The Shmuz

When we have medical questions, we go to our doctor. When we have legal questions, we go to our lawyer. When we have financial questions, we go to our accountant. But who do we go to when we have "life questions"? Who do we approach when we have the really big deal questions -- questions that shape our future and the future of our families?  Since the time we were in Yeshiva we have been taught the answer: Da'as Torah -- We consult our Rebbeim.

 But the problem is that most of us don't have a Rebbe. Most of us find ourselves davening in one shul maybe another If we had a connection to a Rebbe in our Yeshiva days, we have long since lost contact with him. The Rov of the Shul I daven in, may be a big Talmid Chacham, but I have little to do with him So who do I turn to?

 This Shmuz address this very real problem in our communities.

We are creatures of habit -- we act by habit, we react by habit and, to a large extent, we even think by habit. And, in truth, it has to be that way. If we didn't act based on previously established patterns of behavior, life would be unmanageable. If every time we turned a corner we would have to think through the actions involved, our entire mind's focus would be on navigating the basics of living, with no upper brain room left for thinking. For that reason, HASHEM gave us this ability to put things on auto pilot, doing many activities without even giving them a second thought, thereby leaving us the ability to free our mind for more important things.

While this reality is a fact of life, it also brings us face to face with one of the core realities of growth: our habits determine who we are and what we become. Assuming that some of my habits are in my best interest and some aren't, the question then becomes, "How do I change".

This Shmuz helps us identify those habits that affect us, and then defines the strategies necessary to change them.           

In this Shmuz we are introduced to the vital obligation upon every Jew to be involved in Kiruv, and some practical understandings as to how easy it for everyone, not just the Kiruv professional, to have a profound effect on the people around us.

Everybody wants to succeed. We want successful careers, successful relationships; we want to be winners at the game of life. But winning takes hard work, and hard work takes single-minded drive. That can be hard to maintain, especially when the going gets tough.

This Shmuz looks at the amazing success stories of champion athletes and underdogs who beat the odds, teaching us where we can find the inner strength to reach the heights HASHEM set up for us.



Said At The 3rd Annual Torah Retreat.

The Torah calls us a stiff necked people. It seems to be part of our very nature --
put two Jews together and you get three opinions.

So how it is possible for us to live in harmony, as individuals, as families and certainly as communities?

We certainly understand the damage of conflict, and unfortunately many of us have felt first hand, the powerful downward spiral that occurs when human beings live in a state of strife.

The question is on a practical level, what can I do about this?

Since the time we began school the importance of Torah study has been something that weve learnt about and come to understand.  But at the end of the day, it seems to be hard to set up meaningful Sedarim that really last. Why is that? And, what can I do about it?

 In this Shmuz we are brought to see the value of Torah from the Torahs perspective, and given some practical, hands on, advice as to how to set up realistic Torah study goals, actually reach them.