“In the Merit of the Righteous Women the Jewish People Were Redeemed”~Yalkut Shimoni Shir HaShirim:993. I met my good friend Hymie Gluck from the Bagel Store yesterday. Hymie is a warm and friendly person who I (and many others) like and admire very much. He always has a good Vort or story to relate to me any time he sees me. Yesterday was no exception as he related to an incident which brought tears to my eyes. (Read More)

Dear Yom Hazikaron, It’s me Rosh Chodesh Av. It’s been a long time since I last saw you, but just today, I was thinking of you, and really want to reach out to you to share with you an experience that I’m in the middle of. These days, as you probably know, the Israeli army is fighting a fierce battle with (Read More)

We all believe in our students and their capabilities. We all believe in their ability to succeed and thrive in our classes. But no matter what we believe, if we're honest with ourselves, there will be times that we fail to reach all of our students. And this really shouldn't be a surprise. Each person that is created has a supremely unique set of skills, talents, abilities, learning strengths and weaknesses. One of our goals as educators is to do our duty to reach each of (Read More)

Ein Ma’avirin al HaMitzvot - You have only one day out of jail. When should you take it? What should you do? (Pesachim 64b) Imagine the following scenario: In Communist Russia of 1970, Alexei Shimonovich, a teacher of Judaism and fifteen-year refusenik (“refused” permission to emigrate to Israel), was tracked by the KGB, tried and convicted for... Read more » (Read More)