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.
Rosh HaShana 2013. Our Rosh Hashana avoda—its soul-searching, lengthy prayers, and special mitzvot—is all directed toward one mysterious aim called “sweetening the dinim”.
During the three weeks our obligation is to decrease simcha. We focus on what is missing, bewail those lacks, and downgrade our devekut. That is what it means to mourn.
How do we hope for mashiach with certain faith that he REALLY could materialize at any moment and yet also find a way to embrace our present moment with unconditional acceptance.
In the month of Av, says Sefer Yetzira, the sense of listening is up for tikun. Our test is to not get hypnotized by voices that claim authority but do not embody Torat Emet.
The spies understood that crossing into the holy land would initiate a new era—now they were princes, but across the border, in the new world, they’d become obsolete.
Av is the month that includes the most fateful day in the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av, which is distinguished by its extremely fallen state and yet its extremely great potential.