Areyah Kaltmann, at The Blogs

Apr 17, 2024, 10:16 PM

This Pesach, let your Judaism be loud & proud!

Pesach comes this year as Israel fights for its life and a once thinly-veiled antisemitism has now been laid bare for the world to see. As Jews around the world celebrate Pesach on April 22-30, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi's famous...

Apr 12, 2024, 6:54 PM

Passover: Freedom from Slavery & From Addiction

On the eve of April 22nd and 23rd, Jews around the world will sit down for the Passover Seders - a 3,000 year old tradition commemorating the Jewish people's exodus from Egypt. As far as Jewish holidays go, Passover...

Mar 30, 2024, 10:48 AM

Antisemitism Can Never be Normalized or Celebrated

I wanted to share a thought about why antisemitism can never be normalized or celebrated for even one single moment. We just celebrated the festival of Purim—a holiday which commemorates the Divine salvation of the Jewish people from annihilation...

Mar 7, 2024, 11:22 PM

Lessons in Leadership from the World’s Largest Gathering of Jewish Women

On Feb. 11, I stood in a sprawling auditorium with 4,000 fellow Jewish female directors of Chabad Jewish centers from throughout the world. We all gathered for the International Conference of Chabad Women Emissaries – the annual convention where...

Feb 23, 2024, 9:14 PM

Absent but more felt, Missing but not forgotten: Hersh Goldberg-Polin

I read a poem recently that moved me greatly. It said: Often what you really have is that which you give away, what you most profoundly say is indeed what you leave unsaid when you wisely decide not to respond,...

Feb 17, 2024, 12:25 AM

Yahya Sinwar vs. Moses

This week a video of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, trailing behind his brother, wife and children, walking in a tunnel below the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis was released. It is very revealing because it shows more than just...

Feb 16, 2024, 8:21 PM

All We Have is Each Other

If only we—the Jewish people—derived the key lesson from this week’s parsha before October the 7th. In this week’s portion of "Terumah," which means “donation” or “contribution” in Hebrew, G-d gives Moses detailed instructions on how the Jewish people should...

Feb 7, 2024, 9:07 PM

The hostages can never become old news

Let’s turn the clock back to June of 2023. With baited breath, the world anxiously awaited updates from the Titan submersible, which was on an expedition to see the wreckage of the Titanic. Were the five trapped individuals still alive?...

Dec 29, 2023, 7:35 PM

Biblical Joseph and his Modern Day Successors

Officiating at funerals is the toughest part of my job and none is harder than the funeral of a child. Nothing devastates me more than witnessing the sobs of a parent facing their new reality of life without their...

Dec 15, 2023, 8:29 PM

Hamas woke us up, but the light of Chanukah will keep us going

Today concludes the festival of Chanukah, which commemorates the Jewish people's miraculous victory over the ancient Syrian-Greeks. Jews emerging stronger and more united after defeating a nation bent on their destruction is a persistent theme throughout Jewish history. Unfortunately,...

About Me

Rabbi Areyah Kaltmann is the Director of Chabad Columbus at the Lori Schottenstein Chabad Center. For over three decades, Rabbi Kaltmann and his wife Esther have put their heart and soul into serving the Columbus Jewish community. In addition to directing Chabad Columbus, the Rabbi and his family also operate LifeTown Columbus — which teaches essential life skills to more than 2,100 Ohio students with special needs in a 5,000-square-foot miniature city, Kitchen of Life — which fosters social-emotional skills for young people through culinary arts, Friendship Circle Columbus, the Jewish Business Network, and dozens of other programs. Areyah and Esther have adult children who serve Chabad of Downtown Columbus, oversee Chabad’s many programs and enthusiastically serve people throughout the state.