A LETTER INSPIRED BY THE REBBE

 

Dear Rabbi Tal Zwecker, In an attempt to inspire more people to approach HaShem, to do good deeds of kindness, I wrote this letter with my experiences and inspired by the lessons of the Rebbe.

Could you give Brachah so that the words of this letter enter people's hearts and continue to expand in myself?

“I give my berachos that people find inspiration to serve Hashem that this expands in your heart and theirs Amen Happy Simchas Torah”

Rabbi Tal Zwecker

(Book Author: Mipeninei Noam Elimelech by Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk)

 

A LETTER INSPIRED BY THE REBBE

 

Thank You HaShem! Receiving the Torah's Wisdom

First of all, I apologize for mistakes in my English, and with an open heart I share my experience with the best of intentions.

Torah is finding our true Self, the inspiration to find our mission, precisely the most important reason of our lives, clear impression of the existence; to serve HaShem and do our tikkun.

Torah is the work of the Creator; His Commandments are tools of the workers.

Torah is the only formula that cleans, restores and preserves a person's durability, spiritually and physically.

Torah is the Manual of Life as sages said. Using Torah's wisdom in acts of goodness and kindness, nothing remains the same like before.

A reality we cannot forget, the darkness of Terrorism and Antisemitism is evident around the world and what we can to do is Bring The Light of Torah to Humanity, it started with the big campaign for the Rebbe, teaching The Noahide Code (Universal Laws for Mankind) and spreading Torah was and it has been a great positive impact in the society, this is the way, each one doing what is possible in your community, city and country, or via Internet. Taking action in the Torah is a priority to spread goodness and kindness.

There's not much to add to continue what the Rebbe was doing, read what there is about his teachings, acts, something you and I can do, it makes sense, right?

There are fundamental Mitzvot like giving Tzedakah. However, even though some of us have the cliché of "Lack of time" because of job commitments or study hours at the University, But We Must Remember Other People From Time to Time, It's an Act of Kindness to send an email asking if your grandfather, your grandmother, your parents (if you are living elsewhere), your friend is Ok [How are you? I hope so.] Sounds basic and futile, but this kind of contact isn't just for someone who is lacking in affection, or depressed, well, that's what good friends, mates, relatives should do, right? Are we doing this weekly or at least once a month?

Communication and Feedback can be taken into account and widen our attention to this, when we noticed the thousands of letters of the Rebbe, yes, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, his correspondence was many and he dedicated to answering and sending by mail, which nowadays could be by Email. It is also well known and documented in Alim LiTerufah the correspondences that Reb Noson of Breslov had with many people, even with all the financial difficulties, opposition from authorities against Judaism, they gave this value to each other, conversations based on Torah is a Mitzvah.

"With Wisdom the house will be built and with Understanding the rooms will be filled." Chayey Moharan of Rebbe Nachman.

G-d blesses you with holy inspiration, good intentions and good actions.

Shalom,

Gilson Sasson.

3. Teachings of RAV PINCHAS OF KORITZ

3. Teachings of RAV PINCHAS OF KORITZ

[One of the primary disciples of the holy Ba’al Shem Tov and the author of Imrei Pinchas]

THE ONLY TRUE TESHUVAH IS THROUGH TORAH

Nowadays, there is no way to do complete teshuvah for our sins without Torah study. This is because some sins can be atoned only through korbanos, offerings. Teshuvah is not enough.

How do we teshuvah without korbanos today? Through Torah study. Our Sages taught, citing the verse “This is the Torah of the burnt offering, of the minchah offering, and the sin offering…” (Vayikra 7:37), that now, when we can no longer offer sacrifices, someone who is obligated to offer a sacrificial offering should study the passages of Torah that correspond to that sacrificial offering (Menachos 110a). When we study those parts of the Torah, it’s as if we brought those offerings. IMREI PINCHAS, ASERES YEMEI TESHUVAH

TESHUVAH CANNOT BEGIN WITHOUT TORAH

Rav Refael of Bershad, the disciple of Pinchas Koritzer, taught that the primary form of teshuvah is intense, increased Torah study. “Without this”, he explained, “teshuvah does not even begin!” IMREI PINCHAS, ASERES YEMEI TESHUVAH

TEMPORARY TESHUVAH: REUNITING THE PRINCE AND THE KING FOR AN HOUR

Once, after returning from a journey, Rav Pinchas Koritzer turned to his disciples and asked them, “What good is it to give mussar and help people do teshuvah if they end up returning to their former misdeeds and carry on sinning as they had before?

He answered his own rhetoric with a parable:

There was once a prince who was captured by the enemy. His father, the king, pined away, wishing only to see his son again. If it were possible to free the prince and deliver him from bondage, how wonderful that would be! However, even if that were impossible to accomplish, and they could only manage to arrange for the prince to visit his father even just for an hour, and then the prince would have to return to his prison, would the king not happily rejoice that he had even just one hour in his beloved son’s presence?

“Similary”, explained Rav Pinchas, “even if we cannot make these people repent fully and do complete teshuvah, if we can just give them a desire for repentance and feelings of regret for just one hour alone, that, too, is of great benefit.” IMREI PINCHAS, ASERES YEMEI TESHUVAH

Returnity – The Way Back To Eternity [Selected Teachings From The Chassidic Masters On Teshuvah] by Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker.

Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker is a Chassid and teacher in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Translator of Noam Elimelech and other classics of Chassidus in English.

R’ Tal Moshe Zwecker

Director Machon Be’er Mayim Chaim Publishing

Chassidic Classics in the English Language

Website: www.chassidusonline.com

Email: chassidusonline@gmail.com

Teachings of RAV DOV BER, the MAGGID of MEZRITCH

6. Teachings of RAV DOV BER, the MAGGID of MEZRITCH

[The Ba’al Shem Tov’s successor, also known as “Der Groisser Maggid”, THE GREAT MAGGID]

HIDDEN WITHIN THE SIN

Just as olive oil is hidden within the olive, so is teshuvah hidden within the sin itself. This is because, although repentance is one of the 613 commandments, one cannot repent unless he has sinned in the first place. Teshuvah, the possibility of repentance, is already hidden in its initial state of potential within the sin itself. LIKUTEI AMARIM

DISGUISED AS A MITZVAH

There are two types of people. One is truly wicked; he recognizes his Master and nonetheless rebels against Him. The other has been so blinded by his evil inclination that he and others around him are fooled into thinking that what he is doing is really good. They believe that he is a righteous Tzaddik. He might even study Torah and pray and afflict himself, but since he lacks true sincerity and faith in Hashem, his whole path is crooked and false.

The difference between the two is that there is hope for the truly wicked one. If he will one day pay heed to his feelings of remorse and does teshuvah wholeheartedly and beseeches Hashem for guidance, he can be saved.

The same cannot be said of someone who is fooled into thinking himself a Tzaddik! How can such a person ever do teshuvah when he does not even know that he is mistaken in the first place?

This is why, when the yetzer hara tries to seduce us into sinning he tries to convince us that our misdeeds are actually mitzvos. This is a clever ploy ­­– it prevents us from doing teshuvah over what we have done, because we don’t think we have done anything that requires repentance! OHR TORAH

THE BROKEN EGG

There are two types of sin: when a person transgresses the word of G-d and he knows it, and when a person is so full of himself that he thinks he is truly serving Hashem and doing mitzvos like a Tzaddik. When the first type of person encounters thoughts of repentance and feelings of remorse, he simply thinks more highly of himself for feeling this way, and his vanity only women. This effectively prevents him from doing teshuvah.

It is like the woman who was holding an egg and boasted to all who would hear her how this little egg was going to make her rich. “This egg will make me a wealthy woman”, she declared.

“First I will hatch it and raise the click, and she will grow to be a chicken. Instead of slaughtering the hen, I will let her lay more eggs, and those eggs will also hatch, and soon I will have an entire coop of chickens laying eggs for me. I shall sell some of them and buy a calf and raise her to be a cow. Instead of slaughtering the cow, I will breed more calves until I have a herd, and then I will sell some of them and buy a field…”

As she went on and on, bragging and boasting, she dropped the egg and it broke, and so did all her foolish fantasies come to an end.

When we first begin to learn and we tell ourselves. “One day I will be a great scholar and a true chassid”, these vain fantasies are so full of arrogance that they cancel out any possibility of attaining true spiritual greatness from the outset. OHR TORAH; DARKEI CHAIM

HASHEM’S PRIDE IN THE BA’AL TESHUVAH

There was once a king who had two sons. One son was faithful and dutiful toward the king. He could always be found at his father’s side. The second son was wayward and reckless. He could happily go for long periods of time without seeing his father more than once a week.

Eventually he grew so distant and rebellious that he took off and ran away. He disregarded his father’s deep, abiding love for him. Instead he blatantly shook off his father’s rule and decided to follow his own heart’s desires. He took up company with a band of vagabonds, thieves, and cutthroats.

The king could have sent armed guards after his son to force his return, but instead he exercised great mercy and restraint. Rather than punish his son, he pined after him and sighed longingly, “Woe is he who has exiled himself from his home and birthplace, and woe is the son who is not found at his father’s table!”

One day the wayward son came to his senses and regretted his ways. He recalled his father’s love and compassion and decided to return home. He would prostrate himself before his father, the king and plead with him that he take him back.

And so he did. He prostrated himself and begged his father’s forgiveness. “Father”, he pleaded, “I have sinned and seen the error of my ways. Please forgive me!”.

When the king heard his son’s earnest entreaties, the king’s compassion was roused and he took his son back. Seeing that his son’s remorse was genuine filled him with joy. Finally he had his son back, the one whom he had almost given up any hope of ever seeing again. He took pride in his son for returning of his own good sense and was filled with love for him, for returning out of love for his father.

The king’s affection and pride in the wayward son who had returned surpassed even those feelings he had for his dutiful son. He took the dutiful son’s obedience for granted since it had never wavered, but the sudden upsurge of emotions that he felt at being reunited with his lost son was much greater.

The king forgave his son completely and absolved him of all wrongdoing. He raised his once – wayward son in stature and gave him a station above that of all his brothers.

This parable, explains the Maggid, illustrates how Hashem feels differently toward the ba’al teshuvah than for the Tzaddik who has never sinned. Like the wayward son of the king, a wicked sinner who once turned away from Hashem evokes great pride and joy when he finally returns. OHR TORAH

Taken from Returnity with permission of Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker.

Returnity – The Way Back To Eternity [Selected Teachings From The Chassidic Masters On Teshuvah] by Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker.

Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker is a Chassid and teacher in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Translator of Noam Elimelech and other classics of Chassidus in English.

R’ Tal Moshe Zwecker

Director Machon Be’er Mayim Chaim Publishing

Chassidic Classics in the English Language

Website: www.chassidusonline.com

Email: chassidusonline@gmail.com

2. Teachings of the RAV YAAKOV YOSEF OF POLNOY

[The primary disciple of the holy Ba’al Shem Tov and the author of the first Chassidic sefer ever printed — Toldos Yaakov Yosef]

THE HEAVENLY VOICE

The Mishnah in Avos (6:2) tell us of a heavenly voice called a “bas kol”, which calls out to us on a daily basis to repent and return to Hashem. The Toldos Yaakov Yosef writes that his master and teacher, the Ba’al Shem Tov, asked, “What point is there in a daily heavenly voice that no one hears?!”

He answered that on High where the heavenly voice originates, there are no words and there is no speech; there is only the spiritual realm known as “Olam HaMachshavah” — the universe of pure thought. Therefore, any thoughts a person has of repentance, any urges to return to Hashem and His path, those thoughts and feelings are not his own. Rather, that is the sound of the heavenly voice. Through our thoughts of repentance, we do truly hear the bas kol. KESSER SHEM TOV

AGAINST EXCESSIVE FASTING

Quoting from a letter that the Ba’al Shem Tov had written to him, Rav Yaakov Yosef wrote, “Do not overly engage in fasts and self-mortification. Such practices lead to depression or anger. But the reason you should especially refrain from these practices is because, rather than improving your avodah, they prevent you from studying Torah and serving Hashem properly.” BEN PORAS YOSEF

Returnity – The Way Back To Eternity [Selected Teachings From The Chassidic Masters On Teshuvah] by Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker.

Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker is a Chassid and teacher in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Translator of Noam Elimelech and other classics of Chassidus in English.

R’ Tal Moshe Zwecker

Director Machon Be’er Mayim Chaim Publishing

Chassidic Classics in the English Language

Website: www.chassidusonline.com

Email: chassidusonline@gmail.com

1. Teachings of the BA’AL SHEM TOV

1. Teachings of the BA’AL SHEM TOV

[Rav Yisrael Ben Eliezer, known to Chassimim as the “Holy Ba’al Shem Tov,” the founder and leader of the Chassidic Movement.]

SPARKS OF TESHUVAH

During Creation, taught the holy Ba’al Shem Tov, when there was a shattering of the vessels (that is, when the sefiros, the divine attributes, which are compared to vessels, had been created to channel the light of the Infinite One into the world, but they could not contain the light and so “shattered”), sparks of divine light were scattered and dispersed all over the world. These holy sparks are found everywhere and in everything, even in such mundane things as trees and stones, even in our actions and deeds ­­– and even in our sins and transgressions. Our mission in this world is to release these holy sparks by performing the will of the Almighty using those mundane, physical things.

What are the sparks found in a transgression – and how can they be elevated? They are the sparks of teshuvah, repentance. When a person repents of his transgressions, he elevates those sparks to the highest spiritual realms on High.

This is the deeper meaning of “Nosei avon – Forgiver of sin” (Shemos 34:7), which literally means “Carries up sin.” Through repentance, the sin is elevated and refined. Similary, thi sis what Kayin meant when he complained, “My sin is too great to ‘carry up’ (Bereishis 4:13) – he felt he was unable to elevate it to the upper realms above with true repentance.  TZAVAS HARIVASH

MASTERS OF RETURN

Two types of Tzaddikim are hinted at in the verse “A Tzaddik will blossom like a date palm and grow tall as a cedar” (Tehillim 92:13). Our Sages noted (Ta’anis 25b) that the date palm is a fruit bearing tree, whereas the cedar does not produce fruits. So, too, there are righteous people who are involved in bearing fruit – in influencing others to do teshuvah and helping to produce more Tzaddikim in this world – and there are Tzaddikim who are more focused on deveikus, on attaching themselves to Hashem, but they are not engaged in influencing others.

With this idea, we can shed a different light on our Sages’ teaching that “in the place where ba’alei teshuvah stand, even the righteous cannot stand” (Berachos 34b). Usually ba’al teshuvah is interpreted to mean “penitent”. But we can also say that a Tzaddik can be known as a “ba’al teshuvah” – a master of return. Such a Tzaddik is one who has turned many away from sin and returned them to the path of Hashem. It is because of this Tzaddik that there is teshuvah in the world. His reward is many times greater than that of the other kind of Tzaddik, who, righteous as he is, does not seek to “bear fruit” and guide others onto the path of teshuvah. TZAVAS HARIVASH

A LOST OPPORTUNITY

There is no one in this world, not even the most lowly and wicked, who does not at some time experience pangs of remorse.

Those who cast these thoughts aside instead of seizing the opportunity to repent are like someone who takes the keys to the king’s treasury that the king himself handed him as a gift and throws them away. He is throwing away the opportunity Hashem gave him for teshuvah. KESSER SHEM TOV

THE FOUR MINISTERS WHO STOLE THE KING’S RICHES

A Parable By The Ba’al Shem Tov:

There was once a king who appointed four ministers over the royal treasury. Too greedy to control their desire for all that fabulous wealth, they each stole from the treasury and fled.

The first minister was soon seized by feelings of remorse and returned on his own.

The second minister, too, began to rethink what he had done. He sought out the counsel of a wise man who spoke to his heart, saying, “What have you done and why?” The wise man convinced the minister to give back the treasure he had taken, and the second minister, too, returned.

The third minister came across a thief who was sentenced and punished harshly for his act of robbery. Witnessing the thief’s punishment, he was seized with great fear – what would happen to him if he, too, were caught? His fear compelled him to return.

The fourth minister fled and never returned.

The king confronted the ministers who had come back. The minister who returned of his own volition was rewarded for his loyalty and sincerity with even greater wealth than he had taken.

To the second minister the king gave nothing. “If you had never found the counsel of the wise man, you would have never come back,” he admonished.

Finally, the third minister, who had returned out of fear after seeing the harsh punishment that thieves suffered, the king appointed to oversee all the sentences meted out to sinners, so that he would continually witness their sufferings.

“And that minister”, concluded the Ba’al Shem Tov, “is I.” KESSER SHEM TOV

THE BA’AL TESHUVAH’S PRAYERS AND THE BA’AL SHEM TOV

Once, the holy Ba’al Shem Tov prayed Minchah much later than usual. When he concluded his prayers, he turned to those assembled and explained his puzzling behavior.

“There was a ba’al teshuvah who committed the worst sins in the world until he had come to transgress almost the entire Torah! Now he has repented, and today he prayed a sincere Minchah from the very recesses of his heart. His prayers were so heartfelt that he broke through all the gates of prayer in the heavens on High. I prayed at the same time that he prayed, trying to elevate my own prayers to join his so that they would rise to the heavens together. That was why I prayed so late today.” YECHI REUVEN, CHAGIGAH

PEEKING THROUGH THE CRACKS

The holy Ba’al Shem Tov taught regarding the verse “He gazes through the windows and peeks through the cracks” (Shir HaShirim 2:9) that Hashem is always peeking at us through the cracks. Even when someone wishes to commit a sin, Heaven forbid, and he hides, worried that at any moment someone might see him, that at any moment someone might catch him in the act – Hashem is watching.

In truth, this feeling that he is being watched comes from Hashem, whose supernal fear has constricted itself and is pecking at that person, peering through the cracks at him, to prevent him from sinning. It tries to stop him from committing the transgression by causing him to fear that someone is watching (as indeed Someone is). ME’OR EINAYIM, BEREISHIS

Returnity – The Way Back To Eternity [Selected Teachings From The Chassidic Masters On Teshuvah] by Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker.

Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker is a chassid and teacher in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Translator of Noam Elimelech and other classics of Chassidus in English.

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