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Priorities: sometimes, we need to take a step back and appreciate the things that are really important in life, if for no other reason than the opportunity it affords us to take note of the things that occupy so much of our time that really aren’t so important.... Several years ago this week, I found myself walking in to Har Herzl, Israel’s national military cemetery, for the thirty-day memorial service for Yosef Yitzchak Goodman of blessed memory, the paratrooper who fell to his death after cutting his lines to save his commander. Not having been there in a while, it’s always a strange feeling to walk past the graves of so many young men and women who gave everything that we might have this incredible country, and there are some good friends who lie in this holy earth.... There is a quiet, unique to cemeteries, which is especially powerful in Mount Herzl, and even the young soldiers were talking in...

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,...

There are some lessons you learn the hard way, and they are never forgotten. In Infantry Officer’s training there is an obstacle course in a place called the Wingate Institute, known as the “A’son Teva” (Freak of Nature…). It is an appropriate name for this visit to hell. No cadet can graduate Officer’s course without completing this test. We were made to do a number of dry runs before the actual test day, but being ‘dry’ had nothing to do with it. In full uniform and gear, with your gun slung over your back, at one point you have to wade through an ice-cold river that gets up to your chest. When you wade out, the first thing that hits you is a 6-meter (18 foot) rope you have to climb. Soaked from the river, with all the extra weight of the water in your gear and on your clothes, not to mention the psychological pressure of men behind you, and commanders...

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 a...

Sunday mornings for me, even twenty years later, still have a tinge of sadness. While Westerners most often view Sunday morning as the chance to sleep late, relax with the family, and catch up on the news, for most Israeli soldiers it is the most depressing moment of the week. Every Sunday morning, all over the country, soldiers begin their long, weary trek back to their bases and the duties that await them. The weekend is over, and with it the freedom to be master of one’s own time, if only for a while. The thought of heading back to the hellish reality of gray & olive green, yelling and running, patrols and battle-rations ruins many a Saturday night in Israel. I still remember, in Officer’s course, when they decided to begin flying us down to base. It is astronomically costly to put a cadet through tank officer’s training, and the powers that be decided it was more efficient and economical to...

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...

Friday night. The sun has long since set, dark clouds hide the stars, and the wind is howling off the Shouf mountain range in central Lebanon. I had managed to quietly sing the Kabbalat Shabbat service, while en-route to the ambush site, and even pray the evening service while in the staging ground, before giving my men a final inspection, but I had no idea what to do about Kiddush. In such situations we usually ate from our packs, one or two at a time, and we had a system to ensure that we didn’t make much noise, but I had never happened to find myself in this particular situation on a Friday night. I had not thought it through in advance, so I had no wine with which to make Kiddush, and a wave of depression fell over me as I realized how far I was from where I really wished to be on a Friday night. Having come...

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...

“Zeh lo nirah li” “This doesn’t look like such a good idea”, said Benjy, commander of an elite company in Golani’s Egoz unit, in the summer of 2006. “I know”, responded his commander, “but orders are orders”. Their mission was to cross the border into Lebanon, and take the ridgeline some 3 kilometers opposite in an effort to support IDF troops to the East. I have visited the border by Kibbutz Avivim many times, and it never ceases to amaze me, the fortitude and raw courage it must have taken for Benjy to lead his men over wide open territory in broad daylight, beneath the guns of Hezbollah terrorists in the hills above. This was the same Benjy Hillman o”bm, subsequently killed in that battle at Maroun Aras , who was cited for bravery some years earlier, when he single handedly charged armed terrorists who had infiltrated one of the settlements in Gush Katif . Alone, in the darkness he saved...

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...