Tag: kabbala
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.
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.
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.
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">(reprint)</span>
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.
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?
SHADOWS AND LIGHT: CHANUKKA 5783/2022
Chanukka lights bring healing to the corruptions of power that surround our light and lively Chanukka observance.
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.
“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.
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 line:
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Holiday Teachings