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Weekly Inspire

Rabbi Joey Haber

Relevant weekly insights by Rabbi Joey Haber - delivered directly to your computer and/or mobile device

religion & spirituality judaism

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Seizing Today’s Opportunities

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/08/29

Parashat Re'eh begins with Moshe Rabbenu making the following pronouncement to Beneh Yisrael : ראה אנוכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה. See that I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse. The commentaries explain that every day, Hashem gives us opportunities. Everything He gives us is another opportunity to serve Him, to do something meaningful, and to attain greatness. Everything our community has been blessed with – its shuls, its schools, its programs, its close-knit nature – is an

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Before You Swing the Bat

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/08/22

n Parashat Ekev, Moshe Rabbenu commands the people that after they cross into the Land of Israel, they must remember what their lives were like in the desert. They must remember the miraculous existence that they lived – being fed by manna which fell from the heavens, drinking water supplied by a supernatural well which traveled with them, and wearing the same clothes and shoes, which never became worn. Moshe then warns the people that after they enter Eretz Yisrael , and after they till the land,

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The Fake Tip of the Iceberg

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/08/15

n Parashat Va'et'hanan, Moshe Rabbenu recalls the event of Ma'amad Har Sinai , when Hashem spoke to Beneh Yisrael at Mount Sinai, and pronounced the Aseret Ha'dibberot (Ten Commandments). The final of these ten commands is לא תחמוד – "You shall not covet." This mitzvah forbids us from wanting what our fellow has and trying to obtain it. Let us, then, take a moment to talk about jealousy, particularly in today's day and age. There has never been a generation that saw so many pictures as our

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The Power of Sincerity

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/08/08

The Book of Devarim consists mainly of the speeches that Moshe Rabbenu delivered to Beneh Yisrael before his passing. In the first several parashiyot , Moshe reviews some of the events that took place after Beneh Yisrael left Egypt, placing particular emphasis on the sins that they committed. He speaks at length about the sin of the golden calf and the sin of the spies. He also mentions the instances when Beneh Yisrael complained in the desert, and briefly notes also the revolt by Korah. As Moshe

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Hashem Puts Us Where We Need to Be

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/08/01

The first section of Parashat Maseh lists all the different places where Beneh Yisrael encamped during the forty years they spent in the desert, from the time they left Egypt through their last station before crossing into the Land of Israel. The first pasuk of the parashah introduces this section as follows: אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים...ביד משה ואהרון. These are the journeys of Beneh Yisrael, who left the land of Egypt…by the hand of Moshe and Aharon . We must ask why the pasuk

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Building & Growing Through Positivity

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/07/25

Parashat Pinhas begins with Hashem’s announcement of the rewards that He would be giving to Pinhas, the grandson of Aharon. The background to the story is the sin of Ba’al Pe’or , when Beneh Yisrael became involved with the women of the nation of Moav, and also worshipped the god of Moav. Hashem punished the people by bringing a plague which killed 24,000 people. The plague ended only when Pinhas boldly arose and killed two people – a Jewish man and a gentile woman – who were committing a public

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Our Lives are Blessed!

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/07/18

The Hovot Ha’levavot writes that when a person goes out to work in the morning, he should have kavanah (the intention) that he is now performing a mitzvah , fulfilling Hashem’s command that he work to earn a livelihood. A person shouldn’t go to work begrudgingly, wishing he could just stay home and do nothing. Rather, he should think to himself that he performs a mitzvah , since, after all, it is Hashem’s will that a person work to support himself and his family. In presenting this idea, the Hovot

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Lifting People Up

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/07/11

Parashat Hukat tells the famous story of Moshe’s hitting the rock. To briefly review – Beneh Yisrael found themselves without water in the desert, and they argued with Moshe, demanding water. Hashem commanded Moshe to assemble the people around a rock, and to speak to the rock, whereupon it would miraculously produce water. Moshe gathered the people around the rock, and angrily criticized them, calling them מורים – “rebellious people.” He then struck the rock with his stick, and it produced water

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The Strength to Do it Alone

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/07/04

Parashat Korah tells the tragic story of the uprising led by Korah against Moshe Rabbenu. The first pasuk in the parashah lists the names of the other prominent figures in this revolt, one of whom was a man named On ben Pelet. The Gemara observes that although On ben Pelet is mentioned in this first pasuk , his name never appears again anywhere in the story. Unlike the other people mentioned, On ben Pelet disappears. The Gemara explains that although On was among the original instigators of this

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How We See What We See

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/06/27

Parashat Shelah tells the tragic story of חטא המרגלים – the sin of the spies. Moshe sent twelve spies into the Land of Israel to see what it was like before Beneh Yisrael proceeded to the land. Ten of the twelve spies returned with a negative and frightening report, and the people decided they did not wish to proceed. Hashem responded by decreeing that the nation would wander for forty years in the desert, until that entire generation perished, and only their children would enter Eretz Yisrael . In

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Ignore the Cynics and Naysayers

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/06/20

In 1943, shortly after arriving in the United States, Rav Aharon Kotler founded the Lakewood yeshiva with a small group of approximately fifteen students. The establishment of such an institution was seen as crazy. At that time, America was not a place where people sat and learned Torah. America was a place where Jews worked and made money. If necessary, they worked on Shabbat. It definitely wasn’t suitable for a European-style yeshiva. Many American Jews ridiculed and criticized Rav Aharon Kotler

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The Great Blessing of כה

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/06/11

Most people have this terrible habit of determining how their lives are going by comparing themselves to others. They look around at other people’s homes, careers, children, vacations, and so on, and then see how their own lives compare to other people’s lives. This is a very unhealthy way to live. This creates a lot of anxiety, and makes it all but impossible to experience fulfillment and contentment in life. People who live this way are often bitter and resentful when they see other people’s

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Shavuot- Celebrating OUR Acceptance of the Torah

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/06/06

זמן מתן תורתנו Celebrating OUR Acceptance of the Torah It is customary on Shavuot to read Megilat Rut , which tells the famous story of Rut, a woman from the nation of Moav who decided to join the Jewish Nation. There is a certain irony in the fact that on this day, when we celebrate Matan Torah , we focus our attention on the story of somebody whose ancestors were not present at that event. Why would we do this? If this day is all about the commemoration of our receiving the Torah at Sinai, then

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Working Instead of Complaining

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/05/30

There is a halachah which, at first glance, does not seem to have any practical relevance to us, but in truth, as the Vilna Gaon explained, conveys a vitally important lesson for each and every person. The halachah addresses the situation of a person who owns a field that is surrounded by other fields on all four sides. If the owner of one of the four adjacent fields decides to erect a wall between his field and the middle field, he cannot legally demand that the owner of the middle field share the

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The Humility to Learn and Grow

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/05/23

The Mishnah in Pirkeh Avot (4:1) famously teaches, איזהו חכם הלומד מכל אדם – “Who is wise? He who learns from all people.” The Mishnah here defines the term חכם as referring to a person who learns from everyone. In a different context, however, the Rabbis seem to give us a different definition of the word חכם (“wise”). The Gemara, in Masechet Kiddushin (49b), addresses the case of somebody who betroths a woman on the condition that “I am wise” ( על מנת שאני חכם ). How do we know if the kiddushin

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Preparing Our Kids for Life’s Burdens

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/05/16

The Mishnah in Pirkeh Avot (3:5) cites the following teaching from Rabbi Nehunya Ben Ha’kaneh: כל המקבל עליו עול תורה, מעבירין ממנו עול מלכות ועול דרך ארץ. וכל הפורק ממנו עול תורה, נותנין עליו עול מלכות ועול דרך ארץ. Whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah – the yoke of the government and the yoke of worldly needs are removed from him. And whoever removes from himself the yoke of Torah – the yoke of the government and the yoke of worldly needs are placed upon him. What exactly is the

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Staying Focused on What REALLY Matters

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/05/09

The Torah commands in Parashat Kedoshim (19:16), לא תלך רכיל בעמך – introducing the prohibition against gossiping, sharing negative information about other people. Why do so money people indulge in gossip? Why are there those who spend entire Shabbat and holiday meals talking about how other people dress, about other people’s houses, about other people’s marriages (or divorces), other people’s kids, and about other people in general? Why do people make these things the topics of their conversations

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Feeling Grateful for Our “Shoes”

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/05/02

Every morning, we recite a series of berachot , thanking Hashem for some of the precious blessings that we have in our lives – such as the ability to open our eyes and see ( פוקח עורים ), to get dressed ( מלביש ערומים ), and to stand up straight ( זוקף כפופים ). One of these berachot is שעשה לי כל צרכי – thanking Hashem for “fulfilling all My needs.” This berachah, surprisingly, thanks Hashem for the gift of shoes. Long ago, people would recite this berachah right when they put on their shoes in the

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The Good Times & The Bad Times

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/04/18

The Mishnah in Masechet Pesahim (116a) establishes the halachah of מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח – which means that when we tell the story at the seder , we must begin with the negative side to the story, and end with the positive side of the story. We do this in two ways. First, we announce, מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו ועכשיו קרבנו המקום לעבודתו – our ancestors millennia ago were idol-worshippers, but now Hashem has brought us into His service. We begin with our unfortunate spiritual history, our

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Actions, Not Words

Weekly Inspire ·

2024/04/11

Much of Parashat Tazria is devoted to the laws of tzara’at – a type of plague which came in various forms, affecting either a person’s skin, his clothing, or his home. Our tradition teaches that in ancient times, tzara’at would befall a person as a punishment, mainly for the sin of lashon ha’ra – gossip and negative speech about other people. One of the indications in the text of this connection between tzara’at and lashon ha’ra is the process required when a person heals from tzara’at . In order to

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