Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Strange Worship, Ch. 1
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Learning/Teaching Torah, Ch. 7
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Torah Learning/Teaching, Ch. 6
Every society is shaped by its relationship to its teachers. Reverence produces an receptivity to the wisdom a society seeks to transmit to the next generation, and a general irreverence nurtures an instability that is untenable.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Learning/Teaching Torah, Ch. 5
Honor is a bit easier to grasp precisely because it is more concrete. Reverence is hard to come by in a world flattened by secularism.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Torah Study, Ch. 4
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Torah Study, Ch. 3
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Torah Study, Ch. 2
Like all priorities and values, the devil is in the details, and ideals have to make it into practice. Jewish education, among our highest of values, is certainly no different.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Torah Study, Ch. 1
Torah study is the heart and soul of Judaism, but why? In the words of Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld zt"l: "Religious observance is personal, but ignorance is treason." Not knowing is tantamount to not teaching or mis-teaching. We're letting ourselves down, and we're letting down everyone who depends on us for guidance.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Character Traits, Ch. 7
One can only understand the gravity of death by appreciating life. Only if we grasp that a human being is meant to be learning, growing, and becoming more than who they were yesterday, can we fathom the tragedy that it is it condemn them to be the mistake that they made in one instant.
The golden words of the Rambam:
A person who collects gossip about a colleague violates a prohibition as [Leviticus 19:16] states: "Do not go around gossiping among your people."
Even though this transgression is not punished by lashes, it is a severe sin and can cause the death of many Jews. Therefore, [the warning]: "Do not stand still over your neighbor's blood" is placed next to it in the Torah [ibid.]. See what happened [because of] Doeg, the Edomite.
Who is a gossiper? One who collects information and [then] goes from person to person, saying: "This is what so and so said;" "This is what I heard about so and so." Even if the statements are true, they bring about the destruction of the world.
There is a much more serious sin than [gossip], which is also included in this prohibition: lashon horah, i.e., relating deprecating facts about a colleague, even if they are true.
[Lashon horah does not refer to the invention of lies;] that is referred to as defamation of character. Rather, one who speaks lashon horah is someone who sits and relates: "This is what so and so has done;" "His parents were such and such;" "This is what I have heard about him," telling uncomplimentary things. Concerning this [transgression], the verse [Psalms 12:4] states: "May God cut off all guileful lips, the tongues which speak proud things..."
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Character Traits, Ch. 6
This episode is a bit different because I couldn't choose a single insight to share on these life-changing halachot (Torah laws). Feel free to send in questions through the app and I'll make little micro-pods as answers.
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Character Traits, Ch. 5
Torah is meant to refine the entire person, which means that the more you learn, the more that is expected from you in every aspect of your life.
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Character Traits, Ch. 4
It is an obligation to ensure that our souls stay comfortably and functionally and happily inside our bodies. Illness is not good for maintaining awareness and focus on our mission here on earth. This is why, staying healthy is absolutely vital and obligatory.
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Character Traits of Torah, Ch. 3
Life is multifaceted. Being healthy requires balance. To be balanced we need to fit in all of our activities around our ultimate purpose.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Character Traits, Ch. 2
We know today scientifically that people can change. We can rewire our brains. As neuroscientists say, "neurons that fire together, wire together." We can and should know our nature and accept our nature, but we can and should choose how NURTURE our second nature to be on the path to the best possible life for ourselves and the people around us that have to deal with our shtick. Our habits can rewire our problematic tendencies and reinforce our positive attributes.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Character, Ch. 1
Check out this vivid visualization of the principle of the Rambam from Google's Data Visualization Team:
The Rambam's Own Words:
Each and every man possesses many character traits. Each trait is very different and distant from the others.
One type of man is wrathful; he is constantly angry. [In contrast,] there is the calm individual who is never moved to anger, or, if at all, he will be slightly angry, [perhaps once] during a period of several years.
There is the prideful man and the one who is exceptionally humble. There is the man ruled by his appetites - he will never be satisfied from pursuing his desires, and [conversely,] the very pure of heart, who does not desire even the little that the body needs.
There is the greedy man, who cannot be satisfied with all the money in the world, as [Ecclesiastes 5:9] states: "A lover of money never has his fill of money." [In contrast,] there is the man who puts a check on himself; he is satisfied with even a little, which is not enough for his needs, and he does not bother to pursue and attain what he lacks.
There is [the miser,] who torments himself with hunger, gathering [his possessions] close to himself. Whenever he spends a penny of his own, he does so with great pain. [Conversely,] there is [the spendthrift,] who consciously wastes his entire fortune.
All other traits follow the same pattern [of contrast]. For example: the overly elated and the depressed; the stingy and the freehanded; the cruel and the softhearted; the coward and the rash. and the like.
Between each trait and the [contrasting] trait at the other extreme, there are intermediate points, each distant from the other.
With regard to all the traits: a man has some from the beginning of his conception, in accordance with his bodily nature. Some are appropriate to a person's nature and will [therefore] be acquired more easily than other traits. Some traits he does not have from birth. He may have learned them from others, or turned to them on his own. This may have come as a result of his own thoughts, or because he heard that this was a proper trait for him, which he ought to attain. [Therefore,] he accustomed himself to it until it became a part of himself.
The two extremes of each trait, which are at a distance from one another, do not reflect a proper path. It is not fitting that a man should behave in accordance with these extremes or teach them to himself.
If he finds that his nature leans towards one of the extremes or adapts itself easily to it, or, if he has learned one of the extremes and acts accordingly, he should bring himself back to what is proper and walk in the path of the good [men]. This is the straight path.
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Foundations of Torah, Ch. 10
The opening words of the Rambam ch. 10:
1) Any prophet who arises and tells us that God has sent him does not have to [prove himself by] performing wonders like those performed by Moses, our teacher, or like the wonders of Elijah or Elisha, which altered the natural order.
Rather, the sign of [the truth of his prophecy] will be the fulfillment of his prediction of future events, as [implied by Deuteronomy 18:21]: "How shall we recognize that a prophecy was not spoken by God?..."
Therefore, if a person whose [progress] in the service of God makes him worthy of prophecy arises [and claims to be a prophet] - if he does not intend to add [to] or diminish [the Torah], but rather to serve God through the mitzvot of the Torah - we do not tell him: "Split the sea for us, revive the dead, or the like, and then we will believe in you." Instead, we tell him, "If you are a prophet, tell us what will happen in the future." He makes his statements, and we wait to see whether [his "prophecy"] comes to fruition or not.
Should even a minute particular of his "prophecy" not materialize, he is surely a false prophet. If his entire prophecy materializes, we should consider him a true [prophet].
2) We should test him many times. If all of his statements prove true, he should be considered to be a true prophet, as [I Samuel 3:20] states concerning Samuel, "And all of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel had been proven to be a prophet unto God."
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Foundations of Torah, Ch. 8-9
Moshe is in a category of one. The authority of all those after him — sages and prophets can only be a function of his authority, which we nationally witnessed as being granted to him by God at Mount Sinai. In other words, our faith in Moshe and in the Torah is a rational faith.
The Rambam's own opening words in chapter 9 of the Laws of the Foundations of Torah:
It is clear and explicit in the Torah that it is [God's] commandment, remaining forever without change, addition, or diminishment, as [Deuteronomy 13:1] states: "All these matters which I command to you, you shall be careful to perform. You may not add to it or diminish from it," and [Deuteronomy 29:28] states: "What is revealed is for us and our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah." This teaches that we are commanded to fulfill all the Torah's directives forever.
It is also said: "It is an everlasting statute for all your generations," and [Deuteronomy 30:12] states: "It is not in the heavens." This teaches that a prophet can no longer add a new precept [to the Torah].
Therefore, if a person will arise, whether Jew or gentile, and perform a sign or wonder and say that God sent him to:
a) add a mitzvah,
b) withdraw a mitzvah
c) explain a mitzvah in a manner which differs from the tradition received from Moses, or
d) if he says that the mitzvot commanded to the Jews are not forever, but rather were given for a limited time,
he is a false prophet. He comes to deny the prophecy of Moses and should be executed by strangulation, because he dared to make statements in God's name which God never made.
God, blessed be His name, commanded Moses that this commandment is for us and our children forever, and, God is not man that He speak falsely.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Foundations of Torah, Ch. 7
The main problem people have with God is not believing in His existence per se — it's believing that an Infinite God would care about how I live my life. The notion of prophecy goes head to head against this thought.
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Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Foundations of Torah, Ch. 7
The core idea of prophecy is that it is the culmination of a relationship with God. In a relationship, you make room for the other. The center of gravity in a relationship is in between both parties — not in my needs and demands. Because of this, prophets had to get themselves in "the zone" like any person has to do when meditating. However, whether they received a prophetic "download" or what the download was about was up to what God would to reveal to them at that time, if anything at all.
The opening of the Rambam's words in this chapter:
It is [one] of the foundations of [our] faith that God conveys prophecy to man.
Prophecy is bestowed only upon a very wise sage of a strong character, who is never overcome by his natural inclinations in any regard. Instead, with his mind, he overcomes his natural inclinations at all times. He must [also] possess a very broad and accurate mental capacity.
A person who is full of all these qualities and is physically sound [is fit for prophecy]. When he enters the Pardes and is drawn into these great and sublime concepts, if he possesses an accurate mental capacity to comprehend and grasp [them], he will become holy. He will advance and separate himself from the masses who proceed in the darkness of the time. He must continue and diligently train himself not to have any thoughts whatsoever about fruitless things or the vanities and intrigues of the times.
Instead, his mind should constantly be directed upward, bound beneath [God's] throne [of Glory, striving] to comprehend the holy and pure forms and gazing at the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, in its entirety, [in its manifold manifestations] from the most elevated [spiritual] form until the navel of the earth, appreciating His greatness from them. [After these preparations,] the divine spirit will immediately rest upon him.
When the spirit rests upon him, his soul becomes intermingled with the angels called ishim, and he will be transformed into a different person and will understand with a knowledge different from what it was previously. He will rise above the level of other wise men, as [the prophet, Samuel] told Saul [I Samuel 10:6]: "[The spirit of God will descend upon you] and you shall prophesy with them. And you will be transformed into a different person."
Based on Mishnah Torah I: Book of Knowledge, the Laws of Foundations of Torah, Ch. 6
Symbolism matters. Our actions are constantly representing our intentions and our ideas. Becoming sensitive to those things that bear God's Name maintains our delicate sensitivity to God. As we saw above, we have been given the power to sanctify God's Name, or the opposite.