Parsha Vayera
THIS WEEK Righteous and Just Vayera – Torah : Genesis 18:1-22:24| Prophets : 2 Kings 4:1-37| Gospel : Luke 17:28-37 Identifying a single incident – or statement – that, in retrospect, changed the entire course of history, is one of the most exhilarating discoveries. We have one such verse in this week’s Torah portion: For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep G-d’s way, to do righteousness and justice (Genesis 18:19). Indeed, therein lays the secret of Abraham’s eternal success. As the sequence of the verses suggests: The...
Read MoreElul – Day 16
FACING YOURSELF The Baal Shem Tov taught that everything we see, whether good or bad, is really a reflection of ourselves. If it was not, we’d simply not see it. This phenomenon is part of a merciful way that G-d has of teaching us lessons in life. Most of us have a difficult time hearing from others that we have a flaw which we ourselves don’t recognize. Therefore, G-d sets us up to have a confrontation with a person who exhibits that same flaw in some form. We see it and we say “how terrible.” But then it dawns on us that we exhibit the same behavior, though perhaps...
Read MoreYour Journey Matters
Everything you do in life matters….even the mundane. Maybe, the mundane is even more important! Here is the last daily word of Rabbi Jacobson, an orthodox Rabbi that truly touched my heart this morning. Perhaps we could learn more about how to live life in a godly way from those who have kept the oracles of the great One far longer than we have known about them. EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS Once upon a time, the Baal Shem Tov sent a group of his students on an important mission to help a needy couple in another town. When they returned, he was not so interested in hearing about their...
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