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.

A Plea to Singles

B'H

Dating with emuna is for everyone – men, women, Jew, and Noahide. The Gemara says that for Hashem, making a match is like splitting the Red Sea all over again. The dating culture in the Western world, and even the religious world, has become so warped that a veritable “shidduch crisis” has ensued. With emuna, you can beat the statistics. There are simple and yet profound rules you can follow to apply Rabbi Arush’s principles of emuna to dating, and G-d willing, enable yourself to become the person you need to be in order for Hashem to (finally) send you your true soulmate.

Click here to see all the articles in the series on dating with emuna.

The Best Job on Earth

I always thought I would go back to work after I had a baby. No, even more than that: I always assumed I would want to go back to work after I had a baby.
 I have always been “The Sophisticate” (to fully understand this reference, you absolutely must read Rabbi Shalom Arush’s incredible book B’Gan HaChochma – available in Hebrew, and with Hashem’s help, soon to be available in English – right here at www.breslev.co.il). I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Southern California, with all the additional hoopla – Phi Beta Kappa, Special Achievement Awards, you name it. I had so many cords and paraphernalia around my neck, I can't hope to remember what they all meant (although I think I did tag them all appropriately after graduation so I wouldn’t need to remember – more on what motherhood has done to my incredibly organized lifestyle G-d willing in future articles).
 For as long as I can remember, people always told me that someone like me would never be happy being home with a baby. “You’re too sophisticated to be a stay at home mom” – surely, I will be so bored by all the feedings, and baby talk, and baby books, and everything. I will need to have “outside stimulation” to work and be with adults, and be able to have a “sophisticated” conversation instead of just babble. I will need the freedom and independence of working, and a much deserved break from the baby. I'm so smart, why should I waste it staying home! Really, a woman could go crazy being in the house all day! Certainly, I will be flying out the door to go to work after three months home on maternity leave!
 And of course, I believed them.
 I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Read more at: http://www.breslev.co.il/articles/family/children_and_education/the_best_job_on_earth.aspx?id=21857&language=english

Rabbi Arush: Tell all the Jews - Come to Israel!

Rabbi Arush spoke specifically about moving to Israel in his private shiur to the Yeshiva yesterday. The following is an exact translation of his words, from a recording my husband took:

We have to tell the all the Jews outside of Israel, that they have to come to Israel! You see that outside of Eretz Yisrael, there is danger. You think that in Eretz Yisrael it's dangerous? You're going to see what's going on outside. But in Eretz Yisrael there is seata dishmaya (Divine Providence), help from Heaven that is special here in Eretz Yisrael. Tzaddikim are saying that in Eretz Yisrael, nothing bad is going to happen! Eretz Yisrael is guarded - shmura. Protected. Tell them - come to Eretz Yisrael! What are you doing over there? What are you doing?

Until now, tens of thousands of missiles are falling in Eretz Yisrael, and nothing is happening. But one time, one missile fell in a Druze Villiage of Arabs, and tens died in one missile. But you see that Hashem is playing with the missiles, that they are going to fall between houses, and nothing is happening. 

He said that one time they asked one of the Arabic soldiers why are the missiles not striking? He answered that everything in the computers are set. It's fixed. But Elokim is moving the missiles from their place.

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.

This is the time for miracles!

Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi brought this down during here shiur this week, and it's so incredible I wanted to share it with you!

A faucet of miracles – at your seder

We're at an amazing time – "a moment of affection". The month of Nisan – the time of nissim, miracles. What does the Chatam Sofer say? There's a difference between a ko'es, one who is angry, and a ka'asan, one who is by nature angry; the difference between a spender and a spendthrift. One's momentary, the other existential. The same thing with a nes, a miracle. God split the Sea of Reeds, ים סוף , once, and that's it – so what?... But Nisan – that's the nature of the season. A gate of miracles opens up this week. The nature of the time is miracle after miracle, and all I ask, says God, is that הַרְחֶב פִּיךָ וַאֲמַלְאֵהוּ – open your mouth wide and let Me fill it1; שְׁאַל 1 Psalms 81:11 מִמֶּנִּי – וְאֶתְּנָה – Ask of Me and I shall give2. All I want from you is for you to ask. That's it. At the beginning of Nisan the angels overseeing your fortune changed their shifts. If you've felt stuck, locked in, closed – God called for a shift change, and now you have new angels supervising your fortune, your constellation. What's a constellation? A mazal – from the word nozel, meaning to flow. They cause a flow of changed fortunes. I so much want to give you all hope, because if you don't believe it you'll never see the miracles. So we must pray, because salvation is getting closer. We must have faith to receive the miracles. 2 Psalms

Rain in Jerusalem

It was so beautiful erev Shabbos. We had been praying for rain and although it was finally cooler and partly cloudy, we had only had enough to get everything muddy and dirty. I came home from my walk and took a shower, and then a friend called. She nonchalantly asked me how I liked the rain.

Rain, what rain? (thankfully I am very shielded in my little corner and have great windows)

So I opened the window and it was pouring!

Well I had just taken a shower, so a little water wouldn't hurt me. I went into the little chatzer (shared space) in my building, protected from the street, and started singing in my head and dancing in the rain. It was a blast.

Then I went out to run some erev Shabbos errands and discovered that my little walking street with steps was now a river! It was OK since I had my boots but it was pretty funny.

The rain had stopped by candlelighting but it was really fun and beautiful. Today was 60's and partly cloudy and such a nice break! A little fall weather in the end of October - what a concept!

The Way It Should Be

It was so nice. Yesterday, I was sitting on the bus on the way to work, saying my daily Tehillim. I young man sat down next to me, and pulled out a Shulchan Aruch. So there we were - me and my Tehillim, and he with his Shulchan Aruch, on the bus going wherever.

The way it should be.