Zvi Hirschfield and Deborah Anstandig explore the power of perspective in Parshat Vayera, through the stories of Hagar, Sarah, and Avraham, and ask how we can make room for hope amid uncertainty.
Tanakh, Torah, Bereishit (Genesis), Personalities, Biblical personalities, Podcast series
How do we know when it’s time to leave the familiar behind? In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Yiscah Smith explore Avraham’s response to the call of Lech Lecha and what it means to leave the familiar behind. Was Avraham…
Tanakh, Torah, Bereishit (Genesis), Personalities, Biblical personalities, Self & spirituality
What does it really mean to be created in God’s image? In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Michael Hattin explore one of the Torah’s most intriguing descriptions of humanity: “Let us make the human in our image.” Through different…
Tanakh, Torah, Bereishit (Genesis), Bereishit, Self & spirituality, Mussar
Rabbi Yitzhak of Radziwiłłów was active as a hasidic master in the early nineteenth century. His father, the maggid (preacher) Rabbi Yehiel Mikhel of Złoczów (1731-1780s), was a hasidic leader in the early days of nascent Hasidism. Each of Rabbi…
Self & spirituality, Spirituality
In 1933, Rabbi Yisrael Bekmeister (1877-1954) published a twenty-page collection of hasidic tales. The collection included a fascinating tale that speaks to assessing the past year, as we approach the High Holy Days. **** Bekmeister’s slender booklet included fifteen tales…
Self & spirituality, Reflection, Spirituality, Jewish calendar, High Holidays, Yom Kippur
A 1907 collection of hasidic tales by Rabbi Yisrael Berger (1855-1919), Eser Orot, offered a bevy of tales about Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdyczów (1740-1809). Rabbi Berger was one of the key transmitters of hasidic tales, publishing a tetralogy that…
Self & spirituality, Reflection, Spirituality
Likkutei Tefillot is one of the fascinating books in the hasidic library. Written by Rabbi Natan Sternhartz of Nemirov (1780-1844), it does not fit neatly in the classic genres of hasidic writing. The work, as we have it today, is…
Self & spirituality, Jewish prayer, Reflection, Spirituality
Originally published June 18, 2015, with the conclusion of the 2022-2023 academic year, we’ve decided to bring this article back as a reminder to all of us that the Torah learning goes on. Who’s Carrying the Torah? The noisy din…
Self & spirituality, Personal transformation, Reflection, Spirituality, Tanakh, Torah
What might it mean to encounter the Divine within the rhythms of everyday life? Hosted by Yiscah Smith, Walking With Your Inner Spirit offers six opportunities, practices, and encounters for experiencing the Divine within. The series explores the relationship between…
Self & spirituality, Jewish prayer, Podcast series, Pardes Live and Mini-Series, Personal transformation, Spirituality
The attached chapter, entitled “Halakhah” and written by Rabbi Levi Cooper is available as part of a new textbook that discusses thirteen different sources for the study of Hasidism: derashot, stories, writings of mitnaggedim, writings of maskilim, newspapers, archives, music,…
Self & spirituality, Hasidut, Personal transformation, Reflection, Spirituality
This was originally published August 20, 2013. We are now in the midst of the three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, which recall the siege on Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. Tradition…
Jewish calendar, 17th of Tammuz, 9 Days, Mishnah, Self & spirituality, Spirituality
In the run up to Purim, Rabbi Michael Hattin gave the second lecture in a 2-part series on Megillat Esther, this time focusing on Divine Concealment and Human Initiative. Click here for part 1.
Tanakh, Ketuvim (Writings), Esther, Jewish calendar, Purim, Self & spirituality
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