Baal Shem Tov, R. Israel

The best doctors, taught the Baal Shem Tov, prescribe medicine as sweet as honey. It’s called happiness.

Every work of art has a body and a soul. The soul is that which the artist wishes to express; the body is the forms he chooses to express that soul. The master artist is a master both in expression of his soul, and in crafting the forms for that expressio...

Again we find the power of joy and love: they lift all things and connect them with their origin. Even the fury of G‑d is ameliorated and transformed to compassion through joy. ולהבין זה נמשיל משל למלך שבאו כל עבדיו ושריו לומר הרמנין לפניו ולקלסו, והנה לכ...

“Evil things do not issue forth from Above.” In the Creator’s mind, our world is a wondrous tapestry of infinite colors and forms, a symphony of uncountable instruments, a story of fathomless depth. To us, stuck within the details of that story, things ca...

The Baal Shem Tov passed through a Jewish community before the High Holidays where they asked him to stay and pray with them. He inquired about the cantor who would lead the communal prayers. They told him that the cantor sang a lovely, cheerful song of h...

As man desires to find G‑d and bond with Him, so G‑d desires to find man and bond with him, with his every limb and faculty, with every aspect of his world. And so, He directs a person’s life in such a way that, “in all your ways you should know Him.” . ו...

It is important to know the meaning of every word that you pray, and to focus your heart on their meaning as you utter those words. But the words themselves, the very sounds and utterances, they too are instruments of great power. The very act of bonding ...

Prayer is an act of gratitude and celebration, three times a day. So many believe that the only way to get what they want from G‑d is by kvetching about it. It is not true. Celebrate and express gratitude for whatever you have been given, and He will give...

There are two reasons a person might cry. One is because he is in pain and there is nothing left to do but cry. The other is something holds him back from attaining his desire, so he cries, the tears rip away that deterrent, and he reaches his goal. The f...

Happiness is not a goal; it is a strategy—your most vital strategy. So vital, the enemy will do whatever it can to sabotage it. And the best way to sabotage happiness is with guilt. לפעמים מטעה היצה״ר לאדם ואומר לו שעבר עבירה גדולה אע״פ שאינו אלא חומרא בע...