Description
It is told that when the Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel approached his mentor, Rav Yisrael Salanter on the eve of opening his new yeshiva, Knesses Yisrael, he posed the following question.
What should serve as the focal goal and guiding spirit of the yeshiva?
Rav Yisrael Salanter’s response was quite telling: l’hachayos ruach shefalim u’l’hachayos leiv nidkaim, to breathe life into those of lowly spirit and to infuse life into broken hearts.
It seems likely that this mandate was a primary factor in the Alter’s decision to place gadlus ha’adam, the greatness of man, as the centerpiece of his educational methodology. Viewed as basic, fundamental, and critical for spiritual growth, in the Slabodka school of thought, every individual needs to intellectually know and inwardly feel convinced of his own great, inherent worth. To be aware of the intrinsic goodness and importance that is the true essence of his being. It is this guiding principle that the Alter so skillfully employed to build his talmidim.
The Alter was one of the mighty pioneers of the approach that facilitating spiritual growth is not simply a matter of imparting a body of knowledge, but a major undertaking and enterprise of building people. And there is no more effective way to build a person than by emphasizing and reinforcing the sense of the invaluable raw material of inherent goodness that he possesses; encouraging him to cultivate and develop his spiritual self by enabling him to feel inspired with the recognition of what and who he is and thus can be.
This book endeavors to adhere to this ideology, albeit in its own unique style. It is a collection of thought-provoking Torah expositions that touch on a wide range of topics, all of which share a common theme and goal: to inspire the Jewish heart. To uplift and encourage.
The words of this book were crafted to speak to your Jewish heart in a manner that will evoke its pure, innate desire to come closer to its Creator. Its goal is to arouse within you a powerful sense of taamu u’reu ki tov Hashem – to be able to taste and see that Hashem is good – through the medium of building your awareness of the great goodness that He has invested and infused into you, and the pathways that He has made available to you to fulfill the purpose for which you were created.
Please note: the book mockup makes the book like on the thick side. In actuality, this book is on the “thinner” side. It is 6×9, 187 pages.
