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Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Rabbi David Ashear

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The Light of Lag BaOmer: A Day of Miracles and Prayer

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/15

Tonight is Lag BaOmer. There is a minhag to hold a festive meal in honor of the holy Tanna, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The Maharil writes in a teshuvah that a seudah made in honor of a talmid chacham has the status of a seudat mitzvah, because it is like eating in the radiance of the Shechinah. Therefore, a meal in honor of Rabbi Shimon carries has status of a seudat mitzvah(for certain halachot). It is also a minhag to light bonfires on Lag BaOmer, and the Bnei Yissaschar explains the reason based on

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The Hand of Hashem in Every Moment

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/14

A man once informed the Chazon Ish that a plane with 70 passengers had crashed and there were no survivors, לא עלינו . He proceeded to tell the rabbi the cause of the crash. The people who were there were eager to hear what the Chazon Ish would say about the incident—to hear the Torah perspective and gain the proper outlook on such a terrible tragedy. The Chazon Ish responded that this is not the way the story should be told. The correct way to describe it is like this: The Creator of the world

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Hashgacha Peratit in Everyday Life

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/13

There is nothing a person can accomplish without Hashem's help—and with Hashem's help, anything is possible. Even the smallest tasks require siyata dishmaya . A man shared an experience at an airport with his family. They were waiting for their last piece of luggage to appear on the carousel. His daughter asked if she could be the one to retrieve it, and he agreed. As the suitcase came around, she prepared to grab it—but in that moment, a single strand of her hair got caught on another piece of

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The Answer Before the Prayer

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/12

There are times when a person has a need, but in order to fulfill it, it seems he must go through a long and difficult process first. He wishes he had realized earlier that he would need it, so he could have started working on it months in advance. We must understand that when we come to Hashem to ask for His help, He already knows what we are going to request. Very often, Hashem prepares what we need even before we realize we're going to need it, and He waits for us to come and pray so He can give

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The Power of Letting Go

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/09

In Loving Memory of Zechariah Ben Sarah A'H and to Commemorate Sam and Zach's shared Birthday Sponsored by their Families Friends and Loved Ones Parashat Kedoshim commands us: " לא תקם ולא תטור " —do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge. The Sefer HaChinuch explains that the root of this mitzvah is to help a person internalize that whatever happens to him, even through the actions of other people, is ultimately a manifestation of Hashem's will. Similarly, the Chovot HaLevavot teaches that if

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The Power of Loving Acceptance: Lessons from Nadav,...

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/08

Parashat Acharei Mot begins by telling us that Hashem spoke to Moshe after the tragic deaths of Nadav and Avihu, who died while attempting to draw closer to Hashem. Though their death was a colossal tragedy, the Torah teaches us how to view it—and more broadly, how to understand when tragedy befalls righteous individuals especially when they are engaged in holy pursuits. At that time, the Jewish people were yearning for the Shechina to dwell in the Mishkan they had built. After the sin of the Egel ,

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Without The Feeling

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/07

One of the reasons that people may lose energy and excitement in their avodat Hashem is that they misunderstand the way Hashem deals with them. It makes logical sense that when a person is doing what Hashem wants, he should feel a certain spiritual elevation and receive some type of reciprocation which shows that Hashem is appreciating what he is doing. And so, when those things don't happen, people may begin to lose the enthusiasm that they once had. If they only knew how much Hashem appreciates

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The Eternal Merit of a Mitzvah

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/06

Rabbi Chananiah ben Akashia teaches us that Hashem desires to bestow abundant merit upon the Jewish people. For this reason, He gave us many mitzvot—each one an opportunity to earn immense spiritual reward. While the ultimate reward for mitzvot is reserved for the World to Come, Chazal teach that mitzvot also bring tremendous benefits in this world. Our sages explain that the Jewish people were not originally deserving of redemption from Egypt. It was only through the merit of two mitzvot that they

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No Mistakes in Heaven: Trusting Hashem’s Plan

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/05

When our plans are suddenly canceled or unexpected mistakes arise, they often appear to be nothing more than unfortunate coincidences. In such moments, it's natural to feel disappointment or confusion about why things didn't go as expected. However, someone with emunah —faith in Hashem—understands that there is no such thing as a mistake. Everything unfolds precisely as it is meant to, even if the reasons are hidden from us. Most of the time, we're not privileged to see the full picture. We don't

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Parashiot Tazria-Metzorah: The Test of Parnassah

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/02

In Parashat Tazria , the Midrash relates a poignant story about a Kohen who served his community by diagnosing tzara'at . After losing all his wealth, he faced the painful dilemma of how to support his wife and children. With no viable options in his hometown, he resolved to leave Israel in search of livelihood. As he prepared to depart, he trained his wife—his only possible successor—in the laws of tzara'at . He taught her: "Every hair has its root, and the condition of the hair reveals the state

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Embracing the Challenge: Finding Strength in Hashem’s...

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/05/01

There are times in life when a person feels that not receiving what they desperately want would be the worst possible outcome. In such moments, they may cry out and beg Hashem for help, day and night, with their entire being. During this time, they find it difficult to enjoy anything. Their thoughts are consumed by the issue, and they can't imagine life without a resolution. Naturally, we are encouraged to pray for what we believe is best and to place our hopes in Hashem's kindness. However, it's

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Staying Close to Hashem in Challenging Times

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/30

When people face hardship, their instinctive response is often to seek extra mercy from Hashem. They might take on new halachic stringencies, elevate their level of kavanah during tefillah , and pray with greater emotion, sincerity, and even tears. They do their best to act with heightened spiritual awareness, all in the hope that these efforts will bring about a salvation. But when time passes and the situation doesn't improve—or even worsens—it becomes increasingly difficult to keep that spiritual

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Hashem Always Takes Care of Me

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/29

We love to see salvations from Hashem. Sometimes, we witness immediate responses to our tefillot , and when that happens, it is an incredible experience. Rabbi Aholiav Chiyun once related that he met Rabbi Shlomo Musayof, founder of the Musayof shul in Yerushalayim, on Purim . Rabbi Musayof looked noticeably sad, and when Rabbi Chiyun asked him what was wrong, he explained that he had a son who had escaped from Russia to America 12 years earlier, and he had not heard from him since. In those days,

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The Secret of Parnasa

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/28

The Yismach Yisrael writes that if someone is humble regarding parnasa and truly believes that his income does not come from his efforts but rather from Hashem's chesed , he opens the pipelines for more shefa to pour down. The mann that the Jews received in the Midbar came in the merit of Moshe Rabbenu, who was the most humble of all. His humility opened the pipeline for blessing. When Moshe told the Jews about the mann , he said, הוא הלחם אשר נתן לכם ה' לאכלה – "This is the bread that Hashem has

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Parashat Shemini-The Three Pillars of the World

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/25

Our Sages teach us that the world stands on three pillars: Torah , Avodah , and Gemilut Chasadim . Rabbi David Najjar found a fascinating allusion to this concept in a Passuk from this week's Parashah, Shemini . The Passuk states: " ואת העולה המציאו אליו לנתחיה ואת הראש ויקטר על המזבח " — referring to the korban olah . Rabbi Najjar notes that the initial letters of the phrase " ואת העולה המציאו אליו " spell out the divine name with which Hashem created the world — suggesting a connection to the

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The Only Real Option

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/24

In the Haggadah, the Pasuk V'nitz'ak el Hashem Elokei Avoteinu refers to the Jewish people crying out to Hashem in prayer, a moment that occurred following the death of the King of Egypt. Immediately after this, the Pasuk states, Vayishma Hashem Et Kolenu —"And Hashem heard their voices," leading to their redemption. What is the connection between the king's death and the Jewish people's cries to Hashem? The Rashbatz offers an explanation: for many years, the Jewish people had anticipated that the

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Every Footstep

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/23

Rav Chaim Kaniyevsky Z"l asked in his Sefer Ta'amah Dikra, if Hashem wanted to punish the Egyptians measure for measure, drowning them because they drowned the Jewish babies, why do He have to bring them all the way to the Yom Suf to do it? Why couldn't He just bring a tsunami upon them right where they were in Egypt? The Rabbi answered, Hashem wanted to show us that when bringing punishment upon a sinner, Hashem doesn't need to bring the punishment to him. Rather, He can make the sinner himself go

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Pale in Comparison

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/21

If we would be able to see what we accomplish by doing mitzvot, we would run after them with such excitement and everything in this world would pale in comparison to them. When the Jewish People were preparing to leave Mitzrayim, they were told to go and gather all the wealth of Egypt. At that time, Moshe Rabbenu chose to go and find the aron of Yosef instead, and for that Chazal applied the pasuk חכם לב יקח מצוות to him. While everyone was becoming billionaires, Moshe went to do one mitzvah and he

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Who Would Have Thought?

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/16

Who Would Have Thought? Three people recentlyapproached me, each asking a similar question. "I know that Hashem onlydoes good. Yet, what could possibly be good about the pain and anguish I amgoing through now?" One of them had Shalom Bayit problems, one had Shiduchproblems and the other had health problems. It is easy to learn about Hashem'sgoodness and talk about it, giving Chizuk to others. However, when a personhimself is in a difficult situation, it is not so easy to feel that goodness. What is

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Hashem's Master Plan

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/04/15

There are times when a person sets out to do something and, all of a sudden, he hits a roadblock. He tries everything he can to go around it, but to no avail. The roadblock may come in the form of a person denying him or a circumstance denying him. And he is left helplessly to try to figure out what to do next. In those frustrating circumstances, a person could easily lose his cool, but then he will have failed his test. He must internalize, it is not the person or the circumstance that is stopping

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Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

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