The Journey of the Soul: from beginning to end

We all want to know where we came from and where we're going to end... This lecture covers the general idea of the journey of the soul

Rabbi Alon Anava

Parts 1, 2 and 3

Purim 2016

Just uploaded, a new shiur from Rabbi Mizrachi.

The Secrets of The World

Art by Mel

The Mishkan is called the Mishkan HaEidus, the residence of testimony. The Medrash says that the Mishkan is testimony to the fact that Hashem created Heaven and Earth. 

The Sfas Emes [Rebbe Yehudah Leib Alter] explains that in this world Hashem is hidden. We cannot see Him or His greatness in every part of creation. We don't know why things were created or their connection to Hashem.

The Mishkan is the link between Shamayim and Aretz [Heaven and Earth]. Each part of the building of the Mishkan and its Keilim [vessels] represent things in this world and reflect the face of Hashem hidden behind them. 

Therefore seeing the Mishkan and understanding the purpose of it, is the greatest testimony to the fact that Hashem created a very spiritual world hidden behind seemingly mundane objects of nature.

Source: Revach.net

The Misplaced Anger of Israelis

by Dr Rivkah Lambert Adler

Five terrorist attacks in one bloody day. My Facebook newsfeed is full of anger.

Demand the world take action against Palestinian terror!

Expel the Arabs!

What is wrong with our government?! We’re getting slaughtered in the streets.

Joe Biden, go back. We don’t want you here!

I get it. Really I do.

At the same time, looking at the big picture, I’m convinced that, spiritually, this anger, while understandable, is woefully misplaced.

We are in the period of Jewish history known as the End of Days. We can feel the breath of Moshiach (the Jewish redeemer) on the back of our necks. This time, immediately before our final redemption, is referred to as the Ishmaelite Exile by our Sages. It’s the last exile of the Jewish people, and it has a very specific purpose.

The Hebrew expression kochi v’otzem yadi means “my strength and the power of my hands”. It comes from the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy 8:17).

As a nation, we’re still stuck in the illusion of kochi v’otzem yadi. We still believe that human efforts are sufficient to solve the problem of Muslim terror. As long as we think there is a diplomatic, military, economic or political solution, we have failed to learn the lesson this stage of history is trying to teach us.

We haven’t learned to turn to God.

We still believe in and rely upon our human prowess too much. So God sent us the problem of Muslim terror, exactly because the kind of terrorism that Israel suffers from is a problem we will never be able to solve on our own.

Anger at the government, anger at the Arabs, is missing the point. God is running the world. And He’s turning up the heat, so to speak, pleading with us to recognize that we need Him. To save precious lives, to prepare us for Moshiach, we need, very quickly, to come to the understanding that Ain Od Milvado – there is truly nothing besides God.

Everything we are living through is intended to increase our faith, to prepare us for the final redemption. We are being called upon to recognize that we are absolutely helpless. Only God can destroy this enemy.

We need to take reasonable security precautions on a human level. Of course we do. But we must open our eyes and understand that the most crucial task before us is a spiritual one.

We must learn to recognize the limits of our capabilities. We must learn that it is time to live our lives according to the last Mishna in Tractate Sotah which teaches, “We have no one upon whom to rely, except our Father in heaven.”

Source:  Israel NewsTalk Radio

Failed Suicide - Great Yichus

Another great lesson from Rabbi Alon Anava. He discusses topics that other rabbis don't really speak 

about.  Only Hashem decides who will die, and when.  

How To Get Rid of Bad Thoughts

All day long we have unwanted thoughts in our mind. Where do they come from and how can I block them and/or get rid of them?

Grandfather's Demand in a Dream

After a retired Mohel declined to perform the bris, the boy's late grandfather appeared in a dream and gave a chilling motivator.

A full crowd filled the main hall of Chabad's Jewish Russian Community Center of Montreal to participate in the bris milah ceremony for the son of Lubavitcher couple R' Simi and Chana Wenger.

The celebration on Sunday was especially joyous, in addition to being held in the month of Adar, in a year of Hakhel gathering and the fact that a new child would be entering the covenant of Avraham Avinu.

Unlike most bris milahs, this child was older than 8 days old. In fact, the boy was 2 months old, having been hospitalized since his birth on the 7th of Teves 5776. He has been connected to machines and receiving close medical attention due to health complications.

"Can you write to say Tehillim for my baby," the father asked COLlive.com to post a public Tehillim request on Rosh Chodesh Adar I. The name given for prayers was simply tinok ben Esther Chana (child son of Esther Chana, the mother).

On Friday, Simi Wenger already had good news to share. "Baruch Hashem, our baby came home Wednesday night," he updated COLlive.

"We wanted to thank everyone who said Tehillim and had the baby in mind," he wrote. "He went from being on a ventilator and fully sedated to being home 2 weeks later. We should all hear only good news."

Following the circumcision, the child was finally given his own name: Ori Yosef Wenger. He was named after his great-grandfather, Rabbi Ori Shonthal OBM, the long-time Director of Ecole Primaire Beth Rivkah, a Lubavitch girls school in France.

If that wasn't enough of a cause for celebration and joy, then came a chilling speech at the festive Seudas Mitzvah meal that followed. The speaker was Rabbi Pesach Sperlin, Director of Mesivta Ateres Menachem of Montreal and Shliach of Chabad Montreal West center, who performed the bris.

Rabbi Sperlin candidly told the crowd that when Simi Wenger first approached him to do the bris, he immediately declined. "I stopped doing brisim to focus on the Mesivta and the Chabad House," he said. "If I make an exception now, it will be difficult for me to refuse others in the future."

So what made him agree to perform the bris, after all?

Rabbi Sperlin said that a few nights later he had a dream about the child's late grandfather, Rabbi Eliezer Wenger, the noted teacher, author, and publisher of works on halacha, who passed away on 22 Adar 5770.

"Rabbi Wenger, olov hashalom, was visibly very happy and asked me to wish him a Mazal Tov. I asked him what is the occasion and he replied that Simi had a son. So I wished him a Mazal Tov," Sperlin told.

He continued, "Rabbi Wenger then asked him to do the bris. To show me that it was not just a dream, he told me to look in the middle drawer of my desk."

When Rabbi Sperlin woke, he rushed over to the desk in his home and rummaged around a little. To his astonishment, he found a photo of himself standing alongside Rabbi Wenger and reciting the Birchas Kohanim at the Chuppah of Simi and Chana Wenger, the child's parents.

Agreeing to do the bris was not a question any more...

Source and more photos at: COLLive

Mental Illness: Where does it come from? How to fix it?

Rabbi Alon Anava

 

''Mashiach'' - Zusha

Past Life Sins

Art: K. Madison-Moore

In his commentary on the Book of Yonah, the Vilna Gaon writes 

“The main thing [to keep in mind is that the purpose of reincarnation] is to effect the repair of a [negative] influence originating in a previous lifetime... [One way] to discern exactly what that negative influence is is to reflect upon the type of wrong your soul yearns after the most in this lifetime. That which you yearn after most is likely something you became habituated to in a previous life. And therefore pay attention to your vices. [They tell you exactly what you have to work on in this lifetime.] ...The main thing is to repair that which one stumbled in in a previous [life] ... How can one know what one stumbled in during a previous life? ... [Pay attention] to that particular sin one’s soul longs for greatly (for it was emblazened into the soul as a habit in the previous life). That’s why some people are drawn after one type of sin more than another. And that’s also why our Sages say that one must continually judge himself and weigh his actions..."

Note the subtle difference here between culpability and character improvement [tikkun]. Consider yourself not responsible for any sins you may or may not have done in a previous life, if you even had one (and/or know about it). Nevertheless, since in principle, at least, a previous life may be impacting on your present life circumstance, pay attention to your vices. Rather than limiting your free will, this information can, in theory, help it. For instance, you may feel you have no chance to overcome your lust for cheeseburgers. You may tell yourself you were born with this lust. It’s genetic. You feel you have no free will to oppose it. Every time you pass a McDonald’s you have to go in there and order a Big Mac.

However, if you take the Vilna Gaon’s teaching to heart, you may then come to realize that, although you are not now responsible for the sin of eating cheeseburgers in a previous life, you have this great lust as an opportunity for tikkun. Had it been just a regular lust for cheeseburgers your overcoming it may not be metaken (fix) the original weakness emblazoned into your soul. You don’t want this weakness when you are given your place in Eternity. So you were sent back here for the opportunity of eliminating the weakness; indeed, turning it into a strength. Overcoming this extra-powerful lust in this world turns your soul into a “body-builder’s” soul; perhaps even a “Mr. Universe” soul. It’s now stronger than it ever was. In any event, the point is that knowledge or even intuition about a past life can be a powerful aid to free will in this life.

Granted, it can theoretically create the opposite effect. A person may think, for example: What the heck; I’ll get it right in the next life. Or: If I didn’t get it right in the past what’s the point in trying in this life etc. The latter fear is the reason I believe the doctrine was restricted to Kabbalah, which ideally is reserved for select individuals of a higher spiritual standing to begin with.

Source: Jewish Soul Searching [unfortunately that site no longer exists]

Seclusion

Art Erik Johansson

It happened in a far-off country that there was a Tzaddik who used to shut himself up in his house in total seclusion. He spoke to no-one but just sat, wrapped in his tallis and tefillin all day, completely separated from the outside world. He sat and learned Torah in this manner day and night. One day, he heard about the illustrious Rebbe, the holy Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk, of his miraculous wonders and his amazing powers of ruach hakodesh, and he set out to see the Rebbe.

When he was about to enter the Rebbe's beis midrash, Rebbe Elimelech, who already knew with his ruach hakodesh of the visitor, came out to greet him. He welcomed the traveller and said to him "Im yesaser ish b'mistarim v'lo arenu ne'um Hashem" - "Shall a man hide and think that I do not see him? says G-d".

The Rebbe was implying that "if a man shall hide himself, I shall not look upon him" says Hashem. The Tzaddik understood that the Rebbe had rebuked him for going into seclusion and he wondered how the Rebbe could have known this about him. Amazed and inspired, the traveller became one of Rebbe Elimelech's greatest students and followers.

Source: Mipeninei Noam Elimelech translated by Tal Moshe Zwecker

Why is God Punishing Me?

Square, Not Round

Now it came to pass when he drew closer to the camp and saw the calf and the dances, that Moses' anger was kindled, and he flung the tablets from his hands, shattering them at the foot of the mountain. [Ki Tisa 32:19]

According to the Talmud, the Tablets were each 6 x 6 tefachim in size, and together they filled the Ark, leaving no space [Bava Basra 14a].  From this we see that the Tablets were square in shape.

Furthermore, there is a halachic principle that the vessels of the Temple are only valid if they are "intact and full". Thus, it was a legal imperative that the Tablets filled the Ark completely leaving no space.  Obviously, ths would preclude them from being rounded in shape.

The concept of tablets with rounded tops is actually non-Jewish in origin, being derived from Roman tradition (the nation that destroyed our holy Temple).  Nevertheless, the image found its way into our books due to the non-Jewish censorship of printing spanning many centuries.  As a result, today there are even religious Jews who depict the tablets as being round on the top, contrary to the Talmud.

It is a mitzvah to publicize at every opportunity that, according to Jewish sources, the Tablets are square in shape.

[Based on Sichas Shabbos Parshas Ki Tisa 5741 - Lubavitcher Rebbe]

BDE : Erlauer Rebbe zt''l

A very special soul has passed from this world.

''B’tzaar Ra’av we regret to report the passing of the Erlauer Rebbe, Harav Yochonon Sofer zt”l. He was 92 years old. 

Harav Yochanan Sofer, the Erlau Rebbe, was born in Erlau, Hungary, in Teves 5683/1923. His father, Harav Moshe Sofer, great-grandson and namesake of the Chasam Sofer, zt”l, was the son of the Rav of Erlau, Harav Shimon Sofer, known for his sefer Hisorerus Teshuvah.

In his later years, Harav Shimon appointed his son, Harav Moshe, to serve as Rav of Erlau alongside him.''

More at Hamodia

Purim Katan: The Rebbe Explains

According to the Jewish calendar, a second month of Adar is added in a leap-year. While Purim is usually celebrated in Adar, during a leap-year it is postponed until the second Adar, and we mark Purim Katan - “the small Purim” in the first month.

 

Moshiach's Arrival: How Do We Know It's Imminent

I ''accidentally'' stumbled upon this shiur, while I was looking for something else.  It is one of the best shiurim I've heard.   It was given a couple of years ago, but is timeless - absolutely brilliant

Rabbi Shimon Kessin speaking at KSY, Kehillas Shivtei Yeshurun, in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel in 2013.

 

Pride

Art by Ben Goosens

Text by Rabbi David Hanania Pinto Shlita 

Pride is a type of currency that the Supreme King has declared null and condemned in the Torah: “Beware lest you forget the L-RD your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” In fact, the man of pride forgets his Creator, as it is written: “Your cattle and sheep increase, and you increase silver and gold for yourselves … and you may say in your heart, ‘My strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth!’ Then you shall remember the L-RD your G-d, that it was He Who gave you strength to make wealth.” The king himself is also warned, “so that his heart not become haughty over his brothers.” If the Torah judged it necessary to make this recommendation to the king, how much more so is it essential for ordinary people, in order that they not lord it over one another!

A person can act arrogantly with his ears, by not listening to the cries of the poor, or by his nose, if he is disgusted by standing near the poor or going to their homes because of the smell. One can also be arrogant by one’s words, by making haughty and brazen remarks against the upright. Pride can be recognized by eating and dressing habits, with the man who wears pretentious clothing. The Torah warns us concerning this: “Do not follow the ways of the nations.” Arrogant men are abysmal in G-d’s eyes – “All haughty hearts are loathsome to G-d.” These people will be delivered to their desires because G-d, Who loathes them, will not come to their aid. And even if a man does not demonstrate his arrogance to others by his actions or his words, but rather keeps it in his heart, he is called “loathsome,” for it is written: “All haughty hearts are loathsome to G-d” – even if his pride is only in his heart.

The Power of Charity

Rabbi Alon Anava: The Power of Charity: Parts One and Two
Learn all about the great Mitzvah of giving Charity and its spiritual powers

Rav Kanievsky: Moshiach is at the door

Rabbi Chananya Chollak, the founder and international chairman of Ezer Mizion, visited Rav Chaim Kanievsky today.

During the course of their conversation, Rabbi Chollak mentioned the horrific, tragic crash on Highway 1 on Sunday that claimed six Yiddishe neshamos.

“Moshiach is on his way,” Rav Chaim told Rabbi Chollak.

“But what’s going to be with the rash of tragedies we have been experiencing?” asked Rabbi Chollak.

Rav Chaim responded, “Moshiach is not just on the way. He is at the very door.”

Source: David Steger – Matzav.com Israel

A Hint of Moshe Rabbeinu

"And you will command the Children of Israel" [Tetzaveh 27:20]

The Vilna Gaon asks why the verse begins with Hashem instructing Moshe "And you will command..." without first stating the standard opening "Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying..."

The answer, said the Gaon, is as follows:

The day of Moshe Rabbeinu's passing [and day of his birth] was the seventh of Adar. In most years, this day falls out during the week in which Parshas Tetzaveh is read. Now, in the entire Parshas Tetzaveh, Moshe's name is not mentioned, even once. This alludes to the fact that Moshe's demise took place during this week.

However, continued the Gaon, even though Moshe's name is not mentioned explicitly in Tetzaveh, it is nevertheless there in a hint:

There are 101 verses in the Parsha. If the letters that comprise the name "Moshe" - משׁה -are spelled out in their entirety, we would have the following:

מ the letters comprising Mem are מ מ -

שׁ the letters comprising Shin are שׁ י ן -

ה the letters compring Hey are ה א -

Total numerical value: 446

If we add up the numerical value of all these letters, and then subtract the numerical value of משׁה [Moshe: 345] - we will be left with the number 101 - the exact number of verses in the parsha.

Source: Rabbi Y. Bronstein