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I look at my tiny baby sleeping peacefully in the ICU.
But my heart knows the truth this is only the beginning of our battle.
A battle for his life and for my strength to keep going.
My name is Miriam.
My baby’s name is Baruch.
He is only two months old.
He should be sleeping peacefully in my arms.
He should be growing, smiling, and filling our home with joy.
He should be wrapped in blankets, not surrounded by doctors, tests, medicine, and pain.
But Baruch is suffering.
His tiny kidneys are not working the way they should.
The doctors are still trying to understand exactly what is happening inside his little body.
We still do not have all the answers.
But one thing is already painfully clear:
My baby is in terrible pain.
And this is not something...
Baltimore, MD – Aug. 21, 2026 – Bais Yaakov School for Girls has announced that longtime CEO Rabbi Zalman Nissel will retire after 22 years of dedicated service to the school. His final day at Bais Yaakov will be November 30.In a letter to parents and staff, Bais Yaakov President Moshe Dov Shurin expressed the school’s deep hakaras hatov to Rabbi Nissel for his decades of leadership, highlighting his vision, integrity, strategic planning, and steadfast commitment to the school and its mission.Bais Yaakov will launch a national search for Rabbi Nissel’s successor. Rabbi Doniel Meltzer will continue supporting the school’s operational needs during the transition.Please see the accompanying letter from Bais Yaakov President Moshe Dov Shurin for the complete annou...
Bnei Yisroel were given specific instructions on who is eligible and who may serve as a soldier in the conquest of Eretz Yisroel. Exemptions were given for those who were preparing for marriage (Shoftim, 20:7), had built a new house (20:5) or if they had recently planted a vineyard (20:6). Moreover, even one who was afraid of war could not participate (20:8). In fact, the Gemarah explains that only Tzadikim were left to fight and that is exactly what was intended.
How then does one understand the Torah’s significant discussion of the Yifas To’ar? This woman, a gentile captured at war is permitted to marry the soldier who captured her, once the procedures, albeit extensive ones, are followed. Rashi (21:11), citing the Gemarah in Kiddushin (21b...
Baltimore, MD – August 21, 2026 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Akiva Lehmann and Rivka Krancer (New York) on their engagement.
Mazel Tov to the parents Mr. and Mrs. Moshe Lehmann. Mazel Tov to grandfather Rabbi Bentzion Cohen shlita.
!יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן
Baltimore, MD – August 21, 2026 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Eli Tokayer (Brooklyn) and Simy Lewis on their engagement.
!יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן
Baltimore, MD - August 20, 2026 - CLICK HERE to Read the Latest: Kashrus Kurrents Summer 5786/2026
Twenty-eight years ago, I arrived in Baltimore with my family to assume the role of Principal of the High School at Talmudical Academy of Baltimore.
For nine marvelous years I had the privilege of educating a remarkable and colorful group of students, hopefully inspiring them with life lessons culled from our precious Torah.
It is nearly twenty years since I left that position, but I proudly merited to witness many of these students go forward in life, pursuing successful careers, marrying, raising families, and participating in communal life of this marvelous Torah inspired community.
Not long ago I surprisingly received the following e-mail from a most memorable, and beloved, former student.
Hi Rabbi Teichman,
I was with my wife’s family for the Shabbos day...
Baltimore, MD – August 19, 2026 - BJL regrets to inform the community of the petira of Melvin Parnes a"h, father of Esther Shoshana Fuld.
Esther Shoshana is sitting shiva at 36 South Monsey Road in Airmont, NY. Hours are Thursday 10-1 and 7:30-9:30, Erev Shabbos 10-1, Motzei Shabbos 9-10:30, Sunday 10-1 and 7-9:30. If someone wants to come in person please call or text in advance so she can be sure to be available. Esther Shoshana can be reached at 410-870-5360 via phone, text, or Whatsapp.
Baltimore, MD – August 21, 2026 - After a busy summer of site preparation, the campus of Torah Institute of Baltimore is beginning to take on a dramatically different look as the school prepares to move forward with construction of its historic $25 million expansion.
Throughout the summer, significant work has been taking place across the TI campus, laying the groundwork for the major construction project ahead. Crews have been focused on the extensive infrastructure and site work necessary to prepare the property for the next phase of construction.
As students return for the new school year, they will arrive to a campus already visibly transformed. One of the most noticeable changes will be the brand-new parking lot going into use, marking an exciting milestone in the overall proj...
Baltimore, MD – Aggust 19, 2026 –
Key Food Urban Meadow Frozen Spinach, Kale and Collard Greens
Packages of Urban Meadow Frozen Spinach Leaf, Frozen Collard Greens and Frozen Kale, product of China, distributed by Key Food Stores Co-Operative, Inc. of Matawan, NJ, bear an unauthorized STAR-K symbol. Corrective action is being taken.
Baltimore, MD - August 19, 2026 - (BJL) On Tuesday night August 18th (ו' אלול), a special seudah was held at Khal Bais Nosson in honor of the yahrtzeit of the Zera Shimshon, zt”l.
During the seudah, the Rav, Rabbi Shmuel Friedman, shared a piece from the sefer Zera Shimshon on Rosh Hashanah, bringing the Torah of the famed tzaddik and mechaber to life in honor of his yahrtzeit.
Zechuso yagein aleinu.
Baltimore, MD – Aug. 19, 2026 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Akiva Yisroel & Sara Tova Miller on the birth of a son.
Mazal Tov to the grandparents Rabbi Shmuel Meir and D'vorah Brocha Miller (St. Louis) and Mr. Mordechai Yosef and Ruth Snider (Baltimore), and the great grandparents Rabbi Dr. Ivan and Arleeta Lerner (Silver Spring) and Dr. Moshe and Yael Glasner (State College/Yerushalayim) and great great Grandmother Ilene Miller (Pisgat Zeev)
יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
Baltimore, MD – Aug. 18, 2026 – Baltimore is blessed with an extraordinary wealth of mosdos of Torah and chesed. Yet among the community’s many well-known institutions is a unique Torah opportunity that remains something of a hidden gem: the longstanding Wednesday night shiur at The Chofetz Chaim Adath Bnei Israel Congregation (Adas).
For more than 40 years, Maran Harav Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky, zt”l, delivered a shiur for baalei batim at Adas, first on Rogers Avenue and later on Park Heights Avenue. The in-depth Torah learning that filled the shul each Wednesday evening became a highlight of the week for its devoted participants.
Following Rav Kulefsky’s petira 26 years ago, his son-in-law, Harav Dovid Rosenbaum, shlita, assumed the role of maggid shiur, ...
On Tu B'Av, the holiday of love, I was walking down a small Jerusalem alley lined with automobile repair shops when I was invited to join a Mincha service. Curious, and always up for a "chavaya," I accepted the invitation. The prayers took place in a tiny office behind one of the garages. The room was barely large enough to hold a minyan. For a few minutes, this cramped workspace was transformed into a shul.
The minyan included mechanics, replete with the mandatory oil-stained hands and grime beneath their fingernails. Some men had flowing beards and black velvet yarmulkes, others were clean-shaven and wore yarmulkes of different sizes and colors, while a few borrowed one for the service. Jews from diverse backgrounds stood together in quiet, sincere prayer. Once the prayers began,...
Holiness in Unexpected Places
During a family trip to northern Israel recently, two images caught my attention. The first was in Tzfat. We have all seen many moving and creative memorial projects, but this was something new. At the entrance to a coffee shop stood an ordinary plastic-bottle recycling bin bearing a sign: “Recycling station to fund a tefillin stand, in memory of Staff Sgt. Uri Yitzchak Iluz.”
Beside it was the tefillin stand itself, already installed in his memory—presumably funded, at least in part, by the bottles that had been collected for recycling. There was no Chabad emissary stationed there. It was simply there, waiting for anyone passing by who wanted to put on tefillin.
I went into the coffee shop, and the waiter, who had noticed me takin...
