Author Archives: Orit Esther Riter

BS’D

Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Chaviva Sarah bat Ahuva Tsivia. May Hashem shower her with a complete healing refuat hanefesh v’refuat haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’rachamim, b’mheira, Amen.

VERY IMPORTANT TEFILLAH FOR PARNASSA TO BE READ EREV ROSH CHODESH NISSAN, TOMORROW, FRIDAY, WRITTEN BY THE SHLAH HAKADOSH:  CLICK HERE 

Exile defines a state of being away from one’s homeland; distant from one’s natural habitat. A person in exile feels they are distant from realizing their goals; unable to fulfill their potential and live up to their mission. Ultimately, this can result in a sense of emptiness, sadness and personal alienation. This is the environment in which the Jewish people currently reside.

The media attempts to ‘sell’ us happiness by depicting our lives as lacking and incomplete. They promise us smiles and fun, yet our inner vessels are left empty. The Jewish soul is always searching, flickering as the wick of the candle, yearning and craving to elevate back to its Divine source. We feed it chocolate, vacations and other materialistic ‘toys’ and wonder, “What is it that I am still missing in my life?” Not matter how sweet a chocolate soufflé is (yes, they are fantastically yummy!), it does not appease a weary soul’s appetite.

Freedom is the ideal state to live in – a state of being absolutely connected down to the deepest core of our being. Genuine freedom is not defined as the ability for the body to run wild and act on its every whim, since that too is slavery; being enslaved to one’s bodily lusts at no end. The body never has enough it always wants to be fed more. Additionally the joy is short-lived and leaves a person with frustration over not having been given all it demands.

By contrast, the soul knows contentment and leaves in its track a deep sense of joy when it is properly fed. The longing remains however the person is enveloped with tremendous inner composure, tranquility and calm. The Jewish soul pleads within us to return her back to her homeland; an environment of Torah, mitzvot and good deeds.

That is personal redemption and the expression of true freedom. Torah is our great consolation and our personal GPS that guides us back to our soul and to our natural surrounding.  The place the Jewish people call home.

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Today, the 21 of Adar is the yahrtzeit of the Holy Noam Elimelech of Lizhensk Poland ztk’l, the prime disciple of Maggid of Mezritch, the student of the holy Ba’al Shem Tov HaKadosh. On one occasion Rabbi Elimelech and Reb Zushya ztk’l (his brother) were staying at an inn. Each night non-Jewish peasants would enter their room and jestingly beat the one who lay nearest the fireside, Reb Zushya. One night, Rabbi Elimelech offered to change places with his brother so that he could take the beatings instead. Suggesting that Reb Zushya had suffered enough of this “Divine admonishment” the agreement was made and Rabbi Elimelech lay next to the fire instead. That night, the common gentiles again entered to begin their jest. This time, however, one of them said that the one by the fire had taken his fair share of the treatment, and now it would be better to jest with the other one! Again Reb Zushya took the beatings. Afterwards, he told his brother that whatever is decided in Heaven transpires! May the zechut of the tzaddik serve as an advocate on behalf of Klal Yisrael and may we be zoche to emulate the ways of our righteous, Amen.

True freedom is a continuous pursuit of liberation – opposite of bondage – in everyday life. And what bondage does mankind experience in our day and time? The burden of the body’s desires that topple the soul’s call. There are 613 desires in us that we must correct one at a time, each desire with all of its parts. This is achieved through the study of Torah and adherence to Hashem’s mitzvot.

During the time of the korbanot which will be read in the coming parshiot, we learn how the offerings elevated the Jewish soul. The korbanot come to teach us how to correct our ‘nature’ and reveal our G-dliness. When we surrender our selfish desires and in place bestow kindness to others we essentially offer a korban to Hashem.

Unfortunately, when we fail to transform our animalistic drives, they cause us problems; the desires become negative forces in our lives. Letting ourselves be governed by these forces bring us much suffering and hardship. As we neglect to rise above our bodily impulses we are ‘forced’ to confront them through more difficult Divinely dictated ways. With each challenge overcome, more and more of our egotistic tendencies dissipate. As a result we connect more to our brethren and draw closer to Hashem.

We cannot bring korbanot to Hashem as of yet – B’sD soon! – However we can make a conscious exerted effort to free ourselves of our selfish desires and heed the calling of our soul. There is no better place for the Jew to be. And be reassured; it is nothing less than living a life of utter bliss.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated as a Mazal Tov to our sweet grandson Eliya on occasion of his 4th birthday. May he grow from strength to strength and fulfill a life decorated with Torah, mitzvot and Ma’asim Tovim. May his parents see nachat and abundance of bracha always, Amen.

How does tefillah assist us in our state of exile? Freedom being the opposite state of exile is defined as a state whereby one is welcome to express himself and live in his natural state, unrestricted by external forces that come to limit him.  Some may argue that on Pesach we indeed left Egypt, a state of enslavement by the Egyptian oppressors, but entered a life of servitude to Hashem.  Certainly this is more preferable yet even so, isn’t freedom an absence of all limitations on mankind; physical, emotional, moral and spiritual?

Freedom as described by Chazal entails a life filled with meaning; being able to live a life with purpose.  The harsh reality of the Jewish people in Egypt was their subjection to futile hard back-breaking labor which served no purpose, just for the sake of breaking their spirit.  Living a life where work is not seen as a means to an end but is its own goal essentially is slavery by modern day definition. In simple terms, committing our lives to search material achievement and power is far from living a life of freedom.

How downcast is the Jewish soul who is forced to live a life of galut within galut; not only prevented from expressing its true desires but being forced to surrender itself to short-lived pursuits which are finite and pointless.  Not viewing work as part and parcel to that which we must do in order to fulfill our spiritual task in this world, but involving ourselves in the material for its own sake and gain.  Fundamentally the road to freedom is adorned with the questions ‘Who am I’ and ‘Why am I here?’ and the pursuit to fulfill their answers.

When we turn to Hashem in tefillah we in effect are doing the same; withdrawing ourselves from exile and entering into the spiritual realm of geulah. We are reminded of our individual and collective holy mission and readjust our reality to pursue it.

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In our day tefillah gives voice to our inner desire, although sometimes hidden, for galut to end and for us to be uplifted to our natural state of geulah.   We accept the decree that we must currently remain in exile and although extremely painful we subjugate our will to Hashem’s will that this is where we need to be. Yet with that, we may still contest His will and pursue every path possible to connect to Him through exile.  Galut is intended to ‘squeeze’ out of the Jewish people something that would be unattainable by any other means; consciousness of the Jewish soul.

We are meant to feel alienated and yearn to return to our ‘natural’ state of Oneness with Hashem.  These coming weeks we will exert great effort to gain a sense of freedom from this current state of exile and strive to personally experience redemption from Egypt.  Thus it is essential that we delve into the meaning of where we are coming from and where we are heading!

In exile the Jewish people are denoted as ‘temporary wanderers’ not as dwellers as the children of Esav are referred to.  We are defined as living a life deprived of its pride. We are a nation among 70 mighty nations.

The galut affects every Jewish soul and diminishes Hashem’s Oneness as it is taught by Rabbi Akiva ztk’l, ‘in every place where Israel was exiled the Shechinah was exiled with them.’  So what positive benefit is attained when Ahm Yisrael is in exile?  Chazal teach that it is precisely while in exile we are given an opportunity to proclaim our Emuna, our loyalty and faithfulness to Hashem, by continuing to adhere to the holy Torah in spite of being persecuted.

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Galut.  We keep hearing it. The sense of despondency persists. Oy, what are we to do?  Until when Hashem?  Until when?

“Because of our sins we were exiled from our land and driven from our soil…” are the words we recite in the Mussaf prayer. It is more than just a physical expulsion rather a disconnect from the penetrable channels to Hashem.  We are now in limited mode as to how much we can feel Hashem’s tangible presence.  This is galut, a state of disconnect. So what now? How do we weave the broken tapestry so we can cherish the wholesomeness of our life’s picture?

For one thing, don’t get out of Hashem’s house!  The Talmud Pesachim (86b) teaches that if the Host demands that His guests get out of His house we are not to fulfill His instruction to do so?!  Hashem being The Host of this world and us, the Jewish people, being the guests in His Home, we are not to accept when He banishes us from His presence.  Rather we are to pursue and never relent in our efforts to come close to Him!!

The pathways are kept open for those of us who wish to fight our way back to an intimate relationship with Hashem.  We are never to cease struggling; this is our choice and one that Hashem ‘yearns’ for.  We are left with one way, loaded with spiritual ammunition, to achieve this cause; Tefilla! More tomorrow.