Creating Angels

According to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, we create an angel whenever we do any cleaning for Pesach.

The following is written by R' Tal Moshe Zwecker

Once, when the Rebbe Maharash of Lubavitch was traveling through Berditchev, he saw a group of elderly Tolna chassidim carrying buckets of water and scrubbing the walls and floor of a little shul in preparation for a visit from their Rebbe the following day.

When the Rebbe asked them why they were doing all the work themselves instead of letting the younger chassidim help them, they answered, "We are doing this ourselves because we want to have healthy angels to assist the advocating angels who come out of the tekios, the blasts of the shofar."

"You know the Yehi Ratzon that is said after the tekios of Rosh HaShanah — the one that mentions 'the angels that are formed from the blowing of the shofar, and from the tekia, the shevarim, the teruah, and the tekiah, (kshr"k),' [the identifying letters of the Hebrew words that signify the various sounds of the shofar]?

Well, one Rosh HaShanah the holy Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev said: 'Sweet Father, compassionate Father! Just in case the angels that proceed from the shofar that Levi Yitzchak the son of Sarah Sasha has just blown are weak angels, let their place be taken by the holy, healthy angels that were created by the toil of Your people in preparation for Passover, as they cleaned their kitchen utensils in order to fulfill their mitzvah as perfectly as possible:

kratzen (scouring), shobben (scraping), rieben (rubbing), and kasheren (making kosher)'" — [for the initials of these four Yiddish words are also kshr"k].

[Likkutei Dibburim of the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch, Vol. I p. 280]

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Similarly we find in the holy sefer Kav HaYashar Part II Chapter 89:

It is proper to teach the women of Beis Yisroel to have the following in mind while they are kashering their utensils from Chametz for Pesach through hagalah and libun that [just as they are removing the Chametz ] so should the Holy One should remove and destroy the evil inclination, evil and wickedness from the land. And we trust in the Holy One to removed idolatry from our midst.

The minhag of Yisroel is Torah, that they have the custom to scrape clean tables, benches and chairs as well as the walls from any suspicion of contact with Chametz  and Hashem's watchful eyes gaze over all the actions of Bnei Yisroel His treasured people who are holy and the sons of the holy ones whose hard work and labor is all for the sake of removing and destroying chametz all the days of the month of Nissan, and so should the Holy One scrape away all the afflictions which come from the "other side" [which are found sunk in the walls of homes in this bitter exile] and any prosecutions against us and from their power they cause us suffering in this bitter exile."

Source and more at: Berdichev Org

The Spiritual Ladder

I heard in the name of Rebbe Elimelech that if a person wishes to rise higher in his spiritual level, he must see to it that his character traits are whole and perfect on the lower level. This is because it is impossible to maintain a constant static level.

A person is like the angels called Chayos, which run and return, for sometimes he rises and sometimes he falls.  And if his lower levels are not perfected, how can he return to them?

The Rebbe compared this to a man climbing a ladder.  The wise and intelligent man will first test all the rungs to make sure that they are whole and intact so that if needs be he can retrace his steps and return to them.

[Tal Moshe Zwecker: Mipeninei Noam Elimelech]

Mind Games



Art: Mike Worrall



The Baal Shem Tov said : "The world is a mirror. The defects you see in others are really your own."


That solves one problem: if we see a defect in someone else, we can rest assured that defect exists in us too, otherwise we wouldn't have noticed it.

But what happens when that defect does not exist in you, and therefore you don't notice it in someone else... ?

That's how simple, naive, innocent people fall for con-men. These innocent people don't possess a sneaky side: for them, it would be unthinkable to deceive someone else.... and therefore they do not realise when they are being taken for a ride.

They didn't see it, because they don't have that quality themselves.

When the truth finally hits, that they have actually been deceived, they are in a state of shock. It's hard to believe, how could this happen? Sometimes the victim will turn nasty and try to shoot the messenger, but ultimately they will realize that the "messenger" was the one they should be thanking for waking them up.

It's no crime to be innocent and naive, in fact it's a virtue, but these days the world is a very dangerous place, and we need to be on the alert for anyone who's messing with our minds.

Geneivat da'at - Theft of the Mind - is the worst theft of all.

Geneivat da'at is not limited to con-artists..... it's practised all the time by abusers and manipulators.  They do the crime, but they won't admit it, or accept responsibility for it.  Instead, they'll blame you, the victim, for everything, and bring attention to your defects in order to take the heat off themselves.   They will try to discredit you in every way possible in order to ensure that no-one will listen to a word you're saying.

Be aware that this is how abusers behave, and be on your guard in the future. Get as far away from these people as you can, and don't go back. 

The Three Levels of Tzaddikim

In every generation there exists 36 tzadikim nistarim [hidden righteous men] - sometimes known as "the Lamed Vav-niks" - [Lamed Vav is Hebrew for 36], whose existence sustain the world.

When one of them dies, G-d finds another replacement.

A tzadik nistar is a hidden tzadik, whose righteousness remains unknown to his community. In every generation there are 36 tzadikim nistarim in addition to 36 revealed tzadikim. [see Leviatan and Behemot]. Together they combine to form the 72 "bridges" (corresponding to the 72 Names of G-d) described in the Zohar as linking together the concealed and revealed worlds. It requires tremendous self sacrifice for a tzadik nistar to reveal himself to the world. This was first accomplished in full by the Ba'al Shem Tov.

A tzadik is someone who has succeeded in fully overcoming the evil inclination of his animal soul (and has converted its potential into good) and who dedicates himself to spiritually elevating his people.

There are in general three levels of the tzadik:

1. A "complete tzadik" [tzadik gamur] who not only vanquishes in full his innate evil inclination, but even transforms it into good [for which reason he is referred to as tzadik v'tov lo," a tzadik who possesses only good].

2. An "incomplete tzadik" [tzadik she'eino gamur] who has not yet completed the task of vanquishing his evil inclination, though he has mineralized it in essence [for which reason he is called a tzadik v'ra lo," a tzadik who [still] possesses [a bit of] evil].

3. A "relative tzadik" [tzadik b'shem hamushal, or tzadik b'din] whose merits exceed his liabilities [see Tanya, chapt. 1].

Emett : Truth

from the writings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

A person who wants to attach to Hashem, so that his thoughts travel from one chamber to the next, seeing these chambers with his mind's eye - should avoid speaking falsely, even by mistake.

One may distort the truth to preserve peace.

Those who lie are not worthy of receiving the Shechinah (the Divine presence).

A tzaddik is free to act deceitfully with one who deceives others.

All those who add, detract.

A man of truth can recognise in another if he is speaking falsely or not.

A sign that something is false is that it encounters opposition from the majority (of wise men). The liar is one of the three types of people whom G-d despises.

Giving charity rectifies one's speech.

Truth protects the world from all forms of harm.

When there is no truth, there is no kindness. Such a person cannot deal kindly with people.

A person should rather die than live and be considered a liar by others.

Where there is truth, there is peace.

The further a man is from truth, the more he considers one who turns away from evil to be a fool.

When a person does not speak falsely, G-d saves him in time of pain. He will also be blessed with children.

Someone who tells lies is cut down. He also becomes a fool.

A person who guards himself from falsehood is always victorious.

It is permissible to distort (the truth) in order to save oneself.

Truth saves a person from slander. By telling the truth, their prayers are accepted, and when judged Above, they will be judged according to their merits.

One who was a liar in a previous lifetime will be reincarnated left-handed.

When you see a liar, you should know that his spiritual leader is also false.

Truth will bring the final redemption. When Moshiach comes, falsehood will not exist and so there will be no evil inclination in the world.

[Rebbe Nachman's Aphorisms on Jewish Living]

For the Sake of Peace

from the writings of the Ben Ish Chai

"Tzedek, Tzedek shall you pursue, that you may live and inherit the earth." [Deut 16:20]

"Pursuit" in Scripture is usually in order to destroy, as in "Five of you shall pursue a hundred" [Lev. 26:8].  Why, then, are we told to pursue tzedek - truth - as if it were an evil that we wish to eradicate?

There are times when we must keep away from the truth.

G-d asked Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh, saying "Will I really give birth, when I have become old?" [Genesis 18:13]. Actually, Sarah had said that Abraham was old [Gen 18:12].  G-d changed the report for the sake of harmony between the two.

Why did G-d mention age at all?

To teach us to use falsehood when necessary for peace.  Being overly "righteous" about it is forbidden.

There are times when truth destroys and falsehood builds.

This is demonstrated by the very word שׁקר - "falsehood". Two of its letters stand on a single base, making them unstable.  Why, though, is the first letter - שׁ - sometimes formed with a stable base?  To show that we should not always discard falsehood. On occasion it is necessary.

Returning to our verse: "Tzedek, tzedek shall you pursue, so that you may live and inherit the earth".  The first tzedek means "charity" or "kindness".  The second means "truth". (Tzedek bears both meanings in Biblical Hebrew).  Our verse hints that truth is to bring charity and kindness in its wake.  Sometimes, charity and kindness require you to "pursue" and banish truth.  When?  "So that you may live" - when life is at stake.

If a critically ill person asks you how he looks, don't reply: "You look as if your condition is deteriorating."  That might hasten his death.  Lie and say: "You look as if you are on your way to recovery."  His joy at hearing this may help him recover.

You may also have to banish truth to bring peace.

Let's say Reuven sent a messenger to pick something up from Shimon, whose response was to curse Reuven.  Afterward, Reuven asks his messenger "What did Shimon say?"  To prevent a feud, Shimon must refrain from telling him the truth.

Pursue truth "and inherit the earth" - banish truth to bring peace, which preserves the earth.

Source: Od Yosef Hai, Derushim Shoftim - Ben Ish Chai

Lessons to be learned

"This shall be the law of the metzora" [Metzora 14:2]

Why, asked R' Shmuel of Sochotchov, does the verse state: "This shall be the law of the metzora" and not "This is the law of the metzora"?

The tzara'as affliction, answered the Rebbe, is brought about by the sin of haughtiness.  Once he is afflicted, however, and individuals begin to distance themselves from him, he feels contrite and humbled.

But this feeling of humility must accompany him for the rest of his life.  Even after he is healed, let him not return to his previous state of arrogance; rather, he must ingrain the lesson he has learned as a metzora and remain humble until his very last day.

Source: Rabbi Y. Bronstein

Melbourne's Double Comet [last night]