New Year - New Life

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Dear Friend,

I wish you and your family, a healthy, prosperous, happy and spiritually fulfilling year.

As Rosh Hashanah is a time for Teshuva (returning to Hash-m) and atonement, I wish to offer a small suggestion.

Recently I gave a lecture entitled "Achieve your potential in life through Torah." The basis of the lecture was that - a person is happiest when they are themselves. Thus through a person becoming oneself they ultimately reach happiness. Thus the question one must answer then is "who am I?"

In short, I discovered that the true essence of a person is their soul. By providing satisfaction to the soul, not only does one gain fulfillment, but they reach into developing their true essence as a person.

Through concentrating their efforts on the pursuit of spiritual pleasure - specifically through Torah - one ultimately becomes themselves and happiness ensues because one is acting like their true essence. Through experience, triumphs and failings I learned that, in truth, lasting satisfaction does not come through the pursuit of physical pleasure. One reaches their potential in life through spirituality -- through the Torah. Ultimately this gives a person inner satisfaction.

I took some time to make a list of easy things a person can do in order to gain the satisfaction and to be victorious in judgment: If one commits themselves to even one of these things I'm almost sure that they will have a good judgment for the year. Remember by doing these you give your soul satisfaction. These are they:

1. Light Shabbat candles Friday 18 minutes before Sunset (at candle lighting time).
2. Say the Shema Yisrael and three accompanying paragraphs (found in most siddurs/prayer books) upon awakening and before going to sleep.
3. Learn five minutes of Torah every day (there are many good Torah books available in English at feldheim.com and artscroll.com)
4. Do not speak badly about people for one hour every day.
5. Learn about the laws of Jewish modesty (tzniut / tznius) - for women / for men - put on Tephillin (it's prudent to check yours by a competent sofer/ Jewish scribe if you haven't in a while) and say the Shema every day with them on.
6. Learn about the laws a Jewish family purity (taharas hamishpacha / taharat hamishpacha)
7. Keep a kosher kitchen at home and/or keep kosher outside.
8. Learn about the 13 principles of faith of the Rambam.
9. Recite the Shema (and first paragraph) and tell Jewish stories to children at bedtime.
10. Eat a Shabbat meal with your family (prepare the hot food before Shabbat).
11. Be in contact with Hash-m regularly by praying and/or talking with Him to help you resolve your daily concerns


Every mitzvah goes a very long way in this world and the next world. If you need any further explanation, please feel free to contact me. These are some of the best "gifts of advice" I can give you for the New Year.

May it be the will of Hash-m to bless you with all good. Shana Tova and Shabbat Shalom.