Lazer Brody's Blog, page 14

The Garden of Emuna #77: The Lust for Victory

The Clever One wakes up in the morning and looks for ways to feed his insatiable ego, especially by proving That there's no king and that he's right and everyone else is wrong ��� truth has nothing to do with it���

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Return, not Repent

If the little 4-year old in the photo above was your son, would you be angry at him? No? But he just broke your flower pot! No, you wouldn't yell at him because his soul is worth a lot more than a flower pot and you wouldn't want to damage it, Heaven forbid, by screaming at him. Besides, he's so scrumptiously cute and you love him...

Hashem loves each one of us a zillion more times than we love our children. Hashem too is not angry when we ruin things. Like a loving parent and tremendously more so, He wants us to be happy. But, He is angry when people feel they are not accountable, do bad, then altogether ignore and avoid Hashem. That's not a recipe for success.

Hashem wants us to return to him - returning is a pleasure. Hashem doesn't want us sad and tormenting ourselves, and He's not enamored by the self-induced suffering and breast-beating penitence that many folks think is teshuva. We'll learn in today's lesson that teshuva is not repenting, but returning - returning to Hashem with all our hearts.

Don't miss today's emuna lesson and live broadcast from Jerusalem entitled "Return, not Repent", which will take place, G-d willing, on the ground-floor main sanctuary of the Chut Shel Chessed Yeshiva on 13 Shmuel Hanavi Street in Jerusalem at 7 PM Israel time; the shiur is open to the public - both men and women are invited. You can see today's lesson here - the broadcast, as well as our lessons posted from now on - are Mac and iPod compatible. If you tune in too early to the live broadcast link, you'll be sent to the main page of the Breslev Israel website, so try to tune in on time.  If you are not able to view today's broadcast live, then G-d willing, you'll be able to see the video tape of it later this coming week on Lazer Beams. 

Join Dr. Zev Ballen's Online Emuna Coaching Workshop

10th of Teveth and Rebbe Natan's Yahrtzeit: Today

Today, Tuesday 10 Teveth (18 Dec., 2018) is a fast day that commemorates the beginning of the Babylonian siege around Jerusalem, before the city fell and the First Holy Temple was destroyed two and a half years later. The fast begins 90 minutes before dawn on Tuesday morning and ends when the stars come out. Here in Israel, this is roughly from 5:00 AM to 5:09 PM, so it's the shortest fast day of the year.

10 Teveth this year also commemorates the 174th anniversary of the passing of our holy Rabbi and spiritual guide, Rebbe Natan of Breslev, of saintly and blessed memory. Were it not for Rebbe Natan, we wouldn't have had such a rich legacy of Rebbe Nachman's teachings. Rebbe Natan is a spiritual Transformer, for he brings us Rebbe Nachman's dazzling light in a measure that we can absorb. Rebbe Natan is also My Hero. 

Please light a candle for Natan ben Naftali Hertz, may his blessed and holy memory intercede on our behalf, amen. 

Here are some photos we took in Breslev, Ukraine a few summers ago, at Rebbe Natan's holy gravesite:

Photo 1: Rebbe Natan's Gravesite

Photo 2: View of the Ukranian countryside from Rebbe Natan's gravesite

Photo 3: The River Bugg, here Rebbe Natan would pour his heart out in personal prayer

Photo 4: Lazer praying at Rebbe Natan's gravesite

 

Shira's Answer

Guest post from our cherished friend Dr. Harry, who recently made aliya from South Florida to the holy city of Tzfat:

Shira Ish-Ran, the Israeli woman who was severely wounded and lost her baby boy in a Palestinian shooting attack last week, displayed defiance and strength in the face of her tragic loss, vowing on Thursday to have ���many more babies��� in response to losing her baby to Palestinian terrorism.

Twenty-one-year-old Shira, who was 30 weeks pregnant when she was shot while waiting at a bus stop outside the community of Ofra, was seriously wounded in the shooting, and doctors delivered the infant in an emergency C-section. The baby died on Wednesday after several days in intensive care. Shira's husband Amichai Ish-Ran sustained moderate injuries in the attack.

On Thursday, a day after her four-day-old son was laid to rest, Shira Ish-Ran was quoted by Hebrew-language media as saying, in her first remarks since the attack: ���I will show them. I will bring many more babies into this world. Am Yisrael chai,��� the Times of Israel reported

The baby was named Amiad Yisrael (my nation forever, Israel) before being buried in Jerusalem���s Mount of Olives cemetery.

I SAY LET HER WORDS BECOME A MOVEMENT

Every Jewish women of child bearing around the world should have at least one more baby than planned and name the boy Ami Yisrael, and a girl Bat-Ami Yisraella in memory of her baby. Let these savages who kill Jews in the womb be answered with millions of new Jewish babies, all of who standing for "My nation forever, Israel."

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. 

Core Truth

Tomorrow is the 10th of Teveth, the 174th yahrtzeit of our cherished rabbi and teacher, Rebbe Natan of Breslev, in whose virtue we have the teachings of Rebbe Nachman. Rebbe Natan was the prime disciple who not only wrote down Rebbe Nachman's teachings, but greatly expanded them and elaborated on them for the benefit of subsequent generations. 

We don't stop and think how much we live and breathe Rebbe Nachman's and Rebbe Natan's teachings, which permeate every phase of our lives. For a Breslever, talking to Hashem is second nature. Everything we have in holiness, in emuna and in Torah are all the fruit of Rebbe Nachman's teachings as we received them from Rebbe Natan. Read all about it in Core Truth, in this week's new issue of Breslev Israel web magazine.

Last week was a rough week in Israel. Increased terrorist activity claimed the price of our children's blood, including the two fallen soldiers from the terrorist attack at Givat Assaf last week, 1st Sgt. Yuval Mor Yosef, 20, from Ashkelon, and Sgt. Yosef Cohen, 19, from Beit Shemesh, as well as the Ish-Ran baby who was mortally wounded in a terrorist drive-by shooting last week. Our brothers and sisters abroad have also paid the price of blood, simply for being Jews, as was the case with the Pittsburgh eleven from the synagogue shooting on Oct. 27, 2018. Many people have asked what constitutes a martyr according to Jewish Law - you'll find the answer in my article, Who is a Martyr? 

Also featured in our all-star literary lineup for this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush - Three Partners

Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak - The Mud of Emuna

Racheli Reckles - Why Men Don't Respect Women

Dr. Zev Ballen - Reclaiming Your Real Self

Gedale Fenster - Generating Happiness

David Ben Horin - Mitzvoth by the Millisecond

We are delighted to introduce Rivka Malka Perlman - don't miss How Shame Hurt My Emuna - it's amazing.

Blessings for a wonderful new week!

Guest Post: Meir the Cabby from Ashdod

I'm Meir. I drive a taxi in Ashdod. This is a picture of my rig to the left. Hey don't get me wrong, I'm not religious or anything, and I'm certainly not a Haredi. I enjoy a good soccer match (especially Betar Yerushalayim) on Shabbat. Some people think hackers are dumb, but not us Israelis. I can speak 4 languages - Hebrew, French, Arabic, and English. Rabbi Lazer said I could write whatever I want, and that he'd only correct spelling mistakes, so he can't sell me down the river.

The truth is, that before I met Rabbi Lazer, I used to work like a dog for 7 seven days a week. In case you're wondering about moving here, life ain't easy with 4 kids and a wife that likes to serve meat or chicken every day and to get her hair done once a week.

Once, I drove Rav Lazer to a lecture of his in Ashkelon. Even though he's a Haredi, we hit it off great. He didn't nag me about religion, just took an interest about my family and me. I told him I was in debt up to the nose. He asked me if I worked on Shabbat. I said yes. He said let the rig rest on Shabbat, have a nice meal with the family, and take a walk on the beach with the wife and kids, and he promises I'll get out of debt. I said, "Rabbi, with all due respect, you're nuts. How can I work less hours, and forfeit Saturday double-time tariffs, and make more money? Where the heck did you learn math?"

He only smiled. He said that I'll save the money on tires and repairs. I didn't believe him.

The following Saturday, I got a great fare from a French tourist who wanted to go from Ashdod to Tzfat via the Kinneret. Fat city! The fare was 1850 shekels round trip and the madamoiselle gave me a 250-shekel tip and payed for lunch. I laughed all the way home with 2100 shekels in my pocket...until Sunday morning.

The next morning, a cop pulled me over and claimed that I crossed a solid white line: 4 points and 600 shekels down the drain. The points on my license hurt more than the dough. An hour later, I passed a construction site and got two flat tires from nails on the road. The tires were shot, another 900 shekels. Then, I had engine trouble. Diesel engines use cheap fuel, but their maintenance is more expensive. Another 800 shekels. I made a lousy 200 shekels that day, but lost 6 hours and 2300 shekels, all the money I made the day before and the few fares that I made before the day was up.

At 7 pm, exhausted, I got a call from guess who - Rabbi Lazer. He wanted me to take him to one of the moshavim in the area for another of his gigs. To make a long story short, I put 2 and 2 together and figured that you can't fight city hall, especially when Hashem is the mayor.

Hey, that was 18 months ago. I'm not gonna tell you I'm religious or anything, but I don't work on Shabbat anymore. I've repaid 80% of my debts, and my home life is a zillion times better. So do yourself a favor - don't work on Shabbat. Take it from me, Meir the cabby from Ashdod.

Rabbi Lazer gave me one more piece of advice - buy gas from a station that closes on Shabbat. I do; here's proof:

Ashdod gas station, near the port: The neon sign says, "Open 24 hours, station observes the Sabbath".

This is really cool being on the web like this. I guess if I ever retire, I'll start a blog. You can't imagine how many juicy stories Israeli cabbies can tell. And I mean juicy...

When you come to Ashdod, look me up. L'hitraot from your friend Meir the cabby from Ashdod. Hey, how do you like my English?

Hanging Tough

Shavua Tov! No one of true greatness was born with a silver spoon. The great tzaddikim, even the ones with righteous parents, suffered unspeakable difficulties and rock-bottom descents on their way to the top; enjoy this week's emuna lesson and have a lovely new week:

Chanukah in Afghanistan

Emuna Outreach's mailbox is always exciting. Here's an email we received from our esteemed friend and partner in spreading emuna, the top-ranking US Army Jewish chaplain in Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Yoni Zagdanski:

Shalom Aleichem Rabbi Lazer!! 

Hope you had a wonderful Chanukah in Eretz Hakodesh.  Below are pictures of 5th night in Kabul and 8th night in Kandahar province.  All the booklets that Emuna Outreach sent are gone and hopefully will bring Harav Arush Shlita's message of Emuna to our soldiers. 

With great respect, Yoni Zagdanski 

Photo #1: 5th night of Chanukah with US Army in Kabul, Afghanistan

Photo #2: 8th night of Chanukah with US Army in Kandahar province, Afghanistan

Emuna Outreach is now preparing a new emuna book&pamphlet shipment to the US Military in Afghanistan. By giving us your generous help, you become a full partner in this phenomenal mitzva and also benefit from a US tax deduction for 2018, as the American Friends of Emuna Outreach is a US-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity. Donate to Emuna Outreach - you'll be glad you did, in this world and in the next. 

A Special Request for a Special Man

 Our dear friend, Harold Lerner, a beloved member of the Breslev Israel family, is having a heart operation today. Please keep him in your prayers for a speedy and complete recovery. Thank you and Shabbat Shalom! 

Rav Brody's post below made my jaw drop in awe. Don't miss it below! 

~Racheli