25 September, 2009

Shabbos Teshuva

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!