Emuna Hour

The Seder night is when we tell the story of our Exodus from Egypt. This is one of the Torah's 613 commandments that one can fulfill only once a year on the first night of Passover. The Zohar and the Gemara laud the amazing attributes of this mitzvah. It strengthens emuna and solidifies the family. In addition, it enhances one's inner joy, especially when we tell of the Exodus as if we were there...

The account of the four sons in the Passover Haggadah is like a kaleidoscope where we see many different images. We see how four general types of people relate to emuna. What's more, we learn about four facets that are in each of us. As such, the Passover Seder and the story of the Exodus are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago.

When Moses delivered Hashem's message of "Let My people go" to Pharaoh, the Egyptian king retorted, "Who is Hashem that I should listen to Him? Besides, I've never heard of Hashem before" (Exodus 5:2). With such unprecedented arrogance, Pharaoh was inviting punishment.

Passover is a story of emuna. Many things we are about to say sound like outright exaggerations to the logical 21st-century ear. Yet, emuna is beyond logic. Our entire history defies logic.

Gravity and natural ability are very similar. Both are strong limiting forces. But pull us down. Yet, we can overcome by applying a sustained upward force that is greater than their downward pull…

Did you ever wonder how a little 105-pound Korean Karate specialist can break a whole stack of bricks? We can utilize his same technique to obliterate any obstacles that stand in the way of our goal, but we won't need a fist...

Don't let anyone in the world discourage you from pursuing your goal. Putting your own dreams and aspirations aside while bending to the will of others is a formula for frustration and bitterness. People-pleasers are never happy, nor do they rise above mediocrity…

In our formative years, different people stuck all types of labels on us. Even worse, they stuck the labels on a bottle and put us inside. As children, we subconsciously thought that our parents, teachers, and peers knew what they were talking about. They most likely did not.
The acute problem is that most people spend their lives stuck inside that same bottle. It's time to break out...

The Creator has already packed our backpacks for us. He has given us the tools we each need for our journey in life and to reach our individual destinations. Our job is to become acquainted with those tools, refine and cultivate them, and utilize them properly.

Don't be afraid to ask yourself some serious questions in life that most people avoid. This is a necessary step in finding ourselves, choosing the right goal and living a life of fulfillment and gratification.

A lost person doesn't know where he or she is in life. To find ourselves, we must determine where we are, then establish our goal and go for it.

By pondering the rationale of creation, we begin to think positively. Positive thinking is wonderful in that it is conducive to believing in ourselves. Believing in ourselves is not some flowery notion, but a vital human resource that is essential for success. Today's lesson shows how to attain this priceless asset.