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Hakitzu VeRanenu #10 – Our Deep Acclimatization to Constricted Consciousness
In exile, we have crumbled into shards. Our consciousness has become extremely constricted, the aspect of “katnus”, and we have become deeply accustomed to seeing ourselves as separate individuals, worrying only about our own spiritual situation alone. Now, the time has come for us to become awakened and nurture our minds to a broadened an…
Read MoreHakitzu VeRanenu #9: The Constriction of the Torah in Exile (Part Two)
This tremendous downfall made it very difficult for souls to imagine the awesome and broad avodas Hashem in the Beis HaMikdash and to attain the light of the Torah in its elevated state of completion. A frightening gap developed between the regular avodas Hashem of the earlier days and that of exile. Therefore, the Torah…
Read MoreUpon the Mountain Stands a Tree
In recent months there has been much conversation about a so-called “aliyah explosion” amidst the various crises rocking Jewish communities around the world. While I certainly hope these predictions of mass emigration materialize, I believe it is equally important for our holy nation – including those who already have the great merit of living in…
Read MoreThe Wholeness of a Broken Heart
What does it mean to have a broken heart? Is having a broken heart the same thing as sadness? What is the difference between them? Let us explore what Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches us regarding these questions. Rebbe Nachman teaches in the sefer Sichos HaRan (Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom) that a broken heart and sadness are not…
Read MoreHakitzu VeRanenu #9 – The Constriction of the Torah in Exile (Part One)
As we have learned, exile represents the shattering of Hashem’s nation into shards. This reality where each shard stands alone produces small-mindedness, a constricted perception which allows one to experience only those matters relating to his own individual life. We compared this constricted consciousness to the “havla d’garmi”, the vapor of life that exists within…
Read MoreHakitzu VeRanenu #8 – The Constricted Consciousness Experienced during the Slumber of Exile
Let us explain what the nature of this slumber is. It is known that sleep represents the removal of one’s cognitive powers, the person’s intellect. Still, the Arizal explains that a person’s cognitive abilities always remain, even when he sleeps, for without any consciousness he would die from the lack of life-force.[1] Therefore, during the…
Read MoreSpiritual Warrior: Rav Levi Yitzchok Bender zy”a
Take a good look at this picture. Looks like any alter Yid, right? Would you believe me if I told you that this elderly Jew: * Survived two World Wars * Never missed a single Tikkun Chatzos for 70 straight years * Rescued two orphaned siblings from a government orphanage – despite terrible financial woes…
Read MoreHakitzu VeRanenu #7: The Deep Slumber of Exile
However, the revelation of this life-giving spirit is faced with many powerful and difficult obstacles. We have already long become accustomed to perceiving ourselves as separate individuals, to worrying only about our own personal completion – whether in physical or spiritual matters. Together with this, we have become used to sharpening the differences between ourselves…
Read MoreHakitzu VeRanenu #6 – Our Generation and the Generation of the Ingathering of the Exiles
Understand well that the secret of the descent of the spirit is our generation’s avodah, after the first generation of kibutz galuyos (the ingathering of the exiles). The first generation engaged in the externality of the redemption, gathering the limbs and arranging them one next to the other. Included in this was the preparation of…
Read MoreHakitzu VeRanenu #5 – Two Stages of Redemption
Hashem has recollected His nation, and with miracles and awesome wonders we have been returned to our land after a long and bitter exile. Blessed is Hashem Whose kindness has overwhelmed us, Who has taken us from death to life, from darkness to light, from subjugation under the nations of the world to freedom in…
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