Since Chanukka and Purim reference toward the future, R. Luria associates them with Mashiach ben David, and the 7th marriage blessing when “the woman of valor becomes the crown to her husband.” [...]
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.
Tisha B’Av 2018 / 5778 Sarah Yehudit Schneider This year we have an awkward convergence. Tisha B’Av—the day for mourning the woes of our nation—falls on Shabbos—our day of spiritual delight [...]
Shavuot teachings over the years (2008-2016).
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.
You are joyfully invited to The 29th Annual Open-House, DAIRY, Pot-Luck (Dance & Learn) Purim Party for Women at Sarah Yehudit’s house in the Old City. Friday, Shushan Purim, March [...]
Purim 2019 / 5779 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Based on R. YYYY Safrin of Komara’s Commentary on Esther called Ketem Ofier (4:1 – 5:4) Mordecai charges Esther to go before the king, and plead for her [...]
“If the Torah had not been given, we would still have learned modesty from the cat, industriousness from the ant…” and many important instructions-by-example from the plant kingdom. [TB Eruvin [...]
The kabbalists read into Chanukka’s eight days, a journey of progressive tikun down through the sefirot from Binah to Malchut. Curiously, Binah associates with the higher Shekhina called Ima [...]
Purim 2018 / 5778 Sarah Yehudit Schneider The Talmud asks: “Why did the Jews of that generation deserve extermination? Because they derived pleasure [נהנו] from the feast of that wicked one [...]
Tu B’Shvat, 5778 / 2018 Sarah Yehudit Schneider All the trees of the field (שִֹיחַ הַשָּׂדֶה) did not yet exist on the earth, and all the wild plants had not yet sprouted. This was because God [...]
This Chanukka teaching is dedicated to Yaku, daughter of Heltcha: “Thank you for sharing your light with this world. May blessings of love and healing always be with you on your journeys.” …Karin [...]
Purim, 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Based on the teachings of R. Tsadok HaKohen[1] “To the Jews there was light—אורה…” (the feminine form of the word indicating the Oral Torah, as opposed [...]
Tu B’Shvat, 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider God made grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to look at and good to eat, [including] the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden, [...]
Chanukka 2016 / 5777 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Make a menorah out of pure gold. The menorah shall be formed by hammering. Its base, stem, and [decorative] cups, spheres and flowers must be beaten [...]
Rosh HaShana 2016 / 5777 Based on R. Tsadok HaKohen, Tikanat HaShavin 5:10-12, Tsidkat HaTsadik [40] Sarah Yehudit Schneider There are three categories of tikunim, says the Leshem, and every [...]
Shavuot 2016 /5776 Sarah Yehudit Schneider The Torah revealed at Sinai (on Shavuot) is not the one in our study halls today. Those Tablets shattered when Moshe, witnessing the Golden Calf, cast [...]
Pesach 2016 /5776 Sarah Yehudit Schneider “The reward phase of history called the world-to-come is characterized by unfettered freedom. Liberty (דרור) is its hallmark. Freedom emanates [...]
A Model for Ahavat Yisrael Sarah Yehudit Schneider כִּי הָמָן בֶּן-הַמְּדָתָא הָאֲגָגִי צֹרֵר [צורר] כָּל-הַיְּהוּדִים חָשַׁב עַל-הַיְּהוּדִים לְאַבְּדָם וְהִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגּוֹרָל לְהֻמָּם [...]
A spiritual path asks its adherents to walk their talk. Yet that is easier said than done. Most of us are challenged by the obstacle of Strange Fire. Meditation, and in particular the practice [...]
One of the most difficult and subtle challenges of a spiritual path is the matter of “strange fire” which we’ll define as: “taking pleasure from something that violates one’s own [...]
Rosh HaShana 2015 / 5776 Sarah Yehudit Schneider A true story: A woman brings yards of lacy fabric and the sketch of a wedding gown to a seamstress who has nearly two weeks to finish the job. The [...]
Prayer is called “service of the heart” because it’s challenge (and calling) is to commune with Divinity heart to heart. That happens naturally in spontaneous prayer but with [...]
Textual Study as Meditation alternates study with meditation in a way that dissolves their boundaries and eventually fuses them. It is the best of both worlds.
Our break from work on Shabbat creates an atmosphere of rest that permeates both body and soul. But if we also meditate we harness the principle of resonance to bring the peace of Shabbos into [...]
