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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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Stop Praying – and Start Begging

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/11/16

The Torah in Parashat Toldot tells what we should probably see as the first instance of antisemitism. Yitzhak Avinu was forced by a drought to settle among the Pelishtim , and they disliked him and fought with him. A focal point of the fighting was the group of wells that Yitzhak dug. These wells had actually been dug years earlier by his father, Avraham. But after Avraham died, the Pelishtim filled the wells with earth, so they could not be used. Now, Yitzhak dug them anew. And the Pelishtim fought

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Fall Off the Camel

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/11/09

Parashat Hayeh-Sara tells the famous story of Eliezer, Avraham Avinu’s servant, who traveled to Aram Nahariyim to find a suitable match for Avraham’s son, Yitzhak. At the well outside the city, he met Rivka, and brought her back to Israel to marry Yitzhak. Something mysterious happened when Rivka saw Yitzhak for the first time. Yitzhak had gone out to the fields to pray, and Rivka, who was riding a camel, saw him. She promptly fell off the camel. Why did Rivka fall off the camel when she saw

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Why to Have Guests…and Why Not to Have Guests

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/11/02

The Torah in Parashat Vayera tells of the way Avraham Avinu invited guests, serving three strangers – who, he did not realize, were angels – a full meal. Abraham did not only host guests, but went out of his way to find people who needed hospitality. Just several days after undergoing berit milah at an advanced age, he sat outside in the sun to look for people he could invite and host. In fact, the Gemara notes that Hashem appeared to Avraham on that day, and Avraham disrupted his “meeting” with

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Parashat Lech Lecha- Peace in the Family – It’s Worth...

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/10/26

We read in Parashat Lech-Lecha of an argument that arose between Avraham Avinu and his nephew, Lot, who had accompanied him when he went to the live in Eretz Yisrael , and was living with him (13:7). The background to the argument is less important for our purposes here than the way Avraham handled it. Avraham said to Lot, אל נא תהי מריבה ביני וביניך – “Let there not be a fight between me and you” (13:8). Rav Moshe Alshich notes that in the previous pasuk , the Torah tells us ויהי ריב – that there

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We Need to Know How We Affect the People Around Us

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/10/19

The first pasuk in Parashat Noach describes him as an איש צדיק – “righteous man,” and also as תמים , which means “pure,” or “innocent.” Later, however, we read that when Hashem brought the flood, He told Noach to enter the ark כי אותך ראיתי צדיק לפני בדור הזה – “for I have seen that you are righteous in this generation.” The commentaries raise the question of why Noach is first described as both an איש צדיק and as a תמים , but is then described only as a צדיק . If he was both a צדיק and a תמים ,

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We Can Meet the Challenge

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/10/12

We have all heard how wealth poses considerable spiritual challenges. In many instances, it makes it difficult to raise disciplined, hard-working children. It is difficult to withstand the urge to arrogantly and proudly show off one’s fortune. People become jealous of a wealthy person, and many try to be your friend for their own self-interests. It is difficult to focus on one’s religious growth because money opens the door to so many distractions and so many possibilities. And yet, if any of us –

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Yom Kippur- Go for the Gold

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/09/20

I once took a trip with my wife to Dubai. At one point during the trip, our tour guide brought us to a spice market. We spent around an hour perusing through the market, marveling at the countless different types of spices that were being sold, taking in the aromas, and hearing about the different properties of the various products. Then, after about an hour, the tour guide said that we needed to leave, because we had an appointment for a tour of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world

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Your Superpower

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/09/13

The Midrash tells a fable about a man who was walking along the road and decided to sit down, eat something, and relax. As he sat, he saw two birds fighting. One bird pecked the other, killing it. Then, the live bird took some pieces of grass lying on the ground, and dropped them on the dead bird. In an instant, the dead bird came back to life. They both flew away. The man who witnessed this unusual scene was astonished. The plant in front of him had the power to revive the dead! He grabbed some of

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Hashem's "Tears" on Rosh Hashana

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/09/08

The Torah calls Rosh Hashanah יום תרועה – a day when a teru’ah sound is blown with a shofar (Bamidbar 29:1) The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 33b) sets out to explain what the word תרועה actually means, and it begins by citing the ancient Aramaic translation to the Torah by Onkelos, which translates this word as יבבא . To determine the meaning of יבבא , the Gemara brings a pasuk from the Book of Shoftim (5:28) that speaks of Beneh Yisrael ’s miraculous victory over one of the powerful enemy nations in the

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Rosh Hashanah is Coming – Smile!

Weekly Inspire ·

2023/08/31

The Torah states in Parashat Ki-Tavo, והלכת בדרכיו – “You shall follow His ways” (28:9). The Rambam understands this pasuk as establishing a Torah obligation to resemble Hashem, by following His example. Just as Hashem is רחום וחנון – compassionate and merciful – we, too, are to be compassionate and merciful to other people. This mitzvah , I believe, is telling us something very important, and very profound. We need to be merciful to other people because we, too, need mercy. We are all in the same

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