Across the board, all of the great masters teach that the climax of human existence is Love of God. Equally excepted is that to arrive at the summit on must travel via Fear of Hashem. This is the first in a series of podcasts on Love and Fear that will give us the keys to understand the deeper meaning of Matan Torah, the Shema and why Adam chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge instead of the Tree of Life.

Rebbe Nachman teaches that all suffering is due to a lack of Daas, acquired wisdom. Questions about life surface when we try to push beyond the limitations of what we think we know. WHY is this happening? This is the cry from the heart that doesn't yet understand. Ask questions in order to give birth to higher levels of consciousness, which according to Rebbe Nachman is the essential consolation.

The Gemora teaches, One only learns what the heart desires. The Kabbalist go even further and reveal that desire is a sign that here lies your soul rectification! Great! But what does one do when Tisha B'Av comes and he can't relate to something that he never experienced?

For many it's hard to feel the lose for something we never experienced. Rebbe Nachman gives us an image of how Hashem manifest himself into a building, the Holy Temple. In doing so he explains how it was destroyed and also how we can once again rebuild it!

Our inner void is a true reflection of the reality of Exile. The Maharal teaches that the secret place where Hashem cries is inside the inner chamber of the soul. By feeling that pain one can transmute it into true JOY!

Rebbe Nachman teaches that there are levels of consciousness where the past, present and future merge. In reality time is a product of the imagination. Nevertheless by living in time and experiencing the difficulties of life we can transform our suffering into this expansive consciousness.

Rebbe Nachman once said "If you believe you can mess up, believe you can fix!" But what does he mean? It's easy to mess up and it's hard to fix?! The answer lies in the ancient science of Alchemy and the Man of Faith!

We are witnessing a dangerous and drastic surge in antisemitism, attacks in real life on real people targeted for no other reason than they are Jewish! Everyone needs to ask himself, Instead of Re-Acting to the violence, what is the Godly Response to the present situation? To hear MY PERSON RESPONSE please try to listen to the end!

Just as the encampment of the twelve tribes encircled the Tabernacle, so too Matan Torah Shavuot is always celebrated between Parshas Bamidbar and Naso. The Sfas Emes connects the two with Midrashic imagery of Hashem riding on 12,000 legions of angels aligned with Flags!

The Chazon Ish was once asked, Where was Hashem in the Holocaust? He answered with a parable about a Boy who loved jam and a Bear. The story aligns well with a teaching from Rebbe Nachman that explains why people often stand at a distance from Hashem and how someone with wisdom can overcome the barrier of the Bear and receiving the Torah on Shavuot.