Shavuot 5775 / 2015 Sarah Yehudit Schneider תאנא כמה פנים לפנים אית ליה לקודשא בריך הוא. פנים דנהרין. פנים דלא נהרין. פנים עילאין. פנים תתאין. פנים רחיקין. פנים קריבין. פנים דלגו. פנים דלבר. פנים דימינא. פנים דשמאלא. תא חזי זכאין אינון ישראל קמיה דקב״ה דאחידן באנפין עלאין דמלכא. באינון פנים דהוא ושמיה אחידן בהו ואינון ושמיה חד הוא. [הזהר ח״ב דף פז ע״א] It has been taught: How many faces upon faces has the Holy One! Shining faces, dim faces; high faces, low faces; distant fa

Rosh HaShana 2015 / 5776 Sarah Yehudit Schneider A true story: A woman brings yards of lacy fabric and the sketch of a wedding gown to a seamstress who has nearly two weeks to finish the job. The dressmaker (a stranger till that day) prays while she cuts and sews, asking Hashem to guide her work. The dressmaker thinks to herself, really I should be praying for this couple to be happy, fruitful on all levels, and that peace should fill their hearts and home… and I really do w

Chanukka (2015 / 5776) Sarah Yehudit SchneiderBased on teachings by R. Tsadok HaKohen[1] and R. Yitzchak Ginsburgh[2] …הַנֵּרוֹת הַלָּלוּ קֹדֶשׁ הֵם. וְאֵין לָנוּ רְשׁוּת לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בָּהֶם. אֶלָּא לִרְאוֹתָם בִּלְבָד. כְּדֵי לְהוֹדוֹת וּלְהַלֵּל לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל עַל נִסֶּיךָ וְעַל נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ וְעַל יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ: … These [Chanukha] lights are holy. We are not permitted to make use of them rather only to gaze at them—to awaken gratitude and praise for Your miracles,

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

Pesach 2016 /5776 Sarah Yehudit Schneider “The reward phase of history called the world-to-come is characterized by unfettered freedom. Liberty (דרור) is its hallmark. Freedom emanates from this Cosmic Yovel—the 50th Gate of Binah which broadcasts the fact that God is One.[i] Its Fifty Gates trace a path of enlightenment that marks our progressive integration of this unfathomable truth.[ii] Moshe reached rung 49. And when we (altogether) attain the Fiftieth Gate, we will di

Shavuot 2016 /5776 Sarah Yehudit Schneider The Torah revealed at Sinai (on Shavuot) is not the one in our study halls today. Those Tablets shattered when Moshe, witnessing the Golden Calf, cast them to the ground. HaShem eventually accepted our teshuva and 120 days later (on Yom Kippur) we received their replacement—a second set—related to the first…but different. At Sinai we got the Torah of Atzilut—the Torah of Unanimity. A searing revelation of presence engraved the sou