In the act of Kiddushin it is important that the money or object of value given to the bride is an outright gift with no expectation of it being returned.   
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The identity of the Jewish Nation is defined not only by genetics but also by values   
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Hishtadlut means more than “trying”, it means investing effort: The effort to prepare for Shabbat is an essential fulfilment of the mitzva to honor the Shabbat, as such it should not be delegated.   
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The term shmitta is used both for the forgoing of loans at the end of the seventh year and for the land lying fallow for the seventh year. The connection between these two laws reveals the underlying Divine intent in both offering a new perspective on poverty and class difference.   
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Men can turn their emotions on and off sometimes unintentionally. Women are more instinctually emotional. In this difference lies both a strength and a weakness of each. In their partnership though, there is a perfect harmony.     
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Character and faith are shaped by experience, not by information or even wisdom. The reason we have to honor Talmidei Chachemim is not because of their knowledge, but because of their character, developed through the process of integrating the Torah into their beings (kinyan Torah). People with much life experience command honor as well.    Sources

Ownership applies to things; but investment extends beyond things to include the ideas that change who we are.   
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Shame is the avoidance of confrontation with Truth. Humility is the outcome of confrontation with truth.   
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Many new-age psychologists and NLP practitioners argue that the subconscious cannot interpret a negative instruction. This is not true. There is another reason, however, to avoid a face-to-face confrontation with negative thoughts.   
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Hashem could have made the world in a way that we did not need to trade with one another. But He didn’t. At least after The Sin, He built trade into the Creation.   
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