Torah Unraveled The Torah Center ATL

Spiritual Surrender - Part 24
“The Kabbalah of Israel”
With Rabbi Ari Sollish
Recorded live at The Torah Center ATL on Sunday, May 12, 2024

No other land on earth is as fiercely contested as Israel. This small footprint of land measuring roughly 9,000 square miles has been the subject of countless wars and at the center of millennia of conflict.

What is it about Israel that makes it so desired and so contested? Why have so many lived and died for the right to this land? What is the secret to Israel's spiritual potency?

In this groundbreaking session of Kabbalah Café we explore the Kabbalah of Israel. We take a spiritual tour of the land to discover what makes it tick and why so many are drawn toward it. Plus, we find out why two of the original twelve tribes were hesitant to settle in the land. The answer will surprise you!

A Jew Is a Jew, Is a Jew, Is a Jew
Appreciating the Untouchable Preciousness of Every Jew
With Rabbi Ari Sollish
Recorded live at The Torah Center ATL on May 14, 2024

The Four Species we shake on the Sukkot holiday famously represent four different types of Jews. From the way the Torah describes each plant, we learn a valuable lesson about the immutable value of every Jew -- regardless of what they do, or do not do.

Decisions of Fate - Lesson 1
Experimental Treatments
With Rabbi Ari Sollish
Recorded Live at The Torah Center ATL on Wednesday, May 15, 2024

When emerging treatments offer hope of recovery, when is the risk justified? Discover the Jewish ethics of risking your life in the hope of extending your long-term prospects.

Prosaic Holiness
Your Most Distant and Unholy Moment Is G-d’s Greatest Opportunity
With Rabbi Ari Sollish
Recorded live at The Torah Center ATL on May 7, 2024

The reality of life for so many is a series of banal, mundane, and oftentimes downright unholy moments. What are we supposed to make of this frustrating situation? A lesson from the lifespan of a fruit in Jewish law teaches us that G-d is best found in precisely these moments.

Spiritual Surrender - Part 23
“The Invisible Man”
With Rabbi Ari Sollish
Recorded live at The Torah Center ATL on Sunday, May 5, 2024

There was once a man who felt invisible. His own brothers didn't see him -- at least, not the real him. When he tried to share his deepest fears and dreams, they shot him down, accusing him of all sorts of ill-intent, when all he meant was to give them a window into his soul. They shunned him, cast him away, and severed contact for decades.

And when through a miraculous turn of events they did eventually reconnect, his brothers couldn't fathom the man they were meeting.

Who was this man? And why was his life such an enigma?

In this session of Kabbalah Café we take a mystical look at the Invisible Man of biblical fame. We gain Kabbalastic insight into his life and times, and learn why their fraternal rift is the human story of eternal conflict.

Spiritual Surrender - Part 22
“Welcome to the Tannery”
With Rabbi Ari Sollish
Recorded live at The Torah Center ATL on Sunday, April 14, 2024

Few workplaces enjoy as foul an odor as a tannery. It's because of this that the tannery, where animal hides are processed into leather, has a unique place in Jewish law.

In original halachic zoning law, a tannery must be situated to the east of the city, past its outskirts, so that its odor should not disturb the city residents. A tannery is not to have a mezuzah on its doors, due to it having a similar status as a bathroom. And a synagogue that is in disuse may not be repurposed as a tannery; that is simply too far a downgrade.

Yet, the mystics are fond of employing the tannery as a metaphor for the internal work that each of us is called upon to do. Our Divine soul is tasked with working, softening and reshaping our body and animal soul, like the tanner who labors to make the hide usable. This is the very why and wherefore of our being, our central purpose.

In this remarkable session of Kabbalah Café we explore life inside the tannery, and discover real-life lessons for making our own inner animal more of a mensch.