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.
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
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
How to Merit Seeing the Beit ha-Mikdash of Fire: With words of comfort and consolation, Yeshayah ha-Navi records a promise from Hashem that even though B'nei Yisrael will experience much suffering over the years, He will rebuild for them the Beit ha-Mikdash (Yeshayah 54:11-12): עֲנִיָּה סֹעֲרָה לֹא נֻחָמָה הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי
The Importance of Correcting Our Speech: Have you ever wondered why certain heresies, i..e. religious, scientific, psychological, educational, philosophical and political heresies, spread like wildfire while others never seem to gain much traction? Likewise, have you ever wondered why the mythology of almost every nation of the world contains the
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
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
The Secret of the Erev Rav (Part 3) In the past two issues of The Shoemaker Report, we examined the origins and characteristics of the souls of the converts who accompanied the Jewish People when they left Egypt in the days of Moshe Rabbeinu. This group, known collectively as 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
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
Building the Mishkan: from Descent to Ascent In the beginning of Parashat Terumah, Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu to instruct B'nei Yisrael to bring donations of various materials in order to construct a sanctuary for Him to dwell in (Shemot 25:8): וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם (And they shall make for
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
A 'Thought Journey' to Expand One's Awe of G-d In Parashat Beshalach, we read about the splitting of the Yam Suf, a miracle that demonstrated Hashem's powers probably more than any other miracle He ever performed. Granted, most of us have not personally witnessed miracles like that where the laws
