Time of Year

During the hundreds of years that the Children of Israel lived in the land of Egypt, they gathered and elevated sparks of holiness that were hidden there. Our ancestors did what they had to do while enslaved in the lowest place on earth, they were ultimately successful in...

Hashem inspired me to respond as follows: That's a good question. Chazal actually ask, "Where can we find Haman in the Torah?" And they answer, from the pasuk where Hashem asks Adam Harishon if he ate from the tree that he was commanded not to: הֲמִן-הָעֵץ, אֲשֶׁר צִוִּי...

When people consider making improvements in Shmiras Haloshon, they sometimes drop the idea as unrealistic. “Can I really say that I’ll be able to avoid loshon hora forever? What’s the point of trying, only to fail?” But in the month of Kislev, we learn that this line of ...

When Klal Yisroel sinned so much that it was a real big mess, what did Hashem do? He took away the Beis Hamikdosh. Not only that, but He took away the nevi'im, the nissim, and many of our Torah sages and good people. And He even took most of us outside of Eretz Yisro...

When we make amends we need to be clear about what we're apologizing for and the best way to say we're sorry. What we are really doing with our amends is taking responsibility for our behavior. We need to be sure that the process itself will not be self-defeating or hur...

I want to respond to a question that I have been asked numerous times over the years about Yom Kippur. It goes roughly as follows: we stand before God on Yom Kippur and say we are sorry. We admit that we have ‘transgressed’ and made mistakes in our lives during the past y...

A chossid once came to his Rebbe crying about the setbacks he'd faced. The Rebbe, sitting behind a desk, told him to jump over the table. The guy thought he was joking. When the Rebbe repeated it the fourth time, the guy got up and took 3 steps back to be able to take a r...

Here are the "Four Simplified Steps for Hitbodedut" to help you get started: In a quiet place, with no interruptions, simply talk freely to Hashem in your own words, like to your parent 1) First thank Hashem for what He's given you (does your body work? Thank Him. Do...

The posuk in Tehillim (103) says, “Kirechok mizrach mimaarav,” as far as the east is from the west, “hirchik mimenu es peshoeinu,” that is the distance Hashem has removed us from our sins. Rav Nosson Dovid of Shidlovtza explained that the distance of east from west is es...

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 ...