreme left-wing commentator whose rhetoric has stirred significant controversy. Despite expressing admiration for figures like Hitler, he remains embraced in certain circles.

Recall Brian Thompson, the healthcare executive who was shot and killed in Manhattan by Luigi Mangione, another individual who operated under his own moral framework. Listen to how Piker justified the killing on that same New York Times podcast:

“Brian Thompson, as the UnitedHealthcare CEO, was engaging in a tremendous amount of social murder. The systematized forms of violence, the structural violence of poverty, the for-profit, paywalled system of healthcare in this country, and the consequences of that are tremendous amounts of pain, tremendous amounts of violence, tremendous amounts of deaths. And that was a fascinating story for me, because Americans are very draconian about crime and punishment. They’re very black and white on this issue. And yet, because of the pervasive pain that the private healthcare system had created for the average American, I saw so many people immediately understand why this death had taken place.”

So there you have it. When there is no clear, unchanging moral code, human beings can justify almost anything when their own seichel becomes krum.

This is what Yitzchok Avinu meant when he told Avimelech, “Rak ein yiras Elokim b’makom hazeh.” When there is no fear of G-d, when there is no clear, indisputable moral code of right and wrong, the distorted thinking of human beings can justify anything.

Because the Torah Said!

There is a beautiful story about the Gerer Rebbe, the Imrei Emes, that illustrates this idea. Not long after assuming leadership, the Imrei Emes declared that davening would begin at 7:30 a.m. every day, including Shabbos. Gerer chassidim throughout Poland adjusted their schedules and began to daven at that time.

The elder chassidim, however, found this difficult. They were accustomed to davening later, after hours of preparation, and felt that without that preparation, their davening was like a guf without a neshomah. But the Imrei Emes remained firm.

A chossid once told the rebbe that without the lengthy preparation, he could not feel sweetness in his tefillah. The rebbe responded by quoting the words recited in korbanos: “Tanya bar Kappara also said, ‘If they would add a small measure of honey into the ketores [it would smell so good that] no one would be able to resist the smell.’ Why, then, did they not mix honey into it? Because the Torah said that any leaven or honey are not to burn from them, it is a fire offering to Hashem.”

The message was unmistakable. Even if something would be sweeter and more appealing, if the Torah says no, that overrides everything. Zeman tefillah is a halacha, a din in Shulchan Aruch. No other calculations can override it. The Torah said. That is final.

Now, it is easy to take comfort in the fact that we do have a moral code, and that we would never justify murder or theft as acts of righteousness, as Cole Allen or Hasan Piker have done.

When Justifications Turn the Forbidden into Permissible

Nevertheless, even within our own world, we see people offering justifications for behavior that the Torah clearly forbids. We hear statements such as, “Our dor is a shvache dor. We cannot expect people to fully comply with the Shulchan Aruch.”

We hear arguments that girls must support a husband and therefore studying kefirah in college becomes acceptable. The Shulchan Aruch lays out standards of kedusha—what one may look at and what one may not — but, people say, this is 2026 and we cannot really demand that today.

There are countless other examples of this mindset and the reader can fill in the rest.

We must remember that in a world that has become so morally distorted — where murder, theft, and all forms of toeivah are justified — we must be especially vigilant not to adopt that same mentality, even on a smaller scale. The words “shehaTorah omrah” and “ein yiras Elokim b’makom hazeh” must always remain on our lips.

Whatever happens in the broader world inevitably influences the frum world, even the most insulated communities.

Beware.

If someone were to ask you, “What’s the worst possible curse?” what would you answer?

Of course, none of us want to hear that question or worry about an answer. But one of this week’s sedros, Bechukosai, gives us an answer, and it is something we can and should live by.

The first of the punishments — i.e., curses — in the Tochacha is: “I will assign upon you panic.” Rav Yaakov Meir Schechter, a tzaddik who has lived through many personal tragedies, writes (Venichtav Basefer) that behalah (panic or fright) is the first of the curses because it is the worst.

Our gedolim have told us that we are in the middle of the period known as ikvesa d’Meshicha, the frightening period just before the arrival of Moshiach (see Rav Elchonon Wasserman’s classic by that name). The rebbe of Grodzisc, who was murdered al kiddush Hashem by the Nazis ym”sh, was one of those who gave everyone around him chizuk at the last moments of their lives. He quoted the great Amora Ulah in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 98b) as saying, “Yesei velo achminei. I want Moshiach to come, but I don’t want to be there.” However, he taught his fellow kedoshim that “now that it is here, let us die al kiddush Hashem properly prepared.”

Rav Elchonon, too, was as good as his word. Just before he was murdered by the Nazis at the Ninth Fort, he calmly, as if giving a shiur on Bava Kamma, reviewed with his family, talmidim and other Yidden going to their death the halachos of perishing al kiddush Hashem. I had the zechus of repeating these last words of the rosh yeshiva of Baranovitch at that spot and I tried to force myself to speak with the same menuchas hanefesh as did Rav Elchonon. I failed miserably. How do we do better?

One of the most important lessons of Sefiras Ha’omer is preparation. Slowly, but surely, day after day, we prepare for Mattan Torah. Instead of worrying or even panicking if we would be able to live up to the new reality, we looked forward and counted up to the great moment. This was not only our finest hour. It was perhaps our best 49 days. We patiently extracted ourselves from the 49 levels of tumah and worked our way up to the 49th level of kedusha so that we would be worthy of the Torah. Of course, looking forward to a moment such as Maamad Har Sinai is not the same as worrying about death and suffering. However, human nature is such that any change in what we think should be happening can be devastating and traumatic.

That is exactly what happened after Mattan Torah. The Soton and other evil forces, from within and without, in the form of behalah, duped us into thinking that Moshe Rabbeinu had died. We panicked and “lost it,” causing us to lose almost everything. We would never be the same again until the final redemption (Sanhedrin 102a). How do we counteract this terrifying process?

The answer is to avoid the often self-imposed curse of behalah. When Rav Chaim Kanievsky had some kind of brain-related event — perhaps a stroke — he didn’t lose his equanimity at all. Realizing that something was occurring that could disturb his ability to learn, he quickly completed his daily chovos (learning obligations) and allowed his son to take charge of the medical situation.

Although I wasn’t there, I have heard from reliable people that my rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, was on his deathbed in Yerushalayim when a kindly nurse asked him, “Ha’im noach l’harav? Is the rav comfortable?” With one of his last breaths, he commented with a smile, “She’s asking me about Noach, but I’m holding by Lech Lecha.” It was certainly not a jest, perhaps a typical line of his to bring a smile to nervous faces, but even in death, he never panicked.

Rav Yisroel Salanter, too, was in his last moments on earth, attended to by a young bochur who had never been in the presence of death. The great founder of the Mussar Movement soothed the young man’s worries and calmed his nerves. As the Alter of Kelm, one of Rav Yisroel’s prime talmidim later commented, “Rav Yisroel was what he taught to the very end.” Undoubtedly, he would have preferred spiritually to prepare properly — viduy, teshuvah — at such a time. But there was a chesed to be performed, for there was an agitated young bochur who needed consolation and not to panic.

It has been pointed out that throughout history, if panic had been avoided, the world would be a much better place. The Arizal taught that had Adam Harishon waited another two hours, he would have been allowed to eat from the Eitz Hadaas without consequences. He “jumped the gun” and the rest is tragic history: ten curses for him, ten for Chava, ten for the primordial serpent, parnossah will never again come easily, death for all living things, difficulty in childbearing—all because of precipitous haste.

To return to Mattan Torah and the Eigel for a moment, had Klal Yisroel just waited a bit, just a drop of patience, Moshe Rabbeinu would have returned and all would have been perfect.

The Arizal added that even Korach, had he not rushed into rebellion, would have been named “Levi Gadol” and would have happily fulfilled what could have been a glorious destiny. Instead, he is forever associated with discontent, hubris and overextension.

Even Dovid Hamelech, who lived such a glorious life, sinned because he couldn’t seem to wait for the right time. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 107a) reveals that Bas Sheva was actually destined to marry Dovid properly, for Uriah would have died on his own, freeing Bas Sheva for Dovid. Instead, he had to fight thirteen wars, live through numerous revolts and insurrections, in addition to the agonizing decree that he could not be the one to actually complete his beloved plan to build the Bais Hamikdosh.

Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman (Ayeles Hashachar, Bechukosai) notes that Rashi comments about the curse of behalah, “Vetzivisi—I will command upon you.” He asks: Why does this klalah need a special command?” Since he doesn’t offer an answer, perhaps we can suggest that, as Rav Yaakov Meir Schechter pointed out, this is the worst of the curses because it has such far-reaching ramifications for Klal Yisroel and individuals. It may be that it therefore required its own commandment.

One of the major sources for achieving such levelheadedness is the Chovos Halevavos’ introduction to Shaar Habitachon. This section has become a bulwark for many people to make sure that they don’t lose their composure and sanity because of adversity in their lives.

Rabbeinu Bachya quotes there from “one of the chassidim” the prayer, “May Hashem save us from pizur hanefesh, having a fragmented soul.” He explains that “this is a seemingly minor matter but actually everything in our lives depends upon doing this right ” Rav Asher Zev Weiss, Belzer rosh yeshiva in Ashdod (Otzar Hamaamarim, page 315), adds that without yishuv hadaas — a settled, calm mind — a person cannot even be called a human being. He makes the amazing statement that one who has no yishuv hadaas is no better than a plant. The vicissitudes of life are always difficult to navigate, but if someone is thrown by every obstacle or adversity, he is no better than an animal, which simply reacts to stimuli such as danger by rote or instinct at best. A human being must learn to think, consider and make decisions based upon his intellect. For a Yid, as he points out, we also have a holy mesorah to look to for guidance and precedent in reacting to any situation.

We will conclude by returning to an amazing ruling from Rav Yisroel Salanter. One of his major talmidim was the Alter of Kelm. The Alter was known to be a profound thinker, who carefully considered every word and action in his life. However, this itself put him in great medical danger and he was often thrown into a true sakanah. The doctors tried to convince him to think less about everything, but he refused. Finally, the exasperated family turned to the Alter’s rebbi, Rav Yisroel, to help. He listened with a surprised look on his face. “You want me to help save his life by stopping him from thinking? Don’t you understand that the definition of a human being is that he uses his brain? If you deny him the ability to consider, think and make decisions, he will be in more danger than he is from thinking.” Chazal (Nedorim 41a) say that if a person has daas, he has everything. If he doesn’t, he has nothing. Let him be” (Otzar Hamaamarim, page 317).

Rav Yisroel was teaching us that thought is never bad. It is when panic results that there is true danger. The lessons about behalah almost seem contradictory until we realize that they must be taken together. Thus, as is often the case, there is a tightrope for all of us. To act thoughtlessly is not to be human. If we panic, the consequences and ramifications can be long-lasting and even eternal. We must think carefully and have emunah and bitachon that we are not just in good hands, but in the best of Hands, when we rely upon Hashem. We should ask daas Torah, try to understand what is wanted of us, and then relax and trust in Hashem.

It is well known that the Alter of Novardok taught his talmidim by example to act but never to worry. He would wait for a train even though he didn’t have a ticket. He would go shopping with no money in his pocket. This may not be for everyone, but we must learn from both Alters. The Alter of Kelm taught us to think deeply before we jump and the Alter of Novardok taught us to rely totally upon Hashem. These two imperatives are not all contradictory. The common denominator is: Never panic.

In a historic and revolutionary decision, the Supreme Court has quietly dismantled the racially-based Voting Rights Act (VRA)—a federal law designed to prohibit racial discrimination in voting.

The VRA has for decades governed the process of drawing up voting districts throughout the country, often carving out boundaries in odd ways to ensure that certain candidates in these districts win office.

The case, Louisiana v. Callais, was brought by Louisiana citizens challenging a revised congressional map that created two black-majority districts, on the presumption that the state’s black population was entitled to greater representation in Congress.

The Court’s 6-3 ruling, written by Justice Alito, disagreed, siding with the plaintiffs and knocking out the lynchpin of an entire political structure.

Alito significantly narrowed a key provision of the 1965 VRA law, ruling that to prove a map unfairly discriminates against minority voters, there must be evidence of discriminatory intent in the drawing of voting districts.

In a bombshell opinion, the Court said that the Voting Rights Act provides “no right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population.”

Yet the drive to equalize the numbers has fueled Democratic lawsuits against Republican districting for more than 40 years!

The manipulation of district boundaries to give one political party an unfair advantage—referred to as ‘gerrymandering”—had evolved into creating voting districts based purely on race, which is illegal, the Court underscored.

This practice has become the norm not only in Louisiana but in dozens of states, ever since the VRA, with its often-cited Section 2, became law in 1965. Section 2 bars racial discrimination and is often used to justify redistricting.

The ruling handed a win to conservatives who have argued that lower court judges were prompting states to unconstitutionally prioritize race in forcing more “minority-majority” districts (voting districts designed so that one racial minority group forms the majority).

“This is one of the most politically explosive Supreme Court decisions ever issued,” wrote Florida attorney and political commentator Jeff Childers. “What the Court did in Louisiana v. Callais was not just about one badly drawn Louisiana map, or even about potential GOP seat pickups in the 2026 midterms. This story is so much bigger than that.”

“SCOTUS quietly unwound four decades of racist politics that corrupted our body politic top-to-bottom,” he stressed.

“To hear the critics tell it, the Supreme Court on Wednesday gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act and made it harder for racial minorities to vote. It did no such thing,” the Wall Street Journal editorial board stated in its response to the decision. Conservatives view the decision as restoring the Voting Rights Act to its proper form, the paper argued.

Supporters saw in the Court’s ruling an affirmation of a principle that liberals consider almost blasphemous: minority groups don’t have rights. In the American system, individual citizens —not groups— hold the rights.  The “rights of minority groups” is a notion coined by liberals with no Constitutional foundation, supporters of the ruling say.

Ruling Torpedoes Myth of ‘Systemic Racism’

The ruling’s fallout is already being felt far beyond Louisiana. Across Congress, state legislatures, councils and courts, a new political chessboard is emerging, as GOP-led states move to redraw maps and dismantle Democratic gerrymandering ahead of the midterms.

NBC reported on these aftershocks with the headline, “US Supreme Court Ruling Shakes up Battle for Congress.” The story quoted two prominent political analysts, Amy Walter and Matthew Klein, who admitted the consequences of Louisiana vs. Callais are so “potentially vast” that it is difficult to imagine all the implications. “We are swimming in uncharted waters,” they wrote.

Republicans and conservatives are celebrating the landmark ruling, saying it demolishes a core tenet of leftist dogma—that “systemic racism” in American institutions warrants government-endorsed policies of “reverse” racism.

“Hail to the Supreme Court for slapping down the obsessive use of race in drawing electoral lines — recognizing that it has nothing to do with boosting equality,” wrote the NY Post editorial board.

“The Court’s common-sense 6-3 ruling struck down a Louisiana districting scheme that added a second majority-black district in the name of complying with the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” the article said. Justice Alito’s majority opinion explained that the VRA has been grossly misinterpreted.

“The Voting Rights Act,” the Court’s opinion clarified, “did not require Louisiana to create an additional majority-minority district” since there was “no compelling interest” to justify such “use of race.”  Indeed, that voting map “is an unconstitutional gerrymander, and its use would violate the constitutional rights of [Louisiana’s citizens],” the Court said.

A Changed Country Since the VRA Became Law

Alito also took direct aim at the “woke” claim that racism is so deeply embedded in American life that it justifies sweeping government intervention. He said today’s framework needs to reflect the reality of the past 40 years of American life, including vast social change in the South, once a hotbed of discrimination and persecution of black people.

Justice Alito acknowledged that the VRA was a response to “nearly a century of entrenched racial discrimination in voting, a pervasive evil which had been perpetuated in certain parts of our country in defiance of the Constitution.”

As a result of the Voting Rights Act, he wrote, black Americans, once barred from the polls, now vote at similar rates as the rest of the electorate.

The NY Times, in its response to the ruling, acknowledged this fact by quoting Justice John Roberts in a similar 2013 case. ‘Our country has changed,” the chief justice wrote. The Voting Rights Act was ‘strong medicine,’ he said, but it was the right response at the time to ‘entrenched racial discrimination.’

When it was first enacted, Justice Roberts noted, the voter registration rate of black people stood at 6.4 percent in Mississippi. The gap between black and white registration rates was more than 60 percentage points.

Forty years later, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, the black registration rate in Mississippi was 76 percent, almost four percentage points higher than the rate of registration for white people.

“Sixty years ago, Congress imposed intrusive racial laws in districting as a remedy to once-systemic discrimination [against] black citizens, the NY Post editorial pointed out. “But the civil-rights laws, and America’s social progress, have produced a very different country today, even in the deepest South,” where these racial remedies are no longer needed.”

Supreme Ct: To Redraw Voting Districts, Must Prove ‘Intent’ to Discriminate

“The high court didn’t completely strike down the Voting Rights Act,” the NY Post editors noted. “It only limited obsessive government use of race when no one can point to any actual wrong to be righted.”

Before this landmark ruling, challengers could justify redrawing a voting map by showing that it failed to produce equal representation for minority groups. Now, under the Court’s decision in the Louisiana case, plaintiffs must demonstrate intentional discrimination—a far more demanding standard.

While no one is asserting that racism has been completely vanquished, a mismatch between the size of a minority population and its share of congressional representation, on its own, is no longer treated as sufficient evidence of unlawful discrimination.

The Court’s ruling, with its direct negation of woke dogma, triggered an outpouring of hand-wringing from Democrats and liberal groups. Some high-profile black activists castigated the conservative Court for the majority opinion.

“Not since Jim Crow have we seen this level of systematic disenfranchisement of black voters,” lamented Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clark.  “With the stroke of a pen, this rogue Court has effectively signed the death certificate of the Voting Rights Act, undoing decades of black progress.”

Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., one of a handful of black U.S. senators, warned that the Supreme Court’s decision to trim back the Voting Rights Act will have “a devastating impact on democracy.”

“What happened this week is nothing less than a devastating blow — not only to our democracy, but particularly to people of color in the South,” Warnock said during an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation. “This question about intent is misleading, and it ignores our history.”

“The Court has acted egregiously,” fumed the Brennan Center for Justice. “The decision is a devastating setback in the long fight for equality for all Americans. It has dismantled the ability of voters of color to have a fair chance for representation in government.”

“The reality is this is much deeper and much further than Louisiana,” Democratic Rep. Troy Carter told CBS News. “This can impact up to 19 or 20 seats in the congressional Black Caucus. It can impact school boards. It can impact city councils and legislative seats. This is, in fact, an explosive move to turn the clock back all the way to pre-1965,” he added.

Do Minorities Need Special Districts Carved Out Just For Them?

In an ironic twist, the NY Times quoted some Republican state officials who took a very different view, applauding last Wednesday’s decision.

“The court rightly acknowledged that the South has made extraordinary progress, and that laws designed for a different era do not reflect the present reality,” the paper quoted Steve Marshall, Alabama’s attorney general.

“We will act as quickly as possible to apply this ruling to Alabama’s redistricting efforts and ensure that our congressional maps reflect the will of the people, not a racial quota system the Constitution forbids,” Marshall said.

Josh Williams, a Republican state representative of a majority-white district in Ohio, also expressed his support for the landmark ruling. “The idea that Black Americans need special districts carved out just for them is complete nonsense,” Williams posted on social media this week.

“It’s a violation of the law and blatantly unconstitutional.”

Last week’s ruling aligns closely with the Supreme Court’s broader shift toward what some call a “colorblind Constitution.” In line with that ideology, the Court ended affirmative action in college admissions, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing that “eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

Other supporters of the Louisiana ruling praised its courage in elevating “content over skin color.”

“The high court’s decision moves the country forward, closer to the day when politics is driven by the content and quality of candidates’ programs, and not by the color of anyone’s skin,” the NY Post editors concluded.

Ruling Expected to Trigger Strong GOP Majority in House

“The Supreme Court ruling is a game changer,” Brad Parscale, Trump’s former campaign manager, observed in an appearance on CBS News.

“Right now, the court’s ruling only applies to Louisiana, but states can challenge their congressional maps based on this ruling, obtain the right to redraw them, and pick up Republican seats. If states are aggressive, we could see a healthy majority in the House for the foreseeable future.”

The ruling blocks states from drawing “majority-minority” districts that favor black voters, giving Republicans a chance to rewrite the congressional maps, particularly in Southern states.

As a result, Republican-led states can now move to eliminate black and Latino electoral districts that were drawn purely to ensure black and Latino candidates would win office.

As the ruling’s fallout filters down to the states, it could enable one to nine more GOP-friendly districts for the 2026 midterms, a CBS News analysis stated. (The current margin is only a GOP lead of three seats.)

Other outlets predicted a much greater lost for Democrats. NPR estimated that “about 15 House districts at risk of being eliminated. And Axios reported the ruling “might enhance the Republican majority in the House by an estimated +19 seats compared to the electoral maps for 2024.”

Some political analysts went even further, estimating that the Court’s ruling would cost Democrats as many as 40 seats in the House.

Rep. Cleo Fields, D-La., whose Louisiana black-majority district was invalidated by the court’s ruling, urged the state to redo its map quickly (or else the court might do so). “It is what it is,” he said. “The final court has spoken. Louisiana now must now redraw lines.”

A proposed map from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has already passed the state Legislature and is waiting for his signature. Having anticipated the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, Florida expects to add four more Republican-leaning seats by eliminating or shrinking Democratic-leaning districts in Tampa, Orlando and parts of the state’s southeast coast.

Many eyes are on Alabama, whose primaries are scheduled for May 19. The state now has two House seats with predominantly black constituencies, both of which are held by Democrats; Reps. Sanford Bishop in Georgia and Shomari Figures.

Previously, the state had just one Democratic House member which changed after the voting map was redrawn. In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Bishop and Figures are likely future targets for having their districts redrawn, predicted the NY Post.

The article said that Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has asked the Supreme Court to expedite its review of the two black constituencies this week. Marshall noted the state “will act as quickly as possible” to apply the Louisiana ruling to Alabama’s redistricting efforts, to “ensure that our congressional maps reflect the will of the people, not a racial quota system the Constitution forbids.”

***

Effects of Bombshell Ruling in Blue States

The NY Times predicted the court’s ruling would have far-reaching ramifications. “Some fear,” the paper said in a clear understatement, “that the court’s decision will reverberate beyond the halls of Congress.

The Supreme Court’s rollback of the Voting Rights Act has already had striking effects in blue states. In Illinois, for example, lawmakers were on the verge of approving a constitutional amendment to enable a more favorable Democratic gerrymander, but the Court’s ruling halted the effort just before ratification.

Just the News reported another aftershock: “The Justice Department says it will enforce SCOTUS ruling in every state with racially gerrymandered districts.” The report began with a letter from Senator Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., to the DOJ, reminding that it has federal authority to enforce new rules in all fifty states.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon promptly replied, “We are ON IT!”

Experts say the DOJ can, and likely will, systematically review existing maps across blue states to identify districts where race was an explicit or overriding factor in district drawing. In some cases, a mere look at the map makes it obvious that the Voting Rights Act framework was used as an excuse to draw weirdly shaped “majority‑minority” districts. (Illinois’s 4th Congressional District, for instance, looks like two pretzel-shaped neighborhoods connected by a highway.)

Race Against Time

While many legal scholars expected the Supreme Court ruling to arrive at the end of the term in June—leaving too little time to redraw maps before the midterms—the decision instead came late last week. It set off a scramble among GOP-majority states with districts drawn based on race to revise these legislative boundaries before looming deadlines.

Federal courts cannot change voting or election rules too close to an election. The issue of time thus remains a major factor that could potentially block large-scale redistricting before the 2026 midterm elections.

In many states, primary elections are fast approaching, or candidate filing deadlines have already passed—making large-scale redistricting before 2026 implausible without immediate aggressive action.

Florida, for example, is in the process of redrawing its congressional map. And, in Tennessee, Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor, called on the state legislature to reconvene and redraw the state’s districts: “I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis,” Blackburn said.

Georgia’s primary is set for next month; it would be hard for the state to redraw that map, given that the ballots have already been set. South Carolina is a likely candidate to redraw its map under the Supreme Court’s ruling, but with filing deadlines passed and primaries set, changes this year are highly unlikely.

Mississippi is also considered a strong candidate for a new map, but it has already held its primaries for this election cycle, the article noted.

Press Robinson, a Black activist from Louisiana who was involved with Louisiana v. Callais litigation, predicted the case is “going to affect elections at every single level of the political process.”

“Congressmen, judges, school board members, councilmen. Doesn’t matter. It will affect them all,” Robinson said.

Israel Searches for Solution to Drone Threat

Everyone in the country has been talking about two topics: Meron and the draft law. As I reported in a separate article this week, we are waiting for gedolei Yisroel to render their decision on the law taking shape; any rumors that the gedolim have already made a decision are unfounded. The country is waiting for their decision with no small measure of tension. And the fate of the hillula in Meron was a topic of discussion as well.

Nevertheless, the topic that is holding the public’s attention more than anything else, even more than the political arena heating up, is the issue of enemy drones. Apparently, Hezbollah possesses drones that the IDF does not know how to contend with. The drones have injured many Israeli soldiers and even caused a few fatalities. This is a serious problem, since large numbers of Israeli soldiers have been deployed in Lebanon in the hope of wiping out all of Hezbollah’s terror nests, and the drones are turning the area into a death trap. Anyone who has been following the war between Russia and Ukraine is aware that the dangers posed by these drones have been revealed there as well.

The new explosive drones are controlled remotely by a technology known as First Person View (FPV), which aids their precision and makes it easier to train their operators. The drones are civilian products that came to the front lines from the world of drone competitions. They are astonishingly fast weapons, with a capacity to fly at speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour, and are incredibly cheap, with a price tag of only about 1200 dollars apiece. Their explosive payloads are smaller than the load carried by the average suicide drone or rocket, but they can still be deadly. Thanks to a program that corrects flight errors, the drones can be incredibly precise. Videos from Ukraine show the drones attacking all sorts of moving targets, pursuing soldiers and following them into tunnels, and entering bunkers through their ventilation shafts or military outposts through their windows. But all these features existed in FPV drones even a year or two ago; the latest development is the drones’ mode of operation. The newest drones rely on fiber optic cables, which isn’t really a new development; it is based on an American study in 1978 that set out to identify the next generation of smart missiles. Each drone is equipped with a tiny camera and linked to a fiber optic cable that carries images back to the operator and relays course corrections to the drone. Explosive drones reached Lebanon long before anyone in Ukraine had thought of the idea. In fact, Hezbollah was one of the first terror groups in the world to use drones, mainly because of their availability.

The IDF has encountered enemy drones on many occasions; the weapons appeared in the early days of the war in 2023. Hezbollah videos have shown explosive drones damaging Israeli antennas and equipment, and the IDF has used sophisticated jamming technology and smart weapons to thwart these devices. However, the Israeli countermeasures sometimes fail, and the results can be tragic. A drone can attack its target at high speed or approach and attack a weak point such as the hatch on top of a tank, the window of a command center, or the door of a bunker. Videos of drone attacks in Ukraine illustrate the lethal nature of these devices; the statistics are painful to behold. If we are to believe President Zelensky, the drones killed 35,000 of Putin’s soldiers in December 2025 alone.

The IDF admits that it is still having difficulty finding a solution for the threat posed by the drones, although there are technological measures in existence that make it possible to neutralize a drone regardless of its communication system. Hezbollah has already understood the advantage that a drone can provide, and it is clear in Israel that there is a need to prepare for a situation in which terrorists are able to use drones with fiber optic cables that are 30 or even 60 kilometers long. With an arsenal of such drones, the terrorists can threaten Israeli communities in the north even without amassing tens of thousands of rockets and hiding them in bunkers that cost billions of dollars to construct. Israel understands that it will need to develop new detection systems and deploy appropriate weapons to take down the drones before they can cause damage. At the beginning of the week, Prime Minister Netanyahu published a video in which he announced, “Several weeks ago, I ordered the establishment of a special project to combat the threat posed by drones. Today, I will receive a progress report. It will take time, but we are working on it.”

Israeli Navy Repels Flotilla

Israel recently dealt with another form of terror as well: a flotilla headed toward Gaza. This isn’t the first time that anti-Israel elements have organized such a flotilla with the goal of turning public sentiment against Israel throughout the world, framing the Israeli government as a cruel regime committing war crimes against the “innocent” population of Gaza. Last week the IDF intercepted another flotilla heading toward Gaza in the vicinity of Crete, surprising the “peace” activists, who thought they wouldn’t encounter the Israeli navy until they arrived in the vicinity of Gaza this week. They were surprised by the early Israeli attack and claimed that their ships were attacked by armed Israeli soldiers. The IDF seized more than 20 vessels in the flotilla, which were carrying a total of about 175 activists. The flotilla consisted of dozens of other ships as well, most of which reversed course in response to the Israeli demands. If any ships continue sailing toward Gaza, the IDF plans to take control of them as well. An Israeli source explained that the decision to intercept the flotilla in international waters at such a great distance from Israel was due to its size; the flotilla consisted of over 100 ships and 1000 activists.

Videos uploaded by participants in the flotilla show the initial encounter with the Israeli navy. A voice can be heard announcing, “This is the Israeli navy. Any attempts to breach the maritime security closure on the Gaza Strip constitute a violation of international law. If you want to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, you can do so through established and recognized channels. Please change your course and return to your port of origin. If you are carrying humanitarian aid, you are welcome to proceed to the Ashdod port, where the aid will undergo a security inspection and will then be transferred to the Gaza Strip. You are required to change your course. Any additional attempt to sail toward Gaza will endanger your security and will leave the IDF no choice but to use all necessary means at its disposal to enforce the legal maritime blockade. It is dangerous to remain on your current course. If you continue your attempts to breach the blockade, we will stop your ship and work to have it confiscated through judicial proceedings in court. You bear full responsibility for your actions.” The Israeli takeover of the offending ships evoked widespread condemnation, amid claims that the Israeli navy had aimed weapons at the flotilla and taken over its ships “in an illegal fashion in international waters.”

The flotilla’s organizers released a statement claiming that it was part of a “broad global movement at sea and on land, which is working to dismantle systems that enable apartheid, occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded, “The driving force between the flotilla’s provocation is Hamas, which works together with professional provocateurs with the goal of preventing President Trump’s peace plan from progressing to its second stage, and diverting attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm.”

The Lag Ba’omer Festivities: What the Decision Makers Cannot Understand

The country has been through an incredible number of upheavals regarding the hillula of Lag Ba’omer in Meron. The issue was the subject of a meeting with Netanyahu, a cabinet session, and then warnings from the Home Front Command. It is frightening to consider the fact that matters of life and death are decided by people who are far removed from understanding halachic considerations. After all, we are no longer in the days when the religious community remained mute after receiving orders from Shin Bet or the Mossad, and certainly from the Home Front Command. The behavior of the security services in recent years should be enough for all of us to realize that one cannot rely on their meaningless efforts and empty proclamations. In the case of the hillula in Meron, there is also a saddening aspect to the situation, since no decision should have been made without first taking all the relevant considerations into account—and none of the government officials deciding on the issue have the slightest understanding of the religious significance of Meron. None of them is personally acquainted with even one of the tens of thousands of people for whom Meron is in their lifeblood and Rabi Shimon bar Yochai is their guiding light.

Of course, we all take danger seriously; religious Jews have deep respect for the need to avoid physical peril. But that does not excuse the decision makers for their behavior and double standards. No one has prevented soccer games attended by thousands of fans from taking place in the north, and no one even considered banning mass gatherings for the Druse on their recent holidays. For that reason, I tend to suspect that the decision makers are simply too quick to pull the trigger when it comes to Jewish religious practices. The same double standard was in evidence when the authorities banned davening at the Kosel during the war with Iran, while there was no such ban on the demonstrations on Rechov Kaplan. We simply cannot trust the Home Front Command; they do not understand the meaning of Lag Ba’omer or Rabi Shimon, nor do they understand the significance of davening at the Kosel, which they view as a mere tourist attraction.

Rav Dovid Chefetz told a story about his father, Rav Noach Chefetz, who was a brilliant master of Kabbalah: “My father once wanted to travel to Rabi Shimon bar Yochai’s kever on Lag Ba’omer, at a time in his life when it was difficult for him to walk. We contacted Ezer Mizion, and they sent an ambulance from Tzefas. They instructed us not to enter the tziun, perhaps because of the coronavirus. We spent the entire trip asking my father to daven for us; his prayers had extraordinary power. Finally, we were standing beside the wall closest to the tziyun. At that point, we were sure that he would begin davening tearfully for healing for himself and for all of Klal Yisroel’s needs. But that is not what he did. He did not have the strength to stand, so he supported himself on the wall and began to daven quietly, ‘Rabi Shimon, when will I achieve the virtue of humility? When will my soul be like dust before everyone?’ That was the purpose for which he made the trip to Meron in an ambulance!” Rav Dovid concluded.

This is just one illustration of the meaning of Meron and the festivities of Lag Ba’omer to the righteous. And here is another example: I once met with Rav Menachem Kirschenbaum (who passed away in Teves 5786). Rav Kirschenbaum was a descendant of the Tzemach Tzedek, and while he lived in Yerushalayim, Meron was a central focus of his life. For many years, since he was young and until the end of his life, he traveled to Meron and danced with incredible passion on every Lag Ba’omer. When I visited him at home, he showed me a vast archive of pictures and videos that he had captured over the course of decades, some of them both rare and historic. When he spoke about Meron, his eyes sparkled with delight. For decades, he was the one who began the dancing in the Rashbi’s courtyard immediately after Maariv on Lag Ba’omer. And I can’t help but muse that if Rav Menachem had been present at the cabinet meetings, the government officials might at least have begun to appreciate the cost of their decisions.

Sadly, since the year 5780, there has been only one year when a relatively normal hillula was held in Meron on Lag Ba’omer. First there was the Covid pandemic in 5780, followed by the terrible tragedy of 5781. In the year 5782, severe restrictions were imposed on the event, leading to an absolute collapse. In 5783, it was placed under chareidi control and there were fewer police officers present, which made it possible for a reasonable hillula to be held. Since that time, sadly, the Lag Ba’omer festivities have repeatedly been plagued by war, missile attacks, and the closure of the mountain.

A New Perspective on the Oppression of Torah Learners

A certain talmid chochom recently met with one of the gedolei hador (whose identity I have not been given permission to divulge), and they discussed the legal system’s ongoing efforts to harm lomdei Torah. I have already reported on this subject several times; one of the latest initiatives is a bid to revoke the tax-deductible status of charitable donations made to yeshivos. The talmid chochom quoted the Yalkut Shimoni’s comment that the enslavement of the Jewish people in Mitzrayim is a sign of their stature; had it been a different nation, the Midrash attests, Pharaoh would not have oppressed them. He added a quote from the commentary Zayis Raanan: “Bnei Yisroel did not assimilate among them, and instead observed Hashem’s mitzvos; that is why he despised them.” The talmid chochom went on to expound at length on the merits and importance of remaining separate from the nations of the world, a practice that sustains us as a nation. He therefore concluded that we must give thanks to Hashem when we are despised by the nations.

This idea is supported by a comment of the Shem MiShmuel on the Haggadah of Pesach, which suggests that the words “_v’hi she’amdah laavoseinu v’lonu—_this is what has stood for our forefathers and us” refer to the Haggadah’s description of Bnei Yisroel’s enslavement, as the Zohar states, “What was the reason for the golus and for Mitzrayim? … It was orchestrated by Hashem so they would not have a connection with [the Mitzrim] … and this helped them avoid assimilating.” Similarly, the Shem MiShmuel states, the constant enmity and attacks on Klal Yisroel from the nations of the world has preserved us during this long exile as well. As the nations attempt to destroy us in every generation, that itself has kept the Jewish people separate from the nations and enabled them to avoid assimilation.

The gadol listened to the talmid chochom’s discourse and nodded, and then the talmid chochom continued, “Perhaps that also explains the hatred of amei haaretz for talmidei chochomim in our generation and the persecution of lomdei Torah. Perhaps it was decreed on us to prevent us from mingling with them and connecting with them, and we should give thanks for this as well.”

“I hear,” the gadol replied. In other words, he did not share his own opinion, but he also did not negate the possibility. That should give us some food for thought.

The Supreme Court’s Audacity

I have written about the Supreme Court many times, but that is because the court keeps generating more news stories. The judges’ audacity simply knows no bounds. They are aware that most of the public is outraged by their behavior, that bereaved families view them as enemies, and that the entire political system is furious over their conduct, yet nothing seems to stop them. Last week, the court heard petitions calling for the minister of justice to convene the Judicial Selection Committee. Justice Minister Levin has refused to convene the committee, which operates under his aegis, until he receives consent to appoint judges from both sides of the political map. The judges of the Supreme Court had no qualms about discussing the petitions despite the fact that they are themselves part of the dispute, which is essentially a power struggle between Levin and the court. Despite the ultimate conflict of interest, they consider themselves fit to render an official ruling on this issue. Yet they seem to wonder why people view them as shallow politicians!

Justice Yitzchok Zamir, who served as attorney general during the time of the Bus 300 affair and later became a justice on the Supreme Court, was recently interviewed on the radio and decried the threat supposedly posed by politicians to the judges. “Professor Zamir is with us today, breaking a 30-year silence,” the interviewer intoned as she introduced him, implying that this was a sign of a dangerous situation. The truth, however, is that Zamir had a very different reason for his decision to speak out: He wanted to promote a book that he is releasing about the Bus 300 affair. What seemed to be a noble effort to promote societal values was actually a cheap public relations ploy. Moreover, Zamir wasn’t breaking his silence at all, for the simple reason that he has never been silent. He has appeared before the Constitution Committee multiple times in recent years, and he has also been interviewed at least once a year, including one particular interview that ran for two hours and ten minutes. He even once spent 13 minutes talking about the judicial reform, which he decried as a major threat. I was outraged when the interviewer remarked that he had chosen the path of silence for many years, and Zamir did not bother to contradict her. Such is the “integrity” of the justices of the Supreme Court.

And I am not done yet. During his interview, Zamir said, “We are already in a regime ruled by one individual. The prime minister controls the government and the government controls the Knesset, and there is no separation of powers, which is vital in any democracy.” If those words sound familiar, it is because they were heard once before—from the autocratic judge Aharon Barak, in his “We Are Subjects” speech in Haifa. Is it possible that the judges copy from each other? Or at least that they mimic their secular admor, with his credo that everything is subject to judicial review?

As for the substance of Zamir’s comments, both the original statement and his imitation are pure nonsense. Every prime minister controls the government, and the government always controls the Knesset. The coalition under Ben-Gurion, for instance, was far more draconian and dictatorial than today’s government, and the same was true of Ariel Sharon’s administration. But this does not contradict the fact that there is complete separation of power between the executive and judicial branches of the government.

Someone once quipped that one doesn’t have to be a thief in order to be a politician, but it can certainly help. In a similar vein, one does not have to be a superficial plagiarist to be a justice on the Supreme Court, but those traits are certainly helpful for that purpose.

The Cost of a Presidential Visit

This is somewhat amusing, but President Trump never seems to fade out of the headlines in Israel. It is completely understandable that he is constantly subject to media attention in America, but the same phenomenon occurs here in Israel as well, and that isn’t only because he seems to be the one who dictates whether there will be a ceasefire or a resumption of warfare with Iran. Even his visit to the Knesset on Hoshanah Rabbah is still occupying the media’s attention, generating constant reports and investigations of how much it cost the Israeli taxpayer.

This week, the media reported that Trump’s visit to Yerushalayim on October 13, 2025, a six-hour visit after the last twenty hostages were released from Hamas captivity, came with a price tag of 900,000 shekels for the Knesset alone (i.e., not including the costs of various security arrangements and escorts). It was a historic visit that took place with very little advance warning and came on the eve of the holiday of Simchas Torah, and there is no question that the tight schedule had an impact on the cost of his visit. The Knesset was decorated with floral arrangements and special screens for the occasion, and the Knesset even produced caps bearing the words “Trump—President of Peace.”

Here is a breakdown of some of the expenses: The caps produced in honor of Trump’s visit came with a price tag of 17,000 shekels, and gardening in honor of his visit cost 315,000 shekels. The floral arrangements were purchased for a total cost of 50,000 shekels, equipment for simultaneous translation was rented for about 100,000 shekels, the satellite transmission to the United States of Trump’s speech cost 40,000 shekels, and an expansion of wireless reception in the Knesset resulted in a cost of 21,000 shekels. Additional expenses included lighting and other logistical arrangements, as well as payments to various vendors in case of cancelation.

Trump’s entourage, including diplomats, official photographers, foreign media personnel, and security guards, was estimated to consist of about 250 people. There were 600 people present for the event in the Knesset. The Knesset speaker was criticized for inviting close associates and members of the Likud: “Among the guests who do not hold official positions were, among others, vote contractors for the Likud and party branch heads, American businesspeople, the Falik family, who are close to Prime Minister Netanyahu; Gabe Grossman, who hosts a conservative podcast; and Ben Shapiro, and this is only a partial list.”

The Knesset was not fazed by the criticism. The Knesset public relations office responded, “The Knesset is proud to be hosting a historic visit from President Donald Trump, and preparations were made for the visit as for any other occasion of supreme political significance…. The results of the visit and President Trump’s speech in the Knesset reverberated on a global level and were a source of national pride to the State of Israel, establishing the Knesset’s position as a parliament of central importance in the world and an institution that represents Israeli democracy.”

A Master of Kiruv

At the annual Lev L’Achim convention at Binyonei Ha’Umah, the International Convention Center in Yerushalayim, Rav Dov Landau had the following to say: “The people of this country are thirsting for the Word of Hashem. The people of Israel, even those who are far removed from religion, appreciate and value the Torah and those who learn it…. We must certainly appreciate and honor the precious yungaleit who dedicate their time to volunteering for Lev L’Achim, sometimes amid various difficulties, to learn Torah with other Jews with great pleasantness, without argument or debate, so that the light of the Torah and those who study it guides them back to the proper path. This leads to a proliferation of bnei Torah, yirei Shomayim, and Jews who observe mitzvos and an increase in kavod Shomayim, creating pleasure for our Father in Heaven, Who yearns for His children to return to him.”

Givat Shaul—and the religious community of Yerushalayim as a whole—recently bade farewell to Rav Moshe Chalkowski, the longtime director of the Neve Yerushalayim seminary. (Rav Moshe’s wife, Rebbetzin Rochel, otherwise known as “Bambi,” is a legendary midwife in Shaare Zedek and the founder of a chessed organization dedicated to assisting women and families in distress.) For decades, Rav Moshe taught Torah and assisted his wife in her chessed activities, but his crowning achievement was his work in kiruv. In his seminary, he taught thousands of girls who went on to build homes steeped in Torah. When I visited the family during the shiva, I came across a volume containing handwritten recollections shared by the visitors. One of those anecdotes, told by a woman named Zissy (apparently a sister-in-law of Rebbetzin Chalkowski), read as follows: “A baalas teshuvah once came to Uncle Moshe, and he asked her if she observed Shabbos. ‘I do whatever I know,’ she said. ‘As do I,’ he replied. That brief exchange was enough to win her over.”

Models for Our Children

Last week, I attended a deeply moving event—the bris of a child born to his parents after eight years of waiting. The sandak was Rav Shlomo Breuer, mashgiach of Yeshivas Bais Mattisyohu, Yeshivas Bnei Reem, and other yeshivos as well. The honor of amidah labrachos was given to Rav Moshe Wolpin, a renowned rosh yeshiva and rosh kollel in Yerushalayim who is considered a spiritual heir and successor of Rav Abba Berman. The child’s maternal grandfather is Rav Yaakov Romm, who heads Kollel Halacha L’Moshe in Mattersdorf, Yerushalayim, along with his brother, Rav Aharon Romm, whose name you may recognize from his visits to America on behalf of Keren Olam HaTorah. Halacha L’Moshe is one of the most prominent and longstanding kollelim in Yerushalayim, which was founded by Rav Yaakov’s father, Rav Moshe Dovid Romm, who happens to be the baby’s namesake as well.

Rav Moshe Dovid Romm (who passed away at the beginning of Adar Rishon 5774/February 2014) deserves to be the subject of an article in his own right. He was a master of kiruv who influenced thousands of people to become bnei Torah and who traveled far and wide to teach and disseminate Torah. In his later years, he founded the kollel that bears his name today. Rav Moshe Dovid was an outstanding personality in the Torah world with many close connections to gedolei Yisroel of the previous generation. One of the great men who shared a bond of friendship with him that nearly qualified as brotherhood was Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, who remembered him being one of his earliest talmidim. After his petirah, his sons compiled his chiddushei Torah into two volumes under the title Moshe Yedabeir. Rav Yaakov Romm, his son, spoke at the bris, and I will quote a portion of his comments.

“This baby has been named for my father, and I will therefore share a vort of his,” Rav Yaakov said. “Every day, in the birchos haTorah, we recite the prayer, ‘Please make the words of Your Torah pleasant in our mouths.’ Then we go on to say, ‘May we and our offspring all know Your Name and study Your Torah.’ Why don’t we extend the first request in the brocha to our children as well? Why don’t we beseech Hashem to make the Torah pleasant for them, too? My father explained that the sense of pleasantness and sweetness of learning Torah is passed down from father to son. When a child sees his father learning Torah with passion and eagerness, he will desire to have the same experience. Therefore, there is no need for us to ask for it. Learning Torah lishmah, on the other hand, is not passed down automatically from generation to generation; therefore, we must daven for our children as well.

“My father used to illustrate this point as follows,” he continued. “He would say, ‘There were times when I heard Uri Zohar on the radio when he was still a prominent entertainment figure and I felt compelled to turn it off. I simply couldn’t tolerate listening to his conceit. But then he made a radical transformation and moved into our neighborhood on Rechov Sorotzkin, and I became acquainted with him. He spent his days and nights poring over the Torah, never stepping away from his shtender, and he became a talmid chochom. This was how I witnessed how the Torah can elevate a person to an extraordinary level of nobility and pleasantness.’ My father used to say this in Yiddish, and he was amazed at how a person could become so deeply refined and elevated that everyone was always eager to be in his presence.”

Are you a fretter or a figurer?

Let me explain what I mean.

On the journey through life, we encounter obstacles on a regular basis. We step into situa­tions, or situations smack into us. Our way for­ward is often barred by brick walls, or at least walls that resemble bricks. Even when we can’t yet see them, we can imagine the road ahead lit­tered with minefields.

Apart from obstacles to surmount, there are also projects to launch and complete. A lavish yom tov or a simcha to prepare. A new masechta to conquer. Tests to take and interviews to ace. There’s an ongoing need to prove something to ourselves or to others. How do we cope with these challenges?

If you’re a fretter, you’ll start by freezing in fear at the enormity of what confronts you. Like the student paralyzed by the amount of mate­rial she’s called upon to study. The housewife who finds herself swimming around and around the pond of worry in her head at the thought of what she must accomplish in the days or weeks or months ahead. Or the insecure yeshiva bochur who feels like giving up before he even begins.

Fear of failure roots us to the spot. It does its best to prevent us from putting our best foot forward, or even any foot forward. The student imagines herself staring at a test paper and not knowing a single answer. The balebusta feels ex­hausted at the mere thought of her future ex­haustion. The yeshiva bochur wants to run away, lest he betray how unfit he feels to keep up with his companions in the bais medrash.

When an obstacle seems too great or a project too immense, the fretter flounders in fear. The dimensions of the challenge may be actual, or they may be blown up to gargantuan propor­tions by the fretter’s worry. At the extreme edge of the spectrum, a person can fret herself into a frenzy that leads to a state of near emotional paralysis.

In the grip of such a state, the student’s mind isn’t clear enough to even think about studying. Ditto for our poor bochur in the bais medrash. As for the fretful housewife, she spends virtually all of her energy running the treadmill of her anxiety, unable to divert it to productive use.

Cool Under Fire

At the other end of the spectrum is the figur­er. This hardy soul spends little or no energy on

doomful imaginings or on questioning his own competence. The specter of fa­tigue or failure leaves him unmoved. Instead of wallowing in worry, he sits down and figures out what needs to be done. He draws up a plan and musters his resources. And then he simply rolls up his sleeves and tackles the job until it’s finished.

Fretters often marvel at figurers. The latter’s coolness under fire leaves them breathless with awe. Figurers, for their part, may observe a fretter’s frenzy with a certain amount of disdain. Ei­ther because they lack imagination or because they’re programmed to do more than to feel, they are constitu­tionally incapable of entering into the fretter’s world of worry.

Figurers are planners and doers. At their best, they’re able to channel their energies productively because they don’t let unproductive emotion get in the way. At their worst, they can turn themselves into calculating “doing” machines which neither see nor care for other people’s frailties. They may appear rather inhuman in their intol­erance for those weaker than they.

Fretters, on the other hand, are often extremely empathetic to those who, like them, worry about surmounting the obstacles and successfully com­pleting the big projects in their lives. Being on such intimate terms with fear of failure, they can recognize and sym­pathize with others who demonstrate the same dismaying symptoms.

Being a fretter isn’t easy. But it does come with a wonderful bonus: hum­bled by their fears, fretters find it nat­ural to turn to Hashem for the strength and success they need. This is in con­trast to figurers, who court the danger of relying too much on their own con­siderable abilities without reference to their Source.

In Good Measure

A middah, as we know, means a mea­sured amount. As with any other char­acter trait, a propensity to either fret or figure should optimally avoid the outer edges of the spectrum.

Extreme fretters run the risk of fail­ing through the very fear of failure that ties their hands. Extreme figurers need to be wary of turning into robot-like accomplishers without a heart. Obvi­ously, neither extreme is healthy. The first mode sacrifices functionality, while the second sacrifices empathy and simple human kindness.

What fretters need to remember is that a person’s worth is not measured by her G-d-given talents but by the character she’s worked to develop and build. She needs to remember not to compare herself to others, especially not the cool-headed planners and do­ers who are lucky enough not to get all tangled up emotionally when con­fronting the hurdles that life continu­ally throws at us.

She needs to remember that it’s okay to ask for help, okay to keep things simple, and okay not to be strong as a rock twenty-four hours a day. That it’s okay to be herself, with all her limita­tions. Accepting that premise can help clear her mind and prime her engines for getting the job done.

What figurers need to remember is that not everyone is as cool under fire as they are. That what looks to them like just a job can manifest to someone else as an unclimbable mountain.

When making their calculations, devising their plans and tallying their achievements, they can feel inordi­nately proud of themselves. It’s useful for them to bear in mind the feelings of those who don’t find such tasks as easy as they do. This won’t make them any less efficient but will certainly make them more sympathetic, and perhaps also a tad less prone to conceit over their own amazing efficiency. A con­ceit which can leave Hashem out of the equation by focusing too much on “see what I can do!”

We all have a bit of both in us. When faced with a huge job such as making Pesach or a wedding, we can be forgiv­en for indulging in a few moments of fretful imagination. Most of the time, we move past that stage and into the figuring and doing stages without too much difficulty. One thing that helps when battling insomnia because we’re worrying about the millions of things that need doing, is to sit down and make a list. This clarifies our thinking and provides a tangible focus for our otherwise diffuse anxiety. Knocking off the items on the list, one by one, provides a sense of empowerment and satisfaction which, in turn, energizes us to do more.

Under pressure, we rarely stand still. All through the process, we move from fretting to figuring and back again. Throw in some heartfelt tefillah for si­yata d’Shmaya, and we can generally move on to a successful conclusion… until the next time that we’re called upon to face a big hurdle or launch a mammoth project.

Then we’ll have to do the balancing act all over again: fretting and figuring in the right measures, to achieve the perfect middah for handling what life throws at us.

There are levayos that mark the end of a life. And then there are levayos at which the tzibbur stands in stunned silence, beginning to grasp — only now, only too late — the magnitude of the greatness that walked among them. The levayah of Rabbi Chaim Yisroel Abadi zt”l, niftar this past Shabbos, Parshas Emor, at the age of 66 after a long machlah, was the second kind.

He was, in the simplest and truest sense, an oheiv Yisroel, a man whose ahavas Yisroel was not a middah he worked on, but the very air he breathed. He loved Yidden the way a father loves his children, without conditions, without calculations, and without giving up. Especially without giving up.

A Son of Lakewood, A Father to Lakewood’s Lost Children

Rav Chaim was a son of Rav Yitzchok Abadi, the noted posek who, at the age of 19, was sent by the Chazon Ish to learn under Rav Aharon Kotler, and who was later appointed posek of Bais Medrash Govoah and the Lakewood kehillah while still in his 20s. Rav Abadi was niftar only five months ago, on the second day of Chanukah. Now, within a single calendar year, Lakewood has lost both the father who shaped its halachic landscape and the son who refused to let its struggling children fall through the cracks of it.

Rav Chaim’s avodah took a strikingly different path than his father’s. Rav Yitzchok carried the Torah of psak. Rav Chaim carried the Torah of pikuach nefesh, quite literally saving neshamos that the mainstream system had, in too many cases, given up on. He loved his father deeply, was mechabed him endlessly, and was sho’el eitzah from him constantly, but the path he walked was his own.

To understand what Rav Chaim built, one must remember what Lakewood looked like in the late 1990s. The Torah metropolis it is today was already taking shape, but beneath the surface, a crisis was unfolding. Hundreds of teenagers were finding themselves alienated from the system in which they had been raised. Some were technically still frum but spiritually adrift. Almost all of them had stopped davening, because there was simply nowhere they felt welcome to walk in.

Today, we take it for granted that there are tracks and options, programs and people, ways to help boys and girls who don’t fit the mainstream mold. We take it for granted that such teens are not to be marginalized, that there is hope for them, that they have a place. Today, if you don’t believe that, most people would think there is something wrong with you.

It is so taken as a given that we may forget who started it all. Rabbi Chaim Abadi was the one who brought this concept into existence. There were others who played a significant role too, Rav Dovid Trenk and Rav Shlomo Gissinger most prominently among them. But while they often worked quietly on individual cases, Rabbi Abadi revolutionized the idea of giving these boys and girls a chance on a wholesale level.

The amount of fighting and resistance and naysaying that he endured to get to the point where Lakewood is today regarding at-risk youth is staggering. He sat through countless meetings and phone calls where people didn’t simply discourage him from his efforts, but literally yelled and screamed at him over his work to save neshamos. And somehow, Rabbi Abadi was completely unfazed. He marched forward as if nobody had said anything at all.

He led a revolution. And he did it better than anyone else.

The Birth of “The Minyan”

Minyan Shelanu began, as so many great things in Klal Yisroel begin, around a small group of friends.

A handful of bochurim who were not enrolled in yeshiva used to gather at Rav Shlomo Gissinger’s shul after the regular minyan had dispersed. They would daven, eat breakfast, smoke a cigarette, and head to work. Rav Chaim, who had semicha but worked as a successful real estate developer, gave several of them jobs at his own company. For some, it was the first stable framework they had known in years.

Out of that informal gathering was born Minyan Shelanu — “Our Minyan.” It quickly became something far larger than its founders had even imagined: a bais medrash, a social center, a refuge, a surrogate home, and the only place in Lakewood where a kid who didn’t fit in could feel that he wasn’t a broken outcast.

Rav Chaim was emphatic on one point: The Minyan was not a kiruv operation. The teenagers walking through his doors were not strangers to Yiddishkeit. They were sons of bnei Torah. What they were missing was not Yiddishkeit itself, but simply a feeling of belonging.

The method to reel in these youngsters was deceptively simple: unconditional acceptance, an insistence on telling a boy or girl the truth, and a staunch loyalty to each and every person who came into Rabbi Abadi’s orbit.

Under Rabbi Abadi’s leadership, The Minyan grew into an entire ecosystem. A daytime kollel and night seder opened under the direction of Reb Yaakov Bess, a yeshiva placement program under Reb Shneur Olshin, a Thursday night cholent and speech, with addresses delivered over the years by leading roshei yeshiva. Then came the game room, an annual Shabbaton, and a road trip at the end of the year that, during one famous summer, took the boys through 13 states from the Smoky Mountains down to Florida. And, when needed — and it was often needed — full payment for drug rehabilitation, therapy, and yeshiva tuition for those whose families could not, or would not, help.

Years later, he opened The Chill, a parallel division for girls kept entirely separate from the boys’ program, which served as its own haven for young women in similar straits. When a fire ripped through The Chill’s Jackson headquarters early one morning, destroying everything in its path, the girls who had called it home spoke of it the same way the boys spoke of The Minyan: as the place where, when every other door in their lives was locked, this one was always open.

The Father Who Never Gave Up

To outsiders, Rav Chaim might have seemed like a man who simply provided love — hugging and laughing and giving exciting speeches. That is not who he was at all.

Instead, he gave every kid who needed it the feeling that he was their father, that he was in their corner, and that nothing would ever change that. He created a framework in which every teen who came under his influence understood that they would be loved endlessly and would never be given up on, but at the same time, there were rules for everybody, including themselves.

Rabbi Abadi didn’t give fake compliments. He didn’t tell every kid how amazing they were. He gave them the unvarnished truth, but the truth was always wrapped in a love so genuine that the boys and girls trusted him like a father, and often more than a father.

It was a special, unique balance that nobody else had ever managed to pull off.

In one instance, there was a boy he had to essentially throw out of Lakewood because he was causing tremendous harm to his peers. Several years later, at The Minyan’s annual Lag Ba’omer celebration, Rav Chaim approached a local baal achrayus, deeply agitated. He had just learned that this boy was holed up with a family in Brooklyn, and the family dynamic was not good. He needed to find an alternative family for this boy to stay with — right now. This was a kid he had to expel. And it didn’t matter. He couldn’t set the boy up for failure. He had to give him the best opportunity to succeed.

Giving up on someone simply did not exist in his worldview.

Facing Adversity with Resolve

Rabbi Moshe Rotberg, rov of Khal Zichron Yechezkel in Toms River, recounts a story that illustrates the steely, unbending resolve that Rabbi Abadi was legendary for.

As Rabbi Rotberg was leaving first seder one morning, he got a call from Rav Chaim. “Come on over. I need to show you something.”

When he arrived, Rav Chaim pulled out his phone and showed him a text message he had just received. It was, Rabbi Rotberg says, “filled with the most vile, hateful, despicable words I have ever seen sent to anyone.” He immediately tried to console Rav Chaim, but was brushed off.

“No, I don’t need that. I just want you to come with me.”

“Come with you where?”

“To meet this guy.”

“To meet him? Why would you want to meet him?”

“What do you mean?” Rav Chaim said. “He sent me a message, so clearly he needs me to talk to him.”

“What’s his story?”

“Eh, what’s the difference?”

Hesitantly, Rabbi Rotberg went with him. They knocked on the door. The door opened. “Hi, Rabbi So-and-so,” Rav Chaim said warmly. “I got your message. I see there’s a lot to discuss. So let’s sit down and talk.”

The man, stunned and bewildered, invited them in. For the next hour, Rav Chaim sat and spoke with the man who had just cursed him out in the most vile terms imaginable. At the end of the meeting, the man apologized.

That episode is a window into who Rav Chaim was. Vicious words could not cow him. He was made of steel. But beneath the steel — and the reason for it — was an unshakable belief that every Yid, even one who had just sent him hateful messages, was someone worth showing up for, worth talking to, worth hearing out.

The Chesed Nobody Knew About

Rabbi Abadi’s son-in-law, Rabbi Avi Bensoussan, who now leads The Minyan, spoke at the levayah about how much of Rav Chaim’s avodah was hidden even from his own mishpacha.

“None of us can comprehend what he did. He kept everything so quiet. Even his own family didn’t know,” he said through tears. “A year ago, when he got sick with his final machlah, I took his phone to help out as best I can. I had no idea — 24/7 the phone didn’t stop. Texts and calls from around the world. People calling about everything! I had no idea. I am his family, and his own family had no idea how much he was doing. We had no idea that we were sitting with a gadol, with a gaon. He didn’t stop!”

Rav Chaim ran from kavod with the same intensity that he ran toward struggling Yidden.

Rabbi Bensoussan related that someone once called him about a shidduch, not knowing his relationship to Rav Chaim. The caller said that he was inclined to say no, because he had looked into the “rabbi” the boy named on his resumé, and he was disappointed to learn that it was “some contractor named Chaim Abadi.”

The man had no idea. Rav Chaim had kept his profile so low that an outsider would mistake him for a simple tradesman. He was a gadol. But nobody knew.

There were calls he would take from absolute strangers. He would listen to their problems, give a solution or pull a lever to help, and hang up without ever learning their names. On numerous occasions, when someone asked him afterward who had just called, he answered, “I have no idea.”

“You don’t know who you were talking to?”

“No. Why does it matter?”

It made no difference to him who you were. If you needed help, he was there.

“Who Are We Going to Ask Now?”

Rabbi Bensoussan quoted a Medrash at the levayah that captured the moment perfectly.

The Medrash in Vezos Habrocha asks: When Moshe Rabbeinu was niftar, shomayim v’aretz cried, the Borei Olam cried, Klal Yisroel cried, and Yehoshua Bin Nun cried. The obvious question is: Was Yehoshua Bin Nun not part of Klal Yisroel? Why is his crying mentioned separately?

The answer is that Yehoshua, of course, cried with Klal Yisroel. But then he had a shailah that he needed to ask. And when he went looking for his rebbi and the realization dawned that his rebbi was gone — that there was no one to turn to — he cried again, a different kind of cry.

“That’s the question I keep hearing,” Rabbi Bensoussan said. “Who are we going to ask now? With Rabbi Abadi gone, who will guide us?”

It is a question being asked everywhere. The original Minyan guys are grandparents today. Rav Chaim was with them through their teenage years, through their yeshiva years, through their shidduchim, through building their families — up until his very last day. There is nothing to replace him, because what he built was not a movement, a philosophy, or a shitah that can be replicated. It was the whole package of him as a person. And there was nothing like him.

The Final Months

In recent months, as his physical condition deteriorated, Rav Chaim refused to stop. The phone never stopped ringing, and he never stopped answering.

In one instance, there was an event taking place somewhere near Lakewood that would be harmful to teens in attendance. Rav Chaim — already so weak he could barely breathe — made a call, insisting that this event had to be shut down. He called and texted, again and again, until he received confirmation that the event had been cancelled.

That was who he was: a man whose body was failing, whose breath was short, refusing to let go of even one teenager whose neshomah might be at risk.

“I Am Alive Because of Him”

Moshe Heinemann, a former Minyan member and close talmid, spoke at the levayah as a representative of The Minyan boys.

“One thing that stood out to me about this levayah is that everyone here can speak about him for an hour,” he said. “To so many of us, he was something more than we can possibly define. Some called him Chaim, others called him ‘Rabbi.’ But one thing is certain: He was an Abba to everyone — someone you could go to with anything, who made you feel you weren’t alone, someone who was non-judgmental no matter what, someone you could ask any shailah to.

“The list of hats he wore is endless. But at the same time, he was also someone we would just call to hang out with, to go eat out with, to take a ride in his pickup truck. Minyan Shelanu was his heart. It was a place of acceptance, where everyone belonged.”

There are countless alumni today who say it plainly: “I am alive because of him. It is that simple.”

What He Leaves Behind

There are those whose lives are measured in the Torah, seforim, or gemillus chassodim they leave behind. Rav Chaim’s life is measured in the neshamos he refused to abandon. And the void he leaves cannot be measured at all.

He is survived by his devoted wife, Mrs. Fraidy (Wanouno) Abadi, his beloved children and grandchildren, and by countless talmidim, admirers, and families who exist today because he refused to let them go.

At Rav Shlomo Gissinger’s levayah in 2019, Rabbi Abadi rose to be maspid. His voice broke as he spoke directly to the niftar: “When you go up to Shomayim, I want you to ask the Ribono Shel Olam: What’s the plan? Who is going to take care of the kids in Lakewood? What’s the plan?”

Today, countless Yidden are begging Rav Chaim to do the same.

Yehi zichro boruch.

***

Rabbi Abadi’s Legacy

By Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger

Rabbi Chaim Abadi zt”l had a way of seeing people that most of us don’t.

He didn’t just notice who was sitting in front of him. He noticed who was slipping away. He saw the boy whose eyes had already wandered far beyond the walls of the bais medrash, the one who still showed up but no longer felt like he belonged.

I once watched him pause in the middle of a crowded room, his attention pulled not to the speaker or the center of the action, but to a quiet boy lingering near the doorway, half in, half out. While others continued talking, he walked over, placed a hand gently on the boy’s shoulder, and began a conversation that lasted long after the room had emptied. There was nothing dramatic about it. No audience. No recognition. Just one person refusing to let another disappear unnoticed.

He saw the girl who carried within her a quiet distance that no one else seemed to pick up on.

And once he saw them, he didn’t look away.

He chose the ones who didn’t fit. The ones who sat in the room but were never quite part of it. The ones who asked questions that sounded like chutzpah but were really cries for clarity. The ones whose struggles were too complicated, too messy, too exhausting for a system that prefers things to be neat and predictable.

He did not write them off. He did not label them. And perhaps most importantly, he did not stand at a distance and talk about them.

He went to them.

And he brought them to him.

He understood something that most of us only understand in theory but rarely live in practice: Before you can guide a young person, you have to first see them. Not the version of them you wish they were, not the version that fits comfortably into your expectations, but the person they actually are, with all the confusion and contradiction that comes with it.

Instead of reacting with frustration or disappointment, Reb Chaim approached them with patience and understanding, recognizing that what looked like resistance was often pain, and what looked like indifference was often confusion.

And if we are being honest, most of us have seen that same resistance and chosen the easier path: to dismiss it, to label it, or simply to move on.

He did not try to force them back into a mold that had already rejected them. He tried to understand where they were, how they were thinking, what they were feeling, and only then did he begin to guide them, slowly, carefully, with a sensitivity that cannot be taught in a training manual.

That is why he succeeded.

Not because he had better techniques, but because he cared enough to see each neshomah as an olam malei, not as a problem to be solved.

And now he is gone.

It is tempting, in moments like this, to speak about how rare he was, how unique, how irreplaceable. All of that may be true, but it also allows us to distance ourselves from what he represented. If he was one of a kind, then we are not expected to follow in his path. If his work required something extraordinary, then the responsibility does not rest on ordinary people.

But that is not the truth.

The boys he worked with are still here.

The girls he understood are still here.

The same confusion, the same quiet drifting, the same sense of being unseen has not disappeared with him. If anything, it has grown.

We have all seen them, and far too often, we have convinced ourselves that someone else will take care of it.

And the question that remains is a simple one, though it is not an easy one: What are we going to do about it?

Are we going to continue speaking about “kids at risk” as if they are a category that exists somewhere else, affecting someone else’s children? Are we going to keep telling ourselves that this is the responsibility of professionals, of organizations, of people who have the time and the training to deal with it?

Or are we going to recognize that this is happening all around us and that ignoring it does not make it go away?

Reb Chaim did not wait for someone else to take responsibility. He did not say, “This is not my problem.” He did not say, “I’m already carrying too much.” He saw a need and he stepped into it, again and again, even when it was difficult, even when it was draining, even when there were no guarantees of success, and even when people criticized him for what he did or how he did it.

If we truly want to honor him, then it cannot end with words.

It has to begin with a shift in how we look at the children around us. It has to mean that when we see someone struggling, we do not immediately define them by that struggle. It has to mean that we are willing to listen a little longer, to judge a little less, to stay present even when it is uncomfortable.

It has to mean that the next time we notice someone quietly drifting, we do not look away, even when getting involved feels inconvenient, uncomfortable, or beyond what we think is our responsibility.

It has to mean that we refuse to accept a reality in which children quietly slip away while we continue on as if nothing is happening.

Because that is the reality Reb Chaim refused to accept.

He believed that every neshomah was worth fighting for, even when the fight was slow, even when it was complicated, even when it did not look like success to the outside world.

That belief defined him.

And now, in his absence, it is the only thing that can truly carry his legacy forward.

Not admiration. Not praise. Not even memory.

But action.

If we can learn to see as he saw, to care as he cared, and to take responsibility as he did, then his life’s work does not end with him. It continues in every child who is given another chance, in every young person who is seen before it is too late.

That is how Rabbi Chaim Abadi should be remembered.

Not only for the lives he touched, but for the lives we will choose to touch because of him.

This week again, the news can lead a person to feel uneasy. Talks to end the war with Iran and curb their nuclear ambitions failed to materialize. The Israeli ceasefire with Lebanon was extended, but Hezbollah continued its attacks on Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court ramped up its war against lomdei Torah. The Washington shooting was a chilling reminder of the general sense of instability and the fragility of the world order.

And yet, as the world continues spiraling in an unsettling way, we continue counting the Omer, moving steadily from Pesach to Shavuos, as we approach the uplifting day of Lag Ba’omer.

The mitzvah of counting the Omer is found in this week’s parsha of Emor (Vayikra 23:15). This counting is not merely a tally of days, but a journey that leads us toward Kabbolas HaTorah.

The mourning aspects of the Sefirah period have so taken over the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuos that we can sometimes forget that there is more to Sefirah than refraining from cutting hair, celebrations, and music. Sefirah is a time of preparation, a gradual ascent, when we strive to make ourselves worthy of receiving the Torah anew.

In fact, the Maharal teaches that the period of Sefirah is blessed with an awesome light that is not present the rest of the year (Nesiv HaTorah 12). This ohr increases daily along with the levels of Torah, until it reaches a climax on Shavuos, when the Torah was given. He writes that as we count Sefirah, we say “Hayom,” because yom, day, is an expression of light, and we make the brocha and thank Hashem for granting us the light of this specific day of the Omer, as every day more light is revealed as we proceed along the path to Torah (Derech Mitzvosecha). Each day offers a new opportunity, a fresh measure of clarity and growth, as we move closer, step by step, to Torah.

This progression is reflected as well in the korbanos we bring. The Korban Omer, which is brought on Pesach, is comprised of se’orim, animal fodder. The shtei halechem of Shavuos is brought from wheat, which is much more refined. The message is clear: We are meant to elevate ourselves, to rise from more instinctive, physical levels to a more refined and spiritual existence.

We are all familiar with the Chazal (Yoma 9b) that the second Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed because of sinas chinom.

At the time the talmidim of Rabi Akiva perished, the churban was still fresh in the minds of the Jewish people, and the Romans who had destroyed the Bais Hamikdosh still ruled over them. No doubt they worked to repent over the sins that had caused the churban so that they would merit redemption and geulah. However, the plague that struck down the holy talmidim because “lo nohagu kavod zeh lozeh — they were lacking in respect for one another” indicated to them that the issues of sinas chinom still needed to be corrected in order to merit the geulah.

The people of that time realized that there was much more that remained to be done in order to end their golus under the Romans. The fact that the mageifah took place during the days of Sefirah, when there is increased ohr and daily introspection, perfection, and growth toward obtaining Torah, indicated that not only were the people not worthy of the Bais Hamikdosh, but they were also unworthy of Torah.

The same qualities that are necessary for Kabbolas HaTorah are necessary for geulah, so this special period of Sefirah was chosen as a time to improve ourselves and prepare not only for Torah, but also for geulah. By mourning the loss of the talmidim, we are reminded that to merit Torah, we must refine our character—how we treat each other, how we speak, and how we live together. We see what happens when there is sinas chinom and a lack of respect for each other.

During the Sefirah period, we work each day to perfect another of the 48 kinyanim of Torah and engage in raising ourselves from the nefesh habehami levels of se’orim, animal food, to the nefesh haruchni at the 49th level of kedusha. These attributes prepare us for Kabbolas HaTorah, when we stood united, k’ish echod beleiv echod, at Har Sinai. They also prepare us for the unity that geulah necessitates, when Hashem Echod Ushemo Echod will be recognized across the world.

At the time of the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh, the Jewish people excelled in the study and observance of Torah, mitzvos, and chesed (see Yoma, ibid.). The only area in which they were lacking was ahavas Yisroel. That alone was enough to cause the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh and bring on golus and all that it entails.

Much the same, it seems that the talmidim of Rabi Akiva excelled in all areas of Torah, except in the realm of bein adam lachaveiro.

In our day, we note the explosion of Torah and frum communities. There is so much that we can point to with great pride. Yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs are more plentiful and larger than ever. We have every conceivable type of chesed organization. There is unprecedented dikduk b’mitzvos. Yet, the fact that we remain in golus indicates that we are lacking in ahavas Yisroel and achdus. If sinas chinom were not prevalent among us, if there were no machlokes and division, golus would have ended.

During these days of Sefirah, we must work to end the hatred and dislike of others, including people who look different or see things differently than us. We need to take to heart the message of Sefirah and the passing of Rabi Akiva’s talmidim so that we can return again to where and what we were, and what we are meant to be.

The number of days in the Sefirah period is cited as connected to the 48 methods necessary to acquire Torah. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos teaches that to properly acquire Torah, we must excel in the 48 devorim through which Torah is acquired. Most of them involve matters that relate to the way we deal and interact with one another. Someone who has not perfected himself ethically and morally cannot properly excel in Torah. A person who is deficient in the way he deals with other people will also be lacking in Torah.

The Ramchal in Maamar Hachochmah discusses the idea that the Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim sank to the 49th level of depravity. After redeeming them from servitude, Hakadosh Boruch Hu provided for them the 49-day period between Pesach and Shavuos so that the freed slaves could raise themselves from the abyss of decadence and alter their behavior in a steady progression until they would be worthy of receiving the Torah on Shavuos.

This ability is evident every year during this time period, the Ramchal says. The Ohr Hachaim adds to this concept and writes (Vayikra 23:15) that the counting of the days of the Omer is akin to the count that an impure person performs to calculate the time remaining until he regains his purity. During this period, we must engage in introspection just as the unclean person would do during their period of counting.

These days involve more than a ritual counting and mourning. They demand a spiritual ascendancy to cleanse ourselves from the moral and spiritual imperfections that afflict all of us. During this period, we are to study and apply the 48 kinyanim of Torah in order to be worthy of accepting the Torah on Shavuos.

The mourning we engage in is directly tied to the introspection that this period obligates.

We mourn the loss of Rabi Akiva’s 24,000 talmidim, we emulate their accomplishments, and we seek to fill the void created by their absence. Rav Elchonon Wasserman taught (Kovetz Maamarim V’igros) that a person who is pretentious and egotistical cannot be successful in a leadership position. An effective leader can communicate with people because he relates to them, feels their pain, and does not consider himself to be on a higher level than the people he serves.

In order to reach people, you have to truly care about them and want to influence them. You have to address them with respect. Nobody likes being talked down to. Most people respond to positive reinforcement and tune out negativity.

If you rid your soul of sinas chinom, then you will behave with mentchlichkeit and treat people properly. If you live with ahavas Yisroel, people will respect you and listen to you. You will be able to help them improve their shemiras hamitzvos, Torah learning, understanding of life, and acceptance of what Hashem gives them.

The greatest teacher is not the one who knows the most, and the greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who motivates people to accomplish the greatest things. The greatest teacher is the one who understands his students and is able to reach them. The greatest teacher is the one who loves his students.

A good teacher gives a child the feeling that he has confidence in him and recognizes his potential for achieving greatness. The quality rebbi or morah lets the students know that they share their dreams, hopes, and goals for the future, and will do everything they can to help the children attain them.

There are two ways you can seek to motivate people: either by appealing to their hopes or by playing to their fears. The one who excels makes sure to speak to people’s confidence and not to their doubts. People respond far better when they are treated as if growth is possible for them. When a person feels believed in, he begins to act in a way that justifies that belief.

For leaders and teachers, as well as parents and friends, communication is more than words. What matters is not only what we say, but how we say it. We can inspire and motivate when we communicate with love and care. By living the commandment of “ve’ohavta lerei’acha kamocha,” we show our children, students, friends, and acquaintances that they are valued, believed in, and loved.

Every person has the ability to impact the world. If we maximize the abilities Hashem has given us by immersing ourselves in limud haTorah, using our strength to build rather than destroy, and channeling our blessings toward helping others, we can make a difference. We can change the world.

Sefirah is a time to focus on this growth—to refine not only how we learn, lilmod, but how we teach and uplift others, lelameid. It is a time to develop the sensitivity, awareness, and optimism that allow us to bring out the best in ourselves and in those around us.

On Lag Ba’omer, with achdus, brotherhood, and love, people gather, light bonfires, sing songs, and dance. They show that they have taken to heart the obligations of Sefirah and aveilus, and are preparing themselves for Torah and geulah, k’ish echod b’lev echod. They stand together, firing up their neshamos as they reach for light and holiness.

Lag Ba’omer brings a welcome interruption to the Sefirah mourning. We take haircuts, shave, trim our beards, and allow music to once again lift our spirits. The customs of aveilus, observed in memory of the passing of the talmidim of Rabi Akiva, are set aside, and a measure of simcha returns.

Rabi Akiva was the greatest of his generation. He was the shoresh of Torah Shebaal Peh. The line of transmission of the Torah from Har Sinai to future generations ran through him and his talmidim. When those students perished, the loss was staggering. A grieving nation, already battered by Roman persecution, was left to wonder how the mesorah would endure. Who would carry the Torah forward and who would teach the next generation? They wondered if they could ever be consoled for the loss of so many great men, crucial to the spiritual survival of the nation.

But Rabi Akiva did not yield to despair. He recharged the people and helped them recover from the devastating loss. He gathered a new group of talmidim and began again, ensuring that the chain of Torah would remain unbroken.

On this day, which marked a cessation of the deaths of Rabi Akiva’s talmidim, we commemorate the renewal. We celebrate the resilience, as we foresee a future bright with hopefulness and optimism. On this day, Rabi Akiva’s talmid, Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai, revealed the secrets of Toras Hasod, which infused all future generations with added dimensions of kedusha, depth, and understanding.

Through the centuries, as the Romans of every era sought to weaken and destroy us, we look to Rabi Akiva and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai for inspiration. We note how they faced down the enemy and persevered, ensuring that our nation and Torah are alive and flourishing to this day. In the wake of a tragedy that would have felled lesser people, they strengthened themselves and set about ensuring that the chain would remain unbroken.

Lag Ba’omer rejects despair. It declares that the Jewish people do not give up or allow the chain of mesorah and greatness to break. The fires of Lag Ba’omer burn vibrantly, proclaiming that the Torah endures, the future is bright, the mesorah will continue, and our people will continue to rise.

The longer our exile is prolonged, the more we turn to days like Lag Ba’omer for inspiration and encouragement, and the more popular their observance becomes.

But it is not enough to just light a fire. It is not enough to sing and dance. We must live the message of Lag Ba’omer, the lessons of Rabi Akiva and Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai. We have to perfect our middos and achieve the 48 devorim that Torah acquisition requires. To merit Torah, we must truly care for one another, treat each other with dignity, and uproot any trace of sinas chinom from within us.

In a world that often feels fractured and uncertain, Sefirah and Lag Ba’omer remind us where our focus must be. By refining ourselves, by strengthening our commitment to Torah and deepening our connection to one another, we prepare for Kabbolas HaTorah and for geulah.

Each of us has the ability to bring light to the world through Torah, through maasim tovim, and through the way we live our Torah lives.

Let us daven that the fires of Lag Ba’omer ignite within us a lasting flame comprised of a commitment to kedusha and growth, and a dedication to proper middos, the eternal mesorah and Torah, so that we may bring about the geulah sheleimah bekarov.

I know. The answer to all deep philosophical questions is, “Everyone does it,” but just last week, I happened to hear two separate but similar stories that got me thinking and wondering why “Everyone does it” is an acceptable answer.

The first story is a very common occurrence. Mrs. Steinberg*, a veteran teacher of ten-year-old girls, had to take a three-month leave of absence, so a substitute was hired. Mrs. Werner* may have been inexperienced, but she came very prepared with fascinating, colorful lessons, incentives, and a determination and desire to succeed. Alas, she wasn’t the most charismatic person, and even worse, she had a bit of an accent.

Well, those two wonderful “maalos” were not looked upon kindly by the lively class of ten-year-olds. What began with excited preparation and eagerness to capture the ear of her students slowly turned into a torture chamber. Every day was pure gehennom for Mrs. Werner. Not only had the girls clearly decided that they had license to talk non-stop and disregard the fact that there was a woman standing in front of them who had painstakingly prepared lessons, but it was even worse. Many of the girls went a step further by asking questions to her face while mimicking her accent. That, of course, sent the other, less bold girls, into peals of laughter.

Sounds like a normal substitute scene, no? Kids do that. Some of us adults might even remember doing the same thing in our younger years, right?

Now for the second story, which in a way is even worse. Rav Cohen*, a fantastic rebbi and a real serious talmid chochom, began to teach an upper elementary school class in a prominent mosad in an out-of-town community. Rav Cohen’s lessons are extremely well planned. Any student who actually pays attention in class will come out with a clear understanding of the Gemara and a mehalech in learning, empowering him to eventually be able to enter a mesivta with an excellent foundation in learning.

The problem arose as his first year of teaching progressed. Rav Cohen was very successful in creating amazing lessons, but not as successful at managing the class. Sooner or later, the tougher boys who like to test rabbeim began to test him, but he couldn’t assert his authority in the way he wanted to. This is a challenge that many first-year rabbeim face, but in his case, it deeply affected him, and the pain he experienced was acute.

Yes, this is also a very standard story with no chiddushim, right? An idealistic rebbi giving his all and being met not just with indifference, but with cruelty from students who insist on making his every moment in the classroom miserable…

Whose Achrayus is it Anyway?

Now, when many people hear stories like these, they respond by saying, “You know, boys will be boys and girls will be girls, and this is just the way it is.”

Personally, I think that is a cop-out. It is a cop-out for us as parents, and it is also a cop-out for those in upper management of a mosad, such as menahelim and menahelos.

Let’s first talk about the achrayus, the responsibility, that Hashem places on each parent to guide his or her child. If a parent knows that their child is abusing (and yes, the word abusing is appropriate and not extreme) a rebbi or a morah, the first thing they must do is talk to their child about middos.

The same girl who, at the drop of a hat, would agree to do chesed and go on a hospital visit to a sick child, help a mother who just had a baby, or go sing in a nursing home because she recognizes the importance of chesed, compassion and rachmanus will at the same time be so cruel to her teacher. Why? Have we never instilled in them the basic ideals that a Yid must be a rachaman, having compassion on another Yid and not hurting him or her? Is a rebbi or morah not bichlal amisecha, not considered a legitimate Yid, just because they stand in front of a classroom?

Furthermore, in addition to basic compassion, mentchlichkeit and rachmanus, what about the fact that there is a lav, a lo saasei, of “lo sonu ish es amiso—each of you shall not aggrieve his fellow”? Yes, there is a lo saasei not to cause pain to another Yid. Believe it or not, this lo saasei is no less of a lo saasei than the lo saasei not to eat chazir. Would any child, even a ten-year-old girl or a twelve/thirteen-year-old boy, knowingly ingest pig meat?

So why do they treat the lo saasei of lo sonu with any less stringency?

The Importance of Instilling Mentchlichkeit Into Our Children

When speaking about the upper management of chadorim and schools, there is no doubt that the menahelim, menahelos and principals are wonderful people who do so much to ensure that the schools are running well and that the talmidim and talmidos are emerging with an excellent education. Nevertheless, if there does exist such a classroom in your school, it is your job to give the moros and rabbeim the support and guidance that they need to be able to overcome these very normal hurdles.

Children know that there are cameras in the room. They know that the principals see what is going on in their classrooms. If a menahel or menaheles doesn’t respond forcefully to such behavior, what kind of message does that send to the children?

Still, why are we not teaching our kids basic mentchlichkeit? It shouldn’t be that difficult to convey the lesson of “be a mentch,” “be a respectful human being,” and “don’t hurt another person” to our children and talmidim/talmidos. As far as I know, the Torah does not make an exemption for the mitzvah of being a mentch or the aveirah of lo sonu for rabbeim and teachers.

We teach and model so much good behavior for our students. Why isn’t this lesson going through? Is it perhaps because they don’t see that we really mean it?

Remember: Don’t transgress the aveirah of eating chazir, and just as importantly, don’t transgress the aveirah of lo sonu.

Above all, just be a mentch. It isn’t that hard.

It is well known that the incredible saga of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai and his son, Rav Eliezer, writing the holy Zohar in the cave may be found in Maseches Shabbos 33b. The Aruch Hashulchan (Orach Chaim 493:7) noted that Rav Shimon and his son left the cave on the 33rd day of the Omer and that Rav Shimon also passed away on this day in later years. Indeed, the significance of the number continues with the revelation that the narrative of the cave is the 33rd mention of Rav Shimon in Shas (Rav Shalom of Kaminka, talmid muvhak of the Sar Sholom of Belz). Over the centuries, many esoteric aspects of this sojourn of the father and son have emerged. Some are beyond this writer and this article. However, some of these revelations and explications offer us practical suggestions for improving our own avodas Hashem and various aspects of our spiritual lives. In honor of the upcoming kedusha of this special day, let’s explore some of these to the extent that we are capable and permitted to do so.

That Gemara in Shabbos tells us that Rav Shimon and Rav Eliezer only put on their clothing during their entire occupation of the cave for twelve full years in order to daven. The rest of the time, they “sat covered in sand up to their necks.” The question is why they did such a strange thing. The Shelah Hakadosh teaches that they were in effect burying themselves. Again, to what end? One answer is actually almost obvious. The Gemara (Brachos 63b) asks: “How do we know that the Torah is not sustained in a person unless he kills himself over it? [It may be derived] from the posuk, ‘This is the Torah [of] a person who dies in a tent.’” The Maharal (Netzach Yisroel, Chapter 7) explains that the corporeality of the body and the spirituality of the soul are two opposites. He therefore raises the major issue: “How, then, can the Torah, which is pure intellect, reside in the body, which is totally materialistic?” Therefore, a person must (figuratively, not literally) eliminate his physical self so that the Torah within him can survive.”

Of course, we must be extremely careful here. Not only does the Torah forbid suicide, but one of the main mandates of the Torah (last week’s parsha, Acharei Mos) is “You shall live by them” (Vayikra 18:5), to which Chazal (Yoma 85b) add, “But not die by them.” The Gemara elsewhere (Tamid 32a) records that one of the questions Alexander the Great put to the Elders of the South was: “What should a person do in order to live?” Their cryptic answer was: “He should kill himself.” What can all this possibly mean coming from our life-affirming Torah?

The Imrei Emes of Gur (Likkutim, Maseches Tamid, page 90) explained that the term yamus es atzmo, which is mistranslated literally as “should kill himself,” actually means “should kill his ‘self,’” meaning his ego and self-centeredness. The Shelah also references the verse in Koheles (7:29), which states that “Hashem originally made man perfectly straight.” In other words, we are inherently perfect but tend to ruin the perfection that the Creator granted us. Thus, when Rav Shimon and Rav Eliezer buried themselves inside the cave, they were actually renouncing any shred of self that they still possessed. Slowly and painfully, as the Gemara there describes, they had eliminated any personal needs, wants or desires, and lived perfectly in a state of wanting solely to do the will of Hashem.

Let us stop here for a moment and attempt to extrapolate something for ourselves. That may seem both ironic and somewhat sacrilegious, but plumbs to the heart of Lag Ba’omer.

On this day, as we commune and draw as close as we can to Rav Shimon, we are granted an annual possibility of negating any trivial or even necessary physical inclinations so that we can enhance our precious neshomah and make it the dominant force in our lives. Of course, for Rav Shimon and Rav Eliezer, that meant an actual burial, the removal of any physical desires whatsoever and being fed by foods as close to monn as humanly possible. For us, this can mean something as simple as giving up anything that we desire but is not good for us. It can mean drawing a drop closer to the ideal of prioritizing the soul over the body. It can even mean learning something in which we are not particularly interested or attracted just to fulfill the wish of the Al-mighty.

Rav Yehoshua of Kutna (end of Sefer Yeshuos Malko) cites the ancient custom of burning expensive clothing at the grave of Rav Shimon in Meron. Rav Yosef Shaul Nathanson (Shoel Umeishiv 5:39) is extremely critical of this minhag. He concludes, “Trust me, if those people had just taken the funds that these articles of clothing cost and given them to the impoverished, both Rav Shimon and the poor would have been very happy.” However, Rav Kutna defends the custom by explaining that Rav Shimon and his son had returned to the status of Adam Harishon before he sinned. At that point, he had no need for clothing and neither did Rav Shimon and Rav Eliezer.

Based upon these powerful words, several gedolim have understood another description in the Gemara about the cave. When the Tannaim left their cave, Rav Pinchos ben Yair, Rav Shimon’s son-in-law, brought him to a bathhouse for a long-delayed bath. When Rav Pinchos attempted to smooth the cut and cracked skin of his father-in-law, he cried over the state of his pain-wracked body. He cried tears, but they only caused more pain when they entered the cracks in his body. “Woe is to me that I should see you so,” lamented Rav Pinchos. But Rav Shimon responded, “You should be happy to see me like this because this has improved me tremendously.”

Many of our meforshim (see Sefer Kedai Hu Rebbi Shimon, page 93) apply the lesson to us all. When the body is reduced by pain and suffering, the soul gains the ascendency. When the body is pampered, the soul loses out, although the body is temporarily satisfied. The posuk (Koheles 2:9) tells us that Shlomo Hamelech retained his Torah knowledge even when he engaged in some of the (permissible) comforts of this world. However, Chazal (Medrash, Koheles Rabbah) interpret the posuk to mean that “the chochmah I learned in difficult circumstances stayed with me more than anything I learned when things were easy.” The Brisker Rov used to say that the Torah he learned and taught under extremes of anti-Semitism and danger, such as under the Nazis and, later, the bombing in Yerushalayim, was absorbed on a much higher level. Rav Shach, too, testified that when he was a young orphan, he learned alone in an empty shul in the winter cold with very little food. He later reflected that those harsh conditions resulted in the highest levels of Torah that he had ever experienced. The prototype of this attitude toward Torah learning is Rav Shimon and his son in the cave.

We are now in a position to at least partially understand the relationship between Lag Ba’omer and the death of Rabi Akiva’s 24,000 talmidim. The Maggid of Kozhnitz (Avodas Yisroel, Parshas Behar, page 169) teaches that after the tragedy of all these deaths during the Omer, the five new talmidim of Rabi Akiva who restored Torah to Klal Yisroel were also mesakein — rectified — the souls of those who passed away. In truth, these were very lofty neshamos who should have lived longer and accomplished much. However, as we know, their sin in not giving each other sufficient honor caused their deaths. But since they were inherently keilim — vessels — who could have enhanced Klal Yisroel, the rule about earthenware vessels is that “sheviroson zu taharoson — their becoming broken is their purification” (Maseches Keilim 2:1). The new five elevated the souls of the 24,000 to the point that their souls received the kapparah that they required.

These holy words of the Maggid answer an ancient question. The Tur and other Rishonim write that the joy of Lag Ba’omer flows from the fact that the talmidim of Rabi Akiva ceased dying. Yet, as the Pri Chodosh asks, what was the joy in the cessation of their deaths when there was no one left to die? Clearly, if Rabi Akiva had to start fresh, not one was left alive. However, according to the Maggid, we celebrate today that whereas, for whatever reason, the original talmidim of Rabi Akiva failed in their bein adam lachaveiro, the new five talmidim were moser nefesh to elevate the souls of their predecessors. This noble act is the source of our joy on this day. Here, too, we can emulate Rabi Shimon and his colleagues. If we daven for our ancestors, even and perhaps especially for those who require a kapparah, our ahavas Yisroel and caring bring about new love for us from Hashem.

All in all, if we try to put ourselves back in the cave with Rav Shimon and to elevate the souls of those who came before us, we can gain much from the holy day of Lag Ba’omer that we are fortunate enough to have coming our way.

Many years ago, I sat in my zaide’s sukkah and he was visibly disturbed. A talmid chochom, a brilliant orator and scholar, had cast aspersions on the sanctity of Hoshanah Rabbah, postulating that he had a problem with the fact that it was considered to be a Yom Hadin. He had posed what seemed, on the surface, to be a perfectly reasonable question: If Hoshanah Rabbah is such a profound Yom Hadin, a day whose sanctity arguably transcends even Chol Hamoed, why is there virtually no mention of it in the Shulchan Aruch?

My zaide was not merely troubled by the question itself. He was troubled by who had heard it. Young men had been listening. Impressionable young men. And he feared, perhaps rightly so, that a question posed cleverly enough, without a satisfying answer, can lodge itself in the heart and quietly erode what generations of Yidden had accepted as sacred. He devoted enormous energy to formulating a response, ultimately offering what I can only describe as a masterful explanation for why the depth and power of Hoshanah Rabbah had been preserved in the writings of Chazal in the Mishnah, the Gemara, and the Medrash rather than codified openly in the later halachic literature. The details of his answer are not for this column and are found in his sefer, Emes L’Yaakov. But the lesson of his consternation with the supposition most certainly is.

That memory came rushing back to me when I recalled my only trip to Meron on Lag Ba’omer some fifty years ago. Before boarding that bus out of Ponovezh — sneaking out, really, probably along with scores of other bochurim who quietly ignored the protestations of the roshei yeshiva — (half) Litvak that I am, I had searched, at least half searched, for a source for this great pilgrimage.

A Mishnah. A Gemara. A Gaon. A Rishon. Even a line in the Shulchan Aruch or the Rama that would explain why hundreds of thousands of Yidden make a pilgrimage to the kever of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai on this day. The only reference I could find in the Shulchan Aruch was an offhand mention that “they say,” omrim, that the talmidim of Rabi Akiva stopped dying on Lag Ba’omer, and that we therefore increase “ketzas simcha,” a bit of joy, on that day.

Ketzas simcha. A bit of joy. That’s all.

And yet.

My chavrusa, who had Chassidishe leanings and was practically levitating with anticipation, and I found ourselves on a school bus with neither air conditioning nor functioning shock absorbers, bouncing over unpaved roads in the dark. (Remember, 50 years ago, coach buses were not the standard fare, and the roads to Meron were hardly paved.) I felt, at certain points, like someone being escorted by Meron prison authority to a holding facility somewhere in northern Israel. By the time we arrived — more than four hours later, thoroughly battered — hundreds, perhaps thousands, had already come before us, many with animals in tow and musical instruments of every variety, tents already pitched, bonfires already blazing. (I do not think that it was the tens of thousands who would ultimately fill the landscape decades later, but even in 1976, the numbers were staggering.)

The culture shock was real. This was not Bnei Brak. It certainly was not Long Island. This was not anything I had grown up with in America. And yet, I will never forget it.

When I made it to the top of that mountain, I saw tzaddikim huddled near the tziyun, reciting Tehillim, immersed in the sacred words of the Zohar. And below were children with angelic faces about to receive their first haircuts from men with long white beards and equally angelic countenances. Whatever confusion I felt about the halachic underpinnings of the event dissolved in that glow. There are moments that speak to something deeper than clear written sources. This was one of them.

I have not returned to Meron on Lag Ba’omer since. But I know that whatever I witnessed then has grown geometrically in the decades since in holiness, in numbers, in the sheer spiritual weight of so many Yidden gathering in one place.

And then came the tragedy.

On Lag Ba’omer of 5781, forty-five Yidden, precious neshamos, fathers and sons, bochurim and young men, were killed in a crush on that very mountain. The world was stunned. Klal Yisroel was devastated. How does one process such a thing? How does one reconcile the sacred with the shattering?

I do not pretend to have the answers. I do not know why the Ribbono Shel Olam allowed such a thing to happen on such a day at such a place. But I will say this: The tragedy did not diminish the holiness. It deepened the weight of our obligation to approach it with the gravity it deserves.

And now, this year, we face yet another dimension of pain. The celebration at Meron has been significantly curtailed, not because of bureaucratic indifference, and not because of any diminished reverence for Rabi Shimon, but because of missiles. Because enemies of the Jewish people are once again threatening our lives, and gathering hundreds of thousands on a mountaintop in the north of Eretz Yisroel presents a genuine danger that cannot be dismissed. For those who have made this pilgrimage every year, for whom Lag Ba’omer at Meron is a spiritual lifeline, this restriction is painful in ways that are genuinely hard to articulate.

I understand that pain. I share it. Maybe the greater the holiness, the more attempts there are to impede, even diminish it.

Indeed, there are those who pondered, like I once did: Where is the source? Where is it in the Shulchan Aruch? If it isn’t cited clearly, can it truly be sacred — assuming that what cannot be footnoted cannot be holy?

My zaide taught me otherwise. Klal Yisroel does not fabricate kedusha. When millions of Yidden across centuries converge on a single place with tears and fire and song and tefillah, something real is happening. Just as there is no rational explanation for the survival of the Jewish people — a tiny nation that has outlasted every empire that sought to destroy it — there is no rational explanation for how Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son, hiding for years in a cave, emerged not broken but luminous, pouring forth the sacred secrets of creation that sustain us to this day.

Rational explanations are not always the currency of eternity.

The period of Sefiras Ha’omer carries within it a particular grief that has echoed across our history. The deaths of twenty-four thousand talmidim of Rabi Akiva. The Crusades. The pogroms. The Inquisition. The Holocaust. This period has been drenched in Jewish blood and Jewish sorrow for two thousand years. Lag Ba’omer is the moment within that darkness when the dying stopped, when five remaining talmidim went on to transmit the Torah that sustains us. It is not a footnote in history. It was the footsteps of our future. It is a lifeline.

Perhaps that is precisely why Klal Yisroel, across centuries and continents and cultures, has clung to it. Not because of a clear articulation in Torah Shebiksav. Not even in Torah Shebaal Peh. Without an open Gemara or a Shulchan Aruch, they come. And if they can’t come, they yearn. Even cry. Because the Jewish soul recognizes something that the Jewish mind cannot always articulate.

This year, the bonfire at Meron will burn smaller. The crowds will be thinner. The music will be quieter. And somewhere in the distance, there may be the sound of sirens.

But Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai is still there. And Klal Yisroel, in whatever way it can, will find a way to connect. I may not be able to explain it. But I most certainly revere it. And I cherish all those who long for it.

Just saying.

Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), once esteemed as a leading civil rights and legal aid organization, now stands exposed.

Its carefully cultivated image as a champion of justice has been shattered by a shocking federal indictment that alleges years of fraud and sowing hatred and divisiveness across American society.

For decades, the Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in the 1970s, basked in its reputation as a humanitarian force—advocating for the poor and taking on violent hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan who terrorized black people and Jews.

That vaunted legacy is collapsing in the wake of bombshell allegations from the DOJ that the group has been engaged for years in bank and wire fraud, and a total perversion of its mission.

The indictment alleges that the Southern Poverty Law Center improperly raised millions of dollars to pay informants to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups—and to incite these groups to acts of violence—while creating fake companies and bank accounts to hide the money trail.

This alleged stealthy activity ensured a steady flow of donations to an organization that professed to be combating racism but was keeping itself in business by fomenting it.

“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche in a news conference. The group “defrauded donors by secretly using their money to fund the very extremism it claimed to be fighting.”

“To covertly pay its field sources, the SPLC opened bank accounts connected to a series of fictitious entities,” the 11-page indictment alleges. None of these businesses ever existed. No customers. No vendors. No products or services.

Then, to convince the banks to open accounts for their invisible businesses, the SPLC allegedly lied on the account applications.

The scheme ran smoothly until 2021, when one of the banks investigated SPLC’s accounts, discovered they were fictitious, and shut them down. The management compelled the SPLC to sign a letter confirming that they were all fake and actually owned by the SPLC.

In what might be the prosecution’s lynchpin, the DOJ claims to have this explosive letter.

The indictment seeks criminal forfeiture of the SPLC’S assets, which the document has assessed as close to $800 million.

AG Blanche said early this week that the investigation has “been going on for a long time,” adding that it was “shut down” during the Biden administration before being revived during President Trump’s second term.

SPLC made a profitable business out of casting America as overrun with hate groups, explained FBI Director Kash Patel. The group campaigned successfully on a slogan of “Stop the hate!”

“They lied to their donors, vowing to dismantle violent extremist groups, and actually turned around and paid the leaders of these very groups, in many cases facilitating the commission of state and federal crimes,” Patel said.

Payments of at least $3 million were disbursed to people affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America, and other extremist groups, according to prosecutors.

Smear Tactics

From being a staunch advocate for the poor, SPLC has allegedly morphed since the 1990s into an embodiment of left-wing woke ideology. It has used its considerable clout to malign conservative and religious groups as “haters” and “domestic terrorists.”

This week’s indictment was not the first time the SPLC has been embroiled in scandal. House Republicans hosted a hearing centered on the SPLC in December, saying it coordinated efforts with Biden’s Democratic administration “to target Christian and conservative Americans and deprive them of their constitutional rights to free speech and free association.”

The SPLC became a useful tool for those on the Left to demonize conservatives, particularly during the Biden administration. Former President Biden met personally with SPLC staff six times, and the SPLC was invited to the White House numerous times to meet with Administration officials, according to DOJ documents.

At these meetings, the SPLC shared research and gave input on parents they were monitoring, whose only offense was challenging their school board over curriculum materials that taught children as young as kindergarteners about deviant lifestyles.

The Biden administration worked with the National School Board Association to draft a letter comparing these parents to “domestic terrorists” and encouraging the government to use the Patriot Act to hold them accountable.

Bryan Fair, interim chief executive of the SPLC, said in a statement that the organization is still reviewing the charges, but that after witnessing the Justice Department’s news conference, they are “outraged by the false allegations.”

Fair said the organization “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and our work.”

Federal Indictment:
SPLC Aided Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville Riot

One of the most serious claims in the indictment involves the infamous Aug. 11, 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia—when a mob of white nationalists, including neo-Nazis and KKK members, marched across a college campus and clashed with counter-protestors.

The indictment specifies that the SPLC paid $270,000 to a notorious racist who helped plan and organize the infamous rally, including the acquisition of racist posters, and helped to coordinate transportation for other participants to pump up attendance.

That night, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen and other white supremacists marched through the University of Virginia campus bearing torches and terrorizing students with white supremacist and anti-Semitic slogans and chants, the indictment says.

The protest turned deadly when a car driven by a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi plowed through a crowd, killing a 32 year-old woman and injuring dozens.

Democrats and their media propaganda arms used the tragic incident to concoct a complete fiction to malign President Trump during his first term. They seized on his comment that “there are fine people on both sides” (among the protestors and counter-protesters) to portray him as lavishing praise on right-wing bigots.

They would fundraise on that lie for years, deliberately omitting the rest of Trump’s comment: “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.”

The Left’s spin on the incident turned into a huge propaganda coup for Democrats. Joe Biden has claimed it was the inspiration for his 2020 presidential bid, while faulting Donald Trump for emboldening the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and even the Ku Klux Klan. [See Sidebar]

The ‘Hate Map’

Critics say the SPLC’S incitement has contributed to a political landscape in America today that justifies violence when those acts are aimed at “stopping racism” or “combatting fascism.”

Central to the group’s tactics is a widely cited “Hate Map,” which is used to malign mainstream conservative organizations. The map has expanded to include groups such as Moms for Liberty—parents who oppose woke indoctrination in their children’s school curriculum—as well as Turning Point USA, the largest conservative grassroots youth movement in the country.

By redefining “hate” to include conservative opposition to progressive or “woke” ideology, SPLC has fostered a political climate in which violence and even murder are acceptable forms of protest.

This climate intensified during the administration of Joe Biden, as federal authorities sought out the SPLC for inside information regarding parents opposed to teaching kids critical race theory (CRT) and other woke priorities, because they were supposedly “domestic terrorists.”

“Some conservatives mock the SPLC for ridiculous examples like this, but the ‘hate’ accusations are deadly serious,” writes investigative journalist Tyler O’neil in his book, Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

He offers two concrete examples of radicalized or psychotic people using the ‘hate map’ as their justification in carrying out murderous attacks on ideological opponents.

In 2012, a terrorist brought the SPLC “hate map” to the attack he carried out on the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., “aiming to kill everyone in the building,” the book details. “A brave building manager foiled his attack, but was wounded in the process. The shooter is presently serving a 25-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to three felonies.”

And earlier this year, the SPLC added the aforementioned Turning Point USA to the “hate map.” The group was founded and led by activist Charlie Kirk who vigorously backed President Trump and was an outspoken supporter of Israel.

A few months after being added to SPLC’S “hate map,” Kirk was assassinated. The man charged with his murder had reportedly texted his roommate about Kirk, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Despite a perfunctory condemnation of the violence and killing, the SPLC has failed to remove Turning Point USA and Family Research Council from the “hate map.”

“This organization is a left-wing smear factory,” O’neil said in a 2024 interview for the Heritage Foundation. “One of its major goals is to go after and silence its political opponents. Many of those opponents are really good people who are just trying to stand up for their rights in a politically-charged environment.”

“I think it’s incumbent upon us to recognize, when the nation’s highest elected official is using a group like this to silence the American people,” O’neill added, “that is a huge red flag, and we should be paying attention.”

A Scheme That Does More than Pay the Bills

While the “hate map” has inspired violence, it also likely helps pay the bills, writes Daily Signal author O’neill. The author noted that SPLC’S most recent Form 990 listed $786.7 million in net assets as of Oct. 2024. In addition, the group also has millions in offshore accounts.

Before the 2026 indictment, FBI Director Patel had already taken steps to sever the FBI’s relationship with the SPLC in October 2025. After assuming directorship of the FBI under the Trump administration last year, Patel explained the reason for the relationship’s termination, saying the center had been turned into a “partisan smear machine.”

He accused it of defaming “mainstream Americans” with its notorious “hate map” that re-cast benign dissent as anti-government activity.

“Their so-called ‘hate map’ has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence. That disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership,” the FBI director said. He said his decision was in line with the bureau’s new goals to not rely on “agenda-driven intelligence from outside groups.

“Under this FBI,” he announced, “all ties with the SPLC have officially been terminated.”

The Toras Cohanim Parshas Emor [12-6] states, “Miyom haviachem tisporu. Yachol yiktzor v’yovi v’yispor eimasai sheyirtzeh. Talmud lomar, mehochel chermesh bakomah tochel lispor. I meheichel chermesh, yachol yiktzor v’yispor veyovi eimasai sheyirtzeh. Talmud lomar, miyom haviachem tisperu.” At first glance, it would seem that the mitzvah of sefirah is not inherently connected to the actual bringing of omer hatenufah, and that the posuk merely teaches the beginning time of the sefirah, namely, after the bringing of omer hatenufah.

However, from the fact that the Rambam placed the halachos of Sefiras Ha’omer in Hilchos Temidin U’mosafin, after the dinim of minchas ha’omer, and not in Hilchos Chometz U’matzah, as the Rif placed them at the end of Perek Arvei Pesochim, it is evident that the Rambam held that sefirah is essentially shayach to the bringing of omer hatenufah. The ikar mitzvah is to count from the time of the bringing of ha’omer, and therefore these two inyonim are mishach shaychi ahadadi.

Rav Yeruchom Fishel Perla, in the introduction to his pirush on Sefer Hamitzvos, discusses the machlokes harishonim regarding Sefiras Ha’omer nowadays, when there is no omer. Is the mitzvah min haTorah, or only mid’Rabbonon? He explains that this depends on the above chakirah. If the etzem mitzvah of sefirah is from the bringing of ha’omer, then today, when there is no bringing of ha’omer, the mitzvah should only be mid’Rabbonon. But the Rambam rules in Hilchos Temidin U’mosafin that Sefiras Ha’omer is min haTorah even today. It would seem, then, that the Rambam holds that the bringing of ha’omer is not essentially shayach to sefirah, and that “miyom haviachem es omer hatenufah” is only a limud for the starting time. If so, why did the Rambam place Hilchos Sefiras Ha’omer in Hilchos Temidin U’mosafin and not in Sefer Zemanim, in Hilchos Chametz U’matzah?

It would appear that the matter can be explained through the nusach said after Sefiras Ha’omer, “Harochaman hu yachazir lonu avodas Bais Hamikdosh limkomah bimheirah veyomeinu.” The lashon “limkomah” requires biur. Is it not pashut that the avodah of the Bais Hamikdosh can be performed only in its place? Moreover, at the end of Shemoneh Esrei, where Chazal were mesaken a bakosha for the return of the avodah, the nusach is “veshom naavodcha b’yirah,” and it does not say “limkomah.”

The Rambam rules in Hilchos Temidin U’mosafin [7-24], that Sefiras Ha’omer today is min haTorah. This is difficult from the sugya in Menachos 66a, “Amar Abaye, mitzvah lemimnei yomi umitzvah lemimnei shavuei. Rabbonon devei Rav Ashi monu yomi umonu shavuei. Ameimar moni yomi velo moni shavuei, amar zecher l’Mikdosh hu.” Rashi explains, “Hai minyona dehashta lav chovah hu, deha leika omer, ela zecher leMikdosh be’alma hu, hilkach beyomi sagi.”

In the simple reading, even Abaye and Rabbonon devei Rav Ashi agree that the sefirah nowadays is only zecher l’Mikdosh. Their machlokes with Ameimar is only whether this zecher requires counting both days and weeks, or days alone. This is difficult according to the Rambam, who rules that the mitzvah nowadays is min haTorah.

Rav Chaim Brisker explained the Rambam as follows. When Rashi writes, “Hai minyona dehashta lav chovah hu, deha leika omer,” his intent cannot be that whenever the omer is not actually brought, there is no chiyuv to count, for even in the time of the Bais Hamikdosh, the sefirah was at night, before the omer was actually brought. Rather, Rashi means that since nowadays there is no din hakrovas ha’omer at all, because the Mikdosh is destroyed, the mitzvah of sefirah is botel. Thus, Rav Chaim explained that the sugya in Menachos follows the view that kedusha rishonah kidsha leshaatah velo kidsha le’asid lavo. According to that view, once the Mikdosh was destroyed, the din of hakrovas ha’omer ceased, and therefore the mitzvah of sefirah ceased. But the Rambam rules in Hilchos Bais Habechirah that kedusha rishonah kidsha leshaatah vekidsha le’asid lavo. Therefore, the din of bringing ha’omer remains, and the mitzvah of sefirah remains min haTorah.

However, this explanation requires iyun, for according to it, the whole sugya in Menachos is not aliba dehilchesa, but follows the man de’amar that lo kidsha le’asid lavo, and this is dochak.

It therefore appears to say differently. The Rambam writes in Hilchos Bais Habechirah [6,14-15] that Shlomo was mekadesh the azorah and Yerushalayim leshaatan vele’asid lavo, and therefore “makrivin kol hakorbanos kulan af al pi she’ein shom bayis bonui.” Thus, korbanos may, in principle, be brought even when the Bais Hamikdosh is not built.

Yet in Zevochim 59a the Gemara says, “Amar Rav Gidal amar Rav, mizbei’ach sheneekar maktirin ketores bimkomo, umodeh Rav bedomim.” Meaning, ketores may be offered on the place of the mizbei’ach, but zerikas hadom requires an actual mizbei’ach, because the posuk says, “vezovachta olov.”

Tosafos in Zevochim 59b ask why, according to Rabbi Yochonon, one who is maaleh bachutz nowadays is chayav for shechutei chutz. Since there is no standing mizbei’ach, it should be eino rauy lepesach Ohel Moed. Tosafos answer that Rabi Yochonon may be speaking of haalaas ketores, since “mizbei’ach sheneekar maktirin ketores bimkomo.” Alternatively, he may be speaking of haalaas mincha whose kemitzah was done in a kli shareis inside, for “makrivin af al pi she’ein bayis,” and only regarding zevochim do we require a mizbei’ach, as it says “vezovachta olov.” It is clear from Tosafos that there is room to be mesupak whether the din of “maktirin ketores bimkomo” applies only to ketores, or also to other haktaros, such as haktoras mincha.

According to this, we may say that the sugya in Menachos also holds aliba dehilchesa that “kidsha le’asid lavo.” Nevertheless, it holds like the first tzad in Tosafos, that maktirin bimkomo applies only to ketores, but not to other haktaros. If so, nowadays it is impossible to be maktir the Minchas ha’omer. Although the kedushas hamikdosh remains, since there is no actual cheftza of a mizbei’ach, the mincha cannot be brought. Therefore, Ameimar and the other Amora’im held that since the din hakrovas ha’omer is botel, the mitzvah of sefirah is also botel min haTorah, and the chiyuv is only mid’Rabbonon as a zecher l’Mikdosh. Their machlokes is whether this zecher requires days alone, or also weeks.

The Rambam, however, holds that maktirin bimkomo applies to all haktaros, not only to ketores. Therefore, the din hakrovas ha’omer was not botel, and consequently Sefiras Ha’omer remains min haTorah even nowadays.

According to this, the nusach is exact, “Harachaman hu yachazir lonu avodas Bais Hamikdosh limkomah.” In truth, even nowadays, there is room for hakrovas hakorbanos, since kedusha rishonah kidsha le’asid lavo. The lack is that certain avodos require the actual cheftza of the mizbei’ach, and not merely the place of the mizbei’ach. Thus, we ask that the avodah return “limkomah,” meaning to the mizbei’ach itself. Then the avodas ha’omer will return in its complete form, and the mitzvah of sefirah will stand again in its full Torah form.

This also explains why in Shemoneh Esrei the nusach is only “veshom naavodcha beyirah,” and not “limkomah.” In the general tefillah for the restoration of avodah, there is no specific nafka minah in the nusach whether the hakrovah is upon the actual mizbei’ach or in the place of the mizbei’ach. But by Sefiras Ha’omer, whose yesod is taluy in the din of hakrovas ha’omer, there is a special bakosha that the avodah return specifically limkomah.

Accordingly, it is well understood why the Rambam brought the dinim of Sefiras Ha’omer in Hilchos Temidin U’mosafin and not in Hilchos Pesach. Even though the Rambam holds that the mitzvah nowadays is min haTorah, nevertheless, the mitzvah of Sefiras Ha’omer is essentially connected to “yom haviachem es omer hatenufah.” And although the omer is not actually brought nowadays, since the Rambam rules that kedusha rishonah kidsha le’asid lavo, the din of hakrovas ha’omer still has a kiyum in halacha, and therefore the chiyuv of Sefiras Ha’omer remains min haTorah.

Girl Dies of Wounds Sustained in Missile Attack

I will begin this week’s column with the news of another tragedy that has left Eretz Yisroel reeling: On erev Pesach, the Gush Dan region was hit with one of the heaviest missile barrages of the war, and a cluster missile fired into the center of the country resulted in 15 different impact sites. One of those sites was on Rechov Rimon in Bnei Brak, where 14 people were injured, including an 11-year-old girl who was left in critical condition after she was struck by shrapnel. The girl’s father was moderately wounded, and her two brothers were lightly wounded as well. The girl was hospitalized in Tel Hashomer for almost a month, hovering somewhere between life and death, while tens of thousands of people undertook kabbolos on her behalf and the public was asked to daven for her recovery. Sadly, she passed away last Friday. After her death, her name was finally reported in the media: Nesia Karadi. She was listed as the 28th fatality of the Iranian missile barrages. Nesia’s levayah was held on motozei Shabbos in Bnei Brak and attended by a large crowd, including rabbonim and public figures. Speeches were delivered by Rav Michoel Lassry, who is an uncle of the family, and Rav Yigal Cohen.

Nesia’s father, Rav Elazar Elchonon Karadi, delivered a chilling hesped in a voice choked with tears. He thanked the many people who had accompanied the family through their battle for Nesia’s life with tefillos and religious undertakings, and he also expressed gratitude to the hundreds of people who had donated blood. “Your blood will save lives,” he announced. “Nesia was very fortunate. She was the only person in the world who could wake up the Jewish people to do teshuvah.”

Rav Karadi appealed to the public to turn the tragedy into a catalyst for spiritual growth and national strength, and begged the attendees at the levayah to take on kabbolos, even small ones, in memory of his daughter. “I ask our precious nation to continue being strong, saying Tehillim, and learning mishnayos in her memory,” he said. “Make even the tiniest resolution l’ilui nishmas Nesia bas Hila.” Turning to the mitah where his daughter’s body rested, he appealed to her to advocate for Klal Yisroel before the Kisei Hakavod. The family also begged the forgiveness of the nifteres for their failure to save her life. “Ima, your siblings, and I ask for your forgiveness,” Rav Karadi said. “We have done everything in our power for you, but Hashem had different plans…. We are certain that you will watch over our family and help them from Above.”

Supreme Court Orders Sanctions on Bnei Torah

The issue of the plight of Torah learners in Eretz Yisroel, and the government’s relentless persecution of the country’s lomdei Torah, has been occupying our attention for a long time. It is the justices of the Supreme Court who have been largely spearheading those efforts. They were the ones who struck down the previous draft law on the grounds that it was unequal, and they went on to demand that the government arrest “draft evaders.” The judges also insisted that the police must cooperate with the IDF to carry out arrests and that the government is obligated to impose sanctions on bnei yeshivos—and not just any sanctions, but heavy, painful ones. As you probably recall, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara decided to push for draconian measures and hasn’t stopped inventing more and more punishments for people who learn Torah.

At the same time, the court received petitions accusing the government of failing to abide by its ruling that required sanctions on lomdei Torah. The petitioners claimed that this was considered contempt of court. The government, mainly through the cabinet secretary, tried to defend itself, explaining the constraints that prevented the Supreme Court order from being carried out, the intensive efforts that are underway to pass a new draft law to avoid the necessity of sanctions altogether, and the fact that some of the sanctions are ostensibly illegal. However, the attorney general opposed the government’s stance in her response to the Supreme Court. This week, at the cabinet session on Sunday, the government was forced to begin discussing additional sanctions (although no decision was reached), but the judges convened at the same time and announced a series of sanctions that they considered appropriate, which they ordered carried out immediately. These sanctions included revoking benefits on housing purchases, canceling subsidized day care and afternoon programs for school-aged children, and suspending discounts on property taxes and public transportation. The judges’ ruling was based on a seldom-used clause that states, “The court will judge matters that it considers necessary for the sake of justice.” Some have claimed that Justice Sohlberg (who wears a yarmulke) showed mercy by refraining from deciding that the government had actually breached the court’s previous ruling; for the chareidi community, however, this is not much consolation at all.

The Vaad HaYeshivos in Eretz Yisroel, in an unusual step, released a statement in response to the court ruling: “Since the days of our forefathers and throughout our years in exile, the Jewish people have always studied in yeshivos. It is inconceivable that specifically here in Eretz Yisroel, about which the posuk states that ‘the Torah will come forth from Tzion,’ there should be unbearable sanctions imposed on bochurim and yungeleit who toil over the Torah, those who carry on the legacy of our forefathers, with the sole intent of cutting them off from the source of their vitality and of life for Am Yisroel throughout the generations. No such sanctions have ever been imposed on anyone, even those convicted of the most heinous crimes. The students of Torah who rid themselves of the many affairs that human beings pursue, and who kill themselves in the tent of Torah, will continue pursuing their Torah learning with all their might, despite those who seek to interfere with them. The Vaad HaYeshivos will work under the guidance of the gedolei Yisroel in every way to stand at the side of the rabbonim and their talmidim as much as possible. We have always been promised that no weapon brandished against us will succeed, and any tongue that rises against us for judgment will be condemned.”

The statement was sharply worded but has no practical significance. The Vaad HaYeshivos has no power; in fact, no one can overrule the judges. The only solution is to pass a draft law, which is currently under discussion. Will Netanyahu manage to pass a new law when the Knesset returns to work in a couple of weeks? And will the rabbonim accept the law in progress? Only time will tell.

Harsh Reactions and the Need for a Draft Law

The outrage in the chareidi world is evidenced by many of the responses to the judges’ ruling. Aryeh Deri, chairman of the Shas party, wrote, “The Supreme Court’s ruling is an extremely serious assault on the foundations of the existence of Am Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel. This ruling not only harms the Torah world but is a direct attack on the security of the state and the economic resilience of Israel, since our entire existence in our land is based on the spiritual infrastructure of Torah learning and the zechus of lomdei Torah. Without Torah learners, the State of Israel has no future and no right to exist. The Torah has sustained the Jewish people throughout the generations and is the spiritual armor and source of merit that preserves us to this day, due to the merit of those who spend their days immersed in Torah learning. The attempt to place economic sanctions and decrees on lomdei Torah is an unforgivable sin, and any monetary or legal harm to Torah students is essentially a severe blow to the security of the people and to Eretz Yisroel as a whole.”

Yitzchok Goldknopf, chairman of United Torah Judaism, likewise attacked the Supreme Court: “The decision to impose heavy, discriminatory sanctions on lomdei Torah is a ruling with a black flag waving over it. It is the crossing of a major red line, and it is a direct assault on the heart of the Jewish identity of the State of Israel. I call on the prime minister and the party leaders who signed the coalition agreement, in which they pledged to formalize the status of Torah learners, to show leadership and responsibility and to live up to their commitments. It is unthinkable for the government to participate in harming Torah learners on your watch; you must regulate their status immediately.”

Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, issued a response along similar lines: “The State of Israel is steadily losing its identity as a Jewish and democratic state. From one ruling to the next, from one court session to the next, and from one verdict to the next, the Supreme Court has been working consistently and systematically to harm Torah learners and to limit their place in the state. We will not lend our hand to this. Lomdei Torah are the foundation of our existence as a people, and we will continue learning Torah and bearing the burden of Am Yisroel’s spiritual defense on our shoulders, in any situation and under any conditions.”

Deputy Minister Yisroel Eichler launched an offensive of his own as well: “The dictatorial judges of the Supreme Court have declared war against Jewish children and their parents who live below the poverty line. They have done this by revoking the most basic human rights from them, such as housing, welfare, transportation, and tax discounts. They are attacking the Torah world wildly and with dangerous cruelty. The chareidi minority is helpless against these wicked people, who have the brazen audacity to assume authorities for themselves that they were never granted. The citizens of this state did not choose them and their heresy, and never gave them a license for this.”

Other public figures released statements as well. Minister Orit Struck of the Religious Zionism party (headed by Betzalel Smotrich) attacked the Supreme Court as well, although she also decried the chareidi worldview. Former chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot, on the other hand, proclaimed that the Supreme Court’s ruling does not represent an attack on the Torah world.

As I noted, it seems that the only way to remove the threat looming over the country’s bnei Torah is for a new proper draft law to be passed.

Political Earthquake: Bennett and Lapid Unite

There is so much to write about that I do not know where to begin or how to continue. But if you are interested in the Israeli political map, then the hottest story is undoubtedly the recent announcement by Naftoli Bennett and Yair Lapid that they plan to run jointly in the next election. Some may try to frame this as a mortal blow to the current coalition, on the grounds that the election has already been won by their alliance, but the opposite is true: Bennett and Lapid have joined forces because both are in bad positions. Far from being a harbinger of change, their merger is a sign of desperation and failure.

Naftoli Bennett, at first, seemed like the best hope for everyone who is desperate to unseat Netanyahu. The left and center have no candidates who can rake in 30 or even 20 mandates, while the Likud and Netanyahu are consistently receiving around 25 to 30 mandates in the polls. Together with the chareidim, who have approximately 20 mandates, and the political right, which seems to be worth about 12 to 14 seats in the Knesset, the prime minister would ostensibly have a majority of 61 mandates or more.

Netanyahu has several opponents in the election. There is Yair Lapid with his party, Yesh Atid, which is steadily sinking in the polls and was hovering around the electoral threshold. Benny Gantz’s party, Blue and White, has dropped below the threshold. The leftist party formed by Labor and Meretz, which is headed by Yair Golan, seems likely to receive somewhere between ten and twelve mandates. Yisroel Beiteinu, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, is another opposing party, although there is a strong possibility that he might surprise the electorate and ally with Netanyahu after all. As long as these were the only opponents facing him, Netanyahu was calm. But then Naftoli Bennett returned to the scene, introducing his new party, Bennett 2026, and began to rise in the polls until his party was worth nearly the same number of mandates as the Likud. Another recent development came when Gadi Eizenkot—a former chief of staff of the IDF and former ally of Benny Gantz in Blue and White, who cut his ties with Gantz and dropped out of the Knesset—decided to join the race, and his Yashar party steadily rose, first from six to eight mandates and then further. He has even begun to threaten Bennett’s role as head of the party with the second largest number of seats, after the Likud. Bennett knows how to read the polls and understands that he is in a bad position. This weekend, for instance, Matan Kahana, who was a minister in the Lapid-Bennett government, announced that he plans to join Eizenkot’s Yashar party rather than Bennett’s.

To make a long story short, Bennett understands politics and realizes that his party was heading downhill, and Lapid understands politics as well and sees that his own popularity is waning. The two men therefore decided to join forces in the hope that it would add an injection of momentum that would elevate both parties. Then they invited Eizenkot and Lieberman to join them as well, hoping that the alliance of all four would succeed in outperforming the Likud. Is that a realistic possibility? My answer to that question would be: Maybe, but more likely not. Moreover, I would say that Lapid and Bennett announced their union too early, and they will probably lose even more of their standing before the election. Most political commentators believe that their alliance mainly benefits Gadi Eizenkot, which isn’t bad for Netanyahu, since Eizenkot hasn’t yet said a word about whether he would join a Netanyahu-led government after the election. Moreover, some commentators believe that Bennett lost several mandates after he announced the union, since many right-wing voters who might have supported his party, perhaps before they are tired of Netanyahu, are bound to change their minds after his alliance with Lapid.

Zero Plus Zero Equals Zero

It is also important to note that there has already been a government headed by Bennett and Lapid. That government’s power rested on the support of an Arab party (headed by Mansour Abbas), a state of affairs that was utterly unprecedented in Israeli history. Bennett had declared time and again during the election campaign that he was aligned with the right and that he would never appoint Lapid prime minister; he even publicly signed a document making a binding commitment to that effect. And not only did he violate his promise by entering into a rotation agreement that allowed Lapid to take the office of prime minister, but he also was the first prime minister in history to bring an Arab party into the coalition, not to mention caving to their demands for huge sums of government funding. The Bennett-Lapid government is known as one of the worst governments in Israeli history. With Lapid heading the Ministry of Finance and Matan Kahana controlling the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the government did everything in its power to harm chareidim and Yiddishkeit.

This week, announcing the merger of the two parties, Bennett wrote, “Former Prime Minister Naftoli Bennett and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid announce the first step in the process of reforming the State of Israel: the merger of the Yesh Atid party and the Bennett 2026 party into a unified party headed by former Prime Minister Naftoli Bennett. This process will bring about the unification of the reformation bloc, putting an end to internal battles and making it possible for all efforts to be invested in a decisive victory in the upcoming elections and leading Israel to the necessary reforms.”

Their tactics are completely clear: Their goal is to broaden the camp of Netanyahu’s opponents on the right and left alike, introducing new groups and new alliances into the camp and thus leading to a political revolution. Lapid believes that the key to succeeding in the upcoming election is for the political center to rally around Bennett, a liberal member of the right. They understand that it is necessary to put an end to the internal squabbling in the anti-Netanyahu camp, to work together, and to focus on the single goal of unseating Netanyahu. It is also quite easy to understand why Lapid agreed to hand the party’s reins to Bennett. First, as I mentioned, it is a matter of momentum; Lapid hopes that merging with Bennett’s party will put an end to the trend of voters defecting from Yesh Atid to Eizenkot’s party. As for Bennett’s motivation, he understands that as an existing party with 24 seats in the current Knesset, Yesh Atid has access to significant government funding for its campaign, along with tens of thousands of party activists, a highly developed infrastructure, and active party offices.

Thus, the merger between the two parties is the hot topic in political news this week, but as I mentioned, there is no reason for handwringing over it. This merger is a union between a party that is plummeting toward the electoral threshold of four mandates (Yesh Atid) and a new party (Bennett 2026) that has been losing mandates in the polls every week and has already shrunk from 22 seats in the Knesset to ten.

Or, as someone once put it, zero plus zero equals zero.

Shocking Revelation: Netanyahu Secretly Received Medical Treatment

Last Friday, the citizens of Israel discovered that Prime Minister Netanyahu had undergone an operation and radiation treatment for a small cancerous growth. The prime minister publicized this information along with his annual medical report, which is published by the Prime Minister’s Office. According to the information provided by his office, Netanyahu first received treatment for a growth in 2024 and underwent regular imaging since that time. Several months ago, new tests showed a small growth, which was surgically removed, and the prime minister then began receiving radiation treatments. This information came from Professor Aharon Popovtzer, the director of the Sharrett Institute of Oncology in Hadassah Medical Center.

This type of story could never have occurred in America, where nothing is ever kept secret. The doctor who treated Netanyahu added that the condition appears to have resolved. When he was asked about the fact that it had been covered up for so long, he explained that Netanyahu’s medical report had been delayed for two months at the prime minister’s request, to prevent it from being publicized during the war and serving as fodder for further Iranian propaganda. Netanyahu framed it as a small medical problem that has been completely resolved. He added, “A year and a half ago, I underwent a successful surgery, and I have been routinely monitored ever since. At my last checkup, the doctors discovered a tiny growth of less than a centimeter, and I underwent a focused treatment that removed the problem. Boruch Hashem, I have overcome this as well.”

Netanyahu’s initial operation, a year and a half ago, has now been revealed to have been dealing with a cancerous growth. The prime minister was treated with radiation for cancer, and no one was aware of it. Netanyahu himself likewise did not report it. On December 29, 2024, the surgeon who treated Netanyahu emerged from the operating room and announced to the cameras, “There is no concern of malignancy or cancer.” But we now know that Netanyahu had cancer even at that time. Did Netanyahu, his office, his doctor, and his hospital all mislead the public? The media has reminded us that this wasn’t the first such incident: Three years ago, when Netanyahu was rushed to Tel Hashomer Hospital in the middle of the night, the doctors reported that he was suffering from dehydration and his heart was completely healthy. But we later learned that Netanyahu received a pacemaker during that hospitalization. (Nevertheless, he hasn’t actually had to use it; it was simply implanted in case the need arises.) Netanyahu has been criticized for failing to follow the standard protocol in Israel; ever since the tenure of Ariel Sharon, it has been accepted that the prime minister will report to the public on his health once a year and will be transparent about his ability to continue holding his position. When Ehud Olmert was prime minister, he received the same diagnosis and reported it to the public immediately.

Herzog in Kazakhstan

President Yitzchok Herzog is in the headlines, and it is all because of a story that appeared in the New York Times this week claiming that he had decided against granting a pardon to Netanyahu. Instead of a pardon, the article claimed, Herzog plans to promote a plea agreement. Interestingly, the president’s office confirmed the report (and perhaps they were the ones who leaked it in the first place).

But if we are speaking about Herzog, perhaps we should add something on a positive note: Yitzchok Herzog left Israel this week for a two-day trip to Kazakhstan. I received a copy of his itinerary, which left me with a couple of impressions. First of all, I could see that the president was working hard; it was clearly a business trip and not merely a thinly disguised vacation. To be fair, Herzog is very skilled at public relations and is spearheading the effort to maintain Israel’s public image in the international sphere at a time when the country isn’t exactly very popular, to put it mildly. Second, I must applaud the person who prepared the itinerary for Herzog’s tour, who did an excellent job. Israeli officials often seem to ignore the local Jewish communities when they travel abroad, which naturally tends to be detrimental to those communities’ standing in their respective countries. Herzog’s trip was a welcome exception.

Here is an overview of the presidential trip: The president and his entourage took off on Monday night at 3:00 (which means that they had a sleepless night). They stayed in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Estonia, which I imagine must be a fairly decent hotel, arriving at 2:00 in the afternoon and setting out an hour later for a reception at the presidential palace. The group returned to the hotel at 6:00 and then made sure to arrive at the Sheraton Hotel at 7:00 for an event celebrating the 78th anniversary of Israel’s independence, which was held with the president of Kazakhstan, the chairman of its parliament, and the Israeli ambassador to Kazakhstan, Yoav Bistritzky. Herzog’s media entourage included a religious photojournalist named Yishai Yerushalmi, who has been responsible for many photographs from important events in Eretz Yisroel that were published in this newspaper.

On Tuesday, the delegation got up early in the morning to daven Shacharis at the Ohel Rachel shul. They were asked to bring their luggage with them and to check out from the hotel at that time. At the shul, they met with a large group of local Jewish leaders: the chief rabbi of Kazakhstan, Rav Shaya Cohen, and the chief rabbi of Estonia, Rav Shmuel Kot, both of whom I have known since they were Chabad shlichim, as well as Rav Assaf Feinstein, Rav Asher Tomarkin, Rav Menachem Mendel Zelmanov, Rav Mordechai Marzov, and Rav Aryeh Reichman. The meeting also included the two leaders of the Jewish community, Albert Shimoni and Alexander Baron. This was followed by speeches and tefillos in the shul. The delegation’s next stop was the National Museum of Kazakhstan, followed by the International Center for Artificial Intelligence. The official visit ended with a round table discussion on the subject of “innovation and collaboration.” The group left the country on their return flight to Israel at 2:00 in the afternoon. As you can see, it was an exhausting visit with barely a minute to rest, and much of it involved the local shul and rabbonim. For that, Yitzchok Herzog certainly deserves to be applauded.

A New Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv

After the position of chief rabbi of the city of Tel Aviv was left vacant for eight years, Rav Zevadiah Cohen, who served as the head of the botei din in Tel Aviv and a rov in the city, was appointed last Sunday to fill that position. Rav Cohen, the brother of Rav Zamir Cohen of Hidabroot, is a well-known and highly regarded dayan. It was clear in advance that he was bound to receive the position, especially since both the previous chief rabbi, Rav Yisroel Meir Lau, and Mayor Ron Chuldai voiced their support for him in recent years. (Rav Lau was forced to retire from the position eight years ago on account of his age; Chuldai’s support can probably be attributed to a request from Aryeh Deri and the Shas party.) The election was repeatedly postponed in response to petitions to the Supreme Court from various other candidates who hoped to gain from the delay. The leftists in Tel Aviv had other preferred candidates, whom they consider “Zionists” or who have served in the army, including some who spoke out in favor of women. I won’t bother listing the names of the candidates supported by liberal and anti-religious elements.

The position of chief rabbi of Tel Aviv is important in its own right, but there is another dimension of significance to it, as many rabbonim who held the position in Tel Aviv went on to become chief rabbis of Israel, including Rav Ovadiah Yosef and Rav Shlomo Amar. The election in Tel Aviv was held under the supervision of a committee headed by Rav Yaakov Zamir, a former dayan on the Bais Din Hagadol. The 61-member electoral body consisted of representatives of the city council, public officials, and representatives of the Minister of Religious Affairs.

Rav Zevadiah Cohen, a talmid of Yeshivas Porat Yosef, was favored by Rav Ovadiah Yosef and recently received the approbation of the gedolei Yisroel for his new position. He received 37 votes in the election, while his main opponent, who was presumably the favored candidate of the left, received 21 votes. There were other candidates as well, but it was clear that none of them stood a chance of receiving the position. Twelve of those candidates didn’t receive a single vote, and one of them, Rav Aryeh Levin, a rov in Tel Aviv and grandson of the famed tzaddik of Yerushalayim, received three votes. The chareidi community was thrilled with the news of Rav Zevadiah’s election; the unmistakable lesson was that candidates who try to ingratiate themselves with the left and the chilonim are bound to suffer a downfall.

How Can Jews Spy for Iran?

I have written in several previous columns about the phenomenon of Israelis spying for Iran. In most cases, these were youths who fell for the temptation to earn a few pennies, making the mistake of thinking that they could outsmart the anonymous malefactors who contacted them by phone. But there were also some adults, mostly immigrants, who agreed to undertake dangerous tasks rather than merely taking pictures of houses or streets. This week, however, brought a more dramatic development: The military prosecution filed an indictment against two soldiers serving as technicians in the air force for carrying out severe security offenses on behalf of Iranian intelligence forces. According to the indictment, the two soldiers were in contact with their Iranian handlers for several months and carried out an assortment of tasks under the direction of Iranian intelligence in exchange for monetary compensation. The two suspects were arrested in March in a joint operation of the Shin Bet, the Israel Police, the miliary police, and the IDF’s information security network. The severity of their actions was evident in the information they relayed to Iran: One of the suspects transferred classified materials from his military training, which were directly connected to Israel’s fighter jet fleet, to an Iranian agent. He also transferred documentation of facilities and area within the military base where he served. The military prosecution has accused the two soldiers of severe security offenses. One of them is facing charges of aiding an enemy during wartime, transferring information to an enemy, and facilitating contact with a foreign agent. The second soldier is accused of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and transferring information to an enemy. The two soldiers tried to defend themselves by claiming that they lost contact with their handlers after refusing to carry out tasks that involved using weapons. At the same time, security officials revealed that even after the Iranian operative broke contact with them, the soldiers did not halt their efforts to renew contact with him, with the goal of trying to continue profiting from their activities.

In the wake of this scandal, Israeli security services warned the public again about Iran’s efforts to make contact with Israeli citizens on social media and through other means, vowing to continue working with resolve to locate and thwart any attempts at terror or espionage in the State of Israel and to bring to justice anyone who chooses to harm the security of the state.

Did the Minister of Defense Lie to the Knesset About a Chareidi Prisoner?

We all remember Shabbos Zachor this year as the day when the war with Iran began. We also remember it as the day when a chareidi detainee in Prison 10 was denied the opportunity to hear the leining of Parshas Zachor by prison staff. Yoav Ben-Tzur loudly decried the incident on the Knesset floor, and he received the following response from Minister May Golan on behalf of Defense Minister Yisroel Katz: “The IDF’s detention system provides accommodations and respect to all populations, including the chareidi population. The separate wing of the military prison holds individuals who are under observation due to dangerous behavior. For reasons of safety and security, it is impossible to permit minyanim for prayer in this wing; however, individual tefillah is permitted. For that purpose, Chumashim are provided upon request to inmates in the wing.”

I found this response fairly bewildering. If these is no minyan, then the prisoner cannot hear Parshas Zachor. It makes no difference if “individual prayer” is permitted or if Chumashim are available. But it gets worse. The minister continued, “For the sake of privacy, I cannot divulge the circumstances of the imprisonment of the inmate to whom MK Ben-Tzur referred. At the same time, I must emphasize two facts. First, an examination of the facts indicates that the prisoner never requested to hear Parshas Zachor. Had he done so, the rov of the prison would have provided a halachic solution. Second, in ordinary prison facilities, there is a large, well-appointed shul with a range of sifrei Torah and religious books. Prisoners who are placed in the wing for constant supervision and to prevent unusual behavior would endanger the other occupants of the prison and the command staff.”

Again, this sounds like doubletalk. Was there a minyan? If not, what could the prison chaplain have done? And if there was a solution, why wasn’t it implemented? In my mind, it seems that someone was trying to cover up a mistake. Someone manufactured this nonsensical response and passed it up through the hierarchy until it reached the minister’s office and was presented in the Knesset, with the hope that it would put an end to the story. But that hope will be dashed. The Shas party will continue investigating and pursuing the matter until the guilty parties are punished.

I’ve always been in awe of people who can make matches. This is especially true since I lack the vi­sion to view two individuals as a couple until they actually are one. Shadchanim have a unique and very useful insight into what might work. They look at two separate people and see a potential dynamic where none yet exists. To my way of thinking, that’s almost magical!

Some of the more interesting matches are the kind that put together a pair of apparent opposites. I once met a couple, for example, where the wife was vibrant, outgoing and talkative, while her husband tended over­whelmingly toward the quieter end of the spectrum. In social situations, she shone. Her husband looked as though he’d rather be elsewhere.

But it went deeper than that. The husband was a seri­ous, deep kind of person while his wife, though no less intelligent, preferred to flit lightly on the surface of things. On the outside, they presented very differently. Even contradictorily. And yet, their marriage worked.

Maybe it worked because they were opposites. She helped ease him into the social world, while he served a role in grounding her. He admired her vivacity while she respected his wise and serious take on life. In a spirit of mutual appreciation, their relationship thrived.

When two opposites marry, it’s usually because each see something in the other that they lack. The high-strung young woman, for instance, craves a partner with a chilled and upbeat personality who’ll be able to calm her fears and soothe her ruffled feathers. The young man who lives with his head in the clouds can benefit from a practical wife who’ll see to all the prag­matic details of their shared life. A timid girl feels safe with a husband who takes on the world with confidence. Problem meets solution. Heavy balances light. Oppo­sites complement and complete one another.

I once knew an ambitious, hard-driving fellow who became engaged to a girl whom everyone knew as some­thing of a cheerful airhead. When his friends indicated their surprise, he told them, “When I come home at the end of a long day, she’s just the type of person I want waiting for me at home!”

He didn’t feel the need for a wife as serious or even as bright as he was. He was not looking for a reflection of him­self. What he was seeking was a partner who’d lighten up his life. And he found it.

Status Quo

As you may have noticed, life does not embrace the status quo. As time marches on, changes creep in. Noth­ing we go through in life, including the ordinary interactions of marriage and family life, leaves us untouched. In ways large and small, each new ex­perience adds to the ballast of what we carry inside. Eventually, and inevita­bly, the accumulated experiences have their effect.

This effect can be positive, such as increasing our emunah and bitachon, sensitizing us to others, and generally refining our middos. If we’re not care­ful, however, the negative can creep in as well. When the going gets rough, in­stead of increasing our trust in Hashem we run the risk of sinking into a state of chronic discouragement or even cyni­cism. And even discounting the tough times, the tedium of the mundane can sour a person if she’s not careful. Disappointment can leave its mark as surely as disaster.

The point is that people change. And that means that relationships change. Nothing is more susceptible to be­ing impacted by personal change than marriage. If one half of the equation shifts, it causes some sort of shift in the other half. Where opposites once attracted, they can start to repel.

The high-strung woman who once giggled at her new husband’s humor can begin reacting with annoyance at what she perceives as a lack of serious­ness or sensitivity toward the weighty issues facing them. Where she once appreciated the role of humor in keep­ing her in a relaxed frame of mind, now she snipes at him whenever he cracks a joke. His otherness no longer comforts her. It grates.

The pragmatic woman can start to harbor resentment toward her head-in-the-clouds husband. Whereas she once cheerfully undertook the role of steering the family’s domestic course with plenty of hands-on hard work, now she wishes that her spouse was a little more capable so he could take some of the burden off her shoulders. Instead of admiring his ability to think deeply about abstractions, as she once did, she finds herself feeling annoyed about it. She wishes that her husband’s feet were planted more firmly on the ground.

The shy, timid wife grows up and develops her own self-confidence. She formulates her own opinions which, sooner or later, clash with those of her husband. Where once she was happy to let him interact with the outside world for both of them, now she has definite ideas which don’t always accord with his own. The result? Arguments and disharmony as they each struggle to have things their own way.

What went wrong with these once smoothly functioning couples? Noth­ing but life. People grow and, hope­fully, improve. Gradual shifts in per­spective, as well as conscious goals and practice, can change us in ways which bring two opposite personalities more in sync. The one who was timid grows self-assured like her husband. The nervous one learns to self-soothe. The one who was impractical develops new skills in the home and out of it.

All of which is why the most impor­tant gift we can give ourselves and our spouses is flexibility. Over the course of our shared life, we will inevitably change. The more we can each bend to meet the changes in our partner, the happier and more harmonious our marriages will be.

But flexibility, on its own, is not enough. The “opposites” need to hold onto the mutual respect and apprecia­tion that once characterized their rela­tionship. They need to remember why they married each other and recog­nize that, although the old give-and-take may not apply as much anymore, there’s a new dynamic in which they can still give to each other… although what they give may look different than before.

As life goes about its business of in­troducing change, in ways large and small we change along with it. The changes may come for each of us at different times and at different paces. If each spouse is willing to rise to the challenge of recreating him or herself in response to the other’s growth, it can only do the marriage good.

Such respectful flexibility serves as a token of the trust and goodwill that lies at the heart of all good marriages. Even one that started out as a marriage of complete opposites!

Following the news these days can leave a person feeling whipsawed.

One day, the United States and Israel are striking Iran, determined to dismantle its nuclear ambitions. The next day, talk of a ceasefire emerges, and Iran signals a willingness, at least outwardly, to step back. One day, Israel is engaged in a full-scale confrontation with Hezbollah, declaring that this time it will not rest until the threat to its northern residents is eliminated. The next day, a ceasefire is imposed.

One day, President Trump announces that a sweeping peace agreement with Iran is within reach. The next day, Iran declares that it will not even attend the talks.

The same events are described in completely different terms depending on who is speaking. Some portray a necessary and even heroic campaign against a dangerous regime that threatens not only Israel, but the stability of the Western world. Others condemn the very same actions as reckless and unjustified, accusing leaders of overreach and irresponsibility.

It is not only the events themselves that are dizzying. It is also the constant shift in how they are understood.

The world feels unsteady, lurching from one crisis to the next. Wars, threats, disasters, rising hatred, senseless violence—each day seems to bring a new upheaval. It can feel as though no one is truly in control, as if there is no steady hand guiding events, no clear path toward stability.

But we know that beneath the surface turbulence, beyond what appears to be happening, nothing is haphazard. Rather, everything is being carefully guided by the Ribbono Shel Olam. There is a plan, even when we cannot see it. There is order, even when everything appears chaotic.

A person who doesn’t appreciate that cannot remove the feeling of instability. Those who live without Torah and are tethered to their phones can feel as if life pulls them in different directions, emotionally and mentally. The constant barrage of information, the shifting realities, and the conflicting voices can leave a person unanchored.

But we live differently. We exist for a higher purpose.

As Hakadosh Boruch Hu prepared to give us the Torah at Har Sinai, He defined who we are meant to be. He told Moshe Rabbeinu to convey to us our mission: “V’atem tihiyu li mamleches kohanim v’goy kadosh, You shall be to Me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation” (Shemos 19:6).

What sets us apart, what defines us, is not only what we do, but who we are meant to become—namely, a goy kadosh, a nation of holiness. Kedusha is not an added dimension of Yiddishkeit. It is its very core. Every one of us, no matter who we are and what we do, is charged to live a life of kedusha. That obligation is not just for the few, for the best, for the roshei yeshiva, rebbes, kollel yungeleit, rabbonim, and others who dedicate their lives to Torah study. It is the mandate of us all.

This week’s parsha of Kedoshim opens with that same all-encompassing charge: “Kedoshim tihiyu—You shall be holy.” Moshe Rabbeinu gathered together kol adas Bnei Yisroel, the entire nation, and delivered this message to everyone equally—not only to a spiritual elite, not only to those removed from the mundane world, but also to ordinary people living ordinary lives.

Because for us, holiness is not the domain of the exceptional. It is the responsibility of every Jew.

We are not meant merely to get by, performing mitzvos, learning Torah, and checking the boxes of observance. That is not the entirety of who we are. We are meant to be kedoshim, living differently, thinking differently, and being driven by a higher standard that shapes how we act, how we speak, and how we live.

But what does it mean to be holy?

It means to always be aware that Hashem created the world and created us for a purpose. When we know that He controls the world and everything in it, we live differently and conduct ourselves accordingly.

Many imagine holiness as something distant, reserved for those who withdraw completely from the material world, detaching themselves from its distractions and temptations. Yet, the Torah immediately dismantles that notion. The same parsha that commands kedusha goes on to speak about honesty in business, proper weights and measures, respect for parents, care for the poor, sensitivity in speech, and fairness in judgment.

These are not side topics. They are the definition of kedusha.

The Torah’s vision of holiness is not an escape from life, but an elevation of it.

Rashi famously explains “kedoshim tihiyu” as a call for perishus, restraint. Not merely abstaining from what is forbidden, but exercising discipline within what is permitted. A person can live entirely within the framework of halacha and still be driven by indulgence and a lack of refinement. Kedusha begins where mere permissibility ends. It is the awareness that just because “I can” does not always mean “I should.”

The Ramban sharpens this idea with his powerful description of the “novol birshus haTorah,” a person who follows the mitzvos, yet whose life lacks dignity and inner boundaries. The Torah’s command of holiness comes to close that gap. It calls upon a person to cultivate an inner nobility and live with restraint, proportion, and purpose.

As we count down toward Shavuos and Kabbolas HaTorah, we also have to take stock of our lives as Jews. We are all, no doubt, proud bnei Avrohom, Yitzchok, v’Yaakov, but sometimes we forget what it is all about.

We live in a world of plenty, where so much is available, and much of it has a hechsher or other indications that it is kosher. It becomes difficult to draw the line of where to stop and where to go; what is appropriate for us to bring into our homes and what is not. We forget to think about what will affect us in a good way and what will affect us in a negative way.

When we go shopping in the large, beautiful, fully stocked supermarkets that we are now blessed with, as we try to decide whether to purchase an item, we check the label and examine its ingredients and caloric content. How much sugar does it have? How much sodium? What about trans fats and other elements that can affect our physical health?

Being a member of the am kadosh means that we should also consider how any product we buy will affect our spiritual health. Will the product help us become better Yidden? Will it help us learn Torah? Will it give us an added geshmak in performing mitzvos? Or will it turn us off and cause us to become cynical of people who strive for holiness? Just because something has a glitzy cover and appears appealing does not mean that we should buy it.

I had a dear relative who was not privileged to grow up in a religious home. She lived out of town and did her best to keep kosher. One of the ways she determined whether food was kosher was by looking for Hebrew letters on the packaging. She assumed that any product with Hebrew letters on it was kosher, and where she lived, that assumption usually worked.

I met her shortly after she returned from her first visit to Israel and asked her how the trip had gone. She could not stop speaking about how wonderful it was to be surrounded by Jews wherever she went and how different it felt from her small hometown. Decades later, I distinctly remember one of her comments. She said, “And one of the best parts of being there was that it was so easy to find kosher products, because everything had Hebrew letters on it!”

We can laugh at her naivete, or we can feel compassion for this sincere and well-meaning woman. But in truth, we often do something quite similar. We assume that because something has a Hebrew name, it is proper and kosher enough for us.

Our world has become dumbed down and we often act without giving things sufficient thought. We form opinions based on snippets of information we have picked up, or more often merely skimmed, from dubious people driven by agendas or irresponsibility. In doing so, we lose sight of the truth and of our obligation to be better and holier than those around us.

We become involved in pursuits that take over our lives and fail to remain dedicated to Torah study and behavior.

So many of the mitzvos in Parshas Kedoshim relate to how we treat others, because without them, we can become overly focused on ourselves, our families, and our immediate circles, and grow indifferent to the needs and feelings of others.

There is much more to being a Yid, but being thoughtful, caring, and treating others the way we ourselves would like to be treated is where it begins, and it should become second nature to us.

The Alter of Kelm would say that included in this week’s mitzvah of ve’ohavta lerei’acha kamocha is that we care about another person not merely because we are commanded to do so, but because we genuinely love him. He explained that the mitzvah is to love another as you love yourself, and just as you love yourself naturally—not because anyone instructed you to—we are meant to love others as part of our very nature.

And just as there is no limit to how much people love themselves, it is not as if a person loves himself to a certain degree and then fulfills his obligation, so too, when it comes to loving others, there is no limit. We must be proactive in anticipating the needs of others, caring about them, rejoicing with them, grieving with them, assisting them, and helping them achieve a sense of satisfaction and happiness.

It is something we are all capable of doing or it would not be a mitzvah in the Torah. No one should say, “This is not for me. I am not that type of person. I do not have patience. I am too busy. I cannot be bothered attending other people’s simchos or, lo aleinu, shivahs. I cannot be kind to everyone.”

This is who we are meant to be and what our essence is meant to reflect.

We are all familiar with the story of the prospective ger who asked Hillel to summarize the entire Torah in one sentence. Hillel responded, “Mah de’aloch sonei lechavroch lo sa’avid—What you do not want done to you, do not do to your fellow.”

Apparently, Hillel was explaining the words ve’ohavta lerei’acha kamocha, teaching that this mitzvah is the very foundation of the Torah. Treating others the way we wish to be treated is not just a nice idea. It is not just another one of the 613 mitzvos.

This week, we will be learning the third perek in Pirkei Avos, where the Mishnah (3:17) states, “Im ein derech eretz, ein Torah” – without proper conduct, there can be no Torah. Someone who cannot conduct himself properly cannot properly learn Torah.

Chazal further teach in the third perek of Pirkei Avos that one who finds favor in the eyes of people finds favor in the eyes of Hashem. As members of an am kadosh, what we say and do in our interactions with others must always be aligned with the principles of derech eretz and middos tovos.

The Meshech Chochmah asks a striking question at the end of Parshas Yisro: What did Moshe Rabbeinu personally gain from Kabbolas HaTorah? Moshe had already reached the highest possible levels of spirituality. He was able to ascend to Shomayim even before the Torah was given, which is a clear indication that he had already achieved perfection. So what changed at Mattan Torah?

The Meshech Chochmah’s answer is profound and deeply relevant to us. Until Mattan Torah, he explains, even Moshe Rabbeinu’s avodah, and more broadly man’s avodah, was primarily in the realm of ruchniyus. Holiness was expressed through detachment from the physical, through elevating oneself beyond the material world.

At Mattan Torah, something fundamental changed. From that point on, gashmiyus became a vehicle for kedusha. The physical world was no longer something to escape from, but something to elevate.

In this light, the Meshech Chochmah explains the meaning of Hashem’s words to Moshe at the burning bush: “Shal ne’alecha mei’al raglecha—Remove your shoes from your feet.” On a simple level, Moshe was being told to remove the physical coverings that connected him to the earth. Symbolically, he was being told: “Set aside your physicality as you stand before Me.” At that moment in history, before the Torah was given, holiness meant stepping away from the material and entering a space of pure spirituality, like a malach.

But after Mattan Torah, everything shifted. The “shoes” are no longer removed. They are part of the avodah. The physical life of a Jew is not something to be discarded in order to serve Hashem. It is something to be refined and elevated in the process of serving Him.

Thus, after Mattan Torah, Hashem told Klal Yisroel, “Ve’anshei kodesh tihiyun li—You shall be holy people unto Me” (Shemos 22:30).

Holiness is not achieved by escaping life, but by elevating life as it is lived, and doing so with kedusha.

We are not meant to become malochim. We are meant to remain human beings who bring kedusha into human life.

We do not need to withdraw from the world to be good. We do not need to retreat into isolation to become kedoshim. The Torah wants us to live among people, amidst the complexity of daily life, and to make that life holy.

In a turbulent world, where up can feel like down and down like up, where truth becomes blurred and depth is too often replaced with emptiness, being anchored to Torah gives us stability. It allows us to find clarity and purpose amid the confusion, and to build lives of kedusha through Torah, mitzvos, and avodas Hashem.

May we all merit to fulfill our missions in this world, to live full and meaningful lives, and to bring the world ever closer to the coming of Moshiach, bemeheirah beyomeinu.

Over bein hazemanim, my son and his family took a ferry across the Hudson River, planning to spend the day in Manhattan for a family outing.

As occurs so often near the city with one of the largest Jewish populations, while on the ferry that shuttles back and forth from New Jersey to Manhattan, he and his wife noticed a man who seemed completely secular. He looked Middle-Eastern, with clearly nothing outwardly hinting at a shemetz of Yiddishkeit. There was one detail that they spotted that gave a pretty big hint.  Around his neck was a Magen Dovid.

In today’s climate, with the uncomfortable tension and rising antisemitism that so often fills the air of the city, it felt refreshing. Here was a man, not visibly religious, yet unafraid to display, in his own way, a quiet connection to his heritage.

Like most of us, when seeing a proud co-religionist — even a secular one — in a hostile environment, my son felt a certain warmth, a silent kinship.

The man made brief eye contact with my son’s family. It lasted only a second, but suddenly something shifted. The man quickly looked away. Within moments, almost as if on instinct, he tucked the necklace out of sight.

Why? There were no protests, no hostilities, and he was not on a college campus. What made him hide his Magen Dovid?

It was them. What caused this man to hide his Magen Dovid was not the presence of those who might hate him, but rather the presence of those who might understand him. A simple chareidi family.

And that can be even more unsettling than outright hostility.

Not fear of harm, but fear of connection. Not fear of confrontation, but fear of conversation.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he was afraid that a simple “hello” might lead somewhere deeper. Maybe he would have to explain where he came from. Maybe he once had more of a connection. Maybe he grew up with a certain image of chareidim or even a disdain. And what happens when that image begins to crack?

There is something telling in that instinct. The Magen Dovid, for many Jews who are not observant, functions as a symbol of ethnic belonging — a badge of solidarity worn especially in difficult times. Antisemitism surges, and suddenly, the Star of David reappears on necklaces and lapels across the city. It is a statement of defiance: I am not ashamed to be a Jew.

And yet, in the presence of real, practicing Jews, the necklace disappears.

That tension reveals something important. It is one thing to identify as a Jew in contrast to the outside world. It is another thing entirely to confront what that identity actually means from within. The former requires only pride. The latter requires something far more demanding: honesty.

I recently heard about a young man, Zevi Samet. Zevi grew up in heimishe circles, a product of the familiar warmth and structure of our world, yet life led him down an unexpected path. He became a star player on YU’s basketball team, a place where he quickly realized that he stood apart. Not only was he the only frum player on the team, but he was considered by his peers as “chareidi.”

Many in that situation might quietly blend in, tone things down, and keep their religiosity private. Zevi chose otherwise.

With quiet confidence and genuine warmth, he brought his Yiddishkeit with him and projected, not as merely a statement, but as a presence. On the court, off the court, in the locker room, in conversations, in the small interactions that build bridges without announcements. His three-pointers and blocked shots may have impressed his teammates, but it was his authenticity that left the lasting impact. And through his sincerity, barriers softened.

Teammates who had grown up secular, some even with a strong negative perception of chareidim, began to see something different. Not stereotypes, not headlines, not assumptions, but a person. A real person. One who listened, who respected, who lived with purpose. He pushed hard on and off the court. He arranged minyanim, where teammates who never stepped inside a shul began to daven before playing ball.

Eventually, the team decided to spend a few Shabbosos together, one in Lakewood and one in Inwood, among others. What began as curiosity turned into something much deeper. These Shabbosos were not just successful. They were transformative. The players did not want to leave.

Some of them later reflected, almost wistfully, that had they known earlier what chareidim were really like, their entire perspective and approach to them while growing up might have been different.

There is a beautiful Medrash Tanchuma that tells us that when Moshe turned aside to approach the burning bush, the Ribbono Shel Olam declared: “You troubled yourself to look. You are worthy to redeem Klal Yisroel.”

At first glance, it seems strange. But it is not. Moshe understood that once he turned toward that remarkable sight, he would be drawn into a new and demanding level of responsibility. Most people would have looked away. They would have tucked in their Magen Dovid. He approached. And he was chosen.

But sometimes, people choose not to know. And perhaps that is what my son witnessed on the streets of Manhattan. Not rejection, not hostility, but hesitation. A quiet fear that if one gets too close, if one allows himself to see clearly, it may require a reevaluation. And reevaluation is uncomfortable.

Which brings me to a remarkable observation I heard in the name of Rav Elya Brudny. He noted that up until recent composers, Vehi She’amdah was always sung to an upbeat, triumphant niggun. He posed the obvious question: Shouldn’t it be sung like a dirge? After all, the paragraph speaks of the nations rising in every generation to destroy us. It is a sobering, even frightening reality. Shouldn’t the melody reflect that weight?

His answer is profound. We sing it with joy not despite its content, but because of it. Yes, the nations have always sought to destroy us. But why? Because we have something. Something they sense, even if they cannot name it. A light. A covenant. A purpose that has never expired. The persecution itself is not evidence of our failure. It is, paradoxically, testimony to our significance. We are hated because we matter. And so we do not sing Vehi She’amdah as victims. We sing it as a people who know what they carry.  That is not a song of sadness. It is one of triumph.

And perhaps that is precisely what the secular man on the streets of Manhattan was running from. Not the hostility of the world, but the quiet, undeniable pull of that very same light. You can tuck away a necklace. You cannot so easily tuck away what it represents.

The man with the Magen Dovid may not have been afraid of others finding him. He may have been afraid of finding himself.

And that, more than anything, was his loss.

Just saying.

This year, I had the great zechus of publishing my sefer, Days of Redemption, Days of Revelation, with ArtScroll. In it (pages 204-213), one of the things I discussed is the lesson of Pesach Sheini. The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh, amongst others, asks why those who were defiled by dead bodies felt that they had the right to ask — even demand — “Why should we be diminished?” After all, they themselves had admitted that they were tamei meis.

One of the most prevalent answers is that since they were carrying either the bodies of Yosef Hatzasdik or Nodov and Avihu, they felt that they had been engaged in a mitzvah and so should not be penalized. The meforshim add that the lesson to us all is that it is not sufficient to be potur — exempt — from a mitzvah. It is even worse to feel relieved. Even if it is impossible for us to do a particular mitzvah, we should be saddened, even mortified, that we have not been granted that immense privilege.

I would like to take this opportunity to add a new level to this thought and teaching, which is not in the sefer. Rav Yechezkel Levenstein (Maamar “Vechayei Olam,” 5720) relates a story told by the students of the Vilna Gaon when he was about to pass away. He began to cry, whereupon his talmidim attempted to console him by recounting his great accomplishments. This was not helpful. He thanked them but also explained that in this world, one can spend a relatively small amount of money and gain the eternal value, for instance, of the mitzvah of tzitzis. He lamented that he was about to lose this immense gift. Rav Chatzkel noted that there is no more powerful exemption from mitzvos than death, yet the Gaon was distressed that he would no longer be able to do mitzvos. Those who were in effect the chevra kadisha for such holy souls were indeed excused from a mitzvah and would never be punished for its absence on their heavenly ledger, but they hadn’t accomplished it either. The lesson of Pesach Sheini is never to be complacent about release or immunity. It is true that Rachmana patrei, the Torah releases us from an obligation when it is impossible (Bava Kamma 28b), but the mitzvah has still not been replaced.

Pesach Sheini and the preparation we should make for the opportunities it brings us should inspire us to yearn and deeply wish for every chance to do a mitzvah. When I speak to young people who boruch Hashem still have parents, I remind them of their great fortune. If your parent asks you to help with something, don’t just yes. Jump at the privilege. Unfortunately, as we all know, this, too, often passes when we suddenly mourn not just for them but for the lost opportunity. A well-known story tells of the man who asked Rav Chaim Soloveitchik if he must visit his father who requested the long-sought time to be together. The son was a bit of a scholar and noted that the halacha is that a son need not spend money on this mitzvah, but his father hadn’t offered to sponsor the trip. Rav Chaim’s terse response was, “Go by foot.” Being acquitted isn’t the same as innocence.

Indeed, the Maharal (Gur Aryeh, Bamidbar 9:1) concludes even more sharply that “Exemption only means that there is no punishment, but neither has the mitzvah been done.”

The tzaddikim who asked for the opportunity to bring a Korban Pesach, although they were fully exempt and were in fact performing a great mitzvah, were correct in being concerned that at that point they did not have the mitzvah of Korban Pesach on their merit list at all. Thus, Klal Yisroel had a new mitzvah for eternity and could point with genuine pride that they had accomplished both.

The Rambam (Peirush HaMishnayos, Avos 4:2) points to the Gemara (Makkos 10a) that Moshe Rabbeinu ran to do a mitzvah that he could have avoided and it might have prolonged his life and postponed his death. Yet, a mitzvah that can be performed must be done, sometimes despite the direst consequences.

We quoted Rav Gedaliah Schorr (Ohr Gedalyohu, Moadim, page 75) that this concept explains a seemingly odd phrase at the end of Megillas Esther. After all the triumphs of Mordechai and Esther, the Megillah alludes to the fact that Mordechai was no longer universally respected. Rashi (10:3), quoting the Gemara (Megillah 16b), explains that some members of the Sanhedrin felt that since Mordechai was no longer exclusively preoccupied with Torah — he had become the new viceroy to the king — he was no longer on the lofty pinnacle he was at before. Now, it is clear that Mordechai had to do what he was doing for Klal Yisroel, but the fact that he was in this position also said something negative about him. The implication seemed to be that, for some of his colleagues, had he been on a higher spiritual level, he wouldn’t have had to engage in bittul Torah.

Some of the new sources for this discussion are as follows: Rav Dovid Cohen (Birkas Yaavetz 2:294; Maaseh Avos Siman Labonim 4:158) takes the position that Mordechai’s colleagues in the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah held that for someone on Mordechai’s level, he should have followed the path that Rav Shimon Bar Yochai took later. The great Tanna held that the leaders of the generation are forbidden from becoming involved in any matters except for Torah, regardless of consequences. Of course, we understand that Mordechai was not of that opinion, but this teaches us the profound lesson that anything that takes us away from Torah or mitzvos must be evaluated with the utmost discretion before agreeing to “leave the Gemara.”

This is even more amazing in light of the Medrash (Lekach Tov on this posuk) that Mordechai didn’t take a penny from the house of Haman, which he had acquired. He donated it all to Klal Yisroel as a whole (see also Targum Sheini), yet this was not sufficient for some of Mordechai’s friends.

Interestingly, a number of meforshim (e.g. Ibn Ezra; Rav Chaim Kanievsky in Taama Dikra) defend Mordechai by the statement that people who serve the public can never please everyone. Even more, Rav Yechezkel, the rebbe of Kuzmir (Maamar Yechezkel, Noach, page 6) and Rav Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin (Machsheves Tzaddik, page 140) explain that the fact that Mordechai had some detractors is the greatest proof that he was a tzaddik, since he didn’t seek popularity at all. On the other hand, Rav Asher Weiss (Minchas Asher, Parshas Ki Seitzei, page 376) holds that the complaint of some members of the Sanhedrin was that in the battle with Amaleik, it is totally counterproductive to engage in any bittul Torah at all, although in other wars we would be allowed to decrease learning to save lives.

Rav Shlomo Brevda (Sefer Kimu Vekiblu, page 148) is at first surprised that the Megillah would end on the apparently negative note of Mordechai’s lack of total popularity. However, he concludes that this, too, is an important lesson. Klal Yisroel follows the majority, and therefore, even if a minority of the Sanhedrin was not completely satisfied with Mordechai, it is just fine in Jewish thought and history (see, also, Chasam Sofer, Drasha for the 7th of Adar). Rav Dovid Goldberg, rosh yeshiva of Telz Cleveland (Shiras Dovid, Megillas Esther, page 145), explains that Mordechai’s lack of full popularity is in direct opposition to Achashveirosh, who tried to act as a deity who is acceptable to all. Mordechai knew that this level of acclaim is only possible with Hashem Himself and he therefore would never seek universal acceptance.

With all this said, we can only imagine how serious it could be if we have the ability to do a mitzvah or a favor for someone, or make a kiddush Hashem, but we avoid doing so because of the trouble, money or time spent. Pesach Sheini ultimately teaches us that while we should never, ever, seek universal acclaim for anything we do, we should always try to do the right thing. In the case of those carrying the aron of various tzaddikim, they made the right call of seizing the moment to perform a mitzvah. The proof is that not only did Hashem endorse their complaint, but He made it into an eternal halacha and mitzvah.

Yes, Pesach Sheini is symbolic of the tightrope we often walk when making important decisions. But if we keep in mind the rule of making Hashem happy with us and hoping for most of Klal Yisroel as well, we will not go wrong and we will be well rewarded for our emunah, bitachon and mesirus nefesh.

A good friend of mine recently suffered the loss of his father, a distinguished Yid of much accomplishment.

At the levayah, my friend, who is a ben yochid, an only son, delivered a very emotional hesped. Before concluding, he said something that made a profound impression on me. What was his eye-opening comment? He told me, “People have been asking, ‘What can I do for your father? Can I give tzedakah in his memory to a mosad that he liked? Perhaps I should learn Mishnayos l’illui nishmaso.’”

With great passion, my friend continued, “This is only my own opinion, but if you really want to do something for my father’s neshomah, you should redd shidduchim. Boruch Hashem, my father had many grandchildren. He saw what they and their parents were going through during the parsha of shidduchim and it pained him greatly. So, if you really want to do something for my father, get out there, brainstorm, and redd shidduchim! Think about all the families that are suffering and try to alleviate that suffering by redding shidduchim. The very fact that someone is thinking of them, even if it doesn’t result in a shidduch, is a chizuk for them.”

For the last while since that levayah, I have been thinking about my friend’s hesped.

We Need Action

Everyone knows what the matzav is out there on the playing field. Whether we call it a crisis or not and whether we can or cannot pinpoint the exact demographic reason for the difficulties is just semantics, taking the focus away from the point. Instead of spurring people to action, it causes them to get caught up in debate.

Lemaaseh, we need action!

Especially now, during the yemei haSefirah. We all know that Rabi Akiva’s talmidim died during this period because they did not give each other the requisite honor. Now, no one should think for even a second that the heilige talmidim of Rabi Akiva called each other names or dealt with one another in a coarse manner. Not at all. The baalei mussar teach us that their deficiency was in a “dakus”—in their minds, they did not have the proper feelings of honor for one another.

From here we see that even if someone acts nicely toward another person, and even if someone cares, it is possible that he still does not have the proper feeling for another’s situation, and in Shomayim, that is not acceptable.

Shidduchim Are Not for the Faint of Heart

I hope readers will not take me to task for being a bit blunt, but if I may say so, many of us really do feel bad about the situation. We see an older single and we genuinely feel bad. We cluck our tongues and say, “Oy! She is such a good girl. She really needs a shidduch. I wish I had someone for her…” But then we move on with life.

Life is busy. One might think, “But I am not a shadchan.”

That is not enough. We are not yotzei by clucking our tongues, by feeling bad for a moment until the next call, text, or email comes in, and by saying, “Oy! She needs a shidduch.”

My aforementioned friend had only recently finished marrying off all his children after having been in the parsha of shidduchim for some twenty years and the trauma was still written all over him. His health had suffered terribly, his nerves were shot, and he is not the only one.

On a personal level, I have been involved in the parsha of marrying off my children for over a decade, and I still have a long way to go, and let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart!

It isn’t only the difficulty of the actual nuts and bolts of shidduchim—of calling shadchanim, putting out feelers, then waiting and waiting and waiting for a shidduch to be redd.

Then, when a shidduch is finally redd, trying to get reliable information, sifting out the lies and half-truths that so many tell you (lesheim Shomayim, of course), being faced with rejection on most of the ideas before they even get underway…

Then, once they finally meet, the difficulties, the misunderstandings, the rejection for often illegitimate reasons…

But it is much deeper than that.

It is the anxiety. Think of a father and mother—or a girl—who hasn’t been redd a shidduch in a year or met with a boy in two years. (It is not uncommon.) The parents sit up at night and wonder: Is she ever going to get married? Will she be one of those wonderful forty-year-old accomplished women walking around unmarried?

The parents can’t help but think this way, and the girls themselves also can’t help but think this way. After all, it is not a dovor shelo ba l’olam. We see it happening in front of our eyes…

Feeling Others’ Pain…

It is not enough to know this cerebrally. You have to feel it—really feel the pain, the anxiety, the nightmare, and the heartache that they are going through. Really. Think about it. Really!

That being said, I truly know and understand that until a person feels the same pain, they are not really capable of feeling another’s pain. Even the greatest tzaddikim had difficulty with this, as illustrated by the following story about Rav Shayele of Kerestir. His son was gravely ill, and Rav Shayele was sitting in his room crying heavily.

The normal assumption would be that he was crying for his very sick son. But no. Rav Shayele dispelled that notion.

“The reason I am crying,” Rav Shayele explained to those around him, “is not because my son is unwell. Rather, it is because I always thought that I genuinely felt the pain of the Yidden who unburden their hearts to me, telling me their tzaros. I thought that I felt their pain as if it was my own pain, but now I see that my own tzarah bothers me a bit more. That is why I am crying!”

…Or At Least Taking a Moment to Think About Them

So yes, it is extremely difficult to truly feel another’s pain. That being said—and I speak for myself as well—every single one of us can take a few minutes to think about what thousands of parents and girls (and some boys) are going through as they wait and wait, trying to carry on with a productive life. Think about how difficult it is for them to get up every day, get dressed, put on their best face, and then face the world with all its expectations and judgment.

Rabbosai, my dear readers, male and female, it is not enough to just cluck your tongue and feel bad. Feeling bad is only a first step—and a very small first step. We must translate those feelings into action. Get out there, network, and redd shidduchim. Don’t be bashful! Don’t say, “I am not a shadchan,” and don’t feel bad if you get brushed off the first, second, and third time. That is all part of the process.

Call to Action

Im ein ani li mi li. B’makom she’ein ish. These are not just nice sayings or phrases. They are meant to be used in situations such as this, when there are thousands of singles among us, wonderful people waiting for someone to think about them and redd them a shidduch. It is a chovas tzibbur. Nothing less.

My friend was right. Yes, giving tzedakah l’illui nishmas and all of the other things people do are amazing, but if you really want to help Hashem’s children, if you really want to partner with Hashem and do a chesed with the chaim and the meisim, take a moment to think about all of the thousands upon thousands of wonderful families in our midst and what they are going through and do something about it. They are our relatives, our friends, our neighbors—all of the above.

This issue is close to home for virtually everyone.

Think about the pain, the suffering, the uncertainty, and the anxiety. Think deeply about the worst-case scenario that so many are dreading and worrying about with trepidation and do something.

I want every reader who is reading this article to stop. Please don’t turn the page yet. I want you to think about what is written here and internalize it. Try to put yourself in the place of a girl, a boy, and their parents, and picture what they are going through. Use your imagination.

Redd a shidduch today! Network! Get busy. No excuses.

In Separate Deals, US Consolidates Influence Over Three Global Straits

In moments of crisis, relationships reveal their true character. People or nations that once stood shoulder to shoulder either reaffirm their commitments or expose their underlying hollowness and fragility.

NATO’s refusal to support the United States in the war with Iran has revealed for many Americans the imbalance in the relationship and the organization’s lack of loyalty.

At almost the same moment last week that Trump was announcing the terms of a deal reached with Iranian negotiators, British Prime Minister Starmer and French President Macron were touting the results of a NATO-led summit concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The announcement from these two NATO leaders could not have been more ironic at that moment: “A multinational force,” they declared, would “open the Strait of Hormuz.”

This was after the strait was already open and the fighting, for the moment at least, had ceased.

To dispel any notion that NATO countries would join the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports aimed at securing the Strait, Starmer made it clear there would be no such military action. This was not Europe’s war, he said, and NATO would not be dragged into it.

The new multinational mission would be activated, Starmer said, “as soon as conditions allowed” –meaning, only after active fighting and bombardment had ceased.

A senior European official told Fox News Digital that the proposed force would be “strictly defensive” – involving “no blockade, no toll, nothing that blocks the fluidity of what is going through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Critics mocked the announcement, noting it highlighted NATO’S lack of military muscle.

Military analyst Barak Seener, speaking on Fox News, minced no words. “Britain and France are playing at being relevant in international affairs,” he said. “It’s laughable that a European coalition that is only willing to act once hostilities have ended can even speak of protecting its shipping lanes.”

“Saying ‘we’re not getting dragged into the war’ disguises the embarrassing fact that the Royal Navy has been so hollowed out and diminished, a British initiative can only be ‘defensive’,” the military analyst commented. “France’s navy is also facing structural and budgetary pressures that strain its ability to conduct high-tempo operations.”

A European proposal regarding the Strait that is not backed by American military power is essentially worthless, he said.

Iranian Ship Seized by U.S. Forces

The vital role of American military power was laid bare early this week, when a massive Iranian cargo ship attempted to breach the U.S. blockade. During a six-hour standoff, the vessel ignored repeated warnings and pressed forward—until a U.S. warship disabled it with a precise strike on its engine room.

“Once the 900-ft cargo ship, Touska, was disabled and drifting in the ocean, U.S. Marines boarded it and took it into custody,” U.S. Central Command announced.

According to the Financial Express, the Touska is operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, an IRGC-owned company. Far from being a benign commercial company, Western intelligence reports claim the ship is the primary means of transport for the IRGC’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

The Touska is believed to have previously smuggled into Iran explosive materials like sodium perchlorate, a key propellant for the production of ballistic missile fuel, coming from ports in China. For years, the Iranian ship managed to evade international sanctions and blacklists. Under Trump’s Middle East foreign policy, that era of laxity has come to an end.

On the heels of the Touska seizure, Iran initially refused to attend a second round of U.S.-brokered talks in Pakistan this week, the NY Post reported. But according to Pakistani sources, Iran’s show of defiance was “empty bluster; mere posturing for the best deal possible,” the paper said.

As of this writing, the verdict is still out on whether the talks will actually take place and how they will play out.

Coming just days after the announcement from Starmer and Macron about a “multinational force that would open the Strait,” the Touska incident underscored a blunt reality that no one could miss: control of the Strait of Hormuz ultimately hinges on American power.

It exposed the limits of any NATO initiative in the region that lacks U.S. backing—demonstrating that without U.S. military muscle, such efforts are largely doomed.

Man Without a Plan?

Democrats and their media allies have relentlessly slammed Trump’s “war without a plan.” But that narrative is beginning to unravel as results from the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports come into focus, and as observers begin to connect the dots in the broader strategic picture.

Even the most left-wing, Trump-hating outlets such as the New York Times are grudgingly conceding that the U.S. blockade is having an impact. “Some analysts said that whatever the risk of more disruptions to the world’s energy supplies, Mr. Trump was right to try to turn the tables on Iran,” the NY Times wrote last week.

The Times quoted energy expert Clayton Seigle, who has long urged negotiating an end to the crisis from a position of strength. In a March 25 op-ed titled “This Should Be Trump’s Next Move With Iran,” he called for a naval blockade of Iranian oil shipments—precisely the course President Trump adopted less than three weeks later.

“The Trump administration should flip the script on Iran, depriving it of revenue unless the regime restores security in the Gulf,” Siegle urged. “The best approach to curbing Iran’s oil exports is to impose a naval blockade of tankers carrying Iranian oil.”

“A similar operation helped Washington easily take control of Venezuela’s oil exports last December with no reported U.S. losses. The cordon could be established in the Arabian Sea, beyond the range of most Iranian weapons systems, with minimal risk to U.S. personnel,” the energy expert wrote.

Another expert on Iran, Miad Maleki, was quoted in the paper saying, “I can’t think of a better option to increase pressure on the Iranian regime.”

The NY Times seems to be betting that readers won’t notice the glaring contradiction between its clashing perspectives. On the one hand, the Times’s routine castigation of Trump’s policies as “reckless” and “unhinged,” on the other, the citing of experts who applaud the very same Gulf strategy the paper has debunked.

Critics agree the current U.S. blockade is sharply constricting Iran’s oil lifeline and straining its financial system to the brink. Under mounting pressure, Iran is being forced back to the negotiating table—despite the belligerence and posturing of IRGC hardliners who insist the regime will never yield to U.S. demands.

The pressure on the regime from being blocked in its oil exports—its lifeline to continued power—is likely to become unbearable, Siegle told the NY Times. “And it could impose economic hardship for Iran for years. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.” Meaning, oil clients will have likely turned elsewhere.

Even more threatening to the regime, Iran’s storage facilities are quickly filling up and could reach capacity within as few as two weeks as a result of the U.S. blockade. If the extraction equipment were shut down as a result, the damage could be irreparable, severely impairing Iran’s oil production for years to come, experts say.

Flipping Around Iran’s Playbook

Fox News host Jesse Waters broke down the dynamics of Trump’s game plan. First, in six weeks of military fighting, the United States and Israel crushed Iran’s grip on the Strait. Tehran has been threatening to shut the Strait every few years since the 1980s, brandishing the same “nuclear option” whenever tensions flare.

Trump flipped that strategy around, turning Iran’s own chokepoint into a noose around its economy_._ After achieving operational control of the Strait, he opened it to all traffic except Iranian traffic.

U.S. warships can anchor, safely out of Iran’s reach, on the far side of the Strait and stop ships headed to or from Kharg Island, where 90% of Iranian oil exports originate—which is what has been happening over the past week.

The blockade has a disastrous effect on the oil wells themselves. “When oil wells are not continuously pumped, they start deteriorating, the Fox News host explained, quoting Iran International, an opposition political party based in London.

“Forced shutdowns could permanently eliminate 300,000 to 500,000 barrels per day of production capacity – equivalent to $9–15 billion in annual revenue lost forever,” Iran International said. “An extended blockade would effectively zero out Iran’s export revenues within days and trigger cascading effects across its financial system.”

What the Critics Missed—Trump’s Long Game Revealed

Consider one more piece of the puzzle—one that suggests the blockade is not an isolated move but part of a broader strategic plan on Trump’s part. It concerns a major defense cooperation agreement with Indonesia, reported in Al Jazeera but somehow overlooked by major news outlets.

“Indonesia, U.S. Sign Major Defense Cooperation Agreement,” the Al Jazeera headline read. Indonesia adjoins another of the world’s most critical oil arteries, the Strait of Malacca—a passage vital to China’s energy and industry lifeline.

Officials have long highlighted the Strait of Malacca as a critical vulnerability for China. They have even coined the label “China’s Malacca Dilemma” to refer to China’s heavy reliance on the narrow Strait of Malacca for energy imports and trade.

The Malacca Dilemma also refers to Beijing’s fear that rivals could blockade this chokepoint, choking off 80% of its oil imports and crippling its economy.

Experts regard the Strait of Malacca, controlled by Indonesia, as one of the world’s most vital maritime passages—even more consequential than the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Malacca carries roughly 25-30% of global traded goods—including oil (20 million barrels daily), manufactured products, and coffee. It serves as the shortest route linking Asia’s manufacturing hubs (China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan) to the Middle East and Europe.

With Hormuz under blockade, the United States now appears to be tightening its grip on a second critical artery, the Strait of Malacca. One would expect such a high-stakes move to command far more media attention, yet it barely registered.

Revealing Timeline

Equally overlooked is the unusual sequence of recent moves, all within a 30-day window, that have steadily deepened ties between the United States and Indonesia.

On March 18th, twenty days after the Iran war began, AP reported on a new US trade deal with Indonesia. “A new trade pact between Indonesia and the United States has recast their economic ties,” the article said, “binding Jakarta’s resource wealth and energy future more closely to Washington’s strategic needs.”

Next, on March 26th, a month into the war, Indonesia joined President Trump’s Board of Peace.

Finally, on April 13th, Indonesia signed the aforementioned major military agreement with the United States.

What can explain Indonesia’s sudden eagerness for closer ties with the United States? A headline from an April 1 article in Jakarta Post suggests the answer: “Indonesia Rations Fuel as Prices Soar Over Mideast War.”

The article reveals that Indonesia, with its massive population, must import a significant amount of its oil. Their current energy crisis is so severe that at the end of March, the government announced public fuel rationing and ordered all non-essential government employees to work from home.

The U.S. has stepped forward to help, coordinating trade deals in February and March that lowered Indonesia’s tariff rate to 19%, and to zero on its key exports of palm oil, coffee, cocoa, spices and rubber.

Indonesia, in turn, agreed to buy American planes and invest $10 billion in the United States, AP reported. The U.S. also agreed to sell Indonesia oil and natural gas, help the country build modular nuclear reactors, and buy its rare minerals, which reduces the U.S.’s reliance on China.

U.S. Extends Influence Over a Third Global Artery

Consider a third Trump deal made within days of announcing a new economic and military accord with Indonesia: this one with Morocco, a country that shares a coastline with another critical waterway, the Strait of Gibraltar.

The partnership was cemented during high-level meetings in Washington, D.C., from April 14–16, bringing together U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a senior Morocco delegation, according to a government website.

“Morocco, U.S. Strengthen Military Ties with Decade-Long Defense Partnership,” a headline in Hespress, Morocco’s leading news outlet announced.

Why would the United States be seeking closer ties with Morocco? Morocco’s coastline runs the entire length of the Strait of Gibraltar— a tiny channel that controls all access to the Mediterranean Sea, with its northern border bounded by Spain, a NATO member.

The expansion of U.S. military ties with Morocco perhaps signals a broader message to NATO—particularly to Spain, whose government has denounced the United States over its war with Iran, and has acted with virulent hostility toward Israel. The message? The United States does not need you.  

The Trump Administration thus appears to be positioning itself around not one but three of the world’s most important energy chokepoints; the straits of Hormuz, Malacca, and now Gibraltar. All these moves took place in the same 30-day period.

A coincidence? Not likely, say experts.

If Trump controls Hormuz and has leverage over Malacca as well as the Strait of Gibraltar, China’s entire energy supply might end up depending on American goodwill, experts point out. That’s much more than a trade war. That’s an existential chokehold.

***

Europe’s Lack of Backbone Erodes Western Strength

“NATO proudly defines itself as a defensive organization. Fine. But let’s be clear about what ‘defense’ actually means in 2026,” wrote former U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland in a Fox News op-ed.

“It does not mean waiting politely until the next missile hits or the next proxy attack kills Americans or Israelis,” Sondland argued. “Defense, in the real world, includes deterrence, disruption and, when necessary, decisive action against actors who have spent decades making their intentions clear.”

The article went on to describe Iran’s 47-year war against America which took the form of dead American soldiers, attacks on shipping, “and a relentless campaign against Israel, one of the West’s most important allies.”

“This isn’t theoretical. It’s not episodic. It’s sustained hostility,” the author wrote.

“So when the United States moves to degrade that threat, even in a limited and targeted way, the expectation from Washington — particularly from Trump — isn’t that NATO jumps into the fight.”

“It’s far simpler than that,” the former ambassador to the EU reasoned. “Let us use bases. Give us airspace. Provide political cover. Stand with us publicly.”

“And yet, time and again, the response from parts of Europe is waffling, hesitation, legal hand-wringing and carefully calibrated distance.”

“NATO blinked on Iran,” the author emphasized, “And Trump has every right to be furious.”

***

Trump Threatens to Pull Out of ‘Piper Tiger’ NATO

President Donald Trump has said he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of NATO after allied nations rejected his request to assist the United States in the Iran war.

“I was never swayed by NATO,” Trump said when asked if he would reconsider the U.S.’ membership after the conflict. “I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.”

In mid-March, Trump warned NATO allies of negative consequences should they refuse to help secure the Strait of Hormuz—crucial for Europe’s energy lifelines. But European countries either refused outright to send warships to the vital strait, or let silence and inaction convey their answer.

Trump criticized the nations for not stepping up, insisting his call for action had been a “test.”

“We’ve been there automatically for them, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. We were there for them, but they were not there for us,” he told the Telegraph, a British newspaper.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview with Fox News, echoed the president’s sentiments, saying the United States may need to “re-examine” its relationship with NATO once the war ends.

“We are going to have to re-examine alliance,” he said. Has it become a one-way street where America is simply in a position to defend Europe, but when we need the help of our allies, they’re going to deny us the right to use their bases, and they’re even going to deny us overflight (the right to fly warplanes over their airspace)?

Though Rubio did not name specific countries, Trump has repeatedly singled out Britain for its initial refusal to allow U.S. forces to use British bases for strikes on Feb. 28. Spain has also denied the United States permission to use jointly-operated bases to attack Iran, and earlier this month closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the war.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also addressed the Trump Administration’s frustrations with NATO.

“A lot has been laid bare, a lot has been shown to the world, about what our allies would be willing or not willing to do for the United States,” he told reporters Tuesday. “When we ask for additional assistance… we get questions, or roadblocks, or hesitations.”

“You don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries who are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” he added.

The Ceasefire with Iran Does Not Please Everyone

I have much more to write about. For instance, the dollar has dropped to a level that hasn’t been seen in thirty years, and is now trading at less than three shekels. For Torah institutions and chessed organizations that receive donations in dollars from abroad, this has caused tremendous financial damage. In other news, the municipality in Bnei Brak decided to declare war on the vending machines where food and drink can be purchased at all hours; these machines have turned street corners into noisy hangouts, drawing complaints from residents. Another significant story is the visit from the president of Argentina, who came to Israel to light a torch on Yom Haatzmaut and made the Kosel Hamaaravi his first stop and visited Yeshivas Chevron. President Milei is an interesting person; you may recall that I once interviewed his good friend, Rav Shimon Wahnish, who is the Argentinean ambassador to Israel today. And in another noteworthy story, the hillula of Rabi Meir Baal Haness at the end of this week is expected to draw a crowd of a hundred thousand people.

I am sure that you are aware of the ceasefire with Iran. It was the front-page story in Israel’s Yated Neeman last week, and for good reason. An entire country breathed a huge sigh of relief when the truce was declared; no one can deny that we had all grown weary of constantly running to our bomb shelters and safe rooms. When the exact details are released about the number of fatalities during the Iranian missile and drone strikes, you may be surprised to learn that there were far too many tragic deaths. True, we experienced incredible miracles; if Hashem hadn’t protected us and had allowed events to run their natural course, there would surely have been hundreds, or possibly even thousands, of deaths, which is precisely what the defense establishment projected. But while we were spared from such a horrific calamity, every death is deeply painful to all of us, and even a few lives lost is far too many.

As for the damage to property, when the statistics are released, you will discover that thousands of homes were destroyed, as well as hundreds of cars. Thanks to Hashem’s great kindness, the bulk of the damage affected property rather than people. But even that was difficult to endure, and there were many other trying aspects of the situation, such as the prolonged closure of schools, which led parents to the brink of insanity as their children suffered from the long days at home, the collapsing economy, and the constant need for millions of people to run for shelter upon hearing air raid sirens.

I will admit that there was another reason that we all felt relief—the imminent arrival of Lag Ba’omer, when tens of thousands of people hope to visit Rabi Shimon bar Yochai’s tziyun and attend the various bonfires on Mount Meron. Moreover, as soon as the ceasefire was announced and the Home Front Command opened the Kosel to visitors, thousands of people flocked to the site to daven there as well. And a similar phenomenon took place this week in Kerestir. Thousands of Israelis who had planned to travel to Kerestir for the yahrtzeit of Rav Yeshaya ben Rav Moshe were pained by the closure of the airport. As soon as the ceasefire was announced and the airport resumed its operations, thousands of travelers rushed to sign up for flights to Hungary.

To make a long story short, there were many reasons that all of us here in Israel were waiting eagerly for this ceasefire. But now we are hearing that the truce is fragile, and there is no guarantee that the usual Lag Ba’omer festivities will be permitted to take place this year. Let us daven that Lag Ba’omer will be a joyous time as usual.

Furthermore, not everyone is pleased with the ceasefire. For one thing, President Trump forced Israel to extend the truce to Lebanon as well, which means that the Israeli plan to completely eliminate Hezbollah is now on hold, to the great displeasure of the residents of the north. The residents of communities in northern Israel are tired of the vicious cycle of ceasefires that allow Hezbollah to rearm and then launch fresh rounds of missile attacks, targeting the cities of Kiryat Shemonah, Metula, and Nahariya. When the government announced a return to routine this Sunday, Mayor Avichai Stern of Kiryat Shemonah pushed back, announcing that even though the Home Front Command was permitting schools to reopen, the municipality would not comply with the decision. In fact, not only were schools shuttered in the city as a protest against the ceasefire, but the municipality sent the residents to Yerushalayim to demonstrate against it. “We strongly protest the dangerous ceasefire and the abandonment being arranged over our heads,” the mayor wrote. “For over two years, our children have been suffering from instability, frequent evacuations, and extensive time spent in bomb shelters, with no sign of security on the horizon. The agreement that is taking shape, led by the Americans and on an Iranian initiative, serves as a political ploy to benefit the Lebanese government in advance of its elections in May, but we are no one’s game pieces. We will not be the victims of illusory quiet…. Our demands are unequivocal: dismantling Hezbollah as a military and civilian organization, ensuring effective defensive lines and defense systems on the northern border, and full protection for every resident and public institution, with an emphasis on educational institutions.”

There are two sides to every coin, and there are two sides to every ceasefire as well.

The Welcome Sight of Bochurim Returning to Yeshiva

This time of year always brings us the beautiful images of the country’s yeshiva bochurim returning to their botei medrash. Thousands of bochurim crowded bus stops around the country, waiting for buses to take them back to their yeshivos for the new zman. Is there any more stirring sight than the image of yeshiva bochurim standing with their suitcases and their hat boxes as they wait for buses, with Gemaras tucked beneath their arms? Rosh Chodesh Iyar ushers in a new zman and the return to the benches and shtenders of the bais medrash. Here in Israel, the religious newspapers typically print notices expressing their best wishes and appreciation for the talmidim returning to their yeshivos.

Bein hazemanim, as we know, is a difficult period of time. Whenever the country’s Torah learners go on vacation, we all feel apprehensive. The Torah protects us from our enemies, and it is somewhat unsettling when that protection is absent. Rav Gershon Edelstein always decried the natural decrease in Torah learning during bein hazemanim, which he pinpointed as the reason for the proliferation of tragedies during such times. He once wrote, “During bein hazemanim, having a fixed commitment to learning Torah is akin to a life raft for someone who strives to be a ben Torah.” Rav Meir Greineman related, “During wartime, the Chazon Ish increased his exertion over Torah learning even beyond his natural abilities. I witnessed this, and it is relevant to our difficult times as well.”

Last week, I wrote about the brothers Yissochor Dov and Avrohom Yeshayahu Spiegel, who drowned at the beach in Netanya. Yissochor Dov, who was pulled out of the water in critical condition, has since passed away from his injuries. The funeral was heartrending, and when Rav Dov Landau visited the family during the shiva, he expressed the sentiments that we all share: There are simply no words with which we can comfort the bereaved parents. Only Hashem can give them comfort. At the levayah, Rav Shlomo Spiegel, the bereaved father, begged Hashem for his other son, who had been missing since the last day of Chol Hamoed Pesach, to be found. His listeners joined him in begging Hashem for mercy. “The fire that is most destructive during sefiras ha’omer is the fire of bein adam l’chaveiro,” he declared in a message to the public. Begging for mechilah, he called on everyone to resolve during this time to be especially cautious not to offend or harm others. He hoped that his plea would benefit his sons.

A Holocaust Survivor Shares His Memories

The past two weeks have been emotionally draining here in Israel. Last week, the country marked Yom Hashoah, the Israeli government’s official day of commemoration for the Holocaust, and the media was filled with stories about the Holocaust and interviews with survivors. Once again, we read about the horrors inflicted on our people by the previous generation’s incarnation of Amalek. Every year on Yom Hashoah, the March of the Living takes place in Auschwitz, attended by participants from all over the world, including Israel. This year, about 60 Holocaust survivors who are still capable of traveling were slated to participate in the event, but their plans were canceled on account of the war. When the ceasefire was declared at the last minute, the flights of eleven of the survivors were reinstated. The media reported on the personal stories of both groups—the survivors who participated in the march and those who remained in Israel—and it was chilling to read about their experiences.

One of the eleven people whose stories were published last week was a man named Avrohom Blau from Bnei Brak, who was born in Budapest during the war and is shown in a photograph in the newspaper sitting beside a Gemara. He related, “I was born on April 17, 1941, into a religious family. When I was a child, Hungarian ruffians used to torment me. During the fighting, we ran away several times from the ghetto in Budapest and wandered from one abandoned home to another, with danger constantly looming over us. In March 1944, the Nazis invaded and began their vicious persecution of the Jews. Thousands of Jews were slaughtered by the soldiers of the Arrow Cross, the local fascist regime, and many were shot on the banks of the Danube. They were ordered to stand on the docks, facing the water, and were shot in the back. The bodies fell into the water and were swept away by the current instead of being buried with respect. The murderers later decided to save ammunition by tying the Jews to each other, adding stones and weights, and then shooting only some of them, causing all of the people to fall into the water and drown. In 2005, the Shoes on the Danube memorial was erected in memory of these victims.

“During the siege, the situation in the ghetto steadily worsened,” Rav Blau recalled. “There was barely any food to eat, and we had no way to warm ourselves in the frigid cold. Dead bodies were strewn in the street; the Arrow Cross continued murdering Jews until the last minute. There were two months when a fierce battle raged over Budapest; it was one of the most destructive battles in eastern Europe during the Second World War. Toward the end of the war, my sister died of starvation beside me, and I, at the age of three, was on the brink of death as well, as I was later told. When the battles came to an end, there were about 70,000 Jews still alive in the ghetto, while thousands of others were being housed in the homes of foreign diplomats. Many of them were severely weakened and ill. We lost more than 60 percent of our family members during that time. In February 1945, the Red Army liberated Budapest and the city was flooded with red flags. I remember waving a red flag with all my might at the young age of four. I didn’t exactly understand its meaning, but one thing was certain: I realized that something terrible had finally come to an end, and we were waving the flags to mark its conclusion. In the eyes of a four-year-old, that seemed like a good thing.”

Rav Blau hoped to participate in the March of the Living, but he was unable to renew his travel plans after the disruption caused by the war. “I was very exited to join the delegation of Holocaust survivors from Israel,” he said. “I was hoping to recite Kaddish there, on the accursed soil of Auschwitz, in memory of my grandfather and his many family members who perished there…. But the war with Iran caused the delegation to be canceled, and the city of Bnei Brak, where I live, suffered numerous shrapnel strikes and damage to many buildings before the ceasefire. Nevertheless, we must also loudly proclaim that every day brings its own miracles. There could have been a great tragedy here, and we clearly have Someone Who is protecting us.”

Preparations for Lag Ba’omer Underway in Meron

By the time you read these lines, we will be counting the 22nd day of the Omer. A simple mathematical calculation tells us that Lag Ba’omer will therefore be only 11 days away. The official preparations in Meron for Lag Ba’omer and the hillula of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai actually began long ago, before the ceasefire with Lebanon and amid continued, unending rocket fire from Hezbollah. Despite the situation, the preparations needed to begin, in case a ceasefire was declared—which, after all, is exactly what happened. Had there been no ceasefire, however, all of that work and investment would have gone to waste. Nevertheless, the minister responsible for the festivities in Meron decided to take the risk and act as if a ceasefire was certain.

Once the ceasefire was declared, Shlomo Karchi wrote jubilantly, “As the minister responsible for the hillula of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai, I am obligated to continue advancing the preparations in Meron, out of a sense of responsibility, faith, and hope that by the time Lag Ba’omer arrives, our soldiers will return, with Hashem’s help, crowned with victory and salvation, and we will restore quiet and security to Israel. Yesterday, we conducted a professional tour of the area of the hillula together with MK Tzvika Fogel, chairman of the National Security Committee, and with all the professional authorities from the Ministry of Yerushalayim Affairs and Israeli Heritage, the director-general of the ministry, and representatives of the Israel Police, the firefighting service, Magen Dovid Adom, the production company, the Merom HaGalil Regional Council, and others. Thank G-d, the preparations are proceeding very well from a safety standpoint, in terms of infrastructure, and with regard to the general organization. Subject to the instructions of security personnel, this should ensure a hillula that is joyous, safe, and respectable on Lag Ba’omer.”

Though Meir Porush is no longer the minister in charge of the preparations in Meron, his staff is still in the picture, including Yossi Deitsch, the project manager and Porush’s close associate who previously served as deputy mayor of Yerushalayim. The ministry that Porush used to head (the Ministry of Yerushalayim Affairs and Israeli Heritage Heritage) is likewise still responsible for the hillula, and the ministry’s director-general, Shimmy Elbaum, is another of Porush’s men. However, I am certain that Meir Porush feels a pang of sadness upon seeing himself excluded from the preparations. Although Shlomo Karchi, who was appointed by the government to be responsible for the hillula, tries to involve Porush in every decision, it is clearly not the same.

As in previous years, work began on Area 89 at the bottom of the mountain, which has served the participants in the hillula since the Meron tragedy several years ago. In recent days, the ground was prepared and tents were erected for the large crowds that are expected to visit the mountain, subject to Home Front Command approval. The next step is the wave of competition for the coveted entry permits that enable a person to pass through all the police checkpoints. This week, Shlomo Karchi published the criteria: “Permits will be issued to rabbonim and public figures with a long history of participating in the hillula, and whose presence at the hillula is important to the public or for the success of the event, as well as to official guests of the State of Israel from abroad and to diplomats. Requests for permits according to these criteria will be discussed by a public committee appointed by the relevant minister and will be submitted in accordance with the attached procedure no later than the 3rd of Iyar 5786…. The list of recipients of the permits will be released on the ministry’s web site after they are issued, at a reasonable amount of time before the hillula.”

I can predict with complete confidence that the uproar surrounding the permits that we see every year will be repeated this year as well.

A Reckoning for Israel’s Independence Day

This week, on Tuesday, Israel marked Yom Hazikaron—the official day of remembrance for fallen IDF soldiers and the victims of terror. The next day, Wednesday, was Yom Haatzmaut, when the country celebrates its independence.

As usual, some painful statistics were published in advance of this week’s events. The number of fatalities in Israel’s battles from the year 1860 until the present day stands at 25,644. To date, 5,313 citizens have been murdered in terror attacks, including 1,017 who have been killed since the calamity of October 7. Since the previous Yom Hazikaron, another 170 fatalities have been added to the list of terror victims, and another 54 individuals who were disabled as a result of hostile actions passed away due to their disabilities and were recognized as victims of Israel’s battles. Today, there are 59,583 people in the State of Israel who are considered members of bereaved families, including 8,420 bereaved parents, 4,872 widows, and 14,430 orphaned children. Since 1851, when the Jewish yishuv was established in Eretz Yisroel, the number of civilian fatalities has reached 5,313 (620 before the War of Independence, 931 over the course of the war, and 3,762 since it ended). Since the establishment of the state (on the 5th of Iyar 5708/1948) until today, 4,587 civilians have been murdered, including 810 children under the age of 18. Over the past year, since last year’s Yom Hazikaron, 79 civilians have been murdered in terrorist attacks, including 35 who were killed during Operation Rising Lion (the campaign against Iran in June 2026) and 27 in the course of Operation Roaring Lion in March 2026.

Yom Haatzmaut should be an occasion for a cheshbon hanefesh for those who celebrate this country’s existence. The protocols of the Knesset, the parliament of the Jewish state, are filled with heretical comments, insults directed against Torah learners, and expressions of contempt for things that should be our most precious values. And the appalling words are complemented by horrific actions as well. Over the past two years, yeshiva bochurim and kollel yungeleit have been subjected to an endless campaign of persecution, as senior officials in government ministries, not to mention leading figures in the state prosecution and attorney general’s office, are working hard to stamp out every allocation of government funding that could possibly benefit the country’s bnei Torah.

In these trying times, we can draw encouragement and strength from the knowledge that the world is under the absolute control of its Creator. Sometimes, we can observe that Hashem has turned the plans of the wicked against them, causing their schemes to yield results that are precisely the opposite of what they intended. Yom Haatzmaut itself is a striking illustration of this idea. It was instituted as a day of recreation and idleness, a time for hot dogs and barbecues with little connection to ruchniyus. But Hashem had other plans, and for thousands of religious Israelis, it has become a day of vacation from their regular jobs when they can dedicate their time to Torah learning. I believe that this practice was introduced by the Kaliver Rebbe, but it has since become almost ubiquitous. Tens of thousands of Jews throughout Israel, who are off from work, spend their time learning Torah at a series of shiurim from morning until night.

“One Plus One Is Much More than Two”

Alas, several days after Yissochor Dov Spiegel’s levayah, Hashem answered the bereaved father’s prayers, and the body of the deceased boy’s 18-year-old brother, Avrohom Yeshayahu, was found. The second levayah was held on Sunday night, mere hours after the body was located at the seashore in Tel Aviv. Like his brother, Avrohom Yeshayahu was a talmid at Yeshivas Tushiya in Tifrach, and the rosh yeshiva, Rav Aviezer Piltz, delivered a tearful hesped at his funeral. “The Voice of Hashem breaks the cedars,” Rav Piltz began, quoting a posuk, “Hashem is speaking to us in a very loud voice, as He has broken two powerful cedars. The two Spiegel brothers were known in the yeshiva as outstanding bnei aliyah.”

A hesped was also delivered by Rav Binyomin Finkel, who is personally acquainted with the boys’ father, who heads a chaburah in the Mir yeshiva. Another hesped was delivered by Rav Yisroel Gans, one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Kol Torah and a rov in the area of Rechov Ponim Meiros, where he lives near Yeshivas Imrei Moshe, the yeshiva attended by Avrohom Yeshayahu Spiegel last summer before he transferred to Tifrach. Rav Gans davens in the yeshiva, and Avrohom Yeshayahu forged a bond with him and even learned with him b’chavrusa. Rav Yehoshua Mishkovsky, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Imrei Moshe, delivered a hesped as well.

Once again, Rav Spiegel delivered a heartrending hesped as he prepared to bury another son. “We davened and cried out so much to see you brought back for your final rest. We have suffered a double blow…. One plus one is much more than two,” he added. Indeed, the tragic deaths of two outstanding young bnei Torah should leave all of us deeply shaken.

Permit me to add a comment on a personal note. I was well-acquainted with the boys’ grandfather, Rav Yisroel Spiegel, who was one of the leaders of Tzeirei Agudas Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel and an editor at Hamodia. He was responsible for introducing me to the world of writing. After my marriage, I was his neighbor; I rented an apartment that belonged to the father-in-law of Avrohom Ravitz in a building occupied by several distinguished individuals: Rav Leib Heiman, the mora d’asra, as well as Rav Yisroel Spiegel, Rav Avrohom Ravitz and Rav Aryeh Goloventzitz. During that time, I developed close friendships with all my neighbors, chief among them Rav Spiegel.

And that isn’t my only personal connection to the tragedy. I have a grandson who just completed his third year in Yeshivas Imrei Moshe and has now enrolled in Yeshivas Bais Mattisyohu. As it turns out, Avrohom Yeshayahu Spiegel was his chavrusa and close friend in the yeshiva for three years. My grandson, along with the rest of his circle of friends, is in complete shock due to the tragedy. This week, he said to me, “Do you remember that when I used to visit you on Shabbos, I was accompanied by a bochur whom you found very impressive? That bochur was Avrohom Yeshayahu Spiegel.”

Indeed, I remembered that he visited my house on several occasions and was always equipped with an outstanding vort. He was highly knowledgeable about every subject he studied in yeshiva, and he enjoyed hearing my stories about my grandfather. His death is a profound tragedy.

A Look at the Global Jewish Population

Here are some more statistics that were published this week: On the 78th anniversary of Israel’s founding, the country has a population of 10,244,000. This includes a large group of people who are officially recognized as non-Jews, but it also includes many people who are registered as Jews but are not halachically Jewish. Some estimates put the number of such people—the non-Jewish immigrants who are officially classified as Jews—at about two million. And there are also slightly more than two million Arab citizens of Israel. In addition, 296,000 people, or about 2.9 percent of the country’s population, are foreign workers. When the State of Israel was founded, in contrast, its population stood at only 806,000 citizens. Since Yom Haatzmaut last year, the population of Israel has grown by about 146,000, or about 1.4 percent. The Israeli population has increased by 110,000 (or 1.1 percent), while the population of foreigners has increased by about 36,000. During this period, about 177,000 babies were born to Israelis, about 21,000 immigrants arrived in the country, approximately 48,000 people passed away, and the net balance of Israelis living abroad was negative, at about 45,000, while approximately 5,000 people entered the country through family reunification programs. Since the establishment of the state, Israel has absorbed over 3.5 million immigrants, of which about 1.68 million (or 47.8 percent) arrived since the year 1990. The Central Bureau of Statistics also reported that there are 15.8 million Jews in the world, and over seven million Jews, or about 45 percent of the global Jewish population, live in Israel. Of course, this does not answer the question of how many of them actually lead Jewish lives and how many have assimilated.

By the end of 2024, about 45 percent of the world’s Jewish population resided in Israel. About 81 percent of Jews in Israel are “sabras,” or native-born Israelis. Surveys have also found that 91 percent of Israelis are either satisfied or very satisfied with life. Israel is ranked among the top ten countries in the world in the United Nations World Happiness Report. (As of 2026, it ranked eighth in the world.) About 66 percent of Israelis are satisfied or very satisfied with their economic situation, 83 percent of Israelis consider their health situation good or very good, and 96 percent are satisfied or very satisfied with their relationships with their families.

Antisemitism Remains a Troubling Trend

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism released some statistics that show a sharp spike in antisemitic incidents around the world. This includes incidents of harassment of Jews, vandalism of Jewish-owned property, arson attacks on community buildings, physical assaults, and murderous attacks on individuals and Jewish institutions, which took the lives of 19 Jews around the world. During the period covered by the report (April 2025 through April 2026), 958 incidents of antisemitism were reported in 72 states, making an average of over 74 incidents every month. In April of last year alone, 118 antisemitic incidents were reported. Over 70 percent of those incidents took place in Western countries that are home to the world’s largest Jewish communities. The United States leads the list, with over 300 incidents (one third of the total), followed by Britain with over 130 incidents and then France, where 58 incidents took place against the backdrop of hatred of Jews. There were also dozens of incidents in Italy, Spain, Germany, and Canada. A detailed analysis of the events points to an uptick in violence and hatred over the past twelve months. There have been hundreds of incidents of vandalism, including attacks on shuls, communal institutions, and Jewish property, over 130 physical attacks on Jews, dozens of antisemitic demonstrations with messages of incitement, and dozens of economic boycotts and other forms of delegitimization.

The statistics show a monthly average of 11.5 incidents of physical violence, with the peak in August 2025. After a decrease in violent incidents at the end of 2025, a gradual upward trend began at the beginning of the current year. Almost 40 percent of the incidents included destruction or damage to property, with visibly Jewish sites such as shuls, cemeteries, and businesses being consistently targeted. One of the most worrisome statistics shows that 27.2 percent of the total number of incidents included physical assaults. Even though these incidents were less frequent than the episodes of vandalism, it is certainly a more severe type of offense, in a category that includes mass casualty incidents and targeted killings. The report’s findings indicate stable, ongoing high levels of antisemitic incidents and phenomena in areas primarily inhabited by Muslim and Palestinian populations, especially in countries where such activities are permitted to occur on the pretext of “freedom of expression.” Those countries include Britain, Australia, France, Canada, Germany, and certain states in the United States.

One Must Talk to the Judges in Their Own Language

Last week, I wrote about the recent machinations of the Supreme Court. The justices of the Supreme Court have managed to infuriate the entire population of Israel—sometimes the political right, sometimes the chareidim, and sometimes the national religious sector. They simply have no red lines. As I reported here, the judges convened on Shabbos to hear a petition filed by left-wing protestors in Tel Aviv against the police, evoking widespread outrage with their decision to meet on Shabbos and with their ruling. Since that incident, there have been two noteworthy developments. First, some of the other judges on the court voiced their objections to Chief Justice Amit at their weekly meeting about the desecration of the Shabbos. In addition, official complaints were filed with the Ombudsman of the Judiciary about this utterly foolish move on the court’s part.

Last week, the court also held a publicly televised hearing over the petitions demanding the dismissal of Minister Ben-Gvir. I could easily write an entire article about this subject alone. There was one particular lawyer, David Peter, who represented Ben-Gvir and the government and managed to teach the judges a lesson or two. It was fascinating to listen to him; Peter managed to make the judges look as small as possible. Among other things, he said to them, “Not only do you not have the authority to discuss dismissing a minister, which is under the jurisdiction of the prime minister, but you also do not have the authority to decide that you do have the authority.” He responded sharply to every comment from the judges; nevertheless, they were not intimidated. In the meantime, the judges offered a compromise: Ben-Gvir will not be dismissed, but his authority will be reduced, mainly with regard to appointing officials and giving orders to the police.

On that note, I recently heard a recording of Avrohom (Avi) Mimran, the founder of Mesugalim. Since the coronavirus pandemic, and throughout the recent war, Mimran has been advising and assisting families with children with special needs, who must contend with exceptional hardships at times of crisis. These children are affected to an extreme by experiences such as quarantine during a pandemic or taking shelter in a cramped safe room while a terrifying air raid siren blares overhead. Mimran’s explanations shed light on the closed, frightening world of a child with special needs or a person on the autistic spectrum. As he pointed out, an adult might think that he is communicating with such a child, as the child nods his head and appears to understand him, but the reality is that the child is somewhere far away. “You are speaking Hebrew to him, but he hears Chinese,” Mimran said to a group of struggling parents. “You need to learn his language.”

Upon hearing that, I suddenly had a flash of insight. People are often perplexed by the fact that the judges of the Supreme Court have the audacity to repeatedly chip away at any remaining public trust in their institution. First, they convened on Shabbos. Then they offered the absurd explanation that the case demanded chillul Shabbos because it is a matter of pikuach nefesh to permit demonstrations in Tel Aviv. They went on to insist that they were completely justified in applying a different standard to this case than to permitting tefillah at the Kosel Hamaaravi, and that there was no need for them to issue a similar ruling to permit the Kosel to reopen to mispallelim. This left many people scratching their heads. Do these judges live in a bubble of complete detachment? Are they unaware of the fact that the public sees them as an enemy? Even an animal would change direction to avoid falling into an open pit; how could the judges of the Supreme Court stubbornly refuse to bend? For a while, I considered this a mystery that was impossible to solve, until I realized that we are simply speaking different languages. Until we figure out how to communicate with the Supreme Court justices in their own language, we will all be talking to a wall, and they will continue issuing the same type of rulings, which are out of touch with reality.

Meanwhile, a chareidi organization recently filed a petition with the Supreme Court against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, claiming that her constant demands for more sanctions against lomdei Torah are absurd and excessive. There is some logic in appealing to the court; Baharav-Miara has based her demands on the Supreme Court’s rulings, which means that if the judges rule against her, she will have no basis for continuing her campaign of oppression. It will be interesting to see how the court responds to this petition.

I have a confession to make. Many years ago, certain circumstances led me to develop a grudge against someone.

I had nothing against the person herself. In fact, I admired her. But something she did led me to believe that I’d been wronged. Suffering under a sense of great disappointment, I felt as though something precious had been taken from me. I needed someone to pin my pain on, and she was elected.

Having been appointed the villain of the piece, she continued to hold that position in my mind for a long time. It wasn’t until recently that I be­came privy to additional facts of the case which helped me understand that my disappointment, while real, had not been of her making. It had come about through a combination of perhaps unrealis­tic expectations, possibly misplaced compassion, and a lack of clear communication.

In short, I’d created a narrative in my head based more on feeling than on fact and then allowed that narrative to take its place in the archives of my memory. Filed neatly away under the heading of “Old Grudges.”

From time to time, when the topic came up, I’d pull the story out for review. I’d re-air my griev­ance and wallow briefly again in that long-ago sense of victimhood. The whole tale was suffused with the disappointment I’d felt back then. An emotion that colored everything about the episode.

When, as I said, I recently discovered that my grudge had far less of an actual basis than I’d be­lieved, I naturally felt ashamed. I wished that I’d been able, at the time and afterward, to overcome my disappointment long enough to judge that des­ignated villain favorably. Maybe then she would not have earned the role of villain in my mind at all.

Maybe I would have been able to accept the fact that she was not the instrument of my pain through any bad behavior on her part. Rather, she’d acted to the best of her own knowledge. If I ended up being hurt by what she did, she’d obvi­ously been selected by Hashem to facilitate that hurt. Such a realization would have allowed me to withhold a negative judgement and rise above my bruised feelings.

The discovery also made me wonder, uneasily, how many other times I may have misidentified something based on how it made me feel at the time. My only consolation is that I’m not alone in this weakness. Many of us routinely follow the lead of our emotions without bothering to ascertain the cold, hard facts first. Sad, but true.

According to the police, witnesses to a crime or an accident are notoriously inaccurate in their descriptions. You’d think that being on the spot and seeing something with one’s own eyes would make a person the perfect narrator of said event. But the contrary is true. In­terview five witnesses, and you’ll likely get five different descriptions. That’s because people are not recording ma­chines. They’re human, which means that they’re subjective. And being sub­jective means not only seeing things but also interpreting them.

Our interpretation of events should be based on the cold, hard facts we mentioned before. Instead, we often interpret them in the light of our indi­vidual personalities, histories and pro­clivities. That’s why the same person that you might describe one way may wear a very different set of adjectives in my scenario. Perhaps he reminds us of someone we knew in the past. Maybe his appearance aroused our pity or our fear, which in turn obscured the reality of what our eyes saw.

For example, if I come across two kids roughhousing, I might indul­gently think, “Boys will be boys…” Or I might condemn the larger of the two as bullying the other. It all depends on where I’m coming from.

It’s all a matter of perspective. And perspective is subjective.

Bribery Blinds

There’s a reason why the Torah ex­horts a judge not to accept a bribe from a party to a legal squabble. Bribery, we are taught, blinds the eyes of the wise. Even the wisest and most hon­est of men is not a robot. Receiving a gift from someone will inevitably dis­pose the recipient of that gift to incline in the giver’s direction. That’s human nature.

The Torah recognizes that even the greatest judge is not an angel, but a mortal being of flesh and blood and emotion. Emotions which can be ig­nited and twisted.

Not surprisingly, the same principle holds true in all areas of life. Flattery and compliments are music to our ears and sugar to our egos. They can blind us to the flatterer’s true nature and more unsavory aspects. Hearing the music that we love to hear, and tasting the sweetness we crave, renders us far less than objective and our judgements far less than accurate.

When our Sages urge us to judge others favorably, they’re not just of­fering a good idea. They’re acknowl­edging one of the fundamentals of life: the fact that people are not machines. We have feelings, and those feelings can, and unfortunately often do, over­shadow the facts. Until we can be cer­tain that we have all the available facts and, equally importantly, that we’ve interpreted them correctly, we can’t trust our judgements. Far better to err on the side of judging favorably than to fall into a pit of misguided grudges and grievances.

We walk into every encounter bur­dened with our assumptions, our sensitivities, and our sense of entitle­ment… all of which have their legs stretched out, ever ready to trip us. That’s why it’s so vital that we hold onto the words of wisdom that can guide us through every shoal: hevei dan es kol ho’odom l’kaf zechus. Don’t jump to conclusion based on an assumption or a lack of information. Take the trou­ble to dig up the facts. And certainly, we should never conclude anything on the basis of our hurt feelings.

Our starting point should be a fa­vorable judgement. After that, we can try to seek clarity. More often than not, that clarity will show us a prettier picture than we might have expected. Because people are fundamentally de­cent, and their intentions are usually good.

I hope that my own error, and the uncomfortable reflections it’s aroused, will prompt me to do better in the fu­ture. As the police commonly request of a loquacious eyewitness, “Just the facts, ma’am.” Anything else is open to subjective interpretation. And from there, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump to tumbling into a hole that it can be hard to extricate ourselves from.

Let’s avoid the embarrassment, or worse, of jumping to the wrong conclu­sions about our fellow men or women. Judging them with a friendly eye in the first place is preferable to scrambling for damage control afterward.

We can do that by allowing the facts, and not our triggered emotions or pre­conceived notions, to dictate the nar­rative.

To say that we are living in historic times would be an understatement. The United States and Israel undertook a major effort to strip Iran of its ability to threaten the world with nuclear weapons. Over the course of more than a month, thousands of sorties were flown over Iranian territory with minimal interference, and over 30,000 bombs were dropped on a wide range of strategic targets. Much of Iran’s military infrastructure was significantly damaged, including key elements of its missile production capability.

However, despite these blows, Iran retains significant residual capacity. It continues to possess enriched uranium necessary for nuclear weapons development, maintains the ability to launch attacks against Israel and several Arab Gulf states, and still holds leverage over global energy markets through its control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes.

President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to a two-week ceasefire, which remains in effect as of this writing. However, negotiations stalled over Iran’s refusal to meet key demands, including a full halt to uranium enrichment, the dismantling of its nuclear infrastructure, an end to supporting terrorist proxies, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a broader commitment to regional peace. At this point, it remains unclear whether, or when, the United States and Israel will resume military operations against Iran.

Yet, beyond the strategic developments and geopolitical calculations, as Torah Jews, we know that history is never only shaped on the battlefield. Events of this magnitude tend to sharpen our awareness that beneath the headlines and beyond the arena of nations, there are deeper forces at work. Chazal state (Avodah Zora 2b) that Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “Milchamos Ani osisi, shene’emar Hashem ish milchomah—Hashem is the one who fights the wars,” though we can affect their outcomes through our actions. Many gedolim have spoken of the correlation between Israel being under attack and the country’s ongoing court-imposed battles against yeshivos.

Shuvu, the network of kiruv schools in Eretz Yisroel, is facing a serious financial emergency, prompting three Gedolim to travel to the New York area this week on its behalf. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rav Shimon Galei, and Rav Yehuda Silman addressed gatherings, underscoring the critical importance of sustaining an organization that brings children and their families closer to Torah. Support for Torah causes is always essential, but especially in times of danger, when Klal Yisroel needs added zechuyos. Helping bring children tachas kanfei haShechinah is a unique and powerful source of merit, clearly significant enough for these leaders to undertake the journey to strengthen Shuvu’s vital work.

The war brought to mind the statement of the Pesikta Rabbosi (37:2) which I paraphrase here: Rabi Yitzchok stated that the year in which the Melech HaMoshiach will reveal himself, the leaders of the world will be fighting with each other. The leader of Poras (Iran) will be fighting with the leader of Arabia, and the leader of Arabia will go to Edom for advice and help, and the leader of Poras will seek to destroy the world; the nations of the world will become fearful and fall on their faces as they are overcome with pangs similar to birth pangs.

As we entered Nissan, the month of geulah, we were reminded of this Medrash, and as we celebrated Pesach, which is the Yom Tov of geulah, and the fighting continued and then abated, we were hopeful that the war, its bombardments, and Iran’s refusal to accede to America’s demands—which would be expected of any defeated nation in Iran’s situation—are indications that this conflagration can lead to the arrival of Moshiach, which we all long for.

But we have to prove ourselves worthy. Many times during our history, the time was ripe for Moshiach, but the people weren’t, so the opportunity was lost. The period of Sefirah is a most opportune time for us to rectify the sinas chinom that led to the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh and our dispersal into the golus which continues to this day.

On Pesach, we celebrated the birth of our nation, the defining moments when we stood together and became Hashem’s beloved people. The Maharal writes that since the world was created for Torah and for Am Yisroel, with the forming of our people at Yetzias Mitzrayim and Krias Yam Suf, creation was complete.

This historic transformation is reinvigorated each year on Pesach, as we each view ourselves as freshly redeemed from Mitzrayim and welcomed into Hashem’s embrace.

During the uplifting days of Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed, we stepped out of the cumulative noise of everyday life and into a world of clarity and connection. Through the Sedorim, the festive meals, the spirited tefillos, and the gift of being unburdened by routine pressures, we were able to breathe again, spiritually and emotionally. We recharged our neshamos and reconnected with what defines us and with who we are.

Pesach reminds us that we are more than individuals navigating our private struggles. We are part of something larger, something eternal. It calls upon us to remember who we are and why we are here, not just in the abstract, but in our purpose in life itself: in the way we live, the way we treat each other, and the way we carry ourselves in the world.

In a displaced persons camp after the war, a group of survivors gathered to conduct a Pesach Seder. They had all lost their families, homes, and everything familiar. The table before them was bare, aside from some matzah and wine, but they were determined to relive the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim, Klal Yisroel’s and their own individual deliverances from death.

The air was charged with emotion, and when they reached Avodim Hoyinu, one of the men rose to speak.

“We say that we were slaves,” he began, his voice unsteady. “But we have just come from a place worse than slavery. We saw what man is capable of doing. And yet, we are still here. We are still together. We are still Hashem’s people. They tried to break us, to separate us, to erase us, but they failed. We are here. We have persevered, as have our forefathers throughout the ages.”

Shebechol dor vador omdim aleinu lechaloseinu. In every generation, people have risen up to destroy us, to wipe us off the face of this earth. Just as each era has its modes of war, of expression, and of speech, so does each generation experience differing methods of hate and means to kill Jews.

Over the past month, and during Pesach, our brethren in Eretz Yisroel retreated to shelters and safe rooms as they sought protection from an array of missiles and drones sent by enemies bent on their destruction. Tragically several people lost their lives. Despite the loss of property across the country, quite miraculously relatively few were harmed, and a ceasefire of sorts settled in, granting at least a temporary reprieve.

And now, as Yom Tov fades and we gently return to our responsibilities, the challenge begins. It is easy to feel elevated within the embrace of the chag, with its special mitzvos, minhagim, celebrations, and kedusha. Our task now is to carry that elevation forward and allow the clarity, joy, and fulfillment of Pesach to charge our daily lives and keep us on the higher levels we attained, so that we can continue our march toward Kabbolas HaTorah and merit geulah as well.

Pesach leads us into the Sefirah period, with its focus on tikkun hamiddos. The parshiyos of Tazria and Metzora, which we lain this week, form a bridge between Pesach and Shavuos. These parshiyos discuss the affliction of tzora’as and the necessity of removing the afflicted person from among the community and placing him in isolation for weekly periods.

The Medrash (Vayikra Rabbah 16:1) teaches that tzora’as is brought on by engagement in any one of seven corrosive traits: haughty eyes, a deceitful tongue, hands stained with innocent blood, a heart that schemes evil, feet that rush toward wrongdoing, false testimony—and, most grievous of all, the sowing of discord between people. This final sin is often carried out through slander and lies—motzi sheim ra and lashon hora. Thus, the Torah refers to the person with tzora’as as a metzora, for the word is formulated from the words motzi sheim ra. Someone who speaks lashon hora is punished with tzora’as.

In this world, there are four elementary forms, each one on a higher level than the one below it: domeim, tzomei’ach, chai, and medaber—the inert, such as stone and dirt; that which grows, such as grass and trees; that which is alive, such as animals; and, above them all, man, who is granted the gift of speech.

The ability to speak allows us to effectively communicate with each other. With speech, we can learn, grow, develop, study Torah, engage in mitzvos, and be part of a cohesive social fabric. Thus, Targum Onkelos famously says that the words in Bereishis that state that man was alive, “Vayehi Ha’adam lenefesh chaya,” indicate that “vehavas b’adam ruach memalela,” man was given the power of speech. The ability to speak gave man his spirit and life.

Life is that ability to connect with other people—the experience of joining with others, interacting with them, and using words to convey emotion. The breath invested into each word is the very essence of life itself.

Humans were given the gift of speech to enable us to live an exalted life, connected with Hashem and Klal Yisroel. Someone who misuses that gift to cause dissension and separate people from each other is therefore isolated from everyone else and set apart.

Bodod. Alone. Because he rejected the gift of life and used his words to create division and hate, he is forced to withdraw from society, deprived of the essential joy of life and social interaction.

We received the Torah when we were united, k’ish echod beleiv echod, and all of Klal Yisroel became areivim zeh bozeh, interconnected. Yisroel v’Oraisa v’Kudsha Brich Hu chad hu. We are connected to each other, to the Torah, and to Hashem as one.

Hatred causes dissension, disconnects people from each other and from Hashem, and prevents Him from returning His Shechinah to us in the Bais Hamikdosh.

Those who recognize that all of Klal Yisroel is one body that is meant to be united are not encumbered by pettiness or jealousy. They understand that our neshamos emanate from the same place beneath the Kisei Hakavod. When they see another Jew, they feel that connection, unfettered by the externals that often distract people from one another.

Man is composed of two parts, chomer and tzurah. Chomer refers to the physical side of a person: the body, material concerns, and the day-to-day demands of life. Tzurah, on the other hand, is the inner essence of a person, the spiritual core: his character, values, and soul.

While both are part of who we are, the true self is the tzurah. That is the deeper identity of a person, the part that gives meaning and direction to everything else. The chomer is only the outer layer, like a garment that covers what is inside. When a person becomes overly focused on his chomer, he becomes absorbed in the external and superficial, losing sight of what life is truly about.

A person who lives only in the world of chomer naturally becomes self-centered. Without a strong inner tzurah, he lacks the depth to properly appreciate others. He may become consumed with comparison, jealousy, and resentment. Other people’s success threatens him rather than inspiring him. Instead of feeling connected to others, he views himself as being in competition with them. This makes genuine unity impossible for him, and he ends up isolated, not only socially, but emotionally and spiritually as well.

That can lead to lashon hora and negativity. When a person is focused only on appearances and externals, he is more likely to judge, criticize, and tear others down, because he sees life through the lens of ego and insecurity rather than truth and connection.

In this sense, tzora’as is not just a physical affliction, but a wake-up call. It forces a person who has become overly focused on external appearances to confront something deeper—namely, his vulnerability and imperfection. Through that experience, he is meant to pause and reflect, to step back from the surface of life and ask what truly defines him.

It is an invitation to rediscover the tzurah within, the inner self that connects rather than divides, that builds unity rather than isolation, and that gives a person meaning beyond the physical world.

The posuk in Bereishis (2:18) states, “Lo tov heyos ha’adam levado—It is not good for a person to be alone.” As Hashem was creating the world, He declared that loneliness is unhealthy for a person, and He therefore fashioned a partner for him. Man is not meant to exist in isolation. He is meant to live in relationship, connection, and community.

This idea is not only spiritual, but also reflects what we see in human experience. Modern research and medical studies have shown that people who maintain friendships and meaningful social bonds tend to live healthier lives. Isolation, by contrast, is damaging to body and soul.

This goes even deeper on a spiritual level. A person who is consumed with lashon hara, hotza’as sheim ra and rechilus ultimately becomes a divider of people. Instead of building connections, he creates distance. Instead of strengthening relationships, he weakens them. And in doing so, he brings about his own punishment, because the world he creates is one of suspicion, mistrust, and loneliness, where people pull away from him in return.

He is, in effect, left alone in the very world he helped shape.

In contrast, a person of tzurah, rooted in arvus and animated by a ruach memalela, is sensitive to the neshomah of another person. He does not merely see people as bodies or external figures, but as inner worlds. He feels connection rather than competition, unity rather than division.

Great people, in this sense, experience genuine joy in being with others. They value being part of something larger than themselves. They look for ways to uplift, to support, and to contribute. They seek out people not to use them, but to help them, because they understand that we are all fundamentally one.

Everyone can use encouragement and some chizuk. Let people know you care. Even a small expression of interest, a sincere question, or a moment of attention can mean a lot to anyone.

A person who speaks lashon hara is not simply speaking negatively about others. He is trying to diminish them, to strip them of their kavod, their self-worth and the respect others have for them. When a person loses the respect of those around him, he often begins to lose respect for himself as well. In that sense, lashon hara can not only damage a reputation, but it can also erode a person’s spirit and cause him to withdraw from others.

This is reflected in the punishment of “vehisgiro shivas yomim,” where the person with tzora’as is confined and isolated, given space away from others until he learns once again how to value them.

With the gift of speech, ruach memalela, we have the ability to build people, restore dignity, and breathe life into someone who is struggling.

During Sefirah, we recall and mourn the talmidim of Rabi Akiva who passed away because “lo nahagu kavod zeh bazeh,” they did not treat one another with proper respect. Kavod—respect, validation and acknowledgment—is not an extra layer of refinement. It is life itself. A person needs kavod, self-worth, and the respect of others in order to function and live.

Just as the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh was caused by sinas chinom, it will be rebuilt through love and respect for others, through hearts and neshamos that are open to one another.

We can prepare for the coming of Moshiach with every word we speak and every interaction we have. Each moment of restraint from negativity, each effort to uplift rather than diminish, and each act of restoring another person’s kavod is another step toward the coming of Moshiach.

May we merit to internalize the lessons of Tazria and Metzora—the power of speech, the sanctity of connection, and the value of every Yid. And through that, may we strengthen unity among Klal Yisroel and hasten the arrival of the day when sinas chinom will be erased. Let us return to where we were at the time we became a nation, with complete unity, k’ish echod beleiv echod, so that we may merit the arrival of Moshiach very soon.

It is not pleasant to admit one’s own faults in public, especially in a forum such as a newspaper, which is read by many thousands. Still, leto’eles, I think it is worthwhile.

I happen to daven in a shul that has a very strict “no-talking in shul” policy. The olam largely complies, and if, on a rare occasion, someone forgets, there are good neshamos who will not hesitate to shush them without mercy…

I recently had occasion to daven in a different shul than my usual one. It so happens that I have an old, dear friend who davens in that shul, and whenever I go there, we always get into some sort of discussion. This friend, who is a real tzaddik and who will go out of his way to help others, often with great mesirus nefesh, is a gregarious fellow and always has a comment or a well-placed joke (at my expense) on the tip of his tongue. That is the way he masks his good deeds.

There is one problem that arises every time I walk into that shul. For some reason, I seem to just forget about the important mandate of not talking in shul. Somehow, my friend, with his easy quip or comment, elicits a counter-comment from me, and although I try to whisper and be discreet, I know it is wrong. Just being in that sevivah with him is, for some reason, enough to take away the inhibition of not talking.

For whatever reason, this nisayon is one that I have not yet been able to overcome in that shul, until my most recent visit there. Believe it or not, that very friend (who knows I am writing these words and agrees to them) was the source for the turnaround.

As he was shmoozing with me at the beginning of Kabbolas Shabbos, he pointed to a Yid who was sitting at one of the tables. “You see that guy over there? He had cancer and, boruch Hashem, he is well now. As a result of his ordeal, he made a kabbolah not to talk in shul, and it bothers him when others talk.”

My friend continued: “I talk anyway. I can’t control myself, but I thought you should know…”

His words hit me like a slap in the face. Of course, I should learn to control myself. The last thing I wanted to do was to cause pain to a cancer survivor. As I made a hachlatah not to fall again and shmooze in shul, even with this friend, I felt a bit hypocritical. Why was hurting that cancer survivor so much more of a potent deterrent than hurting Hashem? What is with me?

The Power of Peer Pressure

Either way, there is another lesson that I learned from that encounter that I would like to focus on. That lesson is the power of peer pressure and the power that one’s sevivah, the surrounding environment, has on a person.

For whatever reason, meeting with this person, whom I consider a good friend, set me off. My usual inhibition, both spiritual and practical, just falls away when I am near him.

In this week’s parsha, there is a profound lesson regarding the power that sevivah has on a person.

In this week’s parsha, we learn an interesting halacha about a kli cheres, a vessel made out of earthenware. The Torah tells us that something tamei does not have to touch a kli cheres to make the vessel tamei. Even if one would put something tamei in the airspace of a kli cheres, the vessel would become tamei.

For example, if I would take a sheretz, a dead insect, which is tamei, and hold it inside an earthenware cup in a way that it is not touching the walls of the cup at all, the cup still becomes tamei.

The Gerer Rebbe, the Pnei Menachem, says that from here we see the power of the hashpa’ah of one’s surroundings. If a person is surrounded by negative hashpa’os, negative people, or people who don’t conduct themselves completely in accordance with the standards of the Torah, or even in accordance with the standards of “kadeish atzmecha b’muttar loch,” he will be negatively impacted by them, even if he doesn’t touch them or have anything to do with them.

Just like the sheretz that doesn’t even touch the earthenware vessel makes the vessel tamei, so too, the seviva, the atmosphere—any atmosphere—has an impact on those surrounded by it, even if there is no interaction. This is true when it comes to an atmosphere of tumah or negativity, and certainly in an atmosphere of kedusha, simcha, or positivity. The sevivah has a very strong impact on a person, even if he has no direct interaction or contact with it.

The Effects of Leitzonus…Even Years Later

The Pnei Menachem explained this with a well-known idea based on a Mishnah in Pirkei Avos. The Mishnah says, “If two people sit together and there is no divrei Torah discussed between them, it is considered a moshav leitzim, a place of scoffers.” The question is: Why is it called a moshav leitzim if, let’s say, they did not speak at all? Why is that so bad?

The answer, the Pnei Menachem says, is that the very fact that they are not saying divrei Torah to each other is itself proof that the place where they are sitting was once a moshav leitzim. It was once a place where people were speaking leitzonus, and the impact of that leitzonus on the atmosphere is so severe that now, even years later, it somehow prevents these two Yidden from sharing divrei Torah. That is the power of hashpa’ah that inappropriate behavior has on a place.

He concludes, “How much more so does a heilige place that is full of kedusha have a hashpa’ah of kedusha forever after!”

“I Wasn’t Able to Learn Many Bletter Gemara…”

The Rachmastrivka Rebbe of Boro Park, who passed away more than a year ago, once related a story about his father-in-law, the previous Skverer Rebbe, that resonated with me.

Before the war, when his shver lived in Yas, a modern town, he was very scared about the kind of hashpa’ah that the surrounding culture would have on his daughters (who would later be the Vizhnitzer Rebbetzin of Monsey and his wife, the Rachmastrivka Rebbetzin).

He did not allow his daughters to attend school, because he was afraid of the influences there. However, he had a problem. How would he entertain young girls and teens if they had no school and no friends?

He once told his son-in-law, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe, “During that time, I was not able to learn many bletter Gemara because of my daughters [i.e., because he had to keep his daughters occupied], but I have no regrets and I don’t feel bad at all.”

What did he do? He would find interesting stories in the Gemara. He would then teach his daughters from these aggadetas and tell them stories from tzaddikim so that they would not feel lonely, bored, or deprived. He spent hours each day translating stories from Gemara and Chazal into Yiddish, so they would be stimulated. In this way, he tried to make sure that they would not feel the need to go out of the house.

That is the power of sevivah. Because he was so careful about the sevivah they were in, his daughters merited to remain deeply pious women who served as rebbetzins and had a profound positive hashpa’ah on so many others.

Will I or Won’t I? Time Will Tell!

Getting back to talking in shul…

Now, I cannot definitively tell you what will happen the next time I visit that shul and meet my good friend. Will I slip into old habits and begin shmoozing again or will I remember the lessons I have just shared?

Certainly, I hope the result will be different. Armed with the above lessons about the power of sevivah, and due to the very fact that so many will read these words and then be able to laugh me out of town for my hypocrisy, I hope that my good friend will understand that he will have to wait until after davening for me to give him back what he dishes out to me….

There’s a great old Israeli political joke. After Binyomin Netanyahu beat Shimon Peres for prime minister of Israel, his secretary starts getting the same phone call every single day. Ring! Ring! The secretary picks up the phone. “Hello, is Mr. Peres there?”

“I’m sorry, he’s no longer prime minister.” Click.

Next day, same thing. Ring. Ring. “Is Mr. Peres there?” Click.

This goes on for weeks.

Finally, the secretary can’t take it anymore. “Why do you keep calling?! How many times do I have to tell you?! Peres is out! Netanyahu is the prime minister! Stop already!”

The fellow on the other end says very calmly, “I know. I know. I just love hearing it over and over again.”

The Seder night is the full story. Every detail, every nuance, every prat uprat. But Chazal didn’t want us to hear it once a year and move on. After the great detailed relaying of the story on Pesach night, it’s not over. It’s never over.

Every single day. Every single night. We pick up the phone and dial Egypt. “Hello, are the Jews still there?”

“No. They left. They’ve been gone over three thousand years already.”

“Wonderful. Thank you.” Click.

Next morning. Same call. “Are the Jews in Egypt?”

“No! They left millennia ago!”

“Boruch Hashem.” Click.

You think that sounds repetitive? That’s exactly what we do every night of the year. We have to keep banging this message home, day after day, night after night. Not only because we are reliving the joy and gratitude of the fifteenth of Nissan, but because we are reiterating our personal reiteration of the freedom that we discussed on the Seder night. Slave mentality, in both a physical and spiritual sense, doesn’t pack up and leave just because the chains come off. Unless we act free and remind ourselves constantly that Hashem gave us the greatest gift of freedom, the mindset of avdus can seep right back in. If you don’t actively push back against it every single day, it starts running your life again without you even noticing.

On Pesach night, we go all in. The whole story with every detail. From Metchilah or Avodim Hayinu until the last prat uprat of the story. Up to Chad Gadya in the wee hours of the morning. The Seder is the annual deep dive of emunah and acknowledgment. It’s a self-realization of not only our physical bondage, but of our peduyas nafsheinu. The other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year, we make the phone call. Shema in the morning, Shema at night. Zeicher l’Yetzias Mitzrayim woven into Kiddush, into davening, into the fabric of the whole Jewish day. Because Hashem knows us. He knows how easy it is to drift. He built in the reminder.

You are not slaves. Get rid of that slave mentality that America and golus want you to have!

And what does slave mentality even look like today? Do we have something to relate to? Nobody’s picking cotton. Nobody has a whip. So what are we talking about?

Look at what happened after the Civil War in America. Lincoln’s government promised the freed slaves forty acres and a mule. Land, a future, a fresh start. He would make the African-American a “free distinguished man” in a matter of weeks. Then years. Then centuries. The promise was broken almost before it was made. Reconstruction came and went. A hundred years of civil rights battles followed — laws, courts, marches, legislation. And still, generations later, the damage didn’t just evaporate. Because you can pass all the laws you want. You cannot legislate a mentality out of a people. Freedom is not a legal status. It’s something you have to feel in your gut. In your bones. And getting it there takes real, daily, intentional work.

The slavery exists in so many ways in our society today. Slaves to our culture, our gadgets, our lifestyles, and every meshugeneh who starts a trend that is imitated by thousands, if not millions, of likers and followers whose minds are in chains. They are incarcerated by the relentless pull of the American mindset that tells us what to want, what to wear, and what to chase.

The Abarbanel sees our miraculous and immediate, eternal transformation hidden inside the Mah Nishtanah. He says that the child isn’t just rattling off four cute questions about vegetables. The kid is genuinely confused about something deeper. Tonight we eat matzah or the bread of affliction, as it’s called in the Maxwell House Haggadah. Tonight we eat maror, the taste of bitterness. But tonight we also recline like kings, dip like aristocrats, and carry ourselves like free people. So which is it? Are we slaves or are we free? Because the Seder seems to be pointing in two directions at the same time, and that’s not a small contradiction.

The Abarbanel’s answer is stunning. He says that tension is the whole message. Avodim hayinu, vayotzi’einu Hashem. We were slaves, and Hashem took us out. Not gradually. Not the way it normally works in history, where it takes generations for the psychology to catch up with the reality. At Yetzias Mitzrayim, in a single moment, Hashem didn’t just change our address. He changed our identity. We went from avodim to bnei chorin—from slaves to free people to the Am Hanivchar—overnight. No transition period. One night we’re mixing mortar, and the next morning we are eating the Korban Pesach like kings and princes.

That is why the Seder holds both symbols at once — the matzah of affliction and the reclining of royalty. We’re reenacting that extraordinary moment when Hashem redefined who we are from the inside out. The slavery and the freedom existed in the same breath, and we relive it every year so we never forget what we actually are.

We are not former slaves who got lucky. We are bnei chorin — free people — by divine definition and by His guidance. Hashem’s directive is not a historical footnote. It is our identity.

So what does the slave mentality look like today? It looks like spending your life worried about what everyone else thinks. Being afraid to stand up and say, “This is who I am and what I believe.” Being enslaved to your phone, your inbox, the endless noise of a world that wants your attention every waking second. That quiet nagging feeling that you’re not quite good enough. Not quite worthy. Not really free to be who you’re supposed to be.

That’s Mitzrayim. The word itself, meitzarim, means the narrow, constricted places. And Hashem has been telling us for three thousand years: You are out of there. You left. Stop acting like you didn’t.

Pesach is over. Indeed. The Haggados are back on the shelf. The leftover matzah is sitting in a box in the corner, getting pulled out piece by piece maybe as a replacement for the shalosh seudos emergency bulke you could not locate. But the job isn’t over. We are just in a different mode.

Now comes Sefirah. Forty-nine days of counting, of building, of climbing from Pesach to Shavuos. From the freedom of the body to the freedom of the soul, because you cannot truly have one without the other. The deepest freedom is Torah. Ein ben chorin ela mi she’oseik b’talmud Torah. It is not freedom from responsibility. It is freedom from every false master that tries to own you. Cheirus iz charut — it is etched into our essence. But we have to keep etching deeper and deeper.

That’s what the phone call is really about.

Every morning. Every night. We pick up and we dial. Ring! Ring! “Hello. Are the Jews still in Egypt?”

“No. They left. They have the Torah. They are bnei chorin.”

“Good. Just wanted to hear it again.” Click.

I’ll call back tomorrow.

Let freedom ring. Lehovi l’yemos haMoshiach.

Just saying.

We know what each of the Yomim Tovim are all about and we have generally heard about it since our childhood. But what is the purpose of Sefiras Ha’omer? We are aware, of course, that it is the countdown to Shavuos and Mattan Torah. But when we hear from Rav Shalom Sharabi, the Rashash (quoted in the Tzvi Latzaddik), that the success of our entire year depends upon it, we begin to wonder if there is more to it than just a daily count. In fact, the Sefer Hachinuch (Mitzvah 306) tells us that these days are meant to “instill in our souls the incredible event that looms before us, the moment we will once again receive the Torah.” It is true that we became a free people on Pesach, but the true freedom was established at Mattan Torah, since “no one is considered free unless he labors in Torah” (Maseches Kallah, Chapter 8).

I had an experience this Pesach that was similar to one recounted by Rav Yaakov Yisroel Beifus, author of the Lekach Tov series. He was on line in a Chicago office with several Israelis who were waiting for some bureaucratic red tape to clear. A gentile man from Mexico asked what language they were speaking and was told that it was Hebrew. To Rav Beifus’ surprise, the man became extremely emotional. “I love the Bible,” he exclaimed, “and I have read that the Jewish people are the children of G-d. This is the first time I have actually had the privilege of meeting one of G-d’s children.” Over Yom Tov, I sat next to and got to listen to the extraordinary life story of Nissim Black, a ger tzedek who is raising a wonderful Torah family. One of the anecdotes he relates is the first time he met a Jewish person and how he felt that he was in the “presence of Hashem.”

Since I was the next speaker and it was at seudah shlishis just after Pesach, I related the feelings of my rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, that “just to sit together with Yidden, no words need to be uttered. Just sitting together is one of the most sublime pleasures of all” (Maamorei Pachad Yitzchok, Pesach, Maamar 113). The Sefirah period is devoted to honing and deepening this feeling and spiritual pleasure. We, who have received and follow the Torah, must bask in each other’s presence and look forward together to reenacting Kabbolas HaTorah, which gave us our identity and purpose in life. To return to Rav Beifus’ Mexican friend, the gentile who liked to study the Bible had a request. “Can I ask you a question? When you, a son of G-d, walk in the street, what do you think about? It can’t be that that you are like me, thinking silly inane thoughts. You are above that. So could you please share some of those thoughts with me?”

Now, on the one hand, surrounded as we are with so much hatred and anti-Semitism, isn’t that refreshing? But on the other hand, isn’t that something of an indictment and implicit criticism of us all?

In fact, Rav Chizkiyohu Mishkovsky quotes Rav Shlomo Wolbe in a similar vein. The great mashgiach noted that “he would sometimes notice talmidei chachomim of some stature walking through the street who were apparently not thinking exclusively about Torah.” They would pass by a store window and do some “window shopping” like everyone else. Of course, there was nothing particularly forbidden in the window, but neither was it what is expected of a ben Torah. He offered the moshol of a billionaire who passes by a kiosk. He won’t be fascinated by its trivial offerings, because he is above requiring any of its wares. “We, too,” he concluded, “should be far above the inanities of this world and its seeming delights.”

The answer to our question about the purpose of the Omer period is that it is to elevate us to a different dimension. These days are meant to remind us that we are about to experience our annual encounter with the Ribono Shel Olam. Even more importantly, He will be giving us his greatest treasure once again. It is not a time to be attracted to baubles and superficial attractions. To borrow Rav Eliyohu Eliezer Dessler’s famous metaphor, to one who has the real thing, there is no reason to enhance the object with expensive advertising and commercials. You have the genuine and authentic item. Don’t waste your time and money.

But how do we do all this? The answer is through preparation. Nothing good comes without preparation. Thus, when the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh was planning his first trip to Meron, he crawled on his hands and feet for a great distance to prepare himself for the moment when he would come close to Rav Shimon Bar Yochai. When we recited Dayeinu in the Haggadah, we offered special gratitude for approaching Har Sinai even if we hadn’t received the Torah. Many commentaries ask: What was the good of going to Har Sinai if not for receiving the Torah? One answer is that even the preparations were worthwhile. It might be the unity we achieved. It might be the 48 middos we absorbed. But in any case, preparing for Mattan Torah is an avodah that takes 49 days and is worthwhile in and of itself.

One source that also combines Pesach and Shavuos relates to what Moshe Rabbeinu was doing at the moment we left Mitzrayim. Klal Yisroel went around “borrowing gold, silver and clothing from their neighbors so that Avrohom Avinu would not complain that Hashem had fulfilled the bondage but not the promise of great wealth upon the exodus” (Brachos 9b). Yet, when Moshe Rabbeinu went to retrieve the coffin of Yosef Hatzaddik, the Gemara (Sotah 13a) credits him with fulfilling the edict that “a wise man seeks mitzvos” (Mishlei 10:8). The question is asked: Weren’t the other Jews also fulfilling Hashem’s words? The answer is that to most of Klal Yisroel, the words rechush gadol — great wealth — meant literally money, but to Moshe Rabbeinu, that meant the eternal wealth of acquiring another mitzvah. It is a subtle distinction, but that is why Moshe Rabbeinu was our rebbi and the one who remembered even as he left Mitzrayim that the purpose of this entire journey was to do another mitzvah, when possible.

Another explanation of the purpose of the weeks and days of the Omer is offered by Rav Chaim Shmulevitz (Sichos Mussar). He cites the miraculous story of the wife of Ovadya the novi. She was destitute and had no oil at all in the house. Elisha asked her what she does have in the house. She answered that she has empty vessels and utensils. Elisha told her to borrow more pitchers, which she proceeded to fill miraculously. When they were filled, the neis was over. The question is raised: Why didn’t Hashem make a miracle creating more vessels? Rav Chaim answers that even with a miracle, we must first make preparations. When we provide the vessels, Hashem fills them. In the words of Yechezkel (36:26), Hashem will give us a new heart, but we must first prepare our bodies and souls to receive the transplant.

We learned this method from shevet Binyomin as well on Shevi’i Shel Pesach. Chazal (Sotah 36b) record that all the shevotim were vying for the mitzvah of jumping into the churning sea first. Binyomin did jump in first (Tehillim 68:28), but they were pelted with stones by the leaders of shevet Yehudah. Later, Binyomin merited housing the Holy of Holies in his territory (Devorim 33:12 and Targum to Bereishis 49:27). However, the Gemara (Yoma 12a) states that a string of land went from the territory of Yehudah into that of Binyomin. The entire tribe cried bitter tears until the place of the Kodesh Hakodoshim was restored to them. The Alter of Slabodka asked: Which was it? In Sotah, the Gemara says that the Kodesh Hakodoshim was in the land of Binyomin, but in the Gemara in Yoma, Rashi states that the Aron was in its land. He answers that, in truth, because of Binyomin’s mesirus nefesh at the sea, the place of the Kodesh Hakodoshim was granted to him. However, it was a very large area. The reason that Binyomin won was that he yearned for the Torah to be in his domain. He prepared for this with his tears and so it was granted to him.

Hashem wants us all to receive the Torah once again. But He also gives us time to prepare ourselves, our souls and our yearning for that holy moment. What we will receive and the extent to which we will understand it depends upon us. How many keilim—vessels—will we bring? How clean and pristine will they be?

Let use our Sefirah time wisely, not missing a day or even a moment. Then our Kabbolas HaTorah will be truly something magnificent to see and hear, making it the unforgettable event it should and can be.

By Rav Michoel Sorotzkin

There are lives that impress, lives that inspire, and lives that quietly but indelibly redefine what a ben Torah can be. And then there are the rare lives that seem to belong less to the ordinary rhythms of this world than to a higher orbit altogether, lives of such constancy in Torah, such refinement in middos, such fidelity to truth, that when they are taken from us, we feel not merely the absence of a man, but the sudden dimming of a luminous world. With the petirah of Rav Chanoch Aryeh Friedman, the olam haTorah has suffered precisely such a loss. “Vayishalech Chanoch es haElokim ve’eineno ki lokach oso Elokim.” The posuk seems to have been written for such a moment, for such a person, for such a man. He lived a life of Elokus, of palpable dveikus, of relentless avodah and unembellished greatness, and then, in a manner as painful as it was awe-inspiring, he was taken from us.

His final days themselves seemed to reflect the pattern of his entire life. He had come to America not for rest, but in order to strengthen and sustain the great Torah citadel he had built, Kollel Bais Yechiel in Har Nof. Even in weakness and suffering, his concern was for Torah, for talmidim, for the continuation of a makom that had become synonymous with hasmodoh, halachic clarity, and the quiet transmission of greatness. There is something almost unbearably moving in that image: a man already refined by decades of avodah, then further “nizdacheich b’yissurim,” while still engaged in the sacred burden of carrying Torah on his shoulders.

Rav Chanoch was not the product of the familiar old-world mold. He grew up in Chicago in a family whose environment was more in the baalei batishe world, respectable, and deeply committed, but not the natural habitat from which one would predict the emergence of a gadol b’Torah. Yet perhaps it was precisely there that one first sees the remarkable foundations that would define him. His father, Mr. Yosef Friedman, an attorney by profession, was known as an osek b’tzorchei tzibbur b’emunah, a man of uncommon integrity, nikayon kappayim, and profound kavod haTorah. He possessed the wisdom to recognize what his son was destined for, and the courage to allow it. When the young Chanoch, already renowned as an iluy with phenomenal hasmodah and a prodigious memory, was sent as a teenager to the Skokie Yeshiva, it could have been assumed that this was the natural path. Yet his father agreed to let his sixteen-year-old son leave that environment and go into golus l’makom Torah, to bask beneath the waning but still fiery sun of Rav Aharon Kotler in Lakewood.

That decision altered not only one life, but the lives of generations. In Bais Medrash Govoah, he became the youngest talmid in the yeshiva, learning b’chavrusa with Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, and absorbing from Rav Aharon not only Torah content but the very grammar of utter seriousness in avodas Hashem. From there, he journeyed to Yerushalayim, to the Mir, where he became one of the outstanding talmidim of Rav Nochum Partzovitz and a frequenter of the home and orbit of Rav Chaim Shmulevitz. These are biographical details, yes, but more importantly, they help explain the unmistakable texture of the man he became: the breadth of the American beginning, the fire of Lakewood, the lomdus and depth of Mir, and over all of it an inner discipline that made everything cohere into one seamless avodah.

He was a marbitz Torah in the deepest sense of the phrase. As rosh kollel and av beis din of Bais Yechiel, he shaped bnei Torah not merely through shiurim and psak, though in both he was exceptional, but through the force of his very being. His halachic rulings were marked by fairness, precision, and sensitivity. His shiurim were deep and analytic, yet never merely clever. He was one of those rare roshei kollel whose iyun sharpened the mind while simultaneously ennobling the soul. Those who came to him for din Torah or for horaah encountered not only a powerful intellect, but a conscience governed entirely by Torah truth.

Yet perhaps the most astonishing feature of Rav Chanoch was the scale and consistency of his personal avodah. He completed Shas every single year, marking the siyum during hakafos shniyos in his bais medrash in Har Nof. This emerged from a private regimen of almost unimaginable discipline. Bavli, Yerushalmi, Shisha Sidrei Mishnah, daily learning in Shulchan Aruch, the morning iyun seder with the yungeleit, a longstanding chavrusa of decades, public leadership, private counsel, communal responsibility, and yet the wheel never stopped turning. This was not the feverish energy of a man chasing accomplishments. It was the settled rhythm of someone for whom Torah had become the very atmosphere of life.

And in that lies one of the deepest lessons of his life. At his siyumim, he would tell people with disarming simplicity, “Gam atem yecholim.” Not everyone could be Rav Chanoch Friedman, but he genuinely believed that people vastly underestimate the kochos hanefesh and the siyatta diShmaya that emerge when one accepts a real kabbolah. He would cite the Chofetz Chaim that when a person resolves with authenticity to fulfill a commitment regardless of difficulty, Heaven assists him. And he testified that he had seen it in his own life, that at moments when nature dictated he could not possibly keep pace with his learning obligations, he began, and from Shomayim he was carried further. That statement, in his mouth, was not rhetoric. It was the distilled theology of a lifetime.

It is especially fitting that he became the publisher of the writings of the Chofetz Chaim on the Torah. This was not simply a literary or scholarly undertaking. The Chofetz Chaim was his model in the architecture of the soul. One sensed in Rav Chanoch the same reverence for every word of Torah, the same vigilance in bein adam lachaveiro, the same refusal to allow brilliance to outpace purity. He did not merely learn the Chofetz Chaim’s Torah; he labored to inhabit his world. There are talmidei chachomim who quote seforim, and there are talmidei chachomim who are quietly shaped by them until the sefer becomes a living presence in their character. Rav Chanoch belonged to the latter category.

He himself taught that when Chazal say “Ein lo l’HaKadosh Boruch Hu b’olomo ela daled amos shel halacha,” one who emerges as a true moreh horaah is precious beyond measure, because so few traverse the long road from possibility to actual psak. He spoke of the innocent image of the child, “pnei keruvim k’pnei tinok,” as a model for the one who would grow in Torah with both unquenchable hunger and purity of mind. He described talmidei chachomim as “eish,” because unlike water, wind, or earth, fire transforms whatever touches it into fire. So did he live. Those who encountered him were warmed, illuminated, and in some measure ignited.

On a personal note, I cannot think of the Friedman family without recalling a memory from my youth. After my own father’s petirah, when I arrived in America as a fresh yasom, Mr. Yosef Friedman and his wife, Mrs. Zlata Golda, invited me to their home in Chicago for Yom Tov Sukkos, as my sister just married Reb Chanoch’s younger brother, a great talmid chochom in his own right, Rav Avrohom Friedman, who later became the rosh yeshiva of Skokie Yeshiva in Chicago. They enveloped me with extraordinary warmth. I remember vividly that as soon as I entered, Mr. Friedman told me that I had the zechus to sleep in a bed on which three gedolei Yisroel had slept: the Ponovezher Rov, Rav Aharon Kotler, and “my son Chanoch,” then a young yungerman of already legendary promise, about whom Rav Aharon himself had spoken in glowing terms. The next morning, he asked me with a smile, “How was it to sleep in the bed of gedolei Yisroel?” It was a charming remark, but it was also more than that. It revealed a home in which kavod haTorah was not decorative, but breathable. In retrospect, one understands that the father who cherished Torah so instinctively was privileged to raise a son who would become one of its finest embodiments.

In an age hungry for noise, Rav Chanoch represented the majesty of the unadvertised gadol. His anovah was as striking as his scholarship. His dignity was matched by warmth. His greatness did not need staging, because it issued from decades of hidden labor before Hashem. Such men do not leave replacements. They leave obligations. They leave the haunting summons of “Gam atem yecholim.” And above all, they leave behind the echo of a life that walked with Hashem. “Vayishalech Chanoch es haElokim ve’eineno ki lokach oso Elokim.”

***

By Yosef Goldstein

Rav Chanoch Friedman passed away on Motzoei Pesach. He was the rosh kollel of Kollel Beis Yechiel in Yerushalayim and av bais din of Beis Din Choshen Mishpot of Har Nof. Rav Chanoch grew up in Chicago during the 1960s. At that time, the norm was for boys to learn a profession to support themselves; Torah learning was not seen as essential. Most of his relatives were not observant, and he was brought up in a traditional environment. Nevertheless, he became one of the world’s greatest talmidei chachomim, completing Shas Bavli, Yerushalmi, and Mishnayos every year; he mastered and memorized them to the extent that he could quote any passage word for word. He was a tremendous masmid mastering the entire Ketzos Hachoshen, Avnei Miluim, all the seforim of the Chofetz Chaim, and many other seforim as well.

Rav Chanoch was blessed with extraordinary intellectual abilities. Rav Aharon Kotler described him as a true iluy. As a young boy, he was influenced by Rav Peretz, a talmid of the Slabodka Yeshiva, who instilled in him a deep love for learning. At age twelve, he was even happy to contract pneumonia so he could stay home from school and complete a masechta in time for his bar mitzvah.

At fourteen, recognizing his passion for Torah, his father sent him to the Skokie Yeshiva beis medrash, skipping high school entirely — an almost unheard-of decision at the time.

His dedication only intensified. While there, he organized a nightly chaburah at midnight. The rosh yeshiva, Rav Rogoff, would regularly test him. When asked what material he wished to be examined on, Rav Chanoch would simply respond, “Anything you choose.”

At sixteen, Rav Mendel Kaplan sent him to Lakewood to learn under Rav Aharon Kotler. During his entrance examination, he recited sections of Minchas Chinuch by heart. Rav Aharon accepted him, making him the youngest student in the yeshiva.

His hasmodah was exceptional. Each Simchas Torah, he would purchase Atah Horeisa for one thousand blatt Gemara, and he would personally complete any portion others could not finish. When the yeshiva began learning Bava Basra, he approached Rav Aharon and requested permission to learn a different masechta since he had already mastered it. After testing him, Rav Aharon agreed and remarked that Rav Chanoch was the greatest talmid chochom among the bochurim he knew.

He later continued his learning in the Mir Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel, where he was again recognized as an iluy and extraordinary masmid. Rav Chaim Shmulevitz chose to learn with him as a chavrusa. It is related that he once alternated reciting entire blatt Gemara by heart, both Bavli and Yerushalmi, with another prodigious scholar. Rav Chanoch considered himself a close disciple of Rav Nochum Partzovitz, authoring seforim discussing Rav Nochum’s teachings.

Beyond his diligence, he devoted himself to refining his middos. He mastered the writings of the Chofetz Chaim and compiled them into organized works, including Likutei Chofetz Chaim al HaTorah. Notably, he published these anonymously, describing himself only as “an avreich who wishes to benefit the public.” He also authored an index to Ketzos HaChoshen long before digital tools existed. Rav Nochum attributed Rav Chanoch’s vast Torah knowledge to his efforts in spreading the teachings of the Chofetz Chaim.

His scholarship spanned all areas of Torah. In addition to completing Shas annually, he learned in depth with his kollel and issued halachic rulings in Choshen Mishpot. He authored dozens of seforim across a wide range of topics, including a work with 21 essays on Rav Chaim Soloveitchik’s teachings on Ohalos.

He traveled twice a year internationally to raise funds for his kollel yet never compromised his rigorous schedule. He would not begin fundraising until he had completed his daily learning quota. He also maintained long-distance chavrusos, learning by phone for sessions lasting up to six hours.

He was never seen without a Gemara. At every event, even family celebrations, he remained immersed in learning. At his granddaughter’s wedding, he sat at the head table absorbed in a sefer, and visitors had to wait until he realized that they were there.

Despite this, he maintained a deep emotional connection with his family. He refused to travel for Shabbos or Yom Tov to avoid disrupting his learning, but his family would visit briefly during Chol Hamoed, experiencing genuine warmth and affection in those moments. He even called his sister daily to check on her.

He davened vasikin every day. On Shabbos mornings in Chicago, he would return from vasikin, eat briefly, and learn continuously until Mincha, asking if there was still fleishig food for seuda shlishis. This routine was consistent, even in the long summer afternoons. People would regularly find him learning late into Friday night before making Kiddush.

This past Tzom Gedaliah, he was found in shul long after the fast had ended, still learning. When food was brought to him, he insisted on finishing his learning first.

He had no interest in material comforts. After his wife passed away, he asked only for simple food — plain boiled chicken and potatoes, without seasoning.

Even in illness, his commitment remained absolute. While hospitalized, after drinking water, he insisted on walking four amos in accordance with halacha, despite great difficulty.

Though he could barely speak toward the end of his life, when he heard his daughter counting Sefirah, he whispered along. Visitors would come for brachos, and although it was difficult for him to respond, requests related to Torah would visibly energize him.

Near the end, on Motzoei Pesach, his longtime chavrusa, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, urged doctors to do what they can to extend his life, saying his very existence was a merit for the world. Shortly afterward, Rav Chanoch passed away, but his legacy endures.