THE DISPLACEMENT The Jewish people have been a diaspora people for a long time. We have lived as a minority ethnicity and religion in other people’s lands, and it has not always been easy. On a mystical level, the story of the Jewish nation parallels the story of the soul…

When the Baal Shem Tov’s father was on his deathbed, he called his five year old son to him and said “Yisrolik, have no fear of anything, only of G-d Alone. And love every Jew with the entire depth of your heart.” To live up to this message, the young…

Staying fresh is one of the biggest challenges of life. The Shema says, “These words, which I command you, today, shall be upon your heart.” The Rabbis explain that when you read that sentence every day, you need to understand “today” as referring to the day that you read it…

One of the major themes of Chanuka is “illuminating darkness”. We light the Chanukah lamps specifically after dark. Additionally, the Menorah is placed on the left side — the side associated with Gevura (restriction) in Kabala. At a couple Chanukah gatherings, I have been asking people how they define darkness…

The Book of Beinonim Compiled from sacred books and from teachers of heavenly saintliness, whose souls are in Eden; based upon the verse, “For this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it”; explaining clearly how it is exceedingly near, in…

A thought based on the end of Chapter 37 of Tanya In the Talmud, Torah study is referred to as Koreh Batorah — one who “reads the Torah.” The Hebrew word Koreh has two meanings. In addition to “read”, it also means “call”, as in the name of the third…

Hei Teves- it’s the day that the Rebbe and the Lubavitch movement won the legal battle over ownership of the library. For people who lived through it, the significance of the day is mostly personal for the Rebbe — the Rebbe suffered great anguish from the library dispute and Chassidim were…

In the Beit Hamikdash, the Menorah was placed indoors. Nobody went into the actual building of the Temple except the Kohanim who were actually performing the service. Only they saw the Menorah burning. The rest of the world received the light of the Menorah indirectly. The windows of the Beit…

“On the first day, you shall take for yourselves… the beautiful fruit of a tree…” This verse refers to the Mitzvah of celebrating the holiday of Sukkot with the Mitzva of taking the Lulav and Etrog. But how do we know that the Etrog is the “beautiful fruit”? …