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We Are So Excited About This Podcast, and We Think You Will Be, Too

January 24, 2025 11:51 AM

Fresh off the shelf, check out Your Jewish Week, a brand new podcast that will give you everything you need to know about the upcoming Jewish week, all in less than 20 minutes.

Our presenter is Rabbi Dovi Paltiel, who also writes the episodes himself (a lot of work, thank you Rabbi Dovi!). His style is engaging, fun, and filled with insights that will leave you empowered and knowledgeable about the coming week.

So, what will you learn about in this new podcast?

  • Important dates in Jewish life this coming week (for example, Rosh Chodesh, etc.)
  • A short but profound look into the weekly Torah portion
  • The daily study: everything you need to know about this week’s Chumash, Tanya and Rambam
  • A deep dive into this week in Jewish history, which provides fun anecdotes like the definition of a piaster (a type of coin in circulation in Hebron 200 years ago), the first synagogue in New York City (built in the early 1700s by Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had fled the Inquisition), and the stories of four “purims” that aren’t Purim (you’ll have to listen to the first two episodes for those!).

Early listeners are already hooked. “What a fun and interesting way to connect,” commented Eva from Ramona, CA. “I can see myself looking forward to this podcast every week,” says B.T.

It’s available on Chabad.org, Apple podcasts and Spotify. Tune in on Sunday with your lox and bagel or with a cup of coffee. We’re confident you’ll love it!

Click here for this week’s episode.

And after you’ve listened and enjoyed it, drop us a comment letting us know what you loved and how we can make it even better!

Thanksgiving and Prayers

January 20, 2025 3:13 PM

As we see some of our kidnapped brothers and sisters return from Gaza, we thank G‑d for those who have miraculously survived in the lion’s den and we mourn those who have been murdered. Join us in praying that the returnees quickly recover from the physical and emotional trauma they have suffered.

And we are, of course, forever mindful of those who are still being cruelly held captive by terror groups in Gaza and pray for their safe return.

Please click here for our updated prayers list, including those who have returned, those who are no longer with us, and those whose return we continue to pray for.

Israel has paid a treacherously steep price to bring three young Jewish women home, releasing some 90 terrorists—people charged and convicted with heinous crimes. Convicted Palestinians handed over by Israel in similar lopsided “exchanges” have quickly returned to terror activities, among them the masterminds of the Oct. 7 massacre.

And so as we welcome back those so brutally taken, we continue to pray for the welfare of the IDF soldiers, the wisdom of Israel’s leaders, and for the safety and security of all of our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, who are under constant threats by those who seek to harm us.

May G‑d protect them and all Jews wherever they are and bring peace to the entire world.

Recite Chapter 20 of Psalms

The Chabad.org Team

Master Another Yiddish Word Each Week!

January 15, 2025 11:00 PM

Yiddish has a special place in our hearts. Even for those who are not as fluent in the language as our grandparents, Yiddish connects us to our people and our identity as Jews in a warm, homey way.

When we spot a Yiddish word in pop culture, we note it with pride. When we hear someone mangling a Yiddish word, we giggle inwardly at the shared joke we know that fellow Members of the Tribe will enjoy alongside us.

But Yiddish is more than just nostalgia. It is a living, breathing language that expresses so beautifully the spiritual side of Judaism in a way that is authentic, deep, and uniquely Jewish.

It’s the language in which Torah was taught for generations, and the language in which Jewish mothers lulled their children to sleep with songs of Torah study and mitzvot.


It’s baked into the fiber of Judaism as we know it today.

So what do all those words mean, and what do they mean to us? Sign up for our new email, Yiddish Word of the Week and find out!

My Beloved LA Is Burning! Please Pray With Me

January 8, 2025 2:30 PM

Like many of you, I’ve been watching the fires that seem to be consuming Los Angeles from multiple directions - the Pacific Palisades in the west and Pasadena in the east – with unfolding horror. As a born Angelino, with friends and family still in LA, seeing the sites and neighborhoods of my youth burn, and hearing first-hand the overwhelming, ever-present effects the fires are having on everyone feels disheartening. What can I do, far away, in frigid Brooklyn, to help?

But just as a fire does not start in isolation - its power to consume and destroy requires the complex interplay of water, wind, and draught that extend far beyond the borders of the conflagration itself– our actions can help as well.

Reach out to people in the area to check in and see how they're doing. Consider contributing to the relief work, such as that of Chabad of the Pacific Palisades and Chabad of Pasadena. Say a prayer for everyone in the path of destruction and the brave first responders fighting to extinguish the fires.


These moments of destruction also give us a chance to reflect. The Baal Shem Tov once said, “Everything one sees or hears is to be taken as a lesson in how to better serve the Creator.” I was struck by the words of my colleague, Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, reflecting on the fires.

There are times in life when you are rudely reminded
that as secure as you may have felt
you are but another small creature amidst great forces much larger than any of us
that could sweep you away in a moment
and send all the material things you have acquired in life up in smoke.
And then you realize
that all you really have
is the kindness you have shown to others
the love you have received and the love you have given
the light and wisdom you have shared
and the acts of the spirit, of beauty, and of wonder that you have brought to the world.
As for the rest, it is all ashes.
In truth, it was all ashes from the beginning.

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