Emuna Beams

No Comparing, No Competing

The Creator doesn't do anything without a reason. The fact that He put you on earth means that the world cannot exist without you. If you compete with or compare yourself to anyone, you can't be focused on your life's mission. Here's how and why:

Brodie Meets Brody: Maintaining Muscle Mass

The "Brodie meets Brody" series is a one-of-a-kind, where world-class exercise physiologist, strength and cycling coach Menachem Brodie (NSCA-CSCS, USAC-PBT) teams up with Seniors-Fitness trainer, holistic health coach and nutritionist Rabbi Lazer Brody (CHC, CPT, CHN) to show how both women and men can maintain muscle mass at any age, whether they're in their thirties or in their eighties.

Beyond the Brain

Logic and intellect see things through physical eyes. Just as physical gravity brings an object down, logic and intellect knock a person down. Their interpretation of events is negative and pessimistic. On the other hand, emuna sees through spiritual eyes. Spiritual gravity lifts one up. Emuna is beyond the brain and beyond the realm of negativity. With emuna, there is truly no despair.

From Hard Rock to Chassidic Roll

Today's interview shares one of the greatest comeback stories ever. A headbanger deep into drugs, booze and heavy metal morphs into a pious Torah scholar and a master artisan, the world's only Chassidic luthier (string-instrument craftsman). Meet Z.Z. Ludwick:

Don’t Fear the Lion

Without emuna, life's tribulations look like a lion about to devour us. No wonder so many people succumb to fear and anxiety.
With emuna, life's tribulations still look like a lion. Yet, the lion is only a costume that our loving Father in Heaven is dressed up in. That changes our outlook completely, as we're about to learn.

An Interview with ”Magnificent Mom”: Taekwondo Grand Master Sunny Levi

She's incredible. One of less than ten women in the entire USA who is a 7th degree blackbelt and Taekwondo Grand Master. The only Jewish woman in the world with that distinction and a mother of six as well. She was a Pan Am Games gold medalist and a US Olympic hopeful who became poster girl for United Airlines, Coca Cola and McDonalds. Her agent wanted to strangle her when she gave up a million-dollar Hollywood contract to pursue an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. Meet this amazing superwoman, Sunny Levi:

350 Pairs of Shoes

Here's a brief but especially important lesson in marital peace, designed predominantly for the man of the family. A couple came to me for marital counseling. The husband complained that his wife was a spendthrift who owns 350 pairs of shoes...

3 Illuminating Words

Many people are skeptical when I tell them that three words are capable of illuminating the soul. An illuminated soul leads to inner peace. Hard to believe?
Do believe that a diabetic individual sees a dramatic improvement in health by getting off of junk food and sugar? Are you aware that a few minutes of exercise every day also enhances good health? Both are obvious, right?
The same principle applies to the soul. By focusing on three simple words, which constitute one concept, we dramatically enhance emotional and spiritual health.

The Miser and the Macaw

Here's a poignant parable about relationships, when unthinking husbands starve their wives emotionally and wake up when it's too late...

Fitness Past Forty: Decade by Decade

Welcome to the functional fitness "Brodie meets Brody" series. Here, world-class exercise physiologist, strength and cycling coach Menachem Brodie (NSCA-CSCS, USAC-PBT) teams up with Senior Fitness Trainer, Health Coach and Nutritionist Rabbi Lazer Brody (CHC, CPT, CHN). Today, they show how both women and men can stay fit at forty and beyond, decade by decade.

Focusing on Our Goal

There's one major difference between people who succeed and people who don't. The ones who succeed are totally focused on their goal. The ones who don't are not. Any marksman knows that you can't hit a target if it's out of focus. Today, we're going to learn what it means to focus on our goal and how to focus.

Opening Our Eyes

Few people are able to understand what they see. To paraphrase the old saying, they're in a big area with oak and pine trees all around them but they don't see that it's a forest.
Divine Direction is the Creator's active determination of every detail and occurrence in the world. The more we enhance our emuna in Divine Direction, the more we improve our spiritual eyesight. This lets us see the Creator personally directing our lives. Few things are more rewarding.
There are five main ploys in enhancing our emuna in Divine Direction. These ploys are:
Realizing that We Don't Run the World – Hashem does
Learning to be Happy with Our Lot in Life
Appreciating Life's Countless blessings
Remembering the Many Salvations we have seen in our lifetime.
Looking for the Divine wisdom in every creation
Let's examine them, one by one.