In summary: When it says that only the outer layers of the Infinite Light were revealed at Sinai, while its inner lights stayed hidden, encased within the text as unrealized possibilities of interpretation, the terms inner and outer refer to specific levels in the kabalistic map of reality. In this context they indicate the two layers of Atika, the deepest root of soul and point where it is hewn from the pure simple oneness of the Infinite Light. Atika is the place where ma

This essay can also be viewed in adobe pdf format. This essay has been extracted from Sarah Yehudit’s larger study on the nature of gender in Kabbala. Please visit Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine to read a summary and browse through this book or buy it directly. The Voice of the Bride[1] by Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi Presented and Elucidated by Sarah Yehudit Schneider Bare Bones Literacy Summary: Voice of the Bride by R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi ta

PurimBurst 1999 / 5659 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Many of the peoples of the land became Jewish, for the fear of the Jews was upon them…the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary, and the Jews had rule over those who hated them.[1]. Tsadok HaKohen:[2] When one nation receives a teaching from another nation that they incorporate for their benefit, this assures the latter’s victory over them should conflict later arise. This mechan

A Short Torah on Eating, 5769 / 2009 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Rafael Moshe Luria (shlita) in Bet Ganzi brings an amazing teaching from the Ari. R. Luria (shlita) is exploring the question of brochot (blessings), and in particular the only two that are of Torah origin: The blessing after completing a meal with bread, Birchat HaMazon (ואכלת ושבעת וברכת) and the blessing before studying Torah, Birchat HaTorah (כי שם ה’ אקרא הבו גודל לאלוקינו). All the other blessings that we say

This article can be viewed in adobe pdf format. This teaching was published in the following publications: Torah of the Mothes is available for purchase on amazon.com or urimpublications.comB’Or HaTorah #11, 1991 [ISBN 965-293-055-5] (Shamir: Jerusalem, Israel). p.177-182. בס”ד THE DAUGHTERS OF TSLAFCHAD: Towards A Methodology Of Attitude Around Women’s Issues by Sarah Yehudit (Susan) Schneider We are blessed with a Torah of timeless truths, which means that every individual

An Exploration of the Jewish and Scientific Perspectives on Creation by Sarah Yehudit (Susan) Schneider This article can be viewed in pdf format. This article was published in B’or Hatorah: Science, the Arts, and Problems of Modern Life in the Light of the Torah. #4, Summer 1984 (Shamir: Jerusalem, Israel). p. 15-38. It is a popular misconception that Torah and science present two competing and mutually exclusive accounts of the Creation story. However, if Jews of opposite o

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This essay can be viewed in adobe pdf format. This essay has been extracted from Sarah Yehudit’s larger study on the nature of gender in Kabbala. Please visit Kabbalistic Writings on the Nature of Masculine and Feminine to read a summary and browse through this book or buy it directly. by Rav Kalonymous Kalman HaLevi Epstein (The Meor V’Shemesh)[1] Presented and Elucidated by Sarah Yehudit Schneider Bare Bones Literacy Summary: Miryam’s Circle Dance by Meor V’Shemesh on Parsh

This article can be viewed in adobe pdf format. This essay was published in Meditation from the Heart of Judaism, edited by Avram Davis and can be purchased at amazon.com by Sarah Yehudit (Susie) Schneider • The service of meditation is the spiritual and intellectual quest to know, comprehend, and feel an idea or truth of Torah to the fullest extent possible. By pursuing a matter to its depth, one draws his inherited and instinctive knowledge of God into a more revealed and

This essay can also be viewed in pdf format. This essay was published in Bread and Fire: Jewish Women Find God in the Everyday, Rivkah Slonim (editor), (Urim Publications, Jerusalem), p. 75-79, which can be purchased at amazon.com and urimpublications.com Avi, Adoni, Dodi , My father, my master, my friend, my beloved. I enter into this study in order to draw close to You – for the sake of holy service and the fulfillment of Your will for me and for all of Israel and for this

This article can also be viewed in adobe pdf format. This article was published in B’Or HaTorah: Science, the Arts and Problems of Modern life in the Light of Torah: #7, 1991 [ISBN 965-293-013-X] (Shamir: Jerusalem, Israel). p. 97-105. The Underside Of Creative Expression by Sarah Yehudit (Susan) Schneider Before the creative act which brought our present universe into being, G‑d existed in a state of undifferentiated, infinitely potent Light which, figuratively speaking, was

This article can also be viewed in adobe pdf format. This article was published in B’Or HaTorah: Science, the Arts and Problems of Modern life in the Light of Torah: #18, 2008 (Shamir: Jerusalem, Israel).p. 135-146. by Sarah Yehudit (Susan) Schneider Women and Judaism is a subject oft-discussed in the yeshivot and learning institutions of the religious world. One hears many statements, spoken with apparent certainty, that Judaism says “this” about women, or Judaism says “that

אבי, אדוני, דודי We (I) enter into this study in order to draw close to you – for the sake of holy service and the fulfillment Your will for us (me) and for all of Israel and for this entire planet. Please assist our (my) efforts and guide our (my) understandings. Let us (me) internalize your Torah to the depth of our (my) being so that we (I) become transformed by Your will and its truths.Let neither ourselves (myself) nor anyone else come into stumbling as a result of this

A War Cry and Peace Prayerfrom a Jewish I-Center(to be recited with its parenthetical phrases) “Hashem, let it be that all Jewish souls, no matter where they stand, no matter what they face, let them see the light (i.e. Your Light).” “And let them integrate that light so deeply into their being-into their heart, bones, cells and spaces, thought, speech and deed-that they (and we all together) should (through this massive teshuva) become the light, (i.e. the ‘Light unto the na

The different terms for love and how they organize into a series of milestones that mark out a spiritual path (from Tanya, chapter 9, Zohar 11b/12a, Kuntres Hitpaalut) 1. Ahavat Olam. The process starts in the “head” as a shift of interest and intention. A decision arises—motivated by any number of things, but ultimately instigated by the nefesh Elokit (Divine soul)—to seek G-d, truth, authenticity, service, etc. Ahavat olam is a spiritual awakening that is totally unintegrat

A Model for Ahavat YisraelSarah Yehudit Schneider כִּי הָמָן בֶּן-הַמְּדָתָא הָאֲגָגִי צֹרֵר [צורר] כָּל-הַיְּהוּדִים חָשַׁב עַל-הַיְּהוּדִים לְאַבְּדָם וְהִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגּוֹרָל לְהֻמָּם וּלְאַבְּדָם: Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, lots, to consume them, and to destroy them. (Esther 3:10, 8:1, 9:10, 9:24) Relationship, by definition (at least by kabbalistic def

Tu B’Shvat, 5778 / 2018 Sarah Yehudit Schneider All the trees of the field (שִֹיחַ הַשָּׂדֶה) did not yet exist on the earth, and all the wild plants had not yet sprouted. This was because God had not brought rain on the earth, and there was no human to work the ground. [Gen 2:5.]וְכֹל | שִֹיחַ הַשָּׂדֶה טֶרֶם יִהְיֶה בָאָרֶץ וְכָל-עֵשֶֹב הַשָּׂדֶה טֶרֶם יִצְמָח כִּי לֹא הִמְטִיר יְי ﭏהִים עַל-הָאָרֶץ וְאָדָם אַיִן לַעֲבֹד אֶת-הָאֲדָמָהSIACH HASADEH (TREES OF THE FIELD) …The

Purim 2018 / 5778 Sarah Yehudit Schneider The Talmud asks: “Why did the Jews of that generation deserve extermination? Because they derived pleasure [נהנו] from the feast of that wicked one [Achashverosh].” [TB Megila 12a]The Talmud doesn’t say “because they ate” – this the Jews could justify by claiming they were subject to royal decree and would risk their lives by refusing to attend the feast. Rather their sin was that they enjoyed the banquet and partook of it with gust

https://s3.amazonaws.com/SSV_Downloads/Videos/Free.Will_1.wmv A kabbalistic exploration of Choice vs Fate based on a teaching of the Ari (R. Isaac Luria) that illuminates a particularly relevant feature of Quantum Mechanics. This is the first of a three-part series. Each subsequent video will add a richness and subtlty to the subject. A PDF file of the script is available through the pdf link above.

Chanukka 5779 / 2018 Sarah Yehudit Schneider It can happen that when something is deeply true, it transcends itself and enters the category of archetype. Its lessons then apply to things that have nothing (apparently) to do with its story, yet it provides the template for making sense of those other things because, beneath the surface, they actually do share a common root. So it goes for Chanukka which celebrates our Maccabean victory and the miracle of oil that enshrined ou