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#4 Appreciating Olam Hazeh
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If a person looks at the features of this world they will quickly see that Hashem invested great wisdom and care in making man’s stay on the planet enjoyable. From the different foods, each one with its unique flavor, aroma and textures; to the colors of flowers and magnificent seascapes -- so much of the beauty of this world was not necessary. It is clear that Hashem put much thought into creat...
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#5 Appreciating our Wealth
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Never in the history of man have so many people enjoyed so much material wealth and possessions. The average tax paying citizen of today enjoys riches and comforts that kings of yesteryear couldn’t envision or imagine -- and yet it seems that we don’t appreciate what we have. We become so accustomed to the extraordinary wealth we possess that we no longer think of it as riches; we even start askin...
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#6 Its not Geneivah, it’s Shtick
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It is very difficult for us human beings to accept that we do things that are wrong, and so we rationalize. We create illusions and fanciful stories that we ourselves don’t believe. And so, you will find intelligent, otherwise rational people saying things like, “Of course I wouldn’t steal, stealing is dishonest, but this isn’t stealing .It’s “shtick”. We “mach shtick”. We “mach Shtick” with the t...
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#10 Questioning G-d: Finding and keeping your Bashert
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The Shadchan says, "So tell me, what are you looking for?" And, out comes the laundry list. "I need someone who is extroverted, funny, and outgoing." "I need a woman who is very frum, good, kind, tolerant, and funny." "I need a guy who is tall, a take-charge type, strong but not headstrong." And unwittingly, many people make the first mi...
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#11 Kibud Av of Eisav – Appreciating Parents
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Of course we appreciate our parents. Of course we respect them. Isn’t that only natural? Doesn’t everyone? And yet we don’t. We live in a society that doesn’t seem to know the meaning of the word respect. There is no respect for authority, no respect for institutions, no respect for elders, and even no respect for ourselves. Unfortunately, we are affected by this, and this lack of respect goes s...
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#12 People of Principle
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We know the Avos and Imahos were great individuals -- but what made them so great? Where did they get the moral courage to see what was right, and stick to it against all external pressures?
Through the famous story of Rochel giving up her husband to her sister Leah so as not to embarrass her, we are introduced to some of the basic ingredients that shape any great person’s success – the mor...
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#14 Living like a Rock
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What if I just live my life, as any other occupant of this planet? What is so bad about that? Let’s say, I am no worse than Joe the UPS driver, or Bob the mechanic, will Hashem really be upset with me?
In this Shmuz we are brought to understand how great the human is, and how much he can accomplish. Within the context of this understanding the question of “What am I accomplishing with my l...
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#16 Olam Habba: The Greatest Motivator
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Alan Dershowitz, in his book “ The Vanishing Jew”, describes that as part of a course he taught in Harvard Law school, one of his co-professors decided to rate G-d. They decided to sit in judgment of Hashem, to determine how good a job He did when He created this world. Their conclusion? They found much good, much wisdom and forethought, but they also found much suffering and pain, needless pain. ...
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#17 Acquiring Olam Habba The Easy Way – “Everyone needs a Mike”
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We spend our life trying to gain Olam Habbah. All of our learning, all of our chessesd, all of our davening, is directed towards creating “what I will be forever”. Yet sometimes it seems that we work harder and not smarter towards our goal.
In this Shmuz, we are introduced to a simple method to dramatically increase our portion in Olam Habbah- a smarter way....
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#24 Understanding Life Settings
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It almost seems as if some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, while others are destined to suffer. Why is it is that some people are born with amazing capacity, and others are created so simple? Why is there autism in the world? Why Down Syndrome? If in fact God is just, why not mete out talents and abilities in an equal manner to all people?
Using the backdrop of a famou...
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#26 Loshon Horah – Squandering our Olam Habbah
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Of course loshon horah is forbidden. We know it was the prime cause of the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash, and of course we know that we aren’t supposed to speak it--yet we do. A big part of the reason is that we don’t really see it as wrong, we don’t see it as damaging, and we certainly don’t see the act of speaking as something that will cost us in the future.
This Shmuz is a powerful ...
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#27 Respecting the Institution – America the Beautiful
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We live in a world of disrespect. Children don’t respect parents. Students don’t respect teachers, spouses don’t respect each other and I certainly can’t respect a President or world leader who gives in to his every passion and whim.
In this Shmuz we find that Torah has a very different understanding of respect, and who is worthy of respect. We are introduced to the Torah’s concept of “r...
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#29 The Busy Generation
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While we boast of more labor saving devices that ever before in history, It seems that we are busier today than we have ever been. In fact, we are so busy that we don’t even have the time to ask ourselves what is that we are so busy with.
This Shmuz focuses us on attitudes and perspectives that we pick up from the society in which we live – attitudes that may be against what the Torah views...
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#31 The Voice Inside
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Have you ever heard of something called a guilty conscience? What about a Jewish guilty conscience? While we all recognize that “Voice Inside”, that seems to moralize and lecture to us when we have stepped over the line, we assume that this is just one of those things that we have to sort of ignore.
In this Shmuz we are brought to understand that “Voice” that HASHEM put inside every human ...
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#36 For the Love of Money
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“I heard he’s worth 10 million dollars”, is not so uncommon an expression for us to hear, even within our own community. The reality is that to many people, their self worth is equal to their net worth. While we assume that our values come exclusively from a Torah Perspective and not from the world around us, the reality is that the world we live in has a real effect on our thoughts and attitudes....
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#39 I Need, Needs
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It is clear that Hashem is capable -- very capable. It is also clear that Hashem has great wisdom -- enough wisdom and capacity to create the cosmos and all that it contains, with words alone -- from galaxies that stretch over billons of light years, to tiny amoeba that float in a sea of flotsam, all parts of the whole, all harmoniously integrated, all so seemingly perfect. Yet Hashem created man...
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