Podcasts about nefesh hachaim

Welcome to our Daily Bitachon class. We are now on the Haggadah shel Pesach series, in the unit of Mitechila, Ovdei Avodah Zarah, Hayu Avoteinu. Originally our forefathers were idol worshipers, and Hashem brought us close to him. We quote a pasuk in Yehoshua ויאמר יהושע אל כל העם Yehoshua tells the people that going back in history,, , כה אמר יי אלהי ישראל: בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם מעולם, תרח אבי אברהם ואבי נחור, ויעבדו אלהים אחרים. ואקח את אביכם את אברהם מעבר הנהר, ואולך אותו בכל ארץ כנען. J את זרעו ואתן לו את יצחק. Our forefathers lived on the other side of the river, Terach the father of Abraham and Nachor worshipped other gods, " And I took your father, Abraham, and I took him throughout the land of Canaan." V'arbe et Zaro , and I increased his seed, V'eten et Yitzchak, and gave him Yitzchak . V'Ekach/ Hashem took Abraham Avinu, throughout the land. It sounds like He was holding his hand, walking him through the land, but that's not really what happened. There were trials and tribulations. It was a lot more than just He took him, so to say, and brought him. Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein says that in life, there are many events that make things happen, whether it's a famine, or a wife being kidnapped, or a war with four kings and five kings, but what is really is going on is Ve'ekach / Hashem is taking us by the hand and bringing us step by step. V'arbe et Zaro . Now simply, V'arbe means to make many. Hashem made him have many children. But Rashi on this pasuk in Yehoshua ( 24,3) says that the word וארב V'arbe is spelled without a ה hey , and therefore could be read as V'arev , which means merivah , fights. Kama merivot v'nisyonot asiti imo . There were a lot of fights, a lot of tests, until I gave him children. So we see that Hashem is telling us a very important concept through Yehoshua. Look back at history. Look at the trials and tribulations and the tests that Abraham went through before he got Yitzhak . Why was that? Rav David Cohen quotes Rav Chaim Volozhin who tells us, in his commentary, Ruach Haim on Perkei Avot , Perel 5 Mishna 3 , that Asara Nisyonot nitnaseh Avraham Avinu / Avraham, our forefather, received ten tests. The Nefesh HaChayim asks, Why does it say Avinu here about Avraham, whereas in a previous Mishnah, when it talks about the ten generations from Noah to Avraham , he's not called Avraham Avinu ? Rav Chaim Volozhin tells us an important principle, which is that when a tzaddik toils and works on a certain middah , that Middah becomes natural for his children-with just a little bit of work, they'll get there. He says, Avraham Avinu's tests gave us a certain spiritual DNA. He says, for example, that it's natural for a Jewish person to die Al kiddush Hashem . We see that simple people have given up theirs lives, Al kiddush Hashem . Why? Because Avraham Avinu was ready to jump into the fiery furnace. Additionally, Avraham Avinu picked up and moved to Eretz Yisrael . That test, of Lech Lecha became inherited. The fact that we Jewish people say Kol Ma D'avid Rachmana L'Tav Avid/Everything that Hashem does is for the good, is because Avraham Avinu didn't question God when he had to leave the land after the famine. So we see an unbelievable concept- that Hashem purposely made Avraham Avinu go through these tests so that his spiritual genetics would be stronger, and he'd be able to pass that inheritance down to the Jewish people. This is not only true of Avraham Avinu. The Ruach Haim quotes a pasuk in Mishlei 20,7, מִתְהַלֵּ֣ךְ בְּתֻמּ֣וֹ צַדִּ֑יק אַשְׁרֵ֖י בָנָ֣יו אַחֲרָֽיו׃ / The Sadik goes in his simplicity . Fortunate are his children afterwards . According to this Nefesh HaChaim , this is a huge hiddush , that it's not just a zechut that the Sadik does something when he's 70 and it's going to help his children. That also might be true. But the Hodesh is the concept that you're bequeathing your accomplishments to your children. So, if a man gets married at 24 and went through a lot of tests before that and then has a child when he's 30 or 33 or 40, or if it's child number 8 that's born into old age, that child has in him all of the tests that the father and mother overcame. It's now built into him. So sometimes we have all kinds of tests and trials and tribulations. We don't realize what it's doing for us, and what is going into our spiritual makeup that we're going to pass down to our children. Everything Hashem does is measured. Avraham Avinu had to wait until he was 99 years old to have a child. Why did he have to wait so long? So one answer is that Hashem wants to hear the Tefilot of Sadikim . Another answer that is brought down in early sources, is that Avraham Avinu was Mekarev people, but he couldn't have a child until he had a brit milah , because he had to be perfect in that way first. And once he had a brit milah , he was somewhat separated from the rest of the world. So therefore, Hashem pushed it off as late as possible. There are all kinds of answers, but now we're hearing a new answer. Avraham Avinu had to be of that age because he went through so many tests, and then he was ready to give that spiritual DNA over to his future children, and future generations.

Welcome to our Daily Bitachon series. We are now in the Haggadah shel Pesach, in the unit of: מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו. Originally, our forefathers were idol worshippers. This part of the Haggadah is extremely important. One of the fundamentals of the night of the seder is מתחילין בגנות ומסיימין בשבח. You have to start with a negative and end with a positive. There's an argument in the Gemara in Masechet Pesachim 116a about What exactly is the negative and what's the positive? Rav says the negative is that originally we were idol worshippers. Shemuel says the negative is originally we were slaves to Paroah. According to most opinions, they both agree. That's why we mention both. The question is, what is the main point and what do we start with? Is the main point the physical subjugation or is it the spiritual subjugation? To explain in a very simple way that they both agree, the Rambam says that the most fundamental way to explain the story is to say, See the housekeeper or slave working in the kitchen We could have been like that. But that's for the simple child that doesn't understand any real depth. The deeper concept, that we were idol worshippers and Hashem took us out of because we became idol worshippers once again in Mitzrayim, is something that's a little more complex. That's not something that the average child might understand. So they're both true. And I'll add, with the poetic license, that the more advanced student is still awake and participating at the point of Mitechila .. The child who asked Ma Nishtana and got his Avadim Hayinu answer may not still be with us at this point in the Seder, at the time to start getting a little deeper. The Rambam describes the seder in the laws of Chametz and Matzah chapter 7, Halacha 4, and says so beautifully, Children, originally we were Kofrim, we were deniers. We were mistakenly after hot air and nonsense,, chasing after idol worship. That's the beginning. And we end with Discussing the true religion, that God brought us close to that, and separated us from those that strayed, and brought us close to the understanding of His Oneness. That's the piece we are discussing now. We have to understand that there is more to the story than just physical slavery and physical redemption. There is a spiritual component as well. So here we go: מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינ We were strayers, we were lost. And now, says Rav Wolbe is a powerful word. ועכשיו קרבנו המקום ברוך הוא לעבודתו And now , here, right now at the Seder, God brings us closer, every single year, to Avodat Hashem. Now is the time to pause and talk about the word that's used to describe Hashem, especially at the seder: Makom מקום . Why this term of Makom ? The Nefesh HaChaim, in Shaar 3, perek 1, tells us that the concept of Makom is a place, something that holds and enables something to stand. A table is a place for a glass. If you take away the table, the glass comes crashing down. So too, Hashem is the true Place for everything. He's holding everything. If Hashem takes away His energy for even for a moment, then there's no longer a space for anything and everything will just disintegrate. As it says, You, God give life to everything. The Rambam says in the beginning of his sefer, that this is the foundation of our Emunah. If, for a moment, Hashem would stop energizing the world, the world would cease to exist. The same Nefesh HaChaim in Shaar 1, perek 16 says If the whole world, from one end to the other, would be empty for one second from people toiling in Torah, the entire world, all the world, would turn back into nothingness. He says it again in Shaar 4, perek 10, and he adds the word, Mamash / literally, I'm not exaggerating. And in Shaar 4 perek 25, he says It's enough if just one Jew is learning Torah, the world will continue. That's the power of Torah. In other words, Hashem connected us to this concept of Makom . God is the Makom of the world, but He entrusted us, and empowered us to keep that energy going. That happened with Yetziat Mitzrayim, and with Matan Torah. We became the chosen nation and we were empowered. That's ועכשיו קרבנו המקום ברוך הוא לעבודתו God connected us in this aspect of Makom . We are now empowered with keeping the world going. It's not a simple task. No wonder Hashem is constantly making sure that we're in proper shape, and doing what we're supposed to be doing-Because we are necessary! As it says (and this is a hard concept to say) תנו עז לאלהים/Give strength to God. Kal v'yachol , Hashem set up the world after He gave us to Torah, that we are giving energy and power, so to say, to God, through our Torah learning.

Welcome to our humility series. What was the reason Moshe Rabbenu was the greatest of prophets? What made him so special? The Nefesh HaChaim (gate 1, chapter 15) says that only Moshe Rabbenu merited that his full Neshama entered his body with all of its power and influence. That's why in Devarim 33:1, Moshe Rabbenu was called Ish HaElohim /a man of God. Rav Yaakov Hillel, in his commentary Nishmat HaYam on Nefesh HaChaim, connects this to what the Nefesh HaChaim writes in his third gate (chapters 13& 14), that Moshe Rabbenu stood out in the area of humility. It says in Bamidbar 12,3 וְהָאִ֥ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה עָנָ֣ו מְאֹ֑ד מִכֹּל֙ הָֽאָדָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ Moshe Rabbenu was the most humble of men. Furthermore, in Shemot 16,7 Moshe Rabbenu said about himself, ונחנו מה / What are we? Avraham Avinu said, I am dirt and dust , but even dirt and dust are something . It's not a lot, but it's something. However, Moshe Rabbenu said I am nothing . That's why, says Rav Yaakov Hillel, he was able to connect to Hashem on such a high level and reach such a high level of Holiness to the extent that the Shechina spoke through Moshe Rabbenu's throat, as it says, Moshe Rabbenu was different than all of the prophets . All other the prophets said Zeh Davar Hashem / this is the word of God. But Moshe Rabbenu said Ko Amar Hashem/ this is exactly what God says. It came from his throat as if God was talking through him. Why was this? Because he humbled himself to the extreme, and that humility purified his physicality to a point that no other person ever reached. Rav Chaim Volozhin, in his sefer Ruach Chaim Pirkei Avot (chapter 1, mishna 1) uses this to explain the Mishna that Moshe Kibel Torah M'Sinai/ Moshe accepted the Torah from Sinai in the zechut of his humility, more than any other prophet. That's why he was able to see with what's called a shiny window. Windows have different levels of clarity. Certain windows are tinted and you can't see through them well. The better or clearer the window, the better you can see through it. Since what separates us from God is our physicality, our holding of ourselves as a something (what's what we mean by physicality) interferes. But because Moshe's humility was so high, there was nothing to interfere with his connection to Hashem. The Baal Shem Tov has an interesting commentary on, אנכי עומד בין ה׳ וביניכם I am standing between you and your God. The simple meaning is that Moshe Rabbenu is the intermediary, but the Hasidim read it as, a person's Anochi , his egoism is what stands between him and God . Thus the interference between us and God is our egos. Since Moshe Rabbenu had no ego, there was no separation between him and God. This is a very interesting chiddush because the Rambam, in his Shmonei Perakim , where he talks about this concept of the clear glass and the unclear glass, says that every Middah creates an interference. And we see from here that the all/ powerful Middah that, so to say, cleans away all the dirt and grime from a person's soul, is the trait of humility. That was Moshe Rabbenu's greatness. The same Ruach HaChaim says that when it says, "Avraham, Avraham" in the Torah, there's a break between the two, like a line between the two Avrahams. But when is says Moshe Moshe , it doesn't have that. Why is that? Because one of the Avrahams is the Avraham down here, and the other Avraham is the Avraham above- the soul, or the source. His body and Neshama had some kind of separation, so there wasn't an exact connection (of course we talking about Avraham Avinu, so it was only the slightest little bit, but there was still some difference). Moshe Rabbenu reached even higher level. I saw in Rav Yisrael Eliyahu Weintraub's commentary on Nefesh HaChaim that he askshow we can make it sound like Moshe was greater than the Avot ? He explains that this is a concept we talked about before, of the Nanas/ the dwarf, Al Gaveh Anak standing on top of giants, which means Moshe (who, of course was not a dwarf) was building on what the Avot saw. The Avot were able to see Hashem. They used the term Elohim for Hashem. Rashi says, in the beginning of Vaera , that God appeared to the Avot with the name Elohim . But when He appeared to Moshe, it was with Hashem's Divine name of Yud and Heh and Vav and Heh . What's the difference? Elohim means God is in control of all forces. God's able to change nature. Avraham Avinu went into fire and the fire didn't burn him. That's changing nature. But Moshe Rabbenu was on a higher level. It was not like just changing the fire that it wouldn't burn. When he made the miracle of turning water into blood, and blood into water, that was a new creation. When God opened up the earth for Korach, it was a new creation. That higher level of there is no existence but God, which we call En Od Milevado, happened when Rabbenu gave us the Torah. Moshe Rabbenu reached that level and that connection, and his humility caused him to have that high level of understanding of God (Nefesh HaChaim Shaar 3,perek 13 where he discusses this difference between the two names of Hashem and how that impacted Moshe Rabbenu versus the Avot). Going back to our story of ego and I separating us from God, let's get more practical. We're not talking about levels of prophecy between us and Moshe and the Avot. Many political critics keep track of how many times a president or presidential candidate say I in their speeches. I did this and I did that. And I and I and I. That's the feeling of I am doing. That's the Anochi , the I , the ego . There's a beautiful to story told of Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi who eventually became the famous Baal HaTanya. He was studying under the Hasidish Rebbe Rav Dov Ber, who's known as the Maggid of Mezerich. Late one night, young Zalman knocked on his Rebbe's door to ask him a question. The Rebbe called out, " Who's there ?" And the young boy responded, " It's me ," confident that he would be recognized. The Rabbi repeated, " Who's there ?" and again, he said, " It's me." After the third time that the Rebbe asked Who's there ? the young student finally said, " It's Zalman." The Rebbe then opened the door and said, " My dear Zalman, the time has come for you to have a self-imposed exile. When you return, we will analyze your experience together." In those days, great people went into exile and for some reason, at this point, it was his time. So he went to a certain inn and that very night, thieves broke in and stole the silverware of the innkeeper. The next morning, the innkeeper was suspicious of this young stranger, Zalman, accused him of stealing the the silver and demanded that he confess. Zalman cried, "It was not me! It was not me!" The innkeeper grabbed him by the neck and accused him again. And again he cried, " It's not me, it's not me!" He then pulled himself out of the innkeeper's grip and fled back to Mezerich. He told the Maggid the story and the Maggid said, " This, my dear Zaman, is a lesson which you should never forget. Do you see how many times you were forced to shout, "Not me, not me?"That was in order to undo the effect of calling out proudly, "It's me!" Yes, of course this is the high level training of a great Hasidic Rebbe who eventually started a great dynasty. But the point for us is that the greater the person is, the less the I is there. Moshe Rabbenu did not possess an I and therefore he reached the greatest of levels. And the opposite, the greater the I, the bigger the interference between the person and God.

Nefesh HaChaim #5- Shaar 1 Perek 21-22 (5785)

Welcome to our Anava series. A while back we said that the goal of Yetziat Mitzrayim was to make us humble. Somebody recently shared with me a sefer Tiferet Shlomo , on Parashat Beshalach , that says, Anytime a person wants to merit any level of greatness, he has to start off with the understanding that, 'I am not fit for this.' It's not my merit, but rather than merit of my forefathers that opened the path for me, and set me on the road. The Gemara in Berachot 10B says, כל התולה בזכות עצמו תולין לו בזכות אבותיו כו' ע"ש. If you think that you're worthy on your own, God will reciprocate and say, "I gave this to you because of your forefathers. " The very fact that you take credit makes you less worthy so you need the merit of others. But when someone says, I don't have merit, that in itself is the merit, because humility is the merit! As the pasuk in Devarim 7,7 says לֹ֣א מֵֽרֻבְּכֶ֞ם מִכׇּל־הָֽעַמִּ֗ים חָשַׁ֧ק יְהֹוָ֛ה בָּכֶ֖ם / God likes you because you are not great, but you humble yourselves. That's why we always say Elohenu V'Elohei Avotenu / Our God and the God of our forefathers, which means the whole Elohut / the whole connection to God comes because we realize it's Elohenu avotenu . It's not enough to simply understand, I got it from my father. No, the fact that you make the statement and realize it's from your father, is how you create your connection. Conversely, somebody who lifts themself up and thinks I'm worthy on my own, is going to go down, as we see in many cases in history The Tiferet Shlomo points out that Az Yashir starts with, כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה ס֥וּס וְרֹכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם׃ He threw the horse in the rider. Why do we say that? Because Paroah was the one that said, I am a god. So Hashem is showing us what happens to those that think they're gods. The Jewish people were saved specifically because they were humble. He then goes through the Nusach HaTefila that we say every morning. ממצרים גאלתנו כו' וים סוף להם בקעת כו' על זאת שבחו אהובים כו' שירות ותשבחות ברכות והודאות למלך אל חי וקים . God took us out of Egypt… He split the sea….Those beloved ones sing songs Wonderful! We are talking about Keriat Yam Suf and we are going to say Hashem Yimloch L'Olam Vaed- that's our daily introduction to our prayers. You have to have Keriat Yam Suf on your mind, so that you are ready to pray. You're supposed to make Keriat Yam Suf alive every day of your life. In middle of that discussion, we say רם ונשא כו' משפיל גאים ומגביה שפלים . Ram V'Nisah God is great. He brings down the arrogant What does that have to do with anything? Then we go back to תהלות לאל עליו ן Why, in the middle of my discussion about God saving us from Mitzrayim , do I have this little Mussar on Anava ? He explains, That's the point. Without the Anava, they never would've gotten out of Mitzrayim . And without the Anava you can't connect to Hashem. So every single day, I'm not just Zecher LYetziat Mitzrayim as a philosophical concept. Rather, with that Zecher LYetziat Mitzrayim comes my daily dose of Anava , and then I'm ready to pray. And he says, we see this built in to the famous Rashi on Zeh Eli V'Anvehu, Rashi15B, which says שראתה שפחה על הים מה שלא ראו / So the Jewish people saw tremendous things and yet they remained humble. That's what we want to say. מוציא אסירים ופודה ענוים / God took those out of jail and He redeems the humble. Why did He take them out of jail? Why did He redeem them? Because they were Anavim . And he says, an unbelievable thing ועונ"ה לעמו הוא אותיות ענו"ה /We say God answers ועונה Onah which has the same letters as the word Anava humility ענוה indicating that what caused Hashem to answer us is our Anava . In Arbit, we say the same. בוקע ים לפני משה זה אלי ענו ואמרו. God split the sea for all the Jewish people . He says, Moshe is the symbol of humility. משה עניו מכל אדם. ( Bamidbar 12,3) The sea was split in the merit of Moshe Rabbenu, in the merit of Anava . It says זה אלי ענו ואמרו Answer ענו has the same letters as ענו Anav humble They saw these great, great revelations and they still remained anav . That's one explanation. Annu/ Anav, they remained anav . The other explanation is because they were Anav they were able to say is Zeh Eli, which is Kabalat Ohl Malchut Shamayim. You can't accept the yoke of God's kingdom unless you're humble. Another unbelievable explanation- It says in the war with Amalek, Shemot 17, וּמֹשֶׁה֙ אַהֲרֹ֣ן וְח֔וּר עָל֖וּ רֹ֥אשׁ הַגִּבְעָֽה׃ Moshe and Aharon went to top of the mountain. And in Bamidbar 23, 9 it says, Bilam says וּמִגְּבָע֖וֹת אֲשׁוּרֶ֑נּוּ / I see them from the mountains, Rashi says that refers to the Avot , who are considered the mountains. So says Moshe and Aharon went to top of the mountain, when going to fight Amalek. Amalek is all about Ga'ava , and we fight him with humility, by realizing we'll go on top of the mountain. There is a phrase from the Rishonim, the Kananas al gavei Anak/The Jewish people are like dwarfs on top of giants. So before we go to fight against Amalek, we can't stand on regular ground. We're going up on the mountain, as if to say I'm a dwarf and I'm standing on top of a giant. That humility is what caused us to win against Amalek. And that's why at Keriat Yam Suf, we aroused Zechut Avot. As it says in Shemot 14,30 וירא ישראל . /And Yisrael saw. But Tiferet Shlomo says we can read it as, they saw Yisrael, their grandfather referring to Yaakov Avinu. I'd like to add that Rav Wolbe says Shema Yisrael also means Listen Yaakov . When the tribes were standing around Yaakov Avinu's bed and they said, Shema Yisrael/ Listen, our father Yisrael. And that's what we're saying every single day. When I say Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad , it's not because of me , it's because of Shema Yisrael, because of my grandparents , and that in itself is a statement of humility. It's not just Zechut Avot. It's the expression of humility, that I need to come on to them. This is a fascinating thesis by the Tiferet Shlomo. It says in Devarim 26,7 ונצעק אל ה' אלהי אבותינו We cried out to the God of our fathers, וישמע ה' את קולנו . and He heard our voice. And I was always bothered that it starts our our fathers and then our voices. But based on what we said before from the Gemara, that if you are humble and you say, I need my parents zechut, then Hashem says, well then I could do it on your zechut alone. As it says in Shemot 2,24 (שמות ב, כד) וישמע אלהים את נאקתם ויזכור אלהים את בריתו את אברהם את יצחק ואת יעקב. He heard their groans and He remembered the Brit with Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov. When he wanted to hear their cries, Hashem said, Oh, they're arousing zechut Avot. They're not doing in their own merit, then I'll answer them. Shemot 2,25 וירא אלהים את בנ"י Hashem saw Benei Yisrael. This is an unbelievable explanation. He saw that there were Bnei Yisrael, He saw that they realized they needed zechut Avot, and וידע אלהים God knew. The simple explanation is, that this refers to the interference with intimacy. because that's something that only God could know. But he adds, Only God knows when you are praying, if you're praying because you think you're worthy, or you're not. Every single day before we say Az Yashir, we quote from Nechemia 9,9 ותרא את עני אבותינו / You saw the poverty, you saw the humility. And again, quite clear, the only way God heard our prayers at Yam Suf was because he saw the עוני , he saw the humility. As Rashi says at Zeh Eli , לא אני תחלת הקדושה / I'm not the beginning of Kedusha מימי אבותי it's my forefathers. He offers an unbelievable explanation of why Keriat Yam Suf needed Anava . Because when it came to time for Keriat Yam Suf Moshe wanted to pray but Hashem said it's not about praying. And he uses the term that's a Zohar that says, בעתיקא תליא מילטא / it's dependent on the Atika /the ancient One (on God). There are different explanations of what that means (Zohar volume two, page 52B.) The Nefesh HaChaim, Rav Chaim Volozhin says, Atikah means you need bitachon , it's not about prayer, it's about relying . But the Tiferet Shlomo explains it's about humility . Keriat Yam Suf needed humility. What does humility have to do with, with Hashem being called the Atikah/ the ancient One? In creation, Hashem hides Himself. The word Olam is from the Lashon of He'Elam/hidden . God is referred to as Sanua . He is hidden . We don't know where He is. And in Keriat Yam Suf, we know the wind's blew as the sea split. Why not let the sea split in a very open way? Because all miracles are done in a way that the nature is also involved. Noah had to get on an Ark. Why? An ark can't hold the whole creation. The answer is Because God is humble in His miracles. So if we want miracles to happen, we have to emulate God and also be humble. That's what it means by בעתיקא תליא מילטא The whole KeriatYam Suf was dependent the on humility of the Jewish people, to emulate the humility of God*. And that's why it says in in Tehilim (113,6) המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ . God humbles Himself every time He comes down and looks at the heavens and earth. Through the Anava , Hashem brings down the miracles. Again, if we want to arouse the humble God's miracles, we too have to be humble. I once heard an unbelievable explanation from Hacham Yeuda Moalem, one of the Roshei Yeshiva of Porat Yosef (there is a sefer written on him called Gaon HaAnava) He was humble, beyond humble. He says that when the sea split, it split at different times for different peoples. He asks, Why did it split for one person at one point, and for another person later? He says that it says that when the water hit Nachshon's nose, it split. And everyone is different. Someone who walks with his head down low, who's humble, the water hits his nose earlier, so the sea split earlier. Someone who walks with the head high in the air, is arrogant (Of course this is being said in a a figurative, joking way) and if the person is arrogant, his head is high up in the air, so it took longer for the water to reach his nose, and longer for the sea to split. He says the same is true in our lives. If we want our symbolic sea to split our problems, we have to lower our noses a little bit. We know there are two things that are as difficult as Keriat Yam Suf- Parnasa and Shidduchim , and both of those things are humbling. When does our sea split? When we're humbled? Oh, you have a business? You you know what you're doing? Not so simple. Oh, Everyone's going to want want my family. Everyone will want my son or daughter. Let's see.. The shidduch process is humbling. Why is it humbling? Because we need you to put your nose down for the sea to split. That's the way we arouse Hashem's mercy. If you want to see the miracles of the humble God, we too have to reciprocate with humility. * For a source that Hashem is considered humble, a pasuk in Mishleh 8,30says, וָאֶהְיֶ֥ה אֶצְל֗וֹ אָ֫מ֥וֹן I will be by Him an Amon Amon can mean different things, and one of which is craftsman. The Midrash in Bereshit Rabba 1,1 uses the term Amon M'Tsuna/ humble craftsman. Rav Wolbe used to quote this on this concept that God is called a Humble Craftsman.

Welcome to our humility series. Today we are going to explore the contrast of arrogance and the proper outlook. We know we should not be arrogant, showy, boastful people who take credit for our accomplishments and feel that we're special. That is Gaava , which should not be confused with something called the Rommemut HaNefesh/an uplifted soul, a feeling of how special I am. I come from good stock. I have Tzelem Elokim, I'm not an animal. I'm a human being. I have a certain royalty to me. That's not a feeling of Ga'ava . What's the difference? Ga'ava is I'm better than somebody else. Like it says of Hashem, Ki Ga'oh Ga'ah /He is arrogant bove the arrogant. His kiseh kavod is above the most arrogant of the wild beasts- the lion, the domesticated cow, the eagle. They're the most arrogant and Hashem is above them all. That's the term of Ga'avah . But there's another term used of Hashem, הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמְּרוֹמָם לְבַדּוֹ מֵאָז. /Hashem is the King that was uplifted alone from way back when. What does that mean? The Maharit, Rav Yosef of Trani and the Bet Aharon explain that this means that even before there was a world, where there was no one compare oneself to, Hashem was Ram . That's what we also have to be. I'm not great if I look at myself, where I come from and what my sources are and see that I'm royal. I'm not comparing myself to you. That's an inherent greatness and that is a prerequisite to having good Middot . Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein says that when a person has that feeling of Rommemut , he doesn't need to start looking down on others. He has an inherent greatness. He doesn't need to become great by pushing others down. The Elder of Kelm says that the force against the Jewish people is Amalek . What did Amalek do? We left Mitzrayim b'Yad Rama/with an outstretched hand, with Rommemut They were like a bubbling bath. They were on the top of the world. But along came Amalek, and like a person that jumps into the bubbling bath, cooled them down, didn't let them feel their Rommemut , or feel how special they were. Amalek wanted to take away the feeling of Beni Bechori Yisrael. That's what Amalek came to do. So how do we fight off Amalek? Says the Elder of Kelm, וכאשר ירים משה ידו, :Moshe Rabbenu lifted up his hands and כשישראל נושאים לבם לאביהם שבשמים, the Jewish people lifted up their hearts. He says this means שהתחזקו ברוממות נפשם they strengthened themselves in the exaltedness of their souls. And they looked and had they honor then V'gavar Yisrael. He adds that later Amalek was Haman, who also tried to break the Jewish people, להכניע רוממות הנפש מישראל, to break that exaltedness. But it didn't work. How did we fight back? לא יכרע ולא ישתחוה, Mordechai would not bend, he would not bow. We have to realize that this is not just about Amalek the person or Haman the person. Bereshit 6, 5 says וְכָל יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבּוֹ רַק רַע כָּל הַיּוֹם: / The Yetzer of his heart said only bad all day . So simply it means that all day the Yetzer Hara is giving you bad ideas of what to do. The Nefesh HaChaim, in Shaar 3,Perek 8 says this means that the Yetzer Hara's trick is to say all day to you, You are no good. He wants to break you. He wants to make you feel shafal . And once he breaks you, you'll do anything. You need to have Rommemut HaNefesh. But part of his ploy is to make you think that being shafal/ being lowly is how you're supposed to feel. The Imrei Emet says something unbelievable about the words רק רע כל היום The last letter of רק is ק The last letter of רע is an ע . The last letter of כל is ל . The last letter of היום is מ , which spells עמלק Amalek. We all have an Amalek inside of us that wants to tell us all day, " You're no good. " But don't think that's Anava . It's Shiflut . And the Nefesh HaChaim in Shaar א perek ד וזאת תורת האדם כל איש ישראל אל יאמר בלבו ח"ו This is the Torah of the human being, to ant Jewish person, Don't say in your heart, Who am I? What's my strength? What's my power? What can I do? Who am I? " No, you have to realize, he says, and put steadfast in your heart. Every deed, every speech, every thought that you do every second of the day has impact. ומה רבו מעשיו ומאד גדלו ורמו. How great are your deeds! How powerful they are! Rabbi Ades once said, Imagine a man sitting in front of the control tower with all kind of buttons and levers, and that's the place where they hit the button to launch a nuclear attack. Will he sit there and they'll say, " Who am I? What am I? What can I do? " It's not about you, it's about what you connected to, where you're positioned. You're a Jewish person! Your soul came from beneath the Kiseh Hakavod. You're powerful. And this is throughout all our writings. Mesilat Yesharim chapter 19, when talking about praying for the Bet Hamikdash to be built, says, "if a person says, מִי אֲנִי וּמָה אֲנִי סָפוּן שֶׁאֶתְפַּלֵּל עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם What am I? What's my value? I'm going to pray for Yerushalayim? My prayers are going to cause the Galut to come and the Yeshua to happen? And he says, Yes. The answer is Man was created alone, because everyone has to say, בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם" I am the only one to pray for the churban. I am important. I'm the only person in the world. We have to walk around with these feelings of Rommemut HaNefesh . The Sefer Kol Mevaser on Parashat Yitro quotes Rav Bunim of Peshishcha who said, Every Jew has to have two pockets . In one pocket, it should say, " בשבילי נברא העולם / For me the world was created And in the other pocket should say אנכי עפר ואפר , /I am but dust and ashes If you're getting a little too carried away, remind yourself I am but dust and ashes And if you're getting a little down, you have to take out the בשבילי נברא העולם / For me the world was created. It's a balance. You have to have both. So much so that Rav Hutner brings down in that in the Gemara in Masechet Rosh Hashana 26 B, there's a discussion of How the shofar of Rosh Hashanah is supposed to be. Should it be bent or should it be straight? One opinion says, כמה דכייף איניש דעתיה / the more you bend yourself in humility, the better it is And another opinion says, No כמה דפשיט It's better to be straight. What are these two approaches? Rav Hutner, in his sefer on Rosh Hashanah, Maamar 15 says that, yes, there's a concept of bending yourself. That's important. It's Rosh Hashanah. There's Kabalat Ohl Malchut Shamayim. accepting the yoke of God's kingdom. I am going to humble myself and bend myself. But that could be dangerous. We don't want you to feel like you're a piece of dirt. So the other side is, you have to stand up straight, stand with your head high and say, I belong to the army of Hashem. I'm a proud card-carrying Jew. That's not a contradiction to Anava . You can know who you are, know your family, know your roots, know your greatness. And at the same time, after all that, you say, but did I do it? It's a gift that Hashem gave me. It's the car that God gave me to drive. It's not my car, its all His gifts. It's the talents that God gave me. Anava doesn't mean walking around lowly. That's the Yetzer Hara talking to you. When you walk around feeling down and low and it's not allowing you to produce, then you know it's coming from that Rak Rah Kol HaYom. You have to see what it's producing, what it's causing. He wants to break us. And that's why we sometimes think that it's the Yetzer HaTov saying, " You have to be humble. You have to be xyz.." No. You are great. And there's nothing wrong with saying you're great. And there's nothing wrong with saying Bishvilli Nivrah Olam . There's nothing wrong with saying Banim Atem Hashem Elokechem I once asked one of the gedolim, Rav Berel Povarsky, what a healthy person that's feeling depressed should do. And he said, " What should you do? You say the Beracha Ohev Amo Yisrael- God loves you. You're part of the Jewish people. The Creator loves you." Those are the thoughts that a Jewish person has to have. Rav Haskel Levenstein says, the more Rommemut you have, the better your Middot will be, the less you'll be brought down, the less you'll be stuck over pettiness and silliness. Rav Ades says he was once on a plane, looking out the window at all the cars in the parking lot getting smaller and smaller and smaller. What happened? Who was shrinking all the cars? Of course, he was saying that in jest. The cars didn't get smaller, he said. I got higher. And when you lift yourself up, you see that all the things that are seemingly important, that people get busy with, are really small. You lift yourself up and the challenges disappear. Rav Yerucham Levovitz once said, " How many people have to go for therapy to get out the sandbox and stop playing in the sand? How many people have to go therapy to stop playing with their dolls? How'd you stop?" The answer is, You matured. You grew up, you became uplifted. It says in HaAzinu Devarim 32,2 thar the Torah is compared to a wind that blows through the grass, and just like the wind strengthens the grass and makes it grow, it lifts you up, it makes you greater, it makes you above. Now, someone might say, and again, the Yetzer Hara talking, "what do you mean? Ma Anu, We say every morning, what are we? Ma Hayinu/What's our life? Ma Hasdenu/What's our kindness? Ma Sidkatenu/What's our righteousness? Ma Yeshuatenu/What's our salvation? Ma Kohenu/What's our strength? And we go on..: and we say, רוֹב מַעֲשֵֹיהֶם תֹּהוּ וִימֵי חַיֵּיהֶם הֶבֶל לְפָנֶיךָ It's hot air, man is nothing more than an animal… it sounds horrible, But you have to continue. Now we go into a whole different story לְבַד הַנְּשָׁמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה שֶׁהִיא עֲתִידָה לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ: We're Your nation the the children of Your convenant, of Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov, that You love them and You're happy with them. And we're called the Yisrael Yeshurun, and therefore we have to be thankful and praise You and bless You, אַשְׁרֵינוּ מַה טּוֹב חֶלְקֵנוּ וּמַה נָּעִים גּוֹרָלֵנוּ וּמַה יָּפָה יְרֻשָּׁתֵנוּ: How lucky we are, how fortunate we are, We come to shul in the morning and we stay late at night and we say, Shema Yisrael.. what a positive switch. You can't get stuck in the What are we?Of course there is truth to that. What is our strength? And what is our abilities? But we have a Neshama, and that gives us Rommemut. These are the thoughts that we have to have. And they're not contrary to Anava.

nefesh hachaim

Welcome to our humility series. We're talking about thoughts that cause one to become humble. The Hovot Halevavot in the second gate, Shaar HaBechina, which looks into creation (chapter 5), says, " There's something that you should look into in creation. It applies to the greatest and smallest of creatures. It's something that's hidden, that you don't see with your regular senses. It's the constant of movement . Everything that's happening is happening because of movement. He says, without movement, nothing would come to be. And he quotes a statement. רב הטבעים עם התנועה /Most of natural events come about due to movement It's what makes the cells move . What makes your blood flow? What makes you able to walk and move your limbs? And he says, When you understand the secret of movement, you'll understand how spiritual it is . It's from the wonders of God. And you'll realize, Hashem's tremendous mercy on you . And you'll realize that all of your movements are connected to the will of your Creator. He's making everything move. The only thing that He left is certain things you have freedom of choice in. But otherwise, as we say in the morning, Hamechin Mitzader Gaver,/God sets up the steps of man . So pay attention to every movement you make and realize how He is connected to that movement. Be a little bit shameful of Him and give yourself over to His will because He's watching and looking and directing you. This is a very, very important point- we don't have our own independent energy. Hashem makes us move at all times. This is something to think about. On Rosh Hashanah there is a Piyut that Sephardim say, written by Rav Yehuda Halevi, the author of the Kuzari. It's called Ya Shimcha/Your name is Hashem. It says in the last stanza of that Piyut הִשְׁתּוֹנֵן, וְהִכּוֹנֵן, וְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּסוֹדֶךָ. וְהִבַּטְתָּ, מָה אַתָּה, וּמֵאַיִן יְסוֹדֶךָ. וּמִי הֱכִינְךָ, וּמִי הֱבִינְךָ, / Sharpen your mind and prepare yourself and delve into your secret (which refers to your soul) And realize what are you and what is your source of being? Who formed you? Who gave you wisdom? And now for the last three words, וְכֹחַ מִי יְנִידֶךָ. / Whose power animates you? Whose power makes you move? That's something that the Paytan is asking us to think about, specifically on Rosh Hashanah, the day of creation, the day that God breathed life into man. We should think about this every day, but especially on Rosh Hashanah- Who is energizing us? Who's giving us the strength to move? We will quote three different sources for this concept, each from a different shade of our religion. Working chronologically, we start with the Tomar Devorah, the famous sefer written by Rav Moshe, Cordovero, one of the great Kabbalists of Sfat. He lived from 1522 to 1570 and was actually one of the leaders of Kabbalah, even before the Arizal. In the first chapter of Tomar Devorah when talking about he first Middah of Hashem, he says, אֵין רֶגַע שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה הָאָדָם נִזּוֹן וּמִתְקַיֵּים מִכֹּחַ עֶלְיוֹן הַשּׁוֹפֵעַ עָלָיו. /There's not a moment that a person is not sustained and exists from the heavenly force that is constantly granted upon him. That means we do not live because we're here as independent beings. We will explain further citing a quote from the Baal Shem Tov, Rav Yisrael ben Eliezer (c. 1700 to 1760), the founder of Hasidut , in his sefer Beer Mayim Chaim on Bereshit explaining the pasuk (Tehilim 119 89) לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים, /Forever Hashem, Your words are standing in the Shamayim The Baal Shem Tov explains that when a flesh and blood craftsman makes a vessel, he can walk away from the vessel and no matter what energy or wisdom he put into it, his ability no longer impacts it. It's going to stay forever. Why? Because he's made it yesh m'yesh/something from something. He took existing silver and crafted it into the vessel. But Hashem created the world yesh m'eyin/something from nothing. There was nothing there before Him. And therefore, if Hashem, even for a second, decides to cease to pump the energy into it, it will cease to exist. God has to constantly put that energy in to make it be. Thr Baal Shem Tov gives the example of the sun. Why is the sun there? Not just because it's there. No. If you were able to put on spiritual glasses, you'd see the words Yehi Or pumping into the sun. And if those letters Yehi Or went away, the sun would cease to exist. Hashem, every second, is pumping energy Yehi Rakia/let there be a firmament. That's why there's a sky. He says that's what it means L'Olam/Forever Your words are still in the heavens. That means the original ten statements that God said when He created the world are still standing there. And if your eyes were capable of seeing it, you'd see them still there. Lastly, we will quote the Nefesh HaChaim, Rav Chaim of Volozhin (1749 to 1821), the father of the Yeshiva movement. He was a student of the Gaon of Vilna and got everything from him. And he says almost the same thing. Why is Hashem called Elohim, which means the Source of all energy? Because God is different than a regular craftsman that builds a building out of wood, who didn't make the wood, he just formed it. When the craftsman goes away, he goes away. He makes the same point as the Baal Shem Tov: Hashem made something from nothing. And he says, from the time of creation, כל יום וכל רגע ממש. , Every day and every moment, God is keeping it going. And he says that's why Anshei Knessset HaGedolah said המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית / God renews in His goodness every day constantly, the creation. תמיד ממש כל עת ורגע. /literally every second . And as it says, לעושה אורים גדולים /God is making the great luminaries - in the present tense. Not He made . What does that have to do with us? Humility . In the words of the Hovot Halevavot and of Rav Yehuda Halevi- There's nothing that we do on our own. Our heart is pumping because God is making it pump. In Shir HaShirim 5,2 it says ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק / The voice of my beloved is banging , פִּתְחִ / Open up Our pulse is called defek cause the pulse bangs . It pulsates . I once saw a pshat that the pulse is called defek/ banging because Who's the One that's banging and pulsating through our body? It's ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק Hashem is making that happen. When we think these thoughts, we realize, What are we doing? Whatever we're doing, whether hitting a ball, making a cake, or making money, Who is energizing me? Who's pumping it into me? Imagine those huge blow up items that flail around in front of stores to get your attention, flapping back and forth. Imagine if it thought to itself, " Wow! look how powerful I am. I'm going back and forth. " Excuse me, sir. There's someone pumping the air into you. You'd be flat on the floor without that thing pumping air into you. And with us, it's even worse because we wouldn't even be that flat plastic on the floor if Hashem wasn't pumping energy into us. These kind of thoughts are humbling, and it's our responsibility to think about them.

Nefesh HaChaim #4- Shaar 1 Perek 12-14 (5785)

In this Question and Answer session on areas of Judaism and Jewish thought with Rabbi Daniel Rowe at Aish HaTorah Yeshiva, the following questions are raised and discussed: 00:00 How does prayer fit into our other service of Hashem? Why do we pray? 14:35 Can we feel or experience spirituality? 23:30 How do we motivate ourselves to bring God's light into the world? 28:20 Nefesh Hachaim vs Chassidus 37:30 When and how does hashkafah (philosophical perspective) impact Halacha (Jewish law)? 41:30 How is Halacha decided nowadays? Can we decide for ourselves? Be sure to subscribe to the channel for weekly videos on Jewish philosophy, wisdom and world-changing ideas. Rabbi Daniel Rowe is a popular Rabbi, philosopher and educator at Aish, who uses his deep knowledge of Judaism, science, and philosophy to captivate and educate audiences across the globe. Follow Rabbi Rowe on social media for regular new uploads and updates: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2IUE77xD5uF_1xmWxWoBSg Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qPQn7TIWdQ8Dxvy6RfjyD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rabbidanielrowe/ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cd5debfe-684c-411d-b0bc-223dcfa58a39/rabbi-daniel-rowe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabbi-daniel-rowe-23838711/?originalSubdomain=uk TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbi.daniel.rowe #jewish #rabbi #jewishwisdom #torah #philosophy #prayer #soul #chassidut #halacha

We discuss the Rambam and Nefesh HaChaim's perspectives on Yaakov's Ladder and the purpose of Mitzvos. We also mention that we should look to our parents as examples. This Drasha was given at the Yeshiva of Waterbury in תשפ״ה

Nefesh Hachaim

Nefesh HaChaim #3- Shaar 1 Perek 8-9 (5785)

Nefesh HaChaim #2- Shaar 1 up to Perek 9 (5785)

Nefesh HaChaim #1- The Spiritual World and the Physical World (5785)

Nefesh HaChaim #1- The Spiritual World and the Physical World (5785)

Nefesh HaChaim #22 (5784)

Nefesh HaChaim #21 (5784)

Towards the end of this week's parasha, Chukat , there was a tragic incident in which the Jewish People spoke negatively against Hashem and against Moshe. Hashem sent fiery serpents to bite them and a large multitude of the people died. The remainder made teshuva and asked Moshe to pray to Hashem to stop the plague. Hashem then told Moshe to make a fiery serpent and place it on a pole and whoever would look up at it would be healed of his snake bite. The Gemara asks, do snakes have the power to bring life? And it answers, the idea was that the Jews should look up towards Heaven and subjugate themselves to Hashem and that's what would bring about their healing. The sefer Vaveh H'amudim brought a question, if the main thing was looking towards Hashem, then what was the point of putting the snake on the pole? They should have just been told, "look up and subjugate yourselves to Hashem." Rav Chaim Volozhiner answered this question based on the famous segula he brings down in his sefer Nefesh HaChaim , shaar 3. "Indeed, it is a great and wondrous segula to remove and nullify all strict judgments and wills of other people so they can have no power over him and no impact on him whatsoever, when a person decides in his heart, saying, 'Hashem is the true G-d and there is nothing besides Him in this world and the Upper Worlds. אין עוד מלבדו . Everything is filled with only His unity.' As well, the person nullifies in his heart with a complete nullification and does not pay any attention at all to any power or will in this world and submits himself and clings to the purity of his thoughts that the One and only G-d is Hashem. Then, Hashem will nullify for him all the powers and desires in this world so that nothing can be done to him whatsoever." With this in mind we can understand why the Jews had to look at the image of the very snake which bit them. They needed to stare at the object which inflicted harm upon them and then honestly believe that it had no powers of its own. That is how they subjugated themselves towards Hashem and in that merit they were healed. It's very easy to say the words אין עוד מלבדו , but to see in front of one's eyes something which appears to have power and then believe that it is nothing, that is where the great segula lies. When we could truly believe there is no such thing as nature, we could even see miracles. A man recently related that, when he was younger, he heard a powerful class about praying to avoid problems rather than waiting for the problems to come and then praying to get rid of them. He then started praying to get married and have children, way before he became of age. Baruch Hashem, he got married and had his first child within the year. And over the next years, he and his wife were blessed with a few more children. About a year after their last child was born, he went to the doctor because of a pain he was having. The doctor did a number of tests and, when the results came back, he called him and asked if he could come speak to him. The office was close to where he needed to drop off a couple of his children that day, so he brought them along. When the doctor called him in, he asked him when he adopted those children. The man replied they were his own. The doctor was stunned. He said based on the test results that he did, it would have been impossible for him to ever have children. Indeed, since that visit, he did not have another child. Because of his tefilot , Hashem gave him and his wife a miraculous family. Hashem could do anything and when we believe in His powers and nothing else, b'ezrat Hashem, we will see miracles.

Nefesh HaChaim #20 (5784)

In this series, Rabbi Daniel Rowe learns and explains the classic Jewish mystical work, "Nefesh HaChaim" by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, touching on many deep Kabbalistic and philosophical truths in Judaism. This episode explores the power of speech and also the 4 Kabbalistic worlds, or layers of relality, known as 'Atzilut' (Emanation), 'Beriah' (Creation), 'Yetzira' (Formation) and 'Asiya' (Action/Completion)'. Subscribe for more videos about Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah. Rabbi Daniel Rowe is a popular Rabbi, philosopher and educator in the UK, who uses deep knowledge of Judaism, science and philosophy to captivate and educate audiences on a daily basis. Follow Rabbi Rowe on Social media for regular new uploads and updates: YouTube: / @rabbidanielrowe. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qPQn7T... Instagram: / rabbidanielrowe. . Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cd5... LinkedIn: / rabbi-dan. . TikTok: / rabbi.daniel.. . #kabbalah #jewishwisdom #jewishphilosophy #jewish

In this series, Rabbi Daniel Rowe learns and explains the classic Jewish mystical work, "Nefesh HaChaim" by Rav Chaim of Volozhin, touching on many deep Kabbalistic and philosophical truths in Judaism. This episode analyses the 12th chapter that discusses how the world to come is composed entirely of our own actions; we literally live inside the acts and choices we make.

Delivered to the Avreichim of kollel Nefesh HaChaim 

In this series, Rabbi Daniel Rowe learns and explains the classic Jewish mystical work, "Nefesh HaChaim" by Rav Chaim of Volozhin, touching on many deep Kabbalistic and philosophical truths in Judaism. Subscribe for more videos about Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah. Rabbi Daniel Rowe is a popular Rabbi, philosopher and educator in the UK, who uses deep knowledge of Judaism, science and philosophy to captivate and educate audiences on a daily basis. Follow Rabbi Rowe on Social media for regular new uploads and updates: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@RabbiDanielRowe?si=dLtRunDWpW0GbOkx Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qPQn7TIWdQ8Dxvy6RfjyD Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidanielrowe?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/LHRiZdB5EL2VdNaA/? Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cd5debfe-684c-411d-b0bc-223dcfa58a39/rabbi-daniel-rowe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabbi-daniel-rowe-23838711?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbi.daniel.rowe?_t=8i87VmPNE7V&_r=1 #jew #jewish #judaism #light #happiness #pleasure #philosophy #chanukah  #hanukah

In this series, Rabbi Daniel Rowe learns and explains the classic Jewish mystical work, "Nefesh HaChaim" by Rav Chaim of Volozhin, touching on many deep Kabbalistic and philosophical truths in Judaism. Subscribe for more videos about Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah. Rabbi Daniel Rowe is a popular Rabbi, philosopher and educator in the UK, who uses deep knowledge of Judaism, science and philosophy to captivate and educate audiences on a daily basis. Follow Rabbi Rowe on Social media for regular new uploads and updates: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@RabbiDanielRowe?si=dLtRunDWpW0GbOkx Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qPQn7TIWdQ8Dxvy6RfjyD Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidanielrowe?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/LHRiZdB5EL2VdNaA/? Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cd5debfe-684c-411d-b0bc-223dcfa58a39/rabbi-daniel-rowe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabbi-daniel-rowe-23838711?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbi.daniel.rowe?_t=8i87VmPNE7V&_r=1 #jew #jewish #judaism #light #happiness #pleasure #philosophy #chanukah  #hanukah

In this series, Rabbi Daniel Rowe learns and explains the classic Jewish mystical work, "Nefesh HaChaim" by Rav Chaim of Volozhin, touching on many deep Kabbalistic and philosophical truths in Judaism. Subscribe for more videos about Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah. Rabbi Daniel Rowe is a popular Rabbi, philosopher and educator in the UK, who uses deep knowledge of Judaism, science and philosophy to captivate and educate audiences on a daily basis. Follow Rabbi Rowe on Social media for regular new uploads and updates: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@RabbiDanielRowe?si=dLtRunDWpW0GbOkx Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qPQn7TIWdQ8Dxvy6RfjyD Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidanielrowe?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/LHRiZdB5EL2VdNaA/? Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cd5debfe-684c-411d-b0bc-223dcfa58a39/rabbi-daniel-rowe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabbi-daniel-rowe-23838711?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbi.daniel.rowe?_t=8i87VmPNE7V&_r=1 #jew #jewish #judaism #light #happiness #pleasure #philosophy #chanukah  #hanukah

In this series, Rabbi Daniel Rowe learns and explains the classic Jewish mystical work, "Nefesh HaChaim" by Rav Chaim of Volozhin, touching on many deep Kabbalistic and philosophical truths in Judaism. Subscribe for more videos about Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Kabbalah. Rabbi Daniel Rowe is a popular Rabbi, philosopher and educator in the UK, who uses deep knowledge of Judaism, science and philosophy to captivate and educate audiences on a daily basis. Follow Rabbi Rowe on Social media for regular new uploads and updates: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@RabbiDanielRowe?si=dLtRunDWpW0GbOkx Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qPQn7TIWdQ8Dxvy6RfjyD Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidanielrowe?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/LHRiZdB5EL2VdNaA/? Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cd5debfe-684c-411d-b0bc-223dcfa58a39/rabbi-daniel-rowe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabbi-daniel-rowe-23838711?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbi.daniel.rowe?_t=8i87VmPNE7V&_r=1 #jew #jewish #judaism #light #happiness #pleasure #philosophy #chanukah  #hanukah