Blog – Page 9 – Study Torah Online: Live and Interactive Torah Learning with Rabbi Eliyahu Shear

Lessons in Tanya #47 – Chapter 22 Part 2 / Chapter 23 Part 1 – [Mitzvot are the Limbs of the King]

Holiness only rests upon something that is nullified to God. This is the difference between the Sitra Achra (the Other Side i.e. evil) and holiness. It is the way of Sitra Achra to consider itself independent of God – as if it is charge of itself. But the truth is that evil still acknowledges God. It just believes that it is in charge of things – while God (so to speak) is just there. As if they have no obligation towards God. The Sitra Achra maintains its own status – its own level of arrogance.

Mesilat Yesharim – The Path of the Just #20 – Chapter 3 – The Divisions of Watchfulness

There are two types of errors that the physical / material world causes us in life.

Learn Talmud – Berachot #38 Daf 13b Part 2 / 14a (Koren Talmud Bavli) [Activities Before Prayer]

What is the situation of falling asleep when reciting the Shema? It seems that one should at least recite the first line – then all is well. If one falls asleep then, at least one has recited that most important verse.

Mesilat Yesharim – The Path of the Just #19 – Chapter 3 – The Divisions of Watchfulness

There is a difference between “pishpush” and “mishmush”. The first Hebrew word refers to the idea of examination. The second refers to feeling.

Lessons in Tanya #46 – Chapter 22 Part 1 – [God Sustains Evil and is in Exile Within It]

The Torah speaks in the language of man. Because of this, when the Torah says that God speaks – it means that their is a resemblance between His speech and ours.

Lessons in Tanya #45 – Chapter 21 Part 2 – [Darkness is Like Light to God]

We learnt that God speaks creation into being. His speaking, however, is unlike our speaking. When God speaks, the words remain connected to Him, unlike ourselves – that our words separate from us as we say them.

Mesilat Yesharim – The Path of the Just #18 – Chapter 3 – The Divisions of Watchfulness

With a firm understanding of our obligation in the world and our first step in achieving our goal – Watchfulness – we broaden our knowledge of the attribute of Watchfulness. We begin Chapter 3. We must now understand how it is divided up so that we can actively put it into practice!

Rabbeinu – 3 Part Documentary About Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (Hebrew)

For those who understand Hebrew – this is a wonderful documentary sharing about Rabbi Nachman of Breslov and his influence on us in the twenty first century

Lessons in Tanya #44 – Chapter 21 – [The Words of God: United With Him Even After They Are Spoken]

Though it is that when a person speaks, his speech becomes detached from him – this is not so with regards to God. The words that God speaks remain attached to Him even after they “leave His lips”. It is because of this that the concept of existence is very different to the way we imagine it to be.

Mesilat Yesharim – The Path of the Just #17 – Chapter 2 – The Trait of Watchfulness

We conclude Chapter 2 dealing with the trait of Watchfulness. Though we must do everything we can to save ourselves – to be careful of what we do, it is God who actually helps us to overcome our evil inclinations.