Lazer Brody's Blog, page 305

Thought for the Day: Tribulations

Hashem gave me a special little gift, which I'm delighted to share with you in the following 30-second clip:

Hashem's Cop

Here's a story that you won't see in the Israeli media:

The 350 Mehadrin bus from Bnei Brak to Ashdod is normally jammed, but at 3 PM more than half the seats were still vacant. Four young women in slacks, obviously not from the Haredi or religious neighborhoods along the route, boarded the bus at the stop adjacent to the Coca Cola factory in Bnei Brak. Rather than moving to the rear of the bus, they sat down demonstratively in the front two rows seats on the right side of the bus. Some of the male passengers were baffled; two others decided to get off the bus. A Breslever Chassid, sitting across the young ladies on the left side of the bus, simply closed his eyes and smiled. This was not a reaction that the headline-seeking heroines were looking for, having so boldly entered the mobile Haredi lion's den.

No one yelled at the fearless four, women's-rights or democracy activists in their late twenties. No one even spoke to them. There was nothing to document on their cell-phone videos. What a waste! Well, at least they might be able to take a nice walk on the beach in Ashdod…

If there's no news, then make the news! One of the young woman got out of her seat (while the three others were poised with their cell-phone video cameras, waiting to pounce on the action they hoped would come) and stood next to the Breslever, whose toothy smile would have done justice to any Crest or Colgate commercial.

"Hey, why can't you look at me?" the young lady asked abrasively, obviously itching for a conflict.

"Do you want your husband looking at other young women?" the Breslever responded.

"I'm not married," she said.

"I bless you that you should find your soul-mate this year!"

The activist wasn't ready for this turn in the conversation. She needed to steer things differently. "What are you so happy about with that imbecilic grin of yours?"

"In Torah 282 of Likutei Moharan, Rebbe Nachman teaches us to appreciate our good points and to be happy with every little mitzvah we do; and in Torah 17, first part, Rebbe Nachman says that the slightest good deed that a person does makes a tremendous impression in the upper spiritual realms..."

The activist was getting more and more impatient. This was not the action she was looking for, wasting half a day on a bus ride going someplace where she didn't need to go. "So what," she snapped.

"You asked me why I'm smiling. I'm answering you. I never thought that riding a Mehadrin bus was a big deal; I mean, it didn't seem to be such a great mitzvah. But if the Yetzer Hara is going to such lengths to bother me on this bus ride, then it must be really significant inshamayim that men and women don't mix. This morning, when I was learning Tosefot on Baba Kama, the Yetzer wasn't bothering me as much as he is now. Thank You, Hashem, for giving the mitzva of riding this bus." With eyes shut, he turned at the activist and added, "and thank you, cherished sister, for adding to my rewards in the World to Come."

The young lady's antagonism was melting into frustration. She was obviously the ring-leader, and her three sisters-in-arms were eagerly awaiting to see how she'd react. Their game plan (or battle plan) to wave the flag of women's rights on the Mehadrin bus didn't anticipate a frontal confrontation with a Breslever...

Continue reading the amazing continuation of Hashem's Cop in this week's very special issue of Breslev Israel web magazine in English.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Marrying Young

Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook: The Hamotzi Blessing

Zev Ballen: Hashem's Special Kids

Rivka Levy: Good or Evil?

Yehudit Bell: Pursuing Peace

Howard Morton: Astray

Natalie Kovan: The Not-so Itsy Bitsy Spider

Dovber HaLevi: Preparation is Everything

Racheli Reckles: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Big Beam Blessings for the best week of your life!

 

SOS

"SOS" literally means "save our ship", an emergency code used by ships in distress at sea. We also have a highly effective emergency code when we need help right away... 

This week's emuna lesson is 48 minutes in duration. Enjoy it, and have a wonderful new week with good tidings!

Ki E'hyeh Imach - I Will be With You

This week's mini-lesson on the Torah portion is very powerful; it's only eleven minutes long, but it will change your life.

Hashem teaches Moses the secret to success and the secret to happiness - "Ki E'hyeh Imach, for I shall be with you." Make yourself a coffee or tea, and check this out:

The Family Shabbat Table

Probably two of the most critical problems in the observant Jewish home today are off-the derech kids and marital discord.

A joyous family Shabbat table solves both problems.

You'll seldom see an off-the-derech child in a home where mitzvoth - especially Shabbat - are observed with joy. When the Shabbat table has something to offer for every member of the family, with fun, action, and the families favorite delicacies, then no one's running away from the table.

Among other things, sing plenty of zemirot and encourage the children to lead. Turn Torah talk about the week's Torah portion into family discussions. Create and initiate games and quizzes. And, tell exciting stories, especially about tzaddikim.

The Shabbat table should be something that the whole family looks forward to all week long.

By the way - I've never seen a divorce in a family where the mother bakes her own challas.

To help you come to the Shabbat table with something to say, here's Chut Shel Chessed's weekly Parsha Sheet, now in English. 

To help you learn a vibrant Yerushalmi version of Shalom Aleichem, here's a clip of my cherished friend Yosef Karduner and I. Have a wonderful and joy-filled Shabbat!

Spiritual Blunt

With Hashem's loving grace, I have tons of nachas (gratification) from my many spiritually adopted kinderlach (children) around the world. Many of them were brought up in observant home, fell off the wagon somewhere along the line for many different reasons, but now are self-made Jews discovering real emuna and finding their own way back to Hashem.

One of my favorite boys is Nuchy in New York. I'm pleased to introduce you to him...

ידיד נפש Yedid Nefesh: Friend of My Soul

The media here is like a coin or two in a jar - shake the jar and it makes a lot of noise. If the jar were full of content, it wouldn't make noise.

The true picture in Israel is that people are coming back to Hashem right and left. They see that the only thing that can save a soul from deoression and despair is emuna and a connection with Hashem. As such, there's virtually no Baal-teshuva yeshivas with empty seats.

Many of Israel's finest singers and musicians are coming home to their spiritual roots and making teshuva. Several have got together and created a Shabbat-Song Project, where voluntarily, they're recording Shabbat songs so that everyne can learn them. Our appreciation to Roni Eylon and "Shamayim" Center. Enjoy - on Wednesday, we start looking forward to the light of the coming Shabbat.

Thoughts

We're pleased to share with you an 8-minute clip of my esteemed and beloved teacher and spiritual guide, Rav Shalom Arush shlit'a. Rav Shalom explains that are good thoughts are the good inclination, and our nregative thoughts are the evil inclination:

Melodies and Tender Souls

Spiritual brother Guy Tzvi Mintz and I are counting the days and the hours until the release of our new CD album Judean Dream, soon, G-d willing.

We view the Land-of-Israel melody as a means of uplifting the soul and getting close to Hashem. Like prayer or any other Divine service, a melody must be brought down to this world in purity and with no other ulterior motive than praising Hashem, inspiring the listener and bringing gratification to The Holy One, blessed be His Name.

Rebbe Nachman speaks extensively about the far-reaching effects of spiritually wholesome melodies on a person's soul (see Likutei Moharan I:3). We're all well-aware that such genres as hard rap, acid rock and heavy metal certainly aren't conducive to relaxing at the end of the day. Even plants and animals react to melodies, a fact that any dairy farmer, botanist, or agriculture student is well aware of. For that reason, you'll never hear acid rock or heavy metal in a milking parlor; such music causes tension among the cows and is detrimental to optimal yields. It won't help your African violets blossom, either.
 
If music affects the less-refined soul of an animal or plant, imagine how it affects the tender, ever-so-sensitive soul of a baby or a young child. Two amazing letters that I received in recent weeks bring this point home:

Continue reading Melodies and Tender Souls in this week's stimulating issue of Breslev Israel web magazine.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Genuine Vitality

Rabbi Pinchas Winston: The New King

Zev Ballen: Save Our Children

Yehudit Levy: Just Desserts

Rivka Levy: No Longer Mine

Dovber HaLevi: The Ideal Daydream

Yehudit Bell: Windows of the Soul

Chaya Ovadia: The Incubator

J. Singer: G-d, Me, and a Chronic Disease 

This week marks the beginning of the "Shovevim" period, a time of the year especially conducive to strengthening personal holiness on all three levels of deed, speech, and thoughts. We hope you have a truly wonderful week with joy and blessings in all your endeavors.

Introducing: Judean Dream