Elchanan Poupko, at The Blogs

Elchanan Poupko

Jan 7, 2025, 3:39 AM

Featured Post

The resignation speech Trudeau owes Canadian Jews

'It is during my term in office that 260 years of Jews finding a safe refuge in Canada have come to an end'

Dec 10, 2024, 12:54 AM

A Cynical War On Our Defense Industry

Walking on New York’s First Ave. and 43rd. Street, I was pleasantly surprised to see a biblical verse I hold close to my heart glaring at me from a large gray wall across the street from the United Nations....

Dec 5, 2024, 2:56 AM

Fertility and Facts: Dangers of Fictional Halacha

Last week, an Israeli judge delivered a ruling on the heartwrenching modern-day Solomon trial of the baby born in Asuta hospital in an IVF mixup. After two years of “baby Sophia” being raised by the mother who carried her...

Oct 22, 2024, 4:44 AM

Ne’ila: Making Change Against All Odds

This past week, on Wednesday, the Jewish people have lost Lily Ebert, a Holocaust survivor from London who died at the age of 100. If you asked me who Lily Elbert was five years ago, a small amount of time...

Oct 21, 2024, 12:11 AM

Yom Kippur: A Post October 7th Yizkor

Today we are united with Jews around the world, who, like us, are sitting in synagogue on Yom Kippur, united in prayer, penitence, and asking God for atonement. We sit here united with Jews around the world, who will...

Oct 15, 2024, 10:31 PM

Yom Kippur: A Bombarded Metula Vows

In 1886, my great-grandmother’s grandfather, Yisrael Lishansky, arrived in Israel out of a deep Jewish love and connection to the land of the Jewish people. He and his children settled down and helped different towns and villages from Petach...

Oct 14, 2024, 6:47 PM

Rosh Hashana: Writing Our Own Book of Life

Speaking to a very religious and devout woman cousin of mine in Israel, she said from the depths of her heart, " Oy, if only we had known last Rosh Hashana what was being written and inscribed for the...

Oct 10, 2024, 6:43 AM

Rosh Hashana, Between Universal and Personal

There is no day in the year, except perhaps for Yom Kippur, that radiates intimacy the way Rosh Hashana does. The Mishna in Rosh Hashana teaches us that on Rosh Hashana, every creature in the world passes in front...

Sep 23, 2024, 9:56 PM

The Skibidi Toilet Free Palestine Generation

People speak to the press as they gather at an encampment to support the people of Palestine during a protest at George Washington University May 6, 2024, in Washington, DC. - Demonstrators have gathered on at least 40 US university campuses since April 17, often erecting tent camps to protest against the soaring death toll in the Gaza Strip. Nearly 2,000 people have been detained, according to US media, in demonstrations reminiscent of protests against the Vietnam War. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Consider yourself blessed if the term “Skibi Toilet” means nothing to you. The term, which has become popular among Gen Z, but even more so among Gen Alpha, is the result of an unfortunate internet meme. If you have...

Sep 6, 2024, 6:30 AM

Re’eh: Between the Paralympics and Beit HaMikdash

Even as I write these words, in Paris, athletes from around the world have gathered for the 2024 Paralympics, a place where people with disabilities, missing limbs and severe health challenges are able to compete athletically on a very...

About Me

Rabbi Elchanan Poupko is a New England based eleventh-generation rabbi, teacher, and author. He has written Sacred Days on the Jewish Holidays, Poupko on the Parsha, and hundreds of articles published in five languages. He is the president of EITAN--The American Israeli Jewish Network.

Contact Me