Alleyways To Torah

Change Of Venue!!

2010-02-17T00:57:00.002+02:00

We have moved!! The explanation is at the first post of the new blog - mevakeshlev.blogspot.com.
New email - ally.ehrman@gmail.com

Love And Blessings!!

Oz Vichedva Bimkomo - Strength And Joy In His Place

2010-02-15T00:18:00.003+02:00

A post from 3 years ago:

"Doctor, I have a ringing in my ears". "Don't answer" - Henny Youngman. [If his name had been Henna he could have been my mother.]

Get a LAUGH!! [Instead of get a LIFE]

It is healthy! "When we laugh, natural killer cells which destroy tumors and viruses increase, along with Gamma-interferon (a disease fighting protein), T-cells(important for our immune system), and B-cells(which makes disease fighting antibodes). As well as lowering blood pressure, laughter increases oxygen in the blood which also increases healing." Science of Laughter , Discovery Health Website.

"Laughter lowers blood pressure, decrease stress hormones, is a great workout for your diaphragm, abdominal facial , leg and back muscles. It stimulates both sides of the brain to enhance learning." And much much more! [See www.Helpguide.org]

Husband to wife "Close the vindow, it's cold outside." "And if I close the vindow it von't be cold outside?!"

Fast, get a Maseches Taánis! [Get it?] On Daf 22a none other than Eliyahu HaNavi points out to Rebbe Broka [no relation to Tom Brokaw] two men who are going to Olam Haba [this means that they are spiritual people, otherwise there is nothing for them to do in Olam Haba]. Rebbe Broka asks them which Mitzvos they perform? [Apparently they weren't such Talmidei Chachamim, otherwise the reason for their eternal reward would be self-evident.] They answered that they are JOVIAL PEOPLE and they make it their business to gladden the hearts of sad people!! [They also make peace between two people who are fighting.]

Indeed, Rav Chaim of Volozhin was wont to say that our purpose in this world is to improve the lot of others ["lihoeel liachareenee"]. So here is a great Avodah that I highly recommend. Find a Yid [or a Yiddene - depending on the circumstances] and make them happy. Compliment them, tell them what you admire about them, say something to put a smile on their face. By the time a child reaches nursery school, a study has shown, he or she will laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh an average of 17 times a day.

There are a lot of people who could use some more simcha - share some of yours. And like all acts of giving - the giver benefits infinitely more than the receiver!

With Love and Simchahood

Elchanan ben YITZCHAK [get it?] Yonah

P.S. And a very happy seventh birthday this week to my son - you guessed it - Simcha!!

Not Enough To Give

2010-02-14T05:08:00.004+02:00

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

Lao Tzu

In Parshas Mishpatim it says that one should help his enemy unload his donkey. The pasuk says "azaov taazov imo" - in the context of the passuk it means "help him" but literally it means "leave". The Aramaic commentary Rav Yonasan Ben Uziel translates that one should "leave" his hatred. In other words, it is not enought to help someone, one should also have positive feelings for him. [Pointed out by Rav Henach Leibowitz ztz"l - the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chafetz Chaim, which I believe is the last bastion of mussar yeshivos in our world. A tragedy. True mussar has died on a large scale. Some of the Rosh Yeshiva's students were my Rabbeim in my youth. Lucky me!]

The Gemara says that the beis hamikdash was destroyed because of baseless hatred. The Gemara says that the Jews still performed acts of chessed for each other. MIND-BOGGLING! They were involved in chessed while simultaneously hating the beneficiary of the chessed. It is not enough to give.

One must love as well.

A GUT VOCH AND A GUT CHODESH TYERE YIDDEN!!!!!

BI'SIMCHA TOMID!!:)

Tzvi Moshe On Mishpatim: Holiness In The Nitty-Gritty

2010-02-13T19:25:00.001+02:00

This week’s Parsha is a stark contrast to last week’s. Parshas Yisro is dramatically characterized by its divine special effects, God’s mass-revelation and His giving of the Aseres HaDibros. Mishpatim feels like a cold shower next to Yisro. It deals with the nitty-gritty, intricate laws of commerce, custodial responsibilities and judicial procedure. Mishpatim deals with the most mundane aspects of day-to-day life. It begs the question: What does Hashem want already? Why must He push His way into every detail of my life? How are we supposed to handle the huge emotional drop-off from Yisro to Mishpatim? Hopefully, through a better analysis of the Yisro/Mishpatim transition, we will come away with a clearer and more inspiring understanding of the many details that make up a life that is bonded with HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

Shemos Rabbah at the beginning of the Parsha connects our Parsha to last week’s through a Passuk from Tehilim (147:19) “Magid D'varav L’Yaakov, Chukav U’Mishpatav L’Yisrael” ‘Hashem relates his statements to Yaakov, His statutes and laws to Yisrael.’ The Midrash explains that the two segments of this Passuk parallel Yisro and Mishpatim. Magid D'varav L’Yaakov - He relates His statements to Yaakov: this is Parshas Yisro (the connection between D'varav and Dibros is blatant). Chukav U’Mishpatav L’Yisrael - His statutes and laws to Yisrael: this is Mishpatim. Let's delve into an explanation of this.

The Sfas Emes raises an interesting point about the Passuk that ties the two Parshios together. We know that our forefather goes by two names: Yaakov and Yisrael. Yisrael is considered the more elevated and exclusive of the two. Thus, if Yaakov is attached to Parshas Yisro and Yisrael is correlated with Mishpatim (in the way that we saw it broken down by the Midrash above) then it would seem that Mishpaim is the loftier and higher of the two!

On the surface, it would seem that this simply couldn’t be! Yisro is Kolos U’vrakim - thunder and lighting! Mishpatim is Bava Kama - it comes across like a monotonous study in Jewish monetary law; how are they even comparable!?

The Mei HaShiloach answers that the greatness of Mishpatim comes specifically from the mundane nature of its laws.(Fasten your seat-belts and crack open a Zohar.) Why is this so? He explains esoterically that Adam HaRishon started off in a different frame of reality then ours, it was more spiritually tangible. Then with Adam HaRishon's sin with the Eitz HaDaas he altered the fabric of his reality, transferring him to a denser, more physical plane, the same framework of existence in which we live today. All of our commandments are designed to bring a Tikun, to do some spiritual landscaping in this world, in order to re-elevate it back to the original state of its existence. It is here where Mishpatim thrives. Because the laws are so down to earth, it affords us the opportunity to infuse God and Godliness back into the very fabric of our degraded physical reality, and from there elevate it back to where it ought to be.

In order to put this into context of the Midrash, let's momentarily digress.

The Passuk in Mishlei (16:32) states “Tov Erech Apayim Mi’Gibor, U’Moshel B’Rucho Mi’Loched Ir.” He who is slow to anger is better than a strong man, and one who is a master of his passions is greater than a conqueror of a city.’

Rav Yisrael Salanter explains as follows: This Passuk has two segments, one greater than the first. The Erech Apayim is slow to anger, meaning he still grapples with his negative attributes. This is a very good level to reach, but at the end of the day, the war still wages on between him and the Yetzer HaRa. He is related to the Gibor,he is strong, but he is not yet defined as victorious. This is not the case with the Moshel B’Rucho - the one who rules over his desires. He has already dominated his Yetzer HaRa and lives an elevated spiritual existence. He is compared to the Loched Ir because he who has really conquered a city dominates its every aspect. A true conqueror comes to know the city’s every convenience store, sewer and back alley. This is true dominance; to have every angle checked.

He goes onto explain that this is the progression from Yaakov to Yisrael. Yaakov became Yisrael when he subdued the angel back in Parshas VaYishlach. Grappling with the angel through the night, Yaakov Avinu finally incapacitates him with a devastating headlock. It is at this point that the angel changes Yaakov’s name to Yisrael: Ki Sarisa…VaTuchal, For you have struggled…and have overcome. Only when Yaakov displayed full dominance over the angel did he become Yisrael.

The connection is as follows: Tov Erech Apayim Mi’Gibor is Yaakov. He is pushing, but the fight has not yet ended. U’Moshel B’Rucho Mi’Loched Ir is Yisrael. He has already covered every corner that there is. This is full dominance; the fight is won.

Perhaps with this idea in mind we can go back to the confusing Midrash. How can we say that Mishpatim is connected to the name Yisrael and is on a higher level than Yisro? Yisro flies in the clouds, and Mishptaim is talking about oxen!

Perhaps we can tie it all together as follows: Yisro, like we said before is Magid D'varav L’Yaakov - Yaakov being the connection to the Gibor, the one who is fighting but still caught in the struggle. The Aseres HaDibros are fundamental – true, but they are still up there in the heavens. They are delivered as ten major concepts that come with divine special effects. But this is not the goal of creation…Mishpatim is. Mishpatim is Chukav U’Mishpatav L’Yisrael, Yisrael being the Moshel B’Rucho, the Loched Ir. Mishpatim gets into every nook and cranny of life in order to allow godliness to fully penetrate reality. This is true dominance, and thus Mishpatim is Yisrael.

How often do I feel like I’m getting bogged down by one Halacha after another? It seems to be a never-ending matrix of laws and sub-laws that sneak their way into every facet of my life! When does it end already? Does Hashem really care how I get out of bed in the morning? (Or if give that guy/girl a high-five... I mean, it's just a high-five!)

Gevalt! What a flawed perspective! It’s mammash just the opposite. Baruch Hashem that He has given me the opportunity to infuse His will into everything… EVERYTHING! It doesn’t matter if it’s a bull, pit or a how I tie my shoes - Hashem has blessed me with the opportunity to elevate the whole universe through that which seems so mundane. Through my actions I perfect the fabric of reality; what a responsibility and an honor that is! Halacha is not a nag, it's an empowerment! I really need to snap out of it and realize that HaKadosh Baruch Hu has given me these opportunities because He loves me and wants me to be part of an elite unit of creation-perfectors.

B’Ezras Hashem we should all be Zoche to this realization. We want to really be able to feel our Chibur, our connection to Hashem down to the most minute detail of how we tie our shoes. This is a life that is fully invested in a relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu - and that is the best life that there is. If we can do this there is no doubt we will live lives of meaning moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the redemption!

Extremely Thought Provoking

2010-02-12T02:29:00.003+02:00

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Barry Goldwater

Thoughts on extremism, here.

Good Shabbos Sweetest Most Beloved Friends!!

Burning And Building

2010-02-11T04:09:00.004+02:00

Today I saw something beautiful in the sefer Mishmar Levi on Temurah in the name of the son of the Brisker Rov: It says in the Gemara in Taanis that we fast on the 17th of Tammuz for a number of reasons. One of them is that a certain Greek ruler named Apostomos burned a Sefer Torah. But wait a second! Every word of Torah we learn is a mitzva [Vilna Gaon] so when we read this Gemara we are rewarded for learning Torah!!

So Apostomos tried to burn the Torah and in the end he created more Torah!!

Vinahafoch Hu!!

They tried to destroy and in the end they build!! I often think of this idea as I watch our "cousins" toiling day and night to build the JEWISH STATE for the JEWS!!

May all evil be speedily transformed into good!!

Love and Blessings!!

Last Chance

2010-02-10T01:50:00.005+02:00

SWEETEST FRIENDS - I'm reprinting a old post from a few years ago from the beginning of Adar. So if you are depressed, you must know - this is your last chance. In a few days it is ALL OVER. Happiness will reign as Adar enters next sunday night. As part of my preparations I have been giving a series bs"d on "Ad Di'lo Yada" - here is # 4. The first three are also on Yutorah.

"Wear A Smile And Have Friends, Wear A Scowl And Have Wrinkles. What Do We Live For If Not To Make The World Less Difficult For Each Other" [G. Eliot]

That's it. It's over.

Anyone who is: dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, melancholy, downcast, sad, forlorn [two lorn + two lorn], low, in the doldrums, gloomy, disheartened, discouraged, grieving, sorrowful etc. etc. etc. No more.

IT'S ADAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FREILICH, TYERE YIDDEN! [I won't overwhelm you with all of the synonyms for happy, joyful, merry, jovial, elated, cheerful, jocular, buoyant, exhilarated etc. etc.]

A sign we put on the wall in the childrens bedroom:

THE SMILE

It doesn't cost anything, but it's worth a fortune
It enriches the receiver, while not impoverishing the giver

There is no person so strong
who can exist without it

There is no person so powerful
For whom a smile will not add

There are some tired people that in order to enable them to smile at you
SMILE AT THEM

Because -

There is no person who is in need of a smile
as much as a person who is unable to smile.

Blocking The Doorway

2010-02-09T20:18:00.002+02:00

Sent by C.A.F. [who confirmed the veracity of the story] - thank you!!

There was a woman who could not have children for 3 or 4 years. She wanted to go to the arizal's mikvah in Tzfat but it is for men only. So she and her husband went and he blocked the entrance way and made sure no men were in there and she dunked three times.

They had triplets!

MAZEL TOV MAZEL TOV MAZEL TOV!!!

Tatoos

2010-02-09T04:37:00.002+02:00

Another mai'seh shehaya: It is Erev Rosh Hashana and the Yerushalayim mikva is PACKED! There is a big 6 foot 5 inch chossid with "gekreizelte payis" [long flowing sideburns] on his way to the mikva. His hand is covering his arm. Suddenly he slips and falls to the ground - revealing a TATOO on his arm. Everybody stops and stares at him in disbelief. Not a common site at the mikva. Suddenly a small, slight, frail old man, about 5 feet tall, approaches him and offers his hand to help him up.

He also had a tatoo on his arm. He points to the number engraved by the Nazis and says "Dos is meine gehenom, un dos is deine gehenom. Lameir geyen tzo mikva". This is my hell and that is your hell. Let's go to mikva.

Sweetest most beloved friends!! Everyone has their own gehenom. The great ones are able to help others overcome and vanquish their demons. It requires sensitivity and care.

May we be equal to the task!!

Love and blessings!!!!

Communication Without Connection

2010-02-09T00:32:00.004+02:00

I once heard a good line. We live in a generation where there is communication without connection. Email, facebook, cellphones, text-messaging etc. etc. But there is something that pains me. People aren't really connecting in a deep way. Would you "date" a potential spouse on facebook? OF COURSE NOT! [By the way - great date idea. Bring "dates" and eat them!! But first, talk about bug-checking and guys, if she cares and checks her fruits - MARRY HER!! Well, also make sure you like her. What's worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding half a worm...]

Would you marry a guy you know from g-chatting? [Is that what it is called? I heard someone say that last week.] No way Jose!! Even if his name isn't Jose but Yossi you wouldn't marry him. It is a superficial form of communication!!

No, no sweetest friends, I am not saying we should ignore all modern forms of communication, but that we should use it properly. It is definitely convenient and has many advantages including saving time.

Some suggestions:

1] When you talk to someone [on the computer, phone or otherwise] try to talk about deeper more spiritual matters. Time is a priceless commodity, use it well. Chazal say that one must have friends - "Friends or Death", but true friendship is one based on emotional and spiritual connection - not meaningless discussions about the weather.

2] When you are with a friend - TURN OFF YOUR CELLPHONE! It is annoying when it rings and rude when you interrupt a conversation to answer it. Even when the phone isn't ringing the very fact that it is on means that the one holding it is not really with you. Of course there are exceptions to the rule but in my opinion that is the rule. On a persoanl note: When I am talking with someone and they answer their phone [this has happened to me about 10 million times] I wonder "I know that I am not important but why does he have to make me feel that way?!" When the phone rings in my home and I am talking to my wife we don't answer [generally]. Who could be on the phone that is more important than my wife?? I only have one!! Frankly - every person we are with should be made to feel that he is THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THE WORLD. Chazal teach us that one of the questions asked when we meet Hashem is "Did you make your friend feel like a King/Queen?" Would you answer the phone during a meeting with a King? President? Even a Mayor? Why does your friend deserve less respect?

3] Some people find it easier to open up on a computer. But if possible, true connection should be achieved face to face. It is important to look a person in the eye and show that you care and are listening with rapt attention. Shlomo Hamelech could have asked for anything and he asked for a "LEV SHOMEA" - A listening heart.

4] If you receive a phone message or email try to answer promptly. If someone wants to contact you, getting in touch with them has a Jewish term - "chessed". Rav Noach Weinberg was one of the busiest Jews alive. He once became furious with a student who didn't return someone else's call for 48 hours. He boomed "I ALWAYS return a call within 24 hours!! That is the beginning of Ahavas Yisrael." [As I am typing this I am listening to a eulogy of Reb Noach and heard the story from the Talmid. What Hashgacha!]

5] Don't spend too much time communicating with the world. If you are a male - you have a BIBLICAL COMMANDMENT to learn every free minute. And many other mitzvos. If you are female - there is also much Torah to learn, Tanach, Mesilas Yesharim, Pirkei Avos etc. etc. And there is chessed to do. And there is time to spend alone involved in introspection and relaxation.

6] Before making a phone call, sending an email etc. you can ask yourself - is this what Hashem wants? Will it bring another person [or you] simcha, or aliyah in Avodas Hashem?

When the first man went up to the moon, they interviewed the great Ponovitcher Rosh Yeshiva Rav Kahanaman ztz"l [d. 1969] and asked him what he thought. He answered "A man can reach the moon, but lev el lev lo naga'u - people's hearts are no closer." I fear that today people are further than ever.

May we merit to truly connect to other. That is the secret of Jewish survival. When Haman's decree to destroy the Jews was proclaimed, Esther's response was "Lech knos es kol hayehudim" - Gather together all of the Jews.

Amen keyn yehi ratzon!!!

Spiritual Ultrasound

2010-02-08T02:08:00.003+02:00

A great mai'seh I heard from one of the boys in Yeshiva tonight!

The year is about 1991. His father was close to the Lubavitcher Rebbe and one Sunday he went with his mother to get a bracha. The Rebbe gave them a dollar. Then called them back and gave two more. She was at the beginning of her pregnancy at the time but unbeknownst to them she was carrying ....... triplets.

The boy who told me the story is one of them.

Love and blessings!!!!

Charming And Sweet

2010-02-07T04:39:00.003+02:00

Well, I was on the radio on Friday and have but one regret. I forgot to plug my new book "7 Habits Of Highly Ineffective People". But I guess it is apropo because one of them is "missing opportunities" - which I did. :)

In this weeks parsha we read that the Jews "encamped" next to the mountain. The Torah uses the word "Vayichan". The Chassidim intepret this to mean "chen" - charm. In order to receive the Torah the Jews had to be "charming" to each other.

That reminded me of the saying of Chazal "Kol Yisrael areivim zeh la'zeh", which literally means that we are all responsible for each other. But it can also mean "All Jews must be sweet [areiv is sweet] to each other." That is our job in life. To be charming and sweet.

Love, Blessings And Gut Voch to all!!!

Cherry Coke And Nestle Crunch

2010-02-05T02:32:00.002+02:00

From a parsha email from my friend Eytan Menachem Hakohen Austein:

I was sitting in seder today, minding my own business, trying to learn with my chavrusah, when all the sudden, one of my shana alef friends walks over to our table and starts singing. He asked me join in...why not? So we start dancing and singing to that song everyone knows; the tune of Adon Olam, with the lyrics of "I don't know why i share my lunch, with cherry coke and nestle crunch..." Fun for the whole family. Right? Wrong! In the middle of our little party, one of my rabbeim from last year sees me and yells across the entire beis medrash, "Austein! Stop singing and start learning!" I immediately smiled, assuming that he was joking. As I waited for his smile, it didn't come. Picture this scene; its embarrassing as anything. And so as everyone in the beis medrash stopped learning and looked right at me, I suddenly began to feel as small as an ant. It's no coincidence that this week's parsha shows the exact mussar that my rebbe was trying to teach me. He wanted to convey the message that learning time is for learning, and it should be done whole-heartedly and with a passion, or if you're yeshivish, with "a bren". Bnei Yisrael accepted the Torah ki'ish ecad, bi'lev echad, together, but they also accepted it under circumstances that are described as loud and noisy: the intense thunder, lightening, Hashem's voice...every time we learn, we are supposed to learn "Ki'nisi'nasam" as it [the torah] was given to us: with noise, excitement, enthusiasm!

This weeks sicha.

What On Earth...

2010-02-04T19:03:00.005+02:00

SWEETEST FRIENDS - THIS IS IT!!

Nachum Segal is broadcasting from Netiv Aryeh tomorrow and I, little me, has been chosen to say a three minute dvar Torah at about three o'clock Israel time. Now here is the problem: WHAT ON EARTH SHOULD I SAY? I have never been on the radio before [except maybe for those silly call in sports radio shows as a kid]. I AM NERVOUS! My friend and Rebbe Rav Tzvi Shiloni has been telling me for years that I should have a radio show - so here it is, 3-4 minutes. Or maybe I should just keep going until they force a commercial on me :).

You may call with suggestions: 646-461-1628 or email me at allyatika@gmail.com.

Badly In Need Of YOUR Tefillos!

2010-02-04T11:39:00.000+02:00

PLEASE DAVEN FOR MEIRA MINDEL BAS CHAVA GOLDA!!!!!!!

Thank you!!

Student Forever

2010-02-02T19:12:00.003+02:00

I LOVE Judaism! Imagine a Professor of Higher Mathematics from M.I.T. who wrote 25 books with the GREATEST chiddushim in Mathematics. You ask him when you meet him what he does and he says - "I am a student of wise men". NO WAY!! "I am a Professor of Higher-Fancy-Shmancy-Mathematics at the most High-Falutin' University in the world." That is what he would say.

What is the greatest Torah Scholar called? A "Talmid Chacham". A student of the wise or wise student. No matter how much you learn you never cease being a student!! I have friends who are Rabbeim and teachers. I am not. I am happy to be a student. Fortunately I am surrounded by students just like me. They are much younger than I but it doesn't bother me. I enjoy their innocence, enthusiasm and excitement.

May we always remain eager to learn!!

The Value Of Life

2010-02-02T09:14:00.000+02:00

An interesting article brought to my attention, here.

Buy Reb Shlomo - And Be Inspired

2010-02-01T16:46:00.003+02:00

Sweetest Friends!!

The Yu Seforim sale is underway. I am listing two of my favorites [besides the old-fashioned Shas and Poskim]: "Reb Shlomo" - [The Biography of Rav Shlomo Friefeld] and "Holy Brother" [about Rav Shlomo Carlebach].

If you bought one of the seforim and liked a story - email me and tell me which!!!

BEAUTIFUL Torah From Tzvi Moshe

2010-01-30T21:53:00.001+02:00

In this week’s Parsha, the redemption of the Jewish people comes into full focus with the splitting of the sea and the Shirah. Through analyzing the transition from Galus to Geula, the switch from exile to redemption, we will hopefully see how to bring this down to the personal level, and make that same transition in my day-to-day.

The Sfas Emes explains that certain Parshios are uniquely directed at bringing out Galus themes, and there are Parshios that are specifically designed to bring out Geula. Parshas Vayechi is the first, and our Parsha, Beshalach, is the latter. Let’s go deeper into his words.

In order to illustrate the transition we need to start at the beginning of the exile, which occurs in Parshas Vayechi. Parshas Vayechi marks the beginning of the Galus for a number of reasons that we will try to spell out. On the most basic level, it is the point that all of Bnei Yisrael descend into Egypt, and from there they become enslaved.

There is something very interesting about Vayechi in that it is a Parsha Stumah. Parsha Stumah literally means a Parsha that is sealed. A Parsha Stumah is a Parsha where the breaks that are normally present to separate between Parshios are not there in their normal form, and one Parsha flows into another almost as one Passuk would be placed right next to another, forming a lock-down on either side of the Parsha. What are the breaks normally for for? The Midrash tells us that they are Revach L’Hisbonen time to think, digest and ponder about the last idea before proceeding on to the next one. This means that Vayechi, the Parsha that marks the beginning of exile is defined by being sealed off from the ability to think clearly. The Midrash tells us that the Parsha is sealed because the eyes and hearts of the Jews became sealed - the ability to flourish was squashed.

So what went into Galus exactly? The Ohr G’Delyahu explains the words of Chazal that tell us that Mitzrayim was a Galus of the Dibur, of speech. What is speech? The Chovos HaLevavos beautifully tells us that ‘The mouth is the quill of the heart.’ Meaning that which I have inside of me, my thoughts and feelings, are expressed when they come outwardly from my mouth. What Mitzrayim did was take away that ability to express.

Perhaps we can explain then, how these ideas are fully solidified in how Vayechi comes to a close. The Parsha ends with “And Yosef was buried in a coffin in Egypt.” This is the ultimate form of being boxed in. The coffin is a sealed box that has contained finality. In is the axiomatic symbol of the end of this ability to flourish, the grave is the mark of the stopping – of closing in, and this is the final image of Vayechi.

So now we understand exactly what Galus is. The ability to express myself, to think for myself, the ability to flourish on my own - when these are taken away, I’m in exile.

This means that everything that illustrates exile must be present in the total opposite in our Parsha where we get Geulah. We’ll start with the issue of Parsha Stumah. We explained that the Parsha Stumah is the lack of space in the Parsha. And we see how the opposite is obviously present in Beshalach where we have the set-up of the Shirah! The song at the sea is written in such a way that extra space is intentionally put in. Either a wide gap in the middle, or space on both side is present in every line! So if the lack of space is a representation of the lack of free thought, then the Shirah is an expression of free thought on the highest level!

Next we need to address the issue of Dibur going into Galus. If Mitzrayim took away speech, which is the ability to bring my inner feelings out, then the obvious flip-side if the Shirah itself! The song that was sung at the Yam Suf was a spontaneous bursting forth of speech and tune and emotional overflowing all woven together! It’s the highest level of expression!

And what is the opposite of the coffin of Yosef? Perhaps we can say that the parallel is found in Kriyas Yam Suf. If the coffin is the symbol of being boxed in, then it would make sense to say that the splitting of the sea is a clear image of opening up!

Now, in contrast to the crushing experience of Galus, we see that Geula is the ability to open up and truly express myself.

There is an interesting interplay where these two opposite Parshios meet. The Passuk in Tehillim (114:3) says that “HaYam Ra’a VaYanas” The sea saw and if ran away. This is a reference to our splitting of the sea in Beshalach. The question is, what did the sea see? It’s brought down in a number of sources that it saw the Coffin that had Yosef, it saw the bones of Yosef, and that caused it to split open.

It’s unbelievable that specifically the image of being contained and stifled is exactly what caused the sea to widely open up! What does this mean? That the processes of Vayechi, the situations that are the most crushing, are absolutely necessary to get the abilities of bursting forth and opening up that we find in Parshas Beshalach.

We can take this in the direction of a tree. To someone unfamiliar with the processes of planting, describing how a tree comes to be would be very confusing. In order for a tree to grow a seed has to be taken, a hole has to be dug and then the seed has to be buried tightly in that hole. After all that, the seed as to wait and rot underground. Only after all of this does the seed have the ability to sprout above the ground, out from its imprisonment in the soil. If the seed were to remain above ground, it would never be given the opportunity to grow!

The Passuk says in Dvarim (20:19) says, “HaAdam Eitz HaSadeh” ‘Man is a tree in the field.’ This is not just a cute metaphor. This is a reality of the human experience. I need to experience what it is like to be bottled up before I can truly appreciate what it means to be free.

All forms of redemption work like this, both personal and national. When we ask for the Geula in Shmona Esrei we ask, “Es Tzemach David Avdecha Meheira Tatzmiach” Please Hashem, make the sprout of David HaMelech grow forth to save us. And like we explained above, we now know what it means to grow.

When I feel like I’m in a coffin-like situation, I need to know that it is exactly that experience that I’m going to use to split a sea. It is those painful situation, where it seems that I can’t even think for myself anymore, when I feel most bottled up, the most squashed – it is specifically those experience that I need to use as the motivation to flourish. Only after a Vayechi can I get to Beshalach.

B’Ezras Hashem we’ll all be Zoche to this. We have within ourselves the ability to see beyond the narrow frame of reference that only lets me see pain. We need to know that in the bigger picture all that exile-like experience is just pushing us to a the point that I’ll be able to express ourselves at the greatest an highest level. If we can do this there is no doubt we live lives of meaning and fulfillment moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Redemption!

Belief - My Favorite Topic

2010-01-29T01:51:00.003+02:00

An audio shiur on the Parsha given this week, here.

The unedited version of my Dvar Torah that appears in Netiv Aryeh's newsletter.

"Ya gotta believe"

Tug Mcgraw - NY Mets pitcher after winning a big game

Moshe Rabbeinu comes to the enslaved Jews and tells them "Ladies and Gentleman, we are leaving Mitzrayim." Awesome!! And the Jews believed "Vaya'amain ha'am". The Jews believe in G-d and Moshe His faithful servant!! Later in Parshas Beshalach after the Jews see the splitting of the sea it says "Vayaaminu Bashem uviMoshe avdo'' - They believed in Hashem and Moshe. Wait? They already believed prior to this. What changed?

Then at mattan Torah it says "Baavoor yishma haom bidabri imach vigam bicha yaaminu liolam" The Jews had to hear Hashem speaking to Moshe so that they believe in both of them. Hey! They already believed?

Answer: Faith is not like pregnancy. A woman is either expecting or not. Faith in Hashem has infinte levels and is NOT a yes or no proposition. It must constantly grow! That is why the Torah described the various growing levels of faith of the Jews. It is not enought to say "I believe". The question is: Do you believe more today than you did yesterday? Do you learn sefarim that help increase faith? Do you daven to Hashem that he should open your eyes and help you see His light? Or do you engage in acts or have friends that DECREASE faith. Take sin for example. Sin distances one from the Divine light. The more one sins the more he is CONVINCED that Hashem isn't watching. Friends. Are your friends people who live their lives making constant assessments of their spiritual growth or people who live life as if there is no death and no reward and punishment.

Faith in Hashem is HARD work and a lifetime task. One NEVER arrives. There is always more to know, more to believe, more to experience. Indeed the pillar upon which the entire Torah stands is EMUNAH. The Rambam lists it as the first of the 613 mitzvos. "Kol mitzvosecha Emunah" - All of my mitzvos are an expression of faith. ."Tzaddik, said the Navi Chavakuk, Beemunaso yichye." The chiyus, the vitality, of a tzaddik is his faith.

So practically, where do we begin? Sweetest friends - I am glad you asked!! Michtav Meliyahu, Alei Shor, Ohr Yechezkal, Chovos Halevavos, Moreh Nevuchim, Sfas Emes, Likkuttei Torah etc. etc. Then go spend a Shabbos in the presence of a tzaddik. Fast one day to beseech Hashem for Emunah [take it upon yourself the previous day]. Get close to a person who REALLY believes. And don't just have faith! Also, be faithful to the relationship. Your wife [present or future] doesn't want you to have any other romantic interests, so too Hashem doesn't want us to have any other interests in this world besides Him. 'Bichol dirachecha dayahu" . Everything we do is for Hashem.

This will CLEARLY lead us to a life filled with meaning and therefore SIMCHA!!!

2 - 3 - 4 IVDU ES HASHEM ........

LOVE, BLESSINGS AND A SWEET SHABBOS!!

Ready To Change

2010-01-26T09:17:00.003+02:00

Ahhhhhh - PLEASE OPEN YOU HEARTS to words of Rav Shlomo Ben Rav Naftali:

The Torah tells us that, after the Jews crossed through the Red Sea, "the Sea returned to its strength." The gemara says, (Rashi brings it on the verse) do not read it as "strength" but as "condition,". The Red Sea returned to its original condition. Hashem, when He created the Red Sea, made a condition with it that, on the seventh night of Pesach, when the Jews will be by the shores of the Red Sea, the Sea should split open and allow them to pass through.

So, everybody asks, wasn't it when the Sea split open that it went back to its original condition, when it fulfilled the condition Hashem made with it and not when it became water again?

Hashem makes conditions, not only with the Sea. Hashem makes a condition with every person in the world. Hashem tells each person, "There will be one moment in your life when you can save somebody else's life, there will be a moment when you can do the greatest thing, which I created you for, but - you have to be ready to be something else. To go out of your way. Water, to become dry land, to become anything in the world. The deepest secret of life is that, I always have to be what I am, but there are moments I have to be not what I am also.

But, forget about time schedules. People have soul-schedules also. What's going on today with our establishment? According to their schedule, the way the world is today doesn't fit in. So, they just ignore it. For instance, during the Holocaust, they didn't do anything, right? Because it was not in their schedule. Twenty years later, now, it's part of their schedule to talk about it... In the sixties we lost thousands of kids to drugs. They didn't talk about it because it was not on their agenda. What's going on in Eretz Yisrael now? They all talk about the Arabs. What about inside? We are losing our kids, thousands of kids, but it's not on their agenda.

How about changing? From ocean, become dry land! Be something else.

When you love somebody very much, what is the acid test? If you really love somebody - are you ready to change for that person, even for just a moment?

The gemara says that finding your soulmate is like crossing the Red Sea. Everybody asks, why does Hashem call out, forty days before a person is born, who his soulmate is? Because, for two people to find each other and live together, everybody living on their schedule all the time, they will never make it, right? I am I, and you are you. Unless they are like the Red Sea. When Hashem created the Red Sea, at that time, He put in the condition that there will come a moment that it will have to stop being a sea and become dry land. But this is a heavenly power. You cannot do it after you have been created. It must come from before. Because change is the hardest thing in the world. That kind of change is not from this world. It's as deep as when Hashem created the world. Therefore, when a person is born, a condition is already made that you will marry this Chanele, but, for this Chanele, I want you to change a thousand times.

Now I want to go one step deeper. Why does the Torah say that the Red Sea went back to its original condition? Here is the deepest Torah in the world. What happens to you if you refuse to change? You know what happens to you? You might say: "Okay, at least I am what I am." But, really, you are nothing. You know what the Torah says? When was the Red Sea really a sea? After it was ready to change. When are you really what you are? Only if you can be anything for somebody you love. And, when the Sea returned to its original condition, suddenly, it was really a sea, a real sea. Now its water was really water. When Mashiach is coming, "kamayim layam mechasim" (as water covers the sea) - the waters of the Red Sea, such deep waters, waters that are ready to change to save peoples lives.

Grandma

2010-01-24T04:22:00.004+02:00

SWEETEST FRIENDS!! To put a smile on your face to begin the new week, an email I received from a VERY beloved friend:

Funny story I thought you would appreciate: The guy who works with me, Mike (I’ve told you about him in the past)… 25 years old, considers himself a Unitarian even though his mother is a Jew, his mother's mother is a Jew etc. etc. He goes to church and the whole deal, but he went on birthright a few months ago and he loved it. Anyhow … he heard about the story of the 20 yr. old guy who put his tefillin on in an airplane today and caused a bomb-scare. So Mike says to me… “Tefillin? What are those??” I explained to him what they were and he responded: “Really, is that something new?” I told him that it’s a pretty fundamental part of Judaism, to which he responded with complete seriousness: “Can’t be! I’ve never seen my Grandma wearing them!”

Maybe we can be mekarev a Jew this week. They need it.... The mishna in Pirkei Avos says to "love Jews and bring them close to Torah". Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook used to point out that it doesn't say "love Jews IN ORDER to bring them close to Torah". No! Just love them for who they are and automatically they will return to Torah.

Ahhhh yidden - we need more AHAVA!

Tzvi Moshe Kantor On Renewal

2010-01-22T05:15:00.003+02:00

This week’s Parsha is very detailed, covering a whirlwind of topics. We will, B’Ezras Hashem focus on the issue of Kidush HaChodesh. The Passuk says, “HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem” ‘This month shall be for you.’ There is a deeper insight brought down in a number of sources: instead of reading the word Chodesh as ‘month’, read it instead as Chidush - “HaChidush HaZeh Lachem”, ‘This renewal shall be for you’. We will try develop a better understanding of what Hischadshus is, and from there walk away with a powerful outlook onto how to always have the ability to Mechazek, to empower ourselves to constantly serve HaKadosh Baruch Hu at the highest level possible.

There is a concept in Jewish thought that everything is combined in the head of the matter. The root of any bodily process, or any action is rooted in my head. In terms of more esoteric thought, any minor detail is a segment of the major concept. The name of any Parsha contains all the issues that the Parsha deals with. The word Bereishis, the first word of creation, contains the whole universe in it, and there are many other examples of how this plays out.

The first Mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a nation is Kidush HaChodesh. Thus, on some level whatever the essence of Kidush HaChodesh is, has contained within it the essence of every Mitzvah.

To understand how this works we need to do two things. First, we need to understand the Tachlis of any Ma’aseh Mitzvah, the end-goal of any action that Hashem commands us to do. Secondly, we need understand the various nekudos, the multiple details that define Kidush HaChodesh. After we understand both sides we will be able to plug them into one another and come out with a clear understanding.

First let’s try to analyze what the Tachlis is of any Ma’aseh Mitzvah. There is an interesting Zohar that says that the six-hundred-and-thirteen Mitzvos are really TaRYaG Itin six-hundred-and-thirteen pieces of advice to bring Hashem more into my life. The definition is brought one step further by the Ramchal who explains that Mitzvos accomplish something called Zichuch HaGuf, purification of the body. By doing a Mitzva I bring more Ruchnius, more spirituality into my skin-cells, I bring more Kedusha, more holiness into my bones. I accomplish what many sfarim call Emunas Eivarim, I bring faith into my limbs. In essence, Ma’aseh Mitzvah equips me with a spiritual enhancement; Mizvos bring me to a higher quality of life, a loftier state of being.

Now we can move on to the second segment. We need to spell out the essence of Kidush HaChodesh. On the technical level the Mitzva of Kidush HaChodesh empowers the supreme-court to set exactly when the first day of the next month will be based on a recognition of the new moon. This is extremely important because it gives the court the ability to determine when any holiday will fall out. Let’s explain: if there is a holiday scheduled for the fifteenth, like Pesach for example, then determining when the first of the month is, effectively determines when the fifteenth will be. So Kidush HaChodesh is comprised of two parts: The first is the court pointing its finger to the moon and saying, “Hey! It’s new!” The recognition of renewal. The second is how, due to our recognition, how the month will play out.

There is powerful idea from Rebbe Nachman that we need to analyze. He says if I ever want to empower myself to serve Hashem better and to be closer to Him all I have to do is put myself in the mindset that I’ve never served HaKadosh Baruch Hu before. ‘I have to get up and do this Mitzva like it’s the first one I’ve ever done in my whole entire life!’ This is the Hischadshus, renewal, that we spoke about in the very beginning. I as a Jew have the constant power to refresh and to innovate to a whole new Avodas Hashem.

To tie all these ideas together we will use the parable of a soldier. Let’s take a low-ranking soldier; he peels potatoes. Let’s say after some time he does a meritorious act, gets a badge, and gets promoted to a combat soldier. He is on some level the same guy, but through this action he’s totally evolved as a soldier. Through his deeds he is changed on a number of levels: other people will look at him differently, he is going to look at himself differently, he is going to have bigger and better roles to play, and he is going to have better tools to carry those jobs out. Due to his merit, he is holding by a totally different place now.

Let’s tie this in with what we have said about Mitzvos. My Ma’aseh Mitzva, like we said before, changes the quality of my existence. But in context of all of this, I’m not just better, I’m a qualitatively different person before and after my Mitzvah, I’m now equipped with greater potential than I had a moment ago. I’m totally transformed!

This explains what we saw from Rebbe Nachman beautifully! Of course this is the first mitzvah I’m ever doing. Since my last Mitzvah, I’m a totally new person, and thus this is the first mitzvah I’ve ever done in this lifetime! It’s a totally new experience - like the soldier, I seem the same, but my spiritual responsibilities and capabilities are totally new! Now, after just one Ma’aseh Mitzva, I’ve moved into a new state of being. I’ve transformed myself, and through this I’ve given myself the ability to be even better. Like the soldier, I get new weapons, new tools, a smarter outlook and most importantly, more is expected of me.

Now we can plug it all back to Kiddush HaChodesh! The two parts of Kidush HaChodesh, (noticing the renewal and moving into the outcome) are the same two segments that are in every mitzvah! My ability to renew myself, and through this enter into a new level of holiness with all of its advantages parallel Kidush HaChodesh beautifully!

But the question is, how does this affect me? The answer is simple. Any time I’m stuck in a bad place with my Avodas Hashem, I’m literally only one Ma’aseh Mitzva away from a totally new life! I have to know that I can totally turn things around with just one Mitzva, that’s the most empowering things – the ability to totally shift into a new life is only one Mitzva away. I messed up this morning? Yesterday? This year? What if I’ve being messing up my whole life? Who cares? I'm starting again right now.

There is so much we can take from this. If we truly undertake this mindset, the cognizance of the fact that I really can always turn thing around, then there is no limits to the amount of growth we can achieve in our Avodas Hashem If we do this, then we will truly be able to live lives of meaning, lives of real happiness, lives of fulfillment, moving closer to the Creator, and ultimately the REDEMPTION!

A shiur that fits in well with Tzvi Moshe's beautiful words, here.

Darkness That Is Light

2010-01-22T03:28:00.001+02:00

The latest in Thursday night mussar from your faithful servant.

Love, Blessings and a BLISSFUL Shabbos!!!!!!!

Make Others Feel Special

2010-01-21T01:25:00.005+02:00

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Ahhh sweetest friends!!

Can you remember an experience where someone made you feel reeeeeally rotten? Of course you do!!

What about a time when a person made you feel like a MILLION BUCKS? Of course.

Well I have some news for you - YOU HAVE THE SAME POWER OVER OTHERS! This is what the pasuk calls "Maves vichaim biyad halashon" - You have the power with your tongue to make or break someone else. How often do we use this power? NOT ENOUGH!!!

So we can start today [myself included]. Think of ways to speak and act in such a way as to make others feel GREAT. It is not so hard and it is free!!! But in order to do so one must open his heart. People are CLOSED UP and this prevents people from touching others in a deep way.

Live life in such a way that even the undertaker will be sorry to see you go.

LOVE AND BLESSINGS!!

Get To Know The Most Important Person In Your Life

2010-01-20T04:34:00.003+02:00

"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as in being able to remake ourselves."

Sweetest friends!!!

Some people spend large amounts of time reading newspapers in order to know what is happening in foreign countries when they don't even know what is happening in their own hearts. Shouldn't one get to know oneself first?

The FIRST rule of character development [known in the yeshivos as "mussar"]: KNOW THYSELF!!

Love and blessings!!

Appreciation

2010-01-18T23:18:00.003+02:00

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

Voltaire

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.

Ralph Marston

SWEETEST FRIENDS!!! I truly appreciate those holy souls who sent money to help Bentzi. THANK YOU and may Hashem pay you for your kindness ten thousand fold!!

Love and blessings!

Latest marriage shiur, here.

Tzvi Moshe On Parshas Vaera

2010-01-15T06:00:00.002+02:00

In this week’s Parsha we begin the processes that bring the Jews towards redemption. Hashem tells Moshe “V’Hotzeisi Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim,” ‘And I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt.’ When we delve deeper into what Sivlos really are, then B’Ezras Hashem we will come out seeing how it is both the essence of, and the end of slavery; and through that we will also learn how to liberate ourselves.

Our Passuk says “V’Hotzeisi Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim” and goes on to list the other forms of Hashem saving us including “V’Hitzalti Eschem Mei’Avodasam ‘I will save you from your servitude.’ “V’Gaalti Eschem B’Zroa Netuya” ‘I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.’ And “V’Lakachti Eschem Li La’Am” ‘And I will take you for a nation." And with this we arrive at four separate expressions of redemption: V'Hotzeisi, V'Hitzalti, V'Gaalti, V'Lakachti

But after listing these four aspects the Passuk continues: “Vidatem Ki Ani Hashem Elokeichem HaMotzie Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim” ‘And you will know that I am Hashem your God who was Motzei you, who took you out from the Sivlos of Mitzrayim.” Seemingly this Passuk is odd. This type of getting to know Hashem is directly connected to the first of the four expressions we mentioned above. The previous Psukim listed of four different type of ways Hashem will save us, yet we will only know Him through the first of those four? Why do we only arrive at a knowledge of Hashem in the manifestation of V'Hotzeisi? As the one who took us out from the Sivlos. What about the others? Let’s address some other issues and come back to this at the end.

The term Sivlos is used elsewhere as well. The first time that Moshe and Aharon attempt to speak to Pharoh (5:1-5) they request that Pharoh give the Jews a small vacation to go and serve Hashem in the desert. Not only does Pharoh say no, but he also takes issue with the fact that Moshe and Aharon approached him in the first place, ‘Why do want to disturb the masses from their work? Lichu L’Sivloseichem! Get back to your own work!’ Pharoh ordered Moshe and Aharon to get back to their personal Sivlos, their personal burdens. Rashi is driven to point out that Pharoh was talking about their personal chores in their homes. Afterall, Moshe and Aharon were part of Shevet Levi who were not subject to the slavery.

The Nesivos Shalom asks on Rashi, how can Lichu L’Sivloseichem be a reference to chores around the house? Silvos means burdens and subjugation! We say it in connection to slaves, not regarding taking out the garbage.

The explanation is that the slavery of Mitzrayim was two-fold. We know about the backbreaking physical labor, but there was a second aspect. This is the Ruchani, spiritual enslavement. What does this mean? Mitzrayim is the source of all Tumah, it is the symbol of all spiritual contamination and impurity. The Tumah of Mitzrayim permeates the air, it settles in the dirt and makes it’s way into the minds of all those who are present in the land. There was nowhere to turn, no escaping its influence. It even entered the home-life of the Jews.

When Pharoh said Lichu L’Sivloseichem, he was talking about the spiritual aspect. He was talking about the burden of the inescapable effects of Egyptian culture. Pharoh says to them, “Go home! There is plenty of spiritual suffering for you there.”

What comes out of what we have said is that real Sivlos, real burden and subjugation comes as a result of being stuck in a lifestyle I cannot escape. Just like we saw in Egypt; It can get me in the craziness of the outside world, and even make creep into my personal space. When my surroundings are not what I want them to be, and I feel helpless - this is Sivlos, this is real Galus.

Now that we have established that Sivlos is the essence of suffering, we can see how it also the root of the way to bring about suffering’s end. The Sfas Emes totally redefines the Passuk in an unbelievable way: “V’Hotzeisi Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim” So far our translation has been, ‘And I will take them out from under the burdens of Egypt.’ While Tachas literally means ‘Under’, it is used elsewhere in Torah to mean ‘Due to’ or ‘Because.’ Secondly, the word Sivlos, ‘Burdens’ has the same root as the word Lisbol, meaning to endure, it is also connected to Savlanus, meaning ‘Patience.’ He goes on to say that we can read the following into the Passuk: “V’Hotzeisi Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim” ‘And I will take the Jews out because of the point of their patience for Egypt.’ If they are fed up, then I’m taking them out.

Let’s explain the words of the Sfas Emes: In last week’s Parsha it says (2:23) ‘VaYizaku’ the Jews made an outcry, and then in the very next Passuk, only after they mamesh cried to HaKadosh Baruch Hu did He begin to set in motion the events that led to their freedom. The Jews were fed up with the spiritual situation that they could not escape, so they cried out, they protested, they said ‘We’ve had enough!’, and with that Hashem began to take them out. The whole Geula can only begin once we recognize and protest the fact that there is a problem with our spiritual situation. This has to come from our efforts.

Let’s remind ourselves of our original question: If the Psukim list ‘V’Hotzeisi, Hitzalti, Gaalti, and Lakachti’ then why do the Psukim continue “Vidatem Ki Ani Hashem ELokeichem HaMotzie Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim” ‘And you will know that I am Hashem your God who took you out from the Sivlos of Mitzrayim.”

Now we can answer our original question beautifully! We can only really relate to and know that which we forge for ourselves! And thus it was our protest that brought about V’Hotzeisi Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim. It is this that leads us to Vidatem Ki Ani Hashem ELokeichem HaMotzie Eschem MiTachas Sivlos Mitzrayim. The relationship in which I get to know Hashem is only going to be the one that I forged for myself.

The fact that I can stand up for what I truly believe, in a society that screams the total opposite is the beginning of my own personal redemption.

All to often I ask myself, ‘What can I do to change my reality?’ If I’m stuck in this situation, what can I do if I feel helpless? The answer is that I can choose not to accept it! The moment that I protest to myself that my current situation is not holy and is not getting me closer to Hashem, then I’ve already taken the most important step to getting myself out. I just need to remind myself to take that first step, the one that can be the hardest.

It’s very easy to get caught up in status-quo. To just go along with life and not stand up for myself is the easiest way out. But when I look around the world it become so obvious to me that taking the back seat will never solve anything. It is my ability to be aware of my surroundings that separates me from the rest of the world. The world moves at such a rapid-fire pace that I'm never never given a moment to think, the ultimate Lichu L’Sivloseichem. But the moment I tap into my ability to protest is the same exact moment I begin my own personal redemption.

B’Ezras Hashem we should all be Zoche to this. We need to empower ourselves not be okay with things just the way they are. If we can do this there is no doubt we live lives of growth, purity and meaning, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the REDEMPTION!

2010-01-15T02:38:00.002+02:00

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”

Winnie The Pooh

A sicha given on Parshas Vaera, here. [It has nothing to do with the quote. I just saw it and HAD to post it.]

LOVE, BLESSINGS AND A BLISSFUL SHABBOS [or if you prefer "SHABBAT". The ikker is that it be blissful].

Sweet Bentzi

2010-01-13T02:18:00.004+02:00

Recently, a concert took place to raise money for Bentzi Gottlieb. Here is a link that was sent by a special Neshama A.F. A BIG thank you.

Have tissues handy before clicking!

His full name is Yehuda Bentzion ben Naomi.

Paris 1939

2010-01-12T15:38:00.002+02:00

In fourth grade of the heilige [that is where I learned how to read Hebrew. How USEFUL!!] Manhattan Day School I had a beloved Rebbe named Rabbi Asher Heber. I was delighted to come across this video.

Love and blessings!!!

Listening

2010-01-10T23:33:00.002+02:00

By nature I am a very talkative person. But life has taught me that there are few experiences in life more rewarding than LISTENING! We have two ears and only one mouth [maybe] so that we should listen double the amount we speak.

How do we listen properly??

Listen [!] to Dr. Carl Rogers:

Can I let myself enter fully into the world of his feelings and personal meanings and see these as he does? Can I step into his private world so completely that I lose all desire to evaluate or judge it? Can I enter it so sensitively that I can move about in it freely, without trampling on meanings which are so precious to him? Can I sense it so accurately that I can catch not only the meanings of his experience which are obvious to him, but those meanings which are only implicit, which he sees only dimly or as confusion? Can I extend his understanding without limit?

Maybe if we would listen more to others then, midah kineged middah, Hashem would listen to our tfillos.

Love and blessings!!

Calling People Names - From Tzvi Moshe Kantor

2010-01-08T05:14:00.003+02:00

In this week’s Parsha, we fully enter the Galus. On this level, Egypt is the prototypical exile: a frame of reference for other national and personal exiles throughout history. Hopefully, we will discover the essence of what it means to descend into a difficult situation and what we can do to come out on top.

The Passuk says, “V’Eleh Shemos Bnei Yisrael HaBaim Mitzraima Eis Yaakov Ish U’Beiso Bau.” ‘And these are the names of Bnei Yisrael who came to Egypt with Yaakov, each man with his household.’ There are a few issues in this Passuk that we will raise and then hopefully answer them all through one fundamental idea.

The first question is in the words of the Passuk itself: Why does the Passuk contain both the names Yaakov and Yisrael? We know that the names carry different connotations, so what is the Passuk trying to tell us by bringing both?

There are two other general questions that we also need to address. First of all, if our Passuk is dealing with Inyenei Galus, issues pertaining to exile, then why is the title ‘Shemos,’ ‘Names’?

On a second very general level, we need to analyze what exile is. What is its purpose? Seemingly it is reciprocation for sins: we do bad stuff and then Hashem punishes us, right? But it can’t be that simple. If it is only that, then we are left with a very fundamental problem with a Midrash in Bereishis Rabba. The Passuk says “V’Ha’Aretz Haysa Tohu VaVohu V’Chosech Al Pinei Tihom” ‘And the land was in chaos and empty, and darkness upon the surface of the depths.’ The Midrash says that each of these descriptions parallels an exile that the Jews will experience. ‘Chaos’ is Babylonia. ‘Empty’ is Persia. ‘Darkness’ is a reference to Greece, and ‘The Depths’ is talking about Rome. If exile is only a response to sin, then how can the exiles be programmed into the creation story before we could even commit the Aveiros needed to bring them on? It’s not fair!

The Nesivos Shalom explains that to think that Galus is merely a response that comes about as a result of sins is a fundamental mistake. Galus is an opportunity. It gives us the ability to undergo purification. To enter a difficult situation and come out better from it is much better than to just stay okay. And this is built into the fabric of creation from the start! It is true that we sin and that this causes punishments to come our way, but the ability to overcome all sorts of exiles and tests (personified by the various exiles) is something that we, on both the personal level and as a people, have engrained within us, and we need to go through these refinements to come our better on the other side. Every different Galus calls upon the Jews to tap into a new Avodah, a new style of service of Hashem. And, by going through these various stages of development, we are able to reach the end of the Passuk we quoted above from Bereishis, “V’Ruach Elokim Mirachefes Al Pinei HaMayim” ‘And the spirit of Hashem was hovering over the surface of the waters.’ The Midrash over there continues that “Zeh Rucho Shel Mashiach” this is the ‘Spirit of Mashiach’ Meaning that in the same way that going into exile is built into the fabric of reality - so is us defeating it and coming out on top of it.

To answer our other questions, (Why is our Parsha called ‘Names’? And why are both Yaakov and Yisrael mentioned in the Passuk?) we need to ask another question: What is a name? In Emunas Itecha, Rav Moshe Wolfson explains that a name is a definition of one’s personal Avodah. A name is an external title labeled onto one’s internal identity. Every person with his unique way of relating to his name has his own Avodah because no two people are living the exact same situation in this world. Each person has his own Tafkid, a specific task that he needs to accomplish, and only he, with his name, with his title, can accomplish that mission. Let’s take this a step further before we answer the second question.

The Sfas Emes points out a few nuances in the Passuk. “V’Eleh Shemos Bnei Yisrael HaBaim Mitzraima Eis Yaakov Ish U’Beiso Bau.” ‘And these are the names of Bnei Yisrael who came to Egypt with Yaakov, each man with his household.’ If you read the Passuk carefully it is only the names which went into the Galus, not people! “V’Eleh Shemos Bnei Yisrael HaBaim Mitzraima.” Another important nuance: While we translate Eis Yaakov to mean ‘With Yaakov’ it does not necessarily have to mean ‘with’; rather, Eis can mean ‘as.’ They seventy people that descended to Egypt, into the exile, Eis Yaakov, as Yaakov, deeply connected to what Yaakov is all about. And Yaakov personifies the ability to penetrate through all the exteriors and see the deep truth in everything. Throughout every exile, Yaakov is still connected to the end-goal of Rucho Shel Moshiach. This aspect never goes into Galus

What does this mean? Maybe we can explain that the name of our forefather, Yaakov, is a connection to the internal aspects of any given matter. Between Jews, Yaakov is Yaakov Avinu. We are part of a special club called Beis Yaakov, Kehilas Yaakov. Yaakov is what binds us together as a people; the way we relate to ourselves on the internal layer. Yisrael on the other hand is the relationship to the external world. This is what we put on the banners when we travel in the desert as Machaneh Yisrael. To the nations we call ourselves Am Yisrael. Yisrael is the way we as a group relate to the rest of the world. And this comes out in the Passuk beautifully! “V’Eleh Shemos Bnei Yisrael HaBaim Mitzraima” The children of Yisrael (the external layer) went into a new situation of Egypt. This part of the Jews went into exile. But “Eis Yaakov” the part of us where Yaakov remained Ish U’Beiso Bau, totally bound as a family proceeding to the end-goal. The ability to see what the real purpose of the world is never goes into exile.

Now we can answer all of our questions! Based on how we have explained the essence of a name and the essence of Galus,everything makes sense! Let’s crunch: a name is a definition of my Avodah, and the purpose of a Galus is to refine and purify the Jewish people on their way to Rucho Shel Moshiach, and Yisrael is the way relate to the outside world. With this in mind, it makes sense that the NAMES of YISRAEL went into Galus. But the binding factor of YAAKOV did not. The Jews needed to refine a new aspect of their Avodah, the way that they operate in the world – their names. The external layer of what a name is goes through the refinement of exile, but the manifestation of Yaakov penetrates right through!

Let’s explain what this means for me on the practical level. The fights of Olam HaZeh are endless. The way I serve Hashem in this world is never going to be able to remain static. I’m going to be constantly challenged. Just when I get comfortable, the world is going to send me a new Galus, a new curve-ball and I'm going to have to switch it up and find a new Derech of Avodas Hashem to deal with it. A renewed focus on a Mitzva. A fresh perspective. A new favorite piece of Tefila. The more I refresh, the better off I'll be. The aspect of me that is Yisrael is going to go through constant modification. Every situation demands something different of my name. But simultaneously an internal part of me is Yaakov. I know that everything I’m doing is channeled towards bringing me closer to my Father in Heaven, and no external situation can change that! My head is always in the right place irregardless of where my physical body is. I’m always connected to something bigger no matter what my surroundings may be. No matter where I am, as Yisrael I’m going to have to draw upon a new, refined type of Avodah, a new strength from within me… but if I also remain connected to my inner Yaakov, always focused on the end goal of closeness to Hashem, I’ll always be heading in the right direction. No situation will ever hold me back. If we can do this, we will B’Ezras Hashem move closer to the REDEMPTION!

Holy Shovevim

2010-01-08T01:09:00.006+02:00

The Torah teaches in Parshas Shemos that the Jewish midwives were told to abort the babies. The Pasuk relates "Vatichayena es hayiladim" - they gave life to the children. The simple meaning is that they refused to carry out the evil decree but Chazal add that they actually gave the babies life by providing sustenance for them.

Why was this necessary?

The Rambam says that to fix an aberration one must go to the opposite extreme. The midwives saw that this was a time of extreme cruelty so in order to combat this they acted with extreme kindness. [Pardes Yosef]

This time of year is called "Shovevim" [the first letter of the parshiyos Shemos until Mishpatim]. The Mekubalim teach us that this is a time to fix sins relating to sexual impurity [thoughts, seeing and worse]. We live in the most sexually decadent generation in history. I believe that this means that we must be EXTREMELY careful in matters relating to inter-gender interactions.

Examples: My friend's wife in NOT my friend. Polite - of course, but not friendship. We love EVERY Jew but this love must be expressed appropriately.

Magazines or newspapers that have immodest pictures or stories should be MUKTZA. I am aware that this excludes almost all of them but avoiding them will only enhance our purity.

Some people get upset at mechitzas at simchas. There are definitely great poskim who say that they are not necessary. But in our "dor parutz" wouldn't it add kedusha?! Does mixed seating add kedusha?

Add your own examples!

HOLY SHOVEVIM SWEETEST FRIENDS!!!!

New Shiur

2010-01-07T05:36:00.001+02:00

A new shuir on marriage, here.

Had To Get This Off My Chest

2010-01-03T00:11:00.003+02:00

As I was typing the previous post I was listening to a "shiur" given by a Rabbi where he compared having a car to watching television as we have to sanctify both. A car can be used to go to shul so it is positive. A TV is also a good thing if used properly.

I am obviously missing something! What on TV brings one closer to Hashem or adds kedusha? I once heard this same person say that one should go to the theater. Is the theater HOLY? Has something changed sinced I was immersed in western culture. Do they now promote only positive, wholesome values? Are all of the women dressed according to the standards of Jewish law?

I try to keep an open mind but this is a hard one for me. Was the Chofetz Chaim missing something because he never saw reality TV? I, Baruch Hashem have never seen such a show either. If I am missing something that will enhance my Avodas Hashem - PLEASE enlighten me!

People say the silliest things sometimes. May the Good Lord save me from such a fate.

PS - This is obviously not meant as a personal attack against the aforementioned speaker. That is why I didn't mention his name. If you know who I am referring to - please don't share your knowledge.

Fake Plants

2010-01-03T00:03:00.002+02:00

"My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them."

Mitch Hedberg

This is a world whose essence is falsehood ["alma di'shikra"]. The holy books exhort us to differentiate between truth and falsehood. A key: If what one is involved with will last for less than hundred years then it is not real, compared to things in life that will last for eternity. OF COURSE one should earn a living and take care of this worldy needs but one should never get carried away.

A mitzva is FOREVER!!

Love and blessings!!!

Two Audio Shiurim On Contemporary Events

2010-01-01T01:55:00.003+02:00

Some words on sad current events from Rav Twersky Shlita.

Some more from yours truly.

Good Shabbos Sweetest Friends!!

How Can You Tell That Christians Have No Daf-Yomi Equivalent?

2009-12-31T01:22:00.004+02:00

Sent to me by my friend R' Yaakov Ben Avigdor to add to the "holiday cheer":

The Cohen family was on very good terms with their Roman Catholic
neighbors, the O'Briens. In fact, little Yaakov Cohen and Christopher
O'Brien from next door would play together from time to time. Or at
least they used to.

Well, one late December's day, Duncan O'Brien came storming in to the
Cohen's house holding poor Yaakov by the ear. "Your son is not going
near my Chris again; he just has no respect for us and our religion!"

"What's the matter; what did he do?" inquired Mr. Cohen. "I'll tell
you" said Duncan "he saw our Christmas tree and started making fun."

"Really, what did he say?" continued Mr. Cohen.

Duncan said, "He saw our tree and started asking all sorts of
ridiculous questions - which kinds of pine trees can be used for a
Christmas tree? What's the minimum required height? How close to the
window does it need to be? Do too many decorations render it unfit?
What if it's under a neighbor's balcony?!"

Asarah Biteves

2009-12-27T00:02:00.002+02:00

A friend recently invited me to his wedding but I will NOT be attending! It says on the invitation "Modest Dress Required". I will do A LOT to gladden a Chosson and Kallah but I will NOT wear a modest dress. That is going too far!!

Anyway, that is to break the depression that this fast day may bring. But we must remember that the "ikker" of the day is teshuva and tzedaka. Here are some halachos of the day. Most [if not all] of the halachos apply to our fast day. One comment: He writes that a "baal nefesh" should refrain from taking a haircut on a fast day. However I looked in the responsa he cited as the source for this ruling [Tzitz Eliezer Vol. 7 Simman 49] and he says that it is completely permitted and there is no reason to be machmir.

Tzvi Moshe On The Parsha

2009-12-25T05:36:00.001+02:00

Our Parsha opens up with Yehuda approaching Yosef, attempting to convince Yosef to release Binyamin. With Hashem’s help, through analyzing some of the conversation between Yehuda and Yosef we will learn more about the mind-state required for spiritual growth and how to look at the world around us as a constant motivator for Teshuva.

When Yehuda begins his appeal on Binyamin’s behalf, the Passuk describes the situation as follows: “Vayigash Eilav Yehuda VaYomer Bi Adoni YiDaber Na Avadecha.” ‘And Yehuda approached him (Yosef) and said ‘Please my master, with your consent your may your servant speak.’ Then, trying to convince Yosef to release Binyamin, Yehuda goes on to add no new plea whatsoever! He merely repeated the chain of events that had transpired up to this point and recalled the conversations that they had had previously. Yehuda says to Yosef (again) “We came for food. Our father is elderly. Please don’t take our younger brother, the loss of him will kill our father.” He had said all these things already! What was Yehuda trying to accomplish?

The answer is ‘Try, try again.’ The Mei HaShiloach explains here that Yehuda was making a point. When it comes to the world or repentance and Teshuva, there is no giving up. Nothing can stop you. There is nothing to worry about. If it doesn’t work the first time, go at it again- and this time even more forcefully.

What do we mean by ‘more forcefully’? Rebbe Tzadok HaCohen brings down that VaYigash is a Lashon Tze’akah, it is a language that references screaming. All the information that Yehuda was now re-presenting was obvious, but this time his presentation was radically different.

The Beis Yaakov explains that this type of an outcry is fundamentally different from any other form of communication. Why? Yelling demands the most metal energy from a person- because it comes from the deepest place. When I scream it should mamash come from my gut. He continues to explain that Yehuda begins his supplication by saying Bi Adoni, which is translated to mean, ‘Please, my master.’ But this is only correct up to a point. ‘Bi’ literally means ‘Within me’ and thus ‘Bi Adoni’ really can mean ‘My Master is within me! Who is the Master? Hashem! I have a Chelek Eloka MiMa’al! I have a soul; God is always with me! When I cry out to you right now, under standwhat I am doing- I am tapping into my deepest, most powerful spiritual resources.

It’s brought down in numerous sources that the soul is comprised of several parts, the highest of which is called the Yechida, which we often refer to as the Pintele Yid, an indestructible spark of Jewish purity. The Arizal brings down that when we say that Yehuda cried out by reaching deep withing his essence, we are talking about this - a place of total Godliness.

Rebbe Nachman writes, ‘Ein Shum Yeiush Ba’Olam Klal. There is no despair in thw world at all. This was turned into an anthem of sorts, and when the Breslover Chassidim sing it they give an introduction; Rabbeinu Tza’ak B’Kol Gadol: EIN SHUM YE'USH BA’OLAM KLAL! ‘Our Rebbe screams with a powerful voice: There are no worries in the world at all!’ The only place where 'giving up' exists is in your head, and if you expel it from there, it does not exist at all.

This ties everything that we have seen together beautifully. When I focus myself and decide to do Teshuva, I have to make a Tze’akah. I have to burst forth from the deepest place inside of my soul. I have to totally disregard anything that is seemingly preventing me. If I gather enough personal strength nothing will be able to stand between me and the ultimate purity that is already present inside of me.

(There is an interesting Zohar in Parshas Nasso which says that every day a voice emanates from Har HaBayis and calls out to us “Return you wild sons”. The only problem is that no one hears it. Let’s put this information on hold for a minute and come back to it.)

Eventually Yosef can’t take the pressure anymore and thus reveals himself. He does so simply by saying, “Ani Yosef ‘I am Yosef’ and with that everything was flipped on its head. The brothers could not answer because suddenly everything made so much sense! The Mei HaShiloach brings an unbelievable insight. Speaking in strict situational terms, the two seconds before Yosef’s revelation and the two seconds after were identical; none of the events changed. The day was saved for the brothers not because their oppressor perished, or because he was removed from his throne. Everything was exactly the same- the only difference was context. Everything was now settled for the Shavtim because they realized how everything was operating all along.

This is a reflection of a fundamental idea elaborated on by the Ramchal. We can explain his words based on the Passuk, BaYom HaHu Yihiyeh Hashem Echad U’Shmo Echad (Zecharya 14:9) that on the day that Hashem reveals his full and complete dominance over the totality of creation - nothing about the course of history will be different - but what will be radically different is our perspective on everything and with that every aspect will fall into place.

Let’s tie it all together. What we have said plays out on three levels. First: When Yehuda reaches into himself - Yosef opens up and everything makes sense. This plays out on the historical level as well. When Hashem brings out the ultimate revelation - we are going to see how all aspects of creation were pushing forward towards God all along.

But we need to focus on the personal level- How does this relate to me?

The answer is this: just like it was only when Yehuda charged Yosef with a Tze’akah Gedola did it open the door for Yosef to make everything make sense. The same is true for Teshuva. Rav Kook explains that when I reach deep into myself, it opens up the whole world around me. Teshuva is re-entering into the rhythm of the world, to feel how everything is really moving closer to Hashem. I’ll be able to hear that Heavenly Voice that everyone else can’t. No one is saying that it is easy, and no one is saying that I’ll get it the first time, but I have to plug away.

Spiritual growth requires effort. It’s not going to come by itself. But worrying is not going to do anything for me either. No matter where I end up I have to try my very best to focus, gather together all my resources and charge. There is no reason to delay! Being okay with just being okay is a recipe for never accomplishing anything. But when I pull myself together and realize that on the inside I am totally pure, nothing can stop me from attaining my goals.

With help from Hashem and some effort from ourselves, we, like Yehuda, will be able to reach deep within the wellsprings of potential that lay inside of us, and with that all of the universe will become a harmonious symphony being beautifully directed towards Hashem with us at the lead. When we do this there is no doubt we will live lives of meaning moving ever-closer to the Creator and thereby the REDEMPTION!

Where The True Battle Takes Place

2009-12-25T02:03:00.002+02:00

The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual - for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost.

M. Scott Peck

People often think that their challenges lie OUTSIDE of them. This is a critical error! ALL of lifes battles take place within our soul. We cannot always control external occurences but we do have the ability to control how we deal with the situations that present themselves. We can choose to feel happy or sad, despair or hope.

Indeed, "Hakol bidei shomayim chutz miyiras shomayim" - Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for fear of Heaven.

Love and blessings for a blissful Shabbos!!

Do We Wish You A Merry......

2009-12-24T01:25:00.004+02:00

Find what Rav Kook liked or didn't like about Christianity, here. [We also have a Part 2]

Some amazing ideas about Vayigash and Asara Biteves including some COOL gematriyos, here!

Love and Blessings!

Tzvi Moshe On Miketz

2009-12-18T01:59:00.002+02:00

This week’s Parsha opens up with the events that lead to Yosef’s release from prison and subsequent rise to power. The Passuk reads as follows, “VaYehi Miketz Shnasayim Yamim, U’Pharoh Cholem.” ‘And it was at the end of two year’s time, and Pharoh dreamt.' We all know that these dreams afforded Yosef the opportunity to prove himself in the court of the king and the importance of that, but perhaps with further analysis we will be able to see it from a new angle and from that, the intrinsic importance of ourselves as well.

We should begin by sighting the Passuk in Iyov 28:3 that says, “Keitz Sam LaChoshech U’Lchol Tachlis Hu Choker.” ‘He sets a limit to the darkness, and he investigates the end of everything’

The Sfas Emes relates the important background information required to fully understand the implications of this Passuk. He says that it is scientifically logical to assume that darkness is simply the absence of light. If this were the case then darkness would not be an entity unto itself, rather it is only a vacuum created when there is no light present. But this cannot be so, for the Passuk in Yeshaiya 45:7 states, “Yotzer Ohr, U’Boreh Choshech.” God ‘formed light, and on the other hand he‘created’ darkness. The Passuk continues, “Oseh Shalom U’Boreh Ra.” God ‘makes’ peace and ‘created’ evil. Light and peace are formed and made. They are eternal. This is in contrast to darkness and evil which are created only after formation of the positive counter-parts. (Yotzer Or U’Boreh Chosech, Oseh Shalom U’Boreh Ra. The creation of darkness and evil are predicated on the formation of light and peace before them.)

As the Passuk clearly states, darkness and evil are not the absence of good and light; it is quite the opposite actually. The light that Hashem sends forth reaches all places, darkness and evil are actual creations used for the purpose of temporarily covering up that light and peace. They are not a lack of existence. They are ‘created’ veils with the distinct purpose of their eventual uncovering (like we saw from Iyov).

With this in mind we can try to understand the Midrash Rabba which ties the Passuk from Iyov back to our issue with Yosef: Yosef was only supposed to be in jail for ten years. But he, at the end of that decade turned to the bartender, his fellow inmate with the words, “Zchartani” and “V’Hizkartani” ‘Remember me and make me noted.’ Because of these two words, God added two more years to his sentence. The meaning of the Passuk in the beginning of our Parsha specifying that two years had passed is because it is the count of the two extra years that Yosef spent in the Egyptian Dungeons. After this time had elapsed, it was only then Pharoh had his dreams, and that set in motion the events that led to Yosef’s release.

The Ohr G’Delyahu says that what the Midrash is really doing is revealing the purpose of Pharoh’s dreams. We would think that that Yosef’s release came about as a result of Pharoh’s midnight-musings, but the reality is the opposite. The deadline was put on the darkness of Yosef in jail, and once the timeline expired the dream came about to release him.

The Nachlas Dovid brings all of this out of our Passuk in a very clear way. “VaYehi Miketz Shnasayim Yamim” ‘And it was after the time of two years of Yosef’s imprisonment (of which the decree had now ended), “U’Pharoh Cholem.” And Pharoh had dreamt the dreams that would lead to Yosef’s release. Of what relevance are the years of Yosef’s imprisonment to the date of Pharoh’s dreams? Now we know it is of all the meaning in the world! It is only because of the end of the captivity of Yosef had arrived that Pharoh merited to have these dreams in the first place! Because it was time to release Yosef, Pharoh had the dreams; not the other way around!

The veil is pulled off of every specific light to reveal it at its proper time. And when that time arrives there is no delay whatsoever in its revelation.

We see this come out when Yosef was actually released. The Passuk says (41:14), “VaYikra Es Yosef, VaYirtzuhu Min HaBor.” ‘And Pharoh summoned for Yosef and theyrushed him out of the dungeon. There was no delay! Once the heavenly decree was issued that Yosef no longer needed to remain in prison- he was rushed out immediately!

The Chofetz Chaim explains here, by a similar token to what we have already explained above, that when the pre-established time for Yosef’s imprisonment had elapsed, he was released with great haste. This is true for all of God’s actions. When the time arrives, there is no delay!

This is the best one-liner ever: Rav Kook says that the moment you were born is the exact moment that HaKadosh Baruch Hu decided that the world could no longer function without you!

Perhaps we can relate this back to our Passuk: Just like Yosef was in jail for more than a decade, his transition into freedom and power occurred in a flash, so too even though pregnancy takes months of development, the mark between a child not yet being in this world and then coming into it is nearly instantaneous. Meaning that the mark of Hashem’s decision that the world needs you specifically, though it takes months of planning, occurs in a flash.

This has to be put into the lens of an obvious-yet-overlooked teaching of Rebbe Nachman. This moment right now? No moment like this ever has been. And now that it is gone, there will be a never moment like it. The power encapsulated in every single 'now' is irreplaceable- I NEED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE!

Hashem took Yosef out of the confinements of jail and thrust him into opportunity.Hashem has done the same for me! He pulled me out of the womb, and thrust me into a world full of opportunity. There is a certain plan for me, right here, right now. Now that God took me out of the womb and placed me in the world, that in and of itself should be enough of a motivator to shake off the dust of mediocrity, step up and make something of myself.

If I can begin to appreciate the fact that HaKadosh Baruch Hu has given me the here and now, and with that the ability to make a unique difference, when I tap into my awareness of the fact that I exist it will skyrocket the focus with which I approach my inborn need to accomplish in and improve the world around me.

With help from heaven and some effort from ourselves, we will be able to tap into the strength inside of us, that is waiting to be exposed. If we can do this, there is on doubt that we will live lives of meaning andgrowth moving ever-closer to the Creator and ultimately the REDEMPTION!

Mean What You Say And Say What You Mean

2009-12-16T15:09:00.003+02:00

Yavan is "noi" [beauty] spelled backwards. They distort the meaning of beauty. For them [and all of western society] beauty is purely external. For Jews, physical beauty must reflect a deeper spiritual beauty. Every Friday night we sing in a lilting tune "sheker hachein vi'hevel hayofi" - beauty is false and charm is vain. How come, then, when a frum boy looks for a wife, her externals are [often] at the top of his list?

Oy, those Yevanim still have us in their grasp!

A VERY important shiur [not delivered by me]. Please listen.

A Freilichin Chanukah!

Rav Nosson And The Disappearing Candles

2009-12-16T00:39:00.001+02:00

From Revach.net

There is a Machlokes between Bais Shammai and Bais Hillel whether we start with eight candles and take one away each day or we start with one and another one each day. Rav Nosson of Breslov asks, since the miracle was greater every day why would Bais Shammai that we light fewer candles?

Rav Nosson answers that we know Shammai's middah was Din. A person cannot get more than he deserves. This Shitta was the driving force of him throwing out the three people seeking geirus but asking for more than they can have specifically to learn only Torah SheBichsav, to learn the whole Torah on one foot, and to be a Kohen. Hillel on the other hand was the middah of Chesed. Chesed means giving someone more than he deserves. In the above cases that meant the time and patience to set them straight.

The light of Chanukah is the Ohr HaGanuz, the hidden light of the Torah. This light is reserved only for tzaddikim. Yet on Chanukah Hashem lets it burn for all to see. Each day the light gets brighter with the intensity of the Nes. Shammai held that as the light gets brighter we must hide it from the undeserving therefore each day we light one less candle. Bais Hillel however makes no connection between how much light we see and how much we deserve. Therefore as the lights burn brighter each night, Hillel holds that despite our lowly stature, we too may light an extra light and enjoy the special light of the Shechina.

The lesson for us, says Rav Nosson, is that in this world we pasken like Bais Hillel and we must share our love an our light with even the sinful and undeserving.

De Ja Vu All Over Again

2009-12-13T02:42:00.002+02:00

Sweetest friends - The following post might sound familiar. I just copied what I recently wrote and have, to date, received a number of replies that strangely remind me of a BAGEL! So if I didn't succeed I will try and try again:

From time to time I try to perform various mitzvos by means of this blog. Usually, it involves asking for tzedaka. I don't particularly enjoy asking people for money.

So I won't.

But I will ask this: There are many many religious singles in the NY, NJ area. I would love to see all of them married. But I am not a shadchan. So far I have only had my hand in one shidduch. My own.... I have tried many other times and failed.

However, due to the gravity of this situation, I am going to try to help someone I know. She is in her mid-twenties and is a PHENOMENAL young woman but is not a typical run of the mill case. So if you know a very religious [not necessarily Charedi/Black Hat], responsible, kovea itim latorah, mentsch who is willing not to marry a first-timer, or you know someone who does - please contact me: 646-461-1628 or allyatika@gmail.com. It is sad how many singles feel neglected by people in their communities who are just "too busy" to help .

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those tzaddikim and tzidkaniyos who have helped me in the past.

Love and blessings!

Torah From Tzvi Moshe Kantor

2009-12-11T04:33:00.005+02:00

This week’s Parsha deals with Yaakov attempting, finally, to settle in Cna’an. The Pasuk says, “VaYeshev Yaakov B’Eretz Megurei Aviv, B’Eretz Cna’an” ‘And Yakov settled in the land where his father dwelled, the land of Cna’an.’ Contained within this Passuk are the tools we need to serve Hashem in every facet of life.

The Zohar explains that the world is in a state of spiritually disunity. It is difficult to see “Hashem Echad” in the world because there are seemingly so many different forces pulling the world in different directions. It is man’s job to pick out different aspects of physicality in the world and draw them towards the Source, thus reunifying the vastness of creation towards a common goal of the knowledge of Hashem. In much of Chasidus these bits of purity waiting to be redirected are called Nitzotzei Kedusha, Sparks of Holiness.

Based on the same idea, the Sfas Emes explains the essence of our Passuk. The word VaYeshev has the root Shav, to return. A person is only able return the holiness of every object, to elevate the Nitzotzei Kedusha if he nullifies himself to Hashem. Only when a person’s whole life is centralized around Hashem’s will is he able to fulfill the grand task of the world. He goes on to explain that the ability nullify oneself before Hashem is really the power of Teshuva. (Note the common root of VaYeshev and Teshuva)

The Maharal basing himself on a Midrash says that Teshuva is so purely spiritual that it defies all logic and would seemingly have no place in a physical world. Teshuva in its nature comes from such a high place that it surpasses and supersedes the boundaries of nature. Even though the sins themselves were physical it defies thought that feelings regret for one’s past deeds can undo their harmful effects. This is crucial to our understanding: Teshuva causes, and is in and of itself, nothing short of a miracle. Thus with the power of Teshuva, a person’s ability to unify the diversity of the world under God is empowered only by the amount he channels himself to God, which we have explained is the essence of Teshuva.

Let’s bring this all into the context of the way the Degel Machaneh Ephraim expounds our Passuk. He explains that when a person merits truly focusing on the presence of Hashem, all of the physical world bends to his will. No longer do material concerns and superficial fears plague him. When a person puts his mind totally and constantly in ‘God-Consciousness,’ picking out and elevating Nitzotzei Kedusha becomes second nature. He brings this out of our Passuk as follows:
“VaYeshev Yaakov”, When Yaakov settled his mind…
“B’Eretz Megurei Aviv” In the dwelling place of his Father (i.e. in heaven, [brought out from the Passuk in Tehilim 26:4 Shivti B’veis Hashem, To dwell in Hashem’s house. - again notice the common root between Shivti and VaYeshev.])…
“B’Eretz” - within the Artzius, meaning within the physicality of the world…
“Cna’an” - as in Lehicana - to submit, all of the material facets of the world bent to his will to draw the holiness out of them.
Our Passuk “VaYeshev Yaakov B’Eretz Megurei Aviv, B’Eretz Cna’an” now comes to mean, “When Yaakov settled his mind within the construct of ‘God-consciousness’ all of the physicality of the world bent to his will to draw holiness out of them.”

Let’s raise a totally different idea, and see if perhaps we can relate the two.

The Passuk in Tehilim 60:6 says “Nosata LiYreiacha Neis LiHitnoses.” The literal meaning of the Passuk is that Hashem gives to those who truly fear Him a banner to be waved. But we know that word for banner in Hebrew, Neis also means miracle. Thus the Passuk can mean “Nosata LiYreiacha Nes LiHitnoses.” Hashem gives those who fear him, miracles to make other things miraculous.

The Sfas Emes ties this Passuk to Chanuka. Hashem does miracles to draw the Jews out of nature. But it most fitting do be done only if we make ourselves ready for such an elevation. By tapping into ‘God-consciousness’ and seeking out purity, the Chashmonaim made themselves ready to be exposed to the miracle of the Menorah.

How is this so? We can understand based on the question of the Pnei Yehosua ( Messeches Shabbos 21:b). The topic of his question is regarding the efforts of the Chashmonaim to secure a single jug of pure oil: There are two reasons that they would not have had to put forth the effort to that they did. The first is that there is a concept of ‘Tumah Hutrah B’Tzibur.’ We can be lax on certain purity laws for the sake of the community. If Am Yisrael needs oil for the Menorah and we only have impure oil, then it may be used! Secondly, there is another concept of ‘Ones Rachmana Patrei’ The Torah lessens the restrictions on those who are forced into situations that they cannot control- If there is no pure oil, then they would not just be able to light with impure oil, it’s okay if they don’t light at all!

An answer is brought by Rav Avraham Schorr in HaLekach V’HaLibuv. The Chashmonaim were not seeking to get out of the Mitzvah! They only desired to fulfill it in total purity. So they expended and exhausted limitless efforts to locate just a few little drops of oil. (They realized the importance of taking something as physical as fuel and drawing out the Nitztotzei Kedush from it, by turning it into the light of the Menorah, the epitome of spirituality!) Because they tried so hard to tap into the will of Hashem, Hashem granted them a Neis, by making their efforts to find purity grow to the miraculous burning of the Menorah for eight days! In essence, the physical object of oil bent itself to the needs of the Chashmonaim due to their desire for Ruchnius B’Shleimus, perfection in spirituality.

So everything fits! This is exactly what we saw from the Degel Machaneh Ephraim above: “When Yaakov settled his mind within the contstruct of ‘God-consciousness’ all of the physicality of the world bent to his will to draw holiness out of them.” So too by the Chashmonaim! They tapped into the mindset of totally focusing on the will of Hashem, and nature bent to help them fulfill it. And thus their and our spirituality is raised by it (As we saw from our explanation from Tehilim) because we have merited celebrating Chanuka!

So what comes out of all of this? We have to train our eyes to see the Nitzotzei Kedusha in everything! When we fully push ourselves to make the most of every situation HaKadosh Baruch Hu will help us succeed! When we attempt to line up our desire with Hashem’s, it is a guarantee that we will be able to respond accordingly to every situation that he gives us! Everything we have said is explicit from the Mishna in Pirkei Avos 2:4 ‘”Aseh Ritzono K’Ritzoncha Kedi She’Ye’aseh Ritzoncha K’Ritzono” Do Hashem’s will like it is yours, and He will make your will like it is His. When We strive to serve Hashem, He will facilitate us doing so!

If we can open our eyes to the Nitzotzei Kedusha that are waiting for us, if we search for them, if we do our best to utilize them then of course Hashem will help us. If we begin to do this, there is no doubt we will lives of greater meaning, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the REDEMPTION!

Sfas Emes

2009-12-11T01:43:00.002+02:00

Dr. Leff Shlita on the Sfas Emes from Torah.org:

Sfas Emes, Zechuso Tagein Aleinu, Vayeishev, 5631

Here we are again. It is Shabbos, and the Sfas Emes is speaking to his chassidim. Full-time learning -- i.e., kollel -- is not an option for them. First, they are too poor to afford it. Second, I have been told that Gerrer Chassidus does not believe in kollel for all, forever. This approach should not come as a surprise after last week's ma'amar of the Sfas Emes . As we saw there, the Sfas Emes does not view our activities (our "asiya") during the week ("yemei ha'ma'aseh") negatively, as a curse. On the contrary, he sees our asiya as having the potential for positive spiritual value. Thus, in the Gerrer approach, after marriage, most men go to work.

But these people face a daunting task: How to suffuse their lives with kedusha (sanctity) without full-time learning? A properly experienced Shabbos can be a great help in dealing with that difficult assignment. For this reason, the Sfas Emes's ma'amar often discusses Shabbos and its potential for ruchniyus (spirituality). For a reason that will soon become apparent, on this Shabbos, parshas Vayeishev, the Sfas Emes dealt with Shabbos not as a collateral topic, but rather as his central theme.

The Sfas Emes begins by noting the linguistic link between the words VayeiSHeV and SHaBBos. (This link is obvious once the Sfas Emes pointed it out. But how come I never noticed it until he showed it to me?) The Sfas Emes is not playing a word game here. Rather, the link in language has alerted him to a connection in meaning -- in this case, a connection that is telling us something about the substance of Shabbos. Namely, that we should view Shabbos as an opportunity to ('nisyaSHeiV') -- i.e., to 'settle into', 'to return' to our shoresh (our 'root'): to our primal selves , including our relationship with HaShem.

The Sfas Emes goes on to tell us that Shabbos is (or can be) a time for "habitul lashoresh"; that is, a time for deleting our personal agenda, and replacing it with the desire to do retzon HaShem (HaShem's will)... The Sfas Emes proceeds to develop this line of thought. He does so by quoting the first paragraph of Medrash Rabba on Vayeishev. The key phrase here is: " kinuso vekinus banav hitzilo." (That is, Ya'akov Avinu's "kinus" and the "kinus" of his progeny saved him from Esav.) Some commentaries understand "kinus " as meaning tefila (prayer). Other authorities -- including the Sfas Emes -- understand "kinuso" as meaning "coming together."

A question. According to the authorities who understand "kinuso" as "coming together", who is coming together with whom? The mainline answer is: Ya'akov and his sons came together. That is, Yaakov Avinu and the Shevatim put aside whatever difficulties they may have had, and united to confront Esau. By contrast, the Sfas Emes reads the Medrash very differently.. As noted, he understands it as telling us that what saved Ya' akov Avinu was his coming together with his shoresh -- i.e., with his primal, true self..

'Coming together with one's primal, true self' may seem unremarkable, unimportant, and irrelevant in life. But consider the opposite state -- one in which a person is not all together -- at one -- with his/her self, with nature, and with HaShem. That state is called 'alienation'. And alienation is the name used to characterize many of the individual and social problems of today's world.

The Sfas Emes buttresses this perspective by citing a phrase (from the Zohar Hakadosh) that Nusach Sefard recites just before ma'ariv on leil Shabbos: "Beshabbos is'yachadas beraza de'echad." (That is, on Shabbos, she -- Knessess Yisroel -- comes together with the secret of HaShem's yichud (unity) . For, HaShem's yichud is in fact a secret. Note how few people are aware of it.)

The text in the Zohar continues: 'Ve'ahl yedei zeh, kohl dinin mis'abrin minei.' That is, by coming together with our true nature - i.e., when we recognize that we are created in the image of HaShem, and what that implies for the way we should live our lives -- all harsh judgements depart and leave us alone. And as the Sfas Emes points out, induced by Ya'akov Avinu's "kinus," Eisav did in fact depart, and Ya'akov was saved.

The Sfas Emes moves on now to another theme. As we have seen, a word in the parsha's first pasuk , "Vayeishev", called to the Sfas Emes's mind the word "Shabbos ", and triggered a discussion of that topic. Similarly, a word in the parsha's second pasuk leads the Sfas Emes (and hence, us) to a new line of thought. Which word is the trigger in the second pasuk? "Yosef", which, translated literally, means: " he will increase" . What will "he increase"? The Sfas Emes tells us: "Shabbos"! Thus, the association of words just noted leads the Sfas Emes to a brief discussion of "tosefes Shabbos".

What is "tosefes Shabbos"? The term refers to the practice of bringing Shabbos in early -- before the time that halacha mandates. The Sfas Emes commends this practice. As he phrases it: 'Vezeh avoda gedola, le'havi kedushas hashabbos toch yemei ha'ma'aseh mamash': ("This is a great avoda -- to bring the sanctity of Shabbos into weekday time." [1]).

How can a person bring about such a transformation? The Sfas Emes answers: a person's yearning and love for Shabbos can give him/her simcha (joy). And that joy gives a person the power to turn weekday time into Shabbos time.

A fair reaction at this point may be: "The idea that simcha can have this marvelous power sounds wonderful. But how does it work in the real world?" I say: 'a fair reaction' because the Sfas Emes always deals with the (real) real world. Hence, the question: how does this extraordinary process of transforming weekday time into Shabbos actually operate?

Apparently this question also bothered the Sfas Emes. How do we know? Because he provided an answer. He does so by quoting a pasuk in Mishlei (27:19): 'Kamayim ha'pahnim la'pahnim, kein leiv ha'ahdam la'ahdam'. (ArtScroll: " As water reflects back a face to a face,so one's heart is reflected back to him by another.') Thus, if we prepare for Shabbos with simcha, HaShem reciprocates with simcha toward us. And HaShem's joy -- likened to the joy of a choson after the chupa (Tehilim,19: 6) -- gives us the extraordinary power needed to transform weekday time into Shabbos.

A take-home lesson? One possibility comes to mind immediately. Go back to the beginning of this ma'amar, where I mentioned the difficult task that these chassidim face. They must try to live a life of kedusha even though they are out in the world, without full-time Torah learning. As you probably noted, we face the same challenge. For most of the people who receive the Sfas Emes e-mails are also out in the world. Indeed, we are even more vulnerable than the chassidim; for they have sources of protection that most of us lack. The sources of protection unique to chassidim include: tight social ties, which culminate in reverence for the Rebbe, shelita; and the levush (chassidic attire), which can help keep them out of unsavory environments.

Despite these advantages, the Sfas Emes made special efforts to emphasize the potential of a well-lived Shabbos to infuse his chassidim with kedusha. The take-home lesson is clear: that we focus on Shabbos as an avenue to kedusha. This may involve making the effort on Shabbos to come together with our true nature - i.e., to try to view ourselves as agents of HaShem's will.

That notion may initially seem strange to us. We live in a society that glorifies self-expression -- to the point of narcissism. In such a social context, the idea of subordinating our will to anyone else's will -- even HaShem's will -- may even strike us as morally repugnant. But the Sfas Emes is obviously on firm hashkofo ground when he commends this doctrine to our attention. Hopefully, by heeding his counsel, we will experience Shabbos not as a day to catch up on our sleep, but rather as Shabbos is supposed to be: 'yom menucha u'kedusha' -- a day of repose and sanctity.

2009-12-09T23:24:00.002+02:00

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it."

Lou Holtz

The famous story in the gemara about R' Elazar Ben Durdaya [Avoda Zara 17]. Wow. Powerful. At the end - one of my favorite lines in Shas: "Ain hadavar talui ella bee". It is up to me. Responsibility. Taking my life into my own hands and not blaming others.

If people would take responsibility for their actions the world would look very different.

Love and blessings!!

PS - A shiur on Chanukah - here.

Overcoming Obstacles

2009-12-08T02:24:00.001+02:00

Kobe goes Chabad.

The Heilige Rebbe Talks

2009-12-04T05:12:00.002+02:00

New shiur in hebrew from the Rebbe Shlita, here. Including the Rebbe's comments on demonstrations against chillul shabbos.

GOOD SHABBOS SWEETEST FRIENDS!!

Divrei Torah Based On The Sfas Emes From Dr. Leff

2009-12-04T04:57:00.002+02:00

From Torah.org. Dr. Leff has a book on the Sfas Emes in english called "Emes V'emunah".

This ma'amar begins with a surprise. Almost always, the Sfas Emes starts his ma'amar with a comment on the parsha's first Medrash Rabba. This week, however, he goes well into parsha before he starts his discourse. Thus he begins with the Medrash Rabba's comment on the posuk (Bereishis, 33:18): "Vayavo Ya'akov shaleim ... va' yichan es penei ha'ir." (ArtScroll: "Ya'akov arrived intact" -- [i.e., whole] -- "at the city of Shechem ... and he encamped before the city.")

The Medrash to which the Sfas Emes skips also comes as a surprise. Usually, we have a sense of where the Medrash is coming from and what it is trying to teach us. Not so in this case. The message that the Medrash is trying to convey is not all evident. Likewise, the methodology -- how Chazal got from the text in the Torah to reach this message -- is also not clear. To see what I mean, here is the Medrash's comment (Bereishis Rabba, 79:6) on the posuk just quoted: "He arrived with the last glimmer of daylight on erev Shabbos"; 've'kava techumin'; 'and he set the limits on the space to which he had access on Shabbos'. The commentaries explain this as saying that he made an eruv techumin [1].

You see why I find this Medrash puzzling. Let us try to understand it, first the methodology and then the substance. The Sfas Emes's text for the year 5637 is more complete than the text for the year 5631, so we will work for a while with the Sfas Emes of 5637.

The Medrash speaks of a a link between Shabbos and Ya'akov Avinu's arrival at Shechem. The Sfas Emes easily deals with this link. He explains that the posuk's word "shaleim" implies shalom, i.e., Shabbos. The connection with eruv techumin is less apparent. The Sfas Emes tells us that the posuk's word "vayichan." can be taken as an allusion to eruv techumin. This allusion may be coming from the similar sound of the words 'techumin' and 'vayichan'.

We return now to the Sfas Emes's ma'amar for Vayishlach in the year 5631. Here the Sfas Emes focuses on the connection between Shabbos and the weekdays. The Sfas Emes usually refers to the weekdays as "yemei hama'aseh" -- the days in which we do "asiya": action. The Sfas Emes's choice of words signals his whole attitude toward the life that we live on days other than Shabbos .

Clearly, the Sfas Emes views "asiya" -- weekday activities -- positively. Indeed, he goes so far as to say that the quality of our Shabbos depends on our avoda during the week. (Note that the word "avoda" has two meanings. It can mean "work" and/or it can mean "serving HaShem". In the present context, the Sfas Emes is evoking both senses of the word.) Continuing in this vein, the Sfas Emes tells us that during the week, too, we can connect with the chiyus (vibrancy; vitality) of HaShem.

How? By the way we view performing our melacha (weekday activities). In fact, the Sfas Emes defines "melacha" as finding HaShem by action ("al yedei asiya mamash"). Doing mitzvos requires action ("ma'aseh"). This is why HaShem gave us mitzvos -- to enable us to relate to Him by the actions of our everyday life.

But there is a difference between Shabbos and yemei hama'aseh. During the week, we encounter HaShem in the form of forces of nature -- i.e., mal'achim ('angels'; messengers; agents). By contrast, on Shabbos -which HaShem blessed -- all creation is elevated, enabling us to have a closer relationship with Him. (Note an implication that follows from the Sfas Emes's formulation. To facilitate the closer relationship with HaShem on Shabbos, we abstain from contact with 'mal'achim' on that special day. Hence, to avoid engagement with the world of action (asiya), on Shabbos, doing melacha is prohibited.)

Understanding the connection between Shabbos and the weekdays is crucial. To aid our understanding on this subject, we go to the ma'amar of another year (5638), where the Sfas Emes sums up on the connection. During the week, we deal with Teva (i.e., the mal'achim, the forces of Nature). Doing mitzvos in the world of Nature requires action; in particular, actions in accordance with HaShem's will. Hence, by doing mitzvos, we subordinate the world of Nature and human actions to HaShem. Chazal express this mastery over the mal'achim by saying, in figurative term, that by performing mitzvos, we create 'mal'achim tovim' ('good angels').

More generally, by going about our daily lives in full recognition that Nature is HaShem's handiwork (and not vice versa), we can achieve what the Torah (Shemos, 20, 9) has in mind (in the Sfas Emes's non-pshat reading): " Six days shall you work, ve'asisa kol me'lachte'cha". That is, on the six workdays, we can "create all of our angels". Then, having achieved this "Tikun Ha'ma'asim", we can come close to HaShem on Shabbos. We return now to the text of the Sfas Emes in the year 5637.

This text can help us address a basic question that we have not yet answered. What is the message that the Medrash and the Sfas Emes want to convey when they tell us that Ya'akov Avinu arrived in Shechem "at the last glimmer of light before Shabbos"?

The Sfas Emes explains that in conducting himself in this manner, Ya'kov Avinu was emulating his Master. For the posuk (Bereishis, 2:2) tells us that HaShem also continued with creation until the very last moment. As the Torah phrases it: "Vayechal Elokim bayom hashevi'i"! (ArtScroll: "By the seventh day, God completed His work ..."). So, too, did Ya'akov Avinu do melacha until the very last moment before Shabbos.

By continuing with melacha until the last moment before Shabbos, Ya'akov Avinu enlarged the period of time available for melacha. This is the very opposite of the idea of "tosefes Shabbos" -- commencing Shabbos earlier than sunset, and thus reducing the time available for doing melacha. I suggest the following further development of the Sfas Emes's exposition. Note what Ya'akov Avinu was doing in that last moment: He was preparing an eruv techumim [1]. That is, he was arranging to reach space that would otherwise be halachically inaccessible to him on Shabbos. Thus, by his actions in both dimensions -- space and time -- Ya'akov Avinu was enlarging the domain of feasible 'asiya'. Clearly, the Sfas Emes's interpretation here reflects his view of melacha and asiya as positively valued activities.

[1] What is an 'eruv techumin'? On Shabbos, we are not permitted to walk more than 2000 amos (cubits) from our place of dwelling (or from the last house in the city in which we dwell). However, if before Shabbos, we put out some food that we might, in principle, eat on Shabbos, we have in effect shifted our dwelling to that spot. We may then walk 2000 amos from that spot. Thus, an eruv techumin enables a person to reach space that would otherwise be halachically inaccessible on Shabbos

A Post -Script. What was right for Ya'akov Avinu -- doing melacha until the last moment before Shabbos -- is not necessarily right for us. On the contrary, most of us badly need to stop melacha well before sunset; for we need time to decompress and prepare ourselves spiritually to welcome Shabbos HaMalka.

PPS. You may be wondering: why does the topic of mal'achim ('angels'; agents) figure so prominently in this week's Sfas Emes? The answer is straightforward. Our Parsha begins: 'Vayishlach Ya'akov mal'achim...'(ArtScroll: 'Then Jacob sent angels...') On which phrase Rashi comments: 'mal'achim mamash' ' real angels'.) Further, the topic of 'mal'achim' leads directly to 'melacha', and hence to 'asiya'.

Divrei Torah From Tzvi Moshe Kantor

2009-12-04T04:51:00.003+02:00

Our Parsha opens up with Yaakov's various preperations for his meeting with Eisav. One of the ways Yaakov prepared for the meeting was to call out to Hashem in prayer. If we can analyze the depths of this prayer, we will hopefully come away with a better understanding of how we are attacked by the Yetzer Hara.

When Yaakov cries out to Hashem , he says "Hatzileini Na Mi'Yad Achi Mi'Yad Eisav." Save me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Eisav! We know that the Torah does not waste words. So why use a double Lashon? We already know that Eisav is Yaakov's brother. There is seemingly no reason to specify further.

The Chidushei HaRim (as brought in other sources as well) explains that Achi is Eisav’s ability to attack us with closeness and brotherhood. When he is simply referred to as Eisav we are pointing to the sheer physical dominance that he has. The Sfas Emes builds an unbelievable structure that will hopefully grant us some insight. Back in Parshas Toldos when Yitzchak is comparing Yaakov to Eisav he says, Va’HaYadaim Yidei Eisav, The hands are the Hands of Eisav. The Passuk there refers to Eisav’s hands in the plural. This is because Eisav has two separate functions of hands as two separate weapons, thus requiring that they be addressed in the plural. How is this so? When Eisav is growing up he is described in two ways: Ish Yodea Tzayid, Ish Sadeh: A man who knows trapping, a man of the field. The Man who knows trapping is Eisav’s ability to trap with words, to lie and swindle his way into closeness, as he did with Yitzchak. The Man of the field is the manifestation of Eisav as the hunter and murderer - the brute violence of Eisav.

This is the first step to understanding the situation of the repetitious Lashon in our Parsha. "Mi’Yad Achi" - From the hand of my brother, is referring to the tool of Eisav to ensnare us out of closeness. Through appealing to Yaakov (over the span of history) through culture and brotherhood, Eisav destroys the spirituality. And Mi’Yad Eisav the hand of Eisav is the Eisav in different colors: a murderer. In this way Eisav destroys Yaakov of the physical level as we have seen throughout the span of our history as well.

Let’s delve a few levels deeper.

In response to hearing the news that Eisav was coming, Yaakov split all of the families into two camps. The Nesivos Shalom explains that these two camps are going in parallel with two different drachim, modes of Avodas Hashem. The first camp is the camp of pure spirituality; those who cleave to God by living lives of unadulterated purity. The second camp is those who encounter God in the mundane; those who draw holiness into day-to-day activities.

This builds into the system that we are working with! The camp of pure spirituality is the flip-side of Achi Eisav’s attack on holiness has a camp of it’s own. The camp of serving God within the realms of nature is opposite of Eisav’s overpowering physical strength.

The Gemara in Sotah 46a says, ‘Forever it shall be Smol Dochah, V’Yamin Mikareves’ the left hand pushes away and the right hand brings close. In the sefer HaLekach V’HaLibuv Rav Schorr ties this back to our Passuk. The destructive force of the push of the left hand is the physical power of Eisav to damage us. The drawing close that the right hand is the deceitful ways of Achi to ‘culture’ us and corrupt our minds with twisted thoughts and negative Midos, a destruction unto itself.

There are two Psukim in Yeshaya that require examination. The first in 8:10 says “Utzu Eitza V’Sufar, Dabru Davar Vlo Yakum” The nations that arrange conspiracies and battle-plans and they will fall apart, they will speak their piece, but nothing will come of it. The second Passuk in 54:17 says, “Kol Kli Yutzar Eilayich Lo Yitzlach, V’Chol Lashon Tukam Itach L’Mishpat Tarshi’i” Any weapon sharpened against you shall not succeed and any judgmental speech that rises against you, shall you condemn. Perhaps we can surmise that these Psukim fit beautifully into the frame that we have put together up until this point. In the first Passuk we are challenged by the nations with conspiracies and words. In the second we are told of sharpened weapons weapons and speech. It could be that both of these Psukim follow our pattern. Eisav L’Doros (of the generations) tries to get us in two ways. Like we said, on one side he tries to attack us physically and on the other side he attempts ruin the spirituality. On the physical level, the Psukim tell us not to fear of the battle plans and swords - the theme of Ish Sadeh, Eisav as the damaging, left-handed, hunter. On the other side we also need not fear the damaging and corrupting words- the teme of Yodea Tzayid, Eisav as Achi who draws us close, the corrupting cultural brother.

Now we need to take this idea in a totally new direction.

Rav Elchonon Wasserman writes in his letters describing the difference between Chanuka and Purim. In Purim, the enemy came for our bodies. Haman simply wanted us dead. In the story of Chanuka the enemy didn’t want us dead, quite the opposite actually. All the Greeks wanted was to penetrate the barriers of the religion and attempt to indoctrinate Hellenism into Torah-Judaism. He points out further the difference of response of the two attacks. In Purim, where they threatened us physically, we went into Shul, fasted, prayed, and called out to Hashem- all spiritual responses. In the Chanuka story however, when the threat was spiritual, we responded by charging into a physical battle.

The break down of this idea interfaces with our construct flawlessly. The camp of the physical encounter with God is being attacked with the brute strength and force of Eisav on Purim, so Yaakov L'Doros responds with the strength of the camp of spirituality. The camp of pure spirituality is being attacked by Achi on Chanuka so Am Yisrael responds by implementing the worldly powers of the second camp.

What this means is that when the brute strength of our enemies is upon us, we must take the opportunity to turn to Hashem and strengthen on the spiritual level, as we did in Purim. But when it is our Avodas Hashem that is at stake, God places the battle in our hands, as we see on Chanuka.

With Chanuka around the corner, we would do well to take this lesson. The Yetzer Hara constantly fights us with this theme of Achi. With Times-Square-Hollywood-Makeup-Billboard-MTV-Culture bombarding me from every way I turn, I can only take the battle into my own hands. If the situation around me is detrimental to my spiritual growth, it us up to me to change it! It is up to me to walk away! It is up to me to shatter self-destructive behaviors. The world is so enticing, I don’t need this Dvar Torah to make me realize that the dangers of Achi can take everything from me.

On the inside I want holiness. I want closeness to Hashem. I want to feel like I’m living a life of meaning, and Hashem is begging me to make it happen.

Consider this your wake-up call. Don’t wait any longer to fix that problem that you keep delaying taking care of. If we can do this, there is no doubt we will live of meaning raising to greater heights, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Redemption!

Major Mitzvah

2009-12-03T01:29:00.003+02:00

From time to time I try to perform various mitzvos by means of this blog. Usually, it involves asking for tzedaka. I don't particularly enjoy asking people for money.

So I won't.

But I will ask this: There are many many religious singles in the NY, NJ area. I would love to see all of them married. But I am not a shadchan. So far I have only had my hand in one shidduch. My own.... I have tried many other times and failed.

However, due to the gravity of this situation, I am going to try to help someone I know. She is in her mid-twenties and is a PHENOMENAL young woman but is not a typical run of the mill case. So if you know a very religious [not necessarily Charedi/Black Hat], responsible, kovea itim latorah, mentsch who is willing not to marry a first-timer, or you know someone who does - please contact me: 646-461-1628 or allyatika@gmail.com. It is sad how many singles feel neglected by people in their communities who are just "too busy" to help .

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those tzaddikim and tzidkaniyos who have helped me in the past.

Love and blessings!

Center Of Attention

2009-12-02T17:55:00.002+02:00

Torah from my beloved friend Tzvi Moshe Kantor:

In the start of this week’s Parsha we are shown one of the most powerful pieces of imagery that Torah has to offer. Says the Passuk, “Va’Ya’Chalom V’Hinei Sulam Mutzav Artza V’Rosho Magia HaShamaima.” ‘And Yaakov dreamt, and look! A ladder was set in the earth and its top was reaching heavenward.’

In Bereishis Rabbah we equate this incident of the ladder to Har Sinai. How is this so? First we should point out that the word Sulam (Samech, Lamed, Mem) and Sinai (Samech, Yud, Nun, Yud) share the Gematria, numerical value of one hundred and thirty. When the Sulam is Mutzav Artza, planted in the ground, this parallels when the Jews were (Shemos 19:17) “Va’Yis’Yatzvu Tachas Ha’Har” They stood at the foot of the mountain, at its lowest point. When The Passuk says Magia Shamaima, reaching the heavens it is a reference to the Passuk (Dvarim 4:11) that describes the scene at Har Sinai with the language “V’Ha’Har Boer B’eish Ad Lev Ha’Shamayim” A fire burned from the mountain until the heart of the heavens.

The Gemara in Shabbos 146:a says that upon their arrival at Har Sinai all the spiritual filth and impurities that was stuck to the hearts of the Jews departed and ceased to be. Why is this so? The Nesivos Shalom explains based on the ladder. The Sulam is not just an image, it is a system of religious growth. What the ladder represents is that everything in life is a stepping-stone, a rung for progress. Every single part of life is part of the greater framework of my Avodas Hashem. And this is why the Jews at Har Sinai left behind all their darkness. Because when I enter into Har Sinai and begin my deep bond with Torah, then it becomes clear that all parts of my life are part of the greater framework, and when my whole life is geared to Avodas Hashem it’s not such a far task to drop my darkness.

Man is described in many ways throughout Torah literature. Among those titles is a ‘Mehalech’ ‘One who goes.’ Man is a creature of constant movement, motion and development. Let’s spell this idea out further.

The Yismach Moshe explains that the ladder in Yaakov’s dream is a metaphor for man himself. The original man, Adam HaRishon was formed from dirt, and thus was set Mutzav Artza, earthward. On the other hand, Hashem blesses him with a Neshoma, a godly soul that is Magia Shamaima, reaching the heavens. When I allow my dirt (my body) do drag me down and dominate me, then I get caught up in Mutzav Artza. But if I tap into who I really am on the inside, my Neshoma, then I can start to be Magia Shamaima, reaching the heavens.

We are similar to a ladder in another way. The Chofetz Chaim says a beautiful idea. No one goes onto a ladder simply to hang out. A person on a ladder is doing one of two things: going up or going down. Every experience has the ability to bring a person up or drag him down, depending on the response. But no one is simply standing still. Says Rav Yisroel Salanter, man in the same way is like a bird. A bird can reach unbelievable heights as long as its keeps flapping its wings. The moment it stops to cognitively keep itself in the air, it can fall from those very heights.

Rashi points out that the ladder was on an angle. While this is a seemingly unimportant detail the sefer Ta’am V’Da’as brings out an unbelievable idea. Imagine a series of people simultaneously climbing the same ninety-degree straight ladder. Any person who looks straight up, sees only the people above him, and when looking down, only sees those below him. But this is not the case in the ladder of Avodas Hashem. If the ladder is slanted and you stare straight up, all you see is the heavens, and when you look down all you see is how high you’ve climbed. I don’t need to concern myself with spiritual accomplishments or shortcomings of others! It’s none of my concern! If I’m so obsessed with where everyone else is holding on the ladder that’s Magia Shamaima then I’ll never have any time for myself! I need to constantly push myself!

The Kol Simcha points out that the idea of the ladder is introduced with the language of Hinei, ‘behold’ (as opposed to Haya which is interchangeable), and this ‘Hinei’ repeated two more times! We know that this form of introduction always brings in a theme of joy. He goes on to explain that the ladder is showing me that I must, like a ladder, grow with the appropriate steps. But how do I know when it’s time to move on? How do I know when I can grow to higher levels? Only when I truly feel comfortable with me; when I am experiencing a ‘groove’ and an inner joy with how I’m doing, can I now re-exert myself! It’s mamesh a plague when people start to judge their accomplishments based on those above and below them. We are all on a slanted ladder! I need to grow based on me, not based on the guys above or below me- All I need to do it focus.

Rebbe Nachman Mi’Breslov says that when I fall, I have to pick up and start serving Hashem with the mindset that I have never served Him before in my entire life! If I fail to see the movement and progression that I expect of myself than there is an unlimited amount of times I can refresh my Avodas Hashem. My Father in Heaven never gets tired of hearing me say “This time will be different.”

I need to wake up and take an honest accounting to see if I am growing at a pace that is fitting for me. All too often, after a good gaze into the mirror I’ll see that I can do so much more, and when I see this there is only one piece of advice, and it is simple. It’s so simple that I can give it to myself without any guidance whatsoever. If I see that I can be doing more, START CLIMBING! As long as I keep pushing, utilizing all things in my framework of growth, I’ll always be okay.

The sooner I get in touch with who is really me, understanding and getting a grip on my surroundings, putting a focus on my strengths and working on my weaknesses, the sooner I’ll be able to be Rosho Magia Shamaima. I’m not going to tap into my Neshoma if I focus on everyone but me. I can’t worry about what other people wear do or say.

If we can put the focus on personal growth, there are no limits on the heights can we achieve. When we all do our personal best there is no doubt that we will live lives of satisfaction and fulfillment, moving closer to the Creator, and thereby closer to the REDEMPTION!

Dying With Dveykus

2009-12-02T01:43:00.004+02:00

A repeat of an older post:

Rav Moshe Tzvi Neriah zt"l [the spiritual leader of B'nei Akiva] passed away on the 19th of Kislev, 1995. I once cut out an article written by Rav Chaim Sabbato Shlita[famous Rosh Yeshiva of Maale Adumim and acclaimed author] describing his final visit with the Rav. I decided to translate it for the benefit of a wider audience. I found it incredibly inspiring and I hope that you do, too.

A small note was hanging on the bulletin board in the Beis Medrash. Rav Moshe Tzvi Neriah needs Divine mercy. We immediately decided - we are traveling to Kfar Haroeh. We arrived in the afternoon and the village was very serene. Trees were seemingly taking their afternoon rest. A Moshavnik riding on a tractor pointed to his house.I recognized it from earlier visits.

The small house and garden outside. The courtyard where we sat and listened to edifying talks from Rav Neriah filled with insights and stories. We listened to his talks with great eagerness and the experience was thrilling and uplifting. This is the courtyard where thoughts were entertained that eventually brought to the building of the Religious Zionist Torah world. This time the courtyard was empty. Three simple wooden chairs were standing there and there was a notice attached to one of them on which was written: "We thank you for your visit. It is not possible to visit Abba. Please say tehillim for him as this is part of the mitzva of visiting the ill."

There were a few tehillim books there and we began to say tehillim with heavy hearts. How much we wanted to see him! The Rebbetzin came outside and gave us a drink. We made a shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro and the words took on new meaning. She answered amen and said "There is so much ink left in his pen" [he was a prolific author A.E.]. She lowered her eyes. We started to leave. His son Rav Nachum Neriah [former long time Rebbe in Yeshivat Hakotel A.E.] came outside. "Abba wants to daven mincha as soon as possible. One more tefilla in his lifetime while he still has the chance, maybe you can come into the room."

The room was completely filled with sefarim. Gemara, Halacha, Aggada, Pilpul, Mechkar, Drush etc. I tried to take in everything I was experiencing and felt holiness. Rav Neriah was on a bed in the room, connected to machines. His granddaughter was reading Pirkei Avos to him. "Ben shmonim ligvuros, Ben tishim lashuach ... Ben Bag Bag omer, hafoch bah vihapoch bah dikoola bah." The Rav motioned with his hand as if to say "More, more don't stop!"

We davened Mincha. Rav Nachum Shlita said the silent shmoneh esrei aloud so that his father could whisper along with him. "Rifa'ainu Hashem vineyrafey" the young boys from the Yeshiva were davening intensely. We then read chapters of tehillim with great emotion. "Mimaamakim kirasicha Hashem" [From the depths we call you Hashem].

In the throes of great suffering the Rav had moments of lucidity. On one side of the bed stood his wife with wondrous silence. On the other side stood his son and granddaughter. We stood next to them. There was a shining light in the room and special rays of kindness ["chut shel chessed"] emanated from his face. I said "Orech yamim u'shnot chaim" [long life]. He expended great effort and answered "We will continue, continue to spread Torah and fear of Hashem and we will succeed b'ezrat Hashem. Amen keyn yehi ratzon!" Amen keyn yehi ratzon. It seemed like he dozed off but then one of the Yeshiva boys asked "Niggun?" Rav Neriah with his last remaining strength motioned "Yes". "Which Niggun?" the boys asked. "Which Niggun?" Rav Nachum asked . "Which Niggun?" his wife asked.

Rav Neriah tried without success to hint to us. Then he started softly humming with tremendous internal power "Vi'yedu ... vi'yedu .... vi'yedu ... ki atah shimcha Hashem .... ki atah shimcha Hashem livadecha, elyon elyon, al kol ha'aretz, elyon elyon al kol ha'aretz..." [You should know that Hashem alone is elevated above the earth.] The niggun is soft and sweet and gets stronger and stronger as we go along, filled with faith. The Rav is singing along "Vi'yedu, vi'yedu, viyedu ki atah shimcha Hashem, livadecha ...." The Rebbetzin is holding his hand and singing softly "elyon, elyon al kol ha'aretz." On the other side of the bed stands Rav Nachum, with his eyes closed and sings with great intensity and dveykus "Elyon, elyon al kol ha'aretz." I stood there and was tremendously moved by the power of the moment. The room was filled with holy books. Books, notes as well as medications were still scattered on the wooden desk where Rav Neriah had written countless articles and books.

Rav Neriah, with a shining countenance, gathered all of his strength and sang "Vi'yedu .. elyon, elyon al kol ha'aretz." I remembered the saying of our Sages "The Shechina is above the head of the sick person." Little by little, the niggun petered out and the boys became silent.

Suddenly the head of Rav Neriah was lifted up slightly, and his voice was heard "elyon..." and he hints to us to continue. The boys sing this time even more powerfully, with more joy and optimism. The Rebbetzin, with a little smile of encouragement on her face, nods her head. "Elyon, al kol ha'aretz."

I have forgotten all of the events of the outside world and all I can see is the shining face of Rav Neriah as he sings "Vi'yedu ki atah shimcha Hashem, elyon al kol ha'aretz."

Oh Boy!! Oh Boy!!

2009-12-02T01:32:00.001+02:00

WHOA!!!!

[I thank my friend Rav C. G. for bringing this to my attention.]

New Shiur

2009-11-27T04:39:00.001+02:00

We started our series of shiurim on marriage, here. If you have any constructive criticism or comments I would love to hear.

Thank you!

Amazing Story!

2009-11-26T01:42:00.001+02:00

Check this out!!

And this.

Believe In Your Dreams

2009-11-25T01:08:00.002+02:00

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

Christopher Reeve

In the coming parshiyos we read a lot about dreams. The dream about the angels ascending and descending the ladder [in this weeks parsha] refers to the nations who will rise but fall. Yaakov was afraid that the same would happen to Am Yisrael. But the fact is that once when we ascend, we will never fall again. Believing it will make it happen!! "Vi'karno tarum bishu'asecha, ki lishu'usicha kivinu kol hayom" - You will save us because we believe in it ALL DAY!

Four Endowments

2009-11-20T01:51:00.003+02:00

"Every human has four endowments - self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.”

Stephen R. Covey

May I add that one must invest effort in cultivating and developing his four endowments. The more developed he is - the greater his capacity for change. Some sefarim say that our Tzelem Elokim is expressed in our ability to choose.
Yehi ratzon that we should become more Tzelem Elokim'dig!

Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos!!

Advance, Never Halt!

2009-11-20T01:27:00.003+02:00

Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood.

Kahlil Gibran

A shiur on the topic.

Rav Simon on the wells. Strage parsha - requires much explanation. As one of my chavrusas said - "Who give wells names?".

Love and blessings!

The Internet Is ....

2009-11-16T22:15:00.003+02:00

"Ehrman is close-minded. He should leave his ghetto and get with the program. We are living in a modern world."

That is not an actual quote but one that could be elicited by the following. But since I believe it is true I will say it anyway. B"H I don't subscribe to the view that it matters what people think about you but rather one should show complete fidelity to what he sees as truth. So here goes.

The internet is filled with filth. This filth in a very strange way ensnares men into its trap. The Torah warns us to stay away from "gilulim" - translated as idols. The literal translation is "feces". Why must we be warned to distance ourselves from feces? Somehow - people are attracted to filth. The internet is filthy. I know I said that already but I repeated it for effect. The internet is filthy. Again.

The internet is breaking up marriages and frying pure Jewish souls.

Solution: Get rid of it. I would. But then how would I post my shiurim? I also listen to shiurim. I don't want to have to fly to America every time I want to here an American Rov give a shiur. So I have internet - filtered of course. My children can't use the computer because they don't even know the password. I would NEVER let them use it unsupervised. It is inviting the devil to take up permanent residence in their souls. Baruch Haba Reb Devil! The internet is filthy.

So if you are still going to keep your internet [some people really need it for work and for other reasons], please remember. It is dangerous. Some of the finest people I know have fallen. LOW!! [I would share stories but it is not necessary.]

The internet is filthy.Gilui Arayos - loads. Shfichus domim - violence? Endless! Avoda Zara - the Christians spend hundreds of millions of dollars to convert us via the internet.

Lord save us!!

Love and blessings!!!

Death And Marriage

2009-11-13T14:04:00.004+02:00

The Gemara at the beginning of maseches kiddushin derives from the acquisition of Mearas Hamachpeila that one can marry a women with money [or something of monetary value]. [In the context of the acquisition of the cave it says "kach" - take, and then says that it was taken with money. So too with respect to kiddushin where it says ki "yeekach" eesh eesha - when a man "takes" a woman, we understand it to mean money as it does with respect to the cave.]

STRANGE!

We learn how to get married from Avraham buying a BURIAL PLOT for his wife. MORBID! Is that what a chosson is suppposed to think about under the chuppah?! Burying her??

YES!

Marriage is Chessed. From beginning to end!!

That is what we learn. A spouse must never stop bestowing kindness - even after expiration.

Love and blessings! Good Shabbos Sweetest Friends!!!

A shiur on the parsha.

The World Of Falsehood

2009-11-11T02:42:00.004+02:00

How does a true student of mussar think?

Rav Eliyahu Lapian was a tzaddik/angel who died in Eretz Yisrael 40 years ago and taught countless students. [His "Lev Eliyahu" is HIGH on the Alleyways reading list. If you learn it because of this "shout-out" please tell me.] One friday night he was singing Aishes Chayil and when he said the pasuk "noda bashearim baala bishivto im ziknei aretz" he suddenly became silent and pensive. Afterwards his wife asked him to relate what was going through his head.

He explained: "When I come to Yeshiva everybody stands up for me. I ask myself "Who ARE you Eliyahu Lapian that you deserve such honor?!". Then somebody places a siddur on my shtender so I will have one prepared when I get there. When the Chazzan finishes Shema he waits for me finish before continuing. I ask myself "Who ARE you Eliyahu Lapian that you deserve such honor?!". The the Chazzan waits for me to finsh Shmoneh Esrei before he begins his repetition. I ask myself "Who ARE you Eliyahu Lapian that you deserve such honor?!" Tonight, when I got to the pasuk in Aishes Chayil "noda bashearim baala [her husband will be known in the gates] etc." I thought to myself that this is a world of falsehood but in the next world the truth will be revealed. So I started to cry.

Sweetest friends, one thing is for sure. When Reb Elya arrived in the world of truth he received MUCH more honor than he ever received in this world. This IS a world of falsehood! But that is the way he viewed himself. "Who ARE you?!"

Ashreinu that we had such tzadikim in our midst!

[The story appears in Birkas Mordechai Parshas Chayei Sara]

Change

2009-11-09T08:41:00.001+02:00

"Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not. So each is inevitably disappointed.”

Albert Einstein

A wise man that Albert!

From A Distance

2009-11-05T20:58:00.004+02:00

A deep and beautiful guest article by my beloved chavrusa Tzvi Moshe Kantor:

In this week’s Parsha Hashem brings Avraham to the peak of all his tests. God commands Avraham to take from his flesh and blood, submit himself to the authority of Heaven and actively kill off his future lineage by taking Yitzchak’s life as a sacrifice. From the nature of this test we will be able to see how Hashem tests us in our personal lives, what He wants from the test, and how to tackle it.

The whole test of the Akeida is put best into context by the Zohar. It’s described there that the whole test came through to Avraham in a channel of ‘Aspaklaria D’Lo Nahara’ ‘A non-illuminated perception.’ There was vagueness in the communication from Hashem to Avraham.

The Mei HaShiloach takes these aforementioned ideas and reconnects them back to the words in the Passuk. The whole episode of the Akeida was introduced as follows (22:1) “V’HaElokim Nisa Es Avraham” ‘And Elokim tested Avraham.’ This Name of God connotes stricter judgment, shorter messages, a pulling back of God’s presence. It is through this distance that the space for test can become a possibility. And It is through this name that Hashem tests the faith of Avraham. (Parenthetically, this answers why the Akeida is a test for Avraham and not for Yitzchak. Avraham received this Aspaklaria D’Lo Nahara, a sense of distance from God. Yitzchak received the message in a crystal clear fashion as delivered by his father, so there were no feelings of doubt by him.)

The Ba’al Shem Tov explains the other side of the coin. When God test us, He slightly and temporarily drains us of our inner light and spiritual inspiration. When are we pushed down in this way, it serves us with a “wind-up” effect, pulling us back just enough that we can burst forth and shoot forwards to greater echelons afterwards.

It is through this that we understand the nature of test. God makes a gap. He pulls Himself back and pushes us down. And with distance created it provides us with the opportunity to prove ourselves.

So Avraham goes on his journey. After traveling for some time the Passuk says (22:4) ”Va’Yar Es HaMakom Me’Rachok,” ‘And he saw the place from a distance.’ But theAvodas Yisrael reads the line differently. He points out that “HaMakom” ‘The Place’ is often a reference to God. After all, God is the source of all space, so it is fitting that some level, we address Him as the entirety of the human experience, and from this we arrive at the title of Hashem, “HaMakom,” God is the totality of space. If this is true, one can read the passuk as follows: “Va’Yar Es HaMakom Me’Rachok,” And Avraham percieved God from a distance. The aspect of the relationship with God that we call “HaMakom" which is reference to the fact that He fills every facet of life, is specifically where Avraham felt a distance.

In light of the above, it is now that we arrive at the first goal of a test: God wants us to train ourselves to feel spiritual distance. He wants us to be kedusha-sensitive enough to see when things are not ok.

So how does Avraham respond to this awareness? He tells Yishmael and Eliezer to stay behind as he says to them (22:5) “Ani V’Ha’Nar Nelcha Ad Koh” ‘Myself and the child (Yitzchak) will travel out to ‘there.’’ But “Ad Koh,” ‘Out to there,’ has a very indefinite connotation. ‘Myself and Yitzchak are going to just go out to whatever ‘there’ is in hopes that there we will there be able to serve Hashem.’

This translates perfectly into what we have said until now! The whole test came through vagueness and distance. And when Avraham becomes aware of this he realizes that his Ikar Avodah, that his main job in the situation is simply to reach out into the fog of uncertainty of Aspaklaria D’Lo Nahara and not stop until he can properly serve God. And how long will this journey take? This yearning needs to be “Ad Koh.” It’s a never-ending journey.

So what is the goal of a test? To see how much greater we become when we do our best to bridge that gap. To venture into the uncertainty and unclarity with the aim of drawing nearer to the Source of all life. Rav Shalom Arush explains it in B’Gan Ha’Emuna that when I try to grow, and things are just not working out like I planned, it is because Hashem is temporarily holding me back, so that when he lets me go I shoot forward like a spiritual sling shot, and end up on a holier level than I would have, had I not had difficulty in the beginning.

So how do we do it? How do we bridge the gap? We can understand based on a method explained by the Yalkut Menachem on our parsha. The Passuk in Tehillim 111:6 says “Reishis Chochma Yiras Hashem” In order to achieve a clearer perception of reality I need to fear God. I need to lower myself, and take an honest accounting of what I am versus what I should be. But He contrasts this passuk to the Gemara inBava Basra 21 says that it is only because of the competitiveness of the scholars that we merit Torah growth in the world. On one side I need to make myself small, on the other side I need to attempt to be big. How do we balance the two? He explains based on a fundamental idea brought down by the Chovos HaLevavos 6:10. If a person makes himself humble and lowers himself, in no way will he be able to take his religious duties lightly. If he knows he is small, then this will empower him to strengthen himself. I essence if I am always thinking that what I am doing now is not enough, then surely I will constantly be striving for more. So through the primary level of being straight with myself and God, will I thereby gain the strength to serve God as powerfully as I can.

Rav Kook explains this idea in Oros HaTeshuva (chapter 3). He says there that when a person takes an accounting of his deeds and attempts to improve his Avodas Hashem he feels a bitterness from the pain of his past, in which has wrapped up inside of it a sense of joy for what is to come from this new aspiration to grow. As person whose soul is sensitive to moral wrongdoing I feel down and distant because of my mess-ups. The guilt weighs down on me, and I long to break free of my shackles. The longing to deal with these issues works like a force to shatter the darkness, opening a new window of light of growth. With my pain in my back pocket, I can use it, with joy as a source of happiness and growth. If I am always feeling like I am just starting out on a path of spiritual growth, then I will always be pushing for the best.

This idea is deeply rooted in the idea of ‘Ad Koh’ that we saw before. The level of growth I can achieve is nothing short of INFINITE as long as I am constantly cognizant that there more to grow. All I need to do is continually keep the mindset that I am just beginning I always have the freshness and excitement to press onward.

If I can constantly push myself to bigger and better levels, then I will see that the possibilities are endless. If I relentlessly reach out into the fogginess of Aspaklaria D’Lo Nahara that all so often clouds my life, then the amount of fulfillment that I will reach will skyrocket exponentially with every level that I strive to attain. WE ALL CAN DO THIS! And if we do there is no doubt we will live lives of meaning, raising to the highest levels of satisfaction and happiness, moving closer to the Creator and thereby closer to the redemption!

Witnesses

2009-11-05T01:22:00.003+02:00

When the Holy Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz came to New York in the early 1900's, he was given the key to the city [I didn't know thay locked it..]. The Mayor, Jimmy Walker reportedly said about him [as told in All For The Boss] "Darwin could not have been correct when he said that we are descended from monkeys. This man exudes the Divine." [If you have the book check it up to see if the quote is exact and tell me].

The Sfas Emes in Parshas Bereishis says that in fact every Jew should be a witness to G-d's presence on earth through his behavior and lifestyle.

That is our lifelong task. "Vayichulu" - the world is a kli for Godliness and we must bring this out.

Hatzlacha!!

Is Marriage A Relic Of A Bygone Era?

2009-11-05T00:50:00.003+02:00

Let's do away with marriage?

???????????????????????????

Baruch atah Hashem she-lo asani goy!

Bears

2009-11-03T23:35:00.004+02:00

I neglected to mention that the last post was in honor of the tenth yahrzheit of Walter ben Edward Charles Payton of the Chicago Bears whose nickname was "Sweetness".

Better a Hungry Bear than a foolish person.

Hashem save us!!

Love to all!

A shiur for Vayeira.

Bears And Fools

2009-11-02T16:17:00.003+02:00

"Better let a man be confronted by a bear bereft of his cubs than by a fool in his foolishness" Mishlei 17/12.

Sweetest friends! I would rather meet a STARVING BEAR than have anything to do with a foolish indivudual. So said the wisest of all men! A bear will eat a person for breakfast [a big guy counts as brunch:)], but a fool will cause him to stray from G-d!

Lord save us!

Love and blessings!!

Avraham And Tzitzis

2009-10-30T04:13:00.001+02:00

A beautiful thought on the parsha, here.

Good Shabbos Sweetest Friends!

Love And Kisses

2009-10-29T08:54:00.004+02:00

"Yishakeini minishikos pihu" - Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth - Shir Hashirim.

We want Hashem to kiss us. Beautiful! But why kissES - plural. Why isn't one enough?

There are two aspects of the relationship between husband and wife. 1] She is connected to him. 2] She is separated from any other man.

Imagine the scene: Chosson and Kallah in the yichud room. A man walks in and says, "Don't mind me. I will just sit here in the corner and read my newspaper." He sits down and begins humming to himself while reading about the latest "important" sports news. Sorry Charlie, that is not appropriate!

We are married to Hashem. It is inappropriate that anybody else should encroach on the relationship. If there is anything that comes between us, then the relationship is destroyed. Does my TV come between me and Hashem? What about my subscription to Sports Illustrated? Other examples? The intelligent reader knows.

There are two commandments: 1] I am Hashem, 2] Don't have other Gods. Two aspects of the relationship.

Two kisses.

I hope we all remain faithful.

[Based on R' Pinkus' sefer on Chinuch]

Clinging To The Right Person

2009-10-27T09:13:00.003+02:00

Interesting.

The Torah gives only one direct piece of instruction about marriage. "Therefore, a man should LEAVE his mother and father, cling to his wife and they will become one flesh."

The other day I met yet another person who marriage was DESTROYED in no small part thanks to his in-laws. So please! When you get married make SURE to keep both a geographical and emotional distance from the parents on both sides. Respect them, love them, serve them, visit them, pray for them, but remember that your spouse is number one.

Many young men can't distance themselves from their mothers. Gentlemen, sorry! Your mother is already married. You have your own wife. Move on!!

Young ladies, you can still go shopping with mom, but she is now in distant second place. If there is ever a contradiction between your husband and parents the halacha is clear - husband wins!

For parents - if your kids need financial help and you are able and willing to provide, sign checks and then stay out of their business! You think you are helping but more often than not, the opposite is the case. You want to help - keep a low profile. Love them, give emotional support, buy presents for the grandchildren and then go elsewhere. If the kids are old enough to get married, they can work things out on their own. If they need help you can't really help anyway as you are not objective! Let somebody who IS objective help if necessary.

Love and blessings to all!!

Purpose

2009-10-27T01:03:00.002+02:00

For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment.

Viktor E. Frankl

People often think on a large scale - what is my purpose on earth? This is important but ones primary focus should on his purpose at this very minute.

Example: Right now I am davening shacharis - my purpose is to be completely immersed in the tefilla. Then I leave shul and walk home. On the way I see a group of children walking to school. Now my job is to smile and wish them a hearty good morning. Then I eat breakfast. Now my job is to make a bracha from the depths of my heart thanking Hashem for the food and to eat a healthy meal with a dvar torah as a featured event. You get the picture.

Love and blessings!!

PS - If you have not read Dr. Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning" PLEASE do so - immediately. That is your purpose from the time you get the book in your hands until you finish it....

Where Am I Going?

2009-10-26T12:47:00.002+02:00

From torah.org

If you like sfas emes and have trouble with the original you can buy Dr. Leff's book "Emes Ve'emunah".

Parshas Lech Lecha

By Dr. Nosson Chayim Leff
Sfas Emes, Zechuso Tagein Aleinu, Lech Lecha, 5632

The Sfas Emes begins this ma'amar by quoting a question raised by Rashi. HaShem told Avraham to go "to the land that I will show you." Why did HaShem not tell Avraham his specific destination at the outset of his journey? For surely, by reducing uncertainty and resulting anxiety, it would have helped Avraham to know to which land he was headed.

This question is not merely "academic," but rather is of direct practical relevance to us. Chazal tell us that "Maaseh Avos simon lebanim." That is, the lives of our Patriarchs provide a prototype of what we, their descendants, will experience. Thus, each of us will be called upon in his/her own way to undertake a journey similar to that taken by Avraham Avinu, Hence, Rashi's question is in fact very meaningful to us.

So why indeed did HaShem not tell Avraham the destination toward which he was going? Rashi provides an answer to this question. (See his comment on Bereishis, 12:1, dibbur hamaschil "asher ar'eka.") So does the Sfas Emes. As we have come to expect, the Sfas Emes offers us a radically new approach to this question.

The Sfas Emes notes that the journey on which HaShem had commanded Avraham to embark was spiritual as well as geographical. And, continues the Sfas Emes, the uncertainty caused by the lack of vital information -- in this case, not knowing where he was going -- was an essential feature of that journey.

Why so? Because knowing where one is going gives a person a sense of autonomy and control over his life. By contrast, the Sfas Emes tells us, an intrinsic part of a righteous person's journey through life is the willingness to do only the will of HaShem. That is, by freely willing giving up our autonomy and control, we become, in effect, instruments to realize the ratzon (will) of HaShem in this world.

The Sfas Emes continues with a paradox. We sometimes ask: What does HaShem want from us? The Sfas Emes informs us that, only when we give ourselves up totally to do HaShem's will -- regardless of what His will is -- and therefore have no need to ask the question (of what HaShem wants from us), only then does HaShem reveal His will -- i.e., what He wants from us!

(Please go now to the Sfas Emes for 5634, paragraph1, where the Sfas Emes extends this analysis.) The Sfas Emes there quotes the first Medrash Rabba on the parsha. .. In turn, the Medrash there cites a posuk in Tehillim (45:11): "Hear, O maiden, and see, and incline your ear.

At first sight, this posuk seems to be totally irrelevant to this discussion (and to Parshas Lech Lecha as a whole). But wait! When I was a youth, I was taught that when a sefer quotes a posuk, always look it up to see the entire posuk. Applying that rule in the present case, we find that the posuk (of which the Sfas Emes had quoted only a fragment) continues: ". . . forget your people and your father's house."

As you see, this posuk is in fact speaking to a person facing an ordeal similar to the ordeal that Avraham Avinu experienced. For Avraham, too, was told to forsake his people and his father's home. It would be easy to underestimate the nisayon that the command "lech lecha" posed for Avraham. These days, Avraham Avinu's home would be called "dysfunctional" ; for he and his father -- a purveyor of idols -- were in conflict on some basic issues. The people of Avraham Avinu's homeland were similarly unsupportive. Thus, they looked on with complete equanimity when Avraham was thrown into a fiery furnace. Nevertheless, Chazal reckon "lech lecha "as one of the ten nisayonos that Avraham had to confront.

Continuing, the Sfas Emes applies the first part of the posuk -" Hear, see, and incline your ear" -- in that context. That is, strive -- with all of your faculties -- to come closer to HaShem. Further, the Sfas Emes notes that the sequence in the posuk seems to be out of proper order. For, if the posuk was referring to our achieving better cognitive understanding-i.e., knowledge- of HaShem, the correct sequence would be:first, "Incline your ear" and only then, "hear." The posuk's sequence is "out of order" only if we read it as a command to gain greater cognitive knowledge of HaShem. The Sfas Emes notes that the posuk's actual sequence makes perfect sense if we view it as an injunction calling upon us to employ all of our faculties -- in whatever sequence -- in developing our relationship with HaShem.

The Sfas Emes elaborates further on the thought that what is most important in life is the striving to come closer to HaShem. In fact, he goes so far as to say that our yearning to approach Him gives HaShem more joy than the knowledge of Him and the Torah that we actually obtain! The Sfas Emes piles paradox upon paradox. Thus, he tells us that through our striving -- not through our cognitive capacity -- we do, in fact, attain a better intellectual understanding of HaShem.

The Sfas Emes proceeds to present the possibility of a beneficent, upward spiral. That is, through an act of will -- our yearning ("teshuka") to come closer to HaShem -- we also achieve cognitive progress ("hasaga"). And then the upward spiral continues. (By implication, we also face the possibility of, chas veshalom, a self-sustaining downward spiral, a so-called vicious cycle. The Sfas Emes is too gentle to mention this other option.)

Summing up, we can say that the Sfas Emes is telling us that the way HaShem made the world, we should be aware at the outset that we will not get the answers to all our questions. Further, this is a view of life which sees us constantly in motion. There is no menucha (repose) in this world. What we have instead is constant yegiah (striving).

The Sfas Emes continues with a quote from this parsha's Medrash Rabba. The first paragraph there compares Avraham's journey to that of a person who is moving from place to place, until he encounters a "bira dolekes" -- a palace in flames. Said the traveler: "Is it possible that no one is in charge of this palace?" Whereupon, the Master of the palace spoke to him and said: "I am the Master of the palace."

Note a key feature of this Medrash. Standard hashkofo (Torah doctrine) infers the existence of God from seeing the world in harmony and rationality. Here, however, Avraham encounters HaShem in a context of destruction and irrationality! Further, this picture of the world in flames is much closer to the reality of which we hear when we listen to the daily news than a well-ordered, harmonious world.

We conclude with a non-pshat that the Sfas Emes presents in the name of his grandfather. The Chiddushei HaRim reads the word dolekes" in the Medrash just cited as being used in the same way that the root DLK is used in Bereishis, 31:36, that is, "in motion." In other words, the Sfas Emes is telling us that Avraham Avinu recognized that the world - including ourselves -- is constantly in motion, trying to reach an equilibrium of menucha. But, in fact, no such point of repose exists in this life. Instead, we have constant motion -- either coming closer to HaShem or, chas veshalom, moving in the opposite direction.

Sadness

2009-10-23T02:01:00.002+02:00

Sweet Torah from the R' Shlomo Carlebach Torah newsletter:

Rebbe Nachman on Joy

Ah, this is very beautiful. Listen to this…

If I look sad, what happens to the person sitting next to me? They feel a
little bit uncomfortable. Why do they feel uncomfortable? Even if they love
me a lot they'll overcome all those uncomfortable feelings and just say,
“You know, I got to stick it out, he's my friend. I've got to stick
around while he's crying.” But this doesn't go, right.

And imagine I'm sitting here and mamish laughing like the holy Ropshitzer
Rebbe. Laughing my head off. So everybody will feel so comfortable. Why?
It's very simple. Imagine if someone would let me look down into the abyss,
to the abyss of the abyss. It’s very uncomfortable, frightening.

So the truth is, when you see a person who is sad, at that moment you're
mamish confronted with nothingness. You see that this person is just
struggling between being and non-being.

Imagine if you see me standing with one foot on the roof, and the other
foot is just about, gevalt, you know, hanging down over the edge. I can Gd
forbid… You say, “Listen, do me a favor. You make me nervous, you may
be the greatest acrobat in the world, but just put your second foot on the
ground. I'm afraid to see it. Or if you want to do it, I just don't want to
see it.” So when someone is so sad…

You've got to realize, it’s the same thing with Gd. When I'm walking
around sad, you mamish make Gd uncomfortable. I mean, Gd says, “Listen, I
love you. I'm your Gd, I signed a contract on Mt. Sinai, I promised you,
I'll stick it out, I will be with you, but I really don't feel comfortable
with you.

I'll tell you something very very deep. Imagine, when you smile you're
filled with joy. Then when you look at somebody, mamish they look back at
you. When you mamish cry, they can't really look back at you. Mamish, they
try, but they can't look back at you. Like, to say, “We cried eye to
eye.” It just doesn't go. You can smile eye to eye, but you can't cry eye
to eye.

So, you know, we know this world is just a little mirror of heaven. You
have to realize, it's very beautiful when you cry, but it's not really. You
make Gd feel uncomfortable about it. It’s not so good.

Crying with being or crying with nothingness

It depends how you're crying, you know. You can cry with being, or you
can cry with nothingness. I'm not talking about crying in general. I'm
talking about atzvut, this dead kind of sadness.

Listen, On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipper we're crying all the time. It's
the holiest tears.

Imagine if someone will come up to you and say, “You know, I love you
so much, really I want to be the greatest friend to you.” crying while
he's saying it, you know, it will open your heart in a thousand ways. But
if someone comes and cries and says, “You know, I was in the beauty
parlor, sniff, sniff, and they treated me, boo hoo, and I overpaid five
dollars extra, boo hoo hoo.” You know, what do you feel then? Oy vey. And
even if this woman is your mother, right? And you really love your mother,
but you just can't stand it. You say, “Oy vey,” and you pat her on the
back.

There is a very big difference between crying before somebody and crying
about something. If I'm crying before Gd, it's the holiest thing. Maybe
He's crying with me. But if I'm crying about something and I'm telling it
to Gd, it’s not so good. I got to cry before Gd.

G-d smiles back at you

But anyway, the most important thing is, you have to know; if you're
shining here below, Gd is shining.

He says, if you smile down below here, then Gd smiles back at you from
above.

Something very holy going on between you and Gd.

Atzvus or merirus

The word sadness is not a good translation. The word Atzvus is, you're
sitting there moping away.

There are two kinds of sadness. There is merirus, which is bitterness,
which is living sadness. Bitterness is, ‘I wish I could do better.
Gevalt, why didn't I do better?’ It’s, 'I didn't do it right. Why
didn't I do better?’ Just knowing I didn't do good enough, I'm sad. This
is a living sadness. And then I walk out from there and I want to do
better.

And then the deepest thing is, the Baal Shem Tov says, the difference
between merirus and atzvus says is very simple. If, after you cry, you see
another person, do you love them or do you hate them? If you cry, and it's
a living kind of cry, then every person looks so beautiful to you. You
think, ‘I'm not so beautiful, but he or she is so beautiful.’ I'm so
happy with them. But if you have this dead kind of sadness, then everybody
looks ugly to you.

You've seen sometimes you cry, you look out the window and see all those
disgusting creatures walking down the street. So with this kind of crying,
Gd can't look at you either.

No Commentary Necessary

2009-10-20T15:53:00.001+02:00

“Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make very small use of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.”

William James

Cheshbon Hanefesh

2009-10-20T15:41:00.003+02:00

"And there was night and there was day".

"And G-d saw that the light was good".

Genesis

The Mesilas Yesharim stresses that EVERY JEW must take time daily to evaluate whether he is living up to his potential. We must not allow the fast pace of life obfuscate our true purpose. The truth is like a bright light turned on after one sat in the dark for an extended period of time. At first it is very uncomfortable but after one adjusts he realize how much it adds to his pleasure and to his ability to see things as they really are. Then he wonders why he was willing to sit in the dark for so long.

Love and blessings!

A Sure Thing

2009-10-19T12:38:00.003+02:00

Sweetest friends Shalom!!

Recently I posted a request to donate money in order to help with the marriage of a young man whose father died tragically young. I received a positive response from approximately 4 [!] people. This leads me to believe either 1] that the readership of alleyways is much smaller than I thought [I always assumed that there must be at least 10 people besides my mother who read this...] or 2] there are MANY other worthy causes and people give to those. I am not so arrogant to think that what I am collecting for is more important than any other tzedaka. If I were arrogant then I would never be able to fall asleep at night - it would be impossible falling asleep in a bed with an arrogant person [a baal gyva in the vernacular]. I could move to a different place but it wouldn't help, he would just follow me...

I would, however, like to thank those kindhearted people who DID open their wallets and especially the person who thanked ME for the opportunity to take part in this mitzva. I feel VERY uncomfortable collecting tzedaka [even though b"h it is not for me] and expression of appreciation eases much of my discomfort. You should know how much you gladdened the family of the orphaned chosson [whom I love very much so you also gladdened me].

Also, I would like to remind all of my sweetest friends that the ONLY money that you ever spend that is guaranteed to last FOREVER is money spent on a mitzva - particularly tzedaka. There are many people who WISH that instead of their money disappearing in the stock market it would have translated into food on the table of the poor. So in this shakey market it is worthwhile investing in a "sure thing".

Love and blessings to all of my friends - Rachmanim Bnei Rachmanim!!

Now Is The Time!

2009-10-18T08:42:00.003+02:00

"Time is what we want most, but what we use worst."

William Penn

According to the Sforno and Vilna Gaon the very first thing Hashem created was TIME. "Bereishis bara Elokim" - [First] He created the beginning. Before creation time didn't exist.

One of the biggest problems in modern society is that people have so much free time and don't know how to use it properly. Chazal say that one should do teshuva ONE DAY before death but since he doesn't know when that day is - he should do teshuva today.
This means that we should live every day as if it is our last!! If we do that, our time wil not be wasted and we can meet out Maker as Avraham Avinu did - "ba bayomim" - he came will all of his days completely taken advantage of [I don't think I am allowed to end a sentence with the word "of", but my high school English teacher died long ago - and took her red pen with her, so I will allow myself the pleasure. One more time! Of. That was fun!].

The pasuk says "Vi'ata" - and now. Chazal explain "Vi'ain ata ela lashon teshuva" - "Now" denotes teshuva. Don't wait until tomorrow - today will then be gone forever.

Love and blessings sweetest friends!!!

Transcending Death

2009-10-16T15:13:00.005+02:00

"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.”

Oscar Wilde

Sorry Oscar - death stinks [literally and figuratively]!

We weren't supposed to die. "Vi'atem hadveikim bashem elokeichem CHAIM koolchem hayom" - Those who are attached to Hashem remain forever alive. After the sin of Adam we found ourselves detached from the source of life - that is why we die. Removing the fruit from the tree causes the fruit to wilt. So too, we found ourselves removed from our source and we must eventually wilt. [See Maskil Lishlomo on Parshas Bereishis]

There is only one solution. To grab the aitz hachaim - the tree of life.

"Aitz chaim he lamachazikim ba".

Torah.

Live and learn. Learn and live.

Forever!

Good Shabbos to my beloved and sweetest friends!!!

PLEASE DAVEN/LEARN/FAST/GIVE TZEDAKA/ANYTHING FOR DANIELLA MASHA BAS YISKA RACHEL, A YOUNG WOMAN WHO IS IN GREAT PAIN AND NEEDS BRAIN SURGERY.

In The Beginning...

2009-10-15T16:43:00.002+02:00

Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities.

William Throsby Bridges

Bereishis.

We have been through soooo much in our lives. Bereishis teaches that you can start all over.

Today!

Love and blessings!!

Just You

2009-10-13T04:27:00.004+02:00

Related Rav Moshe Tzvi Neriah about Rav Kook:

I merited seeing him at his time of joy on Simchas Torah afternoon. There was an elevated spirit at his table and much lively singing. Suddenly he arose and starting pacing the room while singing the song of the Baal Hatanya [from Tehillim 73, 25] with great emotion: "Mi li bashomayim, vi'imcha lo chafatzti ba'aretz - Ich vill nicht hoben dem oilam hazeh, ich darph nicht hoben dem oilam haba, nor dir alein, nor dir alein." [I don't want this world, I don't need the next world. Just you alone Hashem, just YOU!!!]

[Oros Hatefilla page 29]

Oy sweetest friends, we need more people who are intoxicated with Hakadosh Baruch Hu!!!

Together Forever

2009-10-12T09:40:00.003+02:00

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller

Chazal say that the reason we have Shmini Atzeres is because Hashem enjoyed our company so much on Succos, he wants one more day together with us. "Kasha alai preidaschem" - It is difficult to separate from you.

The question is obvious - we are just prolonging the inevitable! The day after Shmini Atzeres we must go back to the drudgery of daily life and Hashem will miss out on our company [kviyachol]. So how does it help to have that extra day??!

Here we see the genuis of our Sages. They determined that Simchas Torah should occur on the same day as the biblical Shmini Atzeres. If we have Torah - then we NEVER separate from Hashem. That connection is sustained for an entire year. As the medrash says on the pasuk "Vayikchu li Terumah" - "Kviyachol nimkarti ima". When you get the Torah, it is a package deal. I come along, too!!

[Based on Rav Hutner ztz"l in the "Pachad"]

Love and blessings!!

A Shiur Opposite The Kotel

2009-10-08T21:49:00.002+02:00

A shiur from last Hoshana Rabba, here. High and holy! What is tefillah?

[As I write I am working on this years shiur.]

Love, blessings and a SWEET Shmini Atzeres/Simchas Torah!!!!!!

A Hug From Above

2009-10-02T03:43:00.003+02:00

His left is under my head and his right hugs me. – King Solomon, Song of Songs.

Your left should push away and your right should bring close. – The Talmud Sanhedrin.

The high holy days are the left – we push ourselves away and tell G-d how far we have strayed. We have to think in a deep way how distant we are from Him. "Under my head" – deep in my mind, I realize how distant I am. But the left hand is weaker than the right hand. So we are not lost G-d forbid! The right hand of Hashem comes and HUGS US!!!

That is the Succah. Hashem invites us into His home after we have undergone the purification process of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

THAT is the paradox. The moment we realize how far we are from kedusha – we become close again.

Sweetest friends – we have a herculean task ahead of us. We must be happy for 8 consecutive days, for every second of every day. But we can be successful, knowing that Hashem LOVES us and desires our closeness.

Chag Sameach!!!

Based on the sefer Likkutei Torah of the Alter Rebbe ztz"l.

A shiur you may enjoy, here

Backwards Or Forwards?

2009-10-01T04:04:00.002+02:00

“The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating..."

Sweetest friends - the Torah perspective is: Life is great! Everyday you grow learn and become wiser. Then after hard work and having overcome many obstacles a person has the honor of leaving this impure world of falsehood and living on in a pure and perfect world, basking in the glory of Hashem and enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Life is not about partying. Hard to swallow such a notion in our hedonistic, materialistic society.

Love and blessings!!

Your Friend's Mom

2009-09-30T01:39:00.002+02:00

An ode to moms.

From Cold To Hot

2009-09-29T22:38:00.004+02:00

Shalom sweetest friends!!

At the end of Yom Kippur davening, I observed as a man approached the gabbai of the shul and remarked "Everything was ok but next year you should make sure that the air-conditioner works properly".

I don't want to be critical. I once read that before you criticize someone you should step into the other persons shoes and walk for a block. This way if he gets angry you will be a block away and you have his shoes.

BUT, I will use this as an opportunity to ponder my own spiritual poverty. Isn't Yom Kippur supposed to make me a LITTLE more spiritual. Shouldn't I be focused on other things besides my creature comforts. How can I be any different after Yom Kippur if the air conditioning is on my mind?

Amalek cooled us off. "Asher karcha baderech" - They cooled you off on the way.

I hope we can all get heated up!!

Love and blessings to all!!!

Holy Matrimony

2009-09-27T03:28:00.003+02:00

“To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.”

“After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate.”

Yom Kippur is a very holy day!

Strange then that on this day the mishna at the end of Taanis relates that the girls would dance in the vineyards and the single boys would come and pick wives. A Yom Kippur dance???

YES! Getting married is HOLY and there is no day more appropriate than Yom Kippur to find a wife.

We also know from the first mishna in Yoma that the Kohein Gadol MUST be married. No wife - no atonement for the Jewish People.

Maybe then, part of our Yom Kippur kabbala can be to help set up a couple [or 10].

Gmar Chasima Tova Sweetest and Most Beloved Friends!!!

Actions Speak Louder Than .....

2009-09-25T02:16:00.004+03:00

Don't say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many people ask mechilah but their actions testify to the fact that they don't really mean it. So don't JUST ask someone for forgiveness but show him by your actions that you really mean it.

Don't JUST tell your wife that you love her but SHOW her [this will cost you money].

Don't just tell your children that learning/davening/chessed is important but make it a primary component of your life and they will get the message.

This is what chazal meant when they said "Gadol shimusha yoser mi'limuda" [Brachos 7b] - Greater is SERVING a Torah scholar that learning from one. When you serve him you see the Torah practiced in real life. Learning - with all of its greatness - remains in the realm of mere words. [See Ayn Ayah there!]

Love and blessings!!!

Want It

2009-09-24T20:31:00.003+03:00

"Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is."

Vince Lombardi

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?"

Robert Browning Hamilton

G-d doesn't expect us to be perfect but He DOES expect us to desire perfection. Don't be complacent with your spiritual level. Reach for the stars!!

Mussar From Reb Will

2009-09-24T14:14:00.003+03:00

And oftentimes excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse by the excuse.

William Shakespeare

Isn't Yom Kippur great. No excuses! Hashem - we were wrong! That's it.

Wouldn't it be great if people were the same way to each other?! Instead of trying to justify inappropriate behavior, people would just admit error and resolve to be better the next time.

In order to do this it is critical to accept one truism. We are ALL riddled with flaws - and that is OK. We are only human and should not expect ourselves to be perfect.

Hashem doesn't. That is why he gave us the mitzva of teshuva.

May we all walk in the ways of Hashem and forgive those around us for their inadequacies.

AMMMMMMEIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holiness Of Speech

2009-09-24T01:21:00.003+03:00

There are some people who are thirsting for Hashem. I LOVE such people because they elevate me from my low state. They want nothing more than to fear, cling to and love Hashem - Yirah, Dveykus and Ahava. Rav Kook [Shmonah Kvatzim, Kovetz Dalet Os Ayin] discusses such people. He notes that even though they have a strong spiritual inclination, that is not enough.

It is also important for such people to focus on KEDUSHAS HAPEH. This means that they must engage in positive speech, such as torah and tefilla. This is what is meant by the pasuk we will read in this weeks haftora - "Kechu imachem devarim vishu el Hashem" - Take words and return to Hashem. Also, such people must be very careful not to engage in forbidden speech such as lashon hara and nivul peh. Of course, every person must be careful in his speech but people of great spiritual quality must be especially careful. For example, everybody must eat a healthful diet but professional athletes most be even more careful. In the same way, the soul of people with a strong spiritual constitution requires special vigilance in the area of kedushas peh.

Sweetest friends! Recently I have been fortunate enough to come into contact with various young people with very elevated neshamos. It has been a pleasure and I hope it continues. I also hope that they are wise enough to take care to speak words of holiness.

A War Has Broken Out!

2009-09-23T12:22:00.003+03:00

Life is SUPPOSED to be easy. No battles! Smooth sailing!

WRONG!

Life is in fact supposed to be a CONSTANT battle. That is why you are having a rough time. Our purpose on earth is to fight relentlessly against the forces of evil - primarily those within us. So taught the Heilige Ramchal in his Mesilas.

In LiDovid Hashem we say "im takum alai milchama BAZOS ani boteach" - If there is a war, "Bazos" - in this, I trust. What is "in this" that I trust?

Sfas Emes: In the milchama! If I have a war, I know that I can win. That is my purpose, my raison d'etre. So don't worry! Just keep fighting - with a smile on your face and simcha in your heart with the knowledge that you are growing!!

Love and blessings!!

....U'tzedaka - Ma'avirim Es Roa Hagzeira

2009-09-22T16:25:00.004+03:00

Sweetest friends, Chazal say that if a person says that "I have ONLY Torah" - he has NOTHING - including Torah. On Alleyways we try to spread Torah - but that is NOT enough. We must also spread Tzedaka. So here are two VERY worthwhile tzedakas where you can be sure that every penny/shekel will go to the worthwhile cause.

1] A sweet very ill boy - Bentzi Gottlieb. We publicized the letter from his father here.

2] I am collecting for the son of a friend of mine who is getting married. His father died tragically, leaving seven young children. I do not want to write the name in order to save the family embarrassment. For more information you can contact me at allyatika@gmail.com or 646-461-1628 or 02-6289-148.

LOVE AND BLESSINGS!!

2009-09-18T15:00:00.004+03:00

The Rebbe Shlita in English!!

A sicha before the big day from his smallest talmid.

THE SWEETEST YEAR FOR MY SWEETEST FRIENDS!!!

A New Perspective

2009-09-14T20:44:00.004+03:00

If someone would ask me to characterize the most fundamental lesson of Mussar with a story I would relate the following: Rav Yechezkel Sarna was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Chevron Yeshiva [and a student of the great Ba'al Mussar Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel the Alter of Slabodka] was very old, ill and feeble. Nevertheless, one motzei Shabbos he insisted on going to the Beis Medrash in the Yeshiva for maariv. When he was on his way, it became clear that the students had already finished davening. The people with him told him that it is not worth the effort to climb all of the stairs to the "Beis".

He replied: Davening with a minyan is only a mitzva midirabbanan [a rabbinic mitzva]. Maariv is only [strictly speaking, according to the gemara in the fourth perek of brachos] optional. But to wish the boys a "shavua tov" is a mitzva midi'oraisa of "viahavta lirayacha kamocha".