Is G-d Angry At Us?

by Rav Ephraim Kenig, shlita, of Breslev Tsfat

When a person goes through hard times, or any other more general type of trouble such as where we find ourselves in the world today, know the following: God is the One Who controls everything, and He knows exactly what He is doing. Not only does He know, but whatever He does, actually comes down to manifest itself in our lives, which is proof enough that it is the right reality for us at the moment.

Just don’t think that God brought this upon us because He is angry, God forbid, since the fact that He brought it shows the exact opposite. Even if God was indeed angry, the fact that He put us in this situation is already part of the tikkun—it is already repairing any anger He may have had.

Precisely times like these show that God is relating to us in order to fix and elevate us, so there will be no need for anger again. In other words, His anger has already passed. We are now in the phase of God’s desire, as it were, which shows that He is looking at us and our actions. This should make it easier to come to all sorts of decisions to improve ourselves, since God is waiting for us—not out of anger—but out of the desire and love that He has for us.

If you can take a swift hold of your life today and bring yourself to a better path on every level, God is waiting for you with open arms. If we can all awaken ourselves in teshuva, this awakening will most certainly ascend to Heaven and shut the mouth of the Accusing Forces. Through this, a shefa of life, health, healing and nachat will come down to us—shefa for everything we need. Amen.

Boundaries

Transcribed from Tik Tok User Inspiring Moments

The moment a person realizes you will tolerate their disrespect,

the way they treat you changes forever.

And I need you to understand this clearly:

People don't keep hurting you because they don't know it hurts

They keep hurting you because they know you'll stay anyway.

Your forgiveness becomes their permission to break you again.

You think by being patient, understanding and giving second chances,

they will eventually see your worth and change....

But that is not how human psychology works.

When you accept bad behaviour.....

you teach them how to negotiate your value down.

They stop valuing your presence 

because there are zero consequences 

for ignoring your boundaries, or stepping out on you.

If someone breaks your trust, or disrespects you,

explaining your pain 50 times will never change their heart.

The only language a disrespected heart needs to speak is quiet, immediate and permanent removal of your access.

Never let your loyalty turn into self-betrayal.

The moment a person realizes you will tolerate their disrespect,  the way they treat you changes forever.

And I need you to understand this clearly.

Souls and Names

Art by Sharon Tomlinson

The Hebrew word for soul is "Neshama" - נשׁמה
The middle letters of נשׁמה spell "shem" - which means "name".
This shows us the importance of your name - it is the centre of the soul.

The Talmud [Berachot 7b] teaches that a Hebrew name has an influence on its bearer. Therefore, it is extremely important to name children after individuals with positive character traits who led fortunate lives and helped bring goodness to the world.

The Arizal writes that the nature and behavior of a person, whether good or bad, can be discovered by analyzing his or her name. For example, a child named Yehudah could possibly be destined for leadership, for Yehudah, the fourth son of Jacob, symbolized monarchy and most Jewish kings descended from the tribe of Yehudah.

It is said that parents are actually blessed with prophesy when naming their newborn babies.

According to the Arizal, even the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in one's name can be indicative of an individual's character. For example the gematria of the name Elisheva is equivalent to the numerical value of the Hebrew words yemei simcha, meaning "days of happiness," perhaps portending a joyous life for a baby girl named Elisheva.

It is precisely because the fortunes and misfortunes of mankind are concealed in the secrets of the letters, vowels and meanings of Hebrew names that a seriously ill person is given an additional name like Chaim, meaning "life," or Rafael, meaning "God heals," in order to influence his destiny. We hope and pray that the new name will herald a new mazel, or fortune, for the stricken individual.

Rabbi Elimelech of Lyzhansk, writes in his classic work on Torah "Noam Elimelech" [Bamidbar] that there is a profound connection between the soul of an infant and the soul of the person for whom he or she is named.

When a child is named after the deceased, the latter's soul is elevated to a higher realm in heaven and a spiritual affinity is created between the soul of the departed and the soul of the newborn child. That deep spiritual bond between these two souls can have a profound impact on the child.

Zocher HaBris 24:4, who also quotes Noam Elimelech on Bamidbar: “If they give him the name of a tzaddik who has already lived in this world, this will cause him also to become a tzaddik, because it has aroused the soul of the departed tzaddik in the Supernal World.

What the Chofetz Chaim told his Daughter about the Arrival of the Mashiach

Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff - under 2 mins

Truth Be Told

 

The Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism  : the eighth hearing began yesterday and runs until August 14.  

A short clip of NSW Jewish Board of Deputies President David Ossip’s cross-examination by Dominic Toomey, counsel for the Palestine Action Group (PAG), and counsel for the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) Ragni Mathur. Ossip provided evidence to the Royal Commission about the antisemitic protest organised by PAG outside the Sydney Opera House on October 9, 2023, and its effect on the Jewish community.

The Shattered Vessel #2

 

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Instead of hiding the cracks, this method highlights them, treating breakage as an important part of the object's history.

Meaning "golden joinery" Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese technique that dates back to the late 15th century. It involves repairing broken pottery using lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. This practice reflects a deeper cultural belief that breakage and repair are part of an object's history, not something to disguise but to celebrate.

We should also celebrate our broken-ness and our repair.  Wear it like a badge of honour.  

Part 1 can be seen here

Reincarnation Before Mashaich: The Return of Holocaust Souls

Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff - video under 2 mins

For the Sake of Giving

נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן לוֹ וְלֹא יֵרַע לְבָבְךָ בְּתִתְּךָ לוֹ 
You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him [Re'eh 15:10]

A poor person appeared before he tzaddik R' Mendel of Rimanov.  He poured his heart out before R' Mendel, sparing no detail of his difficult situation.  The Rebbe gave the man a substantial sum of money. Then, as the man turned to leave, the Rebbe presented him with yet another coin.

''Why did the Rebbe give the man tzedakah twice?'' asked the Rebbe's family.

He answered: ''The first time I gave him it was out of sympathy, as I was very saddened by the severity of his predicament.  The second time, however, was purely for the sake of fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah.''

''We find an allusion to this in Scripture'', concluded R' Mendel.  ''For when the Torah tells us to give charity, it uses a repetitive expression ''Natan titein lo''.  This is to teach us that we should ''give and give again''.  

''The first time we give charity, it should be for the sake of ''lo yeira le vavecha'' - that our hearts should not be wicked against our friends.  We must learn to feel compassion in our hearts, then Heaven will have compassion toward us.

''The second time we give, however, we should do so purely for the sake of the mitzvah of giving - ''be titcha lo''.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein