Simplicity

The tree gives no fruit and the leaves give off no fragrance. Yet it is precisely in that “blandness” of being that we recognize the presence of something beyond. The willow’s minimalism is indicative of the inner point of the Jewish soul which is ...

When no one was in the synagogue, he brought in the loaves under his cloak. He prayed that G‑d should look upon his offering with favor, and eat and enjoy the lovely, freshly baked bread . . .

Are you hero or victim? The hero who never cries nor feels the fear, the panic, the regrets that are part and parcel of his condition? The victim who never encounters his bravery nor feels the transcendent power of rising above death, if only for a ...

When the man saw me he asked: "What is a small child doing all alone in the forest? Are you not afraid to be in the forest all by yourself?"

"Perhaps I can help you," said the Baal Shem Tov. On small slips of paper he wrote, in simple Yiddish, "morning prayers," "addition for Mondays and Thursdays," "for Shabbat," and inserted them in the innkeeper's siddur

The few who survived were so emotionally and psychologically destroyed that they were never able to live normal lives. They lived together in little villages, apart from the rest of the world

The Rebbe looked around him. It was obvious that only he had heard the heavenly announcement. "Has anyone heard of a tzaddik called Shmerl the Tailor?" he asked. No one had

Every hundred years or so, a person comes along and changes the way we look at ourselves and our world. But there is something that is rarer still -- someone who will tell us something that we already know

- "I know my son, I know. Also he shall become a nation, also he shall be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he…" (48:19) The wholesome simplicity of a simple Jew touches upon the utterly simple essence of G-d. Rabbi Israel Baal Shem ...

Be wholesome ('tamim') with G-d (18:13) To be 'tamim' with G-d means: Walk with Him with simplicity and without guile. Do not seek to manipulate the future; rather, accept whatever He brings upon you wholeheartedly. Then, He will be with you and you will ...