Guest Posts
Hakitzu 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…
Hakitzu 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…
Etching Wisdom: Penimiyus HaTorah as a 21st Century Cure for Information Overload
Introduction For all its contributions to the progress of humanity, the digital revolution has nevertheless seen its fair share of setbacks. Not unlike our forebears, Yitzchak and Rivkah, the information age has given birth to twins – one good and one evil – so that, remarkably, the same generation privileged to bear witness to an…
Hakitzu VeRanenu #4 – The Redemption and Penimiyus HaTorah
It is known from countless sources in the Zohar and other works of penimiyus that in time to come, the interiority of the Torah will be revealed in all of its light and with the full might of its elevation, and that it is by way of this revelation that am Yisrael will be redeemed…
Hakitzu VeRanenu #3 – The Secret of Exile
The exile of the Jewish nation from their land involved the mystery of death. This is apparent from the Vision of the Dry Bones – exile is likened to a cemetery. And so our sages have said, “Tzion is considered to be dead, as the verse states ‘you have placed me in the dark like…
Hakitzu VeRanenu #2 – Two Aspects within the Jewish Person
Each Jewish person contains two aspects, the mystery of chitzoniyus (exteriority) and penimiyus (interiority.) The external element relates to his personal life as he knows it from the time of his birth until the present moment, and his seeing himself as a complete being with an entirely independent existence. As it relates to avodas Hashem,…
Hakitzu VeRanenu #1 – Introduction
Consciousness of Exile and of Redemption Introduction If you have a heart, my brother, it is important that you listen to our words. If your soul desires to serve Hashem in the truest sense, focus your concentration on our words well, for they emerge from the Mikdash, from the stream of the sifrei penimiyus upon…
Recollections of a Motzei Shabbos in Berditchov
The following is a translation from an essay written by R’ Hillel Zeitlin Hy”d (1871–1942), a unique figure in the Yiddish literary community of pre-war Poland. Raised in a Chabad family, R’ Hillel was recognized as a child genius and an elevated soul at a very young age. After a years-long foray into the secular…
Kuntres Sod HaTaanug – Download
This Kuntres is adapted from an English translation of selections taken from Rav Itche Meir Morgenstern shlita’s sefer Yam HaChochmah. This foundational pamphlet, introduced in sefer B’Yam Darkecha, presents a deep perspective on our desire for pleasure and the intense battle with the yetzer hara our generation is fighting before the coming of Moshiach. We hope…
Sod HaTaanug #6 – Elevating Physicality
This series is adapted from an English translation of Rav Itche Meir Morgenstern shlita’s sefer Yam HaChochmah. This foundational pamphlet, “Sod HaTaanug”, presents a deep perspective on our desire for pleasure and the intense battle with the yetzer hara our generation is fighting before the coming of Moshiach. We hope you enjoyed these essays, and please remember…