1 Shiur of Rabbi Pinto
[This is a repost, basically almost a year ago
Rabbi Pinto answered several general questions including the current situation
in the world, and I felt that I should post his shiurim again, this is urgent
and important to us as we will need to fortify our emunah in HaShem and through
Tzaddik, to get knowledge to achieve greater wisdom, and to do better and
better what needs to be done. – editor of Journal Mitzvah]
Question 1
Date: 03.24.2020
Topic: Repentance
Dear Rabbi, How does one know when a decree is from
heaven or the result of man's actions?
And is there a difference in how each form of decree
is annulled?
Answer 1
To understand the difference in dealing with each form
of decree, one must understand the interaction between the spiritual and
physical in initiation. There are times when the flow of energy and inspiration
descends from heaven, termed Itareruta Dil'ela, and others when it comes
through human initiation, termed Itareruta Di'letata.
Itareruta Di'lela is identifiable when things flow
easily and success comes with relatively little effort.Light is shone onto the
earth from above, bringing with it spiritual inspiration, repentance and
sanctity. Shabbat, which is a state of holiness that decends upon the world, is
an example of Itareruta Di'lela.
Itareruta Di'lerata is when human initiation takes
place; man draws down the heavenly lights by his doing. All Jewish holidays, in
contrast to Shabbat, require human initiation to draw down the spiritual light.
One must condition themselves to receive the light of the holidays by studying
the laws and deeper meaning of the holidays.
Similarly, in the paths of repentance, there are times
when one must initiate repentance on their own and draw down heavenly light
downward.Their good actions are uplifted to Hashem. This is the repentance that
Hashem demanded from Yeravam Ben Nevat, who had sinned gravely for many years.
Hashem wished that Yeravam would initiate his repentance on his own and not
wait for Hashem to ignite the feeling in his heart. Hashem promised that He
would assist Yeravam thereafter to elevated him to lofty levels of holiness.
In recent years, society has deteriorated on many
fronts. Yes, there is Torah abound, large Yeshivot (study halls) with thousands
of students and synagogues at nearly every corner of the world.
With so much goodness and Torah awareness abound, it
comes at a great surprise that a moral rift exists in many supposedly observant
and knowledgeable individuals; one can't help but notice the incoherence of
peoples beliefs and actions. How can Torah values exist alongside corrupt
values?
While this only describes a portion of the population,
every person must view themselves- on some level or another- implicated in the
general defilement of values and morals present throughout society.
The Sages teach that when one performs a positive
action or thinks a positive thought, they are indirectly influencing another
Jewish soul for the good. That soul could be near or afar. On the other hand,
negative thoughts and actions influence Jewish souls around the world for the
worse.
Every action, good or evil, influences the entire
creation, humankind, animals and inanimate objects. Within man is contained the
primary traits of every animal; man draws energy from every animal and
influences them in return. When we act accordingly, we influence every animal
for the good, and converse is valid when we act inappropriately.
The Talmud records an anecdote of Rabbi Zeira who once
entered the study hall Beth Hamidrash (study hall) and announced that a certain
bird, that until then had been kosher, was no longer fit to be consumed. By
some means, Rabbi Zeira had discovered that the bird had developed predatory
traits and henceforth it took on the status of an unkosher species. How did
this bird come to change its nature, one might ask? Simply, as the general
population began to deteriorate their ways, they influenced the bird to alter
its nature, and henceforth qualify as an unkosher species.
This notion is the basis of the practice of regularly
reading Perek Shira (in the Shuva Israel community it is read every Sunday).
Perek Shira is a compendium of the songs of praise every creature and plant
praises Hashem on a daily basis. When we recite Perek Shira, we empower the
entire creation.
On the same note, when one performs good deeds and
behaves according to the ethics and morals of the Torah, they uplift the entire
creation. Behaving inappropriately, in the other hand, diminishes the goodness,
sanctity and life-force of the entire creation.
In regard to the current pandemic, its source is not
from heaven. Rather, it is the result of the deterioration of human values.
It's remedy, therefore, will only come into being when matters are rectified.
When humankind determines the source of the pandemic, that is, the spiritual,
moral and ethical corruption that created the situation, the resulting
rectification and repentance will draw the remedy from heaven through Hashem's
grace.
It is never good to take on the role of prosecutor of
the masses, but the evil that takes place between man and fellow is blatant.
Slander, gossip, blackmail, corruption and similar misdeeds are the spiritual
source of this great pandemic. Refraining from these and rectifying past errors
is the only manner in which to draw down mercy from heaven to redeem us from
this global crisis.
We shouldn't place ourselves in a comfort zone,
falsely assuring ourselves that regardless of the severity of the situation, at
some point in time a remedy will be found and the situation will resolve itself
on its own. The remedy to our situation rests in our hands, in our dedication
to altering our ways; when we initiate repentance, rectification and
improvement in our conduct, Hashem will grace us with the remedy and resolution
to this global crisis.
By Rabbi Pinto.
Permission granted by the Instagram/Telegram
administrator to the Journal Mitzvah.
The President of Rabbinical Court of Morocco.
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