Thinkingaboutme.org
9 years of Parasha articles.
FOR THE LOVE OF THE LAND
FOR THE LOVE OF THE LAND Parashat Reeh R’ Shlomo Wolbe wrote a fascinating Sefer called המצוות השקולות, The seven Mitzvoth that have Equal Weight. Fulfilling each one of these seven Mitzvoth is equal to fulfilling the entire Torah, all of the 613. 1. Denying Avodah Zarah, 2. Wearing Tzitzit. 3. Shabbat. 4. Torah learning.…
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EGO ON HOLD
Click pinhas 2018 to download EGO ON HOLD Parashat Pinhas Leaders never became leaders by concentrating on their ego. They served the people in some way and became leaders incidentally, somewhere along the process. It is amazing how far we could go in life if we would just put our egos on hold and focus on our…
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IN A DRONE’S EYE VIEW
click balak 2018 to download IN A DRONE’S EYE VIEW Parashat Balak We read in the Haftarah this week. עַמִּ֗י זְכָר־נָא֙ מַה־יָּעַ֗ץ בָּלָק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מוֹאָ֔ב וּמֶה־עָנָ֥ה אֹת֖וֹ בִּלְעָ֣ם בֶּן־בְּע֑וֹר מִן־הַשִּׁטִּים֙ עַד־הַגִּלְגָּ֔ל לְמַ֕עַן דַּ֖עַת צִדְק֥וֹת יְקֹוָֽק My nation, please remember what Balak, King of Moab advised, and what Bilaam, son of Beor, answered him from the Shittim until…
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CALM, CONFIDENT AND CONTENT
click hukat 2018 for pdf download CALM, CONFIDENT AND CONTENT Parashat Hukat Why did the Jews say Shira in the desert only on the Well of Water, and not on the Mannah? Because about the Mannah, they made tasteless remarks, “And now our souls are dry, there is nothing…”(Bamidbar 11) G-d said, “ I want neither your…
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CHASING SPARKS
Click korah 2018 to download CHASING SPARKS Parashat Korah One of the greatest challenges for the spiritual Jew is that after we get inspired, we try to live according to our inspiration for a day or two, but then nothing changes. When bringing up children, when inspiring our students, we face the same dilemma. We get them…
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THE MITZVAH TO BE YOURSELF
Click shelach 2018 to download THE MITZVAH TO BE YOURSELF Parashat Shelach At least twice a day, we recite the words וְלֹֽא־תָת֜וּרוּ אַחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם זֹנִ֖ים אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם. And you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes, that you are straying after them. The Netziv brings to our attention a deeper meaning of…
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Humble Power
Click Bhaalotcha 2018 to download HUMBLE POWER Parashat Bhaalotcha Here is the sequence of events discussed towards the end of our Parasha: The Jews complain to Moshe about their heaven-sent Mannah. They would rather have the natural produce from Egypt. They want meat. Moshe tells G-d, “Kill me now; just don’t punish Your people!… I can’t carry the…
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OUT OF CONTROL
Click naso 2018 to download OUT OF CONTROL Why does the Torah put the Nazirite laws immediately after the laws of the Sotah? For if one sees a Sotah in her disgraceful state, he should become a Nazir from wine, so that he does not follow in her ways of immorality. (Berachot 63a, Nazir 2a) Wine, the…
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BOOTLEG TORAH
Click Shavuoth 2018 to download BOOTLEG TORAH Shavuoth Enjoying Torah, making it sweet, is not just Torah with extra credit. Sweet Torah, Torah that is enjoyable, is the only Torah. If it is not sweet, if you do not enjoy it, it is not Torah; it is just a bootleg version of it. A bootleg recording is an audio…
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LIFESTYLES
click behukotay 2018 to download LIFESTYLES Parashat Behaalotcha One of the biggest problems facing the Orthodox Jew is the belief that a Jew can keep “the 613” while living the lifestyle of “keeping up with the gentiles”. Who is setting the standard of what we want and what we don’t want in life? The way we live,…
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A GOOD HEART
A GOOD HEART Sefirat Haomer The most important word I learnt since I started coaching is the word resourcefulness. Tony Robbins, the world’s leading coach says, When people fail to achieve, they often say they are missing resources like time, money, people and so on. Yet, the top achievers in the world know that resources…
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Love vs. Respect
Click Emor 2018 for download Love vs. Respect Sefirat Haomer Sefirat Haomer is a time of character refinement. 12,000 pairs, 24,000 students of R Akiva, all died at this time for not honoring each other. (Yevamot 62b) The main Avodah during the Omer is to correct that Middah of respect. There are three questions one can ask.…
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THOU SHALT LOVE THY COMPETITOR
Click Tazriah – kedoshim 2018 to download THOU SHALT LOVE THY COMPETITOR Parashat Tazriah Metzorah Rava said: When a person dies and is brought in for his final judgement, he is asked: were you faithful in your business dealings?” (Shabbat 31a) The test of business ethic is the biggest test on a Jew’s fear of G-d. It…
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STOP OVERTHINKING IT!
click vayakhel p 2018 to download STOP OVERTHINKING IT! Parashat Vayakhel Pekudei Overthinking usually starts from something legitimate, but then it loses boundaries. It is so common for people to overthink in so many areas. Was I guilty? Why did I make such a mistake? Why did others act the way they did, or not even…
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DRESS WELL
Click Tezaveh 2018 for download DRESS WELL Parashat Tezaveh It is amazing how much our psychology is dependent on how we dress. What we wear not only tells other people who we are. It is the greatest reflection of your self-perception. So many times, I have found that by helping a person change their wardrobe, they…
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A JEW’S SEARCH FOR SPIRITUALITY
Click Terumah 2018 to download A JEW’S SEARCH FOR SPIRITUALITY Parashat Terumah I learnt the following truism from coaching Yeshiva Bachurim and frum people. The Torah Jew is concerned more about finding spirituality in the mundane than he is by anything else. This is an area left uncovered by the psychologists of the world. No matter where…
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WHY LIE?
Click mishpatim 2018 for download WHY LIE? Parashat Mishpatim The Maharsha writes the following powerful story in the name of the Baal HaIkrim. There was once a man who was a sinner and a thief who came to a wise man to do Teshuvah. But he could not take on himself all of the laws of the…
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THE ARAB NEXT DOOR
Click Yitro 2018 to download THE ARAB NEXT DOOR Parashat Yitro There were three advisers to Pharaoh in the plot against the Jews. Bilaam, Iyob, and Yitro. Bilaam advised to enslave the Jews. Iyob kept quiet. Yirto ran away. Bilaam was punished; he was killed by the sword by the Jews. Iyob suffered for not protesting.…
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MY BELOVED, MY HORSE
click beshalach 2018 to download MY BELOVED, MY HORSE Parashat Beshalach There is a module I have discovered that is effective for change in any life area. I call it Triple A. Awareness. Acceptance. Action. First, we need to have awareness of the situation. The problem. The challenge. The options. The strengths and weakness. The powers that…
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EMOTIONAL OXYGEN TUBES
Click Parashat Bo 2018 for download EMOTIONAL OXYGEN TUBES Parashat Bo At the beginning of the Parasha, before the plague of the locust, G-d tells Moshe, לְמַ֡עַן תְּסַפֵּר֩ בְּאָזְנֵ֨י בִנְךָ֜ וּבֶן־בִּנְךָ֗. I will bring these plagues on Pharoah, in order for you to tell of it in the ears of your children and grandchildren. What was so…
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THE WATER IN YOUR STRAW
Click Vaera 2018 to download THE WATER IN YOUR STRAW Parashat Vaera The best producers, artists and authors know how to give the illusion that something inanimate is actually alive. So, too, G-d created the world with the illusion that it is independent of Him. This is what is meant, in the words of the Talmud, that…
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BEATING THE SYSTEM
Click shemot 2018 for download BEATING THE SYSTEM Parashat Shemot There is a sad joke that goes around the yeshiva world each year at this time. Ben Hazmanim usually starts with a fast. Tisha BAv , Yom Kippur, Taanit Esther. And Sof Zman, the beginning of the end, the decline of momentum for the weaker boys, is…
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YEHUDA – I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU
Click vayechi 2017 -2018 for download YEHUDA – I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU Parashat Vayechi Yosef’s last wish was to be buried in Eretz Yisrael. He made his brothers swear that when G-d would remember them and take them out of Egypt , they would take his bones along with them, at the Exodus. He told them,…
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THE POWER OF N.A.G.
click vayigash 2017 to download THE POWER OF N.A.G. Parashat Vayigash Self-help that the Torah offers is always more effective and genuine than the self-help ideas of the Gentiles. It is always an octave above. That is the idea of eight nights of Chanukkah, and it is the concept that we fought the Greeks about. We…
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THE GREATEST SPIN ON YOUR LIFE
Click miketz 2017 to download THE GREATEST SPIN ON YOUR LIFE Parashat Miketz The Beit Yosef asks, Why do we celebrate the miracle of the candles for eight days? There was no miracle on the first day, for all candles burn, naturally. So why don’t we celebrate only seven days? The answer of R Tzadok is a…
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THE RESPONSIBILITY OF COULD
Click vayeshev 2017 for Parasha download THE RESPONSIBILITY OF COULD Parashat Vayeshev Anyone who blesses Yehuda is disgusting to G-d. (Sanhedrin 6b) If Yehuda had the power to persuade his brothers to sell Yosef, he had the power to bring Yosef back to his father, as well. (Rashi ibid.) And because he did not take responsibility when…
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WORK SMARTER / PRAY HARDER
click vayishlach 2017 for pdf download WORK SMARTER / PRAY HARDER Parashat Vayishlach How does a person know if he is doing the right amount of Hishtadlut, or if he is overdoing it? This is the million dollar question, and one of the most common dilemmas of every-day life. It has ramifications in all areas of…
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A JEW OF ANOTHER LEVEL
click vayetze 2017 for pdf download A JEW OF ANOTHER LEVEL Parashat Vayetze Rachel gave her sister, Leah, the Simanim. She taught her the laws of family purity, of challah and of lighting candles. She could not bear to see her sister go through the embarrassment of Yaakov’s discovering that it was Leah, not Rachel, under…
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THE FULLY CHARGED LIFE
Click toldot 2017 to download PDF THE FULLY CHARGED LIFE Parashat Toldot Everyone who walks theארץ , the land, has a רצון, a will. Ask anyone you meet what would be the greatest thing that he could achieve over the next 5 years. You will always get some sort of answer, of some sort of dream,…
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AN 18 YEAR OLD SHAWARMA
Click chaye sarah 2017 to download AN 18 YEAR OLD SHAWARMA Parashat Chaye Sarah Coaching yeshiva students is my life’s passion. Usually, students fall out of “ben Torah performance” because of two factors: lack of academic achievement and lack of social blending. If one of these two is still in force, the academic or social factor,…
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MEETING WITH G-D
Click vayera 2017 for PDF download MEETING WITH G-D Parashat Vayera There was a great man I remember from my childhood, Jack Adjmi, of blessed memory. He was my best friend’s grandpa. He gave substantial amounts of charity to the shuls I grew up in. I remember how, when eulogizing him, one of his sons quoted…
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IN THE MERIT OF EMUNAH
click lech lecha 2017 for pdf download IN THE MERIT OF EMUNAH Parashat Lech Lecha Last week, at the Shabbat meal, my son came back from shul and told us all this incredible story: There was a philanthropist from America who was very close to R’ Elyashiv, and every time he came for a visit, he gave…
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HEAVYWEIGHT WHOS
HEAVYWEIGHT WHOS Parashat Noach Television, radio, advertising, movies, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, all reflect and create the culture we live in. Our emotions, opinions, and behaviors are all dependent on the culture we are part of, and our choices are dependent on whatever is the status quo of our emotions, opinions and our behaviors. The result…
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YOM KIPPUR, SHABBAT AND HYDROGEN BOMBS
click yom kippur 2017 for PDF download YOM KIPPUR, SHABBAT AND HYDROGEN BOMBS Yom Kippur Too often in life, we focus on the “what”, and forget about the who, the when and the where. So many times in life, it is not about what you did, it is about who you are that did it, when and…
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THE EQUILIBRIUM HOLIDAY
click rosh hashana 2017 for pdf download THE EQUILIBRIUM HOLIDAY Rosh Hashana Rosh Hashana is the holiday of mixed emotions. It is a day of precise judgment, but yet a day of joy. A day to tap into our humility, while we celebrate it as a holiday. I always had a hard time figuring out what state…
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