How far does בכל דרכיך דעהו (In all your ways, know Him) really go?
If the avodah is to invite Hashem into every part of our lives, what happens when the place we’re standing in is messy, compromised, or somewhere we know we probably shouldn’t be? And how do we distinguish between genuinely searching for Hashem from wherever we are and simply finding a holy-sounding way to rationalize what we already want?
Continuing Yayin Yashan, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn through the Imrei Noam, Malchut Shlomo, the Mei HaShiloach of Izhbitz, the Baal Shem Tov through the Me’or Einayim, and the Piaseczner Rebbe’s Mevo She’arim quoting Rav Asher of Stolin.
At the center is an extraordinary Chassidic idea: you do not have to wait until you have arrived somewhere spiritually perfect to begin looking for Hashem. ובקשתם משם — seek Him from there. From the place you actually are.
But “from there” does not mean everything suddenly becomes permitted. That tension — between never giving up on finding Hashem and never using Hashem to justify ourselves — is where this shiur lives.
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00:00 Opening Blessings and Sponsorship Acknowledgments
01:49 Hashem’s Endless Game of Hide-and-Seek
03:14 The Imrei Noam: Seeking Hashem Everywhere
04:25 Every Person Has a Different Path to Discovery
08:07 Inviting Hashem Into Every Part of Life
20:09 Where “בכל דרכיך דעהו” Has Boundaries
21:42 The Dangerous Voice of Rationalization
22:50 “Hashem, Don’t Let Me Become an Imposter”
24:20 When Repeated Sin Starts Feeling Permitted
26:18 How a Tzaddik Can Strengthen Your Avodat Hashem
28:17 Can You Find Kedushah in a Dark Place?
32:33 Yaakov, Esav and Why We Don’t Seek Out Nisayon
44:17 Protecting Yourself Without Running From Your Shlichut
46:35 The Bracha in the Middle of an Aveirah
47:54 Torah and Mitzvot Are the Framework — Not the Finish Line
49:29 The Baal Shem Tov: Seek Hashem From Where You Are
50:50 Why You Can’t Separate the Neshamah From the Act
52:30 בקשו פניו תמיד — Never Stop Seeking