By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
People wonder how we can celebrate Purim with true joy while a war is going on in Eretz Yisroel. People ask us how we can sing when Jews are being held hostage in terrible conditions, barely hanging on to life. How can we smile when Jews are being chased around the world and anti-Semitism is on the rise? How can you dance, they ask us, when people can’t make ends meet, when children can’t get into a school of their choice, when children are falling through the cracks? How can you be enveloped by joy when so many people are lacking, confused, lost, and disillusioned? How can we be happy when there is so much strife?

Dear Matzav Inbox,
Each year, as Purim approaches, we eagerly anticipate the sacred and joyous mitzvah of hearing the Megillah. It is a time to celebrate and relive the miracle of our ancestors’ deliverance from the evil hand of Haman. But, unfortunately, a growing trend threatens to overshadow this special occasion. As a parent and a member of our Yeshiva community, I feel it must be addressed before it becomes even more pervasive: the incessant noise during the Megillah laining.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
Monsters. There is no other way to describe them. Bloodthirsty killers. How long will the world continue to play games with them, supporting them, agitating for them, condoning them, lying for them, and demanding a country for them? Anyone who advocates for monsters is a monster.
Don’t expect any change. Across Europe, there are marches in support of the killers. In New York City as well, there are rallies and protests backing baby killers. The Western nations welcomed evil people into their lands and stood by in silence as their numbers swelled, leading European states to be overrun by them.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
We are meant to learn lessons from current events. Today’s headlines connect to the first Rashi in this week’s parsha.
A new president took office three weeks ago, promising to tackle waste and fraud in government while returning power to the people. Since then, he has worked forcefully to root out corruption and inefficiency in government spending. Taxpayers, stunned and disgusted, are learning the full extent of how billions of their hard-earned dollars were squandered.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
Finally, after generations of enslavement in Mitzrayim and a dramatic redemption, Klal Yisroel reaches the apex of creation, standing at Har Sinai and receiving the Torah from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. They hear the Aseres Hadibros and are awed and inspired to live lives of holiness, following the will of the Creator.
One of the mitzvos included in the Aseres Hadibros is Shabbos. We study the posuk of “Zachor es yom haShabbos lekadsho” (20:8), which literally translates as “Remember the Shabbos day to make it holy.”

Dear Editor,
We are writing this letter with heavy hearts, deeply torn between our gratitude for all that President Trump has done for us and Eretz Yisroel, and the undeniable frustration and anguish that we feel over the handling of the hostage situation. We have long admired his unwavering support and the numerous ways he has championed the cause of the Jewish people, but when it comes to the issue of the hostages in Gaza, he has failed us. It’s as simple as that.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
Recently, we’ve become all too familiar with the heartbreaking news from Eretz Yisroel: surprise attacks, bombings, hostages, deaths, and soldiers killed and suffering grave injuries. Each day brings new challenges—political unrest, legal battles, and the looming threat of the giyus. We long for the day when peace will finally prevail in our ancient homeland, and our brothers and sisters can live in safety and harmony.
Good news is rare, and when it comes, we cherish it.

By Alex Traiman
President Donald Trump, sitting alongside Israeli Prime Binyomin Netanyahu, issued a geopolitical earthquake on Tuesday, doubling down on calls to resettle “1.7 or 1.8 million” Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip.
The calls go beyond any concept of “total victory” that Netanyahu has verbalized and possibly even considered at any point during the current war with Hamas in Gaza. A little more than a week ago, the questions on the table were whether Israel could ever return all of its hostages and who would rule Palestinians living in Gaza on the “day after” the war.

Dear Matzav Inbox,
I took a week to gather my thoughts after the recent mesivta farher/application debacle. I needed time to calm down and clear my mind before writing this letter. I am deeply troubled by what’s happening in some communities, and I feel compelled to speak out.
And I write this letter as a longtime mechanech myself.
Let me just say it: Any rosh mesivta, any rebbi, any menahel, anyone who operates a mesivta with the sole focus of taking in only “top boys” should be ashamed of himself. Is this what Hashem wants? Is this the standard we should be setting for our boys?

By Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Klugman
Yeshiva Ohr Somayach
The actions of *Agam Berger* תחי’ and her mother are something that one witnesses maybe once in a lifetime.
That a mother and a daughter independently begin to keep Shabbos as a result of the daughter being taken into captivity by murderers, without one knowing of the Shmiras Shabbos of the other.
That a mother whose daughter is about to be released after almost 500 days begs Klal Yisrael not to be mechalel Shabbos upon her release.
Who declares that she won’t even travel to see her on Shabbos, so as not to cause chilul Shabbos.
And then Hashem moves around the pieces so that instead of Agam being released on Shabbos, she is released on Thursday and causes no chilul Shabbos.