Mar 31, 2019

Raize Guttman 03-31-19 (24 Adar II, 5779)

Pesach shiur

Our entire existence represents Hashem in 3 ways - in our identity, through our resources and in our purpose/goals.

As we celebrate Pesach, remember this with everything you are doing. While cleaning, shopping, preparing, cooking and Pesach itself. Am zu yetzarti li, tehilasi yesapairu. We were created by Hakadosh Baruch Hu as this great and holy nation for the purpose of praising and thanking him. Each of us are part of Bnei Yisroel, the am hanivchar (chosen people), created in order to sing his praises and to be ohr lagoyim (a light unto the nations).



Mar 24, 2019

Raize Guttman 03-24-19 (17 Adar II, 5779)

Purim shiur continued.

Purim is the message & history of the Jewish people. A message for us in the past, present and for all future generations. The purpose of the world is Olam ha Tikkun (for the world to reach perfection), and we have been trying to reach it from the beginning of time. From the moment Hashem put Adam & Chava in Gan Eden, and yet they "blew it" on that very first day. Amalek aided to foil every great opportunity we've had to reach perfection in the world. The power of Amalek is immorality and lack of faith in Hashem, and so the way to bring Moshiach is by working on morality (tznius and privacy) and emunah. Nothing is happenstance! Nothing is by chance! Hashem is in charge and all is for our good.

Mar 17, 2019

Raize Guttman 03-17-19 (10 Adar II, 5779)

Parshat Vayeira - Chapter 22 - Verses 20 – 24

We finish on such a high and complete Parsha Vayeira - Chazak Chazak v'nitchazek!!
These last 5 verses of the Parsha speak about genealogy. Rashi says about Verse 23, "Bethuel begot Rivka”, all of these last 5 verses of Parsha Vayeira were written only for these words. In Verse 20, "after these matters (after the Akeidah) a child is born" leads us into what Avraham focused on next for Yitzchak - finding him a wife. Our next Parsha Chayei Sarah is about Avraham finding this wife for Yitzchak - it is Rivka (daughter of Bethuel) who marries Yitzchak.

Purim

There are miracles and then there are miracles!
The Purim story is draped in masking the depths of the Universe. On the surface, the Megillat Esther is a seemingly simple tale yet it weaves the intricate story of Hashem's hand in everything and how He manages every single minute detail of the world and even the details of each of our lives.

This class is a must listen to!

Mar 10, 2019

Open Lecture 03-10-19 (03 Adar II, 5779)

Raize was not available to lecture today, as clocks were set back in the US, and we had a mixup on time for our conference call. For those of us who were on the conference call, we had an open class lecture.

We shared stories of Hashgacha Pratis, read 2 stores from The Torah Anytimes Newsletter of TorahAnytime.com (Rabbi YY Rubinstein - My First Student) and (Rabbi Osher Chaim Levene - Zeresh and Esther: Demolishing and Building). We finished our discussion with talk about a documentary on the life of the Klausenberger Rebbe, zt”l, who lost his wife and 11 children in the Holocaust yet went on to rebuild the dynasty of Sanz Chassidus after it was almost totally destroyed.

To read the stories we discussed on www.TorahAnytime.com, go to: https://www.torahanytime.com/#/post?id=40392

Tune in next week when we will complete our studies of Parshat Vayeira and make a siyum / סיום‎ (completion of the unit of Torah study and corresponding celebration).

Mar 3, 2019

Raize Guttman 03-10-19 (26 Adar I, 5779)

Parsha Vayeira - Chapter 22 - Verses 13 - 19

We finish the story of Akeidas Yitzchak (The Binding of Isaac).

3 main ideas from the Akeidah:
1) If you love Hashem, you have to be willing to give up really what is most precious to you. Be able to sacrifice for Him.
2) A prophet is 100% clear of the truth of his prophecy. Our prophets talked with clarity from the mouth of Hashem.
3) Our forefathers knew there was such a great reward for sacrifices that we make in this world.