Yes, You Can!
Brandon Steiner is a renowned American entrepreneur, author, and keynote speaker, primarily recognized for founding Steiner Sports. Brandon Steiner shared a pivotal moment in the early stages of building Steiner Sports. He felt his business growth had hit a wall and realized it wouldn't progress much further without a major breakthrough.
He had been trying to get someone from the Yankees on the phone for eight months without a return call. Finally, through a personal connection, he secured a meeting with an executive from the team. Brandon showed up for the meeting without a plan, flowcharts, or any idea of what he was going to discuss. He just followed his gut.
How Facebook Messenger Bots was Inspired by Challah
One of the signs of an effective leader is how well they are able to empower their constituents.
A manager may want to micro-manage their employees to guarantee optimal results. However, empowering and giving them the tools to take their own initiative enables them to use their own creativity to create something perhaps more powerful than what was envisioned in the first place.
To Be a Realist, You Must Believe in Miracles
“In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”
– David Ben-Gurion, Former Prime Minister of Israel
For decades, it was widely assumed that Israel's enemies were simply too powerful to defeat. The world watched helplessly as Iran trained and armed terrorist groups across the Middle East, accelerating its race toward nuclear capability—all while threatening, G-d forbid, to erase Israel from the map and then turn its sights on the rest of Western civilization.
And yet, the impossible began to unfold.
Only You Can Light Your Own Candle
Before his historic first meeting with newly elected U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1977, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin asked Israel's ambassador, Yehuda Avner, to arrange a meeting with the Rebbe, Rabbi M.M. Schneerson in New York to receive his guidance and blessings. The Rebbe and Begin shared a close relationship and engaged in numerous discussions regarding the spiritual and security challenges facing the Jewish people and Israel.
Equality or Diversity
Equality is often understood to mean that we are all created equal and therefore should be given the same opportunities and rights. We aim to develop a society where our differences are overlooked and instead we try to focus on the areas where we can find common ground.
But are we actually all similar? Should our obvious differences be a source of contention and therefore ignored?
Be Present
A recent study conducted by Microsoft found that since the onset of the mobile revolution, around the year 2000, the average attention span of individuals has dropped from approximately 12 seconds to just eight seconds.
Throughout the day, we are exposed to an overload of information, whether it's news or work-related information. The constant pings of notifications distract us from whatever we’re doing, decreasing our focus.
Oprah, we still have to stay humble!
Ethan Bortnick, an accomplished pianist, singer and songwriter, was considered a child prodigy from the age of three and went on to entertain international audiences throughout his childhood. He is listed in the Guinness World Records for "The World's Youngest Solo Musician to Headline His Own Concert Tour".
Israel’s Operation Rising Lion
On June 12, 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem, accompanied by Argentine President Javier Milei. During the visit, Netanyahu placed a handwritten note between the ancient stones, offering a private prayer to the Almighty. While the contents of the note were not immediately revealed, their powerful significance would soon become clear to the world.
Quoting from the Book of Numbers (23:24), the note read:
“Behold, a people that rises like a lioness and raises itself like a lion…”
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
The year was 1967, and Israel stood alone. Egypt, Syria, and Jordan had massed their massive armies on every border, their leaders promising Israel's annihilation. Rather than wait to absorb the blow, Israel struck first on the morning of June 5th, sending nearly its entire air force in low, radar-evading waves that caught the Egyptian Air Force sitting on its runways — and destroyed it in three hours. With the sky owned completely, Israeli tanks rolled through the Sinai, paratroopers fought through the old city of Jerusalem, and infantry stormed the Golan Heights. Six days later it was over. Three armies broken, Israel's territory tripled, and Jerusalem reunified for the first time in two thousand years. It was a victory born not of luck but of Divine miracles and the willingness to act decisively when hesitation would have meant extinction.
Freedom Alone Is Not Enough
As America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, it is worth reflecting on what made this nation, the “Land of the Free”, so successful, prosperous, and welcoming to generations of immigrants — including Jews fleeing persecution throughout history.
No country is perfect, and every society has room for growth and improvement. Yet during nearly two thousand years of Jewish exile from our homeland of Israel, America has stood out as one of the few countries where Jews were able to practice Judaism openly and freely while contributing meaningfully to society.
Peace through Strength
Rivka Ravitz, a mother of 12, had achieved a historic milestone as the first woman and religious individual to serve as Chief of Staff for a President of Israel.
During a recent interview, Ravitz reflected on the numerous opportunities she had to meet with world leaders and the admiration they expressed for her unwavering commitment to upholding her Jewish values and raising a large family while fulfilling her duties in a prominent position.
Home Sweet Home
There is an expression, “Money can buy a house, but not a home”. What is so unique about creating a home which engenders the feelings of warmth, love, and acceptance that may be challenging to replicate elsewhere?
The structure of a house along with its design, furniture and amenities obviously serves an important role, however, they do not define the ultimate nature of one’s home. For one can find shelter or even enjoy quality hospitality elsewhere. But, of course, it's still not quite the same as one's home.
Self-Respect
In July of 2022, Israeli pop star Yuval Dayan stirred an outcry and a heated public debate in Israel when she refused to shake hands with visiting US President Joe Biden due to her religious beliefs.
Dayan, along with another singer, Ran Danker, performed at a ceremony marking Biden's receipt of Israel's highest civilian honor.
Maximizing our Potential
There is a famous anecdote that tells of the Sage Reb Zusha of Anipoli (1718, Tarnow, Poland- 1800, Anipoli, Ukraine) relating to his disciples, “When I go up to heaven after my time on earth is completed, I am not afraid of being asked why I was not as great as Moses, after all, G‑d already has a Moses. I am afraid, however, of being asked, ‘Zusha, why weren’t you Zusha?’ ”
How to Fight Anti-Semitism
In 2020, Bari Weiss resigned from The New York Times, citing a hostile work environment and experiences of anti-semitic harassment. Since then, she has emerged as a powerful voice for Jewish resilience and moral courage.
In her award-winning book, How to Fight Anti-Semitism, Weiss writes that like many American Jews, she once believed the United States would remain immune to the historic waves of antisemitism. With its founding principles of religious freedom, equality, and pluralism, America has served as a modern-day “New Jerusalem.”
My Friend, the Grand Rebbe
“When my brother, the late Councilman James E. Davis, and I were about ten and twelve years old,” Geoffrey Davis recalled, “we used to play in front of our home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.
Every day, a kind, friendly man would walk past our house on his way home from the synagogue and stop to speak with us. We genuinely looked forward to seeing him, and he greeted us warmly. Sometimes he would even give us a dollar to pass along to charity.
You Are Important
Eli Groisman grew up in Curaçao, a Caribbean island, in the early 1980s. Since there were no Jewish schools on the island in those years, he attended a Protestant school, where he had a difficult time. Despite his non-observant upbringing, he refused to participate in religious services, leading to daily conflicts with other students while the teachers and principal sided against him. By seventh grade, things escalated, and he started skipping school to play golf, returning just in time to meet his father Chaim at dismissal.
Every Person is a Diamond
A recent survey of millennials has revealed troubling statistics regarding how young adults perceive themselves compared to their peers and older generations. Surprisingly, eight out of ten participants believe they are not "good enough" in various aspects of their lives. Additionally, three-quarters of the respondents admit to feeling constantly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed in their careers, establish meaningful relationships, and meet others' expectations.
National Shabbat: From the Sweatshops to the White House
The journey of the Jewish people in America is a story defined by a "grueling spiritual paradox." For the immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the early 1900s, the Goldene Medina offered refuge from the bloody pogroms of Eastern Europe, yet it presented a new, quieter threat: an economic structure that demanded the soul in exchange for bread.
Career Satisfaction
In a recent research study on career satisfaction conducted by Forbes, it was reported that one of the primary factors influencing employee and client satisfaction was the approach taken by businesses, whether transactional or relational.