Emuna Beams

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.

Paying Back a Favor

How do I repay a person who helped me strengthen my faith and make me happier?  What's it worth, a million dollars? A billion dollars? There's a big difference between paying back a material favor and paying back a spiritual favor. This time of year is especially conducive to pondering the spiritual side of our lives...

From the Depths

Just as cholesterol clogs the arteries, transgressions clog the pathways to the heart and the heart itself. A clogged and hardened heart has no desire to pray, for it cannot feel the Divine presence. Today, we learn how to perform a spiritual stent. Powerful prayer - a silent scream - penetrates the depths of the heart and renews its spiritual health.

Gett to Regret

A "Gett" in Hebrew is a writ of divorce. That's exactly what we're about to give to all of our regrets in life. They are nothing but iron shackles that hold us down and prevent us from moving forward and climbing higher. Today's lesson is a preparation for the happiest New Year you ever had.