Sunday, January 31, 2010

New online video/audio Sfas Emes Shiur Going on NOW!


Exciting New Online Sfas Emes Shiur – Live From Eretz Yisroel! Given by Rabbi Baruch Gartner, Founder and Dean of Yeshivas Derech HaMelech. Learn Sfas Emes in Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel from the comfort of your own home! Starting today, Sunday January 31 @ 10 a.m. NY Time, Rabbi Baruch Gartner, Founder and Dean of Yeshivas Derech HaMelech, will be giving an online shiur on Sfas Emes through the Virtual Yeshiva - http://www.torahchat.com/ .

R' Gartner is the Founder and Dean of Yeshivas Derech Hamelech. Yeshivas Derech Hamelech was created to provide a makom Torah for chassidish English speakers. The Yeshiva came into existence with the help of R' Tzvi Meir Zilberberg, shlita, R' Mottel Zilber shlita, and R' Moshe Weinberger, shlita, whom Rav Gartner has studied under for many years. The shiur will focus on a portion of Sfas Emes for each week’s parsha, using the Hebrew text inside.

R' Gartner will be guiding the virtual talmidim through the sources to give the tools to master the profound ideas expressed by the Sfas Emes, as well as breaking down the barriers to understanding the style of the Sfas Emes - Great emphasis will be placed on grasping the practical advice of each discourse. The shiur will take place this coming Sunday at 10 am NY time, and each Sunday thereafter at the same time. To join the shiur, please go to http://www.torahchat.com/ and register. The instructions are easy and self explanatory.

Go to new user.
Fill in name and email address.
They will send you an email with your password.
Enter your name and password and go into the torah chat room.
If you have any problems or difficulty loading java click the link in the box that says the following:if you are using Window ME or otherwise have difficulty loading JAVA, link):
The shiur will be in the "torah chat" room at 10 am NY Time. There is no fee to join.

HT Zev Polansky for the information on the shiur and for the text I used for this post! Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Friday, January 29, 2010

This is Horribly Funny

I appologize in advance, but I had to pass on this e-mail I got just for the horrible fun of it:
What to do on a plane if the passenger next to you is irritating:

Remove your lap top from its bag.

Open the laptop slowly and carefully.

Turn on.

Ensure the passenger next to you is watching.

Turn on the Internet ( I know that it is not according to airline rules but do it anyway).

Close your eyes for a brief moment, open them again, turn your gaze upwards to the skies as if in prayer.

Take a deep breath and open this site.

Observe the facial expression of your neighboring passenger !! >:-}
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It's Not About the Money - Kol Brisk on Parshas B'Shalach

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

How to Change Money into Mon from Heaven

Or

Just Some Food for Thought

"הרבה שלוחין יש לו למקום להכין מזון ליראיו" (רש"י)

The following story was told over by Y.:

We were preparing for the Shabbos Bar Mitzvah Kiddush of our son. We had just moved back into our newly renovated home that week. There was a lot of work to do on that shortest Friday of the year. We had ordered a large Yerushalmi Kugel for the Kiddush from a caterer whom we had used on previous occasions for similar orders.

At 1:15, amidst all the preparations, I suddenly realized that the kugel had not yet arrived. All the businesses were usually closed by now. I called the store. The owners had gone home, and the cleaner gave me the home number. I called them at home. They said they really wondered why we hadn’t come to pick it up. They even waited an extra fifteen minutes for us. It seems that they forgot that they had always delivered in the past..

The Bar Mitzvah was a beautiful celebration. We had soda and pastries.

The moral of the story:
A Bar Mitzvah is not a kugel.


“Money is the root of all evil”, the classic saying goes. Is this true? What does the Torah say about this?

It is interesting to note the how the expression “I have” translates into Lashon HaKodesh. It really does not. יש לי means “There is to me”. I am not the subject, but the object, the recipient. There is only One Owner, the Master of the Universe, רבון כל העולמים, אדון כל הנשמות. He gives us all the blessings, all of what we have. He gives it to us, and cautions us to use it wisely and not to abuse people with it.

When do material blessings become problematic? Only when we take them and attach a rigid, unflexible, distended, expansive and unhealthy ego to it. “A Bar Mitzvah is a kugel” is a very unhealthy attitude. It can cause the mother of the Bar Mitzvah tremendous frustration and stress.

However, that is only between myself and I.

Much more problematic is when I start dictating reality to others based on my distortion. When I start imposing “A Bar Mitzvah is a kugel” on those recipients of my money or my resources, things become very complicated.

This is a lesson for parents in their relationship with married children. It also must be understood by balabatim who give financial support to a Yeshiva. It also applies to anyone extending any kind of material assistance to others. Their function is only to give financial support and not to interfere, dominate, or rule . Those that attempt to make judgments, to interfere or to dominate create a situation in which fragmentation, disharmony and conflict are built in to its very definition. This is not support. This is an act of hostility and abuse.

Life is not money. Life is about love, communication, and healthy relationships.

Money can be a vehicle to great Bracha. The Vilna Gaon, moments before he passed on to the Olam HaEmes, cried about the mitzvos that we can only buy in Olam Hazeh just for a few pennies.

Money can easily be transformed into astounding spiritual acquisitions. Health, Mitzvos, Tzedakah, Chessed, Torah..

We should just let go, remove our possessive and unhealthy ego.
Because money subtract שלי (mine) = Mon.
Yes, manna from heaven.

A gutten Erev Shabbos
From Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh

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The Avodah of Tu B’Shevat - Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on B'Shalach

Here is Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern's Torah on Parshas B'shalach, with English excerpt and full text in both English and Hebrew in pdf form. You can send an e-mail to this address to subscribe to receive Rav Morgenstern's Torah in your e-mail box every week.

As we approach the “Rosh Hashanah of the Tree,” we must return to the avodah of uniting the Divine Names HaVaYaH and ADNI, for their combined numerical value is equal to that of אילן or “tree.” [26 + 65 = 91] It is upon this “tree” that all of the fruits through which Eretz Yisrael is praised grow, and the last of them is the date which alludes to the Shechinah that is hidden within the lowest level of the world of Beriyah and needs to be uplifted. Amalek sought to uproot the tree, meaning they sought to interrupt our ability to make this yichud. They were willing to leave us to study Torah as long as we abandoned the true purpose of Torah study, which is to connect to the Creator. Amalek’s object is to “darken the face of the Torah,” but the tzaddik continues his seeking after Hashem’s presence without interruption, so that Hashem should rule alone over all of His creation in a revealed way, immediately. The tzaddik devotes himself to rescuing the Torah from her imprisonment by revealing its secrets and light to the world as a whole. Even though every form of self-sacrifice is very precious to Hashem, the highest form of mesirus nefesh is that which is on behalf of the Torah itself, that all of its parts and secrets should be revealed. The great self-sacrifice of Nachshon ben Aminadav for the sake of the Torah is precious, but it only can happen by virtue of the self-sacrifice of Moshe Rabbeinu who devoted himself to the Torah’s secrets, who “split the sea of wisdom.”

Self-sacrifice for the sake of the Torah’s secrets does not mean, as some might believe, for “Kabbalah.” Rather, it means absolute devotion to the simple meaning of the Torah as well, each person in accordance with the root of his own soul, to the aspect of the Torah that is “hidden” from him because he has not yet penetrated it. Each concept that is still a secret for a person is called “the Torah’s secrets,” because no one has ever really sacrificed himself to the utmost extent for the Torah, in accordance with her worth. As the Baal Shem Tov taught, “‘Hashem’s Torah is pure’—she is still pure and whole, no one has yet so much as touched her.”[1]

This is a reflection of the teaching of the Zohar, that one must break through the besulim and the hidden aspect of the Torah. The Torah anxiously awaits the tzaddik who will come and break through the barriers so that her light can be revealed throughout all the world. This is why the exile goes on; because the Torah is hidden among the klippos, but to the degree to which each person works to release her from her exile, so too will he merit to see the light of Hashem that rests upon the head of each and every tzaddik. Then he too will be able to devote himself completely to the Torah as well, so that the barrier between Atzilus and Beriyah will be split and Hashem’s glory will be revealed everywhere.

The Bones of Yosef

A person must never say that since he manages to devote part of his time to Torah study he is doing enough. This kind of complacent attitude is not characteristic of the person described in the verse, “Those who diligently pursue Me [who darken themselves with effort and who wake early to study] will find Me.”[2] [The root word שחר indicates all of these things.] A person must “darken himself” for the sake of the Torah and dedicate himself body and soul above all reasoning and understanding.

We can see the difference between the former attitude and the latter manner of the tzaddik when we examine what happened when the Jewish people left Egypt. The Jewish people busied themselves gathering up the wealth of Egypt—gold and silver represent the emotive attributes of fear and love of G-d—but Moshe Rabbeinu was only preoccupied with gathering the bones of Yosef to bring them out of Egypt. The bones of Yosef represent the essence and ultimate truth of Divine service [עצמות = עצם], which is unifying Hashem’s Name and revealing His glory throughout the world. Moshe Rabbeinu was like the simple baal habayis who spends all day at work and grabs whatever time he can at night to learn so that he can have some connection with the holy Torah beyond all reasoning and understanding. This is the inner meaning of Moshe marrying “the Cushite woman.” He “darkened himself” for the sake of bonding with the Shechinah who is hidden in dark and deep places, and in return he merited to reach the level of Reisha d’Lo Isyadah, of “the head that is not known,” the highest awareness of Hashem that transcends all knowledge and understanding. This is the Shem HaVaYaH that rests upon the head of each and every tzaddik. May Hashem help us to magnify the glory of His Name, and may we merit to uplift the Shechinah from the depths of her imprisonment and dress her in garments of honor and glory, until we merit to see “eye to eye, Hashem’s return to Tzion.” Speedily and in our days, Amen.

[1] Baal Shem Tov Al HaTorah, Bereishis 34
[2] Mishlei 8:17

CLICK HERE to get the pdf of Toras Chochom.
CLICK HERE to get the pdf of Toras Chochom in English.

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Shabbos Kavannah Spice Dispenser - Pictures

A few years ago, my wife created a spice shaker to help her have in mind thoughts of "l'kavod Shabbos Kodesh" while she was cooking for Shabbos. She keeps it on top of our oven. I probably should have shared this earlier, but here you go!



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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Hashem as “Tzur Chayeinu” - Video/Audio

Below is the link to the newest Video/Audio shiur by Reb Yerachmiel on Berchas “Modim” in Shemoneh Esrei:

In this shiur Reb Yerachmiel continues to explain the words of this bracha, with a special emphasis on the phrase “Tzur Chayeinu”, a description of Hashem as:

1) The Rock from which our bodies were hewn/Artisan of our bodies
2) The Rock from which our souls were hewn/Artisan of our souls
3) Our rock-solid foundation; the yesod of our lives
4) Our Castle; our Fortress; our Stronghold
5) The Rock in Whom we can seek, and find, safety and security

As always, this shiur is extremely deep and very le’maaseh for enhancing your davening!

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

Torah Anytime Video Link

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Remember to Say Parshas Hamon Today! - Link to pdf Text


With thanks to Rabbi Tal Zwecker for sending out this attachment by e-mail, please remember to say Parshas Hamon today (day three of Parshas B'Shalach)shnayim mikrah v'echad targum. It is a segulh for parnassa.

CLICK HERE to get the pdf text of what to say.

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Friday, January 22, 2010

New Video Conference Shiur on Sfas Emes & Sifrei R' Nachman by Rav Baruch Gartner

I received the following information from my heiliger friend Zev Polansky, a relatively recent Oleh. Great opportunity!
HaRav Baruch Gartner, shlita, Head of Yeshivas Derech HaMelech, will be starting a weekly online Sfas Emes / Rebbe Nachman shiur - the shiur will be online in a virtual yeshiva setting - users will be able to see each other and participate. The Rav will be going through Sfas Emes al ha parshah and sifrei Rebbe Nachman. It will be on Sundays at 10 am, and begin on Sunday, January 31 at 10 am NY time. Note that the Shiur is free to join - there is no "virtual tuition". Below are computer requirements needed for the shiur. Please let me know whether you're interested in joining, and if so, that you have the computer requirements below - anyone interested MUST run a quick online test with the virtual yeshivah techie to make sure all works before joining the shiur while in progress (someone without the proper setup can make the online shiur crash I'm told).

If you know of anyone else interested this shiur please have them contact me.

In order to join in the shiurim, participants must have:

1) An internet connection of at least 2 meg (2.5 or higher is even better)
2) The computer must be connected to the Internet via a cable. WiFi / wireless connection are not sufficient. Even someone who normally connects wirelessly can connect with a cable for these classes.
3) A webcam and a microphone. Many computers, especially laptops, have integrated cameras and microphone. If an external webcam is needed, the simplest and least expensive Logitech webcams are usually perfect for this application. Be sure they have an internal microphone.
4) A headset or headphones. There are many inexpensive headphones available that also have a microphone. Also, any regular iPod or Walkman headphones work perfectly. Just verify that they connect properly to the computer used.
5) Internet Browser = Firefox and Chrome are known to better for this application than Explorer.
Picture of Rav Baruch Gartner courtesy of Derech Hamelech. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Closing Your Eyes for Hisbonenus - Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Bo

Here is Reb Itchie Mayer Morgenstern's Torah on Parshas Bo, with English excerpt and full text in both English and Hebrew in pdf form. You can send an e-mail to this address to subscribe to receive Rav Morgenstern's Torah in your e-mail box every week.

When a Jew spends time in hisbodedus before his Creator, he closes his eyes so as not to be enticed by the illusory pleasures of this world because he doesn’t want to be connected to them. He knows that, for him, the “sweetness and light” of the Egyptians is absolute darkness, and the “darkness” of his avoidance of the temptations of this world is, for him, “light in his dwelling places.” When he closes his eyes in this way, he is able to see the brilliant hues that are rooted in the “hidden mind” of Mocha Sesima’ah, and he begins to derive pleasure from spiritual reality, from the fact that Hashem is revealed through a myriad of shades and hues of dveikus. He starts to feel Hashem’s light and glory within himself, and how all of the pleasures of this world are null and void, are like a mere sliver of light, compared with the delight of dveikus that is a composite of all possible forms of bliss.

“The Torah was only given to those who ate of the manna.”[1] The manna itself was rooted in the level called the “holy flame” or Mocha Sesima’ah as well, because it too was white which is a composite of all shades. This was expressed in the fact that those who ate of it could taste in it any flavor that they desired, just as Hashem’s light comprises all of the pleasures that are possible. So when a person seals his vision against the illusory nature of this world, he rises to the place of the “airspace” and its “membrane,” which is really the source of the human soul and its throne of glory. In that place it can be said, “From my flesh, I see G-d.” One begins to enjoy a vision of the ultimate Kisei HaKavod upon which the “form of a person sat.”[2] [Although he does not share the lofty vision of Hashem seen by Yechezkel HaNavi, nevertheless] he begins to get a sense of the presence of Hashem before whom he serves, just as the tzaddikim were able to “see” themselves serving before Hashem’s Kisei HaKavod as they prayed.

The final three plagues parallel these three states of dveikus: first, a person must meditate and be misboded on the expansive Binah light of Hashem. Then he must ascend to the place of the “hidden mind” which is the counterpart of the holy darkness of turning aside from this-worldly concerns to receive “light in all his dwellings.” With this, he destroys the klippah of the impure firstborn and rises further to the place of the “membrane of the airspace” and the “airspace” itself which correlates to the level of the Da’as of Atik and which reveals to him the source of his neshamah that “sits upon the throne.” The entire process is embodied within the blessing Asher Yatzar which is known to subdue all of the klippos. “It is revealed and known before Your Kisei HaKavod...” Meaning, through coming to the level of the Kisei HaKavod, we are able to subdue all of the klippos and utterly “smite Egypt through their firstborns.”[3]

[1] Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas B’shalach #1
[2] Yechezkel 1:26
[3] Tehillim 136:10

CLICK HERE to get Toras Chochom on Parshas Bo.

CLICK HERE to get Toras Chochom on Parshas Bo in English.

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Mi K'Amcha Yisroel - Who is Like Your Nation Israel! - Videos From Haiti

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



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Challah, the Mind, & the Heart - Breslov Chassidus on Women's Mitzvos

Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky is back with her series of shiurim on women's special mitzvos, according to Breslov Chassidus.

The following shiur, for women only, is on the three "points of the tzaddik" and the connection between the mind and the heart. It is the third shiur on the mitzvah of Challah and is an introductory lesson to Likutei Moharan I:34.

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

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Monday, January 18, 2010

Being Frum and Having the Internet - The Trifecta Approach

I believe that it goes without saying that with all of the terrible things on the internet, one has to use common sense to protect himself. For over a year, I've been using the kleenweb filter. It does let a lot of stuff get by and it's expensive ($13/month) and customer service is so-so. I'm in the process now of switching over all of our home's computers to the K9 filter, which is free. (See the unpaid sidebar ad I'm now posting.) I've been trying it out and whatever problems it had a couple of years ago when I had initially tried it out seem to have been ironed out.

I'd also tried a web accountability system a couple of years ago but it also didn't work well. But now there's a new system adapted for the Jewish community from a Xian system called Covenant Eyes. Ours is called Web Chaver. My old internet buddy signed up for it, making me his buddy and it seems to be working very well. Essentially, a web accountability system is great because it observes *all* of a person's internet activity and reports anything questionable to someone he designates to clarify if there's anything inappropriate. It causes a person to self censor anything he's reading or doing on the internet, including the use of programs that don't use web browsers like iTunes and ftp and filesharing programs. It also now has an app that reports on iPhone (and soon phones on the Droid platform as well) too!

I think that a filter by itself is inadequate because it lets certain inappropriate things go by and because sometimes it overfilters things that are appropriate. The web accountability system is also good but it doesn't prevent you (or your children) from seeing bad things to begin with. It just reports on it sometime in the week after the inappropriate site was visited. But I think that the two together make a great team. And if you combine the less expensive Web Chaver system ($4/month) with the free K9 filter, it's a great tag team protection for one's self and one's family.

So here's my plan for a setup that will really keep not only your family, but also you (Kesubos 13b: "אין אפוטרופוס לעריות," no one can trust himself when it comes to illicit matters):

1) Get the free K9 filter
2) Get the Web Chaver accountability software and subscription
3) After the systems are set up, tell your wife (or one of your parents, if you're single) to change the password to both of these systems and not to tell you what it is!

Having the internet is a must for most people today and this is becoming more and more true every year. But without taking some or all of these precautions, it's as if one is keeping a loaded gun in his home, sitting on his desk. It just makes no sense to fool one's self into thinking that he doesn't need to take some of these common sense precautions. (More information at Mystical Paths HERE)

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Two New Shiurim on Berchas "Modim" - Video/Audio

Below are links to Video/Audio Shiurim of Reb Yerachmiel’s two newest shiurim on Berchas “Modim” in Shemoneh Esrei given to the Baltimore Community Kollel on 1-10-10 and 1-17-10. In these shiurim Reb Yerachmiel begins to teitch-up the words of this integral bracha.

As always, these shiurim are both extremely deep and yet very le’maaseh for enhancing your davening!

For the following audio links, left click to listen online or right click and select save target as to download:

CLICK HERE to download SHIUR #1. Video Link at Torah Anytime.

CLICK HERE to download SHIUR #2. Video Link at Torah Anytime here.

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Friday, January 15, 2010

Rav Itchie Mayer Morgenstern on Parshas Va'eira - pdf & English Translation

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

We have a tradition from the Baal Shem Tov that when a tzaddik is occupied with the more external avodah of banishing the klippos from below by raising up a holy fire from below, even though he is simultaneously occupied with the internal avodah of bitul, he still must descend to the state of katnus or lo lishmah. This does not mean that his Divine service is actually not for the sake of heaven, rather, he enters somewhat into the aspect of doing it for his own sake in order to magnify the power of his will and desire, since the external avodah of Aharon HaKohen depends on longing and on the will. That lo lishmah aspect of desire is harnessed by the tzaddik to fire the external avodah, even as his internal avodah of bitul renders the klippah powerless to draw him into self-seeking. While he holds onto the “staff of Moshe” within, he is able to grasp onto the “staff of Aharon” which devours all of the serpents and snakes of impure desires that could otherwise occupy the human will. This idea finds expression in a teaching of the Vilna Gaon, that whenever a person sees Torah scholars who seem to have a will and desire that is not lishmah, he should understand that it is only a kind of external parallel to the deep longing and desire that a tzaddik has to connect with Hashem when he learns His Torah.

For this reason, “A person should always study Torah [even] not lishmah...”[1] Even though the tzaddik is entirely l’shem shomayim in his innermost being, nevertheless he must descend to the state of katnus externally in order to magnify his longing and desire, which is an aspect of lo lishmah. He refines his desires through the power of his trust in Hashem to make them overcome any desire associated with the klippah.

The main power that the serpent and idolatry has over a person is that he should believe that he can have anything [material] that he wants. So Aharon HaKohen grabs hold of the staff that turns into a serpent in his hands—he capitalizes on all of the external forces of desire for the purpose of avodah—while filled with trust in Hashem. Then all of the force of the will that might be directed toward impurity is null and void in comparison with the longing that he has to raise up an eternal flame before his Creator. Then, when the serpent has turned back into a staff (as Rashi explains), it completely devours all of the impure serpents that had been in the hands of the sorcerers of Egypt.

[1] Nazir 23b

CLICK HERE to get Toras Chochom on Parshas Va'eira.

CLICK HERE to get Toras Chochom on Parshas Va'eira in English.

Since we missed two weeks ago, CLICK HERE to get Toras Chochom on Parshas Vayechi in English.

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Monday, January 11, 2010

The Many Meanings of “Modim” - Video/Audio Shiur

Baruch Hashem, below are links to the second 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.

In this shiur, Reb Yerachmiel discusses the sugyah surrounding just one word– “Modim” – and its many meanings:

(i) Acknowledgement/Recognition
(ii) Thanks/Thanksgiving, and
(iii) Bowing.

Very le’maaseh shiur for enhancing your davening!

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

Video at Torah Anytime.

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