Online Torah Classes with Rabbi Mendy Goldberg

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  The Silent Shofar 07.09.2026 59мин

  ROSH HASHANAThe Silent ShofarIs it a good sign that Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos? This year and next (5787-5788) bring a once-in-fifty-year occurrence: two consecutive Rosh Hashanahs both falling on Shabbos.Historically, both the worst national tragedies (the destruction of both Batei Mikdash) and the greatest triumphs (forgiveness for the Golden Calf, the building of the Mishkan, entry into Eretz Yisrael) took place in years when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos.The omen cuts both ways, so the question becomes: what actually determines which direction it goes?The Sages suspended the blowing of the shofar whenever Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, out of concern that someone might carry the shofar to an expert to learn from him, violating the Shabbos prohibition against carrying in a public domain. How can the sages suspend a biblically given commandment?
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  The Half Hour Challenge 31.08.2026 52мин

  NITZAVIM _ VAYEILECHThe Half Hour ChallengeWe must climb another rung in spiritual work by absorbing a revolutionary idea from the "Alter Rebbe" (the first Chabad rebbe) about how to relate to the evil inclination (yetzer hara).Quoting King Solomon, The evil inclination as an "old and foolish king", experienced, confident, and able to stir up overwhelming emotions. But ultimately it's "foolish": it preaches nonsense and pointless "solutions" leading nowhere good. As long as we treat it as a legitimate opponent, we'll collapse before its emotional force, since positive intentions alone can't match its intensity. Only by stripping away its disguise, exposing the underlying panic, like an unthinking bully causing a reckless accident , can we shift from fear to compassion, which causes it to collapse.A practical exercise: the "Half-Hour Challenge." When the urge demands instant reaction, deliberately delay response for thirty minutes. In that pause, the emotional "short circuit" fades, reason returns, and the urge is revealed as irrational and unworthy of fear, better met with pity than dread.
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  Are They Really Curses? 24.08.2026 56мин

  TAVOAre They Really Curses?It's hard to believe that the one who loved Israel most parted from them with curses double those God gave.Moses stood at his life's end, knowing this was his last chance to speak. A parent saying final goodbyes doesn't soften hard truths, he says everything, in full detail, to arm his children with every tool possible. This multiplication of warnings is love's price when time runs out. Earlier, Moshe pleads with to save Israel physically; now, unable to save them with his body, he saves them with words. Crucially, both rebukes are immediately followed by unbreakable promises of restoration, the rebuke never stands alone. Read this way, it isn't a stern face opposing a loving one; it's the same love, refusing to look away even from painful truths.
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  Beyond The Conflict 17.08.2026 53мин

  KI TEITZEIBeyond the ConflictDon't fight the yetzer hara (evil inclination) head-on, it's exhausting. Instead, rise above it by setting fixed times for Torah study for its own sake. The pleasure of Torah naturally eclipses cheap desires, so the battle never even starts. This is the answer to why the fight against the yetzer hara is hinted at through an optional war, because once you transcend the battlefield, the fight becomes unnecessary, "optional" rather than mandatory.
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  Judge Thyself 10.08.2026 1ч

  SHOFTIMJudge ThyselfParshas Shoftim coincides with the beginning of the month of Elul and opens with the command to appoint judges and officers "in all your gates" and the emphasis on the singular (lecha) points inward: the real courtroom is a person's own mind, and the real gates are sight, hearing, smell, and speech, the points where the outside world first makes contact with the self.Another lesson that is gleaned from this mitzvah is as a call to judge oneself before judging others, since most conflict comes from holding one standard for our own behavior and a stricter one for everyone else's.The central idea, though, is that self-control works best as prevention rather than as a fight fought after the fact: once a trigger has already reached awareness and stirred up desire, willpower rarely wins, so the wiser move is to keep the trigger from entering in the first place, whether that means what a person looks at, listens to, or even allows himself to dwell on in thought.
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  Breaking Old Habits 03.08.2026 55мин

  REEAHBREAKING OLD HABITSParshat Re'eh explores why Moses uses the singular "See" and present-tense "I give," arguing this teaches that free choice never disappears, no one is ever too old or too "stuck" to change, unlike Bilaam, who believed he could only find purity in death. Drawing on Tanya's model of the "animal soul" (heart, instant gratification) versus the "Godly soul" (mind, long-term truth), truth naturally overpowers desire once genuinely engaged.
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  Your Protector and Gaurdian 28.07.2026 47мин

  EIKEVYour Protector and GaurdianAs Moshe continues his conversation with the Jewish people entering the Land of Israel, he reminds them of many mitzvot they will need to observe. Mezuzah is the one mitzvah mentioned twice, once last week and once this week, each time paired with the reward of long life.But what exactly is a mezuzah? Is it an amulet? A good luck charm? And what about the idea that a mezuzah gives us a better connection to God and protects us from harm?If you would like to purchase, check or have your mezuzah placed please reach out to me at [email protected] or 631-698-4000
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  Are My Prayers Being Answered? 20.07.2026 59мин

  VAESCHANANAre My Prayers Being Answered?Why did Moshe pray 515 times to enter the Land of Israel when it was clear Hashem was not answering him - and where did all those unanswered prayers go? Why continue praying for redemption after two thousand years of silence?
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  Who Are You, To Criticize? 13.07.2026 52мин

  DEVARIMWho Are You, To Criticize? Moses, after forty years of loving, patient leadership over Israel, suddenly delivers harsh rebukes in his final speeches in Deuteronomy, something he never did before, even when the people sinned gravely (the Golden Calf, the spies, constant complaints) and were sentenced to wander the desert for forty years. Normally partings involve reconciliation, not harsh words, and if Moses had these grievances all along, why did he wait forty years to voice them? Five weeks before his death, Moses gathered all Israel and revealed a new side of himself: no longer just "the one who loved Israel" who never rebuked them, but now the one who remembers everything, reproves them, and warns them, about the human weaknesses that led to their past failures, so they can avoid repeating them.
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  Can't We All Get Along? 06.07.2026 57мин

  MATOS- MASEICan't We All Get Along?This weeks Torah reading contains a striking anomaly: the Torah records the precise date of Aharon's death - the first of Av -even though his passing was already described in Parashas Chukas without any date.The Rebbe explains this is deliberate: the Torah wants us to encounter Aharon's yahrtzeit at the moment we read this parashah, which always falls around Rosh Chodesh Av. The message is urgent -because the cause of the Beis Hamikdash’s destruction, baseless hatred, is the exact disease that Aharon's life was the cure for.Aharon was defined by a relentless, boundary-crossing pursuit of unity. He would visit quarreling parties separately, tell each one that the other was heartbroken and ashamed, and dissolve the hatred between them. More strikingly, he would greet known sinners warmly and publicly -well beyond what halacha requires -because he understood that a person is always greater than his worst behavior. As the Tanya puts it: both responses are simultaneously true -hatred toward the evil in a person, and love toward the divine spark that remains within him.
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  The Mystery of Elijah the Prophet 29.06.2026 1ч 13мин

  PINCHUSThe Mystery of Elijah the ProphetPinchas and Elijah the Prophet are the same person - the only individual in history to conquer death and live forever in this world. The Torah's promise of a "covenant of peace" to Pinchas is understood by our Sages on multiple levels, the deepest being that Pinchas himself became Elijah, the eternal herald of the Redemption reading supported by his otherwise-possible lifespan across hundreds of years in Tanach.
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  Anger Management 22.06.2026 57мин

  CHUKAS - BALAKAnger ManagementThe Torah portion deals with two central themes: the sin of "Water of Complaint" and the Red Heifer. The central message is that anger reflects a lack of faith, one who truly believes in Divine Providence does not lose control, knowing that everything is guided from Above toward a good purpose. Moses's sin, according to Maimonides, was anger itself, while the Maharal teaches that anger and lack of faith are essentially one and the same thing. The portion of the Red Heifer appears before the deaths of Miriam and Aaron as a comforting introduction, teaching that the deaths of the righteous bring atonement and that life continues in a different form, just as the heifer's ashes mix with living waters.
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  When Jealousy is a Good Thing. 15.06.2026 1ч 3мин

  KORACHWhen Jealousy is a Good Thing.Jealousy is not an evil impulse to be suppressed, but rather a powerful engine that needs proper direction. Using Korach as the central example, we see how a person of immense potential and spiritual gifts can fail when he tries to become someone else rather than channeling his unique strengths into his own role. Korach's tragedy was not that he felt jealous of Moses and Aaron, but that his jealousy turned outward and destructive, becoming an "all or nothing" force that sought to tear others down rather than build himself up.
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  Seeing Yourself in Others 08.06.2026 52мин

  SHELACHThis week we receive a deeply meaningful lesson from the sin of the spies. The unforgivable mistake of the spies was not the fear itself. The challenge of conquering the Land is genuinely daunting - no one knows this better than we do, to this very day. The essential sin was that their fears about the Land reflected what was already happening inside them. Long before the Land threatened them, they had already turned against it - they simply did not want it. And for that they were punished: for their rejection of the Promised Land.
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  Is Retirement an Option? 01.06.2026 53мин

  BAHALOTECHAIs Retirement an Option?Summer is upon us, and with it a season of rest for some.Nevertheless, a Jew needs to live in constant upward motion. He must break into new territory, advance beyond himself, and move the world toward a better place. Rather than going with the flow and waiting for miracles to happen, a Jew pushes against the current and expands the boundaries of his influence.
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  How the "Great" have fallen 25.05.2026 49мин

  NASOHow the "Great" have fallenLife is one big escape act, with the "evil inclination"acting as the world's most sophisticated smuggler. Despite our best morning intentions, we find ourselves exhausted within hours, outsmarted by our own inner adversary that prevents us from completing even a single task properly. Every couple of months, we witness another public scandal — someone who built a magnificent career through hard work, only to lose everything in one moment of surrender to impulse, a kind of suicide in slow motion. This brings us back to the oldest question in human history, dating to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: how do intelligent people fall into self-destructive behavior, and where exactly is their reason in that critical moment? Understanding the enemy — its tactics, its whispers, its traps — is of paramount importance, because if we can recognize these patterns, we can highlight them the moment they surface in our consciousness.
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  From Ruth to King David 18.05.2026 1ч 6мин

  SHAVUOTFrom Ruth to King DavidOne woman merited what no one else did. Ruth the Moabite-a convert from the nation of Moab-became forever bound with the Torah itself, to the point that her story is read each year on Shavuot, the festival of the giving of the Torah. More than anyone else, Ruth teaches the secret of truly receiving Torah and cleaving to it.
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  Why Segregate the Jews to 12 Tribes? 11.05.2026 54мин

  BAMIDBARWhy Segregate the Jews to 12 Tribes?The Torah portion of Bamidbar, always read before Shavuot, delivers a foundational message: every person has a unique path and purpose. The meticulous separation of the twelve tribes, each with its own flag, colors, and symbols, teaches that spiritual life is not a competition. Just as the angels surrounding the Divine Throne each have distinct roles without envying one another, so too each Jew is called to master their own lane rather than measure themselves against others.
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  Unstoppable Prayer, Real Relationship. 04.05.2026 56мин

  Lag BaomerUnstoppable Prayer, Real Relationship.One of the most famous blessings associated with Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi) is his power to help childless couples. The Jewish people have long attributed a special spiritual remedy to Rashbi and to Lag B'Omer — his day of joy — specifically in the matter of being blessed with children. At the heart of this topic is a remarkable Midrash, where a childless couple came to Rashbi for help. Rather than simply offering a blessing, Rashbi gave them a creative and original piece of advice that completely transformed their fate and ultimately blessed them with many children.What makes this lesson truly powerful is that Rashbi's advice was far more than a remedy for childlessness. Hidden within it is a deep and revolutionary understanding of what it means to build a healthy marriage, a practical path to strengthening the relationship between husband and wife, and a complete vision of what a true Jewish home looks like. The miracle of Rashbi was not magic — it was wisdom, addressing the very root of the couple's situation and showing how a marriage must be built and nurtured in order to truly flourish.
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  "G-d is Talking To You!" 27.04.2026 59мин

  EMOR"G-d is Talking to You!"The answer to all of life's questionsis right in front of you, how do you hear that voice?How does the Torah become a sharp and clear compasswithin a world full of noise and distractions?A powerful and moving lesson on the power of the Torah,the Torah reading that encompasses all of the Holidays — and the how to perpare for Shavuot."