Vayishlach
To reach someone else, usually you have to reach out of yourself.
Jacob sends peace ambassadors to his brother Esau. They report that Esau is on a war march, four hundred warriors strong. Jacob girds for battle, devotes in prayer, and bestows gifts upon Esau. Wrestling with an angel leaves Jacob limping and with a new name: Israel. Jacob – or Israel – and his brother Esau reconcile. Innocence is violated by evil. Two tribes, Simeon and Levi, uproot the evil in its entirety. Rachel gives birth to the youngest of the 12 tribes. Soon thereafter, Rachel passes away on the road near Bethlehem. Jacob returns to Hebron. His father Isaac ascends this physical world at the age of 180. Esau’s progeny and the kings of Edom conclude the narrative.
Electric Light
The elementary principle of Chassidism: to draw down and connect the ultimate heights with the lowest depths.
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Double Identity
Discover how we, as Jews, contain both elements of the name Jacob and Israel. Learn about our double identity as Servants of G-d and Children of G-d.
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The Disposable Self
The closer one comes to G-d, the more one realizes one’s own insignificance in the face of the divine infinity.
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The Rain of Peace
Rain is an expression of human initiative and endeavor; the reflection enables us to answer Divine light in our lives with the product of our own potential.
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A Tale of Two Cities
Rabbi Shneur Zalman, an accomplished scholar and mentor to many disciples, teaches us the significance of Prayer.
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The Three Lives of Jacob
Our own moments of transcendence seem fleeting and inconsequential in comparison with Jacob’s decades of tranquil perfection in the Holy Land; our own struggles seem wan and inept when measured against Jacob’s Charan years; our own lives under circumstances of subjugation and oppression seem black indeed when set against Jacob’s Egyptian period. Yet the three lives of Jacob are “signposts” that guide, inspire and enable our own.
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Vayishlach: Hypocrisy
Instead of seeing hypocrisy in our inconsistencies, we should be seeing in them our struggle to discover our true selves—a struggle that inevitably creates a dichotomy between what you believe and what you do.
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Vayishlach: Giving In Difficult Times
The words of the Zohar speak for themselves. They tell us in no uncertain terms that we must stand against any voice and challenge (including economic conditions) that argues against supporting (or weakening our support of) good causes.
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The Dust of History
The cosmic struggle to reconcile spirit and matter are captured in the story of Jacob and Esau and the battle between these two opposing forces.
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