Can You Really Become as Great as Moshe Rabbeinu?
The Rambam says something absolutely shocking. He claims that everyone is capable of becoming a tzaddik like Moshe Rabbeinu. How is this possible? Not all of us are able to become leaders, let alone become the greatest leader in human history. So what does the Rambam mean?
Why Does Hashem Send Us Challenges?
There is a fundamentally deeper understanding of a challenge – one that reveals the very core spiritual purpose and effect of a test.
Straightening The Bent Path
The more power, the more potential. The value in any power is only in the extent to which it can be controlled. Otherwise, the more power you have, the more destruction you will have.
Our Ordeals Are Our Opportunities
Growth occurs only in the face of resistance and pressure. There is no growth in the comfort zone.
Finding Your Role Within The Cosmic Symphony Of Life
On the one hand, we all believe that we are unique and special. On the other hand, we sometimes struggle to experience our individuality, feeling almost lost in the crowd.
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.
Clothing: The Battle For True Beauty
When used properly, clothing mitigates the shame of our physical bodies and helps us express our higher, dignified selves in the world. When misused, clothing can hide our spiritual core, portraying ourselves as completely physical beings.
Fantasy Or Reality: The Ultimate Challenge
When you wake up each morning, the day holds infinite potential. You have the time to do anything, go anywhere, meet anyone, etc. But that’s only potential, for in reality, you haven’t done anything yet, and in reality, you can’t do everything, only something.
Transforming Our Challenges Into Opportunities
If I were to ask you, "What is the wealthiest place in the universe?", what would you answer?
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.
Straightening The Bent Path
Everything in this world is merely potential, waiting to be used. Evil, therefore, is the misuse of potential, when we choose to use an object for something other than its true purpose.
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?
Transcending Ego To Connect With The Infinite
As human beings, we are naturally resistant to external instruction or direction, preferring to do things only when we want to do them.
The Journey To Yourself
In order to accomplish anything great, we must first identify a clear target and then determine the path required to get there.
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.
Yom Kippur: Flying Amongst Angels
Our goal as humans is not to escape the physical, but to use it as a means of connecting to the transcendent.
Purim: Our Existential Battle Against Amalek
Although the Jewish People won, Amalek showed the other nations that the Jews were not as invincible as they seemed.
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.
Sefiras Ha’Omer: Achieving The Impossible
In truth, we are not counting down to Matan Torah, but rather are building toward it, ascending one day at a time.
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.
The Two Stages Of Jewish History
When you see something, you experience it all at once; there’s no process, no surprises. When hearing, when taking a journey, there can be a long-winding path, twisting and turning in all directions, leading you on a seemingly endless quest.
The Five Stages Of Faith
You know deep down that you are unique, that you were created for a reason, and that you have a unique mission in this world – yet again, it is impossible to prove.
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.
Oneg And Nega: The Story Of Eden, Nahar, And Gan (Part II)
In order to achieve this ideal flow, one must perfect all three stages of the process. You must first connect to Eden, which requires going beyond the surface of reality and connecting to the transcendent – to Hashem and His Torah, to the spiritual root of the physical world.
A Lifelong Journey Of Return
Strikingly, Rav Eliyahu Dessler explains that many people never experience a true assertion of their free will due to its immense difficulty. This is why many people do not change.
Are You Willing To Journey Into The Unknown?
The inability to fully understand the destination of one’s own growth can be compared to a child’s inability to grasp a complex scientific or spiritual concept.
What Is The Deeper Purpose Of Shavuot?
Some may refer to the Torah as a history book; others may think of it as a book of law or a source of Jewish wisdom. While these are all true, they only scratch the surface of the Torah’s true nature.
What Made Moshe’s Prophecy Unique? (Part I)
Imagine a life beyond the one you currently experience – one with new senses and sensations, new colors added to your field of vision, and new sounds to your range of hearing. What if you had abilities that far surpassed anything you can imagine?
Shabbos: A Taste Of The World To Come
What makes Shabbos a root mitzvah, why is its punishment so severe, and why do we see it as the measuring stick for all of Torah observance? What is the secret of Shabbos?
Why Are There Two Sets of Luchos?
Each individual dibrah on the right parallels the corresponding dibrah on the left. Together, they make up a unified whole of connection to both Hashem and one’s fellow man.