Emor (Diaspora): The shame culture
The USA used to be a guilt culture but has skewed toward a shame culture with no forgiveness. Judaism is a guilt culture. Hence Yom Kippur.
The USA used to be a guilt culture but has skewed toward a shame culture with no forgiveness. Judaism is a guilt culture. Hence Yom Kippur.
You are only hateful when you speak hatefully about another. You are not hateful when you espouse an opinion.
We often ask for the things we need, but life is much happier, satisfying, and meaningful, when we ask what we are needed for.
What is this obsession with the number four at the Seder? It tells you how to deal with yourself and others.
What is the worst part of this tale, that it happened or that we have talked so much about it?
There are two ways to achieve emotional growth, the Tishrei or the Nisan mode. See the Chatam Sofer on this..Which will bring Mashiach?
The stage is set for the thrills by the boring moments that precede them and that is the lesson of Purim.
Vayikra begins by showing us that God speaks to Moshe only in the merit of the people. That is each of us..
Your heart can be your temple, your brain can be your temple, your energy can be your temple, and your home can be your temple.
PIgs serve G-d just as cows do. Why is one kosher and the other treiif?
Only today, in an age of unprecedented bounty, longevity, and progress, can we aspire for Mashiach for the right reasons.
It is not enough to be a giving spouse; Be an attentive one. It is not enough that your children love you, Let them know you love them.
The Chasidic masters would often remind us that we are each critical to G-d.
One people one heart, or one heart one people? They are not the same but we do not have to be the same to be one people with one heart..
Many have questioned G-d, especially after the Holocaust, but to what avail?
There is another, and much more profound, meaning to the words 'realize your worst fears' than the obvious one.
It took the lack of change after Pharaoh's death to dash Jewish hopes and cause them to ask for freedom.
Who should our children learn about first, Moses or Shakespeare, the bible or art, Talmud or science?
The dreidel is spun by twirling the stem at the top. The gragger is rotated by swinging the stem at the bottom. That is not due to chance.
Life isn’t a generic formula that can be applied to everyone equally.
he beard is the only hair that grows vertically from above to below, which represents the flow of Divine energy into the world.
I know of at least one person who worried about being too perfect. Our collective grandfather, Abraham.
G-d did not tell Abraham to "depart". He said "go". What message was G-d sending?
The first letter of the Torah is bet, the last is lamed. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson spoke of the letters before and after bet and lamed.
Those who repent out of fear, transform deliberate sins into inadvertent sins.Those who repent out of love, transform them into merits.
Sin is never as tantalizing after the fact as it is before the fact.
Tears flow when we experience more than our minds and hearts can bear, whether sadness, bitterness or joy.
We have a license to enjoy the resources of the world: We can eat its food, utilize its vast possibilities. But there are several caveats.
The Torah exempts three categories of men from going out to a voluntary war. And it explains why.
The parasha tells us to make a choice between good and evil. The beginning of Elul tells us to reflect on and pivot away from our mistakes .
Our relief from exile will come either way, the question is what we will have gained from our time in the darkness.
Being born between the gates empowered Yocheved to feel free. To not allow Egypt to invade her mind, her psyche, her sense of self. And you?
When you have a choice between doing something self-serving and a good deed, it is human nature to salivate over the self-serving deed.
Jews were seldom obligated to purify. It was only for those who made pilgrimage and who had become impure since their last pilgrimage.
An event in the Torah has a deeper layer that holds a moral lesson for all time, found in the teachings of hassidic philosophy.
Our enemies use our sacred ground to launch attacks against us and the world does not understand how sacred this mountain is to us.
Rabbi Simcha Bunim observed that the Torah tells us not to fool others, but if you are a hassid, you don’t fool yourself either.
Every human was created in G-d’s image. If G-d can’t be canceled, neither can His image.
The two ways of reading a word in the parsha - "vehuva" or as our Sages said "vehu va" have a world of meaning.
The Baal Shem Tov: The first days of Pesach celebrate the Exodus but during the last days of Pesach we anticipate the coming of Mashiach.