The Power of Light
For many years in the 90's there was a small advertisement that ran every Friday on the bottom corner of the front page of the New York Times. It read, “Jewish Women: Shabbat candle lighting time this Friday is ____pm.” It not only served as a reminder of this eternal mitzvah, but it also expressed Jewish pride.
The advertisement ceased after the sponsor ended it, but it reappeared once.
On January 1, 2000, the NY Times ran a Millennium edition. It was a special issue that featured three front pages. One had the news from January 1, 1900. The second was the actual news of the day, January 1, 2000. And then they had a third front page, projecting future events of January 1, 2100.
A Little Bit of Light
Olga Fin shared the story of her mother's arrival at Auschwitz and how she would count the days until Shabbat. Every Friday, she crafted two small candles from the margarine she had saved and refrained from consuming. She also took some threads from the bottom of her dress and used them to ignite the candles.
"My mother encouraged all the other women in the barrack to do the same, and they all followed suit. As a result, the barrack was illuminated every Friday night with these candles. She never wavered in her faith, and even after the war, she maintained her connection to her Jewish identity and observance. She insisted that she survived solely because of her Shabbat candles," Olga recounted.
Shidduch
While the term Shidduch (matchmaking) can apply to multiple scenarios such as pairing someone up with a suitable job, roommate, or client, it is primarily associated with introducing a prospective girl and boy for marriage. The one who suggests a Shidduch is called a Shadchan (matchmaker).
The Spark Within: The Story of Our Hostages
Matan Angrest, 22, was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 from his tank near Nahal Oz after a fierce battle that left the rest of his crew dead. Despite suffering severe injuries and brutal torture, he described his experience as “a series of miracles.” Just weeks into captivity, Matan demanded a siddur, Chumash, and tefillin, and shockingly, his captors complied. “I prayed three times a day: morning, afternoon, and night,” he recalled. “It protected me; it gave me hope.”
Fake it till you make it
According to a recent study published in the journal Experimental Psychology, researchers found that smiling — even a fake smile — can have a positive impact on your mood.
Essentially, triggering certain facial muscles by smiling can “trick” your brain into thinking you're happy. When your muscles say you're happy, you're more likely to see the world around you in a positive way.
An Open Home
Have you ever registered for a free service only to learn later on about hidden costs or a requirement to upgrade to a premium package to fully benefit from the product?
In the context of subscription-based businesses, freemium is a business model where a company offers a version of its subscription service to all customers for free enabling them to help drive faster recurring revenue and profit growth than a paid-only model.
Social Conformity
In the 1950s, Solomon Asch, a young Jewish immigrant from Poland, conducted a series of psychological experiments to explore how strongly peer pressure influences the choices we make in our decisions and lifestyles. Known famously as the Asch Conformity Experiments, these studies revealed that nearly 75% of participants conformed to group opinions at least once, even when those opinions contradicted reality, illustrating a common willingness to disregard personal perception for group acceptance.
From Abraham to Amazon: The Power of Leaving Your Comfort Zone
In 1994, Jeff Bezos was just 30 years old and thriving as a senior vice president at D. E. Shaw, a prestigious Wall Street investment firm. He had what most people would consider a promising future: a secure, high-paying job, prestige, and a clear career path.
Then he encountered a statistic that changed everything: internet usage was growing at 2,300% per year. Bezos realized that this new medium could transform the world and that he could create something meaningful through it. He envisioned an online bookstore, a concept that didn't yet exist at scale.
Universal Mission
David Chase, a Holocaust survivor, businessman and philanthropist who led many important charitable efforts for Jewish communities around the globe, once shared an inspiring episode.Chase maintained the practice of praying in Tallit and Tefillin daily—even aboard airplanes and his personal yacht. In following the Talmudic dictum to face towards Jerusalem while praying, Chase regularly asked his captain, a non-Jew named Nick Winters, of the ship’s position and projected route.
Remaining Nonpartisan
During the turbulent early 20th century, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950), known as the Previous Rebbe, was once traveling by train to Petersburg. In his car were noblemen, clergy, and a group of Jewish students. Before long, a heated discussion arose on the topic of ideal systems of government.
Finding Calm in the Current
Managing our stress level is a challenge we often face when trying to keep up with our daily responsibilities and commitments.
Maintaining a healthy balance between family, work, community and a connection to our heritage is essential to living a purposeful and meaningful life. But how can we properly dedicate ourselves to each of these aspects of our lives within the limited time we have without feeling overwhelmed? This quandary assumes even greater prominence during times like these when we are faced with uncertainty and unique challenges.
Lechaim- Are We Living or Existing?
“Lechaim (to Life)" is not just a nice slogan used when friends and family make a toast together during joyous occasions. Lechaim connotes a blessing and desire that we wish to focus more on living and less on just existing.
To exist means to consume space, resources, food and all other materialistic things that our physical existence depends on. To live, on the other hand, means to focus on the meaning and purpose of life. Instead of being motivated to work just to pay our bills, we strive to contribute to society, develop meaningful relationships with our families and friends, and make a positive difference for the people around us.
Speaking Truth to Power
As the world watched in great anticipation for the miraculous return of the hostages earlier this week on Hoshana Rabbah, the climax of the Sukkot holiday, a momentous gathering took place in the Israeli Knesset.
Standing before President Trump, Yair Lapid, of the centrist Yesh Atid party and the head of Israel’s opposition parties in government, declared:
Shared Merit, Shared Mission
When Sergey Brin and Larry Page met at Stanford University in 1995, they were two Jewish graduate students with strong, diverse opinions, curious minds, and a shared fascination with how to organize the rapidly expanding world of information on the internet. What began as an academic partnership soon evolved into one of the most transformative collaborations in modern history, the founding of Google.
They discovered that their differences were not obstacles, but strengths that complemented each other. Page’s vision, persistence, and product focus merged seamlessly with Brin’s mathematical insight, creativity, and restless curiosity. Together, they transformed a research project into a global tool that reshaped how humanity accesses knowledge.
Three Types of Relationships
Men usually don't sit over coffee talking about their marriages. That's why a particular conversation between three males stuck in my mind — they were discussing the joys of wedded life.
"I love my wife," said David. "That's why I do everything she asks me to do. A few months ago she exclaimed, ‘David, I would really appreciate a new diamond necklace for my birthday’, and I make sure to purchase one for her next birthday.”
Bridging Heaven & Earth
The story is told of a famous child psychologist who spent many hours constructing a new driveway at his home. Just after he smoothed the surface of the freshly poured concrete, his small children chased a ball across the driveway, leaving deep footprints.
The man yelled after them with a torrent of angry words. His shocked wife said, "You're a psychologist who's supposed to love children."
The fuming man shouted, "I love children in the abstract, not in the concrete!”
Embrace Diversity
Diversity is woven into the very fabric of the universe. Every individual possesses a unique fingerprint; no two zebra stripes are identical, and even two snowflakes drifting side by side are truly distinct.
As succinctly stated in the Talmud, "No two minds are alike, [just as] no two faces are alike (Berachot 58a)."
Napoleon's March
Napoleon's March is remarkable for its joyous, rhythmic character. It was played in 1812 by the armies of Napoleon when they crossed the border near Prussia in their invasion of Russia. Napoleon insisted his soldiers sing this march as they went out to battle, for he wished to boost their morale and instill within them a sense of confidence that they would win the war. Indeed, Napoleon's army did initially encounter great success in conquering much of Europe until their eventual defeat at the hands of the Russian army.
Sandy Koufax, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg & Yom Kippur
October 6, 1965, the first game of the '65 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers versus the Minnesota Twins. It's Yom Kippur night at Metropolitan Stadium, 47,797 in attendance. Sandy Koufax, lead pitcher of the LA Dodgers, refuses to play.
Koufax's refusal to pitch on Yom Kippur gained him the respect and admiration of many Jews. His courage gave many Jews the strength to not be ashamed of their Judaism.
Israel’s Secret Weapon
Six F-15 escorts and eight F-16 fighter bombers roared off the runway from Etzion Air Force Base in southern Israel. The air was thick and tense. Prior to take-off, Lt. General Rafael Eitan briefed the pilots. "The alternative is our destruction," he said, displaying unusual emotion.
Israel's intelligence had recently confirmed that Iraq had intentions of producing weapons in their Osirak nuclear facility. The atomic bombs which the Iraqi reactor would be capable of producing from enriched uranium or plutonium could be as fatal as the one that landed on Hiroshima. Realizing the mortal danger facing the people of Israel, the Israeli government decided to attack. At 3:55 PM, while the country innocently bustled about its daily activities, the fighter jets secretly took off.