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Upon you, great ones, the rebbes of the Hasidim, who follow the path of the Ba‘al Shem Tov, and of whose glorious name they boast and by…
Although he himself would not recite “for the sake of the unification,” in keeping with the ruling of the Gaon—the Noda bi-Yehudah [R. Ezekiel Landau]—he was occasionally jealous of those who say it.…
The Hasid praises the Almighty on the right hand, and the unbeliever tosses away and truncates the principles of faith on the left, while the Torah scholar, standing in the center, maintains silence…
He looked, and there was a well in the field, and there were three flocks of sheep lying down by it, for from that well the flocks were watered. But the stone was large on the mouth of the well. When…
The Birth of the Ba‘al Shem Tov
One of the greatest phenomena, running like a thread throughout the spiritual history of the Jewish people, is mysticism, a remnant of ancient mythology, which could…
“Why did God reveal the account of Creation to Israel? Because they said ‘We will do’ before ‘and we will understand’ (Exod. 24:7).”
This may be understood in the light of…
“Blessed are you, God, God of our ancestors, the great, awesome, and holy God. You have bequeathed human understanding (da‘at ha-enoshit) to humanity. You have gifted us with the knowledge of your…
The [Babylonian] Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin [109b] brings a statement that when a stranger came to the city of Sodom, he would be placed on a bed. Someone who was taller than the bed would have his…
For there are seven abominations in their hearts to ensnare the souls of the innocent, and they abolish public study of the Torah, and they cast off the yoke of the Torah from their necks and from the…
In order to understand what is katnut (“smallness”) and what is gadlut (“greatness”), consider this example: If one studies Torah without understanding, he is in a state of…