A guided study of Michtav M'Eliyahu
Rabbi Ezra Zafrani's collection is built to a striking degree around a single sefer: Michtav M'Eliyahu, the celebrated mussar work of Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler. His shiurim work through its essays one by one, making him less a general lecturer than a guide to a specific, demanding classic of Jewish thought.
That focus gives the library real coherence. Rather than a scattering of unconnected talks, a listener finds a sustained study of one of the twentieth century's most influential mussar works — the kind of ongoing learning that builds understanding cumulatively, essay after essay, as Rav Dessler's ideas unfold.
The middos it develops
The topics track the sefer's own concerns. Shiurim on hishtadlus examine how much effort a person must invest versus what he must leave to Hashem; a class on midas hahistapkus takes up contentment and living within one's means; and "Negiut Halev" explores how personal bias quietly bends a person's judgment. These are the core themes of Rav Dessler's mussar.
Bitachon runs through the material as well, including a shiur pairing trust in Hashem with the danger of laziness — a characteristically honest treatment that refuses to let bitachon become an excuse for doing nothing. Taken together, these classes form a practical curriculum in character built directly on the sefer.
Everyday choices, worked through
Rav Dessler's Michtav M'Eliyahu is famous for pressing on real decisions, and Rabbi Zafrani follows suit. A shiur on "Working or Learning" engages the weighty, personal question of how a Jew balances earning a living with time devoted to Torah — the sort of dilemma the sefer is built to sharpen.
Across roughly 100 recorded shiurim, and reaching into the holidays as well, the through-line is consistent: mussar drawn from a great sefer and turned toward how a person actually lives. For a listener who wants to learn Michtav M'Eliyahu with a guide, this collection is a serious place to do it.
Finding kosher Torah video for your family
FilteredTube is a kosher video service built for Jewish families — every single video is approved against one written standard before it can appear, with no open feed, no comments, and no surprises. It is a calm, safe place to look for the Torah and Jewish music you love.
If your family enjoys teachers like Rabbi Ezra Zafrani, search FilteredTube for the speakers and topics that matter most to you. With a daf yomi shelf, a weekly parsha shelf, topic shelves, audio-only listening for the car, and a kids mode with a PIN, kosher Jewish video is easy to reach — and the approved catalog keeps growing every day.
At a glance
Key takeaways
- His collection is a sustained, essay-by-essay study of Michtav M'Eliyahu, Rav Dessler's mussar classic.
- He teaches its core themes: hishtadlus, midas hahistapkus, negius halev, and bitachon.
- A shiur on bitachon and laziness refuses to let trust become an excuse for inaction.
- He applies the sefer to real decisions, as in "Working or Learning," across roughly 100 shiurim.
- Search FilteredTube for kosher, approved Torah video — the catalog grows every day.