Dear Friends,
Joy is the ultimate vessel. Nothing organizes the chaotic energies of life and allows you to have the perspective that joy brings. In this week’s talk, we discuss the unique structure of the Torah portion of Ki Tavo which the Sages arranged we always read before Rosh Hashana. As we will see, the Parsha has a lot to teach us about how to prepare for the big day that is just around the corner. In this talk we also discuss the Divine mechanics of light, blessing and negativity — dispelling common misunderstandings about what many people misinterpret as vindictiveness.
Dear Friends,
One of the big turn offs for many people contemplating G-d, is the subject of “organized religion”. It seems like making a connection with the Divine shouldn’t have to involve a large building fund, membership dues, and all the other headaches associated with a part of our lives that is so intensely personal. But a deeper exploration of Judaism shows us that it isn’t an organized religion in the classic sense at all. But if that’s the case, how do we cut through all the institutional red tape? I hope this talk is a start!
Dear Friends,
One of the most challenging things in life is doing the right thing when you are caught by surprise. If you don’t know when the moment is coming, how can you prepare for it? The Ishbitzer Rebbe, one of the deepest of the Torah Masters, steps out a fascinating approach based on love. In this week’s talk we hear his thoughts, based on the teachings of Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and tie it all into getting ready for the New Year.
Dear Friends,
Imagine trying to view a piece of art with smudged sunglasses. This is what so many of us experience when we view life. The art we are looking at is life, and the glasses we are seeing it through is our own feelings about ourselves. In other words, so often how we feel is what we see! In this week’s talk we see just how far this concept goes, especially as we look into how to view the future.
Dear Friends,
Who’s world are you living in? Are you living in your own world, or are you living in G-d’s world? On the surface they may seem like one and the same. But imagine for a moment someone is collecting funds. One person gives a dollar, while the second person gives his last dollar. Ah, a world of difference! How we view things cuts to the core of our existence and of who we are. As a very wise person once put it, “99% of life is in your head”!
Dear Friends,
We expect so much of ourselves, and of G-d and of the world, and it crushes us when things don’t work out. The invitation to hate oneself seems to be extended to us everyday. And yet, what is our success rate supposed to be? In baseball, if someone get a hit one out of every three times at bat they go straight into the Hall of Fame. That’s a whole different set of expectations. With dating you can go on one hundred wrong dates and still marry your soul mate. Deeper still is the question of balancing when is it me accomplishing something in the world, and when is it G-d? After all, doesn’t everything come from Him? And if that’s the case, how can I ever feel good about myself if it’s just Him doing it? What is my role? If I ascribe too much to myself it’s ego! Too little and it’s poor self esteem! How do I balance these things? In this talk, we go into a several step program on how to do it with love!
Dear Friends,
This is a time of fixing, of knocking down walls we’ve put up without even knowing it, of ridding ourselves of contradictions and manifesting on the outside what we truly are on the inside. We also discuss transforming the letter Bais into the letter Aleph, and what the “Apocalypse” is according to the Torah and how we can avoid it.
Dear Friends,
When we enter into Shabbos, we literally transport ourselves into another dimension. It is simultaneously both the journey and the destination — transcendence itself. In this week’s talk, we explore the two names of Shabbos, to try and unlock the mystery of why it is so much more than just another day of the week.
Dear Friends,
Wow, there is a ton of stuff in this week’s talk, exploring everything from fixing the Tree of Knowledge, to the end of death, to why Eliahu lives forever, to the Kabbalah of circumcision, to the connection between Eve and the daughters of Tzlafchad receiving an inheritance in the land of Israel, to making peace, to the walls of Jerusalem. If you make it all the way through this one (it gets deeper as you go along) drop me an email!
Dear Friends,
Tisha B’Av has a duel nature. On the one hand, it is the saddest day of the year. On the other hand, our Sages teach that there is light contained within it that is of the Messianic level. How are we to react? And what does it tell us about living as Jews in general? G-d willing this year we will all celebrate together in the Holy City of Yerushalyim!
