Tag: baal shem tov
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.
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.
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
Tisha B’av Video by Sarah Yehudit Schneider, 2023
Explores the metaphoric question of, "Does God cry?"
Tisha B’av Video by Sarah Yehudit Schneider, 2023
Explores the metaphoric question of, "Does God cry?"
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.
Elul and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy
The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, when spoken in a prayer gathering, are always potent to invoke mercy. The question is, How?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“…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.
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.
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.
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.
Holiday Teachings