The Library

The Baal HaTurim [Bamidbar 6:6] says that the reason a Nazir cannot be near a dead body is so that if his Nezirus brings him Ruach HaKodesh, people should not suspect that it is not Ruach HaKodesh, but that he is really communicating with evil spirits through the dead (D...

Recording of Dov's speech.

וישא את עיניו וירא את הנשים - לג:ה The best way to be careful from forbidden gazing and thoughts is by occupying the mind with divrei Torah. Rav Wolbe writes in Alei Shur that when one thinks in learning, it is a koach that can protect him from seeing pritzus. In C...

The Pasuk says (Shemos 21:26) "If a man hits the eye of his servant or the eye of his maidservant and damages it, to freedom he shall send him in place of his eye". When a person can’t control what he looks at he becomes a slave to the Yetzer Hara. But the Pasuk is tell...

As Avraham Avinu approached Mitzrayim the Torah writes he noticed Sarah's beauty. Until now, Rashi says, he never noticed her beauty, but as a result of an incident (Avraham saw her reflection in the water, as Medrash writes) he saw her. Was this because Sarah was a Tza...

Shabbos 31b: "All the Torah in the world won't save a person unless he has Yiras Shomayim." Artscroll footnote at the end of the sugya defines Yiras Shomayim as negating YOUR will in order to fulfill Hashem's will. Yes, Torah and honesty in business are indispensable, BUT...

In our tefillah, we say, “Remove Satan (the yetzer hara) from before us and after us.” The Talmud says that “A person’s yetzer hara (evil inclination) renews itself each day and seeks to destroy one” (Kedushin 30a). The yetzer hara has only one goal: to crush and destroy ...

Tears on His 50th Wedding Anniversary A man and woman were recently celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. While cutting the cake, the wife was moved after seeing her husband’s eyes fill with tears. The wife took his arm, and looked at him affectionately. “I never...

The Talmud teaches that one who has sinned but then asks for forgiveness comes closer to G-d than someone who never sinned. This means that a person who was wicked but left their evil ways reaches higher than a person who has always done the right thing. If so, the Talmud...

The Torah reiterates a number of times that it was "with a strong hand" that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim. It took much suffering on the part of the Egyptians until they were willing to let us out, and Chazal also tell us that it took the "extra" suffering at the end ...

Dear Chevra HeKedoshim VeHaM'Taharim, I appreciate all of the positive feedback from our call on Thursday night and I am inspired by the yearning for kedusha that is out there. I feel that perhaps a few concluding comments would be helpful in summarizing our call and addr...

Torah taken to heart creates a spiritual light that shines within a person. Tzitzis has a similar effect, but on the body. Tzitzis creates a protective light around a person's body and even effects their thoughts. The Bracha on the Talis (the Arizal would make this Bracha...

The great Reb Yerucham used to say that the honey is thick when it comes to intimacy because of the great importance of the purpose. The analogy he would give is that of the mother who smears honey on bread so that her child will eat. The mother is more interested in the ...

Between seeing everything that we shouldn't do and living in a environment that's contrary and antithetical to what Yiddishkeit is all about (and learning that we shouldn't do all of that), what are we left with to keep us strong? The Pasuk says, "Kedoshim Tih'u, Ki Kados...

I learned two halachos recently that relate to some beautiful things about recovery. The first one is: If chometz is sent to you in the mail on Pesach, you do not have to accept it. Basically, this is the same message that a friend of mine in the SLAA group says: "If som...

After the eigel hazahav (Golden Calf), everyone was downcast because they had lost favor in the eyes of Hashem. The general mood was repentance, remorse, and humility. Yet at that time Moshe Rabbeinu put in some of his greatest requests that he ever made of Hashem. It's...

"One thing I've asked from Hashem, that I dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life..." -Psalm 27 "All the days of my life" doesn't mean from now until I go away from this world. It means from the day I was born until the day I pass away from this world. What ...

Ben Zoma said that the strongest force of the heart's might is the power to overcome evil inclination. Courage in battle is not as great; there are many strong, brave warriors who have learned the arts of war and know how to fight. But the battle of the evil inclination d...