Monthly Archives: June 2015

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Nosson Tzvi Ben Sara Rivka Kashtiya the young boy who almost one year ago was involved in an accident. Please continue to pray for his complete healing among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering. May Hashem continue to shower His eternal compassion and love to all of Cholei Ahm Yisrael, b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Positive thinking and emuna are like two peas in a pod; they work perfectly together.  The Tehillim verse (32:10) teaches that the one who trusts in Hashem is enveloped in His kindness.  Dovid HaMelech didn’t define the person as being righteous or gifted, but refers to him as the ‘one who trusts.’  In other words, even if we are weak in our spiritual achievements and need to refine our middot we are worthy of Hashem’s kindness by virtue of trusting in Hashem.

From where does one draw the strength to have such potent trust in Hashem even though he feels unworthy?  His trust is fortified through positive imagery; envisioning and imagining only good.  Think of it as rehearsing your day with positive images.  This will result in an optimistic attitude where you are filled with confidence that you will experience only good.

It is important not to get confused between hopefulness and expectation of how we think things should be; that limits positivity to our definition.  We are retraining our minds to see the good that is inherently in our reality but currently blocked due to our negative thinking patterns.  When we break the pattern of negativity that clouds our vision, automatically the good present will show itself.

‘Think good and it will be good’ is not just a great axiom, it is the dictum that produces reality.  A possible Jewish version; ‘Think Hashem and you will see Hashem.’

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of two brothers suffering from life threatening illnesses, Jared -Yechezkel David Ben Shayndel and Alex – Asher Daniel Ben Shayndel.  May Hashem shower them with a complete recovery b’riut hanefesh v’b’riut haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Negativity draws negativity and vice versa.  If we allow a harmful thought to enter our mind it automatically causes damage and draws sadness.  I purposely write the word ‘allow’ since it is within our control to allow it to dwell or quickly be ‘shooed’ away.  Hashem has given us the ability to choose how we react to people, circumstances as well as our thoughts.

Thoughts are not bound to time or space as we sometimes experience when the phone rings and just have a hunch who is calling.    Or we may desire to purchase something when someone ‘appears’ with it.  There are times when we create our reality by reassuring ourselves that something will happen like, “I know I am going to be late” or “I know I won’t enjoy myself.” By doing so we create a reality that ‘agrees’ with our thoughts.

As a result if we find ourselves thinking, “I can’t do this anymore”, most likely we won’t be able to ‘do this anymore.’  At this point it is imperative to replace this thought as soon as possible with, “With Hashem’s help I can do it.”  The replacing thought must be a positive one with no trace of negativity like “With Hashem’s help it will be better” since this paints a reality of it not being ‘better’ now.  This process will initially strain the mind, yet it is the most guaranteed method to remove damaging thinking patterns with uplifting ones.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Moshe Shlomo ben Surah Tobah who was hit by a car in Manhattan and is in critical condition with brain trauma.  May Hashem send him a complete healing among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Emuna thinking raises a big question, “How can we control our thoughts which seem to be uncontrollable?”

Chazal teach that one effective method is to carefully scrutinize the words we speak. Due to the fact that speech is a revelation of what we think, by virtue of watching what we say, we essentially channel our thoughts as well. For example a mechanical response of “life is so hard” when asked “how are you”, must have been preceded by a constant flow of thoughts of how ‘I can’t take it anymore.’ However by consistently responding with words like, “It’s not easy but I know Hashem is helping me every step of the way,” we imprint emuna into our psyche and shift the way we think.

It is crucial to understand that thought, speech and action are three facets of the same component. If we allow ourselves to think negatively under the assumption that ‘no one will ever know’ we are simply deceiving ourselves. Eventually these thoughts will spill into the words we say and actions we take and will no longer remain secret. Therefore a harmless negative thought such as, ‘This child is so annoying’ isn’t really harmless. We eventually will say something and act on this thought.

Therefore based on Chazal’s teaching above, when such a thought comes forth we can use our speech to chase it off with words like, ‘Hashem I see only You. Help me be patient.’ We can speak them softly to ourselves but the words must be spoken to change the thought. The impact of these words echo deep within us and in time radiates to our surroundings.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated l’iluy nishmat Moshe ben Neima z’l. May his neshama bask in the Divine radiance together with all of the righteous who have departed from this world, Amen.

The realm of free will lies in our mind and thoughts.  Chazal teach us that when one contemplates doing a mitzvah yet is unable to do so, Hashem rewards him as though it was fulfilled. In other words, our thoughts are so powerful that they ‘create’ a reality as if it were real.

Such is the power of one’s thoughts. The way we perceive our reality in a real way ‘creates’ our reality.  Hashem appointed the Jewish people to be co-creators in this world.  Hashem tailor designed life’s circumstances, yet gives us the ongoing chance to alter them based on our level of emuna; trusting that He is here with us and guiding our lives for our ultimate best. When we perceive an instance as beneficial even though we don’t understand how, it will appear differently to us.  Therefore every time we choose to think differently about a situation we change the reality of that situation.  This is not the case with a physical deed which is limited to space and time as it ceases when the act is done.

Thinking is rooted in the highest spiritual dimension the world of beriyah, fittingly translated as the world of creation. Thought is so potent since it is not detected to the human eye, only by Hashem.  Our thoughts are what get us to move and react.   The thought process is our free choice.  We may not always be able to control what enters our mind, but we do control the way we respond to each thought.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated for the refuah shleimah of Leah Chana bat Devorah a newborn who is still in NICU and undergoing a procedure today.  May Hashem shower her with a complete healing among all of Ahm Yisrael who are sick and suffering, b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

In order for us to merit a yeshua there are two basic ‘requirements’.  First is emuna shleimah, a complete trust in Hashem’s ability to better the situation.  Second is a strong ratzon a genuine strong desire to see the yeshua.  The second condition seems awkward upon first look; after all why wouldn’t a person truly want their hardship to be removed?

Yet we see from the events leading to the redemption from Mitzrayim that only 20% of the Jews left Egypt. This is a clear reference to a lack of desire.  They did not desire or perhaps did not trust that Hashem could assist them in leaving Egypt.  If we wish to remain enslaved to our material pursuits or egocentric needs or feel that Hashem is chas v’Shalom limited in His ability to ease our situation, our attitude ‘restricts’ so to speak the Divine flow of bracha from coming down. We seemingly set ourselves up for failure.

In the life of a Jew there is no room for logical calculations and scrutiny.  There is no end to what Hashem can do. We cannot even begin to fathom the yeshua that can/will occur if we faithfully trust in Hashem’s loving kindness.  Measure for measure just as we ‘break away’ from reasonable likelihoods, so too will Hashem shower upon us unimaginable ‘solutions’ to our dilemmas.

Hashem tailor-designs our lives down to the microscopic detail.  Our choice lies in whether we choose to use emuna as our map and guide through life or not.

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Today’s 14th of Sivan is the yahrtzeit of the Nefesh HaChaim, R’ Chaim m’Volozhin ztk’l. As a primary disciple of the Vilna HaGaon ztk’l he emphasized the power of Torah study and fulfillment of mitzvot to bring a Jew close to Hashem. The central importance of Torah study reached its heights in the yeshiva, which became a model for all Lithuanian Yeshivot. May his merit serve as a holy advocate for Klal Yisrael, Amen.

Every day I get emails from women around the world addressing the same idea – I have emuna in my mind, but missing it in my heart. Emuna of the mind a.k.a. intellectual emuna is not strong enough to affect our emotions. In order for emuna to touch our emotions, a.k.a. sensory emuna, it is vital to get in touch with our thoughts which give birth to our emotions. What other benefit does uplifting our thoughts have aside from feeling better about our circumstances?

Thoughts affect our destiny. This may sound extreme however Torah teaches that positive thinking, holy speech and good deeds can change our path. Hashem brings forth all events. Yet it is within the power of every Jew who lives a life of emuna, and who truly believes that Hashem can bring about a change in their situation to merit Heavenly compassion and additional assistance.

When we believe with all of our hearts that Hashem loves us and wants only for our good this wipes away the bitter view and enables us to readily see the good. Emuna deepens our vision and elevates our eyes to spiritually see the good. However it doesn’t stop there. On a more palpable level it actually produces change in the situation for the better. Such is the tremendous power of emuna. We will continue to expand on this teaching in the coming days.