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Mishlei Tools: Ohr Hachaim haKadosh

The 15th of Tammuz is the Yahrtzeit of the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh: “Find favor and good regard in the eyes of the Lord and man. Direct your trust to God with all your heart, and do not rely on your discernment. Know

Tags: Parsha, Portion of the Week, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual Growth, The Foundation Stone

Spiritual Tools: Applying Torah

From my father zt”l: “He sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to prepare - lihorot - ahead of him in Goshen (Genesis 46:28).” Rashi cites the Midrash that Yaakov sent Yehudah to establish a Beit Midrash, a House of Torah Study.

Tags: Fundamentals, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ztl, The Foundation Stone

Prayer Tools: Our Father Our King

From my father zt”l: Every single Mitzvah we have is a gift that allows us to attach to God as our Father. Tefillin, Shabbat, Kosher. Each Mitzvah nurtures that relationship. Unfortunately, there are times when, and people

Tags: Fundamentals, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ztl, The Foundation Stone

Prayer Tools: Granting Our Requests

I asked my father zt”l why God was not answering one of my prayers. “He does grant your requests! He does not say, ‘No!’ Don’t be a Kofer, a denier of God, remember each moment of your life that His constant Hatavah,

Tags: Fundamentals, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ztl, The Foundation Stone

Shabbat Prayers: Havdalah & Torah

I share with you the first entry in a notebook I began in 1967 (which was the beginning of the Avodas Hashem Notebooks), writing down every important idea I learned from my father zt”l: We were about to make

Tags: Fundamentals, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ztl, The Foundation Stone

Lamentations: First Kinah – Line 1

God is articulate. Therefore, if something terrible happens to us we can assume that God is being very clear about what we are doing wrong. If we don’t understand, it is because we are deaf.

Tags: Kabbalah, Kinot, Lamentations, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, The Foundation Stone, Tisha B'Av

Iyun Tefillah: Aleinu

“Hakadosh baruch hu,” the Holy One, Blessed is He, reflects the combination of the attributes of Chesed and Din, Life Force and Judgment. God’s name is sanctified when He expresses

Tags: Parsha, Portion of the Week, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual Growth, The Foundation Stone

General Principles of Prayer 5

From my father zt"l: Gratitude as Subordination: Admission: This is a very difficult thing for people to do. When we say “Modim anachnu lach”, “we recognize our dependence on You,” we are acknowledging that God

Tags: Fundamentals, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ztl, The Foundation Stone

Amidah: Review of Da’at Part Five: Elaboration on Bina

Transcribed and prepared by Chava Janovsky What is Bina? What is fist allusion to Bina in the Torah?

Tags: Amidah, God, i-Attach, i-Pray, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Shmone Esrei, Tefillah, The Foundation Stone

Amidah: Refaeinu 3/4/10 Part Nine

Transcribed and prepared by Chava Janovsky: Moshel with Bilaam and Balak There is an astounding thing in this story. Bilaam and Balak brought corbanos and brought them in order to cause damage to Clal Israel.

Tags: Amidah, God, i-Attach, i-Pray, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Shmone Esrei, Tefillah, The Foundation Stone

The Music of Halacha: Kashering

Dear Rabbi Weinberg; I have heard you say on numerous occasions that the laws of Kashering are a guide to repairing spiritual damage. Since the laws of Kashering are in this week’s Parsha, Matos, “Everything

Tags: Ezekiel, Matot, Music of Halacha, Repentance, Torah

General Principles of Prayer 4

From my father zt"l: Prayer as Service of God: Subservience: Where in the Torah did Maimonides find that Prayer is mandated? “You shall worship with all your heart”, on which the Talmud elaborates and asks, “Which

Tags: Fundamentals, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ztl, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Sefer Hamaccabim 1:3: Concluding With Confidence

[46] So they assembled and went to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because Israel formerly had a place of prayer in Mizpah. (See “Nothing Without You.”)

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Ezra 9: Impossible to Eat

“1 Now when these things were done, the princes drew near unto me, saying: 'The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations,

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Ezra 8: Preparing a Humble & Holy Free Will Gift

“21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our Lord, to seek of Him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22 For I was ashamed to ask

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Jeremiah 36: Fasting as Preparation

“1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 2 'Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Jonah 3: The Suffering of Others

“1 And the word of God came unto Jonah the second time, saying: 2 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and make unto it the proclamation that I bid you.' 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Joel 2: An Animal’s Cry

“8 Lament like a young woman girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9 The meal-offering and the drink-offering is cut off from the house of God; the priests mourn, even God's ministers.

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Isaiah 58: Fasting to Learn Compassion

“1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a horn, and declare to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways; as a nation that did righteousness,

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Isaiah 36-37: Honoring God

“1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rab-shakeh from Lachish

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Chronicles 2 Chapter 20: Engaged in the Process

“1 And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying:

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Kings I Chapter 21: Under the Guise of Righteousness

“1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. 2 And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying: 'Give me thy vineyard,

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Samuel I Chapter 31: Fasting in Mourning

“1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Fast Days: Samuel I Chapter 14: A Dangerous Fast

“16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeath-benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went hither and thither. {P}

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Conspicuous As Waves

Rabbi Abba bar Kahana opened his discourse with the verse, “Let out your voice, O daughter of Gallim.” (Isaiah 10:30) Isaiah said to Israel, “Rather than you should utter songs and praises before idols, sing with a joyous voice the words of Torah, sing with...

Tags: Amidah, Isaiah, Jewish Holydays, Kinot, Lamentations, Midrash, Song, Three Weeks, Tisha B'Av

Singing Through The Three Weeks

Rabbi Abba bar Kahana opened his discourse with the verse, “Let out your voice, O daughter of Gallim.” (Isaiah 10:30) Isaiah said to Israel, “Rather than you should utter songs and praises before idols, sing with a joyous voice the words of Torah, sing with...

Tags: Eichah, Isaiah, Jewish Holydays, Lamentations, Midrash, Three Weeks, Tisha B'Av

Fast Days: Samuel I Chapter 7: Nothing Without You

“5 And Samuel said: 'Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.' 6 And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and

Tags: 17th of Tammuz, Asarah BiTevet, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual, Tenth of Tevet, The Foundation Stone

Categories

Mishlei Tools: Ohr Hachaim haKadosh

Spiritual Tools: Applying Torah

Prayer Tools: Our Father Our King

Prayer Tools: Granting Our Requests

Shabbat Prayers: Havdalah & Torah

Lamentations: First Kinah – Line 1

Iyun Tefillah: Aleinu

General Principles of Prayer 5

Amidah: Review of Da’at Part Five: Elaboration on Bina

Amidah: Refaeinu 3/4/10 Part Nine

The Music of Halacha: Kashering

General Principles of Prayer 4

Fast Days: Sefer Hamaccabim 1:3: Concluding With Confidence

Fast Days: Ezra 9: Impossible to Eat

Fast Days: Ezra 8: Preparing a Humble & Holy Free Will Gift

Fast Days: Jeremiah 36: Fasting as Preparation

Fast Days: Jonah 3: The Suffering of Others

Fast Days: Joel 2: An Animal’s Cry

Fast Days: Isaiah 58: Fasting to Learn Compassion

Fast Days: Isaiah 36-37: Honoring God

Fast Days: Chronicles 2 Chapter 20: Engaged in the Process

Fast Days: Kings I Chapter 21: Under the Guise of Righteousness

Fast Days: Samuel I Chapter 31: Fasting in Mourning

Fast Days: Samuel I Chapter 14: A Dangerous Fast

Conspicuous As Waves

Singing Through The Three Weeks

Fast Days: Samuel I Chapter 7: Nothing Without You

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