Thinkingaboutme.org
9 years of Parasha articles.
THE ART OF RENEWAL
click shemini 2024 to download THE ART OF RENEWAL Big days are ahead of us. The whole month of Nissan, we don’t say Tahanun. This is because the whole month is considered Rosh Hodesh, as it says, הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים. The first 12 days, we don’t say Tahanun because those days are the…
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THE ART OF SEEING THE FINAL REDEMPTION
click Parah 2024 for download THE ART OF SEEING THE FINAL REDEMPTION This week, we read about the Red Heifer purification. The purpose of this reading is to be some sort of preparation for the Passover sacrifice. We read about purification in the Haftarah as well. This is for the sake of being ready…
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THE ART OF GIVING G-D THE KEYS
click Vayikra 2024 for download THE ART OF GIVING G-D THE KEYS The Gentiles know that the Jew is indestructible. When Haman fumed over Mordechai not bowing to him, he turned to his 365 advisors for help. He needed a plan to rid this Jew. No one had the solution. Except Zeresh, Haman’s wife. She…
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THE ART OF CARING
click pikudei 2024 to download THE ART OF CARING We just ran a campaign this week in our Yeshiva, Lev Aharon, that collected over a million dollars in two days, towards our building fund. I coached it. Together with the Rosh Yeshiva’s son Yitzhak, and Charityextra, and of course, the hand of Hashem, we were…
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THE ART OF BEING THE ETERNAL NATION
click vayakhel 2024 for download THE ART OF BEING THE ETERNAL NATION Things don’t look that bright for Israel, with Ramadan coming up, but we don’t fear. The Holocaust did not happen because we were weak physically as a people, or because we had no army. It did not happen because it made sense it…
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THE ART OF BEING YOU
click ki tisa 2024 to download THE ART OF BEING YOU The hardest thing after 120 is to meet the person you could have been. This world is the only chance your soul has for it to get close to G-d, and the only way is through G-d’s manual, His Torah. Hell is not a…
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THE ART OF BEING RELATABLE
click tezaveh 2024 for download THE ART OF BEING RELATABLE There is a concept that was talked a lot about when I was growing up in Yeshiva amongst the serious Yeshiva boys. An Olama Haba Masechta. What Masechta, tractate, are you going to master by heart, that wherever you go, you can review the Talmud,…
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THE ART OF BEING SPIRITUALLY CONNECTED
click terumah 2024 to download THE ART OF BEING SPIRITUALLY CONNECTED Here is one of the reasons why it is so hard for a Jew to be spiritual, but first, a famous joke. There was a group of researchers that were looking for someone to fly to outer space, to be their astronaut on their…
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THE ART OF BALANCING HISHTADLUT
click mishpatim 2024 for download THE ART OF BALANCING HISHTADLUT Probably the hardest question in life for the believing Jew is how much Hishtadlut, how much effort, should I invest? If everything is preordained, the future is already known to G-d, הכל צפוי (Avot 3 15) – then what efforts should I put into it…
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THE ART OF BEING A LIGHT TO ALL THE NATIONS
click YITRO 2024 for download THE ART OF BEING A LIGHT TO ALL THE NATIONS The Zionistic dream of Ben Gurion was that the State of Israel would be “a light to the nations”. “History did not spoil us with strength, wealth, spacious lands, or a large nation. But it gave us a unique ethical…
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THE ART OF HOLDING ON
click Beshalach 2024 for download THE ART OF HOLDING ON What would you do in your life differently if you knew you could not fail? is probably the most important question in coaching. The second most important question What would be the worst case scenario, in case what you would like to do does not…
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THE ART OF PARENTING TROUBLED TEENS
click Bo 2024 for download THE ART OF PARENTING TROUBLED TEENS One of the hard things to understand about the Egyptian exile is that the numbers don’t match. In this week’s Parasha, the Torah tells us that the Jews were in Egypt for 430 years. This contradicts the number of years that the Rabbis tell…
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THE ART OF LIVING A LIFE OF TUTIM
Click vaera 2024 for download THE ART OF LIVING A LIFE OF TUTIM Are you ready for goosebumps?! One of the first soldiers that got wounded in the Oct. 7th war, was one of the two, out of all his squad, that survived. All his friends were shot and died. He also got a bullet…
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THE ART OF REDIRECTING YOUR NATURE
click SHEMOT 2024 to download THE ART OF REDIRECTING YOUR NATURE The Tur rules the Halacha: You can do the mitzvah of circumcision with whatever utensil you want… even with a sharp stone, with glass, or with anything that can cut. But it is a special mitzvah to use an iron utensil, ברזל. (YD 264)…
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THE ART OF WAITING AND TRUSTING
click vayechi 2023 for download THE ART OF WAITING AND TRUSTING Before he died, Yaakov told his sons the secret of bringing the Mashiach: וַיִּקְרָ֥א יַעֲקֹ֖ב אֶל־בָּנָ֑יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הֵאָֽסְפוּ֙ וְאַגִּ֣ידָה לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־יִקְרָ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם בְּאַחֲרִ֥ית הַיָּמִֽים: At the end of days, you will need to come together. האספו. If you stay separated, Mashiach won’t come.…
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THE ART OF DISCONNECTING FROM YOUR NARRATIVE
click vayigash 2023 to download THE ART OF DISCONNECTING FROM YOUR NARRATIVE Living like a Jew means living with a constant smile. Every Friday Night in Shul, the Hazan refers to the Jewish people, as עַם מְדֻשְּׁנֵי ענֶג, a nation that is fattened with pleasure. Knowing that your Father has everything or can create everything…
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THE ART OF BUILDING A TEMPLE IN MY HEART
click miketz 2023 to download THE ART OF BUILDING A TEMPLE IN MY HEART Next week, we are going to fast on Erev Shabbat the unique fast of Assarah Betevet. It is the only time that we fast on Friday, on Erev Shabbat, for something that happened in the past. This fast commemorates the beginning…
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THE ART OF BEING GRATEFUL FOR BEING GRATEFUL
click vayeshev 2023 for download THE ART OF BEING GRATEFUL FOR BEING GRATEFUL When we light the Hanuka candles, we are lighting the candles of our souls. King David said, כִּֽי־אַ֭תָּה תָּאִ֣יר נֵרִ֑י יְקֹוָ֥ק אֱ֝לֹהַ֗י יַגִּ֥יהַּ חָשְׁכִּֽי: for You light up my candle, YKVK my G-d will light up my darkness. (Tehillim 18;29) A soul…
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THE ART OF LIVING WITH AUTHENTICITY
click Vayishlach 2023 for download THE ART OF LIVING WITH AUTHENTICITY The word of the year 2023 for the Miriam Webster dictionary is “authentic”. People are searching for the truth on the internet, in the news, trying to see behind all the fake news. People are done with Artificial Intelligence, artificially made pictures in…
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THE ART OF BEING DEPENDENT ON G-D
click Vayetze 2023 expanded to download THE ART OF BEING DEPENDENT ON G-D Is it safe to leave my house with all the antisemitism in the atmosphere? Can I use public transportation? Can I wear a Kippah? Should my children walk in the streets? Is my mezuzah a red flag? G-d answered these questions, אַל־תִּֽירְאִי֙…
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THE ART OF MENTAL HEALTH DURING WARTIME
Click toldot 2023 to download THE ART OF MENTAL HEALTH DURING WARTIME University of Utah put out an article on their website, quoting something from Steve Sugden, MD, a colonel in the US Army Reserves and a psychiatrist at Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI). Sugden knows first-hand what it is like to be on the…
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THE ART OF CONTINUED RELENTLESS PRAYER
Click chaye sara 2023 expanded to download THE ART OF CONTINUED RELENTLESS PRAYER In the Daf Yomi this week, we have just learned that a human is a creature that that a human being, at his core, is expected to pray. The Jewish people want G-d to tell them why this Galut is so long…
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THE ART OF RELENTLESS PRAYER
click vayera 2023 for download THE ART OF RELENTLESS PRAYER It is only natural for us to think that a successful prayer is one that was answered. Well, yes and no. G-d never needed your prayers to solve your problems to begin with. He brought you your problems, because you were not praying with your…
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THE ART OF ALIGNMENT
click lech lecha 2023 to download THE ART OF ALIGNMENT Affirmations can help us go through difficult times. Here are the affirmations that helped me in my difficult times. “I trust the journey of my life and believe that everything is happening for my highest good. I am constantly growing and evolving, becoming the best…
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THE ART OF BEING ANGELIC
Click terumah 2023 for download THE ART OF BEING ANGELIC If you want to bring up your kids to be angels and not monsters, the only way, is through connection to Torah. Not to force the Torah, but to somehow get them interested in the discussion of Torah topics. The difference between engaging and preaching,…
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THE ART OF AWARENESS
click mishpatim 2023 for download THE ART OF AWARENESS וְהִגִּישׁ֤וֹ אֲדֹנָיו֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים וְהִגִּישׁוֹ֙ אֶל־הַדֶּ֔לֶת א֖וֹ אֶל־הַמְּזוּזָ֑ה וְרָצַ֨ע אֲדֹנָ֤יו אֶת־אָזְנוֹ֙ בַּמַּרְצֵ֔עַ וַעֲבָד֖וֹ לְעֹלָֽם And the Jewish Slave’s master shall bring the slave who does not want to go free in the Shemitta year, to the door, or to the doorpost, and he shall pierce his ear…
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A LESSON FROM A HAR SINAI STONE
click here to see BREAKING STONES FROM HAR SINAI click YITRO 2023 final for download A LESSON FROM A HAR SINAI STONE The exact place of Har Sinai, is still unknown. But the mountain we know, seems to have the following signs: The Nervoni, one of the commentators of the Guide of the Perplexed of the…
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THE ART OF DEFINITION AND PERSPECTIVE
click Beshalach 2023 for download THE ART OF DEFINITION AND PERSPECTIVE Different than any other language, Lashon Hakodesh is not a language of words that were just agreed upon by a group of people. Tree means tree, not for any reason, other than that the people agreed upon it. In Hebrew, the word, the root,…
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THE ART OF PHYSIOLOGY OVER PSYCHOLOGY
Click Bo 2023 for download THE ART OF PHYSIOLOGY OVER PSYCHOLOGY One of my favorite Sefarim is the Sefer Hachinuch. The Sefer Hachinuch gives a reason for each and every positive and negative commandment. There are so many Mitzvot on the night of the Seder. The mitzvoth of the night have, mostly, to do with…
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PERSONAL MIRACLE WITH R SHIMON BAADANI
Click vaera 2023 to download PERSONAL MIRACLE WITH R SHIMON BAADANI Here is a story of a personal miracle with R’ Shimon Baadani A”H. My father-in-law, David Darwich, was very close to R’ Baadani. R’ Baadani would come to visit my father-in-law on the holidays. Every Sukkot Hol Hamoed, the family members would get together…
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THE ART OF THE SLOW MESSAGE
Click SHEMOT 2023 for download THE ART OF THE SLOW MESSAGE There is a lesson from this Parasha about lessons and communicating new ideas. וַיָּבֹ֛א אֶל־הַ֥ר הָאֱלֹקים חֹרֵֽבָה And he (Moshe) came to the Mountain of G-d (Har Sinai) to Horeb. וַ֠יֵּרָא מַלְאַ֨ךְ יְקֹוָ֥ק אֵלָ֛יו בְּלַבַּת־אֵ֖שׁ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַסְּנֶ֑ה וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה הַסְּנֶה֙ בֹּעֵ֣ר בָּאֵ֔שׁ וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ…
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MY PERSONAL HANNUKA MIRACLE
Click vayechi 2023 to download MY PERSONAL HANNUKA MIRACLE A little personal story that just happened to me. I prayed at the Kotel Sunday, Rosh Hodesh, the 7th day of Hannukah, at Sunrise Minyan. The Kotel is full on Hanukah, and fuller on Rosh Hodesh. After Amidah of Shaharit, I needed the restroom badly, so…
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THE ART OF POWER
click vayigash 2022 for download THE ART OF POWER Important notice: Please read this article to yourself before reading this at the Shabbat table to the family! Power can be good, and power can be bad. It depends on how you use it, and on what you use it. One of the popular self-help books…
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THE ART OF HANUKA CHANGE
click miketz 2022 to download THE ART OF HANUKA CHANGE The beautiful song, Maoz Tzur, that we sing each Hanukka night after lighting the candles, has many beautiful insights. As it goes through the ages, the dark periods of time, that G-d saved the Jews from their oppressors, it refers to the Jews of the…
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THE ART OF TAMING THE BEAST
click toldot 2022 to download THE ART OF TAMING THE BEAST The Talmud Yerushalmi in Bikurim teaches that we learn that G-d forgives all the sins of a Hatan, a groom, from Esav. When Esav saw that his parents sent Yaakov to marry a woman who was not from the Canaanites, he wanted to show…
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