Holiday Teachings Video Series
Hanukkah teaches us how to survive exile and how to accomplish the purpose of it. And that brings us to the paradox of “isolation and integration,” a Hanukka Dilemma.
On Tisha B’Av we mourn the loss of our House of Holy Presence (aka Bet HaMikdash), the heart of our people, that turns us from a throng into a higher order unity called Kenesset Yisrael, a synonymous term for Shekhina. Without our holy hub it is hard to contain the ricochet of our clashing extremes that produce the causeless hatred that prevents our inner peace. But what is it, really, that we are missing? It is probably not what most assume.
PDF Document of script and sources for this Illustrated Video Teaching: TishaBAv_video.script.pdf
Sarah Yehudit’s Tisha B’Av teaching from 2020.
…Theoretically, one could become so enlightened that they transcend mourning altogether. They are so fixated on the goodness of Hashem that they no longer feel the pain of loss. Yet the Talmud says No! As long as we have skin-bodies (instead of light-bodies) there is a place inside us—a layer of soul—that suffers from lack, loss, oppression, and disappointment. And if we don’t feel that ache, it is because our head has lost touch with our heart.
Sarah Yehudit’s Tisha B’Av teaching from 2021.
The Hidden Culprit Behind Causeless Hatred…A Tisha B’Av teaching by Sarah Yehudit Schneider (2021) that explores the role of shame as the hidden provocateur of Causeless Hatred.
Sarah Yehudit’s Rosh HaShana teaching from 2020.
…You might be surprised to learn that not only is Rosh Hashanna the Day of Judgment (יום הדין), and the Day of Remembrance (יום הזכרון), but it is also, according to the Ari, the day of nesira (נסירה), which means literally, surgical uncoupling.
Sarah Yehudit’s Yom Kippur Teaching from 2021/5782
The Sod Yesharim suggests a very powerful practice to get the most out of our highest of holy days, Yom Kippur. (Sod Yesharim is the third Rebbe in the Ishbitz line of chassidut. He wrote in the mid/late 1800’s).