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Eliyahu Yaakov
Columnist

For the past 10 years Rabbi Eliyahu Yaakov has been working to educate and inspire Jews of all backgrounds to take a fresh look at their Jewish heritage from the perspectives of Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah.  With a plethora of parallels and explanatory precision, Rabbi Eli succeeds in communicating abstract ideas in a clear and meaningful way to the well-read student and the newcomer alike.  Rabbi Eli's world-renowned lectures and writings have captured the minds and hearts of many, and have helped to open the door for those looking to integrate truth and spirituality into their lives in a down-to-earth manner.  By dealing with the whys of Judaism in a sophisticated yet practical way, Rabbi Eli's teachings are a breath of fresh air for anyone searching for happiness, love, fulfillment, wholeness, or themselves, as he breaks Jewish stereotypes and misconceptions along the way.

Rabbi Eli moved to Israel from New Jersey in 2001 and currently lives in the Old City of Jerusalem where he, along with his family, hosts hundreds of Jewish students and travelers for inspirational Shabbat meals each year.

Books authored include Human By Choice: A Kabbalistic Path To Self Help (National Light), Shabbos Insights of the Maharal (Targum), and The Trees In The Forest: Jewish Living In The Context Of Kabbalah (National Light).

For more from Rabbi Eliyahu Yaakov or to order his books, visit: www.lightuntoournation.com 

Works by Eliyahu Yaakov
The Jewish Holiday Season: Rosh Hashonah, Yom Kippur,...
Eliyahu Yaakov | September 30, 2012
The Hebrew month of Tishrei (which contains the holiday of Sukkot, as well as Rosh......
Inspired Parenting, Part 4: From Seed to Fruition
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 29, 2012
When a parent lives an inspired life of positive purpose and follow through, he becomes......
Inspired Parenting, Part 3: Awakening the Spirit Within
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 29, 2012
Childrearing is all about fostering growth, not about manufacturing a product....
Inspired Parenting, Part 2: Validating Their Essence
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 22, 2012
Only when there is a real recognition and acceptance of the child as an individual of......
Inspired Parenting, Part 1: Recognizing the Godliness...
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 16, 2012
Raising healthy children requires affirmation of the genuine goodness within them....
Fidelity to the Necessities: Jewish Priorities and the...
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 01, 2012
Even great acts must give way to ordinary goodness....
The Temple Is a Spiritual Hotspot
Eliyahu Yaakov | July 26, 2012
Going to the Temple is like connecting your computer to a wi-fi hotspot. The difference......
Stephen Covey & The Seven Jewish Habits
Eliyahu Yaakov | July 18, 2012
A tribute to a Mormon thinker's popular set of principles, which are reaffirmed by......
The Limitations of Democracy
Eliyahu Yaakov | July 05, 2012
Even in the democratic West, the value of "reality" rules....
Honor Thy Children?
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 27, 2012
Who is doing the honoring in most Western families? With what results?...
The Next Big Thing
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 20, 2012
Humans, and in particular the Jewish people, are in this world for the work of......
10,000 Hours of Jewish Living
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 13, 2012
It is easy to get frustrated by the times we mess up, and it often has damaging results......
The Search for Truth, Part 2: There Are No Agnostics
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 06, 2012
To get the most out of life, it is of utmost importance to uncover what is reality in......
The Search for Truth, Part 1: Are Assumptions Clouding...
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 30, 2012
The masses blindly take upon themselves the assumptions about life and reality inherent......
Shavuot and the Romance-Love Dynamic
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 23, 2012
A relationship with God is like falling in love; it requires building on the initial......
A Great Kabbalist and the Power of Holistic Learning
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 16, 2012
Too often we find years of wasted time and effort (and funds) in education because there......
The Secrets of a Good Heart
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 09, 2012
May God bless us during this period to assume the strengths, traits, and internalization......
Free of Bieber Fever
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 02, 2012
Nonsense falls away, and what you are left with is you. Who are you and who have you......
Torah: The Original Self-Help Book
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 25, 2012
Delve into the Torah and you will achieve personal development, spirituality, and......
Counting Up to Where You're Going
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 18, 2012
As we build ourselves, develop, and grow, we ascend from our personal state of infancy......
Passover, Then and Now
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 10, 2012
At what level are we in bondage? How can we find the freedom of Passover?...
Willing Strength and Strengthening Will
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 01, 2012
The Kabbalists have always taught that the mind is the source of all pleasure and pain.......
Nature Versus Nurture: Finding the Desert
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 21, 2012
By uprooting the interfering preconceptions instilled within through Nature and Nurture,......
Go to Yourself
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 14, 2012
The idea of "go to yourself" mentioned in the Torah means to go toward one's unique......
Purim: Miraculous Coincidences
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 06, 2012
This holiday is all about is how we see the concept of "chance" in our lives....
Nothing More, Nothing Less
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 01, 2012
Everyone has Free Will in different places. We must judge others favorably and in......
The Book of Time
Eliyahu Yaakov | February 16, 2012
If God is beyond limitation, and therefore knows everything, how can Judaism claim that......
Free Will: Humans, Animals, and Angels
Eliyahu Yaakov | February 09, 2012
While many look at the meaning of Free Will as my having the power to assert my will to......
Are We Adults or Children?
Eliyahu Yaakov | February 02, 2012
When adults make choices with the same sagacity as an 8-year-old, without paying much......
Remember to Dream
Eliyahu Yaakov | January 26, 2012
Hold on to the meaningfulness of one's goal, through all the long days of achieving it....
A Parallel Universe
Eliyahu Yaakov | January 23, 2012
To begin to grasp life and the world in its true light, one needs to have a clear......
Jewish Education for the 21st Century
Eliyahu Yaakov | January 13, 2012
What we need today is to draw up an all-inclusive picture of Jewish belief -- to examine......
The Kabbalah and Reincarnation: Managing Our Spiritual...
Eliyahu Yaakov | January 05, 2012
Each of us, as souls, is actually a "piece" of the original, one, universal,......
Hijacking the Soul of Humanity
Eliyahu Yaakov | December 22, 2011
Am I aligning myself with reality or am I wasting myself on that which is objectively......
Where Do We Spend Our Money?
Eliyahu Yaakov | December 15, 2011
The entire Western world has taken the soul-power for growth and meaningful living and......
The Coca-Cola Culture
Eliyahu Yaakov | December 08, 2011
We need to focus on our relationship with the Infinite and the expression of our soul....
Parent by Choice
Eliyahu Yaakov | December 01, 2011
As parents, if we want to be real, it's time we focused on the root of our children's......
The "Jewish Tattoo"
Eliyahu Yaakov | November 23, 2011
Daniel thought his Star of David would lead him to a physical struggle with others over......
Sleep and Dreams
Eliyahu Yaakov | November 17, 2011
How do we know if our dreams have significance?...
Spiritual Stubbornness
Eliyahu Yaakov | November 10, 2011
To be spiritual means to rise above the pull of one's physical side and the autopilot of......
Prayer and Expansive Consciousness
Eliyahu Yaakov | November 02, 2011
Different times of day invite different kinds of prayer, all designed to increase our......
Good Eye Vs. Evil Eye
Eliyahu Yaakov | October 26, 2011
How can we learn to see the world and our lives not as a place of randomness, but of......
From Rosh Hashona to Sukkot: Becoming People of the Spirit
Eliyahu Yaakov | October 09, 2011
The holiday time is a process and experience of internalization of God as the core and......
A History of Man and His Food
Eliyahu Yaakov | October 02, 2011
Since Adam and Eve, the world's equilibrium and clarity is lost, and it is that clarity......
Salt and Suffering
Eliyahu Yaakov | September 21, 2011
The correct manner of eating bread and salt teaches that while one may have an element......
The Ritual Bath of Hope
Eliyahu Yaakov | September 14, 2011
The mikvah is the remedy for the "downward" spiral in which we lose our vision of our......
The Businessman, the Pebbles, and the Path to God: A True...
Eliyahu Yaakov | September 07, 2011
If you're going to blame God when you don't have something good, then thank God when you......
Spiritual Politics
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 31, 2011
If one wants to alter world policy, there are two ways he can go about attempting to......
The Godly Business Plan
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 24, 2011
By bringing God back into center-stage of our business dealings, we infuse our work with......
Business Dealings
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 18, 2011
In order to get into the Jewish perspective on business, we must examine the spiritual......
Holy Hide and Seek: A Kabbalistic Approach to Tisha B'Av
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 07, 2011
On Tisha b'Av, as in most cases in Judaism, there is a duality going on: We are to......
Seeing on the Surface: Kabbalah and the Deeper Sight
Eliyahu Yaakov | August 03, 2011
In Kabbalah, it is said that God runs His world enclothed. What does this mean?...
The Synagogue of Unity
Eliyahu Yaakov | July 27, 2011
Since the Jewish community center is a holy place by its dedication and use, how......
Communal Torah Reading
Eliyahu Yaakov | July 20, 2011
By increasing God-awareness through Torah reading, one comes to not only see the reality......
Shabbat in Kabbalistic Thought, Part Two
Eliyahu Yaakov | July 13, 2011
This is what Shabbat is all about -- experiencing clarity within a world of confusion;......
Shabbat in Kabbalistic Thought, Part One
Eliyahu Yaakov | July 06, 2011
So, is the world's creation good or is it evil? At this stage in the conversation, the......
Traveler's Prayer, Part Two: A True Torah Scholar
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 29, 2011
To delve into Torah is to take my multiplicity-oriented self and jump into my greater......
Traveler's Prayer, Part One: Uncharted Territory of the...
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 22, 2011
When we say the Traveler's Prayer we should have in mind those instances when we find......
Holiness in Prayer
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 15, 2011
Our prayer reflects our awareness of God's goodness and God's holiness....
The Message of the Shema, Part Two: The Jewish Love Story
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 08, 2011
It is that dynamic of internal oneness yet external separateness that leads to the......
The Message of the Shema, Part One
Eliyahu Yaakov | June 01, 2011
The Shema is the declaration of the One Infinite Being as all there is....
Kaddish
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 25, 2011
In the World to Come, we will experience our selves as the sum total of the choices we......
Light unto the Nations
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 18, 2011
Finding a point of light in the midnight darkness of my self and my exile is the first......
The Wandering Jew
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 11, 2011
Though we are in exile, we know our Home Base to which we yearn to return....
A Temple for the Nations: Light within a World of Darkness
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 04, 2011
When we talk about the Jewish People being a "Light Unto the Nations," we are saying......
For God's Sake: Celebrating Bin Laden's Death
Eliyahu Yaakov | May 02, 2011
As a well-known enemy of the Jewish people, and by extension an enemy of the God that......
God Spots and the True Self
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 27, 2011
The more spots of God you find within yourself, the more you become a God Spot....
Love Songs to God
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 20, 2011
You will not experience being the reality of who you are unless you are actualizing the......
Blessing on Torah
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 13, 2011
We are all seeds in God's garden and the water by which we grow is the Torah -- our path......
Bringing Out the Infinite
Eliyahu Yaakov | April 06, 2011
We must be able to break down and clarify a situation into defined aspects and parts in......
A Little Give-and-Take with God
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 30, 2011
We are each unique aspects of "God's clothes" expressing the Wearer in a world of......
Receiving for the Purpose of Giving
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 24, 2011
The Torah and all of Judaism is coming to teach how exactly to give that which you have......
Morning Blessings
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 17, 2011
There's more to blessing than giving thanks. There is an increase in God-awareness....
Two Modes of Creation
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 10, 2011
We have a God-side to our identity, and a non-God-side; both contribute to the......
The Body, the Soul, and Our Clothing
Eliyahu Yaakov | March 03, 2011
Clothes, and modest conduct in general, are for the purpose of restoring the Divine......
God's Vessel
Eliyahu Yaakov | February 24, 2011
The Torah lays out the plan for how to grow into our Godly selves, thereby becoming......
Morning Hand Washing: A Spiritual Cup of Coffee
Eliyahu Yaakov | February 17, 2011
Washing the hands is a way of washing away the spiritual atmosphere of grogginess that......
Faithful to Your Soul
Eliyahu Yaakov | February 10, 2011
All that comes my way is an opportunity for me to express my Godliness in the unique way......
Two Sides of the Infinite
Eliyahu Yaakov | February 03, 2011
As souls inhabiting a body in this seemingly imperfect world, we each, with our own......
Offering God Divine Service
Eliyahu Yaakov | January 27, 2011
For God, a move down to the specifics of our world is a move up in terms of His being......
Wake Up!
Eliyahu Yaakov | January 20, 2011
What should I do with my life? What is life all about?...
Getting to the Forest: An Introduction
Eliyahu Yaakov | January 13, 2011
We're going to explore how all of Judaism is a means of infusing the physical......
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