Who are you? What does it mean to “be me”? What is a Jew? When the King, G-d, awaits us in the field during Elul, He expresses His true self, not just His majesty. This gives us a chance to learn who we are. In Part Four of Ani L’dodi, we discover that there’s more to us than just our human cognition, feelings, and drives—there’s our real self! This is Part Four of Five of our Elul series, the ma’amer Ani L’dodi…
Have you ever experienced difficulty feeling inspired on the High Holidays? The entire month before Rosh HaShanah, Elul is traditionally known as the time to spiritually ready ourselves for the Days of Awe. In this ma’amer, the Rebbe sets forth a clear plan to develop a relationship with G-d during Elul, so we feel ready when the High Holidays come around. Part one of five of the ma’amer Ani L’dodi, 5726 (1966) Part Two: He Doesn’t Wake You, He Waits…
This is an updated version of the essay that sparked The Long Short Way over a year ago. It happened when Rabbi Simon Jacobson, a while after his My Life: Chassidus Applied videos came out, made an essay contest to encourage people to tackle an issue head-on. I didn’t win or even come close, but the idea stuck with me. Joy: The Long Short Way Download the PDF here. Many wonder what the key is to happiness. Is happiness really an “inalienable…
Moshe Rabbeinu said the book of Devorim from his own accord to the Jewish people. Our Rabbis tell us, that this book is, “mipi atzmo,” from Moshe himself. Moshe Rabbeinu internalized Hashem’s transmission so well, that the Torah he gave over was also Torah and included in the Five Books of Moses. From the second portion of the parsha, we see that Moshe Rabbeinu attributed the appointment of leader and judges to himself. However, in parshas Yisro, we see that it was Yisro’s…
The more personal the more relatable. Moshe Rabbeinu said the book of Devorim from his own accord. That is, Moshe Rabbeinu taught the Torah over from his own understanding based on how deeply integrated it had become with his mind. Accordingly, we can know why this sefer, the fifth book of the Torah, was said at the 40th year. This was complete exposure of the entirety of Torah. The way the Torah was understood by Moshe Rabbeinu caused that it should be understood by the…
In this sicha the Rebbe addresses how even the darkest points in our lives– as individuals and as a whole– have the greatest potential for good. Although the Rebbe touches on free will, it isn’t explained, I believe, because it isn’t as relevant to the discussion at hand. I. The Ba’al Shem Tov (1) teaches us that the 42 journeys of the Jewish people in the desert on the way to Eretz Yisroel have parallel in the life of every Jew. Leaving…
Doing good for an ulterior motive isn’t always such a bad thing… Moshe Rabbeinu reminds the Jewish people about the time they believed the scouts’ report about Eretz Yisroel. He tells them that their children, who didn’t take part in that episode would merit to enter the Land. “[Furthermore,] your young children, [about whom] you said, ‘They will be prey,’ and your children who on that day did not know good and evil, they will go there and I will give…
Pinchas: A Sicha Part 2 Read Part 1 here. But How is He Going to Make a living? It’s a fair question. Your shvigger asked the question about you and your wife will ask it about your future son-in-law. The simple answer is: G-d wants us to have a relationship with materialism and yet remain above it all. Now we can understand why the issue with Pe’or happened before entering the land of Israel after the first generation of Jews in the…
Pinchas: A Sicha Part One :וְהָיְתָה לּוֹ וּלְזַרְעוֹ אַחֲרָיו בְּרִית כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר קִנֵּא לֵאלֹקיו וַיְכַפֵּר עַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל “It shall be for him and for his descendants after him [as] an eternal covenant of kehunah, because he was zealous for his G-d and atoned for the children of Israel.” (Pinchas 25:13) The situation with Pinchas happened after the Jewish people began sinning with the Moabite women and doing serving idols (avoda zara) of Ba’al Pe’or with them. Rashi tells us that…
Part Two: Conceptual Background to Part Two: I. Elokeinu means, “our G-d.” In Chassidus, “Elokeinu” also is the type of relationship G-d has with us. He chooses to relate to the world as a king, i.e., Melech Ha’Olam (King of the universe), He chooses to relate to us as a father as well. As a general principle, in Chassidus, “Elokeinu” means “our strength and our vitality.” In Hebrew it’s “kocheinu v’chayuseinu,” which connotes our physical life itself, our energy, enthusiasm, life dedication, etc., as explained at…