Sam Sutton

Sunday morning. Playoff football. The air was crisp, the stakes were sky-high, and the Deal Football League delivered another unforgettable chapter in what’s shaping up to be its most electric season yet.

We’ve officially reached the Final Four. The field has been cut in half, and what’s left standing are four powerhouses, four locker rooms filled with belief, and four captains who can practically taste the champagne.

But to get here, it took guts, grit, and a whole lot of game.

Bengals Stay Hot, Dolphins Go Home

The first playoff showdown of the morning pitted the Miami Dolphins against the Cincinnati Bengals, a rematch of the now-legendary Miami Massacre. The storyline was clear: could Miami erase the memory of that beatdown and get redemption, or would Cincinnati prove that their late-season surge was no fluke?

Spoiler: The Bengals were for real.

Led by Shimi Cohen, who’s been in absolute command the last three weeks, Cincinnati came out with composure and confidence. Cohen’s offensive play-calling was crisp, methodical, and relentless. The Bengals played smart football, executing a balanced attack that kept Miami guessing all morning.

And then there was Moshe Shuk, back in the lineup and making his presence known. His intensity on both sides of the ball shifted the tone from the very first drive. Every big play seemed to have his fingerprints on it, and every drive felt like a statement.

By the time the final whistle blew, the Bengals had not only punched their ticket to the championship, but had also extended their win streak to three straight. A few weeks ago, this team was hanging by a thread. Now? They’re one win away from the biggest stage in the DFL.

Their opponent? The undefeated Baltimore Ravens – a team that’s looked untouchable all season long. Last time these two squads met, the Ravens took care of business. But this time, they’ll face a Bengals team that’s found its rhythm and identity. One team’s chasing perfection; the other’s chasing revenge. Buckle up this one’s going to be a war.

Demons Dominate, Vikings Silenced

The second game of the morning saw the Deacon Demons face off against the Minnesota Vikings, a team that snuck into the playoffs at the last possible moment after a late-season surge.

But if they thought momentum would carry them into the semifinals, the Demons had other plans.

From the opening possession, the Demons were dialed in. Their offense clicked. Their defense suffocated. Their energy was unmatched. It was mass destruction from jump.

Quarterback Zacky Cytryn put on a clinic, a dual-threat performance that defined leadership. He orchestrated the offense with poise and precision while also turning heads on defense, locking down the corners and picking off two passes that crushed any hopes of a Viking comeback.

When the dust settled, the scoreboard told the story: Demons 27, Vikings 0. A statement win in every sense.

Now, the Demons advance to face the Detroit Lions, a team riding their own wave of momentum with five consecutive wins and the advantage of a first-round bye. The Lions already beat the Demons once this season but this rematch feels different. This time, it’s personal.

The Final Four: The Stage Is Set

And just like that, we’re down to four: Ravens (undefeated), Bengals (three straight wins), Lions (five straight wins), and the Demons (dominant and dangerous).

No pretenders. No flukes. Just four heavyweights left standing – each one capable of hoisting the trophy.

As we head into the semifinals, one thing’s clear: the DFL has never been more alive. The energy, the talent, the storylines – everything is peaking at the perfect time. Four teams remain. Two will move on. One will rise above them all.

Welcome to the jungle. The road to the DFL Championship runs through it.

Every family has its own story, its own journey worthy of care and attention. In this case, Dad was a sales executive, earning $350,000 a year, until he abruptly got sick and landed in the hospital. He could no longer work, forsaking the joy and pride of providing for his family. Mom was a fitness instructor who made roughly $60,000 a year. Typically, she’d teach three sessions a week, but due to Dad’s health concerns, she had to take a work hiatus in order to take care of her husband. Mom and Dad have three children: a thirteen-year-old daughter and two sons, ages fifteen and eighteen. Mom had her hands full, whipping up delicious dinners every night, helping with homework questions, and imparting her kids with essential life lessons; however, the home structure suddenly flipped from comfort to chaos. Mom and Dad had too much on their plates to be present for their kids, to shower them with the love they deserve. The youngest child wasn’t doing well in school, the middle child didn’t even want to attend (and protested by misbehaving), and the oldest child was worried because high school graduation was looming and he needed life guidance. Putting her pride aside, Mom knew exactly whom she needed to turn to; she needed the full-package assistance that SBH provides. Knowing when to reach out for help is the first step, and being strong enough to make the call is just as important. Mom demonstrated bravery by heeding to a community volunteer member’s advice and contacting the SBH Client Services Division.

SBH’s mission statement is threaded in hope, assurance, and a guarantee that they will do their absolute best to mitigate family crises and take the form of a complete support network. Mom was vulnerable with SBH’s intake coordinator and opened up to them regarding her family’s recent struggles. The coordinator conducted an initial assessment of the case and made sure that the specific case fit the criteria.

“Here’s how the client service structure works,” the intake coordinator explained to Mom. “Each family that goes through our system is assigned a case worker and a community volunteer (referred to as a “captain”). That is the team that will walk families through crises, collaboratively creating both short-term and long-term goals. We employ a holistic approach for the entirety of this process. The holistic model enables us to cater to both the individual and the family as a whole. We work as a collective, as a team.”

Mom nodded with appreciation and was grateful for SBH’s dedication to help.

The intake representative continued to detail the confidentiality aspect. SBH would never disclose the names of its clients. Plus, before someone is ocially assigned a team, which consists of a social worker and a captain, SBH verifies their names with that individual to ensure that they are comfortable having them on the case. Assigning the right team to the right client is vital. SBH wants to cater to every family’s needs and find everyone the perfect match. The entire process is laced in compassion and understanding.

Later on, the team was confirmed with Mom, and they began their services by conducting a house visit. The social worker noticed disarray. Mom and Dad were behind on their bills and were drowning in their mortgage. There was a lot of financial stress. The team agreed that it would be important to attend to the family’s physical needs and mental health needs. The goals are as follows— working towards providing Mom with more daily structure, facilitating Dad’s eventual return to his job, and ensuring that each of the children reach a homeostasis and return to a healthy lifestyle.

The dominoes were then set into motion and SBH began to enlist their many incredible departments. The SBH Food Division sent over meals for dinner. The sbh medical division aided Dad with his recuperation process to make sure he was recovering properly and seeing the best doctors. The SBH volunteer division tutored and helped the kids with their homework; they also drove Dad to and from his appointments. The SBH Young Adult division assigned mentors to both sons to direct them through crucial formative years. Dad and Mom were referred to SBH’s counseling center, addressing anxiety and all the circumstantial uncertainty. SBH assisted with some of the family’s pressing bills, provided aid towards grocery shopping, and aimed to get Mom and Dad back to their normal routines. The SBH clothing division bought Dad a new suit and SBH career services helped polish his job resume, aiming towards getting him job ready. The SBH SEARCH program assigned a coach to their family that guided Mom and Dad on how to deal with a teenager that acts out.

Not only does SBH excel at collaborative problem-solving, but they highlight the importance of maintenance through weekly check-ins.

“Mom, how is everything progressing? Hey Dad, what are some skills we can accentuate to prepare you for a job interview? Are things running smoothly?”

As portrayed, there are numerous moving parts to this client service process, a harmonious intermingling of divisions, and a strong army of people who are eager to help alleviate families from crises. SBH provides an unparalleled level of care and guidance to those in need.

Your family may look dierent than the one depicted, every member undergoing their own journeys and hurtling over their own obstacles,
but the message remains — SBH is a pillar of support for every step of the way. Help yourself by letting us help you. With a case manager and captain guiding the process with love, care, and comfort we can get through some of the toughest treks.

Rabbi Elimelech Biderman

Dreidels are a beloved part of Hanukah celebrations the world over. And they’re far from being simple playthings. Dreidels symbolize deep spiritual concepts. Below are four enlightening messages that can be learned from the dreidel.

1. A dreidel hints to us that there’s nothing that happens in this world without it being decreed on high. Just as a person spinning the dreidel can’t know on what side it will land, so too he can’t know where his efforts will lead him. Spinning the dreidel harder doesn’t get you any closer to resolving this. Likewise, in life, the extra effort often just means a few more turns than necessary before getting to the result decreed on high. Hashem runs our life in a similar way. A man can’t change what was decreed for him from on high and all the extra efforts are just meandering off the path Hashem plotted for you.
    
2. Just as the dreidel spins only when you spin it from above, so too our world spins around by Hashem spinning it from above.

1. A person who spins and orients himself inwards toward Hashem will merit that he will spin out of and will escape the troubles that envelop him.

1. The Bnei Issachar explains: “…people spin the dreidel with the letters gimmel, shin, nun, and heh – and each faces a different direction with the dreidel spinning around a central point. These letters hint to the kingdoms of Rome, Babylon, Greece, and Madai, which oppose the four powers of man. Gimmel for “guf,” the body, shin for “sechel,” human intelligence, nun for “nefesh,” the soul, and heh for “hakol,” all of them.”

“They all spin on a central axis, which is Israel, that unites all the far away extremes. All the outside extremes are subservient to the middle they all spin around, and all the nations will nullify themselves to the nation of Israel and acquire a clear language (with which to come to Hashem).”

“We have to begin to explain the truth that if you support Palestinianism, you’re supporting an evil. You’re not supporting a good.” –
Alan Dershowitz

DAVE GORDON

Alan Dershowitz, the prominent Jewish American lawyer and law professor, known for his work in U.S. constitutional and criminal law, had a few choice words about New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

He spoke on October 27^th at the second annual Rage Against the Hate conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. The event was organized by Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center. The conference focused on combatting anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment through strategy sessions, legal action, and public opinion. Dershowitz was joined by former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Australian broadcaster Erin Molan, former IDF commander Yoseph Haddad (a Christian Arab-Israeli citizen who is a journalist and pro-Israel advocacy activist) Anne Bayefsky, President of Human Rights Voices, and other prominent figures in law and pro-Israel advocacy.

Dershowitz on the Jews and Mamdani

Dershowitz asked, “How did the new mayor gain a leading edge? The answer is Jews,” he proclaimed.

“We have a deep problem within the Jewish community. A troubling sense of self-criticism runs deep within the Jewish community today. I saw it when I taught at Harvard for 50 years. I saw it among the faculty. I saw it among the students. We’re now seeing it among the voters. It’s absolutely horrible.”

Dershowitz also blames Andrew Cuomo for not mounting a strong enough campaign.

The professor emeritus at Harvard law school, author, and civil liberties advocate, alleged that the Mamdani campaign was likely bankrolled by “Qatari money, other foreign money, George Soros money, and dark money (political spending from undisclosed sources).”

He pledged that he and his colleagues, will go into every rock to find the name of every contributor in order to follow the money.

Dershowitz said that what most frightens him is not Mamdani’s possible poor policy decisions. It’s the prospect that people will like him more if some of his policies do succeed.

“What frightens me most is that Mamdani may end up being a good mayor. Let me give you the analogy. I’m not analogizing Mamdani to Hitler, but I’m telling you that in 1932, many people – remember, he only got 32 percent of the vote, Hitler – many people voted for Hitler, not because he was an anti-Semite, but despite that fact, because Hitler promised to restore the economy and [reduce] unemployment. And for the first two years, he did that. He was successful,” Dershowitz said.

“And that’s what gave him the ability to turn people who didn’t care about anti-Semitism into overt anti-Semites because they liked what Hitler had done for the people of Germany.”

“Mamdani,” Dershowitz added, “has brought about international anti-Semitism.”

Dershowitz added, “What Mamdani says about Israel, could never in America or in American college campuses be said about other minorities. Indeed, when you accuse Mamdani of supporting terrorism because he refuses to denounce ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ his first response is Islamophobia.

“I can tell you one thing, that when you say, ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ you are encouraging people to do another 9-11 or another October 7th. And when you refuse to condemn globalizing the Intifada, you are complicit in terrorism.”

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Israel Law Center

Israeli lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the founder and president of Israel Law Center, told conference attendees that her next litigation target is the Old Gray Lady, a nickname for the New York Times (which comes from the color of its pages). “The New York Times is aiding and abetting Hamas,” she said, making it clear her intention is to take them to court for “blood libel and defamation.”

Israel Law Center uses legal action worldwide to fight for the rights of victims of terror, and to seek compensation for violations of international law.

Cases include suits against Al Jazeera (a Qatari state-funded media conglomerate and news organization) over its alleged ties to Hamas, and a high-profile lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority and PLO in the U.S., which initially resulted in a $655 million USD award for terror victims (later overturned). Other notable cases include suing Airbnb over delisting Jewish-owned properties in Judea and Samaria, and legal action involving Facebook regarding incitement and hate speech.

Recurring Themes

A recurring theme surfaced throughout the talks – the need to combat lies, communicate the Israel story better, and be attuned to what Israel’s enemies seek to do.

“The first and most important thing that we need to do collectively is to listen what they (Islamists) themselves say,” said Jonathan Conricus, a Swedish Israeli spokesperson and media commentator. He served as an officer in the IDF, where her served for 24 years, and is the former international spokesman of the IDF. He is now based in Washington, D.C. and is a regular fixture in the media defending Israel’s position.

“Islamists,” Conricus said, “want to dominate and take control of Western countries, and that they’re not shy in achieving it. They are politically organized and disciplined. They are funded. They have powerful mouthpieces, some of them very eloquent and fluent in King’s English.” “Elected officials need to understand that Israel is the Off-Broadway show. The real show, the real Broadway, from a Muslim Islamist perspective, is the West,” said the senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Preventing radicalization is a part of what Conricus calls “the battle of narratives,” which he added “with great regret, Israel isn’t yet really fighting this battle well.”

He suggested that more of Israel’s budget is needed for “narrative and media warfare” to “equip freedom fighters, defenders of democracy, [and] good people around the world, with data and information.”

British journalist Melanie Phillips said that Israel’s enemies “have been able to hijack the language and weaponize the West’s post truth, post moral culture, to push their agenda that Israel and the Jews are on the wrong side of just about everything that is good and right and true.”

The author and columnist in The Times said in her speech that the big lie that we are all up against is the notion that peace and justice in the Middle East will come with a Palestinian state.

Citing a need to “seize back control” of the narrative, it was her belief that those in the West must speak out against the media and governments that are lying to them.

Former news anchorman and Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy (originally from England) said that the “anti-Zionist grip on institutional power hoodwinked the world into believing their libel, and they use that power to commit an industrial act of gaslighting,” – which he calls “Gazalighting.”

“They have trashed Israel’s global reputation, made it toxic. They have delivered Hamas a tremendous victory in the form of Israel’s tarnished global standing,” he said.

Shifting the Narrative

Ysabella Hazan, a young lawyer from Montreal, said that “the way to shift the narrative on campus is to meaningfully engage with narratives we face, and to completely shift the dynamic of being responsive.”

She added that Zionist engagement must be pro-active. “Our efforts are strong, but our messaging needs to reflect who we are as a nation and our indigenous connection to Israel, rather than pointing out anti-Semitic incidents and issuing strongly worded statements, in hopes of the administration doing something. Whatever we hope administrations will do won’t actually shift the culture. It’s a cultural problem.”

Dershowitz offered his own ideas for pro-active shifting of messaging.

“I think we have to start making a case against Palestinianism. I think we have to start beginning to tell the truth about how the Palestinians became Palestinians, how they rejected the two-state solution back in 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, et cetera,” he said.

“If any group of people did not deserve a state, it’s the Palestinian people. The difference between Zionism and Palestinianism is Zionism is designed to build a state. Palestinianism is designed only to destroy the [Israeli] state.”

Dershowitz said he has offered a thousand dollars to any college student who can show any Palestinian demonstration in favor of a two-state solution. “Nobody has come to claim that $1,000. These demonstrations are not in favor of a Palestinian state. They’re not even in favor of Palestinians. They are only against Israel,” he said.

“We have to begin to explain the truth that if you support Palestinianism, you’re supporting an evil. You’re not supporting a good.”

Inventions are the clever creations that make our lives easier, more enjoyable, and endlessly fascinating. They turn yesterday’s impossibilities into today’s necessities—things we can hardly imagine living without. From the humble paperclip to the mighty jet engine, each month we’ll uncover the stories behind the world’s most remarkable inventions and the brilliant minds who brought them to life. This month, we dive into the history behind one of the greatest innovations since…

SLICED BREAD

Before the pioneering invention of pre-sliced bread, the daily routine of preparing meals was markedly different. Bread of all kinds – whether a hearty loaf baked at home or a fresh loaf bought from the local bakery – was sold and kept whole, entirely unsliced. This meant that the consumer bore the personal responsibility of cutting off a slice for every sandwich or piece of toast. The resulting cuts were inevitably uneven, thick in one spot and thin in another, creating irregular slices that were notoriously difficult to manage. This constant necessity for manual slicing was time-consuming, especially for a busy household making several sandwiches. And it proved to be extremely difficult to achieve the uniform, thin slices preferred for toasting and attractive presentation.

The Rohwedder Bread Slicer

This culinary challenge began to change in the early 1900s, thanks to the ingenuity of Otto Frederick Rohwedder. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he and his family moved to Davenport, Iowa when he was young. Rohwedder was a true inventor at heart, despite his primary professional background. A former ophthalmologist who later found success as the owner of three jewelry stores in the town of St. Joseph, Missouri, he was a keen tinkerer who applied his mechanical precision to solving a widespread domestic inconvenience. Rohwedder dedicated years to developing a design for a machine that could automatically slice and wrap baked loaves of bread. He sold his jewelry stores to fund the development effort and manufacture the machines.

His process was methodical. To gauge the ideal thickness for his future product, he conducted early market research by placing advertisements in local newspapers. These ads offered a questionnaire “for the purpose of determining a thickness of slice which would be most nearly universal in acceptance.” The overwhelming response he received – over 30,000 responses from American housewives – underscored the tremendous, if yet unrecognized, demand for a solution to the bread-slicing problem.

By 1912, Rohwedder successfully created a working model of his revolutionary machine. However, his initial prototypes were met with deep skepticism from professional bakers. Their primary concern was simple but critical: they were certain that pre-sliced bread would quickly go stale, thereby ruining the product and their reputation. In an early attempt to address this freshness problem, Rohwedder even experimented with using metal hatpins to keep the freshly cut pieces of the loaf together, hoping the structural integrity would preserve the bread. Unfortunately, the hatpins continually fell out, detracting from the product’s convenience and safety, proving the need for a better solution.

Tragedy, Resilience, and a Perfected Invention

Rohwedder’s decade-long quest for the perfect machine faced a devastating setback in 1917. A fire at a factory in Monmouth, Illinois, which had agreed to manufacture his device, resulted in catastrophic damage. The blaze not only destroyed the existing prototype but also consumed all of Rohwedder’s meticulously drafted bread-slicing blueprints. The loss set his commercial launch back by a full decade, forcing him to patiently recoup his losses and to recreate his designs.

As Rohwedder rebounded and tirelessly perfected his invention, the American kitchen landscape was evolving. Electric pop-up toasters were becoming more popular in homes across the country, which, in turn, fueled a rapidly increasing consumer demand for thin, evenly cut bread for perfect toasting. This new market need provided the final motivation and justification for Rohwedder’s perseverance.

In 1928, Rohwedder finally solved the fundamental challenge of keeping pre-sliced bread fresh. He added an ingenious feature to his updated Rohwedder Bread Slicer that automatically wrapped the sliced loaf in wax paper immediately after cutting. His perfected machine was a complex assembly of multiple blades that divided the loaf into uniform slices before it was tightly bound in its protective wax paper coating, finally ensuring its freshness and convenience for the consumer.

Instant Success and a Lasting Legacy

Despite the elegance of the new design, many bakeries remained hesitant to invest in the large, expensive device, still fearing the bread would spoil. It took a bold risk-taker to prove the concept would work. In July of 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, took the chance. They installed Rohwedder’s machine and placed their first sliced loaf on sale under the brand, Sliced Kleen Maid Bread.

The very first loaves of commercially pre-sliced bread appeared on store shelves on July 7, 1928. The product was an instant, overwhelming success. Within weeks, the Chillicothe Baking Company’s bread sales rocketed by an astonishing 2,000 percent! This meteoric rise immediately caught the attention of every baker in the nation, eager to capitalize on the new convenience. Just two years later, in 1930, the industrial giant Wonder Bread began to commercially produce pre-sliced loaves, rapidly popularizing the product and making sliced bread a household staple familiar to generations of American families.

Within five years of Rohwedder’s successful launch, the transformation was complete. The vast majority of bakeries across the United States had purchased and installed bread-slicing machines, and as much as eighty percent of all bread produced by companies in America was sold pre-sliced. The impact was so profound and immediate that it permanently altered the measure of successful innovation, giving rise to the now-famous epithet, “the best thing since sliced bread.” No one is sure who first coined the phrase, but American consumers certainly agreed with its sentiment, recognizing Otto Frederick Rohwedder’s persistent invention as a true milestone in modern convenience.

An Interesting Historical Footnote

The invention’s success was briefly – and controversially – interrupted during World War II. On January 18, 1943, the U.S. government imposed a short-lived ban on sliced bread. This measure, ordered by Food Administrator Claude R. Wickard, was intended to conserve resources, primarily the wax paper used for wrapping the sliced loaves, and potentially the steel used in the slicing machines. The public outcry was immediate and intense. Housewives and consumers, outraged at the loss of convenience, complained bitterly about the time wasted and the bread ruined by uneven hand-slicing. Recognizing the minimal actual savings and the massive disruption to home morale, the ban was quickly rescinded on March 8, 1943, just seven weeks later. The swift reversal only cemented the invention’s importance in American daily life.

Rabbi Yehuda Finchas

It was 5:45am. Jack awoke with stiffness radiating through his lower back. Another morning, another battle just to get out of bed. His physiotherapist had prescribed a daily stretching routine – fifteen minutes of simple, focused movements to manage his chronic pain. Without the stretching, standing through Shaharit would be very difficult and would affect his kavanah. His heart was ready to pray – but his body was not. A question weighed on him: “Rabbi, can I do these stretches before tefillah? And what about on Shabbat?”

Stretching Before Shaharit

The Shulhan Aruch (Orach Chaim 89:3) cautions against engaging in personal affairs before Shaharit, underscoring the principle of directing one’s heart first to Hashem in prayer before tending to personal needs. However, poskim note important exceptions. In an unpublished letter, Hacham Yitzchak Yosef rules that light morning exercise is permitted before Shaharit when necessary for physical function. Citing different poskim, he explains that if the activity is for healing or necessary to allow a person to stand and pray properly it is permitted. Since its purpose is to enable proper avodat Hashem, such activity is itself considered preparation for prayer (see Yalkut Yosef, Tefilla, Siman 89).

Stretching on Shabbat

And what about Shabbat morning? Hacham Ovadia Yosef, zt”l, in Chazon Ovadia (Shabbat, vol. 3, pp. 386–389), permits light stretching on Shabbat, provided it is neither strenuous nor is intended to induce sweating. When performed for general well-being, these movements are not considered uvdin dechol (weekday labor) and are therefore allowed.

More vigorous forms of exercise – running, strength training, or any activity aimed at exertion – are prohibited on Shabbat. As the Gemara (Shabbat 113b) and Shulhan Aruch (O.C. 301:2) explain, the verse in Yeshayahu (58:13) commands us to “restrain your foot on the Shabbat,” indicating that even our manner of walking must differ – it must be calmer, more dignified, and mindful of the day’s kedusha. The Rambam (Hilchot Shabbat 24:4) adds that this precludes running unless it is for the sake of a mitzvah, such as running to get to minyan on time. Gentle stretching that enables one to pray and function comfortably fits within the halacha; intensive workout sessions do not.

When Exercise Becomes a Mitzvah

Maintaining one’s health is not merely advisable – it is a mitzvah. The Rambam writes in Hilchot De’ot (4:1) that “as long as a person exercises and exerts himself, sickness does not befall him, and his strength increases.” In Moreh Nevuchim (3:25), he warns against engaging in activity merely for amusement or physical pleasure. Rather, every action should serve a higher goal. Exercise, when done to maintain vitality and strength for avodat Hashem, becomes elevated – supporting deeper Torah study, more focused tefillah, and acts of hesed performed with energy.

This understanding is reinforced by the Torah’s commandment to guard one’s health: “And you shall exceedingly guard your souls – V’nishmartem me’od lenafshoteichem” (Devarim 4:15). Rav Yochanan Vozner writes that when exercise is medically advised, it elevates physical activity to the status of a mitzvah. With proper kavanah (intention), every therapeutic movement becomes an act of Divine service (Responsa Chayei Halevi, vol. 6:118).

Conclusion

Exercise in Judaism is not about glorifying the body, but is about preserving the vessel that carries the neshama and enables it to fulfill the will of Hashem.

Whether pre-Shaharit stretches on a weekday or gentle movements on Shabbat morning, when done with the intent to serve Hashem more fully, every step, every stretch, becomes sanctified. Jack’s morning stretches reflect preparation to his tefilla, as he recites in the daily berachah each morning: “Baruch zokef kefufim”- “Blessed is He who straightens the bent.” Jack does not merely prepare to face the day, but he prepares to stand upright before the King of kings.

Rabbi Yehuda Finchas is a worldwide expert, lecturer, and author on Medical Halacha. He heads the Torat Habayit Medical Halacha Institute. His latest book is “Brain Death in Halacha and the Tower of Babel Syndrome.” To contact Rabbi Finchas, email rabbi@torathabayit.com.

Pnina Souid

Mitzvah Man recently shared the following story of clear Divine intervention. It began with a simple, desperate request.

“I received a call from a mother of eight who was facing an impossible logistics challenge,” the Mitzvah Man recounted. “She did not own a car, meaning every shopping trip required navigating the bus with all the kids and the packages. It had become simply too difficult.”

She asked if the Mitzvah Man Organization could provide her with a car.

“I had to be honest,” he explained. “We don’t typically give out cars. I told her that if I heard about a used car or a donation, I would certainly let her know.”

The First Miracle

A week later, the Mitzvah Man was at the Chinese Auction for Aishel Shabbat, a wonderful organization that provides food for those in need. He noticed the car raffle and decided to buy a ticket.

“I told my daughter, who was with me, that if I won, the car would go straight to this struggling family,” he said. “She laughed and answered, ‘Dad, don’t worry, you’re not winning. Look! There are thousands of tickets in that barrel!’”

Mitzvah Man also publicly shared his intention: if he won the Aishel Shabbat raffle, the car would go to the family that had reached out to his organization.

Two days later, the phone rang. “Mr. Cohen, you won the car raffle!”

He was stunned. He immediately called and the family was overjoyed and extremely grateful. He offered the family a reminder: “Please thank Hashem. I am just the middleman.”

The Unbelievable Repeat

A couple of years passed, and the Mitzvah Man received a similar call from a family he knew well. Again, it was the same situation: the family had a great need for a car for basic errands and shopping. And again, his answer was the same: he would keep an eye out for a used car or a donation.

A few weeks later, a text message arrived from Aishel Shabbat: “Last chance to enter this year’s Chinese Auction car raffle!”

The Mitzvah Man bought a ticket, realizing that the odds of winning twice was statistically extremely unlikely. He once again publicized his intent: if he won the car, he would happily give it to the family who had requested help.

“As far as I was concerned,” he reflected, “it was impossible for me to win a car twice!”

However, as he knew, Hashem is the One who picks the winners.

A couple of days later, the call came from Aishel Shabbat. “Mr. Cohen, you won the car raffle!”

“Are you sure they picked right?” he asked, incredulous.

“Absolutely,” the representative confirmed. “A young girl picks the ticket. She puts her hands in the barrel and closes her eyes. Yes, you won the car!”

The Mitzvah Man called the second family, who were overwhelmed with thanks.

“I told them the same thing,” he concluded. “Thank Hashem. He provides for all our needs – our clothing, our homes, and yes, even our cars!”