76 Lessons
The Coronavirus Pandemic Frustration
There is no question that the most prevalent and constant feeling during our lifetime is that of frustration. However, there is also a very bright silver lining that is to be found within this dark cloud of frustration.
Ein Aya Would It Spoil Some Vast Eternal Plan- If I Were a Wealthy Man?!
Ein Aya, Shabbat 2,, 244
Most people would like to be wealthy, and even pray that God should grant it to them. Obviously wealth enables giving more tzedaka, but on the other hand, all of life is challenges, and money is a difficult one (although everyone wants it!). Judaism says that it's best to be middle-class, not too rich and not too poor, yet Torah is found mostly among the poor! The class deals with the importance in finding scholarships davka for those who need them will probably be the best students. There are many logical reasons for this, yet most ignore them. Aside from the problems of spoiling one's children, wealth often leads to arrogance and exaggerated self-worth, inflating one's ego and losing touch with reality, humility and more.
Ein Aya What's The Solution to the 'Imposter Syndrome' & The Fear of Being Exposed?
Ein Aya, Shabbat 2, 236
Rav Kook explains that there is no way to pretend and hide one's shortcomings and be an "imposter", for they eventually will be exposed and revealed, at least through Freudian slips. The solution is to focus, not on the façade, and not on the hidden self, but rather on improving my real inner self. This approach to truth explains how real tshuva actually turns even one's purposeful sins into benefits.
Additional Lessons Play Write
At the Shabbat Table
A teacher who wrote a letter to his student out of anger. The letter got sent accidentally...
Shlach Lecha Shidduchim and Loshon Hora
How should one ask and answer shidduch- related questions? How to ask and What not to tell?
Emuna Humility
Being humble benefits the health. A person who pursues prestige destroys his health and ends up dying prematurely, for his life is nothing but misery and bitterness, anger and irritation. “Whoever seeks out honor, honor flees from him” (Eruvin 13b).
The Meaning Sefirat Ha'omer Days of the Omer and Refining Character Traits
Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students died during the Omer counting period. Why did they die precisely during these days? Is there any connection between the Torah commandments applying to the Omer period and the deaths of Rabbi Akiva’s students at this time?
Additional Lessons Plagiarizing, Loshon Hora, and Employee Responsibility
Halachikly is there a Isur to Plagiarize? Am I obliged to stop someone from Plagiarizing?
Humility, Holiness and Fearing Hashem Fear of Sin - Punishment and Loftiness
Ideally, a person should distance himself from sin due to God's loftiness. How can man, God's own handiwork, even consider acting in opposition to the will of his Creator? Such fear, fear of God's loftiness, befits wise and enlightened individuals.
Humility, Holiness and Fearing Hashem Fear of Sin - Punishment and Loftiness
Ideally, a person should distance himself from sin due to God's loftiness. How can man, God's own handiwork, even consider acting in opposition to the will of his Creator? Such fear, fear of God's loftiness, befits wise and enlightened individuals.
Humility, Holiness and Fearing Hashem 51. Sanctity
Sanctity is the highest rung on the ladder of desired character traits: Torah leads to caution, caution to alacrity, alacrity to cleanliness, cleanliness to abstinence, abstinence to purity, purity to piety, piety to humility, to fear of sin, to sanctity.
Humility, Holiness and Fearing Hashem 49. The Components of Humility
A person should hate possessing authority but not avoid positions of authority. One should accept such positions with a desire to serve the public, not to control the public. Hence the sages tell us to “love labor and hate authority.”
Anava - Humility 48. Acquiring Humility
Acquiring humility is one of the peaks in the development of a person's personality, for it covers all aspects of an individual's behavior. If one truly wishes to acquire humility, he must train himself to speak humbly, walk humbly, and sit humbly.
Anava - Humility 47. The Distinction of Humility
The more talent and capacity a humble person possesses, the more humble he becomes. For example, Moses, the greatest of the great, was also the humblest of the humble: "And the man Moses was more humble than any other person on the face of the earth".
Humility, Holiness and Fearing Hashem 46. Humble and Happy
It is important to realize that a humble person is not miserable and unhappy. Neither is a conceited person happy and blissful. To the contrary, it is humility that brings happiness and bliss, while pride leads a person to misery and discontent.
Humility, Holiness and Fearing Hashem 45. Conceit and Divine Service
God said to Israel: I treasure you, for even as I bestow greatness upon you, you humble yourselves before me. Abraham said, "I am but earth and dust." Moses and Aaron said "What are we worth?" And King David said "I am not a man - I am but a worm."
Pathways in Personality Development 44. Tales of the Sages
Reading stories about the virtuous deeds of great rabbis is a most effective way to nurture desirable character traits. Parents who wish to instill in their children a love for the Torah should give them books on the lives of the sages of Israel.
Pathways in Personality Development 43. Cautiously Stringent
Pious individuals follow the more stringent rulings and sway clear of all doubt. However, it is precisely here that a truly pious person must be on guard. He must be careful that his stringent practices do not lead him to belittle the lenient rabbis.
