Prayer for Rain

Prayer: via Rabbi C. Ingram
Video: HT Dudi

PRAYER FOR RAIN IN RURAL NSW AND OTHER PARTS OF AUSTRALIA

Heavenly Father, Creator of Heaven and earth:
You form the clouds and gather them one by one.
Please, in Your mercy, send rain of blessing and goodwill to speedily moisten and revive the parched earth of rural Australia.
May the fields of our fair island again be adorned with healthy crops and green vegetation.
May those who work the soil not become destitute for lack of produce.
Satisfy us all with Your goodness!
May all the inhabitants of this blessed land know that You are G-D who sends relief to the ailing. May the earth be filled with the knowledge and the glory of G-D as the waters cover the sea bed! Amein

Imposter Sydrome

Disgraced Prince Andrew's daughter, Princess Beatrice, has spoken about her  'imposter syndrome'  which apparently is a psychological disorder defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success.  ''Imposters'' suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence.  I must admit I had never heard of this particular syndrome before now, but it rang a few bells for me.

I often think I'm an imposter, and I shouldn't be on the internet at all.  To remedy this, I immediately put up another blog post.  Of course, I believe it is the yetzer hara trying to prevent me blogging about Moshiach.   Now I have another name for it.... 'imposter syndrome'..... I guess there's a term for everything these days.

You need a thick skin to be a blogger with a wide audience, and I don't have a thick skin, I am extremely sensitive.  I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to delete my blog, or just turn it off and keep it for myself only, use it as a filing system [which is actually how it began - it was my virtual filing cabinet where I would post any article that I wanted to refer to later, which had a relevance to my life].

There are some very disturbed people out there, some just leave nasty comments and others have their own blogs where they attack from the safe comfort of their own site.  I  generally don't read these blogs, but occasionally when I have some waiting time and I check them out, I never fail to be amazed that they are still ranting about the same stuff over and over again, attacking others and getting facts wrong.... deliberately mis-reading and or mis-quoting and sticking a knife into their rival bloggers' latest post.

I used to publish every comment I received, with the exception of the obvious scammers or Xtian links, but over the past six months I've been deleting quite a few because they are cruel.  I guess some of these people have issues with themselves and are venting at the nearest outlet that touches a nerve.... hopefully they will get the point and move on, as their bitterness is not welcome here.

Disagree with me all you like, that's fine, but please do it kindly and I'll publish you. I'm not really sure what I write that needs disagreements anyway, I steer clear of controversy for that reason.  

Imposter syndrome.... a new term for the yetzer hara or, as I choose to think of it, a new term for hateful bloggers and commenters... they are im-posters.

Messianic Headlines We See Today

Rabbi Lazer Brody on the Tamar Yonah Show.

It’s human nature to believe that we control the world. However, as hard as we may try, the Creator of the universe reminds us that He controls all. As Israel faces a possible third election, possibly even held on the Purim Holiday, it looks like G-d will have the last laugh! So what’s really going on in the news that’s happening and affecting us all? What lessons do we need to learn, and what do we have to do in order to bring about a pleasant arrival of the Messiah? Rabbi Lazer Brody joins Tamar and tells us what we all need to do, and what we might see in the future!

Click here to listen

Small in his own Eyes

"[My merits] have become small" [Vayishlach 32:11]

When G-d shows His kindness to a person, it brings that person closer to G-d, causing his feeling of self-importance to diminish, since "everything is like nothing before G-d".

Therefore, it was precisely due to the fact that G-d had been so kind to Yaakov that he became small in his own eyes - for the kindness brought him closer to G-d, and so he felt that he was not worthy of G-d's promise to be saved.

Source: based on Tanya Igeres Hakodesh ch.2

How could Yaakov the patriarch fear that "perhaps... I have become soiled with sin" [Rashi v. 12] when surely he was aware that he had not sinned?

A tzadik is not static - he constantly grows spiritually from one level to the next.  After reaching a higher level, his previous actions are spiritually deficient compared to his current standing. They are thus considered as "sins", metaphorically speaking. [The Hebrew word for sin - chet - can also mean ''deficiency'' [see Kings 11:21]  Thus Yaakov was worried that perhaps due to such ''sins'' he was not worthy to be saved.

Source: based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

Who is God? Part One

New Rabbi Kessin shiur

Were You Ever Despised or Treated as Inferior?

I've linked to this post in the comments of another blog post, but it actually deserves it's own blog post as I know some people don't see the comments.

This amazing post at Myrtle Rising is like a gift.  Please go there and read it.

Were You Ever Despised or Treated as Inferior? Then You Need to Read Rav Avigdor Miller's Dvar Torah for Parshat Vayetzei

Eliyahu Ha Navi and the Death of the Satan

The title sounds like a Rabbi Kessin shiur, but it's actually Rabbi Yehuoshua Zitron.  Part 20 in his Moshiach video series.

Leftover Sparks

".... Lavan was informed that Yaakov had fled. He took his relatives with him and pursued him" [Vayeitze 31:22,23]

The Maggid of Mezritch taught: "Yaakov had left behind letters from the Torah which he had not yet extracted from Lavan. This is why Lavan pursued him - to give him the letters which remained with him.  An entire chapter was added to the Torah by these letters."  [Ohr Hame'ir, beg. Parshas Vayeitzei, see Ohr HaTorah vol 5, p.869a]

The "letters of the Torah" which Yaakov left behind were "sparks" of holiness.  In fact, Yaakov had spent twenty years in Lavan's house extracting whatever sparks of holiness he could find there, and when the process was complete, he left. At least he thought it was complete....

In truth, however, Yaakov had left some sparks behind, so Lavan chased Yaakov to give them to him.

Why did Yaakov leave sparks behind?

Chassidic teachings explain that, while most of a person's achievements in life come through his own conscious efforts, there are some "super-conscious" achievements that are so lofty they cannot occur intentionally.  So, while we are usually the ones that choose our own paths in life - to find the sparks which we are destined to elevate - sometimes our "sparks" pursue us, because they are too sublime to be "extracted" solely by our own endeavors.

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