Concepts in Chassidic Philosophy

The Foundational Tzaddik Tzaddikim are righteous individuals whose souls have a heightened awareness of G-dliness and who live completely G-d-focused lives. Natural tendencies and negative impulses are either vanquished or harnessed for holiness,See Tanya...

To Know G-d When the Jewish People gathered at Sinai to receive the Torah, they heard the Ten Commandments directly from G-d. There, G-d began with the words, “Anochi Hashem Elokecha,” “I am G-d, your G-d.”Shemos 20:2. Beyond informing the people that it ...

After praying with such fervor, the soul feels able and determined to return to its daily tasks.

Pinchas' deed evokes many associations -- courage, decisiveness and religious passion are several that come to mind -- but peace hardly seems one of them. Pinchas, after all, killed two people. So why does the Torah describe him as a man of peace? To unde...

Trees, like man, can be 'givers' or 'receivers' or both

Your mother told you so many times. Your high school principal didn’t seem so convinced. Certainly not your employer. But it’s true. And even more: You are not just the center of the world—you are the entire world. It’s an explicit Mishnah: Every human be...

On whose initiative were the spies sent? The way the story is told in Numbers 13, it was by divine command. But when Moses recounts these events 40 years later, he tells the people of Israel that it was their idea. The contradiction describes a watershed ...

In the face of all our many imperfections, what does it mean to hope for - and attain - redemption? In this last installment of “Love. Joy. Truth.” join us as we explore the utility of failure, and the meaning of redemption.