The Major Maalos of “Modim” - Video/Audio Shiur

Baruch Hashem, below are links to the first part of a series of shiurim on the topic of berchas “Modim” in Shemoneh Esrei being given by Reb Yerachmiel at the Baltimore Community Kollel.

Reb Yerachmiel open this shiur with a halachik pilpul designed to highlight of the unique importance of the brachos of “Avos” and “Modim” to Shemoneh Esrei, and concludes the shiur with a hashkafik analysis of what it means to say “Thank You” to Hashem and how that sincere expression of appreciation must also be accompanied by requests for more and more!

Please CLICK HERE to get the shiur by either left clicking to listen right away or right clicking and selecting "Save Target As" to download.

Video Link

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Breslov Chassidus on Women's Mitzvos Part 2 - Challah

I am happy to present Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky's second shiur in her new series on Women's mitzvos through the lens of Breslov chassidus using the sefer Likutei Halachos by Rebbe Nosson of Breslov. CLICK HERE for part 1.This shiur continues in the topic of the mitzva of "hafrashas Challah." It covers the end of first halachah of challah, and also a little bit about Reb Nosson for his yohrtzeit.

To get the shiur, right click on the link and select "Save Target As" to download, or left click and the shiur will begin playing in your media player:

Shiur: Likutei Halachos Hilchos Challah 1:2.

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Will My Davening Ever Bring Such Nachas to the Aibishter? - Guest Post

A fellow newly discovered jblogger from Dixie wrote the following, but didn't want to post it under his own name because of the people involved in the story. But it's a nice reminder about what davening really means.

I just began reading Rabbi Twerski’s book, Twerski on Prayer. I have had it for awhile but just starting it. In the introduction, he writes about rote davening vs. real davening and recalls a visit to the Kosel where he felt he was really davening well and noticed a guy talking to the Abishter about his day and things that were important to him. the guy stopped in mid-sentence and said something like “oh, I told you that yesterday.” Rabbi Twerski then thought about how his davening was so ineffective compared to this yid who could just talk to G-d.

Last shabbos, some dixie-town alumni were back in town with their kids, one of whom has Downs Syndrome. I saw this on a the link from a blog you e-mailed to me, and had a similar experience to the one Twerski wrote about. This boy has no hesitation about singing out in shul and came up for the end of the service with his brother and for adon olam. His speech is barely understandable. And his singing, such as with Ein Kelokainu or Adon Olam for instance, produces loud sounds with an occasional syllable from which the listener can make out something familiar.

During Adon Olam, when all the kids go up, my youngest, the 5 year old, kept turning around to look at this family's son, who would wave him to turn back around. And then it hit me that these sounds that he was making were so pure, so real. Real davening. He was unconcerned about those people around him even though he certainly knows that he doesn’t sound the way the “regular” people sound, but he was not at all ashamed or uneasy. I had started having fancy thoughts of "tircha on the tzibor" vs. rachmanas on the family, but then it hit me. My davening may never penetrate so many gates, so quickly, and so innocently bring nachas to the Abishter.

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Parshas Vayigash: United In Our Hand: Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid (12/24/2009)

Listen to the shiur by Reb Yerachmiel HERE.

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Kol Brisk on Vayigash - Take This Message As You Choose

I don't know about, nor can I verify the message contained in this article, Kol Brisk on Parshas Vayigsh. The author may be inferring too much from one person's reported behavior. If comments leave the productive and enter the ad hominum realm, I will delete or close comments.

לעלוי נשמת הגאון הר"ר אהרן בן הר"ר משה הלוי סאלאווייציק זצ"ל

פרשת ויגש

אוכיחך ואערכה לעיניך - Confrontation with Ourselves

ויתן את קולו בבכי ולא יכלו אחיו לענות אותו –

אבא כהן ברדלא אמר אוי לנו מיום הדין אוי לנו מיום התוכחה יוסף קטנן של שבטים היה ולא היו יכולים לעמוד בתוכחתו הה"ד ולא יכלו אחיו לענות אותו כי נבהלו מפניו לכשיבא הקב"ה ויוכיח כל אחד ואחד לפי מה שהוא שנאמר (תהלים נ) אוכיחך ואערכה לעיניך על אחת כמה וכמה.

The Bais HaLevi asks about this medrash, why the double lashon? What is the difference between יום הדין and יום התוכחה? There is a יום הדין when the misdeeds of a person are shown. But a person has rationalizations and excuses for his actions. Therefore there is also a יום התוכחה. This is when the person's excuses are rendered obsolete through his own actions. For example, a person is found guilty of not giving tzedaka (יום הדין). He justifies himself by claiming that he was very short on money to pay for his basic household needs. This argument is shown to be meaningless, when he is reminded how he would go out to eat in fancy restaurants (יום התוכחה).

Yehuda had been arguing and trying to convince Yosef to have mercy and not to take Binyamin as a slave, out of concern for their elderly father. And then in that stunning moment of truth, Yosef cries out,

אני יוסף! ההעוד אבי חי?!

Listen to your own words! You are so concerned about our father?! Where was all your concern and worry when you sold me as a slave and separated me from our father for all these years?!

The brothers were speechless in face of this reproof.

*

The meaning of the word ויגש is confrontation. Chazal urge us to learn from the story of the story of Yosef and his brothers about spiritual reckoning in general. Yosef orchestrated the sequence of events, to reach a climax of frustration and impasse. Suddenly, it was revealed to his brothers that the very same brother they had sought to destroy was standing right in front of them. The brother they had mercilessly cast into the pit of snakes and scorpions, and then had heartlessly sold into slavery, stood now in front of them, as he had foretold in the dreams, with their destiny in his hands.

Ironic.

Beyond the irony, the Torah is teaching us that we are the ones that create for ourselves the reality of our choice. We can create for ourselves a reality of harmony and love and chessed and meaning. Or we can create for ourselves another kind of reality of power-seeking, jealousies and frustrations and anger. We can do all we want to attempt to escape this reality, to pretend that it is different than it really is. However, at a certain inevitable point, it catches up with us. The example given is a woman in labor. Try as she may to escape her pain, she cannot run away from her situation. The Torah guides us to honestly confront ourselves, and not to look to escape by way of all kinds of distractions and delusions. (Baal Shem Tov)

מן המצר קראתי י-ה , ענני במרחב י-ה.

We must deeply contemplate and connect to our inner world. To become familiar with our desires, aspirations and also insecurities and frustrations. Look around, try to understand the connection between what is happening inside ourselves and what is happening outside ourselves. Hashem is constantly sending us messages and traffic signs. By connecting to where we really are and what we are feeling, we enable ourselves to call out honestly to Hashem.

*

One of the very prominent kiruv organization just moved into a multi-milllion dollar, very fancy and impressive new building in a prime location in the Old City of Yerushalayim. The very next week, one of the important couples on the staff of this organization hosted a woman married to a Breslover chossid for a Shabbos meal. Her husband was away from home that week. At the Shabbos table, the host began criticizing and mocking this woman's husband's derech. The woman could not believe her ears. She could not believe that he was serious. Therefore, in a polite and friendly manner, she protested. The host did not stop the tirade. This woman stood up in shock and walked out of the house.

The hostess later come over to the woman's house, but not to apologize. She explained that the way that she and her husband had behaved was based upon the teachings of Gedolei Yisrael of the generation. (Some of the most destructive lashon horah today is done in the name of Gedolei Yisrael.)

Does this high level of aggression and audacity have anything to do with the new fancy building that the kiruv organization moved into? Does this give them a license to attempt to destroy a marriage?

Hashem doesn't need big buildings. Hashem in not interested in big political parties. Hashem distains powerful and aggressive organizations. Hashem wants us to go on a straight path of sincerity and humility. We must open our eyes and ears to all the subtle and not so subtle messages that are coming our way, and not to repress or ignore what is being shown to us.

מן המצר קראתי י-ה , ענני במרחב י-ה.

Let us honestly call out from the real situations we find ourselves in, and He will surely send us the answers.

A gutten Erev Shabbos

From Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh

Picture courtesy of jpost.com.

Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Vayigash - English Excerpt & Full Text

Sorry for the delay but here is Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern's Torah on Parshas Vayigash, with English excerpt and full text in both English and Hebrew in pdf form.

“Then Yehudah approached him, and said: ‘Oh my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying: Have you a father, or a brother? And we said unto my lord: We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.”

Rashi explains: “‘And [Yehudah] approached him...speak a work in my lord’s ears’—May my words enter your ears. ‘And let not your anger burn’—From here we learn that he spoke harshly to him. ‘For you are even as Pharaoh’—Its simple meaning is that you are as important in my eyes as Pharaoh. The Midrash teaches that, ‘Your end will be to be struck with leprosy just like Pharaoh was by my grandmother Sarah, for having kept her over one night.’ Another interpretation is, ‘Just as Pharaoh makes decrees that he doesn’t fulfill and promises that he doesn’t keep, so do you. Is this what you call “placing an eye” upon someone, that you said that you only want to “place your eye on him?”’ Another interpretation is, ‘You are just like Pharaoh—if you fight with me, I will kill both you and your master.’”

We find in the Zohar on the opening verse of this week’s parshah: “‘And Yehudah approached him’—Two worlds approached one another, to join one to the other so that they would become one, because Yehudah is a king and Yosef is a king. One came close to the other and they were joined one to the other.” This indicates that at the time of Yehudah’s approach toward Yosef, they were united. Yet this appears to contradict the Midrash that Rashi cites, that Yehudah spoke harshly to Yosef and went on the defensive with him.

...The path of contemplative avodah that leads to complete self-forgetting within Hashem’s light is that of Yosef HaTzaddik who reveals the “white light.” The path of contemplation in the manner of tzimtzum—meditation upon the limits and boundaries that serve to further adorn and highlight that which is limitless—is the path of Dovid HaMelech who reveals the “black light.” These are the two “worlds approaching one another, the two pathways of Yehudah and Yosef that one must know and appreciate individually as well as in conjunction with one another. Anyone who does not know how to join them has spiritually descended to Mitzrayim. Exclusive focus on Yehudah-type fiery yearning and effort will deprive him of serenity in his avodah, while exclusive focus on the cool meditative waters of Yosef will sap him of the ability to expend effort in avodah so that he will not be able to achieve completion. This inevitably leads to dissatisfaction and joylessness in his Divine service.

...After all of the contemplation and meditation and dveikus, everything must return to the state of self-nullification, to the “black fire” of realizing that no matter how much one apprehends G-dliness, it is all black and occluded when compared with the truth of Hashem’s light, which is beyond all apprehension.[1] When a created being comes to realize its nothingness and limitation, this realization becomes a vessel that can contain a spirit of prophecy, so that Hashem’s spirit can dwell within him. All the while that a person believes that he actually has the power to achieve closeness to Hashem through his own efforts and does not realize how dependent he is on Hashem’s mercy, he has no proper vessel in which to draw down a spirit of life and vitality from Hashem. He therefore must “return to dust,” to the aspect of Malchus, and understand that all of the levels that he can possibly reach are only reflections of the light that Hashem reveals, but they are as null and void when compared with the truth of Hashem’s light.

[1] Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun #70

CLICK HERE to download Toras Chochom on Vayigash
CLICK HERE to download Toras Chochom on Vayigash in English

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Breslov Chassidus Shiur on Women's Mitzvos - Part 1

I am happy to present Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky's first shiur in a new series on Women's mitzvos through the lens of Breslov chassidus. The first shiur covers the mitzva of "hafrashas Challah."

To get the shiur, right click on the link and select "Save Target As" to download, or left click and the shiur will begin playing in your media player:

Shiur: Likutei Halachos Hilchos Challah 1:1.

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Eliyahu HaNavi's Favorite Clothing Store - Funny!

Picture created by Neil Harris of Modern Uberdox.

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"Nishmas" by Yehuda Green and Lipa Schmeltzer - Video

יהודה גרין עם ליפא שמלצער from bhol on Vimeo.

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Kavanah For Lighting the Menorah on Parshas Mikeitz - R' Itchie Mayer Morgenstern

Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern's Torah on Parshas Mikeitz and Chaunkah, with English excerpt and full text in both English and Hebrew in pdf form, just in time for the last day of Chanukah!

Even when a person seeks dveikus [Yosef] with all of his might, he still requires the level of Dovid-Yehudah [desire] to complete his Divine service. Although Yosef was kodesh kodashim, all the while that he was separate from Yehudah’s aspect he could not leave his imprisonment. Even when a person seeks the spiritual pleasures of the level of Chochmah, he still must be filled with yearning to access true closeness to Hashem. Avshalom is an example of a person who accessed the level of Chochmah without yearning for further improvement and closeness to Hashem. He had a “bad eye,” or a negative attitude that tainted his imagination. This made him unworthy of ascension to the throne of Dovid-Yehudah.[1] Clearly, we too must take care to always work on strengthening our yearning for holiness. Without its force, we run the risk of remaining fools who wander around spiritually without ever really achieving anything lasting.

Every desire for holiness is a form of prayer before Hashem. This is how Rav Pinchas of Koretz explains the folk adage of his day: “If a person’s house burns down, he’ll become wealthy.” This is because when people see how miserable he is, their hearts go out to him. They then feel a strong desire that he recover from his personal catastrophe. These desires act as petitions before Hashem, and sometimes they are so abundant that they transform the sufferer into a wealthy man.

Rebbe Nachman teaches a similar concept, but he explains that the desire is much more powerful when one expresses it in words, since it actually assumes the character of prayer. After a Jew reaches the aspect of mikeitz-kamatz, he arrives at the next level: “And Pharaoh dreamed.” This means that he accessed the positive aspect of the imaginative faculty which is the avodah of Yosef who was called, “master of dreams.”[2] At this level, one is able to make yichudim, holy unifications, in his thoughts.

The main avodah of Chanukah is to draw down the light of Hashem into our every limb, in the manner of the yichud of ner. This yichud is composed of combining each of the Divine Names EHYH, ELHIM, and ADNI with the Sheim HaVaYaH. The first combination with אהי"ה represents CHaBaD; the second with אלהי"ם alludes to CHaGaT; and the third with אדנ"י to NH”Y. These six Names have a total numerical value of 250, the same as that of נ"ר, or candle. [יהו"ה = 26; 3 x 26 = 72; אהי"ה = 21; אלהי"ם = 86; אדנ"י = 65; the total including another 6 for the kollel of each of the six sheimos = 250] This is the yichud that we make by lighting the Chanukah candles.[1]

Practically, this means that through the lights of Chanukah we purify ourselves from our desire for food which corresponds to CHaBaD, for money which corresponds to CHaGaT, and from our base urges which correspond to NH”Y. [On a simple level, this is because one eats with his mouth which is in his head which is the seat of the mentalities of CHaBaD, one does business transactions with his hands which is in the realm of the torso of CHaGaT, and the baser urges are sourced in the lower realm from the waist down.] Our task when we light the menorah is to beg Hashem to bless us with true purity in these areas. We must take pleasure in Hashem and also feel a powerful yearning to increase in holiness, just as we light another candle each night of Chanukah.

[1] Pri Eitz Chaim, Chanukah
[2] Likutei Moharan, loc cit.
[3] Ibid

CLICK HERE to download the pdf of Toras Chochom on Mikeitz
CLICK HERE to download the pdf of Toras Chochom on Mikeitz in English

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These Guys Have a Lot of Talent

Although I am not into this type of music, I have to give credit to these guys who are very, very talented. Although learning "bein hasedorim" would be the ideal, of all of the other ways some bochurim spend that time, I suppose this is much better.

Update 12/20/09: I showed my 10 year old daughter this video. She watched how the boys were dancing and she listened to the words, "Lecha Hashem Hagedulah, v'hagevurah, v'Hatiferes v'hanetzach, v'hahod, "Yours Hashem is the greatness, the might, the splendor, the Eternal existance, and the glory." And then she asked me, "If they are singing about Hashem, why are they dancing around like that?"

"A question a child might ask, but not a childish question."

Good kashe.

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Chanukah- Final Shiur of the "Al HaNisim" Series by Reb Yerachmiel

Below is a link to the audio presentation of the final part (3 of 3) of the Chanukah Mini-Series given by Reb Yerachmiel on Tefillos “Al HaNisim” and “Be’May Matisyahu”. Parts 1 and 2 can be enjoyed by clicking here.

CLICK HERE to get the audio shiur by either left clicking to listen to streaming audio or right clicking and then selecting "Save Target As" to download.

CHECK FOR THE VIDEO OF THE SHIUR which will be available through Reb Yerachmiel's torahanytime.com page imminently.

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Beautiful Shor Yoshuv, Far Rockaway Video

Shor Yoshuv Pre-Dinner Video from BiG Productions on Vimeo.

Beautiful video of Shor Yoshuv, where I learned for a few years!

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Rav Shmuel Brazil & Abish Brodt - Melaveh Malka in Yerushalayim

Check out this link for a beautiful musical Melaveh Malka with Rabbi Shmuel Brazil and Abish Brodt at Rav Shmuel's new yeshiva, Zeev HaTorah.

I included this picture above because Rav Naftali Jeager (above, left) is the Rosh Yeshiva of Shor Yoshuv in Far Rockaway, NY where I learned for three years after graduating YU. And if you are familiar with Rav Shmuel Brazil, you are also aware that he has been a Rebbe at Shor Yoshuv for over 30 years.

Picture of Rav Naftali Jeager visiting Rav Brazil at Zeev Hatorah courtesy of Zeev HaTorah. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Upteitch of Tefillas “Al HaNisim”- Part 2 - Video/Audio Shiur

Below are links to the Video and Audio presentation of Part 2 of a new Chanukah Mini-Series by Reb Yerachmiel on Tefillos “Al HaNisim” and “Be’May Matisyahu”. Part 1 can be viewed/listened to by clicking here.

CLICK HERE to get the Part 2 audio shiur by either left clicking to listen to streaming audio or right clicking and then selecting "Save Target As" to download.

OR WATCH THE TORAH ANYTIME VIDEO OF THE SHIUR BY CLICKING HERE.

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We're Getting the Best Chaunkah Present, Ever, Tonight...

I'm very excited about the "good present" we're all getting tonight: Shabbos.

The Gemara in Beitza 16a calls Shabbos Hashem's matana tova, "good gift," for the Jewish people. "אמר לו הקב"ה למשה משה מתנה טובה יש לי בבית גנזי ושבת שמה ואני מבקש ליתנה לישראל לך והודיע אותם".

Make sure to enjoy your awesome Chanukah present tonight!

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Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Vayeshev

Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern's Torah on Parshas Vayeshev, with English excerpt and full text in both English and Hebrew in pdf form:

The main task of Chanukah is to rectify the aspects of Yaakov and Yosef. We can do this by contemplating the lights of Chanukah and recognizing that the entire expanse of creation is exclusively a reflection of the light of Hashem. We must also learn the thirty-six tractates of Shas, since each one opens the gates to a different spiritual illumination. [There are a total of thirty-six candles lit on Chanukah, exclusive of the eight shamashim.] We must also celebrate Chanukah with an abundance of joy and praise and thanksgiving to Hashem. But we must also rectify Netzach, since without Netzach we cannot completely rectify Hod. The avodah of Netzach on Chanukah is to learn an abundance of Torah, and give as much tzedakah as possible, in an aspect of Yissachar [Torah] and Gad [gomel dalim]. We must also strengthen our bitachon that the thirteen attributes of mercy are drawn down during Chanukah.

Our every action during these days must performed with joy and good heartedness, as we feel the pleasure of connection with Hashem in an aspect of Asher, [which also means fortunate, and whose portion flows with the olive oil of the menorah]. We must be very wary not to act out of depression or sadness, since this flips the letters of הוד to דוה, from splendor to suffering, as we find in the verse, "כָּל-הַיּוֹם דָּוָה"—“All the day is pain.”[2] Instead we must strengthen ourselves in the avodah of teshuvah and bitachon. We must draw down the light of the Chashmonaim, whose every victory was due to their inexhaustible bitachon in Hashem. It was their trust in Hashem that empowered them to act with courage and self-sacrifice. Regarding their victories, our sages teach that although they were not worthy of such miracles, they won in the merit of their bitachon that Hashem would save them from their enemies.

[1] Sefer Halikutim, Parshas Vayeishev
[2] Eichah 1:13

Toras Chochom on Vayeshev
Toras Chochom on Vayeshev in English

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Breslov Chassidus Shiurim on Channukah for Women

I am happy to present Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky's shiurim on Breslov Chassidus from women from this past week on Chodesh Kislev and Chaunkah.

To get one of the shiurim, right click on the link and select "Save Target As" to download, or left click to listen to streaming audio.

Shiur on Chanukah, based on Likutei Halachos #4, Hashkamas Haboker (length: 1:40). CLICK HERE.

Shiur on Chodesh Kislev, based on both the Sefer Yetzirah on Kislev and Likutei Moharan I:60. CLICK HERE.

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“Al HaNisim” - Audio/Video Shiur

Below are links to the Video and Audio presentation of Part 1 of a new Chanukah Mini-Series by Reb Yerachmiel on Tefillos “Al HaNisim” and “Be’May Matisyahu”.

CLICK HERE to get the audio shiur by either left clicking to listen to streaming audio or right clicking and then selecting "Save Target As" to download.

OR WATCH THE TORAH ANYTIME VIDEO OF THE SHIUR BY CLICKING HERE.

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In Memory of the Bostoner Rebbe of Har Nof - Pictures With Atlanta College Students

In memory of the Bostoner Rebbe of Har Nof, zt"l, the following are pictures taken of Rabbi Shlomo Gelbtuch, college outreach coordinator at the Atlanta Scholars Kollel, during a college trip he led to Israel two years ago. During that trip, the group met with the Rebbe, zt"l, at his home in Har Nof.





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If You've Read This Blog, Please Read This Post

A local school is going through an extremely rough financial time. To help pay the Rebbeim and staff, the parents are selling raffles, one ticket for $100, 5 for $360. The prize is any car valued up to $25,000 or $20,000 cash. Our total projected deficit for this year is $450,000. Our Annual Dinner and other smaller fundraisers bring in $200-250,000. Every dollar counts. Last year, we raised $192,000 in this campaign. This year, we have already raised $65,000. If you haven't already guessed, my son goes to that school. I have to do something to help out. If everyone pitches in, we are very optimistic that we will reach our goal of $215,000. The only thing standing in the way of reaching of our goal is your purchase. To purchase a raffle, click on this link: https://www.minivanraffle.org/submission_new.aspx. Note that purchases may be paid for in installments.

As a favor to me (and yourself, all the kids in the school and Hashem of course), if you have ever benefited from this blog, (or even if you haven't), please buy one or more raffle tickets. Please put "Dixie Yid" in the "Referred By" box or my real name, if you know it.

May you be zoche to always be on the giving end.

Again, the link is MinivanRaffle.org.

Adank!

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Anyone Out There Who Recorded Reb Tzvi Mayer Zilberberg's Shiur?

If anyone is out there who recorded Reb Tzvi Mayer Zilberberg's shiur from Heichal Dovid in Lawrence this past Wednesday night, can you please e-mail me the shiur? Chevra are asking for it and it would be a big help to them. Kol tuv & gut voch!

Update: Thanks to a reader who left a comment, you can get the shiur HERE.

Thanks also to Azriel Tzvi Tzdok Friedman and Yehoshua Kirschner who also sent me the shiur. You guys are great!

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Bleg: Looking For Insights to Help Understand This Difficult Torah on Gerim

A Simple Jew pointed out a couple of interesting Torahs relating to Gerim that he found in the second Chelek of Mei Hashiloach from the Izbitzer. I translated the first piece (below), but I'm not sure of how to explain it other than what it says on its face, which is fine. I'd settle for having my "ceiling" being the level of Tzadik, though the teaching is still somewhat disconcerting. The pshat may just be that not everything is bunnies and puppies and I just need to learn the truth for what it is. After this teaching, I wanted to point out another one which serves as an interesting counter-point. I'm interested to understand more deeply how the two pieces shtim.

Mei Hashiloach Beis, Parshas B'ha'alosecha, D"H "Vayomer al na ta'azov osanu"

This requires explanation. Moshe did not need Chovev (Yisro) to be his guide. And why did he tell him "You shall be eyes for us." The idea here is as the Gemara in Bava Basra 75a, which says "ואמר רבה א"ר יוחנן עתיד הקב"ה לעשות שבע חופות לכל צדיק וצדיק שנאמר (ישעיהו ד) וברא ה' על כל מכון הר ציון ועל מקראיה ענן יומם ועשן ונוגה אש להבה לילה כי על כל כבוד חופה מלמד שכל אחד ואחד עושה לו הקדוש ברוך הוא חופה לפי כבודו עשן בחופה למה אמר רבי חנינא שכל מי שעיניו צרות בתלמידי חכמים בעולם הזה מתמלאות עיניו עשן לעולם הבא ואש בחופה למה אמר רבי חנינא מלמד שכל אחד ואחד נכוה מחופתו של חבירו "

"Raba said in the name of Rav Yochanan, in the future, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will make seven chuppahs for each and every tzadik, as the pasuk says (Yeshaya 4:5 - "וּבָרָא ה עַל כָּל-מְכוֹן הַר-צִיּוֹן וְעַל-מִקְרָאֶהָ, עָנָן יוֹמָם וְעָשָׁן, וְנֹגַהּ אֵשׁ לֶהָבָה, לָיְלָה" 'And Hashem created on every dwelling place... because he dwells above every chuppah.'" This teaches that Hakadosh Baruch Hu makes a chuppah for every individual according to his kavod. Why does there have to be "smoke in the chuppah"? Rabi Chanina said that anyone who looks with suspicion at Talmidei Chachamim in this world will have his eyes full of smoke in the world to come. And why is there "fire in the chuppah"? Rabi Chanina says that this teaches that every individual will be burned by his friend's chuppah." And chuppah primarily means that which is written in the same pasuk that according to each person's kavod is his chuppah.

This means that each person will be honored according to what he acquired in this world and he will be honored by comparison to his friend who is lower than him. But even the lowest Jew will feel honored relative to the greatest of the Gerim. And therefore it must be there there should be Gerim in the world to complete the greatness and the kavod of Klal Yisroel to show them to their eyes that relative to the kavod of the Ezrach (born-Jew) and of the root of Yisroel, it is impossible for any creature, even after great avodah, who is not of the seed of Yisroel to attain that level of kavod. And even though, in truth, the Ger has done a great thing to enter under the wings of the Divine Presence, nevertheless, the Zohar says (Yisro 87a) "The convert is called 'righteous' (Ger Tzedek), but nothing more." And this is what Moshe meant when he told Yisro " And you shall be eyes for us." As the pasuk said in Yeshaya (66:21) And even from them (Gerim) I will take as Kohanim and as Levi'im." Meaning that even though Gerim may attain the level of "Avodah," they can never reach the root of Yisroel in the garment of Gerim, as the Zohar has already said (Saba Mishpatim 95b).

Then, the Mei Hahsiloach says in the last piece in Vayikra in the second chelek that just as a born-Jew, through is minus, i.e. longing against the ratzon Hashem, can distance himself from his root, so too, a Ger, even though he is not from the seed of Yisroel, can become planted in Yisroel through his desire and longing.

Looking at these two pieces together, is the Izbitzer saying that the default level of the Ger is lower than an "Ezrach" as he described in the piece in B'ha'alosecha, but that through great Tshuka, desire, the Ger can replant himself as part of "Zera Yisroel?" Or is that understanding belied by his statement that even after great avodah, the Ger cannot reach this level? Or is that statement referring only to a case where the Ger works in the bechina of avodah (alma d'bechira, l'umas alma d'yedia), but where he tries to reach the level of shoresh Yisroel through tshukah, then he can attain that level?

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Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Vayishlach - Excerpt & Full PDFs

Below is an excerpt from the English translation of the drasha given by Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Vayishlach. Below that are links to download the full Hebrew and/or English translation texts in pdf format...

"וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר. וַיַּרְא כִּי לֹא יָכֹל לוֹ, וַיִּגַּע בְּכַף-יְרֵכוֹ;
וַתֵּקַע כַּף-יֶרֶךְ יַעֲקֹב בְּהֵאָבְקוֹ עִמּוֹ."

“And Yaakov was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Yaakov’s thigh was strained as he wrestled with him.”[1]

Rashi explains: “‘And Yaakov remained’—he returned to retrieve some small vessels he had forgotten. ‘And there wrestled [וַיֵּאָבֵק] a man’—Menachem explains this word means that Yaakov got dusty from the dirt [אבק] that got kicked up during their struggle. But I think this comes from the Aramaic word that means to bind oneself to another, since this is the way of two people when they fight. They grapple with each other, each attempting to fell his opponent. Our rabbis teach that this was Eisav’s heavenly counterpart, his “angel.”

The Tzaddik without Arms and the Tzaddik without Feet

Rebbe Nachman teaches in the “Seven Beggars,” which is the last of his remarkable tales, that there are two different types of tzaddikim. The first tzaddik is “without hands.” [Because of the illusory nature of this world, he appears to be deficient in the attribute that he has actually perfected. This tzaddik actually has wondrous spiritual power in his hands.] The task of this tzaddik is to heal the princess [the Jewish soul, the Shechinah] from the arrows shot at her even after they have already inflicted harmful wounds. This tzaddik alludes to Moshiach ben Yosef who embodies the general level of chayah. [Chayah is equivalent to Chochmah; it is the intense vitality and spiritual wakefulness that is the gift of Chochmah.]
This is the secret of the Tikkun HaKlali, the “general remedy” that expresses the fourfold song that will be sung in the ultimate future. This new song is described in the Tikkunei Zohar as a “single, double, triple, and quadruple song.”[2]

Rebbe Nachman did not speak at length about the second tzaddik “without legs,” but Rav Avraham ben Rav Nachman reveals that the beginning of the story sheds light on his task at the end. In the beginning of the story, we find that the prince fell to heresy. We see that the tzaddik without legs is Moshiach ben Dovid whose task will be to cure the King’s son of the ills of apostasy.

These two aspects allude to the two major klippos that cause Jewish souls to sin. The first attacks Yesod / Foundation and breaches personal purity and is symbolized by serpents. The task of Moshiach ben Yosef is to heal Jewish souls of these blemishes that are known as “snake venom.” He must inject powerful sanctity in us all to counter all such negative effects. The second aspect of Moshiach ben Dovid will rectify blemishes in Malchus [accepting Hashem’s Kingship], which are the many heresies and negative philosophies that abound. This second evil is stronger than the first and is much harder to heal.

The Arizal taught that the supernal light of Chanukah and Purim rectify both blemishes of the wound of Yaakov through the powers of Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid.

The Avodah of Chanukah: Moshiach ben Yosef

On Chanukah our task is to gaze at the candles and contemplate that the entire creation is from Hashem, since nothing exists but Him. We must think about this deeply until we are filled with a powerful yearning to serve Hashem through “running and returning.”

We must remember that the candles are ideally lit with olive oil that has been “crushed to give light.” This means experiencing the passionate subsuming of the self within the absoluteness of Hashem so that one becomes willing to sacrifice himself to serve Hashem with holy fire. At the same time, we must ascend and be included with the Primal Cause and feel the pleasure of connection with Him.

One who follows this path will stop falling prey to his physical desires, since what is really drawing a person to indulge is the G-dliness that is trapped within physical reality. The moment that tzaddikim feel drawn to partake of an unnecessary physical pleasure, they transform the impulse into a vessel that receives the light of Hashem. Through self-sacrifice, they merit the deep pleasure of oneness with Hashem. And the more material and slowly the craving, the stronger the vessel forged by rejecting it with self-sacrifice. The more that evil tries to entice a person and prevent him from ascending on high, the more his fiery yearning makes a ner tamid, an eternal flame, that embodies both nullification of the self and taking pleasure in the Creator.

Devarim 4:35
Bereishis 32:25-26
Tikkunei Zohar, pg.
21b. See Likutei Moharan II:24 and 92
[1] Bereishis 32:25-26
[2]
Tikkunei Zohar, pg. 21b. See Likutei Moharan II:24 and 9

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Eyewitness To Moshiach - Video/Audio Shiur

In his latest shiur, Reb Yerachmiel focuses on Tefillas “Vesechezena Eineinu” in Berchas Retzay of Shemoneh Esrei in an effort to assist and inspire us not only to daven with more precisions and focus, but to merit being “Eyewitnesses to Moshiach”, bimhaira beyomainu.

CLICK HERE to get the audio shiur by either left clicking to listen to streaming audio or right clicking and then selecting "Save Target As" to download.

Or watch the TorahAnytime video of the shiur by clicking HERE.

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Why Be Jewish?

Remove any potential distractions for a moment and consider the following quesitons:

1. If I could choose, without fear of punishment, social ostracism, or guilt, to become a non-Jew and therefore no longer be bound to fulfill the mitzvos or avoid (almost) any aveiros, would I do it? If so, proceed to the end.

2. If not... If I could choose to do so, would I choose to be Jewish, but pick which mitzvos I wanted to be obligated to keep, and which ones I no longer wanted to keep, would I do it? If yes, proceed to the end.

3. If not... If I could choose to keep all of the mitzvos in the Torah, but I could elect to no longer be bound to keep just one halacha that I've, perhaps, always wanted to shed, would I do it?

If you or I have to honestly answer "Yes" when considering any of these quesitons, the next question is, "So what now?"

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Wow - Nefesh B'Nefesh Video

This video is so beautiful. It actually made me cry.

Nefesh B'Nefesh

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Beautiful, Leibedik Video of the Twerskis Dancing at a Hachnasas Sefer Torah

Neil Harris at Modern Uberdox just posted this beautiful video of a VERY leibedig hachnasas Sefer Torah in Chicago with Rav Michel and Rav Efram Twerski.

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Missing the Point of Chassidus?

Did The Point of Chassidus elude this blog author who was interpreting Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, z"l?

Torat HaRav Aviner: Our Rabbi and the Chassidic Movement

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Doing Kiruv With Yiddin in Their 20s & 30s

Interesting Article written by a conservative rabbi about how that fading movement can win back the young adults. I think that a lot of her observations are pretty on the mark about how to approach these things and he pretty astutely points out some pitfalls.

Danya Ruttenberg at Jewschool: On Engaging Jewish Adults (Without Qualifying Adjectives )

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Amazing Chasuna/Wedding Talent Video

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V'Eshay Yisrael: Igniting the Fire-Offerings of Israel Even Today - Video/Audio Shiur

In his latest shiur, Reb Yerachmiel focuses on just two words in our precious Shemoneh Esrei: “V'Eshay Yisrael” in Berchas Retzay. Complete with a discussion of these words in halacha, hashkafa, and even what appears to be Kabbalah, this shiur is one that should not be missed by the heartfelt and serious davener.

CLICK HERE to get the audio shiur by either left clicking to listen to streaming audio or right clicking and then selecting "Save Target As" to download.

Or watch the TorahAnytime.com video version of the shiur by clicking HERE.

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Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Vayeitzei

Below is an excerpt from the English translation of the drasha given by Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Vayeitzei. Below that are links to download the full Hebrew and/or English translation texts in pdf format...

“And Yaakov went out from Be’er Sheva and went toward Charan. And he touched upon the place, and he tarried overnight, for the sun set suddenly. And he took from stones of that place and placed them beneath his head, and he lay down to sleep in that place.”[1]

Uniting the Stones

Rashi explains that Yaakov placed the stones beneath his head to form a protective barrier since he was afraid of wild animals. The stones began to bicker among themselves, since each stone wanted the exclusive honor of supporting the head of the tzaddik. Hashem immediately joined them together as one stone, as we see from the verse that follows: "וַיִּקַּח אֶת-הָאֶבֶן אֲשֶׁר-שָׂם מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו"—“And he took the stone that he had placed beneath his head...”[2]

Rashi explains that the words, “And he lay down to sleep in that place,” are meant as a qualifier—Yaakov lay down to sleep in that place, but during the entire duration of his fourteen-year hiatus in the yeshiva of Shem and Ever, he did not lay down to sleep. [This means that during his time with Shem and Ever, he did not sleep in a designated place, but rather would fall asleep briefly over his studies when he had no more strength to learn, and only in order to renew himself for further study.]

The second statement of Rashi seems very difficult. How can we say that Yaakov, the vehicle for the Tiferes of Atzilus,[3] [which is the spiritual source of Torah[4]] stopped learning and went to sleep? Surely, just as he never forgot Torah for an instant for the fourteen years he was in yeshiva, he would never knowingly disrupt his thoughts from their involvement in Torah? The answer to this question is that even Yaakov’s sleep was an aspect of Torah. The Tikkunei Zohar teaches that this is the deeper meaning of the words of the verse, "וַיִּשְׁכַּב בַּמָּקוֹם הַהוּא"—“And he lay down in the place.”[5] The word ישכב—“lay down”—spells יש כ"ב—“there are twenty-two.” This refers to the twenty-two letters of the Alef Beis that form the Torah through which Hashem created the world. [In the Sefer Yetzirah, these are called “twenty-two stones”—the essential building blocks of creation.] Yaakov went to sleep in the place of these twenty-two letters.

This is similar to the statement of Rav Michel Zlotchover regarding his slumber. “I have never been in the state of oblivion that most people call sleep. Whenever I go to sleep I have an aliyas neshamah, my soul ascends to the upper realms on high.”

The deeper works explain that the verse, "אָכֵן יֵשׁ ה' בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְאָנֹכִי לֹא יָדָעְתִּי"—“Surely Hashem is in this place, and I knew it not”— indicates that until that time Yaakov had not understood just how much a person can grasp of Hashem while he sleeps.[6]

[1] Bereishis 28:10-11
[2] Ibid., 28:18
[3] Zohar I:157b
[4] Ramak in Tomer Devorah
[5] Ibid., 28:11
[6] See the Baal Shem Tov Al HaTorah and the Ohev Yisrael on this verse.

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New Bilvavi Sefer Coming to a Seforim Store Near You!

Rav Shwartz, author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh seforim, gave a series of shiurim on which this upcoming sefer is based. "Da Es Yeladecha" deals with the foundations in avodas Hashem one must attain to understand and carry out the true "raising" of children.

See here for more information.

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The Zoo Keeper and Latkes - Rav Shmuel Brazil

Rav Shmuel Brazil has written an amazing Drasha on Parshas Toldos called The Zoo Keeper and Latkes. Definitely worth reading!

As you may know, this is is from Rabbi Brazil's new Yeshiva, Ziv HaTorah. You can hear many of Rabbi Brazil's drashos HERE.

HT to Tuvia Heller.

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Breslov Chassidus Shiurim by Rebb. Yehudis Golshevsky

Here are several shiurim given, for women only, by Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky. To listen to them right away, left click on the links. To download them, right click on the links and select "Save Target As."

Rebbetzin Golshevsky gave the following shiur during her recent trip to Uman on the topics of Tikkun Haklali, shemos hatzaddikim, and a vort from Kedushas Levi on Noach, told over in Berditchev.

LINK

"making Torah into tefillah"--the relationship between Yaakov, Rochel, and Leah.

LINK to get the shiur.

Making a tzimtzum in the heart so that we can build the vessels to reveals Hashem's Kingship:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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Upteitch of Berchas Retzay in Shemoneh Esrei

In his latest shiur, Reb Yerachmiel explains the basic and deeper meanings and kavanos of on Berchas “Retzay” in Shemoneh Esrei and is sure to have a positive and practical impact on your daily davening.

CLICK HERE to listen to streaming audio. The downloadable audio file is too big.

Click on the following link to see the video of this shiur at TorahAnytime.com.

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Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Toldos- Excerpt & Full PDFs

Below is an excerpt from the English translation of the drasha given by Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Toldos. Below that are links to download the full Hebrew and/or English translation texts in pdf format...

Parshas Toldos

The first step is to follow the way of Yaakov. We all must “sit in the tents of Shem,” study Torah and pray with intense dveikus with our Creator. But this is not enough to imbue a person with a spirit of prophecy. One can only really become holy by drawing down the illumination that he grasps with his mind and using that light to sanctify the material reality, which is Eisav’s realm. This entails binding our hearts with Hashem even while we are occupied with physical activities, and it is one of the hardest avodos. We must sanctify our thoughts while we are involved in the pleasures of this world, and this can only be attained through continuous effort by knocking on the gates of holiness with real obstinacy. We must be willing to wait until the gates open and we are afforded truly deep dveikus, since it is not enough to be satisfied with a lower level of dveikus which is easily attained. We all must toil to grasp a very deep and meaningful dveikus with Hashem in our innermost being.

The first step towards attaining this dveikus is to focus on it during prayer, since one is closest to entering the gates of connection with Hashem at that time. Once the spirit of Hashem rests on a person during prayer it is much easier to learn Torah with fiery enthusiasm and dveikus too. This is in keeping with Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev’s statement that if one recites Shacharis with abundant vitality and dveikus, the Torah he subsequently learns will also be imbued with fervor and freshness.

But what is one to do if his prayers were not filled with dveikus? In that case he must make an even greater effort to at least learn Torah with passionate attachment to Hashem. When a person consistently learns and prayes with dveikus and focuses on the Divine Names formed by every word of Torah and prayer, he will be filled with the light of ruach hakodesh, of Divine inspiration. However, even this is still not enough to merit redemption. The redemption will only come when true prophecy is restored to us. Prophecy means that the light of Hashem rests on a person’s physical body so that he purifies the entire material reality, since his every act is for the sake of heaven.

This is why the soul of Dovid HaMelech was originally hidden in Edom, as indicated by the name Admoni which signifies Edom. But the Shelah HaKadosh teaches that he is the positive manifestation of Edom, unlike Eisav.[1]

[This is the meaning behind Yaakov’s donning Eisav’s “desirable garments” that he had stolen from Nimrod so that he could receive the blessing from Yitzchak.] We all must elevate the aspect of Edom which is represented by the physical body, since it is only through the physical that we build vessels to receive the light of prophecy. We must purify even the lowest aspects of physicality through an intensely powerful dveikus from the innermost depths of our being. This is because the more corporeal something is, the higher the light that is necessary to sanctify it.

[1] See Shelah Hakadosh, Bereishis, Parshas Vayeishev, #9

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