In this week’s Hachana L’Shabbos we step back into the holy words of Yedid Nefesh and learn a line that is daring, almost chutzpadik, and yet it’s Torah-emes: “אל תתעלם” — Don’t ignore me.

How can a Jew speak like that to the Ribbono Shel Olam? Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra learn that this isn’t entitlement — it’s relationship. Like a child speaking to a parent, when the longing is real and the yearning is true, a Jew has the right to say: Abba… please don’t hide. Please don’t turn away.

We explore what it means to call ourselves “בן אהוב” — a beloved child — and why that only works if we can honestly say “נכספה”: I’ve actually longed for You. Not longing for “things to work out,” not longing for Hashem to serve me, but longing to be an eved Hashem, to live close, to want kedushah for real.

Through Rav Biderman’s teaching, the “king’s palace” mashal, and a guarantee passed down through tzaddikim: passion is the ingredient that saves a person in this world, and even beyond. Not quick fixes. Not perfection. But an inner fire that keeps trying, keeps returning, keeps yearning.

Together we explore:

– The difference between wanting results and wanting Hashem
– “Don’t ignore me” — when that’s holy, and when it’s just ego
– Practical avodah: how to build real longing so your prayers becomes honest and alive

May we be ambassadors of true passion — passion that leads to mindset, and mindset that leads to action.

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

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In this week’s Hachana L’Shabbos we return to Yedid Nefesh and the words: “ירוץ עבדך כמו איל – May Your servant run like a deer.” Chazal tell us: “לעולם ירוץ אדם לדבר הלכה אפילו בשבת – a person should run to a dvar halacha even on Shabbos,” and yet the pasuk they bring says “אחרי ה’ ילכו – they will walk after Hashem.” So are we meant to walk… or to run?

With the help of the Chidushei HaRim, the Sochatchover Rebbe, the Klausenberger Rebbe, and the Piaseczna, we learn that inside every Jew lives a world of hidden kochos that usually stay asleep. A frail man who can’t carry a sefer suddenly lifts stones heavier than his own body in the camps. A mother flips a car to save her children. A Yid standing in a tunnel during a siren somehow stays calm for his wife and baby. In moments of danger, we discover that what we thought was “my limit” was often just a story.

The Torah of this shiur is simple and devastatingly hopeful: those kochos were always there. They’re not “emergency powers” Hashem hands us only in crisis; they are part of who we are, usually operating at a tiny percentage. The avodah is to live with the awareness of sha’as sakana — spiritual and emotional — without waiting for another October 7th, another breakdown at home, another fire to wake us up.

Practically, we speak about:

• Why “I’ll do whatever I can” is often a lie we tell ourselves, and how to start discovering what we actually can do.
• How to feel the urgency of lanus min ha’aveirah – to run from aveirah and toward mitzvah – without needing a catastrophe.
• Everyday examples of hidden strength: putting the phone away for five minutes, not snapping at our spouse or children, taking one small step toward kedushah even when we feel totally drained.

We are infinitely stronger than we think we are. Every step we run toward what really matters brings the Ribbono Shel Olam immeasurable nachas and pulls the geulah closer – not just bimheira b’yameinu, but teikef u’miyad mamash.

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

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In this week’s Hachana L’Shabbos Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn that there’s a difference between believing in Hashem and leaning on Hashem. It’s one thing to say “I have emunah.” It’s something else entirely to make the Ribbono shel Olam your mish’enet – the crutch you actually put your weight on when nothing in your life logically adds up.

Through a piercing Midrash about a wanderer who calls himself “ben beiso shel melech” and the fiery Torah of the Piaseczna Rebbe from inside the Warsaw Ghetto, we hear that it’s not such a chochmah to believe when you can still see a plan. The avodah of a Yid is to say: “In my mind there is no way out. And still, Hineni – I lean on You.” That kind of bitachon, says the Rebbe, doesn’t block the shefa – it pulls the yeshuah closer.

This week’s kabbalas Shabbos work is simple and radical: find one place where you’re done trying to force a natural solution, and instead of spiraling, whisper: “Hashem, You’re my mish’enet. I’m putting my weight on You here.” When nothing adds up, that’s often where the deepest opening begins.

In memory of שלמה ליב בן רפאל גדליה
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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t