Did you know that according to the Beis Yaakov (The second Ishbitzer Rebbe), deep down, every person believes they created themselves?
If Rosh Hashanah is all about making Hashem King, how can I succeed if I’ve carved out a realm separate from G-d?
Happy New Year!
[video filename=/media/LiberatingTheFortress.flv /]
Dear Friends,
Imagine an epic battle between Sea Monsters and a diver out to recover a precious gem. In a piece of Aggadata – the deeply encrypted transmissions of the Talmud – such a tale is related. What does it mean and how does it teach us to wage life’s battles better? Using the understanding of the Malbim we take a look in.
Dear Friends,
Imagine you buy a lottery ticket, never check to see if it won, and then never think about that lottery ticket again. Now imagine that ticket was a winner and was worth thirty million dollars. The question is, did you lose thirty million dollars or not? On the one hand, you most certainly did. But on the other hand, if you never knew you ever had it to begin with, you never had it to lose! In this week’s talk we discuss the spiritual dimensions to this question and explore the bottom line of life.
Dear Friends,
I just published a new piece that I hope you like. It’s called “A Place for the Light.”
www.aish.com/sp/so/53785442.html
Today I took questions. We had time for three. The first was, is it our tradition that Moshe ascended Mount Sinai for a second time this month (Elul) and came down with the second tablets on Yom Kippur? Is G-d really leading me throughout all the hardships I have experienced? And, how are we to understand what “righteousness” is, in light of the verse “The righteous person falls down seven times and gets back up”?
Who does this world belong to? Who do we belong to? What does it mean to make G-d King? And even if we want to do it, how do we begin? This week’s Torah portion speaks of taking the first fruits, putting them in a basket, and bringing them to Hashem. As Rosh Hashanah approaches, on a deeper level, we too, are asked to gather our lives to present before Hashem. In today’s talk, we discuss how to start the process.
In explaining what goes on in these talks to someone at work, I surprised myself by saying that it’s a little like “couples therapy” between us and G-d. Toward that end, this week’s talk has lots of ideas relating to relating to G-d, especially in light of the New Year fast approaching. Eventually, we build to the idea of the importance of simplifying our lives so that we can better focus on what really matters.
Ask anyone in the world if they want to be a “success” and the answer will be a resounding “yes!”. What becomes more complicated is when you ask the person what “success” means exactly. As you can imagine being able to define success is crucial — it’s that clear focus which enables us to direct our efforts most efficiently, while avoiding lengthy and often painful detours in life. In today’s talk, I try to define success, looking at the Hebrew word for victory — netzach — as a guide — and to show how the soul, and eternity fit in to all this.
We’ve entered the month of Elul which means that the new year with all it’s decrees and judgements are around the corner! It’s both exciting and a little scary, but Hashem is good so we don’t have to be afraid! Hashem gives us Elul, this last month of the year, to finish on a strong note. How do we do it? Well, that’s a big subject, but we begin the discussion in this week’s talk with a look at the importance of appreciating the present moment and also a look at false prophets.
