Holidays- SoulWords: Recent Episodes
Rabbi Shais Taub
Rabbi Shais Taub has delivered Torah lectures and classes to audiences on six continents. He writes a popular weekly column in Ami Magazine and is the author of the bestselling book, G-d of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addiction as well as several groundbreaking works on Tanya including: the Tanya Map teaching tool, the Soul Maps curriculum, and the audio series Mapping the Tanya. He currently serves as scholar-in-residence at Chabad of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst, NY. His lectures and classes may be found on SoulWords.org.
The Jewish people never managed to leave Egypt; they had to be removed by Hashem. From the story of the Exodus we can learn what it means to be stuck in a situation from which we cannot extricate ourselves and how to allow Hashem to do for us what we cannot.
The Four Cups Haggadah is a new Passover Haggadah full of spiritual insights for those in recovery. Rabbi Shais Taub, author of the Jewish recovery classic "G-d of Our Understanding" speaks with Rabbi Nechemia Schusterman about the background behind this new resource for the recovery community. #recovery#twelvesteps For more information or to order the Four […]
R' Tzadok HaKohen in his Resisei Layla describes the mystical meaning of the holiday of Chanukah. In this class, we learn sections of chapter 57 which explain why the story of Chanukah was never recorded as a book of the Jewish Bible but instead is a story that is told by the flames of the […]
The Bnei Yisaschar explains how the 36 lights of the eight nights of Chanukah help us get ready for the revelation of spiritual light that will take place when Moshiach comes.
What’s the difference whether we view Judaism as our cultural heritage or we view Judaism as G-d’s program for us how to live? A Midrash says that in the merit that Avraham told his guests, "recline yourselves under the tree," his descendants were given the mitzvah of sukkah. We know that shade from a tree […]
A pre-Yom Kippur talk on the necessity of rising above toxic shame and embracing teshuvah with joy.
Is your relationship with Hashem business or personal? As we head into the Shmita year it is important for each one of us to answer this question. Rabbi Shais Taub explains why.
The Babylonian Talmud says that the walls of Jerusalem were broken by the Babylonians on 9 Tammuz while the Jerusalem Talmud says it happened on 17 Tammuz. How do we reconcile these two accounts? What is the "Butterfly Effect" or the "Alternate Timeline Theory"? Is there a concept in Torah that historical events have the […]
All Jewish holidays represent different aspects of the Jewish people's relationship with G-d while Shavuos represents the relationship itself. Why is Shavuos also called "Atzeres" which means "holding back"? Why are there no special mitzvos associated with Shavuos? Why are Pesach and Sukkos seven days while Shavuos is only one day? These questions are answered […]
Rabbi Taub leads a farbrengen in honor of Lag B'Omer at the Baal Shem Tov Library in Flatbush.
Lag B'Omer is the day of passing of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, author of the holy Zohar. As such, the day is fundamentally connected to the dissemination of the secrets of the Torah. Lag B'Omer is also "hod sheb'hod." What is the connection between the attribute of hod and the revelation of the inner dimension […]
This musical Lag B'Omer gathering with Rabbi Shais Taub and singer Eli Marcus took place in Morristown, NJ at the Rabbinical College of America's "Taste of Yeshiva" program for visiting college students. Among the subjects discussed were: the true definition of loving one's fellow and the lessons we can learn from the life of Rabbi […]
On the night when the Jewish people left Eygpt they were confined to their homes, as it says (Shemos 12:22) "No one shall leave the entrance of his house until morning." We can learn from this several important lessons applicable to current events.
Is Jewish identity collectivist or individualist? Are there no Jews without the Jewish people or no Jewish people without Jews? The first mitzvah performed by the Jewish people, the korban Pesach, holds the answer.
How are we to understand the Torah prohibition against the Jewish people returning to Egypt when many great Jews throughout the ages including the Rambam lived in Egypt? We offer several explanations according to halacha as well as the explanation of the Ari Zal according to kabbalah. What is the lesson for us?
Matzah can only be made with dough that is able to become chametz. But why do we have to take such risks when making matzah? The answer to this question will lead us to understand the "high-risk" investment that Hashem has taken by implanting each one of us with an ego.
A deeper reading of the details of the Megillah—particularly those involving Haman's plot against the Jews—reveals an underlying truth about the unbreakable bond between Jews and G-d.
How do we get the strength to go on when we cannot see G-d's plan for us? One of the lessons of the Purim holiday is how to respond when life makes no sense.
In honor of Tu b'Shevat, the New Year for Trees, we examine some of the spiritual lessons that we can learn from trees in general and the five species of fruits associated with the Land of Israel in specific.
Various spiritual lessons that we can learn from trees, particularly the "seven species" associated with the Land of Israel.
Massive oil-burning street lamps lit up the whole city of Jerusalem at night during the water-drawing celebration. But why were the wicks of these lamps made specifically from the old shorts and belts of the priestly garments? Based on a talk from the Rebbe on Sukkos 5714 we can answer this question by understanding how to joyously […]
Why do we ask G-d on Yom Kippur to forgive us "for the sin we committed with the evil inclination"? Aren't all sins committed with the evil inclination? Chasidus explains that this means the specific sin of not properly channeling the energy of the evil inclination and using it as a force for good. Many […]
Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of Adam, the first human being. On Rosh Hashanah we are thus reminded that one person is an entire world. How do we translate this idea into inspiration and action for the New Year? Based on a Michtav Klali from 5723.