Thinkingaboutme.org
9 years of Parasha articles.
THE ART OF COMMUNICATING STRUCTURE
click YITRO 2022 for download THE ART OF COMMUNICATING STRUCTURE Humans in general, and children in particular, need structure and routine in order to thrive. A home with no structure, a house without written rules and clear expectations is a house that is destined to become chaotic, destined for power struggles. Without rules and expectations,…
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THE ART OF KICKSTARTING YOUR DAY
Click BESHALACH 2022 to download THE ART OF KICKSTARTING YOUR DAY The purpose of all Thinkingaboutme.org articles is to bring self-help from the parasha. I started writing with the belief my Rabbis taught me, when I started learning coaching 12 years ago: there is no such thing as a genuine self-help tool, that the Gentiles…
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THE ART OF CHANGING YOUR MAZAL
Click Bo 2022 for download THE ART OF CHANGING YOUR MAZAL Mazal is something that, Judaism believes, has a big impact on your life. The root of the word “mazal” is “nozel”, which implies that your fate flows from Above, through the Mazalot. (Zohar; Radak) Your Mazal will determine how long you will live. It…
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THE ART OF INTUITIVE INTELLEGENCE
click vaera 2021 to download THE ART OF INTUITIVE INTELLEGENCE One of the hardest things to understand about the Exodus story is – what was Pharaoh thinking? How did he have the emotional ability not to give in, after suffering such great plagues, each one worse than the next? The Torah answers that it was…
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THE ART OF BEING A NOBODY
Click SHEMOT 2021 for download THE ART OF BEING A NOBODY Modesty is something that many praise, but few focus on. What a shame, because modesty is one of the main ingredients in being calm. Western culture teaches, and Hollywood preaches, to despise modesty. They teach that modesty and success are antonyms, while modesty and…
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THE ART OF CHANGING THE WORLD
Click vayechi 2021 for download THE ART OF CHANGING THE WORLD There were people who changed the world forever, who saved, and keep saving, millions of lives, even after they are gone. The inventors of the three-point seat belt, vaccines, penicillin, the British mathematician who decoded the German military enigma code in WW2, the Russian…
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THE ART OF OVERCOMING
Click vayigash 2021 for download THE ART OF OVERCOMING Parashat Vayigash is probably the most emotionally intense parasha in the whole Torah. And, I learnt about the most intense moment, only this year. At the climax of the story, Yehuda explains to his brother Yosef, who appears to be an intransigent Egyptian leader, how…
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THE ART OF BEING AN IVRI
click miketz 2021 for download THE ART OF BEING AN IVRI R Shimshon R. Hirsh writes that the first prophecy in the Torah was יַ֤פְתְּ אֱלֹקים֙ לְיֶ֔פֶת וְיִשְׁכֹּ֖ן בְּאָֽהֳלֵי־שֵׁ֑ם Noach blessed his two sons, Shem and Yefet, with the following: May G-d expand Yafet, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem. The word…
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THE ART OF SEEING THE LIGHT
Click vayeshev 2021 for download THE ART OF SEEING THE LIGHT Ever noticed how all of the parashiot of Sefer Bereshit, from Lech Lecha, the time G-d promised Avraham that his descendants would be going down to Egypt, until it actually happened – all begin with the letter Vav? (Except three). וירא, ויצא, וישלח, וישב, ויגש,…
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THE ART OF BEING A FIGHTER
Click Vayishlach 2021 to download THE ART OF BEING A FIGHTER One of the strangest things that Yaakov ever did was to bow down to his brother Esav seven times. This was not just an ordinary meeting between two sibling rivals. This was symbolic of the meeting between the power of good, of light, of…
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THE ART OF BEING ANGELIC
click Vayetze 2021 for download THE ART OF BEING ANGELIC I just got back from walking the streets of Manhattan for an entire week, helping my father-in- law fundraise for his Yeshiva, Yeshivat Beer Yitzhak, in Telshestone. When I got back to my apartment in Jerusalem, I asked myself, what is the difference between the…
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THE ART OF BEING AN ESHET CHAYIL
Click chaye sara 2021 to download THE ART OF BEING AN ESHET CHAYIL One of the greatest things I ever taught was the explanation of Eshet Hayil. There are many explanations of the Eshet Hayil. It was written by King Solomon, at the very end of Mishlei. It could be explained as the soul, (Malbim)…
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THE ART OF LIVING WITH G-D
Click lech lecha 2021 for download THE ART OF LIVING WITH G-D I am so lucky to be a teacher of dikduk. Mastering the basics is the pathway to mastering the bookshelf and kavvana in prayer, on a whole new level. One of the questions that bothered me for years is, what is the…
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THE ART OF DOING YOURSELF A FAVOR
Click yom kippur 2021 for download THE ART OF DOING YOURSELF A FAVOR There was once a contractor, a man who build homes, until he was 65. From an early age, no one knew how to build homes like he did, so a very wealthy contractor hired him from the outset, and they had a…
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THE ART OF BLOWING SHOFAR
click rosh hashana 2021 to download THE ART OF BLOWING SHOFAR The reason we blow the Shofar is so that G-d will remember for us the cries of Sarah, when she heard the news that her son Yitzhak had been sacrificed, and let it be an atonement for us. The sound of the shofar’s blast,…
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THE ART OF SEEKING HELP
click ki tavo 2021 for download THE ART OF SEEKING HELP A fundamental of Teshuva, is that you can’t do it on your own. Your Yetzer Hara is much, stronger than you. Period. אלמלי הקב”ה עוזרו אינו יכול לו. )Kiddushin 30b)The amount that you damaged through sin, you can never fix, alone. Period. If…
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THE ART OF FIGHTING THE YETZER HARA
Click ki tetze 2021 for download THE ART OF FIGHTING THE YETZER HARA The four parashiot of Elul have in them endless tools for change and Teshuva. Reeh – See that you have choice, more choices than you think. Shoftim- observe how much self-control you have and how honest and true to yourself you have…
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THE ART OF INTERGRITY
CLICK shoftim 2021 FOR DOWNLOAD THE ART OF INTERGRITY People lie much more than they think. “I’ll be there in 5 minutes”, even though you did not even leave the house yet, and you know it will take you at least 8.5 minutes to get there. “I am careful with what I eat”, but that…
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THE ART OF CRYING
Click devarim 2021 to download THE ART OF CRYING Parashat Devarim Three tears dripped from Esav’s eyes, when he realized how his brother Yaakov had taken the blessings that his father Yitzchak wanted to give him. One tear dripped from his right eye, one from his left, and the third, Thank G-d, didn’t leave his…
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THE LONGEST RELATIONSHIP EVER
click mattot masei 2021 expanded for download THE LONGEST RELATIONSHIP EVER Parashat Mattot Masei One of the many great things about being Sephardic and living in Israel is that in Israel we can eat Filet Mignon. The reason why Ashkenazim don’t eat it, and American butchers don’t carry it, is because the process of Nikur,…
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THE ART OF PRESERVING JEWISH IDENTITY
Click pinhas 2021 final to download THE ART OF PRESERVING JEWISH IDENTITY Parashat Pinhas The greatest cause of Jewish destruction is never explosion. It is implosion. Explosion is when something from outside destructs what is inside. Implosion is to self-destruct. You might even not realize it, but the foundations of what you stand on may be…
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THE ART OF BEING PROMOTED
Click balak 2021 to download THE ART OF BEING PROMOTED Parashat Balak Why did Bilaam receive prophecy? So that the gentiles wouldn’t be able to offer the excuse that if they had had prophets like Moshe, they would have been better than we were. So, G-d gave the gentiles a prophet on the same…
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THE ART OF ASKING A RABBI
Click korah 2021 expanded for download THE ART OF ASKING A RABBI Parashat Korah One of the worst things that has ever happened to Ultra-Orthodox Jewry is that it is not cool anymore to have a Rabbi that you consult with. It has become cool for people to be brave, to make their own decisions.…
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THE ART OF WEARING TZITZIT
click shlach 2021 final for download THE ART OF WEARING TZITZIT Parashat Shelach The Maggid from Dubno would tell the following story. A man walking in the forest noticed a small house that seemed vacant, but there was a voice of an old man, crying, inside. He hurried over to the house to make sure…
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THE ART OF LIVING THE PERFECT LIFE
Click Bhaalotcha 2021 to download THE ART OF LIVING THE PERFECT LIFE Parashat Behaalotcha The worst part of you is the perfect part of you. The perfect part of you causes you to procrastinate; it shields you from reaching your best, and it takes out the playfulness and enjoyment from anything and…
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THE ART OF LIVING TORAH
Click naso 2021 for download THE ART OF LIVING TORAH Parashat Naso After reaccepting the Torah anew on Shavuot, we are to relearn the Torah as if G-d is speaking to us in 2021, relating it to what we are presently going through and accept the 613, with 2021 vision. Just this week, I received…
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THE ART OF TWO-WAY RELATIONSHIPS
Click shavuoth 2021 for download THE ART OF TWO-WAY RELATIONSHIPS Shavuot The time is perfect for Mashiach to come. Israel cannot put together a government, and after four rounds of voting, no one here in Israel has the energy to vote a fifth time. The government is a joke. אין בן דוד בא עד…
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THE ART OF DEPENDENCE
click behar behukotay 2021 for download THE ART OF DEPENDENCE Behar Behukotay Sometimes we think that we go out of our way for other people. We give our money, our time, our energy, for other people. But in reality, the one who receives the most when giving is the giver. These last two weeks, I…
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THE ART OF BECOMING THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF
Click acharei mot kedoshim 2021 for download THE ART OF BECOMING THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF Parashat Aharei Mot/ Kedoshim Parashat Acharei Mot, opens with the discussion of how Nadab and Avihu died while inappropriately entering the Mishkan, and how Aharon and all future Kohanim Gedolim are to serve on Yom Kippur in the…
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THE ART OF OVERCOMING THE BEAST WITHIN
click tazriah metzorah 2021 for download THE ART OF OVERCOMING THE BEAST WITHIN Parashat Tazriah / Metzorah It has been said, that when you pray, you are talking to G-d, and when you learn Torah, G-d is talking to you. I would like to add to that. When you are praying, you are contemplating how…
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THE ART OF FAITH
Click vayikra 2021 to download THE ART OF FAITH “Why do we drink four cups of wine on the Seder Night?” is a question to which most people have only one answer. The answer most people know is that the cups are correspondent to the four terms of redemption G-d promised Moshe. והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי…
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THE ART OF FIGHTING YOUR YETZER HARA
Click vayakhel pekudei 2021 to download THE ART OF FIGHTING YOUR YETZER HARA Parashat Vayakhel Pekudei/ Passover Each year before Passover, there are so many things about Chametz I have a hard time understanding. Our Rabbis teach that the Chametz is what prevents us from serving G-d. (Berachot 17a) The Zohar writes in numerous places…
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THE ART OF PATIENCE
Click ki tisa 2021 to download THE ART OF PATIENCE The episode of the Golden Calf is one of the hardest episodes to understand, when reading the text as is, without the help from the Oral Torah and commentaries. Only after learning the story in depth, can we understand Aharon’s behavior; we can understand that…
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THE ART OF RECONNECTING
Click tezaveh 2021 to download THE ART OF RECONNECTING Tezaveh / Purim One of the hardest parts to understand in the Megillah story is the three day fast implemented by Mordechai and Esther. The days of the fast were the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth days of Nissan, which would coincide with eating Matzah on the night…
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THE ART OF FUTURISTIC THINKING
Click terumah 2021 for download THE ART OF FUTURISTIC THINKING Parashat Terumah/Zachor One of the most important skills to survive Covidland is the ability to see past the insanity, the uncertain and the unknown. As Benny Friedman’s new beautiful song plays in the background as I write, Who can ever make sense of tomorrow, when…
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