Nitzotzos: Inspiration to Keep Your Spark Alive with Rav Mordechai Burg

By NitzotzosReligion & Spirituality Judaism

Nitzotzos: Inspiration to Keep Your Spark Alive with Rav Mordechai Burg episodes

January 27, 2022 Parshas Mishpatim - Know Your Enemy
When confronting our enemies donkey that is being crushed under its burden we are commanded to help unload the donkey. The lessons of the Torah are timeless. What is the inner teaching of this halacha? How does it impact our every day lives? In this shiur Rav Burg teaches us foundational ideas from the Baal Shem Tov about how we confront the material world. Knowing that the physical world is not our enemy fundamentally changes the way we interact with ourselves and the world around us.
39 min
January 12, 2022 Parshas Beshalach - Raising Children in Exile
Chazal tell us that it was the children who recognized Hashem at Kerias Yam Suf and declared זה אלי ואנויהו, this is my God and I will glorify him. How did the children recognize Hashem? In this shiur Rav Burg explores the Gemara (Sotah 11b) in depth giving us amazing educational insights into how we can raise our children not only to survive but even to thrive in Golus.
35 min
January 12, 2022 There Is Nothing More Whole Than A Broken Heart - Part 1
In this shiur Rav Burg explores the nature of wholeness and brokenness. Why did the soul need to come down to this world only to return to Hashem? Why not simply stay in shomayim to begin with? Why did Adam and Chava need to be separated if they were just going to be told to become one flesh? It seems that there is something missing in our initial state of wholeness. Something that needs to be broken in order to become whole.
31 min
January 05, 2022 Parshas Bo / Pesach - How Did We Get Here?
What is the inner significance of dipping a group of hyssops into the blood of the Korban Pesach and spreading it on our door posts? How does this protect us from the Malach HaMaves? Somehow the Malach HaMaves skips over our homes because of this procedure and this is why the Yom Tov is called Pesach. But how does this name capture the essence of the Chag? In this shiur, Rav Burg addresses these questions and explains that we cannot leave the Mitzrayim's of our lives unless we know what brought us down to Mitzrayim to begin with.
26 min
December 30, 2021 Parshas Vaeira - When The River Turns to Blood (The Pleasure/Pain Paradox of Addiction)
The ten Makkos are ten lessons from Hashem to the world. In this shiur Rav Burg explores Makkas Dam. What's the inner meaning of turning the Nile River into blood? When you worship the instrument, as opposed to Hashem Himself, what appears to be giving you life turns to destruction.
35 min
December 18, 2021 Parshas Shemos - What's Your Name? The Power Of Doing Shnayim Mikra Viechad Targum
Speaking at a Mevaseret Melava Malka to the talmidim that completed all of Sefer Bereishis (with shnayim mikra viechad targum) Rav Burg delves into the secret of the burning bush and the discovery of self that occurs in the lowest moments of exile.
22 min
December 15, 2021 Parshas Vayechi - The Nobility of Submission
Yaakov blesses Yehuda that his brothers will submit to him. What is the significance of this submission? In this shiur Rav Burg explains the complexity of being the commanded (being called to duty) and making Yiddishkeit our own.
42 min
December 08, 2021 Parshas Vayigash - All Of Life's A Circle (dedicated in memory of Gitel bas Zev Halevi)
After being told that Yosef is still alive, Yaakov’s spirit is revived when he sees the agalos, the wagons, that Yosef sent for Yaakov. But Yaakov does not travel to Mitzrayim in those agalos. The Torah tells us that Yaakov travels to Mitzrayim in the agalos that Pharaoh sent for him. Why does Pharaoh send down agalos if Yosef had sent agalos as well. Why is Yaakov’s spirit revived when he sees Yosefs wagons? If they are so inspiring then surely he should have gone to Mitzrayim in those agalos! In this inspiring shiur from Rav Burg we learn the true nature of exile and redemption and how to navigate the exiles we experience in our own life. Additionally, Rav Burg tells over the incredible story of Mrs. Isseroff z"l for whom this shiur is dedicated. May her memory be a blessing.
40 min
November 23, 2021 Yat Kislev Fabrengen in Shaalvim
Yud Tes Kislev Fabrengen in Shaalvim. Rav Burg begins speaking at the 27 and a half minute mark and then again at the one hour and twenty nine minute mark on the topic of how Chassidus allows us to make fundamental and long lasting changes in our lives.
1 hr 53 min
November 03, 2021 Parshas Toldos - Every Action Comes With A Feeling, Every Feeling Comes From A Need
The Torah tells us that Yitzchak loved Eisav because he was tricked into thinking that Eisav was a Tzaddik. However, we also know that Yitzchak was well aware of who Eisav truly was. What did Chazal really mean?
In this shiur, Rav Burg explains how we can parent our challenging children - rather than looking only at their actions we need to look at why they are behaving the way they are behaving. Only then can we truly give them what they need.
44 min