MOSHE TARAGIN

Miracles should serve as wells of faith for the future. Before we begin our daily prayers, we recall past miracles and past redemptions.

As we pour our ingenuity into machines and endow them with nearly every human trait, we are reminded of the one gift we can never bestow – our immortal soul.

Should Torah exist apart from society or be fully integrated within it?

We remember on Sukkot that despite our considerable human ingenuity and skill, we remain dependent on God – not only for the technology itself but for help when our knowledge and tools fall short.

Most mitzvot summon us to perform tangible actions. Teshuva cannot be reduced to ritual or gesture. It demands intent, sincerity, and inner upheaval.

On Rosh Hashanah, we pray that God will enter our world and make His presence unmistakable – for those who strive to push Him away, and for those who have yet to open their eyes to Him.

"Instead, focus on the small, everyday acts of decency, the simple moral choices we are called to make – especially when we feel weighed down by conflict and heated disputes."

Elul is upon us. In a few weeks, we will confess our sins of the body, heart, and mind. This year, let us focus on the sins of the tongue, for they shape the confused, divided world we inhabit.

Elul is a deep dive into ourselves, into the hidden recesses of who we are.

We must never shrink from our story. We are both a people and a faith, bound together across time, building a state grounded in both.