I have found myself saying baruch Hashem (thank g-d) so many times during the last few rains.
After our severe drought situation in the holy land one really feels Hashems love and compassion descending.
I look at the rainfall with much more gratitude after hearing Rabbi Lazer Brody's words connecting our drought to not thanking Hashem for the miracles during the war. http://www.breslev.co.il/video-stream/asx/brody17.asx
The Zohar tells us that relating Hashem's miracles is so powerful that when we do so, He summons the entire heavenly assembly to come hear us speak about them.
Last Shabbat as we all sat around the Shabbat table saying Amen to eachothers blessings for thunder and lighting excitement filled the air. (Though I have been religious for a while I could not believe this was the first time I had ever said these).
In addition we are are taught that there are 3 times Hashem does not send an intermediary to do the act 1. childbirth 2. resurrection of the dead 3. Bringing rain.
May we be blessed to recognize Hashems divine intervention always.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Parshat Trumah - Tzedakah's eternal gift
Teaching taken from Shira Smiles' lecture: A Give and Take Relationship, Parshat Trumah. Video available at Na'aleh
Parsha Terumah begins: Hashem spoke to Moses saying - Speak to the children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion from every man whose heart motivates him.
The question the commentators ask is why take for me when Am Yisrael is supposed to be giving to the mishkan.
A gemara is sighted where a man whose family has saved money for many generations during a famine decides to split it up amongst the people. He is questioned "your family have saved for generations how could you just spend it all like this"
He answers"My forefathers stored it down here. I will store it up in heaven" "I have stored it in a place where no one can touch it" "They stored it for this world I have stored it for the next."בגמרה( ב''ב יא
This is the answer to why it says take and not give. The money that we give to charity is the only money that is really ours because it (or in the parsha the mishkan) is eternal. NO OTHER MONEY BELONGS TO YOU. In addition the poor person is giving us much more than we are to them.
May we be blessed to always have our hand open. To give the 10-20% of our maaser with complete joy, remembering our money is just on loan from Hashem. Like in the story when times our rough like today our tzedakah should not decrease but increase. Only our chesed truly effects both this world and the next.
Parsha Terumah begins: Hashem spoke to Moses saying - Speak to the children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion from every man whose heart motivates him.
The question the commentators ask is why take for me when Am Yisrael is supposed to be giving to the mishkan.
A gemara is sighted where a man whose family has saved money for many generations during a famine decides to split it up amongst the people. He is questioned "your family have saved for generations how could you just spend it all like this"
He answers"My forefathers stored it down here. I will store it up in heaven" "I have stored it in a place where no one can touch it" "They stored it for this world I have stored it for the next."בגמרה( ב''ב יא
This is the answer to why it says take and not give. The money that we give to charity is the only money that is really ours because it (or in the parsha the mishkan) is eternal. NO OTHER MONEY BELONGS TO YOU. In addition the poor person is giving us much more than we are to them.
May we be blessed to always have our hand open. To give the 10-20% of our maaser with complete joy, remembering our money is just on loan from Hashem. Like in the story when times our rough like today our tzedakah should not decrease but increase. Only our chesed truly effects both this world and the next.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Virtual tehillim group
"Saying Tehilim has enormous power to chase away destructive forces
and to open the gates of heavenly mercy, and to arouse heaven's good
will, and to stir people to do teshuva, to heal people and to atone
for their sins, and to have all their prayers granted. Saying Tehilim
can accomplish nearly anything, and a woman who says Tehilim regularly
can turn her whole world around for the good. Tehilim uproot many,
many accusing forces and many sins a woman has done in her life.
Saying Tehilim arouses heavenly mercy for the one who says them and
for the whole Jewish people.
If you could only see what saying Tehillim does in heaven, you
wouldn't do anything else and spend the whole day saying Tehilim. How
many heavenly lights they kindle. It's like a little village which is
steeped in total darkness -- whenever people say Tehilim, each word
they say turns on another light so that one house after another grows
bright until that village, which started out so dark, is filled with a
brilliant light which can be seen for miles around." Galia
http://www.signsfromheaven.com/files/English_Index.html
and to open the gates of heavenly mercy, and to arouse heaven's good
will, and to stir people to do teshuva, to heal people and to atone
for their sins, and to have all their prayers granted. Saying Tehilim
can accomplish nearly anything, and a woman who says Tehilim regularly
can turn her whole world around for the good. Tehilim uproot many,
many accusing forces and many sins a woman has done in her life.
Saying Tehilim arouses heavenly mercy for the one who says them and
for the whole Jewish people.
If you could only see what saying Tehillim does in heaven, you
wouldn't do anything else and spend the whole day saying Tehilim. How
many heavenly lights they kindle. It's like a little village which is
steeped in total darkness -- whenever people say Tehilim, each word
they say turns on another light so that one house after another grows
bright until that village, which started out so dark, is filled with a
brilliant light which can be seen for miles around." Galia
http://www.signsfromheaven.com/files/English_Index.html
I do a weekly Shabbat tehillim group, anyone worldwide can participate and I will send weekly reminders. Let me know if you are interested in even 1 a week
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Evil and illusion insights into Purim
In Sarah Idit Schneiders profound book Purim Bursts she states:
Amalek(the national identity oh Haman) embodies the deepest and irredeemable root of evil in the universe.
Meditate on this truth and its profound implications for Am Yisrael now and in the future
Amalek(the national identity oh Haman) embodies the deepest and irredeemable root of evil in the universe.
"Evil is here defined as the illusion of separation and independance from G-d. The illusion is significant since nothing can actually be separate from G-d for G-d is one. To the extent that something presents the appearance of self containment, self soverignty and multiplicity, to that extent it partakes of the quality of evil. Conversely to the extent that it communicates through itself the truth of G-ds oneness, compassion, and generosity, to that extent it partakes of the quality of holiness" (Purim Bursts, 2000)
Reflective waters
Usually when I do my 3 dunks in the mikveh waters, though I let the prayers fill my head without forethought they proceed something like this: 1.My immediate family 2. My extended family and friends 3.Am Yisrael. This past visit all 3 prayers that came forth intuitively were for Am Yisrael.
May we merit the redemption of our whole nation
May we merit the redemption of our whole nation
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Check out this new torah video gem on Kabbalah and Chassidut from wonderful Israeli teachers !!
Amazing new live video archive. Teachers from Ascent, Bat Ayin, Simchat Shlomo, Maayanot, Pardes Center.
Topics include: Torah and healing, tehillim, Megilat Esther, Rabbi Kaplan's Inner Space, Lekuitei Moharan, Mystical Nature of Light, Tanya and Chassidut, Rav Kook, Paths of our mothers, Torah and Nature
See direct link under Torah Links at top
http://www.oneg.tv/video/homepage-1711
Topics include: Torah and healing, tehillim, Megilat Esther, Rabbi Kaplan's Inner Space, Lekuitei Moharan, Mystical Nature of Light, Tanya and Chassidut, Rav Kook, Paths of our mothers, Torah and Nature
See direct link under Torah Links at top
http://www.oneg.tv/video/homepage-1711
Saturday, February 21, 2009
משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה
Adar is a month that is always associated for me with navigating through some nebulous spiritual darkness. Therefore I was always confused with how "marbin bsimcha" the increasing joy assigned by our Rabbis to this month fit into my schema. The preparations for the other Chaggim are always with pure joy but there is always a little trepidation for Adar. Memories of sirens through my window from Mercaz Ha Rav last year, and images of bombings in the past... It isn't until the seudah on Purim that I feel that the merky trekking of the month has brought me to the top of the peak where I can clearly see above it all... I can then soar with hashem's oneness and see with some more perspective how my personal journey fit into the tikkun of Am Yisrael.
This year I reread the Netivot Shalom's opening chapter on Purim which says that the "Simcha" of this month is one that flows from Emunah (faith in G-d) that all Hashem does is for the good. He says the greatness of the virtue of simcha is that a Jew is שמח בחלקו (happy with what he has). In addition he believes that all that Hashem does is truly for the good. He says that the work of the month of Adar is to plant in ones heart trust in Hashem. He emphasizes that even in a situation like Purim where the destruction of the Jews was signed and sealed, the power of trust in Hashem can turn the whole decree upside down. He reminds us that every Jew can use this Koach (strength) of bitachon (personal trust in G-d) like Mordechai to sweeten even the darkest of decrees for himself and the Jewish people.
Now I get it a little more... The simcha that we hope to increase in the month is the simcha of true Emunah. This idea brings clarification to some of the darker experiences. We have to know that the tests of Emunah that are present during this month are made more intense so that by passing through them successfully, we will be brought to a place where we have No Doubts that Hashem rules the world for our benefit. We need to believe in ourselves, in our role of the Redemption of the Jewish people. We are Hashems trusted servants for this work. It is so much larger than just our personal work.
We have to know the hidden light available in Purim for this task is so large. Hashem wants our vessels to be clear so that the wine of enlightenment of the Purim seudah flows in easily and through it we get drunk in ectasy with Hashem's love. With any spiritual stains on our glass ( fear, anger, rage, disbelief) or anything else that you can think of that creates a barrier between us and G-d, the ability to "drink in hashems light and love" will be slightly clouded.
THIS is why Hashem makes this month more challenging- it is the sweetest opportunity to have complete Emunah, and thus true simcha. As long as we go into this month knowing this we will have all the power to draw from when times feel a little confused. We need to believe in ourselves, in our role of the Redemption of the Jewish people. We can tell the Yetzer/Amalek/ challenge whatever you want to call it "I know what is going on and my Jewish neshama as part of the redemption of Am yisrael will always survive". May our emunah merit to bring the redemption speedily in our days.
This year I reread the Netivot Shalom's opening chapter on Purim which says that the "Simcha" of this month is one that flows from Emunah (faith in G-d) that all Hashem does is for the good. He says the greatness of the virtue of simcha is that a Jew is שמח בחלקו (happy with what he has). In addition he believes that all that Hashem does is truly for the good. He says that the work of the month of Adar is to plant in ones heart trust in Hashem. He emphasizes that even in a situation like Purim where the destruction of the Jews was signed and sealed, the power of trust in Hashem can turn the whole decree upside down. He reminds us that every Jew can use this Koach (strength) of bitachon (personal trust in G-d) like Mordechai to sweeten even the darkest of decrees for himself and the Jewish people.
Now I get it a little more... The simcha that we hope to increase in the month is the simcha of true Emunah. This idea brings clarification to some of the darker experiences. We have to know that the tests of Emunah that are present during this month are made more intense so that by passing through them successfully, we will be brought to a place where we have No Doubts that Hashem rules the world for our benefit. We need to believe in ourselves, in our role of the Redemption of the Jewish people. We are Hashems trusted servants for this work. It is so much larger than just our personal work.
We have to know the hidden light available in Purim for this task is so large. Hashem wants our vessels to be clear so that the wine of enlightenment of the Purim seudah flows in easily and through it we get drunk in ectasy with Hashem's love. With any spiritual stains on our glass ( fear, anger, rage, disbelief) or anything else that you can think of that creates a barrier between us and G-d, the ability to "drink in hashems light and love" will be slightly clouded.
THIS is why Hashem makes this month more challenging- it is the sweetest opportunity to have complete Emunah, and thus true simcha. As long as we go into this month knowing this we will have all the power to draw from when times feel a little confused. We need to believe in ourselves, in our role of the Redemption of the Jewish people. We can tell the Yetzer/Amalek/ challenge whatever you want to call it "I know what is going on and my Jewish neshama as part of the redemption of Am yisrael will always survive". May our emunah merit to bring the redemption speedily in our days.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Moshiach-"esque" dreams 2008
These dreams prompted my internet search in which I discovered the Dreaming of Moschiach blog: (Since then I have discovered that there is a whole world of Jewish spiritual seekers whose soul is yearning as deep as mine for the Geulah and who are are being called to the mission of sharing their g-dly voice as both an embrace and a wake up call to Am Yisrael)
Dream 1: I am on a cruise ship and there is a Huge buffet and everyone is eating in a gluttonous manner. I come into the center of the room (though I am a man in the dream) and I start telling everyone that they need to say the Shema with me out loud. No one seems to be paying much attention so I go to each person one by one and plead the importance. I then stand in the center and begin powerfully chanting Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem EHAD and it reverberates through the room. A few join in in an undertone.
Dream 2: I am in a war about to be fired upon by many automatic weapons and I start to think in my mind with all my koach yud-k-vav- k and then as if I had a stun gun the whole scene freezes and the enemy begins to retreat.
The interpretations seem clear, working on our emunah and Knowing Hashem so deeply that Ein Od Milvado is the only ammunition we are going to need for any war. All emunah work is a preparation for any battle phyiscal or spiritual (though any battle has its spiritual counterpart). We can't be lazy, silent, indifferent, or in hiding. We always need to be warriors in our battle to get closer to Hashem.
Dream 1: I am on a cruise ship and there is a Huge buffet and everyone is eating in a gluttonous manner. I come into the center of the room (though I am a man in the dream) and I start telling everyone that they need to say the Shema with me out loud. No one seems to be paying much attention so I go to each person one by one and plead the importance. I then stand in the center and begin powerfully chanting Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem EHAD and it reverberates through the room. A few join in in an undertone.
Dream 2: I am in a war about to be fired upon by many automatic weapons and I start to think in my mind with all my koach yud-k-vav- k and then as if I had a stun gun the whole scene freezes and the enemy begins to retreat.
The interpretations seem clear, working on our emunah and Knowing Hashem so deeply that Ein Od Milvado is the only ammunition we are going to need for any war. All emunah work is a preparation for any battle phyiscal or spiritual (though any battle has its spiritual counterpart). We can't be lazy, silent, indifferent, or in hiding. We always need to be warriors in our battle to get closer to Hashem.
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