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PODCAST

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l

Rav Shlomo Katz

In this series Rav Shlomo Katz explores the inspiring, powerful Torah and Wisdom of Reb Usher Freund zt"l

religion & spirituality judaism

All Episodes

38:57

15. Don’t Let Damaging Thoughts Break You

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/11/24

This week, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David continue the letter from Reb Usher which deals with one of the most painful questions in real avodas Hashem:Why do the dirtiest, most damaging thoughts show up precisely in our holiest moments – during davening, on Yom Kippur, when we finally feel like we’re showing up?Instead of letting those thoughts “prove” that we’re garbage, Reb Usher flips the script. He teaches that these intrusive machshavos are not a verdict on who we are –

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34:37

14. The Shechinah is in Exile. Don’t Freak Out

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/11/17

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn a fierce, grounding letter from Reb Usher Freund: why the most confusing thoughts show up specifically in the holiest moments, and how that’s not a failure but a signal. From the Kohen Gadol’s risk in the Kodesh HaKodashim to David HaMelech’s “beheimos hayisi imach,” we’re taught to stop panicking, return to bitul, and let those thoughts flip into emunah peshutah. Galus HaShechinah isn’t abstract. It’s the ache of not feeling seen - in

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35:10

13. The Gifts That Emerge From Confusing Thoughts

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/11/10

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn a fierce, yet compassionate, letter from Reb Usher Freund on what to do precisely when, in holy moments, the mind floods with מחשבות זרות—blurry, intrusive, and confusing thoughts. Instead of spiraling into self-hatred, Reb Usher reframes them as invitations to ביטול/אין: not “I am garbage,” but “I’m held and that my strength is borrowed Light.” We explore how recognizing our true value as receivers gives us real contro, not over what

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29:20

12. When the Pain Starts to Crumble

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/11/03

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn a short but searing letter from Reb Usher Freund about what happens when pain starts to crumble. Writing to a woman trapped in an agunah reality, Reb Usher validates the anguish, and then reframes it: pain can be a cleansing wash (רחיצת שמלה) that scrubs away stains; the process still hurts, but accepted with love it stops being torture and begins to reveal Or Shivat HaYamim (the primordial “seven-day light). “Ketz sam la’choshech”— there

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37:13

11. Accessing Supernatural Powers

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/10/20

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn Reb Usher’s short but piercing letter about the “game” Hashem set into creation: neshamas sent into gufim—so that our way to powers lema’alah min ha’teva (above our nature) actually runs through the body, not around it. We explore free will in real time (not acting on every thought), the danger of turning streaks of self-control into self-worship, and the quiet addiction to feeling like a victim. The avodah is to notice the strength we’re

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42:27

10. Is Pain the Only Way to Discover the Real Me?

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/09/29

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn a piece from Reb Usher that reminds us that the foundation of our existence is emunah—and that the milchemes hamiddos (inner war of character) never clocks out. We learn how to ask not “lama?—why is this happening?” but “lemah?—what is this for?” and how that shift turns panic into tefillah, despair into light, and homes full of worry into homes clothed in warmth.Topics include:Why tzaddikim begin each day certain that Hashem believes in

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44:22

9. What Brings The Most Pleasure in This World?

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/09/17

----------For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.comJoin Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

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36:34

8. Finding and Basking in Light through Torment

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/09/08

Rav Shlomo Katz learns from a letter of Reb Usher (Nisan 5751) about the foundation of our existence: emunah. Together we explore how friendships rooted in emunah help us hold steady in times of torment, how the deepest pain can transform into hidden light (Or HaGanuz), and why believing in Geulah means believing in Am Yisrael.Topics include:Why the tzaddikim began each day with the certainty that Hashem believed in them.The difference between asking for emunah and simply wanting to find

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50:12

7. Eternal Friendships

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/09/02

What if the friendships in your life weren’t random at all, but eternal assignments from Above? Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David open a fiery letter from Reb Usher Freund zt"l, teaching us that Hashem places us together on life’s narrow tracks for a purpose far beyond coincidence.With stories from the chuppah of Rav Leo Dee and the struggles we all face between fleeting highs and crushing lows, Rav Shlomo brings out Reb Usher’s radical call: to transform emunah from a noun

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41:33

The Moment Pain Becomes Help

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/07/06

What if the very pain you're desperate to escape is actually your greatest source of strength? Join Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David and explore a groundbreaking insight from Reb Usher Freund: your struggles aren't just hurdles to overcome—they're the very tools Hashem uses to help you grow.Drawing from powerful personal stories, including the miraculous story of his own grandfather’s survival during WWII, Rav Shlomo helps us internalize the life-changing truth that pain and

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44:52

Feeling the Tap on the Shoulder

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/06/30

What if the pain in your life wasn’t a punishment, but a tap on the shoulder from Heaven?Join Rav Shlomo Katz and the Shirat David chevra as we dive deep into a 1971 letter from Reb Asher Freund zt”l, revealing the hidden invitation behind our struggles. Drawing from Reb Usher’s piercing insights, we learn that real emunah means believing not only that things will work out, but that the very obstacles we face are themselves part of Divine hashgacha. The suffering isn’t a glitch in the

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38:21

My Pain is My Tikkun - Learning from Reb Usher Freund...

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/06/09

Is our suffering divine punishment, or is it something deeper?Join Rav Shlomo in unpacking a soul-stirring 1971 letter from Reb Usher Freund zt”l that redefines how we view pain, failure, and confusion. With brutal honesty and infinite compassion, Reb Usher teaches that the deepest afflictions in life are not punishments. Rather, they are the very vehicles through which we connect to Hashem.Rav Shlomo explores the inner wars with the yetzer hara, the moments when we feel too broken to pray,

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45:57

The Pain Isn’t Real. But Emunah Is - Learning from...

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/05/19

Why do some people with endless hardship live in serenity, while others crumble under far less?What if it’s not the circumstances causing pain, but how we think about them?Dive into the inner world of Rav Asher, who teaches that most suffering doesn’t come from reality. Rather, it comes from the imagination. Our own thoughts become our enemy. But once we learn to trace our strength not to our ego, but to the Ein, to the place of nothingness where only Hashem is real, we begin to live. This

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55:55

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l (2) - Pain is an...

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/05/12

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32:22

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l (1) - Who Was Reb...

Learning From Reb Usher Freund zt"l ·

2025/05/05

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