Thought of the Day
When we awaken a Divine attribute in ourselves, we are drawing on the energy from its source in the world of the sephirot, which then flows down into us and out into the world.
Category: Holydays
Weekly Teachings - Every Friday a teaching is posted on the site as a subject for study and contemplation during the coming week. The teaching guide the reader in using the teachings and practices of Judaism as a spiritual path that leads to God knowledge. They combine the wisdom of the Kabbalah, Hasidic Masters, and the Rabbis with the knowledge of the mystical and esoteric traditions of other faiths. The teachings provide a path that is both solidly anchored in the Jewish tradition and fully universal in its vision and understanding of the spiritual life. Here you will find all the past teachings under the category of Holydays.
Lag Ba’Omer
9 May 2012 | No Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
Bar Yochai! With oil of sacred anointment were you anointed from the holy measure You bore the headplate, a crown of holiness, bound upon your head is your glory… Bar Yochai! In a goodly dwelling did you settle on the day you ran, the day you fled, In rocky caves where you stopped – there [...]
Spiritual Optimism III: Spiritual Optimism and Israel
25 Apr 2012 | No Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
Optimism is an intrinsic part of the Jewish tradition. This optimism has upheld us amid countless sufferings and ordeals. This optimism has carried us through two thousand years of exile.
In the Midst of the Sea
12 Apr 2012 | 3 Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
“Speak to the Children of Israel that they go forward.” - Exodus 14:15 “He who can forebear, lives. He who cannot, is lost.” - Sri Ramakrishna [1] There are times in life when we feel closed in on all sides, moments when the way back is cut off, and the path forward is blocked. At such times, [...]
Roadmap to Freedom
6 Apr 2012 | 1 Comment | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
“The order of the Pesach service is now completed in accordance with all its laws, its ordinances and statues. Just as we were found worthy to perform it [this year], so may we be worthy to do it in the future. O Pure One, Who dwells on high, raise up the congregation which is without [...]
Preparing for Pesach
30 Mar 2012 | 3 Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
The weeks before Pesach are a time of intense physical work, getting our homes ready for the holyday. We turn our house inside out and upside down to seek out and destroy any trace of chametz – leaven and leavened bread. This process is a reflection of an inner process of cleansing that also takes [...]
Purim Knowledge
7 Mar 2012 | 3 Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
Lord, You fill all worlds, and surround all worlds. And Lord without You, there is no world at all. - The Zohar “The Lord does everything. My Divine Mother dwells in all beings, and they do as she wills.” Swami Premananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna [1] Everything which occurs – both the good and [...]
Zachor – Remember Amalek
2 Mar 2012 | 3 Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
Despite our deepest wish that it not be so, there are people in this world who have no compassion or love. There are people who show no pity or decency. There are people that prey on the helpless and the vulnerable. There are people who will do or say anything to achieve their goals. In [...]
Meditation for Tu B’Shvat: The Holy Apple Field
7 Feb 2012 | 1 Comment | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
This is a meditation in honor of Tu B’Shvat based on this week’s teaching The Ground of Being. Take time to visualize each step of the meditation and to immerse yourself in the experience. Tu B’Shvat Sameach! Yoel
Rooted in the Ground of Being: Tu B’Shvat: The New Year for Trees
3 Feb 2012 | 1 Comment | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
The most difficult thing in the world is to just be – to stop planning, scheming, and doing and just be. Yet, there is nothing more powerful than a person who truly IS. In just being, we become our true Self. We live centered in the core of our being, and everything that we [...]
Blinding Light
23 Dec 2011 | No Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
The sun is rising in golden radiance! The sun of a thousand rays in a hundred regions abiding; the god omniscient, the aim of all prayer; the light and fire supreme, the infinite life of all Beings. Radiant in His light, yet invisible in the secret place of the heart, the Spirit is the supreme [...]
Hanukkah: Dispel the Darkness
16 Dec 2011 | No Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
Rebbe Natan of Nemirov teaches that on the holyday Hanukkah we receive the light of the Beit Hamikdash or Temple. The Beit Hamikdash is the place where we can access the Mind of God. It is the treasure-house which holds the prayers and desires in the heart of the Creator. It is the inner chamber [...]
Stay with God – The Festival of Shemini Atzeret
23 Oct 2011 | No Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
“On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly: you shall do no work of labor.” – Numbers 29:35 Shemini Atzeret – the solemn assembly of the eighth day of Sukkot is a holyday whose sole purpose is to allow us to remain one day longer in the presence of our Lord. The Midrash [...]
Yom Kippur: The Purifying Power of Ayin
7 Aug 2011 | No Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
Rabbi Akiva said, “Happy are you Israel! See before whom you purify yourselves, and who it is that purifies you? Your father in Heaven! As it is written, ‘And I will throw pure water upon you, and you will be purified.’ (Ezekiel 36:25) And it is written, ‘The Mikvah [ritual bath/purifying pool] of Israel is [...]
Spiritual Optimism IV: Spiritual Optimism and the High Holydays
7 Aug 2011 | No Comments | posted by Rabbi Yoel Glick | in Holydays
The High Holydays that begin each Jewish year are called the Yamim Noraim – the Days of Awe. For many Jews it is a time of fear and trembling at the approach of the Day of Judgment. It is true that the High Holydays are an occasion for reflection and self-examination, a moment of decision [...]
