Daily Thought News Today

By Sivan Rahav-Meir This is not just a heartwarming picture. At a time when we see the madness on the college campuses in the United States and the world’s hypocrisy regarding Hamas, it is also an important image: 4-year-old Avigail Idan in the arms of U.S. President Biden. “And here the child asks.” This is […]

By Sivan Rahav-Meir Last week, the somber news emerged that Captain Daniel Perez, previously reported as a hostage, was tragically no longer among the living. Our hearts go out to his parents, Rabbi Doron Perez and his wife Shelley. Both are renowned for their enduring faith, optimism, and resilience since Simchat Torah. Rabbi Doron, in […]

By Sivan Rahav Meir What’s Really Happening in Metulah? Metulah, Israel’s northernmost city, which abuts the border with Lebanon, was desolate last Thursday morning, due to barrages of deadly rocket fire. Some might find this news extremely discouraging, but it’s important to know what’s happening behind the scenes. Just last week, the city authorized the […]

By Sivan Rahav Meir I’m not usually one for joining initiatives, but this past Thursday was an exception. I encountered an incredibly heartfelt call from the families of the captives, supported by rabbis, urging a taanit dibbur, an hour without mundane speech, only Torah study and prayer. In response, I shut down my electronic devices […]

By Sivan Rahav Meir This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, describes the Mishkan, which accompanied Bnei Yisrael in the desert. It describes the instructions for building the Mishkan, down to the minutiae. What is the importance of all these small details? Here are two explanations: The first is what Professor Dan Ariely calls the “IKEA effect.” […]

By Sivan Rahav Meir People in Israel were smiling as they walked down the street on Monday morning, and no one had to ask them why. Fernando Marmen and Luis Har, two brothers-in-law who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7, were rescued on Sunday night from Hamas captivity. Thank G-d. It happened […]

By Sivan Rahav Meir Translated by Yehoshua Siskin This is the time of year in Israel when schools give students their mid-year report cards. But this year, many schools in the north and south didn’t know what to do about students who were evacuated from their homes, whose families were seriously impacted by the war, […]

By Sivan Rahav-Meir Today, I am reporting from Eilat, the southernmost city in Israel. During my visit, I encountered some remarkable individuals, unsung heroes of the war. Among them was Dina Houri, who served as principal of the elementary school in Sderot for 25 years. Following Simchat Torah, she embarked on a relentless mission to […]

By Sivan Rahav-Meir Translation by Yehoshua Siskin Last Friday night we dropped in on friends who were celebrating their son’s bar mitzvah (mazal tov, Guetta family) in Jerusalem’s Ramada Renaissance Hotel. When we arrived there, we were privileged to meet evacuees from Sderot in the south and from Kiryat Shemona and Shlomi in the north. […]

By Sivan Rahav-Meir Have you heard about PTG (post-traumatic growth)? We hear a lot about PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but not much about post-traumatic growth—that is, a positive response to traumatic events. At a recent Women’s Renewal workshop, Rabbi Aaron Darmon spoke about this lesser-known phenomenon. This is not only about resiliency or a return […]