The Library

Rav Tzadok Ha-Kohen of Lublin makes a fascinating comment about chipazon, suggesting that in our religious lives, we need to identify a moment of enthusiasm and capitalize upon that moment, leveraging the inspiration to move ahead to religious action: The beginning of a p...

Rebbe Meir of Permishlan once gave the following mashal: "There was once a farmer who was addicted to his alcohol. One day he decided to stop drinking! Every so often he would have a tremendous desire for just one drink, but he controlled himself and did not give in. On...

*Twelve Princes* It would not be a bad idea for contemporary descendants of Ishmael -- and for all of us -- to reflect on the individual names of Ishmael's 12 sons, who all became princes and fathers of Ishmaelite nations."These are the names of Ishmael's sons in order...

This amazing idea is from the holy Netivot Shalom on the parsha. He says that the Dor haMabul destroyed their ability to feel guilt or pain when doing an avairah. Where did it all start? "וַיִּרְא֤וּ בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם" - the sons of nobles SAW the ...

As we begin the study of this week’s parsha and encounter the narrative of “aishes yefas toar,” we wonder if there is more here than meets the eye. And there is. While the course of action for a man who went to war, emerged victorious, and then chanced upon a yefas toar ...

During these Three Weeks, in addition to mourning the destruction of the physical Yerushalayim, we must turn our focus inward and dig deep with ourselves, to mourn our own destruction. Who could we have become if we hadn't let sin take root? What happened to that innocen...

Rabbi Yaakov Dov of Rodoshitz used to bless people with wealth. He would reason, "as long as people are poor, they think that money would solve all their problems. Once they have money, they at least stand a chance of realizing that what they are really lacking in life i...

The new psychology buzz word of this century is mindfulness. Mindfulness means concentrating on one thing at a time, just for concentration sake. Mindfulness can take many forms, from meditation to just sitting and focusing on what you’re doing, looking at, listening to, ...

Tears on His 50th Wedding Anniversary A man and woman were recently celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. While cutting the cake, the wife was moved after seeing her husband’s eyes fill with tears. The wife took his arm, and looked at him affectionately. “I never...

The Hebrew name of this month is Av, and when we reverse its letters—alef and bet—a we get “bo,” the Hebrew word that means “come” in the command form. On the eve of the exodus, G-d instructed Moses: “Bo—come—to Pharaoh.” Shouldn’t He have said, “Go?” When it was time f...

"Shiviti- I have set God before me at all times." (Psalms16:8)Shiviti is an expression of hishtavut (equanimity): No matter what happens, whether people praise or shame you, and so, too, with anything else, it is all the same to you. This applies likewise to any food: it ...

An astonishing and sobering contrast concerning the nature of the human psyche captures our imagination in this week's Torah portion (Emor). The Torah prohibits a Kohen, a priest (which includes all descendents of Aaron), from marrying a divorced woman. It also prohibit...

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught... From Reb Nosson's Letters: "Even while the gates are closed and locked on every side and in every corner—so that one ought mistakenly have thought that there was no hope, G-d forbid—I still believe that there remains ple...

The Chassidim teach that physical love is a branch of spiritual love. It is a materialistic expression of what the soul truly yearns for. G-d gave us these desires only to "learn" what the love of G-d should be like. As David Hamelech said, "Tzama lecha nafshi, Kama lecha...

The man who sees a woman improperly exposed and closes his eyes because at that time he can't go anywhere else, merits to greet the Shechina, for he has drawn an great light of holiness onto his soul. Even though he has no conscious perception of it, he is really greeting...

The Arizal explains that the "oneg"- pleasure that one feels from a sexual transgression, turns into "nega" - plague, by a rearrangement of the Hebrew letters. The Arizal also teaches that every time a man misuses his seed, he is handing a sword to his urge for evil, wh...

On Pesach we say "Bikesh Lavan La'akor es Hakol" - "Lavan tried to destroy everything" (even more than Pharaoh). The question is asked, where do we find in the scripture that Lavan tried to destroy everything? The holy sefer, the "Ma'or Vashemesh" writes that Lavan is sym...

From the Zochar Chai, Vayechi 377b The sin of emitting semen in vain is encompassing and it damages the mazal of the person at the level of DAAT. Because the one who sins in this fashion, the image of G-d immediately runs away from him and he becomes a beast, damaging wi...