Category Archives: Inspiration

Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Soul

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The words of our Sages in the Talmud were written with the utmost precision and exactitude. Thus, when encountering perplexing statements in the Talmud (as in the subject of this class) it is a grave error to consider that the authors made a mistake or even to only study the statement superficially without straining to understand the true meaning and intent. Often the wisdom of the Talmud is concealed beneath a thick layer of profundity, and only after digging fastidiously will you begin to understand the unfathomable depth of the the words.

In the very first book of the Talmud, Tractate Brachos, we find this incredibly confounding statement:

שלשה מעין העולם הבא, אלו הן: שבת, שמש, ותשמיש. תשמיש דמאי? אילימא תשמיש המטה – הא מכחש כחיש? אלא תשמיש נקבים. (ברכות דף נז:)

Translation in English: Three things are a measure of the World To Come. They are: Shabbos, the Sun, and tashmish. What does tashmish mean? If you say tashmish hamita (sexual intercourse), it weakens. Rather, it must be referring to tashmish nekavim (bowel removal).

Join us as we attempt to unravel this intriguing but puzzling gem of Talmudic wisdom.

Life Begins Before Conception (Jewish Life Cycles Part 1)

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Us Jews are privy to the most valuable thing on Earth: The Almighty’s precious Torah. All too often we neglect to realize the enormity of this reality, but if you stop for a second and truly analyze it you will recognize how astonishing it is. Mere mortal humans, the most fallible and feeble of all creatures; these same humans who are constantly swayed by our petty whims and desires  have access to the wisdom and instructions of the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and Earth?!? If this alone will not blow your mind away, some of the incredible content of the Torah likely will. In this class we discuss some of the Torah’s statements regarding the early existence and development of children and talk about what it means for us.

Click HERE for part 2

The Golden Ticket

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Every adult Jew is obligated to perform all 248 positive and 365 negative mitzvahs of the Torah. The sheer volume of mitzvahs can seem overwhelming and that raises a question: why would God in His Infinite wisdom see it necessary to task us with the performance of so many mitzvahs? Would not one mitzvah suffice? Is not the potential for failure so astoundingly exacerbated when there are hundreds of mistakes just waiting to happen? Why is Judaism so exhaustively encompassing? These questions were pondered 2000 years ago and the answer will challenge everything you think you know about the Almighty’s commandments.

A Journey through the Jewish Calendar in Thought and Practice Part 1

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Join Rabbi Wolbe and his trustful comrades as they attempt to unlock the wonderful meaning and insight of the Jewish calendar. This presentation will succeed in shattering the childish and simplistic understandings of the Jewish holidays that most of us have harbored since our youth, and infuse the holidays and rituals of the Jewish year with structure, meaning and purpose.

Holidays discussed in Part 1: An overview of the system of Jewish months and the interrelationship of a lunar month with a solar year; Rosh Hashana; Yom Kippur; Sukkot.

The 5 C’s of every happy and harmonious marriage

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It is well documented that modern humans fail at marriage at alarming rates. In the United States for example, in any given year the amount of divorces are roughly half the amount of marriages pegging the divorce rate around 50%. Shockingly, 5 out of 10 couples who commit to stay married to each other “until death do us part” renege on their vow. This staggering percentage does not include all couples who are dissatisfied in their marriages. Some couples have miserable marriages but remain married because of the legal costs and hassles of divorce, or to avoid the religious or social stigma associated with divorce, or even to protect their children from the pain and suffering of a family torn apart. These couples, while technically married, may be permanently separated as is the case by 15 percent of separated couples who don’t divorce nor reconcile rather remain separated permanently,  or they may even live together but have separate bedrooms, separate TVs, separate bank accounts and separate lives. Thus the true rate of failed marriages is significantly greater than the quantifiable divorce rate.

Can anything be done to ensure that our marriages succeed? The Torah outlines five principles of great marriages –  each beginning with the letter C – all you need to do is follow the instruction laid out and you are guaranteed to have a wonderful marriage.

What happens after you die

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Thinking and contemplating about our own demise is perhaps the most powerful tool we can use to change the way we think about life. When we realize that we too will swallow that bitter pill of death, our life and values appear in a new light. But what actually happens when we die? And what happens afterward? These critical questions, and many others are addressed in great detail in this presentation.

*Originally presented at Temple Beth Torah in Humble, TX on Sunday May 4, 2014.

The Ten Commandments of Parenting

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A parent who brings a child to this world has accepted upon himself/herself the responsibilities of raising that child to be a happy, healthy and stable adult. This axiomatic idiom has been an unfortunate causality of today’s society. In America today only 63% of children grow up together with both biological parents. As Jews we heed the Torah’s requirement to educate our children but also benefit from the Torah’s guidelines of how to educate them. In this presentation we have selected ten of the Torah’s core pedagogical lessons. Namely:

  1. Thou shall parent.
  2. Thou shall individualize your parenting as per the unique nature of your child.
  3. Thou shall parent with the long term view.
  4. Thou shall love your child and express it.
  5. Thou shall boost your child’s self esteem.
  6. Thou shall teach by example.
  7. Thou shall discipline and demand infrequently but with consistency.
  8. Thou shall collaborate with your partners.
  9. Thou shall not make your parenting an arena for your own negative character traits.
  10. Thou shall not be obstinate.

Come and hearken to the presentation that caused one participant to exclaim: “I wish I heard this seven years ago”.

Man, Judaism and the Pursuit of Pleasure Part 4

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Humans have a physiological innate need to live for something; to have meaning. Our needs go beyond the physical. In Judaism we say that this need is the yearning of the soul for soulful nourishment the same way bodies scream out for their unmet needs. Rabbi Wolbe teaches the Torah’s methods of how to utilize this drive for maximum pleasure

Beware of the Two Cliffs: How to navigate the perils of Self Perfection

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Any pursuit of self perfection and character refinement will invariably be accompanied by two frightening and formidable challenges: 1. Body-Backlash; when the body rejects the agenda of the soul. 2. Heightened Haughtiness; when someone ascends to Mount Pious and declares himself mayor and looks down condescendingly upon others. These two dangers must be approached very carefully…