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,
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,
The question is, are you fighting a battle you’ve already won? So many of us find ourselves addicted to struggle. We can’t take “yes” for an answer! Sometimes we have to work hard to achieve, other times we have to recognize that we can’t have it all, no matter what the guy holding the beer bottle with the nice tan in the commercial is saying. The key is knowing when to strive, and when to be samay’ach b’chelco, happy with our lot. We look at Korach, the spies, and ourselves, to try to map out some of the keys to human nature and figure out what is normal.
Spiritual Anatomy - Understanding Ourselves from the Inside Out [45:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadDear Friends,
We explore the inevitability of questioning yourself in life and how to stay connected to your roots even as you become your own person. Also, more teachings this week from Reb Shlomo Carlebach on what it means to light a fire in your heart, and the Ishbitzer Rebbe on what we were really asking for when we wanted meat in the desert.
Dear Friends,
The world needs more deep Torah. I feel privileged to present Reb Shlomo Carlebach giving over the Ishbitzer Rebbe on the first three words of Parshas Bechukosai. The standard translation is “If you walk in My ways..” Hashem promises all sorts of blessings. But it’s so much deeper than that. What the Ishbitzer reveals here is the secret to how to shine. This means not just how to emanate a holy glow, but how to ensure that after you complete an action that it continues to reverberate through the world with positive consequences.
Dear Friends,
Speech creates reality. Our Sages teach that Hashem spoke the world into being. Reb Shlomo Carlebach said it’s even deeper than that. Hashem actually sang the world into existence. In this week’s talk we look into the power of speech, how to tie your shoes according to the Torah, what the first Divine directive was, and further adventures of the letter Beis inside the letter Pay (see chart).
I do this blog for the person who might read or hear something inspiring and smile, or say hello to someone homeless, or start lighting candles before Shabbat, or put on Teffilin for the first time, or ask what is Teffilin? and then attend a class and realize that Jews actually do believe in Heaven and an afterlife, and reincarnation, and the fixing of the world and that every single recognition of G-d, especially a recognition that is joined by a Holy action like eating Matzah on Passover, or fasting on Yom Kippur, or dancing on Simchat Torah or on any day of the year with someone, or alone in a forest or alone in a crowded room, is a huge mitzvah, and that being happy is a huge mitzvah, and for the one who asks or hasn’t yet asked why was I born, and why was the world created, and for the one who refuses to accept that Jews have been living and dying for thousands of years for nothing, and for the one who knows or doesn’t yet know that the Torah is not a book, but is the blueprint of reality, and that all of time and space, and all the souls of the world both Jewish and non-Jewish are woven from its Holy letters, and for the one who knows or doesn’t yet know that if something can be broken Continue reading »
