Rabbi Zev Leff is Rav of Moshav Matisyahu, and a renowned lecturer and educator. He is the author of Shiurei Bina - Outlooks & Insights on the Weekly Torah Portion, and most recently, Shemoneh Esrei: The Depth and Beauty of Our Daily Tefillah, published by Targum Press. Visit his website online at www.rabbileff.net.
With sage insight into our Exodus from slavery to freedom, Rabbi Leff depicts the painful process of forging a nation and how it relates to shaking off personal enslavement.
The Seder, and in particular the Haggadah are full of puzzling traditions and phrases. Rabbi Leff explains the point of Seder night and discusses critical points of interest within the text.
The first mitzvah commanded to the Jewish Nation was given shortly before leaving Mitzrayim. Rabbi Leff looks at the three aspects of this watershed event that brought about our unpresedented unity. As an aside, he teaches how to deal with people who have differences of opinion - in private and in public.
Why do people celebrate with such exuberant simcha two curious death related events that happened on Lag B'Omer? The first was the day Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai passed away (author of the Zohar). The second was that after the month long mass wave of deaths (Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students) they suddenly stopped. Rabbi Leff fills in the historical and spiritual details of these significant events.
The Jewish people and the Torah are two sides of the same coin. Without the Jewish people, there would not be a Torah, and without the Torah, could there be a Jewish people? Join Rabbi Leff for the dynamics of this symbiotic relationship, the effect of each person's name, and other connections that came about at Har Sinai.
What is so unique about Torah that separates it from any other wisdom in the universe? Rabbi Leff's exposition on letting this Divine knowledge change us to the very core is appropriate for us to hear at this time.
Rabbi Leff seamlessly ties together the concepts of loving one another to becoming spiritually refined vis-a-vis God. What is it that prevents us from seeing that every human being in the world is necessary, and that other Torah-approved paths for reaching Hashem may be just as valid as yours?
It’s that time of year again when we take stock not only of the year that passed, but of life itself. Rabbi Zev Leff examines what LIFE consists of on its varied levels, and the significance of every action we perform.
How are we to relate to Rosh HaShana when year after year we know that horrible people are judged for death, yet they continue living healthy, prosperous lives? Even harder to understand is how righteous tzadikim, who by all rights are entitled to great blessings may unexpectedly die, or continue suffering? Rabbi Zev Leff articulates the deeper reality of this enigmatic question, and defines the different forms of judgement that Hashem portions out.
People often bandy about the idea of repentance, but how is it practically done? Rabbi Leff gives an in-depth analysis exploring the phenomenal gift of teshuva that reverses ones spiritual damage that should have been beyond repair. He focuses on the three step process for returning to God, with a deeper explaination of what each stage is meant to accomplish.