Monday, August 24, 2020

Joe Biden's Stolen Speech


by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday night seems to have hit a homerun among voters. But to people in Canada that were listening – there was something vaguely familiar, according to reports.

Biden ended his speech with the words, “For love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear. Light is more powerful than dark.”

Jack Layton was the leader of Canada’s left-wing New Democratic Party and died exactly nine years ago – to the day.

As he lay dying in 2011, he wrote the following words to his followers and friends:

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair.”

There seems to be a prevalent notion out there that plagiarism and cheating isn’t really wrong. It is wrong, and if a person is brazen enough to do it during a speech in which the whole country is listening – well, it does not bode well. It is also halacha, by the way. Melania Trump’s speech was also not original at the RNC in 2016. It took much of the content from Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech.

King Solomon

Let’s start with Shlomo HaMelech: In Mishlei 22:22 he writes: “Rob not from a poor person – for he is poor.” Chazal tell us (Yalkut Shimoni Mishlei 560; Midrash Tanchuma BaMidbar 27) that Shlomo HaMelech is referring to plagiarism – to reciting a statement without attributing it to its source.

Just as a poor person has no protector – no guardian to right wrongs and injustices, the same is true with intellectual property. An earlier thinker came up with an idea. Just as the poor person has no protector, so too does the thinker have no protector. Shlomo HaMelech is appealing to our conscience – do not steal from a poor person – for he is poor – he has no protector. Do not cheat or plagiarize for they too have no protector.

Queen Esther

We move forward down the timeline to Queen Esther (Megilas Esther 2:22). Two guards – Bigson and Seresh had plotted a coup d’etat. Mordechai, proficient in seventy languages, overheard and told the Queen. Queen Esther didn’t take credit for the information. She told the King that she got the information from Mordechai.

Esther was amply rewarded. It is for this action that she merited to be the conduit of the salvation of the Jewish people. Because of Esther it is said, “Whoever says something in the name of its originator – brings salvation to the world.”

Wouldn't She Have Been Justified?

What was really going on here? Esther certainly was a righteous woman. Can’t we assume that if she thought it better for the king to have assumed that the information came from her, then surely she would have been fully justified?

It would seem not.

It would seem that even though, it may have been in the Jewish interest that Esther gain the king’s favor, there is something inherently wrong in not attributing the information to the true source. She knew this. Esther could not stoop to do something that is inherently wrong. It was for this realization – that we are but mere foot soldiers in a campaign and our primary responsibility is to follow Hashem’s bidding in what is right and wrong – she was so amply rewarded.

Ethics of the Fathers

We now move on to Pirkei Avos 6:5. Naming the original source of the information. Avoiding plagiarism. It is in a list of one of the 48 ways in which Torah is acquired.

The Yalkut Yoseph (Kivud Av V’Aim chapter 9) cites a few more sources. The Shla in Meseches Shvuos says that it is an enormous sin – and should be looked at as if one has kidnapped human life.

He further cites the Sefer Chasidim (224): Whoever says something in the name of a deceased Tzaddik earns his favor and is prayed for by that Tzaddik.

Conversely, the Chida writes (Bris Olam) that if one writes a book from Torah that was stolen from others – they curse him, and he dies halfway through life.

Not the First Time

This incident was not the first time that candidate Joe Biden has plagiarized. In September of 1987, newspaper stories reported that he had plagiarized a speech by British politician Neil Kinnock and had not attributed it. A few months earlier, on March 15th 1987, given to a Welsh Labour Party Conference, Kinnock had said the following words:

“Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? [Kinnock pointed to his wife, sitting in the audience:] Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Was it because all our predecessors were thick?”

According to an article in the New York Times on September 12th, 1987, written by Maureen Down, Biden’s speech given earlier that week, essentially plagiarized Kinnock’s speech. Biden also made reference to himself and his wife Jill in the same manner as Kinnock did and included the lines:

“I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? [Pointing to his wife sitting in the audience:] Why is it that my wife who is sitting out there in the audience is the first in her family to ever go to college? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? Is it because I’m the first Biden in a thousand generations to get a college and a graduate degree that I was smarter than the rest?”

In 1987, Biden also duplicated other parts of Kinnock’s speech. According to Wikipedia it included their forebears’ ability to read and write poetry, their strength in working for hours underground in a mine only to come up and play football afterward, and their being limited by lack of a “platform” upon which to stand.

Here, however, Joe Biden also made up different facts and attributed it to his own family so that he could say these words.

Recently, it was revealed by Joe Biden’s wife’s first husband that Mr. Biden and his wife were carrying on together while he, a former volunteer on Biden’s campaign, was still married to his wife Jill.

As my friend Rabbi Avi Shafran has said in a recent article:

“Shameless dissembling and personal indecency acted out in public before the entire country are, in the end, no less morally corrosive than the embrace of abortion-on-demand..”

No candidate is perfect. However, in this particular candidate, unfortunately, we have all three elements.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

3 Elul: Rav Kook Yahrzeit


It was the first of Elul, 5695 [1935], when Rabbi David Cohen [known as ‘the Rav HaNazir’] arrived at the guest house where Rav Kook was staying in Kiryat Moshe.

Exactly twenty years had passed since their first transformative encounter in Switzerland. This time he held in his hands a special document to show his dying master.

For twelve years, the Rav HaNazir had labored to organize Rav Kook’s writings into a systematic, comprehensive work. As his revered master lay on his death bed, he showed him the beginning fruits of his labor - the title page of the first volume of Orot HaKodesh. Rav Kook rejoiced; and he shed tears.

On the day of his death, Rav Kook motioned to his son, Rav Tzvi Yehudah, to come close. “Please pay off any outstanding debts. I do not want to owe anyone, not even the smallest amount.” He then made a second request: “Please prepare my writings for publication. But take care that the only title given to me is ‘rabbi.'”

With great effort, Rav Kook turned his face towards the scholars in the room. When it became clear that his soul would soon depart, the people cried out, “Shema Yisrael!” Rav Kook whispered after them, “Shema Yisrael,” breathing his final breath with the word echad - one. “The Eternal is one.”

The Rav HaNazir wrote:
“When the Rav passed away, We heard a heavenly voice. The voice called out, “Haim, ad olam!” ‘Life, forever!’ Even after completing life in this world, the soul continues, and it grows even stronger, with blessing, in eternal life.”

[Stories from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Malachim Kivnei Adam, p. 420; preface to Orot HaKodesh, pp. 24, 30.]


Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook was born on the 16th Elul 5625 (September 1864). On the day of his bris, he received a kippah as a gift. From that day on, his parents always kept a kippah on his head. Even while he was sleeping, Avraham Yitzchak's parents did not take the kippah off his head so that he should not be bareheaded - not even for a minute. The little boy would not fall asleep without his kippah. When he turned over and it fell off, he immediately woke up.

Avraham Yitzchak was four years old when he was brought to the cheder (school) in his home town of Geriva, to learn to read. The teacher offered him a siddur and turned to the page with the alef-bet. The child stubbornly refused to learn.

"Why won't you study?" asked the teacher.

"I want to learn from the big books" replied Avraham Yitzchak shyly.

"Which big books?" asked the teacher.

Avraham Yitzchak did not know how to answer. Instead he ran home and brought back a Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, and another large heavy book. The teacher smiled and said to the child: "If you want to be able to learn from the big books, you must first study from the small books." Avraham Yitzchak understood and began to read the alef-bet from the siddur.

In the same cheder, there was a class of older children who were studying Torah. Every Friday, these children were tested on the material they learned all week. One Friday, an interesting thing happened. One of the older children did not know the answer. There was silence. Sudddenly, the voice of a small boy from the youngest reading table was heard. It was the answer, spoken clearly and correctly. Avraham Yitzchak had been listening to the lessons of the older children and had understood them.

Little Avraham Yitzchak invented an unusual game to play with his friends in cheder. He arranged the children in rows. Each child had a knapsack on his back, as if they were getting ready for a long journey. Avraham Yitzchak was their guide. The small soldiers asked: "Where are we going?"

"To Israel, to Eretz Yisrael..."

*************************************

After many years of diligent study, Rav Kook was appointed as the rabbi of Zoimel, one of the small villages in Lithuania. After serving as rabbi of the town of Zoimel, Rav Kook was appointed the rabbi of a large city, Boisk. In Boisk, the Rav could sit and learn Torah for many hours each day. There was a time when he would learn 50 or 60 pages of Talmud in one day.

Many years passed before the Rav went to live in Eretz Yisrael. When the possibility of becoming the Rav of Jaffa arose, he refused all other appealing offers which came from European Yeshivot which asked him to be their Rosh Yeshivah or from great cities abroad, whose congregants wanted him to be their rabbi.

In addition, the congregation of Boisk refused to allow their rabbi to leave, until the Jews of Jaffa wrote to them explaining that the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael, settling the land of Israel, takes precedence over everything else.

On Friday 28th Iyar 5664 (10 May 1904) Rav Kook went to live in Eretz Yisrael. He was received at the port of Jaffa with great honours and began his term as Rabbi of Jaffa. At that time, Israel was under Turkish rule and Jewish settlements were first being established. Jaffa was one of the main centers of Jewish settlement.

Hundreds of people from Jerusalem, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot and Petach Tikvah came to welcome the Rav and to form their own impressions of this unique figure, and his wife the Rabbanit Raiza Rivka.

The first World War broke out. The Rav had gone to Europe on shlichut, as an emissary for Eretz Yisrael, and could not return to his home in Jaffa because of the war. He stayed in London and served as a rabbi of the city. But he was constantly worried about the fate of his community in Jaffa and the hardships facing Jews in Israel which was then in a state of siege and famine.

After the war ended, the Rav returned to Eretz Yisrael. The Jews of Jaffa wanted him to continue as their rabbi. At the same time, the community of Jerusalem asked him to become their rabbi. The Rav debated this dilemma for quite some time. He knew that a small part of the Jewish community of Jerusalem did not want him as Rabbi. He did not want to be the cause of fights and arguments in the Holy City. On the 3rd Elul 5679 (29 August 1919), the Rav came to Jerusalem and only after a while did he bend to the will of the community, and become the rabbi of Jerusalem.

Here he established the centre of the world-renowned Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, the "Centre of the Rav". Later, along with Rav Yaakov Meir Charlop, he instituted the Chief Rabbinate of Eretz Yisrael, with both rabbis acting as Chief Rabbi. All his time and effort was dedicated to the Rabbinate, the affairs of the community, and to the learning of Torah.

*******************************

The author, Tikvah Sarig, tells the following story about Rav Kook:

On the first Yom Kippur eve, after my father passed away, I was not yet five years old. Every morning since his death, my mother would wake me before dawn and wipe the sleep from my eyes with the same words: "Get up, my daughter, my neshama, my soul, to pray for the memory of your righteous father, the tzaddik".

What a tzaddik was, I did not know, but I imagined he looked like this: a kippah on his head, his beard long, his eyes warm and good, the palms of his hands soft, and his voice, melodic. Just like my father who was taken from me.

It was erev Yom Kippur. After the pre-fast meal, my mother took me to the house of Rav Kook. The sun was about to set. We marched quickly to the Rav's house. The streets were filled with worshippers, clad in white, hurrying to the synagogue to hear Kol Nidre, the opening Yom Kippur prayer.

Opening the door, we were welcomed by the fragrance and warmth of burning candles. Rebbetzin Kook and her daughter opened their arms to us and began to cry. My mother patted my head.

"Soon you will go into the Rav's study to receive his blessing" said the Rebbetzin.

With her words, my fear grew. I sighed loudly. Just then, the great door opened and from within, a righteous man, a tzaddik, came out. He was all dressed in white, his gartel was embroidered with gold. On his head he wore a white kippah; his beard was long. His eyes, warm and good, were looking at me with pity and kindness.

"Aba! Daddy!" I cried and clung closely to my mother, hiding my face in her dress, my limbs trembling. I heard my mother's voice through my tears: "Go my child. Receive a blessing from the honoured Rav!"

She led me a few steps towards him. The Rav took my small hands into his warm, soft ones.

"Do not cry, my child" he said, placing his hands on my head. "Do not be afraid of me. I was a friend of your father. Come here and I will bless you on this holy day."

The Rav's hands were soft and warm - just like my father's. His voice was melodic - just like my father's. I felt as if a river of kindness and warmth washed all over me - from my head to my toes - just like when I used to sit on my father's lap.

*********************************

Rav Kook was so righteous that he always forgave his enemies and even loved and blessed them.

*********************************

In his last days, the Rav became very sick. He suffered in terrible pain. It was difficult for him to learn, and it was difficult for him to hide his anguish from his students and relatives.

On the morning of the 3rd Elul, his condition became worse. Even though speaking was very hard for him, he strained himself and demanded of his family and students not to add any titles to his name on the cover pages of his books, not to eulogize him, telling them (do not call me) "Rabbeinu, our Rabbi, and not the "Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael" - "Simply HaRav - the Rav".

A large crowd stood outside the house, where the Rav lay on his deathbed. He raised his eyes to the window in his room. Everyone in Eretz Yisrael knew that a great leader, a teacher, a man of wisdom, was about to leave the land he loved so much.

The Rav grew weaker by the hour. His family, relatives, and a number of his students gathered around his bedside. In his last hours, the Rav's face was turned towards the wall. His students knew that it was written in the Talmud: "If a man passes away with his face towards the wall - it is a bad sign, and if his face is turned toward the people, it is a good sign". With his remaining strength, the Rav struggled and turned himself to face the people. At the last moment, all those who were standing around the Rav broke out saying "Shema Yisrael".

At sunset, on the third day of Elul 5695 (Sept 1st, 1935) the Rav passed away. The news flashed through the Jewish nation with the speed of lightning. The backbone of the Jewish nation was broken. The Rav of the generation was gone, the Rav of the era, the Rav of Eretz Yisrael at the time of her rebirth.

Exactly 16 years (3rd Elul) after Rav Kook ascended to Jerusalem, he ascended to Heaven.

Source: Reprinted from "Stories from the Life of Rav Kook" edited and translated by Masha Fridman

More on Rav Kook at Rav Kook Torah

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

The 13 Attributes of Mercy


Understanding the Yud Gimel Midot Harachamim

by Dovie Schochet

After the grave sin of the golden calf, Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and pleaded with G‑d to forgive the Jewish people. After his supplications were accepted, Moses felt it was an auspicious moment to ask G‑d to give the Jewish people a way to obtain mercy should they fall again in the future.Moses pleaded with G‑d to forgive the Jewish people.

G‑d agreed with Moses, and told him to wait on a mountain where G‑d would show him His glory. Then G‑d passed before Moses and proclaimed the verses that are known as the 13 Attributes of Mercy (Middot Harachamim):

The L‑rd passed before him and proclaimed: “L‑rd, L‑rd, benevolent G‑d, Who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, preserving lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, rebellion and sin, and He pardons.

The 13 Attributes of Mercy have been known to bring salvation and forgiveness to the Jewish people throughout the generations. In the Talmud, Rabbi Yehudah states that “a covenant was established regarding the 13 Attributes of Mercy that they will never be returned empty-handed.”

Their importance is underscored by the role they play in our prayer services. Every day when many Jews recite “Tachanun” (a confessional prayer), they say the 13 Attributes of Mercy, invoking G‑d’s mercy in the face our transgressions. Every fast day, which is an opportune time to repent, this prayer is recited. Most telling of all is how often we say it during the Ne’ilah service on Yom Kippur—the holiest moment of the year.

Who Knows 13?

Let us now explore the power and significance of the number 13.

Any person can show mercy to another, yet there are always restraints and calculations as to how much mercy will be shown. For example, most people walking past a beggar on the street will have a sense of rachmanut (mercy) for the unfortunate person. However, before someone reaches into a pocket to give, he or she will think about the children’s tuition, the mortgage, medical bills, etc. And so, only a small sum will be given to the beggar.

The number 13 signifies the infinite. The number 12 signifies constraint and order: e.g., the 12 zodiac signs and the 12 months in a year. Above order and control, 13 connotes boundlessness and immeasurability. The fact that there are 13 Attributes of Mercy teaches us that when G‑d shows mercy, He does so without limit. No matter how low we fall, He will come to our aid and forgive us.

This is further demonstrated in the word echad (one), which has the numerical value of 13 (ד=4 / ח=8 / א=1). This signifies G‑d’s oneness in the world, how He is beyond any measure and limitation.

Does G‑d Care?

So how can G‑d have mercy? Does G‑d have emotions and feelings? Furthermore, the rabbis of the Talmud refer to G‑d’s actions as “middot,” “attributes” or “character traits,” descriptions that refer to human qualities?

Maimonides explains that G‑d Himself does not have any emotions, as G‑d is infinite and not restricted to feelings. Rather these “middot” are used in reference to G‑d’s actions and not His qualities. Moreover, the term “middot” is used only as a “borrowed term,” and not to be taken literally. We use this term for G‑d because He performs actions in a way that is similar to human actions, which stem from our emotions.

Chassidic thought further expounds on this idea, explaining that G‑d Himself is beyond emotions and not tied down to them. On the one hand, there is G‑d in actuality, in His essence and glory. On the other hand, there is how G‑d portrays Himself and relates to us in this finite world. When G‑d appears to be angry or merciful it is because that is how we perceive His G‑dly light as it shines in this world.

A Dispute of Numbers

The kabbalists take the following approach to the words that are counted as an attribute.

The 13 Attributes of Mercy according to Kabbalah:

א-ל / G‑d — mighty in compassion to give all creatures according to their need; 
רַחוּם / rachum — merciful, that humankind may not be distressed; 
וְחַנּוּן / ve’chanun — and gracious if humankind is already in distress; 
אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם / erech apayim — slow to anger; (once, to the righteous) 
אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם / erech apayim — slow to anger; (repeated again for the wicked) 
וְרַב-חֶסֶד / ve’rav chesed — and plenteous in kindness; 
וֶאֱמֶת / ve’emet — and truth; 
נֹצֵר חֶסֶד / notzer chesed — keeping kindness 
לָאֲלָפִים / laalafim — unto thousands; 
נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן / noseh avon — forgiving iniquity; 
וָפֶשַׁע / vafeshah — and transgression; 
וְחַטָּאָה / vechata'ah — and sin; 
וְנַקֵּה / venakeh — and pardoning.

However, others argue and offer a different approach to the words that count as an attribute. For example, they believe that the first two names of G‑d are attributes themselves. In contrast, the Kabbalistic approach did not include the first two names of G‑d, instead, it regards them as introductory notes - as the source for the thirteen attributes of mercy.

י-ה-ו-ה / Hashem — compassion before a person sins; 
י-ה-ו-ה / Hashem — compassion after a person has sinned; 
א-ל / G‑d — mighty in compassion, to give all creatures according to their need; 
רַחוּם / rachum — merciful, that humankind may not be distressed; 
וְחַנּוּן / ve’chanun — and gracious if humankind is already in distress; 
אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם / erech apayim — slow to anger; 
וְרַב-חֶסֶד / ve’rav chesed — and plenteous in kindness; 
וֶאֱמֶת / ve’emet — and truth; 
נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים / notzer chesed laalafim — keeping kindness unto thousands; 
נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן / noseh avon — forgiving iniquity; 
וָפֶשַׁע / vafeshah — and transgression; 
וְחַטָּאָה / VeChata'ah — and sin; 
וְנַקֵּה / VeNakeh — and pardoning.

The consensus amongst the Rabbinic authorities leans towards the kabbalistic approach. One of the reasons given for this is because in halachik analysis, when Torah is discussing a matter which has strong ties to Kabbalah, then the kabbalistic approach is the accepted opinion.

Monday, August 17, 2020

No Fear

Art: ''Havdalah with the Klausenberger Rebbe'' - Raphael Nouril


When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you must not be afraid of them, for Hashem, your G-d, is with you. [Shoftim 20:1]

Several fortunate students witnessed the fulfillment of this verse in the home of the tzaddik, R' Yosef Yozel Horowitz [the Alter of Novaradok].

During the Alter's later years, a brutal war had broken out in Russia. The battle had taken to the streets, as Russian citizens fought against the marauding bolsheviks.

One motza'ei Shabbos, the Alter stood with a cup of wine in hand, ready to recite Havdalah.

Suddenly, sounds of gunfire and shouting filled the air, as rioters entered the small town of Novaradok. The townspeople were in a panic, and screams of terror could be heard emanating from the houses. The sounds of gunfire and explosions were also clearly heard in the Alter's courtyard.

Yet to everyone's amazement, the apparent danger seemed to have no effect on the Alter. With a calm and pleasant voice, the Alter began reciting Havdalah, displaying a heart full of trust in Hashem.

The students who were present in the Alter's home that motza'ei Shabbos later remarked that in those incredible few moments, they had learned what it means to truly trust in Hashem.


Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Friday, August 14, 2020

Living in a World of Lies

May Gibbs drawing from a 1919 public health campaign reminding people to wear their mask during the Spanish flu pandemic.

Yesterday I had to actually go out and run some errands, something I rarely do these days.  I started off very early and had to wait outside the first stop until they opened.  As I sat in my car, I watched the people going to work, and I felt so sorry for them all.  They were mostly young, some with small children and babies, some wearing masks, all looking miserable as they bought their cappuccinos and began their daily grind.   It made me realize how lucky I am that I am able to work from home and rarely face the outside world, which is a miserable place these days, everyone paranoid about germs and impending lockdowns if Covid starts a second wave.

But I guess those are the lucky people, they still have jobs!  What of all the others who've lost their jobs, have no money and no prospects on the horizon?  Little wonder the suicide rate is far higher than the Covid death rate these days.  

What do people rely on if they don't believe in God?  They have nothing to fall back on, no reason to stay alive, no hope, just despair.   And these days believing in God is a revolutionary act, much like telling the truth.  


I feel so sorry for the world.... people are lost and despairing,  when all they really need is to learn the Truth, and they will be okay.  The trouble is, no-one is telling them the truth.  Truth has left the building.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Rely only on Hashem





And the wisdom of scribes will putrefy, and people who fear sin will be held in disgust, and the truth will be absent. The youth will shame the face of elders, elders will stand before minors. Normal family relations will be ruined: A son will disgrace a father; a daughter will rise up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his household. The face of the generation will be like the face of a dog; a son will no longer be ashamed before his father. And upon what is there for us to rely? Only upon our Father in heaven.
[Sotah 49b] Source

Sunday, August 9, 2020

The Secrets of the Torah are Revealed to Him

From the Teachings of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi David Hanania Pinto Shlita

It is written, “See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse” [Re'eh 11:26]. It would appear that the term “see” is redundant here, for can one see a blessing or a curse?

However the term re’eh [“see”] has the same numerical value, including the word itself, as raz [“secret”]. This means that whoever wants to search for and discover the Torah’s secrets will find them, and its mysteries will be revealed to him, as King David said: “Unveil my eyes, that I may perceive wonders from Your Torah” [Tehillim 119:18]. 

However one who does not want to discover the Torah’s secrets and puts no effort into it, even if he studies the same passage with his friend, will not discover what his friend does. 

King Solomon said, “If you seek her like silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of Hashem and discover the knowledge of G-d” [Tehillim 2:4-5]. 

To what can this be compared? It is like someone who loses something and becomes distraught over ever finding it again. When does he stand a chance of finding it? Only when he looks everywhere for it. However if he stays home and whines about it, without looking, the lost object will not reappear on its own.

The same applies in regards to Torah. A man cannot understand it and will not find the treasures it contains if he does put an effort into looking for them. The Mishnah teaches, “If a man says to you, ‘I have labored and not found,’ do not believe him. If he says, ‘I have not labored but I still have found,’ do not believe him. If he says, ‘I have labored and found,’ you may believe him. This is true in regards to words of Torah” [Megillah 6b]. 

This teaches us that nobody can understand the Torah unless he puts an effort into it. As the Sages say, “Whoever occupies himself with the Torah merits many things. … The secrets of the Torah are revealed to him” [Pirkei Avoth 6:1].

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Solutions While You Sleep


this is a re-post from June 2012.  I wrote this, but I don't remember writing it.... so much has happened since 2012, I'm honestly not surprised I don't remember things!



I had a personal salvation this week, after several months of wondering why I was going through so much suffering - which was actually worse than anything I'd ever experienced before - and on Rosh Chodesh Tamuz I was given the answer via a dream - even though I didn't remember the dream, I woke up with the answer, just as I had prayed for it before I went to sleep.  Once I'd acknowledged it and dealt with it, the judgment on me seemed to disappear, and I felt so much better.

If something of great importance is transmitted to you while you sleep, you will wake up with it on your mind, and it is vital that you realize it for what it is, and act on it.  The part of our soul that ascends while we sleep can answer our deepest questions, so pray hard before you sleep for the answer, and if the time is right, you will receive it.

We have been taught that all suffering has a time limit, and if you are someone who is suffering through some kind of agonizing problem, know that it will end, and you will be given the solution to it eventually - the remedy is in your own hands, and Hashem will supply you with the answer if you genuinely want to rectify it.

This is known as a tikkun - a rectification - and the bigger the problem, the more likely it is that it is part of your life's mission to get through it and come out the other end, a better and stronger person.

Often the people we are drawn to are the ones who can help us fix ourselves, and sometimes we can also be the ones to fix them as well.  That is how tikkunim are achieved - some people have to meet simply for that reason, and therefore they are drawn to each other on some level, as their soul knows they have to work something out.  Soul attractions are real, not accidental.  We are magnetically drawn to those people who can help us find our way.  

This following piece of advice is from Shlomo's blog - A Perfect World Now

As the Vilna Gaon writes [Commentary on Jonah]:

“The main thing [to keep in mind, is that the purpose of reincarnation], is to affect the repair of a [negative] influence, originating in a previous lifetime...

[One way] to discern exactly what that negative influence is, is to reflect upon the type of wrong your soul yearns after the most, in this lifetime. That which you yearn after most, is likely something you became habituated to in a previous life.

And therefore pay attention to your vices. [They tell you exactly what you have to work on in this lifetime.] ...The main thing is, to repair that which one stumbled in in a previous [life] ...

That’s why some people are drawn after one type of sin, more than another. And that’s also why our Sages say, that one must continually judge himself, and weigh his actions..."

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

The Happiest Man on Earth

Eddie Jaku OAM was born Abraham Jakubowicz in Germany in 1920. His family considered themselves German, first, Jewish second. 

On 9 November 1938, the night immortalised as Kristallnacht, Eddie returned home from boarding school to an empty house. At dawn Nazi soldiers burst in, Eddie was beaten and taken to Buchenwald.

Eddie's book ''The Happiest Man on Earth'' has just been published to co-incide with his 100th birthday.  




Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Tu B'Av

L'illui nishmat Mordechai ben Menachem a"h


The Jewish mini-holiday of Tu B’Av

The 15th of Av is undoubtedly a most mysterious day. A search of the Shulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law] reveals no observances or customs for this date, except for the instruction that the tachanun [confession of sins] and similar portions should be omitted from the daily prayers [as is the case with all festive dates], and that one should increase one’s study of Torah, since the nights are begining to grow longer, and “the night was created for study.” And the Talmud tells us that many years ago the “daughters of Jerusalem would go dance in the vineyards” on the 15th of Av, and “whoever did not have a wife would go there” to find himself a bride.

And the Talmud considers this the greatest festival of the year, with Yom Kippur (!) a close second!

Indeed, the 15th of Av cannot but be a mystery. As the “full moon” of the tragic month of Av, it is the festival of the future redemption, and thus a day whose essence, by definition, is unknowable to our unredeemed selves.

Yet the unknowable is also ours to seek and explore.

Source and more  click here

Monday, August 3, 2020

Soul Sharing: A Peek into Past Lives and Possession


Audio: Rabbi Aron Moss
click here to listen

Can one soul inhabit two bodies? Can one body contain two souls? One is called reincarnation, the other is called possession. Both are spoken of in the Kabbalah. But not often do you get to meet someone who has experienced being possessed, or has caught a glimpse of their past life. Evelyn and Robyn did. Hear their jaw dropping stories first hand.

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Final Credits

Artist Unknown

Every commandment that I command you this day you shall keep to do, that you may live and multiply, and come and possess the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers. [Eikev 8:1]

The lesson that one who completes a mitzvah is credited with it [see Rashi] is particularly apt for our generation.

For according to all the signs which were given by our Sages, we are presently in the last generation of exile, which will become the first generation of redemption.

Thus, it is greatly encouraging to know that despite the fact that the Torah study and observance of mitzvot in previous generations greatly surpassed that of our more humble efforts, nevertheless one who completes a mitzvah is credited with it.  

Mashiach will come in the merit of our mitzvot, which are performed in the last moments of exile.

Based on Likutei Sichos vol 9 pp 104-5 Lubavitcher Rebbe

Friday, July 31, 2020

The Bookbinder in Heaven



Text by Asharon Baltazar

After lying unconscious for days, clammy with cold sweat and hovering between life and death, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk’s eyes fluttered open. His students, who were gathered around his bed, felt the dread constricting their hearts relax a little. A slow recovery followed, but he eventually regained his full health. Having glimpsed the afterlife, Rabbi Elimelech shared a story of his time in Heaven:

Upon reaching Heaven, Rabbi Elimelech encountered Rabbi Avraham Azulai, author of the kabbalistic work Chesed leAvraham. The two spent many hours strolling through gardens perfumed by sweet flowers, listening to snatches of conversation between the angels. All the while, Rabbi Avraham kept expressing a fervorous admiration for the nascent Chassidic movement, and more than anything, he wanted to show Rabbi Elimelech the rewards that awaited those who adopted its ways. The two set out.

As they climbed a small hill, a magnificent structure rose into view. The thunderous sound of Torah learning boomed from the tall, gleaming windows. It was a grandiose house of study. Rabbi Elimelech approached the exquisite front doors and was pleasantly surprised to recognize a man standing there—the bookbinder from Lizhensk.

“Mordechai,” chuckled Rabbi Elimelech heartily. “What brings you to this yeshivah?”

Mordechai regarded Rabbi Elimelech with a solemn stare. “Rabbi, if someone overheard that, you would’ve been admonished. Here, I’m actually called ‘Reb Mordechai.’”

“I meant no offense,” said Rabbi Elimelech quickly. “Ever since we’ve met, I’ve always known you to be a simple individual. Why indeed have you earned such an honor to learn here?”

Mordechai acknowledged the mistake with a nod.

“Despite my history as a rather simple Jew,” he said, “things changed once I ascended here.” And he began his story . . .

In the moments following my death, I was brought before the Heavenly Court. The proceedings began immediately, and a spotlight was thrown on my past conduct. Rooted to the floor with dread, I watched angels flitting into the room, carrying every good and bad deed I’d ever committed and setting them on the scales positioned in the room’s center. The slightest fluctuation sent my pulse racing.

But evidence of sins continued to emerge and overweigh my good deeds, and the uneasiness gnawing at me worsened. I swayed, vainly trying to steel myself to hear the inevitable.

The Heavenly Court condemned me to Gehinnom. And a thick silence settled like dust. Every pair of eyes was focused on me.

Head bowed and cheeks burning, overwhelmed by a sense of self-disgust, I accepted the verdict. I hastily exited the courtroom, and after a last glimpse at the uneven scales, I began to walk tentatively down a barren road. The air around me shimmered with terrible heat, which increased with every step. The flaming borders of Gehinnom soon loomed into sight.

Before I endured the heat any longer, a pair of anxious-looking angels stopped my advance. Not a word was exchanged. Something urgent must’ve occurred because they simply grabbed my arms and hurried me back to the courtroom. There, a most unexpected development waited for me: a queue of wagons, all overflowing with bulging sacks, were parked outside the court’s entrance. Who had brought these here? The wagons lurched into motion after me as I entered the courtroom.

It was exactly as I had left it: the judges still sat on their benches, and the scales in the room’s center still angled toward the side bearing my years of sin. The same somber silence lingered.

A frenzy of commotion erupted as angels rushed over to the wagons, unloaded the sacks, and began placing them on the scales—on the side of merits. Gradually, the balance began to change, and each tip in the other direction eased something off my troubled heart. Once again, I was too frightened to do anything other than just stand and stare.

Finally, an angel placed a sack that tilted the scales ever so slightly to the side of good. The judges stopped everything and declared a change in my sentence: rather than suffer the fires of Gehinnom, I was now directed toward Gan Eden. An ethereal voice resonated from the very walls of the court: “From now on, you will be known as Reb Mordechai.”

I was free to go.

But I wasn’t going anywhere without answers. And it was rather difficult getting them. Initially, whomever I asked refused to reveal anything, but with persistence I learned what had occurred.

Soon after I had left for Gehinnom, an angel called the Guardian of Pages entered the courtroom to speak with the judges. He sought to absolve me of all charges.

“We don’t reconsider cases after their verdict,” the court told him.

“In regard to criminal offenses, this doesn’t apply,” countered the angel.

There was some nodding of heads from the judges. “Well, let’s see what you have to say.”

“Esteemed judges!” The angel’s voice rang out clearly. “Today, a simple man has passed away, who, as many others like him, didn’t study enough Torah and perhaps even committed a few sins due to his ignorance. Yet, he was honest and cherished the Torah dearly. Without a doubt, I can attest he honored the Torah like no one else. He was a bookbinder by trade. And even if he labored due to selfish reasons, binding books—Torah books— is a righteous trade.

“Countless hours were invested in ensuring the tattered books returned to their owners as new. Nothing was ever left unfinished. He handled their covers with special care and thumbed through the worn pages as gingerly as possible. He never threw out pages, however frayed, even the blank endsheets. When he trimmed away the excess paper and glued the bindings, not a single word was damaged. And anything that remained of his work, he collected in sacks to store in his attic.”

The angel scanned the judges’ faces. “I can show them to you if you want.”

As those words left his mouth, an ethereal voice boomed from every corner: “One who honors the Torah is honored by Heaven in Gan Eden.”

The judges, after a few moments of consultation, agreed to have a look at these sacks, which were brought in from the attic and counted in my presence. This is what altered the verdict in my favor.

I was left with mixed feelings. Obviously, having been spared the fires of Gehinnom, I was ecstatic. Yet, Gan Eden was meant for those who studied Torah their entire lives. That’s what souls do there. I had to sit among scholarly giants—and I would barely understand a word.

My obvious illiteracy attracted the attention and sympathy of a few great souls here in Gan Eden, where I wander from study house to study house, learning to navigate the seas of Torah until I’m able to do so on my own.

Source: Chabad

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Corona: Erasing the World of Lies


According to the non-Jewish calendar, the year is 2020, which is the number 20 twice. The number 20 is equal in gematria to the word keter [crown]. This is the revelation that is taking place now, the keter d’keter, the innermost level of the keter, which is the word keter twice, equal to 20 and 20, which is a hint to the non-Jewish year of 2020. 

Therefore, a state of solitude has come into the world, an impaired kind of being alone, where nobody can come within the space of another person. The private space of a person corresponds to the yechidah level of the soul, and right now nobody is allowed to interfere with another person’s space. It is also causing people to remain secluded in their homes. And as it is known, the nefesh level of the soul is in the liver, the ruach is in the heart, and the neshamah is in the brain, the chaya is on the person's clothing and the yechidah is in the house. Therefore one is to become secluded in the house due now, to the yechidah revelation which is taking place in the world today.

Understand that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has now erased any connection to tumah [impurity], to all of the restaurants, to all of the mingling, all of the vacations and all of the entire world of falsity that has been here for the last couple of years.

The above text is a very small excerpt from Bilvavi-Corona- Q & A from the author of Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh.  It's a fascinating read.  HT Myrtle Rising

Tisha B'Av: Tragedy or Consolation


This lecture was given last year, Rabbi Mendel Kessin.


Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Rebbe Nachman on Punishment


A person is sometimes punished even in the performance of a mitzvah. This is because he previously passed up an opportunity to fulfill just such a positive command.

A person sometimes unknowingly passes judgment on himself (by being asked to select a fitting punishment for someone else).

There are times when a person is killed because he failed to speak out on behalf of someone who is unjustly despised.

A person will sometimes be punished for having engaged in some illegal business practice, or because (he has been included in) a harsh decree passed against his neighbours or nation.

The Holy One hastens to exact punishments from an ungrateful person, punishing him at the hands of another ingrate.

A person bitten by a dog has either accepted malicious gossip or spoken it.

Source:  Sefer HaMiddot (The Book of Attributes) - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
translated by Moshe Mykoff

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

We Have Been Lied To : Covid 19Misinformation


This video came up on my FB feed, I found it very interesting.  American Doctors Address COVID-19 Misinformation at SCOTUS Press Conference

Monday, July 27, 2020

The Harmful Spirits Flee


by Rabbi David Hanania Pinto


"And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates" [Va'etchanan 6:9]

The mitzvah of mezuzah is well-known segulah for protecting the home from evil mishaps, destructive spiritual impediments, and harmful spirits.
The sefarim write that the word 'מזזות', mezuzot, can be re-arranged to form two words, 'זז-מות'. Chazal say (Shabbat 32a) that for the sin of not placing a mezuzah on one's doorpost, one's children may die r"l, but one who is careful with mezuzah, 'זז מות', 'death moves away' from his home.

This is the reason, writes the 'Sha'ar Bat Rabim', for writing the Name 'שד-י' on the outside of the mezuzah. 'שד-י' is an acronym for 'שומר דלתות ישראל', 'He guards the doors of Yisrael'. When they see Hashem's Holy Name written on the outside of the mezuzah, all harmful spirits and impediments are subdued and flee from this doorway.

Saturday, July 25, 2020

5 Av Yarzheit Arizal

Arizal Synagogue, Safed - Photo Steven Pinker

The Arizal [1534-1572] - Rabbi Isaac Luria was the most famous Kabbalist in the city of Safed, Israel who became known as the "Arizal" or ARI, an acronym for “The G-dly Rabbi Isaac of Blessed Memory.”

The Arizal passed away at the age of 38, and it was only during the last two years of his life that he met his foremost disciple, Rabbi Chaim Vital. The Arizal himself never wrote any books, however all his words were faithfully recorded by Rabbi Chaim Vital in what is known as Kitvei Ari, the “writings of the Arizal.” The Kitvei Ari is the key to the secrets of the Zohar, and it was the Arizal who formulated the Kabbalah into a comprehensive system. Rabbi Chaim Vital writes in the name of the Arizal that, “It is a Mitzvah to reveal this wisdom.” Until the time of the Arizal, knowledge of Kabbalah was not known outside of the tightly knit circle of the tzaddikim.

More about the Arizal at Ascent of Safed or click on the label "ARIZAL" below to read more of his teachings.


Friday, July 24, 2020

What Lies Behind Unjustified Hatred?



by Rabbi David Hanania Pinto

On Tisha B'Av night we say in the Kinnot, "By our necks we are pursued, because we pursued purposeless hatred, O woe! What has befallen us". The first principle that we must be aware of, says Rabbi Elimelech Biderman, is that we think we are sitting on the ground because of unjustified hatred, and with this, the subject is closed. But this is not the case! We must know that right beneath where we are sitting, something is buried! Something is concealed underneath the unjustified hatred! If we would pay attention to that buried matter, we would not come to unjustified hatred.

Under all "unjustified hatred" is buried "a lack of faith"!

Would we have faith, we would save ourselves hatred, jealousy, argument and lashon hara!

The Vilna Gaon explains the seemingly hard-to-understand expression 'unjustified hatred'. Why indeed do we call it 'unjustified hatred'? The hatred is not unjustified! If my friend drove me crazy, this is called 'unjustified hatred'? Do I really hate him for no reason?

Says the Vilna Gaon, Hashem tells us that this kind of hatred is unjustified. Hashem, as if, is telling me, do you think that he drove you crazy? It is not him, it is I! This person, he is only a messenger! Had he not done to you what he did, I would have sent a different messenger to do exactly the same thing, for everything that happens is predetermined by Me!

If you hate him because you think that it is he who hurt you, this points to a lack of faith in Hashem.

This is the meaning of what we said above, that underneath all 'unjustified hatred' lies 'a lack of faith'.

It is told that someone dreamt that a certain friend was speaking lashon hara about him. These thoughts accompanied him for a long time. One day he met that friend and asked him:

"Why are you saying evil things about me?"

"Far be it from me to do such a thing," the friend answered in astonishment. "I never spoke lashon hara about you. You must have dreamt it."

The next day he again met his friend and once again asked him, "Why are you speaking lashon hara about me?"

Yet his friend once again repeated the same answer, "You are simply dreaming."

When this happened for the third time and his friend tried to explain to him that it was all a figment of his imagination and a dream, he replied, "It may have indeed been a dream, but why are you talking about me?"…

This is exactly how we wander around in This World. If any of us would be asked, "Do you believe in Hashem?" we will no doubt answer, "Of course, certainly. What's the question?" "Do you believe that everything is ordained by Heaven?" "Of course, certainly. Everything is from above!"

Nice words.

But if indeed everything is from above, why are you furious with your neighbor? If you believe with perfect faith that everything is destined by Hashem, why are you quarreling with your friend? Why is your mouth constantly full of complaints against all types of people who did to you, took from you, harmed you?

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Finding a Lost Object



This really works, because I just did it yesterday and this morning I found the thing I had been looking for.

Say this short prayer [to Hashem] - you can say it in Hebrew or in English

אמר רבי בנימין, הכל בחזקת סומין, עד שהקדוש ברוך הוא מאיר את עיניהם. מן הכא, "ויפקח אלוקים את עיניה ותרא באר מים, ותלך ותמלא את החמת". ן אלקא דמאיר ענני, אלקא דמאיר ענני, אלקא דמאיר ענני. ן בזכות הצדקה שאני נודב לכבוד התנא רבי מאיר בעל הנס, זכותו יגן עלינו, אמצא את אבידתי.ן 

To translate: Rabbi Binyamin said: All are in the presumed status of blind people, until The Holy One, Blessed Be He, enlightens their eyes. {Bereishit 21:19}, "And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink." {The concept is that the well was always there, but Hagar did not see it. Only after praying did G-d open her eyes and she saw what was already there.}

Then give a small amount of tzedaka [charity] to the Meir Baal HaNess charity: click here to donate


If you’re facing a specific hardship: 
Say three times: “Eloka D’Meir Aneini” [God of Meir, answer me]
Then donate some charity to the poor of Israel. 

For more information on Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNess click here

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Causing Others to Suffer has Consequences

Art Gabriele Scholl


''Yaakov was no longer able to see." [Vayechi 48:10]

Chazal tell us various reasons why Yitzchok became blind. but why did Yaakov become blind?

Rav Shlomo Zalman Zelaznik Ztz"l. the Rosh Yeshiva of Eitz Chaim. explained with the principle that if someone suffers on your account, you are punished, even if you have done nothing wrong. In Yaakov's case we find two people whose eyes suffered on account of him. The first was Yitzchok. who Chazal say became blind so that Yaakov would be able to fool him and take the blessings. The second is Leah. whose eyes were swollen because she was destined to marry Eisav. while Rochel was supposed to marry Yaakov.

 "Either of these two occurrences," says Rav Zelaznik, "were enough cause to warrant Yaakov losing his eyesight despite his complete innocence of any wrongdoing. If such is the Midas HaDin when we are completely innocent of any wrongdoing, certainly, if we actually play a part in the suffering of another person, we are in huge trouble."

Source: Revach.net

Monday, July 20, 2020

The Essence of Tisha B'Av

This is a couple of years old, but the message is clear.

Tisha B'Av, what is the mourning all about?  Rabbi Mendel Kessin


Sunday, July 19, 2020

The Privilege of Hearing Criticism


Excerpt from an essay on Parshas Matos by Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson

Rabbi Yitzchak Meir (Reb Itche Meir) Alter of Gur (1799-1866), a small town not far from Warsaw (known today as Gora Kalwaria), was the brother-in-law and foremost student of the intensely brilliant Kotzker Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgenstern (1787-1859). He was known as the “Chidushei HaRim,” after the title of his Talmudic and Chassidic works. Following the passing of his own master, he founded a Chassidic dynasty, becoming (in 1860) the first Rebbe of Ger. He became an influential figure on the landscape of Polish Jewry and a greatly respected spiritual leader. Reb Itche Meir suffered greatly in his life, seeing 12 of his 13 children pass before him.

Since some of his grandchildren had been left as young orphans, he ended up raising his grandson, the young Yehuda Aryeh Leib (1847-1905), who would eventually succeed his grandfather as the second Gerrer Rebbe while still a young man of age 22. The Sefas Emes, as he is known, became one of the most influential spiritual leaders of Polish Jewry. His brilliant five-part Chassidic homilies on the Torah that gave him his name, and his many volumes of commentary on the Talmud, have transformed him into one of the great Talmudic and Chassidic giants of the 19th century.

When he was still just a boy, he would often stay up late in the night studying Torah. At times, he stayed up almost the entire night immersed in Torah study with a learning partner.

And so it happened once, that at one such occasion, the Sefas Emes after staying up all night, fell asleep right before morning prayers and came late to the service. His grandfather, who raised him as his own child, noted the time his grandson had arrived to synagogue. After the prayers, the Gerer Rebbe, the Chidushei Harim, approached his grandson and rebuked him for sleeping in. He explained to him at length how the discipline to awake in the morning is crucial to human development; how allowing oneself to indulge in sleep numbs one’s spiritual growth and inhibits growth; how after sleeping a full night, a Jew ought to jump out of bed in the morning with passion and alacrity, with the joy of knowing that now he can approach G-d in prayer and study; how wasting one’s life in bed is a tragedy.

The Sefas Emes, who was a young boy at the time, kept quiet. He just listened to his grandfather rebuking him without offering the obvious excuse that he was up all night learning Torah. His study partner, who was up with him and knew what had happened, approached the young Yehuda Aryeh Leib and asked, "Why didn't you just tell your grandfather you were up all night studying?”

The young Sefas Emes answered his friend: "To hear criticism from my saintly Zeide is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There was no way I was going to forfeit that privilege by offering justifications for my behavior!”

Friday, July 17, 2020

Mashiach's Arrival: How Do We Know


Rabbi Shimon Kessin, renowned speaker from NY gave this breathtaking shiur at KSY, Kehillas Shivtei Yeshurun, in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel in 2013.

You will be "blown away" by the depth of insights that Rabbi Kessen shares with us and you will totally change your perspective on what we should pray for on Tisha B'Av. 

Rabbi Kessen teaches that "the Beis HaMikdosh, the resting place of the Shechina (G-D's presence in the world) was NOT destroyed"! "Mashiach's arrival; Is it soon? How do we know?"


2020

Art: Mike Worrall


"A king was informed by his chief minister that there had been blight on the crops that year. They were affected so greatly that anyone eating the grain would become insane. "But" said the minister, "there is no need for us to worry. I have set aside enough grain from last year's harvest for the both of us that will last until the harvest of the following year."

The king shook his head. "No," he said. "I will not allow myself any privileges other than those shared by my subjects.  "We shall eat of the same grain," the king continued, "and we shall both go insane together with the rest of the population. But here is what we shall do. You and I will mark our foreheads with an indelible imprint, so that when we go insane, I will look at you and you will look at me and we will know we are insane."
[Rebbe Nachman of Breslov]

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Keep Your Eyes Open and See Mashiach

by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh


Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf of Cherni-Ostra’ah was a disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch and Rebbe Meshulam Feivush of Zabriz. He was the Rabbi and Admo”r of Cherni-Ostra’ah in the Ukraine.

In the year 5558 (1798), about twenty years after the first great Chassidic aliyah to the Land of Israel, Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf made aliyah to Israel, settling first in Haifa and afterwards in Tiberias. After the passing of Rebbe Avraham of Kalisk, Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf was appointed to be the leader of the Chassidim. Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf’s students included Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kosov – the father of the Vizhnitz dynasty – and Rebbe David Shlomo of Eibschitz, author of “Arvei Nachal.” He passed away on the fifth of Adar, 5583 (1823) and was laid to rest in Tiberias, in the section of the disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov.

***

Guidance for a Simple Jew who Attained Spiritual Heights

A simple man (with no special spiritual aptitude withstood a great trial. (The type of trial he withstood is not recorded. Generally, however, ‘a great trial’ refers to a trial in maintaining sexual purity, as in the trial of Joseph). In reward, Heaven granted him a special gift: Whenever he would mention God’s Name, such as when praying or reciting a blessing, he would feel God’s majesty in his soul. As a result, whenever this man would utter pray or make a blessing, his entire body would begin to tremble and he would feel that his organs were burning up in fear.

There are stories about tzaddikim who merited lofty heights and did not want them. Rebbe Zusha of Anapoli merited to see Heaven like the Rambam and was not able to contain it. It is told of the Rebbe of Komarna that every time that he learned what one of the sages in the gemara taught, he would see that sage before him. The teaching of the Jerusalem Talmud that when a person learns Talmud, it is as if the sage who taught that particular teaching stands before him – spontaneously occurred to him. But the Rebbe of Kamarna asked God to take that spiritual height away from him, as it disturbed his study.

Our simple Jew, who did not understand why he would be experiencing such lofty spiritual heights, came to the Rebbe of Cherni-Ostra and complained that he did not know what happened to him, but he could not bear the suffering it entailed. He entreated the Rebbe to help him to disengage from this spiritual level.

Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf said to him: “You have merited and were given something that others ask for and toil for their entire lives. All the tzaddikim serve God all their lives with an inner desire to reach this level, and you have received it as a gift. How can you forgo it? The Rebbe then proceeded to teach him how to live with this lofty level.

Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf did not agree to take this level away from the simple Jew. If he merited it, he was apparently deserving. Instead, the Rebbe gave him the tools to serve God at that level. The Ba’al Shem Tov would also take simple Jews and invest years teaching them Torah and service of God until they attained spiritual heights.

Anticipating Mashiach

Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf’s eyes were always open. (Even when he was reciting the Silent Prayer. It is also told of Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev that he would pray with open eyes – even in front of an open window facing the street – despite the law that says that if one is praying without a prayer book, he should close his eyes. Rebbe Levi Yitzchak said that even though his eyes were open in prayer, he did not see the comings and goings in the street. A tzaddik has a level of sight that is not physical. He radiates Godliness from his eyes. He sees only the Godliness in all the things taking place in front of him. In the same vein, it is also told of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rebbe Shneor Zalman of Liadi, that before he died, he said that he did not see the beam in the ceiling at all, but rather the word of God giving it vitality).

Even when Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf was sleeping his eyes would remain open. (We can learn from this that his soul root was the mazal of fish, which coincides with his day of passing in the month of Adar).

Once, Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf was laying down with his eyes closed. His assistant, who was next to his bed, thought that he had passed away and began to wail loudly. The holy rabbi opened his eyes and asked him, “Why are you crying?”

“I thought that you had passed on to heaven,” the assistant answered.

“Do not fear,” Rebbe Ze’ev Wolf calmed him. “We are all fine. I simply closed my eyes in order to contemplate on the generation of Mashiach: Our forefathers in Egypt were sunk into the depths of the 49th gate of impurity. They could not tarry in Egypt any longer, for they had nearly sunk to the fiftieth gate of impurity, from which they would not have been able to emerge. The fiftieth gate is apikorsus (denial of Torah), may God save us. I saw that before Mashiach comes, this gate – the impurity of apikorsus – will spread throughout the world, may God save us, and even for people of our stature (even tzaddikim, disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov) it will be difficult to be saved from it. The solution is to speak about tzaddikim. This is the only force with which they can be saved from a trace of denial of Torah.”

When the holy Ruzhiner Rebbe told this story, he concluded by saying, “It is even good to tell about me, and even to tell about my possessions, the chairs and tables.” (The Ruzhiner Rebbe conducted a wealthy court and engaged in injecting Godliness into his material possessions. This level is fitting for someone who lives at the level of “with all your might,” who infuses his physical possessions and all that surrounds him with Godliness).

Opening Eyes with Stories of Tzaddikim

To see and understand the tribulations of the exile and the approach of Mashiach, Rebbe Ze’ev wolf had to close his eyes and see the darkness. This is similar to the Covenant of the Pieces in Genesis: “And behold, a dread, a great darkness falls upon him,”[1] The famous Biblical commentator, Rashi, explains as follows: “This is an allusion to the troubles and darkness of the exiles.” The Lubavitcher Rebbe commented that in the time of ikvata d’Mishicha, when the Mashiach is approaching, we are in the throes of “double and doubly-double darkness.” This darkness is so pervasive that it can be tangibly felt, similar to the plague of darkness in Egypt. The Rebbe said, however, that in order to emerge from the exile, all that we have to do is “open our eyes” and see that Mashiach is rapidly approaching.

How can we open our eyes and see redemption? By telling stories of tzaddikim. It is written in the Tanya that there is a spark of Moses, a true tzaddik, in every Jew. The Hebrew word for “story,” sippur, is cognate to sapir, “sapphire.” By telling stories of tzaddikim, we illuminate the spark of the tzaddik inside us – the root of pure faith. We are then saved from the impure husk of denial of the Torah and we merit the resurrection of the dead.

[1] Genesis 15:12.