Succos-Koheles

As the wisest of all men, Shlomo Hamelech describes how he explored all the wisdom and experienced all possible pleasures. He built houses, planted vineyards and orchards, collected gold, silver and musical instruments. And he concludes that all of it is worthless and pursuing it leads to frustration.

So what is the purpose of life if chasing wisdom and pleasures leaves us feeling dissatisfied?

There are two things to focus on. The first is to rejoice-in our actions and in our lot in life. When we are satisfied with what we have and with what we are doing, we won't need to run after things that are meaningless. 

The second is to give to others. If we are intent on giving and sharing (anything-our money, a listening ear, advice, our time), we will look out for what others need and wont harp on what we don't have. This will keep us happy and content and fill our lives with meaning.

May we live our lives with joy and always be on the giving end so we can feel happy and fulfilled at all times!

The Sukkah

After we confessed our sins and begged Hashem to be inscribed in the Book of Life, Hashem "wraps His arms around us" in a loving embrace. This is what the walls of the sukkah represent. 

We leave our homes and enter the sukkah, expressing our total dependence on Hashem. We live in this simple hut, showing that materialism is not the most important thing. Our focus should be on the eternal-on our relationship with Hashem and doing things that have lasting value. 

May we be able to stay calm and keep the atmosphere in the sukkah peaceful by remembering that we are in Hashem's embrace and His shechina is right here with us! 

Parshas Ha'azinu

The Torah tells us, "Hatzur tamim pa'alo"- Hashem's actions are perfect and whole. But "banav mumam"- His children are blemished.

When we see or experience people acting wrongly, we should not question Hashem. He is perfect and everything He does is for the good. It's us people who are imperfect and have to fix ourselves. Hashem gives us free will to act in ways that we desire. If we would only act positively, we wouldn't have free will. It's the fact that we can act wrongly that allows us to choose between good and evil. Our negative actions are not a reflection of Hashem's middos, they're a reflection of our own!

May we be able to make good choices and make a kiddush Hashem wherever we go so that we impact people positively and elevate our souls to higher levels of giving and kindness!

Erev Yom Kippur

It's Erev Yom Kippur. 

We spend the day preparing, eating and asking people we may have wronged for forgiveness. It's a time for introspection. We make commitments to change for the better and ask Hashem to help us keep to our resolutions.

We look back at the past year and see how much has changed in our lives. Some things fill our hearts with gratitude and other things fill our hearts with questions. But we know all of it is for the good. We wish each other a "gmar chasima tova"-but if everything Hashem does is for the good, why do we need to give each other this blessing?

Although we try to instill the belief into our hearts that everything Hashem does is for our ultimate benefit, our desire is for all that happens in the coming year to be noticeable good in the moment. Not that we should have to wait days, weeks, months or a lifetime to be able to see why what we went through was good for us in the end.

May we be able to utilize the day of YK to achieve true kapparah, cleanse ourselves of our aveiros and be written and sealed in the Sefer Hachayim with immediate, recognizable good in all aspects of our lives!

Have a meaningful Yom Kippur!

Parshas Vayeilech

Moshe Rabbeinu talks to BY before he dies. He repeats, Stay strong and don't be afraid because Hashem will fight against your enemies for you.

In life, we all have battles that we are trying to fight. The way to stay strong and not be afraid is to strengthen our faith in Hashem. We must realize that He is at our side and will help us fight each of those battles. We should daven that we feel His presence and that Hashem gives us the ability to keep pushing, to keep trying and to ultimately succeed. 

May we be able to tap into our inner strength and feel Hashem helping us fight all our battles-spiritual, emotions and physical ones and come out at the top!

Parshas Nitzavim

Moshe tells Bnei Yisroel - you have a choice between life and good and death and bad. He says, choose life!
The way to choose life is by making choices that connect us to the source of life, Hashem.

Now, before Rosh Hashanah, we should ask ourselves, are we doing things that bring us closer to Hashem or are we distancing ourselves from Him? Are we using the gifts He gave us-our eyes, ears, mouth, hands and feet to connect to Hashem in a real way?

Do we try to see Hashem in our daily life?
Are we receptive to inspiration?
Do we speak calmly and kindly to others?
Can we use our hands to do chessed thereby making a kiddush Hashem?
Have we walked away from arguments and negativity?

It's the last shabbos of the year. We have a chance to fix everything we've corrupted over this past year. Let's make a commitment to use our body to connect to Hashem, the source of life. 

May we be able to elevate every fiber of our being to connect to Hashem, the source of life and this way, well merit to be written down for a year of life, connection and meaning!