Stop. Just for one day. Put it down. Zoom out. Look at your life from above the grind and ask yourself what’s actually there. What you’ve built, who you love, what you believe, where you’re going.
The Zohar praises the Tikkun of Shavuot, read during the night of the holiday, writing that through it one merits many spiritual levels. And the study of Torah and the Prophets crowns Hashem in His world.
At the time of the acceptance of the Torah, the Jews were totally united, with one goal and purpose; that unity was so sublime and pure
A Theology of Humility - both horizontally and vertically.
“You have chosen us from among all the nations, You have loved us and desired us.."
Sinai was the beginning. But Zion was always the destination.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
This minhag addresses the biggest psychological hurdle we face in our personal avodah (service of God) and spiritual growth: the trap of an "all-or-nothing" mindset.
What was G-d thinking? Choosing the Jews on the second of Sivan and offering the Torah to the Moabites on the third of Sivan? And not just the Moabites, but the Hittites, Canaanites, Egyptians, etc. How could G-d betray us like that?
A synagogue is a holy place, and one must conduct oneself within it with reverence • It is designated for sacred matters, for prayer and Torah • Whoever uses it for secular purposes, or behaves within it in a secular manner, disgraces its sanctity.
Are you searching for truth, or are you actually enjoying someone’s downfall in order to feel that you are on the “right" side?
And how to gain mastery of the whole Torah.
Because Yaakov chose Hashem to be his G-d, Hashem chose Israel - Yaakov’s nation - to be His special lot.
G-d did not reject His nation. Yes, were in exile for close on 2,000 years. Yes, even when we finally re-established independence in our ancestral homeland it was only in a fraction of the historical Land of Israel.
We have almost finished Counting the Omer and are coming close to the day we were at Mount Sinai.
Rosh Chodesh is about enabling connection and conversation. One of the ways this happens is when we reach out to Jews who are different from ourselves, across the lines that divide us.
Torah, like the desert, must be open and accessible to all of Am Yisrael, with purity, humility, and patience, so that the nation can return to its highest levels of holiness and spiritual greatness.
What is the significance of the Kotel? Why do Jews gather from around the world to pour out their hearts before this ancient wall of stone?
Like the moon, which wanes before it is renewed, the nation of Israel endured periods of concealment and decline but always held fast to the belief that restoration would come.
Above all, and within all, a nation needs a soul. The soul dwells here - in Jerusalem.
A key ingredient of receiving Torah in one’s life, is being a decent, person.
In six short days beginning on the 26th of Iyar, darkness gave way to radiant light. The fear of mass graves became songs of salvation and tears of thanksgiving. Everything changed with breathtaking speed, as though Heaven itself had opened before our eyes.
What is the significance of Yom Yerushalayim falling exactly one week before Shavuot?
The portion of Bamidbar presents the first census of the Jewish people as a national preparation for a holy war. From the verses, it emerges that 'military-age male' is not only a technical datum but a spiritual and national mission.
The return to Jerusalem in 1967 marked not only a military triumph but a stage in the ongoing restoration of Jewish sovereignty in our ancestral land. And perhaps that is the deeper lesson of Parshat Bamidbar for our time.
Fortunate are we, how good is our portion and our lot, that we stand in the gates of Jerusalem and see with our own eyes how “The Lord builds Jerusalem; He gathers the dispersed of Israel" (Psalms 147).
The holiness of the Land of Israel rose higher and higher with the liberation of Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria from foreign rule.
Those of us who were born Jewish are not ordinarily described as Jews by choice. But we must always feel tht we have chosen the Torah.
Long before the language of modern science emerged, our Sages articulated a vision of reality in which human consciousness is not passive but deeply consequential.
It is Biblically forbidden to erase any of the Names by which God is called. Ideally, source sheets and pamphlets whose purpose is Torah study should be placed in genizah.
In our generation, “iron" has taken on an entirely new meaning.
What appears as repetition is never merely repetition. Each return to the text carried with it a subtle transformation, both of the material and of ourselves.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
Our nation’s ability to remain in its land is not a matter of geopolitical strength alone. Israel and Jerusalem have been entrusted to us, but we must act with moral responsibility in order to remain worthy of them.
G-d cares enough to discipline us. But He does not abandon us.
The difficulties and setbacks in rebuilding our homeland must not prevent us from singing songs of praise.
In a powerful thought on Parshat Behar-Bechukotai, the connection between the Avot and Eretz Yisrael takes center stage.
Letters are more than just elements of speech. They are the building blocks of creation.
Many great Rabbis have revealed that the murderous antagonism of the gentiles surfaces when the Jews fall in love with galut.
Libi came to our Shabbat table once.She was from a faraway country, a student who wanted to understand the Jewish people. She read books. She asked sharp questions. She said something I still remember.
Eretz Yisrael is more than a place on the map. It is a crucible in which the Jewish people are called upon to refine their identity and fulfill their mission.
Am Yisrael is the eternal nation, and the covenant which the Holy One Blessed be He made with us is an eternal and unbreakable covenant.
That one letter is also a word and writing four of them in a row also forms a word.
In a world of fake news and manipulation, this week’s piece recalls the importance of cognitive freedom and the risks of misinformation to public discourse.
We should feel that we have a “closer" relationship to Hashem when we stroll through the streets of Eretz Yisrael and the holy city of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), and this should inspire us to a higher level of behavior.
The pairing of Behar-Bechukotai raises the question: were they originally defined as two parashot later joined when needed, or perhaps originally defined as a single parashah that sometimes had to be split? And what is the role of the Kohanim?
The answer depends on how we interpret the 'agra' mentioned in the Mishnah. What type of reward is it referring to?
This week's haftorah is a profound statement about resilience, about the ability to endure and even thrive amid adversity when one’s foundations are properly rooted.
We moved from existential fear as described in the parasha to the heights of national renewal, with the climax being the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem, together with the return to Yehudah and Shomron.
Some 250 Israeli families according to the Health Ministry, have had their fallen loved ones’ genetic material retrieved and preserved. What is the halakhic view on the use of a fallen soldier's zera?
Rabbi Kook: True holiness must learn to work with reality, not against it - descending into life with patience and love, refining it gradually toward its destined purpose.
From any tragedy, we must probe the root cause in order to rectify it. A Gemara provides a reason, yet a Midrash offers another.
All the words of the Torah are concerned with exalted matters and celestial secrets...
Online program based on HaGaon Rabbi Berkovits’ renowned curriculum
There is another type of secret-knowledge that, even if explained, would remain a secret. That is the theme of Lag Ba'Omer.
Why does Hashem’s decree to punish transgressors, the pupils of Rabbi Akiva, cause us to adopt some of the ways of mourners until Lag Ba'Omer?
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was prepared to suffer and to accept the attribute of judgment, so that the people of Israel not suffer and the attribute of mercy would shine upon them.
All doorways of the house and its rooms, bomb shelters, Jewish-owned prisons, hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes are obligated in a mezuzah, but not bathrooms and temporary dwellings.
Dr. Edith Eger: We have a choice: to pay attention to what we’ve lost or to pay attention to what we still have.
