Online Torah Classes with Rabbi Mendy Goldberg

KORACH You Are The Story Jealousy at its core stems from one’s misalignment with their own value and worth. It is the fundamental misunderstanding of one’s role in the world The Rebbe, a Jewish leader who dedicated his life to reaching every single Jew. There have been righteous individuals who opened their doors to those who knocked on them, The Rebbe devoted all his resources to caring for a sma...

Shelach Saying It Right The spies come to the promised land, what a sight they see: They return with a very grim prognosis: "We cannot attack those people; they are stronger than we are." We are stuck with the worst neighbors in the world. Did we expect them to come back and tell fairy tales that the land is as beautiful? Especially considering that the spies were assigned a critical and...

BAHALOTECHA Finding True Satisfaction Why does Moshe seemingly give up on the Jews when they complain about the menu? What was wrong with asking for a variety of foods to eat in the desert? Moreover Moshe the leader and lead defense for the Jews seems to throw in the towel on this one, more then any other time.

NASO A Blessing With Love What is the purpose of the Priestly blessing? Why is such a procedure necessary to receive abundance? Think about it: if it is decreed for us on Rosh Hashanah to receive a certain abundance according to our deeds, then Hashem who is good and upright, will pay our reward without blessings, like an honest employer who pays salaries on time. And if it is not decreed on Rosh...

BAMIDBAR The Pressures of Prestige The natural desire of a father who succeeds in his field and business is that his sons will continue in his path. He aspires for them to continue building what he has established and perpetuate his legacy. This aspiration is doubly emphasized in the Jewish world, which is so family centric. There is only one exception in the entire lineage of the patriarchs of th...

Bechukotai Bitter or Sweet? You Decide. A novel idea the material world, the physical dimension of reality, is downstream from its spiritual source; in other words - materiality derives from spirituality. And as such, when facing a situation of any kind in our material life, we must look deeper, or higher at its spiritual source for a solution. This is true especially regarding one’s life conditio...

Decisions of Fate: Your Jewish Compass for Navigating Questions of Medical Ethics Lesson 2 Extending Life How does Judaism balance the desire to preserve life with concerns of reducing suffering? See how Jewish values inform a dignified approach to end-of-life care and advance medical directives.

Decisions of Fate: Your Jewish Compass for Navigating Questions of Medical Ethics Lesson 1 Experimental Treatments When emerging treatments offer hope of recovery, when is the risk justified? Discover the Jewish ethics of risking your life in the hope of extending your long-term prospects.

Lag Baomer The Gift of Mysticism Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai passed away on Lag B’Omer, and is buried in Meron. Why is he so ‘famous’? What earned Rashbi this notoriety almost unique among his contemporaries? In this class, we will discuss two ideas about the contributions of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The first deals with redemption from the guilt of sin, which can otherwise burden and weigh down one’s...

EMOR Dying just because you are a Jew, sanctifying G-d’s name. Dying rather than violating a cardinal sin; or in some circumstances even, any sin. It may be obvious why dying for one’s cause is noble, even sacred. But in Judaism, a religion that hallows and celebrates life above all, it seems quite peculiar. We know that Torah’s injunction that the mitzvos are for us to ‘live by’, and not die for,...

KEDOSHIM My Mission in Life People often wonder, “How can I know what is my mission on life? Life is full of troubles and I cannot solve them all. “ Were I to be constantly helping others I would be forced to neglect my own issues; yet every decent person feels that there are times one must stop and go help others. How, then, can one know to discern? How will I know when it's a problem that di...

Seeing the Light, When It's Dark PESACH Jews are no strangers to persecution; its stories fills the pages of our history books from the very dawn of our people’s existence. But what makes us unique, is that unlike others, we get ‘better’ with each passing tragedy. The worse the persecution the stronger and harder we become. Counterintuitive. Like the egg of the Seder plate, which the hotter it...

TAZRIA Your Untapped Potential What do our wounds say about us? What do our negative habits, addictions, and unresolved weaknesses convey? Unconventional take: flaws are in truth symptoms of greatness. In many cases, they are an expression of an inner ability that has not been expressed and is pleading for attention. The Chassidic perspective on this stems from a great message in the Torah reading...

Why Do Jews Follow the Lunar Calendar Hachodesh For some time, Jews followed the ‘regular’ solar calendar that everyone followed and which was synced to their agricultural practices, only to then receive a mitzvah to a establish a new -lunar- calendar; something which seemed hardly helpful. Why?

Tzav- Parah The mitzvah of the Parah Adumah is known to be one of the most enigmatic and obscure. Even Shlomo Hamelech was compelled to admit that, his unmatched wisdom notwithstanding, he could not grasp the depth of this enigmatic commandment. What – then- are we to make of it? What lessons can it offer us in our lives? Let us elaborate on two profound concepts that are alluded to within the sec...

Vayikra - Sacrifices and Relationships Most common question is: How do we bridge the gap between ourselves and others? Religiously oriented people might even ask: How do we draw closer to the Creator? How do we become more holy and less materialistic? Men and women ask: How do we rise above our differences and achieve unity? Even parents and children wonder how to leave behind conflicts and argume...

Advice for Life: The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Guidance for Leading a More Purposeful Life Spiritual Heights Discover a unique approach to realizing our most profound potential and achieving real spiritual growth that combines lofty goals with remarkably practical guidance.

PEKUDEI Harnessing Your Inner Strength When a person loses everything, they are forced to dig deeper within themselves to tap into new reservoirs of energy. Deep down somewhere, there is a wholesome and pure core, and nothing can harm it. It nurtures within us an eternal divine spark, which cannot be taken captive or shot. This divine essence only hopes to fulfill its unique divine mission. When a...

SHEKOLIM Feelings DO Matter Why did Moshe get confused when he heard about silver? What was not clear about the commandment of giving half a shekel, that Moshe needed explanations and demonstrations from above about what was being talked about? Why did Hashem show him in response "a coin of fire" and say "this they shall give - like this they shall give"? Why a coin of fire and...

Commentators have always been puzzled by Moshe's actions: How could he possibly shatter the luchos, which he received directly from Hashem? Especially considering that the loss was irreversible. These tablets were not given again, and the second tablets were merely the work of human hands, hewn from a stone from beneath Moshe's tent? But precisely herein is the lesson: Moshe needed to get...

TETZAVEH A Jew is Never Alone 136. That’s how many hostages there still are in the hands of murderous terrorists in Gaza. Actually it’s 134 – two were miraculously rescued last week in a daring operation, and we – the global Jewish family cried happy tears for the first time in months. What did we do for these hostages? On the one hand, we are not politicians or military strategists, and it is not...

TERUMAH Being Jewish is Who You Are What is a Jew? Today we want to attempt to answer this not-so-simple question, which Jews often grapple with, a question that can sometimes tear apart hearts and families. We will explore this through the significance of holiest object in our world: the structure of the Aron in the Mishkan.

MISHPATIM Is Public Shaming Ok? Jewish thought places a great premium on Human Dignity, perhaps even at the top of its priority list. Human dignity is the essence of who a person is and their value as an agent of the Almighty. Therefore, an affront to one's dignity is tantamount to an affront to their life and their ability to fulfill their mission in the world. The importance of this subject...

YISRO Why Would Someone Convert To Judaism? Why would name the Parsha containing the Ten Commandments would be named after a gentile, and a decorated senior idolater? Why was such a great distinction bestowed upon Yisro? In this class we’ll see that Yisro was no ordinary gentile, but one who ‘connected the dots’ and understood that Hashem was the only true god and one worth worshipping. And from h...

BESHALACH Question V/S Doubt How is it possible that we are commanded to forget what Egypt did to us, but not to forget what Amalek did? How is it that in the face of the Egyptians who enslaved us for nearly a hundred years and committed gradual murder through the drowning of infants in the Nile, and the Torah commands us to forget and leave behind what happened. While in the case of the Amalekite...