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About Me

Rabbi Chaim Coffman
Rabbi Coffman has helped people from all across the spectrum to prepare themselves properly for Orthodox Conversion to Judaism. His students admire his vast knowledge and appreciate his warm, personal attention and endearing sense of humor.
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Followers

Welcome to Rabbi Chaim Coffman's Blog!

I would like to thank you for visiting my blog, Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism.

The conversion process can be a lengthy and daunting one to say the least and I want you to know that I am here to help you through it.

I have been teaching newcomers to Judaism for over a decade and over the last few years I have seen that conversion candidates really lack the support and knowledge they need to navigate the conversion process and successfully integrate into the Orthodox Jewish community.

I created my mentorship program in order to help make this whole experience as smooth and as painless as possible! (Can't do much about the growing pains, though ;)

Feel free to get to know me a little through the posts on my blog and visit the mentorship and syllabus page if you are interested in possible joining us.

I sincerely wish you all the best in your search for truth and spiritual growth.

Looking forward to meeting you,
Chaim Coffman

My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sternbuch

In case you were wondering why I have all of these articles written by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, he is my Rebbe, and one of the gedolei hador (greatest Rabbis of our generation).

Rav Sternbuch fully endorses me and supports my mentorship program.

He is the address for all of my halachic or hashkafic (practical and philosophical) questions that I or my students may have.

The articles are based on his weekly talks on the Torah portion that the Rav gives in Jerusalem in his kollel. As a member of the kollel I get first dibbs on the photocopies and I type them up for my blog so you can all benefit from the Rav's erudition and insight.
Monday, May 13, 2013

The 48 Ways to Acquire Torah: Listening and adding to on'es Knowledge

The next of the 48 ways to acquire Torah is listening and adding to one's knowledge. When we listen to others, we have the ability to increase our own knowledge, all the more so when we listen to the wisdom of our Torah scholars.

When we listen, we absorb the idea and internalize it to make it our reality. We look at it from many different angles until we understand it clearly.

When we learn something new, we have the ability to add on to our previous knowledge. We may think that new things we learn have no connection to what we know previously. This is a mistake because knowledge never goes to waste.

When we learn Torah, whatever we learn is a building block for something else. This means that I could learn something new that sheds light onto something I have already learned and put it in a new perspective that wasn't thought of previously.

Haven't we learned something or heard a new idea that shed light onto something we learned many years ago? This is the power of Torah that shows that everything is interconnected, it is just a matter of time until we find the missing parts and put them together.

When we listen, we have to open our hearts to be able to hear. This means that when we hear something new, we should not automatically reject it out of hand. We should thoroughly analyze it to see if it is true and what I can gain from it.

We are quick to dismiss something that we haven't heard of. Maybe it's true but since a person hasn't heard of it before, they will be reluctant to implement its teaching until it has been proven. The most important thing here is to be open to listen, that way we can increase our knowledge and help ourselves reach our true potential!


  

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