Session 21: "SheAsa Li Kol Tzarki" - שעשה לי כל צרכי

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"When he ties his shoes he should say, 'Blessed is He who has supplied all my wants.'"(Berachos 60b) How do shoes inspire us to thank Hashem for providing us with everything we need? What spiritual purpose do shoes serve — why are we sometime commanded to take them off; why are we sometimes supposed to wear them? We review the references to shoes in the Torah, and learn that shoes enable and epitomize Process, Going, Walking, Achieving — the very actions that define a person's life as a "mehaleich" in this world. ברוך שעשה לי כל צרכי

Session 18: "Mattir Assurim" - מתיר אסורים

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God frees the imprisoned — He releases us from the paralysis of sleep, allowing us freedom to move, grow, progress and accomplish. He releases us from the paralysis of the Yetzer Hara, allowing us freedom to move, grow, progress and accomplish. We discover the parallels of our individual goals in this world, Yosef HaTzaddik’s (Joseph’s) trailblazing example, and the loving gift of the toil imposed by the sin in Eden.

Session 17: "Malbish Arumim" - מלביש ערומים

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Clothing serves both to protect the body from the elements, and to dignify and glorify the body ("לכבוד ולתפארת"). In these two ways, clothing also serves as our tool for achieving our goals of emulating Hashem even post-Eden. Follow the trail of clothing in controlling the Yetzer Hara — the garments that God provided to Adam and Chava; passing through Nimrod, Esav and Yaakov; picked up again by Yosef / Mrs. Potifar and Yehuda / Tamar; and back via the Meraglim (spies) — and you will have a whole new depth of meaning in your heart when you thank Hashem for his chessed of clothing the naked — מלביש ערומים.

Session 15: "She'Asani Kirtzono" - שעשני כרצונו

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“…for creating me in accordance with His Ratzon.” What is the nature of “Ratzon”? How does it serve as an interplay reflecting the love between the Jewish people and G0d? And what makes a woman more naturally aligned with Hashem’s Ratzon? Join us this week, and you’ll find that Ahavas Hashem (love of God) begins with saying: “If it’s important to You, it’s important to me”. שעשני כרצונו

Session 14: "Shelo Asani Goy / Aved / Isha - Part 2 - שלא עשני גוי \ עבד \ אשה

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Continuing from the questions of last week, we look anew at this set of three (four) berachos through the lens of the state of humanity after Adam and Chava (Eve) sinned by eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

Listen in for a whole new layer of meaning to the Birchos HaShachar, and an enhanced appreciation for the gift of having a relationship with G-d. שלא עשני גוי - שלא עשני עבד - שלא עשני אשה - שעשני כרצונו

 

Session 13: "Shelo Asani Goy / Aved / Isha" - Part 1 - שלא עשני גוי \ עבד \ אשה

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A session of questions: How are we to understand this set of three (four, when we speak of the woman’s beracha, “She’asani Kir’tzono”) berachos? Why are they expressed in terms of the negative? How are we to be grateful for what we are not? And if everybody and everything in Creation has a unique and necessary purpose, why would we suggest that some are “better” than others? Stay tuned for next week as we continue with a session of answers! שלא עשני גוי - שלא עשני עבד - שלא עשני אשה - שעשני כרצונו

Session 2: Bridging Two Worlds

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The first session (on prayer as the defining feature of humanity, bridging Heaven and Earth) was not recorded. Join our group here, in Session 2, where we discuss the special role of prayer in the Jewish mission of bringing the spirituality of the infinite into this tangible world of deeds.