Ebb and Flow with Solomon Ezra

Topics of Discussion Background and what led to where he is now Religious Growth and affiliation, Chabad Learning Torah but far from Truth Learning Chassidus and going to therapy Finding the right therapist Jewish Chassidic teachings and New-age Spiritual thought leaders Day job Torah, side hustle Spiritual self-help When he knew it was time to do more than studying in yeshiva Letting go of fear Do all spiritual paths lead to the same end-goal? Does it mean I can choose a different place and get to the same place? As far as spirit is concerned, G-d is found in all places. So everywhere is the path to G-d. Torah is not about this is the only way to find an enlightened perspective because it can be found in many places. What is the uniqueness of Torah? Judaism begins where Buddhism leaves off Believing in the Mount Sinai experience of receiving the Torah Other practices may have some filter keeping someone from the Unified Truth - Ohr Ein Sof His deepest spiritual experiences were in Torah The Oneness is available to everyone and for everyone If you’re looking for relaxation or co-create and manifest things there are modalities. But if you’re looking to return to Self, that’s the placeless The goal of all is to reach Source consciousness and then internalize it and reflect It in this world The path to G-d is for everybody, but Torah is not necessarily for everybody “Your incarnation is the blueprint for your liberation” - Ram Das. Why Ram Das didn’t find enlightenment in Judaism. He said no one put Kabbalah and Chassidus in front of him You don’t need to look somewhere else to find the enlightenment space Your life is not a mistake. Everything that led to where you are now is for a higher purpose The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s push for mivtzoim (helping a fellow Jew with Mitzvahs). Putting on tefillin is water for your thirsty soul One mitzvah. One thing at a time. The Hebrew month of Elul and Tishrei "It’s all the same to Me" "The Three Conditions" G-d is not found in the noise If you really want to know G-d you have to come to know yourself. How? Do one of three things: meditate, get outside of a world-view of taking and give instead, change your priority of doing to just being - quiet, service, being

Show Notes: Nechama’s background and getting into the podcast Main Ideas and Models the Rebbe taught in these last years Tools the Rebbe taught us - Learning from Shabbos Getting in the Flow The donkey of Bilaam like our bodies - we beat it up. Feeling this so much being in yeshiva. If your body is saying No, Hashem is saying No What is it you’re seeing body that I don’t see? What is it you’re telling me? Listen to Nechama Shusterman of A Path Forward podcast about Rebbe’s sichos 1991/92 https://www.listennotes.com/da/podcasts/a-path-forward-nechama-schusterman-hPsrDdqibcj/

Show Notes: Rabbi Aamr’s background and how he got into meditative prayer and breathwork Purpose of breath-work and meditation Difference between Davenen (prayer) and meditation Thinking Chassidus means to ask: What you learned, how does it relate to your personal life? Mittler Rebbe Derech Chayim - you should not stray after your hearts and then your eyes? Not eyes then heart? A person only sees with his eyes what he desires with his heart. “The world was created with 10 maamarim, or sayings.” Why not 1 maamar? Lehibarot (to create) comes from the word briut (health). A chassidic explanation: With one maamar you can be healthy. Types of meditation Chassidic Discourses that change the way you look at things Living with a chassidic discourse and not just reading it Whats the best hochlata, or resolution you can take? Just do it. Elevating your self with Chassidus A person only sees with his eyes what his heart desires What he teaches today with breathwork and meditation Preparing the keli, the vessel to receive, then bringing in ideas of chassidus that will attach you to G-d’s unity Why does meditation have to be before davenen? Why not in the middle of the day? The Friedeker Rebbe says that once one contemplates, he taps into and unveils one’s emotions, having unveiled emotions without something to keep a person focused, like prayer, or something practical, it can leave it open, which then can lead to a not-positive place. All the growth in human potential and performance is a direct result of chassidus being introduced in the world Chakras - sounds like the hebrew word sheker (lie), Reiki from the hebrew word reik (emptiness) Experiment to see the aura around a person - seeing an aura around a person with tefillin, and a woman after a mikveh, spiritual bath The depths of the highest level and the depths of the abyss, where a person gets energy from unholy forces Some things might seem wonderful but who says it’s from a kedusha, holiness What is the source of it from? Rebbe to a Jew: G-d is what He needs to be to other people, but to the Jew it’s the attachment through Torah and mitzvahs His personal experience with transformational breath in Israel with a elderly man Using the healing work as a temporary passageway to something higher Sharpening your Saw Learning the Rebbe’s sichas, or short talk like chassidic discourses Take your time and learn to know Being in the Zone means my inside and my outside are in balance, it comes from Chassidus Breathing deeply frees a person’s mind Spirit of Moshiach is the breath of air Transformational breathwork that forces a person to reach deeper areas in the body where oxygen did not get Writing your vision on paper and watching it unfold Getting out in order to return better I’m running from You to You What 12/13 Tammuz is and Rabbi Amar’s personal experience with the Rebbe mesirat nefesh, self sacrifice. Authenticity of Torah continuing Freedom is not a place on the map, it is a state of mind. Wealth is about giving.

background growing up and bball regimen Being the tall guy in school Mental performance tips The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Journey to South America and India during and after playing Soul searching, from Buddhism to Shamanism to Judaism Coming back to Judaism and Torah All to find balance way to live life in body, mind, and soul. Bottomline to be a Mensch - work on our values and good deeds Struggles through recovering from Cancer Growing up in a “secular” Judaism family Why young Israeli’s travel to far east, 2 reasons: The Torah can help you or it can do the opposite depending what you do with it. Sam Chayiim Sam Mavet What led him to re-explore Torah Judaism? Difference between Mitzvahs between Man and G-d, and Mitzvahs between Man and Man Mitzvahs between Man and G-d are very individual. Playing alongside Ray Allen and the quote: Some people want it to happen, others wish it would happen, but only a few make it happen Mensch.V.P Book: Making it happen without trying to force an outcome When to act and when to let go An indication of being balance is our physical and mental situation - he’s happy and healthy The Torah is everything but black and white “Not to climb so high on the tree, and not to run from taking responsibility” Connection with October 7 Putting basketball in a healthy and balanced way Coming back after cancer to the same ball but a different ball game. Playing in a natural and free way Heaven and Hell are mainly in the head. When he changed himself, the game changed with him Greif to Growth project: https://www.doronsheffer.com/from-grief Hyuli Healing center Website: https://www.doronsheffer.com/about Becoming the Most Valuable Player in the Game of Life Win-Win businesses Playing ball without score We lose ourselves when we compare ourselves with others. Finding one’s center and the special talents Basketball in Messianic Times The Ball is in Our Hands

Class given on the topics: The Rebbe often said, "the messiah is here we just have to open our eyes," Preventative medicine Unity consciousness Health in Messianic times Listening to the body Eyes open and eyes closed is one Living as if our future is here now

- Rabbi Genuth’s background - Meeting Rav Ginsburg - Rav Ginsburg’s teachings - The meaning of Bittul (self transcendence) - Shiflus (lowliness) - Drawing G-d more into the picture and myself to the side - Admitting one’s shortcomings is really a strength - What your wife is telling you is a metaphor for what HaShem is telling you - Egomania - where all problems start from - Story of a student of the Alter Rebbe on a merry go round - Importance of meditation - Alef Bet Gimmel (ABC) from Rav Ginsburg - Know thy self - or not? - Messiah comes when you have “when our attention is diverted - Praising the work, not the result - What is the true satisfaction of doing something? The Simcha of doing it! - Chassidic approach to meditating to break a habit - Fingernails represent residual emotions - Who is the world about? Who’s in the center? - Can you feel that gam Zu letova - this too is good? - The time you’re ready to get married is when you’re ready to invest in others - It’s not that I want. It’s that HaShem commands me.

Show Notes: Background and how Adam got into breathwork and leading Anochi Workshops Background with personal development, Tony Robbins retreats The Call of the Shofar Concern of idol worship with these events? Is it real or a fear? Aseh Lecha Rav - make for yourself a mentor Giving tough decisions over to someone who is taking accountability for your spiritual health Acquire for yourself a friend to hold you accountable Everything good in those places comes from Torah - Friedeker (Previous) Rebbe Discerning if the resistance is the body resisting change, or if it’s actually a nudge from your soul to do something else? Emotions are the mirror of the soul. It does not have words. The soul is not limited to words, it nudges you. Become in touch with that communication. Song is connected to the soul. Meditation, breath-work, and prayer Talking through breathwork and discomforts that may arise The tool of breathwork and what it’s used for Tools vs mitzvahs (commandments) A spiritual practice can only be G-d given Life calls us into different experiences. Finding G-d even in the places we think He is less available. Thinker of the thoughts Recognize the inner chatter around what you’re doing A person should always be soft like a reed, and he should not be stiff like a cedar — Gemara Taanis 20 Response flexibility Find the truth of every situation

Show Notes: Reuven’s background with nutrition, going to yeshiva, and with Meditation and hisbonenus (contemplation) Learning the Rebbe’s discourses and talks Meditation in a conventional way and meditating after learning His experience with Tony Robbins events Moach Shalet al HaLev - The Mind controls the Heart “If you think the world has Torah, this is wrong. If you don’t think they have wisdom, this is also wrong.” Change your beliefs and perceptions, you’ll change what you want The mind enlightens you to want in a different way Natural Food Certifiers and discussing nutrition What’s your identity

Rabbi Bernath’s background growing up and becoming a Rabbi Meeting the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, that inspires him till today How he assumed the title “Love Rabbi” Secrets of Matchmaking The hardest job in the world — dating Who am I and what do I bring to the relationship Practical element of being together and of where you’re headed Specific is Terrific Fixed or Flexed - Fixed on and Flexible with For everything non-negotiable, there must be many negotiable 3 I can live with, 3 things I cannot live without Cast a specific not, not a wide net Specific vs narrow-minded Feeling that something is missing in your life 3 Parts of Matchmaking: Introducing, Coaching, Closing 3 types of people: I people, You people, We people Importance of a Mashpia (mentor) Be you and understand you and wherever you are in that moment you will find someone Gemara about searching for your wife like searching for a lost object: it’s the man’s job to search for the wife How much work internally and how much externally The critical person is the mashpia Hashem will give the right words for the Mashpia to say Faith and Trust What to look for in a mashpia (mentor) Kabbalah and Chassidus meditation class he gives You can only have one thought at a time

Welcome back to the ebb & flow podcast! In this episode is a intro for this season, as well as the intros from the previous seasons.

Class on Women & Messianic Insights, celebrating before redemption, Wisdom of the heart, and anniversary of passing of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, as well as guided meditation of a yechidus (private audience) with the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Class delivered at yeshiva about empowerment in the Messianic era. Learning chassidus and following its ways leads a person to realize that at his core is really G-d Himself. Watch/ listen to this class for 3 steps on looking inward and sitting with discomfort to discover the answers you’re looking for. Previous class on the Messianic era: Messiah will come when we least expect it    • Messiah will come when we least expect it

In honor of completing a full year studying at Hadar HaTorah yeshiva, I gave a class on meditation, Davenen (prayer), the teaching of our Sages (Gemara Sanhedrin 97a), that, “Moshiach will come B’hesech hadaas” (lit. when we aren’t expecting him), and then guided a meditation. • Additionally, this week’s Torah portion is Vayeitze, which was the portion of my bar mitzvah 14 years ago. • May we internalize and open our eyes to being in Jerusalem with Moshiach in a way better than we can imagine. Subscribe & Share! Related Blogs: Are we (T)here yet? : https://www.solomonezra.com/post/are-... 2nd bar mitzvah: https://www.solomonezra.com/post/2nd-... #chassidus #jewishhealthcoach #ebbandflow #unity #podcastclips #jewishholidays #vayeitze #hisbonenus #meditation #visualization #messiah #moshiach

Show Notes for Part 2 of Interview with Rabbi Pewzner: Goal of chassidus Struggle of the body and the soul What is the Messiah and Who is Messiah? The role of Moshiach, the days of Moshiach What will Moshiach do? The Yechida Effect The Torah was given for Peace (Shalom) Dirah Bitachtonim Who is G-d? We won’t be teaching others because “all with know Me” - 14 minutes The best thing is to be yourself The mission of chassidus is for us to be truly who we are and be at peace with who we are in a way that we can be super active - 16:20 Tools to apply what we learn - Avodas Hashem (how to serve G-d) How can a person really internalize this? — 20 min Chassidic Meditation — 21 m What do you invite in your consciousness once you achieved presence? How to experience the neshama? Neshama (soul) Frequency and ChaBaD approach to uncalm complexities (29:30).

Show Notes: Story and background what is Chassidus Chabad Experiencing *The Pintele Yid -  “*The Jewish Dot” Start off with questions Viewing life not from motivations but based on your identity, which can become your key motivator Chassidus is not to create another denomination. Jewish People are divided enough. Appreciate what it means to be a Jew - 29 min Layers of the soul - the highest being the yechida Rather than it be abstract, chassidus embraces it as something relevant and relatable The Basics of Chassidus

Show Notes Mentioning a discourse I learned in Guatemala and a personal lesson from it The tool of Meditation Recap of previous 5 episodes 3 kinds of commandments - orientations towards mitzvahs 4 kingdoms - inanimate (mineral), vegetable, animal, and human Yesod - foundation, fundamental The 10 commandments were engraved on a stone How to do a mitzvah like a mineral The word for decree without a reason also means engraved 24:30 What’s the difference between engraved and writing? Become the mitzvah, engraved in your heart Doing mitzvot in the way like a mineral is a great unifier What did the Baal Shemtov love about the simple Jew? 28:55 How to apply this into your daily life? Doing something as you learn, not only doing it once you understand it Unconditional love Is something natural a virtue? Don’t make conditions No need to justify real love Sincere it is what it is vs insincere it is what it is 41:44 There’s nothing more real than what doesn’t need justification Difference between Married and not married Concluding this series 45:30 Life is about intimacy with G-d 50:00 What do purpose of tools become?  At first they were helping you get where you need to be. After the fact, you have gotten them where they need to be. They started off as secular personal stuff, now you’ve turned them into support for mitzvahs. They’ve become part of your Godly life so you’ve elevated them. They need you more than you need them. The essence of Shavuot There’s nothing more comfortable and satisfying when you can just be yourself

Show Notes: the greater the darkness, the closer to transformation relationship between mind and heart by nature the mind controls everything getting the heart to obey the mind is being healthy how does the heart do its own thing without consulting the mind? It’s like sleepwalking How do we bring back the healthy relationship between mind and heart? animal soul and G-dly soul dynamic each soul has its own mind and emotions you didn’t lose control, you gave yourself permission rationally governed by intelligence and not by emotions dance between mind and heart, the mind must lead “don’t get mystical, don’t get spiritual, just get healthy. A healthy person is the master of his ship.” getting body to neurologically change its behavior changing the animal soul’s mind nothing more powerful than the will to get the body to behave transformation is partly in the mind and partly in the soul when a person feels stuck is when there’s trauma thorough lasting change Getting the mind back in charge if emotions get very inflexible, it is the heart not the mind nothing changes you more than discovering the purpose for which you exist how does the mind affect the heart? What kind of control does it have? it can make the heart a little more flexible the heart can’t think, but it let go. loosening up the emotion emotion is not the final outcome don’t believe everything you feel

Show notes: introducing today’s topic what’s a stronger motivator - personal benefit or serving a larger cause? Intention or kavana to serve the importance of self-love … healthy or not? don’t confuse the validity of being healthy with the obsession of being healthy Does it make sense to say, “the more you love yourself, the more you’ll love others?” Everyday do something you hate? — Mark Twain Feels right or feels familiar? When Hillel went to eat he said he’s going to feed a healthy body Rigidity comes from self Which is less forgiving? Christianity or Judaism? Not judging you, but measuring what you accomplish for G-d Awkward or Rigid Mussar and religion Can you spread some of your love to others? Human nature is such that you love yourself. The mitzvah is to give some of that love to others What does tzedaka mean? Turn your (self) love outward Don’t assume people don’t love themselves The two most significant days in your life - the day you’re born and th e day you figure out why — Mark Twain Why was I born? Live your life knowing why you were born. feeding others is a pleasure, feeding myself is a chore Have a sense of humor about yourself What’s a good self-image? What’s the best response to how are you? What does Baruch Hashem mean?

Show Notes: relating our episode to Yitzchak digging wells of his father Avraham what are the servants of Yitzchak? Thoughts, speech, action observing and thinking The servants must know their master Who is your master? Know where you’re going to be healthy what it means to be “in alignment with Hashem?” Less about me Beyond my “self” Affirmations and Positive thinking Miracle of affirmation is: I say I am okay even though I think I am not Power of positive words and act of smiling 14:30 - Dig to the living waters (neshama) through the servants, which can move the soul to a better place 16:30 - Don’t stop doing The amazing effect of song 18:15 Never wait until something is right before you let your servants do their work 20:00 intermittent fasting Cause and Effect with eating Is food giving you life or are you putting the food to its use? Who’s the recipient or the actor? 28:40 Eat by conviction, not by taste buds 31:00 Story of Reb Shmuel Munkus Every now and then break the habit of what you’re eating 36:00 Practicing a little self respect Awareness helps... even if not immediately Having what to eat is a blessing and a reward 38:40 What did I do to deserve this meal? 46:20- 47:05 Joke about an atheist Foundation of mindfulness when it comes to food G-d said to eat Never be a servant to a servant

How do we get healthy? Mindset aspect of health Attitude towards [seeming] problems Nisah means to elevate There is a cause and effect to everything Relationship with food It’s not by bread alone that man lives- don’t become subservient to the food. Mindset #1:  You’re the master. eating for a purpose Tools to help notice if hungry or feeling stressed When you’re feeling down, you eat which means you’re begging the food to give you life - It’s unhealthy to eat when you’re needy Food cannot give you life, it can maintain the life you have You cannot sit by the table with a sour face - Rabbi Friedman’s mother why do we eat in the first place? Mindset #2: I am Healthy Healthy Mindsets are most important than health [25 min] The question is not about how healthy is the food, rather it’s how healthy are you? Food can be Healthful, but food itself is not healthy Be a healthy person - one attracted to food most healthful Eat for a Heavenly purpose - you are Heaven compared to the food. You are what you eat. What you eat becomes what you are. The objective is for the food to become you, not the other way Spiritual side of Anorexia Eat until you’re not hungry, not until you have no appetite. The hunger has to be satisfied, not the capacity Mindset 3: Approach it with enthusiasm Eat less and don’t be picky Healthy attachments Mindset 4: Flexibility What’s my purpose? Power of words and describing situations