The Motives of a Critic

Art: Norman Rockwell

Source: Based on Likutei Sichos, Lubavitcher Rebbe

Parshas Pinchas

The tribes appeared to have convincing proof that Pinchas' motives were not pure [Rashi] but they were mistaken. This teaches us a powerful lesson whenever we are tempted to find fault with another person's good deeds and question their motives.  One can never know another's true intentions.  So long as a person is doing good, he should not be put down or mocked, even if one has a "solid" proof that the person is insincere. And in any case, even if it were true, and the person indeed had ulterior motives, we are taught always to study Torah and perform mitzvos even for the wrong reasons, since in this way one will eventually come to have pure motives.

A deeper question here is: Where does the desire come from to find fault in people who are doing something good?  In our case, the tribes appeared to have holy intentions: they were concerned that Pinchas had slighted the honor of Moshe by taking the law into his own hands.  Similarly, a person may imagine that he has a low tolerance for other people's bad intentions because he himself is humble, and thus he finds the pride of others distasteful.

In truth, however, the reverse is likely the case.  The fact that a person criticizes the good deeds of another is probably because the critic himself is proud and does not like the idea that somebody else accomplished something that he did not.  Of course, he will not admit this, even to himself, because his pride makes him lazy, and recognizing that somebody else has accomplished something makes it more uncomfortable to remain lazy.  Therefore, his arrogance leads him to put down the other person's good deeds, so they do not wound his pride or inspire him to be a better person, which would require effort.

Furthermore, even if somebody's mitzvah observance does have overtones of haughtiness, the critic's pride is nevertheless more distasteful.  For, ultimately, the person who "showed off" with his mitzvah was at least honest about his pride, and did not attempt to conceal it.  The critic, however, cannot tolerate the truth that he too is proud, and he thus stoops to dishonesty, veiling his pride in a "cloak" of humility and righteous indignation.

The lesson is obvious: It is much wiser to be an activist than a critic.  For a little pride can make criticism destructive, rather than constructive, but a good deed always remains good, regardless of the intention.

Conflict, Strife and Tzaddikim

Art: Jacek Yerka

Source: Rebbe Nachman's Wisdom by Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov

The Talmud teaches "In the future, G-d will grant 310 worlds to each Tzaddik".

Each Tzaddik builds his 310 worlds through conflict. Every word of strife is a stone. The letters of the words are called "stones". Thus the Sefer HaYetzirah states: "two stones build two houses...."

Words of strife are built of slippery stones.

Strife is maChLoKes. Slippery is meChuLaKim.

Stones created through strife are therefore slippery and cannot be joined. However, a Tzaddik can join these slippery stones. He can then build them into houses.

He makes peace between these stones, arranging them and joining them together until a house is built. This is the peaceful home.

The Tzaddik builds a peaceful home out of these slippery conflicting stones. Out of these houses he then builds a city, then a universe, until all 310 worlds are completed.

It is written [Prov. 8:21] "That I may give those who love Me substance".

"Substance" is YeSH [yud shin] - adding up to 310. These are the 310 worlds.

A Tzaddik inclines to the side of kindness. He even presumes the merit of those who oppose him.

The world cannot endure the light of a Tzaddik. Those who oppose the Tzaddik obscure his light enough so that the world can hear it.

A truly great Tzaddik must also face many judgments and accusations on high. Those who oppose him silence these judgments and accusations.

A man is on trial for a serious offence. Suddenly, another person becomes filled with zeal and says "I will judge him myself and take vengeance on him".

The others who wanted to bring the defendant to judgment are then silenced.

There are times when the defendant would find it impossible to endure the judgment of his original adversaries. The one who wishes to take personal vengeance is then actually doing him a favour.

It is better for him to endure the judgment of the individual than that of the many. He can bear the former, but the latter would be too much for him.

It is written [Num 25:11] "Pinchas.... turned My wrath away from the children of Israel when he took my revenge among them, and I did not destroy them."

Pinchas killed the sinner Zimri, taking the judgment into his own hands. Had he not done this, the Jewish people would have been sentenced to annihilation. But because Pinchas took G-d's vengeance into his own hands, the accusation against the Jews was silenced.

A man stands up against a Tzaddik. He says "I will act against him! I will show him my strength and revenge!"

This man is actually silencing all other judgments against the Tzaddik.

There is another benefit that comes from such conflict. Before a Tzaddik can rise from one level to the next, he is first tested. [Sh'mos Rabbah 2:3] Those who can advance are called "those who have the power to stand in the King's palace".

11 and The Equation of Life

Hat tip: Joe

A video from Rabbi Pinchas Winston

A Lofty Trait

Art: "Be Still and Know" - Melanie Crawford

"He perceived no iniquity in Yaakov" [Balak 23:21]

R' Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev remarked: 

Hashem, to Whom everything is revealed and known, does not look at the sins of a Jew, as the verse states: "He does not look [lo hibit] at the iniquity in Yaakov".

If this is the way of Hashem, how much more so is it forbidden for us - flesh and blood - to look at the sins of another Jew!  We, too, must cling to this lofty trait of "He does not look at the iniquity in Yaakov".

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Believe

 
I heard from my master, the Baal Shem Tov, that "belief" means the mystical attachment of the soul to the Holy One, blessed be He.  [Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Ki Tavo]

When your thoughts cling constantly to G·d, He sends you words to fix yourself and the world.

When you become a chariot for wisdom and your thoughts cling constantly to G·d, as it is written, "to Him you shall cling," [Deut 10:20] the Holy One sends you words to uplift and sweeten in order to fix yourself and the world.  [Degel Machane Ephraim]

The Igros Kodesh

 

Ever since Gimel Tamuz, chassidim of the Lubavitcher Rebbe have been writing letters to the "Igros Kodesh" [Holy Letters] - the 24 volumes of books containing letters written by the Rebbe during his lifetime.   A letter or "pan" is written and a random volume of the Igros is chosen and opened: sometimes a miraculous answer to the question posed is received, and sometimes not.  There is great debate over whether this practice is kosher or not, and also why some people receive answers, and some do not.  

Some Lubavitchers will tell you that it depends on your emunah.  If you believe enough, you will get an answer.  But just as before Gimel Tamuz, sometimes the Rebbe would respond to a question, and sometimes he would not.  The same thing applies to the Igros answers.

Rabbi Yosef Yeshaya Braun [ex-Sydney and now a member of the Crown Hts Beth Din] gives his definitive response to the practice of writing to the Rebbe, via the Igros, for an answer to a question.

Rabbi Braun:

The hardest questions are those having to do with Igros Kodesh.  When people open to an answer in the Igros Kodesh and they come to me with it, I tell them that these are the most difficult questions because I never did shimush (i.e. hands-on rabbinic internship) in this.

I did shimush with my grandfather and other rabbanim in various areas of halacha but with this, there are no clear-cut rules.  There are no “Rules of Igros Kodesh.”  And to a certain extent, it depends on hergesh (feeling).

People are inclined to grasp at signs like the date of the letter or to whom it is addressed.  On the one hand, they have upon whom to rely because to a certain extent, the whole inyan of answers through the medium of the Igros Kodesh is based upon the traditional Jewish practice (which the Rebbe praised), to open a Chumash or another seifer and to look for signs.

On the other hand, we tend not to regard an answer we open to in the Igros Kodesh as merely a sign, but as an answer from the Rebbe.  People write a letter to the Rebbe and expect a response.  So when they come to me with questions about the answers they opened to, I have to see whether there is a clear answer and if there isn’t, I am inclined to think (although there is no doubt that the Rebbe always responds and blesses, impacting the actual events in our lives) that this is because we don’t always receive an answer from the Rebbe in writing.

In several sichos of 5748, the Rebbe said that when questions arise in health matters, to speak to a doctor-friend; in parnasa matters – to knowledgeable friends.  Also, in the sicha of 2 Adar 5748 of “come and let us make an accounting of the world,” it says to refer all questions to three Chassidishe rabbanim.  Does asking the Rebbe questions in the Igros Kodesh contradict this instruction from the Rebbe?

When we talk about writing to the Rebbe, we must differentiate between requests for a bracha and questions on various matters.  The Rebbe told us that we can continue asking him for brachos.  Today, when we cannot ask the Rebbe directly, we should write to the Rebbe for a bracha.  Ditto for reports of our activities – we should continue sending them to the Rebbe.

Requests for brachos using s’farim of the Rebbe is an old Chabad practice.  We know that Chassidim would put panim in a Tanya, like it says explicitly in the Rebbe’s letter for Yud Shevat 5711, that after reading a pan it “should be placed among the pages of a maamer, kuntres etc. of the teachings of the Rebbe, my father-in-law, and sent to him (if possible, that day) so it can be read at his gravesite.”

This was the practice of Chassidim when they needed a bracha immediately and could not contact the Rebbe (because in those days there were no faxes or emails and even telephone service was expensive and not always handy).  They would write their request for a bracha and put it in a volume of the Rebbe’s teachings, with the knowledge that as soon as they did so, the Rebbe received it and gave his bracha.

However, when you want to ask the Rebbe a question and receive a response, in that sicha of 2 Adar 5748 the Rebbe makes it clear that all questions should be referred to three Chassidishe rabbanim.

I was in 770 at the time and I heard that sicha.  The hanacha of the sicha wasn’t written as clearly as the sicha itself was said.  The Rebbe reviewed these guidelines a number of times and it is impossible to explain what the Rebbe said in any other way.

At the time, when the Rebbe said that certain questions should be referred to mashpiim or doctor-friends or knowledgeable friends, there were Chassidim who refused to accept this and they wrote the Rebbe that they wanted to continue asking him directly.  The Rebbe responded that when you follow the guidance of knowledgeable friends, he is conveying his answer through them.  In the years that followed, the Rebbe said that after 40 years, the sensibilities of the talmid become like the sensibilities of the teacher.

Yet people do ask questions using the Igros Kodesh and many open to amazingly precise answers.

There’s no question that after this practice has spread and we see amazing answers from the Rebbe to many people, that this is (as the Chasam Sofer put it) a “mofes chai” (living miracle) and “experience the ultimate witness,” that the Rebbe answers even those who ask him questions.

However, we should not be doing the opposite of what the Rebbe told us to do! And as I said, this is not a horaa that is debatable.  It’s a clear horaa that the Rebbe repeated a number of times in that sicha.  I don’t understand how Chassidim can ignore a clear horaa of the Rebbe.  A Chassid who wants to fulfill the Rebbe’s horaos should do as the Rebbe said and ask his questions according to the guidelines the Rebbe set out.

It is possible that a rav or knowledgeable friends will decide that they cannot answer his question, and will tell him to write to the Rebbe.  In the Igros Kodesh we find that Rabbi Dvorkin was asked about a certain thing, and he said it was a spiritual question and should be asked of the Rebbe.  Although the Rebbe usually refrained from answering halachic questions and referred the questioner to a rav, in this case, the Rebbe responded.

There are however, many Chassidim who write any questions and put them in the Igros Kodesh.  Maybe it’s because they don’t know the Rebbe’s explicit guidelines or for other reasons.  Sometimes the answer they open to isn’t clear, and they go to a rav for him to explain it.  Although the rav has to try and explain it, since they wrote already, he needs to tell them that if they want to fulfill the Rebbe’s horaos, these questions should be asked of Chassidishe rabbanim from the outset.

I’ll put it this way – those who ask the Rebbe questions through the Igros Kodesh are doing this on their own responsibility, while those who ask Chassidishe rabbanim are fulfilling the Rebbe’s horaa.

I’ll emphasize yet again, all of this is just about shailos (questions).  When it comes to requests for brachos (blessings), the Rebbe said we can continue asking him directly and based on the Chabad practice of putting a pan in the pages of the Rebbe’s teachings, we can certainly ask the Rebbe for brachos through the Igros Kodesh.

More from Rabbi Braun's interview at : Chabad.Info

Related: Igros Kodesh Story from Chabakuk Elisha A Simple Jew

Wild Winds batter Sydney

Ferocious windstorms have left a trail of battered homes, trains and blackouts across the Blue Mountains near Sydney.

Severe weather and damaging winds have battered Sydney and surrounding areas.

Felled trees wreaked havoc - blocking roads and rail lines, damaging homes and trains and temporarily cutting water supply.

Read more: Snow on the way and a bedroom in ruins

The Limitations of Black Magic

By: Rabbi Eliyahu Haim Aboud

Probably the greatest sorcerer of all time was the evil prophet Bilaam, who, as the Torah relates, attempted to place a curse on the Jewish people and have them annihilated. The commentaries explain [Ramban in Parashat Balak chapter 22:31] that Bilaam’s extraordinary powers stemmed from his mastery of sorcery and black magic, and not from his abilities as a prophet. In fact, he was not worthy of prophecy at all, and was given prophetic capabilities only for a very brief period. This is why in the Prophets he is referred to as “Bilaam Hakosem–Bilaam the Sorcerer,” with no mention of his prophetic status. According to the Midrash  Bilaam and his two sons were originally the most prestigious advisors and sorcerers of Pharaoh during the period of Bene Yisrael’s enslavement. And many other stories abound of ancient nations who enlisted Bilaam to reveal to them the outcome of their battles and to help them win through his extraordinary mystical powers.

Bilaam acquired his great powers of sorcery directly from the evil angels Aza and Azael. Bilaam visited these two angels every day until he learned all the mystical secrets they knew.

Some sources identify Bilaam with Lavan, Yaakov’s crooked father-in-law, who sought to destroy Yaakov and prevent the emergence of the Jewish people. According to this tradition, Bilaam lived well over 300 years.

Bilaam was killed by Bene Yisrael during the battle of Midyan prior to their entering the land of Israel. The Midrash relates that when the Jews captured Bilaam, he used sorcery to raise himself and the five kings of Midyan high in the air and disappear from sight. (Though the powers of impurity can only be summoned while standing on the ground, once the sorcery is initiated, the subject could use the powers to levitate off the ground for a period of time.) Pinhas, the grandson of Aharon, flew after him by uttering the divine name or, according to others, by directing the name of Hashem written on the tzitz (frontlet) of the kohen gadol towards the airborne Midyanites counteracting Bilaam’s powers of magic. Bilaam and the kings immediately fell to the ground and were then easily killed by Bene Yisrael. Bilaam’s decaying body and tarnished soul transformed into evil spirits, snakes and scorpions, the result of the impurity with which they had been saturated during his lifetime.


Limited Time Span
The commentaries add that objects created by the powers of sorcery cannot remain in existence permanently. These creations can exist for only limited periods of time, after which the laws of nature take hold and return them to their original state. This is why the frogs that descended upon Egypt during the second plague remained in the Nile River after the plague, and did not just disappear. Gd demonstrated to Pharaoh and the Egyptians that His creations can exist indefinitely, as opposed to the creations of magic, which are only temporary.

Sorcery is also subject to limited accessibility. The Zohar writes that the forces of impurity are unable to perform magic from hassot (midnight) at night until midday, whereas Hashem, of course, can overturn the natural order he created anytime He wishes.

Additionally, someone born during the month of Adar II, on a leap year, cannot be affected by magic. This is because he is born in a month which doesn’t have a specific mazal and “doesn’t really exist”. Therefore the magicians have no way of dealing with him. In this vein, when Yehoshua gathered an army to fight Amalek, who came to fight Beneh Yisrael using witchcraft, he purposely chose people who were born in Adar II, to whom these forces take no affect.

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