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19/09/2026

We’re about to enter Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the day when our fate for the coming year is sealed. Although, according to the Zohar, there is a further stage of judgement that continues until Hoshana Rabbah.

It is an awesome day, a serious day and, in many respects, a frightening one.

After everything the Jewish people have gone through, I sincerely hope and pray that G-d grants us all, individually and collectively, a truly sweet new year.

But as you’re praying, ask G-d for things.

From the smallest, seemingly pettiest things, to the big “important stuff”, to the ultimate redemption. Whatever you want.

Remember, G-d doesn’t have a budget!!!!

Ask. Thank. This is your chance, your opportunity to connect. Focus on a specific prayer in the machzor, read the English, internalise it; or write a prayer before Yom Kippur of what you want and need, and bring it to Shule and read it, then place it in your machzor (this is what I do).

Make Yom Kippur meaningful to YOU!

Gmar Chatima Tova and meaningful fast to all.

Chavi

18/09/2026

This morning I went down to Bondi Beach to do Tashlich. And of course, I had to pass by The Mitzvah House and menorah just to say a chapter of Tehillim (I always like to do that to elevate the holy souls). 🕯️

As I was walking, I saw this guy standing all alone with an Israeli flag, and there was something inside of me that just told me to go over and say hello.

So I did.

We ended up having such a beautiful conversation. We spoke about how the Jewish response to darkness has always been to increase in light, and how ultimately, every single one of us, Jewish or not, has a responsibility to bring more light into this world.

Then Clark agreed to do a little reel with me and share a message with Jewish Australians. A message of love and peace, and a reminder that regular Aussies, including Clark from Western Australia stands with the Jewish people and with our homeland, Israel. 🇦🇺🇮🇱

I always leave interactions like these quite emotional and touched. Because in moments like this, I feel hopeful. Hopeful that perhaps there really is a future for Jewish people here in Australia, where we can live proudly and openly as Jews and know that there are people standing beside us.

What a beautiful way to enter Shabbat Teshuvah, the Shabbat before Yom Kippur.

May we all continue to add more light, more goodness and more kindness into this world. ✨

Shabbat Shalom. 🤍

Chavi

17/09/2026

You were never disconnected. ✨

There is a beautiful story of a man who once told the Lubavitcher Rebbe that he felt like a hypocrite.

He only went to shul on Yom Kippur. The rest of the year, he wasn’t particularly observant, so showing up on the holiest day of the year somehow felt inauthentic.

The Rebbe turned it around.

He told him that the person who walks into shul on Yom Kippur isn’t the hypocrite.

That’s your true self.

Because deep down, beneath all the distractions, mistakes, distance and noise of everyday life, there is a neshamah that is always connected to Hashem.

That’s one of the most powerful ideas of Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur isn’t about becoming someone else.

It’s about returning to who you already are.

In fact, that’s what teshuvah really means, return.

No matter how far away you might feel, your deepest connection with Hashem was never broken. Yom Kippur simply gives us the opportunity to uncover it again.

You were never disconnected. You are always connected to G-d. Yom Kippur simply reminds us of what was there all along.

Gmar Chatimah Tovah and an easy fast! 🤍🙏

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16/09/2026

What an amazing event it was!!

14/09/2026

Naomi Nachman and I went for a walk at Bondi Beach today and came across the incredible menorah mural by Mia Lazarus and Jenna Caspary . 🕎✨

Such a beautiful mural, and such a powerful Jewish message, when we stand united, light will always win. 💛

Wishing everyone, and especially Jewish people across the world, a year filled with peace, happiness and so much light.

Gmar Chatima Tova! ✨

14/09/2026

And just like that, Rosh Hashanah is over…. We are still in the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance, with Yom Kippur only one week away.

For the few rare moments that I was able to be in Shule and daven (when my baby was at the kids program), this is how I felt.

Here are some of my Rosh Hashanah reflections. To check out the full blog, check out Chavi Israel Substack. 💭

10/09/2026

25 years later, we remember. 🕯️

We all know what happened on September 11, 2001. But there are so many individual stories from that horrific day that deserve to be remembered.

This is one of them.

Abraham “Abe” Zelmanowitz was a 55-year-old Orthodox Jew working on the 27th floor of the North Tower.

When the building was attacked and others began evacuating, Abe stayed behind with his close friend and colleague, Ed Beyea, who was quadriplegic and used a wheelchair.

Abe refused to leave his friend behind.

Neither of them survived.

There is something so deeply Jewish about Abe’s story.

וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ
“Love your fellow as yourself.”

Abe didn’t just know these words. When it mattered most, he lived them.

Abe was just one of the Jewish lives lost that day.

Among the victims was also 30-year-old Israeli Alona Avraham, who was visiting America for the first time. She was aboard United Airlines Flight 175, the plane hijacked and flown into the South Tower.

So today, 25 years later, I wanted to share just one Jewish story from that day, while remembering the many others whose stories deserve to be told.

May the memories of all those murdered on September 11 be a blessing. 🕯️

Share this post to honour their memories and keep their stories alive.

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