Writings and Video Posts
Blameless Teshuva–A Teaching for Yom Kippur
The Sod Yesharim suggests a very powerful practice to get the most out of our highest of holy days, Yom Kippur.
The Kabbalistic Mystery of Nesira
Though nesira means surgical uncoupling, it only severs back-facing, addictive bonds. Its uncoupling actually initiates a higher, willful, and more rectified recoupling.
ELUL AND THE THIRTEEN ATTRIBUTES OF MERCY
ELUL AND THE THIRTEEN ATTRIBUTES OF MERCY Elul and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy Each month comes with its special lights and gifts and energies. And mostly we learn about the month from the correspondences presented in the Sefer Yetzira. Each month has a letter, a special sensitivity, a part
Tisha B’Av — A Potent Meditation
Av is the month that includes the most fateful day in the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av, which is distinguished by its extremely fallen state and yet its extremely great potential.
Dewdrops of Light: Shavuot 5785/2025 (reprint)
When HaShem revealed the Torah at Sinai, the Israelites died at every word… Hashem revived them with the dew that He will use to resurrect the dead.
A Short Lag B’Omer Teaching
The passion lights of the gevurot, when unpacked and enlightened by their matching lucid-lights, produce all the bliss of future times.
The Four Questions
The hagada is transmitting lights and instructions on many levels. There is information about history and many deep secrets about how the universe works and what freedom really means.
Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women
We are Inviting women from around the world to join the actual Jerusalem-based event via zoom (enabled by Shifra Hendrie who has offered her expanded zoom link for the occasion). And…
Sharing the nusach/script of the ceremony so you can prepare for the event and, if you are unable
Purim High Council Email Announcement
Purim High Council Email Announcement A REAL LIFE, DIVINELY CHOREOGRAPHED, נהפוך הוא רַעֲוָא דְּרַעֲוִין ♦ Through a miraculous turn of events, HaShem and his angelic agents, have let it be known that the Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women must go on in full array, with ample
Purim Invite 2025
AN INVITATION… To Women Far and Wide to Participate in a Ground-Breaking, Soul-Awakening Event: The 34th Annual “Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women” (that will also be available via Zoom) In this part of the world we are preparing for Sarah Yehudit’s 34th annual open-house Shushan-Purim-Dance-and-Learn-Seuda-for-Women featuring
Tu B’Shvat Hagada for Sale
The Still Small VoiceTu B’Shvat Hagada, fifteen years in the making, is finally available for public enjoyment.
The Klipah Precedes the Fruit
The passion lights of the gevurot, when unpacked and enlightened by their matching lucid-lights, produce all the bliss of future times.
Paradox: A Chanukka Dilemma (Video)
Hanukkah teaches us how to survive exile and how to accomplish the purpose of it.
Chanukka Through the Years
Just as eyes are windows to the soul, so the Chanukka lights are windows into the soul of the chag.
Classes Starting Up
Sarah Yehudit is back to teaching, but with a reduced schedule. She is
A House For Himself, Sukkot For His Herds
The Torah reports that after this huge test, victory, and blessing Yacov headed straight to sukkot:
Video: On Yom Kippur, Leave Your Begging Bowl at the Door
The Sod Yesharim suggests a very powerful practice to get the most out of our highest of holy days, Yom Kippur.
Yom HaZikharon: Our Holiday of Remembrance
Recite before me the verses of remembrance, that your remembrance shall arise before Me for good. And through what? Through the shofar.
Video: Rosh HaShana and the Kabbalistic Mystery of Nesira
You might be surprised to know that Rosh HaShana is not only Day of Judgement and the Day of Remembrance, it is also, says kabbala, the Day of Nesira (surgical uncoupling). This is a short teaching about that profound dimension of Rosh HaShana.
Rosh HaShana Through the Years
A bounty of teachings on how to prepare for Rosh HaShana and how to direct one’s intentions on the day itself. Teachings about teshuva, prayer and shofar.
The Link Between Shame and Baseless Hatred
We are defining shame as the discomfort produced when the ego feels diminished or deflated. We are defining sinat chinam as baseless hatred, meaning hatred that has no justification, that has no basis to it.
Achdut, A Tisha B’av Video by Sarah Yehudit Schneider, 2024
Achdut, A Tisha B’av Video by Sarah Yehudit Schneider, 2024 An inspiring and practical teaching on Tisha B’Av 2024 by Sarah Yehudit Schneider
Achdut, A Tisha B’av Video by Sarah Yehudit Schneider, 2024
Explores the metaphoric question of, “Does God cry?”
Tisha B’Av Teachings Through the Years
Tisha B’Av Teachings Through the Years Tisha B’Av teachings over the years (2007-present).
Esther’s Ruach HaKodesh
Life is filled with crossroads that rarely have signs to mark the way. Each person must find the God–serving truth that applies to this unique circumstance and this moment in time.
Turning Wisdom into Oral Torah
Our Written Torah is fixed and final. Its sequence of letters, spacings, stories and commands is sacred and static. A scribal error of even a single letter invalidates the entire scroll. Its authority derives from its constancy. Our Oral Torah is the opposite—it is always changing and expanding. Not a
This Year…. Next Year….
Is there such a thing as a “free gift,” and is it something to pray for and believe in?
DIALOGUE WITH DESTINY (reprint)
The Midrash on Esther presents free will and determinism as the central theme of our Purim tale.
Post October 7th, One Nation: Diverse Yet Indivisible
It’s going to take a conscious commitment to preserve the precious upsurge of national unity that has been our strength for these difficult months.
RUACH HAKODESH, A PARTNERSHIP
In ruach hakodesh, the person who’s assuming the role of boots on the ground is the initiator and decision maker. They choose a goal, mission, problem or project and pursue it with action and prayer.
Post October 7th: Zohar on the “Three Cries” as a Model of Trauma
There are a million ways to make space for new light. But sometimes the light coming through is just bigger than who we are in the present. The Zohar characterizes that tribulation as a serpent shedding its skin.
Post October 7th: Anger Drives the Plot
Survival has required us to perfect the capacity to transform the intensely concentrated lights that scatter like shrapnel from anger’s discharge; to digest these pellets, extract their nutrients, and convert their death-wish into life juice.
Addiction and Higher Teshuvah: Rosh HaShana 2023
You might be surprised to hear that addiction is as old as humanity itself…literally.
Tisha B’av Video by Sarah Yehudit Schneider, 2023
Explores the metaphoric question of, “Does God cry?”
A Tisha B’Av Excerpt from “Dark Matters of the Soul: The Kabbalah of Shame”
Shame is the first emotion mentioned in the Torah, the Talmud extols its dark influence, and Maharal calls it the most powerful motivating force in the psyche.
Fifteen Stages of the Pesach Seder
Is there such a thing as a “free gift,” and is it something to pray for and believe in?
Pesach Through the Years
Pesach Through the Years Pesach teachings over the years (2003-present.)
Worlds, Souls, Divinity: Purim 2023
This is a teaching about prayer as conveyed by the Komarna Rebbe
SHADOWS AND LIGHT: CHANUKKA 5783/2022
Chanukka lights bring healing to the corruptions of power that surround our light and lively Chanukka observance.
Video: Sarah, Sarai, Yiska
Sarah is the Matriarch of the Jewish people. Tradition ascribes superiority to her Divine Inspiration over Avraham’s.
The Dust of Their Skirmish Reached to the Throne of Glory: Sukkot 5783
The “dust” of Yakov’s epic battle with Essav reached to the Throne of Glory and is the force behind the Jewish people’s success in business, war and Torah study.
Solemn Joy, Sweet Sorrow
When Tisha B’Av—the day for mourning the woes of our nation—falls on Shabbos—our day of spiritual delight when it is generally forbidden to mourn.
The Temple for Which We Are Supposed to Yearn
On Tisha B’Av we mourn the loss of our House of Holy Presence (aka Bet HaMikdash). But what is it, really, that we are missing?
A TEACHING FOR THE FAST OF TAMMUZ
This Torah of Atzilut is what we received at Sinai, but forfeited when we betrayed its calling.
Malchut Sh’b’Malchut
To describe the king as “entangled in the tresses” is to assert that there is a level of G-d that is entangled by our conceptions and projections of Him/Her/It.
“This Opposite This” HaShem Made the World
The whole drama of geopolitics comes down to “who eats who?”: In the end, whose narrative is going to prevail, and absorb everyone else into its story line.
Shame and Sinat Chinam: Tisha B’Av 2021
Shame and Sinat Chinam: Tisha B’Av 2021 This is a video of Sarah Yehudit’s teaching on Tisha B’Av evening after Chana Yaffe’s beautiful Eicha reading. Below that is an audio file (no video) of the talk. Audio recording of Sarah Yehudit’s Tisha B’Av Teaching https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/SSV_Downloads/Tisha.b.av_2021_SY.mp3
Videos of Sarah Yehudit’s Tisha B’Av Teaching 2020
Video and Audio for teaching and discussion.
Sifra, Sefer, Sippur
The Torah is really three in one: the Torah of Bereshit, the Torah of Sinai, and the Torah of souls. Our job is to unify these three Torot with every word we speak and breath we take.
A Kabbalistic Kavanna for Eating Matzah at the Seder
Pesach 2021 / 5781 by Sarah Yehudit Schneider Matzah on Pesach is a powerful remedy that penetrates to the soul’s depths and heals ancient wounds.
Purim 2021: Who is Charvonah…
Charvonah is a seemingly insignificant character in the Purim story. He is one of the king’s attendants who appears at the beginning with those who convey the kings fateful summons to Vashti and then again at Haman’s demise. It is here, in this second mention, that he delivers his single
Our Fruit Tree and Vegetable Kingdom Role Models: Tu B’Shvat 2021
On Tu B’Shvat we celebrate our generous and magnificent fruit trees that selflessly nourish the world for no other reason than that it’s what they are designed to do.
The Chinukh of Chanukka
Chanukka 5781 / 2020
This holiday is called Chanukka because it is training (chinukh) and practice for the future redemption. How so?
Chai Elul: A Rosh HaShana Teaching for the Baal Shem Tov’s Birthday
Rosh Hashana (humanity’s birthday) is actually a very strange Yom Tov given the debate between Hillel and Shamai about whether it is better to be born…or not.
The Key to Sorting Truth From Lie
The chink that precipitated our Tisha B’Av fiasco was a defect in our ability to distinguish truth from falsehood; a flaw in our listening skills.
The Reward of a Mitzvah
The Zohar is teaching that HaShem (so to speak) looked into Him/Her/Itself and articulated a will for a creation that would revel in the glory of G-d.
The Seder as a Meditation on MATZAH
As we evolve and enlighten in the course of the evening we project a whole string of meanings and transformations onto that matzah.
Pesach Through the Years
Pesach Through the Years Pesach teachings over the years (2003-present.)
Transcript of Talk on Corona and the Incense Offering
A magefa is a tsunami of virulence that sweeps through the city or country or in this case, the planet, and does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked.
Turning Noga into Chashmal
Chashmal thus becomes the codeword for embracing paradox by skirting back and forth between opposing perspectives and admitting the truth that’s present in each.
Purim Through the Years
Purim Through the Years Purim Teachings Through the Years (1988 – Present).
A Short Tribute to Etrog for Tu B’Shvat
The word for etrog (אתרוג) relates to the Hebrew root, רגג, which means, “to long and desire”; etrog corresponds to to the heart area, the center of conscious emotion and desire.
Tu B’Shvat through the years
Tu B’Shvat Through the Years Tu B’Shvat teachings over the years (2007-present).
Chanukka: Harbinger of Messianic Gender Shifts to Come
Chanukka references toward the future, R. Luria associates them with Mashiach ben David, when “the woman of valor becomes the crown to her husband.”
Chanukka through the years
Just as eyes are windows to the soul, so the Chanukka lights are windows into the soul of the chag.
Masters of Judgement
Rosh Hashana marks the conception and Pesach marks the birth of Knesset Yisrael, the Mystical Body of Israel, born on the other side of the parted sea.
Black Fire on White Fire: Torah of Atzilut
This Torah of Atzilut was what Adam would have received had he not opted for duality, and what we received at Sinai, but forfeited when we too betrayed its calling.
Fifteen Stages of the Pesach Seder
The Fifteen Stages That Form the Backbone of Our Pesach Ritual and trace the soul’s journey from conception, birth, childhood, maturity and, finally, enlightenment.
Keter – Malchut
The feminine’s teshuva journey is thus the polar opposite of her male counterpart. Whereas the masculine strives for ego-transcendence, the feminine cultivates holy selfhood.
ZOT CHANUKKA: A TRIBUTE TO THE SHEKHINA
The kabbalists read into Chanukka’s eight days, a journey of progressive tikun down through the sefirot from Binah to Malchut, beginning and ending on a feminine note.
Shame is Nothing to Be Ashamed About
Divine perfection, in order for it to be infinite, must include the possibility of perfecting… it’s a paradox.
The Shame Behind Causeless Hatred
Baseless Hatred is what caused our exile, and yet for two thousand years we haven’t managed to fix it. Why?
Converts: Unsung Heroes of the Oral Torah
Shavuot 5778 / 2018
“And you shall know the soul of a convert, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Symbolic Resonance Permeates the Seder
Pesach 5778 / 2018 We start the seder by pronouncing the fifteen steps that comprise the ritual which marks the birthday of our peoplehood.
From Eden to Purim: Simcha shel Mitzvah
Purim 2018 / 5778 To succeed in our mission we must become connoisseurs of pleasure. That was our failing, and it remains our front of tikun.
All the Creatures Pray for a Fruitful Harvest
Tu B’Shvat 2018. All the trees of the field did not yet exist on the earth, and all the wild plants had not yet sprouted… for there was no human to work the ground.
A Still Small Voice Moves Mountains
by Suri Tyler, Jerusalem 1992
Jerusalem Post Weekend Magazine
July 31, 1992
A Chanukka Meditation from the Zohar
Those who seize this occasion to meditate on the Chanukka lamps will be changed by it, says the Zohar.
The Akeida: A Hero’s Journey
Rosh HaShana 5778 / 2017 Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Gellman’s exploration of the Mei HaShiloach’s teachings on the Akeida that appears in his book “The Fear, the Trembling, and the Fire.”
When the People are Ready the Obstacles Dissolve
Tisha B’av 2017.
Enemies are the primary obstacle to quality of life. If they would just disappear, we could finally focus on our soul work instead of getting sidetracked by the need for self-defense. But it’s not so simple.
Blessed Be the Makom…Blessed Be the Giver of Torah…
Pesach 5777 / 2017 HaMakom refers to the womblike vacuum produced by the cosmic tsimtsum that hosts the unfolding of creation from Bereshit till the end of time.
When the Body Gives Light to the Soul
Purim, 5777 / 2017 R. Tsadok HaKohen broadens the definition of Oral Torah and it’s not at all surprising that Esther was our trailblazer.
The Two Trees at Eden’s Center
Tu B’Shvat 2017. On New Year’s Day of Fruit Trees we celebrate the two trees that changed the course of history: The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge.
The Menorah: Secret of Ruach HaKodesh
Chanukka 2016 / 5777 The menorah symbolizes the Oral Torah—the light that we shine back to HaShem.
The Transmutation of Shame though Teshuva
Rosh HaShana 2016 / 5777 There are three categories of tikunim, and every person has some portion of each on their cosmic to-do list.
The Torah of Atzilut: The Torah of Souls
Shavuot 2016 /5776 At Sinai we got the Torah of Atzilut—the Torah of Unanimity, a searing revelation of presence.
A Short Discourse on Freedom
Pesach 2016 /5776 The reward phase of history called the world-to-come is characterized by unfettered freedom.
Topsy-Turvy Gluon Dance: Purim 2016 /5776
Relationship is a dynamic endeavor for it combines two contradictory poles—merging and differentiating—that are both essential to its survival.
“These Lights are Holy…”: An Instruction for Meditation
Chanukka 2015 / 5776 Our simple affirmation now becomes a deep teaching about the practice (and powers) of meditation.
“A Single, Unified Alliance…”
Rosh HaShana 2015 / 5776 The messianic era is a planetary happening. We cannot enjoy our redemption unless we bring the world along.
“HOW MANY FACES HAS THE HOLY ONE…”
Shavuot 5775 / 2015 Elokim is more a pathway than an entity. It meets us where we are but it also reels us in.
Elijah the Peacemaker
Pesach 2015 / 5775 Who is Elijah? What does he have to do with the seder? Why do we recite verses of vengeance when he arrives?
Masters of the Saf: Purim 2015 / 5775
The only thing that will make us happy is to finally become whole, which cannot happen without facing our shadow and processing its unseemly content.
Hillel and Shammai’s Dispute about the Fruit Tree’s New Year
The first of Shevat is the New Year for trees, says the School of Shammai. Beth Hillel disputes this and rules that it falls on the fifteenth of the month.
“…Until there are no stragglers in the marketplace.”
When is the time for lighting Chanukka candles? The earliest time is sunset but one can still fulfill the mitzvah until pedestrians disappear from the street.
Sisera’s Mother Sets the Tone for our Rosh HaShana Shofar
Rosh HaShana, 5775 / 2014
The essential obligation of Rosh HaShana is not to pray all day, or to have a big family meal, but rather, simply, to hear the shofar.
Like it Or Not, We Are In This Together
Shavuot 2014 / 5774 One could depict the whole course of history as the process by which Israel assimilates its Torah into the heart, bones, cells and the spaces of its being.
Plagues by Land…Plagues by Sea
Pesach 2014 / 5774 How deep did the lessons of the plagues absorb into the nerve net of the Egyptians and bring tikun there?
Remember Amalek…Don’t Forget
PurimBurst 2014 Who is this Amalek that three of our 613 mitzvot revolve around him? How do we “remember to eliminate the memory” while also never forgetting it?
A Tribute to Wheat for Tu B’Shvat
It is customary to eat fruits in celebration of Tu B’Shvat, and to admire each fruit and speak its praises before you eat it. A Still Small Voice presents a tribute to wheat.
Chanukka and the Feminine
The deepening union between the Shekhina and HKBH occurs in a very different way on Chanukka than on any other day of the year.
Sweetening the Dinim: Rosh HaShanna
Rosh HaShana 2013. Our Rosh Hashana avoda—its soul-searching, lengthy prayers, and special mitzvot—is all directed toward one mysterious aim called “sweetening the dinim”.
Master of Prayer: Tisha b’Av 2013
During the three weeks our obligation is to decrease simcha. We focus on what is missing, bewail those lacks, and downgrade our devekut. That is what it means to mourn.
Tsafun—Afikoman
Pesach 5773 / 2013 The 12th step in our seder, Tsafun, marks the time for “dessert” which, at the seder, means our last portion of matzah, called the Afikoman.
A Tribute to Wine for Tu B’Shvat 2013 / 5773
The path that grapes traverse in their odyssey of becoming wine parallels our cosmic journey of expanding consciousness.
Hillel says to move toward many; Shammai says to move toward one
Hillel says to start with one candle and add another each day until there’s eight; Shammai says to start with eight and remove one each day until we’re left with one.
I-Centers: A Circle of Ways to See the World
TISHA B’AV 5772 / 2012 By searching out the sliver of truth in contrary perspectives we acquire daat (the joiner of polarities) and build the Temple in our day.
Shavuot (Inspired by Meor v’Shemesh)
Jacob’s ladder reaches up through the worlds to the inwardness of G-d called the Infinite Light.
Lavan the Aramean
Lavan becomes the prototype of the irrational component of anti-semitism, the Jew-hatred that pops up for no good reason.
Esther, the Mistress of Prayer
Not all supplications are the same. Some are mighty and pierce to the core, while others reach only the lower heavens and get processed there.
Tu B’Shvat, 5772 / 2012 by Sarah Yehudit Schneider
At a Tu b’Shvat seder How do you decide which fruit to make the focus of your brocha, for only one out of all gets the privilege?
The different terms for love
The different terms for love and how they organize into a series of milestones that mark out a spiritual path.
On Chanukka Everyone’s a High Priest
When the High Priest lit the menorah his intention was actually a prayer, that the lights now kindled should impart to the people an even deeper understanding of what it means that G-d is one.
The Inner Search for Pure Oil
Our world view, our sense of truth, our vision of perfection, our vision of what’s possible… all this is tainted by our long years of exile and association with foreign cultures.
Three Levels of Prayer: Rosh HaShana
Eliyahu Dessler teaches that there are three levels of prayer, which can be reformulated as three ways to approach Rosh Hashanna.
Tisha B’Av 5771 / 2011
How do we hope for mashiach with certain faith that he REALLY could materialize at any moment and yet also find a way to embrace our present moment with unconditional acceptance.
Shavuot 2011 / 5771
Every person and creature is hooked up to one or another of these 600,000 spiritual dynasties who received the Torah at Sinai.
Tikkun of Speech: Pesach 2011
On Pesach, our bodies were released from slavery and we literally exited the country, but a more fundamental deliverance unfolded beneath the surface.
Amalek is a Branch of Our Family Tree
A synchronicity of courage, grace and circumstance converge to produce a hero who turns his or her soul-wound into a mission of helping others and changing the world for good.
Tu B’Shvat 5771 / 2011
The Tree of Life has as many fruits as there are creatures (and moments) in the world. The Shekhina is its gardener and she daily plucks its ripened yield.
Cheshvan 2010: Turning Stumbling into Dancing
Slowly, day by day, as we move through life, we become more whole, for we are constantly absorbing new lights that were really just estranged pieces of ourselves all along.
What Exactly IS This “Book of Life”
The primary striving of the New Year’s prayers is to be inscribed in the Book of Life. While most interpret this as a plea for health and longevity, this is probably not the Talmud’s prime intent.
Managing Dispute: Tisha B’Av 2010
If it is true that causeless hatred prompted the Temple’s demise and only its opposite can save us…then we have got to find another way to disagree among ourselves.
Shavuot, 5770 (2010) Based on Sod Yesharim (Radziner Rebbe)
Every Jewish soul carries a memory trace of that Sinaic encounter. Somewhere, deep down, our soul remembers that earth-shaking event and the obligations it undertook at the mountain’s base.
Inviting Our Inner Stranger
Pesach Teaching 2010 / 5770. This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. All who are hungry, let them come and eat.
The Obligation (on Purim) of Inebriation
PurimBurst 2010 / 5770.
One is obligated to drink on Purim until you don’t know the difference between cursing Haman and blessing Mordekhai.
Tu B’Shvat: The New Year for Fruit Trees
Tu B’Shvat is the New Year’s day for fruit trees but it is important to note that this is not their day of judgment—that occurs months later on the holiday of Shavuot.
The 17th of Cheshvan: When the Great Flood Began
HaShem was hoping to bring down the Torah in Noach’s generation. All the pieces were there, including the soul of Moshe Rabbenu.
THE THREE LEVELS OF TESHUVA
Rosh HaShana 5770/2009: There are three levels of teshuva. Each of them is real, but their sticking power varies.
The Evolving Feminine: An Enlightened View from Kabbala
The Ari’s “The Seven Stages of Feminine Development” describes a stepwise path of growth that moves from diminishment toward fullness of stature which he presents as the universal pattern of feminine development.
The Messianic Vision of Equality and Beyond
The Voice of the Bride
by Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi,
Presented and Elucidated by Sarah Yehudit Schneider
The Underside Of Creative Expression
G‑d’s creation of reality becomes the prototype of all creative expression. Every similar endeavor must follow its precedent, step by step, detail by detail.
Studying Prayerfully
Perhaps no other woman had such a profound, direct and acknowledged impact on Jewish practice. It’s not just prayer in general that we learn from Chana… it is our Amida, the very essence of Jewish prayer.
Textual Study As Meditation
Textual study as meditation enables the mind to access the intense revelation of light and consciousness that happened at Sinai.
Miryam’s Circle Dance
A glorious vision of the things that will change when woman recovers her full stature and feminine consciousness, now matured, exerts greater influence on the world.
Evolutionary Creationism
Evolutionary Creationism Torah Solves the Problem of Missing Links by Sarah Yehudit Schneider This essay can also be viewed in adobe pdf format. The expanded version of this study is available for purchase in book form: Evolutionary Creationism: Kabbala Solves the Riddle of Missing Links The Original Version 1 TORAH,
Evolution, Form and Consciousness
Torah and science provide compatible—even complementary—descriptions of the origin and unfolding of life.
Tisha B’Av 5769 / 2009
In the month of Av, says Sefer Yetzira, the sense of listening is up for tikun. Our test is to not get hypnotized by voices that claim authority but do not embody Torat Emet.
Shavuot 2009 / 5769
Shavuot, the anniversary of the Torah’s revelation, is called the marriage ceremony between the Jewish people and HaShem.
The Inevitable Fall From Grace: Pesach 2009
The sedar is a ritual meditation—a symbolic reenactment of our journey from exile to redemption. The whole point of a ritual is to bring light, fixing and healing into the deepest layers of the soul.
The Power of a Good Eye
PurimBurst 2009. Esther inspired affection in the eyes of all who saw her… (Megillat Esther 2:15). What was the secret of Esther’s extraordinary (even supernatural) grace?
A Short Torah on Eating, 5769 / 2009
Every bit of food has a spark of consciousness that we absorb from eating it.
Chanukka, Greece and Democracy
There is no person or nation that does not have at least a miniscule sliver of holiness. Otherwise it could not exist.
On Rosh HaShana Our Sparks Get Distributed
Our mission is to collect all the sparks connected to our soul. But not all sparks are alike. Some are a pleasure to gather, while others take blood, sweat, and a lot of tears.
Tisha B’Av 5768 / 2008
The spies understood that crossing into the holy land would initiate a new era—now they were princes, but across the border, in the new world, they’d become obsolete.
Shavuot 2008 / 5768
The Torah’s revelation was the most profound manifestation of God that has ever transpired on the planet. Its impact continues to impel their generations to be seekers and servants of God and is certain to do so until the end of time.
Matzah: Bread of Humility
The Ari declares that “on sedar night a conception occurred, and seven days later was the birth.” Yet what is this Kenesset Yisrael that was “conceived” on sedar night and born at the sea?
If Your Enemy is Hungry Give Him Bread
“Let the king and Haman come this day to the wine banquet that I have prepared for him.”
The Shofar’s Power to Awaken Teshuva
One practice to prepare for Rosh HaShana is to create a prayer-vision of the best that could possibly unfold for this new year. Of course this is what we want…or is it?
Slavery, Redemption and Matzah
Thoughts on Slavery, Redemption and Matzah;
Based on teachings by the Freidiker Rebbe of Chabad
The Book of Esther is a Map of Feminine Development
Based on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria as presented in Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine.
Tu B’Shvat, 5767 / 2007
Although bringing tikun to eating is a practice and awareness that we should bring to every meal, the Tu B’Shvat meal is an especially propitious opportunity to do this work.
The Special Responsibility of Leaders in Rosh HaShana
These forty days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur are called days of grace and correspond to the forty days that Moshe spent with HaShem receiving the second Tablets.
Anger Drives the Plot
Every moment is a story, and every story has a motor that propels its forward motion. In the Book of Esther, rage drives each stage of the plot.
The Removal of Chametz
Everyone knows that on Pesach, the removal of all chametz (leavened grains) from our household mirrors the removal of inflated ego states from our personalities.
A Time for Silence, A Time for Speech
Since the genocidal decree would not take effect for close to a year, it did not justify a life-threatening exploit. Yet Mordekhai insisted that Esther go now, unbidden.
Prayer Visioning: Rosh Hashana 5765/2004
Everyone knows that this pre Rosh HaShana period is a time for intensive soul searching. It’s important to seize the moment, for on Rosh Hashana we receive our allocation of spiritual resources for the coming year.
“Pesach is the Conception”
On Pesach eve, the soul of Israel made contact with its body, i.e., the 600,000 families then under Moses’ charge. The Mystical Body of Israel was conceived on seder night.
I Am the First, I Am the Last
The Book of Esther is an historical narrative, that occurred between the years 367 – 357 BCE. Yet there are moments in time that are nearly transparent.
The Secret of Eating at the Seder
Rabbi Tsadok HaKohen says that humanity’s first sin was not Adam and Eve’s eating of forbidden fruit, but rather the way they ate it.
Torah of Souls
PurimBurst 2003. Then the King conferred with His sages, experts in reading the times, for such was the King’s practice, to consult with the masters of law and judgment…
Mesirut Nefesh and Oral Torah
Mordekhai replied, “If you persist in keeping silent at this time relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from some other place while you and your father’s house will perish.”
How to Identify the Crown Princess
PurimBurst 2001 / 5761. And the king loved Esther more than all the other women… so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen…
The Cosmic Seven Millenia Wine Party
PurimBurst 2000/5760. And it was in the days of Achashverosh… when the king sought to display the richness of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty, that he hosted a seven day long wine party.…
Knowing that You Don’t Know
PurimBurst 1999/5659. A burning issue is how to uncompromisingly devote oneself to truth, and yet share space with those who adamantly assert a conflicting truth, and even a false one.
Manna and Haman
Each life’s journey is filled with crossroads that rarely have signs to mark G‑d’s way. Each person must find the G‑d–serving truth that applies to this unique circumstance and this moment in time.
Haman as Archetype of Narcissism
PurimBurst 1997 / 5757 In our generation the war with Amalek is an inner war, and Haman’s is the voice of our narcissism.
Amalek At The Crossroads
PurimBurst 1996/5756. Whenever Israel is about to access a new revelation of Torah, Amalek comes to sabotage the event. His murderous intentions always terrify, and always backfire.
The Service of Purim IS Lots
Why is this holiday called Purim? Why is it called after the lots cast by Haman to determine how best to kill the Jews.
The Blessings and the Curse
There is a real place that exists right now, on an inner plane, in the mind’s eye of the Creator, where Israel is a righteous nation, and every Jew a perfect tsadik.
Haman and the Tree of Knowledge
Every “thing” and moment, both ancient and modern, has its source in the Torah. The sages ask, “What is Haman’s root in Scripture?”
What Went Wrong With Haman’s Lots
PurimBurst 1992. Lots (purim) are our primary means of accessing pure Divine influence, of evoking guidance untainted by personal attachments and preconceptions.
The Megilla of You and Me
PurimBurst 1991. The miracle of Purim is different. HaShem revealed that nature itself is nothing but an instrument for His conscious and compelling desire to bestow good.
The Power of Vision
PurimBurst 1989. The question of WHAT TO BE ON PURIM is not just for children! It is the secret of conscious determination–the power of vision to define reality.
A Nation of Tsadikim
PurimBurst 1988. “Mordechai left the King’s presence clad in royal apparel . . . and the city of Shushan was cheerful and glad.”