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Sep 19, 2025, 6:32 PM

Creation & the 25th of Elul

The profound wisdom embedded in the creation narrative reveals layers far deeper than chronological history. When the sages teach that the 25th of Elul marks creation's beginning with the divine utterance "Yehi Or: Let there be light," they point...

Sep 18, 2025, 9:29 AM

Quince and Pumpkin. (Leann Shamash)

For Parshat Nitzavim Elul Despite the deluge of noise in the world it is Elul. and if the world is tumultuous, Stav settles in quietly, one day at a time. The days are growing shorter; nights are cooler, crisper and the lonely call of the cricket is the...

Sep 16, 2025, 8:40 PM

Elul: The Gateway for a Year of Shalom and Safety

As the sirens continue to disrupt our lives in Eretz Yisrael, the Themes of SHALOM AND SAFETY remain as predominant reminders of the tenuous nature of our lives in these last days of the month of Elul before Rosh...

Andrea Simantov

Sep 16, 2025, 6:34 AM

Keys to the Kingdom

In the Middle East, summer seems endless, stretching far beyond my childhood memories of beach season. Yet these long months - between Shavuot and Rosh HaShanah - offer more than sunbathing, dining al fresco, or daydreaming. This bein hazmanim (“in-between time”) invites reflection: Where have...

Sep 15, 2025, 1:39 PM

Flipping the Uman pilgrimage script

The battle-hardened IDF soldiers in this new Ayin Tova cartoon, along with devout Hasidim, have swapped realities for the New Jewish Year. The pious in full rabbinic garb are here engaged in a demanding war around Gaza City. Perhaps...

KJ Hannah Greenberg

Sep 12, 2025, 6:16 PM

Overcoming Sinat Chinam: An Elul Reflection

There are far too many forms of bias to which people, in general, subscribe. Some of these preconceptions are based on affinity, i.e., shared attributes, on real and attributed middot, on relative comeliness, on conformity, on shared perspectives, on...

Hadassah Chavivah Zeltzer

Sep 12, 2025, 5:50 PM

Sequestered by the King Melech Haolam

Sequestered by the King ...

Sep 12, 2025, 5:09 PM

An apprenticeship into the bittersweet: The last week (Ki Tavo and Elul)

Site of Nova festival. (courtesy)

The beautiful faces staring out from the newspaper. Each one a life. A world. A universe. Lost in a moment of indiscriminate hatred, fuelled by the perversion of truth. And that taxi driver putting his own life at risk to...

Mordecai Finley

Sep 12, 2025, 1:52 PM

No mask in court – Thoughts before Rosh HaShanah

Many years ago, I had a disturbing moment as a counselor when it became clear to me that a client with marital problems was out-and-out lying to me. I’ll tell you how I knew in a moment, but what...

William Hamilton

Sep 12, 2025, 1:50 PM

What’s Missing

It’s numbing. Lethal political-violence and the tidal online-contempt it unleashes. A close friend suddenly gets diagnosed with a fatal condition. It’s overwhelming. Between our private traumas and public wrongdoing, suffering that commands our attention and support these days is...

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