The Gemara makes a seemingly strange statement: "No one thanked Hashem until our matriarch Leah said, 'This time, I will thank Hashem' (Genesis 29:35)." Adam, Noah and Abraham all thanked Hashem way before Leah did. So what's the Gemara talking… [Read more...]

Welcome to our new "Parsha Pearls" series on the weekly Torah portion. This week, we find Isaac and Rebecca haven't yet had children and are begging in prayer to become parents. Why are they so worried? Isaac's father Abraham received a solid promise from Hashem that Isaac would father the entire… [Read more...]

With so many divorces, something is sorely wrong with western society's concept of marriage. There's a much better game plan, which we learn in today's… [Read more...]

In marriage, your spouse must first be your best friend. Only then, can you become lovers. Love is certainly not romance or bodily lust; it's how quickly you jump to help each other. What's more, if a person can't love his spouse, his closest neighbor in the world, then he's in fantasy land if he… [Read more...]

The things in this world that arouse our fear are reminders that we should fear no one other than Hashem. The things in the world that arouse our love are reminders of just how much we must love Hashem. Both the seemingly good and the seemingly bad in life are messengers from… [Read more...]

The insurance company invites you to contact them for a quote. They don't list the prices of their various cardiac insurance policies because you'd be turned off on the spot. But at any rate, what are you getting for the high price of cardiac insurance? Can anyone insure you a healthy… [Read more...]

Are you a calm person or a time-bomb of turbulence? How would you objectively rate yourself along a scale of total turbulence at the bottom and total inner peace at the top? Today's lesson helps you get to know… [Read more...]

When the Almighty wants to uplift a person to a higher spiritual level, He first sends them some sort of verbal abuse. Verbal abuse breaks a person's heart. Yet, in striving to overcome a broken heart, a person builds an emotionally-stronger heart. Here's a lesson in spiritual resistance… [Read more...]

Metaphorically, raw gold symbolizes the soul, whose mission on earth is to refine and purify itself from its unrectified blemishes. Extreme heat is not a punishment for the raw gold, but a mode of purification. Extreme tribulations in like manner remove the blemishes from the… [Read more...]

Are the Torah's commandments logical? Do they have a basis in intellect? Today's lesson provides some answers that are missing pieces to a very old… [Read more...]

Just as cholesterol clogs the arteries, transgressions clog the pathways to the heart and the heart itself. A clogged and hardened heart has no desire to pray, for it cannot feel the Divine presence. Today, we learn how to perform a spiritual stent. Powerful prayer - a silent scream - penetrates… [Read more...]

A "Gett" in Hebrew is a writ of divorce. That's exactly what we're about to give to all of our regrets in life. They are nothing but iron shackles that hold us down and prevent us from moving forward and climbing higher. Today's lesson is a preparation for the happiest New Year you ever… [Read more...]