Yehoshua's Merit in the Valley of Ayalon: What does the prophecy of Eldad and Meidad have to do with Yehoshua bin Nun telling the sun to be silent? This past Tuesday, the 3rd of Tammuz, was the anniversary of a decisive and strategically important victory for Yehoshua and B'nei Yisrael as part of their southern…
How to Acquire the Attribute of Yosef ha-Tzaddik: In last week's article Ya'akov's Fear in Going Down to Egypt, we learned that through the strength of his character, specifically his shemirat einayim, Yosef was able to break the tumah of immorality that filled the land of Egypt. As a result of his unprecedented strength of…
The Power of One Man's Personal Kedushah: After Ya'akov learned that Yosef was alive and well in Egypt, he knew that he needed to go and see him. He set out from his home with his family and all of his possessions and came to Be'er Sheva where he offered sacrifices to the G-d of…
Mashiach and the Mechanics of Rebuke: A little over a year ago, we published a d'var Torah entitled To Rebuke or Not to Rebuke: That is the Question. In that article, we explained what happens to someone who receives rebuke from someone who is unfit to rebuke. In short, instead of arousing within the rebukee…
The Secret Kavanah of Brit Milah (Part 2) In last week's article entitled Revealing a Tefach and Covering a Tefach, we began to explore a little bit of the hidden meaning of the mitzvah of brit milah. Guided by Likutei Moharan 63, we learned that the Torah has hidden the deeper kavanot of brit milah within the secrets of…
The Secret Kavanah of Brit Milah (Part 1) We accept the mitzvah of brit milah without question. Even some of the outwardly less-observant members of our nation, for example, those who desecrate the kedushah of Shabbat without even the slightest pang of conscience, would never imagine not performing brit milah on behalf of their eight-day…
How Machloket Not for the Sake of Heaven Serves a Higher Purpose In last few articles from The Shoemaker Report we have taken the time to explain teachings from the Zohar ha-Kadosh and from the Vilna Gaon that state unequivocally that one of the worst sins we could become involved in, chas v'shalom, is the…
The Secret of the Erev Rav (Part 2) In last week's article, The Erev Rav Also Went Up With Them, we learned a number of important points related to the Erev Rav and their relationship to B'nei Yisrael. First, the worship of the golden calf was instigated by a group of converts from Egypt known…
The Secret of the Erev Rav (Part 1) R' Yirmeyah ben Elazar taught (Eruvin 18b): כָּל אוֹתָן הַשָּׁנִים שֶׁהָיָה אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן בְּנִידּוּי הוֹלִיד רוּחִין וְשֵׁידִין וְלִילִין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״וַיְחִי אָדָם שְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בִּדְמוּתוֹ כְּצַלְמוֹ״ מִכְּלָל דְּעַד הָאִידָּנָא לָאו כְּצַלְמוֹ אוֹלֵיד (All the years that Adam ha-Rishon was in [self-imposed] isolation [from Chavah], he fathered…
How the Mishkan Was Built In what is perhaps his most well-known lesson in Likutei Moharan, R' Nachman of Breslov explains the importance of looking for, and finding (!), the good points in every Jew, even in someone we might consider a rasha (see L.M. 282). He also teaches there the necessity of looking for…
In last week's article, The Danger of Breathing in Poisoned Air, we learned that the transgression that led to the Jewish men leaving their holy encampment and going to the Midianite market was because they were not breathing in the pure air that emanated from the mouth of Moshe Rabbeinu. In this week's essay, we…
In the early days of the automobile, if someone wanted to start his engine, he inserted the hand crank and turned it forcefully. Although he probably did not understand what was actually going on under the hood when he turned the crank, i.e. he did not understand the physical mechanism that connected his action in…