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The Gate of Tears

by Rabbi David Pinto Shlita 

It is written, “Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d amid joy and goodness of heart” [Ki Tavo 28:47].

Rabbi Yossi said, “It is written: ‘Serve Hashem with joy, come before Him with joyous song’ [Tehillim 100:2], for in His service there is no room for sadness. It may be asked: What if a man is deep in sorrow and tribulation, and has no heart to rejoice, and yet his trouble forces him to seek compassion from the Heavenly King? Should he refrain from praying on account of his sorrow? What can he do? He cannot help being heavy-hearted!

The answer is, ‘All gates have been closed since the destruction of the Temple, but the gate of tears has not been closed’ – and tears are an expression of sadness and sorrow. The celestial beings appointed over the gate of tears break down all the iron locks and bars, and let these tears pass through. The prayers of the afflicted penetrate and reach the holy King…. Thus the prayers of the afflicted person do not return to him empty, and the Holy One takes pity on him. Blessed is the man who in his prayers sheds tears before the Holy One.”

– Zohar II:165ab

Purification requires Agitation and Confusion

I feel that the world is at a peak right now, in these two weeks before Rosh Hashanah.  It reminds me of these words by Rebbe Nachman below.... the world is on the cusp of Moshiach iy''H.... we are being agitated and purified.... and all the scum is rising to the top, ready to be skimmed off to make way for the pure.

from the writings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan


When one begins to attach to a great tzadik and truly serve G-d, he is often filled with great confusion and evil thoughts.

The evil was always there, but only now it is surfacing.

A pot of water may seem perfectly clear. But when it is placed on a fire and begins to boil, all its impurities are brought to the surface. One must stand by and constantly remove these impurities.

The original purity is merely an illusion. With a little heat the impurity surfaces. But when these impurities are removed, the water is truly pure and clear.

The same is true of a person. Before he begins serving G-d, good and evil are completely mixed together within him. The impurities are so closely united with the good that they cannot be recognized.

But then this person comes close to a true Tzadik and begins to burn with great feeling toward G-d. He is touched with the heat of purification, and all the evil and impurities come to the surface. Here again one must stand by and constantly remove the dirt and impurities as they appear. In the end the person is truly pure and clear.

Purification requires this period of agitation and confusion.

In the beginning a person is totally immersed in the material. He then begins to come close to G-d.

It would seem possible to remove this dirt and impurity at once. But his mind is completely intermingled with this mire. Were it to be removed immediately, his mind would be drawn out with it.

Therefore, one must be purified little by little, in gradual stages.

Rosh HaShanah is Not What You Think

Rabbi Mendel Kessin: new shiur
A very interesting lecture about tikkunim - listen to this and you will have a good understanding of how it all works.

The Significance of the Great American Eclipse

Rabbi Mendel Kessin, latest shiur

Better to Give

Jews customarily increase their giving of tzedakah and performance of good deeds and mitzvot... from Rosh HaShanah through Yom Kippur, more so than during the rest of the year...  

and in this vein I am publishing this short post from Baruch Landa on behalf of Sulam Israel - please visit the site and consider a small [or large] donation for their worthwhile endeavours in helping children with disabilities in Israel.

Charity for the Disabled on the Rise

One of the sectors experiencing a ‘growth spurt’ in donations is ‘Disabled Charities’ – people, and children specifically, with disabilities such as organizations like Sulam Israel, who provide various child development programs to disabled children. This includes children with Autism and Down Syndrome, both of which have been on the rise on an annual basis. Organizations like these serve hundreds of students daily, with hundreds of staff members and dozens of branches.

Before organizations like these existed, the integration rate (into society) for these disabled children was in the single digits. However, by donating to disabled charities like Sulam, we can increase the integration rate to over 30%!

Let’s help give children with disabilities the gift of a future.

The Authenticity of the Oral Law

The Torah has two parts: The "Torah Shebichtav" [Written Law], which is composed of the twenty-four books of the Tanach, and the "Torah Sheba'al Peh" [Oral Law].

Originally the Oral Law was not transcribed. Instead it was transmitted from father to son and from teacher to disciple [thus the name "Oral" Law].

In this short video, Rabbi Tovia Singer is challenged by an audience member to prove that the Oral Law is authentic.

Before Redemption, A Great Roaring of Water

[originally published at Yiddishkeit.org by R. Yaakov Nathan]

The prophectic words of the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, from the newsletter HaKria V’HaKedusha [Tammuz, 5704/1944]

Translation from Shmais.com

Psalm 93

The Lord is King; He has garbed Himself with grandeur;

the Lord has robed Himself, He has girded Himself with strength;

He has also established the world firmly that it shall not falter.
Your throne stands firm from of old; You have existed forever.
The rivers have raised, O Lord, the rivers have raised their voice; the rivers raise their raging waves.
More than the sound of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, is the Lord mighty on High.
Your testimonies are most trustworthy; Your House will be resplendent in holiness, O Lord, forever.

This chapter of Tehillim was composed by the G-dly poet regarding Yemos Ha’Moshiach (the Messianic days). He hints briefly at the events which will take place before the geula (redemption). The central theme of the chapter is that the Jews living at that time will understand by means of these events, that the galus (exile) is over and geula (redemption) has begun.

Hashem will be king by wearing greatness! We generally think the world is run by nature and we forget entirely that there is a G-d who rules over nature. It’s only when an unnatural occurrence takes place such as a flood, earthquake, and other terrible upheavals–that we remember that there’s a ruler of the world who rules over nature; Then all will say that G-d is king! He put nature aside and showed his absolute sovereignty over nature.

The poet goes on to speak about the time when Hashem will be revealed in clothes of gevura (judgement) and the world will recognize and acknowledge that He is king. He explains that this will happen during Yemos Ha’Moshiach before the geula because "Hashem wore the gevura" which he girded Himself with in the past. Gevura refers to Torah, and Hashem girded Himself with its strength at the time of the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Sinai. At that time there were such strong thunder and lightning that the nations of the world thought the world was coming to an end. Bilaam explained to them that Hashem is giving might to His people–that Hashem was giving his strong Torah to His people, and it has the power to build worlds or destroy them.

Regarding this the poet says that in Yemos Ha’Moshiach, when Hashem will be king by wearing gevura, he won’t do this by wearing a new garment of gevura which is designated for a new purpose. It will be the old garment of Mattan Torah (the giving of the Torah), of Hashem's giving might to His people. Hashem will rise to fortify the Torah in the world, and just as when it was given the first time it ws accompanied with proof that He is the ruler over nature, so too the second time. The process of kabbolas ha’Torah (receiving the Torah) will include displays of gevura whose purpose is that the entire world accepts the Torah. But, continues the poet, He has also established the world firmly that it shall not falter.: many will err and think that Hashem is destroying the world. That’s why the poet writes that the world will remain fortified and it will not falter. It will only be the Jewish people and the Torah which will be elevated once again: Hashem is giving might to His people!

Your throne stands firm from of old; You have existed forever: already before the creation of the world when Hashem was alone You have existed forever – You prepared Your throne of Your kingdom. The purpose of the creation is in order to strengthen Torah and the Jewish people; the Torah –  as the Sages say: "for the sake of Torah which is called 'first,' the world was created". Already back then it was established that Hashem would come enclothed in gevura in order to fortify a place for Torah. This time it won’t be in order to destroy the world, but in order to fortify the Torah, and to bring about the realization of the promise "and Hashem will be king over all the world" through this – that the world will gain knowledge of Torah (and accept it) through the Jewish people.

The rivers have raised, O Lord, the rivers have raised their voice; the rivers raise their raging waves: the literal meaning of the verse is that the rivers will lift up Hashem; the rivers will raise their voice, the rivers will make a lot of noise! This means that the roaring and raging of the rivers will elevate Hashem. The only meaning in this is that Hashem will be uplifted by His making the oceans roar before the geula. Through this noise everybody will understand that Hashem is elevated.

The practical conclusion is that the roaring rivers will bring great changes to the world; for example: they will drown an entire nation or at least a great portion, and this natural disaster will cause a revolution in man’s perspective. They will see this as a G-dly punishment. It’s also possible that this natural disaster will change the world political map by a chain of events which will begin with that nation that drowns.

In summary: before the geula there will be a great roaring of water which will shake the world with its intensity, to the point that the world will return to elevate Hashem. That’s how we can understand the verse–that the waters will elevate Hashem by means of their noise and rage.

More than the sound of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, is the Lord mighty on High: the sound of the many waters will cause the powerful ones to break, and then Hashem will be the powerful One. This means that as a result of the crashing waters, the mighty ones of the earth will be wiped out. World empires will collapse in the face of the water’s strength and then people will acknowledge and agree that Hashem is the only mighty One in heaven.

Your testimonies are most trustworthy; Your House will be resplendent in holiness, O Lord, forever: The ones who relate your testimony are very loyal; holiness suits Your house; G-d–will be forever! The G-dly poet concludes the chapter with a description of the world after all of humanity will acknowledge Hashem’s kingdom. The world will say that the prophecies about Hashem and the geula of the Jewish people were absolutely true. This means that at the time of the complete geula it will be obvious–Jews will return to Eretz Yisrael and the Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple) will be rebuilt, and all the nations of the world will be drawn there in order to learn G-d’s ways from up close.

The nations will also say–Your House will be resplendent in holiness–holiness suits the Beis Hamikdash; i.e. holiness will return and rest in the Beis Hamikdash as in the past, and the nations will acknowledge this. You have to say that this is the intention of the poet because these promises were not fulfilled yet. Nobody can say "Your testimonies are most trustworthy", that all the prophecies have come true. And nobody can say "Your House will be resplendent in holiness" without it being actually so.

The nations will ask Hashem to continue to have His Presence rest in the Beis Hamikdash forever. This indicates the perfection of the geula of the Jewish people–that the nations won’t bother them at all, to the point that the nations themselves will ask Hashem to continue to have His Presence rest in the Beis Hamikdash.

The poet, as is his way, is brief but that leaves us with little in quantity but a lot in quality. This psalm contains everything about geula, including the eve of geula and the "end of days." The central motif of the chapter are the roaring waters which will demonstrate Hashem’s might and transform humanity entirely in a spiritual way. These roaring waters will be the sign of the beginning of the complete geula. Following it, the glory of Hashem, the Torah and the Jewish people will be elevated in the world until true peace will reign and all the prophecies will be realized in their entirety.

We can only wait for those great stormy waters which will force the nations to admit that Hashem is king–all will have to concede that this is not a natural disaster but an act of G-d.

Note: In the "HaKri’a V’hakedusha" of Tammuz 5704 (1944) which was edited under the Previous Rebbe’s supervision, this article appears under the name G. Zarchi about chapter 93 in Tehillim, based on Midrash and words of the Sages.