Torah Learning with Ari

Why did Yakov ‘happen’ to have an experience with angels just as he was running away from Esav, and again just as he was about to encounter him again? Why did Yakov prepare so greatly for his meeting with Esav, splitting his camp up out of fear that Esav would kill part of it, but…

Guest post by Daniel How Fortunate Are We, How Wonderful is Our Portion, and How Beautiful is Our Heritage Today, the traffic-jammed street is fullOf people and not cars. The only wheels movingAre strollers pushed by young couplesAnd scooters chased by little brothers. The many passersby have made a coupAgainst traffic lightsThat signal no one.…

I try not to read the news. I try to avoid the news websites and the magazines and papers that bring the news into my home. The news dazzles and confuses. We can always find some tragedy to hold up and either cry from or encourage ourselves with, saying that surely Moshiach is on his…

My wife recently bought me the second volume of the wonderful book Machat Shel Yad by my rebbe Rav Yitzchok Frankel. The first book came out about a year ago on Braishis, and even though I got it toward the end of the parshios in Braishis, I read the whole thing from cover to cover.…

Many things in life can make us fearful. Whether it is the fate of our livelihood, the fate of our children, the fate of our people in Israel, or the fate of the world. When our faith is placed solely in Hashem, we need not fear. Rebbe Nachman says “כל העולם כולו גשר צר מאד…

A while ago I had a conversation with a certain well-known rav, who is a talmid of the mekubal Rav Moshe Shapiro. I mentioned to him a few things that strongly implied that Moshiach may be on the very near horizon, and I was curious what Rav Shapiro was saying on this matter. He told…

The issue that we address in this week’s parsha podcast is where Leah was at in the whole con game that Lavan had in store for Yaakov’s marriage to Rochel.

People have asked if I have found anything further. I have received a number of emails from people who either asked themselves or sent a letter to him and his response was the same, “שקר וכזב” – absolutely false. You can see a similar story here. One final thing is that people were very quick…

Are you looking for a little pick me up? Rebbe Nachman says that it is a great mitzvah to always be joyous. Here’s a little song that might help. It’s part of a new podcast series I am working on, which you should be able to find on itunes already (in the section on Judaism)…

Guest post by Daniel I was thinking about the kinds of kiddushei Hashem that will occur when Moshiach is revealed. The first thing I thought was that there will be a great kiddush Hashem in the eyes of the Jews. We will be astonished at the massive number of Jews that come to greet Moshiach.…