David Golinkin

Let us remember the Maccabees' heroism and of our incredible IDF soldiers, but also the quiet heroism of Rabbi Mordechai Ya’akov Golinkin, of Liran, Anat, Yahaloma, and thousands of others worldwide.

We need to seek a middle path between the usual joy of Simchat Torah and the mourning necessitated by the disaster of Simchat Torah 5784 on October 7.

There is no halachic or moral justification for haredi draft evasion. “Shall your brothers go to war, while you sit here!?”

I believe there are six important insights we can learn from the Haggadah about our current situation. 

Since the war began on October 7, we have seen that the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora – the Jewish people throughout the world – have internalized this message.

Prof. Alice Shalvi passed away on Monday at 96.

My hope and prayer for this Yom Kippur is that we find a way to turn this curse of disunity into the blessing of unity.

We will only be able to solve our major problems if we work together as one united people.

I hope that at the Seder this year, every parent will tell the story in a manner that fits his or her child so that the child may truly understand the meaning of the Exodus.

We see that throughout Jewish history there were always checks and balances between civil and religious/legal authorities. We need checks and balances.