If Hashem’s blessing is perfect, why do some fruits of life turn bitter? Continuing his journey through the stages of Shabbos, Rabbi Klapper explores the imagery of the “field of holy fruit.” Every Shabbos we become the field where Divine shefa is planted—but the week that follows reveals what kind of fruit we’ve grown. When emunah is pure, Hashem’s gifts bloom as joy, wisdom, and shalom. When the “soil” of our hearts is off, even blessing can warp into jealousy, bitul Torah, or gaavah.

Through powerful contrasts—from Noach’s generation to Einstein and Rav Aharon Kotler—this episode shows how the same koach that builds worlds can also destroy them. Shabbos is the correction point: its holiness guarantees that whatever sprouts from it is kulo kodesh. The second meal of Shabbos reveals this higher clarity—seeing Hashem’s oneness not just by logic but “through a clear glass,” with total emunah. The takeaway: tend your inner field; make Shabbos the seedbed of everything you grow all week.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

What truly happens the instant Shabbos enters the world? Rabbi Klapper opens a new section of the sefer to uncover the mystical structure of Shabbos time. Friday night isn’t merely “the beginning of rest”—it’s a spiritual shockwave, a sudden leap from Olam HaZeh to Olam HaBa. Through Rabbi Pinkus’s Kabbalistic lens, we discover how Hashem’s Shechinah literally “enters” creation at candle-lighting, turning every home into a miniature Beis HaMikdash. Each meal and tefillah represents a rising level of kedushah, from Leil Shabbos through Shacharis to Mincha.

The field of “holy apples”—Chekal Tapuchin Kadishin—becomes the symbol of this moment: the world itself becomes fertile ground where physical acts—eating, singing, resting—blossom into emunah and deveikus. Practical takeaway: treat candle-lighting as crossing a border. Pause, breathe, and feel the shift. You’ve stepped into Olam HaBa, where everything, even a bite of challah, can shine with light from above.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

How can we train our instincts to choose holiness under pressure? Building on the previous discussion, Rabbi Klapper shows that the tests of Shabbos aren’t only about rules—they’re about reflexes. When the unexpected happens—a light left on, a guest arriving, a fire that cannot be put out—the Yeitzer Hara argues for “just this once.” The Ramban, Chazon Ish, and classic mussar sefarim reveal that real strength is built before the test ever comes. Like a soldier or surgeon, a Jew must condition his spiritual reflexes so that respect for Shabbos becomes second nature.

Mesiras nefesh isn’t always heroic loss; sometimes it’s sitting calmly while the food burns rather than breaking halachah, or letting pride go instead of defending yourself in anger. Shabbos trains us in surrender—letting go of control so Hashem can rule. Each moment of self-discipline writes the next link in the unbroken chain of Shabbos-keepers stretching back to our ancestors who gave up everything for it. The practical reflection: prepare your heart before Shabbos; make loyalty your instinct. That quiet readiness is the essence of mesiras nefesh.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don’t forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

What does real mesiras nefesh look like when no one’s watching? This episode explores the quiet tests that define true Shabbos devotion—not martyrdom under persecution, but the split-second choices in embarrassment, comfort, or convenience. From the Chazon Ish’s story of the man who added oil to his lamp out of shame before an honored guest, we see how the Yeitzer Hara disguises pressure as logic. Rabbi Klapper unpacks how each of us still faces these “micro-tests” every week: the temptation to adjust, excuse, or bend halachah just a little “for peace,” or to protect pride.

Through vivid stories—from Soviet Jews risking death to keep Shabbos, to families sitting calmly in the dark after a power outage—he shows that our generation’s mesiras nefesh lies not in dying for Shabbos, but in living for it with patience, dignity, and restraint. Every uncomfortable decision becomes a small act of loyalty in the covenant of love between Hashem and His people. The takeaway: treat every moment of hesitation as sacred training, a chance to say quietly, “I’ll give this up for You.”

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

How can giving up become the deepest way to receive? We begin with the Midrash of Moshe’s neshama and the “kiss” of death—nishikas peh—revealing mesiras nefesh as a mutual act of love, not coercion. Only Am Yisrael, bound by a bris of ahavah, are commanded to sanctify Hashem’s Name this way. Then we link that love to Shabbos Mincha—“va’al menuchasam yakdishu es Shimecha”—and the Arizal’s guidance to hold kavanah of mesiras nefesh at that moment. Shabbos is where the bond is clearest; love unlocks the will to give everything back to the One Who gave us ourselves.

Brought down to earth, this isn’t abstract heroism. It’s the quiet choice to yield—your schedule, your phone, your pride—because you love Hashem. Practical takeaway: at Mincha, whisper, “Ribono Shel Olam, I’m Yours,” and choose one small act of mesiras nefesh this Shabbos (a word held back, a mitzvah done first, a distraction put away) as your kiss of closeness.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

You’re catering the King’s banquet—so who pays? With a vivid Baron Rothschild mashal, we learn that the Shabbos suda is called by Hashem’s Name and funded by His shefa. Our job is to honor the Palace: abundance with dignity, joy without hefkerus. Then we open the Mishnah Berurah’s guardrails—three teachings that balance “go all out” with “don’t borrow to impress.” Even someone of limited means can add a small delight; someone receiving tzedakah should be given the basics with kavod; and those who can, should elevate their table within their means.

Practically, think like a royal caterer: plan a menu “l’kavod Shabbos,” invest a bit extra where it adds true delight, and protect the atmosphere—chinuch, decorum, and serenity matter as much as the roast. The core reflection: it’s His meal, His honor, and—yes—His bill.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

If Hashem longs to shower us with endless good, why does life have limits? We open with the father–child mashal: true love sometimes holds back so the child can grow. From there, we uncover the Midah of Emes—Hashem’s deepest ratzon to give boundlessly—and why Shabbos uniquely reveals that Emes by letting shefa flow without harm. That’s the secret of the neshama yeseira: on Shabbos you can “eat and not be sick of it,” because delight aimed at Hashem lifts rather than drags.

Brought back to daily life, this reframes the meal: you’re not “treating yourself,” you’re receiving a gift from your Father in Heaven and returning it as love. Practical takeaway: slow your first course, make a beautiful bracha with kavanah, and say a sentence of gratitude—“Ribono Shel Olam, I’m receiving this to come closer to You.” Watch how restraint turns to fullness, and fullness to dveikus.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

What if the taste of cholent is actually a taste of Olam HaBa? We probe how Shabbos lifts the world above teva so that eating isn’t a detour from kedusha—it’s a doorway into it. Drawing on imagery of “crowns on their heads” and delighting in the Divine, we show why the Shabbos table can turn lives around: zemiros, kavod, and the quiet glow of menucha transform food into closeness. We also clear up confusions—like why “tasting” on Erev Shabbos helps the meal, while “pre-gaming” dulls the soul of Shabbos.

On the ground, this means curating your table like a mikdash me’at: order, beauty, and songs that invite the Shechinah. Practical takeaway: add one small, intentional t’anug this week (a better wine, a dish you love, a new nigun) and explicitly dedicate it to Hashem before you enjoy it; you’ll feel the uplift begin before the first spoonful.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

If Shabbos is holier than Yom Kippur, why are we told to eat more—not less? This episode opens with that paradox and then walks through the Torah logic behind oneg Shabbos. We explore how Yom Kippur brings holiness into a weekday by stripping away the physical, while Shabbos is entering Hashem’s “palace” itself—where physical delight, done l’shem Shabbos, becomes avodas Hashem. Along the way, we unpack “chetzio laHashem, chetzio lachem” as two sides of one service: your learning and your kugel can both be offerings when aimed at the King.

Then we bring it down to the table: how intention flips a meal from autopilot to avodah, how to avoid the trap of gluttony-in-mitzvah’s-clothing, and how classic sources (from the Beis HaMikdash to the Vilna Gaon) frame eating as part of Divine service. Practical takeaway: before the first bite, say out loud “l’kavod Shabbos,” choose one delight you’re adding just for Hashem, and let that kavanah shape the whole suda.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!

How can we truly stand before the King if we don’t know the King’s protocol? Shabbos is not just another mitzvah—it is an entirely different reality, a world with its own rules. While many mitzvos can be kept by absorbing family tradition and school learning, Hilchos Shabbos demands far more. The details are vast and intricate, stretching from the thirty-nine melachos to countless rabbinic safeguards like muktzah and eruvin. Without careful learning, it is nearly impossible to avoid stumbling. Why is this mitzvah different from all the rest? Because every action on Shabbos is part of standing in Hashem’s presence. Just as the avodah in the Beis HaMikdash required precise adherence to every halachic detail, so too Shabbos requires us to know how to act before the King.

Through the story of Reb Yisrael Diskin and the czar, we see how misunderstanding royal protocol can lead to disaster. If this is true of a human ruler, how much more must we prepare ourselves before the Ribono Shel Olam? Shabbos is the weekly moment when the Shechinah enters our lives—“Bo’i kallah, Bo’i kallah.” The halachos are not technical burdens but the dignity of the palace itself, the way we honor Hashem’s presence in every movement and word. The practical takeaway is clear: we must commit to learning Hilchos Shabbos continuously, at whatever level we can—whether through daily study, kitzur sefarim, or deeper halachic works. By doing so, we elevate Shabbos from habit into conscious avodah, transforming our homes into sanctuaries where the King Himself dwells.

Hosted by Rabbi Ari Klapper and produced by Eli Podcast Productions, this episode is part of the Real Judaism series, available on RealJudaism.org. Don't forget to subscribe and share to stay connected with our daily lessons and timeless Torah insights!