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For most of us, the 15th Av is little more than a day on which davening is shorter because no Tachanun is said. In fact, though, the day has deep significance. The Talmud (Taanis 31a; Bava Basra 121b) states, From now on, whoever adds increases. Rashi explains: From the 15th of Av onward, whoever adds nights to the days by studying Torah adds life to his lifetime.

The Talmud notes that the suns power and intense heat start to noticeably weaken at this time. As the Rashbam explains, the nights get longer and the days get shorter, and therefore one should study Torah at night, too. In fact, the Talmud states, Night was created only for Torah study (Eiruvin 65a).

The Rambam goes even further: Although there is a commandment to study Torah [both] during the day and at night, a person learns most of his wisdom only at night. Therefore, a person who wishes to be privileged with the crown of Torah should be careful with all his nights, not to waste even one with sleep, eating, drinking, conversation, and the like, but only with Torah study and subjects of wisdom (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:13).

Subjects of wisdom, in this context, say the commentaries, mean the most profound Torah subjects, which Rambam earlier defined as pardes maaseh merkavah and maaseh bereishis, knowledge of Hashem and His creation (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 4:13).

Night is ideal for studying Torah because normal daytime disturbances and problems dont disrupt our attention and concentration, making it easier to explore subjects in depth and remember them.

At night, we are more spiritually attuned, we are free of daytimes material influences, and we are more open to humility and holiness. Therefore, Torah study at this time has the ability to bring us spiritually closer to Hashem in a more conscious and profound way. For the above reasons, night is also ideal for a cheshbon hanefesh (spiritual stocktaking) in Krias Shema or saying Tikkun Chatzos.

So when Rashi writes of adding life to [ones] lifetime, he doesnt just mean better health and longer life; he also means an improved quality of life not just in the next world, but even in this one. As our Sages say, You will see your world [to come] in your lifetime [in this world] (Berachos 17a).

Chassidus, based on the Kabbalah of the Arizal, highlights the full moon thats visible on the 15th of Av. The moon symbolizes the Jewish people, who are compared to the moon (as we say in Kiddush Levana) and who therefore count their years based on the lunar calendar. Gentile nations, on the other hand, base their calendar on the sun, the heat of which represents, in Kabbalah, the overwhelming power of the forces of evil.

The 15th of Av is even greater than the 15th say of other Jewish months since it immediately follows the low point of Tisha BAv. The ascent from that low point to the 15th has the advantage of light shining into darkness, which makes it more effective and most appreciated.

The high point achieved on 15th Av when the heat of the sun, representing the powers of evil, begins to diminish is therefore a time to intensify the forces of holiness by studying more Torah at night and delving deeper into our studies, making both quantitative and qualitative improvements.

Other reasons the Talmud gives for celebrating 15th Av are connected to Jewish unity and love of ones fellow Jew. So its an appropriate time to improve in these areas too, replacing the reason for this exile baseless hatred with unconditional love thereby bringing the ultimate geulah of Moshiach, may he come now!

(Based on teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)

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As The Night Gets Longer - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, Torah scholar, longtime educator, prolific author and one of the greatest commentators on Judaism of his generation, died Aug. 7 in Jerusalem. He was 83.

The Jerusalem Post reported the cause of death was acute pneumonia. He had been hospitalized since Aug. 4 due to a lung infection.

Steinsaltz, perhaps best known for his groundbreaking commentary of the Babylonian Talmud, which is credited with making the ancient Jewish texts more accessible, was buried on the Mount of Olives. Hundreds of family members, colleagues and students stood in the heat and Chasidic nigunim (melodies) following the burial.

My husband, Yaakov, and I had the privilege of working for him, and my husband also studied under him.

Once in a generation is there a project so expansive, so extraordinary, that it revolutionizes Jewish scholarship for hundreds of thousands perhaps millions of people, and for future generations. Steinsaltz is perhaps best known for his seminal Babylonian Talmud, and as the lyrics of the Haggadah song Dayenu say, That would have been enough for us.

He also produced commentaries on the Tanakh, the Mishnah, the Mishneh Torah and Tanya. All of these now are available to scholars and lay people and, in the future, they will become accessible digitally.

Two years ago, a dinner was held in Jerusalem in honor of Steinsaltzs 80th birthday. The eclectic collection of guests, like those who attended his funeral (streamed live on Facebook), varied in age and appeared diverse in religious style. This reflected Steinsaltzs greatest achievement: To be a giant whose intellect could reach the stars yet communicate and interpret the treasures of the Torah to those below, who are as numerous as the sands of the Earth.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Congregations of the Commonwealth of Britain, was a keynote speaker at Steinsaltzs dinner. He said, He was trained as a scientist but has the soul of a poet. He was brought up by very secular parents. Adin told me that his parents insisted that he learn Gemara because they wanted him to be an apikoros (heretic), not an amaretz (ignoramus) . With his creative genius, he has taken the most complex texts and turned them into the simplest messages. Sacks quoted the verse in Isaiah, Vekol baneich limudi HaShem And all your children shall learn of God, and noted how there have been attempts to create egalitarianism in wealth and in power and they have failed, but that Steinsaltz has dedicated his life to creating something egalitarian by opening the doors of study to everyone.

According to Rabbi Meni Even-Israel, Steisaltzs son and executive director of the Steinsaltz Center, which continues his work, Steinsaltz became Torah observant when he was 16. He studied chemistry and physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem but he spent most of his time on Jewish studies and spent many hours with Rabbi Shmaryahu Sasonkin and the late Rabbi Shlomo Zavin. He also studied for a brief time at the Chabad Yeshiva in Lod, Israel, and published essays, gave lectures and conducted educational activities for teens.

In 1965, Steinsaltz married his wife, Sara. He opened a small hesder yeshiva where students divide their time between study and military service and founded the Israel Institute of Talmudic Publications in Jerusalem in cooperation with the Prime Ministers Office and the Ministry of Education and Culture. With that, he began his lifes work: Translating the Talmud from its original Aramaic into modern Hebrew, and adding a commentary that a layperson could understand. He was only 28. This isnt as surprising as one might think because at 24, he had been appointed the youngest school principal in Israel, at a school in the Negev.

Although the small yeshiva couldnt sustain itself beyond the first year, it was a microcosm of things to come. My husband who was one of the six students, recalled, The highlight was the seudat shlishit (the third Sabbath meal) that we had at the home of the Rav every week. The singing, his inspirational stories, the atmosphere this was what made the yeshiva special. teinsaltz went gone on to found a plethora of educational institutions, and that special atmosphere permeates them all.

The work of a lifetimeSteinsaltz expected to complete his Talmud project within 13 years. It took 45. The first volume was published less than a year after opening the center. It was followed by 40 additional volumes and the project was completed in December 2010. The English version is titled The Essential Talmud.In 1991, he changed his last name to Even-Israel under the guidance of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, with whom he became very close, but retained his given name. In 1988, Steinsaltz was awarded the Israel Prize, considered the nations highest cultural honor, along with many other prestigious prizes.

The Steinsaltz Hebrew Talmud received endorsements from several great rabbis including Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Admor of Erlau.

While working on the Talmud project over those 45 years, Steinsaltz also published more than 60 books, numerous essays, recorded video classes and taught and lectured throughout the world. He established a network of educational institutions for the Jewish community in the former Soviet Union, including the first yeshiva formally acknowledged by the authorities (in 1989, before the fall of the Soviet Union), a Jewish university and a training school for preschool and elementary school teachers.

Steinsaltz also established other schools that are inspired by his worldview, including an army yeshiva (Yeshivat Hesder) in Tekoa, Israel, and the Makor Chaim elementary, middle and high schools in and near Jerusalem. Sadly, the Makor Chaim high school yeshiva in Kfar Etzion became well known when two of the three teenage boys who attended that yeshiva were kidnapped and killed by terrorists in 2014. (One of them, Naftali Fraenkel, was my student.)

But the yeshiva has morphed its tragedy into days of unity, in which the yeshiva sends students to secular schools in Israel to interact and create dialogue. During the seven years I taught at Makor Chaim, I discovered it was a high school yeshiva with out-of-the-box thinking and an atmosphere of curiosity, creativity and joy.

By 1976, Steinsaltz also had created the Shefa Institute, comprising an elite group of students who would study, write pedagogical materials and teach educational programs for adults creating a new dialogue with Jewish texts. My husband was one of the researchers, and Steinsaltz hired me to help produce Shefas adult educational activities.

I vividly remember meeting with him in his private office in the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. It is written in Talmud Succa 21:2, Even the prosaic conversations [sihat hulin] of wise men are equal to the entire Torah. And indeed, even Steinsaltzs comments on prosaic matters were filled with rich philosophical insights and colorful anecdotes. It was a privilege just to sit quietly and listen while he expounded on educational issues and Israeli society, by way of introduction to the next project. The benefit of this close contact gave us a rare opportunity to know Steinsaltz when he was much younger, and even then, a visionary and dreamer.

Yehudit Shabta, an editor and translator, worked for Steinsaltz from 1989. She tells the following story to illustrate his worldview: When our daughter was a year old, we brought her to the Rav for a bracha (blessing). He said to the child, I bless you that your parents will not get in the way of your growth.

Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov, filmmaker and daughter of Sylva Zalmanson, one of the 12 Soviet Jews who tried to escape the USSR in 1970 by hijacking a plane and was imprisoned for years, wrote in a public Facebook post on Aug. 7 about her experience with Steinsaltz. She was 16 and rebellious. Everyone had advised her mother to be tough on her. Zalmanson took her daughter to Steinsaltz and he had one piece of advice: Only love.

We have many books by Steinsaltz in our home that have informed our teaching on Talmud, Chassidut, Tanakh, Jewish mysticism and more. One of my favorites is a little book that I consult when authoring a new biblical musical Biblical Images: Men & Women of the Book, which always enchants with refreshing and deep insights on biblical figures central to our national shared consciousness.

Am Yisrael has lost a Torah giant. His wisdom and his smile, which lit up the world, now will continue to glow through his students and the works he left behind.

Toby Klein Greenwald is an award-winning playwright and director of biblical musicals for Raise Your Spirits Theatre.

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The Life and Legacy of Torah Scholar and Prolific Author Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz - Jewish Journal

By: Dr. Yvette Alt Miller

As World War II drew to a close in 1945, survivors of the Nazi death camps tried to rebuild their shattered lives in Displaced Person (DP) camps, many of which were housed in the very concentration camps in which Nazis had recently tortured and murdered Jews and others.

On September 29, over three months after the end of the war in Europe, US President Harry S. Truman wrote a scathing letter to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was in charge of American troops in occupied Germany, describing the horrific conditions that Jews were still living in. Pres. Truman quoted from a report on the conditions in the DP camps that hed commissioned: As matters now stand, we appear to be treating the Jews as the Nazis treated them except that we do not exterminate them. They are in concentration camps in large numbers under our military guard instead of S.S. troops. One is led to wonder whether the German people, seeing this, are not supposing that we are following or at least condoning Nazi policy.

Truman argued that we have a particular responsibility toward these victims of persecution and tyranny who are in our zone. We must make clear to the German people that we thoroughly abhor the Nazi policies of hatred and persecution. We have no better opportunity to demonstrate this than by the manner in which we ourselves actually treat the survivors remaining in Germany.

With American support, Jewish life slowly began to return to the camps. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee moved into many DP camps and helped distribute food and medical supplies. They also helped set up Jewish schools in the camps, aided at times by the American army and also by some remarkable rabbis whod survived the Holocaust and were determined now to rebuild Jewish life.

One huge problem prevented the resumption of Jewish education and religious services: while the Nazis murdered as many Jews as possible and tried to wipe out Jewish existence, they also destroyed countless Jewish books, Torah scrolls and other ritual objects. Allied officials were able to find some Jewish prayer books in Nazi warehouses, but the ragged Jewish survivors in DP camps still lacked many basic Jewish books and supplies.

One leader who stepped in to help was Rabbi Avrohom Kalmanowitz. Born in Russia, Rabbi Kalmanowitz was head of the renowned Mir Yeshiva, one of the greatest yeshivas in the world. In 1939, with war looming, Rabbi Kalmanowitz decided to relocate his famous school from Lithuania to Kobe, in Japan. He set out to bring 575 members of the school, but soon found himself leading nearly 3,000 Jews who were desperate to escape Nazi Europe. He led this group, which included many sick and elderly Jews, across Russia and Siberia and onto Japan. For much of the journey, stronger members of the group would carry those who couldnt walk on their backs.

After Japan attacked the United States, Rabbi Kalmanowitz moved his yeshiva once more, to Shanghai. There he improvised printing presses using stones and managed to publish 38,000 Jewish books. While Hitler was burning books and bodies, Rabbi Kalmanowitz later recalled, the men of Mirrer (the Mir Yeshiva) who had traveled 16,000 miles from Lithuania to Shanghai were using stones for printing presses to keep the light of learning alive. After the end of the war, Rabbi Kalmanowitz returned to Europe, and once more championed the printing of Jewish books and preservation of Jewish life.

Rabbi Kalmanowitz was a leading figure in the Agudat Harabbanim and the Vaad Hatzalah. He cultivated contacts with American military officials and oversaw the printing of Jewish prayer books, Passover Haggadahs, copies of the Megillah of Esther for Purim, and even some volumes of the Talmud. Rabbi Kalmanowitz is a patient and appreciative old patriarch, Gen. John Hilldring, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas, wrote to a colleague. I can think of no assistance I gave anyone in Washingtonthat gave me more satisfaction than the very little help I gave the old rabbi. Rabbi Kalmanowitz requested resources to print even more Jewish books but was told that with the acute shortage of paper in Germany, more ambitious plans to print Jewish books was impossible.

Seeing Rabbi Kalmanowitzs success in printing some Jewish books and even some volumes of the Talmud, another Jewish leader in Europe at the time began to dream of an even more ambitious project. The chief rabbi of the US Zone in Europe was Rabbi Samuel Abba Snieg. He was a commanding figure. Before he was captured by the Nazis he was a chaplain in the Lithuanian army. He was sent to the Jewish Ghetto in Slabodka, a town near Kovno in Lithuania which was renowned as a center of Jewish intellectual life. From there, Rabbi Snieg was sent to the notorious Dachau concentration camp. He survived, and after being liberated dedicated his life to rebuilding Jewish life. He was assisted by Rabbi Samuel Jakob Rose, a young man whod studied at the famous Slabodka Yeshiva before the Holocaust. They resolved to approach the US military for help in printing copies of the Talmud the first volumes of the Talmud to be printed in Europe since the Holocaust.

A set of Talmud called Shas is made up of 63 tractates, comprising 2711 double-sided pages. For millennia, its many volumes have been studied day and night by Jews around the world. Printing a complete set of the Talmud would send a powerful message that Jewish life was possible once again.

Whom to ask for help? General Joseph McNarney was the commander of American forces in Europe. The rabbis wondered if there might be a way to reach him with their request, and decided to approach his advisor for Jewish affairs, an American Reform rabbi from New York named Philip S. Bernstein.

Rabbi Bernstein came from a very different background from the black-hatted Orthodox rabbis laboring in the DP camps. On the surface, perhaps, the men looked very different. But Rabbi Bernsteins mother had come from Lithuania and he had a deep attachment to Jewish life and was open to requests for help in rebuilding Jewish education in the DP camps. Rabbi Snieg and Rabbi Rose explained their proposal to print whole sets of the Talmud on German soil, and Rabbi Bernstein became an enthusiastic supporter of the plan.

They arranged a meeting with Gen. McNarney in Frankfurt where they asked if the US army would lend the tools for the perpetuation of religion, for the students who crave these texts Gen McNarney realized that printing sets of the Talmud would be a powerful symbol of the triumph of Jewish life supported by American forces in the lands where it had so nearly been wiped out. On September 11, 1946, he signed an agreement with the American Joint Distribution Committee and Rabbinical Council of the US Zone in Germany to print fifty copies of the Talmud, packaged into 16 volume sets. It would be the first time in history that an army agreed to print copies of this core Jewish text. The project became known as the Survivors Talmud.

The team immediately ran into obstacles. First, it was impossible to find a set of Shas (the entire Talmud) anywhere in the US Zone of former Nazi lands. Every Jew in Poland was ordered, upon pain of death, to carry to the Nazi bonfires and personally consign to the flames his copy of the Talmud, one testimony recorded. In the end, a member of the American Joint Distribution Committee brought two complete sets of the Talmud from New York.

Even though the US Army had agreed to print the volumes, some officials objected to the expense. The timeframe and scope of the project kept changing. Then there was the sheer labor involved in printing what eventually became nineteen-volume sets of the Talmud: each copy needed 1,800 zinc plates which had to be painstakingly set and proofread. The project began in 1947 and was finally completed in late 1950. we are Gott sie Dank (Thank God) packing the Talmud an American Joint Distribution Committee employee wrote in November, when they began distributing the Talmud. The Joint paid for additional sets of the Talmud to be printed; in the end, about 3,000 volumes were made. These were then shipped all over the world wherever Holocaust survivors from the the DP camps were settling. The Survivors Talmud made its way to New York, Antwerp, Paris, Algeria, Italy, Hungary, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Greece, Yugoslavia, Norway, Sweden, and Israel.

From the outside, these sets of the Survivors Talmud looked like any other set of Shas. Their special origin is only visible on the title page, which shows a picture of the Land of Israel as well as a concentration camp surrounded by a barbed wire fence, with the words From bondage to freedom, from darkness to a great light. Below is this touching dedication:

This edition of the Talmud is dedicated to the United States Army. The Army played a major role in the rescue of the Jewish people from total annihilation, and their defeat of Hitler bore the major burden of sustaining the DPs of the Jewish faith. This special edition of the Talmud, published in the very land where, but a short time ago, everything Jewish and of Jewish inspiration was anathema, will remain a symbol of the indestructibility of the Torah. The Jewish DPs will never forget the generous impulses and the unprecedented humanitarianism of the American Forces, to whom they owe so much.

Some individual owners of this remarkable set of Talmud wrote their own dedications as well. One rabbi of a small town in Israel near Jerusalem recalled how he lost his wife and children when they were murdered in the Holocaust. Living in Israel, he spent his days studying from his Survivors Talmud. On the first page he hand-wrote his own dedication as well, which surely was the hope of many other survivors who studied this remarkable Survivors Talmud as well:

May it be Thy will that I be privileged to dwell quietly in the land; to study the holy Torah amid contentment of mind, peace, and security for the rest of my days; that I may learn, teach, heed, do and fulfill in love all the words of Thy Love. May I yet be remembered for salvation for the sake of my parents who sanctified Thy name when living and when led to their martyrs eath. May their blood be avenged! May I merit to witness soon the final redemption of Israel. Amen.

This was the prayer of so many of the Jews who helped print and then studied the Survivors Talmud. This remarkable undertaking was a way of declaring that no matter how terrible circumstances became, Jews would always find a way to return to the Jewish texts that have always sustained us.

(www.Aish.com)

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The Survivors' Talmud: When the US Army Printed the Talmud - The Jewish Voice

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In a fascinating study conducted at Yale University, participants were each given a 380-calorie milkshake. Half the participants were told it was a sensible, 140-calorie shake, and half were told it was an indulgent, 620-calorie shake. In reality, everyone received the same 380-calorie milkshake.

In a true testament to the subjectivity of satiation, the people in the indulgent milkshake group rated themselves fuller than those in the sensible milkshake group.

But the researchers didnt just rely on peoples self-reporting on how full they felt. They also measured the levels of ghrelin, a gut hormone whose presence is associated with feeling hungry. They found lower levels of ghrelin in the people who thought they were drinking the indulgent shake even though in reality they ingested the same number of calories as the people who thought they drank the sensible shake!

In other words, our mindset can actually impact the biology of how full we are, which in turn affects the subjective sensation of how full we feel.

InParshat Ekev, Moshe informsBnei Yisraelthat when they enter the Land of Israel, they will eat, be satisfied, and bless G-d. These words are the source of the commandment to sayBirkat HaMazon Grace After Meals. The trigger for this obligation is feeling satisfied. Yet, the rabbis of the Talmud set a precise amount of food that obligates one sayBirkat HaMazonif eaten (either an olive-sized or egg-sized amount of bread).

The Talmud presents an enigmaticaggadicdialogue between G-d and the angels in which the angels ask G-d how He can show favor to the Jewish people (as is implied in the Priestly Blessing) when fairness and justice usually preclude showing favoritism. G-d replies by noting that even though the Torah only requires Birkat HaMazonto be said after being satiated,Bnei Yisraelsay it even after only eating an olive- or egg-sized piece of bread.

This cryptic passage, and the rabbinic criteria for saying Birkat Hamazon, requires explanation. If the message lies in the importance of going above and beyond bare requirements, why chooseBirkat HaMazonas the example? Additionally, if one is only obligated to say Birkat HaMazonwhen full, isnt saying it when not full problematic? Wouldnt it be a blessing made in vain (beracha levatala)?

Perhaps the significance of reciting Birkat HaMazonon an olive- or egg-sized piece of bread is as follows: Its not that Jews recite blessings even though they arent full. Rather, its that they worked on their attitude, and as a consequence their biology changed as it relates to being full. They trained themselves to become satiated with a smaller amount.

Mishlei states, A righteous person eats to satisfy his soul. The ideal is to eat enough to have energy to serve G-d, not to indulge if there is no physical or spiritual benefit.While we should all consult relevant health professionals for guidance on what and how much to eat, perhaps the Talmuds message is that we can adjust our mindset to decrease the amount of food we require in order to feel satiated.

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Mind Over Milkshakes - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

The Ketubah is the marriage contract that outlines the obligations of the husband to his wife, as well as the financial compensation due to the wife in the event of the marriages dissolution through divorce or widowhood. Similar to a Get (divorce document), the Ketubah is traditionally written in Aramaic, the common language of the Jews during Talmudic times.

Why was it originally written in Aramaic, not Hebrew? And why is it still written in that language today, when most of us are more proficient in English or another language?

The importance of the Ketubahs precise and exact language cannot be overstated, due to the legal nature of the Ketubah as well as its deeper spiritual significance.

In fact, having a properly written kosher Ketubah is so criticalnot just to the marriage ceremony itself, but to married life in generalthat it is problematic for a couple to live together, even temporarily, without a kosher Ketubah. (In the event that the document is lost or destroyed, or if a serious error is found in its text, the couple must immediately obtain a replacement from a rabbi.)

For centuries, going back to Talmudic times, the sages have pored over the Aramaic Ketubah formula, ensuring that each word is precise, and especially looking out for words that may have multiple meanings.

As with contemporary contracts, the more important the contract, the more experts youd have review the language to tighten it and make sure it is precise. So it is no wonder that the contract for marriage, one of the most important and monumental steps that one takes in life, bonding two half-souls into one union, needs to have extremely precise language. Thus, we use the traditional Aramaic text, which has gone through the rigor of centuries of Talmudic scholars.

Although it is theoretically possible to have a Get or Ketubah in another languageif written precisely, in accordance with all the relevant laws, etc.halachah only permits this in extreme situations.

To be sure, there are many translations of the Ketubah, both in English and Hebrew (including on our site). And since the Ketubah is a legal document, one should certainly read a translation to understand what is written in it (or at the very least, have the rabbi explain the basics of the document). Nevertheless, the actual Ketubah used for the marriage should be the traditional text, ensuring that it is precise and kosher.

Aside from the legal aspect of the Ketubah, there are deeper reasons for the Aramaic as well.

The Ketubah has been written in Aramaic going back to Second Temple times, imbuing the text with holiness and the tradition of our ancestors. Thus, using the traditional Aramaic text of the Ketubah links us and our future family to our ancestors rich and illustrious heritage.

The Ketubah and the Get are actually written in Aramaic with a sprinkling of Hebrew. A document that alternates between two languages is generally invalid. So why is it OK here?

Among other explanations, Rabbi Moses Isserlis explains that Aramaic has a certain holiness to it (going back to Mount Sinai ) and can therefore go together with Hebrew, the Holy Tongue.

In fact, parts of the Bible itself, as well as the Oral Torah as recorded in the Talmud, are written in Aramaic. Furthermore, some of the special prayers, such as the Kaddish, are also recited in Aramaic, signifying that Aramaic is considered a special and unique language.

But why was Aramaic chosen over Hebrew?

On a homiletic level, many cite a Midrash regarding the time before Gd gave the Jewish people the Torah. Wishing to keep the Torah in Heaven, some angels claimed that mere mortals could not be trusted to study the Torah. In reply, Gd promised that the Jewish men would occupy themselves with learning Torah.

Yet, in the text of the Ketubah, the Jewish men accept upon themselves unconditionally to work their very hardest to support their wives. This can theoretically be used by the angels to bolster their case that the Jews cannot be relied upon to study Torah assiduously.

The sages teach us that the angels understand all languages except for Aramaic. Thus, some explain, by writing it in Aramaic we prevent the angels from using the Ketubah in their argument.

In a somewhat similar vein, some cite another Midrash.

When the time came for Gd to create Adam, Gd consulted the ministering angels. The Angel of Truth said, Dont create humans, for they will be full of lies. The Angel of Peace said, Do not create them, for they will be in constant strife! What did Gd do? He grabbed the Angel of Truth and hurled him to the earth.

While that took care of the Angel of Truth, the commentaries ask, how did Gd contend with the Angel of Peace?

The commentaries explain that, based on the halachah that one is allowed to bend the truth to keep the peace, now that the need for absolute truth had been thrown down, it was possible to maintain peace.

However, part of the text of the Ketubah reads, I will work, honor, feed and support you in the custom of Jewish men, who work, honor, feed and support their wives faithfully. The Aramic word translated as faithfully, , literally means in truth. Thus, when we are creating a union that will, with the help of Gd, result in more of mankind, we are stating that it will be with truth. This gives room for the Angel of Peace to again raise objections that there will be a lack of peace. To avoid this, we write it in a language that the angels dont understand.

These homiletical explanations, while not the main reasons for the Aramaic Ketubah, stress the importance of being mindful to imbue our new home with Torah and peace.

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Why Is the Ketubah Written in Aramaic? - Questions & Answers - Chabad.org

Pincus Orlander

My great-great-uncle, Rabbi Levi Yitchok Gruenwald, fled Vienna after the Anschluss in 1938 and came to New York City with my grandparents where he started his own congregation. His Williamsburg-based synagogue included a yeshiva with dual curriculum within its education system, focusing on the faith as well as skills to live in New York. Rabbi Gruenwald was able to form his congregation and its educational extension because of the religious freedom that America prides itself on.

The yeshiva system is the best of both worldsit allows for a cultivated religious education coupled with academic skills to help its students become productive members of society. It prioritizes the philosophy and values of Jewish heritage and religion to play a major role in our childrens educational experience and personal development by relying on rigorous Talmudic study to continue to be the primary source of guidance and inspiration of the Jewish people. Yet the New York State Education Department is trying to sanction yeshivas because their curriculum is different.

The yeshiva system requires students to read, speak and learn in multiple languages, a skill that is proven to improve memory and concentration in young people. This allows students to develop an analytical brain to really grasp a wide variety of information. All of my children are currently in yeshiva schools and they are becoming intelligent, valuable members of society through an education rooted in their faith.

I attended the yeshiva Belz Elementary and High School in Brooklyn, New Yorkthe same school as a critic of yeshivasand then went on to receive my degree in speech pathology from Touro College. My experience with yeshiva education guided me on this path and allowed me to become the successful professional that I am today. It put me in a position to create a practice focused on multiculturalism, helping children of all backgrounds improve their speech, reading, writing and overall educational experience. My yeshiva education taught me to give back to the community which has provided me with so much.

Freedom of religion and cultural diversity are cornerstones of the American experience. That is why my great-uncle fled to New York: he knew he would be able to live as who he was and practice what he believed in. The NYS Education Department stepping in and taking away our rights to lawfully teach our pupils ethnic, religious and moral values beneficial to their personal development and their communities is nothing other than wholly un-American.

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Yeshiva Education - The Best of Both (OPINION) - BKLYNER - BKLYNER

Weve recently moved. Our family feels blessed that our children will create memories in this beautiful home. The kids have claimed their spaces, started to decorate their rooms and seem to have forgotten that they lived anywhere else.

Our home has become more than a dependable place. My husband and I breathe a sigh of relief when we walk through the door, as if the confusion and horrors of the outside cant possibly penetrate our inner sanctum. The mental game we play with ourselves is perhaps one many of us choose to enter: If we just close the curtains and turn off the news, then everything will be OK.

We know, everything is not OK. Far from it. Yet, maybe one of the ways to wade through the waters is to find those pieces of comfort that displace the feeling of being unsettled.

What brings you comfort during an unsettling time? Some simple favorites: Watching the waves crash on the beach, eating a heaping pile of spaghetti and meatballs, five pairs of hands putting together a seemingly impossible puzzle, and prolonged snuggling at bedtime with plenty of lullabies. Do these comforts change the realities of the outside? Not at all. Do these comforts help relieve our unsettled spirits? For a few blessed minutes, yes.

The Talmud explains that three areas ease a persons mind: a pleasant voice, sight and smell. Meaning, sometimes, a beautiful piece of music or prayer, seeing someone that brings joy to your face and smelling the sweet aromas of a favorite recipe are more healing than we imagined. Does listening to classical music in your backyard replace the Hollywood Bowl? Never. Does watching grandchildren through a screen replace physical hugs and kisses? It cant. However, we must take comfort in the ways we can, knowing that these substitutions are not forever. And surprisingly, some of those substitutions can quell the heart in more ways than one.

Emerson reminds us that, Nobody can bring you peace but yourself. We can retrain our senses, allowing simple pleasures to settle our souls. The unsettled world is still there, not to be ignored, eager for our willingness to engage, change and mend. But to brace ourselves for the ongoing struggle, we must find those comforts that nourish, replenish and restore.

In this unsettling world, may a few comforts bring us joy and a lingering peace.

Shabbat shalom.

Read more:

Cherish the Small Comforts that Bring Your Joy in an Unsettled World - Jewish Journal