ESSAYS| 2016

ESSAYSss|

The Paradox of the Void

By Duvie Feldman, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016   Death. The very mention of the word is enough to invoke fear and anxiety in immense proportion. Pain and suffering, sadness and melancholy, grief and despair, loss and bereavement, hopelessness, finality, mortality, are just some of the feelings death of a loved one procure. Gradually over time, these intense feelings

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What’s Trust Got to Do With It?

By Nili Navot, Tzfat, Israel

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016   A few weeks ago, on my walk home, I caught myself feeling anxious.  I wasn’t having a panic attack or anything severe, just feeling a general anxiety, for no obvious reason.  I stopped myself- literally stopped on the street for a moment, and quieted my mind.  I then applied a

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Silencing the Background Noise

By Lavy Kosofsky, Longmeadow, MA

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016 Distraction is difficult to deal with. It can slow one down, and make even the simplest task a virtual impossibility. Understanding and integrating a well known story of the Tzemach Tzedek helps one to focus on the present moment and the task he/she is needed for. The Tzemach tzedek once told

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Outside the Box

By Chaya Shuchat, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016   Today we hear constant urging to “think outside the box,” to think creatively and independently, to come up with fresh approaches to solving problems, to reject conventional assumptions and forge our own path. We live in a society that encourages the ultimate self-expression. We certainly don’t tolerate anyone telling us

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Getting to Know the Real You

By Menachem Mendel Marinovsky, Houston, TX

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016  “דהאמונה שישנה בישראל מצד עצמם… אפשר שתהי’ בבחי’ מקיף. וזה שמשה רועה ומפרנס את ישראל בענין האמונה הוא שהאמונה תהי’ בפנימיות (ואתה תצוה תשמ”א)” The faith that every Jew has on his own… may be in a way of “makif”. This that Moses nourishes the faith of the people transforms the

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Achieving Greatness

By Shimon Gruen, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016   In this essay I would like to explore the Chassidic approach to fulfilling one’s mission in life and achieving true greatness. Throughout Chassidic works, we are given a certain understanding and appreciation of the significance and importance of creation and our role in it – a role which demands that

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Being Happy by Being Yourself

By Moshe Backman, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016    “If I am I because you are you, and you are you because I am I, then I am not I, and you are not you. But if I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I, and you are

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Nature Unmasked

By Yosef Yitzchak Klein, Los Angeles, CA

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016   Man’s journey to success often seems to be fraught with obstacles and challenges. Inspiration is confronted by icy winds of cynicism, and the road to growth is replete with bumps and potholes.Why indeed do we have to encounter such difficulties when trying to fulfill our mission on this world? After

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Confidence from Within

By Mendel Erlenwein, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016   דירה בתחתונים (transforming this world into a place that can handle revealed G-dliness) is probably one of the most well known concepts in Chabad Chassidus today. Children as young as eight can effortlessly explain it to you. When it comes up during farbrengens (chassidic gatherings) or during casual discussion, therefore,  people tend

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Bitachon: A Life-Altering Tool

By Yisrael Best, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2016

MyLife Essay Contest 2016   When life’s problems inevitably pop up, and you’re at your wits end trying to stay above the tumultuous fray, what tools are available to keep you afloat? Chassidus has the answer and tells us that with Bitachon we can indeed stay above the storm. Bitachon as defined in Chovos Halevavos

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