We spend Elul looking backward. We make a cheshbon hanefesh. We think about what went wrong, whom we hurt, where we fell short. And then suddenly we enter Aseret Yemei Teshuvah—and the Rebbe says something extraordinary: the avodah of these ten days is not teshuvah for our aveirot.

So what are we doing?

In this shiur, we enter into the meaning of “Dirshu Hashem b’himatzo”—seek Hashem when He is found—and discover a kind of closeness that isn’t dependent on how good our Elul was, how holy we feel, or even whether we were looking for it.

Hashem is simply found right now.

And that changes everything.

We explore the difference between the teshuvah of Elul and the teshuvah ila’ah of Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, why “Shuvah Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha” is ultimately about returning the soul to its source, and why Yom Kippur culminates not in shame, but in אחת—bringing every scattered piece of ourselves back to One.

The question of these days is no longer only, “What did I do wrong?”

It becomes something much deeper:

Hashem is here. What am I going to do with that?

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening & Sponsorships
01:11 Tefillah Must Go Up—and Come Back Down
03:05 A Mother Asks for a “Soul Doctor”
04:52 What Does בהמצאו Really Mean?
06:04 Is the King Still in the Field?
07:39 Aseret Yemei Teshuvah Aren’t About Sins
09:22 Why We Enter These Days Wearing White
10:44 שובה ישראל עד ה׳ אלוקיך
12:37 What Are the Marching Orders?
15:28 Returning Everything Back to One
33:07 Hashem Is Already Moving Through Am Yisrael
43:28 Avinu Malkeinu: Just Get Closer

Why did Chazal compare his death to the burning of the Beit HaMikdash? And why does the Rambam describe that moment as the extinguishing of the גחלת ישראל — the coal of Israel?

Rav Shlomo looks at the small remnant of Jews who remained in Eretz Yisrael after the destruction of the First Beit HaMikdash, and the possibility for rebuilding that was still hidden within them. Through Rav Moshe Shapira’s distinction between a גחלת, a coal that holds its fire inside, and a שלהבת, an open flame, we discover a deeper way of understanding Jewish survival, return, and the meaning of Tzom Gedalia today.

What appears to be only a dying ember may still contain the fire from which everything can grow again.

And the question isn't only national. Where in our own lives is there still a spark that we've mistakenly decided has already gone out? 

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOh hPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

00:00 Opening the New Year
01:05 Running to Torah as Our True Home
03:00 The Murder of Gedalia ben Achikam
08:01 Why Do We Fast for Gedalia?
11:20 When the גחלת of Israel Went Out
16:52 Why Jewish Settlement Matters
21:34 A Remnant of Something Ancient
23:19 The Power of a She'erit
27:44 What's the Difference Between a Coal and a Flame?
30:13 Can an Ember Be Reignited?
32:07 Where Have We Let the Coal Die?
33:18 The גחלת Has Become a שלהבת