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.
Post October 7th, One Nation: Diverse Yet Indivisible
It’s going to take a conscious commitment to preserve the precious upsurge of national unity that has been our strength for these difficult months.
Post October 7th: Zohar on the “Three Cries” as a Model of Trauma
There are a million ways to make space for new light. But sometimes the light coming through is just bigger than who we are in the present. The Zohar characterizes that tribulation as a serpent shedding its skin.
Post October 7th: Anger Drives the Plot
Survival has required us to perfect the capacity to transform the intensely concentrated lights that scatter like shrapnel from anger’s discharge; to digest these pellets, extract their nutrients, and convert their death-wish into life juice.
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 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.
Masters of the Saf: Purim 2015 / 5775
The only thing that will make us happy is to finally become whole, which cannot happen without facing our shadow and processing its unseemly content.
The Power of a Good Eye
PurimBurst 2009. Esther inspired affection in the eyes of all who saw her… (Megillat Esther 2:15). What was the secret of Esther’s extraordinary (even supernatural) grace?
The Book of Esther is a Map of Feminine Development
Based on the teachings of R. Isaac Luria as presented in Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine.
Anger Drives the Plot
Every moment is a story, and every story has a motor that propels its forward motion. In the Book of Esther, rage drives each stage of the plot.
A Time for Silence, A Time for Speech
Since the genocidal decree would not take effect for close to a year, it did not justify a life-threatening exploit. Yet Mordekhai insisted that Esther go now, unbidden.
I Am the First, I Am the Last
The Book of Esther is an historical narrative, that occurred between the years 367 – 357 BCE. Yet there are moments in time that are nearly transparent.
Torah of Souls
PurimBurst 2003. Then the King conferred with His sages, experts in reading the times, for such was the King’s practice, to consult with the masters of law and judgment…
Mesirut Nefesh and Oral Torah
Mordekhai replied, “If you persist in keeping silent at this time relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from some other place while you and your father’s house will perish.”
How to Identify the Crown Princess
PurimBurst 2001 / 5761. And the king loved Esther more than all the other women… so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen…
The Cosmic Seven Millenia Wine Party
PurimBurst 2000/5760. And it was in the days of Achashverosh… when the king sought to display the richness of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty, that he hosted a seven day long wine party.…
Knowing that You Don’t Know
PurimBurst 1999/5659. A burning issue is how to uncompromisingly devote oneself to truth, and yet share space with those who adamantly assert a conflicting truth, and even a false one.
Manna and Haman
Each life’s journey is filled with crossroads that rarely have signs to mark G‑d’s way. Each person must find the G‑d–serving truth that applies to this unique circumstance and this moment in time.
Haman as Archetype of Narcissism
PurimBurst 1997 / 5757 In our generation the war with Amalek is an inner war, and Haman’s is the voice of our narcissism.
Amalek At The Crossroads
PurimBurst 1996/5756. Whenever Israel is about to access a new revelation of Torah, Amalek comes to sabotage the event. His murderous intentions always terrify, and always backfire.
The Service of Purim IS Lots
Why is this holiday called Purim? Why is it called after the lots cast by Haman to determine how best to kill the Jews.