The Rebbetzin introduced me. So I want to welcome everybody into my home. This is very special because it is Rosh Chodesh. Tonight begins Rosh Chodesh Iyar, for tomorrow and Thursday. I really feel that Rosh Chodesh is a women’s holiday — a time when we can be pampered, feel like queens, and feel very special.
This evening is called Torah and Tea. We’ll have Torah, and we’ll drink tea. This gathering was organized in memory of a young woman named Rashi Minkowicz, who passed away and left behind eight young children. Chabad women everywhere are on a drive to teach more Torah, to bring women together, and to continue what she began.
On Tuesday nights, she hosted Torah and Tea in her own home. In fact, she hosted it the very night she passed away. Her daughters took over and made the hamantaschen together with the women who were there. This positive energy — and we’ll speak more about it later — is something she began, and when we continue it, we continue her life and her legacy.
It is an honor for me to introduce Rabbi Wolosow, who will be sharing tonight on the Kabbalah of the Sefirot. Please join me in welcoming him.
Good evening. How could I say no to Saraa? She worked so hard and put so much effort into this. My only question to her was: did you have to pick such a difficult topic? Kabbalah is not simple. In the short time we have together, it’s impossible to cover very much. These concepts are deep, new, and different from what we’re used to.
Still, people are fascinated by Kabbalah. Everyone is curious — “What is Kabbalah?” We’ve heard about it, we see celebrities talking about it, and it can sometimes feel like a trend or a fad. But tonight, we’re connecting it to something meaningful — healing — and to the time we’re in: Rosh Chodesh Iyar.
The Hebrew letters of Iyar — Alef, Yud, Yud, Reish — form an acronym for Ani Hashem Rofecha, “I am Hashem, your Healer.” That raises an important question: why now? Why is healing emphasized specifically at this time?
To understand this, we need some background from the Torah. We recently celebrated the Exodus from Egypt. In the Torah, this is described in the portions of Va’eira and Bo. Then comes Beshalach, where the Jewish people cross the sea. Hashem performs the miracle of splitting the sea, and after crossing, the Jewish people sing — first the men, then the women — the Song at the Sea.
Afterward, the Egyptians, who had chased the Jews with their wealth and jewelry, drowned. Their treasures washed up on the shore, and the Jewish people gathered enormous riches — even more than they had taken from Egypt itself.
Moshe Rabbeinu then urged the people to move on, and they traveled to a place called Marah. There, the water was bitter. The people complained — not merely asking for water, but complaining. At that point, Hashem says something very significant:
If you listen to My voice, keep My mitzvot, and follow My ways — even those commandments that seem irrational — then all the sicknesses I placed upon Egypt, I will not place upon you. And then Hashem adds three words: Ki Ani Hashem Rofecha — “For I am Hashem, your Healer.”
Rashi asks: why do we need a healer if Hashem says He won’t place sickness upon us at all? Rashi gives two explanations.
First, Hashem is making a condition. If we follow His ways, we will be protected. But if we stumble and sickness does come, Hashem says: I will heal you completely, to the point that it will be as if the illness never existed.
The second explanation is that there are two kinds of doctors. One treats illness, and the other gives guidance to prevent illness — advising how to live, what to eat, how to maintain health. Hashem says: I am your Doctor who teaches you how to live so you won’t become sick in the first place.
In truth, we need both. Ideally, we shouldn’t get sick. But when illness does come, we need healing. This applies not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.
As Maimonides explains, just as there are physical illnesses, there are emotional and spiritual illnesses. Emotional pain can be just as serious as physical pain and can even lead to physical illness. And as Jews, we must also be spiritually healthy — connected to Hashem and living with purpose.
Most illnesses involve something lacking — a weakness that needs strengthening. Healing usually means adding strength, nourishment, or energy. But there is one very serious illness, one we often avoid naming, where the problem is not lack, but addition — something that does not belong. Healing it requires removal, not addition. That’s why treatment can be so aggressive: the goal is to eliminate what threatens the healthy self.
Just as new illnesses arise, Hashem provides new wisdom, tools, and advances to address them. The same is true spiritually.
Today, one of the greatest spiritual illnesses is excessive focus on the self. Everything is “I” — iPhone, iPad, i-this, i-that. Life becomes centered on ego. This stands in direct opposition to the Torah’s view, where Hashem is the center and we exist to serve Him.
Someone once said that ego stands for “Exit God Out.” When ego dominates, it crowds out humility, relationships, and space for others. It leads to conflict and fragmentation.
The Talmud tells a striking story about King Yeravam ben Nevat. Hashem offered him greatness — to walk together with Hashem and King David. Yeravam asked, “Who goes first?” When told that David would lead, he refused. His ego would not allow it.
So how do we get unstuck when ego traps us?
Hashem gives us tools. Our challenges today are greater because our souls are greater. Hashem never gives a challenge without the ability to overcome it.
This is where Kabbalah and Chassidus come in. These teachings are spiritual medicine for our time. They don’t strengthen the ego — they dissolve it. They reveal how everything is connected to Hashem, how even physical actions affect spiritual worlds, and how refining our emotions refines our lives.
During Sefirat HaOmer, we work on the Sefirot to refine ourselves — to soften ego and make space for Hashem and for others. This is how we become healthy — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — and worthy to receive the Torah and its blessings.
I hope we gained something meaningful tonight. We’ll continue, and there is a handout that will help take this further.
Thank you.