Q: I always wondered about Genesis 12:17: “And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.” It was Abram who said Sarai was his sister, a partial truth. Why did the Lord plague Pharaoh? What’s the cause and effect here? A: The name Sarai שרי in Hebrew has the same letters as the word for a song (שיר) The song or singing is an expression of the creation, as reflected in the name of Avram (אברם), meaning ברא+ם, “created the 40,” or the manifestation. Pharaoh (פרעה, 355) is an expression of disturbed human thought (מחשבה, also 355), or cognition that lures a person to believe that the human mind can absorb whatever it sees and make sense out of it. Moreover, the marriage of brother and sister was well... Read More

Q: Why there is a saying that good-eye will bless טוב עין יברך Proverbs 22:9? A: Because "good-eye" is the eye of the infinite, which is limitless and boundless therefore the blessing is coming from a good eye, from seeing openly not from looking or watching as a finite self, but before time and... Read More

Q: Why is the table of a wise student always covered? A: This is a profound metaphor, not about an actual tablecloth, but about the nature of wisdom and knowledge itself. In many traditions, a covered table represents something deeper than the physical world—it signifies that not all things are immediately visible or known. The table, when covered, hints at the idea that there is much more than what meets the eye. In the case of a wise student, the “covered table” suggests that there are layers of wisdom and understanding that remain hidden, even if they are just beneath the surface. The metaphor speaks to the notion that wisdom isn't always about presenting everything openly or showing off knowledge. Just as a table may be covered, so too is there an implicit understanding... Read More

Q: Who is a wise student (talmid chacham)? A: Let’s open the Hebrew words to find the answer. The term תלמיד חכם (wise student) breaks down into two parts: תלמיד (talmid) and חכם (chacham, wise). Looking closely at תלמיד (talmid), we find that it holds the letters תם (tam, innocent, complete) and ילד (yeled, child). So, who is a wise student? The wise student is the one who, at their core, is like an innocent child (תם ילד). This isn’t about naivety, but rather the purity and openness of a child—someone who is humble and open to learning, not burdened by preconceived ideas or pride. A true wise student embodies that inner child, maintaining a sense of wonder and receptivity to new wisdom, while also holding integrity and completeness... Read More

Q: What is the difference between number 7 and 8? It seems that both point to the same thing? 7 is like the 7th day shabbat (that refers to the Being)? And 8 is the beyond the manifested also. Is there any difference? A: Our sages teach in Masechet Berakhot (page 57b) that Shabbat is a foretaste of the World to Come. What is meant by this? Already on the seventh day, one can feel what it feels like in the World to Come, in a permanent state, as in the eighth day. Shabbat is the day of rest, when everything is at rest, and it is a beautiful expression of non-duality. It represents a reality before the creation of the illusion of time and space. This is why the laws of not carrying objects on Shabbat exist, to give the person a feeling of a complete world, before the creation of the... Read More