“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. “ ~ Joseph Campbell It takes the average baby 1000 hours of practice before they can walk. Some learn to scoot first. Some love to crawl. Others like to get right to taking their...
“When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves,” said Victor Frankl… and how true it is. Yet, the power to change ourselves does not only exist in those constrictive times when we are pushed up against a wall in impossible circumstances at the end of our rope. As we...
Have you ever thought to yourself that it’s too late to change? Maybe you are well into the second half of your life, and a new career, relationship, or opportunity seems overwhelming or pointless. Or maybe you resist change because you fear the unknown. Like the old phrase goes, “Better the devil you know than...
Sometimes we think that this life is about getting prizes and avoiding punishment, about following all the rules to be the good boy or girl we are expected to be, about coloring inside the lines, or knowing it all. But Kabbalah says otherwise. This week’s portion is called Ekev and when you look in the Zohar you...
There are many components to spirituality. Of course, there is study through which we can gleam insight into the many profundities of the Creator’s magnificence. There is also prayer, a channel whereby words and thoughts can connect us with God’s ever-present Light. Both these pieces are important, and yet there is another component, one I...
Imagine a guy who is about to close a huge contract and make a lot of money. Just before it happens, the deal falls through, and he ends up with nothing. He invested so much time, energy, effort, and then poof it is gone. It is all taken away. Most of us would probably think...
I have been told by many friends and students in the past few years that it is becoming increasingly difficult to invest in spirituality. The energetic atmosphere seems “heavier” than it did a decade or so ago. There is a curtain that veils the vast importance of something as simple as a morning meditation, or...
Sometimes we use spirituality as an excuse for laziness. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it. It’s one of the great traps of becoming a ‘spiritual person.’ For example: Meditation is a very powerful spiritual tool, but if you sit in bed all day eating ice cream and meditating on being thin,...
There is nothing impossible under the sun. For all that’s impossible just waits to be done. When the Wright Brothers told the world they wanted to build a transport that could allow people to travel through the air, they were told it would never happen. Years later, when Amelia Earhart wanted to fly an airplane...
Spiritual greatness is defined more by what we do with all that we have learned, and less with what we know. It is behavior that makes us spiritual, not beliefs. In the portion of Tzav, Moses is instructing the sons of Aaron how to bring sacrifices to the Tabernacle. The portion is filled with many intricacies...
