Yesod Blocks: Foundational Torah

Ep #14: Right, Left, and Hashem

The words you speak almost always generate a corresponding cascade of thoughts and associations in your mind, which you then use to further engage in conversation. Exception: when those words are said out of habit, and with no understanding. Experiencing Hashem, conversing with Hashem, saying Brachot and having them trigger cascades of thoughts just like the rest of your speech- all of this is possible, with knowledge and understanding.

Ep #13: Mikva, Water, and Infinity

It's hard to see the effect water has on us, because it's so easily accessible nowadays. But water can act as an experiential doorway to the infinite...

Ep #12: Sleep Death, Mouths and Nostrils

Prior to washing Netilat Yadayim, we are not supposed to touch openings of our bodies. The framework of thought underlying this is extensive and deep. The intangible world we experience is a vibrant backdrop to the tangible medium in which we live...

Ep #11: Hands, Death and Finiteness

We drill into morning Netilat Yadayim, discovering the profound underlying core that is manifest as this seemingly simple halakha. 

Ep #10: Melakha, Order and Consciousness

Melakha is not "work," or "labor." Learning how to extricate ourselves from our own creative funnels is parallel to pulling ourselves out of a deep orientation of ourselves as our bodies, our professions, our desires, our emotions. We are beyond all those things, though we do operate in the world through each of them. The Etz HaDa'at allows us to forget this, and become consumed with our own creative power...

Ep #9: Bathrooms, Bodies and Balance

Bathroom humor seems to be part of an attempt to deal with the existential wackiness of our souls (selves) being linked to a body with so many issues, features and functions. The halakhot of the bathroom directly relate to this existential issue, and help us develop clarity in the relationships we have with the different aspects of the physical vessel we call "the body."

Ep# 8:Kippot, Arrogance and Awareness

Covering our heads is an ancient and well-known halakha. It's supposed to help us remember "the One who is above us." But how does it do this, and where, exactly, is Hashem? Is He above us? Or everywhere? Or both?

Ep #7: Shoes, the Left and the Right

Is it important to put your shoes on in a certain order? Or could it be that there's something else important that is being expressed and reflected in how you put on your shoes? Unexpectedly, that "something else" is the key to solving the political divide destroying so much of today's culture.

Ep #6: Clothing, Nakedness and Sexual Energy

Halakhot of dress are the cover for a massive framework of perspectives of sexual energy. Understanding how this energy can pervade our perceptions is integral to healthy sexual relationships as well as every-day activities.

Ep #5: Shabbos, Creativity, and Stopping

What is the concept of "kavod Shabbos," or "honoring Shabbos?" We always hear that we "rest" because Hashem "rested," but that sounds strange in two different ways. What is the deep core of the halakha of Shabbos?