Don't hurt others....

The holy Arizal once very much enjoyed the hospitality of another Jew."I would like to repay you. Ask me what you will, and I will bless you!" Said the holy Ari, to his kind host.

"What can I ask for, Rebbe?" the man answered, "Thanks to G-d, I have money. I am healthy. There is only one thing I want; We had children, but now for many years my wife has not been able to bear any more. We have asked doctors what the problem is, but they have found nothing wrong."

The holy Ari contemplated for a moment, and then said, "I see the reason. Know this, my friend: The trait of compassion, which is a mark of the descendents of our forefather Avraham, is very important. A person must be extremely careful not to cause suffering to his friends, to other people, or to any living creature.

"You have a chicken coop. In the past, a small ladder was fixed at its entrance, so that the chicks might go down to find bowls of food and water. When your wife noticed that the ladder and ground beneath it were becoming dirty, she had the ladder removed and placed the food directly in the coop. From that day on, the chicks have been greatly distressed: for the pleasure of going up and down the ladder has been taken away from them.

"In their distress, the chicks have chirped, and the sounds of their sorrow have risen to the Throne of Glory, where they stand as an accusation against your wife. Since then, she has been prevented from bearing children."

The host listened with amazement. He quickly ran to find the ladder and returned it to its original place, at the entrance to the coop.

It was not long before G-d blessed the man's wife, and she began to bear children as before.

A person must be extremely careful not to cause suffering to his friends, to other people, or to any living creature.

Challenges/Growth

At one time or another we all come face to face with an event that appears so terrible that it threatens us emotionally and psychologically. How are we to view the difficulties of our life, when everything appears bleak and we cannot see beyond the limits of our own pain.
Contrary to our experience of challenging events, the Torah tells us that "Nothing bad descends from Above". Everything that happens is inherently good, for it stems from G-d, the "epitome of goodness".

We are coming toward Tisha B'av, when we mourn for the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. When we had the Holy Temple - we were in a spiritual freedom. G-d's blessings were perceived as such, without the obscuring veil of nature. Meaning, we were able to see the Divine revelation and we recognized that everything was directly from the hand of G-d.

However, in the state of exile that we find ourselves now - we are unable to perceive the G-dly spirit that is controlling our destiny. In reality, nothing has changed - the world is still controlled by the Divine Designer - it is only our perception that has changed.

On the surface exile appears to be a terrible punishment for our sins, but the challenge of exile is what unleashes the greatest most potent forces of our soul.

Despite the countless regimes that have oppressed us, one constant has remained and that is our unwavering faith in G-d. There is nothing that the Jewish people who lived during the times of the Holy Temple could have done to express such deep soul-commitment. Only we, who live in the darkness of exile have been challenged to tap the deepest, most powerful resources of our soul.

We must view difficulty not as a negative experience, but a the greatest facilitator of growth. And while these situations are often beyond our control, our attitude IS within our control. We have the ability to accept the challenges as they were meant to be - opportunities for positive growth. Although we may never fully understand why certain things happen, ultimately, they can - and therefore must - make as better people.

Parshat Masei - Aharon's passing

In this week's Torah portion of Maasei, we read about the journeys of the Jews in the desert, and about the different places where they camped. One of those places was Hor Hahar, where Aharon the High Priest passed away. And it says that Aharon passed away on the first day of the fifth month.

Chassidut teaches that on the anniversary of a person's passing, everything he strived for during his life, all his holy work, gets added strength and brings about change in the world. This is true of every Jew, and especially true of a great tzaddik like Aharon HaKohain.

We can see a clear connection between Aharon's work and the date of his passing. The first day of the fifth month is Rosh Chodesh Av, it's a sad time for the Jewish people. It's the beginning of the nine days during which we mourn the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash.

The Torah states that Aharon passed away, "on day one" of the month. The word "one" reminds us of Aharon's special work. He was a person who loved peace and pursued peace, He would do all he could to stop arguments and help people join together in unity.

Our Rabbis tell us that the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and the exile which followed happened because of a lack of unity. If this is so, then creating more unity takes away the reason for the exile, and when there is no reason for this exile then it will come to an end!

So that extra power of unity which comes on the anniversary of Aharon's passing, [which is this coming Monday] is just what we need to help us during these sad days.

We must follow in the path of Aharon, as our Rabbis tell us: "Be like the students of Aharon - love peace and pursue peace." And just as Hor Hahar was one of our nation's last stops on the journey to the Holy Land, the journey of the Jewish people throughout the centuries will reach its destination - the redemption! Amen, now!

Sholom! PEACE!

The Midrash relates that when G-d wanted to create man He asked the attributes what they thought about it. 'Chesed'/ Kindness, said, create man because he will perform acts of kindness. 'Emes'/ Truth, said, do not create man for man fills the world with lies and deceit. 'Tzedek'/ Righteousness, said, create man because he will give charity. Lastly 'Sholom'/ Peace said absolutely not. People quarrel all day and there is no peace. To break the deadlock G-d threw 'Truth' to the ground and ruled two against one in favor of creation.

R' Bunim of Pshische says, 'Why did G-d throw away 'truth'? Why didn't He throw away 'Peace'? Because we can't exist without Peace.

R' Bunim once passed by a construction site and noticed that a worker was having a hard time fitting two pieces of wood together, for one side had something sticking out of it and it wouldn't fit peacefully into the other. So what did he do? He carved into the wood of the other piece, making space for this piece to fit in smoothly.
Turning to his followers, he said, "You see how peace is made between two conflicting parties? Don't force the stubborn one to give in to you - But rather make space in yourself for the other side to fit into you. Then you can live in harmony.

Peace is the greatest thing of all. The Mishnah says, ""G‑d did not find a vessel that could hold blessing other than shalom (peace)."

The rebbe of Lublin said, It is better to live with your relative, friend or neighbor in a state of a false peace than to be honest and live in a true state of conflict.
Even though it is not a true peace, but because it carries the name - sholom/peace it will [we hope] eventually lead to true peace. However, conflict just gets worse and worse. It gets blown out of proportion till its fire can be too difficult to extinguish.

Sholom is peace. Sholom is G-d's name.

Make this a peace filled day!

Watch your tongue!

The king of Persia once fell ill and his doctors prescribed the milk of a lioness. One brave man accepted the challenge of obtaining the milk. He took with him ten goats and went on his way. Nearing the lion's habitat, he stopped at a distance and sent a goat towards the lioness, which she quickly caught and devoured. The next day, he came a bit closer and gave her another goat. After ten days, he was able to approach and even pet the lioness! He pet her, took some milk in peace, and left.

On his trip returning home, while napping, he dreamt that his limbs were arguing with each other about who had been the most influential in acquiring the milk. The feet said, "Without us, you would not have gotten here," the hands claimed, "We took the milk," and the mind took the credit for the idea. The tongue then spoke up, "If I hadn't suggested the idea, it would never have happened." The other limbs laughed, "How do you dare compare yourself to us?! You're not an active limb like we are!" The tongue responded, "You will yet see that I control you."

Finally arriving at the palace, the man eagerly said to the king, "Your majesty! Here is the milk of a dog!" The king became furious and ordered that the man be hanged. As he was being led to the gallows, the limbs began to 'cry' and the tongue said, "I will save you and you will see that I am in charge." The man pleaded to be taken back to the king and he then told the king that truthfully, the milk had been taken from a lioness. This was checked out and he was subsequently freed. The limbs all surrendered to the tongue, "Now we see that indeed, 'life and death is dependent on the tongue.'"

What happens to our prayers?

The sages say: "G-d does not reject the prayers of a multitude."

However, it seems to be that this is not so! Every day, three times a day, the Jewish people pray eighteen blessings, including many prayers for redemption. "Sound the great Shofar...Restore our judges...Return us to Jerusalem..." And yet, for close to 2000 years we are still in exile!

The Shaloh Hakodesh offers the following explanation: "G-d hears our prayers and the angels fashion them into a crown for Him. However, He does not necessarily carry out the request exactly as we asked. The prayer reached its destination and the reward is still to come."

In other words, the prayer has its effect up above even if we don't see immediate results down here below.

However, the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that since our primary existence is our spiritual soul and not our physical body, the spiritual effect is not incidental, but rather, it is the priority.

At the same time though, when we pray, we don't have in mind a spiritual effect. When we ask for redemption, obviously we are asking for a redemption that will be felt in the physical realm. Our sages have established the prayers for redemption as part of the daily blessings. Therefore, it is understood that the blessings will be fulfilled - otherwise, they would be vain blessings, and we are forbidden to use G-d's name in vain.

How then will these blessings be carried out? G-d will link our prayers to the prayers of previous generations. In their merit, we will experience the immediate redemption.

Creat a wonderful day!

There was once a great and powerful king. His most precious treasure was a diamond –- the most flawless diamond in the world.

One day, at a royal party, the king flaunted his diamond, passing it from guest to guest as it rested on a soft velvet pillow. Abruptly, the diamond fell and became deeply scratched.

The king summoned his jewelers to correct the blemish. However, they informed him that they could not remove the blemish without cutting the surface, thus reducing the diamond's value.

Finally, a craftsman appeared and assured the king that he could fix the diamond without reducing its value.

Several days later, the artist returned with the diamond. The king was astonished to see that the ugly scratch had disappeared. In its place a beautiful rose was engraved.

The scratch had become the stem of an exquisite flower.

And so too in our lives, a scratch can become the stem of something beautiful.

Actually, the stem did not become anything, it was transformed by the work and skill and insight of the artist.

This is a matter of inner work. The ability to see damage and negative attributes as potential for beauty and positive expression is more than perspective, it is a fundamental transformation of what, why and how we think about every detail of every event.

"The soul of man is a lamp of G-d". Ki ner Hashem nishmas odom

"The soul of man is a lamp of G-d."

Like the candle, man is made up of different elements.
The candle's wick, flame, and oil resemble the body, soul, and their spiritual vitality.

The soul, like the flame, blazes with yearning. It burns brightly within, striving for holiness. It fiercely desires to tear itself free from physical reality and unite with its Source.
Yet, like the flame of the candle, the soul falls back, returning to illuminate the world and leave its mark on physical reality. For only as it exists within a human being can the soul accomplish its purpose of descent.

The body is likened to the wick of the candle.
The body houses the soul.

The soul can only fulfill its purpose through the body's senses; it can only understand with the body's mind, and it can only fulfill G-d's commandments with the body's limbs.
It is the body that provides the means and opportunity for the soul's relationship with creation.

The Torah, like the oil of the lamp, is the source for spiritual enlightenment, providing the direction for a meaningful life. Pure and clear, like the oil, the Torah and its mitzvot direct us to our ultimate purpose, permeating humanity and creation with a brighter goodness and truer perspective, in harmony with the will of our Creator.

Praying with a MINYAN

Prayer, the service of the heart, is one of the many ways that love of G‑d is expressed.

Although one may pray in private, praying in a synagogue with a congregation has always traditionally been preferable.

When ten men pray together, constituting a minyan, the Divine Presence rests on them. The prayer of a minyan is considered more effective than private prayer, because no interceding angels are needed to raise the prayer to G‑d. Rather, the prayers are accepted immediately.

G‑d never rejects the prayers of a congregation. Sometimes, a person's concentration and intention may be imperfect but if he prays with a congregation, his prayers will be heard. And as we all probably do not have perfect concentration when we pray, it is all the more important that we pray with a minyan. It is said that in the merit of praying with a minyan, one will make a living more easily and be blessed with the fruits of his labor. In fact, even if praying with a minyan causes one financial loss, G‑d will repay him by granting him extra success.

In addition, when praying with a minyan, one is able to say and/or hear many prayers that are only recited with a minyan, like the Kaddish, the repetition of the Amidah and the Torah reading.

Praying with a minyan is also said to be beneficial for long life.

The "Miser's" three legal court cases.

The townspeople of Berditchev were surprised when R' Levi Yitzchok attended the funeral of the rich miser. "Everyone took him to be a miser", explained R' Levi Yitzchok, "but I have discovered his true character through three legal cases which I had been called upon to decide."

"The first case concerned a wine merchant who went into shock when he discovered that he lost an enormous amount of money. He was not able to be revived until finally a man came forward and handed him the missing money that he said he had found. However, not long after, another man came forward, claiming that really it was he that had found the lost money, yet he had kept it until now. When he heard about the person who had given away an enormous amount of money to save the life of a stranger, he felt regret and now wanted to return the money to the generous donor.

The first man, however, didn't want to give up his mitzva of saving a person's life. They came to settle the matter halachically, and I ruled that the first man, whose funeral we just attended, was not required to accept the money."

"The second time I met him was when a poor man had fabricated a story to his wife and told her that while he was going to a distant town to 'strike it rich', he had arranged that she should go to our rich man here every week for a 'salary', so to speak.

"She innocently went and asked for what she thought was her due, and the rich man, understanding the situation, paid her for many months. When the husband returned, he insisted on repaying his benefactor. The "miser", however, replied that his business was solely with the wife, and he had nothing to do with the husband. Again, he was entitled to keep his mitzva.

"And the third time I met him was after a wealthy man who had gone bankrupt asked this rich man for a loan. 'Who will be your guarantor?' this rich man asked.

"'My only guarantor is G-d,' he replied. Our rich miser here said, "He is a Guarantor I can really trust!"

"When the day arrived for the man to repay his loan, the man said. 'You owe me nothing,' 'Your Guarantor already paid me.

" Once again, He was not required to accept repayment of his loan.

So, you see, my friends, he was no miser. On the contrary, he was a great and saintly person who practiced the giving of charity on the highest level - that of giving quietly, with no public acknowledgment. And he is now standing before the Heavenly Court, accompanied by his mitzvot, which are testifying to his saintliness before that Highest Court."

"Hashem is the refiner and purifier of silver"

In the Book of Prophets, Malachi, there is a verse which says: "He, [Gd], will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

A woman once wanted to understand how this statement applied to the character and nature of G-d, and went to find out more about the process of refining silver and see if perhaps she would then understand this verse better.

Without disclosing her reason of interest, she made an appointment with a silversmith to watch him work.
As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest, so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about G-d holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse, that "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver".

She asked the silversmith if he had to sit in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

"And how do you know when the silver is fully refined ?" she asked the silversmith.
"Oh, that's easy", he answered with a smile, "when I see my image in it."

If you are ever feeling the heat of the fire, remember that you are in G-d's hand, He has His eye on you, and He will keep holding you and watching you until He sees His image in you.

Learn Torah

Once, there were two sisters. One married a rich man; the other's husband was poor. Ironically though, it was the wealthy sister who was the unhappy one. Her sister couldn't understand why she should be so miserable. "He supports you handsomely. He buys you beautiful clothes and expensive jewelry. Just look at your diamonds! Why are you so unhappy?"

Replied the wealthy sister, "Actually, I am jealous of you, my sister. You have a wonderful, loving relationship with your husband. Yes, my husband does buy me expensive things. It is true that he spends money on me. But your husband spends time with you, and mine does not."

We just celebrated Shavuout, the Season of the Giving of the Torah. We adorn our Torahs with exquisite velvet mantles, precious silver crowns, breastplates, bells and pointers, but all these expensive ornaments don't come close to spending time with the Torah. And the Torah is unhappy and cries out, "Thanks for the silver, thanks for the décor, but what I really want is you! I want your time, your mind. I want you!"

So on Shavuot we are reminded that we need to open the book and spend some quality time, meaningful study time, with the Torah.

Practically speaking, this is the season to commit oneself to a regular time for Torah study. Wherever we are in our Jewish education, it must be ongoing. We must have fixed times for learning Torah and those times should be non-negotiable.

Hopefully, this Shavuot was not only the Season of the Giving of the Torah for us, which was G-d's job, but was also the Season of Receiving the Torah - which is our job.