B"H
One of the most special Shabbatot of the year is coming. Shabbat HaChodesh.
In Jewish life many people think the year begins with Rosh Hashanah in Tishrei. But according to the Torah, Tishrei is actually the seventh month. The first month of the year is Nissan, which is about to begin.
Right before that, we read Parashat HaChodesh. The Torah teaches the mitzvah of counting the months, beginning with Nissan. It is the moment when the Jewish people were given the power to mark time and renew the calendar.
The word chodesh means month, but it also shares a root with chadash, something new.
That is the message of this Shabbat. Even at the very end of the year, the Torah calls it the Shabbat of newness. A reminder that it is never too late to begin again.
Thank you Hashem for bringing us to Shabbat HaChodesh. May we all feel that sense of renewal, hitchadshut.
Shabbat Shalom.
#ShabbatHachodesh #Shabbat #Judaism #Nissan #Renewal
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
There are two primary motivations for conversion to Judaism, and we can see them clearly in the story of Purim.
AfteJewishconversion #Jewishconvert the Megillah says: “רַבִּים מֵעַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ מִתְיַהֲדִים” — many of the people of the land became Jews. Rashi explains that this means they converted. And around that phrase the Megillah shows us two reasons.
First is joy. “שִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשׂוֹן לַיְּהוּדִים מִשְׁתֶּה וְיוֹם טוֹב.” People saw the simcha of Jewish life. The closeness to Hashem, the community, the wisdom of Torah, the festivals, the sense of purpose and meaning.
Second is awe. “כִּי נָפַל פַּחַד הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם.” Not fear in a simple sense, but awe. Seeing Jewish history unfold and recognizing that Hashem is guiding the story.
People saw a nation that looked like it was about to disappear, and instead it rose again.
Many people feel those same two things today. The joy of Jewish life. And the awe of seeing Jewish history continue to unfold.
Wishing strength and hatzlacha to everyone on the journey of joining this incredible people.
#Jewishconversion #Jewishconvert #Israel #Judaism #Torah
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
Social media has a lot of problems. We all know that. It can distract us, fill our minds with noise, and pull us away from deeper goals.
But I’ve been thinking about something else lately. At its best, social media can be gilui haneshama. The revelation of the soul.
Sometimes an idea of Torah or a moment of clarity passes through the mind and heart and you just want to capture it. Not to perform for people, but almost like speaking to Hashem and saying: look at this thought you placed in my heart.
If other people connect to it, that’s a bracha. But the deeper beauty is that a moment of the soul was revealed and shared.
#Torah #Judaism #Neshama #Spirituality #SocialMedia
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
My heart is filled with gratitude right now.
For the holy heroes serving in Tzahal, in the IDF, in the American army, and for their families who carry the weight of that service with them. Their courage and devotion protect lives and stand up for what is good in this world.
In Judaism there is a concept called mesirat nefesh, the giving of the soul. When a person devotes themselves completely to what matters most, they touch the highest place of the neshama, a place beyond ego and beyond the self.
So many people are living with that spirit right now.
For the rest of us, our task is to serve with our own mesirat nefesh. To live our purpose with devotion, to pray, to support, and to strengthen the good in the world.
Hashem oz le’amo yiten.
Hashem should give His people strength.
Hashem yevarech et amo bashalom.
May Hashem bless His people with peace.
Praying for shalom for Israel, for America, for the people of Iran, and for the entire world.
#Peace #IDF #Israel #Iran #USA
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
Jewish life is on fire, and I want to share a bit of that positivity.
This is a very difficult time to be Jewish. In Israel and in the diaspora there is fear, tension, and real danger. Nothing I say here minimizes that. I see it as a rabbi and in my work as a therapist supporting people in the Jewish community. Every attack, every threat, every moment of fear is real and painful.
But there is another truth at the same time.
For generations we have often lost the propaganda war. We try to respond, we try to explain, but so much of that is beyond our control. Yet while that battle rages, Jewish life itself is thriving. Tel Aviv is alive with simchat chayim. The Land of Israel is flourishing in ways our ancestors could only dream of. Chabad centers across the world are bursting with Ahavat Yisrael, welcoming every Jew with love.
Our hopes go even deeper than this. A world where Beit Tefillah yikareh lechol ha’amim, where all humanity gathers in Yerushalayim to serve Hashem together. Until that day, we keep fighting antisemitism, we keep supporting our people, and we keep standing strong.
But we should also recognize the moment we are living in. Jewish life is burning with an aish tamid, an eternal flame, inside every one of us.
Thank Hashem for that fire. And may we soon see days of peace for Am Yisrael and for the entire world.
#AmYisraelChai #Judaism #Israel #Chabad #JewishLife
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
Two synagogues were shot at in the Jewish community of Toronto, the community I am a part of.
SafeAmYisraelChait. Every Jew and every family must make the decisions that protect their lives and their communities.
But there is one thing that must never change.
Our neshama.
If the outside world feels frightening, then the soul must burn even brighter.
Kol haneshama tehalel Yah. Every soul must praise Hashem.
Our faith, our Torah, our identity, our love for Am Yisrael cannot be extinguished.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Hashem yishmor et amo Yisrael.
#AmYisraelChai #Judaism #Toronto #Canada #Antisemitism
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
We need Pesach more than ever right now.
Our sages teach that we begin learning the laws of Pesach thirty days before the holiday. That means right after Purim we already start preparing. On the surface it’s practical. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do. But there is something deeper here.
Right now we are all following the news constantly. Our hearts are in Eretz Yisrael. We are praying for peace, trying to stay informed, trying to support in whatever way we can. It can feel overwhelming.
Pesach invites us to step into something timeless. The story of Yetziat Mitzrayim is the eternal story of our people. A story that reminds us that Hashem is present in history. That redemption is possible. That we are never alone in the story we are living.
When we immerse ourselves in that story it becomes oxygen for the soul. It gives us perspective, strength, and hope. Start learning about Pesach. Learn the halachot. Learn the story again. Let it remind you that the same Hashem who took us out of Egypt is still with us now.
#Pesach #Passover #Israel #AmYisraelChai #Judaism
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
Where’s the after-party in Judaism?
There’s only one answer. Yerushalayim.
Purim doesn’t end. In Jerusalem it continues. Shushan Purim. While the rest of the world starts to wind down, the holiest city keeps dancing.
Esther means hidden. Megillat Esther is the unveiling of what looked like chaos but was really Hashem all along. And the secret of Purim is this: the joy isn’t supposed to disappear. The light isn’t supposed to fade. We taste a world without fear, without Amalek energy, without hiddenness.
Yerushalayim is the after-party because it represents the world we’re moving toward. A world of revealed light and lasting joy.
Maybe that party is the one that never ends.
Good Purim.
#Purim #ShushanPurim #Yerushalayim #Judaism #Israel
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
Why blue and white?
Because long before modern politics, those were our colors. Techelet and white. The thread of purpose. The garment of dignity. The levush malchut that Mordechai wore when he walked through Persia not in hiding, but in honor.
Blue is tachlit, purpose. White is clarity. And the third color of that moment was gold. The ateret zahav gedolah. Yerushalayim. The heart. The crown.
Our story is older than any headline. Blue and white is not a costume. It is identity. And without the gold of Yerushalayim, the story is incomplete.
Baruch Mordechai.
Good Purim.
#Purim #Israel #Jerusalem #Zionism #Judaism
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!
B"H
Selfishness is a miserable way to live.
Purim teaches that real joy, simcha ha’emitit, expands outward. We are commanded to give. Mishloach manot to friends. Matanot la’evyonim to those in need. Not as a cute tradition. As a spiritual structure.
When you think about someone else. When you give. When you widen your circle of care beyond yourself. Something shifts. The heart opens. And joy follows.
Of course we take care of ourselves. But a life that is only about the self will always feel small.
Purim reminds us that giving is not a burden. It is the doorway to real happiness.
#Purim #Simcha #MishloachManot #MatanotLaevyonim #Judaism
To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE
Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content!
Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!