Personal Justice

You look like the loser, because you gave in to the other side. The truth is that in desiring to preserve the peace, you did Hashem's will – you're the winner…

My esteemed teacher, the monumental tzaddik Rabbi Yehuda Zev Leibowitz of saintly and blessed memory, said that in order to safely weather the difficult times that precede the coming of Moshiach, a person must be careful to observe the mitzvoth between human and fellow human. Particularly, he said that we must give in to one another. When does a person "give in"? "Giving in" means avoiding an argument when your opinion is the correct one. If you're wrong in the first place, that's not called "giving in". Sure, you are justified. The other party insulted you. The other party acted cruelly toward you. The other party was inconsiderate and selfish. You have every right to react strongly and retaliate, but you don't for the sake of peace. You want to avoid strife and arguments. On the short term, it looks like you're the loser, even foolish, but that's arrogance talking. The truth is that in desiring to preserve the peace and to avoid arguments, you are acting according to Hashem's will. Therefore, Hashem will save you from the birth pangs of Moshiach. Even if you're surrounded by World War III, you'll emerge unscathed. That's the power of giving in, being soft like a reed rather than rigid as a cedar. Reeds weather strong winds by bending, but the same strong winds can break a cedar tree.
 
We must have mercy on each other. When we do, Hashem has mercy on us. A person with emuna is never cruel toward others. He harbors no hate in his heart, nor does he ever seek revenge against those who hurt him. Why? He knows that everything comes from Hashem and that anyone who does him harm is a mere stick in Hashem's hands. In these difficult times, we all must strengthen ourselves in emuna so that we can always have mercy and each other and to avoid strife among ourselves at all costs. We need emuna to truly live in peace and harmony with one another.

We must never wait until the Heavenly Court judges us. Rebbe Nachman teaches that we must judge ourselves before the Heavenly Court judges us. We must live in a law-abiding society both collectively and personally. On an individual basis, this means that we must adhere to the laws of the Torah. When a person transgresses Torah, it means that he or she has violated the law. Their individual society is rendered lawless so in order to function properly, it must be rectified. One's rectification of violating the law is simple – by daily self-assessment, we judge ourselves and ask forgiveness for whatever we did that was wrong. This is so effective, because when we judge ourselves, the Heavenly Court cannot judge us. So, with daily assessment, Hashem in His infinite mercy judges us, rather than the Heavenly Court, which is exacting and stringent in upholding justice. With Hashem, a person is always forgiven, but with the Heavenly Court, a person is almost always guilty. That's why Rebbe Nachman so urges us to judge ourselves daily.
 
If judging ourselves is so wonderful, then why doesn't everyone do it? The reason is that when people have difficulties in life, and things don't go according to their plan, they think that Hashem is acting unjust with them. Instead of judging themselves, they judge Hashem. A person harbors such a thought because he or she lacks the simple emuna that everything Hashem does is for the very best. If a person would believe that everything Hashem does is for the very best, every single minute of the day, he wouldn't harbor any negative thoughts about Hashem. Those negative thoughts constitute a breakdown of one's personal judgment system, because they're not true. King David, despite all his trials and tribulations in life, nonetheless declares in Psalm 92, "Hashem is just, my Rock in Whom there is no wrong."
 
 
People have difficulty overcoming their bad habits and bodily urges. They also have difficulties overcoming the fantasies that embed themselves in their minds, such as the fantasy that Hashem is unjust with them, or doesn't treat them fairly, Heaven forbid. People ask, "How can I serve Hashem, when He doesn't give me a decent income? It's impossible to serve Hashem under such circumstances." Such people think that Hashem is acting unfairly or unjustly toward them. This is not only false, but it's a gross lack of emuna that triggers troubles in life. Why? Nothing invokes stern judgments like a lack of emuna. When a person reacts to a difficulty in life without emuna, the situation becomes even more difficult. In this case, the lack of emuna means that the individual thinks that Hashem is not fair with him, that Hashem is unjust. Such an attitude triggers immediate accusations in the Heavenly Court, which says, "You think Hashem is unjust? Fine, let's examine your file and see what you really deserve." Once the Heavenly Court opens a person's file, the Heavenly prosecutors discover all types of offenses that Hashem in His mercy hadn't punished the person for. The court discovers that Hashem has actually been lenient with the person, and that the person doesn't deserve the lenience and loving-kindness that Hashem has been giving him. That's when the trouble starts.
 
Hashem is always good and merciful. To think otherwise is a perversion of justice. Even when life is difficult, we shouldn't budge from our emuna that Hashem is doing everything for our ultimate good. As soon as we remind ourselves that Hashem loves each of us and is doing everything for the very best, we not only encourage ourselves and give ourselves the strength to withstand whatever challenge in life that is facing us, but we can thank Hashem for the seemingly bad as well as for the good. Even more so, we can sing a song of thanks to Hashem, and then we see the gates of salvations open wide before our very eyes. Why? Nothing invokes such Divine compassion and miracles like songs of thanks, especially in the face of difficult challenges, for when a person expresses gratitude under stress, this is the greatest expression of emuna that can be.

By Rabbi Shalom Arush.

Website: http://www.breslev.co.il/

Personal Prayer Warmup

Breslev Israel is delighted to present our readers with a condensed and practical guide to personal prayer based on the teachings of Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit'a…

A condensed Guide to Personal Prayer based on the teachings of Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit'a, part 1

Internalize this golden rule: With true emuna, any person - by means of simple personal prayer and dialog with Hashem - can transcend any natural limitation and work wonders!

Daily Personal Prayer Instructions

Every person, man or woman, young or old, should spend an hour a day in teshuva, which is basically personal prayer and self-evaluation. You can speak to Hashem anywhere, anytime, and in any language. Pick the hour that's most convenient for you; many prefer early in the morning or late at night. Preferably one should choose a place devoid of other people such as a solitary room, a park, or a field (just not in a bathroom, shower or unclean place). You can stand or sit, or even lie in your bed under the covers. The most important thing is to feel comfortable with no outside interference, so you can freely pour your heart out to Hashem.

Steps:

A good warm up is to begin by thanking Hashem for the wonderful blessings He gives you - your health your livelihood and the clothes on your back. Don't take anything for granted. Next tell Hashem everything that has transpired in your life since the last time you spoke to him - don't skip any details, especially the things that make you happy and the things that upset you. Thank Hashem for helping you to do your good deeds, and confess your misdeeds while judging yourself in the process. Implement a four part teshuva process that consists of confession, remorse, asking forgiveness, and commitment to improve. Finally, ask Hashem for anything and everything you want.

Personal prayer is a guarantee for a happy and meaningful Life.

It’s a good Idea to devote the first few minutes to praying for prayer:

“Hashem, help me believe in the power of prayer. Help me reinforce my emuna so that I feel that You are right here with me, listening to my prayers. Hashem, grant me the humility to ask for all my needs as a free gift, without any sense of entitlement at all.”

“Hashem, please open my heart and put the right words in my mouth to express myself. Help me think clearly and verbalize my thoughts. Help me thank You for all the wonderful gifts You give me daily, and help me evaluate myself and make teshuva properly. Help me identify my shortcomings and guide me in self-improvement. Help me pray for all my needs - material and spiritual. More than anything, please give me the faith that You are with me and that You listen to my prayers.”

Short Personal Preparation Prayer: “Master of the World, here I am standing before You, about to pray. You know how strong the evil inclination’s resistance is to my prayers. This evil inclination makes me feel like the prayer is a heavy burden on my back, something I want to be quickly over and done with. Please have mercy on me and help me defeat the evil inclination so that I won't take my prayers lightly. Instead, help me say each word deliberately while connecting my heart and my mouth together so that my prayers will be sincere and worthy. Help me attain the spiritual and material abundance that prayer is capable of invoking, and grant me what I need in material and spiritual blessings - peace, good health, a good income, food, clothing, etc. and above all emuna, so that I can serve You properly.”

Appeal to Hashem’s infinite mercy, compassion and loving-kindness: “Master of the World! The Torah testifies that You are compassionate and merciful and that You listen to the cries of everyone that calls your name with no preconditions at all, whether a person's righteous or not, deserving or not. Hashem, I therefore beg You to give me the free gift of Your limitless mercy and to listen to my prayers. Hashem, I believe with all my heart in Your attributes of mercy and compassion just as I believe in You, so please let me pour my heart out to you. Please grant me the salvation I need, for no one can help me but You. You created the world to show your mercy, so please give me Your merciful help. Help me return to You with all my heart. Please help me to strengthen my emuna and correct whatever I did wrong that caused me the current problems I have. Hashem, please accept my prayers and fulfill my wishes even though I deserve nothing...”

Any worthwhile endeavor begins with prayer. Adding prayer before whatever we do gives life an indescribable sweetness. With prayer, a person is granted a passport to success.

By Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit'a.

Taken from Breslev Israel.

Website: http://www.breslev.co.il

Tapestry of Wisdom Quote: On Renewal

Rav Elazar Moderchai Kenig 

When you are speaking to God, it is good to say: "Today I am beginning to attach myself to You." Start anew each time, because everything goes according to its beginning... If things were already good, they will be even better now. And if they weren't good before, obviously you should make a new beginning!

Chayey Moharan 437

Taken from: http://www.breslevtsfat.com/

The Tzeitel Katan of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk

Tzeitel Katan, part 5

The Tzeitel Katan of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk

These are the things that a man shall do and live by:

*Number three is not presented on the book.

5 – When a bad character trait begins to develop, G-d forbid, from your natural weaknesses, such as stubbornness and false modesty, laziness,  and idleness that leads to boredom and similar bad traits, immediately you should say [the names of the seven Canaanite nations that dwelled in Eretz Yisrael in biblical times], “HaKena’ani haChitti ha’Emori haPerizi haChivi v’haYevusi v’haGirgashi –– The Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perezite, the Hivite, the Jebusite, the Girgashite,” and you will be saved. You should form the habit to only look at your immediate surroundings, and not look further than four cubits, even when at home and especially in the synagogue and the house of study. When going outside or when you see a woman, even your wife and children, think about and picture the divine Name Adon-ai.

Published in Journal Mitzvah with permission of author.

Taken from Mipeninei Noam Elimelech book.

R' Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be'er Mayim Chaim Publishing
Chassidic Classics in the English Language
www.chassidusonline.com

Chanukah, Illuminating Rabbi Meir’s Olive

"And you shall eat, be satiated and bless Hashem your Lord over the good Land (i.e. the Holy Land) in which He has given to you" (Devarim 8:10).

Rav Avira stated... the Heavenly angels questioned Hashem regarding a seeming contradiction that appears in the Holy Torah: "On the one hand You wrote - 'I am a Lord who will not show favor [in judgement]' (Devarim 10:17), but on the other hand You also wrote - 'Hashem will show favor to you' (BaMidbar 6:26)? The Holy One answered them: "How can I not show favor to the Jewish people? For I have written in the Torah 'you shall eat, be satiated and [then] bless Hashem your Lord', and yet they already bless me after eating even an olive's worth (approx. 30 grams) and an eggs worth (approx. 60 grams) [which is much less than their being fully satiated]!" (Berakhot 20b).

With this source Rabbi Meir established the law of reciting a blessing after eating just an olive's worth of food (i.e. 30 grams), while Rabbi Yehudah established the blessing only after an egg's worth (i.e. 60 grams). Jewish law rules in accordance to the opinion of Rabbi Meir - an olive's worth.

Since food is what keeps body and soul together, it goes to say that when this act is conducted properly and in balance (i.e. not to overeat) it enables a true existence and perspective in life. Thus an olive's worth (i.e. 30 grams) even though not at all satisfying, is enough already to give the soul productive energy to use in the performance of Mitzvot.

And when after eating even such a minimal intake of food, one then uses this energy to say words of praise and glory to Hashem - this then activates the reciprocal praise and glory that Hashem takes in the Jewish nation. With this, Hashem, as it were, gives over the heavens and earth in their hands so that they can guide and direct nature according to their own will, thus leading to "super-natural" wonders and miracles taking place. This results in people "seeing" the glory and splendor of Hashem hidden behind creation, which is the general attitude and lifestyle of truly living in the Holy Land - the Land of Israel.

(For more insights and development of these ideas, please listen to the following audio series: Likutey Moharan lesson #47)

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Based on all this, we can understand a more profound insight and depth in the miracle of the Chanukah story, message and festival:

The Menorah served to illuminate the rest of the world with the light and Divine favor that was generated through all of the holy items and devotions performed in the Holy Temple. 

This involved the High priest lighting the Menorah daily with pure and untainted "olive" oil. This was specifically used to show and demonstrate to the entire world that the goal of the Holy Temple is basically to reveal Hashem's Divine favor in this mundane world of concealment, and that this can also be achieved on a personal level through minimizing one's food intake to even an "olive's worth", and then to praise Hashem using this energy.

Thus, it was specifically the High priest who lit the olive oil Menorah lamp, since "Hashem will show favor to you" - which is generated by eating and blessing Hashem even after an "olive's worth" - is part of the priestly blessings (above BaMidbar 6:26).

However, the Greeks sought to undermine this glory, trying to take away from the Jewish people their ability to reveal and even "control" Hashem's Divine favor. With their decrees to prevent the Jews from observing Shabbat, sanctifying the New Moon, and performing the Mitzvah of circumcision - 3 events in life which reflect the pride and glory of Hashem in His holy nation - the Greeks hoped to throw the Jews into a spiritual "panic". With this accomplished, they hoped to "stress-out" the Jewish nation, which would eventually affect the quality and quantity of their eating, thus blemishing the "olive's worth" of their sustenance. 

This is hinted to in the Hebrew work for Greece - Yavan - which is etymologically similar to quicksand - Yeven Metzula: by making the Jews sink into a spiritual "quicksand", this would cause them to lose control and thus eat whatever and however etc., thus leading to the concealment of Hashem's Divine favor.

Due to this, Matityahu the High priest along with his five sons - all Cohanim/priests - felt the heavy responsibility to restore the nations ability to reactivate Hashem's Divine favor, since it was their responsibility to bless the nation with this blessing (above BaMidbar 6:26).

This led to the "super-natural" victory of this small Macabee/Cohanim army over the massive Greek empire. For these weren't your regular weaponed-trained soldiers! Matityahu and his sons were tzadikkim of the highest caliber totally immersed in the holiness and service of the Holy Temple. Thus they went out to battle with the blessing of "Hashem will show favor to you".

When the victory was won and the Cohanim gained full control again over the Holy Temple, one of the first things they looked for was pure "olive oil" to rekindle again the Menorah. And yes, the next miracle was that they found a container of pure and untainted olive oil sealed with the insignia of the High priest! Since this was the whole purpose of the Temple - to illuminate the world with Divine Favor through Rabbi Meir's "olive's worth" - it was considered a big miracle.

The next miracle was that the olive oil was only enough to kindle the Menorah for one day, yet it continued to burn for a total of 8 days. The number 8 corresponds to the eighth Sefirah (spritual energy from Above) called Hod-Glory. For when Divine Favor is revealed through super-natural miracles this leads to both the glory of Hashem and the Jewish nation to be revealed. 

With all this, it is now understood why Torah law states that it is best to use "olive oil" to light the Chanukah candles  - i.e. to reveal Rabbi Meir's "olive's" worth.

For this reason too, the only thing permitted to do with the Chanukah lights is to "look" at them (as opposed to using their light to read a book etc.). This looking is basically "seeing" the revealed glory and splendor of Hashem and the Jewish people which is re-revealed through the Chanukah festival every year.

In line with all this we see why the days of Chanukah are called days of praise and thanksgiving. For with the awareness of the "olive's worth" activated, leading people to become properly concerned and aware of keeping in-check their quality and quantity of eating, this also results in properly praising and thanking Hashem for the sustenance that He gives us.

For this reason also, Torah law states that if words of praise and thanks to Hashem are recited in any meal prepared during the Chanukah festival, it becomes a Mitzvah to partake of that meal - i.e. that the food eaten then is in the category of Rabbi Meir's "olive worth" of food (even though one actually eats more than 30 grams of food during this meal).

May we truly merit this year to connect to the powerful light and awareness generated by the Chanukah candles, and may we be inspired to begin again to enhance the holy quality of our eating, as this is the main means of revealing Hashem's special love to the Jewish nation, Amen.

(For an audio class on these ideas, please follow: chanukah-illuminating-rabbi-meirs-olive)

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As Chanukah is a special time for sending support to the needy (known in Yiddish as "Chanukah Gelt"), if you would like to send support for families in need here in Yerushalayim (including me and my family), please follow this paypal link: CHANUKAH SUPPORT. As a token of appreciation for your support, please also submit your full Hebrew name (if applicable) and mother's name, and I will (bli neder) add your name to my 40 day davening list which also includes sporadic prayers at the Holy Cites here in the Holy Land.

SHALOM AND CHANUKAH SAMEACH

Meir Elkabas