Parshat Haazinu: To Renew the Old, to Sanctify the New - Ohr Torah Stone
"Remember the days of yore, understand the years (shenot) of each generation." (Deuteronomy 32:7)| Ohr Torah Stone
Finding Peace in a Fragile Sukkah By Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander | October 10, 2025 This Sukkot, like every year, we once again step away from our homes and eat our meals, sleep and spend time dwelling in our temporary sukkahs. These huts, often tucked away on the tiniest balconies, squeezed along sidewalks and parking […]| Ohr Torah Stone
This article was originally written before Sukkot and published in Hamizrachi Magazine. With the first phase of the U.S.-brokered deal signed – signaling the hopeful return of our hostages and an end to this war on the horizon – Rabbi Brander’s words remain deeply resonant: a call to dance in the shadow of uncertainty and […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Shabbat Shalom: Chol Hamoed Sukkot Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin is the Founder and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone Efrat, Israel – This magnificent three-week festival period – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot – may be viewed and experienced in two dimensions simultaneously; the universalist, nationalist dimension, and the particularistic, individual/family dimension. Rosh Hashanah is […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Sukkot and the Mission of Shlichut By Rabbi Eliahu Birnbaum, Director of Ohr Torah Stone’s Beren-Amiel and Straus-Amiel Emissary Training Institutes There is a quiet magic that comes with stepping into a sukkah. The walls are thin, the roof open to the sky. It is fragile by design—a shelter not of stone but of spirit. […]| Ohr Torah Stone
The Festival of Sukkot: What Is True Joy? Rabbi Oriel Zaretsky is an alumnus of the Straus-Amiel Emissary Training Institute who served as deputy Chief Rabbi of Poland. He is currently a rabbi and educator at the Yeshiva High School in Pardes Channa-Karkur. What is true joy? The Rebbe of Bobov once said, “When Rosh […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Starting the Jewish New Year with freedom: Woman granted divorce after 23-year fight The ex-husband attempted to extort T., demanding large sums of money in exchange for a get. By Jerusalem Post Staff | September 30, 2025 A woman was finally granted a get after her ex-husband refused to grant her the Jewish divorce for […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Reflections on the Viddui prayer in particular and the prayers of Yom Kippur in general Dr. Ada Gebel, a graduate of OTS’ Neveh Channah High School for Girls, oversees continuing education and retraining programs, as well as the Rom program for educational excellence at the Shaanan Academic College of Education in Haifa. For many years, […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Haftarat Parshat Haazinu: God’s Strength in Our Hands Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander is President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone The custom is to read “David’s Song” (II Samuel ch. 22) as the haftara for Parshat Haazinu, which itself consists of Moshe’s parting song to the people of Israel. The themes of the two […]| Ohr Torah Stone
"Remember the days of yore, understand the years (shenot) of each generation." (Deuteronomy 32:7)| Ohr Torah Stone
Ohr Torah Stone maintains that women have the same right, ability and capacity as men to participate fully in the Jewish world. The Midreshet Lindenbaum| Ohr Torah Stone
In October 2021, the Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute of Halakhic Leadership (WIHL) launched the International Halakha Scholars Program (IHSP) – a four-year study program for women educators, scholars and Jewish communal leaders. | Ohr Torah Stone
Parshat Vayelech/Shabbat Shuva: Certainty and Uncertainty in Divine Forgiveness Rabbanit Hannah Abrams is an alumna of Midreshet Lindenbaum who is now Director of the Chief Rabbi’s Shalem Fellowship in London, providing a framework for serious Torah learning for both post-yeshiva and post-sem university students returning to London. Are we really sure of an answer to […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Haftarat Parshat Vayelech/Shabbat Shuva: To Serve or to Stumble Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander is President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone On this dramatic Shabbat between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, as we read the impassioned pleas of the prophet Hoshea for repentance, one verse in particular stands out as speaking to the moment […]| Ohr Torah Stone
The article below is from Rabbi Riskin’s book Devarim: Moses Bequeaths Legacy, History and Covenant, part of his Torah Lights series of commentaries on the weekly parsha, published by Maggid and available for purchase here. Parshat Vayelech: The “Song of the Torah” – The Joy of Mitzvot Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin is the Founder and Rosh HaYeshiva of […]| Ohr Torah Stone
After the parsha famously opens with the bikkurim proclamation and the ma’aser confessional, Moshe’s speech continues with one of his many enjoinders to the| Ohr Torah Stone
First, her son was taken hostage to the Gaza Strip during the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Then, after managing to escape his captors, he was| Ohr Torah Stone
"All the commandment which I command you this day shall you observe to do them, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the| Ohr Torah Stone
The article below is from Rabbi Riskin’s book Devarim: Moses Bequeaths Legacy, History and Covenant, part of his Torah Lights series of commentaries on the weekly parsha, published by Maggid and available for purchase here. Parshat Vaetchanan: For the Sake of the Life of an Egyptian Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin is the Founder and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Coming into the Light What began as a therapeutic theater group for get-refusal victims has become a stirring spoken word performance about chained wives and the price of freedom. Its participants hope that the courage to open their stories will help additional women break free from their private prisons By Reut Gizbar | Shabbat Supplement, […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Lighting the Way: OTS Sends 46 New Emissaries Across the Globe As antisemitism rises and Jewish identity is tested, Ohr Torah Stone’s emissary program sends out a new wave of rabbinic and educational leaders to strengthen and inspire Jewish life worldwide. Danielle Blumstein, 21 July, 2025 In a world increasingly marked by division, hatred, and […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Parshat Devarim: From “Not a Man of Words” to “These Are the Words” Rabbanit Leora Levian is a graduate of OTS’s Straus-Amiel Emissary Training Institute who served the community of Gothenburg, Sweden for two years alongside her husband, Rabbi Uzi Levian. Today she is the chief editor of Sela Meir Publications and the rabbanit of […]| Ohr Torah Stone
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The article below is from Rabbi Riskin’s book Devarim: Moses Bequeaths Legacy, History and Covenant, part of his Torah Lights series of commentaries on the weekly parsha, published by Maggid and available for purchase here. Parshat Devarim: Moses’ Final Farewell and the Command to be Just Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin is the Founder and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Parshat Balak: Vulnerability, Struggle, and Victory Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander is President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone As we read the haftarah of this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Balak, one cannot help but feel that it was written specifically for this moment. The words of the prophet Micha were originally spoken to an […]| Ohr Torah Stone
Ohr Torah Stone is a Modern Orthodox movement of 32 institutions and programs effecting a transformative impact on Jewish education, leadership and outreach worldwide. Lighting the Way. OUR IMPACT Support OTS Donate in USD Donate in Shekels Agunot released from their chains 0 Shlichim in 97 cities across the globe 0 Annual participants in communal […]| Ohr Torah Stone
The Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute of Halakhic Leadership (WIHL) at Midreshet Lindenbaum is an unparalleled, full-time learning initiative providing qualified female scholars with a singular opportunity to participate in the ongoing halakhic discourse of the Jewish people and engage in Talmud Torah on a level high enough to join the top circle of Torah scholars and spiritual […]| Ohr Torah Stone
