Cartoons That Make You Smarter

For too many reasons to count, my favorite place in the whole world is the Old City of Jerusalem. If I just sit still for a moment I am back there; Jews from every country and ethnicity converging together, tasting ice cream and falafel and most of all tasting home. Everyone there is family and every stone is the story of your life. It was there that I met David Aaron. Well, I didn't actually meet him in person then - that would come years later. There, I met him through his book, The G-d Powered Life. In the mystical ways of Old Jerusalem, I happened upon a man who happened to be his student who happened to have his books available and I happened to fall in love with them. In a small nook on an ancient stone bench I read. And read. And read. And none of what I read felt new. But all of it made me feel new. It's like when your brain is oxygenated. You have clarity. Everything is sharp. Your mind is on fire and you know exactly what to do next. I bought ten books. I gave away nine. I have lent out the one copy that I have left too many times to count. I even brought it with me when I went to train as a Life Coach. The training was on Shabbos and I wanted some Torah to learn. Over lunch break I sat with my fellow CTI members and we learned Kabbalah as explained by Rabbi David Aaron. And now he has blown me away again. Constantly changing, constantly producing - he has found a new way to teach and it's powerful! By using animation to illustrate the deepest concepts, it clicks effortlessly with your psyche. Cartoons are cool, cartoons are fun, and now, cartoons are really, really deep and mind blowing! After a 3 minute video you can magically and effortlessly explain and understand G-d, the meaning of life and life after death. Don't believe me? Watch them and see! One thing that I love about Rabbi Aaron's work is that its universal. It speaks to everyone. I mean, how many Rabbis can speak about Kabbalah on  E! Entertainment! That's how truth works. It resonates with everyone. Watch Rabbi Aaron's videos - you'll love his work and be amazed at how much it all makes gorgeous exquisite sense. I posted a lot here in case you are snowed in:) Visit to his website for many more. PS. I would highly recommend his book the G-d Powered Life. If I ever have an online store - that book is going to be in it! PPS. I showed some of these to my kids - what a great learning tool! The depth kind of went over their heads but the message is there for when they need it. Post below which video was your favorite and why!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQAq0CBzkng https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLNfRL3eXTE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAPElBpjHTU   More about Rabbi Aaron ( taken from his site RabbiDavid Aaron.com)  Rabbi David Aaron is a spiritual visionary and master educator who has invested over 3 decades delving into life’s BIGGEST question marks and sharing Torah’s transformational wisdom to adults and young adults. He has emerged as the ‘God expert’  simply because he has dared to ask and answer the most difficult questions that he/ALL people have and/or struggle with about God’s existence and their own. Rabbi David Aaron gently urges us to take a look at the self-defeating and silly notions we carry about ourselves and God. His wit lets our inner child listen while our critical mind begins to perceive a profound new world. Disarmed by Rabbi Aaron’s exhilarating undeniable clarity, we dare to look at our deepest assumptions, doubts and fears and challenge our paradigms of belief. Amazingly, we discover that our changing view of God and ourselves gives us access to reserves of personal power we never experienced before.  And new doorways open in our loving relationships. As a child of a holocaust survivor, Rabbi Aaron has struggled to erase his childhood image of God as a punishing old man in the clouds, waiting for us to fail.  As we identify with his tales of trying to “buy off” the ultimate doom, we realize that our childish fears and images sometimes rule our deepest thoughts. Rabbi Aaron teases us into letting go, if only for a moment, of our unspoken disappointments with God and ourselves. He slowly peels away the layers of confusion and mis-education and offers us a glimpse of the joy and personal power that a true, working belief in God and ourselves can provide. Learning with Rabbi Aaron is both profoundly moving and entertaining. People at every level of spiritual knowledge and practice enjoy the adventure of peeking around the corners of mystical ideas. Finding answers to our big questions begins a process that is life–changing.

His books which have been published by major publishing houses including Random House and Putnam have reached more than 200,000 people worldwide. He has taught thousands of students and reached millions through appearances on programs including Larry King Live and E! Entertainment. Rabbi Aaron received Semicha from the Israel Torah Research Institute, Yeshivat Itri, and is a disciple of the distinguished Dayan Rav Shlomo Fischer, Shlita. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Chana, and their seven children.

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Preparing for Rosh Hashanah | Preparing for the High Holy Days

This video about preparing for Rosh Hashanah was posted a week ago. Now it is one week closer to Rosh Hashanah. In fact, tonight, as I write this we are less than a week away.  The month before Rosh Hashana is called Elul. Its a time to prepare for the Day of Judgment. Even though its a matter of life and death we can somehow we get overwhelmed and let it pass up by.  We're just like that. The daily- ness of life obscures it's preciousness. If you feel like Elul is passing you by, you're in good company- but it's not too late! PS Because I am posting this video so close to Rosh Hashanah, I am also including some gems about preparing for Rosh Hashanah wisdom from my coach, R' Aryh Nivin. As a special treat he gave a free recorded talk/sermon about preparing for Rosh Hashanah.

Preparing for Rosh Hashanah

"Rosh Hashanah is the DNA of the year. Everything that happens to us that day determines what our year will be like. But what about if we wake up in a bad mood, if things go wrong? What we're talking about here is not our external experience, its about how we relate internally to our external circumstance. Its the Day of Essence. What matters is your internal response. This is the secret of life. The externals of life have nothing to do with you. Its about about your effort. This is transcendence." -Rabbi Nivin   "The essence of Rosh Hashana is to strip away everything you have. I am not (enter name) who does this( enter job). I have nothing. It's all being decided now. As it says, He who enters Rosh Hashanah poor will end the year rich." Start out with nothing but the primal scream, the Shofar, the deepest desire to connect to Hashem. " -Rabbi Nivin " We live in something called the Time Continuum. But in fact, its all an illusion. There's no actual continuation from one second to the next. We need to be able to timeless- to step out of time and see our story and rewrite the script. In order to truly be in Rosh Hashanah we need to step out of time and get off the train." - Rabbi Nivin "Thirty days before Rosh Hashana, the illumination of the Yom Tov is already streaming down to us. All of Elul is code. It's G-d telling us what we need to know for next year. Pay attention. Everything that happens to you is information. It's a time - not to think about what is, but what can be. Its a time to dream and invent and open every door of possibility." -Rabbi Nivin To access the full recording  about preparing for Rosh Hashanah- available for the month of September call: 605-562-3149 Access code 333039# Watch my video about preparing for Rosh Hashanah below: https://youtu.be/iUq29H_Ljdo Read more...