#40 Love of God, according to Rambam and R’ Bachya ibn Paquda
It is the pinnacle of divine worship, but what exactly is love for God and how is it achieved? Explore the distinctive paths of love charted by the Rambam and the Chovos HaLevavos, the one rooted in intellectual perfection and the other in purity of spirit, and learn how love unites us with Hashem and […]
#39 The Unification of God, according to the Mekubalim
Hear O Israel, Hashem is one; one and not two, one and not composite – that is the simple meaning. But the Mekubalim say: Hear O Israel, Hashem is unified. This mystical unity of God with His Attributes gives unity to the entire creation and history, all rooted in one God and tending towards one […]
#38 Hashem, Source of Living Water: Eden, Sukkos and Sodom
On Sukkos we’re judged regarding water. The basis of life, it plays a central role throughout the Torah: Eden, Sodom, Egypt and Eretz Israel are each defined by their water sources. In a cryptic statement about the unique mitzvos of Sukkos, Chazal allude to a little-known journey from the rivers of Eden to the waters […]
#37 The Power of Repentance
How does repentance work? Can a wrong be made right with no more than regret and a commitment to be better? Teshuva goes much deeper than regret and commitment, teaches the Avodas Hakodesh. The sinner who engaged with evil must reconstruct God’s divine world by understanding the roots of good and evil; by facing his […]
#36 The Day of Judgment
What exactly is determined on this awesome day? A deep reading of the sources shows that the judgment of Rosh Hashanah isn’t, essentially, about what will happen to man; it is about man himself. On the very first Rosh Hashanah Hashem saw everything that He created, and it was all very good in His eyes. […]
#35 The Oneness of God, according to R’ Bachya ibn Paquda
God’s oneness is the foundation and basis of R’ Bachya ibn Paquda’s monumental religious system delineated in his “Chovos HaLevavos.” Beginning with The Gate of Divine Unity and ending with The Gate of the Love of God, this book charts a journey of spiritual development that starts with the first verse of the Shema: “Hashem […]
#34 The Jewish Credo – Shema and its Translations
It is a simple passage that declares God’s unity, but its translation is far from simple. The most fundamental statement of faith that is constantly on the Jew’s lips, the Shema is given three distinct interpretations by Rashi, R’ Bachya ibn Paquda and Ibn Ezra. For this episode’s sources, clickhere Please take a moment to […]
#33 Tzitzis and the Holy Land; Rectifying the Sin of the Spies
The Meraglim viewed Eretz Yisrael – and land itself – wrongly, maintaining that physical Earth could never be made divine. What is the remedy for their flawed sense of vision? How can we train ourselves to properly view this materialistic, temporal world? The answer is hiding in plain sight: Tzitzis teaches us how to see. […]
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#32 A Nation’s Original Sin: Rejecting the Promised Land
If, as Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi says, the Holy Land is the axis of all spiritual experience, then to spurn the Holy Land is the root of all evil. Indeed, this idea lies at the heart of the Meraglim story. Commissioned not merely to see the land, but to see what a land could be, the […]