Bilvavi Update - Far Rockaway & Woodmere Shiurim Tonight NOT TAKING PLACE

UPDATE: The shiurim in the Aguda in Far Rockaway at 5:30 is CANCELLED and the 8 PM in Aish Kodesh in Woodmere tonight in major doubt. Updates forthcoming See below for the information.

5:30-6:15 PM
Agudath Israel of Long Island -
Far Rockaway, NY - 1121 Sage St.
Shiur on inyanei Shovavim

Woodmere, NY
8 PM - Monday night, December 27th at 8:00 PM.

Rav Itamar Shwartz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh
and Da Es Atzmecha seforim will be speaking in the Shul

The shiur is open to men and women.

The Rav speaks in an easy-to-understand Hebrew, and the topic of the shiur will
be Shovavim. We are looking for sponsorships for the shiur, which will be used to enable the publication of more of the Rav's seforim in both English
and Hebrew.

Please contact Benyomin Wolf at 212-715-9417, 516-668-6397, or benbenabe@aol.com to sponsor the shiur. Donations are tax deductable.

English and Hebrew seforim, as well as mp3 CDs will be available for sale at the shiur.

Picture courtesy of XYZ. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H in early January. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Reminder about Bilvavi Shovavim Seminar Today Flatbush - Snow Info

Reminder! Rav Shwartz's seminar in Flatbush is this afternoon and he's giving a shiur at 8 PM in Flatbush as well. See below for the information.

Snow: If you can't make it because of the weather, you can use the following dial-in code: 712-432-8773 - Access code: 613613#.

Flatbush - Cong. Sheves Achim - 1517 Ave. H (corner E. 16th, across from Q train - But on this particular Sunday, the Q does not stop there in either direction. One would have to get off at either Ave J or Newkirk, and walk about three blocks)

The shiurim will be at 12 PM, 1:15 PM, 2:30 PM.

There is a $20 suggested donation for admission and sponsorships are encouraged. Admission includes all three shiurim and a free mp3 CD of the Rav's drashos. Donations are tax deductable and all proceeds will go to enable the publication of more seforim in Hebrew and English.

English and Hebrew seforim and mp3 CDs will be on sale at the drashos at a discount.

Please contact Benyomin Wolf at 212-715-9417, 516-668-6397, or benbenabe@aol.com.

8 PM - Flatbush - 1601 Ave. P (Corner of 16th)

The Rav will be giving a shiur for men in an Israeli kollel, but others may attend as well.

Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Bilvavi Author Speaking in Flatbush, Far Rockaway, & Woodmere Next Sun/Mon.

Rav Itamar Shwartz will be in Flatbush, Far Rockaway, and Woodmere this coming Sunday and Monday, Dec. 26th & 27th. See below for the Schedule:

Sunday, Dec. 26th
Flatbush - Cong. Sheves Achim - 1517 Ave. H (corner E. 16th, across from Q train - But on this particular Sunday, the Q does not stop there in either direction. One would have to get off at either Ave J or Newkirk, and walk about three blocks)

Rav Itamar Shwartz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh and Da Es Atzmecha seforim, will be giving a one day intensive seminar on Avodas Hashem in the winter Shovavim time. The shiurim will be at 12 PM, 1:15 PM, 2:30 PM.

There is a $20 suggested donation for admission and sponsorships are encouraged. Admission includes all three shiurim and a free mp3 CD of the Rav's drashos. Donations are tax deductable and all proceeds will go to enable the publication of more seforim in Hebrew and English.

English and Hebrew seforim and mp3 CDs will be on sale at the drashos at a discount.

It is preferred if you register in advance. Please CLICK HERE to register. The Rav is available to meet with people privately to discuss inyanim in Avodas Hashem after the Flatbush seminar by appointment only. Please contact Benyomin Wolf at 212-715-9417, 516-668-6397, or benbenabe@aol.com.

8 PM - Flatbush - 1601 Ave. P (Corner of 16th)

The Rav will be giving a shiur for men in an Israeli kollel, but others may attend as well.

Monday, Dec. 27th

Far Rockaway, NY - White Shul library - 728 Empire Ave
8:45-9:15 AM

The shiur is after the 7:30 minyan and before the 9:30 minyan

The shiur will take place in the White Shul's library and will be a va'ad on inyanei Shovavim.

5:30-6:15 PM

Agudath Israel of Long Island -

Far Rockaway, NY - 1121 Sage St.

Shiur on inyanei Shovavim

Woodmere, NY
8 PM - Monday night, December 27th at 8:00 PM.

Rav Itamar Shwartz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh
and Da Es Atzmecha seforim will be speaking in the Shul

The shiur is open to men and women.

The Rav speaks in an easy-to-understand Hebrew, and the topic of the shiur will
be Shovavim. We are looking for sponsorships for the shiur, which will be used to enable the publication of more of the Rav's seforim in both English
and Hebrew.

Please contact Benyomin Wolf at 212-715-9417, 516-668-6397, or benbenabe@aol.com to sponsor the shiur. Donations are tax deductable.

English and Hebrew seforim, as well as mp3 CDs will be available for sale at the shiur.

Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Blackberry Message from G-d

It is an exciting moment when my Blackberry buzzes. I am about to
discover what Hashem wants me to do next.

Chasdei hashem!

The Solution for Sanity: Compartmentalize or Connect?

While I knew about it intellectually, I emotionally underestimated the hours and stressfulness of "biglaw." Unfortunately, that stress does not limit itself to the hours I spend in the office. It is affecting my Shabbos and my weekend (non-working) time with the family and this is the most discouraging part.

Background: I operate under the assumption that the extent that the peacefulness that I feel is directly correlated with the extent to which I have internalized the reality of the presence and providence of Hashem.

My first take on how to prevent the stresses of work from invading my personal and spiritual life was to resolve to keep thoughts and feelings related to work in the office, and to leave them there. That would be essentially compartmentalizing my life into a "work" box on one hand and a "personal/spiritual" box on the other hand.

The first problem with this approach is that it is, in my view, one of the major factors underlying a great deal of dishonesty in business, chillul Hashem, and inappropriate speech and socializing by religious people.

My second realization was that it is also not the goal. The goal is to go from a place where one is bringing one's work into his spiritual life to a place where he brings his spiritual life into his work life. This has nothing to do with talking to others about G-d. Rather, it means I must bring my awareness of Hashem from the beis medresh to the office. This unification and connection is the goal of our creation in this world. It is also the way to naturally transform the stress felt in the office into the same peace I sometimes feel which is connected to an awareness of G-d. Compartmentalizing life to stay sane is not the answer.

May you and I be zoche to expand our conscious awareness of Hashem's existence and providence into the most worldly aspects of our lives!

Stories from the Zohar - Part 3 - Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Here is the next part in a series of articles on stories from the Zohar by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman. You can find the first article HERE.

The Book of Radiance: Tales from the Zohar
By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

3. CREATION

Arguably the best known sentence in all of world literature is this: “In the beginning, G-d created the Heavens and the Earth” (Genesis 1:1), which sets in motion the laying-out of just how G-d created the cosmos. But what does it mean that “G-d created Heaven and Earth”? How did He do that?

Well, according to the Zohar it come to this: “When the King’s Will began to manifest itself, a Firm Spark made an engraving within the Supernal Light that emanated from The Most Concealed and within the mystery of The Infinite One. (That Firm Spark) assumed a Formless Form which was then placed within a circle that was neither white nor black nor red nor green, nor any color at all. And when (that Firm Spark) began to assume size and dimension, it then created radiant colors (Zohar 1, 15a).

Very well, but then what does that mean? The Kabbalists have their explanations, to be sure, but since our task here is to simply catch sight of the wondrous ways the Zohar expresses its truths in all their glory, we won’t offer those explanations.

Before we present a number of other Zohar depictions of creation, though, let’s see the mysterious ways that other early sages depicted creation without recourse to the Zohar’s imagery.

But let’s make a couple of things clear. First off, that when the Zohar and other traditional sources speak about the creation of “the world” they aren’t simply referring to the formation of planet Earth, or even of our galaxy or the entire universe. They’re addressing the creation of reality itself, its known and unknown parts, its physicality and non-physicality: that’s to say the formation of everything other than G-d Himself! And second, let’s underscore the fact that none of this is meant to be taken literally to be sure; it’s all a process of depicting the undecipherable and of laying out the unfathomable.

As such, we’re taught for example that seven things were created before the rest of reality came into being: the primordial Torah, repentance, the Divine Throne, The Garden of Eden, Gehenom, the primordial Holy Temple, and the name of the Moshiach (Pesachim 54a). And interestingly enough, we’re also taught that G-d actually created whole other forms of reality we can’t even imagine -- more than a thousand of them in fact (Zohar Chadash 9a)-- before He created this one which He then rejected (Breishit Rabbah 3:7, 9:2; Kohelet Rabbah 3:11).

Our sages referred to some strange amorphous “primal stuff” from which the world was created, including unknowable forms of “fire”, “water”, and “wind” (Shemot Rabbah 15:22); of “light”, “darkness”, “chaos”, “the void”, and “the deep” (Pirkei d’Rebbi Eliezer 3); and of “water within water” which then turned to “snow” before turning to “earth” (J. T. Chaggiga 2).

And we’re taught that a number of other non-material things played a role in creation, including the twenty-two letters of the primordial Aleph-Bet (Midrash Konen 23-24) which were then arranged into three orders (see Ch. 3 of Sefer Yetzirah), the original Ten Utterances (Pirkei Avot 5:1), and Wisdom (see Proverbs 8:22-29),

But wait a minute, now -- haven’t we been taught that G-d created the world ex nihilo -- out of sheer nothingness? Yes indeed, and the Zohar (as well as many other sources) says as much when it declares that “when the Holy One, blessed be He, created His worlds, He created them out of nothingness” (Zohar Chadash, Breishit 17b). But as it makes the point elsewhere, that the “nothingness” or “non-materialness” spoken of here refers to “a single hidden light out of which all revealed lights emerged and shone” and from which everything else was formed (Zohar 1, 156b). The point is that the series of attenuating lights of “nothingness” all morphed into the universe, and each sage described the process his own way (based on his own insights as well as on his generation’s stature).

Let’s explore another series of fascinating statements found in Tractate Chagigah (12a) before we return to the Zohar’s revelations.

We’re told there that the world was created by means of ten things: “wisdom, understanding, reason, strength, rebuke, might, righteousness, judgment, loving-kindness, and compassion”. (Students of Kabbalah would easily catch reference to the Ten Sephirot here, but once again, that’s not our area of concentration.) And we’re also taught there that the world is founded upon “pillars” (either one alone, or either seven or twelve in all), which stand upon “the waters”, which stand upon “mountains”, which stand upon “the winds”, which stand upon “the storm”, all of which are “suspended on the arm of the Holy One, blessed be He”.
So let’s now return to the Zohar and see how it differs.

“Come and see!” we’re adjured, that “when it arose in The Holy One’s Mind, blessed be He, to create the universe, He brought forth a Single Flame from a Black Spark which brought about spark after spark . It then darkened and came aflame. And The Holy One, blessed be He, then brought about a Single Drop from the recesses of the Deep, and joined them together in order to create the universe” (Zohar 1, 86b).

But at one point at another depiction of creation, the Zohar likens the world to a “house” that sits “at the very center of all there is” and is surrounded by “hidden holy places where the birds of Heaven build nests” upon “a huge and mighty tree” which “ascends up to the clouds of Heaven”. This “house” which is “nourished and watered by the tree” somehow or another “conceals innumerable heavenly and secret treasures”. At certain points every single day, the Zohar seems to be saying, “when darkness sets in” -- that is, when all is studded with mystery and rich wonder -- “spirits flit about in the air trying to enter … it because they’re curious about what’s in it”, this world (Zohar 1, 172a).

The point seems to be that though reality was formed in all sorts of G-dly ways, at bottom it’s a single, solitary house lying deep in the fold’s of G-d’s bosom, if you will, with life abounding, secrets yet to be deciphered, and wonders yet to be unearthed. If you, too, are “curious about it” like the spirits who revel in its secret messages, you’ll also catch sight of the “Firm Spark”, the “Formless Form”, and the “Single Flame (that emits) from a Black Spark”. And you too will know that G-d Almighty alone is behind it all, fashioning the “house” and residing smack dab in the middle of it.

(c) 2010 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Great New Chanukah Videos

The Maccabeats: Candlelight

Yosef & Leah Urso: Eight Candles Burning - It tells the story of how he became religious through four chabadskers in a Menorah-mobile. The fiddle player here, Leah Urso, is from my hometown back in Dixie!


You can see another video of them playing Jewish country music in their song, Hashem is Gonna Do it Again here:

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Rav Mottel Zilber Speaking in Woodmere Tonight at 8

Rav Mottel Zilber will be speaking Sunday (today) at 8:00pm in Woodmere. 1104 Westwood Rd. Hewlett NY 11557

Dixe Yid hopes to be there!

Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Benyomin, the Son of Suffering/Kindness

In this week's parsha (Bereishis 35:17), Rochel is having a very difficult time with the birth, and is about to die, and her midwife comforts her by saying, "Don't be afraid. You are having another son."

Perhaps this means that when we go through things that are hard, which can cause worry and fear, that we should not be afraid. On the contrary, we should not worry because even if we suffer in the process, it is all good because some great result is going to come from the process.

Rochel took this teaching to heart too, because in the next pasuk (35:18), Rochel named the son Ben Oni, child of my suffering. Contrary to the common view that Rochel's choice of name was a mournful or self-pitying name, to show others that a great result like this child is the product of suffering, so they should not be afraid either.

But Yaakov names him "Benyomin" instead, to teach that there is an even higher level of consciousness. Benyomin means "son of the right side," which relates to chesed, kindness. He wanted to show that the suffering necessarily produces so much good, so it cannot really be called suffering, oni. Rather, it should be looked at as all chesed, kindness. The suffering itself should be perceived for its true essence, which is kindness rather than as pain.

Benyomin's life essence\name therefore represented the fact that suffering is actually a favor to us and that the ultimate result of the whole process is immeasurably great.

Life is Like Microsoft Word

I have thank G-d that He created an "Edit, Undo" feature in His app called Life.

My Son's Name

My wife related the following story to me about our five year old son:

Every morning as he gets on the bus to go to cheder, she gives him the following blessing: "Bye, you should be matzliach (successful)!"

She told me that a few days ago, as he got onto the bus, the non-Jewish bus driver said to him, "Good morning 'Youshouldbematzliach'!"

Apparantly he thought that was our son's name.

When I heard the story I made a little tefillah that IY"H his name should always be a blessing!

Dancing Under the Gallows - Video of 106 Year Old Holocaust Survivor

Thank you to Torah Insights for OA for pointing out this great video. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Why is it that Many Good (but Chitzonius'dik) Yiddin Can't be Sovel Pnimius'dik Yidden in their Midst?

A Ba'al Mussar's Experience in Uman

Here is a section from a very nice article I read this morning which was sent to me by Neil Harris . HT to him for pointing me to this article:

I walked over to the Tzion to find only several dozen people praying at the grave. I entered this small crowd, Psalms in hand looking forward to saying something really significant to God. Over the next hour I took small steps forward into the increasingly dense crowd. I finally got to within one row of the large four-foot high, ten-foot long, five-foot deep marble grave.

A row of men in front of me leaned, heads on arms on the grave crying and whispering intimate prayers. A sociable Israeli man next to me played traffic cop and called out every few minutes, “Ok, brother, your time is up, let someone else get in,” grabbing the shoulder of one of the petitioners and helping him make way for the next person.

At last it was my turn. I squeezed forward and there I was – at the grave...

CLICK HERE to read the full article. It's a very nice article by a Mussar oriented person who is really working on himself.

Picture courtesy flikr. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Torah vs. Blackberry (or Cell Phone)

Received via email from my chevrusa (who is a very busy entrepreneur who got rid of his Blackberry):

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated the Torah as we treat
our Blackberry (or Cell phone)?

--What if we carried It around in our purse or pocket every day?

--What if we looked through It many times each day?

--What if we turned back to go get It if we forgot it?

--What if we always checked It for messages?

--What if we treated It as if we couldn't manage a day without it?

--What if we gave It to our children as a special gift?

--What if we always took It, and used It, when we traveled?

--What if we always thought to use It in case of an emergency?

---Oh, and one more thing...

Unlike our Blackberry (or Cell phone), we don't have to worry about Torah being
disconnected, because Its “Carrier” never fails.

Set yourself free!

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Hitdabroot 24 Hour Torah TV Channel in Israel - Link to Live Feed

Shloymele pointed out this fascinating 24 hour Torah/kiruv channel in Israel called Hitdabroot. You can watch whatever's on right now AT THIS LINK.

You can help them with their work or buy a raffle ticket at their English site HERE.

This is so fascinating. I added a logo that causes a window to open with their live channel at the bottom of the right sidebar with the Jewish music radio logos. Enjoy!

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

MBD and Y-Love Together - Banned Together

I found this interesting. HT Tikun!

Y-Love: "Back in the day, a couple of years ago, people said that I shouldn't be making Jewish music because Jewish rap music is traif and there was a guy in Bnei Brak saying like 'Jewish music can only sound like this...', there was a-"

MBD: "Well they say that about my music too so don't worry about it."

Y-Love: "Fellow renegade over here!"

That video was filmed during the making of this music video to show support for Shalom Rubashkin:

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Story Told by a Young Shlomo Carlebach

CLICK HERE to listen to or download this mp3 of a very young Shlomo Carlebach telling a story about Yair Dori. Great quality audio. He's speaking in Hebrew.

Thanks to a reader for pointing me to this audio and to Eliayhu Amsalom, who has a blog associated with Yedidya Meir's Israeli radio show! Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Washington Heights Shlomo Carlebach HD Hillula with the Stollel & Rav Reichman

Created and posted by "Bedek Habayis" at Stollel Tamid. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Finding Yiddishkeit and Chassidus - Going Down the Rabbit Hole

I can explain why I originally became frum "while standing on one foot" (cf. Shabbos 31a) with just three words: "Torah is deep."

As a reform Jewish high schooler in a medium sized Jewish community in the South, I was not particularly seeking any new form of spirituality. I was moderately involved Jewishly and was even on the local chapter board of NFTY (the National Federation of Temple Youth). Based on my exposure at that point (aside from some semi-Jewish poetry in the back of our "Gates of Prayer" prayerbook), I took it for granted that Judaism is a fairly shallow enterprise.

For example, in sunday school growing up, every Sukkos we went out to the Temple's Sukkah and the rabbi explained the significance of waving the four species. He always said that "We wave them in all six directions to remind us that G-d is everywhere." It was the same explanation year after year, from the early grades through early high school. It was mostly the same with respect to the other aspects of Jewish practice they taught us about. But aside from the fact that I found these teachings boring, the superficiality did not really bother me very much. I just assumed that one-line pat explanations like this were what Judaism consisted of. And that was that.

Over Channukah my sophomore year in high school, however, I met a couple of orthodox kids at an inter-youth group event at the JCC. Because I fancied myself an open-minded person with respect to people of "other faiths," I interestedly asked them about orthodoxy. To my surprise, their answers to why they did this or that thing were not the kind of pat one-line answers I expected based on my own Jewish experience. There was depth, common sense, and thought-out explanations for each detail of what they did. This depth fascinated and attracted me and was the impetus for me to continue my friendship with them. This process led me to begin attending a Torah class for teenagers and eventually become observant myself.

Fast forward several years later, through post-high school yeshiva and eventually kollel: Over time, I learned how to learn Torah from the original sources, but there was something about the Gemara and Chumash that did not completely satisfy me. I often found Gemaras (sometimes Agadata and sometimes not) which screamed out to me that there was a deeper meaning to the text. As Rashi always says, "אין המקרא הזה אומר אלא דרשני." See, e.g. Rashi on Bereishis 1:1.

I searched through the perushim in the Gemara, the Ain Yaakov, and the seforim commenting on the Gemara found in most batei medrash. Maharal in Chiddushei Agados sometimes "hit the spot," but it was slim pickins'. It seemed that almost nothing went down beneath the surface of the Gemara's simple meaning. As for Chumash, when I had that feeling, I looked through all of the meforshim in the Mikra'os Gedolos and other seforim on the Chumash with similar results (although Kli Yakar and Ohr Hachaim were often very helpful). I eventually came to expect that maybe that deeper meaning and current relevance of the text either did not exist or was simply not accessable to regular people.

This perception began to change when I discovered a sefer that is sometimes found in more Litvish circles: Ohr Gedaliyahu, by Rav Gedalia Schorr, a Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vo'Daath. He was very connected to Gerer chassidus and I began to learn certain basic concepts of Chassidus from these seforim. I felt like I was finally starting to go down the rabbit hole just a little bit.

Part of the time I was learning in kollel, I worked in the evenings for a "kiruv follow-up" organization called Hashevaynu. Rabbi Zakutinsky, the founder and head of the organization, is close with Rav Moshe Weinberger, so he persuaded Rav Weinberger to come to their first few retreats, which I attended as part of the organization. Rav Weinberger is a Chassidish Rav who lives and teaches Torah in the modern orthodox community of Woodmere, in Long Island, New York.

Although I had heard Rav Weinberger speak at my then-fiancé's (now-wife's) suggestion, the Torah and Chassidus he taught at those retreats were so deep, so real, and so true, that it made me feel like I was discovering an aspect of Yiddishkeit that I had always felt must be there, but never experienced.

I subsequently got a job as part of a community kollel in the Midwest. When I got there, I quickly ordered over 100 of Rav Weinberger's tapes (that dates me, I know). I listened to these tapes as I traveled to various college campuses giving shiurim and they had a deep effect on me. When it was time for my family to move to a larger community for chinuch purposes, we moved to Woodmere in order to be closer to Rav Weinberger.

Over time I attended many of Rav Weinberger's shiurim and began learning more sifrei Chassidus like the Me'or Einayim, Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Tzidkas Hatzadik, and the Tanya. The clarity of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh seforim also allowed me to go even deeper down the rabbit hole to gain a greater perspective on Judaism, a practical road to achieving my purpose in life, and a deeper understanding of all reality. In this respect, Volume 5 of the Bilvavi series and his seforim on Chumash are especially powerful and perspective-changing.

The common denominator between my discovery of Yiddishkeit in general and my discovery of chassidus in particular, is that I found a deeper life path in both of them, compared to what I was exposed to before. I feel that it is the pure chessed of Hashem that he revealed the Torah to the world through Moshe Rebbeinu and chassidus to the world through the Baal Shem Tov. It seems like the majority of people, both in the outside world and within the frum community, are satisfied with a life of superficiality. So I am thankful for Yiddishkeit generally, and chassidus in particular. B'chasdei Hashem, they are there to offer a deeper path to those who seek it out.

May all of us find our path within Yiddishkeit to a truer and deeper relationship to Hashem!

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Great Video Interview with Shlomo Carelebach - "What is Your Shoresh Neshoma?"

In honor of Reb Shlomo's yohrtzeit, here is a great and very frank interview with Shlomo Carlebach. During the 27 minute interview, he sings "Yehi Shalom B'cheilech" and the famous "Rama's Niggun."

Along the lines of the post I'm putting up tomorrow morning, I wanted to share a key quote from Reb Shlomo. It's from the first of the three parts of this interview (above) from 2:00 to 6:00. Reb Meir asks Reb Shlomo whethether his shoresh neshoma is in learning, teaching, or singing. Reb Shlomo answers the question Reb Shlomo answers the question in several ways, directly and indirectly, over the course of the whole interview.

With a lot of love and a caring smile, Reb Shlomo answered at about the 5:00 mark: "If you ask me something, I can tell you without really bragging too much that my shoresh neshoma is in depth. I cannot stand shallow things. I cannot stand shallow people. I forgive them and I love them but I can't stand them. I can't stand shallow ideas. I cannot stand anything shallow really. It makes me sick. And especially, I've had the privilege of learning by people, Reb Meir will agree with me, those two, the deepest and the sharpest. Reb Shlomo Heiman was awesome deep and Rav Aharon (Kotler) was awesome deep..."

Big thank you to my holy brother from another mother, Eliav Frei for pointing this video out to me. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

How Shlomo Carlebach got Me to Wash for Melava Malka - Guest Post by Dovid Friedman

Li’iluy nishmas Reb Shlomo ben Naftali Carlebach z’l

I just thought of this while eating Melava Malka and thought I should share it since it’s his yarzeit. I always enjoyed his stories, but there was one that that really had an effect on me. I was in a friend’s car (S.P. if you don’t remember) in the Catskills over 15 years ago and he was playing a Shlomo Carlebach Melava Malka album. On it he told the following story:

Someone came to a certain Rebbe (the recording was unclear so I couldn’t make out the name) and said his friend was sent to Siberia; could the Rebbe get a yeshua for his friend. The Rebbe said if you’re friend will do whatever I tell him, he will be able to get out of Siberia. He said of course. Soon enough, the friend was released from Siberia and came to the Rebbe. He asked what he needs to do. The Rebbe told him “wash for Melava Malka every Motzei Shabbos”. He said: “that’s all”? The Rebbe said: “I promised Dovid Hamelech that you would wash for his seuda of Melava Malka and that’s how you got out of Siberia”.

When I heard this, I thought to myself that if washing for Melava Malka can get someone out of Siberia, imagine how many smaller things it can do. Of course there are many reasons to wash but this is what got me to wash for Melava Malka. From then or shortly after, as far as I can remember, I have washed for Melava Malka every single Motzei Shabbos except for one time 8 years ago when I felt so sick that I had to go straight into bed Motzei Shabbos and woke up the next morning. If anyone doesn’t wash yet, I would encourage them to start. There are many good reasons to do so besides this story. Because of Shlomo Carlebach, I have been washing for Melava Malka so many years now. May this be a zechus for his neshama.

Video courtesy of Gruntig.

Elementary School International Espionage Conference Dialogue

As heard from a reader in Yerushalayim:

Older intelligent child who considers himself quite worldly to a younger sibling in all seriousness: "I think I know who hacked into Iran's computers."

Younger child: "Really? Who?"

Older child: "I think it was Rebbe S. from the cheder. He knows everything there is to know about the office's computer system!"

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

200,000 Unique Visitors as of This Morning!

Last time I hit this milestone, it was 19 months ago. That's 100,000 unique visitors in about half the time as the first 100,000 (even though I haven't been very active this past year). Woo hoo!

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

"Wealth, What is it Worth?" - "?הון, מה" - Picture From Midtown Golf Store Window

Second Shiur on Shir Hashirim for Women by Rebb. Yehudis Golshevsky

Here is the second shiur we're zoche to present in quick succession in a new series for women by Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky. The topic of this series is Shir Hashirim. This second shiur covers Shir Hashirim, 1:3, and explains the pasuk "Mashcheini, acherecha narutza."

This shiur is not on Breslov chassidus per se, but is b'iyun, yet still accessible to almost anyone. The shiur will mainly use the Targum, Rashi, Tzror HaMor, Arizal where appropriate, the Gr"a, Reb Nosson, and sometimes Rokeach. Rebb. Golshevsky will also sometimes use a little known sefer called Oteh Ohr that she used to learn with the menaheles of Yavne.

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

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Personal Video Interview With Yosef Karduner - Plus Song

Here he is singing "Im Ein Ani Li, Mi Li":

Courtesy of VIN news. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

"Kevodo Male Olam" - Shlomo Katz Video

HT A Bit of Light. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

New Shiur on Shir Hashirim for Women by Rebb. Yehudis Golshevsky

Here is the first shiur in a new series for women on Breslov Chassidus by Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky. The topic of this series is Shir Hashirim. This first shiur is an introduction to Shir Hashirim, I:1-2.

This shiur is not on Breslov chassidus per se, but is b'iyun, yet still accessible to almost anyone. The shiur will mainly use the Targum, Rashi, Tzror HaMor, Arizal where appropriate, the Gr"a, Reb Nosson, and sometimes Rokeach. Rebb. Golshevsky will also sometimes use a little known sefer called Oteh Ohr that she used to learn with the menaheles of Yavne.

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

Picture courtesy of daco-design. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Yosef Karduner NY Area Concert Dates Tonight Through Sunday!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 14, 2010

Torah Ohr

575 Middle neck Rd

Great Neck, NY

8:00pm

$10

Separate Seating
________________________________________

SATURDAY NIGHT OCTOBER 16

JEWISH MUSIC

 CAFE

401 9th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11215

doors open 9:00pm

$15

Separate Seating
 ____________________________________

SUNDAY OCTOBER 17, 2010

ROC HOUSE (Ramath Orah)

550 West 110th Street

New York, NY

7:00pm

$15 / $12 students

Separate Seating

To join Yosef Karduner's email list send an email to

yosefkardunermusic@gmail.com

Also, look out for Yosef's amazing new Kumzits album featuring all live music recorded in New York concerts.

Rav Weinberger Speaking on Tzfas, Rebbe Nachman, & Chanukah

HT Shmuel. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Aish Kodesh 2010 Hillula - Pictures/Video (from '09) & Audio (From '10)

Above are four video clips shot by Itchie Mayer Meyer from last year/2009. The first one is from last year's Hillula for the Aish Kodesh. Videos 2-4 are from this past Lag B'Omer with Eitan Katz and Nochi Krohn. These are being shown for the first time publicly here!

Here is a 25 minute audio clip from the Hillula for the Aish Kodesh from this past Motzoi Shabbos (this year's) recorded by my friend Gorin Hachaim. It was recorded in Real Player format. It is the first 25 minutes of the music portion of the Hillula with Yosef Karduner and Areye Kuntzler. Enjoy!

By the way, here are some pictures/audio from last year.

Picture courtesy of Itchie Mayer Meyer. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Shiur on Shnayim Mikrah - Rabbi Reuven Boshnack

The Whole inyan of shnayim mikrah v'echad Targum (reading each verse from each Torah portion twice followed by reading the Aramaic translation once) is very deep.

Here is a shiur from Rabbi Reuven Boshnack which was given to the Brooklyn College guys last week on the topic. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE to get the shiur.

The Three Keys to Success in Any Endeavor

I was just talking earlier tonight (this morning actually) to my friend who's a big ba'al avodah. He came up with a nice short idea. There are three keys to success in any endeavor:

1. Ratzon (desire, motivation)
2. Hashem, and
3. Ratzon Hashem

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Special Request for Personal Stories From Gerim and Chassidus

Please respond to this request below if you can. Tizku l'mitzvos!

 

http://www.kvetchingeditor.com/2010/10/friendly-request-gerim.html

Stories From the Zohar - By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Here is the next part in a series of articles on stories from the Zohar by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman. You can find the first article HERE.

The Book of Radiance: Tales from the ZoharBy Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

2. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochei

We’d already introduced R’ Shimon Bar Yochei, so let’s explore the sort of person he was and how important others considered him to be. For one thing, we’re taught that he was gifted with Ruach HaKodesh (Breishit Rabbah 79), but so were others of his ilk. How did he stand apart from the rest?

Perhaps one of the most significant things to know about R’ Shimon Bar Yochei’s spiritual stature is the fact that he was a student of the great R’ Akiva for 13 years (Vayikra Rabbah 26). Recall that R’ Akiva was the only individual we know of to have entered the Pardes (The Mystical Garden) "in peace”, i.e., well aware of what he was doing; and to have left it “in peace” as well, i.e., alive and well-grounded (Chaggiga 14b). That itself speaks volumes about the quality and strength of the tradition that R’ Shimon was privy to.

In fact, we’re told by other greats of his generation that R’ Shimon Bar Yochei was so holy that “whoever would look upon him could see the entire world (and experience) the delight of the upper and lower worlds”. And we’re informed that thanks to his revelations he came to be regarded as “the light of the world and equal in worth to the entire world”, that he could “light up the world with (his) Torah (revelations), and could ignite many lights” (Zohar 1, 155 b-156 a). So he was clearly in a class of his own. But do we have any other insights into this great sage?

Here’s an account that says something of the makeup of his heart. We’re taught that “a certain man and woman who’d been married for 10 years and still hadn’t had any children appeared before R’ Shimon for a divorce”. R’ Shimon couldn’t help but notice that the two still loved each other despite their impasse, and yet he knew that what they were asking for was perfectly halachically acceptable. So R’ Shimon came up with a ruse of sorts.

He offered them the following proposal: “Since your wedding was marked by a feast, let’s mark your divorce with a feast, too”, he said. So a lavish meal was set up. At a certain point husband and wife gazed at each other in the special light that shines at weddings alone, and they changed their minds. Thrilled by their decision, R’ Shimon prayed for them to have a child, and G-d finally granted them one within the year (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:4).

Let’s conclude by honing in on a few special moments near and at the end of R’ Shimon’s life as depicted in the Zohar that underscore his greatness.

R’ Shimon became deathly ill at a certain point and was visited by his anxious disciples. “How can someone (like you, R’ Shimon,) who upholds the world be near to death?” one cried out. They heard him say something, but they soon “realized that R’ Shimon wasn’t there” in fact. They’d heard his voice out of nowhere and were dumb-struck. All of a sudden, “the aroma of many fine spices wafted by them”, and R’ Shimon began to speak again right before their eyes, as if nothing had happened.

“Did you notice anything else?” (other than his having disappeared) he asked them. They had to admit that they hadn’t. “That’s because you aren’t worthy of seeing the face of The Ancient of Days!” he said. He went on to report that he’d been “sent for from Above” when he’d been missing, and had been “shown the place that the righteous occupy in The World to Come” and that he’d been addressed by Adam and hundreds of other souls. But he was told to return to earth because the time wasn’t right (Zohar Chadash 18-19).

The time did come for him to die though, later on. All his greatest disciples had gathered about him. R’ Shimon opened his eyes, “saw what he saw”, as the Zohar puts it -- whatever or whomever he saw we can only imagine -- when “fire suddenly enveloped the house”. And at a certain point R’ Shimon said the following.

“This is an auspicious moment and I want to enter The World to Come without shame. For, there are certain holy things I want to reveal this day … that I hadn’t revealed until now -- so that it won’t be said that I left this world without completing my task here”.

He went on to discuss a number of esoteric things when he suddenly turned around and saw something. He tried to draw the attention of the others there to certain souls who where then in the room “each of whom was reflecting light from the shining countenance of the Holy Ancient One, The Most Mysterious of Mysterious”, but his disciples just couldn’t see them (Zohar 3, 287b-288a).

There came a time though when a great fire and light shone throughout the house until it suddenly stopped short. It became clear that “the holy light, the Holy of Holies”, R’ Shimon, had died just then “lying on his right side, covered over by his cloak, with a smile on his face”. A certain unearthly “perfume filled the air”.

Arrangements were quickly made for R’ Shimon’s funeral. His bier was brought outside when it “arose in the air (on its own) with a flame in front of it, and a voice was heard to say, ‘Come and assemble for the Hillulah (Feast) of R’ Shimon!’”. R’ Shimon’s body was then brought to the cave he was to be buried in, and another voice called out, “’Here is the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms’ (Isaiah 57:2)….. How Blessed is his portion above and below!” (Zohar 3, 296b).

And how blessed is our portion too, who have so many teachings of R’ Shimon’s to draw upon and learn from!

© 2010 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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Rebb. Yehudis Golshevsky Shiur for Sukkos

Sorry for not posting any of these shiurim in a while. Things have been very busy the last month or two. Here is a shiur for women on Breslov Chassidus by Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky on Sukkos and lifting up the fallen Sukkah of Dovid and spending a week in the "shadow of emunah." 1.5 hours. The shiur is based on Likutei Moharan II:5 and Likutei Halachos Sukkah #5.

CLICK HERE to listen to the shiur or right click and select "Save Target As" to download the shiur.

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Video, Music, Picture, & Text Log of Uman Rosh Hashana 5771

See the video above which is made up of video and pictures from my Uman trip. I made it as a kind of video journal for myself of the trip and for those of you who may enjoy it.

For all of those who e-mailed me or left comments with names and things to daven for, B"H, was was zoche to daven for virtually everyone at all of the kevarim both on the way to Uman and in Uman. IY"H, all of our tefilos will be answered in the affirmative!

Below is a basic itinerary of the trip so I'll hopefully be able to remember it! Below are some of the better pictures, most of which are also included in the video as well.

The whole trip was somewhat overwhelming. It was good but it will take some time to process. I was zoche to meet Reb Micha Golshevsky in person Baruch Hashem during the trip as well!

Enjoy!

• Sunday 9/05/10 - 4:30 PM - Left for a two-legged journey to Kiev


• Monday 9/06/10 - 2:30 PM - Landed in Kiev


• Monday 9/06/10 - 5 PM - Left on Bus with 15 of the chevra to daven at Kivrei Tzadikim on the way to Uman


• Monday 9/06/10 - 8 PM - Arrived in Volednick to daven by the kever of Rav Yisroel Dov Ber ben Yosef of Volednick


• Tuesday 9/07/10 - 4 AM - Arrived in Anapoli to daven by the Kevarim of Reb Zusha and the Magid of Mezrich - The Ohel there is in the middle of a completely razed cemetary. Unbelievable.


• Tuesday 9/07/10 - 7:30 AM - Arrived in Mezibuz to say slichos, daven, and daven by the kever of the Baal Shem Tov


• Tuesday 9/07/10 - 1:30 - Arrived in Berditchev to daven by the kever of Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev


• Tuesday 9/07/10 - 8 PM - Arrived in Uman
• Tuesday 9/08/10 - 11:30 AM - Erev Rosh Hashana - I said the Tikun Klali and gave at least a pruta to tzedaka at Rebbe Nachman's kever in reliance on the Tzadik's vow.

• Wednesday 9/09/10 - 8:30 PM - 2nd night of Rosh Hashana - I davened for the amud at a Ma'ariv minyan on the street outside the Kloyz (the main Shul seating about 5000 people) and then after the seuda, was able to say the entire Tikun Klali while touching Rebbe Nachman's tziyun.


• Motzoi Shabbos/Rosh Hashana 9/11/10 - 11:30 PM - I left for the Kiev airport to head back on my 3 legged trip to the states!

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

From Uman to Manhattan - Going from the Sefer to the City

Sorry for not being more active recently. As my readers know, I am soon joining the world of "Biglaw". You also know that I am leaving for Uman today.

B"H I have received many many names from Jews (and even a Ben Noach) all over the world in the comments of my previous post and by e-mail. IY"H, BL"N, I will have you all in mind when I say the Tikun Klali and give tzedaka by Rebbe Nachman's tziyon, and by the other kivrei Tzadikim as well. I will not be able to take any more names as I will be pretty much incommunicado till I get back next Sunday.

I just received word last last week that I will be starting my new job the day after I return from Uman. This is much earlier than I was expecting. It's amazing how things work out together like that. IY"H this Rosh Hashana process should prepare me for the battle ahead.

Over Shabbos, I saw a Toldos Yaakov Yosef on Parshas Vayelech which which referred to something he said in Parshas Shoftim. He spoke so so clearly about this change that I'm about to embark on. While the job is a huge bracha, it is also contains overwhelming challenges. And this piece, which I have captioned on the right side of this post, offers amazing guidance and something for me to think about as I leave my current "learning vacation" and embark on my commute to, and work-life in, New York City.

He speaks on the pasuk in Parshas Shoftim, Devarim 20:2, which says, "And it will be that when you come close to the war, the Kohain will approach and speak to the nation." (captioned on the right)

I'll adapt the paragraph from the Toldos on that pasuk (captioned) into English: "The Torah says 'And it will be that when you come close...' The Sifri and Rashi (which brings the Sifri) explain that 'come close' refers to when the Jewish people come close to going out from the border ("s'far") of our enemies. This refers to when a person comes close to going out from the sefer [The word for border, s'far, has the same shoresh as the word for Torah book, sefer], and into the city to do business. Immediately, it is a war with the yetzer hara which tries to seduce a person into הסתכלות נשים, speaking gossip, cynicism, and the like. Therefore, one may not trust in the fact that he has been involved in learning Torah until now by [erroneously] thinking that the yetzer hara will not bother him. Instead, [the verse continues] 'the Kohain will approach and speak to the nation.'"

Anyone who goes to work has many challenges if he wants to try and keep his mind in kedusha. It's tough even for a person who has learned much better and longer than I have. In my case, I will even have to walk through (or near) Times Square every day from the train to my office. Sometimes avoiding הסתכלות נשים and the rest of it is so hard that it is easy to think it it is just better to give up. The task is fearsome and the tendency is just to want to stop fighting it and become misgashem like the surrounding, superficial world.

With this Toldos in mind, I went to look at how the psukim continue (also captioned above after the text of the Toldos). What is the chizuk that the Kohain gives the person who's leaving his sefer to go off on the Long Island Rail Road and walk through Manhattan? What does such a person need to keep in mind during that process?

The psukim (Devarim 20:3-4) continue with the Kohain's message: "And he says to them, 'Hear Israel: You are approaching today to make war on your enemy [the yetzer hara]. Don't become weak-hearted. Don't be afraid, don't panic, and don't be terrified of them because Hashem your G-d is going in front of you to fight for you with your enemies to save you."

As the Gemara in Kiddushin 30b says, if Hashem would not help us, we would not be able to beat our yetzer hara on our own ("ואלמלא הקב"ה עוזרו אין יכול לו")!

This is such amazing chizuk. I made the psukim, the Rashi, and the text of the Toldos itself, into a card. (Click the image to enlarge and print if you wish.) IY"H, when I get back from Uman I want to laminate it so I can read it before I get on the train every day, at least at the beginning, to remind myself to always ask Hashem to help me fight the big battle for me.

IY"H, we should all be zoche to renew our battle against the yetzer hara throughout the day every day, and we should be zoche to win in that battle and win on the Yom Hadin this week.

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!