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(print version) What You See Is What You Get "Daddy, where is G-d?" "Son, wherever you let Him in." ...

(print version) There is an oft repeated quote, attributed to Albert Einstein: ...

(print version) Why is life so difficult? Making Peace with Our Battle In this week's portion, Jacob asks for peace and relaxation but G-d had another plan. "Jacob settled (down) in the land of his father's dwellings, in the Land of Caanan" ~~Genesis (37:1) The commentary Rashi explains: "Jacob wanted to settle down in tranquility but then the ordeal of his son Joseph (sale into slavery) fell upon him. The righteous seek to dwell in tranquility but G-d says 'Is it not enough for the righteous what has been prepared for them (reward) in the World to Come that they need to seek tranquillity also in this world!'" Why is life so difficult? Some people turn to G-d and religion, hoping to find refuge from all the turbulence of life, from doubt, from inner conflicts and mental turmoil. They want instant inner peace, spiritual contentment, and tranquillity for their troubled souls. According to Kabbalah, that is not the purpose of life on earth. In fact, it is just the...

(print version) Many years ago, I recall sitting with a newly married couple in their late thirties, who were struggling with making their marriage work after many years on the NY singles scene. Sitting with them, before I could start the conversation on a more positive note, the husband began to describe why he was upset with his wife and what she was doing wrong in his eyes. Every minute his wife would interrupt him to express what she felt her husband was doing wrong from her perspective. After a few minutes I tried to get them to speak with one another with an eye towards eventually getting them to share what each felt they themselves needed to work on, instead of directing their comments to me. But try as I might ,they would not speak with each other nor even look at each other which was obviously (though I am by no means a professionally trained therapist...

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(print version) Koach hataya; literally: ...

(print version) Do Good. Feel Good. Do Bad. Feel Bad. When we do something wrong, we not only violate our relationship with G-d and break a particular law but we also wrong ourselves and damage our self-esteem. Sin is an act of self-betrayal. The Talmud teaches that we cannot do wrong unless a spirit of insanity enters us. Indeed, we have to be out of our minds to transgress G-d's will; who only wants the best for us. Therefore, when we do wrong we have lost ourselves, at least temporarily. We become estranged from our Godly essence, and we are no longer at home with our true selves. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, G-d asked them, "Where are you?" Likewise, when we do wrong we lose ourselves in our self-imposed spiritual exile; we become strangers to ourselves. When we transgress G-d's will, we violate our G-d-given potential. We experience a schism between who we are and who we ought to be;...

(print version) Sometimes, you have to be willing to take a stand. And sometimes your goal may just be to keep standing. I don...

(print version) Making Every Day Count The Key to Making Life Worth Living One day as I was waiting for a friend, an old woman sits down next to me. Suddenly she jumps out of her seat, turns to me and yells, "I should have never left Mexico!" I look at her and ask, "When did you leave Mexico?" "Thirty years ago!" she cries. "And I regret it every single day of my life!" You would think that after 30 years a person would finally get used to where they were. But people often live in the past. One of my students, age 28, told me that his father insulted him when he was age 12 and till this day he continues to feel hurt and angry. I explained to him that although his father hurt him when he was twelve he has allowed his father to continue to hurt him for another sixteen years by holding on to the pain and constantly remembering it. I...

(print version) Quiet; the sweet serene quiet of deep sleep; and exhaustion ; exhaustion that is so deep you don...