Revealing. Inspiring. Empowering.: Recent Episodes
Rabbi David Aaron
Join us and listen in as we embark on a journey to rediscover our deepest selves with Rabbi David Aaron. In our first podcast series, we will explore the topic of prayer to debunk our misconceptions and better understand why we pray.
Rabbi David Aaron is a spiritual visionary and master educator who has invested over three decades delving into life’s biggest questions and sharing Torah’s transformational wisdom with searching souls. Rabbi Aaron gently urges us to take a look at the self-defeating and silly notions we carry about ourselves and G-d. His wit and humor will entertain your inner child while his teachings open your mind to perceive a profound, new world.
Rabbi Aaron is the author of eight paradigm-shifting books. His works include Endless Light, Seeing G-d, Love is My Religion, The Secret Life of G-d, Inviting G-d In, Soul Powered Prayers, Living a Joyous Life, and The God Powered Life. A number of books have been translated into Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew.
To learn more, visit Rabbi David Aaron's website: http://www.rabbidavidaaron.com/.
How can G-d be more ‘present’ in the Land of Israel, and specifically in Jerusalem, when really G-d is everywhere? In this class, Rabbi Aaron explains the Jewish view of the purpose of life, and how the building blocks of Jewish life attune us to relationship with our Creator. He also gives a Kabbalistic explanation of that unique feeling that we get when set foot on the Land of Israel.
Through Rav Kook’s exposition of a piece in the Passover Hagadah, Rabbi Aaron explores the differences between the redemption from Egypt and the upcoming Final Redemption. He also touches on the significance of the hurried Exodus, and gives us kabbalistic and personal growth insights into the steps of the Seder.
Using powerful passages from Rav Kook, the Tanya and R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, Rabbi Aaron emphasizes Judaism’s goal of getting in touch with one’s immanent light within and connecting it to the transcendental universal light.
Playing off of unbelievable teachings from the Talmud and Zohar about the times before the coming of the Mashiach (Messiah), Rabbi Aaron opens us up to one of the major mysteries of the Messianic process that is happening right now! How is it that such a spiritual process can look so materialistic and un-spiritual?
Rabbi Aaron shares with us a definition and outline of the structure of the soul. Unique among other creatures, humans have the ability to receive five levels of consciousness, known by Kabbalah as Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida. This class is designed to help you get to know yourself a lot better, and in the process, G-d.
What is Shabbat? What is done on this day of rest? Rabbi Aaron shares his first experiences with celebrating Shabbat and as well its history and other deeper themes to help us to appreciate the amazing gift of Shabbat.
How do we bring harmony between our expectations and reality? How can we find happiness? Why is the goal of Jewish life not happiness?
In this short class, Rabbi Aaron introduces the Kabbalistic metaphor of the Endless Light as the light of unconditional love, and explores why there is chaos in the process of love.
The Soul Meaning of the Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur Prayers [35 mins] by Rabbi David Aaron
Rabbi Aaron looks at the positive power of fear in our lives, and shows us what the true root of happiness is, and how Rosh HaShana and Its' prayers give us the perfect opportunity to tap that root.
Finding Purpose in the Pain How does pain create an opportunity to come closer to Hashem? How can pain be transformed into a blessing? In this class, Rabbi Aaron gives us both intellectual and emotional tools for dealing with both our own and other people’s pain.
From a piece in the chassidic masterpiece ‘Tanya’, Rabbi Aaron explores the difference between bitterness and depression, and explains why the goal on Tisha B’Av is to reach the level of ‘holy bitterness’. This class was recorded live at Isralight’s yearly Tisha B’Av event in the Old City of Jerusalem.
To live a purposeful life, we must fill ourselves with something. The question is: Are we full of things that truly fill us, or are we still feeling empty? What is the path to true fulfillment? What are our real needs? In this short class, Rabbi Aaron answers these and more questions, to help us connect with the purpose in our own lives.
How can G-d be more ‘present’ in the Land of Israel, and specifically in Jerusalem, when really G-d is everywhere? In this class, Rabbi Aaron explains the Jewish view of the purpose of life, and how the building blocks of Jewish life attune us to relationship with our Creator. He also gives a Kabbalistic explanation of that unique feeling that we get when set foot on the Land of Israel.
A Shavout Special: Enjoying Daily Revelations Through Torah [60 mins] by Rabbi David Aaron
The Zohar teaches that the written Torah correlates to the name YHVH, the oral Torah to Elokim…when Israel heard “I is YHVH your Elohecka the study of Torah was established in their hearts. In other words, that they knew from “I is YHVH your Elohecka” the Oral Torah just as it will be in the future “No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives saying, 'Know the LORD.' (Jeremiah 31:33) All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me," declares the LORD.” In the utterance “I is YHVH” is the entire Torah. All the 613 commandments are referred to in the Zohar as 613 pieces of advice how to infuse “I is” into the heart and enlighten it. ~Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin, Pri Zadik 8
Did you ever wonder why the Holiday of Passover is called “Passover”? Rabbi David Aaron explores the spiritual meaning behind the name of this holiday, and finds that the deepest theme is surprisingly, love.
Through Rav Kook’s exposition of a piece in the Passover Hagadah, Rabbi Aaron explores the differences between the redemption from Egypt and the upcoming Final Redemption. He also touches on the significance of the hurried Exodus, and gives us kabbalistic and personal growth insights into the steps of the Seder.
In this rollicking class, Rabbi Aaron covers everything: The meaning of Purim, the mitzvot of Purim (drinking, costumes, food), details of the day, themes of Purim, Purim’s relationship with Yom Kippur and Passover, Haman, and of course, the Oneness of G-d.
Who is God and What Does He Want: A shocking revelation about revelation at Sinai [11:36 mins] by Rabbi David Aaron
Rabbi Aaron gave this class as a live internet video class, and opens with the question: How does one achieve real simcha during Chanukah? He also looks at the two miracles of the festival and the essential difference between the Greek and Jewish worldviews.
HOW TO KNOW GOD
Faith in God is not an expression of reason or feeling, but it is the most basic self-revelation of the soul’s essence, which needs to be directed according to its own disposition. When we do not destroy the path that is natural for it, it needs no other substantive resources to support it. It finds everything within itself. At a time when it's light is dimmed, then reason and feeling come to clear a way for it. But even then it must know its worth, and that its aides--reason and feeling – are not of its essence. And when it will remain fixed in its position, then will reason and feeling succeed in clearing the way and in finding rational and moral means of removing the stumbling blocks from its path. ~ Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Mamorey HaRiya pg. 36-38
The ultimate goal of life is holiness. Holiness is supreme unity, which contains nothing of the weakness of morality. Holiness does not fight against the self-love embedded deep within the soul of every living being, but rather it sets man in such a superior state that the more he loves himself, the more the good with him will spread over all, all around him, over the whole world, all of being. ~ Rabbi A. I Kook
Since the thoughts concerning Hashem in their basic elements are unclear, Hashem is conceived by the multitude and even by individuals who should be their leaders, as of a ruthless power from whom there is no escape and to whom one must necessarily be subservient. No grandeur of Hashem is then manifest in the soul, but only the lowliness of wild imaginings that conjure up a form of some deceptive, vague, angry god that is dissociated from reality. It confuses everyone who believes in it, depresses his spirit, blunts his feelings, inhibits the assertion of his sensibilities, and uproots the divine glory in his soul. ~Rabbi A. I Kook יִסּוּרִים מְמָרְקִים אורות קכד ה
The concept of honoring God engenders courage and timidity. The disposition to honor God's name is a byproduct of human courage and the perception that the highest good is sovereign in the world. These become widespread as the more enlightened knowledge of God, which bears with it the noblest sensibilities of reverence, becomes dominant in the world.
But timid people who, out of fear, are not reflective and do not dare to probe the greatness of the divine conception and of what it means to honor God, find in this conception itself a source of stumbling. The duty to honor God becomes for them a ruthless demand of a being eager for unlimited honors. It degrades their every refined and noble sensibility, and makes of them sad and cruel slaves … hate God deep in their hearts, though they always speak words of love and honor when they mention God's name. "With their mouth and their lips they honor Him, while their heart is remote from Him" (Isa. 29:13). ~ Rabbi A.I Kook מוסר אביך / מדות הראיה / כבוד
The Service of God
The concept of serving God, when it is defined in lowly terms, corresponds to a person’s limited understanding of what he means by God. It is the service of a slave.
It rises in stature to the same extent as his understanding of God will rise.
If a person should reach a state where his moral and intellectual powers have been duly developed, in accordance with his potentialities and the cultural climate of his time, yet his understanding of God remains on a low plain, then there will necessarily emerge into him a fierce opposition to the whole idea of serving God.
The only remedy to overcome this is to elevate his concept of God through deep feeling and comprehensive understanding of ever-increasing scope, at least paralleling his other perceptions of the great and the sublime…
As long as the concept of serving God is defined as a service directed to a particular being dissociated from the acknowledgment of the ideals which are an integral part of the very essence of the service, it will not free itself from the immature outlook which is always focused on particular beings. ..
The mature outlook calls for the formulation of divine ideals, to refine them, to try and strengthen them, and to actualize them in the life of the individual, of the nation and of the world.
….It is indeed well known, according to a deeper understanding of the Torah, even the names of God do not designate the essence of the divine, but rather the divine ideas ideals, …the attributes…..
This ideal concept will always broaden in the spirit and elevate it, while the concept of the slave-like service, which involves service to a particular being, detached from the ideals, …. narrows the spirit and lowers it.
The concept of service to a particular being without the affirmation of ideals which emanate from the divine source is the most primitive concept because it emerges from a childish stage of reasoning, at a time when a person does not yet distinguish between a particular being and it's attributes. All his relationships seem to him, therefore, as directed only to a being in its aspect of particularity [detach from its attributes]. But after a person acquires the mature outlook, he realizes that every being in the world is to be comprehended only on the basis of attributes and one's relationship to them. The concept of serving God, when conceived in this manner, also becomes more exalted. It invests the person with vitalizing energy.
Rav A.I Kook Eder Hayakar pp.145-149 [Translated by BenZion Bokser]
The difference between the slave and the free man is not only one of status, in this case that the first is enslaved to another, whereas the second is not enslaved. We could find an educated slave enjoying boundless freedom as well as the opposite, a free man with the spirit of a slave. The freedom to be unique is that same elevated spirit which uplifts man and the entire people, to be true to his inner self, to the spiritual quality of God’s image within him, and in such a quality he can consider his life as worthy and purposeful. This is not so for one who has the attitude of a slave; the content of his life and feelings never correspond with his own spiritual qualities but only by what is beautiful and good in the other who rules over him in any way at all, whether officially or morally-with what this other sees as beautiful and good.
- Rabbi A. I. Kook, Olat HaRiya
As we begin the Torah again with Genesis, Rabbi Aaron guides us in understanding the creation of man through Rabbi Soloveitchik’s ‘Lonely Man of Faith’. The two accounts of man written in Genesis correspond to tendencies found in humans, called Majestic Man and the Man of Faith. One aspires to harness nature, while the other searches for meaning and redemption. Here, Rabbi Aaron compares and contrasts the two.
Rabbi Aaron first gives us an introduction to this short book that was almost excluded from the Bible canon! Then he discusses the famous phrase “…and there’s nothing new under the sun,” revealing the real secret of how we can distinguish what is really real in life.
Listen as Rabbi David Aaron advises how to allow your most essential self, the spark of the One that's deep inside, out to shine.
Yom Kippur is around the corner. Are you ready? Join Rabbi Aaron to learn what we can possibly do to tip the scales in our favor.
Listen to Rabbi Aaron's "Shofar So Good" Tele-talk from Wednesday, September 28th, 2016 as we prepare together for Rosh Hashanah.
Penitence can happen in a transformative instant or in a slow, gradated process over time. Discover the teachings of Rabbi Kook exploring the differences between these two powers of teshuva and their respective benefits.
Getting ready for the Day of Judgement is daunting; to say the least. Here is the simple yet essential first step to real change. Discover how listening to the Shofar can open the gates of your true self.
Here, based on the writings of Rav Kook, we learn about the two levels of repentance [teshuva]: physical and spiritual. What place do pain and sickness have in the process of natural teshuva? After the natural phase is achieved, what is the next level?
In the introduction to Orot HaTeshuva, Rabbi Kook expresses the pressing need he feels from within his soul to teach about repentance in a language uniquely suited to the spiritual needs of this generation. This talk probes the extraordinary power of change.
The goal of a Torah life is to faithfully portray the divine truth in very practical concrete terms. Its not about believing in G-d but living in G-d and living G-d into our everyday lives.
The love for people must be alive in heart and soul, a love for all people and a love for all nations, expressing itself in a desire for their spiritual and material advancement; hatred may direct itself only toward the evil and the corruption in the world. ~ Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Midot 1:5
Live at Isralight on Tisha B’Av night, Rabbi Aaron explores the significance of the destruction of the two Temples and it's relevance to us today.
The flame of the holy fire of the love of God is always burning in the human heart. It is this that warms the human spirit and illumines life; the delights it yields are endless, there is no measured by which to assess it. And how cruel is man toward himself that he allows himself to be sunk in the dark abyss of life, troubles himself with petty considerations, while he erases from his mind this that spells true life, that is the basis for all that gives meaning to life. It is for this reason that he does not share in it, and walks in this world bound by the heavy burden of his material existence, without light to illumine his way. But all this is contrary to the nature of life. Indeed it is contrary to the nature of all existence. ~ Rabbi A. I. Kook Midot HaRaya 1:3
One cannot but love God, and this sweet and imperative love most engender as a practical consequence an active love for everything in which we perceive the light of God. One cannot but love the Torah and the Commandments, which are so intimately linked to the goodness of God. ~ Rabbi A.I Kook Midot 1.3 Love
The love for all creation comes first, then comes the love for all of mankind, and then follows the love for the Jewish people, in which all other loves are included, since it is the destiny of the Jews to serve toward the perfection of all things. All these loves are to be expressed in practical action, by pursuing the welfare of those we are bidden to love, and to seek their advancement. But the highest of all loves is the love of God, which is love in its fullest maturing. This love is not intended for any derivative ends; when it fills the human heart, this itself spells man's greatest happiness. Rabbi A. I. Kook, Midot HaRiya
All the worlds are embodied in the soul and the deeper we delve toward inner knowledge of the contents of the soul, the more we understand the All, and the source of the world and the original light of all life becomes ever clearer. The world's manifestation ever grows within the soul’s inwardness itself, until the light of God shines upon man, so great is his introspection into his own soul. ~Arpleye Tohar, Rav A.I. Kook
כל העולמות מתגלים בתוך הנשמה. וכל מה שמעמיקים בידיעה הפנימית של תוכני הנשמה, מתגדלת הידיעה על הכל. ונשמת העולם, ואור המקורי של חיי כל, מתגלה ביותר, כל מה שהגילוי העולמי מתרחב הוא בתוכיות הנשמה עצמה, עד שאור ד' מאיר על האדם לפי רוב הסתכלותו בנשמתו. ~ערפלי טוהר / עמוד עד
“In all your ways acknowledge Him [and He will straighten your paths]” (Proverbs 3:6), this is explained in [Midrash] Shocher Tov (Psalm 144), that a person should acknowledge that in his every move he is not the actor at all, but only the Holy One Blessed be He. ~Rabbi Zadok ha-Kohen Rabinowitz of Lublin, Tzidkat HaTzadick 179
I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that you may live, you and you seed; To love the Lord your G-d, hearken to His voice and bond to Him because He ‘is’ your life ~ Deut 30:19-20
When you arouse your will towards Torah and Mitzvot, this will is no longer yours, it is now G-d’s will that is within you. ~ Rabbi Kalman K. Shapiro, The Student’s Obligation Pg. 105
The purpose and the main point of everything and all that is intended in the entire Torah and 613 mitzvot is to bond through them to the living G-d, and realize the first statement that we heard from the Almighty: “I am the Lord your G-d!” And it is said (Deut. 4) “and you are bonded with the Lord”—[in other words] all have a connection to this bond because [as it is stated] “a part of G-d is His people.” This is a source of constant joy….this is a happiness that has no sadness and nothing can interfere or restrain this happiness—that he has merited to be a part of the living G-d. And even if he has sunk to a low place and his sins immeasurably numerous, still, the connection of his root has not been cut off from its source, this is impossible ….as it says לא ידח ממנו נדח . But God does not take away life; instead, He devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him. (Samuel 2--14:14). ~ Rabbi Zadok ha-Kohen Rabinowitz of Lublin, Resisay lyla 53
When we forget the essence of our soul itself, when we are distracted from introspection, from the content of inner life, everything becomes confused and doubtful. The beginning of repentance which immediately illumines the darkness is that a person return to himself, the root of his soul, and he will at once return to G-d, to the soul of all souls. This is true for the individual, the entire nation, for all of humanity, for the perfection of existence as a whole; its ruin always comes when it forgets itself. And if the person says s/he wants to come back to God but is not prepared to gather in its own dispersed [powers] then this is a false teshuva and s/he is using G-d’s name in vain. ----Rabbi A.I Kook, Orot HaTeshuva Ch. 15:10
I must find my happiness within myself; not from social acceptance, not from my career nor anything else. The more I will know myself, the more I allow myself to be original and stand on my own with a an inner awareness combined with knowledge, emotion, poetry—the more the light of G-d will enlighten me and the more my strengths will evolve to become a blessing to me and the world. ~ Rabbi A.I. Kook, Arpley Tohar 31
Rav A.I Kook, Kirvat Elokim Pg. 3 Life itself, all of life, it’s very essence cannot possibly be anything other than the elemental longing to be close to God. Thus it fulfills the unique connotation of human life, composed of the desire for a sense of self --shared by all creatures --along with the striving for completeness… In this it is a true shadow of the absolute, unconditional life of the absolute divine,” in the image of God he created him.”
REDEMPTION, PRAYER, TALMUD TORAH~Rav J. B. Soloveitchik The slave lives in silence …In contrast with the slave, the free man bears a message, has a good deal to tell, and is eager to convey his life story to anyone who cares to listen…Moreover, he [he slave] is not merely a speechless being, but a mute being, devoid not only of the word, but of the meaningful sound as well. …..Former inmates of concentration camps have told me that they had, with the passage of time, become inured to any pain or torture, as if they had been totally anesthetized. They were dumb beings. They not only stopped speaking, but ceased to emit coherent sounds, as well. …And it came to pass in the course of the many days that the king of Egypt died and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage and they cried and their cry came up unto God…. Why hadn’t they cried before Moses acted? Why were they silent during the many years of slavery that preceded Moses’ appearance? They had lacked the need-awareness, and experienced no need, whether for freedom, for dignity, or for painless existence. …the Zohar’s three stages [to freedom]: 1) We are silent- there is complete intellectual insensitivity and total unconcern. 2) Voice is restored, but speech is lacking; sounds, not words, are audible – cognitive curiosity and amazement awaken. We begin to be annoyed because we do not understand. We are perturbed by something which is a part of ourselves but which we are unable to define. 3) The word breaks through: there is clear and distinct cognition. Our intellect begins to speak. By sensitizing and logicizing the awareness of need, man delivers himself from the silence and from non-being and becomes an I, a complete being who belongs to himself.
The supreme holiness is the holiness of silence, of being, when a person recognizes herself as nonexistent in her individual inwardness, and lives a collective life, the life of all, experiencing the vitality of the inanimate, the vegetative and the animal, the life of all being, of all speaking creatures, of each and every person, the life of all, recognizing, attaining, feeling everything. ~ Rav A.I. Kook, Lights of Holiness, Vol. 2, Pg 297
LIGHTS OF HOLINESS, RABBI A.I KOOK VOL 2, PG 568 The great thought of the oneness of being eliminates the question of love itself, the question considered by some as the root of sin and by others as the basis of morality. There is only love of all, which is truly self-love, enlightened and sublime. False self-love, which loves the small spark, visible to bleary eyes, and hates the clarifying selfhood and this is blindness, as foolish as it is wicked.
Lights of Holiness, Vol 3, Pg. 13 Rabbi A.I Kook The ultimate goal of life is holiness. Holiness is supreme unity, which contains nothing of the weakness of morality. Holiness does not fight against the self-love embedded deep within the soul of every living being, but rather it sets man in such a superior state that the more he loves himself, the more the good with him will spread over all, all around him, over the whole world, all of being.
Rav Kook Orot HaKodash Vol. I, pp. 83-84 Know yourself, and your world; know the meditations of your heart, and of every thinker; find the source of your own life, and of the life beyond you, around you, the glorious splendor of the life in which you have your being.
The love that is astir in you –raise it to its basic potency and its noblest beauty, extend it to all its dimensions, toward every manifestation of the soul that sustains the universe, whose splendor is dimmed only because of the deficiency of the person viewing it. Look at the lights, in their inwardness. Let not the names, the words, the idiom and the letters confine your soul. They are under your control, you are not under theirs.
Ascend toward the heights, because you are of mighty prowess, you have wings to soar with, wings of mighty eagles. Do not fail them, lest they fail you; seek for them, and they will at once be ready for you.
The forms that robe reality are precious and holy to us, and especially to all who are limited in their spiritual perception. But always, when we approach a life of enlightenment, we must not swerve from the perspective that light flows from the incomprehensible to the comprehensible, by way of emanation, from the light of the En Sof.
And we are summoned to share in the heavenly delight, in all the particularized perceptions, which are included in this universal whole, from which all the proliferations of life are engendered.
A Call to Higher Awareness, Rabbi A.I. Kook, Lights of Holiness Vol.1 pg. 83-84 If you will it, human being, observe the light of the divine presence that pervades all existence. Observe the harmony of the heavenly realm, how it pervades every aspect of life, the spiritual and the material, which are before your eyes of flesh and your eyes of the spirit. Contemplate the wonders of creation, the divine dimension of their being, not as a dim configuration that is presented to you from the distance but as the reality in which you live.
THE PANGS OF CLEANINGS, RABBI A.I. KOOK, OROT 124 The tendency of unrefined people to see the divine essence as embodied in the words and in the letters alone is a source of embarrassment to humanity, and atheism arises as a pained outcry to liberate man from this narrow and alien pit, to raise him from the darkness of focusing on letters and expressions, to the light of thought and feeling, finally to place his primary focus on the realm of morals. Atheism has a temporary legitimacy, for it is needed to purge away the aberrations that attached themselves to religious faith because of a deficiency in perception and in the divine service. This is its sole function in existence…
The Pangs of Cleanings ~ Rabbi A.I. Kook ~ Orot 124 Zeronim The general failure of the spiritual disciplines to focus on studies pertaining to G-d has dimmed the conception of G-d; there is no rational service of G-d sustained by refined feelings. The outward fear, the natural faith and the feeling of lowliness remain in many hearts as an inheritance from earlier epochs when the divine perception and feeling were prevalent in an enlightened state in full force, when, because of their greatness, they naturally evoked humility from people.
Since the thoughts concerning G-d in their basic elements are unclear, G-d's being, as conceived by the multitude and even by individuals who should be their leaders, is that of a ruthless power from whom there is no escape and to whom one must necessarily be subservient. No grandeur of G-d is then manifest in the soul, but only the lowliness of wild imaginings that conjure up a form of some deceptive, vague, angry god that is dissociated from reality. It confuses everyone who believes in it, depresses his spirit, blunts his feelings, inhibits the assertion of his sensibilities, and uproots the divine glory in his soul. If such a person should repeat all day that this faith is the faith in the unity of G-d, his statement would be empty, and it would register nothing in his soul. Every sensitive spirit must turn his mind away from this. And this is the atheism which is due to arise prior to the messianic liberation, when the knowledge of G-d is due to run dry in the household of Israel—and in the entire world.
THE PANGS OF CLEANINGS ~ RABBI A.I. KOOK ~OROT 124 The greatest impediment to the human spirit, on reaching maturity, results from the fact that the conception of G-d is crystallized among people in a particular form, going back to childish habit and imagination. This is an aspect of the offence of making an idol or a likeness of G-d, against which we must always beware, particularly in an epoch of greater intellectual enlightenment. The general failure of the spiritual disciplines to focus on studies pertaining to G-d has dimmed the conception of G-d; there is no rational service of G-d sustained by refined feelings.
All the divine names, whether in Hebrew or in any other language, give us only a tiny and dull spark of the hidden light to which the soul aspires when it utters the word "G-d." Every definition of Hashem brings about heresy, every definition is spiritual idolatry; even attributing to Him intellect and will, even the term divine, the term ‘G-d’, suffers from the limitations of definition. The Pangs of Cleanings ~ Rabbi A.I. Kook ~Orot 124 Zeronim
Faith in God enhances human happiness to the extent that elite probe its’ depth…then is the soul illuminated by the divine light, through cleaving in love and full understanding to Him who is the life of all life, and all feelings, all ideas and all actions, thus become refined. The attachment to God in feeling will have its effect in directing life on an upright path to the extent that this basic principle is operative in the soul, in a state of purity. The Pangs of Cleanings ~ Rabbi A.I. Kook ~ Orot 124 Zeronim
The Pangs of Cleanings ~ Rabbi A. I. Kook, Orot 124 Zeronim One must always cleanse one's thoughts about God to ensure they are free of the rubbish of deceptive fantasies, of groundless fear, of evil inclinations, of wants and deficiencies. Faith in God enhances human happiness to the extent that elite probe its’ depth.
Our beliefs determine the quality of our lives. Have you spent quality time figuring out what you really believe and why? Is your faith in God the root of your problems or the solution to your problems?
What really Happened at Sinai? What does it mean to embrace a life of commandments? What is the authority of Rabbinic legislation?
The Source Rav Zadok HaKohen of Lublin, Pri Zadik Kedoshim 7 Regarding the fact that Israel first said “we will do” and then “we will listen.” How would they know what to do? Indeed Avraham kept the entire Torah even before it was given. How did he know it? Because of his great efforts to know his creator—this itself is the entirety of Torah --to reach to the awareness of “I is YHVH your God.” Therefore we are taught Avraham’s kidneys became wellsprings of Torah. He grasped the 613 pieces of advice. And so too the innovative decrees, legislation and commandments of the Sages are the words of the living God. We, therefore bless over them “He who has sanctified us in His commandments and commanded us.” This is because the Sages realized on their own what to do although they did not hear it (from God). When the Jewish people said “we will do” before “we will hear” they to reached this level of knowing what to do on their own.
ספר פרי צדיק פרשת קדושים - אות ז וענין הקדמת נעשה לנשמע שהם יעשו קודם השמיעה ואיך ידעו מה לעשות. אבל הרי מצינו אברהם אבינו ע"ה קיים כל התורה כולה עד שלא נתנה ומהיכן ידע זה רק מרוב השתדלותו ויגיעתו להכיר את בוראו וזה כל התורה כלה להגיע לזה ההכרה דאנכי ה' וגו', ובזהר קורא לתרי"ג מצות, תרי"ג עטין, שהם עצות איך להגיע להשגת אנכי ה' אלקיך וזה שכתוב באברהם אבינו ע"ה נעשו כליותיו כב' מעיינות והיו נובעת תורה (בראשית רבה פ' סא) דכליות יועצות והשיג כל התרי"ג עטין, וכן כל מה שחידשו חכמים הרבה תקנות וגזירות ומצות דברי אלקים חיים ומברכין אדרבנן אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו והם השיגו מעצמן מה לעשות ולא שמעו. אך אז במעמד הר סיני שהקדימו נעשה שהיו במדרגה גדולה.. שיוכלו להשיג מעצמם מה לעשות,
"I am" are the two most powerful words in our lives. The desire to experience and affirm "I am" drives everything we think, say and do. Here's why.
The more you love yourself the more you will love everyone else because in truth we are all one -- although not one and the same.
You can actually hear God calling you. If you truly want to listen and willing to learn a new language for life.
Finding Purpose in the Pain How does pain create an opportunity to come closer to Hashem? How can pain be transformed into a blessing? In this class, we explore both intellectual and emotional tools for dealing with both our own and other people’s pain.
How can we find happiness? Why is the goal of Jewish life holiness and not happiness? How do we bring harmony between our expectations and reality?
You probably never heard this before. Here's a surprising revelation about revelation. Torah claims that God not only talks to us but through us.
How to rid yourself of childish fears of God that are sabotaging your happiness and success.
There is not better way to get turned off to Judaism than reading the Bible. Here is the #1 game rule you must know before you open up the holiest book of all.
In the name of God people have demonstrated incredible love and yet also incredible hatred. The root of all our problems and yet the solution to all our problems is our understanding of God. Here's why.
War is raging across the globe and its fueled by religious beliefs. Religion is responsible for the most horrific cruelty and yet the most heroic kindness. And it's all in the name of God. What is religion? Why are there so many religious fanatics? Are you sure you are not one of them?
The original light of creation is not the light we know today. It had the power to illuminate and reveal how within each of us is all of us. And we couldn't but love each other. What happened to that light? How can we access it today?
Although this talk was given in honor of Shavuot it is equally relevant to the holiday of Simchat Torah.
Most people have no idea what the prayers of the Yom Kippur service mean. No wonder these days feel more like awful days than days of awe. In this talk you'll discover the profound depth and inspiration you've been longing for a long time ago.
Yom Kippur is a Day of Forgiveness and yet how can I forgive myself when my life could have been different had I chosen differently. Can we turn back time?
How to move from the Oy to the Joy of Rosh Hashanna the Day of Judgement. God never wants to hurt us rather only to heals us. But sometimes it hurts to be healed.
Is your life on target? There is really only one choice in life; to portray or betray your true self.
What's so chosen about the Chosen People? Is this not a racist? Does this not breed elitism?
Discover your secret soul identity and the surprising truth about the internal, eternal you.
As we enter our series on prayer, we will explore the first prayer we say every morning, Modeh Ani.