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Shoftim 5782 – Understand Your Purpose In Life

Tonight’s subject be’eizer Hashem,is to figure out the purpose of our lives in this world, for each one of us. One of the most fundamental principles of Judaism is that there is no creature that exists, that was created for no reason, or by chance. Every single one of the creatures in the universe has a specific purpose. That’s a mind-boggling concept. Every blade of grass, every ant, and every fly has a purpose in Hashem’s creation. That’s principle number one.

Eikev 5782 – Harnessing the Power of Bitachon

Eikev 5782 – Harnessing the Power of Bitachon

Today we will begin with our first shiur for this tekufah on the subject of bitachon. We spoke numerous times about emunah, but bitachon is where the power begins. Emunah is the seed or the tree, while bitachon is the fruit.[i] Emunah is the study of the halachah, whereas bitachon, in the words of the Chazon Ish zichrono levrachah, is the halachah lema’aseh.[ii]People don’t realize that the Torah teaches us how to behave in every situation.

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Va’eschanan 5782 – Overcoming Fear and Acquiring Bitachon

In the beginning of Parshas Vayeitzei, the Torah tells us about Yaakov Avinu. The Medrash Rabbah (68:2) comments on the first pasuk, ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע, as follows. The medrash says that Yaakov Avinu began saying some Tehillim. You know which Tehillim he said? The Tehillim that he said was שיר למעלות אשא עיני אל ההרים, I lift up my eyes to the harim (Tehillim 121:1).

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Tisha B’Av 5782 – How to Yearn for Mashiach

Tisha Ba’av is a day on which we have an appointed meeting, a moed, with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Tisha Ba’av is a day of special tefillah, called kinnos. The way the moed is expressed is through the kinnos and by yearning for the Beis Hamikdash, and yearning to be taken out of galus. We have to analyze and understand that not all requests are uniform. Different requests require different formats. What is the format for asking for the geulah?

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Mattos-Maasei 5782 – Time To Pack

The passuk in Parshas Ma’asei says: אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים לצבאתם ביד משה ואהרן – These were the marches of the Bnei Yisroel who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moshe and Aaron. One of the subjects of training that the Klal Yisrael experienced in the midbar was the parshah of masaos. It’s very interesting to take note of that.

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Pinchas 5782 – A Proper Cheshbon Ha’Nefesh

The Torah relates an episode that took place in the midbar where a nasi of Shevet Shimon faced a tremendous challenge and he publicly did an act that shouldn’t have been done. We have to understand that he did it with a cheshbon. It wasn’t that he just fell into a ta’avah. You have to know this man, Zimri, was 250 years old. He was past the ta’avah stage. But Pinchas came along and took his life. Pinchas performed a ma’aseh kanaus, an act of zealotry and he speared them both with a spear.

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Chukas 5782 – The Blessing of Dependence

The passuk tells us that after Aharon died, the people lodged a complaint against Hakadosh Baruch Hu. They said they were tired of the circuitous route that they were taking, they were fed up with the difficulties of traveling around for many days and they began to speak against Hashem and Moshe, why did You take us out of Mitzrayim to die in the midbar there’s no lechem and there’s no mayim!