The Shmuz

Since the time that we were young children, we were taught, "We want Moshiach now!" This concept is not the exclusive domain of fringe elements of Jewry; rather, it is a basic tenet of our religion. The Rambam counts it as one of the Thirteen Main Principles, and if one denies it, he is considered a heretic with no portion in the World to Come.
And so, we daven for Moshiach. We sing songs about Moshiach. We wait for Moshiach. But do we understand why? Do we understand what it is that we're waiting for? This Shmuz focuses on what life will be like in the times of Moshiach, and why in fact we anxiously await his appearance.

Chumash in Dept - Bereishis

Chumash in Dept - YIsro

Chumash in Dept - Lech Licha

The Chofetz Chaim network consist of
high schools, batei medrashim, kollels, kiruv centers, shuls, and rabbonim and teachers across the country from communities as diverse as
Milwaukee, Rochester, Los Angeles, the Five Towns, Miami, Cherry Hill, Manalapan, and Yerushalayim

- an empire of thousands of talmidim following in the mesorah given to them by their Rebbe.

This Shmuz is both a personal tribute and a recognition of the great gaon, Reb Alter Hencoch Hanoch Lebowitz.

A World Unraveling

The Vilna Gaon tells us that the main reason for life is to change our middos -"If not" he says, "Why should a person have life?"  The difficulty with this mandate is that it means: I have to change. While in theory I may be open to grow -- I may even recognize the many advantage to my life, in practice we humans find it very difficult to change.  Ask a person who has smoked for 20 years, "How easy it is to change?" Ask a person who is 40 lbs overweight, "Don't you want to lose weight?" The reality is that even when we recognize the need to change, actually carrying out the process seems to be a daunting task-and it's not just about willpower.  This is part one of a series of Shmuzin, focusing on the dynamics of change.  Whether my aim is to stop: gambling, over eating, drinking, or improving my character traits; by understanding the different stages, techniques and mental states, that are a necessary part of change, we can be more successful at attaining our goals.

Chumash in Dept - Vayearah

We've all had that moment when we lost it and said something we shouldn't have said -- something we later regretted.
The intriguing part is that when the heat of the moment has passed, not only do we feel badly about what was said, often, we can't understand what came over us? "It was like I was possessed or something".

This Shmuz #169 Anger- Taming the Monster Within, deals with some of the mechanics of anger in the human, and by understanding why we get furious, we gain insight into what we can do about it.