Wednesday, September 30, 2026
The Implosion of Eric Schmitt
https://www.newsweek.com/implosion-of-eric-schmitt-12505501
Senator Eric Schmitt bounced from "vice-presidential pick" to social media meme after purported "slam dunk" perjury evidence against Jack Smith fell flat in a basketball mix-up.
His anticipated moment of triumph against the former special counsel crumbled when it became clear he had mistaken the Iowa Hawkeyes college women's team for the Atlanta Hawks NBA franchise in key "gotcha" questioning aimed at placing Smith in Atlanta.
It was not just Schmitt that came out of Tuesday’s hearing with a red face. Several prominent conservative commentators circulated clips of the exchange as evidence that Smith had been caught in a lie, only to delete or quietly abandon those claims after the Hawkeyes explanation emerged.
Off-duty pilots on Israel-bound plane heroically landed aircraft after cockpit stabbing, passengers say
Two off-duty pilots reportedly stepped in to safely land a Tel Aviv-bound passenger jet minutes after the co-pilot stabbed the pilot in what Israeli officials are investigating as an attempted “9/11”-style terror attack.
The stabbing happened around two-and-a-half hours after taking off from Dubai, while the plane was cruising at about 34,000 feet, causing the jet to plummet 17,000 feet in just two minutes, according to Israeli media.
The two men – both “relief” pilots slated to skipper a subsequent flight, passengers told the BBC – managed to stabilize the Boeing 737 Max with 174 passengers on board for an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
How a woman's quick thinking and an Israeli executive's bravery saved Flydubai flight
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/09/30/israeli-ceo-subdues-stabbing-pilot-flydubai-flight/
The chaos unfolded when Tzvika Manes' wife, who was waiting near the cockpit while their daughter used the restroom, heard sudden screams from behind the flight deck door. She immediately alerted an off-duty pilot, who along with Tzvika and others, rushed to the flight deck.
Mamdani to Israel Hayom: We will combat all forms of antisemitism
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/09/30/mamdani-israel-hayom-fight-all-forms-antisemitism/
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended a Brooklyn Sukkot celebration hosted by Devorah Halberstam, a Chabad community activist who chairs the Board of Commissioners at the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism, during which he told Israel Hayom he would fight all forms of antisemitism but dismissed the idea of defining it.
The visit came just hours after Mamdani had unveiled a citywide strategy to fight antisemitism. The plan pours money into security, education and hate-crime prevention. Yet it stops short of adopting a formal definition of antisemitism, and it does not name anti-Zionism as one of that hatred's forms. That puts it at odds with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition that has been adopted by dozens of countries, which does treat certain anti-Zionist statements, among them denying the Jewish people's right to self-determination, as antisemitic.
Israel Hayom pressed Mamdani on this during the event. "Mayor Mamdani, will your strategy include all forms of antisemitism?" this reporter asked. "We will combat all forms of antisemitism," he replied. Pressed further on why the plan offers no specific definition, he said the strategy didn't need a "specific definition." The Israel Hayom reporter was then referred to Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism, and to Deputy Press Secretary Sam Raskin, but they have yet to comment.
Mamdani’s new plan to ‘fight antisemitism’ is pure fakery
https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/opinion/mamdanis-new-plan-to-fight-antisemitism-is-pure-fakery/
Just what is the antisemitism that Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to oppose? He won’t say.
He’ll fund more “hate-crime prevention” and help pay for security upgrades at religious centers (not just the Jewish ones that most need it, of course).
But God forbid our Israel-hating mayor mention that “anti-Zionism” is central to the recent waves of violent antisemitism he claims he wants stopped.
Points to state Sen. Liz Krueger for calling out the obvious: The mayor needs to “make clear through words and actions” that all Jews, including Zionists, deserve security against “threats, harassment or violence.”
Mamdani Wants to Fight Antisemitism But Won’t Define It
https://www.newsweek.com/zohran-mamdani-antisemitism-definition-israel-zionism-new-york-12503613
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has released a detailed strategy to fight antisemitism in New York City while leaving unsettled the question that followed him into office. What will his administration consider antisemitic when Israel and Zionism are involved?
Mamdani's plan is substantial in the places where the answer is easy. City Hall is putting $7.4 million into security and hate-prevention grants, expanding Jewish history education, helping institutions improve security and funding efforts to track and prevent hate. The mayor said the goal is to “confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future.” Considering the distrust between the mayor and parts of New York’s Jewish community and the fact that antisemitic hate crimes rose 9 percent through the first eight months of this year, according to the NYPD, the new plan is important.
But what happens when alleged antisemitism comes wrapped in political speech about Israel or Zionism? There is little ambiguity about a swastika on a synagogue or an assault on somebody because he is Jewish—those harder cases begin when consensus ends. The strategy explicitly declines to adopt a definition of antisemitism.
Shituf For Goyim - Chazon Ish
Chazon Ish (Likutim Sanhedrin 63b) Question: Is shituf permitted for a ben Noach? Answer: While Tosfos and the Ran do not prohibit it for a Goy the Rambam does not distinguish between a Jew and a Goy in ths matter and considers it Avoda Zara. The Chazon |Ish rules in agreement with Rambam
Rambam (Melachim (09:02) A Noachide who worships false gods is liable provided he worships them in an accepted manner.A Noachide is executed for every type of foreign worship which a Jewish court would consider worthy of capital punishment. However, a Noachide is not executed for a type of foreign worship which a Jewish court would not deem worthy of capital punishment. Nevertheless, even though a Noachide will not be executed for these forms of worship, he is forbidden to engage in all of them.We should not allow them to erect a monument, or to plant an Asherah, or to make images and the like even though they are only for the sake of beauty.
Rambam (Melachim 11:4) Jesus of Nazareth who aspired to be the Mashiach and was executed by the court was also alluded to in Daniel's prophecies: 'The vulgar among your people shall exalt themselves in an attempt to fulfill the vision, but they shall stumble. 'Can there be a greater stumbling block than Christianity? All the prophets spoke of Mashiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior who would gather their dispersed and strengthen their observance of the mitzvot. In contrast, Christianity caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humbled, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the Lord.
Rambam (Melachim 11:7) Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts, our thoughts. Ultimately, all the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite who arose after him will only serve to prepare the way for Mashiach's coming and the improvement of the entire world, motivating the nations to serve God together as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: 'I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.'
Rambam (Melachim 11:8) How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of Mashiach, Torah, and mitzvot. These matters have been spread to the furthermost islands to many stubborn-hearted nations. They discuss these matters and the mitzvot of the Torah, saying: 'These mitzvot were true, but were already negated in the present age and are not applicable for all time.'
Shadow Hoshana Rabbah
Rema (OC 664.1) The early rabbis wrote that the shadow of the moon on Hoshana Rabba evening holds a sign for what will happen to a person and their family in that year. There is one who writes not to be concerned with this so as not to upset one's fortune and also because many do not understand this matter fully. It is better to be pious and not to investigate the future. This is how it seems to me
Horius (12a) He who wishes to ascertain whether he will live through the year or not shall, during the ten days between the New Year and the Day of Atonement, kindle a lamp in a house wherein there is no draught. If the light continues to burn he may know that he will live through the year.
An embarrassing moment for the GOP, a confident witness and other takeaways from Jack Smith’s hearing
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/29/politics/jack-smith-testimony-basketball-takeaways
Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two indictments against now-President Donald Trump in 2023, testified in front of Congress again on Tuesday — this time, to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri crafted an apparent conspiracy theory about Smith being tied to the prosecution of Trump in Fulton County, Georgia. To substantiate his theory, Schmitt cited text messages he suggested showed Smith had been at an Atlanta Hawks game on February 3, 2024 – the day after Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade admitted to an affair.
The scene epitomized how speculative and thinly constructed the GOP’s allegations about Smith, Trump’s foes and about the justice system being weaponized against Trump have been. Likewise, the GOP’s other major perjury allegation against Smith rests on a complete misreading of the evidence
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
"The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together
this quote from "The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together" by Pessoa, Luiz -
"A central thesis of the book is that biology does not work like physics, and even less so like engineering. Biological systems are not easily reducible to separate units that, when put together, give us the whole back. Unfortunately, in my view, even brain scientists (many of them, at least) don’t fully appreciate this idea. Their descriptions of the brain are full of labels for brain regions, indicating that they perform function X (here’s “fear”) or Y (here’s “reward”), as if the separate pieces functioned quasi-autonomously. This thinking reflects a mapping between structure (anatomy) and function (behavior) that goes back more than a century. For example, in the early twentieth century, Korbinian Brodmann, an early neuroanatomist, subdivided the human brain into roughly 50 specific anatomical units that were thought to map to relatively distinct functions. To this day, Brodmann’s map and its refinements are routinely used by researchers. Indeed, one of the central approaches of neuroscience has been a divide-and-conquer strategy that tries to break up the entire organ into subcomponents that can be, purportedly, properly understood. They then can be put back together in the hope that the overall functionality will reflect the summed individual parts. I believe this strategy is problematic; in fact, it is inadequate to understand systems like the brain (and genetics by the way) in which the interactions among the parts create mechanisms and processes than cannot be derived by looking at parts in isolation. In The Entangled Brain, I wanted to avoid what I find in many general-audience books—namely, descriptions that simplify the brain to such an extreme as to appear, at times, caricatures. For example, in the context of emotion and motivation, an often-heard narrative is that primitive, subcortical regions like the amygdala (presumably “responsible for fear”) and the striatum (presumably “responsible for reward”) produce automatic behaviors that are next-to-impossible to subvert—hence, anxiety disorders and addiction. At the same time, the prefrontal cortex, the “newer and more rational” part of the brain, allows us to exert control over the subcortical bits and correct behaviors when appropriate (no cake-eating if one is on a diet, as an example). The treatment in the pages that follow adheres to a way of thinking that eschews these first-order explanations. The resulting story is not so simple, but I believe readers are more than ready to face the complexity. We don’t have to put functions inside little boxes in the brain and tell neat stories. Reality is immensely more complex. The view formulated here is that parts of the brain work in a coordinated fashion, such that functions are carried out by large-scale distributed circuits, also called large-scale networks. In other words, collections of gray matter parts exchange signals with one another and, by doing so, bring about behaviors. The circuits are distributed, not local, involving disparate parts in the cortex and the subcortex, for example. And they are “large scale” because they don’t only involve a pair, or possibly a few regions, but many components working simultaneously. That is the sense in which the brain is entangled, as summarized by the book’s title. The overall goal of the book is to introduce the central nervous system to readers in a sophisticated yet engaging manner—I hope! The text exposes readers to some of the complexities surrounding our understanding of the brain, without submitting the reader to a tsunami of technicalities."
Start reading this book for free: https://read.amazon.com/kp/
Taxpayers have funded nearly $1.5M in pro-Trump ads. Criticism is mounting, including from the GOP
“You watch all three ads, they’re sheer propaganda,” said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics czar under Republican President George W. Bush. “This is increasingly looking like what authoritarian governments do to promote their leaders.”
The heightened scrutiny comes as the Trump administration has increased spending on the ads and bought time on popular TV shows, including college football and National Football League programming. It remains unclear which part of the government is supplying the funds.
With both chambers of Congress led by Republicans, any oversight would likely have to come from Trump’s allies, decreasing the likelihood of hearings or other accountability efforts before November’s midterm elections.
Monday, September 28, 2026
Reb Shlomo Freifeld - remembering his greatness and how he inspired others to be great
Rebbe Of My Past, Pillar Of My Forever
According to my father, life for me in Shor Yoshuv began on Erev Rosh Hashanah, when still unredeemed, I lay on his shtender throughout Minchah at the coming of 5732. After Yom Tov, my pidyon haben happened in the basement of the “old” building. The deli platters were from a Brooklyn caterer who opened special for the occasion and the lemon meringue pie was my bubby’s who, until her end, spoke regrettably of the bochurim transporting those pastries upside down so the meringue stuck to the foil packaging. Twenty-five years later I would redeem my own son in the dining room of the “new” building, making me an incidental detail in a matter of Trivial Pursuit.
My father was among those initially attracted to their rebbe’s vibrant manner, and with my mother, toiled to develop the yeshivah into a community. For as long as I can remember Rabbi Freifeld was our master and Shor Yoshuv was our muse. There was never uncoupling the two. Our teacher’s scheme was not aimed at scholarship nor was it limited to scholars. His surprising coalition of styles met a startling combination of needs. We trusted in our master because he believed in everyone first. In our rebbe we found incentive. In his yeshivah we discovered our worth.
Long before “at risk” was cliche, Rabbi Freifeld won the affection of uninspired youth from ordinary, Orthodox homes with his smile, honesty, common sense, and concern. Never a pioneer of any movement, the New York-born son of immigrant parents attended first to others like him, capturing the attention of unresolved yeshivah students who had nowhere else to go. In his rebbe, my wary father discovered a figure he could trust; and in Shor Yoshuv, a faith he could esteem. If you are an Orthodox Jew in America, you conceivably have experienced effects of Rabbi Freifeld’s magnanimity. In Far Rockaway, Rabbi Freifeld made possible a generation of families living inspired, inventive lives. In the hearts of his talmidim and in the methods of modern educators, my rebbe’s original influence endures.[...]
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At my first meeting with him - at the suggestion of Rav Bulman - I explained that I had many questions about Yiddishkeit that I had not gotten answers for and had been told that many of my questions were inappropriate to ask He said simply, "All questions are legitimate. The gemora is organized around questions. There is nothing wrong with asking questions. All I ask from you is to be patient about getting answers. I'll try and arrange private time for us to discuss your questions." In fact after 10 years he addressed very few of my questions. Some were dealt with by other rebbeim in the yeshiva. But his major contribution to me was to legitimize my questioning. I eventually wrote a sefer "Daas Torah" that deals with many of the issues that bothered me. Thus he ended up giving me the ability to answer the questions - myself.
update: Reb Shlomo not only had a great sensitivity and skill dealing with others but he also had a strong physical presence and charisma. I hadn't realized how much his physical presence was part of the "message" until I started transcribing his speeches for someone. When compared to my memory of what he said or even a hearing a recording - the paper record just sat there. The electricity and awesome power of his words simply weren't captured by the transcript. He once told me that he had trouble writing his thoughts and wished he could just commanded the pen to write. (This was before voice activated computer transcription programs). But the bottom line is the impact of what he said was strongly dependent on the personal experience of seeing this giant of a man expressing his heart felt words with his entire being.
It was one of the rules of the yeshiva that any stranger who walked in was to be greeted. That this is unusual was revealed by bochurim who left to go to other yeshivos and reported how strange and insensitive their new yeshivos were. One bochur who went to Lakewood reported that someone had come from Australia and went unnoticed in the Beis HaMedrash. He also told the story of another bochur who had an important phone call but didn't have change. He was ignored in the beis hamedrash where everyone was learning with great hasmoda. Suddenly he felt someone link arms with him. It was the mashgiach Rav Wachtfogel. The mashgiach announced to everyone, "your fellow student is in need of change - who can provide it for him."
Once I criticized the way Reb Shlomo dealt with a certain individual. Instead of being offended he said the following immortal words. "I never claimed to be infallible and I make mistakes. But the most important thing that I have done is create a tzibur. Most of what happens here is due to the tzibur - not to me."
When I started Shor Yoshuv I didn't know how to learn gemora. Most of the other guys had come up through the yeshiva system and had no trouble with the gemora. I was once sitting in the beis medrash feeling depressed about my incompetence an difficulty keeping up with the others. As usual he not only picked up that something was wrong - but he came over to try and deal with my issues. When I explained my serious problems, he said. "Is that all that is bothering you? You feel that everyone is far advanced of you and you will never catch up? You are in fact in a superior position to most of the other guys in yeshiva. They have spent years developing a strong hatred for Torah learning. You have a head start because you simply have to learn gemora. They have to first overcome their hatred for it in order to advance."
After Shabbos morning davening we had a kiddush in which he gave insights into the parsha. He once spoke about the gemora in Shabbos which says one should not ask a talmid chachom questions about a gemora that he is not currently studying because he might be embarrassed to admit the he didn't understand it and he would make up an answer. My chavrusa and I had just made a siyum on Shabbos and we both looked at each other when he gave an explanation for what the gemora meant. It clearly went against the intent of the gemora. After the kiddush we went over to him and asked him to explain why he gave an explanation which was clearly not what the gemora said. He looked at us both and said, "What do you expect from someone who hasn't looked at that gemora in 25 years." His unflinching honesty in admitting to his students that he was wrong served the purpose of not only showing his tremendous concern for the truth - even if it caused him embarrassment - but also reinforced the gemora. Most talmidei chachomim would have in fact attempted a rationalization to conceal their error.
There was a student in the yeshiva who had done the unforgivable. It had become public knowledge that he was living his with girl friend. Obviously he was going to kicked out of the yeshiva and we were all sure that he would be given a very harsh lecture from Reb Shlomo. I was sitting in the beis hamedrash when he came in for his meeting for Reb Shlomo. He sat next to me and said, "Well it looks like I am leaving and I am sure Reb Shlmo has some choice words which I deserve - but I really don't care what he says."
He was calm and acted as if he was glad his stay in yeshiva was over. A few minutes later he was called into Reb Shlomo's office and we waited for the yelling and screaming to start. But there were no sounds coming from the closed office. When he finally came out he was white and shaking. "
I asked him what did he say to you?" It must have been incredibly harsh to penetrate his confident sneer. He replied, "Reb Shlomo simply asked me for personal forgiveness - that he wasn't big enough to influence me properly." That was the only thing he had no defense against and it penetrated his defenses like a cruise missile.
I was one of Reb Shlomo's principle drivers - since I had access to a car. I once drove him to Williamsburg to get a new wide rimmed hat which had been custom made for him. When he tried it on he saw that it was not what he had ordered. I was amazed that he didn't directly criticize the man. Instead he said, "I am embarrassed that I have to say that this is not what I ordered."
When one of the supporters of the yeshiva who lived in Washington D.C. was niftar, he asked me and a few other bochurim to drive down with him to see the family who were sitting shiva. The man's children were all below the age of 8. What do you say to young children who have just lost their father?
He sat down with them at a small table. He didn't try to give them words of comfort - they meant nothing to them. What he did do was to talk to them as if he one of them. And he entertained them by making various faces. In short he comforted them on their level - something he was the master at doing. I learned that the mitzva of nichum aveilum is not to make yourself feel righteous - but rather is to do what is needed to comfort the mourner.
We were once driving to Brooklyn and he mentioned that according to the gemora in Berachos it is prohibited to mention Torah in the presence of a dead person - because the dead person no longer had the ability to learn Torah. He told me in the name of Rav Hutner, "It is not only for the dead that one should avoid shaming because of their inability to participate. This is a lesson for everyone. For example one should not have a spirited Torah discussion in the company of the ignorant who can not participate. One needs to be sensitive to the feelings of others."
When I moved to Brooklyn after 10 years in Shor Yoshuva, it was quite disconcerting. No one took the initiative to greet me or other newcomers. But perhaps the greatest change was the lack of community. In Flatbush there was no community to belong to. I once mentioned this to Rabbi Shimshon Scherer. His response was, "You have lived in a fantasy world for ten years. You will never find another community like it. Just be glad that you had a chance to be part of it."
When Rav Feivel Cohen shul's had a melave malke in Flatbush. Rav Feivel Cohen was hoping to form a genuine kehila like Shor Yoshuva. Reb Shlomo was the guest speaker. I'll never forget the words, "As I was driving across the Marine Channel Bridge linking the Rockaways and Flatbush I knew that I was stranger entering a strange land. A land without a sense of community as we have in Shor Yoshuv. Fortunately Reb Feivel is working to correct that problem and with G-d's help he will succeed in building a genuine kehila here in Brooklyn.
Reb Shlomo was down to earth and had a solid sense of humor. I spent a lot of time with his family, doing errands and well as spending time with his children. Once his 7 year old daughter took a vice grips pliers that I was using to fix something in the house and removed the screw and threw it out on the roof adjacent to their kitchen. I was very upset at losing a valuable tool. Reb Shlomo came in and sized up the problem. How to get the screw that was lying on the roof? Obviously no one was going to climb out the window to retrieve it. He thought a moment and asked his daughters for several pieces of bubble gum which he proceeded to chew. He then stuck the wad on the end of a broom stick and stuck it out the window and retrieved the screw.
At the yeshiva we occasionally had visiting talmidei chachomim give a shiur to the entire yeshiva. On one occasion, the distinguished talmid chachom spoke about Bava Kamma regarding the difference between a tam and muad ox. What was interesting was that the roshei yeshiva constantly interrupted him and disagreed with him. After the shiur a number of us stood around discussing the shiur. We concluded that it couldn't have been correct since the roshei yeshiva disagreed with it - so why was he asked to speak. Reb Shlomo sensed our question and noted, "You are probably wondering why we asked him to speak if we disagree with what he said. What I wanted you to note was not so much the content of the shiur but how he relates to Torah. Most of us have a very formal relationship with Torah. A distance is maintained with proper attitude. However I hope that you noted that for Rav Plontchik there is no distance. He relates to the Torah as if he were in a comfortable bed. Torah is something personal and intimate. I wanted you to experience a talmid chachom who has such a relationship to Torah - even if I disagree with his conclusions."
When I left Shor Yoshuv for Brooklyn, the final meeting I had contained one message. "Doniel don't forget to be normal. Far Rockaway is still normal - only one family has a chandelier." In fact saying that someone was normal was one of his highest praises.
Just before I left America to move to Israel, I drove to Far Rockaway from Brooklyn with my young sons. At that time Reb Shlomo was dying from spinal cancer. He was in constant pain and he was in constant danger from catching a cold or worse because of the medication that suppressed his immune response. Because one of my sons had a cold I left them in the car to run in and get his bracha and run out. He didn't have the energy for more than that.
However things didn't go as expected. He wanted to talk and we did. I realized it wasn't a good idea to leave my young sons alone in the car and so I stood up to say goodbye - explaining the problem.
When he heard that my sons were in the car he insisted that I bring them in - even though he was exposing himself to danger. He not only greeted them but insisted on talking with each one - including asking them to solve mathematical puzzles. Finally he gave them individual berachos and we departed. His literal mesira nefesh for others was astounding.
Shor Yoshuv - Dedication of Hebrew Yad Yisroel
'Thirty years ago I first met Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld and his wife Rebbetzin Sara Freifeld I am dedicating the Yad Yisroel sefer to their memory as well as the memories of a number of members of the Shor Yoshuv community.
I once asked Rabbi Freifeld how he was able to provide proper guidance to so many people - all of whom. had a unique relationship with him. He answered, "'I do make mistakes. 'But: I am right more often than 'I am wrong. 'But more important than my judgment is the community that i have created. People grow more from this community than from me."
His huge stature and his warm smile have not diminished with time. 'Nor has his powerful voice urging timid souls to greatness, or his ability to make the abstract - real Like the prophets of the past, he had the ability not only to be inspiring but also to perceive what each individual needed in order to progress.
If Rabbi Freifeld can be described as the defining personality of Shor Yoshuv, the 'Rebbetzin can rightly be described as the spiritual force that energized the community. She was a full partner in ail that he did. I had the zechus of seeing how they inspired people in many different situations.
Rabbi Freifeld told me the following story during Shiva. "When Shor Yoshuv started I was extremely busy My wife was even busier raising a large family, teaching and preparing night and day for our many guests. One day someone told us of two children who had been abandoned. I was upset but had no time. Her response was simply' 'They are Jewish children. and we must help them'. She met with social workers, raised money for their education and arranged foster care. Her deep compassion for everyone, made her oblivious to the impossible difficulties that stopped others.
'The Rebbitzin’s mother, Rebbetzin Leah Cohen was a remarkable Yerushalmi. She shared her perceptive insights with me while 'I enjoyed many meals in her home. :Her words of "'Yeshuas 'HaShem Ke'heref Aiyen" still echo when times become difficult. _ _
Rebbetzin Freifeld once asked me to visit a woman hospitalized with terminal cancer. Mrs. Alice Dukoff, whom she described as her spiritual twin, made an indelible impression on me the way she faced death.
Mrs. Pauline Gingold was a tzadekes in her 90’s who was living in a nursing home. 'Rabbi Freifeld frequently commented that her conversations should be recorded. Her direct and intimate relationship with G-d, typical in 'Europe a century ago, is rare in the sophisticated and se(f conscious modern World. Her observations made from the perspective of a century of Avodas :Hashem were valuable gems. We completed Tzena 'U’Rena and the Menoras HaMeor together. She was the magnet that attracted many to visit the nursing home where they learned how to do 'Bikur Cholim. · Slier accomplished more Mitzvos in the nursing home than others accomplish in a lifetime.
Seffi Stefansky was another exceptional person of the Shor Yoshuv community. She was kept alive on(y by constant trips to the hospital for dialysis and many operations. She was a pure and natural personality who became excited when seeing a beautiful fIower or a golden sunset. A devoted student of Rebbitzen Freifeld, she had the same excitement when dealing Tehillim or a Malbim. 'This intense purity and pain existed side by side in the same remarkable person. She was described by one Rav as a living Shulchan Aruch of how to deal with suffering.
Rabbi Aaron Dovid Cohen was a distinguished member of Shor Yoshuv. His Hasmoda and love of learning were a natural part of him. He was a role model in his devotion to the Rebbeim his .Ahavas Yisroel and his enthusiasm in sharing everyone's Simchos.
Yitzchok Tillem was propelled to discover tremendous energies within himself through the Freifeld's. He was an inspiring college instructor at Stern College, a lawyer who devoted much time to Jewish causes and a creative entrepreneur. His greatest concern was with helping others. His brief life ended in a plane crash on a mission of mercy in 'Ethiopia.
They will not be forgotten
ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.
Birchas HaMazone Br Careful
Chinuch (430) Anyone who is careful to recite Birchas Hamazon properly, with concentration and joy, will find that their sustenance will be provided with dignity all the days of their life.
The Mysteries of Hoshana Rabbah
https://seforimblog.com/2017/10/the-mysteries-of-hoshana-rabba/
Today we know this special day as Hoshana Rabbah, but it wasn’t always called by this name. In earlier sources, such as the Mishnah and Gemara, the Yom Tov is never called Hoshana Rabbah but “Yom Aravah” or “Yom Hoshana.” In a recent article, Rabbi Yaakov Stahl traces mentions of these names through numerous Geonim, Paytanim and Rishonim and concludes that the earliest known mention of the name “Hoshana Rabbah” is in the piyyutim of Rav Yosef Avitur, who passed away in 1024. However, it took a long time for the name to become popular.[2]
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Tzadik Hador
Bava Basra (75b) The righteous will in time to come be called by the name of G-d ; for it is said: Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory. I have formed him, yea, I have made him.
Bava Basra (075b) Three were called by the name of G-d and they are the following: The righteous, the Messiah and Jerusalem.
Likutei Moharan (08) When the person who is tied to the tzaddik of the generation sighs and extends his ruach, he draws the ruach-of-life from the generation’s tzaddik. For the tzaddik is bound to the Torah—which is where the ruach is.
Lekutei Moharan (123) The essence and foundation on which everything depends is one’s binding oneself to the tzaddik of the generation: accepting his word in whatever he says, “This is how it is,” in matters small and great; not deviating from his word “to the right or the left” as our Sages teach: even if he tells you that right is left… ;casting off from oneself all pseudo-wisdoms; and dismissing one’s knowledge as if one had no intelligence other than what one receives from the tzaddik and rav of the generation, because as long as one retains some of one’s own intellect, one lacks completion and is not bound to the tzaddik.
Mesilas Yesharim (26) But for the Holy man who constantly clings to his G-d, whose soul treads freely among true thoughts in love of his Creator and fear of Him, behold, it is considered as if he is walking before G-d in the Land of the Living, while still here in this world. Such a man is himself considered as a tabernacle, a temple and an altar. This is as our sages said "'and G-d went up from him' - the forefathers are the divine chariot". Likewise, they said: "the righteous are the divine chariot". For the Shechina (divine presence) dwells within them just as it dwelled in the Temple. Due to this, the food they eat is like a sacrifice offered upon the fire of the altar, for certainly it was a great elevation for those things to be offered on the altar, since they were offered before the Shechina. The elevation was to such an extent that its kind, all over the world, was blessed, as our sages stated in a Midrash. So too, the food and drink which the holy man eats elevates that food or drink as if it had actually been offered on the altar. This is similar to what our sages said: "one who brings a gift to a Torah scholar is as if he had offered first-fruits ", and "if a man wishes to offer a wine libation upon the altar, let him fill the throat of the Torah scholars with wine". This does not mean that Torah scholars were craving for food and drink, G-d forbid, that one fills their throats like one stuffs a glutton. Rather, the matter is according to the intent I explained. That Torah scholars who are holy in their ways and in all their deeds are actually just like the Temple and the altar, for the Shechina (divine presence) literally dwells upon them as it did in the Temple. Thus, what is offered to them is as offered on the altar, and the filling of their throat is as the filling of the basins. In this way was all use they made of the things of this world. Since they were clinging to G-d's holiness, blessed be He, behold, it was an elevation and an enhancement for that thing which merited to be of use to a Tzadik (righteous person).
Rav Kook (Shemoneh Kevatzim 02:99) The tzadik hador sometimes takes it upon himself to suffer pain to purify the sins of the generation.
Shabbos (033b) When there are righteous men in the generation, the righteous are seized by death for the sins of the generation; when there are no righteous in a generation, school-children are seized for the generation..
Moed Koton (28a) Wherefore is the account of Aaron's death closely followed by the account of the disposal of the priestly vestments? To inform you that just as the priest's vestments were means to effect atonement so is the death of the righteous conducive to procuring atonement.
Moed Koton (28a) Wherefore is the account of Miriam's death placed next to the laws of the red heifer? To inform you that even as the red heifer afforded atonement by the ritual use of its ashes, so does the death of tie righteous afford atonement for the living they have left behind.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Tzadik v’Rah Lo
Medrash Shmuel (Avos 05:02) To explain the question of Tzadik v’Rah lo we will use the events of the life of Avraham - . for who is greater than he? Yet, he endured a multiple problems including famine and the abduction of Sarah—first to the court of Pharaoh and later to the King of Gerar—among a total of ten trials that befell him. G-d revealed the reason for this by enumerating the ten generations spanning from Noah to Abraham. What lesson does this convey? It demonstrates His immense patience; generation after generation provoked Him, until Abraham arose and assumed the burden of their collective reckoning and received the reward of all of them. In other words, Abraham took upon himself the punishment due to them—bearing and enduring the suffering they deserved—thereby securing their deliverance; for by accepting a single tribulation corresponding to each generation, he stood as their shield.
LevinAt11 Lawler-On-The-Loose
בס"ד
ערב שבת, ערב סוכות, יד תשרי, תשפ"ז - תהא שנת פדיון זוכותLinked* below is this week's LevinAt11 broadcast of Sept. 24, '26.
תכנית ראדיו רב יהודה לעוין, שליט"א, ערב שבת, ערב סוכות, תשפ"ז~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~Tefillah request, for refuah shelaima of:1. Rav Yehuda ben Masha HaLevi (Levin);
2. Shimon ben Masha;3. Lea bas Freeda;
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1. BREAKING NEWS: Female IDF Draft Update ("Giyus Banos");
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"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves toward the end of his speech at the UN by noting that the Jewish people’s story goes back over 3,000 years.
“We speak the same language today that we spoke then. We live in the same land in which our ancestors lived then — David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah,” he says.
{Notice whom he skips - the Avos, the Shvatim, and even Yehoshua (whom they like to identify with).}
“That’s our land: The Land of Israel. Our prophets {the ones you people repugnate}, our purpose and our people are unique in history.”
“Our values have inspired humanity for millennia,” he continues:
“The belief in one god.
{The One G-d against Whom your people regularly rebel}
The sanctity of life.
{As in the killing of over two million Israeli babies via abortion}
The rule of law.
{As in your pro-LGBT laws - flying in the face of even Noahide Law, how much more so Torah-Law as applies to Jews}
Our eternal quest for peace.
{As in your unrelenting fulfilment of the abominations of Parshas Achrei-Mos resulting in being spit out of the Land (see Ramban VAYIKRA 18:25).}
Our eternal quest for justice.
{As in your institutionalized persecution of girls seeking to escape the military draft dragnet.}
It is these sacred values that propelled us throughout the ages.
{Who's Us?? You?!}
It is these values that helped us beat the odds of history.”
{And it's these sacred values that you routinely spit at in countless ways.}
“Over the centuries, the tyrannies that tried to destroy us failed time and again,” he concludes, “and God willing, they will continue to fail. If we muster our courage, if we steel our resolve, we will continue to win.”
“The eternity of Israel will not falter,” he says, quoting the Bible, “and the reason is simple: “We have no other choice.”
{As if it's up to us, and as if the "Eternity of Israel" is not referring to G-d, but to Jews, afar lePihu.}
“Happy holidays, and thank you,” he says ...."
Closing Comment: Well, not so happy - if you happen to be an innocent teenage girl standing up for the authentic traditional role of Jewish women - and have consequently run afoul of Israeli human-trafficking professionals of Meitav, under which the IDF Draft Office persecutions against Innocent girls are routinely committed with impunity.
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Preceding week's broadcast: נצבים-וילךLinked here is the LevinAt11 radio broadcast of Sept. 3, '26.*An initial write-up and brief analysis/ overview appears here:~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~Broadcast over: Davidzon Radio: davidzonradio.com / 718) 303-8000 We extend to our supporters and partners a gutt-kvittel, Good Shabbos and good Yom Tov.
Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,
Executive Director,
Help Rescue Our Children
Email: torahjewsfordecency@
gmail.com Direct: 771.215.8892
Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337
Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).
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