Tikun HaMidot Parts 3 and 4

Click here for Part 1 and Part 2

Tikkun Lei'l Shavuot

Etsy Art

by Rabbi David Hanania Pinto

The custom to learn Torah on the eve of Shavuot [also see here for more information]

Millions of people all over the world are eager to receive “only” one blessing from the Creator of the world. They are willing to work hard with all their heart and soul in order to merit being included in the category of fortunate people, who are listed in the sefer zichronot of Hashem. Of course, to merit receiving The ultimate blessing, with a capital “T”, is not simple. However, once a year a unique opportunity presents itself to receive not only one blessing from Hashem, but to receive a package full of blessings, with seventy blessings all together.

This unique opportunity will commence on Motzei Shabbat, on the eve of Shavuot, since on this night it is the common practice throughout the Diaspora to remain awake all night to study Torah until dawn.

What is the reward for those who learn Torah all night on the eve of Shavuot?

This is what the holy Zohar reveals [Introduction to the Zohar chelek I, p. 8]:

All those who complete the tikkun on this night and do so joyously, will be registered and recorded in the sefer zichronot, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu blesses them with seventy blessings and with crowns from the Upper world. Regarding them it says, “Then those who fear Hashem spoke to one another and Hashem listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Hashem and those who give thought to His Name.”

Regarding the segulah of learning Torah throughout the eve of Shavuot, the sefer on the customs of the Arizal, called Pitora d’Abba, states: All those who did not sleep in this night at all, not even for one moment, and was involved in the study of Torah the entire night, is promised that he will live out the year and no harm will befall him in that year. As Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai writes in his introduction to Bereishit, “He will live through the year in peace.” Moreover, a person’s life is determined according to this matter, because if he will not sleep at all on the eve of Shavuot, then he will surely not die that year. This is why it became a custom for Am Yisrael to delve in Torah the entire night of Shavuot.

Moreover, it is important to note that there are many communities that are meticulous about not speaking any mundane words the entire night until after the Kedushah beginning with “Keter” (כתר) in the tefillah of Mussaf. This is a special segulah, according to the Arizal, to be saved from death defined as “karet” (כרת), since the word “karet” (כרת) contains the same letters as “Keter” (כתר)

Befitting Teshuvah

The reason for learning Torah on the eve of Shavuot is explained in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer. At the time of Matan Torah, Bnei Yisrael had slept throughout the night, since sleeping on the Atzeret is pleasant, and the night is short. Hashem had to wake them up from their sleep with thunder and lightning, which occurred prior to receiving the Torah on Har Sinai. In order to make amends, Chazal established, as befitting teshuvah, to be on duty that entire night and study the holy Torah in the way they outlined, until dawn, and hear kriat HaTorah and the Ten Commandments as if we had just received them on Har Sinai.

Rabbi Mendel Kessin - ''Current Events''

The Kessin brothers have a couple of new videos given for the yarzheit of the RamChal, which you can listen to or watch at TorahThinking.com

In the video below Rabbi Mendel Kessin speaks about current events - a new shiur.  Fascinating as usual, he speaks about the cosmic clock, Yishmael, Obama, Moshiach ...... and the end of time.

The Ability of Prayer

The evil inclination does all that it can to fight and disturb us during prayer, because fulfilling this mitzvah is the most fitting way to defeat it. Hence we must concentrate on praying with all our strength. The evil inclination is ready to fight us, the Jewish people, and to prevent us from pouring out our hearts as we should during prayer. In effect, prayer has ability to “defeat it more than all the other mitzvot.” We can therefore deduce its great value and importance. – Be'er Moshe

Aftermath

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

''My Country'' - Dorothea Mackeller c. 1904

Australia is used to floods.  ''Droughts and flooding rains'' are nothing new to Australians. But this time, the entire east coast was deluged, from the northern tip of Queensland down to the southern island of Tasmania - that's about 3860 kilometres.  As you can see from the picture, the United Kingdom has been inserted to give you some idea of the size of Australia.

The deluge of rain, combined with the king tides [Rosh Chodesh inspired king tides, I believe] have destroyed many beach-side properties, including the 106 year old Coogee Surf Club.  

Part of the famous beach walk from Bondi to Bronte has collapsed.

Beach walk: Bondi to Bronte; June 6 2016

The giant king tides washed away people's backyards as well as an entire apartment block.  

Rivers and creeks have burst their banks, and dams are overflowing.  Aerial footage shows flooding in Sydney's south-west.

Now the rain has stopped, the clean up begins.  Australians are very good at cleaning up, they are used to it.   But.....   this time it seems different, it's the entire east coast, and properties worth millions of dollars are now worthless.  

The Power of R''H Sivan and Shavuot

The power of Rosh Chodesh Sivan & the Holiday of Shavuot + The prayer for kids by the Shloh Hakodosh - Rabbi Alon Anava




How to Prepare for the Night of Shavuot - Tap into Ohr Ein Sof

Shelah HaKadosh - Parent's Prayer

All parents want the best for their children — that they should be good and upright, that they have everything they need for a fruitful, joyous life. 

The classic work, Shelah HaKadosh, contains a prayer that parents should recite for their children at any time of the year — but especially before Rosh Chodesh Sivan, for that is the month when G-d gave us the Torah, and when the Jewish people began to be called His Children.

Prayer should be recited on erev Chodesh Sivan which is today - June 6th.

For text of prayer in Hebrew and English Click here

In the Desert

Bamidbar, the name of this week's parsha as well as the name of the entire 4th book of the Torah, means "in the desert". However, the name Bamidbar itself does not seem to bring to light any unique qualities of the Parsha at all. At this point, the Jewish people have been situated in the desert for a considerable period of time: throughout the whole book of Vayikra and part of the book of Shemos. So what is added now by stressing that the Jewish people were "in the desert"?

The answer to this question lies in the fact that "we always read Parshas Bamidbar before Shavuot" [Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim]. Before we experience the giving of the Torah once again - for spiritually the Torah is given anew every Shavuot - it is necessary to recall and take to heart the fact that the Torah was not given in a civilized environment, but in a desert.

The lesson here is twofold:

1. A desert is a place of utter desolation where "no man can live". Thus the Torah was given there to indicate that it should be embraced without any preconceptions or ulterior motives. When a person lives in a civilized place and he encounters a new idea or suggestions, he will first evaluate it to determine whether it is acceptable according to societal norms. With Torah, however, this would be a mistake; the correct approach to accepting the Torah is "we will do, and (later) we will understand" (Shemos 24:7). Therefore the Torah was given in a desert, where nobody lives, to indicate that one needs to be truly "open-minded" - i.e. not influenced by one's environment - to appreciate its values.

2. The Torah was given in a desert to teach that sharing the Torah with those who currently find themselves in a spiritual desert is fundamental to Torah Judaism. It is not the case that the Torah can "also" reach those who are found in a spiritual wasteland; to the contrary, this is a central theme of the giving of the Torah: To transform every spiritual desert into a "civilized environment".

Based on Sichas Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (5732 and 5734)