The Weekend Magazine - Shabbat Shuva

Shabbat Shuva falls in the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, fateful spiritual days for the Jewish people. Yet, putting our best foot forward in Torah, tshuva, and tefilla, we're confidant of a favorable judgment for the Jewish people in 5767, despite the apparent chaos all around us. Fortunately, Hashem runs the world and not Ollie or Achmadinejad.

Parshat Haazinu - this weeks Pearl is entitled "Paying the Bills": A basic law of physics states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The stronger a bowstring is pulled back, the further the arrow will be projected... The moment we become aware of the basic action-reaction principle, we begin to see the tremendous harmony and wisdom within Hashem's creation, both in the natural order and in the social order... click here to continue.

The Ten Days of Repentance: During the course of the year, we sometimes forget that Hashem, our Father and King, is our Supreme Commander whose commandments we must fulfill. Instead, we listen to a tyrannical junior officer – the Yetzer Hara – who is the local commander, commanding our bodies to pursue a variety of detrimental lusts and appetites and our brains to squander time and ability with a number of pointless follies. The Ten Days of Repentance serve as the King's couriers to remind us that we're rebellious and in grave danger of severe accusations... continue reading here.

Rebbe Nachman's Emuna Strike Force:

From left: Abir Warrior Yonatan Sofer, Lazer, and world-famous Abir Aluf Grand Master Yehoshua Sofer

I had the special privilege of rooming in Uman with my two very close friends, Yonatan and Yehoshua Sofer, whose family possesses the ancient secret of Abir Israelite Warrior Arts dating back to our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the coming weeks, the Beams will be featuring a lot more about the Sofer brothers and Abir, G-d willing. I'm still working my way through a backlog of correspondence and work, while fighting a flu virus that I brought home from the Ukraine, so bear with me. Our job at hand is to prepare ourselves for Yom Kippur. Gmar Chatima Tova and G-d bless.