Thinkingaboutme.org
9 years of Parasha articles.
THE ART OF LIVING
click hukat 2022 to download THE ART OF LIVING This Tuesday, I was asked by my family to speak at the Shloshim of my cousin’s son. Yaakov Yisrael Farhi, A”H, was run over by a car, and after his body had fought for months to stay alive, he passed away 30 days ago. The parents,…
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THE ART OF PUBLIC PERSUASION
click korah 2022 expanded for download THE ART OF PUBLIC PERSUASION One of the things that always boggled my mind, and the mind of every historian, is how Adolf Hitler, yemah shmo, a man who was no more than a high school dropout, a homeless, an unsuccessful artist, was capable of capturing the intelligent German…
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THE ART OF NOT BEING AFRAID
click shlach 2022 final for download THE ART OF NOT BEING AFRAID A person can bring himself miracles, save himself, and protect himself by meditating on the concept of אין עוד מלבדו: there is no power or will in the world, other than the power and will of a One G-d. (Nefesh Hachaim 3;12) No…
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THE ART OF STAYING SANE
click behaalotcha 2022 for download THE ART OF STAYING SANE According to Judaism, making money to support your family is as hard as you believe it is. The amount you earn is predetermined, even before you were born, and then predetermined again, each year on Rosh Hashana. Of course, you need to serve your clients,…
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THE ART OF BEING A UNIFIED NATION
click shavuoth 2022 expanded for download THE ART OF BEING A UNIFIED NATION Torah and Chessed are one and the same. On the passuk, פִּ֭יהָ פָּתְחָ֣ה בְחָכְמָ֑ה וְתֽוֹרַת־חֶ֝֗סֶד עַל־לְשׁוֹנָֽהּ ,the Talmud asks, is there such a thing as Torah that is not Torah of Chessed?!? (Succah 49b) The Torah itself begins with Chessed, how G-d…
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THE ART OF BEING A 24/7 JEW
click bamidbar 2022 for download THE ART OF BEING A 24/7 JEW In the days of King Achav, Queen Izevel killed all the prophets, except Eliyahu Hanavi. There were only 7000 Jews in the whole of Israel who did not bow to the Avoda Zara of the day, the Ba’al. Eliyahu decreed that there be…
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THE ART OF CONNECTING TO R’ AKIVA
click behukotay 2022 for download THE ART OF CONNECTING TO R’ AKIVA A popular parasha sheet in Israel wrote something that got me thinking. People go to R’ Shimon Bar Yochai to pray for miracles, borrowing an unrelated terminology from the Talmud, כדאי הוא ר”ש לסמוך עליו בשעת הדחק. (Gittin 19a) It is true. People…
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THE ART OF CREATING ANGELS
click Lag Baomer 2022 for download THE ART OF CREATING ANGELS Orthodox Jews believe, that there is nothing more powerful in the world, than learning Gemarah in a way, that will bring clarity to the actual Halacha. The back and forth, the questions and the answers, the give and take of the commentators and how…
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THE ART OF BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WORLD
click Emor and Pirkei Avot 2022 to download THE ART OF BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WORLD One of the biggest questions the gentiles have about Judaism is why bad things happen to good people, to Tzaddikim, and good things happen to bad people, to the Reshaim. This question will last only until the days of…
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THE ART OF BUILDING SPIRITUAL SAND CASTLES
Click acherei mot kedoshim 2022 for download THE ART OF BUILDING SPIRITUAL SAND CASTLES After Pesach break, it’s hard to get back into learning and onto the spiritual Sefirah-sail to Shavuot, to the upcoming Matan Torah. Especially when I have to go back to juggling being a husband, father and breadwinner, not to mention my…
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THE ART OF EXPERIENCING SHABBAT HAGADOL
THE ART OF EXPERIENCING SHABBAT HAGADOL Click shabbat hagadol for expanded download The Shulhan Aruch (430 O”H) rules that this week is called Shabbat Hagadol, probably hinting that when we bless each other Shabbat Shalom this week, we should be saying Shabbat Hagadol Shalom. There are a number of reasons why this Shabbat is called…
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THE ART OF BEING READY FOR MASHIACH
click pekudei 2022 for download THE ART OF BEING READY FOR MASHIACH So, as it seems, Mashiach is around the corner. We have all the signs, again, and from the greatest Rabbis. Are you ready for Eliyahu Hanavi? He is going to ask you, What questions bothered you so long in your Torah learning that…
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THE ART OF MANAGING BEAUTY
click vayakhel 2022 for download THE ART OF MANAGING BEAUTY The Eshet Chayil is not a woman of strength, but of valor. Valor is strength of the mind, the ability to face danger and adversity with firmness, bravery and courage. A woman needs valor and courage to dress nicely but modestly, and that courage comes…
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THE ART OF BEING A SQUARE
Click terumah 2022 for download THE ART OF BEING A SQUARE G-d created a breathtaking world of patterns, symmetry, colors and shapes. Crown shapes can be found in a water splash, and stunning symmetry can be found in zebras, tigers, starfish and a zoomed-in image of a snowflake. The Nile is so snakelike; sand dunes…
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THE ART OF SENSITIVITY
Click mishpatim 2022 to download THE ART OF SENSITIVITY I can never forget how, when I learnt a year in Mikdash Melech, we visited Hacham Ovadia Yosef zt”l before Pesach. A lot of the boys in the yeshiva were on a spiritual high from a winter of learning, and many looked at themselves as fanatical,…
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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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