Morte e Satisfação Ao Lado do Tejo
Why ever move from a perfect place?
11 Lessons for Existential Tourists
The Chassidic masters recognize there is something both profound and wrong with uprootedness, travel, the state of being on the road. Their approach is too complex for a full survey here, but we need for contrast look no further than the (desirable) recognition of the Maggid of Mezritch that he is but a traveler in […]
Celebrating Halloween the Chassidic Way
Why can’t we just celebrate Halloween if it’s secular nowadays?
There's No Such Thing As A Simple Idolator
Fourth member of a Sukkot series on the teachings of the Holy Baal Shem Tov. Members the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd. “The wholesome simplicity of the simple Jew touches on the utterly simple essence of G‑d. ” The Holy Baal Shem Tov It’s tricky to be simple. The opposite of chassidic simplicity is […]
“If you preserve my lamp, I shall preserve yours.”
Iggeres HaKodesh and the Greasy Pole
Does the Torah Say The World Is An Illusion?
Of Witchcraft, Cucumbers, and Reason
Finding Dark Light in a Digital Cave
The Jewish Case For Not Being Born
Anti-Natalism in the Talmud
One impression that emerges from reading the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s letters on matters of faith is that deep skepticism and profound belief are not opposites, but rather belong together in a healthy soul. You can see this in the way the Rebbe describes the historical giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, taking a Kuzari-like tack […]