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Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Rabbi David Ashear

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Hashem Loves to Help

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/18

The Gemara tells us, if a person sees that hardships have been coming his way, he should view it as a calling to improve his ways. Sometimes a person knows exactly what he needs to improve in but other times it is very hard to determine. A person is encouraged to ask Hashem to help him make the changes that need to be made. Hashem loves to help us, especially with our spiritual needs, we just need to want it enough and sincerely ask Him for His help. A rabbi related, one morning on his way to the

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Treat Them with Respect

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/15

The Torah is the beginning of parashat Ekev promises the most beautiful rewards to those who adhere to the mitzvot . Rashi writes there that the Torah is speaking about the mitzvot that people trample upon and don't give enough respect to. Every mitzvah is such a treasure and, unfortunately, sometimes we take them for granted and don't treat them with the respect that is befitting them. Recently, a student of mine told me that he had allocated money for tzedaka and asked me if I could recommend a

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Down to the Smallest Details

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/14

Chazal tell us that every person is obligated to say בשבילי נברא העולם – that the world was created for him. One explanation is that it was worth it for Hashem to create the entire world for each Jew to do his own personal avodat Hashem. Hashem values the service of each person so much. There is no one else in the world that can replace what Hashem wants from each and every Jew. When someone goes to shul to pray or to learn Torah or to do any other mitzvah, he should understand how vital his avodat

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Accept with Love

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/13

If a person had a very big problem to deal with and he was told that if he would accept what Hashem had given him with love, immediately that problem would disappear, he would have a very easy time accepting that problem. He would recognize the great benefit he is going to receive by responding with joy and it wouldn't even be a test for him. I read a story about a woman who worked to support her family, enabling her husband to learn Torah day and night. On one occasion, she had a month's worth of

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The Mitzvah You Didn’t Expect

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/12

Michael Cohen, who would later go on to found the well-known organization Mitzvah Man , once set a personal goal to do at least one act of chesed every single day. But one day—years before his organization ever existed—he found himself struggling to fulfill that mission. He drove around like a salesman searching for a client, only he was looking for a mitzvah. Maybe someone needed a ride. Maybe a pauper was waiting for tzedakah. Maybe someone just needed a helping hand. But nothing came his way

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The Time You Give Comes Back With Blessing

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/11

The Midrash Rabbah on Megillat Ruth, quoting Rabbi Yehoshua, teaches: יֹתֵר מִמָּה שֶׁבַּעַל הַבַּיִת עוֹשֶׂה עִם הֶעָנִי, הֶעָנִי עוֹשֶׂה עִם בַּעַל הַבָּיִת — More than the homeowner does for the poor person, the poor person does for the homeowner. One application of this Midrash is in how we view the time we invest in helping others. People often think — especially when life is busy and responsibilities pile up — I'd love to do more chesed… I'd love to learn more Torah… I'd love to do more

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Parashat V’etchanan: Emunah For Children

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/08

In this week's parasha, V'etchanan, we have, arguably, the most well-known pasuk in the entire Torah: "שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד" This pasuk is the root of all of our emunah that Hashem is our G-d and He is the only One in control. The Gemara says in Masechet Sukkah (p. 42) that when a child is first able to speak, his father should teach him this line Shema Yisrael. With this, we are training our children and imbuing them with emunah from the earliest age. Something of such vital importance can't

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The Tree Takes Time to Grow

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/07

In today's generation, we've grown used to instant results. We place an order and expect it at our doorstep within hours. We start a job and want to see immediate success. And this mindset has quietly crept into our spiritual lives as well. We invest our time, our energy, and our hearts into our avodat Hashem , but when we don't see immediate results, the yetzer hara whispers in our ears: "Why bother? You've tried and tried—what do you have to show for it?" This struggle applies to so many areas of

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Every Second is His Plan

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/06

Hashem doesn't just hear every word we say — He knows every thought that passes through our minds. Last Friday, I was shopping for Shabbat and noticed that the prices were unusually high. I picked up an item and began debating whether or not to put it back. Just then, a man came over to me and asked, "Is it true that anything we spend for Shabbat doesn't come out of the yearly income Hashem allots for us?" I replied, "Absolutely. It's an explicit Gemara." As soon as I answered, I realized Hashem had

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The Value of Our Support

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/08/05

Chazal tell us, ישראל מפרנסין לאביהם שבשמים —Yisrael "support" their Father in Heaven. This means that the satisfaction Hashem derives from our good deeds is, so to speak, how we "support" Him. In earlier generations, that support came from the deeds of great tzaddikim—people whose entire lives were devoted to serving Hashem with purity and holiness. Their Torah learning was filled with clarity, their prayers pierced the heavens, and their mitzvot were performed with incredible precision and joy. In

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When Hashem Sends a Message

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/30

A man told me that his wife had been a little negligent about something he had asked her to do multiple times. Unfortunately, as a result, their children were placed in a potentially dangerous situation. Baruch Hashem, everything worked out in the end, but he was extremely upset. He felt his wife had put their children in danger unnecessarily, and he had every reason to be shaken. Later that same day, while at home, he decided to learn a bit. The only sefer easily available was an ArtScroll volume

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The Only Vessel That Holds Blessing

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/29

Chazal teach us that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam—baseless hatred. And our Rabbis have explained that, in truth, almost all hatred is baseless , because we know that whatever another person does to us is ultimately coming directly from Hashem. Even though people have free will, person A cannot use that free will to harm person B unless Hashem allows it—and that only happens if it's meant to be. If someone is able to cause us pain, it's only because Hashem decreed it for

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The Transformative Power of Tefillah

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/28

Although we are not permitted to hold weddings during these days, Halacha allows a person to become engaged—even on Tisha B'Av itself. The Gemara explains the reason: שמא יקדיםנו אחר —perhaps someone else will marry her first. But the Gemara then raises a question: If a person's zivug is already determined even before conception, how could anyone else take what was destined for someone? The answer: if the other person prays hard enough, he may merit it. From here we learn the incredible power of

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Parashiyot Matot-Masei - Hashem’s Hand in War: Then...

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/25

In Parashat Matot, Moshe Rabbeinu is commanded by Hashem to avenge the Midyanim for causing Bnei Yisrael to stumble in the most severe sins. Moshe responds by selecting one thousand tzaddikim from each shevet, totaling 12,000 men. He sent them off to war along with Pinchas, the Aron HaKodesh, and the special trumpets used in battle to invoke Hashem's favor and bring victory. The Torah then states: " וַיִּצְבְּאוּ עַל־מִדְיָן " – They encamped against Midyan. Ramban explains that this means the

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The Power of Emunah

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/24

Today's Dedication: יהונתן אשר יהודה בן מיכל שהמשפט כנגדו יתבטל לגמרי בקרוב מאוד The Atzei Chaim , a peirush on Chumash from the 1600s, writes a powerful explanation on the words "Vaya'amen ha'am" in Parashat Beshalach, which describe how the Jewish people believed that Hashem would take them out of Mitzrayim. He brings the Chazal: " אין ישראל ניזונין אלא בזכות האמונה " — The Jewish people are sustained only in the merit of emunah. He explains: as we know, the full reward for mitzvot is given in the

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When Hashem Decides: A Lesson in Parnasah and Emunah

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/23

A person struggling with parnasah wakes up each morning hoping that today will be different—that this will be the day when everything turns around. He puts in a full day's work, makes phone calls, attends meetings, and develops new strategies. He pushes himself to his limits—but the income still doesn't come. The bills pile up, each one adding more weight to his already heavy heart. And in quiet moments, he wonders: Is Hashem seeing how much I'm struggling? He opens his siddur and begins to pray,

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A Journey of Emunah and Hashgacha

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/22

A rabbi from Israel, who describes himself as someone with deep emunah, shared a powerful personal experience in which that very emunah was severely tested. Part of this rabbi's life's work involves printing rare and precious Torah manuscripts authored by great rabbis of previous generations. Years ago, he was working on a manuscript by a certain Rabbi Laniado, who had an exceptionally accurate version of Rashi's commentary. During his research, the rabbi discovered that a location in Italy claimed

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We Are Workers, Not Bosses

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/21

There's a well-known statement from Rav Nachman Mibreslev: Ein ye'ush ba'olam kelal — that a person is never allowed to give up hope on anything. This statement is often used to give c hizuk to people who have been trying for years to achieve a certain goal, but haven't achieved it yet. They are told never to give up, because Hashem can always bring the salvation in the blink of an eye. To Him, it does not matter that years have passed without success. When the time is right, He will bring the

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Parashat Pinchas: From the Beginning of Time

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/18

In the beginning of this week's parasha , Pinchas, we read about the great rewards Pinchas received for doing the will of Hashem under very difficult circumstances. The Midrash at the end of parashat Balak asks how could it be that Moshe Rabbenu forgot the halacha of what was supposed to be done with Zimri and Kozbi? Thr Midrash answered, it was מן השמים, in order to give Pinchas the ability to get what Hashem wanted to give him. Although when we read the pesukim it seems like everything happened in

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Hashem Is in Charge of Parnassah

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear ·

2025/07/17

Parnassah is from Shamayim. The pasuk says, Birkat Hashem hee ta'ashir — it is the blessing of Hashem that gives a person his wealth. We are taught by the society around us that the more hours we work, the more money we'll make. But it's not true. Rather, the more blessing we have from Hashem, the more money we'll make. Yes, we have to make a reasonable hishtadlut, but we must never forget that our main purpose in this world is avodat Hashem , which includes learning Torah, praying with a minyan ,

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Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

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