Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
My life keeps on surprising me! Unpredictable turns are what led to my successful Aliyah, starting all the way back from my childhood. My earliest memories of Eretz Yisroel had the opposite effect of what might have been predicted. Unfortunately, the first time I came was a year after my father was niftar, I was only five years old at the time. Too young to understand a lot of things, but surprisingly, afterwards I was left with a positive connection.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
We just experienced the 13th Siyum Hashas of Daf Yomi. For many people, it is not the speeches that will remain etched in their memories, but the images. Images of old Holocaust survivors displaying their numbers and proclaiming that they have triumphed and survived against all odds.
We are all survivors, though we don’t all have those awful numbers on our arms. We have persevered through golus, remaining loyal to Hashem, His people and His Torah. Despite all the various pressures and demands we face, we study Torah every day, for it is the essence of our life.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
As a Jewish newspaper, our focus this week is totally on the Siyum Hashas. Everything else pales compared to that magnificent event. What is more important than tens of thousands of Jews marking their completion of studying Shas? The celebrations taking place around the country and across the world are at the center of everyone’s attention, even as we are in the grips of a series of anti-Semitic attacks.

Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
One theme that I have kept to throughout my life is to keep moving, always growing. I grew up in Passaic, NJ and as I grew older I moved toward the chassidishe groups; on Shabbos I wear a shtreimel. I am comfortable with all kinds – modern Young Israel, Yeshivish and of course with Chassidishe. I learned in a mesivta in Lakewood for high school, summers found me in Camp Dora Golding, then I went to Eretz Yisroel for some more serious learning… wherever I was, I was involved with the Klal and Yiddishkeit – and I always wanted to keep growing, reaching for the next level.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
 Kislev is a month when we fortify ourselves with faith. Just as a single light can illuminate the darkness of winter, so can a spark of faith during the month of Kislev brighten what appears to be a bleak situation.
Those who believe are able to see beyond the immediate and perceive what lies in the distance.

By Rabbi Elchanan Poupko
Most of what I learned in Yeshiva did not come from my rabbeim. Make no mistake, I was blessed with the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest Talmidei Chachamim and Maggidei shiurim out there. The learning I did in the beis medrash, learning myself or with a chavrusa, for me, far outweighed what I heard in shiurim and shmuzen. What lessons remain with me to this day more than anything? What I learned from rabbeim’s Shabbos tables and hospitality. Those lessons guide  me to this day, as an individual, when hosting others, and when working on communal issues. Here are some examples:

Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
For Growing In Ruchniyus, There’s No Place Like Eretz Yisroel
Rabbi Yosef Younger’s story

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
 Anti-Semitism is a thing of the past. When the Jews were poor and the Christians were needy back in Europe, the Jews were convenient scapegoats for everything.
When the Jews in the shtetlach were destitute, their neighbors looked down upon them. When the Jews were defenseless and the Christians were illiterate, pogroms would regularly erupt. Jews would be killed, pillaged, beaten and robbed.

Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
Rebecca Lefkowitz – Waiting for Moshiach here
Reflecting upon my life, I am not certain why or when it started, but in my heart was always a desire to live in Eretz Yisroel. Perhaps its root was in an early trauma of mine – when I was 7 and my brother 4. At that time my father was stationed in Turkey for an extended stay, and my mother left us with relatives to rendezvous with him in Israel! How I wanted to go with her! But all is gam zu l’tova and perhaps those feelings planted the seed…

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
We live in historic times. Our period will be studied by history students for many years to come. They will study the rebirth of Torah and its proliferation on these shores and around the world, in numbers and ways never known to mankind. In less than a month, masses of people will gather to celebrate the Siyum Hashas of Daf Yomi, proving that netzach Yisroel lo yishaker.
Historians will study the phenomena of Binyomin Netanyahu, the longest serving prime minister in Israel’s brief history, along with the allegations of corruption, his coalition deals with the religious parties, and the upcoming second do-over election.
These are historic things. They don’t happen too often.