Category: September 2021

A year on By: Ilan Preskovsky It’s hard to believe, but as of 11 Tishrei 5782 (17 September 2021), it will have been one year since Rabbi Avraham Tanzer z”l passed away. It has hardly been the easiest, let alone the most normal of years for any of us, individually, but Rabbi Tanzer’s passing has obviously left a major hole in both the Yeshiva College campus and the wider community as well. No doubt, that’s not going to change any time soon but more even than his absence, it will…

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Why the woke left has failed the Jews By: Ilan Preskovsky Though it’s undoubtedly true that the most violent, blatant, and vitriolic antisemitic attacks come from those on the far right of the political spectrum, the recent meteoric surge in antisemitism is very much also the responsibility of those on the far left. The difference between the two extremes, though, is that while right-wing extremism – be it a neo-Nazi rally or a militant Islamist terrorist attack – tends to be proud of its undisguised Jew-hatred, left-wing antisemitism is much,…

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The message of uncertainty, and liberation from predictability. By: Rabbi Dovid Samuels One of the ideas given as to why we are commanded to dwell in sukkahs after the Yomim Nora’im is that just in case it was decided on Rosh Hashanah that we, chas veshalom, deserved to be sent into galus – exile, our living outside in the sukkah should be a (more pleasant) fulfilment of that harsh decree, and will hopefully exempt us from the “real thing”. The question is an obvious one: how could the experience of…

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A bus driver’s guide to life By: Rabbi Dovid Samuels It was just after Rosh Hashanah, 2015. At the bus stop in the middle of Bnei Brak stood tens of families with small children waiting for the bus to take them all back home to Yerushalayim. But on the horizon, no bus could be seen. A man in the crowd made a call to the bus company, and they duly promised that they would send a bus to pick them up, and finally send them all home. They had just…

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 The spiritual root of change By: Paula Levin New Year resolutions are notoriously difficult to stick to. Even we only half believe ourselves when committing to changing something about our lives. Every year, Rosh Hashanah offers us a fresh start and a blank slate, to turn over a new leaf, start a new chapter, and create lasting change – if we harness its power. To help unpack the spiritual science behind the change it offers, we spoke to experts in personal transformation: Ra’anana-based master mindset life coach Andi Saitowitz, and…

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