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

PurimBurst 2009 / 5569Sarah Yehudit Schneider Esther inspired affection in the eyes of all who saw her… (Megillat Esther 2:15) What was the secret of Esther’s extraordinary (even supernatural) grace.[1] It wasn’t her sense of fashion, for she did not primp even before her big night with the king.[2] And it wasn’t her physical features, as captivating as they were,[3] for outer beauty, though compelling, always has detractors—it inevitably, also, arouses envy. Not so for Esthe

Pesach 2009 / 5769 A Passover Teaching from A Still Small Voice The sedar is a ritual meditation—a symbolic reenactment of our historic (and continuous) journey from exile to redemption that began nearly three and a half thousand years ago when we were born as a nation on this very eve. The whole point of a ritual is to bring light, fixing and healing into the deepest layers of the soul. Its choreography of movements, prayers and affirmations cuts to the quick. The sedar’s fi

Sarah Yehudit Schneider Shavuot, the anniversary of the Torah’s revelation, is called the marriage ceremony between the Jewish people and HaShem. Just as a wedding formalizes and makes public the bond of commitment between a man and a woman, thereby permitting them to enter into physical intimacy, so the revelation of the Torah — its mitzvot and their acceptance by the people — introduced a parallel dimension of intimacy between humanity and G‑d. It enabled the soul to have

Tisha B’Av1, 5769/2009 “Jerusalem…her impurity is in her hems” (Lamentations 1:9). Anyone who has sat with the question, “Who am I?”, for more than a minute has surely realized that it is a complicated query. It’s not so simple (or even possible) to pin “me” down—in part because I am constantly changing, evolving, enlightening—my preferences vary, my values shift, my appearance alters, my emotions fluctuate in ways that can be drastic over the course of hours, days, years and

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