Yomim Tovim

On Yom Kippur we ask forgiveness for what we have done; not who we are. Our sins (or our S elf-I mposed N onsense) are the actions that get in the way between us and G-d. There are certain things about our personalities that gi...

The Michtav Meliyahu explains (in the new sefer on Rosh Hashana pg 137): The avodah of Malchiyos is not enough to subjugate everything we do to Hashem's will by just not doing any sins, but rather we should have no self-will other tha...

The main avodah of Rosh Hashana is Kabalas Ol Malchus Shamayim - Accepting the yoke of Heaven. This is why Malchiyus is recite in Kedushas Hayom. The sanctity of the day is Malchiyus, and this is our main avodah. And the heavenly judgement i...

We all love reading Uri's posts on the forum. Not only do they make a great read, but they are written passionately and from the heart. Somehow, Uri's posts talk to everyone's Neshamos. I think it is appropriate to bring two of his bea...

Rosh Hashanah is almost here and I think it's time for each of us to address a very basic question: "Who am I?" Sometimes you feel like a good person. Perhaps more often, you feel like a bad person. Sometimes you feel successfu...

Someone recently sent out the following e-mail to his contacts: Dear all, This is a topic of a truly sensitive nature which is rarely talked about - strictly men only. Open the attachment to this e-mail and you'll see why. I don't...

Last Rosh Hashana, I davened that Hashem should let me die. Literally. I was saying "zochreinu lechaim" and crying "no, please don't, because I can't live with this anymore". I wanted to serve Hashem, but it just used to be just too painful to wake up every ...

In general in Israel, Tu Bishvat day dawns cold, wet and dreary. Sometimes there is snow. One thing is definite: spring is nowhere in sight. Except for the almond tree. Every year, the almond tree is in bloom, with its delicate and fragile looking blossoms standing out in...

Many Sefarim bring down that the final judgement that began on Rosh Hashana can still be reversed until Zos Chanukah. One of the Karliner Rebbes once said that "the shmattes can shelp their Teshuvah until Zos Chanukah". We're all shmattes, and we can all grab ahold of thi...

There's a thin line between entertainment and war... The little kiss between the 15 year old's on the innocent "Disney movies" today, is not so innocent... It's a very important part of lust's attack on us... It's where we are taught - from the youngest age - that this st...

I just heard a tape from Rabbi Yosef Chaim Greenwald saying that the Divrei Chaim of Sanz said that on Chanukah a person can do Teshuvah even on aveiros that the Zohar says that one cannot do Teshuvah on, because when the King comes to visit the jail, everyone can ask fo...

Try to get out of going, if possible. If not, make a plan in advance. Schedule how long you have to be there, and stick to it. Set an alarm to remind you when to leave. Prepare an excuse to leave in advance. Give yourself a pep-talk before going. Look at yourself in the ...

Now that it is Chanuka, there is a tikkun, that after lighting the Chanuka candles (or oil), one should look at the lights and meditate, "hanerot hallalu kodesh heim - these lights are holy." The sefarim say that they represent the original light of creation. Concentratin...

"Don't stop before the miracle!" This statement can apply to so many different circumstances in our lives. We tell this to many people who are struggling with the disease of addiction. And it is one of the most powerful lessons from the Chanukah story. When confronted wi...

Dear everyone, thank you all for your care and concern - and most of all - your love. Yesterday was Sunday, which is my hardest day, as I am usually alone in the office. Well, by the time I had finished with the Chizuk email and reading through all your replies in my thre...

Question: Why did Hashem tell Moshe to tell Pharaoh that the Jewish people just wanted to just leave "derech shloshes yamim - a way of three days" to serve Hashem, making it sound like we were planning to come back? Indeed when we finally left, Pharaoh sent spies after us...

"Pesach" is called so because Hashem "jumped over the houses of the bnei Yisrael when he smote the Mitzri'im". In Avodas Hashem, "Yisrael" symbolizes our "Aliyos" i.e. where we succeed in serving Hashem, and the Mitzri'im symbolize the Yeridos which occur in between each ...

Dov wrote: Life was and is so much better without lust - the thing I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I couldn't live without! Today life is real, it's geshmak, it's useful, it's real, it's consumingly interesting and full of surprises, and... did I say that ...