Yanki Tauber

Ten things were created on the eve of Shabbos at twilight. These are: the mouth of the earth, the mouth of the well, the mouth of the donkey, the rainbow, the mannah, the staff [of Moses], the shamir, the writing, the inscription and the tablets [of the T...

No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the holy [meat]... From the ten miracles of the Holy Temple, Ethics of the Fathers, 5:5 There are those who would limit the number of their offspring for a variety of social and economic reasons. At times, ...

The world was created with ten Divine utterances. What does this come to teach us? Certainly, it could have been created with a single utterance. However, this was in order to make the wicked accountable for destroying a world which was created with ten u...

The world was created with ten Divine utterances Ethics of the Fathers, 5:1 G‑d formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that ...

"Against your will you live; against your will you die" Ethics of the Fathers 4:22 "The soul of man is a lamp of G‑d." The flame knows no rest, for it lives in perpetual conflict between two opposite tendencies. On the one hand, it cleaves to its wick, dr...

Those who are born are destined to die, and those who died are destined to live Ethics of the Fathers, 4:22 A basic tenet of the Jewish faith is the belief that those who have died will again be brought to life. In fact, the “Resurrection of the Dead” is ...

Shmuel the Small would say: "When your enemy falls, do not rejoice; when he stumbles, let your heart not be gladdened...." Ethics of the Fathers, 4:19 Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, taught: "Nothing is by chance: every sing...

Rabbi Yaakov would say: This world is comparable to an antechamber before the world to come. Prepare yourself in the antechamber, so that you may enter the banquet hall. He would also say: A single moment of repentance and good deeds in this world is grea...

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said: He who fulfills one mitzvah acquires for himself one advocate, and he who commits one transgression, acquires against himself one accuser. Repentance and good deeds are as a shield against retribution. Ethics of the Fathers,...

Be humble before every man Ethics of the Fathers, 4:10 Let's be realistic. Is there no one out there who is dumber, uglier or more selfish than yourself? Okay, discount the few dozen degrees of inferiority that are due to your ego-inflated self-perception...