Update on the Arushes

BH

I had the pleasure of speaking tonight again with Daniela Arush. Overall, the news is good. Rabbi Arush shlita, who was not feeling well last week, is BH much better – he started feeling better on Lag B’Omer. Nachman, the oldest child, who just a little while ago was still in a wheelchair, is doing much better and no longer needs regular monitoring. Miriam is also doing much better, although they are still monitoring her internal injuries which have not healed fully. But the doctors are very optimistic and right now are not considering any interventions. Both kids returned to school after Pesach, giving Daniela a little time to breathe as well.

The news from baby Odelle’s ultrasound is also encouraging. She does indeed have a scar on her skull – the force of the collision was strong enough that even the amniotic fluid could not protect her head from ramming into her mother’s pelvis in utero. The good news is that the doctors believe that Baruch Hashem, she does not have any brain damage or other adverse effects, just a scar. She will continue to have the scar monitored.

The hardest news is Rav Shimon Machluf ben Miriam Varda – Daniela’s husband, and Rabbi Arush’s son. Daniela said that he is the only one who still needs prayers – but he still needs them. He is still extremely weak, and now has a motorized wheelchair to get around. If you only knew him before the accident, the one who practically built the new Yeshiva himself, who knows how to weld, electrical stuff, can install air conditioners in a flash and more, this shadow of himself is very hard to get used to. Please continue to daven for him to have a full recovery!

You can continue to get emuna and Arush family updates at my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/emunagal1.  

Accepting the Tiny Suffering with Emuna

Harav Arush explains in Gates of Gratitude that by thanking Hashem for the small things, even the most tiny things, and accepting them with emuna, one can spare himself 5,000 times that amount of suffering, AND atone for all his sins! Sounds incredible – and it’s really very easy except that we need first to believe completely in Divine Providence even over the tiniest happening.

One example he gives is a person who asks for a hot drink, and receives a cold one – or vise-versa. Accepting this with emuna means taking this very small happening and seeing only Hashem and His Divine Providence – and saying: This is what Hashem wants, and therefore this is what Hashem wants! Such a person smiles, and drinks the “incorrect” drink happily. If the waitress, or wife, or child comes up to him saying – “Oh my, I made a mistake! I'm so sorry! Do you want me to exchange your hot chocolate for the shoko that you ordered?” he says – “No mistakes here, kacha Hashem rotzeh – this is what Hashem wants! Thank you so much!” This person adds mitzvot to his mitzvot, atones for all his sins, and spares himself 5,000 times that amount of suffering.

Let’s see what the opposite looks like – such a person fails to see Hashem and His Divine Providence. Instead, he yells and insults the waitress, his wife, or the child who made the mistake: “You never get it right! This is too cold! This is too hot! I wanted something else! Do you have a brain in your head?” and the like. This person adds many sins to his basket, of course gets no atonement for his sins and will get much more suffering his way c”v.

These examples make this concept seem oh-so-easy. But in real life, I'm finding it very difficult to fulfill. Do I accept it with love when my toddler throws paper pieces all over his just cleaned room and hallway, not yell or get angry, and say – Thank you Hashem for sparing me much worse suffering! Kacha Hashem rotzeh! Hashem did this! Or do I see the toddler… the examples are endless because these little sufferings happen absolutely all the time. They are for the very best if we see Hashem through them, accept them with love and don’t sin against the person or thing which brought us the suffering – including ourselves and the seeming mistakes we make. A person stubs his toe – do you say “Thank you Hashem” or blame yourself for missing the doorstop? As I've begun to notice my reactions, inevitably what seems like such a simple, obvious teaching becomes readily apparent for the very big work that it is. But the first step, as always – is to recognize that this is the truth, want to fulfill it, and PRAY to fulfill it.

Does the Hechsher Matter?

I'm always looking for new, good places to go to eat. Hey, I get hungry and I miss takeout sometimes, although Baruch Hashem I am cooking a lot now in my apartment.

Anyway, so I'm walking around near the shuk and I see this big sign on a meat restaurant - "Kosher L'Mehadrin." In this neighborhood that is pretty rare, so I decide to stop in and check it out.

I'm looking on the wall - there is a current Rabbanut Stam Yerushalayim (something I personally don't eat). Then there is another Mehadrin hechsher under it (2 hechshers is not so uncommon). However, this mehadrin "hechsher" doesn't look familiar - in fact, it looks fake. I pull out my list of fake mehadrin hechshers, and while this one isn't exactly like anything on the list, it sure looks like a mixture of a few of them.

I decide to get a bit closer to check it out further and see if I can see more signs of fake/real.

And then I notice it. Just to the left of the mehadrin hechsher (which I am 90% was indeed fake) - a nice, mid-sized cockroach, waltzing down the post where they were both posted. Not anywhere near the kitchen mind you...

So I walked out, thanking Hashem for this very clear sign that whatever was exactly going on with the kashrus, I definitely did NOT want to be eating there!