The Library

A chossid once came to his Rebbe crying about the setbacks he'd faced. The Rebbe, sitting behind a desk, told him to jump over the table. The guy thought he was joking. When the Rebbe repeated it the fourth time, the guy got up and took 3 steps back to be able to take a r...

The whole year is about an individual's struggle against his internal forces of evil as he tries to become a perfect person. Tish'a b'av is the same thing on a national level. It's about our national struggle against evil as we try to rectify the wrongs we have done so th...

Question of the Week I see a lot of contradictions in the way the Rebbe is portrayed. He is sometimes described as the founder of Jewish outreach, focusing his energies on bringing lost and ignorant Jews back to the fold. But then when you analyze his writings and ...

Avi Tennenbaum's 7 Week Workshop on SHOVAVIM and INTERNET ADDICTION is available for FREE download (335 MB). Download Here Learn many valuable tools on how to deal with the addiction and nisyonos in this important series. Join the Worldwide YEshiva Shovavim Initiative ...

Yomim Noraim is not meant to be a time of pressure. It's a time of great simcha and opportunity. First, on Rosh Hashana, we coronate the King over us. Then on Yom Kippur, we get forgiven for the whole year's sins, like a filthy child whose father gives him a shower once...

Join the Worldwide YEshiva Shovavim Initiative at shovavim.org - "YES we can!" We are now in the period known as Shovavim, which is a unique and auspicious time to do Teshuvah. The word Shovavim alludes to the verse "Shuvu Banim Shovavim" which means "Return, wayward chi...

Excerpts taken from Tzvi Fishman's Blog This Shabbos is Parshas Zachor. The Torah commandment states: "Remember what Amalek did to you by the way, when you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you by the way and smote the hindmost of you, all that were feeble in and trail...

In the merit of the Yartzeit of the holy Ariza"l today, may we all be strengthened in areas of Kedusha. And as one member pointed out, Bein Hametzarim (the 3 weeks) is a time of Teshuva as it says in Aicha: "Kol Rodfeha Hisuguha Bain Hametzarim" and the Holy Books (see Oh...

One way or another, we are here to work. Our sages say "adam le'amal yulad" - "a man was born to toil". There's no escaping it, and there are no two ways about it. As the Torah makes clear many times, and as we remember all the more so during the three weeks, if the Jewis...

Indented words are excerpts taken from www.jewishsexuality.com The week of Yesod in the Sefirat HaOmer corresponds to the rectification of the holy bris. Today is Malchus She'biyesod. "Malchus" is the all-inclusive day, which is the highlight and culmination of the week o...

One should know that the principle aspect of a Jew's holiness and purity is in sanctifying his eyes. The Torah emphasizes this in the verse regarding Yehuda by asking, "Where is the k'deisha?" While the word k'deisha has the meaning "harlot," it can also be read in its ...

Dear Chevreh, I just have to share some of these incredible posts from our forum since after Yom-Tov. There's so many valiant battles going on there, so much inspiration, Teshuvah and Ahavas Yisrael! (Scroll down to read them all)   "Crakerjack" posted: Hi All, I posted ...

This Shabbos is perhaps the most powerful Shabbos of Shovavim since we read about Yetzias Mitzrayim. In a spiritual sense, everyone of us is given a chance this Shabbos to leave the Mitzrayim of the Yetzer Hara behind us once and for all. I heard an adam Gadol speak this ...

Join the Worldwide YEshiva Shovavim Initiative at shovavim.org - "YES we can!" Here's a nice vort for the Shabbos table, as well as a profound understanding into our struggle with the Yetzer Hara. It is not for nothing that these Parshios of "leaving Mitzrayim" were chos...

There's a fundamental and elementary piece from the holy Ohr Hachayim that gives a clear perspective on the powerful nature of carnal desire, and helps us understand how Hashem expects us to remain holy in spite of it being against human nature. In honor of Shovavim, I wo...

Join the Worldwide YEshiva Shovavim Initiative at shovavim.org - "YES we can!" Today begins the six week period known as "Shovavim", which is an acronym made up of the first letters of the Parshios of these 6 weeks, Shmos, Va'era etc... Shovavim is a very auspicious time...

After we mentioned that the 90 day chart on our website is exactly a half a year old, one of our Chizuk e-mail members ("misgaber") sent us an e-mail afterwards as follows: Seeing the chart on your site, it just popped in my mind that it would be a good idea to make a pro...

Today is a special day for FOUR reasons. Firstly, today is Yesod shebi'Yesod of the Seffirah. Everyone knows that Yesod represents the area of Shmiras Habris, so today is a very auspicious day for progress in these areas. Secondly, today is the Yartzeit of Rav Shlomkeh Z...