The Library

On our journeys through life, we are often subjected to tests that we could not withstand, and failures that seemed catastrophic and irreversible at the time. We wondered what G-d wanted from us, and why we had to undergo such trials and tribulations. But one day we will ...

The GYE Logo is of a man on a tightrope. This is based on the famous saying of Rebbe Nachman: "The whole world is a very thin bridge, and the main thing is not to be afraid at all". There was a deep and lively discussion recently on the forum (starting on this page and c...

I recently read a story about Rav Nosson, the Talmid of Rebbe Nachman. He was walking together with his students after a raging fire ravaged the town of Breslav. They passed by completely burned down houses, and in one of the houses, R' Nosson saw the owner of the house s...

There was a rich man who unfortunately had his business take a turn for the worse and soon found himself barely feeding his family. He noticed his son one day looking exceptionally sad. When asked why, the son explained as follows, "father, when we had money, we had all t...

Your phone rings. It's your wife. "Can you stop off at Walmart to pick up some groceries?" "Sure." You take down the details, then draw a deep breath. Your delightfully clueless wife is sending you into the Gaza Strip, into Afghanistan, because Walmart on a hot and humid ...

A man told me that he was at the airport, and he had his tallis and tefillin in his carry on. "I had to go to the men's room, so I left my carry on outside the men's room, because I didn't want to take my kedusha items in there. Then it occurred to me, that my neshama is ...

My son went to the beach in Bat Yam yesterday on a class trip. He had a wonderful time BH, except for one minor setback. Towards the end of the day, a larger than normal wave came crashing in. As he fought to retain his balance, he noticed a huge, opaque jelly fish wash t...

There was a Gerrer Chasid who lost all of his family in the Holocaust. Although he had a beard, payos and yarmulka before the war, the Nazis - Yimach Shemem Vizichrom (may their memory be obliterated) - took them away from him and he didn't reclaim them after the war. He ...

I was speaking to an 87 year old Warsaw ghetto and Auschwitz survivor before Mincha on Shabbos. He mentioned that seeing his entire family wiped out only strengthened him to keep up the energy to remain alive until the war finished - and then to rebuild his family, contra...

Hoping posted on the forum: I don't know if this is true, but I just read this: "African hunters have a clever way of trapping monkeys. They slice a coconut in two, hollow it out, and in one half of the shell cut a hole just big enough for a monkey's hand...

Rav Tzvi Hersh Meisels was a Baal Tokea - a skilled shofar blower. Before being sent to Auschwitz, Rav Meisels was a Rav in Hungary - the Veitzner Rav. When he was deported, he somehow managed to smuggle a Shofar into Auschwitz. On o...

All the Belzer chassidim were gathered for the first night of slichos. The Belzer Rebbe walked in and looked around. "Where is Yankel the tailor?", he asked. The chassidim next to him responded; "We don't know. He's not here. Why?" "Go get him. We're not starting...

Before I became frum, I used to be very involved in rock climbing. Though I never did any multi-day climbs, I frequently read accounts of them in books and magazines. According to these accounts, when you encounter a particular...

I'm in the middle of learning a sweet daf of Gemara... My chavrusa and I are throwing out questions, finding answers, formulating different mehalchim. There is no room for the Yetzer Hara in mind. Or so I think... We get stuck on a piece, brainstorming for a ...

Many years ago in Russia, a chossid once complained to his Rebbe that he was having difficulty maintaining control of his eyes and thoughts, and he requested from his Rebbe a lesson that could perhaps help.The Rebbe did not respond to his question. Instead, he was sent to...

There's a personal story that I'd like to share with your community, which I hope will either inspire people or wake them up. I am not posting it on the forum because I would rather it be anonymous; it's very personal. As a persistent internet viewer, I always needed more...

Last week I was in court and the case right before mine was a sentencing for a guy who held up some bodegas... I've never seen a sentencing before, it's really fascinating. The guy's wife and mom were there and the criminal got to make a statement too. And this poor fat s...

There was a chareidi family that took a vacation to Teveria. The wife and 2 daughters went down to the kineret to go swimming. The husband went to daven by Reb Meir Baal HaNeis. The girls start to wade in the water, and the older daughter steps too far in and is swept int...