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Is G-d Beyond Us or Within Us? The Torah recounts that G-d instructed the Israelites to build a sanctuary, telling Moses, “Let them build a sanctuary and I will dwell in them.” Note that G-d did not say, “I will dwell in the sanctuary.” G-d said, “in them.” Is G-d beyond us or within us? One day my son Ananiel and my two daughters, Leyadya and Ne’ema, burst into my study. They had obviously been fighting over something and were very upset. I could see that I was chosen to be the lucky arbitrator to resolve another case of sibling rivalry. They shouted at each other, “You go, you ask Daddy.” “No, no! You go, you go.” Finally Ananiel, who was age five at that time, took the challenge and said, “O.K., O.K. Daddy, isn’t it true that G-d is a boy?” Ne’ema and Leyadya, ages eight and nine, had tears in their eyes. I could hear them silently pleading with me,...

Many years ago, long before we founded Yeshivat Orayta, I was privileged to direct a program called Isralight, which was primarily what some would refer to as a ‘Kiruv’ or ‘outreach’’ program. The students, mostly post-College and young professionals, usually came from a very limited Jewish background seeking spirituality and meaning in their lives. I recall one day as we were beginning a new three-week program, a student walked in who looked vaguely familiar. Bare-headed, with a lumberjack beard and wearing jeans and a tee shirt, it took me a minute to realize he was a boy who had been in yeshiva with me, though a few years younger. He came with his non-Jewish girlfriend with whom he was living, and as he did not introduce himself, I decided to pretend I did not recognize him. After a few days of classes and discussion we spent Shabbat with the group in the Old City, and I decided to do something...

The Divine Wants You to be Happy When Rules Become Delicious Recipes for Your Soul “And these are the judgments that you shall place before them.” — Exodus 21:1 "You shall place before them, that is, like a table that is set and ready for eating." — Rashi “Taste and see that G-d is good.” — Psalms 34 LAWS YOU CAN EAT, ENJOY AND SAVOUR  The job of a teacher of Torah is not to be a philosopher, ethical guide or law giver but rather a gourmet chef. A gourmet chef has the ability to bring the taste out of every ordinary cabbage, every simple bean sprout, as well as present it all in a delicious tantalizing way. Once, I went to someone's home to raise funds for my institute. I thought we would have about a ten minute discussion. Instead, we were talking for five or six hours. I hadn't eaten all day, and I was starving. Finally I decided that instead of asking for...

We had an aunt in our family who was a very special person and had been a kindergarten teacher for many years, with a lot of experience in child education. Although she passed away a number of years ago, I still have fond memories of some of the discussions I had with her regarding educational questions. One that stands out in my mind was how she dealt with a child whom she termed a ‘biter’; perhaps seeking attention, he would sometimes bite other children. No amount of explanation and cajoling seemed to work, and one can imagine the impact this must have had on other children and their parents. So, one day when he was caught biting a fellow kindergarten classmate, she promptly took his arm… and bit him back! After a moment of shock, the boy burst into tears, but as she described it to me, it was the last time he bit another child! I wonder what the...

Ready to HotSync Your Soul? Secrets to a Super-Natural Life of Freedom and Synchronicity Years ago, I saw these sandals I really liked. At the time, I knew nothing about these shoes other than I just liked the way they looked. So I went into a store and I tried on a pair, but they didn't feel right. They had all these funny bumps inside of them. I told the salesman, "There is something wrong with these shoes." He said, "No there is something wrong with your feet. You must understand that these shoes are designed to support the shape of a natural foot." "What's unnatural about my feet. They're in their natural place — at the end of my legs." He laughed. "You don't understand. Your feet have taken the unnatural shape of the shoes you've been wearing. And the shoes you've been wearing are good for killing cockroaches in tight corners, but they are not meant to contain feet." I felt insulted so I took...

Recently, I attended the wedding of the daughter of very old friends and was enjoying the palpable joy at the chosson’s tisch (the gathering where the marriage document, the Ketubah, was witnessed and signed with the groom before the ceremony) when the father of the bride approached me and asked me to daven Maariv (lead the evening service). I had a moment of angst as I did not have a siddur (prayer book) on me, nor did it seem anyone else did. But as he seemed pressured to move things along, I did not want to hold things up and so elected to lead the prayers by heart from memory. Thinking about it later it was interesting that the prospect of davening from memory caused me angst; after all, I say these prayers every day and almost always do it from memory; and had I not been asked to lead the service would have done so again, so why the sudden...

Love Thyself!! Secrets to Your Ultimate and Everlasting Net Worth Just as a person must believe in G-d, so too, he must afterwards believe in Himself. That is to say, that G-d is involved with him and he is not a waste—that he is here today and gone tomorrow... Rather one must believe that his soul is from the Source of Life, may His name be blessed and that G-d gets pleasure – taanug-- in him and is -- mishtashaya -- playfully involved with him when he does His will. And this is the meaning of the verse “and they believed in G-d and Moses His servant” (Exodus 15). [The soul of] Moses consisted of the 600,000 souls of the Jewish people of that generation --- and they believed that G-d desired them – wants and receives pleasure from the good within them. - Rabbi Tzadok Hacohen: Tzidkat HaTzadick 154 I heard an interview with a famous singer. The interviewer asked her, “What are your feelings...

May 1948; tough times for the Jewish people, and particularly for the Jews struggling to claw out a place for themselves in a land they hoped to claim as their own. A few months after the United Nations voted to partition the remaining territory in the British Mandate for Palestine and allow finally, the creation of a modern Jewish state, six Arab armies were poised to attack. They were waiting for the British to leave, so as not to find themselves in the position of attacking British sovereign territory. The Arabs who were already in country however, had no such dilemma, which was why the Jordanian legion was on the offensive. Even as the Jews were still celebrating the partition plan vote, the Jordanians were already on the march.  The Jordanian Legion, commanded by Abdullah Tell, was without a doubt the best fighting force in the Middle East. Thirty-two hundred strong at three full brigades, they were British-trained and French-armed, and...

To Serve with Joy Is your life ‘out of service’? “And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh; and he said unto them: 'Go, serve the LORD your G-d; but who are they that shall go?' And Moses said: 'We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds we will go; because the holiday of G-d is for us.'” — Exodus 10:8-9 The King of Egypt must have been quite surprised by Moses answer. To serve G-d is not like serving you. It is not about degrading back-breaking slavery rather a joyful celebration for the whole family. To serve G-d is a holiday for us. The Secret to Service Most people think that a mitzvah is a "demand" meant to deprive or diminish our godly self worth. But that is incorrect. A mitzvah is a "command" enabling us to co- operate, associate, identify and thereby consciously bond with G-d and experience His love. This is...

Wake up an Israeli tank commander in the middle of the night and flash a picture of a BMP-1 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) at a distance of 5 kilometers, when it appears to be little more than a speck in the distance, and he will instantly recognize it as a Soviet- made troop carrier that fires armor-piercing Sagger anti-tank missiles. He will also be able to rattle off to you their effective range, and threat capacity (the amount of time it takes to aim and fire, as well as which Israeli tanks will effectively pierce). He will also know instantly that this carrier is most likely to be seen in the Syrian theater of war. The Israeli army takes the topic of enemy weaponry very seriously and has a variety of often-sadistic methods for ensuring that its commanders become extremely proficient in this particular expertise. I remember vividly the oft-repeated ritual of testing on this topic that took place every Friday...