Serving Hashem

A Tale of Two Mothers

When Dalya and Shiri 'randomly' bump into each other at a concert they could never imagine how deeply connected they really are.

In a Heartbeat

Mordechai Sultan woke up with chest pains. Hatzolah was at his door in less than 30 seconds. How did they get there so fast at 3:30 in the morning? And why were they carrying the specialized equipment that saved his life?

Tragedies

We all know that tragedy eventually awaits us in one form or another, but we do not and cannot live our lives based on the fear of impending tragedies or inevitable troubles. Built into the human personality and character is the ability to withstand tragedy, and even, to a certain extent, overcome it.

Kiddush Hashem

Kiddush Hashem, sanctifying God’s name, specifically before a gentile all too often is not even about the gentile at all.

Stress is Good For You!

Inclined to Recline- "And Yaakov dwelled…."

Researchers believe that some stress can help to fortify the immune system. For instance, stress can improve how your heart works and protect your body from infection. But on a deeper level, rising to challenges and overcoming them is the essence of life.

Sickness as a "Wake-Up Call"

Ein Aya Shabbat 2, 242

As a continuation of the class on "The Different Levels On Which G-d Runs the World", this class is on the different levels of sickness, whether ours or those around us. Just as fast-days are a self-induced weakness, which brings us to analyze our lives, priorities & actions, when God sends a sickness, it's not necessarily a punishment but rather a "wake-up call" to induce soul-searching. Life is comprised of such small incidents, some pleasant & others not, some direct & others less so, to keep us awake that we shouldn't live like robots, but rather utilize our Godly free-will to its utmost extent, keeping our lives meaningful & idealistic. Accordingly, even the "bad" messages are seen by Rav Kook as: The process of gradual good.

Rav Kook on: "It's Best to be Normal People"

Ein Aya, Shabbat 2, 239

We find various rabbis in rabbinic literature who built their spirituality through fasting and depriving themselves of physical pleasure. Rav Kook explains that this is like "shock treatment" or bitter medicine, which healthy people don't need. In Torat Eretz Yisrael, the Living Torah most applicable to the modern world, the approach of unity is to reveal the harmony between the physical and spiritual worlds. In Israel, where even the physical is spiritual and the atmosphere is Jewish, it's much more conducive to living a life of modern orthodoxy without the dangers of losing our proportions, priorities or getting influenced by western society. Accordingly Rav Kook explains the machloket between Rava & Abaye in Masechet Shabbat.

So What’s the Goal of Life?!!

We all know that if you don't have a goal, you can't score! We all have many goals, but is there one which encompasses and is the common denominator of them all? Such a definition will prevent us from feeling torn between the many goals and roles we have. One theory is that the goal of life is pleasure, which is the common denominator of all people. On the other hand, all those people also have an ideal for which they are willing to forego all of their pleasure, inferring that ideals supersede pleasure! The class suggests that these 2 theories are 1 and the same, for we all want pleasure, but ideals are not 3rd class (short-term) pleasure, nor 2nd class (long-term) pleasure, but rather 1st class, eternal pleasure.