Popular Shows by Reuven Garber: Page 4

301

222 - Chanukah (Day-2)

Dec 27, 2024

4:17

What a tremendous privilege to be able to experience another day of these tremendous holy days of Chanukah. As the well-known Ramban at the end of Parashat Bo mentions: although usually Hashem decides to operate according to the laws of nature, however, at times Hashem decides to break the laws of nature in order to teach us and inspire us that ultimately, the laws of nature are Hashem Himself hiding behind the normal way of the world, giving us the opportunity to believe that Hashem is truly pulling all the strings, and therefore, although in times of old the world was also operating according to the regular laws of nature, however, when it came to the time of the exodus from Egypt, Hashem decided to break all of the laws, turning water into blood, as well as all the other miraculous plagues in Egypt, and culminating with the miraculous event of the splitting of the sea. And as the Midrashim teach, not only did the waters of the sea split, but in fact, all water at all parts of the world split. Can you imagine for a moment: somebody's having a glass of water, and in an apparently obvious miraculous manner, the water in my cup splits. And when I find out that that happened to everyone in the world, and it was a clear miraculous occurrence, there is then no way to deny the fact that Hashem caused that miracle to occur. And in a sense, although witnessing such an experience is truly awesome, seeing the workings of Hashem so vividly clear, and not having the test of having to try to find Hashem through the veil of nature, however, in a sense, there is no opportunity to believe when one experiences such a miraculous occurrence, because I can see the workings of Hashem loud and clear, and that will certainly motivate me to follow the course of Emunah and Bitachon, and reach out to Hashem about anything and everything, follow His mitzvos with all their intricacies, whether I understand or not, and everything else that a life of Emunah and Bitachon leads to. Because after witnessing such a miracle, I am living now on the inspiration that it is absolutely clear that Hashem runs every detail in the world. However, as mentioned many times, the Ramban in the same passage at the end of Parashat Bo writes that our ultimate focus and purpose in this world is Emunah, and in fact, there is no other reason that Hashem created the world in the first place, except for giving us the opportunity to express our Emunah. And as the Vilna Goan and many others that we've discussed mention, the purpose of all the mitzvos is to come to having Emunah in Hashem. And that being the case, usually Hashem wants the world to operate in a manner that He is hidden under the veil of nature, and if we do not make an active effort trying to find Him, we will just see nature, and we will not see Hashem. But Hashem in His great wisdom also understood that at certain times, in order to give us motivation and inspiration, He needed to reveal Himself in a more obvious, apparent way, so that thereafter when He goes back into hiding, we can live off the inspiration and motivation that we gained through those moments. One of the main purposes behind lighting the Chanukah candles is in order to publicize the miracle that Hashem broke the laws of nature and caused the amount of oil which usually burns for only one day, to burn for all eight days. Most of the days that we live throughout our lives are not outright miracle days, however much of the fuel that we are able to gain to drive our lives according to the values of Emunah and Bitachon, can and should be derived from these above-nature experiences. What a tremendous opportunity we all have to fulfill the incredible mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles. And similarly, what a tremendous opportunity we all have to perhaps spend a little bit of time talking to Hashem around the Chanukah candles, digesting and appreciating the tremendous miracles that Hashem brought about for us during these holy days. And b'ezrat Hashem by doing so, that can be a tremendous springboard for us to take leaps in our journey of Emunah and Bitachon.

302

223 - Chanukah (Day-4)

Dec 29, 2024

4:22

What an incredible opportunity to wake up to another one of these holy days of Chanukah. Besides the tremendous mitzvah we have to light the Chanukah candles, one of the core focuses of Chanukah is "Lehodos Ulehallel" - to express our gratitude and praise to Hashem. And as Torah Commentaries outline, it is a tremendously opportune time and place if one is able to do so specifically by the Chanukah candles. "Hashem, thank You so much during the year for giving me the opportunity to believe in You. And as You've taught us from many Torah sources, that believing means specifically taking that leap of faith when I am not able to see and understand Your ways. Because although the Torah is replete with passages along the lines of "Ein Od Milvado" - that You, Hashem, exclusively orchestrate every single detail in my life and in everyone's lives, and there is no such thing as the course of nature and the normal way of the world, however, at the same time, usually throughout the year, You want me to live in a world where You are hidden behind the veil of nature, and my job is to try my best to find You through everything I'm doing. Because again, the point of my existence and my ultimate ticket to eternal pleasure in the next world, as outlined by many Torah sources, is to excel to my maximum degree in my Emunah and Bitachon endeavor, and specifically to believe when I don't understand. Whilst at the same time, thank You so much, Hashem, for giving us those opportunities where we do see You loud and clear in our lives. Because when that occurs, it gives me tremendous inspiration and motivation to be able to see through the veil of nature, throughout the year, when You are hidden. Hashem, I'd like to just take a few moments now, whilst I have the opportunity, standing by these holy Chanukah candles, to look into my own personal life and appreciate and thank You for all the tremendous ways You've come through for me. Thank You, Hashem, so much for the gift of my health, the ability to breathe without struggle, the fact that I can see, and the fact that so much of the time I experience life without physical pain and suffering. Hashem, thank You so much for the gift to be able to have family, as well as the friends that You've given me, and the opportunity to share experiences together. Thank You so much, Hashem, for providing me from day one of my life, right up until today. Although there might have been times of struggle, and again, that You did for me also for good reasons, to help me grow in my endeavor of emunah and bitachon, however, at the end of the day, You have provided for me since day one, right up until today. Thank You so much, Hashem, for the opportunity to be involved in a life where I am aware that my main purpose is to develop my emunah and bitachon. Thank You so much, Hashem, for sharing with us Your incredible Torah sources that allow us to grow in this tremendous endeavor. Hashem, I want to thank You deeply for all those times of challenge in my life, because I know that You love me and You created me just to give me good. And if You're sending me a challenge, it's only because You're giving me an opportunity to be able to believe that everything that You do is for the best. When I'm struggling with the pain and suffering of this illness that You've sent me, after contemplating on the fact a little bit, I've realized, Hashem, that You would only send me this out of Your love, because again, that's the only reason that You created the world, to share Your goodness with me. And although there can be many reasons which are beyond my understanding, but one reason which I know is certainly applicable to me and objectively applicable to all of us, is that by sending me these times of darkness and suffering, You are thereby giving me a chance to practice my emunah and bitachon, that everything that happens is directly orchestrated from You, and You would only send me what is best for me. And similarly, thank You so much, Hashem, for all those times in my life that although I might not have experienced outright miracles, similar to the splitting of the sea or the miracle of the oil on Chanukah, however, I have certainly at times noticed Your divine providence in my life, and those times are certainly springboards of motivation and inspiration for me to live my life according to the values of emunah and bitachon. Thank You so much, Hashem, for these holy and incredible days of Chanukah."

303

224 - Chanukah (Day-5)

Dec 30, 2024

4:31

We are so privileged to be able to experience another one of these holy days of Chanukah. Besides the miracle of the oil, which we commemorate with the lighting of the Chanukah candles, where the amount of oil which was only supposed to last for one day, against all the laws of nature, lasted for eight days, again clearly showing that although usually the world seems to run according to the laws and course of nature, however, as the Ramban at the end of Parashat Bo, that we've discussed many times, points out that the reason Hashem performs these outright miracles is in order to inspire and motivate us for the times when Hashem is hidden under the veil of nature, to teach us that there's no such thing ultimately as nature, that ein od milvado, there is nothing else in the world that exists except for Hashem - there is no force or power or individual or circumstance that can dictate even slightly what will occur in my life, except for Hashem exclusively, and as outlined in the Rambam's principles of faith, "vehu levado" - Hashem exclusively, meaning without the help of any individual runs every single detail of nature. And as we've discussed previously, although we do have a mitzvah to make our own efforts throughout life, however, it is so important to never fall into the trap of believing even slightly that my efforts are what cause my successes, because as we've discussed, that could borderline on the tremendously grave sin of idol worship, where I believe that there is some power outside of Hashem, God forbid, and the tremendous miracle of Hanukkah is coming to teach us that just like Hashem is able to come and take oil and make it miraculously burn much longer than it is supposed to according to the laws of nature, so too any and every occurrence throughout our lives are ultimately miracles that Hashem is orchestrating every single moment. Besides the miracle of the oil on Chanukah, the other tremendous miracle that we commemorate is the war that transpired, which according to the laws of nature, logic and statistics would make anybody laugh at the absurdity of such an attempt. We are taught that it was only a handful of people that decided to take on an entire huge and powerful army. Just imagine in our times, ten people would get together and say, "we are now going to take on this mission to go and destroy our enemy and the entire army of thousands and thousands of people." Besides the fact that we are completely, absurdly outnumbered, we also have very little military training, whereas they, on the other hand, are elite soldiers. If one were to try to take on such a task today, this would be seen as a complete absurdity, and although we do have a mitzvah to not rely on outright miracles, and we are certainly not permitted to put ourselves in dangerous situations, however, we are also to be so careful to never ever fall to the side of Avodah Zarah, believing that the world can only work according to the laws of nature. Because let us remind ourselves, this is the purpose of the world, to test us in emunah, in our belief, where the world is going to appear like it runs according to the laws of nature, but in truth, there is only Hashem pulling every single string. And when we look at the Chanukah candles and remind ourselves of the miracles that took place on Chanukah, and we meditate on the fact that there was only a few people who decided that they were going to rely on Hashem to such a degree that He would help them in a complete unnatural manner, because they had no other choice, and He would help the handful of them to wipe out an entire army, something completely against all the laws of nature, logic, and statistics, when we take this to heart, this can be a tremendous springboard for motivation and inspiration throughout any endeavor we might be dealing with in our lives, to remind ourselves that ein od milvado, that although usually Hashem does opt to work through the laws of nature, however, in truth, there is nothing whatsoever in the world except for Hashem.

304

225 - Chanukah (Day-6)

Dec 31, 2024

4:16

The incredible miracles of Chanukah serve to inspire us throughout our lives, that just like Hashem performed miracles against all the laws of nature, such as causing oil to burn for much longer than anything nature would allow, as well as causing a handful of people to win a war completely against any and all of the laws that nature can dictate, when we make an effort to internalize these miracles, it can serve as a tremendous springboard to inspire us throughout our lives and remind ourselves of what we've learned countless times from so many Torah sources: Our purpose in this world is to excel in our emunah endeavor. And what it means to have emunah is specifically to believe when I don't see and I am not able to understand the reason why things are happening. Throughout my life, usually, things play according to the laws of nature. But our job is to constantly make an effort to find Hashem through the natural occurrences and taking to heart the miracles of Chanukah can serve as a tremendous springboard to be able to live our lives according to those values. Just like Hashem has blessed us with these holy days that serve to inspire us throughout the rest of our lives, that all of nature in essence is an outright miracle, and the same Hashem who caused the mann, the miraculous food that fell from the heavens for the Jewish people during their journey in the desert, is the exact same Hashem who provides for our paranosah today; and the same Hashem who split the sea for the Jewish people when they were surrounded by danger from all their sides and had nowhere to escape, is the same Hashem who has saved us in our personal lives so many times in so many ways. There are people that die daily in car accidents. How many times have I been in a car without having an accident? If we open our eyes, we will see that our life is full of constant miracles of how Hashem comes through for us, but again, our job is to find Hashem in the course of nature. Without the emunah mindset, one's thought process might be, "yes, although I didn't have a car accident today, however, most people in the world do not die daily in car accidents. Although it does happen to some people sometimes, however, why should I expect that that should be something that could transpire to me, and therefore why should I necessarily be appreciative about that fact?" Whereas when we are able to look past the veil of nature and realize that just like Hashem was the One who so apparently and obviously was our Savior when we were surrounded by danger from all sides and split the sea in a way that there was no question that Hashem was the only One who could do that, and there was no nature to attribute that miracle to, similarly, when we go through a day without a car accident, or the other million miracles that we experience on a daily basis, our job is to link those happenings to Hashem's doing as opposed to just assuming that that is the course of nature, God forbid, excluding Hashem from our lives. Many people have experienced Hashem coming through for them in their lives in one way or another. Although usually in our times this is not in an apparently obvious and miraculous manner, however countless people have told their experiences of having seen Hashem come through for them in their lives. When a person prays to Hashem for a new business opportunity and it just so happens that a couple days or perhaps even hours later one receives a call from another individual with a new opportunity, or perhaps one is just looking for a parking spot, and just as one makes that prayer and asks Hashem to help them, it just so happens that someone is leaving just then, making the spot available. If we are just to open our eyes, we will quickly see that Hashem is everywhere and we can constantly witness Him under the veil of nature on a moment-to-moment basis. Our job is to open our eyes and through these days of Chanukah we have a special power and energy to internalize that ultimately every single moment of our lives is an outright miracle.

305

226 - Chanukah (Day-7)

Jan 1, 2025

4:33

We've been discussing how Chanukah is a tremendous opportunity to springboard a boost in our emunah and bitachon endeavor. Although most of us are not on the level to experience outright open miracles like we experienced during Chanukah, however, when we fulfill the mitzvos of Chanukah and give ourselves an opportunity to contemplate on the reason why we're lighting the Chanukah candles, that we're commemorating the outright miracles Hashem performed for us, be it the oil that burned for much longer than any of the laws of nature would dictate, or be it the unprecedented victory of just a handful of people against a large army - one of the main take-homes of these episodes, and one of our focuses during Chanukah, should be the basic conclusion that many Torah sources teach: bitachon works. It is not something that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. When one relies on Hashem, it works. In the words of one of the Rishonim, Rav Yosef Albo, in his Sefer Haikarim, he writes that just like we are sure that the sun will rise tomorrow, to the same extent one can be sure that if you rely on Hashem, He will come through for you. The only qualification to this rule is like the verse in Ashrei teaches, that Hashem is close to all who call out to Him, as long as they call out sincerely. One level of having bitachon is to say, "of course I rely on Hashem and He is my address to go to, however, I have a back-up plan in case Hashem doesn't come through for me." Although it is commendable that one is including Hashem in the picture, however, this is certainly far from the ultimate bitachon. As the Chovos Halevavos writes to the introduction of his Sefer, that when a person places their trust in another individual or circumstance, Hashem actually removes His own providence from that individual and places them in the hands of whoever they are relying on, or whatever circumstance they might think they are bound by. This is a frighteningly powerful statement. On the one hand, it is clear from countless Torah sources, that when one truly places their trust in Hashem, Hashem will come through for them. And as Rav Yosef Albo in the Sefer Haikkarim taught us, this is a basic equation: Just like Hashem placed it in the laws of nature for the sun to rise in the morning, so too, if one relies on Hashem, Hashem will come through for them. However, on the other side of the spectrum, the Chovos Halevavos is teaching us another principle of how Hashem operates in this world - that if one does choose to rely on another individual or circumstance, then Hashem removes Himself from the situation, and I become bound to the control of this individual or situation that I am relying on. And of course, there are many levels between these two extremes. Sometimes we rely on Hashem, but at the back of our mind, we have a backup plan in case Hashem doesn't really come through for us. And although that is commendable that we are relying on Hashem to some degree, however, because we are not doing so to its full degree, we then become in the hands of other individuals or circumstances to some degree. The tremendous miracles of Chanukah are teaching us that yes, although we have a mitzvah to make our effort to do our hishtadlus in the world, however, a step before that is to take to heart, without a shadow of a doubt, that Hashem exclusively is orchestrating every single detail in my life. And the more I will choose to rely on Hashem, the more He will come through for me, and the less I will choose to rely on other people and circumstances, the less I will be bound by their auspices. "Hashem, my Father, as we approach this final day of Chanukah, please can You help me to truly place my trust in You, to the extent that I really internalize that anything and everything that happens in my life is completely from You, and I have the constant opportunity to reach out to You exclusively and rely on You. And Hashem, You've taught me in Your Torah sources that if I rely on You exclusively, that is the time specifically that You will come through for me. Hashem, it's difficult in this world, because the way the natural world looks, it seems like I'm dependent on people and circumstances. But the scary thing is, that when I do depend on them, You actually put me in their hands, as the Chovos Halevavos has taught us. Please Hashem, help me to not rely on anyone nor anything except for You exclusively."

306

227 - Chanukah (Day-8)

Jan 2, 2025

4:38

As the festival of Chanukah comes to its culmination, let us remind ourselves of what the Ramban writes about open miracles, that although usually the world operates under the veil of nature, however when Hashem performs open miracles, one of the main objectives is to give us the opportunity to derive inspiration and motivate us to living lives according to the values of emunah and bitachon - that ultimately every single moment of our lives, although they might appear to be moving according to the laws of nature, are actually being orchestrated directly and personally from Hashem Himself. We discussed of what Rav Yosef Albo in the Sefer Ha'ikarim writes, that the opportunity to rely on Hashem and reach out to Hashem for help, as opposed to going to a different address, is part of the laws of nature of how Hashem made the world operate. If one chooses to rely on Hashem, Hashem will come through, and in the words of Rav Yosef Albo, just like we know the sun is expected to rise tomorrow, to the same extent if I rely on Hashem, I can expect that He will come through for me. Although on the one hand, when we take to heart the miracles of Chanukah, it can be inspiring and motivating to live our lives according to the values of emunah and bitachon, however on the other hand, it can sometimes be disheartening when we bring to mind those miracles, because after all is said and done, most of us in today's day and age do not experience such outright miracles. Does that mean, perhaps, that the opportunity to have emunah and bitachon is only available to super-righteous individuals, and maybe it's not applicable to me? There could be many reasons why in general Hashem wants the world to work under the veil of nature. One reason that many commentaries mention is to give us the opportunity to have emunah and bitachon, and believe, specifically when we aren't able to understand why He is doing what He is doing. But as discussed, there are times where Hashem decides to come through in a more apparent way, sometimes in an outright miraculous manner, such as in the episode of Chanukah, and at other times perhaps more relevant to each one of us, although it might not be in an absolute outright miraculous manner, but there are times where we might make a prayer and see Hashem come through for us in the way we requested, and the like. One might say, "okay, I understand, Hashem certainly does exist and runs every detail of the world, and certainly He can do miracles and break the laws of nature, because ultimately He created nature and runs every detail of the world. But that's very nice for people who have reached a high level of righteousness. But what about me? How is this applicable to me? Why would Hashem come through for me in my life? Perhaps I've even committed many sins." Let us remind ourselves of one of the most fundamental, but sometimes most misunderstood principles when it comes to bitachon. The opportunity to have bitachon and rely on Hashem is completely independent of our actions. As the Ramban in his sefer Emunah Bitachon, explains, the verse states, Betach b'Hashem va'aseh tov, trust in Hashem and do good. The Ramban points out that the verse specifically states, "trust in Hashem" first, to teach us that one is able to trust in Hashem independent of our actions. And this idea that anyone, regardless of our spiritual scorecard, is able to trust in Hashem is brought down by countless Torah sources, from the Midrash to the Rishonim such as Ramban and Rabbeinu Yonah, all the way down to the later authorities such as the Chofetz Chaim in Nefutzos Yisrael, chapter 8, who state that even if a person does not have merits and might even be classified as a rasha, an evil individual, just like the sun rises in the morning, the opportunity to have bitachon is available to every one of us. And if we practice our reliance on Hashem, Hashem will come through for us. "Hashem, my Father, as we come to the culmination of Chanukah, these holy days that You've granted us, please will You bless me and help me not to fall into the trap of those that trust and rely on other individuals, because as we learn from the Chovos HaLevavos, when one does so, I actually become under their auspices. Whereas, when I choose to rely on You, You will come through for me, and it is completely independent of my spiritual level. This act of relying on You will be the greatest asset that I can have, both in this world as well as for my eternal reward in the next world."

307

228 - The Jewish Leader

Jan 3, 2025

4:22

Torah authorities explain that emunah can be divided into three different segments. The first one is to build our emunah and bitachon in Hashem, which is the main focus of this daily inspiration that we've been discussing every day. The second type of emunah that the Torah authorities discuss is emunas chachamim, to believe in the words of the sages. The Midrash teaches that we are supposed to reach such a high level of belief in the words of the sages that even if they would tell us that the right is the left or the left is the right, something completely counterintuitive to our understanding, we should believe their words. Now of course, to reach such a level of faith in the words of the sages needs to be based on understanding why I should do so, and also it needs to be defined who is considered part of the sages. Let's discuss the Ramban at the end of Parashas Bo, who explains the following: In times of old, there were three types of idolaters. Some of them denied Hashem's existence at all, whereas others admitted that Hashem does exist but assumed that He doesn't know what's going on in the world. And a third category of people admitted that Hashem does exist and knows what's going on in the world, but according to their mistaken approach, Hashem doesn't care about what goes on in the world. And all these approaches are types of avodah zarah, of idol worship. And as the Ramban there explains, because Hashem wanted to give people the opportunity to move away from these forms of idol worship and rather move towards a real meaningful life according to the values of Emunah, Hashem changed the laws of nature when He performed the miracles at the exodus from Egypt, such as the plagues and the splitting of the sea. And the Ramban explains that after this happened, people now had the opportunity to clearly believe that Hashem runs the show and the world does not just operate according to the laws of nature, but rather Hashem is orchestrating every single moment. However, Ramban adds an additional point which was gained through this episode, in that Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of the Jewish people, predicted the miracles before they transpired at the exodus from Egypt. And therefore, after the miracles happened, not only did the people gain a belief in Hashem, but they also gained a belief that this Moshe Rabbeinu had a particularly close relationship with Hashem and his advice must be heeded. So just like the people were able to acknowledge Hashem's existence after this experience, similarly they were able to acknowledge Moshe Rabbeinu's role as a leader of the Jewish people. It is well known that the Torah was given to Moshe Rabbeinu in two forms, one is the written Torah and secondly, he was given many teachings orally. The Mishnayos in Pirkei Avos discuss how from generation to generation, those laws that were transmitted from Hashem to Moshe Rabbeinu directly, were passed down from generation to generation via specific leaders who were chosen to be the leaders of those generations. And the Rambam, in the introduction to the Mishnah, outlines all the leaders, even in times much closer to ours, that their chain of tradition can be traced all the way back to Moshe Rabbeinu, who received it directly from Hashem. May we all merit to excel in all the different forms of Emunah that the Torah commentaries teach us ultimately stem from Emunah in Hashem. Of course in our Emunah and Bitachon endeavour itself, to grow in our belief and reliance on Hashem, but also by extension, to believe in the words of the sages. For whatever reason, usually in today's day and age, Hashem does not reveal Himself to us in an openly revealed manner, but rather, the way He communicates to us is via the information that He relays to us in His Torah, both in the written Torah as well as in the oral Torah. Let us then appreciate that all parts of the Torah, both the written Torah, as well as the entirety of the oral Torah, including all of the words of the sages, are ultimately the words of Hashem. And just like we are called on to build our belief in Hashem Himself, let us also make our maximum effort to build our belief in the words of the sages - Emunas Chachamim.

308

229 - Choosing Your Rabbi

Jan 5, 2025

4:10

We've been discussing what the Torah commentaries divide into three types of emunah, and whilst our main focus is always revolving around the core of everything - emunah and bitochen in Hashem, it is certainly worthwhile to also delve into the other areas that the Torah commentaries discuss. We spoke about the second type of emunah - emunas chachamim, where we are called on to believe in the words of our sages, starting from Moshe Rabbeinu who received the oral tradition directly from Hashem and was passed down from generation to generation. And as we spoke about, the Midrash brings down that we are supposed to reach such a level of emunas chachamim, of belief in the words of the sages, that with regards to the Sanhedrin, the great beis din of times of old, even if they were to tell us the right is the left, or the left is the right, we are supposed to aim to reach such a high level of belief in their words, that we will listen regardless of our understanding. Jjust like we do not understand Hashem's doings and we are called on to believe and place our trust in Him, by extension, we are called on to believe in the words of the holy sages who have a special close relationship with Hashem, and Hashem has designated to be guides for us in our lives. As mentioned, the Rambam outlines that the oral tradition that was given to Moshe Rabbeinu directly from Hashem was passed down from generation to generation to specific individuals. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos teaches, that one is supposed to make for themselves a rabbi. Part of the purpose of doing so is that when a question arises in halacha that I am not able to investigate and find the answer to myself, I am now able to seek the guidance of an authentic talmid chacham who is well-versed in all areas of Torah and is able to guide us when it comes to halacha. Another fundamental principle is the concept of da'as torah - that when a person needs to make a decision - of course much of the time I am able to find the answer myself, but with regards to certain areas of my life where I have a question mark, besides doing research and as discussed many times, talking to Hashem and asking Him for clarity, we are called on to seek guidance from Torah leaders who are authentic talmid chachamim and tzaddikim who are able to guide us in the right direction. In times of old, the concept of a personal rabbi was very different to how it is today. Because the oral Torah was not written down, most of the Torah information I received was from the Torah teaching of my rabbi. And that being the case, there were very many serious laws with regards to the respect of one's Torah teacher. One example, as brought in Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah section 242, is that anybody who argues with his rabbi - and again this is a rabbi in times of old who one is learning all the Torah information from, and there was no Torah literature available in books - it's as if he's arguing with the shechina. And there are many other similar statements. There is a lot of Torah literature available about emunas chachamim, and one is certainly encouraged to pursue this topic further. For our purposes right now, it is worthwhile to mention that Torah commentaries bring that one of the extensions of having emunah in Hashem is building our belief in the words of the sages - emunas chachamim, which of course starts with Moshe Rabbeinu and was passed down from generation to generation all the way through to the sages of the Gemara. In today's times, where it is not always as clear as to who exactly that chain was passed down to. In order to fulfill this advice of the mission in Pirkei Avos which says one ought to make for oneself a rabbi, one of the greatest things we can do in trying to make an effort to find them is ask Hashem and say, "Hashem, please can you help me to fulfill the mitzvah of emunas chachamim - of belief in the words in the sages, to the highest degree, and even in our day and age today, Hashem, please can you guide me and help me to find the rabbi, talmid chacham, and tzaddik, who could be most suited for my situation and guide me in the most ideal way for my life."

309

186 - Bitachon (Part-12)

Nov 15, 2024

4:35

We've been discussing the two approaches the commentaries outline with regards to bitachon. Although the conventional understanding is to rely on Hashem that He will always take care of us and do what is best for us, the other approach to bitachon that many Torah authorities outline is to rely on Hashem so heavily and confidently that He will give me exactly what I have asked for. As we mentioned in the words of the Beis HaLevi, "Bevadai yasig ma shechaser mehitztarchuto" - that one who places their reliance on Hashem will for sure receive what they have requested. And as mentioned, many Torah sources teach that this applies regardless to one's spiritual level and scorecard; even if one has performed many sins, the power of bitachon is so great that when one relies on Hashem, Hashem will come through for them. We mentioned the Gemara which states that there was a poor man who came over to Rava and requested a more extravagant meal than would usually be suitable for a poor man. And although initially Rava had suggested that when asking other people for funds it would not be appropriate to ask for anything more than the bare minimum, after the episode, the Gemara concluded that it was not out of place for the pauper to ask for the type of meal that he was used to, because ultimately all of our sustenance comes exclusively from Hashem. This idea can be illustrated further by another passage in the Talmud. The Gemara in Brachos 60a states that once as Hillel was on his way home, he heard cries of anguish from his neighborhood and he stated with confidence that these cries were not coming from his house. And the Gemara questions how was Hillel able to be so confident that the tragedy that had befallen was not coming from his own family? And the Vilna Gaon explains that the reason was because exceedingly righteous people live with full confidence that they will never suffer any harm. And one more passage in the Talmud to highlight this idea. The Gemara in Taanis 19a tells the story of Nakdimon ben Gurion, a wealthy Jew who lived in the time of the second Beis Hamikdash and who during a time of severe drought wanted to provide water for the Jews traveling to Yerushalayim for Yom Tov. He borrowed wells of water from a Roman individual promising that they would be refilled by a certain time and if not then he would fill them with gold. Nakdimon took a very big risk yet he remained fully confident that Hashem would enable him to fulfill his promise. Sure enough, at the last moment heavy rain began to fall and the wells were all filled. Although some might argue that being so confident that Hashem will come through for an individual might be saved for the righteous, we see from many Torah commentaries that that is not the case and that this mode of thought may at times be applicable to many of us even during our times. And as always in any area of doubt, after trying our best to learn Torah passages and seek guidance from Torah leaders, the most advisable thing to do is to talk to Hashem and ask for clarity. "Hashem you have taught me this most precious information about bitachon. Thank you so much for teaching me that the opportunity to have bitachon is available to every single one of us regardless of our actions and how we are doing in terms of our spiritual scorecard. Hashem thank you also for teaching me the different types of bitachon that the Torah authorities offer us. Of course always praying to you and hoping to you for the best the way we see it in our eyes, but sometimes thereafter letting go and accepting that whatever you do will for sure be the best, whilst at the same time appreciating the other mode of bitachon, that the power of relying on you is so strong that at times it might be appropriate for us to rely on you to such an extent that we are sure that what we need and what we are asking you for will come about. Please Hashem will you guide me to be able to apply the bitachon that I am learning and truly rely on you under every and all circumstances throughout my life."

310

172 - The Great Discovery

Oct 30, 2024

4:12

We've been discussing one of the most important and fundamental components to Judaism and Torah. As mentioned, the only animal offering that will remain in the future is the offering of the Todah, because although we might reach such a high spiritual level in the future that we will not need the other offerings, however, the offering that is brought in light of our gratitude to Hashem remains forever. And that is because gratitude is such a fundamental and important component to who and what we are. In the same vein, we are taught that all songs will cease to exist in the future. And again, because of the level that we will climb to, we will be beyond what songs can communicate and express. But the one song that will remain is Mizmor L'soda - is the song of gratitude, because thanking Hashem is something that is with us forever. We also learnt the Gemara which is codified in the Shulchan Aruch that states that a person is obligated to bless and thank Hashem for the good things that transpire in our lives as well as the bad things that transpire in our lives. And as pointed out, sometimes one might feel like a certain practice is saved for some super pious and righteous individuals, however, this is a law codified in the Shulchan Aruch which is applicable to every single one of us. In addition to having a daily commitment of a certain amount of time where one thanks Hashem for all of the good things in our lives, it could be very advisable to also dedicate a certain amount of time where I try contemplate on things which are seemingly bad and difficult and tragedies that I might be experiencing, and nevertheless find it within me to say, "Hashem, I know that this can only be for the best, because if You are sending this to me, there is no question that You will only do what is best for me." Let's say I am looking after another family member who is elderly and unwell, and being a good person, I make my maximum effort to look after them. I consult doctors, I try get the right guidance to give them their best treatment. I wake up one morning to the sad news that this family member has passed away. And it's also currently going all over the news that only just recently a certain medication was discovered that has a 99% success rate to treat this illness, and for whatever reason I did not see that information on the news. The wrong approach would be to say, "if only I knew about this news information, I would have saved my family member's life, I regret so much that I didn't look around more on the news and I didn't talk to more people, because maybe, who knows, I would have found the solution." If a person is responsible and made a reasonable amount of effort to look after their family member, an emunah approach would teach, the fact that I did not see that information on the news is just because Hashem did not want my family member to live more. For whatever reason, it was the best thing that they should be taken from us now, because everything that happens in the world can only be for the best. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me this golden information, the true perspective, your perspective, that anything and everything that transpires throughout my life is directly orchestrated by You, and therefore, whether I perceive it as good or if I perceive it as bad is only my perception, but ultimately, anything and everything that happens is always directly orchestrated from You and always only what is absolutely best for me."

311

173 - Dancing Sunset

Oct 31, 2024

5:46

We've been discussing one of the most important components of what it means to live a life of Torah, the true perspective of Hashem. And as discussed, having a daily commitment of a certain amount of time where I can focus on and contemplate all the things that I perceive as good, just to appreciate them and be grateful for them, is something very conducive to living a life of gratitude, which will ultimately lead to a life of joy and simcha. And in addition to that, it would be wise to also devote a certain amount of time to try to contemplate the things that I might perceive as negative and as bad, but nevertheless communicate with Hashem that we trust that whatever He does is for our best, because He only does what is best for us. As mentioned, this concept is codified in the Shulchan Aruch where it states that a person is obligated to bless and thank Hashem for both the things that we perceive as good as well as the things that we perceive as bad, because ultimately nothing in the world is bad. Everything that Hashem does can only be for our best. Remember what all the Torah commentaries teach us as to the most vital question of why Hashem decided to create the world in the first place, and what they all unanimously state is that ultimately, Hashem did not need to create anyone nor anything, but He did so just because He wants to share His goodness with us. That is the starting point to never forget that anything and everything that ever transpires can only be for a positive effect that Hashem is bringing about, because that is the only reason He created the world in the first place. It happens to be that for our ultimate benefit, there needs to be negativity in the world. There needs to be the potential to sin, to break our relationship with Hashem, and there needs to be tragedy and challenges that transpire. However, ultimately it is only for one purpose. It is ultimately just so that Hashem can give to us in the highest, most potent and powerful way which only He understands, the exact course that will bring about this desired result in the most effective way. There is a story of the two famous and pious brothers, Rav Zusha and Rav Elimelech. It happened one time that because of the antisemitism, these two great tzaddikim were imprisoned. Not having committed any form of transgression, but just because of the antisemitism, some pretext was found against them. And whilst in prison, one of the brothers started crying, and the other brother said to him, why are you crying? We know Hashem runs the world exclusively. Are you worried? Are you scared? What are you worried about? Just like Hashem put us in here, He could take us out at any moment. And if He wants us to remain here, then of course that is for the best. So why are you crying? And the brother retorted back, you think I'm crying about that? I'm not scared. I know that everything happens only for the best. And if Hashem wants us to be here right now, that is for sure for the best. And if He wants to take us out, He can do so at any moment, because He runs the world exclusively. You know why I'm crying? Because I see the sun is about to set, and the mincha prayer which I have not yet recited needs to be said before the sun has set. However, one is also forbidden to pray if there is a foul odor nearby oneself. And we here are locked in this small room, and right there in the middle of the room, there is a garbage can with a foul odor emanating from it. And therefore, I am unable to pray the mincha services now. And the sun is about to set. I have never missed the mincha prayer before. And now, for the first time in my life, I am going to miss this prayer. This is the reason I am crying. And the brother retorted back, what is the reason you usually daven mincha? Is it not because Hashem commanded you to daven mincha? Well, if Hashem put you in this situation right now, where you are locked in a room and are unable to daven mincha, then just like Hashem is the one who usually commands you to daven mincha, today Hashem is the one commanding you not to daven mincha. And the two brothers began to dance around the garbage can, celebrating that this was their best way to serve Hashem now, because everything Hashem does is for the best. It happened to be that as an anecdote to the story, the prison warden came and saw that there was such tremendous joy about this garbage can that they were dancing around, and because of his hatred for the Jews not wanting them to have any joy, he removed the garbage can, thinking that this was some form of ritual and the brothers were of course now free to continue with their services. Sometimes, when we choose to focus on the good, to be appreciative and grateful, and to be full of joy, that itself is the catalyst to removing the heartache and challenges that are presented to us. But perhaps an even deeper message is to contemplate on the fact that anything and everything that happens throughout our lives is always exclusively orchestrated directly from Hashem and therefore can only be for our best.

312

174 - Even then?

Nov 1, 2024

5:24

Let us remind ourselves, the only reason Hashem created the world was in order to share His goodness with every single one of us, and therefore anything that ever transpires throughout our lives can only be for our ultimate benefit. And at the same time, let us remind ourselves that we are taught that our main focus in this world, ultimately the foundation of the whole Torah and all the mitzvos, is to practice emunah, belief, specifically when I don't understand, to believe. Hashem designed the world in a way that everything is conducive for an opportunity to believe. So although we are taught from all the Torah sources unanimously that ultimately Hashem created the world only to give to us, only to be good to us, however, Hashem made the world operate in a way that many times it can seem like bad things are happening to us, thereby giving us an opportunity to be able to exercise our emunah, our belief; although I seem to see what appears to be bad, however, I am going to make an effort to believe and have emunah that the only reason Hashem is doing this is in order to give me an opportunity to choose to believe in what He's taught me, in His Torah sources, which is ultimately the only true perspective, Hashem's perspective, that absolutely anything and everything that transpires throughout my life can only be for my good. We ought to constantly remind ourselves about what the Mishnah states, which is ultimately coded in the Shulchan Aruch. חייב אדם לברך על הראה כשם שמברך על הטובה - that a person is obligated to bless Hashem for the seemingly bad times in the same way that one would bless Hashem for the seemingly good times. We know that in halacha there are certain blessings prescribed to the birth of children and in the same way there are certain blessings prescribed to when one experiences the death of a family member. And we also have certain blessings prescribed in halacha when one receives a large amount of money or an item of substantial value and in the same way when one loses a large amount of money there is a blessing outlined. And ultimately as we've learnt many times, this stems from the fact that we ought to believe that everything that transpires throughout our lives is directly orchestrated from Hashem and can only be for our best because that is why He created us. But again our job is to believe that when other factors seem to indicate the opposite. There are many great sages and Torah sources that outline the benefits of fulfilling this law where we bless and thank Hashem for not only the things we perceive as good but also for the things we perceive as challenges and tragedy. The main student of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in his book Likutei Halachot writes the following: "If everyone would constantly give thanks and praise to Hashem whether under good circumstances or not, then surely all the troubles and all the exiles would be completely nullified and the complete redemption would take place." There are many Torah passages outlined by many great sages along similar lines. What we are learning here is that of course by thanking Hashem and being grateful for even the challenges throughout our lives, the ultimate benefit is that we are fulfilling our purpose in this world to have emunah, but an additional fringe benefit is that by choosing to be grateful and thank Hashem for what we perceive as challenges and say, "Hashem you know the fact that I lost all this money it is so hard for me and it hurts me but if that is what you sent me I have no doubt that this is the best thing in the world. Thank you so much Hashem for making me lose one million dollars in this crazy transaction that took place. Although this is such a huge blow to me and I have no idea how I am going to come out of this, I am going to thank you with all my heart because Hashem if you created me and you sent me this situation and I trust that everything you do in the world is only for my best there is no question in the world that this too is for my best. Thank you so much Hashem for making me lose a million dollars." And as we are taught here, by doing so, one of the great fringe benefits is that that itself is the catalyst to turning the tragedy and challenge into a time of revealed blessing, a time where we perceive it as good. May we all merit to thank Hashem for all the things in our lives, for the things we perceive as good as well as the things we perceive as bad. And Im Yirtzeh Hashem, may we all merit to lives where we can perceive the goodness that Hashem is sending us at every moment throughout our lives.

313

175 - Bitachon (Part-1)

Nov 3, 2024

4:11

We've discussed many times the important question of why Hashem decided to create the world. And as the Torah commentaries teach, step number one, the only reason Hashem decided to create the world in the first place was just because of His desire to give to all of us. And of course, if there's no recipient, there is nobody to give to. And therefore, He created us. And step number two, as the Torah commentaries teach, the ultimate destination where we'll receive our reward in the future, b'ezrat Hashem, is not in this world, but rather in Olam Haba, in the next world. And step number three, that being the case, if so, why did Hashem place us in this world at all? If the only reason You created me is to give me pleasure in Your goodness, and ultimately that takes place in Olam Haba only, in the next world, and not in this world, what am I doing here? Why am I alive in this world? And as the Torah commentaries explain, the only reason that we exist in this world is because Hashem, in His great knowledge and wisdom, understood that the ultimate opportunity for pleasure in the next world will be if we are given the opportunity to earn that pleasure for ourselves, rather than having that pleasure being given to us as a free gift. And the way we earn that pleasure is by having our excursion in this world. And step number four, exactly what is the process of how we earn our place in the next world? We know there are many components to Judaism, including the learning of Torah and performance of many mitzvos and many other practices that we have. However, as we've discussed many times, the Ramban writes in his commentary on the Torah in the final passage of Parashat Bo - the purpose of all the mitzvos, and in fact, the only reason for Hashem creating us is that we come to have emunah in Hashem. We've also mentioned previously many others who follow suit, teaching us that ultimately the purpose of all of the mitzvahs and of the Torah and all of Judaism is to come to have faith in Hashem. And therefore our main focus whilst alive in this world should be to make efforts to grow in our emunah and our bitachon. What exactly is the difference between emunah and bitachon? Usually emunah is translated as faith and bitachon is translated as trust or reliance. Many Torah commentaries explain that emunah can be viewed as the theoretical principle - that Hashem initially created the world and that Hashem is currently actively involved in all the intricate details of every single one of our lives; that there is no other force or power in the world except for Hashem, and the many other things that emunah teaches. Whereas bitachon refers to taking the theoretical principles of emunah and applying them in a practical way by living our lives according to their values. Of course it can be self-understood that both emunah and bitachon are of paramount importance because without knowing the principles of emunah it is impossible to apply them practically and practice bitachon, whereas just learning and internalizing the principles of emunah, although of paramount importance, but of course the ultimate is to apply those principles in a practical way, living our lives according to the values of bitachon. "Hashem, my Father, please will you help us to learn the correct information as well as internalize everything we need to know about both emunah as well as bitachon and please Hashem guide every single one of us in our own way to be able to apply these principles in a practical way and live the most meaningful lives to our maximum potential."

314

176 - Bitachon (Part-2)

Nov 4, 2024

4:03

Our ultimate purpose in this world is to focus on building our emunah. And as we've been discussing, although emunah is the first level that we are required to dive into, we then take the principles of emunah and apply them in a practical way, moving towards bitachon. What exactly does it mean to have bitachon, trust or reliance on Hashem? Emunah teaches us that there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem. Just like if somebody would come and hit you with a stick, it would be the most absurd response to begin fighting against the stick itself, because we all know that a stick is not a power of its own, but rather is an object that has been handled by an individual who is deciding how to use the stick. And in the same way, when we internalize what emunah teaches us, that ein od milvado, there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem, every individual, every circumstance, every happening is ultimately one of Hashem's many puppets, and the values of emunah teach us to internalize that the only power that exists is Hashem Himself. And as we move from emunah to bitachon, we are now called on to exclusively rely on Hashem for all of our needs. Of course at this point, before we've delved into the subject further, many questions will already arise, such as, if Hashem runs everything and does everything, why do I need to even make the slightest of an effort? And B'ezrat Hashem we'll discuss this more as we continue to talk about bitachon. But for now, before anything, just to define bitachon a little bit, bitachon refers to relying on Hashem rather than on other individuals. So of course, everybody needs money to be able to live. If I am not living by the values of bitachon, one might go to work, work hard, and be well-meaning in all areas. However, this individual might think that the only reason they are receiving their sustenance is because they go to work and their boss pays their salary. Now again, we are not now discussing the obligation to make hishtadlus, to make an effort, which we know the Torah commands us to do. But regardless of the obligation of hishtadlus and whatever hishtadlus we might be obligated to make, when one is not living according to the values of bitachon, but rather according to the illusion that their boss is the one who is providing for their needs, that would be a life devoid of Hashem, devoid of emunah, and devoid of bitachon. Whereas, when an individual understands that the only source of their parnassa comes directly and exclusively from Hashem, yes in this case, Hashem is giving the money to the boss to give to me, but I am absolutely clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that this boss is just a puppet to the point that I am not afraid of him, that I will not flatter him like sometimes one might be led to do if they have the mistaken illusion of this boss being their provider. As opposed to when one internalizes that Hashem is the only provider, it could be through this boss, it could be through some other means, but I rely exclusively on Hashem. It is easy to understand that seeing as emunah and bitachon should be our ultimate focus whilst alive in this world, it is not going to take one day to become proficient in these topics, but of course all Hashem expects from us is to make an effort to grow in these areas, in our purpose of being alive in this world. Let's explore and learn about together the true perspective, Hashem's perspective, which is portrayed in the Torah, about what it truly means to have bitachon.

315

177 - Bitachon (Part-3)

Nov 5, 2024

4:26

As we continue to dive deeper into the most important and vital topic of bitachon, let's remind ourselves that when it comes to any topic, many of us might have many opinions, but as we've discussed many times, everything depends on which perspective one is looking from. And just like many people decided to side with the outrageous values of Hitler, Yemach Shema, as well as currently we can see with the war between Israel and Hamas, that most of the world has sided with Hamas, and of course it is a basic value to all of us that Hitler and his opinions and perspectives, as well as Hamas and their opinions and perspectives, are mistaken and far from the truth. And although these might be extreme examples, ultimately every question we might discuss depends on the perspective that we use on how we answer that question. Just like many clever people can make mistakes even after it is well thought out, in the same way, we without human limitations are always limited and at risk of making a mistake. Now especially when it comes to these important questions, such as what exactly does it mean to fulfil my purpose in this world and how exactly do I practice bitachon, it would be very unwise to try follow our own perspective to find the answer for these questions. The only perspective that can be the absolute truth is Hashem's perspective. And as discussed previously, Hashem does not reveal Himself in the form of a voice speaking to us in today's day and age, but rather has given us the Torah with all its commentaries that express Hashem's perspective to give us the absolute truth. Let's begin discussing what some of the Torah commentaries teach us about the importance of bitachon. The Vilna Gaon in Even Shleima, chapter 3, writes, "One who commits severe transgressions but nevertheless excells in bitachon, is better than one who does not transgress but does not have bitachon." Now for anyone even slightly familiar with Torah literature, this is a frighteningly powerful statement, because throughout Torah literature there is much emphasis placed on even the slightest Torah transgression, and certainly on severe transgressions. And nevertheless here the Vilna Gaon is teaching us that so important is it to live a life by the values of bitachon, that if one had to choose between a life of bitachon coupled by a life of severe transgressions in comparison to a life clean of transgressions but devoid of bitachon, it is more important to go with the first option, that of bitachon, even though there would be severe transgressions on one's record. Now of course nobody is advocating to do any transgressions, because ultimately there will be consequences for anything and everything, as we've learned about many times. However, what we do see here is how much emphasis there is being placed on making efforts to live a life according to the values of bitachon. "Hashem, my Father, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk to you whenever I want about whatever I want. Hashem, I've been trying to learn about Emunah and ultimately I know that you run the world exclusively and there's no question in the world that the best effort that I can make is to talk to you and to ask you to help me in the areas that I need. Now of course you know that there are many things that I need in my life and I'm going to try and make an effort to talk to you about all of them, to bring you into my life in all areas. But certainly when it comes to the most important area, Hashem, to my progress in Emunah and Bittachon, please help me, Hashem, to remember to talk to you on a daily basis to help me to excel in these areas, although many things in this world that we live in might try to distract us, but ultimately I know, Hashem, that the only reason that I exist, as your Torah commentaries have taught us, is to excel in my Emunah and my Bittachon."

316

178 - Bitachon (Part-4)

Nov 6, 2024

4:41

We've been discussing how when it comes to Emunah and Bitachon, we want to try, understand what Hashem's perspective is, which is ultimately the only truth that we can rely on. Hashem teaches us His perspective via the many Torah sources that we have available to us. We discussed the frighteningly powerful words of the Vilna Gaon, who teaches us that although there are countless Torah sources highlighting the importance to stay away from even the slightest sin, nevertheless the Vilna Gaon writes that bitachon is so important that if one had to choose between one of two options, either a life free of sin, but also a life without bitachon, or alternatively a life of severe transgressions, but however coupled by a life lived according to the values of Bittachon, one would be obligated to choose the latter, because although staying away from sin is of paramount importance, nevertheless a life of bitachon is even more important than that. Another incredible resource that we're going to be exploring in our journey of bitachon is the fantastic essay of the Beis Halevi on bitachon. I highly recommend anyone who's able to get a copy of the artscroll Beis HaLevi on bitachon, authored by Rabbi David Sutton, which has been written incredibly clearly and easy to understand for all levels. The Beis HaLevi opens the first chapter with the following words: "The obligation of bitachon appears in many verses in the Torah, too many to count, and if one lacks bitachon, it is regarded as a great sin." Now firstly what we see from the statement of the Beis HaLevi is that he didn't even deem it necessary to quote the source of what the obligation to have Bitachon is in the Torah, because it is such an obvious preface and foundation to a life of Torah and mitzvos itself. If one is interested in the exact sources, again this incredible book has many fantastic appendixes at the back, and in the first appendix Rabbi Sutton discusses the many different sources offered by the commentaries as to what exactly the source for the obligation of Bittachon is. It is also important to highlight these very potent words of the Beis HaLevi. Let us remind ourselves that Torah commentaries were very careful with the words that they used, because the slightest misrepresentation could lead readers to making vital mistakes. The Beis HaLevi specifically chose the words that if one lacks bitachon, it is regarded as a great sin. Remember, the only true perspective that we have is what the Torah teaches us. There are many pluses and benefits that we receive from living a life of bitachon that Bezrat Hashem will explore together as we move further into Bittachon. However, here the Torah commentaries are highlighting to us that it is a great sin to not live by the values of bitachon. "Hashem my Father, please will you help me to find the right resources for me to learn exactly what it means to live a life of bitachon, and please Hashem help me to be able to take the things that I learn and apply them in a practical way, and B'ezrat Hashem, be successful in my endeavor to live a life of true bitachon. Thank you so much Hashem for teaching me exactly what my purpose is in this world, and that ultimately the way to achieve my reward in eternity in Olam HaBa is by making every effort to excel in my emunah and bitachon. Obviously Hashem, if this is the main reason that You created me for, it makes sense to me that this needs to be the highest priority in my life, because it's obviously not something that can just come without making a real effort to excel in this area. Hashem, I know that it's one thing to know the concepts of emunah and bitachon, but as the Torah sources teach us, it's something completely different to be able to take those concepts and sincerely internalize them and live by their values throughout all of the happenings in my life. Please Hashem, will You help me to be successful in all of the areas of my journey to excel in emunah and Bitachon."

317

179 - Bitachon (Part-5)

Nov 7, 2024

4:07

We've been talking about the paramount importance that the Torah places on the Mitzvah of bitachon. Remember, the Vilna Gaon says that it's better to live a life with severe transgressions, if that means a life of Bittachin, rather than a life free of transgression but devoid of Bittachin. We are of course given no license to perform transgressions by any Torah authorities and have to make our maximum effort to always do the will of Hashem, but we see here the incredible importance and emphasis that the Torah commentaries place on our endeavor to grow in our Bittachin. We also discussed the words of the Beis HaLevi in his classic essay on bitachon, where he writes that the obligation to have bitachon is such a fundamental prerequisite and foundation to the whole Torah itself, and if one lacks bitachon, it is regarded as a great sin. As discussed previously, simply speaking, bitachon means to rely on Hashem and feel calm that He is going to take care of me, regardless of what circumstances might be presented to me. When I am not living a life of bitachon, there are many things to fear, people, circumstances, and whatnot, whereas when I am living by the values of bitachon and relying on Hashem that He will always take care of me, regardless of anything else that might be transpiring in my life, that leads to a life of calm, serenity, and lack of fear. The Beis HaLevi writes further that not having bitachon in Hashem, but rather being fearful instead, is itself the cause for one's downfall. And as he writes, "because when a person trembles in fear of something, rather than relying on Hashem, this itself causes a snare, one that did not even exist previously, to be placed in front of him regarding that very matter that he feared, whereas when one relies on Hashem, he will be saved even from a problem that already existed." The Beis HaLevi is teaching us that when one chooses to rely on Hashem, the power of that bitachon can save him from the challenges he might be confronting, whereas when a person is not living by the values of bitachon, but rather by the mistaken illusion that there are other forces in the world, such as some terrorist group that might have the power to do something without Hashem first decreeing it, or if one feels that the only reason for their safety is because of soldiers or an army, or perhaps one might feel that the future might depend on the power and authority of a certain president and the like, then the Beis HaLevi writes that that lack of bitachon is actually what brings on that thing that we might be fearing to transpire. There are many things that are potential for fear and anxiety. Choosing to work towards living a life of true reliance on Hashem, of true bitachon, is the best anti-anxiety that we can shoot for. And the more we grow in our bitachon, the less fearful we will be from any situation that might present itself. And on the flip side, the more credibility we give to other forces outside of Hashem, and the more we give in to those fears, as if Hashem was not the one to protect us from them transpiring, the more we bring those things upon ourselves. Bitachon is the foundation of the entire Torah, and as outlined by the Torah commentaries, bitachon is available to every single one of us, regardless of our spiritual level, regardless of our background. Let us make use of this most powerful and important foundation to who and what we are.

318

180 - Bitachon (Part-6)

Nov 8, 2024

4:45

We've been discussing the potency of bitachon and the tremendous emphasis that the Torah commentaries place on making our maximum effort to excel in bitachon. Let us not forget the words of the Vilna Gaon, who says that a life free of sin but devoid of bitachon, although it might be an achievement that one has not performed sin, but nevertheless, because they are not living a life of bitachon, that is considered worse than living a life of severe transgressions, but excelling in bitachon. And as emphasized previously, of course we are called on to stay far away from every form of sin. But there is even more emphasis placed on striving to excel in bitachon, in our reliance on Hashem. We also mentioned the Beis HaLevi who said that it is a great sin to not live life by the values of bitachon. And again we see here the importance the Torah commentaries are placing on and emphasizing in the efforts we need to make to live a life of true reliance on Hashem. The Beis HaLevi also mentioned that whilst bitachon can save a person from the current challenges and fears they might be experiencing, the opposite is also true. When a person is not living by the values of bitachon, but rather giving in to the fears and other powers that seem to be outside of Hashem, that fear in itself is the catalyst that brings about those new troubles that we were fearing. Now the question we might ask is, how am I supposed to control my emotions? If I am currently experiencing something that is scary to me and I am fearful, how can I be commanded not to be fearful? And the fantastic Sefer that we have been discussing, the Artscroll version of the Beis HaLevi on bitachon, cite in the notes that the great Steipler Gaon shed some light on this issue. And he writes that one is certainly not held accountable for natural fear or anxiety that one experiences, which is practically uncontrollable. And as the Gemara states, the Torah was not given to angels and does not expect us to be superhuman. However, the Steipler goes on to explain that we are called on to make an active effort to not think about worrisome thoughts on an ongoing basis, as such thoughts may cause additional fear to one's nature or personality. Rather, one must strengthen oneself with thoughts of emunah and bitachon. The Torah was not given to angels and as the Staipler writes, we are not expected to live superhuman lives, making our endeavor impossible. But there are many areas where we do have the choice to move our lives towards reliance on Hashem - Bitachon, as opposed to the other side, a life without bitachon, where we bring more and more fears into our lives. "Hashem, my Father, what a tremendous gift I have to be able to talk to you about anything and everything, because the truth is that whenever I get stuck in life about anything, I always have somewhere to go. And it's not just an effort that might work, might not work; I am coming to you, Hashem, who is the source of everything, and I know that you're listening to every single word that I am uttering. Hashem, I am trying to internalize the incredible importance of living a life of true emunah, of true bitachon, and the truth of the matter is that I really want to rely on you in all areas of my life, to the point that when I experience something in my life that is causing me to feel anxiety or fear, I want to be able to turn to you, Hashem, and rely on you, and be able to feel calm. Please Hashem, help me to advance in my journey to living a life of true bitachon, where I will more and more turn to you, and exclusively to you, regardless of what I am experiencing. Thank you so much, Hashem, for giving me the incredible opportunity to talk to you whenever I want, and especially now, when I might not know exactly how to inculcate the values of bitachon into my life, but more than any other effort, I know that just by talking to you, you are listening to me. Please Hashem, help me to talk to you with sincerity, and truly mean what I say, and I beg you, Hashem, help me to move successfully towards living a life of true bitachon."

319

181 - Bitachon (Part-7)

Nov 10, 2024

4:39

We've been learning about the tremendous importance of the mitzvah to rely on Hashem - to practice our bitachon. As we've learned, the Torah commentaries write that it is a great sin to not live a life of bitachon. And when one chooses not to rely on Hashem, but rather fear other individuals and circumstances, not only does one now not have the special protection that bitachon provides, but one actually brings about those troubles that they are fearing from coming about. Life is full of challenges and situations that trigger us to feel feelings of fear and anxiety potentially. When we live lives of bitachon, we are able to feel calm, even when the greatest challenge might be presenting itself. I remind myself, who is looking after me. As the Vilna Gaon writes, Just like a baby nursing from its mother does not have a worry in the world, because it has everything it needs and it knows it will never go hungry, in the same way, Hashem is taking care of all of our needs, those that have already arisen and those that might arise in the future. It is not difficult to see the tremendous emphasis that the Torah commentaries place on the importance of living a life of bitachon. But one might say, "I would love to live a life of bitachon and already be there, but the truth is that I don't feel that reliance on Hashem, so how do I get there?" And as always, the solution to all problems is to talk to Hashem about what I need. Every single one of us has the constant opportunity to talk to Hashem about anything and everything, whenever we want. And if we truly are seeing it as our life's mission to grow in our emunah and bitachon, it is vital that we dedicate time to make an effort and give us a space to talk to Hashem and ask Him to help us to grow in our bitachon. "Hashem my Father, You are well aware of what just transpired, that just yesterday I lost my job, and the truth of the matter is that I currently don't have a backup plan. I don't know where to from here. I have people that are dependent on me, and without the salary that I was receiving, I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do in the coming months. My natural tendency, Hashem, is that I am petrified. I know that the consequences of this could be devastating, and Hashem, if I don't remind myself to internalize the values of bitachon, I know that I'm going to get tremendously fearful, anxious, depressed, and many other negative feelings. But You have taught us that You ultimately run every single detail in our lives, and I've been making an effort to try to grow in my emunah, as well as taking those principles and applying them practically. Hashem, I don't want to rely on any other individual, nor any other circumstance. Help me to internalize the true perspective. My ex-boss was never paying my salary. You Hashem exclusively were always paying my salary, giving me the money that I need. And although until this moment You decided that the way You would like to give me my sustenance is via my ex-boss, the only thing that has changed now is that the method of You delivering my sustenance to me is going to change. If I am God forbid to think that I am in the hands of my ex-boss, there is so much to fear, because there is no way I am getting this job again. And the truth of the matter is that I don't have an alternative right now, and I don't know where to from here. Please help me not to be fearful, but rather to rely on You. Of course I am going to make an effort to try to find alternatives, to fulfill the mitzvah and my obligation of hishtadlus - to make an effort. But to feel feelings of fear and anxiety is in essence coming from a place of me not having true bitachon, because Hashem, if I know that You are my exclusive provider, You have many ways to provide for me. Thank You so much, Hashem, for giving me the opportunity to talk to You, the King of Kings, the Master of the Universe, in personal conversation, intimately, whenever I choose to."

320

182 - Bitachon (Part-8)

Nov 11, 2024

4:46

It's important to emphasize that no one can truly tell another individual's level of emunah and bitachon. One might see another individual who appears to be quite fearful and anxious, and one might therefore conclude that individual is not excelling in their emunah and bitachon, because again, as we've learned many times, when one lives a life of bitachon, one relies on Hashem and doesn't feel fear and anxiety from the troubles and challenges that present themselves in our lives. However, the truth is that that is not the case, because every individual is influenced by the nature of the way Hashem has made them, as well as the nurture they have received throughout their lives, shaping their personality. It's possible to have an individual who doesn't feel anxious or fearful about anything, even without the values of emunah and bitachon, and this could just be due to their personality and their nature. Of course, it is never our place to judge another individual, and we should always try to see the good in one another. Our true scorecard, only Hashem knows. How successful we might appear to be in our endeavor to excel in bitachon depends on our personality and other factors, and therefore if we are naturally a very tense individual, but by working on bitachon, we are able to minimize our fears and anxiety even slightly, such an individual with such an achievement might be on a much higher level than many others who appear to be of less anxiety, worry and fear. But it is important to emphasize that whatever we can do in order to minimize bringing in any more anxiety and fear into our lives, we should make our maximum effort to do so, because remember, not living by the values of bitachon is a great sin as the Torah commentaries have taught us, and the greatest gift is to be able to rely on Hashem and have the security of the Master of the Universe Himself. The Gemara in Shabbos 151b instructs that one is not to sleep in an empty house alone, and whilst there are many details to the exact parameters of this halacha which we will not delve into right now, for our purposes we'll mention the commentary of the Meiri who explains that the reason for the statement of the Gemara that one is not to sleep in an empty house alone is because it brings oneself into the test of fear. For many people, being alone can bring one to feelings of fear and therefore says the Meiri, if you are able to avoid such a situation, one should do so, because again, the opposite of the mode of thought of bitachon is being in a situation of fear, and anything we can do to minimize that should be done. And in a similar vein, the Gemara in Bava Kamma 60b emphasizes the importance of staying indoors during times of plague. And although again there are many details to this statement, the Ben Ish Chai explains that this is not only a health precaution, but also a method of reducing fear, because when people remain indoors, they will not see nor hear about illness or death being caused by the plague, so people will be less frightened. We are all made up with different natures and different personalities, and different people are triggered to fear and anxiety by different things. Whilst we can never know the level of another individual with regards to their emunah or bitachon, and even many times our own level, because one doesn't know - is the fact that I feel anxious due to the fact that I don't have enough bitachon in my life, or is the fact that I feel anxious due to my inherent nature? Regardless, that is not our job. Our job is to make our maximum effort to minimize the fear and anxiety as much as possible, and any situation that might provoke bringing more fear and anxiety into our lives should be minimized as much as possible. For many people, constantly following the news updates can trigger tremendous anxiety, and if that is the case, that would certainly be a modern application of these Torah sources that we have learnt. "Thank you Hashem for giving me your incredible Torah sources to teach me the real keys to the treasures of life, how to live a life of true bitachon, of true reliance on you, which ultimately leads to a life free of anxiety and free of fear."

321

183 - Bitachon (Part-9)

Nov 12, 2024

4:51

In an ideal world where one is able to reap all the benefits of a life of true bitachon, true reliance on Hashem, we would not be required to make Hishtadlus - to make our own efforts. And as the Torah commentaries teach, the only reason that we are required to fulfill our mitzvah of Hishtadlus is because it is a curse that was placed on us when the initial man, Adam, ate from the tree. However, the Torah commentaries delve into what seems to be an apparent paradox, because on the one hand, we have a mitzvah to absolutely rely on Hashem exclusively, and on the other hand, we have a mitzvah to make a real effort on our own accord. One who is interested in researching this topic further is invited to view our 8-part series that was posted at Recording 97. Briefly for our purposes right now, we are called on and obligated from the Torah to make every effort to live a life of absolute bitachon, which means to believe that Hashem exclusively runs every single detail in my life and to make a practical effort to turn that belief into the way I practically live my life, not feeling feelings of fear from other individuals, not flattering my boss, the doctor, or whoever else I might sometimes be led to feel that I am relying on. And in truth, if not for the fact of the curse that was initially placed on mankind, the curse to perform Hishtadlus, I would not have needed to make an effort, because, as the Mesillas Yesharim teaches, the effort that I make has no correlation to the result that I achieve; the money that I receive, the recovery from illness, finding my marriage partner, or success in whatever other area I might be dealing with, has nothing to do with the efforts that I make. Hishtadlus is just an obligation, a curse, but the fact that we are obligated to live out that curse should not mislead us into thinking that our own efforts could even slightly contribute to our endeavors. Let us remember the words of the Sefer Hachinuch that are quoted in the Biur Halacha right at the beginning of the book, where he writes that as we know there is a mitzvah not to serve idols, and as he explains, included in that mitzvah is to believe without a shadow of a doubt that the only power in the world is Hashem and no other individual, nor circumstance or effort can contribute even slightly towards the happenings in my life, and believing that Hashem runs 99% of my life, but just 1% is left up to another individual circumstance is included in the category of idol worship. So whilst we have a mitzvah to fulfill the curse of making an effort, of making a Hishtadlus, it is of paramount importance to remind ourselves of the dangers of having the wrong approach to Hishtadlus, to making an effort, which could borderline on idol worship. "Hashem, I am currently feeling quite fearful about the current war that is taking place. Please help me to internalize that You alone are the one protecting us. Although we have an obligation to set up an army and fight the enemy, because we have an obligation to perform the mitzvah of Hishtadlus, to make an effort, nevertheless please Hashem help me not to be misled to the wrong perspective that would make me think that the only reason we are safe is because there is an army protecting us. Help me to appreciate and pray for every single soldier fighting for us, whilst at the same time to realize that what the army is doing for us is just fulfilling the mitzvah of Hishtadlus, which ultimately comes from the curse which obligates us to make an effort, but the only source of our protection is exclusively from You, and by me realizing that You are my sole protector, I will be led to a life free of anxiety, I will not fear what the enemy is threatening to do. By fearing the enemy, as I have learned in Your Torah sources, that can God forbid attract some of those things that I am fearing, whereas when I adopt an approach of absolute bitachon, reliance on You, I have nothing to worry about, no reason to feel anxious, because I know that You Hashem are protecting me."

322

184 - Bitachon (Part-10)

Nov 13, 2024

4:59

Rav Dessler, in his Michtav Me'eliyahu, part 5, page 74, writes that there are two approaches to bitachon. Approach number one is where I realize that there is absolutely no other power in the world and Hashem is exclusively the only one orchestrating every minute detail in the world, the only one that can help me and the only one that I should turn to. But at the same time, although I might be hopeful and am called on to pray to Hashem for what I desire, I nevertheless don't necessarily expect that to happen. Hashem has many considerations and although we are called on to pray for what we think is best for us, as we are taught from many Torah sources, nevertheless, what Hashem does is His business and we can trust that that is for the best. Rav Dessler mentions that there also is a second approach to bitachon and this approach outlines that one relies on Hashem to such a heavy extent that one is certain Hashem will give me exactly what I am requesting. To one who has not heard this concept before in Torah sources, at first this can be a difficult idea to digest. Who says I deserve what I am asking for? Hashem has many considerations. Maybe He'll decide that it's best for me not to receive what I am requesting, and many other similar considerations. As always, whether we understand or we don't, we always follow the only true perspective, Hashem's perspective, the perspective of the Torah and the Torah commentaries. As mentioned previously, the fantastic work by Artscroll, the Beis HaLevi on bitachon, authored by Rabbi David Sutton, outlines this and many similar concepts in a fantastic manner. The Beis HaLevi himself, in his classic essay on bitachon, writes that a person who truly chooses to rely on Hashem for a particular need or something that they might be lacking, in his words, "bevadai yasig ma sheyechsar lo mehitztarchuto" - he will for sure obtain what he is currently lacking. Although this approach might seem like a novelty, there are many, many Torah sources that teach that this is the ideal approach to what it means to have bitachon, to be able to rely on Hashem to the extent that I am so certain He will give me exactly what I am asking for. To name a few others that bring this approach to bitachon, Rav Yosef Albo in his Sefer Haikkarim, as well as Rabbeinu Bachya in the Kad Hakemach, as well as Rav Chaim Vital in Shaarei Kedusha, and many others. Both approaches are valid, and depending on circumstances and perhaps other factors, each approach can be used at the relevant times. "Hashem my Father, I have been struggling to find my marriage partner, as you know, for a long time. For whatever reason you have challenged me in this area, I know Hashem that You exclusively orchestrate every single detail in my life and in everybody's life, and when You decide that my husband should come along, You and You exclusively will make that happen. So there is nothing for me to worry about. And Hashem I beg You, please let it happen soon. I have been waiting for so long, and I beg You, in the very near future, please will You send me my marriage partner. And at the same time Hashem, I acknowledge that I don't know the ins and outs of Your calculations, and whatever You do, I thank You for that, because I know that You will always do only what is best for me." This is certainly a very valid approach to bitachon, where I am trusting in Hashem completely, acknowledging that He is the sole orchestrator of every detail, but not necessarily expecting what I have requested. The second approach to bitachon would say, "Hashem my Father, I have been waiting for so long to find my marriage partner. I am going to trust in You exclusively because I know that You are the sole orchestrator to every detail in my life and everybody's life. I know that in one second, You can send me my marriage partner. Hashem, I am going to rely on You to the extent that I am certain that You will send me exactly what I need. Hashem, I am begging You that in the near future, You will send me my marriage partner. And I am going to feel now Hashem, as if You have already found my marriage partner, because I know that that is what You are going to do." Thank you Hashem for teaching us all the approaches about bitachon and giving us the keys to be able to live a truly meaningful life.

323

185 - Bitachon (Part-11)

Nov 14, 2024

4:59

We mentioned that the Torah commentaries cite two different approaches to bitachon. The first, more well-known and conventional approach to bitachon is that we are all called on to rely on Hashem exclusively, expressing to Hashem that we know that He is the exclusive orchestrator to every happening in our lives, and we are called on to hope and pray that Hashem will provide us with the things that we need, whilst at the same time we accept that not necessarily will Hashem come through for us in the way that we desire, but rather that whatever He does decide to do, we trust that that is for sure the best for us. The second approach to bitachon is where one is so confident in what they are hoping and asking Hashem for, to the point that they are now asking Hashem in the form that they will for sure receive what they are asking for. We are taught by many Torah commentaries, such as Rav Chaim Vital, the Beis HaLevi, Rav Dessler, the Steipler and many others, that the power of bitachon is so strong that relying on Hashem causes Hashem to give us what we are relying on Him for. Not only that, the Midrash teaches that even a wicked individual who relies on Hashem reaps all the benefits of bitachon and following suit to this Midrash is the Ramban and others who again teach that even a thief or some other wicked individual who chooses to rely on Hashem, Hashem will come through for that individual. The bottom line is that bitachon is completely independent of our scorecard. Although we are of course called on to make every effort to stay away from sin and do as many mitzvos as we can, nevertheless, the power of bitachon is something completely independent to our scorecard. Even if a person is tainted with tremendous impurity from many transgressions and sin, of course as the Torah sources teach us, there will always be consequences for those actions unless a person repents for them; nevertheless, when one chooses to practice bitachon and rely on Hashem, it does not matter anymore what one's scorecard is, in terms of the bitachon being able to work and Hashem coming through for the individual. The many Torah commentaries that mention this type of bitachon where one is able to rely on Hashem to the point that they are certain Hashem will give them what they are asking for can be illustrated further by some passages we find in the Talmud. The Gemara in Kesubos 67b cites a story about Rava who was once approached by a needy person asking for food from the communal charity fund. "What do you like to eat?" Rava asked. "Fattened chicken and aged wine", the man said. "But you're taking from the public charity fund", Rava replied. "Do you really expect to receive such extravagant food and wine when you're relying on charity?" "What do you mean?" The man said. "I get what I need from Hashem." And the needy man quoted a verse to support his statement that it is not Rava who is providing for him, but rather Hashem exclusively is his sole provider. The needy man said, "Hashem does not provide sustenance in a general manner, but rather provides each individual with his needs. If so, if one relies on Hashem, he will receive everything exactly how he wants it." And the Gemara goes on to say that just then Rava's sister, who he had not seen in many years came to visit him and she brought him as a gift - fattened chicken and aged wine. Rava then gave over the chicken and wine to the pauper and acknowledged that the pauper was right and it was now absolutely clear that the sustenance that was due for the pauper was not even slightly coming from Rava, but rather exclusively from Hashem, and therefore Rava acknowledged that the pauper was correct in that although he was seeking funds from others, it was proper to still consider his own self-worth and dignity. When one is not living a life of bitachon and one has to take a favor from another individual, the Torah approach is to always be appreciative. But if one feels like this individual is my provider, that sometimes leads to flattery and other sins which the Torah prohibits us from committing because again, that is not my provider, that is just the messenger; the only provider for every single thing in my life is Hashem Himself.

324

171 - Bittersweet Jewels

Oct 29, 2024

4:21

We've been discussing how one of the most important fundamentals of living a happy life is being able to notice all the blessings we receive on a daily basis, which will thereby lead us to expressing gratitude to Hashem for the many blessings He constantly gives us. Expressing our feelings of gratitude to Hashem is clearly one of the fundamentals and most basic principles of the Torah. As we've learned many times, there is a Torah passage which outlines many curses which could befall the Jewish people just because they did not serve Hashem with simcha. When we neglect living lives of gratitude and joy, although one might be performing the mitzvahs in a practical way, one is missing one of the most important components of what it means to live life as a Jew. We are taught that in the future, all of the animal offerings which were brought in the temple will be discontinued except for one, the toda offering, because the toda offering is to say thank you. Although all of the offerings might be extremely elated and holy beyond anything we can imagine, however, the level that we will rise to in the future will be even greater than that and therefore the offerings will be unnecessary and won't have a place anymore. However, the offering of thank you will always remain because to be grateful is such a fundamental component of what it means to be a Jew that will remain with us forever regardless of our spiritual levels that we climb to. One component of expressing our gratitude is contemplating on all the amazing gifts and blessings that Hashem has blessed us with and as discussed, dedicating a certain amount of time every day to make efforts in thanking Hashem for all of these things will certainly be very conducive to living a life of gratitude. In addition to all the things that we perceive as gifts from Hashem, be it food, health, family, money, relationships or whatever else it might be, the halacha outlines that just like we are called on to bless Hashem and thank Him for all the things that we perceive as good, we are also called on to bless Hashem and thank Him for the things that we perceive as bad. This is a teaching from the Gemara which is also codified in the Shulchan Aruch as the law. It should not be viewed as a pious act for some righteous individual on a very high level, but rather applicable to every Jew that we should internalize that we need to thank Hashem for everything, both what we perceive as good as well as what we perceive as bad. As we know, there are blessings that are outlined for an individual to recite when tragedy strikes such as death, loss of large amount of money and other things. And the reason for that is because if we truly trust Hashem, we will understand that anything that happens is ultimately for our best, even when it might seem like there is no possible way for this to be good. But if we are able to humble ourselves to realize that we have no idea what's truly going on in the bigger picture of things in Hashem's books, but rather we live our lives with a trust that everything that He does is for sure for our best, then we will be able to trust and appreciate and be grateful for anything that happens. Of course, we are allowed to feel feelings of pain because we are human beings, and the halacha itself even dictates certain periods such as the mourning period for losing a relative and other similar things. At the same time, we are called on to feel feelings of appreciation and gratitude for everything that Hashem does because if Hashem decided to do something, there is no question that it is for my best. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me that everything that happens in my life is a gift from You and always going to be for my best."

325

187 - Bitachon (Part-13)

Nov 17, 2024

4:38

As mentioned many times, Torah sources teach, "HaShem Tzilcha" - HaShem is your shadow. Just like if one puts out one finger into the sun, the shadow that you'll see is that of one finger, whereas if you put five fingers out, then you'll see a shadow of five fingers, in the same way, when it comes to reliance on HaShem, the more one relies on HaShem, the more one will see HaShem come through for them. We've mentioned the approach of bitachon that many Torah commentaries bring, that one relies on HaShem about something that they might be lacking, to the point that they are absolutely certain that HaShem will give them exactly what they have requested. And again, there are many levels. There might be times where it is more appropriate to say, "HaShem, I know You can do anything, but I don't expect anything in particular. Whatever You decide, that's what I want to go with." And at other times, one might feel it more appropriate to say, "HaShem, I really need this job opportunity to come through. Until now we've really struggled and I'm not even able to perform mitzvos in the ideal way because of our lack of funds. HaShem, I really would like to be able to rely on You, that You will come through for me because I really believe that there is no other force in the world except for You. You exclusively orchestrate every single detail in my life. HaShem, I know You will come through for me." Whichever approach of bitachon one is taking, it is absolutely vital to do our best to work towards being sincere in our reliance on HaShem and in what we are requesting from Him. There is a story told about Rav Yisrael Salanter. He was once sitting with another great Torah leader and they were having the following argument. Rav Yisrael Selanter insisted that with bitachon one can obtain anything he wants, while the other great Torah leader argued that this is not the case. To prove his point, Rav Yisrael said that he will have bitachon to receive a gold watch. And at that moment, there was a knock at the door; a man walked in and handed his watch to Rav Yisrael. There is no question in the world that bitachon works, and there is no question in the world that we believe what the Torah sources say - that bitachon is not related to our deeds. It is available to every single one of us. Yes, we might not all be on the level of Rav Yisrael Salanter to need a watch and be able to rely on Hashem to the point that we receive it a few minutes later, but there are many levels in between where we might currently be and where our maximum potential might be at. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me that relying on You is so powerful that it works to the point that many Torah authorities write, that if I rely on You for something, I will for sure receive that item. Now Hashem, I know that there are many levels and there may be many reasons why I might not receive something that I choose to rely on You for. If I am fully sincere in my reliance, maybe at times I might be able to be in this category, but maybe sometimes I am insincere. Please Hashem help me to move towards a bitachon where I am able to rely on You with absolute sincerity, with absolute reliance, that You exclusively provide for me, can send me everything and always have my best interest in mind. And Hashem, even though You've taught me that bitachon is completely independent of my actions, and if I rely on You, You will come through for me even if I have a messy scorecard, however, at the same time, please help me to remember my priorities. It's not about what I want and then using the power of bitachon to live life in the way that I would like, but rather first setting my priorities right. What is important in life? Is it just about making efforts to rely on You to get the new car that I want? Sometimes there is a place for that, but much more important than that, my priorities should always be to receive things that I need in order to enhance my service to You. Hashem, You know the reason that I would like more money. I would like to fulfill the tremendous mitzvah to be able to give more charity. And I'm going to have bitachon in you, that this particular venture that I'm exploring, that You are going to make it successful so that I should be able to get more money in order to fulfill Your mitzvah of giving charity in the best way possible. Thank You Hashem for the incredible gift of bitachon and the incredible gift to talk to You on a constant basis."

326

188 - Bitachon (Part-14)

Nov 18, 2024

4:48

We have been discussing the approach in bitachon that many Torah commentaries outline, where one can be so confident in relying on Hashem about something, to the point that according to this approach, one who is sick can have bitachon that they will get better; one who is short of money can have bitachon that they will find the sustenance they need; one who is searching for a marriage partner would be able to be confident that they will for sure find the one that they are seeking. The question is, if bitachon is so powerful, and as we are taught - independent of our actions and available to every single one of us, then certainly when it comes to the very righteous people, the tzaddikim, why is it that so many of them do undergo suffering? If they would just practice their bitachon, then they would be able to be saved from their suffering. There are many approaches offered by the Torah commentaries to resolve this question. The bottom line is, there is no question in the world that when one relies on Hashem, Hashem comes through for them. We will mention four approaches that are cited in the appendix of the Artscroll Beis Halevi on B'tachon. One approach to answer this question is that of the Vilna Gaon. He writes that although one might have strong bitachon, it might not be strong enough to protect him from the suffering that he is undergoing. According to the level of danger or suffering that is present, one might need a stronger bitachon to remain calm through even this dangerous situation. A second approach is that of the Brisker Rav, who says that many people think they have bitachon, but in truth their relaxed mood is as a result of not being aware of the seriousness of the danger they are in. Had they known how dire their situation really was, they would indeed have been very afraid. The Leshem outlines two more approaches. In the one he explains that there are times when Hashem makes the drastic decision to suspend a person's free will in order to carry out his decree, and sometimes for reasons concealed from us, he will issue a harsh decree that needs to be executed, but if the individual would have bitachon in this situation, the decree would not be able to be executed, and therefore what Hashem does, He interferes with the individual's ability to have bitachon in order to allow this to happen. And the Leshem offers another approach, where he says that the great sages were on such a high level of bitachon that they accepted everything Hashem did, and did not even have a desire to be relieved of any pain or suffering. Although this approach of bitachon that we've been discussing is less conventional and perhaps less well known, it is certainly worth learning about it, as many Torah commentaries do bring it down as a valid approach, and it can certainly be relevant at different times to our lives. However, what is super vital to remember and internalize is that having bitachon in Hashem should never turn into a test to see if Hashem will come through for me, then I will decide to continue in the path of serving Hashem. If that is the level that one is holding on, then this path of bitachon would certainly not be relevant to my current spiritual level. One's approach needs to be that before the fact, one davens to Hashem, one hopes to Hashem, and one might at times even be able to practice bitachon - reliance on Hashem, to the point that they are confident Hashem will come through for them in the way they desire. However, after the fact, whether I received what I was requesting, or also if I didn't receive it, it is so vital to always live with the understanding that everything Hashem does is for the best, and if He did not come through for us in the way that we desired, it is nevertheless for sure for the best for us, because Hashem always does only what is best for us. In fact, one of the great early commentators, the Smag, followed by the Aruch HaShulchan, writes that just like there is a mitzvah to judge another Jew favorably, and if you see somebody else doing something that might appear suspicious, we have a mitzvah in the Torah to judge them favorably, in the same vein, we are obligated to judge Hashem favorably. When things transpire throughout our lives, we have a mitzvah to try to find reason why Hashem would do that for us, and even though we of course can't understand Hashem's reason for doing things, nevertheless we certainly can give ourselves reason to justify that everything Hashem would do for us will always only be for our best.

327

189 - Bitachon (Part-15)

Nov 19, 2024

4:09

We've discussed some of the details and the different approaches that the Torah commentaries take when it comes to bitachon. The bottom line is that Hashem has given us the most incredible, tremendous opportunity to rely on Hashem for all of our needs. We ought to constantly remind ourselves that Hashem is continuously orchestrating every single detail to every single one of our lives, and it is absolutely absurd to place our trust in any other individual or circumstance. Not only that, as the Beis HaLevi taught us, when one does place their trust in another individual or circumstance, or give some form of credibility to fear and anxiety that one might be experiencing, one actually attracts that fear to come about, God forbid. Besides the tremendous benefits that we reap in this world from having bitachon in Hashem, having the protection and security and anti-anxiety stronger than any other, as well as the outright obligation we have from numerous verses in the Torah that command us to have bitachon in Hashem, as well as the tremendous sin it is to live a life without bitachon as discussed previously, when we do choose to make our maximum effort to place our bitachon in Hashem, we are fulfilling our ultimate purpose in this world, because remember, the only reason Hashem created us is to be good to us, and as Torah sources teach, that takes place in the next world, and the only reason we're in this world is to earn our place in the next world. And as we've discussed many times, the Torah sources teach that the main way we achieve earning our place in the next world, and therefore our main focus in this world, is to have emunah and bitachon, and develop our emunah and bitachon as much as possible. The Beis Halevi writes further that when an individual encounters some distress, God forbid, or a shortage of sustenance, his approach should not be to increase in hishtadlus, but rather, he should examine his improper deeds that have brought about the situation for him, and repent from his evil deeds. He should pour forth his supplications before Hashem, that Hashem should save him, and pray to the One who wealth and property belong to. He should fortify his heart with bitachon and place his hope in Hashem. He should confirm in his heart that there is no other one than Hashem from whom to seek help from. There are many resources that we have available today, giving us the opportunity to make more and more of an effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon. The Beis Halevi on Bitachon by Artscroll is one fantastic example, and as mentioned previously, I highly recommend whoever is able to get a copy to do so, and reap the tremendous benefits from going through the many different examples and angles and wealth of Torah information that one will gain by doing so. The verse in Yirmiyahu states, "Cursed is a man who trusts in another individual." Whereas the other verse states, "Blessed is the individual that trusts in Hashem." "Hashem, Master of the Universe, thank you so much for the privilege to be learning about emunah and bitachon. Thank you, Hashem, for teaching me that it is such a tremendous sin to live a life without bitachon, that you have an explicit verse cursing one who does so. Whereas the opposite is also true. Thank you, Hashem, for teaching me in your verse that when I place my trust in you, the verse calls me a blessed individual." May we all merit to grow to our highest potential, both in emunah and bitachon. And b'ezrat Hashem, may we all merit to be in the category of the verse, "Blessed is the individual who trusts in Hashem."

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190 - Only Today

Nov 20, 2024

4:47

The Gemara in Sota 48b states that a person who has sufficient provisions for today, yet feels anxious about tomorrow's supplies, is considered a person of little faith. This passage in the Talmud is teaching us that if someone is so impoverished that he only has money for a meal tonight, with no resources to provide for tomorrow, he should nevertheless not worry nor feel anxious. Rather, he should feel calm in the belief that just like Hashem came through and provided for me today, so too He will not let me down tomorrow nor at any other time in my life. We've discussed many times how the only absolutely true perspective that can exist is when we're looking from Hashem's viewpoint, which ultimately He has expressed to us in the Torah by the many Torah sources that we have available to us. In this passage, the Gemara is teaching us that we are called on to aim to reach a level of such faith in Hashem that even if we would only have food just for today and we have no means to get food for tomorrow, although our instinctive response might be to panic and be very anxious about where we're going to receive our future sustenance from, in this passage, Hashem's perspective is teaching us that the right approach is to aim to reach a level of feeling calm, that just like Hashem took care of me yesterday, the day before, as well as as far back as I can remember, so too Hashem will come through for me in the future and give me the sustenance that I need, even if it might seem like a very dire situation with no solution. Let us remind ourselves about what the Torah commentaries teach us, that ultimately Hashem created this world just to be good to us and to give to us, and ultimately the true destination where we will receive that good and pleasure that Hashem has in store for us is in the next world, in Olam Haba. And as the commentaries teach, we're in this world to earn our place in the next world. And of course there are many things that we can do in this world that can contribute to how we earn our place in the next world, but ultimately if we would have to sum up into one word, the exact process of how we earn our place in the next world to the maximum degree, as the Ramban in his final commentary to Parashat Bo writes, that the purpose of all the mitzvos, and in fact the only reason for Hashem creating us, is that we come to have emunah in Hashem. Ramban is pointing out to us that the main method that we achieve our purpose in this world, which ultimately will lead to earning us our highest possible place in the next world, is by making our maximum effort to grow in our emunah. We've also discussed previously how the Mesillas Yesharim and many others write that one of the fundamental purposes of Hashem creating us in this world is to give us the opportunity to pass the tests and challenges that He presents us, and by doing so, giving us the opportunity to earn unimaginable reward in the next world. There are many tests that we experience throughout our lives, but again, if we'd have to sum up the test of life into one word, the answer would be emunah. Because everything in the world that we live in, the way that the human eye sees it, and that the human body experiences it, seems to contradict many of the values of the Torah and of emunah. If one were to only have money, just for today, with no idea how they will even get their next meal for tomorrow, and certainly no plan what they're going to do in a month's time, the standard approach of logic in this world, and that many people would take, would be to panic, and perhaps to justify the reason for one's panicking, but again, we are so privileged to have Hashem's perspective, that we are called on to work towards having such solid belief in Hashem, that even if we have no idea to where we're going to receive our sustenance from, our job is to have emunah, that just like Hashem has come through for me so many times before, He will come through for me again.

329

191 - Shooting For The Stars

Nov 21, 2024

4:11

We mentioned the Gemara in Sota 48b, which states that a person who is going through a severe financial struggle, to the point that although they do have food for today, they literally do not know how they are going to manage for tomorrow, and nevertheless the Gemara had stated that if one feels anxious in such a situation, they are considered a person of little emunah. As we've discussed many times, seeing as emunah is our ultimate purpose and main focus whilst we are alive in this world, it is easy to understand how this is going to be our life's work. The goal is not to master emunah overnight and perhaps even over many years, because there are many many levels. Our goal on a day to day basis and the way we achieve true success is by making our maximum effort in growing as high as we can in our emunah and bitachon efforts. When the Gemara states that if I only have food for today and I have no idea what I'm going to do for tomorrow, that I'm supposed to feel calm because I know, just like Hashem has always looked after me in so many other ways, He'll come through for me again; perhaps there are only a few people that after many years of growth in their emunah and bitachon can reach such a level that were they to be in such a dire situation, they would feel completely calm with no anxiety whatsoever because they are 100% clear about the fact that their sustenance is completely independent of their job, of their efforts or anything else going on in their life, but rather is exclusively dependent on Hashem Himself and just because to my limited human eye it seems like I am in trouble, but let me remind myself, Hashem is the one that created the world and He created me and if He created me He obviously has a plan for where my sustenance is supposed to come from. If I internalize that Hashem is truly the one who is exclusively providing for me, then there is no reason to feel anxious. Again, such a high level is probably not relevant to most of us today, but the Gemara is teaching us where to shoot at. This is the ideal level and course of living that we're supposed to aim at. Our goal is to make our maximum effort to grow higher and higher in our reliance on Hashem in feeling more calm and less anxious when troubles seem to present themselves. If there is potential reason for me to feel anxiety because of my financial situation, whether in the extreme case like the Gemara is outlining to us that I might not even have food for tomorrow, or perhaps I know what I'm doing for the next month but thereafter I feel like I might be in a bit of trouble. Even if before learning about Emunah and Bitachon my anxiety level would be at a 10 and now by learning Emunah and Bitachon and trying to take these messages to heart and apply them in a practical way, I would only have an anxiety level of 9 - that is a tremendous accomplishment. If we are to take to heart what the many Torah commentaries write, that our main focus in this world should be directed to our Emunah and Bitachon efforts, we should certainly treat it as highest priority to make our maximum effort to be exposed to Emunah and Bitachon as much as possible. Baruch Hashem, in our day and age there are many recordings available, there are many books available, for all levels, and our effort needs to be to find what inspires us the most, to grow in our Emunah and Bitachon, and the more time, energy and effort that we put into learning about Emunah and Bitachon and thereafter taking the concepts that we might have learnt and contemplating on them, trying to take them to heart and live by their values in a practical way throughout our lives, the more we will be achieving our purpose in this world.

330

192 - Just Your Best

Nov 22, 2024

4:32

We've been discussing the Gemara in Sota 48b, which states that a person who is so short on their sustenance, that they only have sufficient provisions for today, with no idea of how they're going to obtain basic supplies for even tomorrow, one is called on to trust in Hashem, that just like He came through for us so many times before, He will once again come through and provide us with what we need. There are many reasons to make efforts into growing in our emunah and bitachon. Most importantly, that is what the Torah commentaries teach us, is our ultimate ticket to our place in the next world. As the Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo that we've quoted many times states, that the purpose of all the mitzvos, and in fact the only reason for Hashem creating us in the first place, is that we come to have emunah in Hashem. And besides the fact that taking the principles of emunah and applying them in a practical way using bitachon, is an outright obligation from the Torah, and Hashem blesses those who rely on Him and curses those who rely on other means, and many other things that we've learnt and discussed about emunah and bitachon, additionally, when a person moves more towards relying on Hashem sincerely, it is the greatest anti-anxiety medication that one can find. When we rely on other things, there are so many things to be scared of, so many things that can transpire that are true reason for fear, be it other individuals who might have more power than us, or certain situations which may be unpredictable. But when we work towards relying on Hashem more and more, the less anxious and more calm we feel about anything and everything, because we know just like Hashem was the initial creator of the world, and just like Hashem continuously dictates what will happen at every single moment to the whole world at large, as well as to every single intricate detail in every single one of our lives, seeing as He is controlling, guiding, and dictating everything that will transpire in my life, what am I to worry about? However, as we've been discussing, there are many levels to emunah, and when we read these Torah passages, our job is to internalize that yes, to truly internalize the values of emunah and bitachon is going to be a tremendous mountain to climb, and a difficult challenge, because again, that is ultimately the reason that we exist in this world, so obviously it can't come easy. But again, the only reason Hashem created us in the first place is to give to us, is to be kind to us, and Hashem does not give us impossible challenges. Hashem does not expect us to be angels or something beyond what our maximum potential would allow us to be. We are only called on to make our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon, and Hashem sees our efforts. The more we make an effort to be more exposed to the Torah sources and inspiration about emunah and bitachon via the many platforms available in today's day and age, the more we are truly being successful in our endeavor to climb the ladder of emunah and bitachon in this world. Although we have discussed many Torah sources and passages that emphasize the great importance of emunah and bitachon, each time one learns Torah sources and inspiration about these concepts, it helps us to be constantly mindful to make an effort to grow to our maximum potential in these areas. The Vilna Gaon in Even Shleima, chapter 3, writes that emunah and bitachon are the core of the entire Torah, and he thereafter goes on to explain that having emunah and bitachon, which is the core of the entire Torah, refers to the Gemara that we've been discussing, that one who only has provisions just for today nevertheless does not feel anxious about tomorrow's supplies due to their faith in Hashem. We've also mentioned numerous times how the Vilna Gaon in the same passage, in Even Shlema, chapter 3, writes that one who commits severe transgressions but nevertheless excels in bitachon is better than one who does not transgress but does not have bitachon. The core and source of the whole of Judaism and all of our service to Hashem is emunah.

331

193 - The Deciding Factor

Nov 24, 2024

4:43

As we've discussed many times, our ultimate purpose and focus in this world is to make our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon. We mentioned the Gemara in Sota 48b, which states that a person who only has sufficient provisions for just today is called on to not feel anxious about what's going to happen because just like Hashem has come through for me so many times in the past, so too He'll come through for me tomorrow. We need to remind ourselves of the tremendous gifts that Hashem gives us on a constant basis. If one were to be blind for one day and have a prognosis that this is going to continue for the entire next year without being able to see anything for an entire year, how much money would a person be prepared to pay just to be able to regain their eyesight for this year? Everyone I've discussed this question with has replied that they would pay everything that they have, they'd be prepared to sell their house, sell their belongings and anything they might own just to regain their eyesight, even if it's just for a one-year period. Most of us have been given the privilege to be able to see 24 hours a day with an automatic cleaning system, without pain. When we are called on to make our maximum effort to apply the values of emunah in a practical way, and a challenge has presented itself, and in our example from this passage in the Gemara, I don't know where I'm going to get my future provisions from; although my instinctive response might be to feel anxious, but if I am able to make an effort to stop and think about all the many things that Hashem has given me; in the countless ways that He's come through for me; how many times did He give me a meal in the past? How many days have I lived with fantastic eyesight? How many times have I been able to go to the bathroom and relieve myself without pain? In a sense, the principles of emunah are quite easy and intuitive to internalize when we become more in touch with the world of emunah. We owe the world to Hashem. Hashem comes through for us 24 hours a day in so many areas, and sometimes just because that is the norm that He does for so many people, we fail to acknowledge that this is a gift from Hashem's doing, that He has personally orchestrated to every single one of us. When we make an effort to think about all the areas that Hashem does come through for us in, besides for being appreciative and grateful to Hashem for the many gifts and areas that He's come through for us, which is a mitzvah unto itself, it is also a springboard for inspiration and motivation to be able to have faith that in the future everything is going to work out just perfectly according to Hashem's plans, and there is no reason to feel anxiety, because just like Hashem's come through for me in so many ways in the past, and just like right now He's the one who's helping me to see and to go to the bathroom and the many other million things, so too He will come through for me in this area too. He is the only one who can help me in this predicament that I am experiencing. Again, emunah is not something that we can just pick up a book or press a button and suddenly we will be completely transformed. It is our life's work and the more effort that we make to expose ourselves to the Torah concepts and internalize them and think about the Torah ideas, Hashem's perspective, of how to live a life of emunah, the more growth we will achieve, which is ultimately all Hashem expects from us. The Chofetz Chaim in Machaneh Yisrael, part 3, writes, "The foremost consideration of how much reward we will receive in the time of redemption, is based on how much emunah we lived with. If we are sincere in our belief, and regularly reflect on the knowledge, that every detail that transpires in our lives is orchestarted by Hashem and is always for our best, our reward in the future will be exeedengly great, filled with goodness." Here is another Torah passage we are reading from the Chofetz Chaim, one of the greatest Jews ever to live, who is again teaching us that the foremost consideration, how Hashem will judge us in the time of the future, will be based on how much emunah we lived with.

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194 - Emunah For YOU

Nov 25, 2024

4:48

We mentioned the Gemara in Sota, which states that a person who has sufficient provisions just for today, yet feels anxious about tomorrow's supplies, is considered a person of little faith. We also mentioned the Chofetz Chaim in Machanei Yisrael, Chapter 3, who writes that the foremost consideration of how much reward we will receive in the time of redemption is based on how much emunah we lived with. We furthermore spoke about the Vilna Gaon in Even Shleima, Chapter 3, who writes that emunah and bitachon are the core of the entire Torah, and one who commits severe transgressions but nevertheless excels in bitachon is better than one who does not transgress, but does not have bitachon. And we also spoke about the Ramban at the end of Parashat Bo, that states that the purpose of all the mitzvos, and in fact the only reason for Hashem creating us, is that we come to have emunah in Hashem. We spoke about how when we read Torah passages such as these that we've just quoted, it's important to realize that the Torah is teaching us Hashem's perspective, where we are supposed to aim at, but we should never feel disheartened by the fact that we are not holding by these levels, because Hashem does not expect us to be who we are not, but He does expect us to make our maximum effort. Nobody can know the true level of emunah and bitachon about the individual next to them, because we all have different makeups, different backgrounds, and many other factors that contribute to our personality that makes it impossible to see our true emunah and bitachon, and the only one that truly knows is Hashem Himself. Our only job in this world that Hashem will truly judge us for, is are we making our maximum effort within our capabilities and potential to grow to our highest degree in emunah and bitachon. The Torah authorities make it very clear that emunah and bitachon is available to every single one of us, and when a person has thoughts such as, these ideas are very nice, but I guess relevant to very holy people, or people completely immersed in a life of Torah learning, and the like, those thoughts and ideas are really being planted by the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, because we are taught very clearly that to fulfill our mission in this world, to succeed in our emunah and bitachon, is available to every single one of us, regardless of our capabilities, regardless of our background, and regardless of all the other factors that might contribute to our lives. Sometimes when trying to succeed in our emunah endeavor, it can be disheartening, because I might feel like I'm continuing to fail, and feel anxious, even though I would like not to. I ideally would like to rely on Hashem more, but I'm just not able to. And again, let us remind ourselves of what many Torah commentaries teach, that the only reason Hashem decided to create the world in the first place, is just to give us pleasure. Hashem did not create this world to make it an impossible task to succeed. The opposite. He did make it a challenge, because as we've explained previously, if there is no challenge, we are not earning anything for ourselves. And Hashem desired that we earn our place for ourselves in the next world, by giving us a challenge with potential for both failure and success, we now have an opportunity to truly succeed, but Hashem is not going to make that task impossible. And the levels that we might be required to climb in order to achieve success will vary from individual to individual. Hashem knows our full makeups, and will certainly give us a fair challenge, only what is within our capabilities. Every single one of us has the constant opportunity to make an effort to grow more and more in our emunah and bitachon each day. One way we can do so, as we've been discussing, is by constant exposure to the Torah ideas of emunah and bitachon via the many platforms available to us in today's day and age. And by doing so, that will also give us the opportunity to be able to be mindful and aware of these Torah ideas about emunah, to be able to apply them in a practical way throughout our day. When a difficult situation does arise, although my instinctive response might be to feel anxiety, and perhaps even at times to get angry, but the more we constantly expose ourselves to emunah and bitachon, the easier it will be to constantly live by their values.

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195 - Genuinely Thriving

Nov 26, 2024

4:55

Once we have internalized that our sole mission and purpose in life is to make maximum efforts to strive to excel in emunah, how are we to practically go about daily living with simple and sincere emunah? Of course, there are many different forms of serving Hashem, such as the performance of mitzvos, Torah study, making effort to improve one's character traits, and the like. All forms of service to Hashem are important and are ultimately based on having emunah in Hashem. We shall now explore one of the most potent forms of applying and living emunah in a practical way, perhaps the strongest course in developing our personal relationship with Hashem. When I talk to a friend, I do so because I know that he will listen. Talking to a wall is dispiriting because it is futile. On the other hand, when I send a message to someone, I communicate as if that person is in front of me, even though he may currently be on the other side of the globe, offline and unresponsive. Why? Because I believe that he will hear my words, even though we are not currently together. If I sincerely believe in the existence of Hashem, talking to him is like leaving a voice message for a friend. Most of us do not experience direct revelations from Hashem. We do not experience His presence in the tangible way that we experience communication with another human being. But if we believe that God permeates the entire world and that He is listening to every word that we utter, we should certainly communicate with Him, at the very least, in the same way that we communicate with another human being. Talking to Hashem in one's own words and thereby developing a personal relationship with Him is often referred to in Torah sources as Hisbodedus. The Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 15 writes that the early pious sages would practice Hisbodedus and bond with Hashem in seclusion. He writes that as early a luminary as David HaMelech spoke approvingly about the practice of Hisbodedus and that the prophets Eliyahu and Elisha would spend large amounts of time secluded in the mountains practicing Hisbiodedus with Hashem. To quote the Mesillas Yisharim, "Hisbodedus is more precious than anything else." The Mesillas Yesharim is explaining to us that by isolating ourselves from society and practicing Hisbodedus with Hashem, we clear our mind and heart of mundane matters, thereby creating room for success in our spiritual endeavors. Our lives involve serving Hashem in many ways, expressing our submission to and love for Him. We observe many mitzvos with all their intricacies. We have chesed, we have Torah study. All of these are extremely important. It is fascinating however to note this potent and rare expression used by the Mesillas Yesharim which highlights the power and effectiveness of Hisbodedus, as he stated, "Hisbodedus is more precious than anything else." We've seen many Torah sources who have highlighted to us that ultimately the fundamental core of the entire Torah and mitzvos and our main focus in this world is to grow in our emunah. And as we've pointed out, there are many levels to what it means to live a life of emunah. We learnt in the Gemara that if we've only got enough food just for today but have no idea what we're going to do about tomorrow, it is possible to reach such a level of emunah that I feel completely calm knowing that Hashem will take care of me. As we've discussed previously, the Mesillas Yesharim and many others point out that life is meant to be a test, to give us the opportunity to pass and succeed in something that there was also a potential to fail. Every day we all experience many tests that Hashem is giving us the opportunity to pass and succeed, thereby earning our highest place in the next world, Bezrat Hashem, and we are called on to place our highest focus on our endeavour to pass the test of emunah and bitachon, where everything around us in this world that we live in seems to dictate the exact opposite of the values of emunah and bitachon that we are taught from the Torah. But again, this is an opportunity that we have, and the more that we choose to invest in our endeavour to grow in our emunah and bitachon, the more of a success story we will be in the true world, in Olam Haba.

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196 - Success Track

Nov 27, 2024

4:09

We've been discussing how although many Torah commentaries point out to us that our sole mission and purpose in our life is to make our maximum effort to grow and excel in our emunah and bitachon, but seeing as emunah means to believe, and what we see in front of us on a day-to-day basis, much of the time presents values exactly the opposite to what the Torah teaches about emunah and bitachon, there are many different paths of how people come to believing in Hashem and by extension to believing in His Torah and the Torah sources as being His word. Some people perhaps were brought up with Torah education. Others might have been motivated by a certain moment of inspiration. Some others might have had the opportunity to explore sources outlining the validity and reason why one should believe that the Torah is an extension of Hashem's word. But taking for granted that one does believe in Hashem and one does believe that all the Torah sources that we have are an extension of Hashem's word Himself; we are taught loud and clear that our ultimate purpose and focus in this world is to make efforts to believe in Hashem. We've discussed that one thing we can do is to constantly expose ourselves to Torah teachings about emunah, which is available to all of us in many forms, regardless of our level, in today's day and age. We've also been talking about that perhaps one of the highest expressions of true belief in Hashem is acknowledging that if He does exist and He listens to everything that I'm saying, it is a simple equation that I should be in constant communication with my Creator. Even if I don't need anything in particular, if I believe Hashem exists and is there, I should be communicating with Him, and certainly if I am currently experiencing some hardship or challenge, my address to find a solution should not be to turn to another individual or circumstance, but rather to Hashem Himself. The more one believes in Hashem, the more one will make an effort to talk to Hashem. The challenge with communication with Hashem, in contrast with communication with another individual, is that when I talk to someone else, usually I hear a response, and therefore that will motivate me to continue talking to them. Whereas as we discussed, when I talk to a wall, it is quite boring, because I don't feel like the wall is listening. But again, if I send somebody a voice message, although I know that they're only going to listen to this message in a few hours' time, and I might not even receive a response, because maybe they'll decide not to respond, or for whatever other reason, nevertheless, when I'm dictating my voice note to them, the reason I will send it is because I believe that they will receive my message, even though I'm not experiencing any communication. And we can compare that type of communication to the way we speak to Hashem. For whatever reason, Hashem does not openly reveal Himself in this world. But if we have emunah, we believe that He is absolutely listening to every single word that we utter. And just like we would send a voice note to someone else who we believe they will receive our message, so too when we speak to Hashem, we believe that He will listen to us. A basic equation of simple emunah - If I believe Hashem exists, if I believe that Hashem is listening to every word that I am saying, certainly I will talk to Him. And seeing as emunah is the challenge, is the test of my life, because as mentioned countless times, this is the main way that we earn our place in the next world, so obviously it's not going to be an easy task. Although we've discussed that exposing ourselves to constant inspiration from Torah sources and the like is certainly conducive to helping us remain in the mindset of constant emunah and bitachon, but perhaps even more powerful than that is to reach out to Hashem Himself and ask Hashem to help us to be successful with our emunah.

335

197 - Gradual Ascent

Nov 28, 2024

4:26

We've learned countless Torah sources, emphasizing the tremendous focus the Torah places in directing us to make our maximum effort to excel in our emunah and bitachon. And as we've discussed previously, one of the greatest efforts that we can make is to talk to Hashem Himself and ask Him for help, because again if we believe that Hashem exists and listens to every single word that we are saying, we can talk to Him about anything. And just like we can and should talk to Hashem about any and all of the happenings in our lives, because certainly there is no greater address than going to Hashem Himself, the Creator of the world and the One who orchestrates every detail in every single one of our lives, but perhaps one of the most important areas that we ought to make our maximum effort to constantly communicate to Hashem about, is to help us succeed in our emunah endeavor. If we take to heart what we've learned from countless Torah sources, that emunah and bitachon is the most important thing that we ought to focus on in this world, then certainly we should internalize how important it is to treat personal prayer to Hashem, specifically in the area of growing in our emunah and bitachon, with utmost importance. Because just like Hashem created the world, constantly runs every detail in everybody's lives and is ultimately the One who calls every single shot, so too certainly He is the One who can help me in my life to grow in my emunah and bitachon. And as many Torah sources teach, Hashem does not require from us anything more than our maximum potential. How successful we might be on an objective scorecard depends on many factors that are often beyond our capabilities. If Hashem did not make me particularly smart or motivated, or perhaps I didn't have a background in Jewish education, or whatever other reason, I might not be able to objectively be on a higher level than an individual who does have those things. However, Hashem does not care about the objective results. Hashem has tailor-made my life to achieve my maximum potential. In this world, it is me against me. There is no comparison to one another. We all have completely different lives, completely different makeups, with many intricate details that only Hashem knows. Hashem only desires that we make our maximum effort in truly trying to excel and succeed in the areas that are important. And as we've learned by countless Torah authorities, there is nothing more important than emunah and bitachon. Certainly then, we are all called on to make our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon. Although many Torah authorities outline how talking to Hashem in our own words, which by many is referred to as hisbodedus, is one of the greatest efforts that we can make towards growth in our emunah and bitachon, and b'ezrat Hashem, as we'll continue to discuss, we find many powerful statements throughout Torah literature about the tremendous potency of our personal conversations with Hashem, it is noteworthy to highlight that just like emunah with Hashem has many levels, and our life's work is to grow and climb the ladder of emunah as much as possible, in a similar vein, if one of the most basic expressions of emunah is talking to Hashem because I believe he exists, there are obviously many levels of what it means to talk to Hashem and have a personal relationship with Hashem. We are not expected to climb the ladder in one day, nor necessarily get to the top. But we are expected to make our maximum effort. It is noteworthy to point out that the opportunity to talk to Hashem is available to every single one of us, regardless of our backgrounds or what we've been exposed to. Because just like we all are able to talk to another individual, Hashem has given us this tremendous privilege to be able to talk to Him about anything and everything, including asking Him for help to succeed in our endeavor to grow in our emunah and our bitachon.

336

198 - Seven Times Greater!

Nov 29, 2024

4:36

We've been discussing the tremendous opportunity that every single one of us has available to us at every single moment - to talk to Hashem in our own words. If I believe that Hashem exists and is able to hear any word that I utter, then certainly the more I believe, the more I will reach out. Both when it comes to times of struggle in my life, the true address I will reach out to more than any other address, more than any other human being, or any other effort that I might be required to make, my main effort will be to reach out to Hashem Himself and ask Him for help. And when it comes to our life's work, when we realize and internalize how our main focus in this world is to grow in our belief in Hashem, to feel calm when anxiety-provoking situations arise, and all the other many things that a life of true emunah and bitachon leads to, we will certainly make our maximum effort to talk to Hashem as much as possible, to help us to be successful in our endeavor. Although talking to Hashem is a very obvious equation for one who believes in Hashem, however as always, much more important than what our own logic dictates, is what the Torah sources teach us, because that is truly Hashem's perspective, the only unmistakable perspective. We mentioned the Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 15, who writes that the early pious sages would practice Hisbodedus and bond with Hashem in seclusion; and he writes that David HaMelech spoke approvingly about the practice of Hisbodedus, and that the prophets Eliyahu and Elisha would spend large amounts of time secluded in the mountains practicing Hisbodedus with Hashem. And to quote this very rare expression used by the Mesillas Yesharim, which highlights the tremendous power and effectiveness of Hisbodedus, "Hisbodedus is more precious than anything else." The Sefer Chareidim in chapter 65, as well as the Shlah HaKadosh in Yoma, Ner Mitzvah 2, both cite the masters of Kabbalah that write, "the effect that Hisbodedus has on the soul is seven times greater than the effect of learning Torah." Now let us just take these words to heart. Every morning we recite a Mishna which states that the value of Torah learning is so profound that it equals that of all the mitzvos put together. Yet the Sefer Chareidim and Shlah HaKadosh teach us over here that the effect of Hisbodedus on the soul is seven times greater than even that of Torah learning. "Hashem, my Father, thank You so much for giving me the tremendous opportunity to know what life is truly all about. Thank You, Hashem, for teaching me that my ultimate focus in this world needs to be to grow as much as possible in my emunah and bitach and endeavor. And at the same time, thank You, Hashem, for teaching me via your Torah sources the only absolutely true perspective, that one of the greatest endeavors that we could involve ourselves in is to practice Hisbodedus, is to be alone with You and talk to You about anything and everything that we might desire. Thank You, Hashem, for making it so easy that we don't even have to pay any amount of money to be able to have the opportunity to talk to You, and that there's no limitation in what we're allowed to say. We're allowed to talk to You about anything and everything at any moment. Thank You, Hashem, for teaching me that I am never alone, because whatever I'm experiencing throughout my life, I always have the opportunity to reach out to You, to ask You for help, and there is no greater address to go to. Yes, although in this world sometimes people see it as a weird thing to do, to talk to something you can't see and something that doesn't give you a response, but ultimately that's because this whole world's purpose is to test us in our emunah. I do not see You, Hashem, and it's difficult, because I wish I could hear a response from You. But again, my purpose in this world, as You've taught us loud and clear from countless Torah sources, is to believe in You. And believing in You means that I cannot know that You're there, and I cannot necessarily experience that You're there, but I do believe that You're there. Thank You so much, Hashem, for the constant opportunity to have a personal relationship with You."

337

199 - Absolute Sincerity

Dec 1, 2024

4:31

We've been discussing one of the greatest opportunities that we have, to constantly converse with Hashem about anything and everything, and of course, it is not easy to keep up the practice on a constant basis, because as Rav Pinkus points out, many people struggle to talk to Hashem because they don't truly believe Hashem is listening to them; whereas the more one builds their emunah, that Hashem is truly there, and every single word that I utter, as the Midrash says, it's as if I'm telling it to Hashem directly in His ear, the more one is motivated by the truth of what is truly going on, that Hashem is listening to every single utterance that I make, the more motivated I will be to prioritize the time that I speak to Hashem about any area of my life. When I need anything, certainly my first address will be to reach out to Hashem, and the discussion we've been focusing on is emunah in general, being our main purpose and focus in this world, is something that does not come easy, and is our life's work. And one of the main efforts that we can make towards growing in our emunah endeavor is to reach out to Hashem Himself and ask Him for help. Every single one of us has the opportunity to talk to Hashem in our own words, asking Him to be successful in our emunah, in our bitachon, and in anything else that we see as a priority in our lives. We mentioned that many Torah commentaries refer to personal conversations with Hashem as hisbodedus, which simply means secluding oneself away from other people and other distractions, and talking to Hashem in one's own words. And we mentioned the rare expression used by the Mesillas Yesharim in chapter 15, where he says "hisbodedus is more precious than anything else." We also spoke about the statement of the Masters of Kabbalah, which are cited by both the Sefer Chareidim in chapter 65, as well as the Shelah Hakadosh, in Yoma, ner Mitzvah, Beis, that "the effect that hisbodedus has on the soul is seven times greater than the effect of learning Torah." This is a very potent statement because there are countless Torah sources that highlight the tremendous value that Torah learning has, and as we recite every morning the first Mishnah in Peah which says that the value of Torah learning equals all of the other mitzvahs put together; yet here we learn that the effect of talking to Hashem is so potent that it has a seven times greater effect than even that of Torah learning. The Chofetz Chaim in Likutei Amarim, chapter 11, writes, "The reason that we do not merit salvation from all the hard times that befall us is that we do not pray and cry out to Hashem enough." He continues, "It is not sufficient to daven Shmoneh Esrei three times a day, rather, several times a day whilst alone, a person must pour out his heart in prayer to Hashem from the depths of his soul. Since one is accustomed to the daily recital of the Shmoneh Esrei, one does not say these prayers with absolute sincerity. On the other hand, when it comes to speaking to Hashem with our own words, in our own way, this type of prayer emanates from the depths of one's soul with true sincerity, and this type of prayer will without question not be denied by Hashem." Much has been written about His bodedness and one's personal relationship with Hashem, and one who'd like to research this topic further will be able to easily do so by the many fantastic sefarim and online resources that are available to us in today's day and age. Ultimately, however, no external resource can give over the precise details of what it means to have a personal relationship with Hashem. Just like one cannot be robotically directed as to what to discuss or when, where and how often to connect with one's spouse or best friend, in the same way, when it comes to our relationship with Hashem, ultimately it is your personal relationship with Hashem. One does not need to be a scholar or have a diploma in order to enter into a relationship. Hisbodedus is a relationship. It's your own personal relationship with Hashem.

338

272 - Gratitude (Part-1)

Feb 26, 2025

5:09

HaShem knows all of our thoughts and all of our needs, and the question then arises, why should I pray for anything? Because if HaShem knows exactly what I need and will come through for me in exactly the way that I need according to what's best for me, why should I pray for anything to be different? Although this might be a good question, as discussed many times, if we use our own perspective, there could be many different answers, sometimes right, sometimes wrong, however, we always opt to follow HaShem's guidance, HaShem's perspective, which is portrayed in the Torah and throughout all the Torah commentaries. It is very clear from the Torah that we have a mitzvah to pray for our needs, whether we understand it or whether we don't. We find throughout Torah literature many personalities that were unable to have children, and although they could have just accepted their situation, they nevertheless chose to pray to HaShem to send them their desired request, to have a child. And there are many examples for this in the Torah, that it is a mitzvah to pray for the things that we desire to have. However, it is also important not to forget the fundamental starting point, that HaShem does know everything that we need, because sometimes we might feel anxious, did I express my prayer in the most perfect way? We do have a mitzvah to make our maximum effort to pray in the right way, and in fact, Torah sources do teach that we are to make our highest effort in verbalizing and outlining all the details to what we are requesting from HaShem. However, at the same time, to realize that HaShem only expects of us to make our maximum effort, and at the same time, we are to humble ourselves and realize that even if we make our maximum effort, we can still not do it in the perfect way, because we are imperfect beings. When we ask HaShem for something, we might leave out many of the details that are actually of paramount importance just because of our limited nature, maybe we forgot, or maybe we didn't realize the importance to ask about other details. Again, our expectation is not to bring about any desired result. Our expectation is to make our maximum effort in doing so. And in the same vein, when we live with this fundamental principle, realizing and internalizing that HaShem of course knows everything that we might need even before we have verbalized, so we are able to also focus our energies on the highest form of prayer. The Torah commentaries teach that there are many chambers in the heavenly worlds, and depending on what our prayer consists of, our prayer is directed to a specific chamber in the heavenly worlds. We are taught that there are angels appointed over each of the chambers, and sometimes they can be strict in their judgment of why a certain prayer of ours should be prevented from making its way into a certain chamber. However, there is one chamber which the angels have absolutely no jurisdiction to, and this chamber is exclusively managed by HaShem Himself without any opportunity for the angels to get involved whatsoever. And we are taught that this is the chamber of gratitude, when we express our gratitude to HaShem for the areas He has come through for us, that itself is a catalyst for HaShem to thereafter answer our prayers that we might not even have verbalized, because HaShem now sees our appreciation and says, Oh, you think that was a gift? I'll show you what a real gift is. And through our thanking HaShem, we bring about all of our needs, even the ones that have not been verbalized. Of course, the ultimate reason we thank HaShem should not be to bring about the fringe benefits of the other things that we need. However, it is inspiring and motivating to realize that when we do thank HaShem, that merit extends to even unrelated areas to what I am thanking HaShem about and brings about HaShem answering our prayers, sending our salvations and our success.

339

259 - Olam Haba (Part-3)

Feb 11, 2025

4:08

We've been discussing the topic of Olam Haba, the next world, and the tremendous importance there is to learn about this topic and contemplate on the fact that as the Torah commentaries teach us, ultimately Hashem created the entire world in the first place just in order to share His goodness with us and give us pleasure. And ultimately that is going to take place in the next world. The only reason that we are in this world is in order to earn our place in the next world for eternity. And as discussed many times, the core of the entire Torah and mitzvos is Emunah. When I know something, I have no need to believe because I am able to see it, understand it, and there is no reason for me to therefore take that necessary step to believe in something that might at first glance be difficult to understand. We've discussed many times throughout this daily inspiration how this applies to many areas of our lives in this world and how the benefits of both Emunah and Bitachon can affect the quality of our lives in many ways. It's important to also build our Emunah, our belief, in the next world. Again, just like we've discussed many times that the levels of Emunah in Hashem, in the Torah, in the mitzvos and the like are immeasurable and there are countless levels that one can strive more and more each day to move towards, in the same vein, there are many levels in what it means to believe in Olam Haba. Of course if one is not yet privy to know the information that there is a next world, then that is certainly the first step. But assuming that one does know that there is a next world, there are many levels of what it means to believe so and to internalize that information. And again, although part of our job is to learn about the topic of Olam Haba and know the information in a theoretical manner, but perhaps a much bigger part of our job is to internalize that information just a little bit more each day to truly believe in Olam Haba. We discussed previously how sometimes people are afraid to discuss the topic of death, which b'ezrat Hashem ultimately leads to Olam Haba, and how truthfully, although we are human beings and it is certainly valid and acceptable to feel anxious about the topic of death for one who does, however the first thing to keep in mind is that much of the time when we feel anxiety and stress about the unknown, that is exactly because of that fact - that it is unknown and we have no idea what's coming. And in a sense the more we learn about it, the less anxious and stressed we might feel about the topic. And a second point to bear in mind is that regardless of our feelings towards the topic, to just hide behind the door and ignore what's on the other side would be a very silly approach. Imagine you are employed in a certain company and you are now given the instruction that in a year's time from now, you are going to need to relocate to another country. Now you are fully committed to this company and there is no other option to go elsewhere, so you know that in a year's time from now, you will for sure be relocating. Now in this new country that I am relocating to, I need to find an area to live, a house, a community, perhaps schooling for my children and many other things. So a very silly approach would be to say, let me just enjoy myself for the remainder of this year where I currently am and I guess at the end of the year, when the time comes, I'll just get on the plane, arrive at my new destination and find my way from there, not having a clue about how anything works there and being completely unprepared for what's coming. We can all easily understand how that would be a very silly approach. Whereas the smart thing to do, would be to investigate the new location and with good preparation, we'll find the right house, community, schools and the like and we'll certainly be much more well prepared than if we just wake up at the last minute because we were too scared to face the reality initially. We are taught loud and clear from countless Torah sources that this world that we exist in is not by any means the final destination. So let's make an effort to begin to try and understand and internalize where we are actually headed towards. Olam Haba.

340

260 - Olam Haba (Part-4)

Feb 12, 2025

4:35

We've been discussing the topic of Olam Haba, the next world where we are all destined, b'ezrat Hashem, to make our way towards. And as mentioned, we don't know exactly how it's going to be and we cannot see and understand the information for ourselves, and therefore we are called on to practice our Emunah, our belief in what we are taught from the Torah sources and commentaries. Let's try and appreciate just how worthwhile it is to talk about and try and make effort to internalize the concept of Olam Haba. Imagine for a moment that you see your child running towards a busy street with cars driving at a very fast speed. In only a few moments this child is going to take a leap into this main street. Of course the appropriate response would be to grab the child and pull them out the road even if doing so would be painful for the child for a few moments. And perhaps if one is not within reach of the child, one might begin to scream in a way that would frighten the child and make them freeze in their footsteps to prevent a tragedy. One who is witnessing this situation does not need to believe that if the responsible parent would not have gone ahead to pull the child out the street or began to scream in a hysterical manner, that the result would have been a catastrophe. This is not something that needs to be believed because anyone witnessing this episode on the ground can see and understand it for themselves. The more we develop our belief that the next world is coming and there certainly are very real consequences both for the positive and for the negative, the more that belief will become a reality. Just like in the example of the child who is about to get run over on the busy street where it would certainly be appropriate to act in a dramatic manner, in a similar vein, the more we learn about the topic of the next world and the way that our actions in this world impact our destination in the next world, if we ourselves or perhaps others that we witness might be performing acts that could be leading us to a very dangerous street in the spiritual worlds, it certainly should be our instinctive desire for ourselves and for those around us to make a stern warning that there are serious consequences for this act, both for ourselves and for others. Of course, when one is dealing with other people, it is very important to be super sensitive in the way one gives the information over and it is not always our place to do so, and perhaps that can be discussed at another time. But what we are focusing on right now is that much of the time, because the concept of Olam Haba is not as real to us as that dangerous street, because we are not able to see that street in the spiritual worlds, but rather we have to work on our emunah, our belief, the next world is very real, and what we are taught in the Torah that there are consequences for, both for the positive as well as for the negative, are very real. Imagine you see your best friend going on a date with a very good-looking individual on the outside. However, you happen to know that this individual is very nasty on the inside. Although usually throughout one's life it is important to make efforts to be kind and focus on the positive, however, when something of such great measure is at stake, of course a good friend must stand up for the truth, as painful as it might be. When one shies away from talking about what's going to happen after one dies, much of the time it comes from the fact that we don't truly believe what is coming after we die. It is so important to study the information and try to take that information and internalize it, to realize we are headed to another world, and everything that is written in Torah literature with reference to the next world is very true. Let us remind ourselves that Hashem created the world in the first place just because He desired to give to us, but again, He wanted us to have the greatest opportunity for that pleasure, and in order to do so, He gave us the ability to make choices in this world. Simply speaking, the more we follow His commandments, the greater our portion for the good in the next world. And the more we fall on the side of sin, the greater the consequences on the negative side in the next world. What a privilege we all have to be learning about, making efforts to internalize this information, and b'ezrat Hashem, preparing in the best way that we can for our place in eternity.

341

261 - Olam Haba (Part-5)

Feb 13, 2025

4:36

The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos, chapter 4, mishnah 17, states, "This world is like a hallway in comparison to the future world. Prepare yourself in the hallway so that you may enter into the banquet hall." Although this is a well-known mishnah that one might have heard many times previously, again there are many levels as to what it means to believe in the world to come. We are taught that this world is just a place of preparation, similar to a corridor or hallway before a banquet hall. Of course, one doesn't spend much time, focus and energy in getting too comfortable in the corridor before the banquet hall because it is only the corridor where one is supposed to walk in order to make their way to their real destination. And similarly and very literally is this world in comparison to the next world. There is a famous analogy offered by many Torah commentaries. Imagine the largest stadium that you've ever seen filled to the top with sand. Every thousand years a little bird would come and take just one grain of sand out of that stadium. How long will it take to empty out the stadium? Of course, that number is so huge that one might say forever. But the truth is that even that is not forever. Because after whatever huge amount of years, the stadium will be emptied. Whereas true eternity is literally forever. When one puts that into perspective, one quickly realizes that a maximum of 120 years in this world is so small in comparison to true eternity. So although we do need to make an effort in this world to get somewhat comfortable so that we can be the best we can in our lives in order to earn our place in the next world, but unnecessary comfort or focusing on things just for the sake of this world, besides for perhaps being wrong, can also perhaps be classified as silly. Another example to illustrate this concept. Imagine you're waiting at a bus stop and because the bus is taking a few minutes to arrive, you take a seat to relax for a few minutes. And as you sit down, you notice that there's a slight bump on the seat that you're sitting on, which makes it a little bit uncomfortable. Now most people would not go ahead and call the bus company who are in charge of the seats at the bus stop and complain that when you had sat down to sit for five minutes, you were slightly uncomfortable and they should come and fix that little bump on the chair. And the reason for that is because of the 24 hours in the day that we are all busy with so many things, that little gap of five minutes that one takes a seat on the bus stop is so insignificant in comparison to the next many hours of the day, and usually one doesn't even have time to care about focusing on that little discomfort that one experienced, but rather one would usually choose to ignore it. Whereas if you've just contracted a company to build a house for you and you now make arrangements to meet them on premises to see their progress, and as you arrive you see that they've built the bathroom in the middle of the living room, of course for that you'd complain because this is a house that you intend to live in for many years and most people do not want the bathroom to be right in the middle of the living room. When we are sincere with ourselves and take to heart the true belief of what the Torah sources teach us that this world is in comparison to the next world, the amount of time that elapses in this world compared to eternity cannot even be compared to five minutes of the day at a bus stop. Because again, eternity is forever, so what is 120 years in that picture? As we've discussed here previously, when the Torah authorities outlined to us that every mitzvah that we perform in this world is literally making spiritual worlds much bigger and greater than anything that exists in this world; just for one seemingly insignificant mitzvah, we are building worlds much greater than anything we can even begin to fathom. And similarly, God forbid, when one performs a sin, even what seems to be the most insignificant of sins, there are tremendous consequences in the next world. Imagine for a moment that one knew that the small sin that I'm about to commit will cause an atomic bomb in another country. Most of us will think twice before doing so. But again, although we are taught that the consequences in the next world are much greater than an atomic bomb falling on another country, the reason that it is so difficult for us to internalize this is because as we've discussed many times that the Torah commentaries teach that our purpose in this world is not to know, but rather to believe. Emunah.

342

262 - Olam Haba (Part-6)

Feb 14, 2025

4:42

Many people have heard terms such as Mashiach, resurrection of the dead, hell, Gan Eden, Olam Haba, and the like. It is helpful to understand what the Torah commentaries teach us about the exact process and direction of what is supposed to happen. So let's break it down, b'ezrat Hashem. Every one of us is comprised of both soul and body. At some point, our souls depart from this world, also known as death. And as we are taught from the Torah commentaries, there is something called chibut hakever, which is a certain form of punishment which takes place in one's burial place. Now on the one hand, we are to remind ourselves that the only reason Hashem created the world in the first place is certainly not to punish us, but rather to give us the greatest pleasure that can exist for eternity. But again, let us remind ourselves that the reason we have to make our excursion into this world is in order to give us the opportunity to earn our place in the next world. And in order for there to be that possibility, Hashem created a system where there are consequences, and if we do go against His word and neglect doing our best to follow His commandments, then we do need to suffer consequences. And as the Torah commentaries teach, one of the main purposes of those consequences is to cleanse ourselves to be able to then move on forward in a renewed state that is then able to appreciate and bask in Hashem's pleasure eternally. However, it is also important for us to remember what the Torah commentaries write about the tremendous suffering that can be experienced with the extent of the suffering dependent on the severity of our sins. And again, the purpose of internalizing this is, God forbid, not to bring us down, but rather to help us focus on our purpose and mission in this world. Because when we are able to internalize the potential that there is for such a tremendous magnitude of suffering, that can help to deter us from committing those sins that cause that suffering. Many Torah commentaries teach that on the positive side, the reward that is in store for us in the future, for our good deeds, is greater than any possible thing that can exist in this world. And similarly, with regards to the consequences for our sins, Torah commentaries teach that although it is a difficult idea for us to relate to because we are not familiar with what happens after we die, if one were to think of the worst atrocity that one has ever experienced or heard of, as painful as it is to talk about the terrible atrocities of the Holocaust, October 7th, or whatever else it might be, as Torah commentaries teach, if one is to imagine that form of suffering transpiring for an entire lifespan without pause, that is still not on par with one moment of suffering after we die. And again, one might argue, let's not focus and talk about such topics because it's quite scary, it causes me anxiety, etc. As we've discussed previously, the only reason that one might be led to that mode of thought is because one doesn't truly believe what the Torah commentaries outline to us is coming in the future after we die. It is so important to build this belief and truly internalize that the concept of the world to come, both for the positive as well as the consequences for the negative, are very real. And by doing so, we can really make our maximum effort to focus on the right things in this world and stay away from the wrong things. "Hashem, my dear Father, in Your great kindness, You have given me the wisdom of the Torah which teaches me Your true perspective and the ability to understand, to the best of my capacity, what is coming once I leave this world. Hashem, it is so hard to truly believe and internalize what we are taught about the tremendous consequences, both in terms of the positive outcome that can be for our eternity, as well as, God forbid, the tremendous suffering that is beyond anything we can even begin to comprehend. And it's so hard to internalize this, Hashem, because at the end of the day, we live in this world and we don't see what's happening in the next world. And because for the most part, You do not send us direct and immediate consequences for our actions in this world that we are able to witness and experience, it ultimately all boils down to how much emunah, belief, we have in what the Torah commentaries teach us about the next world. Please, Hashem, help me to truly internalize what the Torah commentaries teach us, that in truth, our life only begins after we die. And in that way, please Hashem, help me to make my maximum effort, to use every moment in my life to its maximum, and earn my highest possible place for eternity."

343

263 - Olam Haba (Part-7)

Feb 16, 2025

4:55

We've been discussing the process of what the Torah authorities outline to us happens after we leave this world. As discussed, after one dies and departs from this world, one needs to go through a cleansing process called chibbut hakever, where there is some form of suffering that one needs to experience in one's burial place. And as the Torah authorities outline to us, there are many levels of what that pain and suffering might be, dependent on the severity and extent of our sins. Again, let us remind ourselves that the only reason Hashem created the world in the first place is just to give us pleasure, and God forbid, never was there an objective in mind to punish us, just for the sake of punishing us. But if we have committed sins, we do need to be cleansed. And depending on the severity and magnitude of our sins will be the extent of how hard we will need to be scrubbed to be cleansed. But again, let us remind ourselves, this is not a fairy tale for children that one can make jokes about. The Torah commentaries discuss that one moment of suffering after we die is much greater than any atrocity that we might have experienced or even heard about, and imagine that terrible act, continuing for 120 years without a break; one moment of suffering after we depart from this world is much worse than that. But we are so privileged to have been given such a tremendous gift from Hashem, called teshuva, that as we are taught, it doesn't matter what one has already committed, there is the possibility to repent for anything and everything. And let us remind ourselves of what the Gemara says, that if we truly repent out of love for Hashem, for even the greatest of sins that we might have committed, not only are those sins erased from our record, but they actually change to become mitzvos, and we now get points for those aveiros that we might have committed, because Hashem in His great kindness is so proud of us for repenting for those sins that He actually changes them to be considered mitzvos. Of course, there are many levels of what it means to do teshuva. One might repent for 10 seconds and one might spend 3 hours repenting about a certain act, and the more serious we might feel that we have committed a certain act, the more time we might be required to fully repent. But let us remind ourselves of what many Torah commentaries teach, that although there are many levels for repentance, but it is certainly invaluable beyond any words that we could be able to describe, to even take a few moments to just contemplate on an avarice that we might have committed. The basic steps of teshuva are to take a few moments and acknowledge the transgression that I committed, and express to Hashem my regret for having done so. And if there is something practical to do right now to rectify what has been done, such as if I have stolen money and the like, then certainly to go ahead and return that money. And thereafter, to say to Hashem that I am going to try my best in the future not to commit this transgression again, and of course to do one's best in the future. Sometimes, some transgressions are so difficult for us to stay away from that we almost feel insincere to do teshuva and repent for these things. As we are taught from the Torah commentaries, this is very much the wrong approach, because Hashem understands that we are limited by our human nature, and the fact that we are not able to repent in a way that we are sure that we will never come back to this sin is no reason for us not to repent, God forbid. But exactly the opposite. We are able to say, "Hashem, please help me that I shouldn't commit this sin again. But the truth of the matter is that, Hashem, I know I'm going to come back to speaking Lashon Horah probably tomorrow again. And although I want to repent for this act, I'm concerned that I'm being insincere. Please Hashem, help me that I shouldn't speak badly about other people tomorrow, and my repentance should be considered sincere in Your eyes." And again, if this is the best that I can do, even though I know I might even probably commit this transgression tomorrow, but the fact that I have even asked Hashem to help me is a tremendous, tremendous level. And similarly, if a woman got dressed in an immodest manner, and perhaps was looked at inappropriately by others, she might say, "Hashem, I'm really sorry for not following Your commandments and dressing immodestly. I regret what I did, and I'm going to try my best from tomorrow to dress in a much more modest manner, the best that I can. But at the same time, Hashem, You know that it is really hard for me, from the way I have been brought up and the way I'm accustomed to dress in a certain way. Please, can You help me to be able to dress in the way that Your Torah prescribes." And again, even though I know that I might not be able to live up to the standard, but if I am doing the best that I can, and just asking Hashem to help me, that is certainly extremely valuable in Hashem's eyes, and will work wonders for us, for our eternal place in Olam Haba.

344

264 - Olam Haba (Part-8)

Feb 17, 2025

4:19

We've been discussing how there are many concepts that are often thrown out such as Moshiach, Olam Haba, Gehinnnom, Gan Eden, and the like. And it is worthwhile to break down each of the segments to understand better what is in store for us. As we've discussed, when our neshamah leaves our body, if it is necessary, there is a process called chibut hakever, where a person has to undergo suffering in its burial place. Thereafter, the soul, our neshamah, makes its way up to what is called by the Ramban, the Kabbalists, and the most accepted view by the Torah authorities, the olam haneshamos, the world of the souls. According to the Ramban, the Kabbalists, and most Torah authorities, Olam Haba, our eternal address, is a different place to olam haneshamos, the world of souls. The world of souls is almost like a waiting room for the next part of the story to happen. And in the world of souls is where we have both Gehinnom and Gan Eden, sometimes called hell and heaven. Let's continue the breakdown of the process as discussed by Torah authorities. At some point, when Hashem decides it's right, either because the Jewish people who will be alive at the time will earn it, or just because Hashem decides that this is the right time, we will merit the coming of Moshiach. The coming of Moshiach will be an experience for all those people that will be alive in the world at that time. As opposed to if one has already passed on and is now in the waiting room, in the world of souls, then they will not experience the coming of Moshiach. There is a discussion in the Gemara which is brought down by many Torah authorities, such as the Rambam, in Hilchos Melachim Umilchamos, chapter 12, as to what exactly is going to transpire at Moshiach's arrival. Some hold that the world will then operate in a completely supernatural manner, such as that we will have the Beis Hamikdash falling down from heaven, and many other similar miracles. Whereas other opinions hold that the world will then function in a similar manner to how it does today, such as we will have to go ourselves and build the Beis Hamikdash, using the same building techniques that we do today. However, there will be two major differences. One will be that all the nations of the world will be subjugated to the Jewish people, and there will be absolute peace in the world. And secondly, that all the people of the time will have a tremendous desire to just do mitzvahs and serve Hashem as much as possible, as opposed to today, where we have a tremendous evil inclination to transgress, even though we might know what is right. If one is interested in studying about the Messianic era, there is much Torah literature available to be able to investigate the topic further. However, as the Rambam writes, even if one were to find seeming contradictions between different statements in Torah passages about exactly what is going to transpire in the times of Moshiach, one shouldn't pay too much attention to that, because at the end of the day, we don't know exactly how it's going to play out, until it actually plays out. There are people who work on finding codes in the Talmud and Torah in general to try to find hints to when exactly Moshiach is going to come. It would seem from the Rambam that he was not particularly in favor of doing so, because in a sense, it's wasting one's time, because only Hashem knows when Moshiach is going to come, and that is not our job nor business to get involved in. What is our job, however, is to fulfill the mitzvah that is one of the 13 principles of faith, to instill the belief in ourselves that Moshiach can come at any single moment, and even if he'll delay and he didn't come yesterday, nor for the last thousand years, today might just be the day. And as we've learned, those neshamas that have already passed on will not merit to be present for the coming of Moshiach, because the coming of Moshiach is something that happens in this world for the people who will be alive then. The concept of techias hameisim, the resurrection of the dead, is something that occurs at a later stage, and we'll discuss that further in future, Bezrat Hashem. So how much more so then, should we all daven, "ani maamin beeumah sheleimah bevias hamashiach v'af al pi sheismahamea im kol ze achakeh lo bechol yom sheyavo."

345

265 - Olam Haba (Part-9)

Feb 18, 2025

4:53

We've been discussing the tremendous importance that there is to try to build our belief in the next world, in Olam Haba. Although, a believing Jew understands that this world is certainly not our final destination, and we are all going to another place called Olam Haba, however, there are many levels in what it means to believe so. The first thing that we might do in trying to internalize this belief is learning about the information offered by Torah commentaries about the process of what is in store for us. As discussed, once our neshamah departs from our body, after it is cleansed if necessary via the process known as chibbut hakever, the neshamah makes its way up to what is called the olam haneshamas. And it is there that we have much Torah literature about what happens, such as in Gan Eden, Gehinnom, and the like. We discussed that at some point, when Hashem decides it's right, Mashiach will come to the physical world that we live in, and only those who are alive at the time will merit His arrival. And as the Rambam says, we should not get caught up too much as to the exact details of what's going to happen when Mashiach comes, because we don't really know until it's going to actually happen. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure, it's going to be the most incredible thing in the world, in many ways, beyond anything we might be able to comprehend. For thousands of years, every day, the Jews have been waiting for this great day, and we have a daily mitzvah to yearn for this great day to arrive. So we can certainly understand how this is something very important in Hashem's eyes. And again, our job is not to try to understand exactly what's going to play out then, because that's Hashem's business. Our job is to believe that if Hashem says this is extremely important and amazing, then we should certainly go ahead and yearn for that day to arrive. Obviously, our main motive should be that if that is Hashem's will, for the world to operate in the messianic state, that should be our main motive. However, it is certainly also acceptable and praiseworthy to want to be alive at that time, to be able to experience Mashiach with our very own eyes. There are different opinions amongst the Torah commentaries as to exactly how many years will transpire after the arrival of Mashiach. But at some point after that happens, there will be the next part of the process, which is called techiyas hameisim, the resurrection of the dead, where all people who have passed on, who merit this part of the process, will be resurrected back to life. According to the most accepted view of the Ramban and the Kabbalists and most Torah commentaries, once the stage of the resurrection of the dead occurs, our body and soul will then move into a new existence called Olam Haba, where although we will still have a body together with our soul, we will then move into a new existence with complete holiness, where we will not need to eat, drink, nor use our bodily functions. The Gemara in Berachos 34b states some amazing things with regards to the coming of Mashiach. But thereafter, the Gemara states that when it comes to what's going to transpire in the time of Olam Haba, our minds cannot even begin to comprehend the greatness of such a thing. Just to put it into perspective, if you stop for a moment and try to imagine a world where time doesn't exist - our minds cannot comprehend such a thing, because in our existence, it is impossible to exist in a world where time doesn't exist. And in a similar vein, our minds cannot even begin to comprehend the forms of pleasure that will exist in the next world, because the greatest forms of pleasure that exist within our imagination in this world do not even compare to one moment of the slightest pleasure in the next world. There is much Torah literature about all of these concepts, and one interested in pursuing these topics further will certainly be able to find very valuable information easily accessible. However, let us remind ourselves that our main purpose in this world is to earn our place in the next world. Meaning, our job in this world is not to try work out what is going to transpire and how it's going to be then, because that is up to Hashem, and our experience will be B'ezrat Hashem when that time arrives. Our purpose in learning these topics is to motivate us to come to more Yiras Shamayim, fear of heaven, and Ahavas Hashem, love of Hashem. Because when we're able to internalize that the concepts of Olam Haba are not just fairy tales, but rather a real destination for our real future, we are then, B'ezrat Hashem, able to be motivated to use our time in this world in the most efficient manner, when we realize that each moment that we have in this world is an opportunity to gain eternity for eternity. What a tremendous opportunity we all have to be learning about Olam Haba and making an effort to Bezrat Hashem internalize that the next world is our true, final destination.

346

266 - Olam Haba (Part-10)

Feb 19, 2025

4:28

The Mishna in Pirkei Avos, chapter 4, mishna 17 teaches, that this world is like a corridor before Olam Haba. And therefore the mishna advises: prepare yourself in the corridor, in order that you may enter the palace. If I like a certain type of food, and I don't restrain myself from overeating, altough I might enjoy those moments indulging in that food, however if I am irresponsible, I will pay the consequences thereafter with a stomach ache, or other areas of my health. The verse in Koheles, chapter 2, verse 14, states, "Hechacham Einav Berosho", and as some commentaries explain, a wise person is always considering the future consequences of their actions. Although we certainly do need to pay attention to the consequences of our actions in this world, because we live in this world and we need to function in our day-to-day lives, however, much more important than that is to think ahead of what's going to be in the future when we leave this world, because as we've been discussing, our time span in this world is so short in comparison to what eternity has in store for us. And therefore, the mindset of someone who is truly in reality, mindful of the real future in store for us, will make an effort to not get too caught up in indulging in this world and being distracted from our spiritual pursuits, but rather, making our highest priority to serve Hashem and earn our place for eternity in the world to come. Let us remind ourselves that the main purpose that Hashem placed us in this world and didn't directly place us in the next world, was so that we should have an opportunity to be able to earn our place in the world to come. And in order to do so, of course, we have to lay out the opportunity to be able to choose good and earn our reward, whilst at the same time, also have the choice to do the opposite. And let us also remind ourselves of what the Torah commentaries teach us, that this world is the world of emunah, the world where we are required to believe. Because if a person does not have the next world at the forefront of their mind, for the most part, we don't see consequences for our actions in this world. And that being the case, it is very hard to remain constantly motivated and inspired to choose good and stay away from bad. Because let's say, I did commit a sin, as we all do every day, because we are limited by our human capacity, but because usually nothing happens in this world as a direct consequence of our sins, but rather we are called in to believe of the effect, if that belief is not so strong, it is difficult to be motivated to constantly make our maximum effort to do the right thing. And again, as discussed many times, that's why the Torah commentaries teach us that our purpose in this world can be summarized in one word, emunah, to believe, because we don't see, we have to believe it. If I'm standing with my family or a few friends, and I have a really good joke to make about a certain individual that will really make everyone laugh, but it happens to be that this statement qualifies as lashon hara, which as we are taught in Torah literature, is one of the most severe sins. Now again, one might say, "listen, I don't really mean bad, I'm just trying to be a bit funny and create a good atmosphere. It's not so bad, right?" And if one is to go ahead and tell the joke, usually one doesn't get struck by a bolt of lightning, and one does not have to pay any direct consequence. Imagine for a moment that if I go ahead and say those words of lashon hara, that immediately that would cause a bolt of lightning to strike me and paralyze me for life, with excruciating pain. If that happened to the guy next to me, and I clearly saw that it happened as a result of his speaking lashon hara, most of us would certainly think twice before saying the lashon hara, even though it might be super funny and socially appropriate. We are taught that the effect of what will happen in the next world from our actions is much stronger than a bolt of lightning striking us and paralyzing us. And conversely, the positive effect of our actions is much stronger than anything we might even begin to imagine. The more we work towards believing in the real impact of our actions that do not take place in this world and we cannot see in this world, but rather we have to believe that will really and very literally take place in the next world, the more we will be successful in our endeavor for eternity.

347

267 - Olam Haba (Part-11)

Feb 20, 2025

4:25

We've been discussing about the components that the Torah commentaries outline to us of what will transpire in the next world, after we pass on from this world. We know that there are two seemingly paradoxical forms of serving Hashem. One is when we employ the side of fear and the consequences for our actions, and the other is motivation out of our absolute love for Hashem. Many commentaries teach that in order to come to the higher level of absolute love for Hashem, we first need to start with the motivation of fear of Hashem. And as we've been discussing, it's so important for us to internalize the truth of what is in store for us, because by doing so we are able to then take our lives much more seriously and thereby b'ezrat Hashem and our maximum potential in the world to come for eternity. As we've discussed many times, Hashem created the world just to give to us, and our job in this world is to have the opportunity to be able to earn our place for eternity. It's so important when we do relate to topics of fear of heaven and the negative consequences in the world to come, that we always keep at the forefront of our mind the initial reason why Hashem decided to create the world. Hashem is not out to get us. Hashem only decided to create the world because He wants to give us unlimited pleasure for eternity. And the only reason that we have this opportunity to choose between good and bad is because He wants to make the good even better by giving us the free choice and opportunity to choose good. But again, because this is the way the world has been designed, there is an opportunity to choose evil, both on a large scale as well as even the smallest of actions, every one of us in our own way. With the fast-paced world that we live in, it's not always easy to catch ourselves for the sins we might be committing and the missed opportunities we might have been able to grab onto. As we've discussed many times in this daily inspiration, we know that the Torah commentary is write, that if you want to summarize our job in this world into one word, that word is emunah. And as we've talked about many times previously, one of the most basic expressions of emunah is when we talk to Hashem, because if I believe Hashem exists, can hear what I'm saying and can help me more than anyone else, I will certainly reach out to Him about whatever endeavor I might be dealing with. And no less should we be reaching out to Hashem with regards to our spiritual endeavors than more practical areas in our lives. "Hashem, my dear Father, thank You so much for teaching me the truth of why I exist. Thank You so much, Abba, for deciding to create this world for one objective. You don't need this world; You are perfect in Your core, but You just wanted to create us to be able to give to us. That's the only reason that You created us for. Thank You so much, Hashem, for giving us the opportunity not only to bask in Your light and pleasure for eternity, but You in Your great kindness willed it that we should be able to also live in this world, to be able to earn an even greater place for the next world. And Hashem, You have taught us that the more mitzvos that we do, and the more we listen to Your instructions from the Torah, the higher place we will earn in eternity. Please, Hashem, can You help me to work out in my personal life which are the areas that I can do better in. Hashem, I'm going to take a certain amount of time right now to try to really think about where I might have some missed mitzvah opportunities, and where, even slightly, I might be committing transgressions. Please, Hashem, help me to find the truth and be able to just become better and better each day. And Hashem, You have also given us one of the most incredible gifts, to be able to do teshuva and repent for anything and everything I might have committed in the past. Please, Hashem, accept my repentance for all my transgressions. And as we've learned from the Gemara, please help me to do my teshuva with sincerity and out of love for You, and to turn those transgressions of mine into mitzvos. Hashem, I know that the more that I have olam haba, the next world, which is ultimately our final destination for eternity, at the forefront of my mind, the more I am able to remain in the right place of what real reality is. Please, Hashem, help me to be successful in my endeavour to internalize more and more each day of what true reality is. Olam Haba."

348

268 - Olam Haba (Part-12)

Feb 21, 2025

4:28

We've discussed some of the concepts that the Torah authorities outline to us, with regards to the world to come - Olam Haba. However, as many of them mention, ultimately, we don't know exactly what is going to transpire, until we actually get there and see for ourselves. However, one thing that is clear according to all opinions, is that in the next world, there is no more opportunity. Olam Haba, the next world, is the world of reward, where we reap the benefits of everything that we did in this world, whereas this world, the world where we have to believe, and many things don't make sense - the world of emunah, is the world of opportunity. It is known about the Vilna Gaon, that when he was passing onto the next world, his students saw him crying. And when he was asked why he was crying, he said that he was now leaving a world, where for a small act, for a very small price, one can perform mitzvos that earn you eternal reward, greater than anything that this world can buy. A story in Tanach brings this point out in a very powerful way. The infamous king, Nevuchadnezzar, before he became king, used to be the secretary of another king who had dealings with the king of Israel. Once, when Nevuchadnezzar the secretary was away, the Gentile king wrote a letter where he addressed it to the king of Israel and the God of Israel, first referring to the human king of Israel and only thereafter addressing the God of Israel. When Nevuchadnezzar the secretary arrived back and noticed that the king was about to dispatch this letter, he suggested to the king that it would be more appropriate to first address the God of Israel and only thereafter the human king of Israel. The Gentile king followed his secretary, Nevuchadnezzar's advice, and it says that Nevuchadnezzar took four steps in order to implement this change. Because Nevuchadnezzar was such an evil man on every other front, Hashem did not want him to have a place in the world to come. But Hashem will never skip over any good deed that anyone performs, even the most wicked of individuals, and Hashem wanted to reward Nevuchadnezzar for standing up for the honor of God in this one act that he committed. And because of the four steps that he took in his effort to stand up for the honor of Hashem, he was rewarded with becoming the most powerful man and human ruler over the entire world. How many times do I take a hundred steps, or maybe drive in a car for ten minutes in order to go to Shul, visit a sick person, or any other mitzvah? We are taught that the reward that awaits us is so great that it cannot even fit in this world. Let us just digest that concept. That the reward that awaits us in the next world for just one single mitzvah is greater than being rewarded with becoming the ruler over the entire world. "Hashem, my Father, thank you so much for teaching me the truth of what real reality is. I know that ultimately this world is a distraction from true reality because everything in this world operates in a way where we seem to experience things exactly as they are, at face value. But the truth of the matter, as you've taught us so many times in your Torah, is that we are called unto believe in the information that you've given us in the Torah. Although much of the world are making the main pursuit of their lives to amass as much money as they can, or perhaps to try to find forms of happiness that speak to them in this world, however, Hashem, you have taught us that this world is so short in comparison to what eternity is, and the opportunity that we have each moment to perform mitzvos in this world will gain us reward beyond anything that we can even begin to imagine in this world. Please Hashem, help me to use my time wisely in this world and not get distracted by the normal way of the world and direction that people follow, but rather to use every moment that I can in service to you. And as you've taught us in your Torah sources, that even if I've fallen and committed transgressions, it's never ever the wrong time to pick myself up and say, Hashem, from now on, I'm going to do my best and capitalize on each opportunity to pick up another mitzvah and, b'ezrat Hashem, move to an even higher place in Olam Haba, for eternity."

349

269 - Olam Haba (Part-13)

Feb 23, 2025

4:30

How do I know if I'm doing well in terms of my spiritual scorecard? The truthful answer is that I don't know. But that's okay. I'm not meant to know because I'm not the judge. Hashem's job is to take an accounting of all our actions in order to reward us appropriately and fairly in the next world, B'ezrat Hashem, whereas our job in this world is never to know exactly how we are doing, but rather always to strive higher and higher. The Gemara in Berachos 28b states that when Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, one of the greatest sages, was passing away, his students asked him why he was crying. And he mentioned, because there are two roads after a person dies, that of Gan Eden, heaven, and that of Gehinnom, hell - and I don't know which path they are leading me onto. Now one might feel if Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai wasn't sure where he was going, what chance do I have? But again, as the Rambam says, every single individual is able to become as great as Moshe Rabbeinu. And as the commentaries explain, of course it doesn't mean that we are able to actually reach the same spiritual state as Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest human being ever to live. But rather that just like he achieved his maximum potential, we are able to achieve our maximum potential. Hashem will certainly not make an unfair challenge that is impossible for us to pass, but rather the opposite. Let us remind ourselves, why did Hashem create the world in the first place? Only to give to us. Of course He does want us to have a challenge, and we are taught that one of the most basic fundamentals of Judaism is that we do have free choice, and we are able to exercise our choice in whether we are going to choose good or bad, whilst at the same time, the whole purpose of Hashem giving us that opportunity is only so that we should have the ability to earn a greater place for ourselves in the next world. On the one hand, of course we must remember that Hashem is never trying to catch us out, and He is an absolutely loving Father, whilst on the other hand, we should remember that just like Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai was worried that perhaps he would have to go through the terrible tortures of Gehinnom, so too each one of us should have that at the forefront of our mind, because by doing so, that could be a tremendous motivator to doing more good and staying away from bad. The Gemara in Bava Basra 10b tells of the son of Rabbi Yeshua ben Levi, who had a near-death experience, which as we know, means he went to the next world for a few moments, and then came back to this world. When he recovered, his father asked him what he saw in the next world. And he said, "I saw an upside-down world, because many people that were considered noble and respected in this world were the real poor people in the next world, and many of the paupers in this world were the ones that were of highest royalty in the next world." And his father said back to him, "you saw the real world; this world that we live in is the upside-down world, where many people are honoured for their material successes, whereas people who have truly achieved what counts in the real world, much of the time are ignored." The Torah commentaries teach us that in the next world, there is no beating around the bush. Everything is absolutely clear, and there are no excuses. The Chofetz Chaim in his Sefer Shem Olam, chapter 4, writes that the poorest of people in this world still have a way out, because they can really rely on the kindness that others might show them, such as by hosting them, giving them food and accommodation, and the like. However, says the Chofetz Chaim, there is no such thing in the next world. If one does not have a place in what he calls the Machaneh of the Shechina, the place where Hashem manifests Himself, he is then stuck in the outer chambers. And the Chofetz Chaim then brings a Midrash, which says that friends cannot save one another in the next world, to the extent that even a father cannot invite his own son into his place in the heavenly chambers - If you have not earned that place, you have no license to be able to go there on someone else's account. Every single one of us has the tremendous opportunity to be able to gain eternal Olam Abba and bask in Hashem's light forever. But with that comes the opportunity to choose each moment of our lives - how exactly are we going to make use of those moments.

350

270 - Olam Haba (Part-14)

Feb 24, 2025

4:17

There are different approaches taken on by Torah leaders, where some focus more on the fact that Hashem is a loving, forgiving Father always looking out for our best, and others focus more on the fact that there are severe and serious consequences for our actions. It is very clear from many Torah sources that both of these aspects are true. On the one hand, Hashem created the world just out of love to be able to give us pleasure eternally. And on the other hand, the system that was created in this world, where we are given the opportunity to earn our eternity, gives space for choosing good and earning our reward, and also the opposite, where there are very serious and severe consequences for our transgressions. It is important to note that both of these approaches are true perspectives of the Torah, and one should certainly expose oneself to both of them to some degree. However, for many people, focusing on one of them is more beneficial. Some people are very inspired and motivated when they understand the extreme seriousness and severity of the consequences for their actions in the next world. Whereas for many people, that idea may be very overwhelming, and although one certainly should be exposed to it to some degree, because as we've learned previously, many Torah commentaries write that the only way to come to real love of Hashem is by first coming to fearing Hashem, and the most basic level of fearing Hashem is understanding that there are severe consequences for our actions in the next world, however, at the same time, one with this type of nature and approach could expose themselves mainly to the more positive areas, such as what is waiting for us in Gan Eden and the like. There is much written about all of these topics, and if one would like to investigate it further, perhaps a place to start are the Midrashic collections on these topics, called Meseches Chibut Hakever, Meseches Gehinnom, and Meseches Gan Eden. Every one of us has our own journey, and different people connect with different things. But one thing is for sure, to just ignore the fact that reality is one day going to hit, and not expose oneself whatsoever to the concept of Olam Haba, is certainly not in line with what all the commentaries do. Throughout Torah literature, right from the early classics such as the Talmud all the way through to the later Torah commentaries, the concept of Olam Haba and the consequences that we've been discussing is on the front pages of every topic. Because let us remind ourselves, this world is a world of Emunah, although everything around us might seemingly dictate that the important things are getting evolved in the materialistic things of this world, however, our purpose in this world is to practice and excel in our belief, our Emunah, in what we are taught from Hashem's perspective, the only true perspective. "Hashem, my Father, I am so grateful that You have chosen me as Your child to teach me this true information of Your perspective that teaches us the truth of what reality is. Because Hashem, although You created this world, that many people are involved in this world for its own sake - Of course I can't understand Your real calculations - but as Torah commentaries teach, one of the reasons that many people exist in this world is just because of me. Because as the Gemara states, I am obligated to believe that the entire world was created just for me, and although there might be many people who seemingly do not understand that there is another world and just get involved in day-to-day materialistic activities in this world, however, Hashem, as You've taught me from Your Torah commentaries, many of those people were created just to test me. Because although they might appear to be successful in their endeavors, I am now called on to believe that those pursuits of the materialistic world and the successes they might be seeing is not reality. Although it might appear to the naked eye that that will lead to happiness and the like, however, a person who is truly connected will quickly realize what true reality is."

351

271 - Olam Haba (Part-15)

Feb 25, 2025

4:15

Imagine you are up to write an important exam, and all the students are informed that if you would like, you are welcome to come over and see the exact questions that will be asked on this exam. Not only that, but we will also show you the correct answers to the questions that will be asked. Of course only a fool would skip such an opportunity, because after seeing the questions and knowing the right answers, we can be guaranteed to succeed in our exam. Much more important than any exam that can exist in this materialistic world that we live in, is the exam we will have at the time that we pass on from this world. The Gemara in Shabbos 31a states that there will be six questions asked of us at the exam we will have to face on the day of our passing. Of course there is much Torah literature about these six questions available for one who is interested in further study. But for our purposes right now we will go through these six questions very briefly, so that b'ezrat Hashem, each one of us, can make an effort to be mindful of these questions and be prepared for that exam when the time arrives. Question number one the gemara says, is nasata v'nasata beemunah - did you conduct your business affairs in an honest manner? That is the simple meaning. And on a deeper level, as the commentaries teach, is - did you live your life according to the values of Emunah? And in truth, these two explanations are really one and the same, because one who is living according to the values of Emunah will also certainly conduct their business affairs in an honest manner, because if Hashem is truly in charge, I have no need to cheat anybody. The second question is kavata itim latorah - did you set aside time to study the Torah? And as the Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh Deah chapter 246 states - every single Jew is obligated in the mitzvah of Torah study, whether poor or rich, whether healthy or unhealthy, whether one has family responsibilities or other responsibilities, under all circumstances one is obligated to set aside time to learn Torah. In our day and age we are so privileged to have so many forms of Torah learning available in all languages and in all mediums, such as books, online lectures and the like. Let us remind ourselves that this is the second question that will be asked in our final examination. It is also worthwhile to mention that the Halacha states that although women do not have the same level of obligation in terms of Torah learning as of men, by helping others such as her husband and children to learn Torah, she bears the fruits of a full out partnership in their Torah learning. Question number three is asakta bepirya ureviyah - was one involved in making an effort to try procreate and make a family? The emphasis on try, because if we believe Hashem is in true control, then Hashem exclusively decides if and what type of family we might have; but our effort needs to be to try and pray to make a family and be able to procreate. Question number four is Tzipisa Liyeshua - did you hope for the arrival of Mashiach? We have a mitzvah every single day to hope for the coming of Mashiach that we should merit in our days. Questions five and six are also related to Torah study, where the questions surround some of the more deeper and technical aspects of how exactly we went about our Torah study. And again, highlighting and seeing the great emphasis that Hashem places on Torah study. And the gemara ends off by saying that a prerequisite even to all six questions that will be asked in our final examination is did we have Yiras Hashem - fear of Hashem. Of course there are many levels in understanding these six questions, but at least revising a brief understanding of these six questions for preparation of our exam can certainly go a long way. May we all merit to be successful in all our endeavours in this world, but most importantly may we all merit to pass our final examination with flying colours.

352

258 - Olam Haba (Part-2)

Feb 10, 2025

4:53

We've discussed that the Torah commentaries outline to us what Hashem's perspective is. The only absolutely unmistakable perspective with regards to what we are doing in this world. Step number one. Although Hashem doesn't need anything outside of Himself, He nevertheless decided to go ahead and create this world. And the only reason He decided to do so was because He desired to share His goodness with us and give us the ultimate pleasure. Step number two. The ultimate place where we are destined to experience that goodness and pleasure is in the next world, in Olam Haba, and not in this world. And step number three, that being the case, what are we doing here exactly? Why didn't Hashem just place us directly in the next world? And as the commentaries explain, Hashem wanted to give us the opportunity to be able to reap the greatest form of pleasure, and in His great wisdom, He understood that when we are given the opportunity to earn that eternal reward for ourselves, that then will be the highest form of pleasure which b'ezrat Hashem we will reap in the next world. And step number four. As we've discussed many times, the Torah commentaries mention that although there are many branches to the tree of Judaism, such as the great mitzvah of learning Torah; or the many mitzvos that we have; the efforts we are supposed to make on character development and the like, nevertheless, the trunk of the tree and core of the entire Torah and all the mitzvos can be summarized in one word - Emunah. We've spoken a lot about Emunah in this daily inspiration and b'ezrat Hashem we will continue to do so. Because as discussed many times, although the concepts and theory of Emunah can be learned in a relatively short amount of time, but our ultimate purpose in this world is not just to know the information, but rather to take that information and make just a little bit more effort each day to internalize the concepts and try to live by their values with more and more sincerity. We've been discussing how seeing as the ultimate destination that b'ezrat Hashem we are all due to make our way to is Olam Haba, the next world, it is certainly worth our while to try gain an appreciation and understanding of where we are going, seeing as this is our final destination for eternity. Some people don't like to talk about death, but the truth of the matter is that death is something that is inevitable to every single one of us. And although we should certainly make an effort to remove negative thoughts and connotations of some ideas we might have heard about death, and as always, it is much more beneficial to move in a positive direction, however, just to ignore the topic because one is afraid of what's coming might be comparable to any area of our lives which there is potential to cause us stress. Let's say I have an important exam in three weeks time from now and I am extremely stressed and perhaps nervous about what the outcome is going to be. Of course the wrong and perhaps the silly approach would be just to forget about the whole thing and focus on other areas of my life and just ignore the fact that I have this exam in three weeks. Because at the end of the day, although during this three-week period, if I forget about the fact that I have an exam, I might be able to relieve the stress from myself, but when that day comes and I now have to face the fact that there is an exam taking place and there will be consequences for the fact that I am unprepared, I will then have to deal with a lot more stress at the sudden shock of being unprepared for the exam than I would have been throughout the three weeks of preparation. And although we might compare what's coming to all of us - death which ultimately leads to the next world - Olama Haba, to an upcoming exam, however the truth of the matter is that our preparation for what's coming in Olam Haba for all of us, needs to be treated with much higher priority than an exam or anything else in our lives, because ultimately everything in our lives is temporary and it will always come to an end, whereas our destination, where we are due to go after this world, is our final destination forever. There is a parable offered by Turk commentaries where there are twins inside the stomach of their mother. And as the mother gives birth to the firstborn of the twins, the one who is still in the stomach yet to be born begins to cry and starts to mourn over the fact that his sibling has just died. Because again, in his vision of what he sees of the world, his entire world exists just of his mother's stomach. And the fact that his sibling is now gone, to him means that his sibling has died. But in reality, his sibling has just been born to a vast world, much bigger than the small space of one's mother's stomach. And similarly, when people die in this world, of course we are supposed to follow the halacha as the Torah prescribes, to mourn over the individual. However, without learning about the topic, we might feel like this individual is now gone, but the truth of the matter is that death is just the beginning of life.

353

273 - Gratitude (Part-2)

Feb 27, 2025

4:15

We've discussed that the Torah commentaries outline that there are many chambers in the heavenly realms and sometimes a specific prayer can only make its way up if certain criteria are met, perhaps related to our righteousness, to our commitment and performance of the mitzvahs, to how sincere we were in verbalizing that prayer and many other factors. We've also discussed that Torah authorities outline to us that there is one chamber in the heavenly realms where no angels have any jurisdiction, the chamber of our prayers of gratitude. And that being the case, even when our merits do not dictate for our prayer to be answered, Hashem overlooks the situations many times, bringing about what we have desired, even when we shouldn't have deserved so. The potency and power of thanking Hashem and the responsibility and opportunity for each one of us to do so is portrayed to us in the laws of davening. There are three prescribed prayers and the main part of the prayer is where everybody stands and prays the prescribed prayer quietly. After the quiet Shemona Esrei, the leader of the davening repeats the Shemona Esrei for the basic reason that if somebody does not know how to pray, this prayer can now be counted for all the individuals who do not know how to pray as if they prayed themselves. This law was much more relevant in times of old where used to pray without any siddurim and it was common for people to come to a synagogue and not know how to pray. However, even though we do have siddurim today, this law nevertheless still stands for various reasons. It is worthwhile to point out that although one is able to fulfill their obligation of prayer by listening to the words and recitation of the Chazan, nevertheless, when we reach the paragraph of Modim which deals with thanking Hashem for the many blessings that He has given us, there there is a special paragraph that we all have to recite ourselves and commentaries explain because although all prayers are important but in a sense the most important prayer is the prayer of thank you and therefore when we reach the section of thank you in the repetition of the Shemona Esrei, it does not suffice for us to just hear the words of the Chazan and fulfill our obligation in that way; rather, we need to verbalize the thank you in our own words every single one of us. The gift of saying thank you to Hashem is available to every single one of us at every opportunity. Thank you Hashem for the privilege of waking up to another day and all the opportunities that you have presented me in my life. "Thank you Hashem for the incredible opportunity to recite brachos today over everything I'm going to eat and drink and every time I use the bathroom. Thank you Hashem for the ability to go to the bathroom without pain so many times. Thank you my loving Father for the opportunity to be learning Torah, to be trying to and to have a personal relationship with you. Thank you Hashem for giving me a mouth and teaching me how to talk and giving me the opportunity to pray to you about anything and everything I might need and in particular thank you Hashem for the opportunity to thank you for all the gifts that you bestow on me in so many different ways. Thank you Hashem for all the gifts that you have given me."

354

274 - Gratitude (Part-3)

Feb 28, 2025

5:24

There is a fascinating teaching that helps us to digest emunah and the way that we pray in a powerful way. Rabbeinu Bechaye and other Torah commentaries write that before every single neshama descends into this world, each soul is given the opportunity to outline and choose all the details of what will transpire throughout their lives. And each one of us goes and chooses exactly what type of being we will be, what our characteristics will be, how much money we will have, who our family and friends will be, what our health will look like, if we will have children and how many, and all the other many details that transpire throughout our lives. If we remember and internalize with our emunah these words of Rabbeinu Bechaye, that we ourselves have pre-chosen every single nuance and detail that will transpire in our lives, it can help us tremendously in our endeavor of emunah and bitachon. Before we came into this world, when we were not limited by our body and human limitations, we have the opportunity and ability to see through the lens of absolute truth, through the full picture. And therefore, our neshamas choose exactly what is best for us before we come into the world, because our neshamas can see everything there, why it is good for us. And in this world, as discussed many times, we do not see, we have to believe. But if we remember that we've already chosen all the details to our own lives, ourselves, it can be tremendously inspiring to accept all situations with love and happiness. We've discussed many times that the highest and most potent prayer that we can opt to pray is the prayer of thank you. And it is worth highlighting two sides of the coin when it comes to thanking Hashem. The first and most obvious is thanking Hashem for what we did experience when He came through for us, and investing time and energy into verbalizing and expressing those feelings to Hashem. "Thank you so much, Hashem, for the gift to be able to keep Shabbos and all its tremendous blessing every single week. Thank you so much, Hashem, for the opportunity to be able to have eyes and be able to see. Thank you, Hashem, for the gift to be able to breathe. Thank you, Hashem, for the incredible family that you've given me. Thank you, Hashem, for all the paranassah and food that you've given me throughout my life." And the more we thank Hashem, the better, because in a sense, we are then appreciating more. And as we've discussed, when Hashem hears our thank you's to Him, He then brings about more blessing in all areas of our life. And the other side of the coin when it comes to thank you is thanking Hashem for those things that we do not understand and see the good in, but we believe that Hashem can and will only send us good. Remember, we ourselves, before we came down into this world, chose all the details precisely of what would transpire throughout our lives, not because we were forced to, but because we chose that that will be the best for us. And with that perspective and understanding, it is easy to thank Hashem for anything and everything which might transpire. "Thank you so much, Hashem, for the fact that I broke my toe, because, of course, I don't know all your calculations why that is good for me, but I know for sure that that is good for me. And in fact, I might myself even be able to think of reasons why that may be good for me. Thank you, Hashem, for breaking my toe, because the truth of the matter is that I get quite busy with my life, with the many obligations that I have to take care of, and I don't usually appreciate the fact that I can walk around without this constant pain bragging at me. Thank you, Hashem, for now breaking my toe and giving me the opportunity to appreciate all those other times. And thank you, Hashem, for the fact that I didn't break my other toe, my arm, my legs, and all the other incredible things that you've given me in the health of my body. And the truth of the matter is, Hashem, there are many deeper reasons why you might have caused me to break my toe. Perhaps there might have been some form of consequence waiting for me in the next world for some act or sin that I might have committed, and you, in your loving kindness, would rather me clean that slate by stabbing my toe in this world. Thank you, Hashem, for all the incredible gifts that you've given me, both those that I do understand as well as those that I don't understand, but just believe that are for sure for my best."

355

275 - Gratitude (Part-4)

Mar 2, 2025

5:04

The Gemara in one place teaches us that since the time of the destruction of the base Hamikdash, the gates of prayer have been locked. The Gemara elsewhere, however, teaches that even were there to be such a strong separation, such as an iron wall dividing us away from Hashem, nevertheless we would never be separated from Hashem, and our prayers always have the potential to make their way up to Hashem. And one of the classic commentators, the Maharsha, writes that in order to resolve this contradiction, that when it comes to prayers of gratitude, then there is no barrier whatsoever between Hashem and ourselves in terms of our prayers, whereas when it comes to other forms of prayer, requests and the like, then since the time of the destruction of the base Hamikdash, it is more difficult for our prayers to make their way up to Hashem. I read an amazing story in the book, Just One Word Emunah, by Esther Stern, that drives this point home. There was a couple who got married in the year 1979. For ten years they were unable to have children, and of course throughout that process and time they made their efforts to try and enable them to have children, be it seeing doctors or spiritual endeavors. Another ten years passed, now twenty years in total, with still no sign of any child or possibility of having children in sight. This of course was a point of tremendous heartache in this couple's life. Nevertheless, being God-fearing Jews, they went to receive blessings from some great people, and the woman in the story recounts that their situation was so impossible to have children, when they went to certain great people, they were encouraged to accept their situation that they weren't meant to have children. However, this woman says that she had learned that there is never a space to give up, and even when all odds are against an individual, one can always pray for things to turn into their favor. The woman in the story reports that she and her husband, during this period of being unable to have children, and of course having this at the forefront of their minds all the time, visited Kever Rachel, the holy place of the tomb of Rachel, every morning for two years reciting the entire book of Tehillim. Now for most of us, that would be a very big spiritual effort. Nevertheless, they did not see a sign of children. After 31 years of being unable to have children, says the woman in the story, she was speaking to a friend who had learned about the concept of thanking Hashem both for the times that we understand as good, as well as for the unpleasant times, because although we don't see the good in those situations, we believe that Hashem will only send our way what is good for us. And after learning about this concept, she and her husband decided to change course completely, and instead of requesting from Hashem to have a child, they began thanking Hashem for 32 years of being unable to have children, firstly, thanking Hashem for their emunah in their lives, being able to believe that if Hashem has sent them a certain challenge, of course it will be for their best, and perhaps also finding other reasons why Hashem's decree could be for their good, such as for 32 years they have had the opportunity to live with a certain level of humility and connection to Hashem, and dependency of Hashem praying to Him so much in perhaps a way that many others could not do. And she says that this became their mode of thinking in all areas of their life. When something broke in their house, although one's instinctive response is to be frustrated or complain, they got into a mode where they said, "thank you Hashem that the washing machine just broke; thank you Hashem that the fridge now needs repair", and believe it or not, after 32 years, this woman and her husband merited to have a child. And she passionately describes how more potent than any form of prayer or spiritual endeavor, to just thank Hashem is the highest of the high because again, if we believe that Hashem can do and only does good for us, we will thank Him for everything.

356

276 - Gratitude (Part-5)

Mar 3, 2025

5:10

We've been discussing how one of the most important foundations in our service to Hashem is following Hashem's commandments and in general, living our lives with a feeling of joy and simcha. When we have the right perspective, it is much easier to live our lives in a mode of joy and simcha. However, sometimes we get used to receiving so many of our needs and gifts beyond our needs that we begin to expect these things on a daily basis. The fact that yesterday I might have eaten breakfast, lunch and supper, as well as the day before that, as well as as long as I can remember, I have always had the opportunity to eat food when I am hungry, because that is what we are accustomed to, it sometimes might feel like Hashem owes us those things. Imagine today I don't have food, I am hungry and I am thirsty, and either because I don't have money, or even if I do have the money, there could be a drought, a famine, or whatever other reason. When something is taken away from us, it is much easier to begin to appreciate the things that are given to us. If we are able to just contemplate on the fact that Hashem ultimately doesn't owe us anything, then when we look around, we will see just how many gifts Hashem is giving us every single moment. If we were to stop breathing for a few moments and then suddenly that gift to be able to breathe was returned to us, we would feel much more appreciation. When we internalize that Hashem doesn't owe us anything, but rather every moment He is giving us so many gifts, that will lead us, ultimately, to living lives of joy and simcha. Because if we feel that a whole list of items might be due to us—food, money, love, relationships, health, or whatever else it might be—when we don't receive those things, we become disappointed. Whereas if we feel we are owed nothing, every single time we receive even the smallest thing, we will be led to feelings of appreciation, of joy, of gratitude, of simcha. I happened to be sitting in a room recently when the weather was particularly hot. Usually this room has a nice air conditioning system, which makes it very comfortable to be there even when the weather is uncomfortably and unpleasantly hot. When at a particular time the air conditioner was not working and it became unbearably hot in that room, it struck me how something so small would make such a difference to my life if it was not there. If air conditioners did not exist and I would have to sweat in this uncomfortable heat on a daily basis, what a difference it would make. And the truth of the matter is that, until the air conditioner stopped, it was difficult for me to appreciate the tremendous gift that I have on a daily basis to sit in nice, comfortable weather indoors even when it might be excruciatingly hot and uncomfortable outdoors. "Hashem, my Father, thank You so much for the gift of this air conditioning that You have given me. You know that I am a human being, and although I might want to feel and express feelings of gratitude and appreciation to You, I am limited by my human nature, and the fact that You give me things on a daily basis, so many things, leads me to be unappreciative. However, Hashem, I ask You, please don't take things away from me to teach me the lesson that I should be appreciative, which will ultimately lead me to feel feelings of joy. But rather, Hashem, help me on my own accord to start appreciating things, even the smallest of things. Please, Hashem, help me to devote at least five minutes every day just to thanking You for anything and everything that I might think of. Although this might be a drop in the ocean compared to all the gifts that You give me, Hashem, however, I do want to express to You, to do my little part. Thank You, Hashem, for this incredible air conditioner that You have gifted me every day. If I didn't have this air conditioner, I would be so uncomfortable. Perhaps the heat would cause me to have headaches, and I would be in a constant state of discomfort. Thank You so much, Hashem, for this tremendous gift that You have given me, and this is just a drop in the ocean. Hashem, thank You for all the gifts in the world. And Hashem, I ask You, please can You help me to live a life of thanking You every day, perhaps at least five minutes a day, or perhaps more if I'm able to, because I know that when I'm in a state of gratitude, that will automatically lead me to live a life of joy and simcha."

357

277 - Gratitude (Part-6)

Mar 4, 2025

4:13

We've been discussing how when we adopt an approach to life, of seeing everything that we receive from Hashem as a gift, rather than assuming that it's something owed to us, that will lead us to feeling constant feelings of appreciation and gratitude to Hashem, which will ultimately also lead to being joyful and besimcha, and of course, having a constant close relationship with Hashem. Of course, it is not easy to remain with that mode of thought all the time, because most of the messages of the world around us are conducive to exactly the opposite. So what are we to do, seeing as it is a difficult ordeal, living lives with constant gratitude? As always, the solution to all problems, step number one, is talk to Hashem. "Hashem my Father, I want to be grateful. I want to see all the blessings that You give me and take nothing for granted. But Hashem, the messages in the world are conducive to exactly the opposite and it's difficult for me to remain with that mode of thought. Please Hashem, help me to notice all the things that You give me, from the smallest to the biggest on a daily basis. And in return, maybe something I can do from my part, Hashem, is commit to a certain amount of time that I will contemplate on some of the gifts that You bless me with on a daily basis and thank You for those things." For some people, maybe to write these things down would be beneficial, and then perhaps to take the things one's written down and dedicate a certain amount of time to talking to Hashem about those things and thanking Hashem for them. "Thank you so much Hashem for the gift to be able to talk. Imagine what my life would be if I was not able to communicate with those around me. I know that whatever I say to you Hashem is only going to be a drop in the ocean, but I know that You only expect of me to tell You a drop in the ocean, because I am just a human being and therefore I will just do my best." Making a daily commitment and having a safety net of a certain amount of time that I will talk to Hashem and express my gratitude for as many things that I can think of would be very conducive to remaining in the space of being grateful rather than living a life where I might feel that everything is owed to me. Remember, our relationship with Hashem is not something that is objectively the same to all of us, rather each one of us has our personal relationship with Hashem. Some of the points that are being mentioned here are just some ideas to help one perhaps get started or motivate ourselves to continue to move towards the right direction and living a life of appreciation, of gratitude and of joy and simcha. But ultimately, the way we do so will depend from individual to individual. For some, maybe just to recite the bracha Asher Yatzar with real meaning and intention will bring about feelings of appreciation and gratitude. For others, after reciting the bracha, to talk in their own words and say, "Hashem, thank You so much for the gift of being able to use the bathroom and not have to experience any pain. There were times that I did experience pain, and I know how painful it can be. And something so basic, like using the bathroom, which I might need multiple times a day, if I experience pain, or perhaps even excruciating pain, I would be completely dysfunctional and everything else in my life would become unimportant because I wouldn't manage. Thank You so much, Hashem, for the gift to be able to use the bathroom once again without pain." There are so many things, and life tries to distract us to forget to live a life of gratitude, to forget to have a personal relationship with Hashem. "Thank You, Hashem, for teaching us what life is truly about."

358

278 - Gratitude (Part-7)

Mar 5, 2025

4:21

We've been discussing how one of the most important fundamentals of living a happy life is being able to notice all the blessings we receive on a daily basis, which will thereby lead us to expressing gratitude to Hashem for the many blessings He constantly gives us. Expressing our feelings of gratitude to Hashem is clearly one of the fundamentals and most basic principles of the Torah. As we've learned many times, there is a Torah passage which outlines many curses which could befall the Jewish people just because they did not serve Hashem with simcha. When we neglect living lives of gratitude and joy, although one might be performing the mitzvahs in a practical way, one is missing one of the most important components of what it means to live life as a Jew. We are taught that in the future, all of the animal offerings which were brought in the temple will be discontinued except for one, the toda offering, because the toda offering is to say thank you. Although all of the offerings might be extremely elated and holy beyond anything we can imagine, however, the level that we will rise to in the future will be even greater than that and therefore the offerings will be unnecessary and won't have a place anymore. However, the offering of thank you will always remain because to be grateful is such a fundamental component of what it means to be a Jew that will remain with us forever regardless of our spiritual levels that we climb to. One component of expressing our gratitude is contemplating on all the amazing gifts and blessings that Hashem has blessed us with and as discussed, dedicating a certain amount of time every day to make efforts in thanking Hashem for all of these things will certainly be very conducive to living a life of gratitude. In addition to all the things that we perceive as gifts from Hashem, be it food, health, family, money, relationships or whatever else it might be, the halacha outlines that just like we are called on to bless Hashem and thank Him for all the things that we perceive as good, we are also called on to bless Hashem and thank Him for the things that we perceive as bad. This is a teaching from the Gemara which is also codified in the Shulchan Aruch as the law. It should not be viewed as a pious act for some righteous individual on a very high level, but rather applicable to every Jew that we should internalize that we need to thank Hashem for everything, both what we perceive as good as well as what we perceive as bad. As we know, there are blessings that are outlined for an individual to recite when tragedy strikes such as death, loss of large amount of money and other things. And the reason for that is because if we truly trust Hashem, we will understand that anything that happens is ultimately for our best, even when it might seem like there is no possible way for this to be good. But if we are able to humble ourselves to realize that we have no idea what's truly going on in the bigger picture of things in Hashem's books, but rather we live our lives with a trust that everything that He does is for sure for our best, then we will be able to trust and appreciate and be grateful for anything that happens. Of course, we are allowed to feel feelings of pain because we are human beings, and the halacha itself even dictates certain periods such as the mourning period for losing a relative and other similar things. At the same time, we are called on to feel feelings of appreciation and gratitude for everything that Hashem does because if Hashem decided to do something, there is no question that it is for my best. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me that everything that happens in my life is a gift from You and always going to be for my best."

359

279 - Gratitude (Part-8)

Mar 6, 2025

4:12

We've been discussing one of the most important and fundamental components to Judaism and Torah. As mentioned, the only animal offering that will remain in the future is the offering of the Todah, because although we might reach such a high spiritual level in the future that we will not need the other offerings, however, the offering that is brought in light of our gratitude to Hashem remains forever. And that is because gratitude is such a fundamental and important component to who and what we are. In the same vein, we are taught that all songs will cease to exist in the future. And again, because of the level that we will climb to, we will be beyond what songs can communicate and express. But the one song that will remain is Mizmor L'soda - is the song of gratitude, because thanking Hashem is something that is with us forever. We also learnt the Gemara which is codified in the Shulchan Aruch that states that a person is obligated to bless and thank Hashem for the good things that transpire in our lives as well as the bad things that transpire in our lives. And as pointed out, sometimes one might feel like a certain practice is saved for some super pious and righteous individuals, however, this is a law codified in the Shulchan Aruch which is applicable to every single one of us. In addition to having a daily commitment of a certain amount of time where one thanks Hashem for all of the good things in our lives, it could be very advisable to also dedicate a certain amount of time where I try contemplate on things which are seemingly bad and difficult and tragedies that I might be experiencing, and nevertheless find it within me to say, "Hashem, I know that this can only be for the best, because if You are sending this to me, there is no question that You will only do what is best for me." Let's say I am looking after another family member who is elderly and unwell, and being a good person, I make my maximum effort to look after them. I consult doctors, I try get the right guidance to give them their best treatment. I wake up one morning to the sad news that this family member has passed away. And it's also currently going all over the news that only just recently a certain medication was discovered that has a 99% success rate to treat this illness, and for whatever reason I did not see that information on the news. The wrong approach would be to say, "if only I knew about this news information, I would have saved my family member's life, I regret so much that I didn't look around more on the news and I didn't talk to more people, because maybe, who knows, I would have found the solution." If a person is responsible and made a reasonable amount of effort to look after their family member, an emunah approach would teach, the fact that I did not see that information on the news is just because Hashem did not want my family member to live more. For whatever reason, it was the best thing that they should be taken from us now, because everything that happens in the world can only be for the best. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me this golden information, the true perspective, your perspective, that anything and everything that transpires throughout my life is directly orchestrated by You, and therefore, whether I perceive it as good or if I perceive it as bad is only my perception, but ultimately, anything and everything that happens is always directly orchestrated from You and always only what is absolutely best for me."

360

280 - Gratitude (Part-9)

Mar 7, 2025

5:46

We've been discussing one of the most important components of what it means to live a life of Torah, the true perspective of Hashem. And as discussed, having a daily commitment of a certain amount of time where I can focus on and contemplate all the things that I perceive as good, just to appreciate them and be grateful for them, is something very conducive to living a life of gratitude, which will ultimately lead to a life of joy and simcha. And in addition to that, it would be wise to also devote a certain amount of time to try to contemplate the things that I might perceive as negative and as bad, but nevertheless communicate with Hashem that we trust that whatever He does is for our best, because He only does what is best for us. As mentioned, this concept is codified in the Shulchan Aruch where it states that a person is obligated to bless and thank Hashem for both the things that we perceive as good as well as the things that we perceive as bad, because ultimately nothing in the world is bad. Everything that Hashem does can only be for our best. Remember what all the Torah commentaries teach us as to the most vital question of why Hashem decided to create the world in the first place, and what they all unanimously state is that ultimately, Hashem did not need to create anyone nor anything, but He did so just because He wants to share His goodness with us. That is the starting point to never forget that anything and everything that ever transpires can only be for a positive effect that Hashem is bringing about, because that is the only reason He created the world in the first place. It happens to be that for our ultimate benefit, there needs to be negativity in the world. There needs to be the potential to sin, to break our relationship with Hashem, and there needs to be tragedy and challenges that transpire. However, ultimately it is only for one purpose. It is ultimately just so that Hashem can give to us in the highest, most potent and powerful way which only He understands, the exact course that will bring about this desired result in the most effective way. There is a story of the two famous and pious brothers, Rav Zusha and Rav Elimelech. It happened one time that because of the antisemitism, these two great tzaddikim were imprisoned. Not having committed any form of transgression, but just because of the antisemitism, some pretext was found against them. And whilst in prison, one of the brothers started crying, and the other brother said to him, why are you crying? We know Hashem runs the world exclusively. Are you worried? Are you scared? What are you worried about? Just like Hashem put us in here, He could take us out at any moment. And if He wants us to remain here, then of course that is for the best. So why are you crying? And the brother retorted back, you think I'm crying about that? I'm not scared. I know that everything happens only for the best. And if Hashem wants us to be here right now, that is for sure for the best. And if He wants to take us out, He can do so at any moment, because He runs the world exclusively. You know why I'm crying? Because I see the sun is about to set, and the mincha prayer which I have not yet recited needs to be said before the sun has set. However, one is also forbidden to pray if there is a foul odor nearby oneself. And we here are locked in this small room, and right there in the middle of the room, there is a garbage can with a foul odor emanating from it. And therefore, I am unable to pray the mincha services now. And the sun is about to set. I have never missed the mincha prayer before. And now, for the first time in my life, I am going to miss this prayer. This is the reason I am crying. And the brother retorted back, what is the reason you usually daven mincha? Is it not because Hashem commanded you to daven mincha? Well, if Hashem put you in this situation right now, where you are locked in a room and are unable to daven mincha, then just like Hashem is the one who usually commands you to daven mincha, today Hashem is the one commanding you not to daven mincha. And the two brothers began to dance around the garbage can, celebrating that this was their best way to serve Hashem now, because everything Hashem does is for the best. It happened to be that as an anecdote to the story, the prison warden came and saw that there was such tremendous joy about this garbage can that they were dancing around, and because of his hatred for the Jews not wanting them to have any joy, he removed the garbage can, thinking that this was some form of ritual and the brothers were of course now free to continue with their services. Sometimes, when we choose to focus on the good, to be appreciative and grateful, and to be full of joy, that itself is the catalyst to removing the heartache and challenges that are presented to us. But perhaps an even deeper message is to contemplate on the fact that anything and everything that happens throughout our lives is always exclusively orchestrated directly from Hashem and therefore can only be for our best.

361

281 - Gratitude (Part-10)

Mar 9, 2025

5:24

Let us remind ourselves, the only reason Hashem created the world was in order to share His goodness with every single one of us, and therefore anything that ever transpires throughout our lives can only be for our ultimate benefit. And at the same time, let us remind ourselves that we are taught that our main focus in this world, ultimately the foundation of the whole Torah and all the mitzvos, is to practice emunah, belief, specifically when I don't understand, to believe. Hashem designed the world in a way that everything is conducive for an opportunity to believe. So although we are taught from all the Torah sources unanimously that ultimately Hashem created the world only to give to us, only to be good to us, however, Hashem made the world operate in a way that many times it can seem like bad things are happening to us, thereby giving us an opportunity to be able to exercise our emunah, our belief; although I seem to see what appears to be bad, however, I am going to make an effort to believe and have emunah that the only reason Hashem is doing this is in order to give me an opportunity to choose to believe in what He's taught me, in His Torah sources, which is ultimately the only true perspective, Hashem's perspective, that absolutely anything and everything that transpires throughout my life can only be for my good. We ought to constantly remind ourselves about what the Mishnah states, which is ultimately coded in the Shulchan Aruch. חייב אדם לברך על הראה כשם שמברך על הטובה - that a person is obligated to bless Hashem for the seemingly bad times in the same way that one would bless Hashem for the seemingly good times. We know that in halacha there are certain blessings prescribed to the birth of children and in the same way there are certain blessings prescribed to when one experiences the death of a family member. And we also have certain blessings prescribed in halacha when one receives a large amount of money or an item of substantial value and in the same way when one loses a large amount of money there is a blessing outlined. And ultimately as we've learnt many times, this stems from the fact that we ought to believe that everything that transpires throughout our lives is directly orchestrated from Hashem and can only be for our best because that is why He created us. But again our job is to believe that when other factors seem to indicate the opposite. There are many great sages and Torah sources that outline the benefits of fulfilling this law where we bless and thank Hashem for not only the things we perceive as good but also for the things we perceive as challenges and tragedy. The main student of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in his book Likutei Halachot writes the following: "If everyone would constantly give thanks and praise to Hashem whether under good circumstances or not, then surely all the troubles and all the exiles would be completely nullified and the complete redemption would take place." There are many Torah passages outlined by many great sages along similar lines. What we are learning here is that of course by thanking Hashem and being grateful for even the challenges throughout our lives, the ultimate benefit is that we are fulfilling our purpose in this world to have emunah, but an additional fringe benefit is that by choosing to be grateful and thank Hashem for what we perceive as challenges and say, "Hashem you know the fact that I lost all this money it is so hard for me and it hurts me but if that is what you sent me I have no doubt that this is the best thing in the world. Thank you so much Hashem for making me lose one million dollars in this crazy transaction that took place. Although this is such a huge blow to me and I have no idea how I am going to come out of this, I am going to thank you with all my heart because Hashem if you created me and you sent me this situation and I trust that everything you do in the world is only for my best there is no question in the world that this too is for my best. Thank you so much Hashem for making me lose a million dollars." And as we are taught here, by doing so, one of the great fringe benefits is that that itself is the catalyst to turning the tragedy and challenge into a time of revealed blessing, a time where we perceive it as good. May we all merit to thank Hashem for all the things in our lives, for the things we perceive as good as well as the things we perceive as bad. And Im Yirtzeh Hashem, may we all merit to lives where we can perceive the goodness that Hashem is sending us at every moment throughout our lives.

362

282 - Purim (Part-1)

Mar 10, 2025

4:10

We are so privileged that every single one of us will have the opportunity b'ezrat Hashem in just a few days, to experience the holiest day of the year. A well-known Torah teaching that many Torah commentaries bring down in the name of the Arizal is that although we are accustomed to referring to Yom Kippur as the holiest day of the year, and in a sense it's easy to relate to that fact when we are all trying to be at our top form, repenting, and making our maximum effort to surround ourselves in holiness through our fasting, prayers, and the many other mitzvos of the day, however, when it comes to the day of Purim, the first thought that might come to our minds in connotation of this day is wine, feasting, and the like. However, as the Arizal famously teaches, that in the Torah, Yom Kippur is referred to as Yom Kippurim, which can also be read as Yom k-purim; it is a day like Purim. Meaning to say, Yom Kippur is an extremely holy day - so holy it is that it is almost as holy as Purim. But it does not match the holiness of Purim, because Purim is the holiest day of the year which surpasses every other day of our Jewish calendar. Throughout the year when one is approached for charity, especially if it's a significant sum, one is certainly entitled and sometimes encouraged by halacha to investigate if this is a legitimate and worthy cause. When it comes to Purim, however, the halacha dictates that when one stretches out their hand asking for charity, we don't ask questions; we just give. Of course, that does not mean that we are obligated to give millions of dollars to the entire world, but rather the principle that is being taught is that although throughout the year one is entitled to ask questions, on the day of Purim one's attitude should be that of complete generosity, and within one's budget of what one intends to give to charity, one should just give freely to those who are requesting, rather than investigating by asking the person questions to see if this is truly a worthy cause. And many Torah commentaries extend the idea behind this law to our relationship with Hashem. Every single one of us is considered like a very poor person standing before Hashem. Throughout the year, when we ask Hashem for things, many a time the heavenly court begins to investigate the matter to see if we are truly worthy. There are many considerations and do we truly deserve what we are requesting. Whereas on Purim, Torah commentaries explain that the heavenly courts do not ask questions whether we are worthy or not, but rather this is the most opportune time to receive what we might be requesting. Now, of course, this does not mean that whatever we do ask for on Purim we will for sure receive, because there are many considerations beyond our understanding. Sometimes when we ask for something, Hashem knows that in the bigger picture it will be detrimental for us, and therefore the reason He will not give us what we have requested is not because our prayer did not make its way up, but rather because Hashem understands that this will not be good for us. There could be many other considerations, such as if a person is asked for health or wealth and the like, there are many ways to measure what true health or true wealth is. For a person who was supposed to suffer from tremendous illness, if they now after their prayers will be blessed to only experience mild illness, that could certainly be considered healthy in comparison to what was supposed to be. And similarly when it comes to wealth, if a person has requested that Hashem bless them with financial success, there are many levels as to what is considered to be financially wealthy. As we've discussed many times, our job in this world is not to understand things, but rather to believe, to have emunah. And what we are being taught here, loud and clear, from many Torah commentaries, is that Purim is a tremendously holy day, to the point that if any time is going to be the opportune time for our prayers to be answered, Purim is the day. What a tremendous privilege each one of us has that in just a few days' time, we will experience the great and holy day of Purim.

363

283 - Purim (Part-2)

Mar 11, 2025

4:20

We are all so privileged that in just a few days, B'ezrat Hashem, we will experience the holiest day of the year. As mentioned, the Arizal teaches that although Yom Kippur is ordinarily viewed as the holiest day of the year, and in a sense easy to relate to why that is, however, Yom Kippur in the Torah is referred to as Yom Kippurim - Yom k-purim - it is a day like Purim, meaning to say that although Yom Kippur is tremendously holy, it is almost as holy as Purim, because the holiness of Purim surpasses all other days of the Jewish calendar. And similarly we discussed that throughout the year, when one requests charity, we are certainly entitled to investigate where the money is going to and if this is truly a worthy cause. Whereas on Purim, the halacha states that whoever stretches out their arm, we should just give freely, rather than investigating and asking questions. And as the Torah commentaries teach, Hashem abides by this halacha too, meaning to say that throughout the year, when we make requests, many a time the heavenly courts will investigate the matter to determine whether we are truly worthy to receive what we have requested. Whereas on Purim, Hashem too abides by the halacha that states that when one stretches out their hand to ask, we just give without asking questions. What a tremendous privilege we have in this 24-hour period of the holy Purim day, that all the gates of heaven are open, and it is certainly worth our while to try to prepare ourselves in advance for this holy day to make maximum use of this 24-hour dynamite period. There is a fascinating midrash which teaches that in time to come, all of the Jewish holidays will cease to exist, except for one - Purim. Meaning to say, there will be no more Pesach, no more Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur. Although each of the Jewish holidays are imbued with tremendous holiness, however when it comes to the tremendous holiness that B'ezrat Hashem we are due to experience when this world terminates and we move to the future, the holiness of the Jewish festivals are considered insignificant in comparison to the tremendous holiness that will be prevalent in the time of the future, and therefore there is no need for them to exist. Whereas when it comes to Purim, as the midrash teaches, the day of Purim will never cease to exist. And again, the reason for that is because although we will be experiencing such tremendous holiness in the time of the future, however the holiness of the day of Purim is on par with the holiness of the time of the future. We are so privileged that in just a few days time, B'ezrat Hashem, we are going to experience such a holy day that is on par with the time of the future beyond the holiness of any and all other Jewish festivals that we have. There are many sources that highlight and explain the intense and incredible kedushah that we are able to attain during this 24-hour period of Purim. Suffice it to say that we certainly want to use these 24 hours in the most efficient way. 24 hours that are a true semblance of the next world, completely beyond our world. "Hashem my dear Father, in just a few days, B'ezrat Hashem, I will have the privilege to experience the holiest day of the year, a time which is imbued with the same holiness of that of the future. Hashem although this is certainly beyond my understanding, because as we go through Purim, the way You have prescribed, does not always connote feelings as if we are experiencing the holiest day of the year; I might have expected to be saying tehillim, learning Torah all day, fasting and the like. But again Hashem, my job in this world is not to understand, but rather to believe. And as You have taught us via Your many Torah commentaries, that Purim is the holiest day of the year. Please Hashem help me to truly be able to tap into the power of the day and make use of this tremendously powerful 24-hour dynamite period in the most efficient way according to Your Torah guidelines. Thank you Hashem for the tremendous privilege that You have given me to be able to be a Jew, to be able to follow the guidelines of Your Torah which is Your true perspective, the only true perspective, and to be able to experience the holiest day of the year."

364

284 - Purim (Part-3)

Mar 12, 2025

4:47

What a privilege we have that very soon each one of us will have the opportunity to tap into the holiness of the day of Purim. And as we learnt, Torah commentaries teach that Purim is the holiest day of the year, to the point that Yom Kippur is called Yom k-purim, a day almost as holy as Purim. And to the point that just like the halacha states by when someone asks us for charity that we are entitled to investigate the matter, however, when it comes to Purim as the halacha states, when one asks for charity, we do not ask questions, but rather give generously. And similarly, when we make requests of Hashem on Purim, the heavenly courts do not ask questions, but rather give generously. And we learnt further a fascinating midrash which teaches that in the time of the future, all the Jewish holidays will cease to exist, because the holiness of the future will be so great that there will be no need for the holiness of the Jewish festivals. Whereas as the midrash teaches, the only exception to this is the festival of Purim, which as we are taught, will never cease to exist, because right now, today, the holiness that we are able to experience on Purim is on par to the holiness of the time of the future. So seeing as we have this short period of 24 hours of a tremendous holiness beyond imagination, let us make our maximum effort to prepare ourselves in advance, so that when we begin this 24-hour period, b'ezrat Hashem, we can use every moment to its fullest, and reap its maximum benefits. So what exactly are we to focus on during Purim? Of course, as always, the first thing is to follow Hashem's guidelines as He is prescribed to us by halacha, because again, whether we understand or not, whether we connect and feel inspired by the mitzvos we might be performing or not, I perform Hashem's mitzvos in exactly the way that He has prescribed, with all of the intricate details involved in each of the mitzvos. So step number one to focus on during Purim is to make our maximum effort to fulfill all the mitzvos of the day, exactly as prescribed by halacha, such as the mitzvah of reading the Megillah, Mishloach Manos, Matanos L'evyonim, eating the seudah according to the details prescribed by halacha, and the like. Besides actually performing the mitzvos with the intricate details, which again is certainly step number one, we should certainly make our maximum effort during Purim to perform the mitzvos with tremendous simcha, joy and happiness. Many Torah commentaries teach that performing a mitzvah exactly as prescribed by halacha with all its intricate details, but doing so without a feeling of simcha and joy, cannot even begin to be compared to performing that same mitzvah with true simcha and joy. And of course throughout the year, every mitzvah we perform, ideally we should aim to perform with tremendous simcha and joy. However, especially when we come to Purim, the holiest day of the year, let us remind ourselves about the Torah passage which deals with the curses that might befall the Jewish people. And the Torah passage states that the reason that might happen is because we did not serve Hashem with simcha, meaning to say, even if we might have performed all of the mitzvos exactly as prescribed by halacha, with all the intricate details, but we forgot the element of simcha, then God forbid we could be susceptible to those terrible curses. And similarly the great and holy Arizal testified about himself that the reason that he reached such great spiritual heights was not due to his Torah learning, fasting, or any other forms of dedication to Hashem, but rather due to his tremendous simcha that he felt whilst performing the mitzvos. "Hashem my dear Father, throughout the year I often get distracted by the fast-paced world that we live in, and forget to truly appreciate what a tremendous privilege I have to be a Jew, to be able to be chosen to perform your mitzvos. Please Hashem help me, as we approach Purim, and especially on Purim itself, and B'ezrat Hashem to extend this message to the rest of the year too, to begin to appreciate what it means to be able to perform a mitzvah. Thank you so much Hashem for the mitzvah of mishloach manot. Thank you so much Hashem for giving me the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of giving tzedakah. Thank you so much Hashem for giving me the opportunity to say berachos throughout the day; to wash my hands in the morning upon awakening; to learn Torah; to light Shabbos candles; to have the privilege to listen to the megillah; and Hashem I could spend the whole day here thanking you. Hashem please help me that before I perform your beautiful mitzvos, to stop and be mindful of what a tremendous privilege I have. Thank you Hashem for the tremendous opportunity and privilege to be able to fulfill your mitzvos."

365

285 - Purim (Part-4)

Mar 13, 2025

4:04

What a tremendous privilege and opportunity each one of us has, that shortly we will be moving into a spiritual time period of the future. As we've been discussing, Torah commentaries teach that Purim is the holiest day of the year, to the point that all the other festivals will cease to exist in the future, because the holiness of the future will be so great that the holiness of the festivals will be diluted. Whereas Purim will be with us forever, because right now as we are about to move into this holy period of Purim, this is a time period of holiness on par of the holiness of the future. What a tremendous privilege each one of us has. And as we've been discussing, seeing as our purpose in this world is to practice emunah, specifically belief, whether we understand or not, whether we connect or not, our starting point should always be to make our maximum effort to fulfill Hashem's commandments exactly as prescribed by Halacha. And in addition to that, to make our maximum effort to perform the mitzvos with true simcha and joy, appreciating the fact that we have been chosen to perform the holiest work in the true real world. After having read the Megillah and performing all the mitzvos of the day, Matanot L'evyonim, Mishloach Manot, and the like, we reach the Purim Seudah. And as we are taught by Torah commentaries, the climax of the Purim Seudah is the mitzvah of Livesumei. We are taught by many Torah sources that to get drunk throughout the year is a tremendous sin because we are always supposed to be in control of ourselves to be able to serve Hashem to the best degree that we can. However, on Purim there is a specific mitzvah, Livesumei Bepuraya, to get drunk in the holiness of Purim itself. It is not the time and place now to discuss the laws of drinking on Purim, but rather we will be discussing now the real message and idea behind what it means Livesumei Bepuraya, and as the Gemara states, to the point that we are so ecstatic that we don't even know the difference anymore between Cursed is Haman and Blessed is Mordechai. What some Torah commentaries explain, Cursed is Haman refers to the times of our lives that are dark, that in a sense we curse them away because we wish they wouldn't have existed because of the pain and suffering, whereas the Blessed is Mordechai times in our lives refers to those happy and joyful times of bright lights and success. On Purim we are obligated to reach a state of such closeness to Hashem that we begin to praise Hashem to the point that we cannot distinguish anymore between the times of Blessed is Mordechai and Cursed is Haman, meaning to say, whether things are smooth and happy in our lives, or whether things are the darkest times that we might begin to imagine, on Purim we are aiming to reach such an elated state that it makes no difference to us anymore whether we are experiencing bright times or dark times because we have emunah in Hashem. We trust that Hashem will always do what's best for us and even when times appear to be so dark, so painful, we trust that Hashem would only do that for our best. Now throughout the year it is not always easy to remain with this perspective because when things are very difficult and we are undergoing sometimes tremendous forms of suffering, it is a real challenge to remember and remind ourselves that Hashem is truly in control and only created the world just to give to us and would only do what is best for us. But there is a special energy that we are all privy to experience on the holy day of Purim, where combined by the gift of the holiness of the Purim day itself, as well as our own efforts to truly connect with the holiness of Purim, we can reach the state of truly thanking and praising Hashem just for the fact that I am a Jew and I have the privilege to perform your mitzvos and have a personal relationship with Hashem.

366

244 - Foremost Consideration

Jan 23, 2025

4:37

Hashem created the world just to give to us. Ultimately, that takes place in the next world. We are in this world to earn our portion for eternity in the next world. And the main way that we do so in this world is by growing in our emunah and bitachon. It's so important to highlight that Hashem does not expect from us anything more than our maximum potential. There are many levels to what it means to living a life of true emunah and bitachon. And I am not called on to be anything more than I am able to. But I am called on to make my maximum effort to reach my maximum potential. And we all have the constant opportunity to make just a little bit more growth every single day. We've discussed the many benefits that a life of emunah and bitachon lead to. Most importantly, that we are thereby fulfilling our purpose in this world, which we will take with us to the next world for eternity. And additionally, in this world itself there are so many benefits, where a life of emunah and bitachon are the greatest anti-anxiety medication, lead to a life of true happiness and many many other things that we've discussed many times. Let's discuss practically what we can do to build our emunah and bitachon more and more each day, every one of us in our own way. One idea mentioned by Torah Commentaries, which is what we are doing right now, is constant inspiration and repetition of the ideas about emunah and bitachon. Because although sometimes I might learn some new information, and that is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, however much of the time, contemplating on the same information again and again, allows me the space to take that information to heart and truly internalize it and apply it to my life. As we've discussed many times, one of the most potent expressions of emunah and bitachon is when we talk to Hashem in our own words. Because again, if I believe that Hashem exists, He created the world and continues to guide every single moment in every one of our lives, down to the most intricate detail; if I believe that if I do talk to Hashem, He hears what I say and can help me, and even if I don't believe that entirely, but I am aspiring to live according to this thought process, I certainly will make my maximum effort to talk to Hashem as much as possible. And as many Torah sources teach, the value in talking to Hashem is one of the greatest things we could do in terms of fulfilling our purpose in this world. Let us remind ourselves of what the Chofetz Chaim writes in his Sefer Machaneh Yisrael part 3 chapter 2: that the foremost consideration of how much reward we will receive in the time of redemption is based on how much emunah we lived with. If we are sincere in our belief and regularly reflect on the knowledge that every detail that transpires in our lives is orchestrated by Hashem and is always for our best, our reward in the future will be exceedingly great, filled with goodness. And similarly, the Vilna Gaon in Even Sheleima chapter 3 part 2 writes: one who commits severe transgressions but nevertheless excels in bitachon is better than one who does not transgress but does not have bitachon. And there are many more sources that we have been discussing on this daily inspiration that outline the tremendous importance that we are to place on our emunah and bitachon endeavor. And again, one of the highest ways we can express that emunah and bitachon is by doing something that is available to every single one of us, regardless of our spiritual level. Sometimes people feel that they only have a license to talk to Hashem during the Shemoneh Esrei. This is a tremendous mistake. If we take to heart that Hashem is present throughout every moment of our day, it will then be a basic equation to us that we are able to reach out to Him throughout every moment. Let us remind ourselves of what the Chofetz Chaim writes in Likutei Amarim chapter 11. He writes: Whilst alone, a person must pour out his heart in prayer to Hashem from the depths of his soul. Because one is accustomed to the daily recital of the Shemoneh Esrei, one does not say these prayers with absolute sincerity. Whereas on the other hand, when it comes to speaking to Hashem with our own words in our own way, this type of prayer emanates from the depths of one's soul with true sincerity and this type of prayer will without question not be denied by Hashem. The bottom line is that a basic equation is if I believe in Hashem, or at least if I am aspiring to believe in Hashem and grow more in that belief in Hashem, I certainly will talk to Hashem.

367

231 - Bulletproof Confidence

Jan 7, 2025

4:40

We've been discussing the three types of emunah that the Torah commentaries bring. The first one, our life's work that we are most familiar with - making our maximum effort to take the emunah and bitachon that we've learnt about and trying to transform that to truly living our lives according to their values. The second type that we discussed was emunas chachamim - believing in the words of the sages, not just based on our understanding, but also appreciating that because of their holiness and closeness in their relationship to Hashem, Hashem has commanded us to follow their guidance. And again, just like when it comes to emunah and Hashem Himself, we don't do so because we understand, but rather we follow Hashem based on our emunah - our belief, similarly, when it comes to emunas chachamim, we are called on to build our emunah in the words of the sages. When we read a section of the Torah, of the Gemara, of the Shulchan Aruch and the like, our job is to build our emunah, that just like we would be so inspired and motivated if Hashem would tell us that information Himself, in a sense this is the same thing when we read these passages, because the oral tradition was given to Moshe Rabbeinu by Hashem, and just like at the giving of the Torah, we know that Hashem Himself revealed Himself to the Jewish people for the first two of the Ten Commandments, but because the experience was so overwhelming, the Jewish people requested that the rest should be transmitted only to Moshe Rabbeinu, who would then relay the information to them. Perhaps this is one reason why Hashem doesn't reveal Himself to every one of us in an obviously revealed manner the same way that He did to Moshe Rabbeinu, and there may be many other reasons, but the bottom line is that the words of the sages come directly from Hashem, and our job is to build our emunah chachamim. And the third type of emunah that the Torah commentaries bring is emunah in oneself - belief in oneself. And as we discussed, self-confidence can come from two different places. When self-confidence comes from the place of, "I am able to do this", and I forget to bring Hashem into the picture, although if I have certain strategies, I might be able to portray or feel what people usually refer to as self-confidence, however in truth, this is certainly not something that we should aim at. The true self-confidence - emunah in ourselves, that we should be aiming at, is again an extension of emunah in Hashem. If I believe in Hashem, and Hashem believes in me, then certainly I should believe in myself. And therefore whatever opportunities Hashem has presented me in my life, whatever abilities He might have given me, after praying to Hashem and asking Him to help me in my endeavor, I should certainly feel confident that I can do it. "Hashem my Father, thank You so much for teaching me this incredible Torah teaching about how important it is to believe in myself. Because the truth is, Hashem, that if You believe in me, I have no right not to believe in myself. Hashem, sometimes I say to myself, what is my Torah learning even worth? I barely have a background in Torah learning. I struggle so much with basic Torah learning, whereas there are so many people that have had so much more exposure than me, and their Torah learning is at a level much higher than mine. Hashem, please help me to remove these terrible thoughts from my heart and mind. Because Hashem, if You believe in me, and You've told me that there is a mitzvah to learn Torah, and that's applicable to everyone, just like I believe in You whether I understand it or not, I also believe that if You commanded me to learn Torah, regardless of how much value I might feel that may have, I don't want to do things because of my understanding; I want to do it because of emunah. Please Hashem, help me to believe in myself, that even if I am able to read just a few passages from Torah literature in English on a daily basis, that I should treat that time with absolute highest priority, and realize that like the Gemara teaches, "bishvili nivra haolam" - the entire world was created just for me. And when I go ahead and learn Torah in those few moments, that is the core reason that You created the entire world for, including everything encompassed within it. Hashem, at times it is difficult for me to feel confident to go ahead with the ideas that I have in myself, of what I believe I can contribute to the world. Please Hashem, help me always, first and foremostly, to reach out to You and not fall in the trap of looking at other addresses to try to find my self-confidence, but rather always coming to You and begging You for help and success. And after I have done so, Hashem, please help me to be so confident, because if You believe in me, I have every reason in the world to believe in myself."

368

232 - Terrorist Attack

Jan 8, 2025

4:08

We've been discussing how Torah commentaries bring that one of the extensions of what it means to have emunah in Hashem is to believe in myself. If Hashem believes in me to the extent that He blessed me with certain abilities and talents, so certainly following the path of emunah and believing in Hashem, I am called on to always in any endeavor reach out to Hashem and ask Him to bring me success, and thereafter believe in myself that I can do it. Let us remind ourselves that the whole purpose of this world is emunah, specifically to believe when I don't see. Just like I can't see Hashem, but I am called on to live a life where everything revolves around Hashem, even though I can't see Him, again based on emunah, based on belief, similarly, when it comes to my actions, I am not allowed to see the true effect of those actions in this world, because again if I was able to see the true spiritual impact of my actions, that would not be emunah anymore. When I give a coin to charity, I don't see any particular change in the world. When I give somebody a smile, learn a word of Torah, make a prayer, or any one of the many mitzvos that we have, much of the time we might not even feel any inspiration or change whatsoever, and that being the case, without building our faith in Hashem, our faith in ourselves that we are making a difference, a huge difference, bigger than anything we can imagine in this world, we will not be motivated to the correct degree. Many Torah commentaries outline this idea as a basic fundamental principle to the Torah. One of many stories that some of the Torah greats tell is the following. There was an individual who passed away, and when he came to the heavenly court, as we know, there is a heavenly accounting, and of course these are spiritual ideas, but to put it in terms that we can understand, a whole lot of white angels appeared corresponding to the mitzvos that this person fulfilled. And thereafter he saw some black angels coming, corresponding to the sins committed in this world. And slowly but surely, the side of the scale with the black angels started to get heavier and heavier, and eventually outweighed the white angels. And the man was panicking, because when the scorecard is such that there are more black angels than white, that means trouble. And suddenly, from far, again in our terms, just to give us a little bit of an understanding within the vocabulary we use, the man noticed that a huge bus was approaching, and soon the bus joined the white angels on their side of the scale. And the scale completely tipped in favor of the white angels - of the mitzvos. And the man was ecstatic, and when he asked for an explanation, he was told that this huge bus was filled with white angels. And even though he could not see how these mitzvos were related to him, they explained to him that there was just one time in his life where he had an opportunity to view something inappropriate, and because he fulfilled the tremendous mitzvah of guarding his eyes, as opposed to committing the sin of viewing something inappropriate, in the merit of that, Hashem decreed that a certain terrorist attack that was supposed to take place in another city, against an entire bus full of Jewish people, was saved due to His one action. And therefore, the merit of all the mitzvos that these people did throughout their lives came to help Him to outweigh the aveira on His scorecard. We have no concept of what it means to do a mitzvah, and likewise to do an aveira. We are taught that when a person does a mitzvah, we create spiritual worlds beyond anything we can even imagine can be encompassed within this world, and likewise with regards to the negative effect of our aveiros. What a privilege we have to view the world from the true lens of Emunah, not based on our understanding, which so much of the time can be misleading and mistaken, but rather from the true perspective, Hashem's perspective, which as discussed many times, is portrayed to us throughout the vast amount of information that we have through the Torah commentaries and leaders that Hashem has given us - Emunah.

369

233 - Ripple Effect

Jan 9, 2025

4:04

We've been discussing the idea that Torah commentaries bring, that an extension of emunah - believing in Hashem, is to believe in ourselves. If Hashem believes in me, not only do I have the license to believe in myself, but I am obligated to believe in myself, because if I neglect to do so, I am in a sense denying Hashem's will. True humility does not mean to deny the truth. If Hashem made me a good businessman and I am doing my best to use my talents in service of Hashem, really trying to work hard and use the money for good causes, if I am complimented that I am a good businessman and trying to be humble, I deny that fact - that is not humility - that is just speaking words of untruth. And in a similar vein, if you know yourself to be a kind and warm individual, and when complimented on how nice it is to see someone so warm and kind, one denies that fact, again that is not humility, that is just speaking words of untruth. Some commentaries explain that true humility means, when I am able to write about myself, "I am the humblest of all men." What exactly does this mean? We know that a verse in the Torah which Moshe Rabbeinu wrote himself states, "I, Moshe Rabbeinu, am the humblest of all men." And when Hashem told him to write so, he did not argue with Hashem and say, Hashem let's leave this line out of the Torah. And the commentaries explain, because Moshe Rabbeinu was a man of truth, he knew that he was the humblest man that will ever exist and therefore he was able to write that verse down. But at the same time, he was able to attribute his successes, talents and abilities, not to his own doing, but completely relating it to the gifts that Hashem has given him. If I am able to realize that any talent I might have is a gift from Hashem, and not because of my own cunning and doing, I am then able to acknowledge my talents and gifts that Hashem has given me, and believe in myself and use them to the highest degree, whilst at the same time never falling to arrogance, believing that it is only because of my cunning and doing that I am successful in these areas, God forbid, but only because Hashem has given me these gifts. Let us remind ourselves that any and every deed that we might perform has ripple effects beyond anything we can imagine. Firstly, in this world, we do not see the spiritual effects of our actions and if we do a mitzvah, from the smallest to the biggest mitzvah, perhaps giving one coin to charity, giving somebody a smile, learning Torah for 30 seconds, saying a short prayer, to doing these mitzvos in their ideal manner, such as giving a large amount of tzedakah, or learning Torah for a long period, or making a long prayer; if we are able to humble ourselves to believe that we do not understand and we do not see in this world the impact of our actions, and when we perform a mitzvah there are spiritual worlds being affected to degrees way beyond anything in this world can be affected, then we will certainly be motivated to realize that we should believe in ourselves and we can make a huge difference. Sometimes Hashem does decide to show us a little bit of inspiration, again to motivate us. Let's say a person decides to give a relatively small amount to charity. I decide to give $18 for a certain cause because this is what I can afford in this particular situation. But in passing, when I tell somebody else about this cause and how I donated to it, they decide that they are going to donate $1,800 to this cause on a monthly basis. I might never find out that the ripple effect of me giving my little one-time tzedakah affected many thousands of dollars being donated to this cause. Sometimes we do experience where an individual will approach one and tell them how the effect of their mitzvah had a tremendous ripple effect on them. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me that my main purpose in this world is to develop my emunah, ultimately trusting in You, and by extension, in the words of the sages, and extending it one step further, to believe in myself."

370

234 - Let's Move On

Jan 10, 2025

4:05

Usually, when one is trying to study a subject, after a certain amount of time of delving into the content of the subject matter, one will be able to master that subject and move on to a different topic. We've discussed many times about what the Torah's sources teach us is our purpose in this world - to make efforts to build and internalize our emunah and bitachon - our faith and reliance on Hashem more and more each day. And in a sense, one might ask, "I've learnt about this topic so many times, so why do I need to continue to delve into the topic of emunah each day? Is it not perhaps time to move on to something else?" It is so important to remind ourselves of what many of the Torah greats teach, that although in a sense one is able to graduate from knowing the information about emunah and bitachon, because after continuous study, one will certainly gain much information from the Torah about what it means to live a life of emunah and bitachon, but as many of the Torah greats point out, when we are taught that our ultimate purpose in this world is emunah and bitachon, it certainly does not just mean knowing the information of emunah and bitachon, but rather, as they teach, the distance between just knowing emunah in one's head, as opposed to truly internalizing it in one's heart, is greater than the distance between heaven and earth. Just like we can clearly understand that there are miles and miles apart between the highest heavens and the earth that we live on, in a similar vein, when it comes to emunah, although it is certainly a tremendous accomplishment to be making an effort to learn the information of what it means to have emunah, because without knowing the information we certainly can't move forward to try to internalize that information, but it's also so important to highlight that ultimately our purpose in this world is not just to know the emunah in theory, but rather, our purpose in this world is to take that information and truly transform the way that we live to be according to the values of emunah and bitachon. And as we've discussed many times, it's an obvious equation that it's not going to be an easy task that can be mastered overnight. Because as many commentaries that we've discussed, such as the Ramban at the end of Parashas Bo bring to our attention that our main focus and job and purpose in this world is to grow in our bitachon. And as we've pointed out many times from many many Torah sources, that ultimately the purpose of all the mitzvos, of Torah learning and everything we do in our lives is in order to build our emunah. Emunah is the core of everything we do in our lives. So seeing as this is the ultimate purpose for our existence and our focus of what we're supposed to be doing in this world, it's obvious that it's not going to be a simple task that can be mastered overnight, but rather, a lifetime of constant effort in order to grow in this area as much as possible. And therefore, constant repetition of the same concepts that one might have studied many times before is highly recommended. Because in the world that we live in, most of our experiences are surrounded by things which could be potential deterrents from living a life of emunah. And understandably so - it's supposed to be that way, because again, our purpose in this world is to try find the emunah, and if it wasn't a challenge, then what is our purpose of being here? Without making a conscious effort to be mindful to live according to the values of emunah, one will certainly fall to the normal way of the world, which is certainly not a life according to the values of emunah. And because we are constantly surrounded by things which might attempt to deter us from a life of emunah, we are certainly called on to constantly revise the concepts of emunah and how we are able to apply them in our own lives in a practical way and b'ezrat Hashem, each day, we will thereby be able to be living lives truly according to the values of emunah.

371

235 - Need Something?

Jan 13, 2025

4:02

We've been discussing how constant repetition about the principles of Emunah and Bitachon is of paramount importance. In the world that we live in, for the most part, it is much easier to relate to things that are physical and tangible, and I am able to see the accomplishment of my efforts. So, usually when I study a subject, once I have completed learning and perhaps remembering the information that I have studied, I am now able to move on to the next subject. Whereas when it comes to Emunah, our core purpose in this world, although certainly we do have to learn the information as a starting point, but by no means does it end there. The real work of Emunah is taking the information that we might have learned many many times previously and trying to truly internalize that information to be able to live according to their values. So let's go ahead now and discuss some of the concepts that we've discussed many times previously with the objective of not only reminding ourselves about this information, although that too is a worthwhile endeavor, but perhaps to make an extra effort to take whatever information and growth that we might have made whilst being exposed to Emunah and Bitachon and to try and apply it to areas of our own lives, everyone in their own way. So the very first question that needs to be discussed is if I believe that there is a God, a Creator, a Being who is certainly not limited by needs such as the ones we have, the question is why did Hashem decide to create this world in the first place? Anyone who has studied any Torah information about God understands that Hashem is completely independent of anything else that exists in the entire universe and in existence in general. And that being the case, why did Hashem decide to create the entire universe, with all the spiritual worlds as well as the physical world that we live in? Just as an aside, the question that we are discussing here is certainly the most important question for anybody that accepts that there is a Creator. There are many ways that people arrive at this conclusion, that there is a Hashem overseeing our world, and our discussion here does not revolve around proof for the existence of Hashem, although that is certainly a worthwhile discussion in its own right and there is much information available for a person who is sincerely seeking, but has many questions about the existence of Hashem in general. But assuming that one has accepted that there is a God in the world, that Hashem does exist, then the most important question that needs to be delved into becomes, why did Hashem, a being who does not lack anything, decide to create the world? It almost seems superfluous to do such a thing. Imagine for a moment the wealthiest person in the world, a multi-billionaire, who has everything financially available to him. Would it make sense for this individual to be involved in a project that would only produce him one dollar? Of course, it is easy to understand why he would not do so, seeing as he has all the money in the world available to him. And similarly, why would Hashem decide to create a world when He does not lack anything and does not need anything? And although we are trying to illustrate this point with this analogy of the billionaire, however truthfully this does not portray the concept of how Hashem does not need anything. Because since we are human beings, by definition, we have needs, and although a billionaire might not need another dollar, but the extra dollar might nevertheless bring a slight smile to his face and the like, whereas when it comes to Hashem, He is completely perfect and does not need this world in the least. So that being the case, why did Hashem create this world? And again, although we might have explored this topic many times previously, it is so worthwhile to go over it again and again, to digest the concept, not just to know the information, but to truly internalize the information and b'ezrat Hashem, thereby be able to truly internalize the information, live according to their values, and transform your life.

372

236 - Smart & Stupid

Jan 14, 2025

4:21

We've been discussing how although the principles and fundamentals of what it means to live a life of emunah and truly fulfill our purpose in this world, in a sense does have limited information and after spending time studying the topic, one might have mastered the information, however, as discussed, our purpose in this world is not just to know the information, but rather to take that information and truly internalize it and b'ezrat Hashem transform our lives to be able to live according to the values of true emunah. The first and most fundamental question that needs to be discussed is why did Hashem, a being who does not have any needs and who is completely perfect in His core, decide to create this universe and everything that is encompassed within it. Usually when one creates something or embarks on any sort of venture, the reason I would do so is because I need or want something, such as more money, that could help me live more comfortably by embarking on this business venture. Whereas if there'd be no financial gain nor personal fulfillment by getting involved in this business venture, I certainly wouldn't embark on this project. Hashem does not need anything in this world because He's completely perfect in His core. So why did He decide to create this world? And as we've discussed previously many times, before answering this question or in fact any question, we need to ask ourselves what method we're going to use to try to answer this question. If I just use my head to try find the answer, I need to ask myself, have I ever made a mistake before? And of course anyone real with themselves will quickly realize that we all make many mistakes all the time. And that being the case, how can I be comfortable to assume that the answer I might think of for this most important question of why Hashem decided to create the world in the first place, which will ultimately lead to what exactly is my purpose on a moment-to-moment basis, to assume that the answer that I might think of with my limited brain, which is very susceptible to constant mistakes. But what else are we supposed to do, if not for using my head to try find a solution? What other possible solution is there? As we've discussed previously, just to illustrate this concept in a more tangible way, when one looks at the current war between Israel and its enemies, most of us can easily understand that the truth is with Israel and the cruelty is with the enemies. However, it's fascinating to point out that most of the world does not believe so. And when you look around at the people that have sided with the enemies of Israel, many of them might be smarter people than you and I. And that being the case, one feels like screaming and saying, how can you not see the truth? If you are such a clever individual in many other ways, why are you making such a terrible mistake in this area? And similarly, when one looks at the Holocaust, many people who followed Hitler, Yemach Shemo and his atrocious policies, in many areas of life they might be smarter than you and I. And again, seeing as that's the case, and we are not dealing with just plain silly individuals who cannot understand anything, but rather many of them smart individuals, how could they make such a grave mistake which seems so apparently obvious to us and it would be such a basic logical conclusion to all of us that Hitler and his policies are completely gravely mistaken and untruthful, whereas again, many of the people, clever people, did not see it that way? A nd that being the case, even though we might feel like we see things clearly in these areas, we are also people and limited by our human limitations, just like many of those people - clever people, were limited and blinded in many ways. So, what therefore are we to do when we ask ourselves, why exactly do I exist? What is my purpose in the world? How can I make sure that before I leave this world, I have fulfilled the real purpose of why Hashem decided to create me? In order to answer that, let us break down these points in a clear way. And again, even if we've heard this information many times before, try to take this information, to understand it and to apply it, everyone in our own way, to our own lives, and each day more and more, be able to thereby, be able to thereby, be able to thereby, and live according to the values of true emunah.

373

237 - How Do You Know?

Jan 15, 2025

4:27

We've been discussing perhaps the most important question that we might attempt to answer. Why did Hashem decide to create the world in the first place? Seeing as Hashem is a completely perfect being, completely independent of needing from any external force, as opposed to us human beings who have many needs, physically, emotionally, psychologically and the like, why would Hashem decide to create the world in the first place? And again, answering this question is certainly very beneficial to be able to know exactly what my purpose is in this world. And even if I have heard this information many times previously, as discussed many times, repetition of these principles is of paramount importance, because it's not just about knowing this information, but it's about taking this information and truly internalizing it, and each day living our lives more and more according to their values. We discussed that we need to ascertain what would be the appropriate method to attempt to answer this question. Because if we just try to use our own brains and logic, we are certainly susceptible to making a mistake. Although we might be super well-meaning, but just like very clever people in many areas of life could be so misled by talented orators such as Hitler, or perhaps in today's time, misleading but sometimes very compelling presentation of information on the media can very easily and quickly turn well-meaning and well-educated people to see things from the wrong perspective and thereby reach gravely mistaken conclusions, seeing as Hashem is the only perfect being that exists in our universe, the only way to find an absolute truthful answer to this question of why did Hashem decide to create this world in the first place, which seems illogical to us because He doesn't need anything, would be to ask Hashem Himself for the answer to this question. As we've discussed many times, in today's times, Hashem does not reveal Himself to us in an open way. And for the most part, we do not have a phone line where we could literally hear Hashem's voice on the other side telling us answers to these questions. But for our purposes right now, the way Hashem does communicate with us in this world is via the information that He has given us in His Torah. And although there is much information for one interested in studying this subject more extensively, very briefly for our purposes now: many years ago when Hashem decided to give the Torah to the Jewish people, He did so by making a public revelation to three million people. And as opposed to some of the other religions where the claim began from one individual, where the starting point of one's entire trust and reliance is based on the episode or story that was related by that individual, whereas with the Jewish people, there was a public revelation. For one individual who might be talented, it is possible to fabricate a good story that many people might follow. Whereas for three million people to fabricate a story and pass that information down from generation to generation, it is easy to understand how it's an absolutely impossible feat. It is well known that when Hashem made that public revelation, it was there that He handed down two Torah's to Moshe Rabbeinu on behalf of the Jewish people. One is the written Torah, the same text that we have today. And the second is the oral Torah, which was much information told directly by Hashem to Moshe Rabbeinu. And as we are taught, that information was then passed to the leader of the next generation, and following that, passed down to the leader of the following generation, creating a chain of tradition all the way back from Hashem to Moshe Rabbeinu, through the leaders of all the generations, and right down through to our day and age today. There is much Torah literature available to be able to investigate this topic further. However, for our purposes here, we are taking it for granted that I believe that the written book of the Torah, as well as much information which was transmitted orally, was given directly from Hashem to Moshe Rabbeinu, passed down from generation to generation via specific leaders, and is that same written and oral Torah that we have today. And that being the case, we now have an address to go to, to answer our initial question. Why did Hashem decide to create this world in the first place, seeing as He doesn't need anything? So let's look into the Torah and discuss, why would Hashem decide to create this world.

374

238 - Great News!

Jan 16, 2025

4:25

We've been discussing one of the most fundamental questions. Why would Hashem, a completely perfect being, who is not lacking anything, and certainly does not need anything from us, have decided to create the world in the first place? We've also been discussing that the only way to answer this question with absolute truth, with no risk of making a mistake, is if Hashem Himself gives us the answer. Because when we use our own logic and minds to try to find the solution, we are all susceptible to mistakes. And even though we might be well-meaning, even the smartest person in the world is still limited by their human capacity. And when dealing with such a most fundamental question, any individual who is seriously seeking meaning and finding the purpose of their lives which will ultimately be based on finding the answer to this question, will not suffice with just assuming the answer based on their own logic, which one knows could have mistakes and lead to incorrect conclusions. And as we discussed, we are so privileged to have Hashem's Torah, where Hashem has given us a vast amount of information in both the written Torah as well as the oral Torah which was transmitted down from generation to generation. And therefore all of Torah literature which we have today is ultimately the same word of Hashem, as if I'd be hearing Hashem's voice directly speaking to me, relaying this information. So what does the Torah say? What is Hashem's perspective about this question? Why did you, Hashem, decide to create the world, seeing as you are perfect and you don't need anything else? And as we've discussed many times and again, learning this information for the first time is certainly a huge accomplishment. But even if I've heard this information many times previously, digesting this information and trying to internalize it into my day-to-day life more and more each day is ultimately our objective because again, Emunah is not just about knowing the information but taking the information that we've learnt and trying to internalize that information more and more each day to be able to live our lives according to the true values of Emunah. Sometimes we find some level of Torah controversy within Torah sources with regards to how to answer certain questions. When it comes to this question, however, it is unanimously clear from countless Torah sources that there is only one reason that Hashem decided to create the world in the first place. Again, He did not need it for Himself. Hashem is a perfect being that could very well manage without a world having been created. And as all the Torah sources outline, Hashem had a desire to give and without a recipient being created, there is nobody to give to. So the only reason that Hashem decided to create the entire universe and everything that is encompassed within it is just to be able to give to the recipients that He would create. Now again, one might ask, but why did Hashem have a desire to give? There might be Torah information where one is able to understand this question further, but that is not our focus right now. For our purposes right now, we are told by countless Torah sources that Hashem had a desire to give and the only way for Hashem to be able to give would be if He would create recipients who would have needs and wants. And by Hashem being able to fulfill those needs and wants, He would be fulfilling His desire to give. So again, let's digest this information. Information from Hashem's perspective, the only true perspective. The only reason Hashem, who is a being who does not need anything else except for His own perfect existence, decided to create the world in the first place is because He had a desire to give. Let us try to internalize and take to heart that as we advance on our emunah journey, whatever we might be experiencing and going through, let's make an effort to internalize the truth of what's actually happening. That although at times it might be difficult to reconcile why Hashem is dealing with us in a certain manner, but if we are able to remember and internalize the starting point of why Hashem, who didn't need to create us in the first place, nevertheless decided to go ahead and create this world and everything that is encompassed within it, including you and I, when we follow that thought process, we will quickly realize that everything in the world that Hashem does is ultimately for our best. And by doing so, we will thereby be able to move more and more towards living a truly meaningful life.

375

239 - Promising Future

Jan 17, 2025

4:03

We've been discussing one of the most fundamental questions that can exist. Hashem, a perfect being, who doesn't need anything outside of His perfect self, why then would He go ahead and create the world? And as we discussed, the only place we want to look for the answer is the Torah, which is Hashem's true perspective. Because any other perspective is always susceptible to be mistaken. And we discussed how countless Torah sources teach that the only reason Hashem decided to create the world was because He had a desire to give. And without a recipient, there'd be nobody to give to. So this answers the question, why did Hashem decide to create you and I and everything else that is encompassed within our universe? Just because He desired to give to us. Let us remind ourselves again that we are not trying to study information to be able to pass the test and graduate from this information and move to the next subject. As the Torah greats have taught us, the purpose of emunah is not just to learn the information, although that is the starting point, but our life's work is to take that information and to truly internalize it. And via constant repetition of the concepts, b'ezrat Hashem we will be able to take the information more and more each day and apply them to our personal lives. So from Hashem's vantage point, He created the world just because He had a desire to give to each one of us. But then the question that begs to be answered is, most of us experience challenges throughout our lives, and if Hashem decided to create me just because He wants to give to me, why does He sometimes send challenges and bitter experiences my way? Let's discuss how the Torah sources, Hashem's perspective, the only true perspective, answer this question. If Hashem decided to create the world just to give to me, why do I need to suffer at times? And as many, many Torah sources teach, a fundamental belief to Judaism and the Torah is that the world that we live in is certainly not our final destination. But rather the next world, Olam Haba, is where we are destined to receive Hashem's goodness. When Hashem created the world, He did so having in mind that one day we will depart from our lives in this world and make our way to our final destination in the next world, and there truly to bask in Hashem's light in His true goodness for eternity. Although we certainly can't grasp a full understanding of what it means to go to the next world, because that is one of the things that is hidden from the eyes of human beings, however there certainly is very much Torah information about this concept, and again one who would like to investigate this topic further has much Torah literature available about the concept of Olam Haba and what it means to live in the next world, however for our purposes right now, let us just relate an analogy offered by many Torah commentaries to shed just a little bit of an appreciation of what it means to live in Olam Haba. Imagine the largest stadium that you've ever seen. This stadium gets filled up to the top with sand. Every one million years, a little bird comes and takes one grain of sand out from the stadium. Let's try calculate how long it will take for the stadium to be emptied. Of course nobody can work out this number, it is so big. Sometimes when people are asked how long it will take for the stadium to be emptied, people answer "forever". However the truth of the matter is that that is still not considered eternity, because after a certain huge amount of time, the stadium will be emptied. Whereas we are taught from Torah sources that Olam Haba, life in the next world, is literally for eternity. So just to appreciate, when Hashem created us in the first place, His vision is that after our small excursion of a maximum of 120 years in this world, we will thereby make our way to our true final destination in the next world. And there we will bask in His light for eternity.

376

240 - Reap the Revenue

Jan 19, 2025

4:03

We've been going over one of the most fundamental questions that can exist. Why did Hashem decide to create the world in the first place, when He is a being who is completely perfect and does not have any needs or desires outside of His perfect self? We discussed that the only place that we can find a truly undistorted answer for this question is the Torah, which is ultimately Hashem's perspective Himself. And as many Torah sources teach, the only reason Hashem created the world is to give to us. But the question that then needs clarification is that if Hashem does truly just desire to give to me, why is it that so many people do suffer in this world and don't just experience Hashem's sweet goodness on a constant basis? And as the Torah commentaries taught us, that ultimately Hashem had in mind for us to make our way to the next world after our small excursion in this world. Although 120 years might seem like a long time, but again, in contrast to the analogy that Torah commentaries offer us, imagine the largest stadium that you've ever seen filled up to the top with sand and every million years a bird would go and take out just one grain of sand. The amount of time that it would take to empty out the stadium would be so great that 120 years would not even be like a second in comparison to that amount of time. And again, that is still not eternity, because eternity is literally forever, even longer than it would take to empty that stadium. And Hashem's plan for us was to make our way to a world called Olam Haba, the next world, where we literally live eternally, basking in Hashem's goodness. But then the question that needs to be dealt with is that if Hashem's vision was for me to make my way to the next world and there bask in His light and experience His goodness, why do I need to be in this world at all in the first place where we do undergo many challenges and much suffering? And again, the Torah commentaries, Hashem's perspective, provide the answer to this question. The only reason that Hashem decided to first send us for an excursion in this world was because Hashem wants to give us the ultimate pleasure. And in Hashem's great wisdom, He understands that if we are given the opportunity to earn our eternal reward for ourselves rather than it just being given to us as a present, that pleasure that we will be able to experience again for eternity will be much greater than if it was just given to us for free. Some Torah commentaries illustrate this with the following. If I were to give you a million dollars today, yes, you'd be happy because now you have that money available for whatever you need to do. However, when a person starts their own business and thereafter cuts a deal for a million dollars because of their own efforts, they feel so much more accomplished by having worked and achieved their success. In a similar vein, if I am very hungry and I go get some takeouts from the restaurant, again, that makes me happy because now that food is able to take care of my hunger. But perhaps a person might feel much more fulfilled when I am hungry and I go pull out all the ingredients that I need from my own kitchen and spend a certain amount of time making the food myself. When I sit down to eat that food, I'll appreciate it a lot more because I spent time and energy and effort making this myself. And in a similar vein, although we can't fully grasp Hashem's ways by any means, but the analogy that Torah commentaries do offer us is that although Hashem's vision in creating the world was for the exclusive purpose of giving to us and that experience will ultimately take place in the next world, in Olam Haba, however, the reason that we are here for our excursion in this world is to have the opportunity to earn that reward for ourselves for eternity in the next world. And again, by having the opportunity to choose good and stay away from bad in this world and making our maximum effort to follow the instructions and guidance of Hashem as laid out to us in the Torah and b'ezrat Hashem being successful in that endeavor, we will thereby be able to earn our place in Olam Haba and there bask in Hashem's light and goodness for eternity.

377

241 - Why Should I Listen?

Jan 20, 2025

4:35

We've been discussing one of the most fundamental questions. Why would Hashem, a perfect being who doesn't need anything outside of His perfect self, create the world in the first place? And we discussed that the only place we want to look is Hashem's perspective, the Torah perspective, which can be the only unmistakable perspective. And many Torah sources teach us that the only objective Hashem had in mind in creating the world was because He wanted to give to us. And without a recipient, obviously, there's nobody to give to. And He therefore created us to be able to receive His goodness. We discussed, however, that there seems to be an apparent contradiction to that by the fact that we all undergo suffering and challenges throughout our lives. And if Hashem created me just because He wants to give to me, why at times do I have to suffer? And we discussed what the Torah sources teach, that Hashem ultimately intended for us to receive His goodness in the next world, in Olam Haba. And the only reason that we were first placed in this world was to give us an opportunity to earn our eternal reward for ourselves because in Hashem's great wisdom, He understood that if we are given the opportunity to earn our eternal reward for ourselves, the level of pleasure that we will experience by doing so will be much greater than if it was just given to us as a free gift. And this really brings us to the final point of this discussion. Seeing as Hashem placed me in this world just to give me the opportunity to earn my eternal place in the next world, what exactly am I supposed to be doing in this world? How exactly do I fulfill my purpose in this world, in the most efficient and ideal manner? And again, although there is much Torah literature about this, and throughout one's life one can certainly learn more and more and digest the concepts more and more. But simply speaking, the Torah commentary is right that the answer to this question can be summed up in one word. Emunah. Let us remind ourselves that if we are studying this information for the first time, it is certainly very beneficial because we can now take this information and move towards the next steps of trying to truly internalize this information. But even if one has been exposed to this information many times previously, let us remind ourselves what the Torah commentaries teach, that our whole purpose in this world is to truly internalize the concepts of emunah, not just to know the information, but more and more each day to internalize the information and live our lives according to their values. And as we hear this information again and again, one has the opportunity to contemplate on the information and try to apply it in a practical way to one's life more and more each time. What exactly does it mean to live a life of emunah? Again, seeing as this is our life's work and main purpose in this world, it can be easy to understand that it's not going to take a three-minute discussion to summarize how to fulfill our purpose in this world. But again, we are not called on to do that. We are just called on to make our maximum effort to try our best to grow more and more each day in internalizing these concepts. One very important and fundamental branch of emunah which many Torah commentaries discuss is the fulfillment of mitzvos. Seeing as Hashem is the Creator of the world and designed the whole pattern of what we are doing here, namely to be in this world to earn our eternal portion in eternity where we are able to experience Hashem's goodness, Hashem is also the one who knows best how we are able to go about earning our best place in Olam Haba. Hashem has given us many mitzvos, things that we are supposed to do and things that we are supposed to stay away from. Some of them are easier to understand and perhaps more logical, whereas many of them we have little or no understanding of. In our journey towards the life of emunah, we are called on to fulfill all of Hashem's mitzvos as best as we can regardless of our understanding. Because again, if Hashem created the world and He is the one in charge of everything that happens, I certainly ought to listen to His instructions based on His perspective. Although certain mitzvos might be more appealing and more logical, but a true life of emunah would dictate that every single one of the mitzvos should be dealt with highest priority including all of the intricate details because if this is what the Torah sources coming from Hashem's perspective dictate for us to do, then I can and should trust that this is certainly what I should do. The more emunah that we have or that we might be aspiring to achieve in our day-to-day growth, the more that will direct us to treat each of the mitzvos and all the intricacies with paramount importance.

378

242 - The Next Step

Jan 21, 2025

4:11

We've been discussing the Torah's perspecive, the only true perspective, of exactly what our purpose is in this world. Firstly, why did Hashem create the world in the first place? As the Torah sources teach us - only to give to us. Where ultimatelty do we receive and experience Hashem's goodness? In Olam Haba - in the next world. Why then did Hashem place me in this world? And as discussed, just because He wanted to give us an opportunity to be able to earn our eternal portion for ourselves. And by having the constant opportunity to choose good and stay away for bad in this world, we are thereby able to earn our eternal portion for ourselves. And as many Torah commentaries discuss, if we are to summarise into one world, what exactly our purpose is in this world - how exactly do we earn our eternal portion in the next world? The answer to that is: emunah. We've been discussing what exactly it means to have emunah and how important constant repetition of these concepts, even if one might have heard them many times before, is. Because again, as many Torah sources teach, it's one thing to learn the information. But our main purpose in this world is not just learning the information, but rather truly internalizing that information in how we live our lives. And one of the greatest things we can do in our endeavor to do so, is by constant repetition of these concepts. And the more we grow in our emunah journey, the more we will be able to apply the concepts that we are learning to our own lives, everybody in their own way. As we've been talking about, one expression of emunah that many Torah commentaries discuss is the performance of mitzvos. Because again, if I believe in Hashem, then I will certainly be motivated to follow His laws exactly as He has prescribed whether I understand or not. Because I'm not doing so based on my understanding, but rather because of my belief in Hashem. We've discussed many times, many Torah sources, such as the Zohar HaKadosh, the Vilna Gaon in numerous places, as well as many others, who state that the purpose of all the mitzvos is ultimately for the sake of emunah. In today's day and age, we are so privileged to have so many platforms available to us to learn about all of the mitzvahs. And again, seeing as this is one of the most basic and most potent expressions of emunah, to practice Hashem's mitzvos, one should certainly make their maximum effort to study as much as possible about all of the laws and intricacies of all the mitzvos to be able to practice them in the best way possible. For our purposes right now, we are going to focus on an additional and most potent and core aspect of what it means to live a life of emunah. The Ramban and many others contrast emunah and bitachon and explain that having emunah is like the tree, whereas having bitachon is like the fruit from the tree. It's possible to have emunah without applying the bitachon, whereas it's impossible to have bitachon if one does not have the emunah. So ultimately, one of the main ways we achieve our purpose in this world, which again, is ultimately leading us to our place in Olam Haba for eternity, is by growing more and more in our belief that we have in Hashem. And as we've learned many times, the more emunah that one has, the more calm one might feel throughout all circumstances, knowing that Hashem is in complete control. When there is a potential to feel feelings of anger, the more emunah that one might have, the less feelings of anger I will feel because I will internalize that it is not this other individual who is causing this to happen to me, but rather, Hashem pulling all the strings, causing everything to happen. Because Ein Od Milvado, there is only Hashem in the world, and every single happening that happens in the world is exclusively orchestrated by Hashem. Let us remember what the Rambam writes in the 13 Principles of Faith, that 'vehu lavdo' - Hashem exclusively, without the help of any other individual or circumstance, orchestrates every single detail of our lives. The more we are able to take these concepts to heart, the more we will be able to apply them in a practical way, by exercising our bitachon in Hashem.

379

243 - The Keys!

Jan 22, 2025

4:21

Very briefly, let's go through the steps again of why Hashem created the world. Hashem created the world just to give to me. Ultimately, that takes place in the next world, and what I'm doing in this world is earning my portion for the next world. And as Torah authorities outlined to us, the main way that we earn our eternal portion in the next world is by growing in our emunah in this world. We discussed how a life of true emunah will lead to one making their maximum effort to fulfilling the mitzvos and all the intricacies in the best way possible. We discussed further what the Torah commentaries teach, how emunah is considered the tree and bitachon is considered the fruits of the tree and in many ways, emunah is more of a theoretical exercise where one knows that Hashem is in control and bitachon is taking that theory and applying it in a practical way. Let us remind ourselves of what many Torah commentaries write that we've discussed many times, that although it might seem counterintuitive, bitachon is completely independent of our actions. And again, one serious about their purpose in this world will constantly be remembering the fact that their ultimate destination is the next world for eternity and as we are taught, there are consequences both for the mitzvos that we do as well as for the transgressions that we commit and one should certainly therefore make their maximum effort to do the right thing in this world. However, what is so important to remember is that regardless of what one has achieved and regardless of what one has transgressed, we are taught that bitachon is a completely independent entity to our mitzvos and our transgressions. And in the words of the Midrash, even a rasha - a truly wicked individual who stops and relies on Hashem, Hashem will come through for that individual. And as some of the Torah commentaries discuss, even if a thief who is on his way currently to commit a crime stops and asks Hashem to help him out, Hashem will come through for him. Because again, bitachon is a reality that Hashem created in the world that works regardless of how we might be doing in our spiritual endeavor. There are many things that a life of true emunah and bitachon will lead to. Most importantly, we are achieving our ultimate purpose in this world, earning our maximum potential for the next world. Additionally, in this world itself, the more one grows in bitachon each day, the calmer one will feel throughout any and every situation. Because again, the reason we are triggered by anxiety-provoking situations is only because we are scared of something. Whereas when a person truly internalizes that Hashem is in absolute control every single moment, and Hashem only created me just because He wants to give me of His best, eternal pleasure, and one is in the safest hands, much safer than any individual could ever provide for me, even the person who loves me the most, or I truly see as my security, but again, people are always limited by human capacity and limitations. Whereas Hashem Himself is not, He is the Creator of the world. The more I internalize that belief, the more I will feel completely calm throughout my life. And similarly, everybody is searching for true happiness and fulfillment in one's life. When one is living together with Hashem in their life, there can be no happier feeling than that. Rav David Ashear, in his fantastic book, Living Emunah, tells the story of a little girl who was flying on an airplane. Suddenly there was tremendous turbulence on the airplane, and many of the passengers felt scared and anxious. One passenger noticed that this girl looked completely calm throughout the whole ordeal, and he went over to her and said, "Little girl, how come you are not nervous like many of the other passengers who are aboard this flight?" And the girl responded, "Oh, there's nothing for me to worry about, because my father is the pilot of this plane, and I know he will only do the best thing for me." And she was completely calm because she knew she was in the best hands. And in the same way, when we take to heart that every single happening in our lives is orchestrated exclusively by Hashem, without the interference from any other individual or circumstance, we are able to feel completely happy. We are so privileged to be able to have access to this treasure, the keys of how to live a truly meaningful life.

380

230 - Believe In Yourself

Jan 6, 2025

4:36

We've been discussing how the Torah commentaries break down emunah into three parts. The first one, simple emunah and bitachon, placing our trust and reliance on Hashem, as we've discussed much about. The second one, emunas chachamim, where we extend our belief in Hashem to belief in the words of Moshe Rabbeinu, and by extension, the sages, where the tradition was passed down early to, from generation to generation. And the third category of emunah that Torah commentaries outline is having emunah in yourself. Rav Tzadok HaKoen, as well as many other Torah commentaries, discuss this idea. When we wake up in the morning, the first line we are supposed to say is "modeh ani", which ends with the words "rabba emunasecha". One interpretation of these words is, "Hashem, your emunah in me is very great." We are declaring that Hashem has a lot of faith in me. Hashem created me in the first place, and He decided that today I should wake up again for a new day. If there was no purpose for me in the world today, and I believe that Hashem orchestrates every single detail in the world, then why would He have given me another day of life? There is no question in the world that if I woke up today, I have a very specific purpose that nobody else in the world can fulfill. And in the words of the Gemara, every person is obligated to believe, "bishvili nivra haolam" - that the entire world was created just for me. Let's just take those words to heart. All the people in the world, all the investments, all the projects, the sun, moon, and stars, and we can go on. It was all created for one purpose; just for me. Digesting that idea should help motivate me what a tremendous opportunity I have in this world. But not only that, what a tremendous responsibility I have in this world. Because in Hashem's greatness, He is able to create everything exclusively just for you, and He is able to do that with regards to everyone. Now if Hashem decided to create this entire world, including everything comprised within it, just for you, there is no question He believes in you, and you have a purpose in this world that nobody else can fulfill. If Hashem believes in you, and you decide not to believe in yourself, in a sense one is denying Hashem. Hashem is saying X, and I am saying Y. By the fact that Hashem gave me the abilities in what I have to contribute to the world, from the smallest of the smallest ways, to the biggest of the biggest ways; if I have the ability to give somebody a smile, which is one of the greatest mitzvos, or perhaps I am in a position to give charity, or perhaps I am able to learn Torah, or perhaps I am able to pray, talking to Hashem in my own words, and the list goes on and is tailor-made for every individual - every single one of us has our unique talents and abilities, and we are therefore called on to believe in ourselves. When a person commits a sin, one might feel, maybe I am not worthy anymore, but again, if I woke up today, Hashem believes in me. Even if it was the worst of sins, Hashem believes in me, that there is potential for me to do teshuvah and rectify what I did wrong and become great. Just like when it comes to emunah, one can never tell the true level of somebody else's emunah. Sometimes, two people who are presented with a potentially anxiety-provoking situation may respond in a similar manner. They both might be very calm. It could be that the one individual's natural tendency is just to be calm, even though they might have barely worked on their emunah and bitachon. And certainly this is barely an achievement, because this is just the way Hashem made them. It could be the other individual naturally leans towards feelings of anxiety, and because of this individual's growth in emunah and bitachon, is now able to feel calm. And in a similar vein, when it comes to people who appear to be self-confident, it can come in one of two different ways. Sometimes that self-confidence can come from a place completely contrary to the values of emunah. Sometimes people believe in themselves because they believe they are the master to their own destiny, and because they have been successful in some areas of their life, that leads them to arrogance and sometimes can be viewed as self-confidence. Whereas another individual who is on the path of true emunah and bitachon might be led to a place of true self-confidence, not because of arrogance, God forbid, but rather because if Hashem believes in me, I can certainly believe in myself.

381

245 - You Can Do It!

Jan 24, 2025

4:31

Hashem created the world just to give to you. Ultimately, that's going to take place in the next world, and your main purpose in this world is to earn your place in the next world. As many Torah commentaries have taught us, our main method of earning our place in the next world is by making our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon. We've been discussing how one of the most practical expressions of emunah and bitachon is simply talking to Hashem. Let us remind ourselves of what the Torah commentaries teach about bitachon, that bitachon is completely independent of our spiritual scorecard, and even a wicked individual has the opportunity to have bitachon in Hashem. Now, of course, we always must make our maximum effort to do more mitzvos and repent for our transgressions, as there will certainly be consequences in the next world, both for the positive as well as for the negative. However, it is so motivating for us to internalize that the opportunity to have emunah and bitachon, which is the greatest mitzvah, is available to every single one of us, regardless of how we might be doing otherwise in our spiritual pursuits. And remember the principle that many Torah sources have taught us, such as the Vilna Gaon in Even Sheleima chapter 3, that emunah and bitachon are the core of the entire Torah. Our main focus in this world needs to be to grow as much as possible in our emunah and bitachon, and one of the main expressions of emunah and bitachon is simply to talk to Hashem in our own words. Sometimes a person feels, "I am not worthy to talk to Hashem." We have discussed many times that conclusions that we make based on our own perspective and logic can very often be mistaken. And this conclusion here, where one feels that they are unworthy to talk to Hashem, would certainly be the case of a mistaken approach. The Torah sources that we have discussed many times teach us that the opportunity to express our emunah and bitachon is completely independent of our mitzvos and transgressions. That means to say that it doesn't matter who we are, we all have the exact same opportunity to reach out to Hashem on a constant basis. Sometimes a person, especially if one has not been exposed to the concept of talking to Hashem, might feel, "I don't really know how to do this; maybe over time I'll learn about it, etc., but for right now it's not something that I can do." As many of the Torah greats teach, we are so privileged to have such an easy form of connection to Hashem, one of the greatest mitzvos that can exist, that is available to every single one of us right now, without needing further training. Of course the more that we do learn about it, we might gain certain insights, but talking to Hashem is a personal relationship that every single one of us has the opportunity to have with Hashem. It's something that every single one of us, regardless of our training, regardless of our spiritual level, can practice right now, today. And again, although many pious people might spend many hours in talking to Hashem on a daily basis, I only need to do my best and whatever my maximum is, is all I am called on to do. Let us remind ourselves that the main purpose of our existence is to grow in our emunah, and emunah specifically means, I believe when I don't see and I don't experience. For the most part, when we reach out to Hashem about something, we don't see an immediate answer, and we don't necessarily feel that our prayers have been accepted. Sometimes we might, but many times we don't. Because again, our purpose in this world is not to know, but it's to believe, specifically, when we don't know. Our job is to build our belief that Hashem is listening to us and can help us, much more than any other effort we might make can do for us. And the more we build this belief, the more we will be motivated on our own accord to reach out to Hashem in our own words and ask Him to help us in our endeavors. And as we've discussed previously, it is also a good idea to have a set amount of time every day to talk to Hashem in one's own words. Because although at times we feel moments of inspiration, and one might reach out to Hashem even for long periods when one is feeling inspired and motivated, however much of the time, because of our human limitations, we don't feel that inspiration and we get caught up in the busyness of day-to-day life. And that being the case, it is a good idea to always have a safety net of a certain time of day, every day, where I will make a space to be able to have this relationship and be able to talk with Hashem.

382

246 - What's It All About?

Jan 27, 2025

4:16

We've been discussing how Hashem created the world just to give to us. Ultimately, that takes place in the next world, in Olam Haba, and our job in this world is to earn our place in the next world. And as Torah commentaries teach, the main way that we earn our place in the next world is by making our maximum effort to excel in our emunah and bitachon endeavor in this world. And as we've been discussing, one of the main ways to express our emunah in this world is by talking to Hashem in our own words, something that is available to every single one of us, regardless of our background. As we've pointed out many times, although the exercise of talking to Hashem is something which should be a basic equation to us, when we contemplate on the fact that Hashem is in true control of the entire world, and if I understand that Hashem can hear me, that is certainly the main effort that I should make in any endeavor I might be delving into. It is also motivating to see what the many Torah sources write about the greatness of talking to Hashem in our own words. Perhaps sometimes counterintuitive, when one sits down to try study a difficult section of Torah or perhaps perform a difficult mitzvah, one understands that this is something great that I am doing, and even though it is a difficult endeavor, I know that it is worthwhile; however, when it comes to talking to Hashem, sometimes it seems like, can such an easy endeavor be so powerful? Again, it's not always so easy to talk to Hashem, especially for longer periods, however, it is something that is available to every single one of us, for free, at any moment, in any place, and one sometimes can feel, is this really something so great? We do not make our conclusions based on our own perspective, which we've discussed many times can certainly be mistaken, but rather we follow the perspective of the Torah, which is the only true perspective, Hashem's perspective. Many Torah sources teach that the greatness of talking to Hashem in one's own words is one of the greatest possible mitzvos that we could tap into in this world. Talking to Hashem in one's own words was something that was practiced throughout history, right from the beginning of creation, throughout the generations of our greats, all the way through till today. It can be inspiring and motivating when we study sources from Torah literature which highlight these concepts. In Parashat Bereishit, chapter 2, verse 5, the Torah states that at the creation of the world, Hashem did not let the grass grow. Only once Adam, man, was created, did Hashem cause the grass to grow. And Rashi there explains that this was because Hashem desires our praise, and before Adam was created, there was no one to pray for rain. Once He was created, however, Adam prayed for Hashem to send rain, which Hashem then did and the grass then began to grow. We are learning here how the very first individual, Adam HaRishon, would speak to Hashem, and how the Torah places great emphasis on having this relationship with Hashem to the point that Hashem did not allow the grass to grow until Adam would go ahead and pray for the grass to grow. Because much more important than there being grass in the world, is there being the prayers that people make to Hashem. In the Zohar Chadash on Noach 34b, it states that after the flood, when Noach left the ark and encountered a desolate world, he began to cry in prayer to Hashem. He argued in personal prayer that even though the people sin severely, it would have been appropriate for Hashem to show His compassion and mercy to humankind. Hashem then rebuked Noach, saying that when He had initially informed him that He was going to destroy the world, that was the time to entreat Him to save humankind. Now, however, after the flood and everything had already been destroyed, His prayers came too late. We are learning here how Noach was reprimanded for neglecting to talk to Hashem. Again, we see the tremendous importance that the Torah places on our personal prayers and something that was practiced already, right from the beginning when the world was created initially. Every single one of us has the constant opportunity to talk to Hashem in our own words, one of the greatest mitzvahs that can exist.

383

247 - Where Do I Start?

Jan 28, 2025

4:23

Let's remind ourselves and try to internalize more and more of the steps that we've discussed many times. The steps coming from the Torah commentaries, Hashem's perspective, the only true perspective. Hashem created the world just to give to us. Ultimately, that takes place in the next world. And our focus and purpose in this world is in order to earn our place in the next world. The foremost consideration of how we go about earning our place in the next world is by making our maximum effort to grow in our emunah and bitachon endeavor. And as we've discussed, one of the main ways we can express our emunah and bitachon in Hashem is by having constant communication and talking to Hashem in our own words, something that is available to every single one of us. Let's remind ourselves that talking to Hashem is a personal relationship. Although the more one learns about it, one can certainly gain more insight and ideas of how to go about one's personal relationship with Hashem, however, ultimately, let us remind ourselves that our personal relationship with Hashem is exactly that, your personal relationship with Hashem. And one needs no prior training nor information to be able to close one's eyes, go to a quiet spot and talk to Hashem about anything and everything that one might desire to. We've discussed how when one feels motivated, it is much easier then to reach out to Hashem. But when one is not feeling inspired and motivated, it can at times be difficult. And an idea that some of the greats mention is to have a set time every day where we talk to Hashem regardless of how we are feeling and in that way, we have a safety net to always keep up our relationship with Hashem constantly regardless of how we might be feeling. But it certainly can motivate us when we read Torah passages about the tremendous importance and greatness of what it means to talk to Hashem and how the greats, right from the beginning of creation all the way up until today throughout the generations, have always resorted to this practice as an ABC of service to Hashem. In Bereishit chapter 18 verse 23, when Hashem decided to destroy the city of Sodom He first revealed this information to Avraham Avinu. The Torah records that Avraham Avinu responded by talking to Hashem in his own words. And he begged and argued with Hashem, trying to convince Him to change course. Let's remind ourselves that every single one of us have been given this powerful weapon called personal prayer. Just like in the episode of Avraham Avinu and the city of Sodom, similarly, in our lives, when people around us might be suffering, Hashem's desire might be that we argue with His plans of causing other people to suffer. Again, let's remind ourselves that talking to Hashem is a personal relationship and there are many different ways to do it. Whatever we do communicate and whichever way we might be doing it, as long as we are regularly speaking with Hashem, we are fulfilling our purpose in this world. And another Torah passage, along similar lines, in Bereishit chapter 24 verse 12 when Avraham Avinu sent his righteous servant Eliezer on a mission to find a wife for his son Yitzchak, Eliezer did not know where to start. Having been educated in the household of Avraham Avinu, however, he realized what he should do. As the verses describe, he began speaking with Hashem in his own words, asking Hashem to send a clear sign to indicate the right bride for Yitzchak. As we've discussed many times, this most potent form of service to Hashem, personal prayer, was common practice amongst individuals already from the time of the creation of the world, throughout the ages, and until this very day today. "Thank you so much, Hashem, for giving me the privilege to be able to reach out to You on a day-to-day basis about anything and everything that I might desire. Thank You for making it so easy that I don't even have to pay a cent in order to be able to have this incredible opportunity. And thank You, Hashem, for teaching me from the wisdom of the Torah commentaries that although the ideal might be that I am inspired and am automatically motivated to reach out to You and have that personal relationship, but because of my human limitations, knowing that much of the time I am uninspired and unmotivated, it is a great idea to have a set time every day in order to reach out to You. Thank you so much, Hashem, for the incredible opportunity to have a personal relationship with You."

384

248 - Believe It!

Jan 29, 2025

4:10

We've been discussing how one of the most basic expressions of emunah and bitachon, our ultimate purpose and focus in this world, is simply talking to Hashem. If I believe Hashem exists, can hear me, and can help me, a basic equation is that I will talk to Him about anything and everything. And the more I believe, and even if I don't yet, but the more I'm aspiring to believe, the more I will make an effort to talk more and more with Hashem as much as possible. Talking to Hashem is available to every single one of us regardless of our level. And yes, at times it can be difficult to talk to Hashem because we have to practice our emunah, our belief that He is listening. It's much easier to talk to another person where you can see their response and you don't feel like what you're doing is futile, whereas when it comes to talking to Hashem, it is completely an exercise of emunah, of belief, because I don't see Hashem, I don't hear Hashem responding to me, and I nevertheless am called on to make my maximum effort to have a relationship with Hashem, which again, is our test in this world, to grow in our emunah. The Midrash Rabbah, to Toldos, section 63, part 5, states that our ancestress Rivka was barren, and when her husband Yitzhak Avinu learned of this, how did he respond? Of course, it was with personal prayer to Hashem. The Midrash teaches that he prayed extensively for his wife Rivka. We need to internalize that talking to Hashem in our own words was, is, and always will be an ABC of serving Hashem. The reason that we sometimes might forget to talk to Hashem is that we don't fully believe that He is listening. But we need to constantly contemplate on the fact that Hashem is listening to every single word that we say. Hashem is constantly waiting to hear from us and treats our prayers with highest priority. In Bereishit chapter 32, verse 12, in the episode when Eisav and his men advanced against Yaakov Avinu, Yaakov knew what to do. He might have been much weaker physically than his brother Eisav, and he might have had much fewer warriors, but that did not matter. He had one resource that is greater and stronger than anything else – tefillah. Let's remind ourselves that just like Yaakov Avinu, our forefather, prayed to Hashem in his times of trouble, so too, every single one of us has the constant opportunity to do so. Just like Yaakov Avinu spoke to Hashem in his own words, so does every single one of us have the constant opportunity to reach out to Hashem at any moment about anything and everything. The Midrash Rabbah to parashas Lech Lecha section 41 states that when our ancestress Sara Imeinu was abducted by king Avimelech, it was obviously an extremely stressful and traumatic event. Instead of panicking through her predicament however, which would have been futile, she used her time wisely. Throughout the entire night, she was immersed in personal prayer to Hashem, beseeching Him to send her salvation. Let us take to heart and learn from the example of our holy ancestors, who were much more connected to Hashem than we are today. Through any and every situation, they were always speaking to Hashem. And along similar lines, in Bereishit chapter 30, verse 22, the verse states that our ancestress Rachel Imeinu also practiced communion with Hashem in personal prayer. When she realized that she was barren, she prayed to Hashem in her own sincere words, asking Him for salvation. And the verse in Yirmiyahu chapter 31, verse 14 states further that even after the death of Rachel Imeinu, she continues to pray for her children, for every single one of us. Let us not forget that every single one of us has the same opportunity that was given to our holy matriarch, Rachel Imeinu. Besides for the prescribed daily tefillos, Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv, that we all have the tremendous opportunity to connect to, we also all have the constant opportunity to talk with Hashem in our very own words, every single day.

385

249 - I Love You!

Jan 31, 2025

4:25

One of the six constant mitzvahs is the mitzvah to love HaShem. It is difficult sometimes to fulfill this mitzvah of loving HaShem because I don't see HaShem, I don't hear HaShem and in many ways it's hard for me to relate to HaShem - this abstract figure. How do I come to loving HaShem? The Rambam writes that the way we come to loving HaShem is by taking note of the things that He has created and admiring them and doing so will bring us to loving the Creator, the One who created all those things. As we've previously discussed, when one's approach towards HaShem is one of "You owe me", then of course we do not particularly feel grateful for the blessings that He sends us and why should we feel reason to love Him. Whereas when one lives the emunah approach and one internalizes, HaShem doesn't owe me anything and if I take note at the countless blessings in my life and internalize that each one of them is actually a gift from HaShem. When someone gives you a gift, you appreciate it and when they give you enough gifts just for no reason at all, just because they love you, that certainly is an incentive to love them back. "Thank you HaShem for all the tremendous gifts that You've given me. Let's start with my eyes, because we've just learned that one of the ways that I can come to love You is by taking note, appreciating and admiring Your creations. By having given me eyes, HaShem, You have now enabled me to be able to see and take note and appreciate and admire Your incredible creations. Be it a beautiful sunset, the countless stars in the sky, the many animals that You've created with such great wisdom, all the many miracles that exist in a human being, which I see so many of. Thank you HaShem for these incredible eyes to be able to see Your incredible creations and thereby come to love You. HaShem, thank You so much for all the incredible gifts that You've given me. The fact that I can hear is not something You owe me. What a gift to be able to hear with these ears that You've given me and thereby be able to have a conversation and a relationship with another human being. You know HaShem, I would like to imagine for myself for a moment that I cannot hear, and I experienced many years being deaf, and suddenly You come and offer me a gift where I will be able to hear. In that situation, if I was able to, I would come and hug and kiss You for such a tremendous gift. The truth of the matter is that You've given me a greater gift than that, because You created me that right from the time I was born I didn't even have to suffer one day without hearing. HaShem, You have taught us Your perspective in many Torah sources that one of the most severe transgressions is to talk loshan hara and gossip about other people. And just as severe as it is to talk lashon hara is the transgression of listening to somebody else talk lashon hara. Now if You wanted to, You could have created a world where loshan hara didn't exist. But in Your great kindness, You gave me the opportunity to earn my place in the next world to enjoy Your goodness eternally. Thank You HaShem for giving me ears where I do have the ability to potentially listen to lashon hara, and I now have the choice to opt not to listen to the lashon hara that is being spoken, whereby I would be performing one of the greatest mitzvahs that can exist. And if I didn't have ears and the ability to hear, I would not be able to perform this mitzvah. Please HaShem help me not to be ungrateful, but rather to notice all the tremendous gifts that You give me, and thereby sincerely be able to say to You, I love You HaShem."

386

250 - The Gift of Shabbos

Jan 31, 2025

4:43

If we are to ask ourselves, what is the greatest gift that we could give to another individual? We might come up with different answers based on our perspectives and preferences. The Gemara tells that Hashem approached Moshe Rabbeinu and told him, I have a great gift And this great gift that is full of goodness is called Shabbos. Although we might have some understanding about the great gift and opportunity that we have each week as Shabbos approaches, it is motivating and inspiring to highlight that of all the things in the world, Hashem specifically chose Shabbos to be termed the great gift. There are many ideas behind the holiness and greatness of the tremendous gift of Shabbos that we have the opportunity to embrace every week. As always, with every mitzvah, our approach should not be based on our understanding and agreement to Hashem's command, but rather we should perform Hashem's mitzvahs based on the belief that we trust Him, that if He said, this is what is good for us, this is the greatest gift in the world, whether we understand or we don't, we treat the mitzvah in the way that Hashem has presented it. And in this case, Shabbos, we believe, is the greatest gift. Just to highlight with one example what the Kabbalists teach about the potency of Shabbos, The effect of Torah learning during a regular weekday, we know, is equal to the potency of all the mitzvahs put together. And we are taught that on Shabbos, the potency of every single moment of Torah is multiplied by a thousand. There are many reasons and explanations for the incredible gift of Shabbos and the holiness that comes with it. The Gemara states that a person who takes large steps loses one five hundredth of their eyesight by taking those large steps. And the Gemara thereafter says, well, what if one already took those large steps, how do they rectify their eyesight? And the Gemara says that the way to rectify one's eyesight is on Shabbos at the time of Kiddush. There are many explanations to what the exact meaning behind this Gemara is. I once saw a beautiful explanation when the Gemara says that a person who takes large steps loses their eyesight. This means to say that during the week when we are busy, distracted by our many commitments and endeavors, in a sense we lose our eyesight and vision about what is important. But as Shabbos comes and now I am unable to be involved with those distractions, I now have the space to focus on the true important things in life. Why do I exist? What is my purpose in this world? If I were to leave this world, am I happy where I am holding? Many of these questions are not things we usually think about whilst busy with our day-to-day activities. But as Shabbos comes and we turn off the distractions, we have the opportunity to focus on the real important matters that will make a difference for us eternally. We are also privileged to have the opportunity and gift of Shabbos every single week, and everything that Shabbos and its holiness comes with. May we all merit to use the gift of Shabbos to further our spiritual endeavors, our Torah learning, our mitzvah performance, and our personal relationship with Hashem. Hashem, thank You so much for this incredible gift of Shabbos. Thank You for this sacred time that You have given me to be able to turn off the distractions and focus on the real things that truly matter for my eternal life. "Thank You Hashem for the incredible gift of Shabbos."

387

251 - Adversity Brings Sincerity

Feb 2, 2025

4:34

We've been discussing how one of the most basic expressions of applying and practicing our emunah and bitachon, which is our main purpose and focus in this world, as the Torah commentaries outline to us, is the opportunity of talking to Hashem in our own words. We've been discussing some Torah sources, seeing how throughout the ages, right from the beginning all the way through until today, this was always a fundamental practice of the Torah's perspective, the only true perspective, Hashem's perspective. The objective of studying sources such as these is to encourage and motivate ourselves that we too have the exact same opportunity. Although on the one hand, many of our ancestors were much greater than anything we could even begin to imagine in comparison to our level, and perhaps many of them were able to spend many hours on a daily basis in real close connection throughout their conversations with Hashem, many of us might not be expected to reach such a level of closeness with Hashem, but certainly we are expected and should capitalize on the opportunity to make our maximum effort within our maximum capacity. Every single one of us can talk to Hashem in our own words, both through good times when things are good thanking Hashem for all the amazing things that He blesses us with, as well as in treating Hashem and asking Him to help us throughout the difficult times that we experience. The Gemara in Bava Basra 123a states that the first of the twelve tribes was supposed to be born to Rachel Imeinu. However, because of the extended and sincere prayers of Leah, she was privileged to give birth first. The Gemara explains why Leah was able to pray in such a heartfelt and sincere way: It was common in those times for members of extended families to marry one another. Now in the extended family of Avraham Avinu, there were two sisters and two brothers. Yaakov was the younger child, as was Rachel, whereas Eisav was the older one, as was Leah. Everyone was saying that Leah, the older sister, was therefore destined to marry Esav, the older brother. When Leah learned that Eisav was an evil man, she cried and prayed to Hashem that this destiny of hers not come to fruition. Because of this, she was able to pray so sincerely. When we experience adversity and suffering, much of the time we just can't wait for the next chapter of our life to begin and just want to move out of the space of challenge and suffering. However, when we are able to have the right perspective, it can help us to cope with our challenges in a much better way, as well as capitalize on the opportunity for growth through that ordeal. Adversity is often a vehicle for us to put our full heart and soul into our prayers. Of course we don't ask to experience adversity and suffering, but when it does come, let us capitalize on the opportunity to pray with more sincerity. In a similar vein, in Shemos chapter 2, verse 23, the verse depicts the response of the Jewish people when they were subjected to the atrocious treatment of the Egyptians. And as the verse states, "they cried out to Hashem in prayer and their cries ascended to Hashem." Let us remind ourselves that one of the major obstacles that prevents us from calling out to Hashem, which is really such a basic equation if we believe in Hashem, is the lack of sincerity in our belief that Hashem is really listening. As Rav Pincus points out, it is very difficult to talk to a wall for a long period because you know that the wall is not listening. Whereas when we make our maximum effort to try and internalize more and more each day, that when we talk to Hashem, we are not talking to a wall, then it becomes so much easier to talk to Hashem. And again, one might feel, but it is hard for me to talk to Hashem. Does that mean that I am on a very low level, that talking to Hashem is not for me? God forbid. Let us remind ourselves that even with regards to a wicked person, we are taught that the opportunity for emunah and bitachon is available to every single human being. If our maximum capacity is to say, "Hashem, I want to believe in You, but I actually feel like I am kind of talking to a wall, please can You help me to see how You come through for me in my life, Hashem. Please show me how really it is You who is always orchestrating all the details of my life. And please can You send me some of those moments where I am inspired and motivated because I see how You are coming through for me in my life, and how the prayers that I make are actually making a difference. Thank You, Hashem, for the tremendous opportunity to have a personal relationship with You and be able to talk with You every single day."

388

252 - One Step Higher

Feb 3, 2025

4:11

We've been discussing how one of the most basic expressions of emunah and bitachon is to talk to Hashem, and how the opportunity to have a personal relationship with Hashem and talk to Hashem is available to every single one of us, regardless of our levels. Although it might be such a basic fundamental of emunah, that if I believe in Hashem, I know He is there, He can hear me, He can help me, why would I go and make other efforts in place of talking to Hashem? Again, we do have a mitzvah of Hishtadlus, to make our own efforts, and we can talk about that at another opportunity. But regardless of our own efforts, a person with an emunah mindset will certainly devote the majority part of their energy and effort to their relationship with Hashem, to talking to Hashem, because if He is the Creator of the world and He is the One that makes everything happen every moment, is it not logical to reach out to Him to help me, because He can and He just wants me to talk to Him before He sends me the help? As opposed to trying to make my own plans and forgetting to reach out to the Creator, which upon contemplation, one will quickly realize is an absolute absurdity. However, it's also important to remind ourselves that because of our human limitations, we often don't feel that inspiration and motivation, and even though we might know the information about emunah, that Hashem is there and does listen, when push comes to shove and we try to talk to Hashem, we feel like we are talking to a wall. And again, that is the whole objective of our existence in this world, to give us a test in our emunah and have the constant struggle every single day, regardless of what I might have learned. Today, I just don't feel it; I'm uninspired, I'm unmotivated. So what then do I do? What we've discussed many times is that the answer to all questions always is the opportunity to reach out to Hashem, even about this topic itself. I don't feel inspired about my emunah, my bitachon and my relationship with Hashem. Whatever I am able to say, I should. Perhaps, "Hashem, I really am not feeling that inspiration anymore, for whatever reason. Please can You help me, Hashem, that I should be able to talk to You with true sincerity and mean what I say. And Hashem, even if I'm not feeling it today, I'm asking You, please can You come through for me in the areas that I'm asking You, not just so that I should achieve what I'm trying to achieve, but more importantly, that I can see how You do listen to me and how You do come through for me, because there's been times in my life, Hashem, where I did talk to You, and You came through for me and You answered me, and when that happens, it's a tremendous motivator and inspiration for me to continue to build my relationship with You." There are many levels of emunah, and there are many levels of talking to Hashem. Every single one of us has the constant opportunity. All we are called on to do, is to do our best. Rabbeinu Bechaya to Bereshit chapter 46 verse 32 writes that many of our ancestors were shepherds. Hevel, the son of the first man - Adam, was a shepherd; and so were Moshe Rabbeinu, the prophet Shmuel, King Shaul, King David, as well as many others of our righteous ancestors. Rabbeinu Bechaya writes that they specifically chose shepherding as their profession because shepherds spend much of the day in the fields with their flocks, away from other people. And this is conducive to focusing on one's connection and relationship with Hashem, without distraction. Because of the fast-paced world that we live in, we are all at risk of forgetting to prioritize our relationship with Hashem. Rabbeinu Bechaya here is teaching us that the secret to many of our ancestors' success was that they would seclude themselves at regular intervals. Again, there are many levels. Perhaps for some of our great ancestors, they might have secluded themselves away from other people to be able to just focus on their personal relationship with Hashem for a two-week uninterrupted period or longer. For many of us, that is not something attainable, but certainly, every single day, every one of us has the opportunity to build a personal relationship with Hashem. Every one of us according to our own level. The more we make an effort to build our emunah, the more we will be motivated and inspired to treat our relationship with Hashem and talking to Hashem with highest priority.

389

253 - Where Is Your Home?

Feb 4, 2025

4:39

We've been discussing how practising our emunah and bitachon, our core purpose and focus in this world, is expressed in one of its highest ways when we talk to Hashem in our own words. Again, for many of us, if we are asked if we believe in Hashem, we would answer in the affirmative. However, when push comes to shove and adversity strikes, there are many levels of how one can respond. The ultimate would be feelings of complete calm and turning to Hashem in prayer to help out. And on the opposite extreme would be someone who doesn't even think about Hashem, but rather just runs around trying to find their own solutions. There are millions of levels in between, and all we are required to do is grow each day to make a little bit more effort to when something does happen, rather than initially running around to try to find our own solutions, first reaching out to Hashem and asking Him to help us in our endeavour to find a solution. The Midrash Rabbah in Vezos HaBerachah section 11 states that after it was decreed that Moshe Rabbeinu would not be permitted to enter Eretz Israel, he prayed no fewer than 515 times, beseeching Hashem to annul the decree. And as the verse states, after the 515th prayer, Hashem actually asked Moshe Rabbeinu to stop praying about this matter. And this is because had Moshe Rabbeinu prayed just one more time, Hashem would have been required to fulfill His request. Many people would ask, but doesn't Hashem run the world? Hashem calls the shots, and if Hashem desired that Moshe Rabbeinu should not enter Eretz Israel, regardless of how many times he prayed, He would not have entered. And the answer to this question is that Hashem created the world with a rule: Tefillah works. Just like Hashem created the nature of our world, that if you are hungry and you eat food, it satiates the hunger, and if one is tired and sleeps, one feels rejuvenated thereafter, similarly, Hashem created nature in the spiritual worlds, and one segment of how the natural order in the spiritual worlds work, is that emunah, bitachon, and prayer work, to the point that Hashem had to ask Moshe Rabbeinu, "please do not pray again, because if you do, although I do not want you to make your way to Eretz Israel, I will be required to take you in because of your prayers." Nobody is on the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, and for many people to daven 515 times would be an achievement beyond our maximum capacity, but again, one day when we meet our Creator, we are not going to be asked, how did you do in comparison to Moshe Rabbeinu? We are going to be asked, how did you do in comparison to what you could have become? Every single one of us has the constant opportunity to pray. If we are to internalize the truth of the words, ein od milvado - that Hashem truly orchestrates every single detail in every one of our lives, we will quickly realize that we don't call any of the shots to anything that happens in our lives or in anyone else's lives. Everything is exclusively orchestrated by Hashem. The only thing that truthfully is within our capacity, is our ability to pray and ask Hashem to make things turn out the way we would like, and of course thereafter, to make our maximum effort to make it happen. Many individuals have expressed their desire to live in the land of Israel. It is not our time and place now to discuss the benefits of what it means to live in the land of Israel from a halachic or Torah perspective, but assuming that one has decided that ideally they would like to live in the land of Israel, for many people, much of the time it can seem like an absolute impossibility on many fronts, be it because of financial circumstances, family dynamics and many other things. Now again, assuming that one's perspective after investigating the topic is that the right thing ultimately is to be in the land of Israel; One day, when we are to meet our Creator, He is not going to ask us, did you live in the land of Israel? Because again, if I believe ein od milvado - I will quickly realize that I will only live in the country that Hashem will place me in, and I actually have no say in the matter. But the question that will be asked is, did you pray to live in the land of Israel? And therefore, for the many people that would like to live in the land of Israel, but see it as an impossibility, the wisest thing that one can do is make it part of one's daily personal prayers to beg Hashem to give one the opportunity to come to live in the land of Israel. And again, even if one sees it as an impossibility, when one takes to heart that Hashem is the Creator and controls every detail of the world and can do absolutely anything, then I will quickly realize that I too can pray for absolutely anything.

390

254 - It's the Same Hashem!

Feb 5, 2025

4:04

The passage in Tanach from Shoftim chapter 16 verse 28 tells how the Prophet Shimshon was blessed with supernatural strength, which made him immune to his enemies. Eventually, however, his enemies, the plishtim, discovered his secret and stripped him of his supernatural strength. Using his own words, Shimshon requested that Hashem please give him the supernatural strength just one final time to take revenge against the plishtim in order to sanctify Hashem's name just one more time. And as the passage tells, Hashem answered Shimshon in His personal prayer. There is a well-known Torah teaching which states that ma'aseh avos siman labanim - the narratives recounted in the Torah, are not just mere history lessons, but rather each event has valuable lessons to teach each one of us that we can apply to our lives in a practical way. One obvious take-home from the above account in the episode of Shimshon and the Pelishtim is to regularly reach out to Hashem using our own words. The same Hashem who was present and available to hear and come through for Shimshon in his challenging situation, is the same Hashem who is present today and waiting to hear from every single one of us. The Gemara in Yoma 29a states that with regards to prayer, the more one prays, the more effective one's prayers become. It's important to take to heart this teaching of the Gemara, because as we know, tefillah can be disheartening at times, especially when we do not seem to receive what we had prayed for. Sometimes Hashem withholds blessing from us specifically in order to give us reason to keep on praying. Eventually, however, all our prayers come together and will be much more potent and effective than if we had been answered in the first place. Again, our purpose in this world is to have emunah. I don't know, I don't understand. Emunah means, I believe. The Midrash elsewhere teaches that some prayers take years before they are answered; some prayers take months; some days, and some prayers are answered instantaneously. And the question is, why? And the simple response is, we cannot know Hashem's calculations in this world specifically because we are called on to believe - to have emunah - not to understand and know Hashem's workings. But the one thing is for sure, that no prayer ever goes to waste. And just like we learned from the Gemara above, the more one prays, the more effective one's prayers become, and if I prayed for something, and not only didn't I get answered, but things even seemed to get worse, although logic and a mistaken perspective would dictate, "you see, Hashem is not really listening", however, the emunah perspective would dictate - "even if I don't see Hashem coming through for me, I have no doubt in the world that that prayer that I just made is making a huge impact, and even if the results are not experienced right now, it could be that for whatever reason, Hashem is holding back right now, but in the future, there is no question that this prayer will come through for something of tremendous value." The book of Yonah relates the fascinating episode when Yonah was swallowed by a large fish and remained inside it for three days and three nights. Whilst inside the fish, Yonah reminded himself that the only thing that could help him out of his predicament was tefillah. He was therefore able to pray to Hashem with true sincerity, even inside the innards of a fish. As mentioned many times, personal prayer was the consistent practice of all of our ancestors. The opportunity of prayer is always accessible and available to every single one of us at any time and at any place. "Thank you so much Hashem for the constant opportunity to be able to reach out to you and have my personal relationship with you."

391

255 - What's Most Important?

Feb 6, 2025

4:29

We've discussed previously with regards to the famous verse that states ein od milvado - there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem exclusively - and we've discussed that there are many levels to what it means to truly understand and internalize this verse. Simply speaking, if someone were to ask me, "do you believe that Hashem runs the world?" and I am to answer in the affirmative, that certainly is a milestone in having understood to some degree what the verse ein od milvado means. However, as discussed many times, Torah commentaries point out that the distance between knowing Emunah in our heads, meaning knowing the information, that yes, Hashem does run the world, as opposed to truly internalizing it in our hearts, which will translate into the way we live our lives with real life Emunah, that distance is greater than the distance between heaven and earth, meaning that there are many levels to what it means to have Emunah. Our life's work is of course initially to grow in our knowledge about Emunah, because without knowing what we are trying to internalize, we can't really move forward. But after one has already understood in one's head that our main purpose in this world is in order to grow in our Emunah, the next step is to try internalize that Emunah more and more into the core of our beings, to the point that Emunah does not just remain an abstract concept or subject, but rather translates into the very core of our beings and the way we live our lives. There is much information available to us about many Torah concepts, from the study of the Chumash itself, Tanach, the Talmud, Halacha, Kabbalistic material, inspiration for character development, and much more. They are all important, and we are certainly encouraged to strive to explore as many areas of Torah as possible. Different people are attracted to different areas of Torah, and although we are all called on to learn all areas of Torah to our best ability, and we should certainly strive to do so, it is nevertheless motivating to remind ourselves about what many Torah commentaries write, that ultimately all the branches of Torah are super important, and again, we should make our maximum effort to explore all the branches of Torah. However, as pointed out by many Torah commentaries, Emunah is not one of the branches, Emunah is the trunk of the tree itself, because when one has Emunah, it automatically leads to all of the branches of the Torah. So whilst it is so vital to explore all the branches of Torah, it is also important to highlight and remind ourselves that the trunk of the tree itself should never be forgotten about, and our highest focus should be placed in not only knowing the concepts of Emunah, but also making our maximum effort in trying to internalize the Emunah in our bones, in a way that it translates to the way that we live our lives. "Thank you, Hashem, for the incredible privilege to be able to know about Emunah, and to be able to learn about Emunah, and to have the ability to try make an effort to truly internalize the concepts of Emunah. Hashem, please help me from this moment on to grow more and more in not only knowing the concepts of Emunah, but also truly internalizing and changing the way that I live, to living a life of sincere Emunah."

392

256 - The First Question

Feb 7, 2025

4:51

The Gemara states that the first question we are asked when we arrive in the heavenly court is, "did you give and take with faith?" The simple understanding of this passage as explained by the commentaries is that it refers to one's business dealings. Throughout one's life, did one perform their business dealings with absolute honesty? We are taught that in the next world, there is no concept of untruth. Everything is seen very clearly and therefore every action is scrutinized in terms of our honesty levels. The commentaries also explain this passage in the following way - "did you go about your life with emunah?" It is not surprising that the first question we will be asked according to this explanation is, "did you live your life by the values of emunah", because as we've seen many times, the Ramban writes the only reason that we exist in this world is in order to have emunah and he says there is no other reason for us being in this world. And the Vilna Gaon writes that the reason for every mitzvah that we fulfill is in order to come to have emunah and that is the cornerstone behind the whole entire Torah. We devote our lives to the learning of Torah and fulfilling of the mitzvahs, ultimately as we are taught, it is all in order to come to have emunah. And therefore it's easy to understand why the very first question would be, "did you live your life according to the values of emunah." Remember Torah commentaries teach that although internalizing the values of emunah intellectually is itself a major achievement and definitely the first step, nevertheless our major life's work is taking the intellectual information and transforming it into our emotions and sincerely living practically according to the values of emunah and bitachon. It's important to emphasize that this is the first question that we will be asked and both of the explanations that were cited are ultimately one and the same. The first explanation which is that we will be asked and scrutinized about our honesty in business dealings. Now of course we can all understand that one should never steal or be dishonest with anybody, but why does this transgression of being dishonest have so much weight that it is the very first question that is asked in the heavenly courts? And the answer is because when one is dishonest in business what they are really saying is the following: "Hashem does not exist, I run my business and I need to make money and because I'm now running into an issue where it seems like I'm going to be short of money. I need to do some sort of trickery and use my cunning to be able to gain more money, therefore let me cheat this individual and be dishonest in order to be able to have my parnassah." Whereas when somebody is living by the values of emunah and bitachon one is not enticed, God forbid, to steal or be dishonest even in the slightest way because one knows that every single cent that I will receive today was already ordained by Hashem on Rosh Hashanah and no circumstance or individual can even slightly alter Hashem's plans and Hashem Himself has commanded me as a great mitzvah to be completely honest at all times and certainly not to steal and therefore there is absolutely no need for me to even think about being dishonest in the slightest way. "Thank you Hashem for teaching me to prepare myself to be able to answer the very first question that I will be asked when I arrive in the heavenly courts. B'ezrat Hashem I will be able to answer affirmatively and say, yes I was successful in living a life of true emunah."

393

257 - Olam Haba (Part-1)

Feb 9, 2025

4:06

We've discussed many times, with regards to the most fundamental question of why Hashem decided to create the world in the first place. As mentioned, seeing as Hashem is a completely perfect being and could have certainly existed without creating the world and everything contained within it, why then did Hashem decide to go ahead and create the world? And as we've discussed, when we answer any question, and especially such an important question, because ultimately this will lead us to being able to find what our purpose is in this world, there can be many perspectives. And how can one be absolutely certain that one's perspective is without fault, even though one might be well-meaning and even well-educated, but because of our human limitations, we are always at risk of making a mistake. And as we've discussed many times, we are so privileged to have the only absolutely truthful and unmistakable perspective, Hashem's opinion Himself, which He voices to us throughout the words of all of Torah literature. We have learned many times that countless Torah sources teach that there is only one reason Hashem ultimately decided to create this world, and that is in order to give to the recipients that He would create. The only reason Hashem created this world is in order to give to all of us. This answer as to why Hashem created the world that countless Torah authorities bring, at first glance, seems difficult to digest, because although we might be privy of some amazing and pleasant experiences throughout our lives, that perhaps we might consider those times to be experiences of pleasure that Hashem is sending to us. However, much of the time, we all experience hardships and difficult times throughout our lives, and that being the case, the question that begs to be asked is, if Hashem created the world only to give to me, why do I have to go through suffering and difficult times? And although there are many different angles to address this question from that the Torah authorities discuss, and one can certainly gain insight by studying the different perspectives, however, the most simple and direct answer was that when Hashem intended to create recipients to be able to receive His goodness and be able to bask in His pleasure, He intended that to take place in the next world, in Olam Haba, and not in this world, where we are currently existing. And again, the question that then begs to be asked is, if Hashem desired to give to me, and that will ultimately take place in the next world, in Olam Haba, why did Hashem then decide to put me in this world, if this is not the place that He intended to share His goodness with me, ultimately? And again, the answer that many Torah commentaries offer that we've discussed many times is that Hashem in His great wisdom understood that in order to give us the opportunity for the ultimate pleasure, we need to have an opportunity to be able to earn that reward for ourselves, and that is the ultimate reason for our existence in this world. Not for the pleasures that we might happen to experience in this world, but rather to be able to have the opportunity to earn our place for eternity in the next world. Seeing as Olam Haba is our eternal address, it is certainly worthwhile to try and learn a little bit about where we are going, and to gain an appreciation of what we are working for. Because although there is a vast amount of information in Torah literature about the next world, it is certainly not an easy pursuit to truly internalize that this world is far from our final destination, and all of us are actually going to make our way to another place. And again, just like we've learned countless times with regards to the pursuit of Emunah, that although there is much information, that we're able to learn about it, and that is certainly a great starting point, however our main focus and endeavor is to truly internalize that information. And in a similar vein, b'ezrat Hashem, let's begin to explore from the Torah's perspective what exactly it means to go to the next world, bearing the same principle in mind that not only is our objective to learn the information, but much more than that perhaps, to truly internalize our belief in Olam Haba.

394

334 - Pesach Sheini (Part-3)

May 14, 2025

5:31

We've been discussing one of the most fundamental principles of the Torah – Teshuvah - the opportunity to rectify our mistakes, transgressions, and anything we may have done to distance ourselves from Hashem. Without Teshuvah, life can be very scary because there are many instructions Hashem has given us and due to our human limitations, we are bound to mess up. Sometimes, unintentionally, we may not have learnt the laws of a certain mitzvah sufficiently and we might therefore not perform the mitzvah correctly. And in the same vein, sometimes, our evil inclination might take over us and cause us to perform a transgression willingly, which of course has tremendous ramifications and can potentially cause a tremendous distance between us and Hashem. Without internalizing the opportunity to rectify our wrongdoings after performing a transgression, we can fall even deeper into the more serious transgression of feeling guilt and bad about ourselves, feeling unworthy of doing good things and being close to Hashem, which will therefore lead us, God forbid, to perform more transgressions. Therefore, it is absolutely vital for us to internalize the opportunity of Teshuvah. It doesn't matter what has been done. It is never too late to return to Hashem. What exactly does it mean to do Teshuvah? One might feel in order to gain forgiveness in Hashem's eyes. For that, surely I need years of repentance in order to be forgiven. Torah authorities explain that whilst there might be many levels to Teshuvah, simply speaking, Teshuvah is very easy. Teshuvah refers to the following. I did something wrong. I find the time now to be alone with Hashem. I acknowledge Hashem in my own words and tell Him what I did wrong. I assure Him that I'm going to do my best to not perform this transgression again. And if there is something practical to rectify, such as if somebody stole money, then of course one is required to return that money and rectify their transgression in a practical way. Once one has done that basic Teshuvah, which sometimes can take less than one minute, even when being done with sincerity, and one means what they're saying, one is finished the process and one is forgiven for their sin to the point that the Gemara says that when one repents and does Teshuvah out of their love for Hashem, one's transgression thereafter actually changes to a mitzvah. Now let us just digest that. It's not that Hashem clears away the transgression and now we're back to zero, but rather the transgression itself turns into a mitzvah and we actually get points for what previously was a minus. Now one might say, “when it comes to a transgression that I really didn't mean to do, or I just really messed up, but I know that I really will try my best not to do it again, then I can do Teshuvah because I can apologize to Hashem for transgressing and I can commit to Him that I will really sincerely do my best in future not to do so again. However, what about when it comes to a transgression which I am currently struggling with and performing constantly on a repeated basis?” Now again, of course, we need to make our maximum effort to not repeat the transgression. However, we are limited by our human limitations and therefore if we are currently struggling with a certain sin that we know we will repeat again, we nevertheless can and should do Teshuvah for what we did wrong. We can say, “Hashem, I am so sorry for speaking Lashon Hora today and Hashem, I really don't want to ever perform this sin ever again, but You and I know that I am really struggling with this sin at the moment. Please Hashem, can You help me that I shouldn't have to transgress again.” Once one has done that, let us not forget, as the Gemara says, one's Aveira actually turns to a mitzvah and that being the case, certainly there would be no place anymore for feeling guilt, for feeling unworthy. We are so privileged to have the constant opportunity to return to Hashem.

395

319 - Tests & Decisions (Part-6)

Apr 27, 2025

5:26

We've been talking about the fundamental idea discussed by many Torah authorities that Hashem created this world ultimately in order to test us, to give us the opportunity to pass the tests that He presents us, thereby earning our place in the world to come. We've discussed many times that if we make decisions just based on our logic, we are susceptible to making the wrong decisions because of our limitations and ability to make mistakes. In addition to the way we are limited, such as mistakes that we might make in our calculations, or a vested interest that we might have that will lead us to a certain mode of thought and direction, it is also important for us to internalize and humble ourselves to what the Torah teaches us about the concept of timtum haleiv. Timtum haleiv means the spiritual contamination of one's heart. And the more we are spiritually contaminated from the effect of certain sins that we might have committed, the less we are able to view the world out of Hashem's lens. When we make decisions, if we are using our own mode of thought and logic, even if we are sure we are not doing so out of vested interests, and we are 100% sure that we are absolutely unmistaken, we might have some timtum haleiv, some spiritual contamination to our soul where we are now not able to view the situation out of the correct lens. So just going ahead and making the decision without talking to Hashem, asking Him for His clarity and guidance, could lead us, God forbid, to make that decision from a place of spiritual contamination. We are so privileged to have the opportunity to talk to Hashem every single day, at every single moment, for no fee. We have the opportunity to ask Hashem for clarity, to guide us based on His perspective, the only absolute correct perspective which is completely uncontaminated spiritually. Our job is to internalize more and more the belief that Hashem is listening to what we are saying, and when we talk to Him, it makes a difference. It is interesting to note that sometimes an idea just pops into our head, sometimes it is apparent that it was a sudden flash of light, but at other times we just changed mode of thought and course of action and we almost can't explain what inspired us to change our thought process and now move forward in a different direction than we previously intended to. An emunah approach teaches us that Hashem is Ein Od Milvado, there is nothing else in the world except for Hashem, and any thought that I have is because Hashem is putting that thought into my brain. When I talk to Hashem and I ask Him to guide me to the right mode of thought, then those thoughts that He will send me will be the ones that are Hashem's perspective. “Hashem, my Father, I am trying so much to grow in my emunah, my belief that You are absolutely and completely involved in every single detail of my life. I really want to believe sincerely that You hear every word that I say, and the thoughts that I have are only as a result of You deciding to put those thoughts into my head, and therefore Hashem, I ask You, please will You help me to internalize the emunah, the belief that there is nothing more in the world that can help me than You exclusively, and the wisest thing for me to do when making my decisions would be to talk to You and ask You to guide me and thereafter I know and trust that You will direct me in the right direction. At the same time, Hashem, the normal way of the world is not to work in this way. People usually rely on their own cunning and logic to make decisions, and everything around me seems to dictate to do so, and in fact it is quite difficult to believe that talking to You and asking You to help me is a wise course, because I don't see You and I don't hear You, and very often even after I do talk to You, I still don't have clarity as to what to do. But Hashem, please help me to follow the Torah's perspective and grow in my belief that You exclusively are the One who has always guided me, who is guiding me, and always will guide me in the right direction.”

396

320 - Tests & Decisions (Part-7)

Apr 28, 2025

5:09

When trying to make a decision and pass the tests that Hashem presents us, we've discussed that one of the most advisable things to do is to talk to Hashem and ask Him for guidance as to what would be the right perspective and response to this circumstance and situation. One might ask, even if I have davened to Hashem, asking for clarity, how do I know that after I have done so, I will be making the right decision? In times of old, we had prophets where one was able to go and seek guidance and know, as a matter of fact, that the conclusion that they would tell us and the guidance they would give us, was for sure Hashem's perspective and the right thing to do, even if it was counterintuitive. But seeing as we don't have prophecy anymore and we don't hear Hashem's voice in a vivid, apparent way, how can I be so certain, even after prayer, that this is truly what Hashem wants me to do? It is important to emphasize that the more we believe, the more we will pray, because there is quite a big difference between somebody who is choosing to invest 30 seconds into personal prayer, as opposed to another individual who might be investing 30 minutes into personal prayer, and somebody else who might be investing three hours into personal prayer. The more one is motivated to invest in terms of their time they are committing to praying to Hashem, because they are internalizing the belief that Hashem does exist and is listening to me, and therefore, rather than running around sometimes like a chicken without a head, trying to make the right decision, it would be much more advisable to go to the source of all, to Hashem, and ask Him, “show me the right direction.” Sometimes, when facing a decision, we could spend many hours thinking about it, researching the topic and speaking to other people, and coming out more confused, even after having invested many hours trying to find our solution. And other times, we seem to find clarity quite easily. Why is that? The true answer is not because we have amazing brains which are able to view the situation in the correct way and come up with the right answer. If we really internalize that ein od milvado – Hashem exclusively runs every minor detail in this world down to the last degree, we understand that Hashem is the one who puts the thoughts in our minds and gives us the feeling and intuition in our hearts. And therefore, the more we believe that Hashem is there running the show exclusively, the more time we will invest into our prayers before making decisions, and the more sincere we will be when making those prayers, even if we are not there today. It is very valid and commendable to say, “Hashem, I want to believe that You are completely running the show, but I just don't feel that emunah yet. Please, Hashem, can You help me reach a situation where I am able to see and feel the truth that rather than running around like a chicken without a head sometimes, I will rather choose to spend more time asking You for clarity and guidance.” And after having prayed to Hashem within our maximum capacity, doing the best that we can, how do I know that thereafter what I will choose to do will be the right decision? And the answer is, I do not know. I cannot know in this world. The whole point of this world is to experience different circumstances and situations and have the opportunity to make a choice, sometimes the right choice, sometimes the wrong choice, and very often, perhaps most of the time, we do not even know if we are choosing right. In the next world, we will see if we have chosen right. But in this world, that is not our job; that is Hashem's job. Our job is to make our maximum effort, to try our best. Different perspectives will define what it means to try one's best in different ways. We want to follow Hashem's perspective. And what can be greater than asking Hashem Himself with true sincerity to guide me. “Hashem, please guide me to make my decision in the correct way based on Your perspective.”

397

321 - Tests & Decisions (Part-8)

Apr 29, 2025

4:14

We've discussed that when facing decisions that we might have to make, one of the wisest things to do is to talk to Hashem and ask Him for guidance as to which way to turn in this situation, because as discussed many times, if I'm not able to humble myself, to realize that I am limited - I am susceptible to mistakes; I have vested interests; I have spiritual contamination - and it is very possible that even if it seems like this is the correct decision to make, I might very well be making a mistake. And therefore, it would be so advisable to ask Hashem for guidance. We all have the constant opportunity to talk to Hashem at every given moment in our own words, asking Him to guide us in the right way. As mentioned, after having talked to Hashem and having asked Him to guide us in the right way, we now have to make a practical decision. In times of old, we might have had a prophet telling us with absolute certainty what Hashem's will was. Today, most of the time, we have to make a decision still in the dark. I do not know, ultimately, if I have made the right decision, but that is not my business. Hashem is the one who is in charge of that. My job is to make my maximum effort to do my best in making the correct decision. We've mentioned before a powerful analogy which helps illustrate this concept. Imagine an emergency ward where there are numerous doctors, usually on call. One particular time, these doctors need to go away for a certain important meeting and are not able to be on call. And they bring in an alternative doctor and leave him with the instructions of how to look after the patients. But they warn the doctor in a staunch way, "while you are on call, things might be calm. If that is the case, then continue the evening as usual. However, if things do get dramatic and intense, please call for help, because if you don't, the situation will be too much for you, and even if you try your best, you might not be able to handle it." As the doctor approaches his shift, he feels motivated to have a successful evening. And as he starts the evening, things are calm. But as the evening progresses, one patient requires help, thereafter another patient requires some help, and soon there is turmoil and he is not managing so well on his own. But perhaps because of his arrogance, he does not opt to call for help, but he works super hard throughout the night. In fact, because of him, numerous patients' lives might have been saved, but unfortunately at the end of the evening, one patient died. And upon the regular doctors' return, they accuse the stand-in doctor of being a murderer. And although he tried his best - he worked super hard throughout his shift, nevertheless, he did not call for help when he needed to; because he was limited, his maximum capacity was not enough to take care of the situation. We need to humble ourselves that we, with our maximum capacities, are limited and prone to mistake and making the wrong decisions, and therefore, Hashem calls on us to talk to Him and ask Him for help. "Thank you Hashem for the constant opportunity to ask you for guidance in how to make decisions in my life."

398

322 - Yissurim (Part-1)

Apr 30, 2025

4:06

Life is full of challenges. Torah sources teach that usually a person's life has more challenges and difficult times than pleasant experiences. Challenges, also known as Yisurin in Torah literature, are clearly a fundamental aspect of HaShem's plan for our lives. Without Emunah there are no answers. With Emunah there are no questions. When a person is able to let go and rely on HaShem absolutely and sincerely, all the questions about all the hardships and difficult times I, people close to me and our nation as a whole have had to experience, all those questions in a sense fall away because I know my purpose in this world is not to know. My purpose in this world is specifically to believe when I don't know. So if I believe and trust and rely on HaShem, I have no questions. As dire as a situation may appear to be, if I am relying on HaShem in His hands. I can still live with absolute calm, happiness and really sail through the challenges successfully. Why does HaShem send us Yisurin - challenges? There are many reasons, but ultimately the most correct answer is: I don't fully know, but I believe it's for the good. Again, basic, simple Emunah. With that Emunah I have no questions. However, there are Torah sources that shed some light on the concept of Yisurin, sometimes to help us seek inspiration to manage the challenges that arise through our lives. The Talmud recounts a story of four students, great rabbis unto themselves, who came to visit their rabbi who was ill and suffering. Each student offered words of encouragement to their rabbi. One student expressed, “rabbi, you're even greater than the sun.” Now the sun is something quite vital for this world. And he explained, because the sun helps us in this world, but you rabbi, you help us in this world and for the next world, so you're much greater. And the rabbi was not encouraged much by these words of his student. The next two students continued along similar lines of words of encouragement to their rabbi, and their rabbi similarly was not particularly encouraged by their words. However, when the one student, Rabbi Akiva, offered his words of encouragement, he said: Rabbi, there is nothing greater than suffering - Yisurin are precious. And with these words, the rabbi was comforted. The rabbi of Rabbi Akiva understood that although we don't wish suffering upon ourselves, when Hashem sends it to us, there is no greater gift in the world, because Hashem only does what is best for us. Remember, Hashem created us only to give to us, and therefore, when He decrees that we should suffer, there is no question that that will only bring good to us.

399

323 - Yissurim (Part-2)

May 1, 2025

5:18

Many Torah sources teach the potent results that we obtain when Hashem sends us suffering and we respond in the right way. So, although we usually don't wish suffering upon ourselves or those around us, when suffering does come about, it is actually an opportunity Hashem is sending us to earn more points towards the next world - Olam Haba. On the one hand, many Torah sources highlight the great value of Yissurin - of suffering, to the point that sometimes only through suffering can we attain certain high levels in our spirituality, in our relationship with Hashem. As much as we strive to grow, sometimes only through the suffering can we get there. On the other hand, the Talmud elsewhere reports that some of the great sages in the times of the Talmud who were undergoing illness and suffering were asked the question, are you happy that you're going through the suffering or would you prefer to not have to go through the suffering and also miss out on the reward you will get for enduring the suffering and still living with Emunah? And the response by numerous Torah sages was, I would rather not have to suffer even though I'll miss out on the reward which is due for the suffering in the future. This Torah passage at first glance is seemingly difficult to understand because there are many Torah sources which highlight the tremendous value suffering has, sometimes greater than any mitzvah, any form of Torah learning, any form of prayer. Sometimes the suffering that a person endures and still responds with Emunah is greater and can bring us to a greater spiritual level with more reward due in the next world than anything else. Why then did these Torah sages respond that they would prefer to live without any challenges and they were even happy to forgo their due reward in the next world? These were not ordinary people. It was very real to them, the concept of the world to come, so it's difficult to understand why they would so easily give up something so powerful to earn them more points for their place in the next world. And the Maharal gives a beautiful answer on this Talmudic passage that sheds light on how we are to view the concept of suffering in this world. The Maharal explains that there is no question that experiencing Yissurin - suffering and nevertheless responding with Emunah, believing that it is all for the best, this approach is higher than any other form of service to Hashem. The reason these Rabbis in this Talmudic passage responded that they did not want the suffering was for the following reason: The Rabbis were expressing the point that when it comes to suffering, if one does not respond with Emunah, then sometimes one can actually be worse off than if they didn't suffer, because if one does not respond with Emunah, connecting to Hashem, believing that everything is for the best, then sometimes the suffering that we experience can actually move us further away from Hashem. And therefore the Rabbis were expressing, we'd rather not have the challenge of Yissurin, of going through difficult times and challenges, even if we have to forego the potential benefit that one can gain for the next world, because we're worried we will not respond in the right way. Maybe we will be challenged and not respond with Emunah. We do not choose whether we should be challenged and which challenges will be presented to us. And perhaps one can pray that they shouldn't be challenged from Hashem, because we don't want to fail the test. However, when a person is already undergoing a challenge, the challenge is already there. I am currently experiencing Yesurin in whatever way that may be, we ought to remember that there is a tremendous opportunity. If we respond to the challenge with Emunah, this form of service to Hashem is higher than anything else.

400

324 - Yissurim (Part-3)

May 2, 2025

4:03

One of the main expressions of having emunah is to believe in life after death. It is well known in Torah teachings that after we depart from this world, there is an evaluation process in the next world which scrutinizes all of our actions and deeds from this world. Anything good that we did is recorded and recounted as well as anything bad that we did is recorded and recounted. We don't see this process taking place because it doesn't happen in this world. It is a process that takes place in the next world. So, without emunah, in a sense, one could be led to deny that such a thing takes place. But again, if we are living according to the principles of emunah, belief in Hashem, one of the basic expressions of emunah is to believe in the world to come, in the process that transpires after we depart from this world. The following story sheds some light on what it means to live with real emunah and how that can really affect our lives in this world in a positive way. There was an individual who passed on from this world. When they came to the next world, all of their mitzvos were put on the one side of the scale and there were many, many mitzvos. However, thereafter, the individual's sins from his life were also recounted and brought to the scale. And suddenly, the scale was tipping towards the side of sin. So, it was obvious to this individual that he was in trouble. However, suddenly, after first having counted the mitzvos and thereafter the sins, there were items that looked like mitzvos, going towards the side of mitzvos. And the man asked, what are those? I can see they are being grouped together with the mitzvos, however, I can also see that they're not mitzvos. He was told, those are yissurin. Those are the suffering that you endured during your life. Suffering and doing our best to respond with emunah through the suffering is parallel to the reward for mitzvos and sometimes even much more. When everything was placed on the scale, all in all, the side of sin had just one more than the other side. So unfortunately for this individual, his result was going to be negative. And he started shouting, please, more yissurin, send me more suffering. In the next world, everything is very clear. We would even wish for more suffering to transpire through our lives if we knew the true reward and result for that in the future. It's all about our perspective. When we remember to view life, suffering, challenges and whatever we may be going through through the eyes and lens of emunah, of faith, of believing sincerely that Hashem only does everything for the best, we will truly transform our experience of life.

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