Lazer Brody's Blog, page 303

The Garden or the Jungle?

Don't think that the ability to accept life's difficulties with love is limited to the select few. This is actually a requirement in Jewish law. The Code of Jewish Law states (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, ch. 222), "the [seemingly] bad for servants of G-d are their happiness and their credit; since they accept with love everything that Hashem decrees, they are thereby using these difficulties to serve Hashem with joy."

Stop and think of all the other daily aggravations that upset us. The teller at the bank refuses to cash a check. Someone is sitting in your synagogue seat. Your brand new washing machine is not functioning properly.

The choice is ours – emuna or no emuna, Heaven or purgatory. By accepting life's tiny tribulations with love, we're doing ourselves the greatest favor in the world.

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter of saintly and blessed memory was an immensely pious man, but a he lived a life of poverty. His wife once heated up some milk that they could barely afford; the milk came to a vigorous boil, overflowed, and spilled onto the floor. A person with no emuna would have likely yelled at his wife, "Stupid! Why are you so careless?" One can imagine how a bit of spilled milk could trigger a domestic war…

No, there was no war in the Salanter home. Rabbi Yisrael asked his wife, "Sweetheart, what do you think we did wrong to deserve the milk being spilled?" His wife pondered for a moment and remembered that she forgot to leave the payment for the milk in the prearranged hiding place for compensating the milkman. If the milk hadn't spilled, she would have forgotten to pay him entirely. Negligence in paying a debt is a serious violation of Torah. What's more, the milkman – out of respect to Rabbi Yisrael – might have been embarrassed to claim what's due. Then, the Salanters would have been guilty of swindling the milkman, G-d forbid. As such, they were happy that the milk spilled because it saved them from serious transgressions.

The Salanters' story has a happy ending because of emuna. Without emuna, little stories with happy endings become major dramas with tragic outcomes. Walking the path of emuna is like walking in a flowering botanical garden where one flower is prettier that the next. The path without emuna is a perilous jungle of negative emotions -- snake-pits of anger, quick sands of depression, poison spiders of anxiety, and torturous nightmares. Isn't it better to choose the garden?

 

No More Worry

I'm not saying this just to make you feel good, but despite all the threats around us, there is truly no need to worry. here's why:

Rabbi Bahiya ibn Pakuda writes in his classic book of Jewish ethics, "Duties of the Heart," that as soon as a person strengthens his emuna to the extent that he realizes that not a single person on earth can harm him or help him against Hashem's will, then he attains true emotional and moral independence; in other words, he stops running after other people looking for favors or trying to flatter them. He fears no one other than Hashem, and he turns to no one other than Hashem. Such a person is calm, confident, and truly independent.

It's such a pleasure when you trust in Hashem and in no one else. You don't worry anymore. Look how much emotional wear and tear you save when you trust in Hashem and in no one else. As soon as we realize that no one can touch a hair on our head against Hashem's will, we direct all our energies and attention in His direction. We stop fearing other people. We laugh at their threats. They can't lift a finger against us; and, if Hashem wants us to suffer a tribulation of some sort, He alone will decide who will be the messenger that brings us the suffering. Yet, if we get close to Hashem on our own accord, rather than waiting for the tribulations to prod us, then He doesn't need to send the tribulations at all. And, if we do get them, we know that they're all for the best so we thank Him for them. When you thank Hashem for something, you certainly don't have to be afraid of that thing, so now you're free to be happy and to have a wonderful day!

 

Is There Hope for the Autistic Child?

Is there hope for the autistic child? Eliahu HaNavi revealed a tikkun to a hidden tzaddik, the tzaddik revealed the tikkun to my beloved rabbi Rav Shalom Arush, and Rav Shalom revealed it to us. Read the whole Tikkun for Autism at Dr. Zev Ballen's Emuna Therapy blog.

Today! Say "Parshat HaMan" to Insure a Good Income

Don't forget to say "Parshat HaMan" today: Segula (spiritual invoking ploy) for a good income - on the Tuesday of the Parshat Beshalach week, our sages tell us that it's an opportune time to recite "Parshat HaMan", the story of the manna, the Heaven-sent bread that sustained the Children of Israel for forty years in the desert. One should read it in Hebrew if possible, twice mikra and once targum. For your convenience, here is a clearly presented Parshat HaMan. If you read English only, then you can find Parshat HaMan in your English Chumash, Exodus Chapter 16, verses 4-36. May Hashem send a wonderful parnassa to everyone, amen! 

Don't Say You Didn't Know...

Many people have written and asked what was the third thing that Rabbi Yehuda Zev Lebowitz said before he died to Rav Shalom Arush. I didn't want to repeat it. But, this past week, Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi said the same thing in his weekly shiur in Hebrew; "There will be a sharp increase of shock in the world and severe hatred of the Jews!" The main points of the shiur are translated to English at Rivka's Bat Aliyah blog.

Meanwhile, if you don't plan to make aliya in the near future, do two things:

1. Start praying every day that you and your family will be able to make aliya;

2. Do what you can to spread emuna - that way, you are Hashem's shaliach (emissary) wherever you are.

Rav Lebowitz ob"m, Rav Nir Ben Artzi, and the autistics have all said the same thing. No one can say that they didn't know.

Strangling Stringencies

King David says (Psalm 119:99), "I learned from everyone that taught me." If Hashem sends a person or event in our lives, then there's surely something to learn.

My high-school wrestling coach was an Irish coal-miner's son from the hills of Pennsylvania, a self-made man who ultimately earned a PhD in education. He had tons of worldly wisdom and much of what he taught me in life helped me at critical times, especially during my service in the military.

Our coach hung a sign on the ceiling of our training gym with a tongue-in-cheek message that said, "If you can read this sign, you're losing!" Understandably, anybody that's lying on his back on a wrestling mat is not in the process of winning the match...

The Torah commands us to be in simcha, to be in a state of joy. That means we should have a smile on our face and not a stern look of hellfire and brimstone. Therefore, when a person is happy, he's a winner in Judaism. But when he's not happy - "on his back" so to speak – he's losing...

Many observant people ask, "I perform mitzvas, but I'm not happy! How can the Torah command me to be happy?"
 
The answer is quite simple. The Torah commands us to be happy, because if we observe its commandments like we should, then we will be happy.

Lack of happiness in one's Torah learning, prayer, and/or mitzva performance usually stems from one of two problems, either a lack of emuna or an excess of stringency.

Continue reading Strangling Stringencies on this week's online edition of Breslev Israel magazine.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: The Haystack

Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook: Amalek's Assault

Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak: Pesky Thoughts

Rabbi Aryeh Goetz: The Engaging Shabbat Table

Rajel Hayyim: Family Planning and Emuna

Zev Ballen: Self-alignment

Yehudit Bell: Walking and Talking

Dovber HaLevi: Rewriting History

Rivka Levy: The ABC Club

Important Notice, Uman 5773: See the InnUman website for a special early-bird discount for those who register now. Last year, "Inn Uman" was completely sold out - ask those who attended what an unforgettable Rosh Hashana they had.

No Room for Anger

Today's emuna lesson is dedicated to Morrie Ludwig (Moshe ben Asher) of blessed memory from San Francisco, who left the physical world exactly 6 years ago on the 5th of Shvat, 5766. He was one of the very first supporters of Emuna Outreach. 

Anger is worse than almost any other violation of Torah. Anger and emuna are mutually exclusive. Anger is not only comparable to idolatry, a heinous insult to Hashem, but also leads to severe transgressions against our fellow man. Anger is something we all need to avoid, as we'll learn in the following vital 35-minute lesson:

Important Notice: Our Mac and Linux users have been having difficulties seeing the emuna lessons. A few of our PC users have only seen the 60-second promo before the lesson and not the lesson. Breslev Israel's tech crew is working on a dramatically new upgraded server and revolutionary new application so that soon, viewers will be provided with the best video stream on the web, very soon, G-d willing. Thanks for the patience and understanding.

Bright Beam Blessings for a wonderful anger-free week!

Parshat Bo: Educating our Children

This week's 8-minute mini-lesson on the Torah portion, Parshat Bo, explains what's written inside our tefillin and why. This Shabbat, the 4th of Shvat, is also the yahrtzeit of the holy Baba Sali of saintly and blessed memory. Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Ani Ma'amin: I Believe

The 12th of our 13 Principles of Faith is, "I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah. Even though he tarries, I will await him, any day he comes."

Here is my esteemed friend Cantor Itche-Meir Helfgot singing "Ani Ma'amin" - just listening to him is conducive to emuna. Enjoy, and Shabbat Shalom!

Rav Yehuda Zev's Legacy

Rav Yehuda Zev Lebowitz of saintly and blessed memory was a Kabbalist and hidden tzaddik as well as a Holocaust survivor. Little is known of him, for he lived his life far away from spotlights. Yet, his word carried tremendous weight in the Heavenly realm. What many don't know is that he was one of Rav Shalom Arush's principle spiritual guides. Rav Yehuda Zev, a holy man with the eyes of a sonogram, could not stomach anything other than absolute holiness. Many big rabbis were therefore afraid to approach him, for he could smell if they were the real deal or not. He loved Rav Shalom. He didn't leave much in the physical world, but he bequeathed his tefillin to Rav Shalom.

Before he died, he told Rav Shalom three things, the first two of which have materialized:

1. Uprisings and infighting will sweep through the Arab countries;

2. Bibi will not be able to attack Iran; Hashem will use other means as He did with Sadaam Hussein.

I don't want to repeat the third thing that Rav Yehuda Zev said, for it hasn't materialized yet. But, I urge our cherished brothers and sisters outside of Israel to start praying and planning to make Aliya, the sooner the better.