Monthly Archives: February 2016

BS’D

Rav Yechezkel Levenstein ztk’l teaches:
“If this is the era of Mashiach, a lot of effort is required since a person must prepare himself in order to be worthy to merit those days. He must acquire awe and knowledge of Hashem, a taste of spirituality, a connection to good middot. Then he may receive what is to be handed out in the days of Mashiach. Our task is to make ourselves into a proper receptacle.”
Geula is an unfolding of events leading to the revelation of the presence of Hashem. Geula is related to the word “giluy” which means revelation. The Malbim ztk’l teaches when the redemption arrives we will all be in a state of “gila” (happiness) – a place of renewed happiness that we have never experienced before. This joy will come as a result of discovering that Hashem has always been in our lives and that His love is everlasting.
Though Hashem was, is and will always be with us, the difficulty of galut is that we cannot perceive Him readily. We are never alone. Before the geula arrives, we must believe that Hashem is with us He is keeping a detailed account of reward and obligation, but He still loves us. He wants us to turn to Him and bring Him into our exile.

When we experiences challenges – such as marriage problems, illness or problems with children – we need to remind ourselves of His loving Presence. It is vital to avoid blaming others or ourselves for these challenges, since this blame drags us back into Galut. Though something may appear to be going wrong, we must have emuna that it is perfectly in sync with Hashem’s Divine calculations. We are all traveling on a path to geula. Let’s allow the realisation of the future gila we will all experience in geula fuel our current state of simcha now!

BS’D

When a Jew leaves this world and fails to repair a transgression via teshuva or yissurim (difficulties, hardships and challenges of life), their sin weighs down the whole of the Klal (community). The Klal then have to rectify the damage caused by that sin. Hashem created this world so it ‘naturally’ continues to perfect itself until the ultimate perfection of Mashiach.

The world must experience ‘birth pangs’ before the coming of Mashiach in order to lessen the burden of these unrepaired sins of the Klal. The entire nation must be cleansed of transgressions before the geula. This process of rectification perfects Jewish souls and brings us closer to Mashiach.

The Vilna HaGaon ztk’l teaches that if it were not for yissurim, we would not be able to stand in the Next World. Our merits and misdeeds are weighed. And our merits are lightened since they are often done with a lack of sincerity and joy. In contrast, our misdeeds are heavy since often they are committed with desire and excitement.

The word yissurim is derived from the word ‘mussar’ (rebuke). Discomfort, challenges and hardships are ‘wake-up’ calls to convey the message that we are currently ‘traveling down the wrong path’. Such wake-up calls are actually a Divine chesed, enabling us the opportunity to pay merely pennies on a one million dollar debt. Though each nisayon hurts, we can soften the impact by reminding ourselves that Hashem sends us these challenges to enable us to ‘pay down our debt’ and reach perfection.

The Zohar teaches that we see through the pupil, the black part of our eye. This represents the idea that we ‘see’ and learn through the dark times in life. When he was challenged by his suffering, Iyov asked Hashem ‘Why?’ Hashem replied, “Where were you when I created the world?” Iyov then realized the immeasurable distance between creature and the Creator.

Life is a series of detailed events chained together to form history. A lifetime of 120 years is minuscule compared to eternity. We are not privy to see the whole piece of jewelry. Only when we have reached the end of the chain of events will we be granted the understanding and knowledge of why things happened the way they did.

Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Rivka bat Chaya, a Mother of 3 little kids with stage 4 breast cancer.  Hashem Yirachem, Maleh Rachamim, please may Rivka bat Chaya among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering merit a complete healing b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

BS’D

The Torah refers to the End of Days Ikveh d’Meshicha, the heels of the Mashiach. The AriZal points out that a heel is a seemingly unimportant part of the body that does not appear to contribute to our higher spiritual or intellectual faculties. The whole body steps on it and it steps on dirt. Nevertheless, the heel is essential since all of our body relies on it and stands on it.

Past generations laid down the groundwork for the upcoming redemption. Our generation is considered to represent the heel of the Mashiach. Our job is to complete the process of preparation for redemption, tying the last loose ends together in order to usher in the Mashiach, B’H.  The Shomer Emunim ztk’l teaches that this generation has the opportunity to rectify all past misdeeds of all of past lives since the beginning of time. As it is always darkest before the dawn, our generation is faced with intense nisyonot and temptations.  Yet, by overcoming such challenges we will be able to uplift all things past and welcome the redemption.

There is an entire Divine master plan which we are not privy to see. In our finiteness as humans we see only countless points and elements with no common ground. However, each separate minute element is vital to the overall picture. Picture an ant working tirelessly to move a grain of dirt in front of her so she can move forward. Her vision is blocked from what lies a foot in front of her. Her load is miniscule compared to the mound of earth piled around a tree stump just a few feet in front of her. And she cannot even fathom the fact that there lies a forest 50 feet ahead of her. She sees and focuses only that which is in front of her. Yet, overcoming her individual challenge is crucial to enabling her to reach that forest along with the other ants.

We may not see the ‘big picture’. Yet, we can be rest assured that there is something bigger and greater out there. We must focus on our individual challenges and victories, trusting that by completing our unique tikkun we are moving towards our final destination. Let’s trust the Divine process. Let’s patiently complete our own tikkun, overcoming our personal nisyonot in order to help usher the geula as it unfolds before our very own eyes.

Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Sarah bat Dina a soon-to-be-Kallah who was seriously injured in this weeks bus accident in Yerushalayim.  May Hashem envelop her with a complete healing among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.