Koidinover Rebbe's Visit to Woodmere/Rav Moshe Weinberger - Video and Pictures

As I announced, the Koidinover Rebbe from Bnei Brak spent two days in the Woodmere/Five Towns area. The video above is Rav Moshe Weinberger's introduction and the Koidinover Rebbe's words last night, Monday night, January 12, 2008. The Koidinover Rebbe spoke immediately after Rav Weinberger's weekly Chassidus shiur. Baruch Hashem, the Koidinover was able to meet with people throughout the day on Sunday and most of the day yesterday until late last night at Cong. Aish Kodesh in Woodmere. Big thanks to Chaim Freud, Dov Perkal, Sender Schwartz and Shlomo Slatkin and Avi Hirsch for organizing this visit by the Koidinover! Ashreinu Yisrael!




-Dixie Yid

(Pictures courtesy of Zachary Freud and Video courtesy of Dov Bersh Perkal)

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Koidinover Rebbe's Shalosh Sheudos Torah- Rabbi Chaim Brown's Summary

Great news! Rabbi Chaim Brown from Divrei Chaim has posted a summary of the Koidinover Rebbe's Shalosh Sheudos Torah from Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY this past Shabbos. Thank you R' Chaim!

Divrei Chaim: Koidinover Rebbe's Visit to the Five Towns - Shalosh Sheudos Torah

The world as we see it, teva, which has the same gematriya as Elokim, is a veil for Hashem’s infinite presence, which is the root of all creation. “Havaya hu Elokim” means that behind teva=Elokim is the infinite light of G-d, Havaya.

-Dixie Yid

(Picture of the Kapischnitzer, Rebbe, Reb Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel, courtesy of nishmas.org)

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Pictures of New Zman at Koidinover Yeshiva, Bnei Brak

Here are a few pictures from the beginning of the new zman at the Koidinover Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. The pictures feature the Koidinover Rebbe, who has visited my community a couple of times in the past year or so. Pictures courtesy of Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin.



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The Koidinover Rebbe in Woodmere, NY for Personal Meetings

This coming Sunday and Monday, Jan. 11/12th, the Woodmere, and wider Five Towns/Far Rockaway community has the opportunity again this year to meet the Koidinover Rebbe. Many of us were zoche to meet him and attend the Friday night Tish last year, and it was an inspiring experience for all. This time, unfortunately, he will not be with us for Shabbos, but he will be available at the following times for private meetings in Woodmere:

Sunday, January 11th

Davening and Private Meetings: The Rebbe will be davening at the White Shul and then having private meetings with individuals aftarward.

The Ohel Sara Amen Group will host the Koidinover Rebbetzin, Rebb. Bruchi Ehrlich at 8:30 AM, at 2 Forest Lane, Lawrence.

Private Meetings in Cedarhurst: At the home of Mrs. Nechama Spiegel, 271 Oakwood Ave., Cedarhurst, beginning at 7:30 PM

Monday, January 12th

Private Meetings: 5-8 PM at the home of Chaim and Judy Freud, 886 Oxford Rd., Woodmere.
Words of Torah from the Rebbe: Monday, 1/12, 9 PM at Cong. Aish Kodesh, 894 Woodmere Pl., following Rav Moshe Weinberger's Chassidus Shiur.
Private Meetings: At Cong. Aish Kodesh, after the Rebbe speaks, from 9:30 PM and on.

To arrange a time to meet with the Rebbe at one of the meetings times listed above, please call Chaim Freud at 516-851-8855.

For more information on last year's visit, you can click here. For details about this visit, you can see a larger pdf version of the flyer above by either clicking here or clicking on the flyer image above.

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of Sender Schwartz/UMI)

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Koidinover Rebbe in the 5 Towns Thu. - Sun. of Parshas Lech Lecha

The Koidinover Rebbe of Bnei Brak will be in the Five Towns/Far Rockaway area starting in two days, on Thursday, until Sunday night. You can see the flyer for this visit above and click on the image to get a larger, high quality pdf version. The schedule is also as follows:

This Thursay night, October 29th, 2009

The White Shul, Far Rockaway
7:00 - 9:30 PM
The Rebbe will be available for private meetings

Mishmar Kumzitz at the home of Rabbi Eytan Feiner at 1133 Sage, also in Far Rockaway.
10:00 PM

Friday night, Parshas Lech Lecha, October 30th, 2009

Mincha and Kabbalas Shabbos 5:45 PM at Chefetz Chaim Torah Center, 7 Derby Ave., Cedarhurst

Friday night Tish at the home of Dov and Allyson Perkal, 858 Fiske Street, Woodmere
9:00 PM

Shabbos morning davening at 9:00 AM, followed by Kiddush at Cong. bais Medrash HaRav (Rav Nayman) at 3 Beechwood Drive in Lawrence.

Shabbos afternoon Mincha at 5:20, followed by Shalosh Sheudes, where the Rebbe will speak at Cong. Aish Kodesh in Woodmere

Sunday night, November 1st - Private meetings beginning at 7:00 PM at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Chaim Freud at 866 Oxford Rd. in Woodmere

To schedule a meeting with the Rebbe, please contact Reb Chaim Freud at 516-851-8855.

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Koidinover Rebbe on Parshas Shmos & Getting Up Early to Learn

The Koidinover Rebbe spoke Friday morning at the Kollel Dirshu in Baltimore (who learn amud yomi at 5:45am before davening) about Parshas Shmos and getting up early in the morning to learn Torah. You can listen to the audio of that shiur HERE. Thanks again Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin for the audio!

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of bootsnall)

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Koidinover Rebbe - Shabbos Parshas Vaeira - Pictures & Torah

Received by e-mail from a reader:

This past Friday night, Parshas Vaeira, the Koidinover Rebbe from Bnei Brak had a tish at a home in Woodmere, NY. Before the Tish started, the Rebbe had a private session in Meor Einayim with a chevreh of about 10 guys. He went over the first part of Parshas Vaeira, in which Reb Nachum from Tshernobel taught that the avoda of a person in life is to relive Yetzias Mitzrayim. The Egyptian Exile, Galus Mitzrayim, was the exile of Daas, which means that the quality of connecting one's knowledge that G-d gives life and existance to everything absent.

When the Jewish people left Mitzrayim, they left behind that sepparation between the intellectual knowledge that Hashem is the source of life that constants wills all things to exist at all times, and the consciousness of thaat fact in daily life.

He said that when a person really sees how Hashem is the soul and root of every pleasure and desire in the world, he will never again desire anything physical. Why would you want the food, the physical garment of the G-dliness within the food, when you can connect directly to the ultimate pleasure of cleaving to that G-dliness?! Therefore, when one has Daas, a conscious awareness of the fact that Hashem is the constant source and life of all existance, then this awareness will cause you to cease having a desire for anything physical.

Later on, at the Tish, before he handed out the Shabbos fish to everyone there, he asked why we eat fish on Shabbos. Although there are many reasons, he mentioned one which is that fish have the quality of always having their eyes open, which means that they always see the truth, what's really there. They never close their eyes to it, as we often do. Therefore, it means that on Shabbos, we can only see the truth, which is the fact that the neshoma and ruchnius are the ikar and are all that is real, and that all of gashmius, physicality, is a mere illusion, a garment for the spiritual. That is why the Zohar says that Shabbos is "yama d'nishmasa, v'lo yama d'gufa," "the day of the soul, and not the day of the body."

It tied in very nicely with the Meir Einayim, which focuses us in on the fact that Hashem is the "Chai Hachaim," the source of the continued life and existance of the world. The Rebbe said many other things at the Tish, but that was a major theme of the evening. May we all be zoche to appreciate everything for the G-dliness within it that gives it life and not to be focused only on the physical garments which clothe spiritual realities!

-Dixie Yid

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Pictures of Koidinover Rebbe & Rav Binyomin Kaminetsky

These pictures of the Koidinove Rebbe and Rav Binyomin Kamintzky, from Father-Son Learning at the Yeshiva of South Shore in the 5 Towns are courtesy of Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin, the coordinator of the Koidinover Rebbe's trips to New York and Baltimore and Mr. Sender Schwartz/UMI.

-Dixie Yid

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Koidinover Rebbe's Speech in Baltimore on Shovavim - Audio Shiur in Hebrew

The Koidinover Rebbe spoke at the Baltimore Community Kollel last night (Thursday) on the topic of Shovavim. The shiur is in Hebrew. Once again, thanks to Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin, who's coordinating the Rebbe's trip to America and who provided me with the audio to this shiur. Tizku l'mitzvos!

You can download the shiur in wav format HERE. Enjoy!

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of XYZ)

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Koidinover Rebbe Speaking at Baltimore Community Kollel Tomorrow Night

The Koidinover Rebbe from Bnei Brak will be speaking Thursday
night (tomorrow) at the Baltimore Community Kollel at
9:20 PM.

(Thanks Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin for the tip!)

-Dixie Yid

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How the Mitzvah of Matzah Repairs Blemishes in All Areas of "Eating"

This idea comes from the Koidinov Hagaddah, compiled from all of the Admorim of Koidinov by the current Koidinover Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Tzvi Mayer Erlich, Shltia, D"H "Ha lachma Anya." I have to thank Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin for indirectly causing me to have the zechus of getting ahold of this haggadah.

As we make our way out of Mitzrayim, Egypt, and towards Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah, it is worthwhile to think about what the Galus, exile, of Mitzrayim was there to repair.

The first blemish man created within himself was in the realm of eating, when Adam and Chava ate from the Eitz Hada'as Tov v'ra, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. After that, the generation of the flood caused another blemish in mankind, and after them, the generation of the dispersion caused another blemish. Rav Aharon of Koidinov, the grandson of the first Koidinover Rebbe, who was the grandson of Rav Mordechai of Lechovitch said that the purpose of the Egyptial Exile was to repair this blemish in the area of eating. And that Jewish boys being thrown into the Nile repaired the blemish caused by the generation of the flood. And by the Jews working with mortar and bricks, the blemish caused by the generation of the dispersion, whose sin was through building the tower of Bavel, was repaired. (This part is based on Likutei Torah by the Arizal, Parshas Shmos). Rav Aharon also taught, from the Sidur of the Arizal, that by the mitzva of eating matza, we repair the sin of Adam eatinf from the Eitz HaDaas.

And he teaches that this same tikun is applicable in our generation. When we eat matzah, we can repair all types of blemishes that we have brought upon ourselves that come under the rubric of "eating."

He points out that certainly problems with actual eating fall into this category. Also, he says that problems with kedusha in the area of marital intamacy are included in the concept of "eating." We see this from the fact that the pasuk uses this the concept of eating as a euphamism with regard to Potifar's appointment of Yosef over all of his affairs except, "halechem asher hu ocheil," the bread that he eats (Breishis 39:6). Also, he says that speech is part of the concept of eating, which can be seen from the fact that "speaking" is also used as a euphamism of martial initmacy, which, as we just said, is included in the concept of "eating." This can be seen from the fact that the Mishna, in Kesubos 13a, says "ראוה מדברת עם אחד," which Rav Asi there translates as "נבעלה."

And by eating matza on the night of the Seder, one is mesaken the blemishes one has caused through the three categories of activity, which fall under the rubric of "eating;" actual eating, marital intimacy and speech.

And this is the pshat in the phrase, "הא לחמנא עניא די אכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים," "This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Mitzrayim," that we say at the beginning of the Seder. The word "ארעא," "land" actually comes from the root meaning "רצון," "desire," as in the phrase used to refer to Shalosh Sheudos, "רעוא דרעווין," which means "רצון שברצון," "desire of desires."

We also know that Mitzrayim actually refers to meitzarim, which means "borders" or limitations. So when we say that our fathers ate this bread in the land of mitzrayim, we're also saying that we used to eat bread (engage in the 3 types of activities which fall under the category called "eating") when our ratzon, our desires, were in meitzarim, limited and bound. And it was this level of stunted desire that caused us to be blemished in the way we ate, were involved in the marital relationship and spoke.

And it is through the mitzvah of achilas Matzah, eating matzah that we can completely repair these blemishes that exist within us in the areas called "eating."

May it be Hashem's will that through the mitzva of achilas Matzlah, both in the Pesach that we just completed, and the Pesachim to come, that we fulfill the mitzva of eating matzah with all of its tikunim and desired benefits!

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of mediaisgoodforyou.blogspot.com)

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How Baking Challah Can Bring A Bring a Woman to High Levels

Yesterday, on my post Where do Women "Fit" Into Avodas Hashem Anyway?, Leah Shaindel commented that she was told by the Koidinover Rebbe that a woman can reach very high levels through making Challah, but that she didn't know the explanation. I passed her question on to Rabbi Micha Golshevsky, who I thought might know the answer. Here was his response to the question:

[E]verything depends on what we think. A woman who remembers that she is doing a mitzvah of Chesed when taking care of the house or kids, fulfills the mitzvah of v'ahavtah l'rayacha kamocha. She has many other ways to directly elevate her house.

For example she can focus on fulfiling the mitzvah of chinuch while she spends time with her kids. She should also remember that every instant she is fulfilling the many mitzvos of tznius, being careful how she speaks, etc etc.
(Spirit of the Law, 72:6)

A universal custom among the Jewish people involves baking challah in honor of Shabbos... Even if bread baked by a Jew is available, each household should bake so that the woman of the house can take challah from the dough, etc.

Rav Nosson explains one of the deeper reasons behind lighting candles and taking challah in honor of Shabbos, as well as why the performance of these mitzvos is the woman's perogative.

Rebbe Nachman explained the verse, "Hashem is close to all who call...to Him in truth," in a novel way. No matter where you have fallen, if you will just call to the Creator in truth on your own level, He will surely reveal Himself to you since He is close to any who call in truth. Even if all you can do is say, "please help me," this will also reveal the portals that lead out of spiritual darkness to the illuminationof true connection.

Shabbos candles represent the light of truth that cuts through the deepest darkness and illuminates the path back to holiness, since Shabbos represents the next world which is the ultimate truth. Speaking even one word in truth illuminates the most mundane situation and brings closeness to Hashem, much as Shabbos imbues the mundane with sanctity.

The truth was easily discernible before Adam and Chava ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they ate, "the light of the world was extinguished." This means that before they ate, they existed in a more enlightened state and could easily tell the difference between right and wrong. After they ate, evil went from being external and noticeable to internal and difficult to discern.

Their intention when eating was to intensify their challenges so that they could ultimately afford Hashem more pleasure when they toiled to choose good over evil. Their mistake was that they should have done what Hashem said regardless of what they understood to be more beneficial spiritually. Hashem had said not to eat from the fruit; they should not have eaten.

Challah is set aside for a kohein, a direct male descendant of Aharon who is referred to as the "man of truth" in the verse. The kohein is the paradigm of the tzaddik who has more connection to the truth than the average person. By giving him the challah, he demonstrates how we can connect even our bread to the ultimate Source, the absolute truth of all creation.

Forging a connection with a kohein galvanizes a person to redouble his efforts in his quest for truth and holiness.

Nowadays the challah is not given to a kohein, but it is burned. The very fact that we separate a small amount of dough and yearn to give it to a kohein and attain the lofty connection this brings connects us to the higher aspect of striving for truth. It has the required effect as though we had given the challah to a kohein.
Women as a whole were affected by Chava's sin to a great extent. (This is in accordance with the relevant verses as well as Midrashic, Talmudic, and Kabbalistic teachings on them. The subject is a very broad one that will be addressed later on in the series.) The rectification of this is that women work to restore the truth to the world by lighting Shabbos candles and increasing their levels of truth by giving challah. This explains a little of why we separate challah before Shabbos and why women have the especial perogative to fulfill the mitzvah.

May Hashem fill us with the truth and the light of Shabbos!

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Our First 2.1 Days in Eretz Yisroel/Bnei Brak

Baruch Hashem, our family arrived in Eretz Yisroel at noon erev Shabbos. This is my first time really spending any time here in 16 years. It's the first time my wife has been here since right before we met, and it's the first time in Israel for any of our children (the oldest of whom will be 13 on Shushan Purim).

In the days before the trip, everyone was getting very excited and the first couple of days have not disappointed. My wife's uncle met us at the airport and he and a taxi took us and our luggage to Bnei Brak to our only frum family in Israel on my mother-in-law's (the Moroccan) side.

The kids really hit it off with their children. The girls' ages and the boys' age lined up almost perfectly. Even though going in, our kids couldn't speak much Hebrew and they couldn't speak any English, they all played, took walks, talked, and had an amazing time together. It was really beautiful to watch my kids learning Hebrew and talking and being with them. They had an amazing time.
Our oldest, especially, got along amazingly well with their girls and they invited her to their school's bas mitzva mesiba for the whole grade today. Unfortunately, we may be visiting my wife's Savta at that time so it probably won't work out.

My wife also loved reconnecting with her cousin, who stayed with us for a week 11 years ago. I davened in a mostly Litvish shul on Shabbos with Eran, my wife's cousin's husband. He's a very good guy. He's a baal teshuva and learns all day now and makes his living by practicing law 1-2 hours per night.

Bnei Brak is actually more diverse than I thought it would be. There was a mix of Chassidim and Litvaks in shul, and even a kipppa seruga here and there.

A couple of our host's children escorted me to the mikva erev Shabbos and it was such hashgacha on the way back! As we were walking back home, who should I see but R' Zusha, the gabbai of the Koidinover Rebbe! (Search "Koidinov" in the top left search bar to read about the Rebbe's visit to our home/neighborhood - I can't link it from my blackberry) I was going to daven by him Friday night but my host was having a very special shiur in his shul. He therefore made a call to a friend and found out the Rebbe was having a tisch in honor of Rosh Chodesh.

So after the seuda, I came to the tisch and there were about 18 people there. I didn't know most of the niggunim, but it was very nice and the Rebbe seemed to be in a higher world as usual. He had an extra cup of grape juice passed to me after bentching and while he spoke in Yiddish (which I could understand about 50% of), a very nice (and very young) yungerman whispered the Hebrew translation into my ear as the Rebbe spoke. I also got to speak with the Rebbe for a couple of minutes during the tisch when he was giving everyone "shalom" and afterward.

I went to the mikva hashechunati this (Sunday) morning and then to a neitz minyan. I'm now on a bus to Ramat Beit Shemesh (1 hour and 45 minutes but only 18 shkel/$4.80), which is why I have time to write this. IY"H, I will pick up our minivan and the keys to our apartment there. Then I'll head back to Bnei Brak to pick up our luggage and then to Petach Tikva so we can visit my wife's Savta.
If I can, I will try to write again with other thoughts on our trip.

P.S. A few of my holy friends have volunteered to help with the Shabbos morning drasha write-ups while I'm away, so you will hopefully see that in the next few days. Dr. Nudman will be writing up Shalosh Sheudos in his usually amazing fashion.
Kol tuv!

Koidinover Rebbe in NY/NJ Area Sunday through Thursday

The Koidenover Rebbe will be visiting the NY/NJ area Sunday June 7th-Thursday June 11th. The Rebbe will be available for private consulatations and brachos. To schedule an appointment to meet with the Rebbe or to find out about scheduled events, please contact Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin 443-570-7598

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Koidinover Rebbe in 5 Towns Parshas Va'eira

Here's a heads-up for anyone around the 5 Towns. The Koidenover Rebbe shlit"a will be visiting the Five
Towns on behalf of his Mosdos from Friday January 4th- Sunday January 6th to inspire the community with the following events. Thanks again to Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin, who is organizing this trip, and keeping us in the loop!

Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vaera (The Rebbe will be speaking in English)

Friday night davening:

4:30 pm Congregation Anshei Chesed of Hewlett
Dvar Torah before Maariv

8:15pm Tish at the home of Mr and Mrs Benyomin Wolf
888 Cambridge Rd., Woodmere.

Shabbos Morning Davening:
9:00 am Beis Medrash of Cedarhusrt (R’ Spiegel)

Shabbos Afternoon
4:10 pm Mincha and Shalosh Seudos at Aish Kodesh
Dvar Torah at Shalosh Seudos

Motsaei Shabbos
7:00 pm Father and son learning at the Yeshiva of
South Shore (in the Anshe Chesed Beis Medrash)

The Rebbe will be available for private meetings
at the home of Mr and Mrs Avi Hirsch, 135 Pine street,
Woodmere

Sunday Morning:
Sunday morning Shachris : 8:00 AM at Cong. Knesseth
Israel (White Shul)
The Rebbe will be available for private visits at 9:30
AM at the White Shul

The Rebbe will be staying at the home of our gracious
hosts Mr and Mrs Chaim Freud

To schedule an appointment to meet with the Rebbe or
for more information about other events please contact...

Koidenov descends from the dynasties of Lechovich and
Karlin-Stolin. The Rebbe is reviving what was once a
thriving Chassidus in White Russia and has recently
rebuilt the first Koidenover yeshiva since the rise of
Communism. His Mosdos are also heavily involved in
kiruv and chesed projects such as the Pre-Pesach maos
chitim campaign. The Rebbe's bais midrash on Dizengoff
Street in Tel Aviv attracts Jews of all backgrounds.
This marks the Rebbe’s first visit to the Five Towns.

-Dixie Yid

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Burning Out the Chometz From Our Hearts - R' Moshe Weinberger & Rav Tzvi Mayer

Tonight is Bedikas (the search for) Chometz and tomorrow morning is Biur (the destruction of) Chometz. B"H, in our kehilla were were fortunate to hear Rav Moshe Weinberger speak at Shalosh Sheudos about what to think about while cleaning for Pesach, and doing bedikas and biur chometz.

First I want to traslate a short tefillah before Bedikas Chometz from the sefer Avodas Hakodesh, brought in the Koidinov Hagaddah, which was assembled by the current Koidinover Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Tzvi Meir Ehrlich of Koidinov (who we were zocheh to have in our home for two Shabbos seudos a little over a year ago).

May it be Your Will Hashem our G-d and G-d of our forefathers that you cause us to merit to examine and search the biases of the recesses of our souls which we have defiled at the counsel of our evil inclinations. And cause us to merit to return to You with perfect Teshuva. And You, in Your great goodness, have mercy upon us. Help us, G-d of our salvation, in the matter of the honor of Your Name. And save us from the prohibition of chametz, even the smallest amount, this year and every single year for the rest of my life Amen, so may it be Your will.

Rav Weinberger gave over some words from Rav Zvi Meyer Zilberberg from Divrei Chizuk on what to think about and work on during bedikas and biur chometz. It is known that we work harder to get ride of any trace of chometz than we do any other davar asur, forbidden thing. This makes no sense al pi pshat, on a simple level, unless we understand that we're really supposed to be davening the whole time to get rid of the chometz in our hearts, our yetzer hara, our bad traits and midos.

It is also know that many Tzadikim spent hours and hours doing bedikas Chometz. Many of them lived in tiny apartments that probably would have taken less than an hour to check for chometz. So what were they doing for all those hours? Their whole time checking for chometz was filled with crying and davening that they be ableto do teshuva and get rid of the chometz in their hearts.

Rav Tzvi Mayer connected some of these thoughts to the words of bitul chometz that we say in the morning after burning the chometz. When we say "כל חמירא דאיכא ברשותי, דחזיתיה ודלא חזיתיה," "all chometz in my domain that I have seen and that I have not seen," we're really saying something much deeper. We know all too well about many of our faults and must live with that knowledge every day until we correct them. But there are other faults that we do not know about because we have never even seen though (though unfotunately our wives, husbands, parents, etc. can see them all too clearly). So we're asking Hashem to remove both the faults that we do see in ourselves and even those that we have turned away from because we don't want to see them, "דחזיתיה ודלא חזיתיה."

And then there are faults that we knew about, and we worked on them. We thought that we got rid of them. When we say "דבערתיה ודלא בערתיה," we are saying that there are yetzer haras, faults that we thought we got rid of, דבערתיה, but really, "ודלא בערתיה," we did not really get rid of them. They were just swept under the carpet and they are still part of our lives. For those things, we should daven during bitul and biur chometz that Hashem should help us get rid of those yetzer haras.

Rav Tzvi Mayer suggested that we use biur and bitul chometz as a small beginning to start working on and davening for getting rid of some of the chometz in our lives, even in a small way by making a small kabalah. We should make some small commitment to change one thing about ourselves, a bad mida, a yetzer hara, an indulgence, something... And to work on that thing throughout the year starting at biur chometz.

Hashem should help all of us remove the chometz from our hearts and bring us close to Him.

Picture of the biur chometz in Belz, Yerushalayim, courtesy of porges.net. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Connecting to One's Family Minhagim - Tefillin

Click here to read this very interesting guest posting by Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin of Baltimore, the organizer of the Koidinover Rebbe's recent trip to the United States from Bnei Brak. He writes about how he came to connect with the place where his familiy is from, by connecting to his family's minhagim from generations before.

A Simple Jew: Guest Posting by Rabbi Shlomo Slatkin; The Pair of Teffilin

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of bplonline.org)

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