Feb 24, 2019

Raize Guttman 02-24-19 (19 Adar I, 5779)

Raize speaks about the astonishing life of her Grandmother - Risha Ruchel bas Rav Avraham Schlomo zt"l.

Raize gives over her Grandmother's experiences of the Holocaust. She was born on 18 Av in Poland. At age 11, the war broke out. She went from the Warsaw Ghetto, to Auschwitz (age of 13), to walking on the 5-month death march, to her liberation. She emerged from a nightmare and managed to put together the pieces of her life to create a beautiful family. B”H she had a special malach from shamayim watching over her, her life is one we can all learn from. 18 Adar I is her yahrzeit. May her neshama have an aliyah.



Feb 23, 2019

Raize Guttman 02-17-19 (12 Adar I, 5779)

Parsha Vayeira - Chapter 22 - Verses 11 & 12

The story of the Akeidah continues.

Avraham was the ultimate ba'al chesed. He was instinctively loving & compassionate. Yet by loving Hashem alone, Avraham would never have been able to pass his 10th & final test from Hashem - that of the Akeidah. Hashem designed this last trial to challenge Avraham's very essence and to force him to develop yiras Elokim (fear of Hashem). Avraham went beyond his natural self to see Hashem in a different light. Up to this point, Avraham is almost oblivious because he can only see the good, but he was not 100% in reality & not 100% true to Hashem. Hashem now says to him, "Yatah yadeh ti" ( עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֗עְתִּי) "now I know". Now at this moment I see that you can see and and are a GD fearing man.

Feb 10, 2019

Raize Guttman 02-10-19 (05 Adar I, 5779)

Parsha Vayeira - Chapter 22 - Verses 7 - 10

Avraham says he is wearing the cloak of you my son. He has to change his deep-rooted characteristic of chesed and overpower it with Yitzhak's middos of gevurah.

The greatness of a person is to go against their nature. Someone who is so good, chesed is so easy for them. It is not to minimize the great deeds of them, only that shows that a person is using the nature Hashem gave them. The real GDliness of a person is going against what is easy for them. When it seems like this does not make sense, but this is what Hashem wants me to do right now, even if it goes against my nature. Greatness is a person who is transcending their natural abilities to do what Hashem is expecting of him.

Feb 3, 2019

Raize Guttman 02-03-19 (28 Sh'vat 5779)

Parsha Vayeira - Chapter 22 - Verse 6
Rosh Chodesh Adar
- Hashem Loves Me stories

We are getting deeper into the story of the binding of Yitzhak.

Avraham was going to do the will of Hashem and Yitzhak the will of his father. From this verse we learn that two people can have very different ways of looking at something, but when two people love each other, they can be united like one soul. The only desire of the soul is to do the will of Hashem.

In the month of Adar, your joy is elevated. That is why building the Mishkan and Adar coincide. It is about being one with Hashem.

2 ways to increase Simcha:
1. Do mitzvah’s with enthusiasm. Make a place for Hashem in your heart. I want to do your will.
2. Giving to other people.