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What really interests a person and who stole the gold?

How wise women may be forces for good to influence their husbands to avoid strife and their downfall

The Bet HaMikdash Below and the Bet HaMikdash Above - Harnessing our energy and composing ourselves when fulfilling the mitzvot (From the teachings of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a)(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds, United Kingdom) From Christina Mattison Ebert’s D’rash Designs series The Parashah states, “Speak to Aharon and say to him, when you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall illuminate the Menorah”...

The Antidote to Anxiety

Trading Places! (From the teachings of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a)(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds, United Kingdom) Parashat Naso in the Diaspora The Parashah states, “The sacred offerings of each individual remain his own property. When they are given to the cohen, they become the [cohen’s] property” (Bamidbar 5:10). What does the Pasuk mean? Tosafot (Ta’anit 9a) quote the Chachamim from the Sifrei who...

Hebrew Synagogue Welcomes UK Court Clarity on Biologically Specific Facilities Hebrew Synagogue has today confirmed its support for the legal clarification provided by the United Kingdom Supreme Court and subsequent Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance regarding the use of single-sex facilities based upon biological sex under the Equality Act 2010. The organisation confirmed that this position will apply across all facilities operated by Hebrew Synagogue throughout the United...

To what extent will you go to try to study Torah and more so Halachah? The determination of the Gaon of Brisk, Rav Yosef Dov Bear Soloveitchik z”l (1820-1892) to study by Rav Shlomo Kluger z”l (1785-1869) (From the teachings of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a)(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds United Kingdom) From Christina Mattison Ebert’s D’rash Designs series It states in Parashat Bechukotai, “If you will...

by Ram ben Ze'ev A Language Abandoned Is a Covenant Forgotten It is a strange and unsettling reality that institutions once rooted in Torah now find themselves speaking a language that is no longer their own. Words that carried the weight of revelation, memory, and identity are quietly replaced—not by necessity, but by convenience. And with each substitution, something far deeper than vocabulary is lost. When an organisation replaces תהלים (Tehillim – Psalms) with a foreign term, or שמות...

by Ram ben Ze'ev A Nation That Stands Alone—and Therefore Endures There is a quiet error that has crept into the thinking of many within our Community: the belief that our safety, our continuity, or even our legitimacy depends upon the approval, sympathy, or protection of the Nations. It is an error not of politics, but of perspective. It reflects a forgetting—not of history alone, but of Torah itself. From the very beginning, our identity was never granted by the world, nor contingent upon...

by Ram ben Ze’ev Anger Without Torah Is Emptiness — A Community Adrift In recent weeks and months, Jews across the United Kingdom—and indeed across Europe and beyond—have found themselves confronting a steady and deeply unsettling rise in open hostility. Knife attacks in our streets, assaults on visibly Jewish individuals, threats against synagogues and schools, and the quiet, relentless drumbeat of intimidation have all become part of daily awareness. These are no longer isolated incidents;...

Exploring why Am Yisrael as a whole and the Cohanim specifically, are expected to achieve high standards in their lives (HaRav HaGaon Rav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a, a grandson of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds, United Kingdom) Parashat Emor This Shabbat we shall read the mitzvah that the Cohanim may not become ritually impure through contact with the dead (meaning, it is forbidden for a cohen to touch a cadaver, or remain in a...

Spiritual growth and holiness are not automatic and there is no quick-fix for them, rather they are achieved through tenacity and prayer (From the teachings of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a)(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds United Kingdom) Painting by Raphael Perez (Flickr)—not connected to the dvar Torah, but a beautiful work nonetheless It states in Parashat Kedoshim, “You shall be holy, since I am Hashem...

Based on the words of Maran zt”l on Yom Ha’atzmaut, 5733 (1973) Israeli Independence Day (“Yom Ha’atzmaut”) The prophet Yeshaya states: “I greatly rejoice in Hashem, my whole being exults in my G-d; for He has clothed me in garments of triumph, wrapped me in a robe of victory, like a groom adorned with a turban, like a bride bedecked with her finery.” We must analyze this verse which likens the way the Jewish nation will one day rejoice in Hashem to the way a groom wears fine clothing a bride...

by Ram ben Ze’ev The Price of Misalignment: Memory, War, and the Illusion of Strength Today, Israel stands still. At the sound of the siren, the nation pauses in collective remembrance for those who were killed—soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces whose lives ended in battle. The numbers are heavy: 25,644 since 1860, leaving behind tens of thousands of bereaved families. Yet numbers, as vast as they are, do not capture truth. Words do. We say “fallen soldiers,” as though they stumbled. But...

by Ram ben Ze’ev Amen Is Not a Courtesy: Guarding the Sanctity of Blessing in the Age of Social Media In an age where every thought is published and every emotion is broadcast, sacred language has become cheap. Words that once emerged only in moments of אמת (emet – truth) and יראה (yirah – awe) are now scattered across comment sections and timelines without weight, without intent, and without understanding. One sees it constantly: “our prayers are with…”, “amen”, “pray to god”, written...

The Severity of the Sin of Lashon Hara and the danger of being a journalist (From the teachings of Maran Rabbenu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a) (translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds United Kingdom) From Christina Mattison Ebert’s D’rash Designs series In the Parashah, our Holy Torah speaks at length about the leper. Our Chachamim in the Gemara (Erachin 17a) say, why does the leper deserve such a punishment? Due to the sin of...

by Ram ben Ze'ev When Torah Loses Its Weight: The Lesson of Rabbi Akiva’s Students There are moments in our history that are not merely tragedies, but warnings—clear, enduring, and uncomfortable. The death of the תלמידים (talmidim – students) of Rabbi Akiva during the days of ספירת העומר (Sefirat HaOmer – counting of the Omer) is one of them. We mark it with restraint, with the absence of celebration, with customs of mourning. But if we leave it there, we have misunderstood it. The Torah...

by Ram ben Ze'ev Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal זצ״ל There are moments in Jewish history when a voice emerges that cannot be ignored. Not because it is new, but because it reveals what was always present in the Torah yet left unheeded . Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal זצ״ל was such a voice—a Rav who did not merely teach, but who transformed his own understanding in the face of reality, and in doing so, called כלל ישראל (Klal Yisrael – the collective of Israel) to account. Rabbi Teichtal was...

by Ram ben Ze’ev Shoah, Nissan, and the Memory the Nations Impose There are moments in the life of our people when silence is appropriate, and there are moments when it is necessary to speak with clarity. I was not going to write on the day itself, because the day—יום הזכרון לשואה ולגבורה (Yom HaZikaron LaShoah VeLaGevurah – Day of Remembrance for the Shoah and the Heroism)—deserves dignity, not distraction. But there are times when remaining silent serves no purpose, and this is one of them....

by Ram ben Ze’ev Tzedakah: Justice, Not Performance There is a profound difference between what the world calls “charity” and what the Torah calls צדקה (tzedakah – righteousness, justice). The difference is not semantic; it is foundational. One is rooted in ego. The other in truth. The nations speak of charity as an act of kindness. It is optional, generous, even admirable. A person gives because he chooses to give, because he feels compassion, or, increasingly in our age, because he wishes...

by Ram ben Ze’ev The Lamb, The Stars, and the Illusion of Power The Torah in שמות (Shemot) commands something extraordinary on the eve of redemption: each household was to take a lamb on the tenth of Nissan, keep it for several days, and then slaughter it on the fourteenth, placing its blood upon the doorposts. This was not a quiet act. It was deliberate, visible, and defiant. To understand this moment, we must understand the world in which it occurred. Egypt was not merely a political...

The Midrash states (Midrash Rabba, Parashat Beshalach) that Pharaoh regretted having freed the Jewish people. Why was this so? From a Sermon of Maran zt”l for the Holiday of Pesach The Vines in Blossom Give off Fragrance We can use a parable to illustrate this point: Once, a man owned a field that, after a long period of time of not being maintained, fell into a state of disrepair and was no more than a mere pile of dirt and rubble. This man sold the field to another. The buyer invested time,...

by Ram ben Ze’ev Pesach, Not “Passover”: The Distortion of a Divine Act The word matters. It shapes thought, and thought shapes belief. When the Nations refer to פסח (Pesach – protection, sparing, hovering), they reduce it to “Passover,” a term that strips the depth, the intention, and the reality of what occurred. This is not a harmless translation. It is a distortion. The progression is clear and revealing: the Hebrew פסח expresses an active Divine guarding, a presence that shields and...

by Ram ben Ze’ev Ki Tetze: When Israel Goes Out to War — Alignment, Not Assumption The words כי תצא (Ki Tetze – when you go out) open with precision. They do not command war; they describe it. They assume that man—individually and nationally—will choose to step into conflict. The verse states: כי תצא למלחמה על איביך — when you go out to war against your enemies. The initiative is human. The judgment that follows is Divine. The Holy Zohar teaches that this “going out” is not merely physical...

by Ram ben Ze’ev Shabbat HaGadol: The Shabbat of Greatness Before Redemption This Shabbat is known as שבת הגדול (Shabbat HaGadol – the Great Shabbat), the final Shabbat before פסח (Pesach – the Festival of Redemption), and it carries a weight and significance far beyond its name. For me, it also carries something deeply personal, as I was born on this very Shabbat—linking my own beginning, in some small way, to this moment of preparation before redemption. The term “HaGadol” does not merely...

The significance of Shabbat HaGadol – Preventing the “Final Solution” in Egypt (From the teachings of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a)(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds, United Kingdom) Parashat Tzav – Shabbat HaGadol Our Chachamim z”l said (Tur and Shulchan Aruch siman 430), that the Shabbat prior to Chag HaPesach is called “Shabbat HaGadol” – “The Great Shabbat”, in commemoration of the great miracle that...

by Ram ben Ze'ev The Problem with the Term “Orthodox” in Judaism The term “Orthodox,” so commonly used today to describe traditional Jews, is not a Hebrew word and does not originate from Jewish sources. Rather, it comes from the Ancient Greek word orthodoxos , meaning “correct belief” or “right opinion.” The word itself is formed from two Greek roots: orthos , meaning “straight,” “right,” or “true,” and doxa , meaning “opinion,” “belief,” or “praise.” From a Jewish standpoint, this already...

Shiny Happy People – How Moshe Rabbenu’s humility led to his radiant complexion (From the teachings of Maran Rabbenu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l)(written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a) (translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds United Kingdom) Parashat Vayikra Our Parashah opens with the Pasuk, “Hashem called to Moshe, speaking to him from the Communion Tent saying”” (Vayikra 1:1). In Parashat Ki Tissa it states, “Moshe came down from Mt. Sinai with the two Tablets of...

by Ram ben Ze’ev You Cannot Legislate Hatred Out of the Human Heart A recent interview published yesterday between Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald begins with a familiar complaint. Both men lament the growing number of laws being enacted in various countries—among them the United States and Australia—that seek to criminalise negative or derogatory speech about Israel or about Jews. The discussion is not surprising coming from Carlson. His public commentary over the past several years has...

by Ram ben Ze'ev When a Man Believes He Answers to No One A curious phenomenon of the modern age is the man who proudly declares that he believes in nothing higher than himself, and yet expects to be trusted with everything that matters most in life. I saw a profile description on a social media account for a Jewish man in Israel who tells the world that he is a husband and a father. These are not small titles. In the Torah understanding of life, they are among the most serious...

by Ram ben Ze'ev This War Was Chosen As a Jew, an American, and a fervent supporter of Israel, I write this without apology: I shed no tears for Iran. The regime in Tehran has spent decades threatening Israel, funding terror, and building a regional network dedicated to Jewish bloodshed. If Iran were to launch an unprovoked attack on Israel, I would support the destruction of its military capacity without hesitation. But that is not what this is. What I object to, strongly and without...

Small aggravations gradually and accumulatively atone for our sins From HaGaon Rav Zevadia HaCohen Shlit”a, The Head of the Batei Din in Tel Aviv(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds, United Kingdom) From Christina Mattison Ebert’s D’rash Designs series This Shabbat, we shall read, “These are the accounts of the Mishkan (the Mishkan of Testimony), which were calculated by Moshe’s order by the Levi’im under Itamar, son of Aron the Cohen” (Shemot 38:21). Rashi, in his...

by Ram ben Ze'ev When a Nation Forgets Its Covenant Throughout our long history, the Jewish people have faced enemies in every generation. Empires have risen against us, armies have marched against us, and rulers have sought to erase us from the earth. Yet the Torah teaches something that history repeatedly confirms: our greatest danger has never been the nations alone, but what happens when we forget who we are . From the beginning, the Jewish people were not created simply as another...

by Ram ben Ze'ev The Covenant Is Everything Judaism is often misunderstood as a system of strict rules, a long list of obligations that appear rigid or unforgiving. From the outside, it may seem as though the relationship between the Jewish people and G-D is “all or nothing.” Yet this phrase, when properly understood, reveals something far more beautiful. Judaism is not merely a list of commandments; it is a framework for a living relationship with G-D and with the people around us. It...

by Ram ben Ze’ev When Power Forgets Torah Torah does not teach weakness. It does not demand that Jews stand idle while enemies seek their destruction. On the contrary, Jewish law recognises the obligation of self-defence. When a person comes to kill you, the principle is clear: rise and stop him first. Throughout history the Jewish people have fought when necessary, and when survival required strength. Our tradition teaches: הבא להרגך השכם להרגו — “If someone comes to kill you, rise early and...

A Person is Their Thoughts From HaGaon Rav Zevadia HaCohen Shlit”a, The Head of the Batei Din in Tel Aviv(translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds, United Kingdom) From Christina Mattison Ebert’s D’rash Designs series This Shabbat we shall read, “When you take a census of the Bnei Yisrael to determine their number” (Shemot 30:12). Rabbenu the Orach Chaim HaKadosh a”h (Rav Chaim ibn Attar or Rav Chaim ben Moshe ibn Attar c. 1696-1743) explains in his commentary on the Torah...

by Ram ben Ze'ev Opening Our Eyes to the Hidden Miracles The Torah records moments when the hand of G-D was unmistakable: the Sea of Reeds split, manna fell from heaven, and fire descended from above. These events are often called נס גלוי (nes galui – revealed miracle). They shattered the illusion that the world operates independently of its Creator. Yet our sages also speak of another kind of miracle, one that fills our lives every day: נס נסתר (nes nistar – hidden miracle). A hidden miracle...

by Ram ben Ze’ev The Nobel Delusion and the Price of Blood For years, President Donald Trump nursed a grievance. The Nobel Committee refused to crown him as the architect of peace he so eagerly proclaimed himself to be. Throughout his first term, during the 2020 campaign, throughout 2024, and right up until the Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado—who symbolically handed it to him—he spoke incessantly of the wars he stopped and the...

by Ram ben Ze'ev Not Us — Or Have We Forgotten? In October 2023, when our brothers and sisters were butchered, burned, kidnapped and desecrated, we watched in horror not only at the cruelty of the murderers but at the reaction of the world. In city after city, crowds gathered to celebrate. Sweets were handed out in the streets. Baklava was distributed as though the slaughter of Jews were a wedding feast. Social media filled with praise for barbarism. We were rightly outraged. We said: this is...

The unity of Am Yisrael is an antidote to evil decrees (Based on the Ma’amar of HaRav HaGoan Rav David Shaltiel Shlit”a) (translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds, United Kingdom) Parashat Tetzaveh - Shabbat Zachor It states in the Parashah, “You, [Moshe], must command Bnei Yisrael to bring you clear illuminating oil, made from hand crushed olives, to keep the lamp constantly burning. Aharon and his sons shall arrange for [the lamps to burn] from evening until morning in...