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 teshuvah, prayer (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.
In Parashat Bo, the mitzvah of tefillin reveals a deep map of inner avodah. Drawing on Likutei Moharan 15, this essay explores how fallen fear (yirah) is elevated through self-judgment and humility into da’at, transforming fear into awe and opening the path to the hidden light of the Torah.
At the end of Parashat Shemot, B’nei Yisrael believe Moshe’s promise of redemption. But after Pharaoh intensifies the bondage, they can no longer hear it. Not rebellion, but kotzer ruach – a collapse of human capacity under crushing pain. The Torah records this without blame, and redemption moves forward anyway.
A profound reading of Parashat Vayechi exploring why Ya'akov buried Rachel on the road and Leah in Ma'arat ha-Machpelah. This report traces how Ya'akov places truth, love, and destiny at the end of life – revealing exile, permanence, and where each truth belongs.
You pray, fast, and struggle to change, yet nothing seems to last. The effort feels sincere, even heroic, but the same patterns return. The failure is not moral weakness – it is structural. Self-reliance itself becomes the barrier to true repair.
He conquered Lavan and Esav, but the final transformation came only when Ya'akov saw Leah for who she truly was. Becoming Yisrael meant learning to recognize the greatness that had been beside him all along.
Rachel’s silence in Vayeitzei hides one of the Torah’s most painful truths. For seven years she watched Leah receive the love, gifts, and destiny meant for her – and said nothing, choosing compassion over vindication. Her quiet sacrifice reshapes our understanding of the entire parashah.
Why does Hashem lift us only to send us down again? Rebbe Nachman teaches that ascent is just the breath before a descent. Through Parashat Toledot, we see how even our descents—whether struggles or missions—become pathways to deeper light, strength, and true tikkun.
The act of Shem and Yefet covering their father reveals a map of modesty: body, will, and soul aligning to guard the tzelem Elokim. From instinctive awe to conscious mitzvah to divine stillness, the Torah shows how true tzniut radiates holiness from within.
When the moon asked, “Can two kings share one crown?”, Hashem answered, “Go and diminish yourself.” Her cry birthed longing and time itself. Through silence and humility, the soul learns to reflect rather than radiate—healing the ancient wound between giver and receiver.
Our destiny as Israel is not only to keep mitzvot, but to rule over the angels themselves. Rebbe Nachman teaches that this comes by binding to the root of all souls, drawing da’at into the heart, and rebuilding Yerushalayim with true yirah.
Bribes don’t only corrupt courts—they blind our conscience. In Parashat Shoftim the Torah warns: a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise. Self-bribes—flattery, pride, excuses, comfort, pleasure—distort our inner judge. Learn the five subtle bribes that block truth and teshuvah.
Parashat Re’eh calls us to ‘see’—not just with our eyes, but with vision shaped by memory, joy, and contentment. Rebbe Nachman reveals how imagination can distort reality or illuminate truth, guiding us toward blessing, clarity, and spiritual purpose.
