Emuna Hour

"Beholden" is a synonym for "grateful". The Oxford Dictionary defines beholden as, "Owing thanks or having a duty to someone in return for help or a service." The sample sentence the dictionary uses is, "I don't like to be beholden to anybody." An attitude like that in a relationship is devastating, whether it's a relationship with the Almighty or with your spouse. Grateful people are never bitter but bitter people are never grateful.

Since Abraham, the first monotheist, the war against emuna has been never-ending. There are times in history when the vast majority of Jews succumbed to political correctness and assimilation at the expense of their faith. One such time was nearly 2300 years ago, when the Seleucid monarch Antiochus IV tried to Hellenize all of Judea. He nearly succeeded, but the Maccabees foiled his plan. Today's Emuna Hour scans the War of Emuna and tells the story of Chanukah. This story continues to this day.

True love is a bond of emuna, an unbreakable lasting connection between two souls. Whereas infatuation is bodily and physical, true love and friendship are spiritual. We learn all about building a successful marital relationship from the dove...

A lasting marital relationship, what we call a "bond of emuna", depends on the merger of two souls. A true partner in life is therefore one's soulmate, that special person who will share a lifelong mutual commitment. One cannot find a soulmate if he or she is interested solely in a "bodymate". Physical attributes are short-lived...

With so many divorces, something is sorely wrong with western society's concept of marriage. There's a much better game plan, which we learn in today's lesson.

Are you a calm person or a time-bomb of turbulence? How would you objectively rate yourself on a scale of total turbulence at the bottom and total inner peace at the top? Today's lesson enables you to assess your position on the stairway from explosiveness to serenity.

No one strengthens character from eating chocolate ice-cream. Coping with difficulty is like spiritual resistance training that strengthens one's spirit. Therefore, when the Almighty wants to uplift a person to a higher spiritual level, He first sends them some sort of verbal abuse. Verbal abuse breaks a person's heart. Yet, in striving to overcome a broken heart, a person builds an emotionally-stronger heart. Here's a lesson in spiritual resistance training...

Metaphorically, raw gold symbolizes the soul, whose mission on earth is to refine and purify itself from its unrectified blemishes. Extreme heat is not a punishment for the raw gold, but a mode of purification. Extreme tribulations in like manner remove the blemishes from the soul.

Are the Torah's commandments logical? Do they have a basis in intellect? Today's lesson
provides some answers that are missing pieces to a very old puzzle.

Just as cholesterol clogs the arteries, transgressions clog the pathways to the heart and the heart itself. A clogged and hardened heart has no desire to pray, for it cannot feel the Divine presence. Today, we learn how to perform a spiritual stent. Powerful prayer - a silent scream - penetrates the depths of the heart and renews its spiritual health.

A "Gett" in Hebrew is a writ of divorce. That's exactly what we're about to give to all of our regrets in life. They are nothing but iron shackles that hold us down and prevent us from moving forward and climbing higher. Today's lesson is a preparation for the happiest New Year you ever had.

Today's lesson sheds light on verbal abuse in families. Why do spouses disparage one another? Children are the greatest gift the Almighty can bestow on a couple. Why do parents tear their children apart with yelling and criticism? Does a family lack an adequate income? Strife in the home is most likely the culprit. More than anything, let's see how verbal abuse damages the soul. Rebbe Nachman says that if you believe you can ruin something, believe that you can rectify it.