Tell the Police the Truth: Volume 6, Issue 23, Tazria-Metzora

April 18, 2026; 1 Iyar, 5786 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara

There are times when telling "the whole truth" to government officials can be challenging. However, someone who truly values honesty, like Rav Noigershel—one of the leading teachers of Jewish ethics—can find the strength to avoid rationalizing dishonesty. On one occasion, Rav Noigershel was being driven to Jerusalem by a driver who had spent the previous night caring for his father at the hospital and hadn't slept at all. As they entered Jerusalem, the exhausted driver nodded off, causing their car to skid off the road and down a cliff. Miraculously, both men emerged unharmed.

Police arrived shortly after the accident. Rav Noigershel encouraged his driver to explain exactly what had happened, despite the risks. He felt that having experienced such a miracle, he owed it to Hashem to tell the truth...

Click Here To Download Or Print

What Time Does the Seder Start?: Volume 6, Issue 22, Pesach

April 2, 2026; 15 Nissan, 5786 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara

QUESTION: Every year I host a Seder and invite the same extended family. Without fail, half of them arrive 45 minutes to an hour late. This year I am thinking of telling everyone that our Seder begins at 8:00 PM when in truth I plan to start at 8:45. Am I permitted to do so?

ANSWER: This is an excellent question with both practical and Halachic dimensions. The short answer is that it is likely permitted, as explained below.

In his Hisorerus Teshuvah (Siman 36), Rav Shimon Sofer ZT"L examines a comparable situation—setting a clock ahead of the actual time without an individual's knowledge to prevent the individual from being late—and determines that such an action is permitted...

Click Here To Download Or Print

A Lie to Heal the Sick: Volume 6, Issue 21, Tzav

March 28, 2026; 10 Nissan, 5786 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara

One of the most beloved and celebrated figures in nineteenth-century Ukrainian Chassidus was Reb Dovid'l Twersky of Tolna (1808–1882), known simply as the Tolna Rebbe. He was a towering spiritual leader whose court drew thousands of Chassidim from across the Kiev district, and whose wisdom extended into domains that modern society would today recognize as psychiatry and mental health.

Reb Dovid Twersky was born in 1808 in the Ukrainian town of Chernobyl, the sixth son of Reb Mordechai Twersky, the Maggid of Chernobyl. His grandfather was the great Reb Menachem Nachum, the Me'or Einayim, one of the foremost disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezritch...

Click Here To Download Or Print