Emuna Beams

Beyond the Stars: A Near-Death Experience

Brandon (Boruch) Rumann from Houston, Texas is a brilliant aerospace engineer. He works for NASA and is involved in the VIPER Rover project, which is scheduled for a mission to the moon in 2025. He simultaneously works for the "Blue Origin" company on the "Orbital Reef" project, that plans to launch a space hotel prototype in 2027. More amazing than his work is his experience beyond the stars, during an NDE (near death experience) that he shares with us in today's podcast.

Finding Your Soulmate

A lasting marital relationship, what we call a "bond of emuna", depends on the merger of two souls. A true partner in life is therefore one's soulmate, that special person who will share a lifelong mutual commitment. One cannot find a soulmate if he or she is interested solely in a "bodymate". Physical attributes are short-lived...

Parshas Vayetze: Giving Thanks

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 about?

Parshas Toldos: What’s the Worry?

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 the Almighty to become parents. Why are they so worried? Isaac's father Abraham received a solid promise from Hashem that Isaac would father the entire Jewish People (Genesis 21:12). Isn't Hashem's promise enough?

The Bond of Emuna

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 lesson.

Friends and Lovers

The Torah teaches us the best way to build a lasting marital relationship - first be friends, then be lovers. It's not just a rosy saying but an absolute commandment of Torah...

The King’s Courier

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 Above...

Happy and Healthy Heart Insurance

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 heart?

Stairway to Serenity

Are you a calm person or a time-bomb of turbulence? How would you objectively rate yourself on a scale of total turbulence at the bottom and total inner peace at the top? Today's lesson enables you to assess your position on the stairway from explosiveness to serenity.

Above the Clouds

No one strengthens character from eating chocolate ice-cream. Coping with difficulty is like spiritual resistance training that strengthens one's spirit. Therefore, 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 training...

Refining the Gold

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 soul.

Beyond the Brain

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 puzzle.