Tumah

 Kuzari (3 49) The Rabbi: Impurity and holiness are contradictory ideas; one cannot be thought of without the other. Without holiness we should not know the signification of impurity. Impurity means that the approach to holy objects, hallowed by God, is forbidden to the person so affected. Such would be priests, their food, clothing, offering, sacrifices, the holy House, etc. In the same way the ideas of holiness include something which forbids the person connected with it to approach many ordinary objects. This chiefly depends on the vicinity of the Shekhinah, which we now lack entirely. The prohibition which still holds good, of cohabiting with a woman in her period or after confinement has nothing to do with impurity, but is an independent divine law. The practice we observe to keep aloof from them as much as possible is but a restriction and hedge to prevent cohabitation. The regulations of impurity proper ceased to exist for us, because we live in 'an unclean land and in unclean air,' especially as we move about among graves, vermin, lepers, persons affected with issue, corpses, etc.

Zohar (1:64a) As the Left Arm above grasps the Female and lovingly draws her to him, so below the serpent, which is the left arm of the unclean spirit, and joined with it he that rides on it, draw near to the moon and draw her tightly to them, so that she becomes defiled. Israel, therefore, here below offer up a goat, to which the serpent is drawn away. The moon then purges herself, ascends on high, and unites herself to the higher sphere to receive blessing, and her lower face, which was darkened, becomes bright. So here on the Day of Atonement, since the evil serpent is occupied with the he-goat, the moon breaks loose from him, and earnestly pleads the cause of Israel, and watches over them like a mother over her children, so G-d blesses them from above and forgives their sins. Afterwards, when Israel celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, the “right side” is awakened on high, so that the moon may attach herself to it and her face may become completely bright. She then shares out blessings to all those presiding chiefs of the lower world, so that they may be fully occupied with their own portions, and not attempt to draw sustenance from the side from which Israel obtained their portion. 

Zohar (1 70a) G-d will one day sweep away the unclean spirit, as it is written, And the unclean spirit I will cause to pass out of the land, and further, He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. God  will also one day restore the moon to its full light, and dissipate the darkness brought on her by the evil serpent, as it is written, And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days , the reference here being to the primordial light which G-d stored away during the period of the creation.’

Zohar (1 125b) ‘I marvel at the wicked Balaam, how all his actions proceeded from the side of impurity. We here learn the mystical lesson that all species of witchcraft are linked up with, and proceed from, the primeval serpent who is the foul and unclean spirit. Hence all sorceries are called serpents. And whoever becomes addicted to them pollutes himself, nay more, he has first to become polluted in order to attract to himself the side of the unclean spirit. For it is a dictum of our teachers that corresponding to the impulses of a man here are the influences which he attracts to himself from above. Should his impulse be towards holiness, he attracts to himself holiness from on high and so he becomes holy; but if his tendency is towards the side of impurity, he draws down towards himself the unclean spirit and so becomes polluted. For this reason, in order to draw towards himself the unclean spirit from that supernal serpent, the wicked Balaam besmirched himself nightly by bestial intercourse with his ass, and he would then proceed to his divinations and sorceries. To begin with he would take one of the familiar serpents, tie it up, break

Yona and Whale

Ibn Ezra (Yona 02:01) and Jonah remained:no one can survive in the belly of a fish even for an hour, so if this is the duration, it must have been a miracle. 

Malbim (Yona 02:01)Hashem appointed a great fish. Hashem prepared a great fish at that place, which swallowed Jonah whole without breaking his bones. It is well known that it is naturally impossible for a person to survive inside a fish for even a single hour, since a human being must breathe cool air from outside. However, because death had already been decreed upon Jonah and he was regarded as though he had been born anew, Hashem endowed him with the nature of an unborn child, which is formed and sustained for nine months within its mother’s womb without breathing external air, as Abravanel explained. This was one of the Creator’s wonders, like the miracle of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in the fiery furnace, and similar miracles. 

Mamdani and Trump emerge from Gracie Mansion sit-down with nothing but praise

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/21/mamdani-trump-gracie-mansion-meeting-01086582

 In a continuation of one of the most unexpected bromances in American politics, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump praised each other Monday after meeting privately at the mayor’s residence in New York City for a wide-ranging discussion about everything from interior design to housing to immigration.

“I want what’s good for New York. I want what’s good for the country. So if I had a choice of having him be a bad mayor, or a horrible mayor — I don’t want that. I want him to be a great mayor, and he’s certainly got potential, got great potential,” Trump, standing alongside Mamdani, told reporters on the lawn of Gracie Mansion before giving the mayor a slap on the back.

Mamdani — a democratic socialist who once freely called the Republican president a fascist but has taken a softer approach since taking office — returned the compliments by thanking Trump for committing to take conversations to “a new level” about securing federal funding for building more than 12,000 units of housing on top of an old rail yard in Queens.

Terror before Yom Kippur: Netanel Shakron, a father of six, murdered near Neveh Tzuf

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/433422

Netanel Shakron, arrived at the spring with his eldest son to immerse ahead of Yom Kippur and was murdered by an Arab terrorist. The terrorist was apprehended at a Ramallah hospital.

The Samaria Regional Council announced on Sunday afternoon that Netanel Shakron, a resident of Alei Zahav, was murdered in the shooting attack at the Ein Raya spring near Neve Tzuf in Binyamin.

Shakron, a father of six, arrived at the spring on Sunday morning with his eldest son to immerse ahead of Yom Kippur. He is survived by his wife, Meirav, and their six children. The eldest is in 11th grade, while the youngest is four years old.

Mamdani blasts Netanyahu again: A ‘war criminal’ and ‘architect of a horrific genocide’

 Mamdani blasts Netanyahu again: A ‘war criminal’ and ‘architect of a horrific genocide’

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani renewed his criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, describing him as a “war criminal" while acknowledging that, despite statements made during his mayoral campaign, he does not have the authority to arrest the Israeli leader.

Mamdani had pledged during his campaign that he would instruct the New York Police Department to arrest Netanyahu if the Prime Minister entered the city. In a July interview with The New York Times, he said he was exploring potential means of detaining Netanyahu. However, he later conceded in a video that the mayor of New York City lacks the legal authority to enforce an ICC arrest warrant and instead urged the federal government to act.

Israeli Yeshivos are in Dire Financial State

 https://belaaz.com/news/first-litvish-rosh-yeshivah-ever-to-spend-rosh-hashanah-in-uman-rav-sorotzkin-breaks-with-years-of-us-fundraising-trips-after-10m-offer

HaGaon Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, Rosh Yeshiva of the mosdos, has landed in Uman on Thursday and checked into the Hotel Zakopna ahead of Rosh Hashanah, making him, according the first Litvish Rosh Yeshiva to spend Rosh Hashanah at the tzion of RebNachman of Breslov.

According to the report, the donor, a close supporter of the Rosh Yeshiva, committed to a massive gift, in the range of millions of dollars and tens of millions of shekels, toward sustaining the Torah and chesed institutions under Rav Sorotzkin’s leadership. But he attached a clear condition: the Rosh Yeshiva would have to join him in Uman for the Yom Tov itself.

Facing that condition, and with thousands of Ateres Shlomo avreichim owed three months of stipends, Rav Sorotzkin chose to accept the arrangement, securing his institutions’ financial footing for the year ahead.

Police officer critical, gunman fighting for life after shooting near Ontario synagogue on Yom Kippur

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-officer-critical-gunman-fighting-for-life-after-shooting-near-ontario-synagogue-on-yom-kippur/

A police officer was hospitalized in critical but stable condition and a 29-year-old gunman was in life-threatening condition after an exchange of gunfire Sunday near a synagogue in Ontario as members of the Jewish community marked Yom Kippur, authorities said.

Canada’s CBC identified the shooter as Sean Ward, a resident of Quinte West. The officer was named as Const. Jeff Smith.

Ward drove up in a truck, was stopped half a block from the synagogue, and opened fire, authorities said. The province’s Special Investigations Unit said it would make sense to believe that the synagogue was deliberately targeted, but stressed that this was speculation.

Networks pull out of White House TV pool in solidarity with CNN

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/6101588-tv-networks-donald-trump-pool-disruption-msnow-cnn-politico-white-house-ban/

Fox News Media, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and CNN responded to the ban in a rare joint statement, saying “the public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government.”

“No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” the outlets added.

The statement came after the White House pool said in a note to subscribers on Monday that “effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President.”

‘Handled Well’: Dutch Officials Legally Euthanize Toddler in First-Ever Killing of New Child Euthanasia Law

 https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/handled-dutch-officials-legally-euthanize-toddler-first-ever/

Dutch officials euthanized a 2-year-old suffering from multiple medical conditions, and an official investigation reacted positively to the decision.

NL Times, an English-language news outlet based in the Netherlands, reported that the child, who was born at 26 weeks gestation and lived for two years afterward, was killed at the end of 2025.

But investigators concluded the euthanasia procedure was “handled well,” in the words of NL Times.

The child had brain damage, cerebral palsy, and visual impairment, according to the outlet.

CNN, MS NOW, Politico say their journalists have been denied access to the White House

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/6099619-trump-bans-ms-now-cnn-politico/

The White House denied CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists access to its grounds Saturday, the networks announced, a day after President Trump said he was banning them from the premises after accusing them of producing “purposefully negative stories.”

“Earlier this morning MS NOW journalists were denied access to the White House grounds. The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” MS NOW wrote in a statement posted just after 8 a.m. Saturday. “MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”

Trump announced his decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House “effective immediately” in a Friday Truth Social post, accusing the three outlets of reporting false information about him and his administration.

When “Healing” Means Cutting Off Your Parents?!

 https://matzav.com/matzav-inbox-when-healing-means-cutting-off-your-parents/

I am talking about this increasingly common idea that “healing” somehow means going back through your childhood, identifying everything your parents did wrong, giving it a psychological label, and then deciding how much access your parents deserve to have to you.

Suddenly, every difficult mother is a narcissist. Every controlling father is toxic. Every disagreement is a boundary violation. Every uncomfortable family dynamic is trauma. And every adult child who doesn’t want to deal with his or her parents anymore is “protecting my peace.”

Parents are human beings. They make mistakes. Some make lots of mistakes. They lose their tempers. They say stupid things. They favor one child sometimes. They push too hard. They don’t listen enough. They worry too much. They interfere. They have their own baggage from the homes they grew up in. Sometimes they hurt their children deeply without even realizing it.

Rav Ruderman's Daughter

 https://jwa.org/print/pdf/node/29295

JEAN FREEDMAN: This is an interview with Hanna Weinberg. It's June 10th, 2001. We're in Baltimore, Maryland. I'm Jean Freedman, recording this for the Jewish Women's Archive, Weaving Women's Words project. OK. I always start out my interviews the same way, and that's by asking the interviewee to tell me the full name and when and where they were born?

HW: Well, my father was a rabbi. Established, in America, the Ner Israel Rabbinical  College. My mother's family also was -- her father was a rabbi. We come from a long line of Talmudic scholars.

HW: Through my husband's people -- coming to my husband with problems -- I saw that this was needed and started that in somebody's house. Not in -- right in the proper, like where we live. And started working on domestic abuse.

JF: OK. So, you were telling me how your work with domestic violence started. You said your father had known this problem in Europe -- and people just closed the shutters. But you decided you wanted to do -- open the shutters.

Therapy Has a Relationship Problem

 https://time.com/article/2026/08/29/therapy-has-a-relationship-problem/

Psychotherapy itself is predicated upon the healing power of human connection, yet therapists can be surprisingly quick to undervalue relationships outside the therapy room. Furthermore, relationships themselves teach basic psychological capacities such as regulating emotions, tolerating disappointment, and negotiating differences—skills which therapy is supposed to cultivate.

Too often, we mistake relational distress for relational dysfunction. Wall Street Journal columnist Elizabeth Bernstein recently highlighted this eloquently. She reported on therapists who encouraged adult children to go “no contact” with their parents, often after surprisingly little effort to mend ruptures. In a survey of roughly 7,000 estranged parents, one-third believed their adult child’s therapist had influenced or even recommended the decision to cut ties. That should give us pause.

The issue extends well beyond parents and children. Similar patterns appear in marriages and among siblings, friendships, and other close bonds. Therapists have become too quick to support ending difficult relationships instead of helping people develop the skills to repair them.

Stories of gedolim are often fabricated for inspiration

 Originally published 6/14 - relevant to the current discussion of the Chofetz Chaim's Dybuk.

Rav Hillel Zaks (Mishpacha – "Living the Legend" page 55 June 2, 2014): Rebbetzin Faiga Chaya Zaks was once quoted as having said that 85 percent of the stories told about her father aren't reliable. In response, Rav Hillel and his brother Rav Yaakov Yehoshua asked, "How could di Mamme have said that? It's surely over 90 percent?!" 

In the family, the biography written by Rav Moshe Meir Yoshor is considered the most reliable of all that's been written about the Chofetz Chaim, in part because it was done during his lifetime. Reb Yisroel Meir once left a certain work on the Chofetz Chaim on the table just to see Rav Hillel's reaction to it. 

"You know, the writer of this book is afraid to face me," Rav Hillel remarked. 

"What's wrong with it?" Reb Yisroel Meir's wife asked. 

"Let me show you," said Rav Hillel. Opening to a random page, he read out loud a story about a Radin bochur who went to take leave of the Chofetz Chaim before going home, The Chofetz Chaim looked at him and said, "Is that the way a ben Torah looks when he goes home?" At that, he went into the back and came out with a jacket to replace the torn one the bochur was wearing. 

"Now, what do you think," Rav Hillel said. "The Chofetz Chaim had a rack of clothes in the back and said, 'You know, you look like a 45 regular'? The only part of the story that could be true is that somebody came in to say goodbye to him." 

Twenty-two years ago, Rav Hillel, Rav Yaakov Yehoshua, and Rav Yisroel Meir sat shivah in Yerushalayim for their mother. A visitor sat down in the front and said, "I know for certain that the Chofetz Chaim had a ramp in his house, which he'd practice running up and down in anticipation of the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash." 

Just then, the brothers heard someone in the back of the room say with obvious dry humor, "Mir dacht zich az der salon fun der Chofetz Chaim iz nit gevehn azoy groys ... [I don't think the Chofetz Chaim's living room was that big]." 

It was the voice of Rav Avraham Yehoshua Soloveitchik.
======== update  6/20/2014

Rav Nosson Kaminetsky (Making of a Godol page xx):  (In composing this book, I have generally accepted as authentic stories about earlier generations even when they were not conveyed by my father or some other unusually reliable individual. I was reluctant, of course, to rely on reports that emanated from people whom I considered unable to judge events properly, but I did not suspect anyone of prevaricating intentionally. Similarly, unless the writer was blatantly' tendentious, I assumed that printed facts were credible. (I have this faith in people despite a report by R' Velvel Kercerg that Rebbitzen Feigel Zaks, the Chafetz-Chaim's youngest daughter, told him, "Eighty percent of what they tell about [my father] is not true." I cannot help but assume that in order to bring out bluntly the idea that not everything told about R' Yisrael-Meir Kagan, author of Chafetz Chaim, is true, his daughter exaggerated the percentage of untruths.)

Rav Nosson Kaminetsky(Making of a Godol page xxv): R' Mordkhai Schwab, however, had a negative view of "storytelling" when he told me, "The Satmarer Rav, R' Yoilish Teitelbaum, never told stories because he said, 'You cannot educate through lies - sheker].'" R' Mordkhai agreed with R' Yoilish in reference to stories intended to glorify their principals while dehumanizing them. R' Yoilish echoed a statement by R' Yehoshua'-Yoseph Preil, Rav of the Lithuanian town of Krok. In a 5656 (1896) review of Toldos Yisroel of Zev Ya'avetz, published a year earlier in Warsaw, R' Preil set down the following ethic: "To create stories that never happened and present them as facts for the sake of teaching morals - woe is to the musar precept built on as brittle a foundation as a lie! '' Even hasidim, the celebrated story tellers who are more suspect than others in creating legends about their leaders (from whom the Satmarer Rav was evidently trying to distance himself by his statement), are careful in separating fact from fiction. I was told by R' Shimon Deutchy that he had asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe, R' Menahem-Mendel Schneerson, whether when writing about the arrest and release of his father-in-law, R' Yoseph-Yitzhaq Schneerson, he should mention or omit the fact that R' Yoseph-Yitzhaq's secretary, R' Hayyim Lieberman, was arrested and released with him. (R' Lieberman was opposed to R' Menahem-Mendel's ascendancy to the Lubavitch throne and did not recognize him as Rebbe after he assumed the position.) R' Menahem-Mendel responded, "History must be written   [true to its truth]" - and explained his redundancy: "This includes not polishing up any word.  Also Pulmus HaMussar  (The Musar Controversy), a book about the dispute in the late 5650's (1890's) in which most of the great Torah figures came out publicly against the Musar movement. The author, Musar adherent R' Dov Katz, tells how "many opinions were heard" by him "that we should avoid the entire affair "; but "several Musar personalities" including R' Yehiel-Yankev Weinberg and R' Hatzqel Sarna insisted not only that he should write about the controversy, but - as R' Sarna put it - that "he set down in writing the full affair without omitting any detail, be what it may."