Ayekah: Finding Your True Self with Rav Shlomo Katz

Most of us hear “Ayekah?” and imagine a question filled with disappointment: Nu, where are you?

But what if Hashem asks because He sees something in us that we have forgotten how to see in ourselves?

In this shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David continue learning Rav Reuven Sasson’s Ayekah, a sefer that draws deeply from Rav Kook, Chassidut, the worlds of Chabad and Izhbitz, Kabbalah, and the inner work of avodat hanefesh. And slowly, the question of Ayekah begins to sound very different — not as disappointment, but as a reflection of how much Hashem values the light He placed inside each one of us.

----------

For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

In this opening shiur of our new Ayekah series, Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David begin a journey into one of the deepest questions a person can hear: “Where are you?”

Based on the sefer Ayekah by Rav Reuven Sasson, this conversation opens the door to what Jewish faith really asks of a person. Not just whether you “believe in God,” but whether you are willing to live honestly, listen deeply, and discover the truest self Hashem placed within you.https://youtu.be/b92Muerrp1I

----------
For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com
Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening Acknowledgments and Sponsors
02:10 Choosing Ayecha as Our Study Text
03:28 Hebrew Use and Israeli Youth in the Shul
05:06 The Primordial Question: Eichah
08:23 Self-Monitoring Our Thoughts
12:35 The Snake’s Temptation Explained
16:59 God’s Compassionate Question After Temptation
19:00 Inner Treasure: Discovering What’s Within
20:30 Yaakov vs Esav: Real Riches Defined
21:39 Inward Bound: Looking Inside
22:56 Midlife Shifts: When Something Changes
24:17 Opposite of the Snake: Embracing Light
26:33 Adam’s Question: Who’s to Blame?
28:01 Primordial Sin Explained
32:03 Addiction Without Substances
34:36 The Snake’s Temptation
37:04 News as Modern Crack
39:37 Davening and the Soul’s Duty
40:38 The Snake’s Crafty Deception
42:02 Concepts of the Snake’s Influence
44:01 Lost Child Story Illustrates the Question of איכה
45:17 Rav Chaim Kramer on Uman: Proximity to Hashem Guides Choices
47:47 Adam’s Son Reveals Teshuvah After 130 Years of Fast
49:37 Hearing איכה in Daily Life: Listening for the Divine Question
52:43 Avoiding the Trap of Filling Lack: Deep Birur and Authenticity
55:30 Mashiach as the Remedy to Lack and Future Learning