This week’s Torah portion speaks to a challenge many of us feel today: our children are searching for meaning. As parents and as a community, we want our children to grow into caring, thoughtful people; but also to anchor that compassion in truth and clarity.
The Torah offers a powerful sequence: “You shall be holy,” followed by the commandments of honoring one’s parents and observing Shabbat. Holiness, at its core, means living with a sense of purpose and distinction. Judaism
asks us not to blend in, but to elevate the everyday—how we live, eat, speak, and act—into something meaningful.
But how is that identity formed? The Torah points directly to the home. When children see respect between generations, when they are taught values with consistency and warmth, they gain a moral compass that stays with
them. And then comes Shabbat, the weekly anchor. For one day, we step back from the noise of the world and reconnect with who we are. Around the Shabbat table, in synagogue, and in quiet moments of reflection, our children absorb what truly matters.
If we want the next generation to carry Judaism forward with pride and clarity, it begins here, with the holiness we model, and the Shabbat we share together.
Shabbat shalom,
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Weekly Jewish Joke 😂
After the Shabbos service was over, Golda Grunberg meets Rabbi Cohen at the shul door with her young son Shmuel.
"Rabbi," says Golda, "I'm sorry my little Shmuel was so noisy during your sermon."
"That's OK, Golda," says Rabbi Cohen. "These things are not unknown to us rabbis. But do tell me how you managed to get him to keep quiet at the end."
"It was quite easy, Rabbi," replies Golda. "Fifteen minutes into your sermon, I leaned over to Shmuel and whispered in his ear, 'Shmuel, listen to me carefully. If you don't stop making so much noise, Rabbi Cohen is
going to lose his place in his sermon, and if he loses his place, he will have to start his sermon all over again!' And rabbi, he instantly stopped making a noise."
By the Numbers 14
Facts About Jews and Chess Played across cultures and continents by children, grandmasters, and everyone in between, it has captured the attention of Jewish minds across the ages.
Blog Mazel
Tov! The 12 Pesukim Turn 50 This week marks 50 years since the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, launched the “12 Pesukim” initiative.
Your Questions Why
Do We Face East When Praying? Or Do We? Even when our compass or map shows that Jerusalem is to the east
of our location, we still may end up facing another direction. Sounds
confusing? Let’s start from the beginning.
The Freeman Files Because
We’re All One If we are a religion, then some Jews are more Jewish, others less Jewish, and many not at all. Perhaps nothing has been as detrimental to the Jewish people as the modern idea that Judaism is a religion.
The name of the Parshah, “Acharei Mot,” means “after the death of” and it is found in Leviticus 16:1. The name of the Parshah, “Kedoshim,” means “holy [ones]” and it is found in Leviticus 19:2.
Another feature of the Day of Atonement service is the casting of lots over two goats, to determine which should be offered to G‑d and which should be dispatched to carry off the sins of Israel to the wilderness.
The Parshah of Kedoshim begins with the statement: “You shall be holy, for I, the L‑rd your G‑d, am holy.” This is followed by dozens of mitzvot (divine commandments) through which the Jew sanctifies him- or herself and relates to the holiness of G‑d.
There was once a person who was traveling from place to place and he saw a palace in flames. Said he: "Can it be that there is no master to this palace?" So the owner of the palace looked out to him and said to him: "I am the master of the Palace." By the same token, because Abraham would go around saying,
"Can it be that the world has no master?" G-d looked out and said: "I am the owner, the master of the world"
— Midrash Rabbah
Chabad World News
Obituary The
Boy From Moscow The tefillin he once put on in hiding, he now checked and treasured for a new generation of committed young men.
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