A Unique Approach for Seeing Yourself and the World in the Light of Torah
The Dispute Between Zimri and Pinchas The Gemara in Berachot 32a offers different ‘proof texts’ to show that Moshe Rabbeinu spoke somewhat impertinently [הֵטִיחַ דְּבָרִים כְּלַפֵּי מַעְלָה, literally, ‘he threw his words upward’] to Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu when he sought … Continued
Why Yehoshua Told the Sun to be Quiet In last week’s study entitled Be Quiet, Sun!, we learned that Yehoshua bin Nun merited to silence the Sun in the Valley of Ayalon and defeat the army of the five kings … Continued
Yehoshua’s Merit in the Valley of Ayalon What does the prophecy of Eldad and Meidad have to do with Yehoshua bin Nun telling the sun to be silent? This past Tuesday, the 3rd of Tammuz, was the anniversary of a … Continued
Making One’s Prayers a Delight to Hashem In Chullin 60b, Rav Asi reconciles an apparent contradiction in the account of creation regarding when the grasses grew from the ground (see Bereshit 1:12 and Bereshit 2:5 for specifics). He answered as … Continued
The Laws of Nature vs. Divine Providence: It’s Our Choice Near the beginning of the first berachah before reciting the Shema in the morning, we praise Hashem by saying the following: וּבְטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית (and in … Continued
Passing Through the Three Evil Klipot to Merit Prophecy Yechezkel ha-Navi describes in great detail the ‘prophetic journey’ that one must go on in order to receive nevuah. He begins his description with these words (Yechezkel 1:4): וָאֵרֶא וְהִנֵּה רוּחַ … Continued
What R’ Nachman Actually Taught About Limud Torah As long-time readers of The Shoemaker Report should know by now, the predominant השקפה [hashkafah, outlook, perspective] followed in its pages comes from Breslov chasidut. However, let’s face it, Breslov chasidut doesn’t … Continued
How to Acquire the Attribute of Yosef ha-Tzaddik In last week’s article Ya’akov’s Fear in Going Down to Egypt, we learned that through the strength of his character, specifically his shemirat einayim, Yosef was able to break the tumah of … Continued
The Power of One Man’s Personal Kedushah After Ya’akov learned that Yosef was alive and well in Egypt, he knew that he needed to go and see him. He set out from his home with his family and all of … Continued
Mashiach and the Mechanics of Rebuke (Likutei Moharan II:8:1) A little over a year ago, we published a d’var Torah entitled To Rebuke or Not to Rebuke: That is the Question. In that article, we explained what happens to someone … Continued