Personal Growth series:
How the world connects us to our Creator
Studying and appreciating the way Hashem reveals Himself to us in His interaction with the world strengthens our faith.
Studying and appreciating the way Hashem reveals Himself to us in His interaction with the world strengthens our faith.
Jewish history has never been a straight line. We’ve seen soaring highs and devastating lows, and those low points can be especially difficult to endure. But from our nation’s first low point, Hashem taught us how to handle future ones.
Torah study exposes us to Hashem through His thought process, making us meaningfully familiar with Him.
What is the way we walk before G-d? How do we remember Him during the day?
Shimon the Maccabee’s words remind us that this is not the first time our rights have been challenged. They also help us formulate a response.
Though Hashem created all human beings in His image, He chose us as His children.
Two descriptions encapsulate Hashem’s relationship with our world.
One who truly cares about avoiding sin protects himself by distancing himself from it.
Honoring those performing a mitzvah reminds us of and reinforces our appreciation for the great value of mitzvah observance.
This week's piece is dedicated to the refu'ah of my nephew- Noam Avraham ben Atara Shulamit. May Hashem grant him and all the other chayalim a complete and speedy recovery.
The meforshim present different ways that mitzvah observance helps us.
Our commitment to mitzvot should be comprehensive — we should endeavor to observe all of His commandments.
We should not allow the challenges we are facing to cause us to lose sight of the broader good and special times we are living in. We have much to celebrate and be thankful for.
The mitzvah of sukkah requires more than just eating meals in the sukkah; it involves moving our lives and most cherished items from home to sukkah.
How to channel our fears.
Naturally, we prefer to be free to make our own decisions and live as we please. Mitzvot call upon us to recognize our dependency upon Hashem and subjugate our will to His.
Mitzvot were a pre-condition of redemption. They were also its implication.
We possess all the resources we truly need within ourselves. Our growth and our mission in this world are squarely within our grasp.
Great people accomplish great things when they fulfill their (relatively) small role with the faith that Hashem will complete the process - or when they continue a process that He has begun.
When we rise after a fall, we can reach a higher level than before.
How can we find consolation when over 1500 Israelis have lost their lives, thousands more are wounded, and over one hundred are still being held hostage?
Everyone makes mistakes. The difference between the Tzaddik and the Rasha lies in their response.
Though humility is an important character trait, when applied in excess, it leads to sin.
Humans are the only ones who believe that their lives are supposed to matter and, thus, the only ones who become depressed when they feel they are not impactful.
Today we have soldiers who embody the living proof of the integration of what Chazal referred to as the sifra (book) and saifa (sword).
Rebbe Yehoshua Ben Levi taught that only those involved in Torah study are truly free. How?
Our world is likened to a corridor that leads to a palace.
Chapter 3 in a series.
The Gemara says that “one who says that they have only Torah, lacks even Torah.” What besides Torah does “having Torah” depend upon?
The first Shabbat after Passover we begin reading a chapter a week of Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, a 6-chapter compilation of teachings and wise maxims found in Tractate Nezikin. Introduction and chapter 1.
Every generation has its own reason and some have no reason at all - for hating Jews.
We look for G-d’s presence not in the life of the individual, but in the life of the nation – what G-d does for us as a people.
Learning to distinguish between our plans for the future and our view in retrospect.
Thoughts while attending the funeral of Captain Daniel Perez.
We cried over the fact that Yehonatan was not there but also celebrated Aviyah and his family’s resolve to continue raising their children with the timeless traditions of the Jewish people.
We rarely experience evident miracles; we need to realize that though His Hand is not visible, Hashem directs behind the scenes.
Hashem creates us together with ourselves. He begins the process; we complete it.
Hashem’s ownership of the world also gives Him the right to set the conditions for its existence.
Man is truly alive only once he develops himself spiritually and fully appreciates his soul.
Though we generally associate Yom Kippur with atonement, the Torah defines taharah (purification) as the day’s goal
The Talmud teaches that one who does not identify with the community’s suffering will also be excluded from their eventual consolation.
Chochmah and yirah are two central aspects of human experience that are generally perceived to be disconnected from one another
Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Chassadim — are what the world exists for and what we, therefore, should be focused upon
The Greatness of Torah Learning
Significant actions significantly impact a significant world
Others will not, cannot, and are not meant to be responsible in our place.
Moses received the Torah from Sinai, and gave it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets.