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Tag: Oral Torah

Sifra, Sefer, Sippur

The Torah, says Sefer Yetzira, is really three in one. There’s the Torah of Bereshit, the Torah of Sinai, and the Torah of souls. Our job, says the Baal Shem Tov, is to unify these three Torot with every word we speak and breath we take.
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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:
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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. That vision and all the myriad ways it could materialize and all the laws that define its parameters…that is the primordial Torah.
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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. This kinetic approach to truth-seeking jiggles the mind open to higher awareness. It is not just a mental exercise, it’s a spiritual practice …and it’s the one that Esther employed to enter the King’s sanctum unawares. Her alternating-chashmal-current jammed the psychic “radar” of the guards blocking her way.
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Black Fire on White Fire–Torah of Atzilut

This Torah of Atzilut was what Adam would have received had he not opted for duality, preferring Knowledge of Good and Evil over the Tree of Life’s non-dual Knowledge-of-the-Holy-One.  It is also the Torah that we received at Sinai, but forfeited when we too betrayed its calling.
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Converts: Unsung Heroes of the Oral Torah

Shavuot 5778 / 2018 Sarah Yehudit Schneider “And you shall know the soul
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From Eden to Purim: Simcha shel Mitzvah

Purim 2018 / 5778 Sarah Yehudit Schneider The Talmud asks: “Why did the
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Turning Wisdom into Oral Torah

Shavuot 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider If it’s truth then it’s also Torah.
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When the Body Gives Light to the Soul

Purim, 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Based on the teachings of R.
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The Menorah: Secret of Ruach HaKodesh

Chanukka 2016 / 5777 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Make a menorah out of pure gold. The
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On Chanukka Everyone’s a High Priest

A Chanukha Teaching–2011 Based on R. Tsadok Hakohen, Pri Tsadik – Chanuka #1
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