The First Ten Questions
Questions come from doubt. Doubt comes from sin. Sin comes from illusion. The Torah was given to save us from false illusions. Illusion is in...
Tag : good & evil
Life After Death
There are three levels of life: Living a healthy life in this world; life after spiritual death (sin); life after physical death. To live a...
The Heart and Mind of Dealing with Enemies
There are three ways to deal with enemies: surrender, fight, or make peace by neutralizing the root of their animosity. The Ba'al Shem Tov told...
From Afar God Appears to Me
In one verse King David says: "I place God before me always" ("שויתי הוי' לנגדי תמיד"). But in another he says: "My sin is before...
The Unhappy Tzadik
I would like to be a true tzadik (consummately righteous), but I'm not. Is it because I don't want enough, or is there some other...
Rectifiying Edom and Ishmael
The two great exiles of the Jewish People in our days: Edom (אדום, 51) and Ishmael (ישמעאל, 451) equal 502 = "Cursed be Haman" (ארור...
Snake Spine
In the Torah there are many applications to the "law of similars." One of them is that in order to kill a snake you must...
Preventive Love
Loving a rasha does not mean to condone his evil deeds. If you love his soul you'll do everything possible to prevent him from doing...
Loving your Opposite
Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz (one of the great disciples of the Ba'al Shem Tov) said that a consummate tzadik (righteous person) is one who loves...
Elisha's Chaotic Sleep
Elisha Ben Avuya was dubbed Acher, "other," because he left the side of Torah (the side of faith) and went to the "other side" (the...
