Women, Tehillim, King David and Rosh Chodesh

A shiur for Rosh Chodesh Kislev - although this shiur was made six months ago, and his references to the month and parsha are not current.


Women, Tehillim, King David and Rosh Chodesh - what's the connection?   [HT: Moriah] 

Amazing class by Rabbi Alon Anava about the virtues of reading Tehillim [Psalms of King David] and why it is so special reading Tehillim in a group.  Also the connection of Tehillim to Rosh Chodesh and the connection of women reading Tehillim before Rosh Chodesh and much more.

Good Advice

A handwritten note at the end of a letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. 

Don't worry so much about business.

More bitachon - more parnassa.


Bitachon ["confidence" and "trust"]: the feeling of confidence in one's God-given power to take initiative and succeed in one's mission in life; the feeling that God will orchestrate events in accord with the greatest revealed good.

Parnossa : income.

Toldot Tikkunim

According to kabbalistic teachings, Yitzchak corrected the spiritual damage caused by Adam's sin.

Therefore, just like Adam had been led by the ingenious plot of the serpent, the correction of Adam's sin had to come through ingenious trickery: ''Your brother came ingeniously and took your blessing''.  [Toldot 27:35]

Source: Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

The B’nei Yissachar takes this concept one step further. A number of commentators are bothered by the fact that Yaakov had to resort to such deceit in order to receive his father’s blessings. As the legitimate inheritor of Yitzchok’s spiritual legacy, shouldn’t Yaakov have been able to receive what he deserved in a more straightforward manner? 

Citing the Zohar HaKadosh, the B’nei Yissachar explains that Yaakov represented the tikkun [refinement] of Adam and his sins. Yaakov’s arch-nemesis was his wicked twin brother Eisav, who is described by the Torah [25:27] as a “yodeah tzayid” – hunter. The Targum Onkelos renders this phrase “gevar nachshirchon,” hinting that Eisav represented the nachash – serpent. Because the serpent enticed Adam and Chava to sin through tricky, underhanded methods, Yaakov had to rectify its previous triumph by successfully taking the blessings away from Eisav using similarly devious tactics.

The Arizal teaches that Rivkah was a gilgul [reincarnation] of Chava, the first woman. One of the purposes of reincarnation is to give a soul the opportunity to rectify the sins that it committed in an earlier lifetime. In what way did Rivkah correct the sin of Chava and atone for its consequences?

After the serpent convinced Chava to eat from the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, she immediately gave some to Adam to eat. Rashi explains that she did so out of a fear that after her death, Adam would remain alive and would find another mate. As a result of his sin, Adam was cursed with death and with the pain and difficulty of sustaining himself.

Because Chava ensnared Adam in sin when he listened to her, her descendant Rivkah learned from her mistakes and rectified her sins. In contrast to Chava who caused Adam to eat something forbidden, Rivkah saved Yitzchak from eating from the food that Eisav brought him which was not properly slaughtered, and according to some opinions was dog meat [Targum Yonason ben Uziel 27:31].

Source: ShemaYisrael

''Many will run to and fro''

And you, Daniel, close up the words and seal the book until the time of the end; many will run to and fro......  [Daniel 12:4]

I'm not too sure exactly what the Prophet Daniel was referring to, but I know that right now people are running to and fro - to and from hospitals !   So many people sick, and with dreadful illnesses. The rest of us are being kept busy, running to and fro, hospital visits, making and bringing food, picking up other peoples' children from school because someone in the family is very ill....  A time of trouble indeed !

Here's to a refuah shleimah for some special people:  Libby Chava Leah bat Sharonne Rivka and Yetta Golda bat Alter.  

"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else—if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing." "A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

When Yishmael Will Fall

The end of last week's Parsha finishes with the words, "Al Pnei Kol Echov Nafal" - "Over all his brothers he [Yishmael] shall fall". 

This week's Parsha starts with the words, " ViEileh Toldos Yitzchak" - "And these are the offspring of Yitzchak". 

Baal HaTurim explains the connection. "Al Pnei Kol Echov Nafal" - when Yishmael - [the Arabs] will fall, then, "ViAyleh Toldos Yitzchak" - Mashiach Ben David will come from the descendants of Yitzchak. 

The fall of Yishmael is a prerequisite for the coming of the Mashiach.

Source: Revach.net

The Power To Change

Art: 'Triple Self Portrait' by Norman Rockwell

And the children struggled within her, and she said, "If [it be] so, why am I [like] this?" And she went to inquire of the Lord. [Toldot - Genesis 25:22]

Why did the children "struggle inside her"?

How could Yitzchak, our righteous patriarch, have a son whose very nature even in the womb was inclined towards idol worship?

G-d can either make a person's disposition naturally good or naturally bad.  But, even if a person has a natural inclination to evil, that does not mean that he is evil per se, for he is given free choice.

Rather, the reason why he was given such an inclination was to rise to the challenge and overcome it.  Thus, Eisav was given a natural tendency to evil so that he could excel in the Divine service of "quashing" the evil inclination.

Even though he failed in his task, we can nevertheless learn from Eisav that if a person has strong desires to do something bad, it means that he has been given the special Divine mission of overcoming his inclinations.

Source: Gutnick Chumash: Based on Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Waiting for Moshiach

HT: Yaak

by Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Rav Segal closed with a story about a group of Polish soldiers who were told to prepare for a visit from the general.

Garbed in their uniforms, shoes polished and guns gleaming, they stood at attention. It was a hot day, and as they waited beneath a scorching sun, a few of them started to grumble. The morning dragged on with no sign of the general and the soldiers felt their resolve weakening. “Wait a bit longer. I’m sure he’ll come soon,” the commander urged them, but as morning gave way to afternoon, the general was nowhere to be seen.

Finally, the tired soldiers gave up and many of them flopped to the ground, exhausted. At that moment, the general appeared. Those who sat on the floor were humiliated, while those who had remained standing were promoted to a higher rank.

The Chofetz Chaim would retell the story and say, “He’s about to come. Don’t give up now. Stand tall and wait. He’s about to arrive.”

We are at the end of the day and have been waiting so long. The wait is getting progressively more difficult. Only a few remain standing.

In this, too, we look to our neshei chayil to inspire us. The Gemara in Maseches Brachos (17) says that women attain merit through waiting for their husbands to return home from the bais medrash.

Thus, one of the sacred responsibilities and mandates of the woman is to wait. They teach the rest of us how to wait. Now is their time. Now, as a lonely nation awaits Moshiach’s arrival, we look to the women to inspire and teach us how not to lose focus. Together, we wait for the day when the world will once again be filled with light and we will all be comforted.

Read the full blog post here

And The Water Rose Toward Her

Art: William Adolphe Bouguereau

"The servant ran toward her" [Chayei Sarah 24:17]

Rashi comments: "Because he saw that the waters went up toward her".

Where does the verse indicate, asks the Ramban, that the waters actually went up toward her?

Later on, answers the Ramban, the verse states:  "She drew for all his camels" [24:20].  In this verse, however, we find no mention of Rivkah "drawing" any water.  This teaches us that Rivkah, in fact, had no need to draw water for the water rose up toward her.

Yet, asked R' Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, why did the water not rise for her when she drew water for Eliezer's camels?

Initially, Rivkah had gone to draw water for her own personal needs.  In order that the tzaddekes should not have to burden herself with the task of drawing water, the water, instead, rose to her.  However, when Rivkah went to draw water for Eliezer's camels, she had undertaken to perform a mitzvah.  Heaven wanted Rivkah to earn as much merit as possible for her act of kindness, so, this time, the water was not allowed to rise for her.  In this way, Rivkah would receive maximum merit for performing this mitzvah, for as Chazal teach us, "According to the exertion is the merit". [Avos 5:26]  Thus the more she exerted herself, the more merit she would receive.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein