Droshos - Rav Weinberger on Bilvavi

Rav Moshe Weinberger of Kehillas Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY has been teaching the Rav's seforim since 2004. More than 400 shiurim are available from Rav Weinberger on various Bilvavi seforim.

10/12/2004 | Bilvavi I (1) Introducing Ourselves To Hashem This is a mysterious sefer...that only a small group of individuals know about it. There is something very unusual about itt...There is big "raash' (excitement) among the tzadikim in Yerusalayim about it ... I looked at it a little and fell in love with it! ...It is not hard- that is the beauty about it. It is very very clear, simple to the point. If you tell people who have not yet heard about it- they will be hearing about it. The author is anyamonous...it is called Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh. The point is to introduce us to Hashem ... to help us to attach ourselves to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. It is not a work on philosophy and it is not quoting from 100 different seforim. ... His intention was to introduce us to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. ... Now I know that sounds ridiculous...it sounds crazy!. When I learned this sefer i felt that it speaks directly to the inner point. It is not "litvishe," its not "chassidish," it is not "sephardish." It's everything. It was written in such a hidden way with the  approbations of some of the great mekubalim in Yerushalayim. ... It is the "dvar Hashem" . We can live with and take with us ... it is a tiny little sefer that we can grow together with. Audio class

09/08/2005 | Bilvavi II (1) The Foundation Of Avodas Hashem There is a mechaber who is un-named ... I know who it is but he prefers that his name not be publicized. Raban Gamiel Rabinovitch  is very close to him and Raban Gamiel Rabinovitch said that he is a yid who thinks about haKadosh Baruch Hu 24 hours a day. He has put out a number of seforim over the last year and a half.  These 7 seforim have caused a revolution in Eretz Yisrael and here as well. There is a yid in Brooklyn that paid to print 5000 of the first volume of Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh to give them out to people free. I think we were the first ones to learn Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh in our shul. How do you describe this? This is something that can't be described... It's simply the clearest and most direct and sweetest presentation of how to be a Jew in my life. His seforim have caught on and are being used in yeshiva and schools ...This is a sefer that basically tells us what we needed to hear ever since we have been in this world and no one ever quite said it. Audio class

07/05/2005 | A Life Of Emunah (1) Clarifying Our Goals In Avodas Hashem A tzaddik...a young man in Eretz Yisrael who last Ellul  came out with a small sefer Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh ... that has a big Rebono shel Olam hidden in it. It's made an unbelieve roshem (impression). Learning in chaburas throughout the world. It's hard to describe how unique these seforim are ... How clearly written they are and how sweet and simple they are and how straight forward and important they are for us. Audio class

05/08/2008 | Getting To Know Me (1) An Introduction To Self Knowledge And Self Repair It is hasgacha pratis and very clear to me that haKadosh Baruch Hu has sent into my personal life and into our lives a Jew who is able to write seforim that have the most incredible way of opening up the most difficult inyanim (subjects) and laying them out before our eyes in a very beautiful and clear way.  I am grateful to haKadosh Baruch Hu who sent us this particular sefer- Da-Es Atzmecha by the author of Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh. It is very different from all of his other seforim ...The author is basically introducing ourselves to ourselves. To read the entire introduction to the series scroll down » Audio class

02/12/2009 | The Bilvavi On Mesilas Yesharim (1) There Are No Shortcuts To Better Midos (Character Traits) Everyone has learned Mesilas Yesharim...but not one of us has learned it properly and even if we learned it our entire lives we would not have cracked it open. We have a big zchus (merit) that in these last few days before Moschiach comes, Hashem has sent special mechanchim, madrichim and mashpi'im into the world to uncover the beauty and the depth of sefroim such as Mesilas Yesharim so that even people like us can truly change and grow ...The mechaber's (author's) entire goal is to help us to practically change our lives to think and live differently...  Audio class

01/01/2011 | The Bilvavi On Bayit haYehudi  At the end of the Hebrew version of Da Es Atzmecha is a small section on the subject of the Jewish home. We have to keep in mind two things. The first is that the Rav comes from a different background from most of us. He never read a secular book in his life. … Secondly, we have a lot of problems. We are very mixed up- we were raised very far from kedusha and even the best of us have been infected and affected by things that are not pure Torah. Sometimes we come across a view that’s expressed from that perspective of pure Torah by a contemporary person. So, not coming from a perspective of pure Torah, hearing something that comes from pure Torah does not always click.]... Audio class

In 2008, Rav Moshe Weinberger of Kehillas Aish Kodesh in New York began a new series of shiurim based on the sefer “Da Es Atzmcha” (Getting to Know Yourself) by the author of “Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh.” 

In the words of Rav Weinberger, "I believe that klal Yisrael has been waiting for this sefer since Ma'amad Har Sinai.

The author here is basically introducing us to ourselves and who we are. Without having that information, that ability to enter into ourselves, our avodas Hashem (divine service) and the years that we spend in this world could chalilah (Heaven forbid) be a waste.

The s'forim hakedoshim tell us that every introduction to the sefer is the neshamah of the sefer; that's the place where the author, in a few words is giving himself over in such a way that we understand who he is...and what is he trying to convey to us.

Over the past year and a half or two we've been learning here in the Beis Medrash some of the basic yesodos (fundamentals) of the kochos hanefesh (powers of the soul); we're learning different pieces from Tzaddikim (righteous men), from different sforim (books); and before that I've been giving for almost two years shiurim (talks) on the inyan (topic) of menuchas hanefesh (inner peace). It has become very clear to us over time, how, in order to achieve menuchas ha'nefesh, we really have to understand what the nefesh (soul) is. And it's hashgachah pratis (personal divine attention), something that is very clear to me that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has sent into my personal life and into our lives, a Jew who is able to write sforim that have the most incredible way of opening up the most difficult inyanim and laying them out before our eyes in a very beautiful and clear way.

Therefore, I was so grateful to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that davka (especially), as we were coming to the crossroads of this entire sugiya (specific topic) which is the sugiya of our lives, of who we are, the entire sugiya of the nefesh (soul) and of kochos hanefesh, to be able to achieve menuchas hanefesh and to live our lives in the way that each and everyone of us is supposed to, each person in her way, in his way, that exactly at the time of the crossroads, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent this particular sefer, "Da Es Atzmechah" (Know Yourself) written by the author of "Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh" which is very different from all his other s'forim. Those of you who are familiar with his s'forim - we've been learning them very carefully over these past few years - will notice immediately how different this sefer is. The mechaber (author) himself discusses this in the p'sichah, in the introduction to the sefer that we are going to be learning in a minute. ... I personally see that this is nachutz (urgent) for us right now, it's what's urgently needed for us right now, and it's the hemshech (continuation) of what we've been working on these past few years.

You know that the s'forim hakedoshim (holy writings) tell us that every introduction to the sefer is the neshamah (deepest soul) of the sefer; that's the place where the mechaber, or the author, in a few words is giving himself over in such a way that we understand who he is, and what he wants from this sefer; what is he trying to convey to us. What does he want us to learn from this sefer and how does he want us to grow from this sefer." Audio class