The Chavrusa with Rabbi Levi

Rabbi Levi points out that the Torah records only one argument between a husband and wife.

Out of all the stories of the Avot V'Imahot... Moshe and Aharon, the one dispute it chose to preserve is Avraham and Sarah arguing over what to do about Yishmael. Why that one, and why does Hashem settle it the way He does?

Rabbi Levi opens with a story from his own work: a space in downtown Bellevue, two meetings with the property owner, and a third meeting he never got because he followed advice to wait before asking. The lesson he took from it is im lo achshav, eimasai: when the opportunity is in front of you, you act.

Then we turn to Parshas Vayeira. Sarah sees Yishmael’s influence on Yitzchak and asks Avraham to send him away. Avraham refuses. Hashem steps in with a striking instruction: “Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice.” He doesn’t say she’s right in this case. He says to listen to her, period.

To understand why, we turn to Miriam and her well. The Talmud teaches that the well, the clouds of glory, and the manna came in the merit of Miriam, Aharon, and Moshe, respectively. Why water for Miriam? Rabbi Levi brings the Rambam’s explanation of what water does in the body: it doesn’t nourish, it carries the food to every part of the body. The Rebbe applies this to avodah. A person can understand something and even feel it deeply, yet it never reaches the “fingers and toes,” the place where it becomes action. The Rebbe then applies the same idea to the Jewish home. The husband sets the direction, and the wife carries it into the details of daily life and the education of the children.

Takeaways

• The one marital dispute the Torah preserves is a dispute about how to raise children.
• Hashem’s words to Avraham, “Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice,” point to a role and not just a single ruling.
• Per the Rambam, water doesn’t nourish; it carries nourishment through the body. That is why Miriam’s merit is connected to water.
• Understanding and feeling are not the same as doing. The question is whether an insight reaches your hands and feet.
• Whatever your role is, learn it and lean into it.

Reflective question
Think of one thing you already understand and genuinely feel is right. What is stopping it from reaching action?

Call to action
Take that one thing and do it today, in a concrete way. If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who would appreciate it, and join us next week for the next shiur.

Dedicated to the refuah sheleimah of Malka Leah bas Metzi and Leah bas Chana, and of all who need a refuah.

connect with Rabbi Levy here https://www.chabaddowntownbellevue.org/

You can be the most principled person in the room and still be changed by the room.

This week Rabbi Levi Farkash learns Parshas Lech Lecha, where Avraham and his nephew Lot part ways after Lot's shepherds let their flocks graze on other people's land. Rashi teaches that the divine speech withdrew from Avraham as long as Lot was with him. If Avraham could be affected, what about us? Drawing on the Talmud, the Rambam, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the shiur looks at how the people we live, work, and travel with, and the habits we keep, shape who we become, and why "I can handle it" is often the riskiest thing we tell ourselves.

In this episode:

• Why the Talmud traces "hang around successful people" back to Lot traveling with Avraham
• The Rambam's sharp warning about whose company we keep, and where we choose to live
• The Rebbe on not outsmarting yourself: even a temporary environment changes you
• Rabbi Levi's own extension: your habits are neighbors too
• How Lot, living in Sodom, still couldn't shake Avraham's hospitality, and what that says about the influence of a firm boundary

A question to sit with: Where in your life are you telling yourself "I can handle it"?

Listen, then share it with someone you learn with.

Learn, grow, and join community with Rabbi Levi Farkash here https://www.chabaddowntownbellevue.org/

Are you living by what you see—or by what you hear?

Parshat Bereishit begins with the creation of humanity and one of the greatest gifts—and challenges—we've ever been given: free choice.

But why did Hashem create us with the ability to choose wrongly?

And what does the story of Adam and Chava teach us about how we should make choices today?

In this episode of Havruta, we explore Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' powerful distinction between shame and guilt, appearance and conscience, and seeing versus listening.

Adam and Chava heard Hashem's command—but ultimately followed what their eyes saw.

Judaism gives us a different model.

Shema Yisrael.

Listen.

Because the challenge isn't always knowing what is right.

Sometimes the challenge is having the courage to listen to it.

Take this question with you:

Am I choosing this because I believe it's right—or because I want to look right?

In this episode:

• Why Hashem created humanity with free choice
• The surprising idea that God has faith in us
• What Adam and Chava actually gained from the Tree of Knowledge
• The difference between shame and guilt
• Why Judaism is fundamentally a "listening religion"
• How to stop letting society determine your moral compass

Take this question with you:

Am I choosing this because I believe it's right—or because I want to look right?

Right after Yom Kippur—after all that atonement and asking for a good year—comes Sukkot. And Sukkot celebrates something we barely notice: not the manna, not the water, but clouds that provided shade. Unnecessary shade. And that changes everything.

What You'll Hear

For generations the Talmud argued about what the sukkah really represents—the clouds of glory or actual booths? The Alter Rebbe solved it by being obsessively precise with one word: shade. Not the clouds that protected them from danger. The clouds that protected them from discomfort. You can live in a desert without shade; Bedouins do it all the time. But God gave it anyway. Because love isn't just keeping you alive. Love is making sure you're comfortable.

The Real Teaching

• God doesn't just provide what you need to survive—He cares about your comfort.

• That "extra measure" is how you actually know you're loved, not just needed.

* The sukkah is God's embrace. Two and a half walls and schach overhead saying: *I love you so much.*

Question for You

When was the last time someone gave you something you didn't technically need—but that made you feel actually cared for? That's what God is showing you in the sukkah.

This Sukkot

Go sit in the sukkah. Look up through the schach. Feel the shade. Not as a memorial. As an embrace.

The Chavruta with Levi Farkash is a Chavruta Style Class that covers the inner meaning of the Torah. Subscribe for all the latest episodes. Share with people who will be inspired.

Jonah: Ships in the Raging Sea

What does a prophet do when obeying God might hurt thepeople he loves? Rabbi Levi uncovers the stunning reason Jonah ran—and thentakes us deeper into the Zohar's secret meaning: Jonah's sea voyage isn't justhistory. It's a mirror of your soul descending into this world.

We learn from the Baal Shem Tov that life is a stormy ocean.Some of us navigate it with ships (Torah, mitzvos, community). Some of us aredrowning in the waves. And some of us—the ones who've made it to shore—face afinal test: do we remember to jump back in and pull others out?

This episode moves from the literal text of Jonah through aChassidic teaching that transforms how you'll spend the year ahead. It's notjust about personal repentance on Yom Kippur. It's about the mission that comesafter.

Takeaways:

• Jonah's flight reveals something unexpected aboutlove—sometimes the hardest thing is accepting you can't protect everyone

• A "ship" in the sea of life isn't a luxury; it'sTorah and mitzvos—the only thing between you and drowning

• The Baal Shem Tov teaches there are three kinds of people:those navigating safely, those in crisis, and those with a mandate to rescue

• The final test isn't reaching safety yourself—it's havingthe strength left to pull someone else to shore

• Yom Kippur's real work includes this: building your ownboat *and* remembering those still in the water

Reflective question: Who in your world is drowningwithout a ship? What would it cost you to jump back in?

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Hannah's Prayer: Asking for What You Need*

When you're standing before God on Rosh Hashanah, should you really be asking for a raise

This episode cuts into one of the deepest tensions of the High Holidays. We come to court before the King of Kings for coronation—to surrender completely, to say "Your will, not mine." Yet we also ask for health, children, sustenance. Aren't these selfish desires? How can both be true at once?

We trace this through Hannah, a woman praying desperately for a child at the Mishkan. When the priest Eli sees her pouring out her heart, he assumes she's drunk—intoxicated by her own desires. But Hannah's answer reframes everything. Her request wasn't personal obsession; it was her soul crying out for the tools she needed to do God's work in this world.

The Rebbe teaches that when our material desires emerge from a place of complete surrender to God—when we're asking for these things *so we can fulfill His mission*—that's not contradiction. That's integration. That's what your neshamah actually wants.

What's here:

- Why we ask for material things on Rosh Hashanah (and why it's not selfish)

- How to answer the inner voice that tells you to stop wanting

- The difference between drunkenness on desire vs. hunger for purpose

- Hannah's vow: dedicating everything back to God

Reflect on* What material thing do you need right now—and what spiritual purpose are you asking for it *to serve*?

Listen in, and notice what your own soul is actually asking for.

L'shana Tova U'metukah

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The Four Crowns: From Personal Refinement to Real Impact

Here's a question: You commit to spiritual growth. You go deep. You feel it.

But then what? How does it actually change the way you live?*

In this episode, we explore the Tzemach Tzedek's teaching of the four crowns—a map of the spiritual journey from Elul through the High Holidays and into the year ahead. Rabbi Levi walks us through kingship, priesthood, Torah, and the crown that supersedes them all. But the real insight isn't just personal transformation. It's about what happens when you take everything you've refined and refined and refined—and then give it away.

What you'll take from this:

• Why Rosh Hashanah isn't about feeling inspired—it's about accepting an obligation, even when it doesn't feel warm

• The gap between *doing* God's will and *becoming* someone who wants to—and how Yom Kippur closes it

• Why connecting your intellect to Torah is the only way to touch the infinite

• The one thing that makes all three crowns matter: taking them out into the world

• A practical way to think about the next eleven months after Tishrei ends

*What would change if your spiritual work wasn't just about who you become, but about who others become because of you?*

This season, prepare not just to feel better—prepare to give something real to the people around you.

Going Through the Motions vs. Being Fully There

There's a difference between doing something and being in it. You can perform all the right actions—show up, go through the steps, check the boxes—and still miss the whole point. This week, we explore what that difference is, and why it matters for everything you care about.

We start with a Talmudic story about Reb Chiyya, who didn't just organize Torah education in Israel—he personally caught deer, prepared parchment, and taught children himself. He could've delegated. Instead, he understood something about how real change happens. Then we look at what the Torah actually means when it tells us to "cleave" to God, not just "walk" in His ways. And we hear from a shepherd whose heartfelt prayer was worth more than technique.

The question becomes: When you take on something that matters—a spiritual practice, a teaching, a mission for your family or community—are you showing up as yourself, or just going through the motions?

What you'll take from this:
• The cost of personal investment—and why delegation alone won't work when the mission is real
• The gap between outer action and inner attachment (and why both matter)
• How passion and presence change what gets transmitted to others
• The shepherd's prayer: why God values the heart over technique
• One practical practice for this week: wherever you're engaged, ask yourself if you're there

Reflect: What's one area of your avodah (spiritual work) where you've been present, and one where you've been phoning it in? What would change if you actually showed up for the second one?

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God promises to bless you anyway—so why does the Torah say "if you will listen"? This week, we sit with a verse that seems to contradict itself, and discover what it actually means to receive blessing from God's essence.

The Essence:

When God blesses us through His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that blessing is infinite, unconditional, beyond anything we could earn. But God doesn't give it as a free handout. Why? Because a gift you didn't work for leaves you feeling hollow—what the Talmud calls "bread of shame." The Rebbe shows us that our effort isn't about impressing God; it's about creating a vessel capable of receiving His highest gifts. And here's what cuts deepest: the real work isn't understanding which mitzvahs matter most. It's doing *all* of them—even the ones we don't relate to, even the ones that don't move us—simply because we love God and He asked.

What We Learn:

• Why spiritual darkness (exile) is actually your greatest opportunity for connection

• The difference between head mitzvahs and heel mitzvahs—and why making that distinction misses the point

• How a marriage teaches us what God is looking for in our service

• What it means to be "self-nullified"—and why that's the real blessing

• Why "because I asked you" is the deepest expression of love

The Question:

Is there a mitzvah you've sidelined because it doesn't inspire you? What would change if you did it anyway—purely because you love God?

Your Action Today:

Find one mitzvah you've been neglecting and do it. Not for the feeling. For Him.

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Why does the change you fight hardest for disappear the fastest?

Yehoshua entered the land with the Aron, the shofar, and open miracles — the walls of Jericho fell, and the land dropped into our hands "like a ripe fruit." Yet the Rambam rules that this holiness vanished with the Babylonian exile. Ezra returned with a battered generation, missing the Aron, missing the fire from heaven — and his sanctification is binding to this day. In this episode of Havruta we learn the Rebbe's stunning resolution: conquest overpowers, but chazakah transforms — and only what the other side comes to own can last forever.

In this shiur:

• The Rambam's puzzle: why the first kedusha was voided and the second is eternal (Hilchos Terumos)
• Why the Rebbe insists on the Rambam's negative wording — "not through conquest"
• The first Luchos, the Golden Calf, and why revelation with fanfare snaps back
• Cyrus, Ezra, and the moment "even his enemies made peace with him"
• The Alter Rebbe's letter from prison — and what it teaches about spreading Chassidus
• The avodah: raising children and students who choose Yiddishkeit as their own acquisition

Ask yourself this week: where am I conquering the people I love, when I should be settling?

If this shiur moved you, share it with one person you learn with — that's what a havruta is. Subscribe so you never miss a week, and l'chaim.

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