CKJ

This is profoundly moving and inspiring. 🇮🇱 A nation that can argue fiercely at the ballot box, innovate on the world stage, and then stand shoulder to shoulder in a tank or around a Shabbat table is truly extraordinary. Our disagreements may be loud, but our shared destiny is louder. What a privilege to witness Jewish history unfolding, and to belong to a people whose resilience, sacrifice and determination to build a better future continue to defy the odds. Am Yisrael Chai @mikeeisenberg

Some melodies are written. Others somehow become part of a people. At just 22, Tanchum Portnoy composed the tune to Eitz Chaim. Decades later, Jews across denominations, communities and continents sing it every Shabbat, many without ever knowing who wrote it.  I reflected on the story behind this ubiquitous melody, and what it might teach us about Jewish unity, legacy, and the things we leave behind. My latest for @JewishJournal jewishjournal.com/culture/ar…

The Spaces in Between We live in an age of astonishing speed. Technology has compressed time, erased waiting, and trained us to move instantly from one moment to the next. Artificial intelligence now completes tasks in seconds that once required hours of thought. Efficiency has soared, but something quieter has been lost. We rarely pause. We barely reflect. Life streams forward without interruption. Yet pauses matter. Breaks in the rhythm of life give us space to think, to process, to feel. They allow us to savor blessing and to sit honestly with pain. Without them, even the most powerful moments blur and fade. Parshat BeShalach brings us to one of the most transcendent moments in Jewish history: Keriat Yam Suf. Trapped between the sea and the Egyptian army, Bnei Yisrael experienced not only salvation, but revelation. The sea split, the threat vanished, and the people erupted in song. Shirat HaYam has echoed through Jewish prayer ever since. But the Torah records the song in an unusual way. In the Torah, the shira is written as blocks of text interrupted by deliberate empty spaces. Words appear, then silence. Song, then pause. The message is subtle and profound. Words alone cannot hold transcendence. Even the greatest spiritual moments require space around them. Meaning deepens not only in what is said, but in what is left unsaid. The silence is not absence. It is where understanding settles. Some moments in life resist description. They are not meant to be captured, shared, or uploaded. They ask us simply to be present. To breathe. To notice what opens inside us when we stop rushing past it. As the world accelerates, the Torah reminds us to slow down. To honor the pauses. To protect the spaces between the words. That is where depth forms. That is where gratitude grows. That is where we truly cross the sea.

President @JMilei sharing a Torah insight from this weeks Torah portion, Parshat Bo at World Economic Forum #WEF2026 @wef Torah on the world stage. Ancient wisdom spoken into modern power. Global shifts indeed. What a time to be alive.

🗓️Tonight is the 23rd of Sivan. Why does it matter? B/c on this very date, in the Book of Esther, the Jews of ancient Persia (modern-day Iran) were granted the right to defend themselves from genocide. Sound familiar? History doesn’t repeat itself. It echoes. #AmYisraelChai

looking forward to welcoming one of the fiercest pro-Israel voices out there, my friend @AviMayer to the UES this Shabbat. Join us to hear his presentations at @CongregationKJ

Excited to welcome one of Israel's most steadfast defenders to @CongregationKJ this week. He isn't Jewish, has no sizable Jewish constituency & yet is one of the most outspoken pro-Israel voices in Congress💪 @RitchieTorresis we applaud you and all your efforts on behalf of 🇮🇱