Overview:

In this episode, R’ Bentzion Ettlinger shares some of the fascinating things he has learned from nearly 60 years of blowing, teaching, and collecting shofros. We talk about how shofros are made, why Yemenite shofros look so different, what can go wrong with a shofar, how ba'alei tokea should actually practice, and why the ba'al makri has such an important role in making sure the tekios go right. How do you know if a shofar is actually a good shofar? Can a shofar that has been used for years suddenly become pasul? What makes one shofar easy to blow and another almost impossible? And when was the last time you checked the shofar of your ba’al tokea? We also get into some pretty unusual shofros, including one that was 3D printed. Along the way, R’ Ettlinger shares some great stories, including what it was like to blow shofar with Rav Schwab as his ba’al makri.

Bio: Rabbi Ettlinger is the veteran Baal Tokea at Khal Adath Yeshurun in Washington Heights and author of several seforim by Mossaic Press on the shofar: "The Shofar", on the halachos, minhagim, and mesorah of tekias shofar; "100 Shofar Blasts", a compendium of stories, meshalim, and experiences related to the mitzvah; and most recent "The Voice of the Earthquake" exploring new dimensions of tekias shofar.

Contact: shoforbtzion@gmail.com

Bios:

Dr. Hindi Mermelstein - Chief of Psychiatry at Ezra Medical Center, affiliated with Northwell Health Systems and NYU School of Medicine, with expertise in geriatrics.

Rabbi Kalman Laufer - Director of the new RIETS Master Programs in Bioethics and Jewish Law and Business Ethics. He also teaches in the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies at Yeshiva University, and serves on a hospital ethics committee. Previously he was the Assistant Rabbi at the Jewish Center in Manhattan, and has done much research and published on the topic of dementia and halacha.

Contact:

Dr. Mermelstein

Rabbi Laufer or cell: (516) 445-5601

Bios:

R’ Chaim Eisenstein is a Rebbe at the RIETS Israel Kollel as well as the Rav of Beis Medrash Mevakshei Emes in Ramat Beit Shemesh

R’ Yisroel Kaminetsky is the Founding Menahel of the Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys in Woodmere, NY where he has led and taught the past almost 30 years. He is also the Education Director and Mashgiach of NCSY Kollel.

R’ Moshe Benovitz is the Managing Director of Day School Educational Excellence at NCSY and the Director of NCSY Kollel.

Rabbi Yehuda Turetsky is a Ram at Yeshivat Sha'alvim

Bio: Rabbi Binyamin Zimmerman serves as the head of World Mizrachi’s Musmachim semicha program. He holds additional educational leadership roles, including serving as a senior educator at the Zomet Institute and as director of H.E.S.B.E.R. (Hebrew English Source-Based Educational Resources). Rabbi Zimmerman is the author of The Shemitta Sensation and the nine-volume "From the Source with Spirit" series of educational books for middle and high school students. In addition to his educational work, he serves as a Captain (res.) in the IDF Rabbinate and has completed more than 500 days of reserve service since the outbreak of the war. He lives with his wife and children in Ma'ale Chever, Israel.

Contact: zimbiny@gmail.com

Drawing on his work with RIETS semicha students, R’ Dr. Mondrow shares practical insights about self-awareness, empathy, emotional vocabulary, feedback, and personal growth. Along the way, we discuss why emotional intelligence is not simply a matter of middos, the difference between cognitive and emotional empathy, how rabbis can identify areas they may not naturally perceive, and why the most important question may not be what an assessment reveals, but how we choose to respond to what we learn about ourselves.

Bio: Rabbi Dr. Mondrow maintains a private psychology practice in Jerusalem and Teaneck. He also serves as the mental health advisor at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), where he trains students in pastoral skills and emotional intelligence. Additionally he served as the Rabbi of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Synagogue for several years.

Contact: amondrow@gmail.com

OVERVIEW:

In this final episode of our series celebrating 50 years of the RIETS Israel Kollel, R' Eliav Silverman, R' Reuven Brand, and R' Zvi Kaminetzky reflect on the later years of the Kollel. What was unique about learning in a beis medrash where the rabbeim were always present and accessible? How did Rav Dovid Miller's idealism continue to influence them years after they left the Kollel? What was it like to watch Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l daven Maariv on an ordinary Wednesday night and feel as if it was Neilah? How did a COVID wedding unexpectedly lead one young couple to spend their first years of marriage on the Gruss Campus? And R' Eliav shares a remarkable piece of advice Rav Lichtenstein gave him about grief and life after reflecting on a setting sun at both his mother's levayah and his son's wedding.

R’ Brand is the founding Rosh Kollel of the Yeshiva University Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago and Dean of the Midwest Center for Jewish Learning.

Contact: rebrand@gmail.com

R’ Silverman is the Shoel UMeishiv in the RIETS Israel Kollel.

Contact: eliav.silverman@gmail.com

R’ Zvi Kaminetzky is Rabbi of the Albert Einstein Synagogue in the Bronx.

Contact: kaminetzkyz@gmail.com

R’ Ari Khan is Director of Foreign Student Programs at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He also serves as Rav of the Mishkan Etrog community in Givat Ze’ev.

Contact: adk1010@gmail.com

R’ Moshe Lichtman teaches in several yeshivas and seminaries in Israel. He has also written several seforim focusing on Eretz Yisrael, including a translation of "Eim HaBanim Semeichah" and "Eretz Yisrael on the Parsha" among others.

Contact: rebmosh@012.net.il

R’ Daniel Yolkut is Rabbi of Congregation Poale Zedeck in Pittsburgh, PA.

Contact: daniel.yolkut@gmail.com

OVERVIEW:

What did the RIETS Israel Kollel feel like in its early decades on the Gruss Campus? In this second episode of our series celebrating 50 years of the Israel Kollel, we spoke with three alumni from the first 25 years — R’ Moshe Lichtman, R’ Ari Kahn, and R’ Daniel Yolkut. How did they end up in the Kollel, and what drew them there at that stage of life? What was unique about the learning, the chavrusa culture, and the sense of community on the Gruss Campus? Who were their chavrusas and other memorable chaverim learning with them in the Beis Medrish? We also reflect on the influence of Rav Dovid Miller and the presence of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l in the Beis Medrish, and how those years shaped their relationship with Torah, Eretz Yisrael, and the paths they eventually took in rabbanus and chinuch.

Guest Host: R’ Aryeh Lebowitz

Rav Miller and the alumni of the RIETS Israel Kollel will be honored at the upcoming RIETS Dinner on Monday, March 16, 2026 (27th of Adar) in celebrating 50 years of Harbatzas Torah in Israel.

For more information about the dinner and scroll of honor, visit https://www.yu.edu/yeshivadinner

To sign up for the siyum hashas celebrating Rav Miller and the RIETS Israel Kollel’s 50 years : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m3K2S3mWi8GHdUNndrOP5e3Ghvp4XGUM/edit?gid=1259069286#gid=1259069286

Contact: dmiller@yu.edu

OVERVIEW:

In this first episode of our three-part series celebrating 50 years of the RIETS Israel Kollel on the Gruss Campus, we hear from Rav Dovid Miller, who has served as Rosh Kollel for all fifty years. How did the Kollel begin, and how did it grow over time? Who were some of the teachers and Rabbeim when the Kollel first started? How did living and learning in Eretz Yisrael shape the Kollel and the families who built their lives there? Rav Miller also reflects on his own Torah journey, the rebbeim who influenced him, and what it was like to learn together with his Rebbe, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l, for so many years in the Kollel.

Guest Host: R’ Aryeh Lebowitz

Rav Miller and the alumni of the RIETS Israel Kollel will be honored at the upcoming RIETS Dinner on Monday, March 16, 2026 (27th of Adar) in celebrating 50 years of Harbatzas Torah in Israel.

For more information about the dinner and scroll of honor, visit https://www.yu.edu/yeshivadinner

Contact Ike - ike@thesafefoundation.org

OVERVIEW:

In Part 2 of Gambling in the Jewish Community, we continue the conversation by shifting from a clinical lens to someone with personal experience with gambling addiction. Ike Dweck speaks with remarkable honesty about his own struggle with gambling as a teenager and the journey that ultimately led him to spend more than two decades helping others find recovery. What does gambling actually feel like from the inside? Why is it so hard to stop, even when the consequences are obvious? How has the rise of apps, advertising, and normalization changed the stakes for today’s teens and young adults? And what do parents, rabbis, and educators need to notice, and say, before someone reaches rock bottom? Ike also shares how his faith and connection to God became an essential part of his recovery, and continues to ground him today, and how falling in life ultimately became the source of growth, purpose, and a deep commitment to helping others.

Guest Host: R’ Larry Rothwachs