Spiritual Tools For An Outrageous World

Dear Friends,In this, the third talk in the Garden of Eden series, we discussed what the nature of the test really was.  We also explore what the true nature of the special garments Hashem made for Adam and Chava were.  Finally, we take another look at the snake and how in our own lives he tries to defeat us.The post Garden of Eden – X Ray of the Soul (Part Three) first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Garden of Eden – X Ray of the Soul (Part Three) first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,Someone asked me this past week what interests me so much about the Garden of Eden.  I think it’s because for me it’s the perfect setting to most fully understand the human condition and what this world is all about.  Even more, it also allows us to see in the clearest way how Hashem interacts with us — especially berfore, during and after we’ve done something off.   In this week’s talk we look at an amazing question — if the snake wanted to kill Adam and marry Eve, and the snake knew that eating from the tree would bring death into the world — then why did it tempt Eve to eat first?The post Our First Mistake – More on the Garden of Eden first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Our First Mistake – More on the Garden of Eden first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,So often in talking we present opinions as facts.  For example, when we say, “That movie is no good!” we really mean “I didn’t care for that movie”.  Being conscious of distinctions like can actually have a transformative effect on us, instilling humility and refining ourselves spiritually.  Speech in general is a hugely powerful gift, and the Torah gives us really helpful direction on how to use it sensitively. In this week’s talk we discuss some highlights from this giant topic.  We also explore a discussion in the Talmud about of all things… whether the parchment of Tefilin can be written on the skin of a fish!  A discussion that will take us all the way back to the Garden of Eden.The post Purifying Speech and Fish Tefilin first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Purifying Speech and Fish Tefilin first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,Hope is such a precious comodity and often so fleeting.  In this week’s talk we analyze how taking a forward looking perspective on the unfolding of time can not only increase positiveness but put us in harmony with destiny.The post How To Regain Hope first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post How To Regain Hope first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Second Chances – Pesach Shani – 2007 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,We make a blessing over the sun once every twenty-eight years!  Can you think of where you were (and who you were!) twenty-eight years ago?  In this overview we  explore the amazing spiritual depths behind this mitzvah.Have a Great Week,DavidThe post The Blessing Over the Sun – A Quick Overview first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post The Blessing Over the Sun – A Quick Overview first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends, Intellect is good but wisdom is better.  Why?  Because wisdom is intellect plus life experience.  The Torah is the repository of all of the wisdom in the world.  The more we learn — the smarter it gets!  We are living now in the exalted month of Nissan.  Every day is like the holiday of Rosh Chodesh in this month.  Even more amazingly, the Shelah HaKodesh teaches that every hour of this month is like an entire day.  Part of the energy of this month comes from the fact that the Mishkan the holy tabernacle in the desert was dedicated.  The order in which the Mishkan was “activated” is fascinating.  First came the preparatory offerings of Moshe, then the actual official offerings by Aaron the Kohen Gadol, and then the offerings of the famous Nachshon, the one who jumped into the Red Sea causing it to split, on behalf the Tribe of Yehudah.  What does this teach us on a deeper level?  Ultimately, it all comes down to building the Mishkan in our hearts, and understanding what it means when the Kotzker

Dear Friends,Perfectionism is that force that comes to us — not to try to improve what we are doing — but to tell us that nothing we do is good enough.   The good news is that all Hashem wants is for us to try our hardest and do our best.  When we fall short, we have to try our best to fix it.  But to be perfect?  Hashem is the only One that is perfect — and the good news is that in His goodness He implanted perfection into the world from the very beginning.  Our job is to reveal it!  The Mishkan — the Tabernacle in the desert — was a microcosm of the perfected world and thus the fitting culmination to the Book of Shemos/Exodus which we just completed.  Opening the final accounting of the building of the Mishkan (i.e. the perfection of the world) are the words “HaMishkan Mishkan”.  What does the doubling of this word hint at?  And how do we see all of these concepts in the name of Betzalel, the one who built it?  All this and more in this weeks talk.Have a Great Week,David[audio:Perfectionisonthe

What do we do after we make a mistake?  After we made the golden calf, Moshe does the stunning act of breaking the Luchos, the holy tablets the Torah says were written by Hashem Himself!  Not only that but the final verse of the entire Torah alludes again to Moshe’s smashing them — and it says that Hashem loved what he did!  What was Moshe thinking?  Why was it beloved?  In this week’s talk we explore the pathways that open when we reach our end, and the connection with G-d that never goes away.Have a Great Week,David[audio:OnBrokeness-KiSisa2009.mp3]The post On Brokenness first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post On Brokenness first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With this week’s Torah portion, the Torah switches from the account of our freedom from Egyptian slavery to receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, to now building the Mishkan – the Tabernacle into the desert.  On a deep level, building the Holy Temple is another way of speaking about finishing the world and turning all of creation into a revealed dwelling place for G-d.  In this week’s talk, we look at the importance each individual plays in this process, and how no job can be performed by anyone else but you — literally!  We also look at the finishing of creation on the macro level, and how the process of ultimate salvation arrives in stages.[audio:Trumah2009Completing-the-World.mp3]The post Completing the World – The Mishkan and You first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Completing the World – The Mishkan and You first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,We are about to enter into the Jewish month of Adar, the month of Purim and joy.  On another level, it is also the month of hiddenness — the Megilla that we read on Purim doesn’t have the name of Hashem written in it once!  How does this connect with Nissan the month of open miracles that follows right after — and yet simultaneously (on a linear level) is the furthest month away?  We also discuss the first mitzvah we got after the Torah was given at Mount Sinai — the laws of the eved evri, the Hebrew Slave.  Why this mitzvah among all the mitzvahs to learn first?  Finally, we take a look into free choice and being created in the image of G-d.Have a Great Week,David[audio:ParshasMishpatim2009-AdarandNissan.mp3]The post From Hiddeness to Revelation first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post From Hiddeness to Revelation first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,We discuss what salvation feels like in this week’s talk.  This week’s Torah portion begins with the words “And Yisro heard”.  What did Yisro, the father-in-law of Moshe, hear that caused him to travel to Jewish people?  Rashi, quoting the Gemara, says he heard about the splitting of the sea, and the war with Amalek.  Amazingly, a few verses later (Ex. 18:8) Moshe tells Yisro about “all the troubles” that had befallen the Jewish people since they left Egypt and how Hashem rescued them.  What troubles is Moshe referring to?  Rashi says, the splitting of the sea, and the war with Amalek!  The very same events!  How can that be?  This is the subject for today’s talk — the difference between hearing about a great salvation and experiencing one, and how that relates to our lives today.Have a Great Week,DavidThe post The Bumpy Road to Salvation first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post The Bumpy Road to Salvation first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See ac

Dear Friends,Most people when asked will tell you that the greatest single miracle that Hashem performed was the splitting of the Sea.  So overwhelming is that event that relatively little attention is paid to the event that immediately follows.  Moshe leads the Jewish people to the wilderness of Sur where there is nothing to drink for THREE DAYS!  Putting aside the irony of walking through water and then not having any, what is Hashem trying to teach us by juxtaposing these two extreme events in our life?  Moreover, I wonder, what is the more difficult experience — the hard time that follows another hard time?  Or the hard time that follows the really good time?  And what does all of this have to do with the ultimate paradox in Torah — the par adumah — the ashes of the red heifer?  Finally, we take a look at the difference between waiting and humility with a detour into alchemy.Have a Great Week,DavidThe post Making Sense of the Hard Times After the Good Times first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrage

Dear Friends,In this week’s Torah Portion, we have a verse (Ex 12:10) with two separate mitzvahs in it.  The first mitzvah is to finish eating the whole korbon Pesach, the Passover lamb offering, and not leave over any of it till the morning.  The second mitzvah contained in this same verse, instructs us to burn whatever is left over of the Passover offering the next morning.  The question is, how can we burn what is left over of it — if we’ve already been commanded not to leave anything over of it?!  The answer gives us a deep insight into the Torah and life and opens our eyes to realizing how we are never alone.Have a Great Week,DavidThe post The Amazing Re-Appearing Mitzvah first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post The Amazing Re-Appearing Mitzvah first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,We begin this talk with a further discussion of the “garments” Hashem gave Adam and Chava in the Garden of Eden. It ushered in the transformation of humanity, our going from creatures of light to creatures (of light) encased in skin. Learning from the Hassidic Master the Bnei Yissacher we see very cool secrets about the process and the future of humanity in the final letters of the words themselves. We also discuss the teaching from Pirkei Avos 4:11 about one who keeps the Torah in poverty will come to keep it in wealth, and levels in how to understand that. Somehow (!) this leads to a discussion of psychics and Jewish law.Have a Great Week,David[audio:Quantity-vs-Quality-vaeira2009.mp3]The post Quantity vs. Quality first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Quantity vs. Quality first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,We just began a new book in the Torah.  The book of Shemos or Exodus is both the account of the Jewish people’s enslavement in Egypt and also our redemption.  On a deeper level, it’s not just that Hashem and Moshe are taking us to Israel — remember we were in Israel already with Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov — it’s that we are leaving Egypt and GOING BACK to Israel.  That’s a very big difference!  On a cosmic level  this correlates with our exile from the Garden of Eden and the return that we are heading toward with arrival of Mashiach and the perfection of the world.  And it all begins with Moshe noticing the burning bush — a sight that according to the Kotzker Rebbe — others saw, but none bothered to investigate.  In other words, when we endeavor to search for the truth, Hashem brings salvation into the world.Have a Great Week,DavidThe post Back To The Garden of Eden first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Back To The Garden of Eden first appeared on Spiritual Tools fo

Dear Friends,Lots to talk about today. First, having just finished the book of Breisheis, we say “Chazak, Chazak, V’Nitchazayk” — Be Strong, Be Strong, and Have Good Courage! But what do we need courage for? We just finished the task! It’s like wishing someone a good trip after they’ve already come home! Next, we speak of Hashem like He is our King and Our Master, and Our Love — which is it? Is Judaism schizophrenic? We cover a way of visualizing our most important relationship in a way that encompasses the varying aspects in one. Finally, we discuss what this means: “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d like waters fill the ocean” Isaiah 11:9. Isn’t the ocean nothing more than water?! So how can the waters fill the ocean — if the ocean is only water?![audio:Maybe-Im-Not-In-a-Crisis-Vayechi-2008.mp3]The post Maybe I’m Not In a Crisis first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Maybe I’m Not In a Crisis first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. Se

Dear Friends,One of the most perplexing things in life is just how slow things take!  The Exodus from Egypt is a perfect example.  Here is something that Hashem Himself wanted to do — and yet when we see how He brought it about we find that He does it one stage at a time.  Since all future redemptions are based on this, studying it will give us hope and patience for personal lives.The post Redemption Comes in Stages first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Redemption Comes in Stages first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dear Friends,The Kotzker Rebbe famously said that it’s a big miracle to resurrect the dead, but it’s an even bigger miracle to resurrect the living!  In this week’s talk we discuss the one time only phenomenon in the Torah of a “closed” parsha — that is a section of the Torah that begins without the customary separation from the previous week’s section.  We explore many deep ideas that this teaches us including discussions concerning the Jewish views of resurrection and the Mashiach.The post Resurrecting the Living first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Resurrecting the Living first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We have a powerful concept in Torah that says that even if something learns Torah not for the sake of Heaven, that person will come to learn for the sake of Heaven. In today’s talk, we develop this notion of Divine flow, and connect it to the purifying dynamics of mikvah, a river, and saying something nice.The post Rivers, Mikvahs, and Saying Something Nice (Vayigash) first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.The post Rivers, Mikvahs, and Saying Something Nice (Vayigash) first appeared on Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.