Spiritual Growth

Before the war, when I spoke at a girl's school in Brooklyn. We discussed the importance of a person having his or her own personal relationship with the Creator and speaking to Him daily. Then, a young lady shot up from her seat and said, "Hey Rabbi, what you're talking about might have applied to Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah and other holy women mentioned in the Torah, but not to me and my generation. How could God possibly care about me, especially when I'm far from Torah and holiness and all that stuff? What does He need me for anyway?" Great question; here's my answer...

The most important of Rebbe Nachman's teachings is about hitbodedut, personal prayer, one's intimate private conversations with the Creator. Discourse 25 of Part II deals with this vital subject. We learn that each of us has the priceless birthright of our own personal relationship with Him. This is an asset greater than anything, which only a fortunate few take advantage of.

Could you believe that a brilliant investment banker would be gullible enough to sell his twenty million-dollar mansion in Beverly Hills for a mere thousendth of its value? Listen to today's podcast, which exposes the sly methods of the Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination, who is capable of getting any unsuspecting person to sell his or her priceless soul for a pittance...

Imagine that every gift in life that we take for granted would disappear. How miserable we'd be! Shouldn't we rejoice when we do enjoy all of life's gifts, especially the spiritual ones? Enjoy these empowering 4 minutes.

When your throat is parched, you drink. Negative emotions are a sign that the soul is parched. It feels weak. Here's how to quench its thirst.

Don't let society tell you that the important things in life are the curves in your figure or your six-pack abs. Health is important, but a healthy body is not everything. Most horses are much healthier than we are and stronger too. So what makes us any better than a horse?

There are two types of honor: man-granted honor and Divine granted honor. Everyone questions whether a person is worthy of the honor he or she receives from other people, but no one questions Divine granted honor. Rebbe Nachman teaches that the only way to attain Divine honor is through teshuva, or penitence. Not only that – a person is not yet a person until he repents. The key to repentence is silence, worth its weight in gold...

Why do we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah? What's the connection between the shofar and Moshiach? Our sages provide some eye-opening answers that tell us exactly what's happening today...

This week we learn the ability of powerful prayer. It can rejuvenate and illuminate a soul as well as invoke tremendous Divine abundance.

Chutzpa is the Hebrew word for audacity. When we activate our chutzpa in the right place, we gird ourselves in strength and are able to take a bold stand against evil. On the other hand, chutzpa in the wrong place sends a person into a self-destruct mode. Today's lesson on Chapter Four of Orchus Tzaddikim - Ways of the Righteous - teaches us to differentiate between "holy chutzpa" and the unholy type.

A flat tire is definitely not the end of the race. You can change it! Rebbe Nachman of Breslev says that if you believe you can ruin something, then believe that you can rectify it. This is not just a pleasant expression, but a signed promise in the Torah and a fact of life. The second chance we all get is a much more effective way to beautify and overhaul ourselves than plastic surgery, and a whole lot cheaper...

In the springtime, all of creation renews itself. Renewal, especially self-renewal, is a wonderful process. Renewal is particularly important in relationships, to keep them fresh and meaningful. Communication is also vital to the success of a relationship. With this in mind, this time of the year is ideal to renew our own personal relationship with the Creator. We do that by finding a nice quiet place where we can speak to Him in solitude. Here's how...