Daily Jewish Thought

Keynote Address by Rabbi Yisroel Bernath | West Island Community Memorial Event | Beth Tikvah, Montreal | October 2026 Three years after October 7, how do we honour the people we have lost, carry the pain that remains, and still find the courage to hope? In this deeply personal and moving keynote address, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath reflects on his journey to Israel just two weeks after the October 7 at...

As Yom Kippur moves toward Neilah and the gates begin to close, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath asks a question far more important than what we achieved, accumulated, or accomplished: What will live because you lived? We live in a civilization of astonishing progress. We can fly across oceans, carry the world’s knowledge in our pockets, and ask artificial intelligence almost anything. But technology can giv...

In this Kol Nidrei sermon, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath asks a deeply uncomfortable question: Who is doing your thinking for you? We live in an age overflowing with information but increasingly short on reflection. Algorithms, social media, political tribes, influencers, institutions, AI—and even our own wounds—can quietly hand us conclusions that we eventually mistake for our own beliefs.  Beginning wit...

In this Shabbat Shuva sermon, delivered by Rabbi Yisroel Bernath at Chabad NDG in Montreal, we explore a surprising question: Why are people able to experience happiness even when life is difficult? Looking at Israel’s remarkable longevity, strong family culture, and consistently high levels of reported happiness, the answer may have less to do with comfort and more to do with connection, communit...

What would your life look like if you stopped waiting for an apology, stopped replaying the hurt, and stopped allowing yesterday’s pain to occupy today’s heart? In this deeply personal and practical talk, delivered at JLI’s 20th Annual National Jewish Retreat in Doral, Florida, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores forgiveness not as a one-time declaration, but as a spiritual practice of reclaiming your...

On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the shofar finally sounds. Yesterday’s question was: Are you awake? Today’s question goes deeper: What are you awake for and what happens when you finally know where you want to go, but you hit a wall? Drawing on a powerful teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath tells the story of people invited to visit a king. Again and again they encounter walls...

This Rosh Hashanah begins with a strange silence: the first day falls on Shabbat, and there is no shofar. But perhaps this year, we do not need a horn to wake us up. The Jewish people are already awake, shaken by antisemitism, fear, and an intensified awareness of what it means to be Jewish. The deeper question is no longer “Are we awake?” but “What are we awake to?” Antisemitism may remind us tha...

Our culture often treats aging as something to resist. Judaism sees it differently: years are not merely something that happen to us; they can become a source of wisdom, purpose, and depth. Drawing on the mitzvah of shiluach hakein in Parshat Ki Teitzei, the Torah’s promise of long life, the mitzvah of honoring parents, and the Rebbe’s teachings about aging, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores what it...

Tu B’Av is often called the Jewish day of love. In this special Tu B’Av discussion, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath, known as the “Love Rabbi” shares ten essential Jewish relationship principles for singles, couples, and anyone seeking to build deeper, healthier love. Drawing from Torah, Jewish wisdom, matchmaking experience, and years of counselling singles and couples, Rabbi Bernath explores why dating is...

Support the raffle at www.ndgraffle.com . In this special episode, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath opens his heart to the worldwide community that has grown around the podcast. The podcast is more than a weekly teaching. It is part of the larger mission of Chabad NDG: creating spaces of belonging, supporting students and families, helping people through crisis, and bringing Torah, healing, hope, and Jewish...

In this special class in honour of his birthday, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores one of the most misunderstood human traits: sensitivity. While the world often tells us to toughen up and grow thicker skin, Chassidus teaches that the goal is not to suppress our emotions but to refine them. Drawing from Tanya, Torah Or, Likkutei Torah, and the teachings of the Rebbeim, Rabbi Bernath explains that som...

In this eye-opening session, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores one of the most profound and misunderstood topics of all time: What is G-d? Moving beyond simplistic childhood images of a supernatural sky-being, we delve into Jewish, Chassidic, philosophical, and even scientific perspectives on the Divine. Drawing from thinkers like Einstein and the Alter Rebbe, this class gently unpacks a paradoxical...

In this heart-open, mind-stretching class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath dives headfirst into one of the most profound questions ever asked: Who wrote the Torah and what do we mean by G-d? Sparked by a challenge from Ilana, a thoughtful soul who just "won the raffle" and then handed Rabbi Bernath some of the hardest theological questions he's faced, this class isn't a debate, it’s a br...

This Shabbat  Parshat Beha’alotecha , Rabbi Yisroel Bernath was a Scholar-In-Residence at Beth Tikvah in DDO, Quebec , here is a recording for him preparing his Shabbat morning sermon.  Rabbi Yisroel Bernath connects two contemporary images: the debate over displaying the Ten Commandments in American classrooms and the haunting “blank Tanach” campaign in Israel. Both raise a deeper question: Is To...

Tonight at Congregation TBDJ in Montreal, Rabbi Zolly Claman invited Rabbi Yisroel Bernath to share a unique talk as part of his series on the Characters from the Torah. Rabbi Bernath explored the life of King David through the lens of The Forgiveness Experiment, asking what it really means to forgive without becoming naïve, passive, or unsafe. Moving from Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob a...

Why do we read the story of Ruth on Shavuot? Beneath the surface of this beautiful Megillah lies one of the most dramatic stories in all of Tanach, famine, exile, conversion, controversy, loss, courage, and the hidden birth of redemption. In this class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores the deeper story behind Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz through Midrash, Talmud, Zohar, and Kabbalah. Together we’ll uncover...

As we arrive at the final week of Sefirat HaOmer, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores the profound and deeply practical world of Malchut , the sefirah of sovereignty, presence, dignity, and embodiment. In Chassidic thought, Malchut is not about domination or ego-driven power, but about becoming a grounded vessel for truth, connection, and Divine presence. Through powerful analogies, relatable stories,...

As we step into the week of Yesod, we move from the inner emotional world into the place where everything becomes real, where feelings turn into connection, and potential becomes relationship. In this class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores Yesod not just as a mystical concept, but as the very foundation of how we bond with others, with ourselves, and with G-d. Drawing on teachings from Kabbalah and...

In a world that rewards being right, being strong, and holding it all together, the Sefirah of Hod invites us into a very different kind of strength. In this heart-open class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores the power of humility, not as weakness, but as the courage to soften, to acknowledge truth, and to release the need to control. Drawing from Kabbalah, Chassidic teachings and real-life experien...

What drives you to keep pushing forward and when does that drive begin to drain you? In this class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores the Sefirah of Netzach , the inner power of endurance, ambition, and resilience. Through a blend of Kabbalah and Chassidic insight and real-life application, we uncover the difference between healthy perseverance and destructive overdrive. This session invites you to r...

How to Love Without Smothering and Set Boundaries Without Wounding Why do our best intentions so often hurt the people we love most? Because love without boundaries can suffocate… and truth without compassion can wound. As we enter the week of Tiferet in Sefirat HaOmer, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores the Kabbalistic art of emotional balance, the sacred harmony between Chesed (kindness) and Gevurah...

What if the last days of Pesach aren’t about how the story ends… but about how your story begins? In this deeply practical and soulful class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores the hidden power of the final days of Passover, where we stop remembering freedom and start living toward it . Through the lens of the splitting of the sea, the mysterious idea of Moshiach as a “Caesar,” and the transformative...

We’ve all been to a Seder. We know the songs, the matzah, the wine… and somehow, we still walk out the same person. But what if the Seder was never meant to be a ritual you attend, but a process you go through ? In this class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath uncovers the Seder as a 15-step journey of real transformation. A map for getting unstuck, from old habits, inner resistance, fear, and emotional bagga...

Download Rabbi Bernath's Haggadah HERE https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/98kilqi70z1cpqcn47jo0/Rabbi-Yisroel-s-Passover-Haggadah-Version-6B.pdf?rlkey=2gbd5i1u1fx0787fochlrpj6b&dl=0 Most people prepare for the Seder like they’re hosting a dinner. The food is ready. The table is set. The Haggadah is in place. But the Seder was never meant to be something you run. It’s something you enter. In t...

There’s something about this time of year… As we prepare for Pesach, cleaning, cooking, setting the table… we’re also being invited into something deeper. Not just a historical remembrance… but a personal awakening. Because the real question of the Seder isn’t “What happened then?” It’s “Am I free now?” In this special pre-Passover episode, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath shares an exclusive preview from th...