19 August 2026
3-Year-Old Found Alive After 100 Hours | Colombia's 7.4 Earthquake Death Toll Nears 300 | VERTEX
More than four days after a devastating earthquake struck western Colombia, rescuers have pulled a three-year-old girl alive from beneath the rubble, nearly 100 hours after the 7.4-magnitude quake hit on August 10. A 75-year-old man was also rescued alive after spending days trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
The extraordinary rescues have renewed hope for families still waiting for missing relatives, even as authorities warn that the chances of finding more survivors are fading. By August 16, nearly 290 people had died, more than 4,000 were injured and over 140 remained missing.
18 August 2026
Rav Dovid Tzvi Shlomo Biderman zt"l
Rav Dovid Tzvi Shlomo Biderman of Lelov Yerushalayim zt"l
הרב דוד צבי שלמה בן אךעזר מנחם מנדל בידערמאן זצ"ל
Elul 5 , 5678
Known As: Rav Duvidel
Father's Name: Elazar Menachem Mendel
Rav Moshe Sternbuch Shlit"a on ELUL
ELUL
“The hands of the witnesses shall be the first upon him to put him to death… you shall remove the evil from your midst” (17:7)
The wording of the possuk makes it clear that the purpose of the capital punishment is not to avenge the actions of the sinner, but rather to remove evil from amongst the nation, thereby increasing the forces of good.
Rav Yerusham Levovitz noted that, similarly, repentance has the power to annul evil decrees, because if a person repents on his own initiative there is no longer any need to punish him, since he has already removed the evil inside him by himself of his own accord.
However, in order to come close to and cleave to Hashem, prayers, supplications and dedication to avodas Hashem are required, and the month of Elul is the appropriate time to achieve these, and to come close to Hashem.
Although, on the one hand, Elul is a month of trepidation, like any other mitzvah, repentance has to be performed with joy.
Elul is the propitious month of mercy in which Hashem makes it much easier to repent. This month may be compared to an end-of-season sale. Hashem wishes to cleanse us of our sins accumulated during the year and “sells” the possibility of repentance for less effort than the rest of the year. Whatever can only be attained the rest of the year through fasting and abstinence, can be attained in Elul through prayer and repentance.
Our avoda during Elul should be different than the rest of the year, and we cannot perform mitzvos by rote then. Our Torah and prayers should be accompanied by thought and devotion. The admonition to “beware lest you forget Hashem” (Devorim 6:12) includes a warning not to observe mitzvos by rote, because someone who keeps mitzvos only out of habit is not thinking about Hashem, but ignoring Him.
Many people shirk their obligations in Elul, in the belief that during the year they are already fulfilling what Hashem expects of them. The baal habos argues that throughout the year he listens to a shiur on a daily basis and gives maaser kesofim from his earnings, and the ben Torah argues that he keeps to his sedorim with a chavrusa. In reality, our avodo during Elul consists of not performing actions merely by rote and habit, but with a sense of renewal and contemplation as to what Hashem expects of us, and how we can improve our avoda quantitatively (more time) and qualitatively (more effort, enthusiasm and joy).
Yemei rotzon means that during this period we enjoy special Divine assistance. However, without repentance on our part and efforts to come closer to Hashem, He will not come closer to us. On the other hand, through relatively little effort during Elul we can achieve things that are only possible through much greater effort during the rest of the year, and only a fool would waste the opportunity to utilize this time to the utmost.
Many people are under the delusion that just like Elul and the yomim noro’im the previous year elapsed without too many preparations and repentance, and nothing exceptionally unfortunate happened during the past year, this year too we can obtain a favorable judgement. The flaw with this logic is that there is a special treasure house of good deeds for which Hashem sets aside a reward in the afterlife, and if a person does not have the right to remain alive by virtue of his deeds, Hashem deducts from the reward set aside for him in the afterlife.
Therefore, the fact that a person remained alive may have been to his detriment, because it may have been at the expense of his future reward. Moreover, who knows how many merits, if any, remain from the mitzvos whose reward has been set aside for the future. Hence, it would be wiser to repent properly instead of relying on the experience of previous years.
Although an integral component of teshuva is regretting the past, during Elul one should initially forget the past and focus on the present. The mazal of the month of Elul is a besulah (maiden), because during this month of renewal and repentance we start a new “marriage” with Hashem, completely forgetting the past and focusing exclusively on the future. Only at a more advanced stage of the teshuva process should one focus on regretting the past.
Every morning, when one wakes up one should say to oneself. “Today I will be more careful be’ezras Hashem”. Everything is based on the current moment. If one perseveres with one’s resolutions, one will eventually witness miracles and wonders be”H.
The truth is that for most people the avoda of Elul has been forgotten, and if Rosh Hashono itself is still observed properly, that would already be a step in the right direction. In previous generations, people realized that if you repented, matters would turn out for the good, but if you did not, then one had to worry, and that one had to be in a constant state of chizuk. However, this awareness has become attenuated. Only bnei Torah still retain an impression of the real Elul. This is a great pity, because we are losing a great treasure of growth in our avodas Hashem.
In Shema Yisroel every Jew addresses his fellow Jew, because it is not sufficient to accept the yoke of heaven on ourselves, but we must also be concerned for all members of the nation and want them to accept this yoke on themselves too. On the other hand, in terms of everyone’s private avodas Hashem, a person should not compare himself to others, because Hashem’s expectations of him are based on his own specific capabilities. Sometimes a person thinks that so and so acts in a certain way, so why should I be more righteous than him. Instead, he should be thinking about what Hashem expects from him specifically. That is the avoda of Elul: to remember that we are avdei Hashem.
Everybody should endeavor during Elul to be mechadesh chiddushei Torah, because through chiddushim one merits special Divine love. Chiddushim are not necessarily completely novel ideas, but also explanations and comments on existing ideas. Rav Aharon Kotler writes that since in the month of Elul we are close to Hashem, it is a very propitious time for learning, understanding and being mechadesh genuine chiddushei Torah. Therefore, Rav Sternbuch tells the bochurim in his Yeshiva that they should endeavor to write down chiddushei Torah or summarize shiurim and explain them well. They will then enjoy special Divine assistance and will be considered to have been mechadesh chiddushei Torah.
"בסוף רוצים את החידוש!" | הנוסחה של מנהיג הדור הגרמ"ה הירש: כמה אחוזים לתת לכל חבורה?
A inspiring documentation from the residence of the Leader of the Generation, Maran Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch Shlit"a, President of 'Ichud Bnei HaYeshivot'.
The rabbinic leaders presented Maran Shlit"a with the new sefer "Talmudo Beyado", containing 75 outstanding Torah essays selected from nearly 5,000 submitted by yeshiva students. Maran offered key guidance on Torah scholarship, emphasizing that the core of Torah study is "the novelty of Torah insights (Chiddush)", followed by a L'Chaim blessing for all bnei yeshivot.
סליחות בשידור חי - מוצאי יום ראשון – ג' באלול (16/08/2026)
לקבלת עדכונים מהכותל המערבי לוואטסאפ לחצו על הקישור https://thekotel.org/whatsapp Updates from the Western Wall https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gu3rNLNAwoU
Muslims buy ….
VERY IMPORTANT AND THREATENING EVENT:
https://youtube.com/shorts/B0z-IZe6FCE?si=xjzw2unkGNVMvMZy
to “REVISE” the text??
AND WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ALL LITERATURE
NOT OUR BOOK! BUT A WARNING SIGN
Listen to:
Millions of Rare Books are Being DESTROYED!
https://habayitah.blogspot.com/2026/08/glenn-beck-i-warned-you-this-would.html
What if truth itself is disappearing?
Glenn Beck’s warning gets much bigger than AI.
A Yiddishe Mamma:
Good marriages.
Great marriages.
Torah-based marriage courses,
delivered with warmth, clarity,
and the brachah of leading Rabbonim —
learned privately from home.
Bring the Shechina into Your home
גשם בקיץ? מה זה אומר עפ"י הקבלה
Can anyone translate what he says about גשם בקיץ please. Ive been waiting to hear someone address just this.
Rav Meir Simchah HaKohen of Dvinsk zt"l
Rav Meir Simchah HaKohen of Dvinsk zt"l
הרב מאיר שמחה בן שמשון קלונימוס קלמן הכהן זצ"ל
Elul 4 , 5686
Known As: Ohr Sameach, Meshech ChochmaFather's Name: Shimshon Kalonymous Kalman Hakohen
Elul 4, 5686 / 1926
Rav Meir Simcha HaKohen was born in 5605 in Baltermantz. As a youth he was already expert in nearly all of both Talmuds, Shas Bavli and Yerushalmi, as well as in works of Kabbalah. His rebbe, Rav Moshe Danishevsky, was Av Beis Din of Slovak. R’ Meir Simcha married at a young age the daughter of Rav Tzvi Paltiel of Bialystok. While living in Bialystok, he studied Torah day and night with the Av Beis Din, Rav Yom Tov Lipa, author of Shailos V’Teshuvos Oneg Yom Tov, as well as with the author of Shai Lamorehon Maseches Bechoros.
He lived in sanctity and purity and became a leader of his generation, a great gaon to whom many turned from all over the world to resolve difficult Torah questions and uncertainties. In this merit, he came to be known by the honored title of ilui – genius of Dvinsk.
His magnum opus, the Ohr Sameach on Rambam, demonstrates Rav Meir Simcha’s sharp mind and great Torah expertise. He stood at the forefront of the battle against the misguided maskilim of Russia as well as the Zionists, movements in which he recognized the beginnings of the removal of the primacy of Torah and Yiras Shamayim from the Jewish worldview. He had no sons; his son-in-law, Rav Avraham Loftbar of Warsaw, was the author of Shailos V’Teshuvos Zera Avraham.
Rav Meir Simcha passed away on the Shabbos of Parshas Shoftim, the 4th of Elul, 5686 in Riga, Latvia; he was laid to rest in Dvinsk. May his holy merit protect us all.
17 August 2026
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
