• Sר

  shmuel רוזנבלום -2 years ago

  נהדר!!!

  חבל שלא הבאת את השיחה עצמה של הרבה.היא שיחה נהדרת

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• T

  Terry -6 years ago

  Borders made of roses

  Exqusite, exquisite presentation of the meaning and purpose of Torah..and I saw a whole new meaning to the words that we are to be holy because God is holy...it is not about our becoming holy but about our guarding our holiness..and thank you for so clearly stating the innermost core of Judaism: the synthesis of the infinite with the finite..so much to process and internalize...thank you.

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• SM

  Shaya Mintz -7 years ago

  This is why by Shavuos Kuli Alma Mode dbainan nami Lachem! V'hamaivin Yavin....

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• A

  Anonymous -11 years ago

  Unfair
  Very interesting essay, you really write beatifull, initially as I was reading I was a getting a bit annoyed that you were referring to people who are divorced as not having tried hard enough or not sacrificed enough when unfortunately I've got to know many divorcees and non of their stories is an ego centered one (ok, maybe one out of thirty), but then as I continued reading you write 'Why?—Because G-d has borne witness between you and the wife of your youth, that you have betrayed her, though she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.”
  
  
  
  Sadly, I'm not so learned, wish I had more time, so I might be wrong, but this is the first time I see the blame placed on the man for not appreciating his wife... Which is the majority of the cases that I know.
  
  
  
  Its usually the man failing to treasure or even simply appreciate his wife for what she is and does for the children, for the home and for him. I find rare that the women will throw away a good situation unless its almost pikuach nefesh for her and the kids (not saying it never happenes just saying its rare) ( I've seen in halacha mostly a male sided advantage, how little she gets if there is a divorce, how she's the one to leave the home to go back to her parents and how the boys must live with him or that he doesn't get to pay for the chinuch after age 9 or something like that) so its been a bit disturbing. I always wondered, doesn't G-d know its the men who mostly mess up? Why are they so 'priviledged' in halacha?
  
  
  
  I'm just sharing with you ... Things that came up as I was reading, still enjoyed it thoroughly.
  
  You can answer if you have time, again, as I'm not as learned as you I might not know enough on the subject...

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  • A

    Anonymous -11 years ago

    Re: Unfair
    Great points.
    
    Yes, I agree with you, at least in many of the cases. Rabbis must according to Jewish law be vigilant in protecting the rights, feelings, dignity and sensitivity of every single woman.

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• M

  Michale -11 years ago

  It is Torah, not Bible
  Dear Rabbi Jacobson,
  
  
  
  I know that you have international readers, but we do not need to named the greatest book in the World, Hashem Torah as "Hebrew Bible". When Mashiach will come, everyone will know and accept our book and recognize the name Torah.
  
  
  
  Thank you. Pesach Kosher V'Sameach.

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• A

  Admin -13 years ago

  Admin
  We apologize for the delay. The Mp3 is now available.

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• M

  Moti -13 years ago

  MP3
  is possible to have this as MP3? to listen to on the way...
  
  A fan of these Shiurim!

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• R

  riva -14 years ago

  to the point
  Dear Rabbi Jacobson
  I always send your lectures further. This one was so to the point.
  Thank you
  The zchusim should bring you goodness and shalom in your own life!
  Mrs. Weinberger
  

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• M

  mum -14 years ago

  losing myself
  However, i think that the more i sacrifice, the less i'm 'me' [which may be a good thing] but then like a sacrifice on the altar, the animal ceases, literally, to exist. Somehow that is what i feel can happen to one as well. And that doesn't seem like a very positive thing. And if you will say, when we need a balance in our life, then that is not sacrificing.

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• S

  Steve -14 years ago

  EE! (Excellent Essay)!
  EE! (Excellent Essay)!
  
  And what of the state of the marriage between the Ein Sof and His beloved Am Ysroel? Are we making sacrifices(like He is,with His Erek Apaim)? Or must we be lumped together with all the other "nations"?
  I think that we and our leaders (especially the most self-sacrificing ones among us, like CHABAD) need to focus on what sacrifice means today in the context of our marriage to the KBH. Example: if we really want to make a good sacrifice right now to strengthen that marriage, start NOW, unconditionally, to spend more of our time on ridding our homes of all kinds of CHOMETZ! Hopefully you can provide us with more examples. Thanks. Chodesh Tov!

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• S

  sarah -14 years ago

  thanks
  let me take this opportunity to thank you for your weekly essays, which we find incredibly inspiring and insightful.
  
  Wishing you a kosher un freilichen Pesach,
  
  (Mrs.) Sarah Dubov
  London
  

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• Y

  yossi -14 years ago

  great
  great article!

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• Y

  yisroel -14 years ago

  beautiful
  beautiful thanks - keep up the amazing work!

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• M

  mum -14 years ago

  thanks
  Very very good. The whole thing is so true and good.
  Thank you. I needed this shot in the arm, one more time.
  
  Because of our unwillingness to transcend our
  ego s, challenge our fears and transcend our selfish natures. For this, the altar weeps.

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• K

  kayo -14 years ago

  marriage
  The reason that the current marrital relationships do not survive is also,
  I think, the reason they marry in the first place is something wrong, so that
  they can not make sacrifice for it.
  
  Shalom,
  Kayo
  

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• MNF

  Mayer Nochum Fridman -14 years ago

  Shiur
  I like it very much it is very powerful thank you keep up the good work
  
  Moshiach now

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• S

  suri -14 years ago

  Thank You
  Dear Rabbi Jacobson,
  I can't begin to thank you for the powerful lessons you teach every week. I feel like I won the lottery each time. I thank Hashem for allowing me to have this weekly gift. My family and friends enjoy when I share with them.
  
  May you be gebentched with unlimited revealed good.

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• Y

  YYJ -14 years ago

  To Seth
  In the words of the Tanya (ch, 36), "G-d desired to have a home in the lower world," meaning that the human being transform the lowly reality of physicality into a Divine abode. This is the reason for the concealment of the Divine reality in our bodies and in our physical world. The objective of Torah was not to alter the state of the physical, but rather to infuse it and sublimate it.
  So the body remains the body, the world remains the world, and the Jew is instructed to "keep distance from the mountain," which means to ensure that the energy is filtered within the sturcture of the physical. If G-d would expand the physical, it would not possess the properties of the physical which He so desired.

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• S

  seth -14 years ago

  containment
  question: according to the opinon of the grand rebbe (im actually suprised you equate him to the others)i met you as a chasid of the rebbe please remain that way) why is god so concerned with thier desire to cleave and join the sweet bliss etc. cant he he just expand thier vesseles and secure they remain attached to the physical vessel? certainly god is not limited and can give the human the strength to reatin himself in the body is not the ultimate expiration of the soul dependent on god? please post, thanks seth uws, ny
  

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• A

  Anonymous -14 years ago

  The great paradox of Torah is that in order to transcend the physical realm and be elevated into the spiritual, there must be physical and material borders imposed on the Yid. For instance, eating kosher food or immersing in a mikvah, are examples of the imposition of physical restrictions. In order to get closer to the Infinite One a Jew must stay within the '4 cubits of halacha'.

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• A

  Anonymous -14 years ago

  Sorry for a mistake, I meant you, Rabbi Yosef.

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• M

  Me -14 years ago

  B”H
  2. Questions and Exercises
  1. G-d cautions three times, “Do not cross the boundary blockading Mt. Sinai.” Why do the borders around Mt. Sinai occupy such a major part of the story?
  Summing up the great insight of this class we can see three types of boundaries:
  1. Something physical and real for touch like a fence, a wall or a guard that suppose to serve for any kind of invasion of any kind of beings; 2. A set of laws, rules and code that regulate and conduct human society and human relationship. 3. Very subtle for comprehension borders that don’t allow a person to be alien of his or her earthy life in passion of reaching beyond threshold of perceptions…
  2. Do you have absolute boundaries in your life?
  SURE!
  I have put absolute ban on loosing talks.
  Do you sometimes cross your own boundaries?
  NEVER EVER!
  Just inquire if roses and lilies are the same type of vegetation?
  Preventing person from fall, where should we place “Catcher in the Rye”?
  How deliberately G-d was when set up his borders, first with time in Mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh, then in space with three types of blockages? I didn’t cross anything, right?
  3. How do we teach our youth about “borders?”
  Back to Russia, it was done through classic children literature and it had nothing to do with politics and ideology. Based on pure idealism and perfectionism it gave a child a taste of ethics even before he could talk.
  American literature, with Mark Twain, O’ Henry, L. Frank Baum and of cause, J.D. Salinger... made its great contribution in this process. I don’t think it can substitute Torah studying, but as Josef Brodsky stated, all great poetry is nothing but far connotation of first letters of Bereishis.
  4. According to the Ragatchover Gaon, what were the two differing perspectives of Moses and G-d?
  As it was clearly explained by Rabbi Josef Jacobson, G-d could see people from farther perspective than Moses. He knew that we should not be deceived with temporary revelation when we are perfectly aligned with our inner nature. Time changes and great moments of revelation would be replaced with dichotomy of our mundane routine, when we would be in need of strong borders and deliberated Manual. Moses was more optimist than realist when he thought that reaching primordial stage of purity people would be able to stay at that plateau forever, so they don’t need any other cautions but their own inner condemn. His own innocence prevented him of seeing imminent possibility of Golden Calf…
  5. Is Judaism about imposing borders on life, or is it about transcending borders?
  Judaism is about transcending borders through imposing strong boarders on a person’s life. Only through following Manual strictly, one can achieve realization of his highest potential and transcend limitations.
  

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• E

  Elki -14 years ago

  Powerful message
  The metaphor of "borders made of roses" is poetic and lyrical as is Rabbi Jacobson's wont. The strength of a barrier of roses is so much more powerful than barbed wire. The inclination not to step on roses is the only eternal deterrent to sin. Fear alone doesn't make it. If only educators would build relationships of roses with their students...there would be nothing to rebel against.
  Thank you, Rabbi Jacobson and, as always thank you to David and Eda Schottenstein.
  

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• GB

  Gershon Beck -14 years ago

  Some Are Not good with Simchas Torah
  One of his main points was that Yiddin have 2 opposites going on. On the one hand, Shulcahn Aruch is very clear what has to be done and at the same time there is a yearning we have to hashem which takes us at times above the limitations of world.
  
  So the 2nd warning was not to get lost in the Ohr of Hashem. Be involved in the physical and its limitations. At the same time , yearn for higher.
  
  R. Wichnin once spoke about a certain idea and I remebered it when I heard the Dvar torah from R. Jacobson the other night.
  
  Here it is how I remeber it. "Some people are tremendous with being Be-seder. They will go to bed 10PM each night and be on time for morning seder. Comes Simchas Torah , the same person says he can't stay up because he has to go to bed. Something is very odd about this."
  
  from a personal note , I'm pretty good about staying up and being part of the Kedusha of Simchas Torah The last couple of years we spent Simchas Torah by my dauhter , son in law and grand kids in Pittsburgh. I can use a lot of work on going to bed the rest of the year at 10PM and being on time for the morning.
  
  It is ingrained in me how Rabbi Wichnin would end Farbragens by 12 AM - 12:30 AM and remind us that the test of how good a Farbragen was , is that we needed to be on time for Seder Chassidus the next morning.
  
  If u have that tape of the Farbragen Rosh Chodesh Adar 5750 in Kfar Chabad, he says it very clear.

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• SSMA

  Shoshanna Silcove, Melbourne A -14 years ago

  infusing structure with infinity
  The approach to Yiddishkeit that emphasizes maintaining structure as the goal makes Torah observance into something dry, repressive, and lifeless. When structure is seen as a way of containing the infinite, as a vessel for G-dliness, then Yiddishkeit becomes full of chayas, inspiration and simcha.

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• חבי

  חיים בן יהושע -14 years ago

  פארוואס?
  ישר כח פאר די שיעורים איך האב אבער ערשטנ'ס צוויי בקשות
  א. ס'זיינען פאראן אזעלכע וואס קאכן זיך נישט אין ג' תמוז תשנ''ד וואס איז די מצוה זיי דאס שטופן אין פנים
  ב. פארוואס פארגלייכן די אנדערע צוויי גדולי ישראל צום רבין? זייערע פשטים זיינען זייער פיינע און שיינע און מ'דארף עס טאקע חזר'ן אבער מ'דארף זיי נישט פארגלייכן צום רבי'ן אין זאגן אז ס'זיינען פאראן דריי פשטים. והמבין יבין.
  
  הצלחה

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• I

  ike -14 years ago

  suit
  nice suit!

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• R

  rk -14 years ago

  The Lesson of Borders Made of Roses
  Unbelievable! An eye opener for all with so many pointers of instruction yet one powerful message for life delivered with the finesse of a teacher par excellence.
  Thank you for this opportunity!

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• A

  Avraham -14 years ago

  Youtube
  With iPhone it does Not work!
  Can you post it As Youtube ?

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• K

  kivi -14 years ago

  documentary
  Many of these shiurim should be made into documentary style with images, re-enactment etc.
  

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• E

  Evan -14 years ago

  why no mp3
  can you please post the mp3
  I like to listen to the lecture in my car.
  Thank you

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• A

  Admin -14 years ago

  To Haim
  Not yet, hopefully for next Sunday 9 AM.

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• H

  HAIM -14 years ago

  The 5-minute lesson
  Is the new weekly "5-minute-lesson" already on ?? Where ?

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Shavuos/Yisro Class

Rabbi YY Jacobson

• February 10, 2012
• |
• 17 Sh'vat 5772
• |
• 5263 views

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