Fwd: Announcing the Ed & Rita Balk z"l YU Tefillah Platform

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: YUTorah <yutorah@comms.yu.edu>
Date: Mon, Feb 9, 2026, 11:01 AM
Subject: Announcing the Ed & Rita Balk z"l YU Tefillah Platform
To: <agentemes4@gmail.com>

Dedicated in loving memory by Rabbi Hanan & Barbra Balk

To view this email as a web page, click here. The Ed & Rita Balk z"l YU Tefillah Platform is the home for all Tefillah content on YUTorah, organized by topic and series. Featured content will be updated and rotated throughout the year. Click here to access the YU Tefillah Platform About Ed and Rita Balk z"l Ed Balk (Yehuda ben Yaakov) was a man of stellar integrity who set an example for his family, those around him, and the St. Louis community – Jewish and otherwise – of what it means to be a mensch . Once, while in high school, a teacher, who also worked part-time at Ed's real estate firm, asked his son if his father was in town -- he needed to ask him a very important question. His son reported he was not. This was a time well before cell phones and the teacher got visibly upset. Ed's son told him he could call the office and ask one of the other company executives the question; certainly one of them could also provide the answer. The teacher responded: "I am afraid you don't understand -- this is an ethical question -- your father is the only person in St. Louis who I would trust to answer it." It is unknown what that question was, but suffice it to say, this is only one of countless scenarios where Ed Balk was considered "the only person" to resolve such dilemmas. He would tell his son when he asked him such questions: "Someone, maybe a lawyer, may tell you it is legal for you to do this; I do not want you to do what is legal – I want you to do what is right." (Read More) Continiously Updated Tefillah Resources Tefillah Podcasts Tefillah Nussach Tefillah Topics Laws of Tefillah The Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah Website is a project of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) 515 West 185th St. New York, NY 10033 To continue receiving RIETS emails, please subscribe to the RIETS option in the Manage My Subscription form