ב"ה
THEMES of Featured Ascent Lights
Beginner
Preparing forShabbat means preparing for Redemption.
"Remember the day of Shabbat and sanctify it"
Rashi writes that "remember" means that when we obtain a special delicacy during the week, we should save it for Shabbat. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that every day we are obligated to remember Shabbat and to begin our Shabbat preparations even from Sunday. |
Beginner
The heights of closeness to G-d taste only sweet.
Tu
B'Shevat - the New Year of Trees - often falls during the week of parashat Yitro, the
recounting of the giving of the Torah. The Torah says, "Man
is a tree of the field." Our roots are our faith
in G-d, the trunk is the Torah that tells us what to do, the branches are our
observance of the mitzvot. And the fruits are the effects of our
actions in this world, may they be many and go on to inspire others.
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Via the Torah the Jews can instill G-dliness in a physical world.
One's voice can communicate what one is thinking; the
Sages teach that there were five voices that accompanied the giving of the
Torah to
illustrate G-d's infinite nature -
beyond that of the four levels within Creation - or even beyond the Four Worlds.
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Intermediate
Recipe for long life...
The Arizal's fundamental insight is that honoring one's parents is related to the development of one's spirituality. To honor one's parents is, in essence, to recognize them, and this acknowledgment facilitates for them the potential expansion of their soul.
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