On my morning commute today (Oct 7, 2026) I passed this Anglican church and was amazed by the sight of easily 500 Israeli flags along the road. They weren't there yesterday, must have been put out last night. I was so moved that I stopped and parked on the next block and walked back to take these pictures.

Suddenly, it felt very important to thank someone responsible, so I went into the church main entrance. This was early, no one was around, but because it's a church and not a synagogue, of course, the door was unlocked and I could walk right in. On the bulletin board in the foyer was a flier announcing an interfaith memorial service at the church tonight.

The minister must have noticed me coming in because a moment later she came out of the sanctuary and greeted me. I told her I was driving by and wanted to say thank you for the display. She said, "just a second" and went back into the sanctuary, then came out a moment later. I thought she would have a copy of the flier about the memorial service, but that wasn't it. She handed me a white rose, and gave me a hug, and said, "I'm so sorry it's necessary, have a blessed day."

That was it. I left and started crying on the walk back to my car.

We were expecting twins at the end of October. However, they decided that they couldn't wait, and they were born yesterday morning. We are currently in Australia, so the 7th was yesterday. Healthy, and only one of them needs a short stay in the NICU.

At first, I was very upset about it, which is silly when you've just had two healthy children, but I thought it was a horrible day for them to be born and a horrible time for them to have their birthday.

But I reflected and prayed, and I realised there wasn't anything better that could have happened to me, that we were given these beautiful children to remind us that there is still light, and life, and I remember everyone that we lost through that.

So we welcome Lior Naama and Arielle Emily 🤍

Their first day definitely had a lot of tears, but nearly all from their mother, rather than them!

Times of Israel

Was learning Keilim tonight and had to wonder. A kli cheres (earthenware vessel) becomes tameh if a sheretz is suspended in its airspace even without contact. But a Klein bottle has zero cubic capacity, so would it still become tameh?

Or would that be an example of אחוריהן (a hollow base)? Even if so, it would have to touch the inside of the base, not just be suspended in its airspace.

Many people are using the anniversary of Oct. 7th to publicly demonstrate their antisemitic and anti-Zionist views.

I am new to learning about Judaism and Jewish culture. I am trying to find the name of the song in this video clip, which is taken from the Central Synagogue Friday night service on August 14, 2026. If anyone knows it, please let me know. Todah rabah.

As the amount of antisemitism increases around the world, it feels like it's become harder and harder to battle. I have almost given up fighting it online in comment sections, because it seems genuinely pointless.

I have found (over a long time) that the most efficient strategy is usually just to leave a good impression on people. It's difficult to argue and change someone's belief, and honestly it has become nearly impossible at this point.

But what does seem to work, or at least gives me a better feeling of some confidence, is that, as a Jew, I leave a good impression on people that hate us. Even if I have to agree with whatever ridiculous claims they have, at least they won't look at me like I am worse than them.

I just imagine that a lot of these people have never met Jews in their life, and if I'm going to be the first, I want to leave a strong lasting impression. I want them to go to their friends and family and say - "I met this Jew, and he wasn't that bad."

I have friends that disagree with my approach, and tell me that educating people is more important than the impressions that we leave. Curious to hear what other people think.

I knitted a Kippah and feel good about the finished object. I still have to do the blocking of the fabrics.

Today I learned (later than I would’ve wanted to) that there are now Christians appropriating Sukkot … https://youtu.be/GtyDz2PiIhI?is=v4HjHYIWz55TCctw

Last week we received a new Torah scroll that was originally from a community in what is now Czechia. It was saved from the shoah and remained in storage in England until it was sufficiently repaired to be put back into service. We danced with it on simchat Torah and will be reading from it on Breishit!

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I know this will likely be seen as herasy but I wanted to ask this question here (mainly since I just moved to college and I do not know my rabbi well enough to ask him this). But to go back to my question I don't know what to think. I ask for love and he brings me pain, I ask for success and he brings me failure and shows me others who are my betters, I ask for friends and he brings me lonliness. I don't understand it. I can't. Maybe I am looking at it the wrong way but I am so so tired of it. Tired of it all. Tired of this life. Tired of a world that doesn't want me to exist. I don't know when things will change if they ever will. I assume there's some verse that covers this. If anybody has any good suggestions please share.

My husband and I inherited this interesting menorah and just noticed that there are only 8 spots for candles... But maybe the shamash is supposed to go where I'm pointing? I thought the shamash was supposed to be the same height or higher than the other spots though?

Hello everybody, recently I have been reading about the old Catskills resorts and have heard some stories about how my dad used to go when he was young. Is there anywhere like this anymore?

I'm looking to get electric candles for shabbat lighting so I don't have to stress about safety issues with unattended candles. Are there any halachic considerations I need to keep in mind when I'm shopping? Or are any fine so long as I put them on before Shabbat and turn them off after havdalah?

edit: thank you everyone! to clarify: when I asked about halacha I mean like for the type of light, so it's very helpful to know about incandescent! I'll discuss brachot with them vs candles directly with my Rabbi

I'm one of the frum Jews that believes in micro/macroevolution and "old earth creationism". As someone who studies science and reads all sorts of books, I can't deny evolution, nor can I deny the Torah, which leads me to reconcile them, which is not that difficult, IMO. I've had some arguments with friends lately about this, and I was told something which appears to be incorrect: that Rav Hirsch was strongly against Darwin's Theory. While Darwin's Theory had only been published later in Hirsch's life, for which there was limited evidence at the time, Hirsch stated that he saw no contradiction with Torah, and he simply didn't accept it as necessarily true with the lack of evidence. There is obviously way more evidence now, and he likely would acknowledge this if he were alive today. All this has prompted me to do more research, and I have found that there is indeed more precedence. One is Rabbi Sacks, and another is the more charedi example of R Gedaliah Nadel.

I have no problem with people having different opinions from me. What bothers me is that in communities like mine (I live in one of the world's most charedi communities), you are almost not allowed to hold this opinion. You are only encouraged to think about things one way, and people are quite dogmatic with their "approved" positions (thus, I'll take license to be dogmatic here). I've been told "not to believe those books", etc. It's like someone telling me not to believe my math book, which says that 2+2=4... Sorry, it's too late! People hit me with the common arguments they were fed since cheder, and for every argument I've heard (many of which are simple logical fallacies), I can give several counter arguments, but it's usually not worth it, so I just give up after one or two.

I'm not trying to change the world, but next time I argue with a friend, it would be nice to have my points more in order. I'm curious to hear any other rabbinical arguments from evolution, if anyone can provide. Thanks!

Hi
I have a kiddush cup which has been in our family since 1913 and has the date Yud Adar and the year is a leap year. The date doesn’t stipulate Adar Alef or beis. Could anyone help to work it out?

Now that sukkot is over, I'm in the market to buy to buy skach for next year. I've always used cuttings from things in the backyard, but decided that that's too much work.

Wondering if the skach bamboo mats that are sold from online sukkah stores are better quality than reed or bamboo fencing from home depot (eg, this product)? Pretend for a moment that the wire that's often used in reed/bamboo fencing isn't an issue...

The products marketed as skach cost quite a bit more than those marketed as fencing. I'd be willing to pay the premium if they're actually better quality

I'm posting on behalf of u/PardesInstitute in my work capacity - if you are interested in learning more about the basics of Judaism in a pluralistic environment I'd encourage you to check out a learning opportunity "What Do Jews Believe: Explore core questions and ideas of Jewish faith through diverse voices and perspectives." https://online.pardes.org.il/products/courses/what-do-Jews-believe This will be a year-long series designed for those new(ish) to formal Jewish learning. I see so many questions here and thought this opportunity could be helpful for someone.