Adam Naming the Animals | Beyond the Story: Bereishis (Ep. 1)

Why did Avraham welcome weary travelers to an oasis in the middle of the desert, wine and dine them with five-star hospitality, and then threaten them with a massive bill if they refused to thank G-d after the meal? Rabbi Shais Taub takes a fresh look at this famous story from Parshas Vayera to uncover a deep psychological truth: why the illusion of self-reliance makes us spiritually numb, and how feeling helpless can actually awaken genuine gratitude. PDF Link: https://www.soulwords.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vayera-Student-Handout_compressed.pdf

Why did Hashem promise Avraham that his descendants would leave Egypt with great wealth? And why did Rochel choose to remain buried along the road rather than alongside Yaakov in Me’aras HaMachpelah? Rabbi Shais Taub connects these two stories to reveal the purpose within spiritual descent—and how the places we think of as mere passageways can become the very places where we make a home for Hashem. PDF Link: https://www.soulwords.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Avraham-and-the-Promise-of-Great-Wealth_compressed.pdf

Why did Noach spend 120 years building the teivah and work around the clock feeding its animals while so much of his mission unfolded miraculously? Understanding when Hashem requires human effort and when He provides without it reveals the true relationship between hishtadlus and bitachon: our work creates a vessel, while the blessing comes entirely from Hashem. Teachings and stories from the Baal Shem Tov and other tzaddikim show why blessings come through natural channels, where our energy belongs, and how to recognize whether our trust in Hashem has reached beyond our intellect into our hearts. Rediscover the Torah stories you’ve known since childhood. In this weekly live class, Rabbi Shais Taub uncovers their deeper mystical and spiritual meaning, revealing practical lessons for our relationships, challenges, and everyday lives. PDF Material: https://www.soulwords.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Animals-Enter-Teiva_compressed.pdf

Why was Adam’s ability to name the animals proof that his wisdom surpassed that of the angels? In the first episode of BEYOND the STORY, Rabbi Shais Taub explores the deeper meaning of this familiar Torah story—and what it reveals about our ability to recognize the Divine within physical life. Rediscover the Torah stories you’ve known since childhood. In this weekly live class, Rabbi Shais Taub uncovers their deeper mystical and spiritual meaning, revealing practical lessons for our relationships, challenges, and everyday lives.

Shemini Atzeres reveals the essential unity of the Jewish people that endures beyond Yom Tov. Dancing with our feet and a closed Torah scroll expresses an unlimited connection to Hashem that transcends intellect. Connecting the Torah’s end, “l’einei kol Yisrael,” back to its beginning, “B’reishis bara Elokim,” demands that we reveal the G-dliness within ourselves and the world, with unconditional Ahavas Yisrael as the ultimate sign that our soul’s essence has been revealed. This class, taught by Rabbi Shais Taub, is based on Shemini Atzeres / Simchas Torah in Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2. 📄 PDF of Sicha: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/2d93343... 📄 PDF of Sicha in English by SIE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tlaz... 📖 Buy Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2 at Kehot: https://store.kehotonline.com/prodinf...

The festival of Sukkos is named after the sukkah because it is the mitzvah that encompasses the entire person from the very start of Yom Tov, enabling us to elevate even our most ordinary activities into Divine service throughout the year. True joy comes from drawing on the infinite Source through kabbalas ol, rather than relying on our own limited capacities. The incomparable joy of Simchas Beis Hashoevah comes from transcending our usual boundaries, as even the highest human faculty—the intellect—finds its fulfillment in submitting to what lies beyond reason. The story of the Sadducean priest who denigrated the water libation and was pelted with esrogim shows how kabbalas ol gives intellect its proper foundation and allows it to reach its full potential. Without the Beis Hamikdash and its sacrificial offerings, the mitzvah to rejoice physically on Yom Tov is fulfilled through drinking wine, including on Chol HaMoed. This class, taught by Rabbi Shais Taub, is based on Sukkos in Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2. 📄 PDF of Sicha: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/ad3ca1b... 📄 PDF of Sicha in English by SIE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p7J3... 📖 Buy Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2 at Kehot: https://store.kehotonline.com/prodinf.

When the Jewish people align their will with Hashem's will through good resolutions during the Ten Days of Repentance, heaven and earth yield to them so they can elevate abundant material blessings into spiritual purpose. By examining why Moshe and Yeshayahu used inverted expressions of closeness and distance when addressing heaven and earth, we see how true spiritual harmony requires mutual integration of transcendent holiness and practical action. This class, taught by Rabbi Shais Taub, is based on Haazinu in Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2. 📄 PDF of Sicha: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/f5ffaed... 📄 PDF of Sicha in English by SIE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lJez... 📖 Buy Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2 at Kehot: https://store.kehotonline.com/prodinf...

The presence of both the engraved Tablets and the written Torah scroll in the Holy of Holies illustrates how the transcendent, beyond-logic self-nullification of Rosh Hashanah bridges into our daily, rational lives to draw spiritual blessings down into tangible, material reality. The words Teshuvah (return to one’s core essence), Tefillah (connection and attachment), and Tzedakah (justice as Hashem's entrusted custodian) simply cannot be translated as repentance, prayer, and charity. Every individual must balance active material contribution (the Kohen Gadol's golden vestments) with pure, unpretentious inward devotion (the simple white linen) to enter their own internal Holy of Holies. This class, taught by Rabbi Shais Taub, is based on Vayelech in Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2. 📄 PDF of Sicha: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/6f46216... 📄 PDF of Sicha in English by SIE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t0TN... 📖 Buy Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2 at Kehot: https://store.kehotonline.com/prodinf..

Gathering near the Ohel ahead of the first Selichos, this farbrengen cuts through the traditional heaviness of Elul with a refreshing, empowering Chassidic truth: the path into the New Year is paved not with dread and rebuke, but with radical unity and clarity of purpose. Drawing from classic Chassidic stories—from Reb Shmuel Munkes confronting a fire-and-brimstone preacher to the Alter Rebbe’s piercing reminder to focus on what we are needed for—this gathering reframes the entire High Holiday season. Discover why our ultimate judgment depends on embracing every single Jew without condition, how standing near the Rebbe's Ohel turns us from passive seekers of blessings into active emissaries of miracles, and why true joy (simcha) comes from stripping away self-importance to simply show up and do the unique job Hashem created you to do.

The wordless cry of the shofar expresses every Jew’s essential bond with Hashem, eliciting His promise of a good and sweet year as we recommit ourselves to living according to His will. This class, taught by Rabbi Shais Taub, is based on Rosh Hashana in Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2. Support our work. Please donate! https://charidy.com/rst 📄 PDF of Sicha: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/2a19ed1... 📄 PDF of Sicha in English by SIE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GvXE... 📖 Buy Likkutei Sichos Vol. 2 at Kehot: https://store.kehotonline.com/prodinf...