ב"ה

Behaalotecha 5770 - May 28, 2010

Video & Audio
Out of Your Comfort Zone

If you had three candies, would you keep them all for yourself? Keep two and give away one? Keep one and give two? Give them all?
Sifting Gold

Coming across a lot of mud in life? Of course you are! It’s a gold mine down here—and gold mines are mostly mud!
Week in Rejew

With the help of the all new Intellicompute parshah-cam, Jono gives us an edgy, fast paced review... er... rejew of this week's Torah portion
Marriage and Intimacy

What does Judaism say about marital intimacy? This class is the sixth lecture of a six-part series titled ‘The Essentials,’ which introduces the foundations of Jewish life and living.
The Jewish Pathology

Through humor and inspirational stories, this lecture will examine the deep and awesome dynamics of the Jewish soul and its identity.
Living
The Science of Life and the Art of Living

Jacques Berger looked me up and down, noting my long ponytail, plaid flannel shirt and threadbare, faded blue jeans. He must have also noticed my ethnically distinct nose...
Two Realities

The world represents two realities: Below, a reflection which conceals the reality of G-d and that which is above, G-d Himself.
Playing By The Rules

Frequently ask, "What appeals to you about that idea?" To me, these seven words are the key to success. This phrase expresses love, which is based on a desire to understand
Feeling Shortchanged

I find that my husband gives to me in a way that would probably satisfy his emotional needs, but leaves me feeling frustrated...
Parshah
Spiritual Pyromania

We can inspire our children, or teach them to inspire themselves. We can be their wings, or teach them to fly.
The Manna Eaters

Life is mostly waste. Take food, for example: we spend many hours earning the money, shopping, cooking, eating, and then most of it passes right through our bodies and into the city's sewer system
Rush and Return
The menorah, its lamps, and the flames they hold are the very mirror of our identity as a people, the way we interact with each other, and of the elemental strivings of the human soul
When the Ghetto Walls Crumbled

If education was a challenge in the age of horse and buggies and then mailmen, how much more so in the 21st century, when the outside world is at our doorstep, or better yet, in our bedroom....
The Parshah in a Nutshell
Aaron lights the menorah; a second Passover is instituted; and people complain about the manna, demanding meat instead. Miriam is punished for speaking ill about her brother Moses, and the nation waits for her before leaving Sinai.
Judaism
Beyond Heresy

Thank G‑d for atheists. If not for their scorn, how shallow our god would be!
On Humility

He was a world-famous figure, I was an anonymous student from 3000 miles away. Quickly it became clear to me that he believed in me more than I believed in myself
Verbal Exploitation

Which crime is worse, financial exploitation or verbal abuse? “Money can be reimbursed,” the Talmud notes, “but the hurt from words is irreparable . . .”
Jewish Stories
Father's Day - Part II

There was a flood of memories now where his father tried, as best he could, to be a father. After a while, Solomon thought, "enough already." It is time to put the pain away...
The Ultimate Matchmaker
She took a thousand slaves and a thousand slave-girls, lined them up in two rows, and announced: "You marry him, and you marry her."
The Ladder

Their leader spotted a beautiful bird perched atop a tall tree. "Come," he said to his disciples, "I wish to capture this bird, so that we may delight in her song and gaze upon her wondrous hues"
Expert Advice

"Rebbe" said the businessman, "it's a different world here, in America. The neighborhood I live in... our friends... it just won't be right..."
The Obstinate Rabbi

The Rabbi sighed. "You don't know what a difficult time I've been having with the stubborn people here. Ever since I got back, they've been under the delusion that Shabbat is a day later, and I can't seem to convince them"
The Arrest of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch

I answered calmly and clearly: "I do not know which Schneersohn you seek. If you enter into someone's home, surely you know in advance who dwells there, and this drama is pointless"
The Jewish Woman
Not Good Marriage Material

I vaguely remember myself being described by that epithet, which placed me in the category of cheap, flimsy chiffon unraveling at the edges...
A Jewish Approach to Cognitive Dissonance

I would like to be an intellectually honest spiritual seeker, a warm and loving and dynamic wife and mother, a supportive friend; but at the end of the day I look in the mirror and see an annoyed and tired dishrag, and all I want to do is have a cup of coffee and a bar of chocolate . . .
KabbalaOnline.org
Desire and Divinity

Said the Divine Attribute of Chessed (love and kindness): "As long as Abraham was around, there was nothing for me to do, for he did my work in my stead."
— Sefer HaBahir
Print Magazine

The sages say that all is in the hands of heaven except for the awe of heaven.

Which puts all the power in your hands.

Because if there is no awe of heaven, heaven is bankrupt. It owns nothing—not you, not your world, not anything at all.

That being so, the greatest power you have is your ability to surrender the delus...