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: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.