The Library

We are all Abraham-in Training. Click above for an inspiring 1-minute video clip.

“So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed from east. Thus they parted from each other." When Lot departs to his own way, the Torah says that he traveled from Beth El to the plain of the Jordan, from the east to the west (westward). (That...

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...

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 ...

The differences that human beings have, in their separate spiritual journeys, are illustrated to us in the Torah almost at its very beginning, with the story of Kayin and Hevel. It may not have been an innate shortcoming in Kayin. His mother had named him "Kayin" out of...

When the Torah tells us about the prohibitions of seeking answers about the future through sorcery, it says in the Pasuk, "תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך - You should have a perfect (faith) with Hashem your G-d." The Torah is teaching us not to worry about the future and instead ...

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...

The fourth step... involves accounting and preparation—they are interdependent, because how we account for the past is how we prepare for the future. In our program Inventory means "searching" we examine the mistakes of the past in order not to repeat them. In particul...

Let's cut right to the heart of the matter: We get in trouble if we try to run our own lives. Our ego starts to mess things up. We try to control things we can't control. We think we are smarter than we are. We start to think we can run things just fine by ourselve...

One of the most widespread customs associated with the night of Rosh Hashanah is that of consuming various food items – e.g. carrots, leeks, beets, dates, pomegranates, head of a fish – for a good omen. Intending to serve as a source of merit for our upcoming year, we h...

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...

The work Ner Le'ragli tells the story of a certain student in Yeshivat Kenesset Yisrael of Slobodka who spread false, uncomplimentary information about a fellow student, whom we will call Yosef. The lashon ha'ra he spoke caused Yosef to lose a prospective shidduch oppor...

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 ...

ראש חודש אלול. It's that time of year. When I usually sit down and write a list of everything I've done wrong. Of all the ways that I messed up. When I contemplate what a disappointment I've been to myself, my family, and those who don't even have any knowledge of h...

Chazal say: בא חבקוק והעמידן על אחת, צדיק באמונתו יחיה– The prophet Chavakuk came and founded all the Mitzvos of the Torah up on one Mitzva: that of EMUNAH, as the Pasuk (in Chavakuk) says “The righteous one lives in his faith.” This means that all the mitzvos of the Tora...

וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת-הָעָם֒ וְלֹא-נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹקים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י | אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹקים פֶּֽן-יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה: וַיַּסֵּ֨ב אֱלֹהִ֧ים | אֶת-הָעָ֛ם דֶּ֥רֶךְ הַמִּדְבָּ֖ר יַם-ס֑...