Fantasy Or Reality: The Ultimate Challenge
You must limit your endless potential in order to make something real.
The Mysterious Tenth Test
It seems strange, even ironic, to derive a source for marriage from a case in which a man’s wife dies. However, this is not ironic, nor is it a coincidence; it reflects the deep truth that marriage is eternal.
Chanukah: Re-Examining Our Ideological Battle Against the Greeks
Ideally,nthe physical wisdom of the Greeks and Yefes are to reside within the tent of Shem, for science and the wisdom of the world to be in harmony with Torah. The problem occurred when the Greeks tried to destroy the Torah, which contradicted their ideology, and the Jews were forced to fight for their beliefs. This was the battle of Chanukah.
The “Impossible” Challenge
The root of the word nisayon (challenge) is neis the Hebrew word for miracle. We are therefore left with two seemingly contradictory views. Either a nisayon is within one’s capacity, which means that it is NOT truly a miracle if one overcomes it, or it does require a miracle to overcome, in which case it is not within one’s capacity. How do we reconcile this seeming contradiction?
Living With Emunah When The Light Fades (Part III)
During the first stage of history, Hashem revealed Himself openly, and the world was replete with miracles, prophecy, and clarity. Little effort was required to find Hashem or to connect to that which is higher. This was the time of emes.
Deepening Our Perception Of Challenges
If we can change what we want, we can change who we are. When we make new decisions, we create a new reality for ourselves.
Time And Its Transcendent Connection To Pesach
In order to live a spiritual life, one must escape the physical, completely rejecting their physical nature. Therefore, spiritual systems such as Buddhism prescribe meditation, abstinence, and the suppression of physical desire. In such a system, the ideal is to sit isolated on a mountaintop and meditate on our navel.
A Reason to Transcend (Part II)
If someone were to ask you to prove that you exist, you would seriously struggle to do so. One’s own existence simply cannot be rationally proven.
The Birth of Torah Sheba’al Peh (Part II)
The physical world was naturally seen as an expression of a spiritual reality, and it was easy to source the physical back to the spiritual.
Your Creation Story: The Journey Of Self-Discovery
Like Adam, each of us has our own unique creation story.
Deepening Our Perception of Challenges
Teshuva as well is a method of reengineering our will, rewiring our “wants”. It’s about the decision to be better, to be great, to become our best and truest self.
The Most Misunderstood Sin In Jewish History
When you do something – even something good – without being commanded, all you are reflecting is yourself. It is your personal form of avodah, self-contained, limited, and disconnected from Hashem.
Sight, But No Vision: The Sin of the Spies (Part II)
The meraglim not only misunderstood their experience, but they then reported this distortion back to Klal Yisrael.
A Spiritual Pitfall (Part II)
As we previously explained, the purpose of techeiles and tzitzis is to straighten the bent path and help connect us back to Hashem, our Source.
The Five Stages of Faith
You lost that transcendent connection to oneness so that you could journey through life to rebuild it.
Politics And The Jewish Approach To Leadership
Leaders are appointed by the people and are therefore completely subject to the will of the people. They walk ahead, pretending to lead, while in fact, they are merely puppets.
When The Broken Path Still Leads Home
When the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, the world died. The soul of the world, i.e., Hashem, left its body, its vessel – the physical world – resulting in a cosmic spiritual chasm and a shattered reality.
Rosh Hashana: The Three Stages Of Teshuva
At root, all of Klal Yisrael is one, an interconnected self. Each of our individual neshamos are part of a bigger whole, like individual cells that make up a single human body.
Can You Really Become As Great As Moshe Rabbeinu?
We are each endowed with our own unique potential, and everything in our life – down to the smallest detail – is here to help us fulfill our unique role.
Inspiring Insights for Your Seder Night
Nothing in the physical world is objectively good or evil, rather, everything has the potential to be used for either good or evil. The choice is solely up to you!
Eretz Yisrael: A Place Beyond Place (Part II)
Kefitzas haderech enables one to transcend the laws of time and space. Why is this possible? It is due to the unique location in which kefitzas haderech always occurs: Eretz Yisrael, the land that transcends the bounds of time and space.
The Nature Of Miracle
If you take a moment to contemplate nature, you will find that almost everything in this world involves a cause-and-effect relationship. The world seems to abide by certain rules, with very few exceptions.
A Spiritual Pitfall (Part II)
As we previously explained, the purpose of techeiles and tzitzis is to straighten the bent path and help connect us back to Hashem, our Source.
Our Ordeals Are Our Opportunities
Growth occurs only in the face of resistance and pressure. There is no growth in the comfort zone.
Spiraling Through The Cosmic Symphony Of Life (Part I)
There may be nothing more enchanting, mystical, and mysterious than the wonder of music. It has the ability to reach the very root of our soul.
The Power Of The Journey
Every thought, word, action, and decision have infinite, cosmic reverberations and repercussions. This may be overwhelming to consider, and it may be unhealthy to continuously fixate upon the severity of each infinitesimal aspect of our lives, but the truth remains nonetheless.
Flying To Falling: The Raging Battle Within Us All
Cheit ha’egel, the sin of the golden calf, is perhaps the most infamous event in the Torah, a sin compared to the original sin of Adam HaRishon and one that has repercussions throughout Jewish history. Yet, what is most striking about this sin is not the act itself but its timing.
Ideals Lost And Found
The first stage is a gift, a spiritual high. It’s there to help you experience the goal, the destination. It’s a taste of what you can and hopefully will ultimately accomplish, but it’s not real. It’s given as a gift and is therefore an illusion.
Are You Willing To Journey Into The Unknown?
All we know is where we're leaving from, where we are right now. Only once we arrive, we will retroactively see where the journey was taking us all along.
The True Value Of The Journey
There are two different types, or aspects, of perfection. The first is static perfection (sheleimus), where something is, has been, and always will be absolutely perfect. Such a being does not struggle, has no conflicting wills, and never fails.
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