BS’D
My apologies for the sporadic emailing of the Daily Dose of Emuna during the speaking tour. I appreciate your patience and understanding.
Don’t keep the daily dose to yourself… share it with your friends.
Please share your thoughts and questions in the ‘comments’ section of the post.
‘Like us’ on our website and on our facebook page!
Today’s daily dose is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Raphael Elisha Meir ben Devorah a six year old boy in need of our tefillot. If you can take challah today and/or next Shabbat in the zechut of his refuah please email: cdparkoffcoaching@gmail.com. Please pass the word along to others. May he merit a complete healing amongst all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov b’rachamim, Amen.
The AriZal teaches us that from around mid-Friday we should strive to distance ourselves from physical pleasure. The reason for this being that we must make room for the immense spiritual light that will illuminate the world on Shabbat. Often we mistakenly fill the voids in life by immersing ourselves in material lusts all the while misinterpreting the spiritual emptiness as a physical one. Yet we cannot give the soul physical toys to play with; she simply cannot relate.
The theme of Shabbat is to distance and separate ourselves from this world and zoom into the world to come. It is of great value to practice this in our everyday lives, otherwise our ability to bond with Borei Olam and experience His presence diminishes. This life exercise is not so difficult when we contemplate the reward we shall receive when exerting the proper effort.
The delight derived as we are enveloped in Shabbat Kodesh is an intense thrill for the soul. It can reach the point where we desire only to return to Hashem and want to permanently re-unite with Him on high. It is more exhilarating than any physical pleasure this world has to offer. In fact such was the feeling of B’nai Yisrael when they were standing at Har Sinai when they were personally spoken to by Hashem. They no longer wanted to be ‘trapped’ in their physicality and yearned only to merge with the One and Only truth.
The worst punishment a person may experience is loneliness which leads to feelings of abandonment and unworthiness. It is a profound fear that all of us have consciously or embedded deep within. Cleaving to Hashem requires continuous daily effort. This investment of thought must be practiced often throughout the day in order to prepare ourselves for the light of Shabbat and increase our knowledge that we are never alone and always have Hashem near.
We may then build our workweek on the precious lingering bond built on Shabbat which will continue to hold us until the following Shabbat. It will be easier to find our way back even if c”v we may have drifted off into ‘playing’ with this worlds toys. This is the ongoing impact Shabbat has on our lives.
