Library of Weekly Reports

Divrei Torah Rooted in Breslov Chassidut

Collected Archive of Shoemaker Reports

The Shoemaker Report is Rav Hoshea’s weekly Torah publication. Its focus is on internalizing and living Torah from the heart, not only from the head. The divrei Torah often take the parashah of the week as their point of entry and address central questions of inner avodah — including teshuvahprayer (tefillah)emunah, bitachon, and related areas of spiritual and personal refinement.

The writing assumes seriousness from the reader and speaks from within Torah life, with meaning emerging organically from honest analysis of our holy Torah and the words of Chazal, rather than from short-lived inspiration or simplified conclusions.

The Danger of Relying on Self-Evaluation

The Dispute Between Zimri and Pinchas: The Gemara in Berachot 32a offers different 'proof texts' to show that Moshe Rabbeinu spoke somewhat impertinently [הֵטִיחַ דְּבָרִים כְּלַפֵּי מַעְלָה, literally, 'he threw his words upward'] to Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu when he sought to defend B'nei Yisrael on account of their sins. One

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Preserving Free Will at Matan Torah

Likutei Moharan 190 and Moshe's Extra Day: In Parashat Yitro, we read the account of Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah. In Parashat Va'etchanan which relates what took place forty years later, Moshe Rabbeinu adds some details that weren't mentioned in the original account in Shemot. Breaking into the

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Are We Really Just ‘Hackable Animals’?

In the 1980s, a team of neuroscientists at the University of California, San Francisco led by Benjamin Libet published numerous papers interpreted by many, including Libet himself, as demonstrating that our brains initiate conscious voluntary movements as well as the will to move before we are consciously aware of the

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