Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear
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Episodes
August 1, 2025
The Rambam writes the purpose of the fast is to get us to remember the bad deeds that caused the destruction and then accept upon ourselves to fix them. The main cause of the churban was people hating each other. If our bitachon in Hashem would be stronger, there would be no room for hatred because we would believe b'emunah shelemah that everything, even what people do to us, is caused by Hashem for our best. Chazal tell us, the fi...
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July 31, 2025
The Beit HaMikdash was destroyed because of sinat chinam , which is usually translated to mean baseless hatred. Rav Elya Lopian writes, any hatred which is not sanctioned by halacha is called baseless. Many times people justify why they are permitted to hate another individual. They may even convince themselves that it is a mitzvah to hate. But in the majority of cases, it's just the evil inclination getting them to sin. Hatred is ...
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July 30, 2025
A man told me that his wife had been a little negligent about something he had asked her to do multiple times. Unfortunately, as a result, their children were placed in a potentially dangerous situation. Baruch Hashem, everything worked out in the end, but he was extremely upset. He felt his wife had put their children in danger unnecessarily, and he had every reason to be shaken. Later that same day, while at home, he decided to l...
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July 29, 2025
Chazal teach us that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam—baseless hatred. And our Rabbis have explained that, in truth, almost all hatred is baseless , because we know that whatever another person does to us is ultimately coming directly from Hashem. Even though people have free will, person A cannot use that free will to harm person B unless Hashem allows it—and that only happens if it's meant to be. If someon...
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July 28, 2025
Although we are not permitted to hold weddings during these days, Halacha allows a person to become engaged—even on Tisha B'Av itself. The Gemara explains the reason: שמא יקדיםנו אחר —perhaps someone else will marry her first. But the Gemara then raises a question: If a person's zivug is already determined even before conception, how could anyone else take what was destined for someone? The answer: if the other person prays hard en...
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In Parashat Matot, Moshe Rabbeinu is commanded by Hashem to avenge the Midyanim for causing Bnei Yisrael to stumble in the most severe sins. Moshe responds by selecting one thousand tzaddikim from each shevet, totaling 12,000 men. He sent them off to war along with Pinchas, the Aron HaKodesh, and the special trumpets used in battle to invoke Hashem's favor and bring victory. The Torah then states: " וַיִּצְבְּאוּ עַל־מִדְיָן " – Th...
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July 24, 2025
Today's Dedication: יהונתן אשר יהודה בן מיכל שהמשפט כנגדו יתבטל לגמרי בקרוב מאוד The Atzei Chaim , a peirush on Chumash from the 1600s, writes a powerful explanation on the words "Vaya'amen ha'am" in Parashat Beshalach, which describe how the Jewish people believed that Hashem would take them out of Mitzrayim. He brings the Chazal: " אין ישראל ניזונין אלא בזכות האמונה " — The Jewish people are sustained only in the merit of emunah....
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July 23, 2025
A person struggling with parnasah wakes up each morning hoping that today will be different—that this will be the day when everything turns around. He puts in a full day's work, makes phone calls, attends meetings, and develops new strategies. He pushes himself to his limits—but the income still doesn't come. The bills pile up, each one adding more weight to his already heavy heart. And in quiet moments, he wonders: Is Hashem seein...
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July 22, 2025
A rabbi from Israel, who describes himself as someone with deep emunah, shared a powerful personal experience in which that very emunah was severely tested. Part of this rabbi's life's work involves printing rare and precious Torah manuscripts authored by great rabbis of previous generations. Years ago, he was working on a manuscript by a certain Rabbi Laniado, who had an exceptionally accurate version of Rashi's commentary. During...
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July 21, 2025
There's a well-known statement from Rav Nachman Mibreslev: Ein ye'ush ba'olam kelal — that a person is never allowed to give up hope on anything. This statement is often used to give c hizuk to people who have been trying for years to achieve a certain goal, but haven't achieved it yet. They are told never to give up, because Hashem can always bring the salvation in the blink of an eye. To Him, it does not matter that years have pa...
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July 18, 2025
In the beginning of this week's parasha , Pinchas, we read about the great rewards Pinchas received for doing the will of Hashem under very difficult circumstances. The Midrash at the end of parashat Balak asks how could it be that Moshe Rabbenu forgot the halacha of what was supposed to be done with Zimri and Kozbi? Thr Midrash answered, it was מן השמים, in order to give Pinchas the ability to get what Hashem wanted to give him. A...
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July 17, 2025
Parnassah is from Shamayim. The pasuk says, Birkat Hashem hee ta'ashir — it is the blessing of Hashem that gives a person his wealth. We are taught by the society around us that the more hours we work, the more money we'll make. But it's not true. Rather, the more blessing we have from Hashem, the more money we'll make. Yes, we have to make a reasonable hishtadlut, but we must never forget that our main purpose in this world is avo...
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July 16, 2025
The pasuk in Kohelet says: " עֵת לָלֶדֶת וְעֵת לָמוּת " — "A time to be born, and a time to die." (Kohelet 3:2). The Midrash in Kohelet Rabbah teaches that from the moment a person is born, Hashem determines exactly how long that person will live. Every breath, every second, is measured. And it is considered a great merit for someone to live out every single moment of their allotted time in this world. We cannot begin to grasp the ...
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July 15, 2025
The chiddushim of Rav Aaron Leib Steinman on the topic of Shidduchim were recorded in the sefer Ke'ayal Ta'arog , compiled by his students. There, Rav Steinman is quoted as saying that in our times, when we are faced with decisions about Shidduchim, we often forget the most basic principle: Shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid —I place Hashem before me always. The question should be, "What does Hashem want me to do in this situation?" Too ...
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July 14, 2025
For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Ashear's new book LIVING EMUNAH VOL 8 click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644645.html The Chafetz Chaim writes that in the entire narrative of Bilam attempting to curse the Jewish people, there are no paragraph breaks—no פ or ס —in the Torah. This is because the danger was so severe, the Torah did not want to pause until the threat had passed. Balak and Bilam stood on a moun...
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July 11, 2025
For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Ashear's new book LIVING EMUNAH VOL 8 click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644645.html The pasuk says at the beginning of this week's parasha that Balak saw all that Yisrael did to the Emorim and he became afraid. Rav Moshe Sternbuch asked, why did Balak become afraid specifically from the Jew beating the Emorim ? They had done much greater things before this which should hav...
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July 10, 2025
For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Ashear's new book LIVING EMUNAH VOL 8 click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644645.html Many people say, "If only I had a lot of money, I would help so many people. I would support yeshivot, fund chesed organizations, and provide for families in need." It's a beautiful sentiment that reflects a generous and noble heart. But often, this thought remains just that—a distant dream...
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July 9, 2025
A young man was diagnosed with leukemia, Lo Aleinu. Baruch Hashem, he is now responding well to treatment. One day, his rabbi noticed that he was praying the Amidah with deep concentration and asked what inspired such intense kavanah. The young man replied that his doctor had recently explained to him how cancer begins. He said, "If even one single cell in the body mutates and begins to do the wrong thing, and then multiplies, it c...
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July 8, 2025
For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Ashear's new book LIVING EMUNAH VOL 8 click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644645.html A man in Israel who works in the sound system industry bought a large van to transport his heavy equipment. Before using it for business, he made a personal commitment to first use it for a mitzvah—to do a chesed for someone else. He posted an ad offering his services but didn't receive any...
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July 7, 2025
For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Ashear's new book LIVING EMUNAH VOL 8 click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Books/9781422644645.html People sometimes see others giving millions to tzedakah and wonder why they don't have the same zechut to give such large amounts. Others see children with exceptional middot and ask themselves, "Why do they have such great children, while ours are so difficult?" Some struggle to grasp even...
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