Powerful Quote and Video for Yom HaShoah

“Look from heaven and see that we have become an object of scorn and contempt among the nations; we are regarded as sheep led to slaughter, to be killed, beaten and destroyed.  But despite this we have not forgotten your name.  We beg you not to forget us.”   – Taken from Monday/Thursday Tachnun 


Posted in Prayer | 1 Comment

According to the holy Zohar…Hashem created us for the sole purpose of getting to know Him.  As such, the daily events and experiences of our lives are none other than personal messages  from Hashem, designed to stimulate our emuna, encourage us to speak to Him, and thereby facilitate our efforts to get close to Him.  Why?  The closer one gets to Hashem, the better one gets to know Him.” – The Garden of Emuna

Posted in Emuna | 35 Comments

“Once we develop a deep sense of emuna that Hashem, by way of Divine Providence, does everything for our ultimate benefit to guide us on the path of our needed soul correction, then the puzzle-pieces of life suddenly come together in a picture of striking clarity.  With these principles in mind, emuna becomes the universal answer to all of life’s questions.” – The Garden of Emuna

Posted in Emuna | 11 Comments

“According to Kabbala, or Jewish esoteric thought, completing one’s soul correction, or tikkun, is the loftiest achievement a person can accomplish in this material world.  Oftentimes, we must suffer or experience hardship in order to attain a higher spiritual level or a correction of the soul, just like a champion athlete must withstand excruciating training sessions to reach higher achievements and peak performance.”  – The Garden of Emuna

Posted in Emuna | 4 Comments

I am Hashem…and no other

“These few words give us the whole message of the Haggadah.  This is what it was all about, going out from Egypt: believing in one God, just the Only One.  What does it mean to believe?  Rebbe Nachman explains: There are two kinds of knowledge in the world – they’re so different they’re almost like two worlds.  There is emes, truth, and then there is emuna, believing.  It’s not that the things we believe in aren’t the truth; it’s that belief is so much deeper than just truth.  Because truth is just things that we know, things that we can figure out, things that can be understood and proven.  But that sort of thing is so limited; and that’s where faith begins.  It begins where knowing the truth leaves off.  Belief is so much deeper – I can’t prove it, but I know something that goes beyond knowing.  You know, it’s like a beautiful song: I can sit here describing it all day, but really it’s beyond my power to describe.  Beyond what I can tell you lies so much more – gevalt, is it deep!  My blessing for you is that you’ll be able to pass on to your children the belief in the One, the only One.  It’s the best thing in the world for them to have, because with belief we can survive all the tornadoes of the world.

When everything looks wrong to us; when the house is falling apart; when the house has already collapsed; when someone has just died – what do we do then?  We get up and yell ‘Yisgadal v’yiskadash shmeih rabba!  God’s name is great; everything is still good.’  You know, my sweet friends, we can really say that, because in the deepest, most inside part of us, we know that Hashem is taking care of the world.  And even if we don’t know what’s going on just now, we believe it’s for the good, we believe it will be good in the end; and believing is so much more than knowing.”                                                                                      – R. Shlomo Carlebach – The Carlebach Haggadah

Posted in Emuna | 4 Comments

“A Yid is like the dough from which matzah is baked.  As long as one takes the time to work with it and knead it, it is fine.  But if it’s left unattended, it quickly goes bad and turns to chametz.” – R. Yechezkel of Kuzmir

Posted in Mussar | Leave a comment

“In recalling the Exodus, a Jew should remind himself never to despair from spiritual striving, no matter how dismal his situation.”  – R. Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin

Posted in Emuna | Leave a comment

“[Hashem] cares for each of us in a unique, tailor-made fashion according  to our own individual needs.”  – The Garden of Emuna

Posted in Emuna | Leave a comment

“Those who ask the most questions are the ones who suffer the most.”                                    – The Garden of Emuna

Posted in Emuna | 3 Comments

“Those fortunate individuals who succeed in learning that emuna is the master key  to opening any door in life devote their principal time and efforts to attaining emuna.”          – The Garden of Emuna

Posted in Emuna | 1 Comment