There was a Ruv in Germany who had been a Ruv in a small shtetel in Poland and then in England before coming to Germany. One Yom Kipper he started his Drasha saying "One day I met the Yetzar Horah and he seemed to be relaxing- he was sitting in a park drinking a coffe and had plenty time to shmooze. I asked him 'Why is it that when I used to meet you in the shtetel and said hello, on most days you had enough time to give me a quick greeting, but nothing more. When I met you in England you didn't even have time to return my greeting you seemed so busy. And here I meet you and you seem to have all the time in the world?' The Yetzer Horah answered 'Back in the shtetel the Yidden were mostly good and G-d fearing people, I was busy just trying to drum up business, but there wasn't much i could do so I had time fora quick greeting. In England business was booming. I was busy running around getting people to do wrong, I didn't have a spare second to even say hello. Here in Germany all my work is being done by other people- the reformers demolished all of yiddishkeit - I have all the time in the world - there is no work left for me."
The Gemora says that Yom Kipper the Yetzer Horah doesn't have any power to influence us in any way. Why is it that even on Yom Kipper we find that we are not 100 percent perfect? There are things that we do that are wrong but they don't define us as bad people. The things that the yetzar Horah gets us when we have a weak moment. Then there are things which are deeply ingrained in nature, that we do it on our own without the help of the Yetzar Horah. On Yom Kipper we have one day to see who we are. We see what wrong doings can we blame on the Yetzar Horah and what wrongdoings are so ingrained in us that the Yetzar Horah can relax knowing well that his work is being done by us. The work of Yom Kipper and teshuva is to say and truly believe, that I am a new reborn person. The person whose mind strays during davening was me, but is not me anymore. If we truly believe that then we would be flawless on that most Holy Day.
Mazel Tov to Mishpachas Bleeman on the birth of a little boy!!!!
Sorry if the grammer/understanding is not to great, it's getting late. Gut Shabbos!
25 September, 2009
15 September, 2009
Point to ponder- Yomim Noraim
During our weekday Shemona Esrah we have one brocha where we daven for the abolishing of the wicked- 'velamalshienim'. And one brocha asking for the welfare of the righteous 'al hatzadikim'. In the shemona esrah of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, both of these tefillos are found in the brocha of 'Ata Kodosh'. We say 'U'vechain Tzadikim'- where we ask that the Tzadikim should live to and enjoy the times of Moshiach. Then we ask 'Vechol haresha kula kason techleh'- the evil in the world should disintegrate.
Why is it that during the year we first ask for the abolishment of evil- sur m'rah and then the asai tov- the longevity of the righteous, while on the Yomim Noraim we switch the order to first aseh tov and then sur m'rah?
Why is it that during the year we first ask for the abolishment of evil- sur m'rah and then the asai tov- the longevity of the righteous, while on the Yomim Noraim we switch the order to first aseh tov and then sur m'rah?
11 September, 2009
Parshas Netzavim
הַנִּסְתָּרֹת--לַיהוָה, אֱלֹהֵינוּ; וְהַנִּגְלֹת לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ, עַד-עוֹלָם--לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת
"The hidden is for Hashem, that which is revealed is for us and our children forever, to upkeep all the words of this Torah."
The Chassam Sofer has a few nice peshutim on this posak.
There are many miracles that happen in this world. Most of them are hidden miracels that the human mind can't fathom and the eye cannot see. These are the miracles of everyday life, the things we take for granted. You happened to meet the right person, saw that something you need is on sale etc. and most of all just that we are alive and healthy. These are the 'nistoras' the hidden which only Hashem sees. There is one miracle that is 'niglah'- open for all to see. The fact that Klal Yisroel, after two thousand years of a dark bitter golus, is still around and we are still learning Hashem's Torah. That we survived a churban, Spanish inquisition, forced conversions, pogroms, holocausts and much more and we are still standing tall and Torah and mitzvos are growing is the greatest miracle that us and our children should see - that nothing stands in the way of 'lasos es kol divrie ha'Torah hazos"
A second prashat.
Every mitzva has many reasons why we do them and what consequences they cause in heaven. That is 'nistoras' the hidden part of the Torah. That part we have no need to know- that's for Hashem. What we do have to learn and internalize is the practicalities of the mitzvos and what they mean to us. The 'niglah' of Torah is for us and our childern to learn.
Theres a story told about the students of the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem told them that the world stands on the Shofer blowing of the Noda B'Yehuda. So the students traveled to Prague- were the Noda B'yehuda was Rav, for Rosh hashana, to hear his shofer blowing. The Noda b'Yehuda got up before the tekias and gave a speech. He opened a Gemora Rosh Hashana. The Gemora asks why to we blow shofer on Rosh Hashana? The Gemora quickly interjects 'Why do we blow? The Torah commanded us to blow' The Gemmora then goes on to clarify what the question was. The Noda B'Yehuda just read that passage of 'Why do we blow? The Torah said to blow' closed the Gemora and thus finished his speech and started the tekias. The students were agahst, they traveled all this way just to hear the Gemora? And they asked their rebbi was this realy what kept the world going? The Baal Shem Tov answered that all the reasons that we know about performing any mitzva are called 'tammai hamitzvos' - the reasons of mitzvos. 'Tammai' can also mean just a taste. The highest leval of doing mitzvos is doing them because Hashem told us to do it. He explained to them that those that cannot get the right feeling of the mitzvos by just listening to Hashem - they need extra flavour, a taste the hidden meaning of the Mitzvas.
"The hidden is for Hashem, that which is revealed is for us and our children forever, to upkeep all the words of this Torah."
The Chassam Sofer has a few nice peshutim on this posak.
There are many miracles that happen in this world. Most of them are hidden miracels that the human mind can't fathom and the eye cannot see. These are the miracles of everyday life, the things we take for granted. You happened to meet the right person, saw that something you need is on sale etc. and most of all just that we are alive and healthy. These are the 'nistoras' the hidden which only Hashem sees. There is one miracle that is 'niglah'- open for all to see. The fact that Klal Yisroel, after two thousand years of a dark bitter golus, is still around and we are still learning Hashem's Torah. That we survived a churban, Spanish inquisition, forced conversions, pogroms, holocausts and much more and we are still standing tall and Torah and mitzvos are growing is the greatest miracle that us and our children should see - that nothing stands in the way of 'lasos es kol divrie ha'Torah hazos"
A second prashat.
Every mitzva has many reasons why we do them and what consequences they cause in heaven. That is 'nistoras' the hidden part of the Torah. That part we have no need to know- that's for Hashem. What we do have to learn and internalize is the practicalities of the mitzvos and what they mean to us. The 'niglah' of Torah is for us and our childern to learn.
Theres a story told about the students of the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem told them that the world stands on the Shofer blowing of the Noda B'Yehuda. So the students traveled to Prague- were the Noda B'yehuda was Rav, for Rosh hashana, to hear his shofer blowing. The Noda b'Yehuda got up before the tekias and gave a speech. He opened a Gemora Rosh Hashana. The Gemora asks why to we blow shofer on Rosh Hashana? The Gemora quickly interjects 'Why do we blow? The Torah commanded us to blow' The Gemmora then goes on to clarify what the question was. The Noda B'Yehuda just read that passage of 'Why do we blow? The Torah said to blow' closed the Gemora and thus finished his speech and started the tekias. The students were agahst, they traveled all this way just to hear the Gemora? And they asked their rebbi was this realy what kept the world going? The Baal Shem Tov answered that all the reasons that we know about performing any mitzva are called 'tammai hamitzvos' - the reasons of mitzvos. 'Tammai' can also mean just a taste. The highest leval of doing mitzvos is doing them because Hashem told us to do it. He explained to them that those that cannot get the right feeling of the mitzvos by just listening to Hashem - they need extra flavour, a taste the hidden meaning of the Mitzvas.
03 September, 2009
Ki Savo
.תַּחַת, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-עָבַדְתָּ אֶת-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּשִׂמְחָה, וּבְטוּב לֵבָב--מֵרֹב, כֹּל
The literal translation of the posuk suggests that the Tochacha comes as a punishment for not serving Hashem with love and joy. The meforshim ask, why is the punishment for not being bsimcha so harsh, deserving of all 98 curses?
R' Yitzchok Hutner Zatzal explains. We are bound to serve hashem. We can do it out of our love for him- with joy. Or we will be forced to do his will- through the tochacha.
If one has weak eyesight there are two ways he can cure and strengthen it. He can cure it naturally, by exercising and strengthening his eyesight on his own until his sight is back to it's natural level. Or he can have surgery to cure him. The second option offers an effortless cure. All he has to do is sleep through the surgery and wait a few days or weeks to recover and his sight will as good as new. This sounds like the easier and better option, but it is fraught with danger and pain. There will be days that he will be bandaged and not be able to see anything. And there will be days that will be filled with pain. After all the difficulties he will have healthy eyes. The first option might be harder work, but is safer and pain free.
Klal Yisroel in galous is blinded. Hashem and his glory are hidden from us. The Kotzker once said "Where can you find Hashem? Where ever you let him in." We have to lift the darkness off our eyes and let Hashem into our lives. We can do it on our own through hard work. Every mitzva we do, every bit of avodas hashem we do, we come closer to Hashem. It's hard work but if we try and start, we are guaranteed to succeed. The other option is for Hashem to 'surgically' remove us from the darkness by shining his great light onto the world. If we choose this option we have to realize that the darkness will get darker and more painful before we are cleansed from the darkness. Only after the birth pangs of moshiach will we be redeemed.
We could, and should, serve Hashem on our own because we want to, with joy- bsimcha uvtov levov. If we refuse to do the hard work the only way we will leave this galous is through the tochacha. It will not be as a punishment, but as the last resort to save us and bring us home to our loving father Hashem.
The literal translation of the posuk suggests that the Tochacha comes as a punishment for not serving Hashem with love and joy. The meforshim ask, why is the punishment for not being bsimcha so harsh, deserving of all 98 curses?
R' Yitzchok Hutner Zatzal explains. We are bound to serve hashem. We can do it out of our love for him- with joy. Or we will be forced to do his will- through the tochacha.
If one has weak eyesight there are two ways he can cure and strengthen it. He can cure it naturally, by exercising and strengthening his eyesight on his own until his sight is back to it's natural level. Or he can have surgery to cure him. The second option offers an effortless cure. All he has to do is sleep through the surgery and wait a few days or weeks to recover and his sight will as good as new. This sounds like the easier and better option, but it is fraught with danger and pain. There will be days that he will be bandaged and not be able to see anything. And there will be days that will be filled with pain. After all the difficulties he will have healthy eyes. The first option might be harder work, but is safer and pain free.
Klal Yisroel in galous is blinded. Hashem and his glory are hidden from us. The Kotzker once said "Where can you find Hashem? Where ever you let him in." We have to lift the darkness off our eyes and let Hashem into our lives. We can do it on our own through hard work. Every mitzva we do, every bit of avodas hashem we do, we come closer to Hashem. It's hard work but if we try and start, we are guaranteed to succeed. The other option is for Hashem to 'surgically' remove us from the darkness by shining his great light onto the world. If we choose this option we have to realize that the darkness will get darker and more painful before we are cleansed from the darkness. Only after the birth pangs of moshiach will we be redeemed.
We could, and should, serve Hashem on our own because we want to, with joy- bsimcha uvtov levov. If we refuse to do the hard work the only way we will leave this galous is through the tochacha. It will not be as a punishment, but as the last resort to save us and bring us home to our loving father Hashem.
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