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.
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 second passes that does not leave it enriched by some new insight discovered in that moment somewhere on the planet. The Oral Torah lives and evolves.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.