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…
Often, the process is greater than the goal. A lot of us struggle with having clear goals and attaining them. Usually, this is because we tend to be near-sighted; only noticing the immediate struggle and the grind of being consistent. How can we be expected to have a meaningful Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur? How can we ensure that we stick to the resolutions we make? Elul is coming, and we have the opportunity to come face-to-face with G-d Himself….
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…
Here the Alter Rebbe explains that higher level t’shuva (t’shuva ilaa) is a result of fixing things at their root. For example: the sin associated with young men “nicks” the mind, the correction and the t’shuva is to become engrossed in learning Torah (which comes from Chochma of Aztilus) and to double the quantity. Like kissing, where the breath of one united with the other, when we learn, our minds think G-d’s thoughts, our mouths speak G-d’s words etc. The…
The Rebbe Rashab explains in the first ma’amer of Samach Vov, that there is a difference between r’usa d’liba (awakening of the heart, inspiration) and t’shuva (return). He explains that the difference lies in the approach. Inspiration is a result of realizing that one is in the presence of something greater, namely G-d, and wanting to be a part of this greater being. T’shuva on the other hand is a result of realizing how far one is from G-d followed…
There are three kinds of atonement and they each involve t’shuva (return). We return to Hashem and we fix our mistakes. Call it accountability, responsibility, love, duty, etc. Here we will be discussing atonement and forgiveness. There are two types of mitzvos (proactive and refraining), but when it comes to t’shuva, there are three ways to go wrong (which require fixing): 1. Refraining mitzvos (mitzvos lo sa’asei) which one has transgressed. We crossed the line. a. Krisus u’misos beis din…