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[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 Zweckeris a Chassid and
teacher in Ramat Beit Shemesh.Translator of Noam Elimelech and
other classics of Chassidus in English.
“If you strike me down now I will become more powerful than
you can possibly imagine.”
These words were spoken by the character ObiWan Kenobi in the
movie Star Wars just before he was killed by his nemesis Darth Vader. Yet,
after Vader administered the death blow, Kenobi's body vanished into thin air,
leaving behind his empty cloak and a very surprised Vader.
As is known from the film, Kenobi became absorbed into what
the film calls The Force, the movie's pseudo-mystical version of what for many
others might be an expression of G-d. Yet, the nature of the fictitious Force
is irrelevant. Kenobi's statement however fictitious, nevertheless does relate
an actual spiritual reality. The righteous are far more powerful untethered
from their physical bodies than when stuck within them, limited by natural
forces.
Religious
literature of all kinds is full of lessons about our true human essence, which
we call our immortal soul. Our true soul self comes to Earth, inhabits a body for a while and then
returns to the domain from which it came. This domain is said to be the domain
of true reality, a dimension very much unlike our own. This higher reality is
said to surround us and penetrate us, it is said to be everywhere and yet
invisible and unmeasurable by physical standards. While it is not physical as
we understand it, it nevertheless exists and this domain is very much populated
with all types of non-human entities, religiously referred to as angels, demons
and souls. In religion, we refer to this domain as the spiritual world. Just
what this means and what it really is we may never know as long as we sojourn
here on Earth in physical bodies. Yet, once untethered, we are reabsorbed into
our source, we essentially return home.
The spiritual
domain is not out there somewhere, it is right here, next to us and surrounding
us. Although we physical
entities cannot see those whom we call the spiritual entities of that domain,
they nevertheless can see us at any time and interact with us at will. We do
not see, but they do! We cannot interact with them, but they do interact with
us. They watch us. They speak to us, inside our minds and inside our dreams.
They can influence our choices and our behavior without our ever knowing or
becoming aware of their influence.
In the movie
Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi insinuated to his nemesis Vader that if he did strike
him down, he would immediately be absorbed back into “The Force.” In real life, when the righteous pass
away, either through natural causes or through violent means, they in turn are absorbed
into the spiritual domain and acquire spiritual powers in that domain that far
surpass the fictitious account portrayed in Star Wars.
In real life,
G-d knows human souls. He
knows them while they are in the physical body and He knows them while they are
in the spiritual body. In G-d's eyes, there is not much of a difference between
the two. Both are His creations. Both serve the purpose of His Divine Will.
When G-d allows the righteous to be martyred, to be killed without
justification or cause. He is not doing so as some nebulous form of punishment.
On the contrary, He is doing the righteous a favor. Gd is taking the righteous
souls out of the corruptible physical body and restoring them to the
incorruptible spiritual body. In this form, the righteous become far more
powerful and can easily maneuver and manipulate their enemies in ways that
physical limitations could never allow them.
This is why we often see that once great physical powers in
this world martyr smaller and lesser ones, the greater one itself somehow
always becomes corrupted from within and eventually implodes and collapses
under its own weight. While some might call this a natural course of events,
others recognize the supernatural invisible undercurrent underlying all natural
phenomena.
A great
question asked in religious circles is why does G-d allow the righteous to
suffer? Why do those who
stand up for G-d and what is right always seem to get hammered down. Why does
not G-d come to the defense of His righteous and smite the evil doers who seek
their harm? The answer to these question can be found in scripture itself. It
is written in Isaiah (55:8-9), “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways My ways," says the L-rd. As the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts [higher] than your
thoughts.” With this Isaiah is revealing to us how G-d views our questions. For
while in our eyes it appears that G-d is abandoning His righteous into the
hands of evildoers, in G-d's eyes nothing could be further from the truth.
G-d is His
great wisdom knows how to strengthen and refine the souls of the righteous. He knows how best to protect them and
He knows how best to remove from them any and all forms of weakness. These
weaknesses include attachment to physical, corruptible bodies. Sufferings
refine the soul. Sufferings make the soul realize beyond any shadow of doubt
that physical living in this corporeal world is not the end-all pleasurable
experience some have deluded themselves into believing.
Physical
suffering enables the soul to remember that there is more to life than just the
physical body. Suffering
enables the soul to remember itself and recognize itself as an independent
entity, free from and removed from the sufferings of the flesh. As such,
sufferings are a blessing to the soul that enable it to refocus on the
spiritual higher reality that is ever present but blinded from our eyes due to
attachment to the flesh.
Remove the desire for fleshly focus and one can develop
spiritual awareness and insight. One can even begin to grasp glimpses of the
spiritual domain all the while in the flesh as long as the flesh does not act
as an impediment. Therefore, in His mercy, G-d sends to His beloved righteous
sufferings to help them separate their attention from the illusions of the
physical world and to attach their minds, their focus, on their true soul
selves and the reality of the higher domain. One with such insight experiences
and knows for sure that death is not a door that closes, but rather a door that
opens. Death is not a curse for the righteous but rather a blessing. Death is a
doorway home to the higher domain of righteous souls.
Thus when close
to death the righteous say, “strike me down now and I will become more powerful
than you can possibly imagine.” Not that death enables one to act in the physical world, but
rather one acts in the soul world and even the smallest action in the soul
world is far more powerful than anything in the physical world. In the physical
world all one can do is destroy the mortal flesh. In the spiritual world, one
can destroy both body and soul. In the physical world all one can do is kill
the body and send it to the grave. In the spiritual world one can kill the soul
and send it to Hell. Death of the body means nothing to the soul. Death of the
soul means everything.
The righteous
come to view death as does G-d Himself, as a door that opens to a greater
world. The righteous do
not fear torture and sacrifice, for both prepare them for the ultimate passage
and make such passage easier and quicker. The righteous therefore seek to die
as they have lived, for righteousness sake. The righteous do not fear to push
upon the blades of the enemy or to block gunfire with their own bodies. For the
righteous, all that matters is the cause of righteousness. Whatever the cost,
it is G-d who is paying the price and our souls are His currency. The righteous
are proud to live and die in the service of Heaven. For the righteous, there is
no other reality.
Bad times
come to refine the righteous and to train the faithful. This is why sufferings are considered
a blessing in disguise. This is why even the prophet Isaiah refers to the righteous
as G-d's suffering servant. This is why apparently bad things happen to good
people. It is all a matter of perspective. What looks to us as something bad
may very well be in the Eyes of G-d something good. All we can do is put our
trust in Higher Hands and know that whatever transpires does so to serve a
Higher Good. That should should comfort us as we suffer through the trials and
tribulations of our daily lives. G-d is most certainly with us, the question
is, are we with Him?
Rabbi Tzadok is moving the KosherTorah School to
Allentown, PA. in June 2018. We are
inviting all like-minded souls to come us in building a havurah, a group whose
direction is to experience the authentic teachings of the Kabbalah as the
system of transformation that they have always meant to be. All are welcome.
Come join us.
Purim is a unique opportunity once in the year to put all our
requests to the Almighty, King of the Universe. We need to find the real Purim
behind the masks and costumes, the eating and drinking and reveling, to
penetrate to the sublime inner holiness of this day. Purim is a weekday with
none of the Sabbath or Festival limitations on work and labor. Yet Purim is
compared to the holiest day of the year, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Or
rather, Yom Kippur is compared to Purim since it’s called "Yom
Ha-Kippurim", a day that is "K’-Purim", "like Purim".
This is because of the unique favor that G-d Almighty shows on Purim to all who
turn to Him even in spite of all our failings and inadequacies.
The pivotal moment in the story of Esther is when she heroically
risks her life to go unsummoned into the King in order to plead for her people
in the face of Haman’s evil plot to exterminate them. But she can only go into
the King when she has her entire people, men, women and children, behind her.
"Go, gather all the Jews," she says to Mordechai, "and fast for
me…"
We today find it hard enough to fast for even a single day let
alone three days! But what counts is not the fasting but our true contrition
for our failures and shortcomings together with sincere longing and desire in
our heart of hearts to carry out G-d’s commandments as best as we possibly can.
On Purim each one of us needs to go into the King and put our longing and
yearning and all our requests into simple words of prayer from our hearts.
There are four main mitzvos on Purim: (1) Reading the scroll of
Esther on Purim evening and morning; (2) Giving gifts to the needy; (3) Sharing
portions of food with our friends and (4) Eating the Purim feast. Second only
to the reading the Megillah is giving gifts to the needy. The Shulchan Arukh
Torah code teaches that when it comes to giving out Purim money, we should not
be too exacting but try to give to whoever stretches out their hand to receive.
Well, G-d Almighty runs the world according to the Torah! So, on
Purim G-d also gives to all who reach out to Him. And that is why our prayers
and requests on Purim are so powerful, because G-d turns no-one away.
The followers of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the Breslover Chassidim,
have a tradition to take special time on Purim for Hisbodedus, personal prayer
in one’s own words, to beg and beseech G-d for everything we need, both
materially and especially spiritually.
G-d is like a generous Lender, who gives everything to everyone –
life, bodily functioning, sustenance, a world of challenge and endless wonder
and beauty. Every one of us owes a great debt to G-d for all that we have, and
for our very lives, even if we feel there is much that we lack. Our way to pay
back this debt is through all our efforts to serve G-d through our mitzvos and
good deeds, our prayers and the Torah we study.
Is it because G-d Almighty does not have what to give us that we
may feel we lack many things in life? No matter how much He gives, He has the
power to give more and more, endlessly… But like a wise and loving parent He
knows much better than we do what we truly need and when – when we are ready to
receive from Him.
Purim is a time of supreme heavenly favor when a spirit of love of
G-d and our fellows swells in the heart of every Jew. The more we increase our
holy Simchah on Purim, the more the King delights in His beloved children and
wants to give us more and more.
So, in the midst of all our Purim celebrations, let’s remember to
take the time to whisper our deepest longings and yearnings to our Father in
Heaven, Avinu SheBashamayim, and to beg for our people, our Holy Temple – His
Temple – and Mashiach Tzidkenu, our Righteous Redeemer.
My father, Leo Schwartz (Yaakov Aryeh ben Tzvi z'l), passed
away fourteen years ago today. I feel moved to share with you some of my
impressions. My father always derived a lot of pleasure from hearing me speak
at family gatherings [though I was usually too shy to speak at the time]. What
I would like to attempt briefly now, is to share with you [a sort of
soul-family gathering] a few of my dad's outstanding traits in order to use the
information to remind and re-inspire me and perhaps others, to internalize
these traits in order to help in the process of elevating my father's soul.
Truth be told, what can I say to do justice in a few brief lines to capture a
lifetime of his humbleness and overflowing love of everybody, but nevertheless
, a little bit is better than nothing?
It says in the
holy Zohar that a child has the greatest potential for raising up their
father's soul. There are
conventional ways of doing this such as saying Kaddish, leading the prayer
service and on an ever higher level to do Teshuvah and become a better person
in their honor. Rabbi Dessler writes in ‘Michtav MeEliayhu’ that if a child can
identify the good character traits that have been implanted in them by their
parent, and the child concentrates on strengthening these traits in themselves
in order to elevate their parent’s soul, than they have perhaps accomplished
the most potent and intimate soul elevation dynamic possible.
The Ari'zal in
his classic work on souls and reincarnation, ‘Shaar HaGilgulim’, delves in
great detail into the personality traits, both good and bad, that are bestowed
upon their children upon conception [and of course the parents are instrumental
in guiding their children in making their good traits shine]. This conception based bond continues to
connect parents and children beyond life.
It says in the story of the Akeida (the binding of Abraham's son
Isaac) that Abraham rose early and saddled his donkey by himself even though he
was one of the most important personalities of his generation and he should
have had a servant doing this for him. We learn a universal principle from
this. When a person acts out of deep love, he doesn't stand on his laurels or
his honor. The reason is because love eliminates all formalities. Abraham loved
Hashem and his love caused him to transcend all trivial concerns for honor etc…
My father was a
great lover of everyone no matter who they were or what sub-category of society
they belonged to, or whether he knew them or not. I remember going on a Jerusalem Egged bus
with my dad and even though everybody was quiet and to themselves, my dad
changed all that. He would speak up [in a voice louder than was socially
acceptable] to who ever was next to him and ask questions like, “Who are you?
Where do you come from? What's your story? What do you think about the politics
here?” In a short time a very quiet Egged bus turned into a loud chirping
celebration of Israelis who love nothing better than expressing their opinions.
And –I also learned from this , a very important life-lesson…everybody has
their story to tell—and really wants to tell it [especially here in the Land of
the Ingathering of Exiles from all corners of the globe]…all these potential
life-story tellers are lacking is the listening ear that my dad provided so
generously….This was not an isolated incident, it happened usually daily in
various places. My father’s daily trophies which he would brag about to my mom
[A’H], would be the new people and their stories he discovered that day
May his memory continue to be such a rich blessing and source of
inspiration.
And may he put in
a good word upstairs for all of us in these crazy times we live in…
By: Yitzchak Schwartz.
****The photo is my dad and mom in El Paso way back when...
I tried to bring you back to God through my talks and Torah teachings,
but they haven’t helped. So now I must tell you stories…
Sipurey Maasiot, Introduction
WAKE UP!!!
The tales and stories told by the Tzaddikim have the power to rouse
those who are asleep so that their days will not be wasted. It is a great
privilege to find a Tzaddik who has the power to rouse you from your sleep.
Otherwise you could sleep away all your days, God forbid.
Why does the Tzaddik tell stories? It’s like when a doctor becomes
sick and is forced to put himself in the hands of an outstanding expert. The
sick doctor wants to be given the kinds of simple treatments he understands,
but the expert knows of unique cures.
Similarly a
person may come to the outstanding sage and Tzaddik of the generation, who is
doctor of the ailments of the soul. The person wants the Tzaddik to give him medicines – spiritual
pathways of the kind he understands. However the Tzaddik has
far more exalted medicines to administer.
Sometimes it is necessary to give the patient a certain medicine,
but if the patient takes it as it is he will surely die. The medicine in
question must therefore be mixed in with other ingredients. Similarly, there
are people to whom it is impossible to reveal the inner face of the Torah teachings
which they need for their healing. For healing comes from the Torah: “It will
be health to your navel” (Proverbs 3:8). However, the Torah has two powers: it
can either be an elixir of life or a fatal poison. For “If a person is
deserving, it becomes an elixir of life; if not, it becomes a fatal poison” (Yoma
72b).
For this reason, if the person is given the teaching the way it is,
he will certainly die, because for him, as one who is as yet unworthy, it would
be a fatal poison. It is therefore necessary to clothe the inner face of the
teaching within other Torah teachings. Sometimes even this is too much for the
person to bear. The Tzaddik must then clothe his Torah teachings in apparently
mundane stories or conversations in order for the person to be able to receive
the medicine hidden beneath the surface. For the Torah teaching itself is now
clothed within stories and conversations, because it was impossible to administer
it the way it really is.
Title: The Zohar –– Pritzker Edition, Volume 8 Published by: Stanford University Press
Translation and Commentary by: Daniel C. Matt Manufactured: United States of America Language: English Binding: Hardcover Pages: 608 Official Website:http://www.sup.org/zohar/
I would like to
start this review by pointing out that this is a very serious translation of
the Zohar, an elaboration that took years of work and research on the part of Daniel
C. Matt and his team of several scholars who have spared no effort to
give the greatest number information of each passuk, each parashah, bringing
reliable sources. Nowadays, there are many non-Jews readers interested in
studying Kabbala, in this The Zohar edition people will have a
basic and advanced notion of The Zohar; many people continue buying
books from authors “lacking full knowledge about Torah Kabbalah”, so there is a
suggestion to get books published by scholarly authors such as Daniel C.
Matt and ask questions directly to orthodox Rabbis - The Zohar is
a holy book of great holiness, bringing the hidden wisdom, these comments are a
good help for understanding (within the spiritual level of each person), of
course, even if the study of Kabbalah is forbidden, but as we all know, it is
easy to find in stores and on the internet many books on Kabbala and the
Zohar. The best
I can do is recommended you consult a Rabbi [tzaddik] to learn about such
wisdom.
What is relevant is the translation of the Aramaic / Hebrew and
also the careful and impressive production of the Academic Committee more than
20 professional in this work and the excellent design of STANFORD UNIVERSITY
PRESS.
This volume of The Zohar Pritzker Edition, Volume 8 consists
of commentary on the end of Leviticus and the beginning of Numbers. We can
study the Idra Rabba section. This fantastic edition
of The Zohar not only presents an accurate translation of the
text, but also an interpretation with insights, more accessible.The Aramaix
text is available on the Website of Stanford University Press.
Brilliant expositions on complex subjects rendered easy by Daniel
C. Matt, his wonderful ability to transmit profound ideas is amazing.
You can order this book directly from the publisher.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Daniel C. Matt is
a leading authority on Jewish mysticism. For over twenty years, he served as Professor of Jewish
Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has
also taught at Stanford University and the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem. He has published following books: The Zohar: Pritzker Edition,
Volume One and The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Volume Two Zohar: The Book of
Enlightenment; Zohar: Annotated and Explained; The Essential
Kabbalah; and God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony between
Science and Spirituality as well as new editions of The Zohar.
Derech Hashem
says that if all the Jewish people would be united as one nation, with one
opinion, they would bring down the Shechinah just like at the giving of the
Torah. The Torah says, "He camped" at Har Sinai, and the Gemara says
"he" refers to the Jewish people. They became like one person, and
because there were six hundred thousand people all in one place, the largest
amount of Shechinah possible came down at that time. Avraham, Yitzchak and
Yaacov didn't merit that. As noble as they were, they were not a multitude.
When Jews come together, united for Hashem, the Shechinah comes down on them.
That took place at Har Sinai and remained with us forever; we became Yisrael
from that point on. While the nations of the world fell at that time, the
Jewish people became greater. -- The Truth of the Torah.
