2 Lessons
Add a Candle
The message of Hanukkah is that if we know what our goals are, even if they seem far from our reach, step by step will bring us to our destination.
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | 5764
What is Kosher?
Kashrut in a nutshell
Several factors can cause food to be non-kosher, here a short explanation about four main factors: non-kosher ingredients, mixing of meat and milk, food cooked by a Gentile, and a set time when a food is forbidden.
Rabbi Yisrael Wende
Define good and bad
Sparks of Teshuva (8) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
When we come to do Teshuva we should define what is good and what is bad. First we set the goal and then we find the way to achieve it.
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Tishrey 5774
Sadness is only a guest
Sparks of Teshuva (7) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Sadness has an important role in Teshuva, but it should be only guest of the soul and not a permanent tenant.
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Tishrey 5774
Is Teshuva Artificial?
Sparks of Teshuva (6) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Does a one day of Teshuva have a meaning? Aren't the High Holidays artificial?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Tishrey 5774
Tasteful Wood
Sparks of Teshuva (5) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Why do trees don't have the taste of their fruit, what is the analogy to our lives and how is this related to Teshuva?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Tishrey 5774
How Does Teshuvah Work?
Sparks of Teshuva (4) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Sparks of Teshuva (4) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Elul 5773
A Live Teshuvah
Sparks of Teshuva (3) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Sparks of Teshuva (3) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Elul 5773
Perfection and Process
Sparks of Teshuva (2) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Sparks of Teshuva (2) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Elul 5773
Introduction to Teshuvah
Sparks of Teshuva (1) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Sparks of Teshuva (1) - Ideas From Orot Hatshuvah
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Elul 5773
Counting the Omer as a process
In the process of leaving Egypt and becoming a nation we distinguish between the initial state which stands for itself, the goal at the end which stands for itself and the process.
Rabbi Yisrael Wende
Seeing the light
Even if a person sins, even if it's one of the worst sins, being close to a prophet affects him. Although there was the sin of the golden calf, when there is communication between Moses and the nation, they can still learn from him without being afraid of the light shining from his face.
Rabbi Yisrael Wende
Upon the heart
For Parashat Tetzaveh
Aaron wears the names of Israel, the Urim and the Thummim and shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart. What's the special emphasis and conection between the Hoshen and the heart and what are those three things that Aaron has upon his heart?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende
Two faces of relationship
For Parashat Terumah
They are two "faces", or view points to the Cherubim, a baby face who is completely dependent on his mother, and a couple with a great affection between them.
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Adar 5773
Receiving the Torah every day
How do "simple" laws allow us to experience every day the giving of the Torah?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Shvat 5773
Receiving the Torah every day
How do "simple" laws allow us to experience every day the giving of the Torah?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Shvat 5773
Don't be indifferent!
Yitro heard of all that God had done for Moses and the nation, so he came to the wilderness. What did Yitro hear? What caused him to leave his home and go to the wilderness? What happened that he couldn't be indifferent?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende
What is poetry?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Shvat 5773
Accepting an Appikoras?
One of the Korban Pesach laws is that apostate Jews may not eat the Korban. Why on other holidays we accept even Jewish criminals, but on Pesach the Torah forbade those people who cut themselves off from the nation from eating the Pesach lamb?
Rabbi Yisrael Wende | Shvat 5773