Binah is how we apply everything we learn to our own lives; how the ladder meets the ground

Shabbat is the vision, and during the week we are supposed to make the world look more like Shabbat.  And Havdallah is the transition – do it right!

There is so much we can do to leave the possibility of happiness open.  And so much we already do that allows it to close.

The Torah life is the latticework upon which our lives grow.  It is our job to do the work of allowing the Torah to circumscribe that life for us.  Please note that this class cuts off at the end, and you’ll never ever know the all-important secret that was revealed at the end.

The transition from the profane week to the holiness of Shabbat is so drastic, it requires some pretty heavy spiritual technology to make it happen.

Yaakov is in perfect position to out-deceive Lavan, but he backs down.  Why?

Our bad feelings, faulty narratives, and various and sundry schtick tend to coalesce around the people and situations we encounter in the form of a hard shell called ‘klipah’, and only joy can break through it.  How?  And what is joy, anyway?

The Talmud promises that one who has oneg Shabbes receives an inheritance without boundaries.  Rebbe Natan understands this literally – we inherit the capacity to go beyond the boundaries of time, space, and self, into a sea of bliss.  And how do you get there?  A little spinach.  Some fish.  A head of garlic.  Mix [...]

Yir’ah – the cherishing of the opportunity of a moment – can be and has to be learned.  We can learn the bullet-points but we have to take them home.  And now we start looking at building blocks of yir’ah. 

Eliezer is cursed; flawed; a servant.  But he knows it, and this become his ticket to perfection, blessing, and freedom.