You’re Never Alone

The photo you see are not fireworks; they're the recent missile attacks on the south of Israel where I live. Here's what I was thinking during the barrage this past Shabbat, These are the three words that we must engrave on our hearts, for they will always rescue us in times of trouble. You're never alone.

The Power of Rebbe Shimon

The first 32 days of the Omer obligate us to curtail joy and joyous occasions. Then comes the 33rd day, 18 Iyar, the anniversary (yahrtzeit) of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai's departure from the physical world. Everything turns completely around with singing, dancing, rejoicing and festive meals. What's behind all this? Today's podcast comes from a talk that Rabbi Lazer gave at a Lag B'omer celebration at the Briarwood Synagogue in Queens, NY earlier this week.   

Closeness to God

This message comes from the holy gravesite of King David on Mount Zion. We examine his autobiographical statement in at the end of Psalm 57. King David tells us what his definition of good is. As a result, we see what the King of Israel’s top priority is.

Rabbi Elazar Azkari: Yedid Nefesh

Rabbi Lazer takes us to the holy city of Tzfat where we visit the gravesite of the famed scholar, Kabbalist and poet Rabbi Elazar Azkari (1533-1600). He composed the beautiful melody Yedid Nefesh ("friend of the soul"), which we all sing on Shabbat. Included here are the original Hebrew lyrics in English transliteration and a lovely vocal rendition by Asaf Neve Shalom.

Courageous and Compassionate

Dan was one of Jacob’s twelve sons, the patriarchs of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The great grandfather of the mighty Samson, Dan was a fierce and courageous warrior. But as fierce as he was, he taught his offspring to be kind and compassionate toward others. This message from his holy gravesite is especially important for the Omer period. This is an opportune time to rectify the sin of baseless hate.

Meron Afterthoughts: The Hidden Tzadik

When you go to a shiva house, you learn all types of things about the deceased person – the biggest thing you learn is that you never really knew the individual or the greatness that was within him. That's why King Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes that it's better to go to visit a shiva house than a nightclub. The difference is that in a nightclub, all you see is glitter, makeup and outer dimensions. In the house of a mourner, there's no glitter and outer dimensions, only inner dimensions. Today's podcast is a tribute to the 45 holy victims of the Meron tragedy on Lag B'Omer last week.

The Meron Tragedy, April 30, 2021 - Lag B'Omer, 5781

This 18-minute video podcast comes in all about the Meron Tragedy, one of Israel's worst civilian disasters ever,

Special Souls

Why would the Chazon Ish stand up whenever a special needs child walked into the room? If you know a family with a special needs child, share this brief message with them.

Wiping out Amalek

Amalek, the arch-evil personification of the Sitra Achra (literally "other side", the antagonist of holiness) in every generation, has one main task - to destroy emuna and everyone who spreads it. 

Spiritual Anatomy: Where Body Meets Soul

This is our debut of Emuna Hour, our new weekly shiur on Zoom that helps us learn and internalize the principles of emuna. The mp3 is unedited, so you can hear how Nazis and hate-spammers tried to crash the shiur between minutes 17:00 and 18:30.

On the Back of a Whale

If you don't think that our Talmudic sages saw far into the future with their crystal-clear spiritual vision, then hear today's podcast, which shows just how the holy Raba bar Bar Chana saw what would happen in our generation in general, and with the upheaval of COVID-19 in particular.

Brave Spirit: Body & Soul Protection from Coronavirus

Today's video podcast not only gives advice on how to keep body and soul healthy in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, but shows that King David dealt with a terrible plague in his time that his son King Solomon knew all about, which the holy Tanna Onkolos calls "Kurhana". See for yourself, and see how King David stopped the plague as well as a 950-year promise from Rashi about how to defeat this disease...