After the splitting of the sea, the first place the Jewish nation camped along its journey to Har Sinai to receive the Torah was a place called Marah. Our Sages teach that although the rest of the Torah’s commandments were given on Har Sinai, the b’nei Yisrael were given three commandments while they camped at Marah, one of them being the foundation of Shabbos. In his classic sefer Sidduro Shel Shabbos, R’ Chaim of Chernovitz presents a beautiful parable to…

Everyone is looking for a connection to our Father in heaven, a portal to a world beyond where the presence of Hashem is shining with brilliant clarity. We want to transform our lives into a chariot for the divine presence, to allow the light of the Torah’s “hora’ah”, direction, to elevate every aspect of our lives and allow us to taste the true sweetness of a God-conscious existence. But we often have a difficult time finding the path. We don’t…

THE TZADDIKIM TEACH that Amalek’s weapon is the ability to cause us to doubt the existence of Hashem and the spiritual reality underlying the physical smokescreen. This effort is ultimately rooted in the Primordial Snake, who convinced Chava that eating from the tree would allow her to become like Hashem Himself, an awesome breach of faith in the inherency of His unlimited powers. Indeed, the sin of the Eitz Hada’as had “Amalek” written all over it. When questioned by Hashem…

Many of the tzaddikim saw the primordial trees in Gan Eden, the Eitz HaDa’as Tov V’Ra and the Eitz HaChaim, as reflecting two elements of our holy Torah. R’ Shlomo Carlebach expressed this idea in his inimitable style: “There is a Torah to learn, and there is a Torah to hold on to.” The Eitz HaDa’as is an intellectual Torah; the minutia of halachic practice and parameter, the ebb and flow of the Talmudic discussion as it echoes throughout the…