A Lifelong Journey Of Return

Genuine teshuva is not just about fixing our mistakes in Elul and Tishrei; it’s about self-expression, returning to our true and higher selves.

Balancing Your Individuality With The Larger Purpose Of Klal Yisrael

When you look at a beautiful sunset on the beach, where exactly is the location of beauty? Is it the sunset? The reflection on the water? The contrast of the beach against the sunset? It’s none of them and all of them.

Deepening Our Perception Of Challenges

Hashem did not change His mind, the people themselves changed. The only way to change a gezeirah (decree) is through teshuva and tefillah.

The Purpose Of Our Challenges

Did the great ones become great despite their challenges or because of them? What is the secret to their success?

The Five Stages Of Torah

This five-stage pattern exists within every process in life. Everything in this world, even that which appears chaotic, scattered, and disorganized, shares this underlying pattern.

Purim: Our Existential Battle Against Amalek

After Hashem performed the ten makkos and took the Jewish People out of Mitzrayim, Hashem’s providence was flamingly clear in the world.

Purim: Our Existential Battle Against Amalek

Amalek rejects Hashem’s connection to this world or any connection between the spiritual and the physical. Essentially, Amalek denies Hashem’s control of this world and the ability for man to uplift himself to the level of the spiritual.

Purim: Our Existential Battle Against Amalek

Amalek rejects Hashem’s connection to this world or any connection between the spiritual and the physical. Essentially, Amalek denies Hashem’s control of this world and the ability for man to uplift himself to the level of the spiritual.

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.

The Most Misunderstood Sin in Jewish History

When we perform an action, we act as an extension and manifestation of the one who willed and commanded it.

Willpower: Generating Momentum For Our Return

Sometimes, Hashem will send us a wake-up call, begging us to wake up from our slumber. When we hear it, we must remind ourselves what time it is.

Mirrors And Windows: The Secret Of Schach

The spiritual concept of beauty, and its relevance to marriage, is central to the connection we aim to develop through the process of Succos.

Why Does Inspiration Always Fade?

We're in this world to choose, to assert our free will, and to create ourselves.

Spiraling Through The Cosmic Symphony Of Life (Part II)

Shana means that which is cyclical and repetitive, representing mindless ritual. However, shana also has another distinct meaning: to learn and to change (shinui, l’shanos). This is because when you add chiddush to shana, i.e., when you infuse newness into the circle, you create spiraling growth.

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?

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.

The Birth Of Torah Sheba’al Peh (Part III)

Moshe took everything that came before and expressed it through his unique lens. The Maharal and Ohr Hachaim describe this process as Moshe’s transformation into a normal Navi.

From Loneliness To Oneness: The Endless Expansion Of Self

The Torah describes the voluntary gifts that the Jewish people donate toward the building of the Mishkan, the place where Hashem was most potently manifest in the physical world. The emphasis of these donations is their voluntary nature – Hashem commands Moshe to collect from Klal Yisrael whatever their hearts inspire them to give.

The Deepening Layers Of Happiness

What if we thought that we were on death’s door and then miraculously received a donation from a loving hero? Wouldn’t we live differently and experience life in a whole new way?

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.

Inspiring Insights For Your Seder Night

The Seder night serves as an opportunity to pass over our mesorah, our tradition and legacy, to the next generation. It's a night when we speak about emunah, the meaning of being a Jew, and our purpose in this world. In order to teach these lessons to our children and ourselves in a deep and lasting way, we must encourage the Seder participants to ask questions, no matter the age or knowledge-level.

Sight, But No Vision: The Sin Of The Spies (Part I)

As human beings, we have the remarkable ability to jump to conclusions, assuming that we know the truth of a situation when we, in fact, have completely misjudged it.

A Reason To Transcend (Part I)

Philosophy and logic are useful, often necessary, tools for approaching spiritual truths.

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.

Rediscovering What You Already Know

Most importantly, though, when the malach struck you, you didn't lose this Torah; rather, you lost access to it. Instead of disappearing, this knowledge and clarity became buried deep within your subconscious.

Sukkos: Spiraling Through the Symphony of Life

The same is true for all spiritual circles. The ideal is not to transcend the circular system, but to uplift it, to transform the circle into a spiral, to find innovative ways of creating newness within the circular system, not beyond it.

Haman And Today’s Battle Against Amalek

Torah is not simply a guide to living a life of truth; it is the blueprint and DNA of this physical world.

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 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.

Deepening Our Understanding Of Sefiras Ha’Omer And Shavuos

The forty-nine days of sefiras ha’omer parallel the forty-nine-day process that the Jewish People went through upon leaving Egypt, before receiving the Torah. What is the meaning behind this process?

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