Lazer Brody's Blog, page 343

Despair meets Emuna

 
Despair and Emuna met each other a few days ago in the post office across the street from where I live. I overheard the conversation; it was amazing, like a debate between the Good Inclination and the Evil Inclination. I found it fascinating how the same exact events can be given totally opposite interpretations, like the venerable cup that's either half full or half empty. Don't miss Despair Meets Emuna in this week's enjoyable issue of Breslev Israel web magazine.

Did you ever dream about a radio station with 24/6 non-stop knock-your-socks-off Chassidic and top-100 Jewish music with no commercials? Tune in to Breslev Israel Radio, and bookmark the link so you can conveniently listen whenever you like.

Rabbi Shalom Arush's article this week is a must-read: National Self Esteem.

Racheli Reckles talks about mood swings in Inflated and Deflated. Yehudit Levy tells how a rat outsmarts a human in Animal Antics. Rivka Levy gives advice on what to do about the Black Hole. Zev Ballen gives us an inside look on a young lady's battle with agoraphobia in Sheila's Bridge.

Exposing the Imposter is part 53 of Rabbi Erez Moshe Doron's Warriors of Transcendence.

This week's Torah portion is Tetzave. Have a wonderful week!

 

 

Face to Face

We learn the key to interpersonal relationships from the Cherubs in the Holy Tabernacle. This week's emuna lesson is one that you don't want to miss, entitled Face to Face. Enjoy it and have a great week!

"Anavim": My Humble Children

Awesome times: the Arab world's riots have spread to Yemen, half the USA is suffering from massive snowstorms, unprecedented floods hit Australia, and volcanoes have started erupting in Japan. Hashem is calling us to wake up, because there's not much time left before Moshiach comes.

The Midrash tells us (Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah 60:499) that when Moshiach arrives, he'll stand of the roof of our Holy Temple in Yerushalayim and declare, "'Anavim', my humble children, the time of your redemption has arrived! And if you don't believe me, look at my light shining upon you!"

My very special friend Ari Goldwag sang "Anavim" ever so beautifully the last time we did an evening of song and emuna inspiration together in Ramat Bet Shemesh. The Beams is delighted to share it with you:

This coming Sunday evening, Ari and I will be back together for another evening of song and inspiration at the Carlebach Shul in Ramat Bet Shemesh Aleph at 8:15 PM - we hope to see you there. Meanwhile, have a wonderful Shabbat and weekend.

An Outlaw with the Inlaws

Dear Rabbi Brody,

My wife's parents don't even bother hiding their dislike of me. Short of saying so to my face, their manners and behavior towards me make me feel like an outlaw. What do I do? Thanks, AC

Dear AC,

If you truly honor and cherish your wife, and you're not stingy with her, then her parents will most certainly take a liking to you. Double-check yourself in these areas.

Drips of water can put a hole in solid rock. Your inlaws aren't firing Kassam rockets at you, so you can make unilateral peace with them. No matter how they react at first, swallow your pride, put your best foot forward, and call them once a week. A sincere "Good Shabbos" greeting scores big points with inlaws. Bolster the weekly calls with holiday, birthday, and anniversary presents, and kill them with kindness. Eventually, they'll see the error of their ways, realize that they've been giving you a bum deal, and will make amends with you. But, you must be patient, perseverent and humble. When The Almighty and your wife are pleased with you, your inlaws will be also.

Meanwhile, by establishing a line of communication with them, you'll be doing a quadruple mitzva of honoring your inlaws (a rabbinical ordinance, and some rabbinical lawgivers consider it a Torah edict), keeping peace, making your wife happy (because she doesn't have to be torn between her folks and her hubby), and avoiding to harbor hate and malice in your heart against them. Hashem won't forget such a major-league grand-slam mitzva. Wait and see, AC - if you take my advice, I'll guarantee you that with Hashem's help, you'll see enhanced blessings all over the place. With best wishes, LB

Weekly Emuna Live Broadcast

G-d willing, our weekly emuna lesson and live broadcast will resume today (Wednesday) at 6:00 PM local time from the Chut Shel Chessed Yeshiva, 56 Shivtei Yisrael Street, Jerusalem. Since the main study hall of the Yeshiva is being renovated, the shiur will be broadcast from the young-men's yeshiva across the street.

This week's lesson is entitled, "Face to Face" and is open to the public, both men and women are welcome. You can see today's lesson live right here at 10:00 AM Mexico and CST, 11:00 AM EDT, 4:00 PM in the UK, or 6:00 PM Israel time. As soon as we can, G-d willing, we'll post a link to the lesson for all those who couldn't see it live.

The End of Moderate Islam

Israeli intelligence once again failed to read the Egyptian writing on the wall. Just a week ago, the new head of military intelligence Major General Aviv Kochavi said, "There are currently no doubts about the stability of the regime in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood is not organized enough to take over, they haven't managed to consolidate their efforts in a significant direction." How could he have missed target so miserably?

History repeats itself. In 1973, both the Israeli Government and military intel made the same mistake, by refusing to believe that Egypt and Syria would attack Israel.

In all fairness to Israeli intel, none of the other Western Intel agencies had an inkling about what was about to explode in Egypt. Same goes for the media.

So what's wrong with both the media and Israeli Intel? Simple - they fail to look at events through the eyes of emuna. The fail to realize what Hashem is doing and therefore miss obvious trends that any emuna-oriented novice would pick up on immediately.

First Ben-Ali's 23-year pro-American regime fell in Tunis this past month. Hezbolla's quiet takeover of Lebanon has turned the country of cedars into an Iranian satellite state. Then came Egypt. The naive console themselves that will become President of Egypt, but ElBaradei - an Iranian pawn - will turn our Southern neighbor into an Iranian satellite state too, together with massive support from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Iran-controlled Hamas has already turned Gaza into an Iranian base of operations long ago. If that's not enough, there's now serious unrest in Jordan, and King Abdulla has dissolved the current government.

The Islamic noose is tightening around Israel's neck. You've heard me say many times that Hamas will eventually take over the West Bank of the Jordan from Abu Mazzan and the PA, which will complete the Iranian-sponsored air-tight seal of Israel's land borders.

The Israeli Government is in a cold sweat from current events. If they would only strengthen emuna, they'd be cool, calm, and collected. Why?

Hashem has promised to redeem us. But He also told us that before the Redemption, we'd be surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies who will attempt to destroy us. Their designs will end in defeat by way of a massive sanctification of Hashem's Name (see Ezekiel 38: 16-23).

What can we do? Spreading Emuna neutralizes enemy missiles. How? Lebanon, Hamas, Hezbolla, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and all others that threaten us are merely sticks in Hashem's loving hand. By spreading and strengthening our emuna, Hashem doesn't need to use them as a wake-up call for us.

Israel has a nasty track record of drifting away from Hashem when life appears to be fat city (see Book of Judges, especially Judges 10: 16-23). We must break this cycle once and for all. Only a massive awakening of emuna can deter a massive barrage of ballistic missiles. This is no joke; that's why we must move forward in emuna now, wherever we are. The time of Moshiach is fast arriving, and with it, the end of moderate Islam.

If there's any doubt in your mind, we have no loyal allies other than Hashem. Just ask Ben Ali and Mubarrak if anyone came to their aid. But, this is great news - with no one else to trust, hopefully, our people will return to Hashem en masse, and soon, Insh'Allah (Arabic for G-d willing).

The Hidden Tzaddikim

Why would the Chazon Ish of sacred and blessed memory stand up whenever he saw a Downes or autistic child? He said that their bodies house the souls of tzaddikim who have nothing to rectify, but they come to this world to help us attain our soul correction.

The Chazon Ish's words need no reinforcement, but Marcel Cohen's dream about his brother Aaron is word-for-word the Chazon Ish's principle. This is really poignant:

 

Warmest regards to two very special children in Mexico City - Sharon Gloria Btesh and Yehoyada Laniado. May Hashem bless them with big miracles!

The Garden of Emuna and the Emuna Tattoo

If I had to rate the top five Jewish speakers in the USA, my esteemed and cherished spiritual brother Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein would be one of them. Here, here's telling a true story that he heard from me. The Rabbi that was teaching in the university is our good friend Ranni Chaom Feld from Aish in Cleveland. You'll love this:

Appreciating our Aishet Chayil

This coming Shabbat, we should sing "Aishet Chayil" to our wives with much more fervor. We can't show them enough gratitude.

Many women complain to me that their husbands don't appreciate them because they are housewives. That's really inane.

King Solomon spoke about the woman of valor and said (Proverbs 31:10), "And her value greatly exceeds that of pearls." He wasn't kidding...

According to a pre-Mother's Day study released last Thursday by Salary.com, a Waltham-based firm that studies workplace compensation, if a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year.

Stop taking her for granted, guys. She deserves tons of gratitude for everything she does. In addition, we have to thank Hashem day and night for giving us our Aishet Chayil. I'd be one big zero without mine.

Everything is Certainly for the Best

One of Rebbe Nachman's most important, yet profoundly simple teachings is the key to emuna, to life itself, and to happiness: since everything comes from Hashem, everything is certainly for the best. The original words in Hebrew are:

Me'achar vehakol me'Ito Yitbarach, Bevadai Shehakol Letova.

Learn these words, and sing along with Menachem Herman and me. Remember this song - it's a lifesaver for difficult times.

Emuna Outreach and the Beams wish you a wonderful Shabbat Mishpotim, which is also Shabbat Mevorchim Adar Aleph, the Shabbat before the new month.