It’s a great thing to want to learn Torah. I am sure you can become proficient if you dedicate time and are diligent. I would suggest you get in contact with an Orthodox Rabbi ( Orthodox Union) and ask about Torah courses in your area or if he himself offers courses or if he can set you up to learn with someone.

There are a plethora of Torah Topics. H’umash / 5 Books of Moses, Talmud, Jewish Law, Jewish Philosophy, Mussar / Ethics, Psychology, and much more. I would suggest as a beginner to learn H’umash / the weekly Parasha / Torah reading with an Orthodox Rabbi inside the Text with Rashi (the Commentator). You can also learn with someone over the phone with a program called Partners in Torah .

For a Gentile / Non-Jew that wants to Learn Torah – I would suggest them to also contact an Orthodox Rabbi. Yet I would suggest them to learn the 7 Noahide Laws from the Torah for all humanity. For that is what they are responsible to learn. If they have an interest in becoming Jewish then they can also learn other Torah subjects.

I suggest that a person who learns Torah have a specific goal. To become proficient in learning text on one’s own is what seems to be your goal. To do that it is important to review material learned with the other person (chevruta) consistently and understand the definition of words.

Learning Halacha helps you learn Mishna. Learning Mishna Helps you learn Gemara / Talmud. If you are interested in Talmud Study – there is a great program – called Daf HaYomi in which one learns a full page of Talmud daily. Everybody, worldwide, in the program learns the same page. So one finishes the Entire Study of the pages Talmud after about 7 years – and celebrate together at the Siyum HaShas / Completion of the Talmud. Obviously, to get the most out of it one should review what he learned with the rabbi inside the text afterwards to be able to understand inside the Text. There are many Talmud & Torah study works translated and Commented in English or French or Hebrew – like the Artscroll Talmud or Chumash.

If one does this diligently, eventually they can learn to learn Torah & Talmud. Wishing You success in Your Endeavors.

All the great Rabbis of this generation have proclaimed that we are in a period called in the Talmud “the footsteps of Mashiach / Messiah”. It is a period in which turmoil among nations will be common.

Advent of Messiah

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the Greatest Rabbis in the Generation, has exhorted Jews to return to Israel. He said to someone recently visiting him from Lakewood “Stay in Israel.” The Rabbi replied – but I am in charge of over 700 students in Lakewood.” He replied “If you don’t come now, it will be hard to find place on the airplanes to get here.”

Some stock experts are predicting the downturn of stock markets and the economy. Some are saying to prepare for survival – by stocking up on water or knowing how to produce water. (One simple method to distill water is to take a bowl, a cup, plastic wrap, a stone and salt water. Put salt water in bowl outside in the sun and put cup in the middle. put plastic wrap on top of bowl. Put rock on plastic wrap. Evaporated water will condense on plastic wrap, and drip into cup.) The best way is to prepare oneself spiritually.

There are ways to avoid the difficulties of this time and survive the storm.

Repentance and Yom Kippur – Opportunities to Clean the Slate

The 4 Steps of Repentance are
1. Regret – regretting what one did. Obviously one has to know what is right and wrong to regret. If one thinks stealing is right – they will not regret. To find out what is right and wrong – A Jew repents by looking at the 613 commandments or the Shulchan Aruch / code of Jewish Law – that regulates Jewish life. A gentile starts the process by looking at their the 7 Noahide Laws.
2. Cessation – Stopping doing the misdeed
3. Confession – Admitting to G-d / Hash-m the wrong that one did and asking for forgiveness
4. Commitment – Committing not to do the transgression again. One know one is forgiven if he or she finds oneself in the same situation and does not commit the impropriety

Repentance for things done against ones fellow must be accompanied by asking for forgiveness. Yom Kippur forgives transgressions against G-d. But to receive pardon from transgressions between man and man, one must ask for forgiveness.

If you are holding a grudge – let go. Forgive and forget and G-d will forgive you. Don’t speak badly about others and the accusers in Heaven will not speak about you.

Cleansing Oneself with Water

Water distillation is like the process of Teshuva / repentance. The pure water rises. When we set our sights towards being good and doing the will of G-d – we purify ourselves. The pure goes up and the bad deeds remain down. Thus we purify ourselves and wipe the slate clean.

One who learns Torah – which is compared to water – as its study cleanses a person – will gain special protection. (note: There are only certain parts of the Torah that Gentiles can learn – a gentile who learns about the 7 Noahide laws is praiseworthy. Other parts of Torah – that a gentile may learn – one must inquire by a competent Torah Jew or Orthodox Rabbi.) When one fills oneself with the wellspring of Torah G-d will offer them special protection.

On Rosh HaShannah we are compared to Sheep. To decide which sheep were to be offered on the Altar – they were placed in a fenced area with a passage to another. As each sheep would pass through they were counted. The 10th sheep would be marked with a red mark. If a sheep was smart – if it wanted to get out of being offered – they could jump into water and wash away the red mark. We too have a chance on Yom Kippur to repent and wash away our past failings.

What many people forget are three things:

1. The Paths of G-d are Pleasant -The pleasantness of following Torah, of being close to G-d, of raising righteous children of having a positive marriage cannot be explained in this short article. G-d is our Father and wants our happiness. G-d knows the true path to happiness – He did make humankind. Like a father, He wants a child to enjoy a fulfilling relationship with Him. Thus he gave the Torah. Some think that if I follow Judaism I will be subject to restrictions. They overlook that – on the contrary, the guidelines are to give a person more pleasure.

2. Any Physical punishment that occurs to a person or nation is because they did something spiritually wrong – according to Torah. For instance people who worship Idols – like an object, or man, or a tree – will be punished because they disregarded the Noahide law prohibiting idol worship. So if a person, changes their ways to correspond to the Torah’s laws they can avoid punishment. The punishment can be used to propel the person to make amends with G-d or can be wasted by ignoring its spiritual message to improve ones ways.

3. Each person has freedom of choice to change for the better – no matter where a person is terms of their level in Torah observance – Jewish or Gentile they can repent and be forgiven by G-d. (A gentile / non-Jew need not convert to Judaism to follow Torah they just have to follow their Noahide laws as outlined in the Torah.) Once someone said to me “I am unworthy of doing good.” I should have responded “The fact that you feel unworthy means that you have good inside you – meaning you are very worthy.” Every person can better themselves.

Settling of Accounts

The goal of the Messianic period is to settle accounts before the world reaches its true perfection. True perfection means that peace will reign in the world and people will recognize the G-d of the Jews as the true G-d.

Apparently if all the people choose to follow the G-d of the Jews – they will survive. If they don’t they may not. Thus this time is a proper time to do Teshuva / repent. A non-Jew repents by abandoning their old ways and follow the 7 Noahide commandments. A Jew repents by following the Torah – as explained by the Shulchan Aruch / code of Jewish Law – that regulates Jewish life.

All those nations and individuals that tormented the Jews will be punished. All those that were good will be rewarded – possibly with their survival.

The Torah has prophesies about what will happen in these times. (Talmud : Sanhedrin 97a). In Torah there are accepted ways to interpret verses from the Five books of Moses and verses that are interpreted in the Oral Torah – including the Talmud.

The Prophesies stated can be interpreted for the good or for the “will be good”. America is called a Malchut Shel Chesed – a government of Kindness. It has done kindness with other nations that no other nation has done.

Yet America does have its failings – One such failing is the legitimization of same gender marriage. G-d hates improper marital relations.

Midrash Rabbah (26:9) tells us that “The generation of the Flood was not wiped out until they wrote marriage documents for the union of a man to a male or to an animal.”

Another Such failing is that America is the reincarnation of Rome. Rome committed terrible atrocities against the Jewish people. Now G-d wants to settle the accounts.

According to one Rabbi in the Talmud – which was originally the Oral law, given to Moses at Mount Sinai by G-d – There is a prophesy (Talmud Yoma 10a) that says “Iran / Persia will overtake Rome (ie, America).” Another says that “Rome will overtake Iran.” Apparently it could go either way. Either scenario is feasible, now that Iran has gone Nuclear. If America plays its cards right – it could possibly be saved.

How? G-d basically wants people to follow the Torah – Jews and Gentiles. The Torah says that all people are to follow the 7 Noahide laws, because G-d in the Torah that he Gave to Moses said so. For some it will mean abandoning their physical gods or god of materialism. For some it will mean they must abandon their hatred of the Jews. All apparently will have to follow the laws to survive.

G-d does not want the death of the wicked. He wants them to abandon their evil ways and become righteous. Thus any person, who wants to be saved has a way of survival – to follow the laws of the Torah and they will be considered righteous and thus likely be saved.

The Torah says for “To avoid the pains of before the Messiah, a Jew should scrupulously observe having the 3 meals on Shabbat”

The Ben Ish Hai interprets certain prophesies in the Torah – in a positive manner. Others Interpret it in a way that are pretty scary and we see the signs of that that is happening. One such sign is that if the Jews do not repent G-d will appoint a ruler, like Haman, to force them to change their ways by his evil decrees.” But it doesn’t have to be such. If Each Jew takes upon themselves some principal commandments – like observing the Shabbat / Sabbath & Keeping Kosher and observing family purity – they will probably be saved.

“All the children who ate lunch, you now have recess”

the teacher told the audience of little students in the auditorium.

“Those that remain go to the lunchroom.”

Pretty simple to understand.

When G-d gave the 10 Commandments, He prefaced it with “I am the L-rd your G-d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

Who are the people who G-d took out from Egypt from the house of bondage? The Jewish people. Thus the 10 commandments and the Mitzvot Associated with them – the 613 commandments apply only to the Jewish people.

The Seven Noahide Commandments apply to all people – Jews and Gentiles – to All Humanity.

What are these Seven Commandments?

The Seven Commandments for All Humanity

G-d gave Adam, the first man, commandments for him and all his descendants.

These are called the 7 Noahide laws or Sheva Mitzvot Benei Noach / Seven Commandments for the Children of Noah.

These Commandments are the basis of morality and world survival.

G-d gave them again to Noah, after the flood – thus their name.

He also explained them to Moses when the Jews received the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Although there are 7 Commandments for All humanity, they really comprise of at least 30 commandments for all people – Jews and Non-Jews alike. The Seven Commandments are the main categories. The commandments that fall into those 7 are 30. Some count up to 66.

For A good book on the subject see “Path of the Righteous Gentile.”

A gentile who follows these commandments for the sake of the G-d of the Jews because they were written in the Torah, they get a portion in the afterlife. The Torah is eternal, so attaching oneself to Torah one also attaches oneself to eternity.

The Only Time in History that G-d Appeared to an Entire People and Gave a Law
There was only one time in history where G-d appeared to an entire nation of millions of people and gave them a document with very specific laws of conduct – when G-d gave the Torah to the Jews at Mount Sinai about 3,300 years ago. G-d gave laws for Jews and laws for gentiles.

In the Torah – it explains in detail what these laws are. Only the Jews have the proper interpretation of the Torah, because when G-d gave us the commandments and the Written Torah, he also gave us an Oral Law – to explain the written Torah. The Oral Torah was written and is now called the Talmud. Thus any interpretation of Torah that does not follow the laws explained in the Talmud is not Torah.

A person who follows these laws because G-d gave them in the Torah – is called a Ben Noah and will inherit a portion in Heaven.

The Seven Noahide Laws
They are seven major categories – that with their details consist of 30 laws.

1) Respecting G-d – Not to blaspheme.

2) Being Faithful to G-d – Not to Commit Idolatry.

3) Respecting Human Life – Not to Kill.

4) Respecting One’s Fellow’s Property – Not to Steal.

5) Respecting the Integrity of the Family – Not to commit forbidden relations – which includes prohibitions of adultery, incest, bestiality and homosexuality.

6) Respect of Life – Not to eat a limb taken from a living animal.

7) Law and Order – Establishing courts of law to enforce these laws.

The 10 Commandments for the Jewish People

The Descendants of the Abraham, Isaak and Jacob are the Israelites. The Jews descend from them. The Israelites were in Egypt for over 200 years. The Egyptians made them slaves. G-d took them out with a mighty Hand. After they left G-d gave the Jewish people the Torah. All the Jews – Millions of People – heard G-d Himself speaking.

The giving of the Torah – the Law – was a national revalation of G-d. G-d never appeared again to a Nation. G-d does not change his mind. So the Torah is always in effect. Moses brought down the 10 commandments.

The 10 Commandents are only for the Jewish People.

the 10 Commandments found in Deuteronomy (5:1-19) include –
1. Belief in One G-d,
2. Not having other gods (ie, Prohibition of Idol Worship),
3. Prohibition of Saying G-d’s name in Vain,
4. Honoring the Sabbath,
5. Honoring one’s parents,
6. Prohibition of murder.
7. Prohibition of adultery.
8. Prohibition of stealing.
9. Prohibition of bearing false witness against your neighbor.
10. Prohibition of coveting a neighbor’s possessions.

A gentile does not observe the Sabbath. Although a Gentile does not learn Torah it is a Mitzvah / commandment for them to learn about their laws – the 7 Noahide laws.

A Gentile that feels an an affinity to Judaism and is sincere can convert to become Jewish after guidance, learning and conversion with a reputable and competent Orthodox Rabbi. A Jew can never convert out of Judaism. They will always considered Jewish by G-d – regardless if they went through the process of “conversion” to another religion and are thus obligated under the 613 Torah commandments. A Jew is considered a person whose mother is Jewish or converted according to Torah Judaism.

For Info on the the TEN COMMANDMENTS see:

For More Info on the 7 Noahide laws

Recently, I received an invitation regarding a free seminar on overcoming anxiety.

A poll the organization conducted found the following statistics:

1. 66.89% stated that they suffer with anxiety.

30.70% stated that they suffer with feelings of depression.

The Torah says :

See the sun shining.

After rain is the sun.
After night is the day.
After dark is the dawn.
After challenge is the light.

All you need is patience, positive thinking and a prayer.

We will overcome it together and be stronger.

“We” is you and Hash-m. He says that He is with a person in times of distress. G-d is with you.

See the Good in the Tough

All that G-d does is a gift. A tough situation is for us to become stronger and better. Just because it is tough, it doesn’t mean that it is not good.

Build up Confidence by Observing Positive

I read a short story about a boy who was afraid of policemen. When he was about 5 years old when he saw a police officer dragging his father away – traumatizing him.

It marked him throughout his childhood. He finally ends up being helped by a friendly policeman that helps his father fix a flat tire, lets the boy wear his jacket, hat and whistle. This positive experience allows him to overcome his fear.

Imagine Positive Outcomes

To overcome our anxieties we can talk them out with others. We can see how in other times we had a pleasant time in or at least overcame a stressful situation. Stop. Mentally imagine a positive outcome of yourself doing something you fear. Imagine a positive scenario when immersed in anxiety.

Believe in Yourself
Believing in oneself is part of the solution to many personal problems. When one feels that they are subject to the whim of others, one might lose confidence in oneself. The Torah perspective is that any challenge that one faces, one has the power to overcome. If one would not be able to, G-d would not send them this challenge. Knowing you can overcome it helps.

Loving oneself
Loving oneself is also part of the solution to many personal problems. When one recognizes their own self-worth, this helps them to cope and be a proper functioning individual. Look at all your good points and learn to love yourself.

Getting Support from Others
Confiding in others can help one to get a load off one’s back. It can provide solutions and a sounding board for ideas. Support can be either emotional support, material support or spiritual support. Emotional support is when others help you deal with the emotions. Material support is finding a way to solve the problem. Spiritual support is getting guidance from a competent Torah authority.

A Caveat:

Healthy support is from close family members, friends of the same gender or one’s spouse. When one reaches out for support from a person of the opposite gender, it can engender many other problems – like improper feelings of closeness and can eventually cause broken families and marriages. Seek support from those who are proper from the standpoint of the Torah.

Solve the Problem
In business they use problem solving techniques. Here is one of them.
Ask Yourself:

1. What is the Problem?

1. Write it out on paper. Be very Precise – not vague. Don’t write “Abusive Boss” – Write “Boss creates unnecessary pressure on employees by making unreasonable demands and threats.”

2. What are the causes of the Problem?
You might want to use a Fishbone Diagram (see below)

Fishbone Diagram on Time Wasters

3. What are solutions?
Brainstorm for solutions. List all solutions you can think of, without judging them.

4. What are the best Solutions?

Obviously the solutions should be congruent with Torah law.
For Jews – the Halacha from the Shulchan Aruch.
For Gentiles – follow the 7 Noahide laws.

If the solution is not congruent with Torah, the solution might aggravate the situation.

5. What is the best way to implement the solutions?

In business they use a cycle called the Shewart cycle – it is plan, do, check, act.
Planning for change, Do is testing on a small scale, Check – see if there are noticeable results, act upon the trial done.

Spiritual Solutions

Spiritual Problem Solving

1. G-d is good. He guides a person to reach their potential in life. At times a person is off track. So G-d puts blocks or “problems” in their path to bring them back to the proper path. He gives guidance to those he is close to. Our concern is how to interpret the message and redirect our travel to follow the proper path. The proper path is related to Torah.

An example:

A person is yelled at by his wife about his driving over the speed limit. The assumed solution would be to drive at the speed limit. But spiritually, his wife’s shouting at him may be a result of his shouting at his co-worker earlier during the day. Thus the proper solution would be to be more patient with others. Both solutions are worthy.

Positive Prayer

Use pain for positive prayer. If a boss is abusive – pray to Hash-m “Oh G-d please help me to have the strength and courage to overcome the abusive boss. Help me to find a comparable job that will allow me to provide for my family without the abuse.” or the like. The important point is to word your prayer as precisely as possible.

Tehillim
David Hamelech – King David captured his feelings and the collective feelings of all the people of Israel in his Tehillim / Psalms. It is an ode to the Creator of the universe. In times of good and trouble we reach out to Hashem through sincere recitation of Tehillim. All of them are good to recite, yet some are more propice to affect solutions. In some Tehillim Sefarim / Books – they list the Tehillim to recite for respite from particular concerns. Recite the particular Tehillim to alleviate your own concerns and pray.

Wisdom from a Copy Clerk

Once in college, I received a chain letter.

It was finals time.

The letter stated something like: “Make twenty copies of this letter and distribute this to 20 people. If you break this chain, you will not do well in your finals.”

Under the pressure of finals, the letter swayed me to do as it said.

I went to the copy center and asked the clerk to make the copies for me. She said to me “I’ll gladly made the copies, but do you really believe this?”

Her statement woke me up. I threw out the chain letter.

The statement woke me up from a misconception – that grades are correlated with distributing chain letters. They are not.

A lesson learned from that Day

We many times have misconceptions in life. Our goal is to listen to the messages that break us out of them. Consult competent people knowledgeable in Torah. If we follow truth and Torah – they will let us break through deception and set ourselves free.

Positive Messages

We need positive messages to assuage the stress and anxiety we experience. Instead of giving ourselves negative messages – let’s fill our thoughts with and focus on the positive.