I don't know how to express my concern for my beloved country that is now the victim of unprecedented intramural hate and discord, so I invented Old Charlie. He's the type of leader we need, especially now.

A Ukrainian villager had a pain in his hand. Three visits to the country doctor didn't help at all. He finally traveled to the big city and scheduled an appointment with the big professor... This is an old Chassidic parable that explains Tisha B'av and exile.

The holy elder and his family settled in a spiritual battleground, where forces of holiness and evil clash. He draws a circle around them to protect them. The demon king accuses them of trespassing and arrives with his demon army to harm them. The wise man remains fearless, unafraid of this terrifying confrontation…

Passover is our freedom holiday. On Passover night at the Seder, we tell the story of how the Almighty liberated us from slavery in Egypt. Are we free today? Half the world's Jews live under foreign regimes. The other half live in Israel, which is far from independent today, living under dictates and limitations from the White House. What's more, Israel's anti-emuna government and military discriminate against Torah-observant Jews in more ways than one. Is that freedom? If we're not free, then why tell the story of Passover? Let's find out, with this lovely parable that you can tell at your Passover Seder table.

The mere idea of Yom Kippur is enough to raise the anxiety level of many people; that's because no one ever explained to them how Yom Kippur is the happiest day in the Jewish calendar. For real? Hear this.

The midwife switched the babies at birth. The king's son grew up as the son of the servant, and the servant's son grew up as the son of a king. The result is a story of suspense, confusion and the key to understanding our own lives.

"If we knew that a rare gift was concealed within our difficulties, we could laugh; but with emuna, we start laughing even before we discover the gift." 
An old parable about a donkey in trouble gives us a different perspective on life's difficulties. Here's two-and-a-half minutes of encouragement:

Like all of Rebbe Nachman's tales, "The Clever One and the Simple One" is a kaleidoscope. Superficially, it's a guide to success and happiness. On a deeper level, it signifies the battle between simple emuna and intellectual sophistication. Today's lesson introduces us to our two protagonists.

We often learn that so-called "friends" abandon us when we really need them, while others whom we never paid much attention to turn out to be steadfast in time of trouble. Watch this inspiring campfire story with an important lesson for life, especially now:

Before the war, when I spoke at a girl's school in Brooklyn. We discussed the importance of a person having his or her own personal relationship with the Creator and speaking to Him daily. Then, a young lady shot up from her seat and said, "Hey Rabbi, what you're talking about might have applied to Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah and other holy women mentioned in the Torah, but not to me and my generation. How could God possibly care about me, especially when I'm far from Torah and holiness and all that stuff? What does He need me for anyway?" Great question; here's my answer...

People think that they can have a life of fun and games with no responsibility or accountability and then expect to earn a first-class seat with all the amenities up in Heaven. It doesn't work that way...

Could you believe that a brilliant investment banker would be gullible enough to sell his twenty million-dollar mansion in Beverly Hills for a mere thousendth of its value? Listen to today's podcast, which exposes the sly methods of the Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination, who is capable of getting any unsuspecting person to sell his or her priceless soul for a pittance...