HaRav Arush on Moshiach

B'H

Rabbi Arush spoke about Moshiach in his shiur last Wednesday that I attended. The following is an outline of his words, translated from the Hebrew.

First he mentioned that many people have been asking about Moshiach coming. He was very funny about it, actually, imitating them: “What’s with Moshiach coming? Why hasn’t he come yet? Things are so hard!” He said yes, things are very hard…but we do not want Moshiach now! We do not understand what Moshiach coming is. He said that part of his avodat Hashem right now, is that he is connected to Moshiach every time he prays, literally in everything he does, he is connected to Moshiach…but Klal Yisrael is not ready for this.

Then he mentioned a story he heard from Rabbi Dovid Stern shlita, and confirmed by another person who was there at the time, that happened to Rabbi Yehuda Zev Leibovitz zt”l. Rabbi Arush said one day, a group of tzaddikim nistarim (hidden righteous men) came to Rabbi Leibovitz, and he knew what they wanted – to agree to let Moshiach come. He said to Aaron his helper – “Tell me, what he in the Holocaust?” Aaron said no. “And was he in the Holocaust?” Again, no. And for all the tzaddikim the answer was the same. Then Rabbi Leibovitz said: “Well I was in the Holocaust and far be it from me to agree to let one Jew suffer because of my decision!”

Then Rabbi Arush mentioned that if Rabbi Leibovitz had agreed, Moshiach would have revealed himself right then. But he did not agree, because Am Yisrael was not ready, and still is not ready. And then he said very strongly, looking right at the people listening to him: “Have you done true teshuva today? Are you doing a real cheshbon nefesh every day? Are you doing hitbodedut every day – one hour is just the minimum! How can you receive the face of Moshiach???”

It was very strong and very clear…we don’t want Moshiach until all of Klal Yisrael can say “yes” to that question. Because once Moshiach comes a person cannot move up levels…wherever they are, that is where they stay. And if you can't stand to see the face of Moshiach... “We do not want another Shoah!!!”

What can we do? Pray!

R’ Arush said in his shiur last night that we must all pray that all the Klal Yisrael begins to pray! He said prayer can make a gun not fire. He also said that when we speak to Hashem in personal prayer, Hashem stops what He is doing in the world, so to speak, and stops to listen to you. Hence, Rebbe Nachman says that personal prayer stops harsh decrees.
Rabbi Brody relates the story that just before World War II, a group of Breslevers started a round-the clock personal prayer cycle within their group, so not a moment would pass that someone wasn’t doing hitbodedut. At some point, they were rounded up and dispersed, hence stopping the constant hitbodedut cycle. That day, WWII started.
My husband also mentioned to me that Rabbi Berland once commented that during the Second Intifada, he set up a 24 hour hitbodedut cycle in similar fashion. After every single bombing, he looked into who was supposed to be doing hitbodedut during that hour, and found out that he had been side-tracked and was not davening then!!!

R' Arush also said that the Evil Inclination is directly responsible for the fact that prayer is so overlooked among many religious people. People look for all types of segulas, inyonim, etc. etc. He said "I don't have any for you! You don't need them! PRAY!" Every prayer creates a vessel. Do you know how many vessels are just in the Shemonei Esrei alone? Why rush? Say every word slowly, with intention. He actually started repeating prayers himself, displaying exactly how one is to say the words. Slowly. Refaeinu, pause. Hashem. Pause. Just like that. He said you can even repeat the words, as many times as you want - just not the blessing itself. 

We can all make a difference. The Evil Inclination has convinced us that prayer isn't effective, we must do, do, do to create vessels. No! Hashem loves us and He wants to give us! The Evil Inclination is a LIAR. Ask Hashem to help you strengthen your belief in prayer - to show you that prayer really does work. Know that Hashem hears every word.

Moshe Rebeinu went into the desert for 60 years before he came back at Hashem's behest to redeem Israel from Egypt. What did he do that whole time? Personal prayer! R' Arush explains even further: He prayed that the Jewish people would start praying. Prayer itself was in exile. Hakol Kol Yaakov - the voice is the voice of Jacob. The Jewish people's strongest middah is prayer! Moshe knew that the Jewish people needed to pray in order to be redeemed. Finally, the Torah says that the Jewish people called out to Hashem in prayer. And what happened next? Hashem went to Moshe and said "I hear their cry! Go redeem them!"

As it was with the first redemption, so it will be with the final redemption. Again, prayer is in exile. Again, we must not only start praying - we must pray that all of Israel joins us. Then, Hashem will again hear our prayers and redeem us, speedily and in our days, B'RACHAMIM, AMEN!!!

Just How Much Hashem Loves You

I just heard this directly from Rabbi Arush:
Think about how much you love your children (if you don't have them - try to imagine it). How much you want everything for them. How much you will always want everything for them, no matter what they do.
Do you think Hashem loves you less than you love your children? Certainly not. He loves you so much more than you can imagine! R' Arush said even the greatest rasha (evil person) - Hashem still wants him to be like Moshe Rebbeinu. He wants to give him everything too!
We must create the vessels to receive all the sheffa (abundance) Hashem wants to give us. How do we create vessels?
Prayer. Every prayer, every word, creates a vessel. Every hour creates a vessel. 6 hours of personal prayer creates an incredibly large vessel. Hashem then fills these vessels with all the good things He wants to give us!
So we don't need to convince Hashem why we need or deserve something. We don't need to worry about our sins getting in the way either. Hashem loves you! Hashem wants to give you everything! Just be happy, and pray about everything, everything, everything. Create the vessels. And Hashem will surely fill them.

I would like to add to this something Rabbi Natan of Breslev continuously discusses, that he learned first hand from Rebbe Nachman:
Obstacles are nothing!!!
Literally. Nothing.
Obstacles are created by Hashem in order to increase our desire. Everything good in the world has a spiritual "price tag." Perhaps someone doesn't have the ability to acquire the good they want, for whatever reason. But they want it, and Hashem wants to give it to them, because Hashem loves us!!! So Hashem sends obstacles. This enables them to increase their desire, more and more. They also increase their prayers. The prayers create vessels. When the amount of desire and prayers surpass the spiritual "price tag," all the obstacles suddenly fall away completely!
The obstacles were created by Hashem. He can easily take them away at will too! The most important thing is to press on with desire and prayers, and the obstacles WILL fall away at the right time! Just don't, don't, DON'T give up. Rebbe Natan stresses this time and again - how many obstacles stood in the way of his pursuit of holiness and truth (many times reflected in trying to go to visit Rebbe Nachman), and how time and again he saw them all miraculously fall away just at the right time. He bemoans those who give up on themselves and don't press on to break all the obstacles through prayer.
Have patience, and increase your desire and prayers, and break through all the obstacles! It really works - because Hashem really loves you. The obstacles are BECAUSE Hashem really loves you!
So please, don't give up. Remember how much Hashem loves you. And just keep praying.

If Only I Had a Minyan...

B'H

Rabbi Arush spoke on Shabbos Chazon, during Shalos Seudos. According to reports (my husband was not there himself, and since it was Shabbos anyway, did not record of course) Rabbi Arush was extremely upset, saying (again, paraphrasing a report):

A terrible new thing has been created – the IPhone and Smartphone. Now, anytime the Evil Inclination puts into a man’s heart, he can sin, the Internet walks around with him and tempts him. If only I had 10 men in the Yeshiva who had completely nullified all their teivot (lusts, desires), I would have been able to make a man KNOW that he is sinning with his Smartphone, whenever this happened. At least he would know it was wrong and have a better chance at fighting his Evil Inclination. Alas, I do not have 10 men, and therefore, he does not even realize that it is wrong…

Now, do not take this as an insult to the men of Rabbi Arush’s Yeshiva, Chut shel Chessed, G-d forbid. What Rabbi Arush is demanding is an incredibly high level – to have not one lust come up, ever, in any situation. Even a man who ever feels a lust for anything, even once a year, and stomps it completely is not on this level. The men in the Yeshiva are certainly working incredibly hard towards this goal, and as a whole the Yeshiva is an incredibly holy community, but alas, not 10 of them have gotten there yet.

So why do I mention it? Two reasons:

<![if !supportLists]>1.      <![endif]>To remind us of the dangers of the Internet.
I blog on the Internet, so obviously I don’t believe it’s wholly evil. I do believe it is something like the Klipat Noga in Kabbalah – it is not good nor evil specifically, but leans towards evil and must be used very, very carefully. There is no doubt that an Internet filter of some kind is absolutely required by halachah, and if a man is on the Internet, either his wife must be able to (and do it!) to monitor his usage on a regular basis, no less than once a month, or he must use a kosher Internet filter which will filter and monitor him if needed.
Even if it’s kosher, it still must be used carefully – how many hours to people waste away with silliness on Facebook or Twitter? I myself have to fight this Yetzer – it is just oh so easy to take a 5 minute break, that ends up to be an hour, and my entire day is messed up because I took time I didn’t have. Why is it so addicting? Because it’s mindless and easy. OK we’re answering people’s important questions on some group. But are you achieving your purpose in life doing so? If the answer is no, the amount of time must be carefully watched to make sure it makes sense.

<![if !supportLists]>2.      <![endif]>To remind us of how everything we do affects the world.
Just imagine – if there were 10 men like this, they would have such power! That every man would always know he is sinning, every time, without becoming complacent. That is power!
Nothing we do is lost. Every minute of personal prayer, Tehillim, Torah; every time we light Shabbos candles or put on tefillin; every time a man guards his eyes, and a woman dresses modestly, and they both guard themselves only for their spouse; every word of emuna, and every time we refrain from speaking lashon hara or slander…we don’t know the power of holiness we are putting into the world! We don’t know how every time we talk to someone else about emuna, some other person is strengthened and comes a little closer to Hashem.
We are fighting a war against evil. This IS the war of Gog and Magog according to Rebbe Nachman. An individual cannot see the war going on, nor can they see the outcome of each battle. And if they lose, but pick themselves up and do teshuva, and grow a bit humbler knowing they cannot be successful in coming closer to Hashem without His help – that is a battle won!!!
Slowly, but surely, every one of Hashem’s warriors is fighting their little battles, and one day, G-d willing soon, when Moshiach comes – Moshiach is going to show each of us just how much we accomplished, and how with what seemed to us as a little battle, we wiped out entire armies of enemies.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet

We lost a tremendous light today, HaRav HaGaon Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l. Klal Yisrael has no words to describe our loss. We can only pray that He will beseech Hashem for us in Shamayim and that his death should be considered an atonement for our generation.

Rabbi Arush spoke recently about the decree in this year on Torah giants. Indeed this year we have lost Rebbetzin Kanievsky (one of Rabbi Elyashiv’s daughters), Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, and now Rabbi Elyashiv, and more – all tzaddikim, their memory should be a blessing. He said that we must pray that our tzaddikim be spared, especially this year. He said specifically that we shouldn’t say that it’s natural that a tzaddik passed away, after all Rabbi Elyashiv was 102, Rabbi Scheinberg 101, etc. They lived a long, good life, right?

Emphatically, no. They all died this year specifically because of this decree, and we must continue to pray for our tzaddikim, because we can't imagine the power they have to annul negative decrees c’v in Shamayim and the Divine mercy they bring to all of Klal Yisrael.

May Hashem grant health, healing and long life, mamash until 120, to all of the tzaddikim, revealed and hidden, and all of Klal Yisrael!

The Yetzer Hara is the Best Thing in the World!

B'H

Rabbi Arush recently explained (this is a paraphrase of a lecture my husband recorded) that the Yetzer Hara is the best thing in the world! Thank you Hashem for the Yetzer Hara!

This was a pretty incredible comment to me. I mean, I always think of the Yetzer as what he is – the Evil Inclination, as in evil. How could the EI possibly be good?

Rabbi Arush explains that the EI is incredibly good for us. Without the Yetzer, we would all float around, thinking that we’re tzaddikim on our pedestals. We might even think that we don’t really need Hashem to help us, G-d forbid!

But with the Yetzer, we fall all the time. We see our weaknesses. We cringe when we look back and realize that this conversation was lashon hara, and that time I got angry, and the other time I didn’t tell 100% truth.

Therefore, we come to Hashem with humility. We know we’re not the best thing since sliced bread. We recognize that we’re limited and fallible, that we make more mistakes than we recognize and get sucked into sins and lusts we didn’t even see coming. We recognize our place. And we come to Hashem from there.

Even more, when we do succeed, we see how much it really isn’t us. While yesterday I couldn’t overcome X desire, this morning I prayed extra, and wow I'm succeeding in overcoming it just a little more than yesterday. That’s not me – that’s Hashem! We recognize that we need Hashem, and thank Him for enabling us to overcome the Yetzer, and pray with humility. And that’s the best thing in the world.

Rosh Chodesh Nissan - Time to Pray for Moshiach

I also want to share with you Rabbi Arush's thoughts on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, which is this Shabbos. This is a word for word translation!

We must prepare ourselves for a really important time. The month of Nissan. Rebbe Nachman writes that there are two months of teshuva – Tishrei and Nissan. In Tishrei we do teshuva because we are afraid – but in Nissan, we do teshuva because we love Hashem. All of that month, all of those days, are Yamim Tovim. They are festive days. The first twelve days, are days that there were sacrifices of the princes of Israel, 13^th is isru chag for the Nissim, 14^th is the sacrifice of Pesach, then 7 days of Pesach, then Isru Chag – one month of holidays!

This month it's going to be a new beginning for the rest of the year. It's the month of the Geula. Rabbi Nachman of Breselv writes in Likutei Moharan that this is the first day of the year for the kings. On this day Hashem is deciding all of the kings that are going to be. So there is an aspect that Rosh Chodesh Nissan is more important than even the first day of Rosh Hashanah in Chodesh Tishrei! On Rosh Hashanah Hashem judges us all individually. Each and every one, He is judging Him on his actions. But on Rosh Chodesh Nissan Hashem is judging generally – all of the world itself. Who is going to be the kings and so on. On Rosh Chodesh Nissan, Hashem is going to decide when Moshiach is going to come. There is not for no reason that our Rabbis say that Moshiach will come in Nissan. It's because on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, Hashem is going to decide if the king is going to be Moshiach, so he's going to come in Nissan. This is why everyone has to realize how important these days are and put in the effort, and especially on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, to pray that Hashem is going to put His kingdom on top, that He is going to be the King, and if you Hashem are not going to bring the Moshiach this year, please appoint good kings that it's going to be good for us.