Return

Rebbe Nachman said that repentance helps for all sins.

True repentance involves never repeating the sin.

"You must return to the same place where you sinned, and put yourself in the same situation, and let the temptation stand before your eyes. When you can do this, and not repeat the sin, then you have broken the evil urge and have truly repented."

Sometimes Hashem does this for you.  You are given the same event, like a gift, and you have the chance to behave differently.   Sometimes this can happen more than once, because you are being tested. Once you've passed the test, that situation will not cause you any more problems.

Protection

from the writings of the Ben Ish Hai

"Hashem safeguards the faithful, and repays the one who goes beyond to make arrogance" [Psalms 31:24]

It is bad enough to give in to negative traits that are part of our nature. Much worse is to arouse or cultivate negative traits, as did the Erev Rav in the desert.

Ben Ish Chai

They "desired a desire" - they desired to have desire - and they said "Would that we were given meat to eat!" [Numbers 11:4]

Another example is a poor man who is haughty. Wealth naturally pushes people toward arrogance, but if a poor man is haughty, he has brought it on himself.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who overcome their nature to serve G-d faithfully. An example is sharp Torah scholars who could find grounds to permit the forbidden but do not [see Eruvin 13b].

G-d punishes or protects most people through angels. But He "repays the one who goes beyond to make arrogance" - G-d personally punishes anyone who goes beyond his nature to make himself arrogant. And "Hashem safeguards the faithful" - He personally protects those who go beyond their nature to serve Him faithfully.

Talking to Yourself

Art: "Hannah's Reflection" - Jana Bouc





Sometimes when you speak to a friend, your words are not accepted.

Still, you can be motivated by your own words.

A ball cannot enter a stone wall, and therefore bounces back from it.

When your friend refuses to accept your words, they likewise are reflected back to you.  You are therefore influenced by your own words.

These same words may have had no effect if you would have spoken them to yourself.  But when you speak them to your friend and he is not influenced, they are reflected back to you.  You are therefore motivated by them.

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

Translated by Rabbi Ayreh Kaplan

Open Your Eyes and Welcome the Messiah

Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson on our favourite topic: Moshiach - 12 min video

Mysticism: Manna for All

But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, "Who will feed us meat?  [Beha'alotecha 11:4]

Ordinary bread [''bread from the earth''] which is the product of hard physical labor, is a metaphor for the ''revealed'' interpretations of the Torah [nigleh] found in the Talmud, which require arduous analysis, questioning etc.

On the other hand, manna [''bread from Heaven''] represents the mystical teachings of the Torah, which are of such a ''heavenly'' nature that there is no disagreement or argument.

Logically speaking, a person might think that it is necessary to have a firm grounding in classic texts, and achieve a certain degree of spiritual greatness before one can progress to the study of mysticism.  However, the Torah teaches here that even the wicked individuals who complained to Moshe ate manna.

From this we can learn that it is appropriate for people from all walks of life to study the mystical teachings of the Torah - particularly as they are formulated clearly and methodically in the teachings of Chassidus.

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

Two Suns Worldwide

Mastercard....

First video, female singing

What's Going On...

This is a photo from East London on June 1st, as you can see there is a red sun with something pink around and above it. 

 

Georgia, June 1st

Yes, I know there are wildfires in Canada and everyone is blaming the sun's appearance on that.... but just check out these videos from the US dated 2nd and 3rd June, and you'll see that it's not the Sun at all, it's a totally different red object.    

"Sunset is over there"

"Not the Sun"

"A Second Sun"

Soul Searching

"A man or woman who distinguishes himself (or herself) by taking a Nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem" [Naso 6:2]

Rashi asks "Why was the Torah portion of the nazir put adjacent to the portion of the sotah (a woman who deviated from moral behaviour)? To tell you that anyone who sees a sotah in her disgrace should take upon himself to abstain from wine [by becoming a nazir]."

Whenever a person sees something improper, he must think: "Why has Heaven shown this impure thing to me?" He must do some serious soul-searching and attempt to strengthen himself in his Divine service.

R' Yisrael Salanter once caught a bad cold. The first day of his illness, he spent the entire day worrying.

"Why is the Rav so worried?" asked one of his close disciples. "Baruch Hashem, it's just a cold and it will not pose any serious threat to your health."

"It is not my health that concerns me" responded R' Salanter. "I worry over what it states in Mishlei: "Colds and traps are in the path of the stubborn" [Mishlei 22:5] "This verse is evidence that I was stricken with a cold on account of possessing the terrible trait of stubbornness".

Only once evening had arrived and R' Salanter had thoroughly examined his deeds without finding the trait of stubbornness within himself, was his mind put to rest.

Source: Rabbi Y. Bronstein