Dear Friends,
Our Sages teach that all the righteous people of the world, and every Jew has a place in heaven. But what is heaven? It is a place? A state of mind, a physical reality? Do you remain you there? Or is it is some ethereal realm where we cease to be us and disappear into the infinity of G-d? In this week’s talk, we answer these questions and show how practical this information can be to our everyday lives.
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,
Is the Torah a book? A scroll? A set of instructions? All of the above, none of the above? Deeper still what does it mean when the Talmud teaches us that the Torah existed 974 generations before the world was created?! Further still, what does it mean when it says that G-d looked into the Torah and created the world? What did He look into exactly?? We can’t really begin to understand our own lives or what the grandness of history is all about until we arrive at a deeper understanding of these questions. In this talk we address what the true giantness of the Torah is all about.
For most of us, waiting is the hardest part. And yet when we look at our lives, so much of it is filled with waiting. Or is it? Sometimes, maybe even often, we confuse waiting with living. During this time of the year, between Passover and receiving the Torah, we have a special mitzvah not just to count the days until we get to our destination, but to actually bless the waiting! How do we do that? We discuss it in this week’s talk.
A Fork In The Road
Dear Friends,
One of the most remarkable passages in the Torah is when Mordecai turns to Queen Esther and says, rest assured that Hashem is going to save the Jewish people — the only question is are you going to be part of it? (4:13) Using this passage as a springboard we look into the parameters of free choice and how Mordecai’s words still echo in our lives today.
Dear Friends,
When we received the Torah at Mount Sinai, Hashem looked at the pureness of our hearts and asked, who will guarantee that our hearts will remain like this always? We said that “we” would guarantee it. But the Gemara teaches (Avodah Zarah 5a) that that was the wrong answer! We should have said “Hashem, You guarantee that we stay this way!” Contained here is a fundamental lesson about gratitude and how to avoid the trap of relating to ourselves when we are really trying to connect with G-d.
Dear Friends,
Best Friend? So many of us think of Hashem as either our Father, or our King or our Master — but Best Friend? Is that even a possibility? Where in the Torah does it say that? Well, I’ll tell you! In Mishle 27:10 it says, “Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father”. Our Rabbis teach us that this friend refers to Hashem! The question is how do we make that all important first step?
Dear Friends,
This week’s Torah portion is unique in the Torah in that there are no “breaks” — no white spaces within it. It is no coincidence that this portion also contains the account of Yakov, Jacob our forefather, running for his life, finding his soulmate, entering into the business world and raising a family. If you think you don’t have any time in your schedule to do anything — then this week’s talk is for you!
Dear Friends,
We are living through a time often called the “age of information”. Ironically, the barrage coming at us can often obscure that which is most essential to keep in the forefront of our consciousness. In other words, sometimes the more we know the less we end up knowing! In this week’s talk we pull the lens way back to observe the overall pattern that informs not only our personal lives, but all of creation.
Dear Friends,
The world is being created over and over and over again — every single nano-second. The implications of this are vast! G-d is His abundant mercy is giving us tremendous opportunities. How does this work and how can we benefit from it? In this talk, we take a look.
