Category Archives: Daily Dose Of Emuna

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah Herzl ben Farcha the bus driver stabbed in yesterday’s terrorist attack and all of the injured.  May Hashem shower them with a refuah shleimah refuat hanefesh v’refuat haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Twelfth Principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

Mashiach ben Dovid can come at any time and he will be a greater king than any other human king.

The Chatam Sofer ztk’l teaches what is already clear to many of us – the galut will not carry on forever.  This is one of the basic principles, without it the Torah cannot stand.  Why?  Judaism is based on a loving close relationship between the Jewish people and Hashem; Mashiach reflects this bond.

Mashiach embodies the concept of time where reward and punishment will be openly revealed.  The Midrash in Parshat Bamidbar writes that a Divine voice will echo from the hilltops at the time when Mashiach arrives and announce, “Whoever acted for G-d, let him come and receive his reward.”   We are in this world to develop a close knit bond with our Creator; that is the most profound reward we can ever ask for.  Mashiach will perform wondrous miracles in the merit of the Jewish people.  At this time all will witness Hashem’s love for the Jewish nation.

Moshiach will be a man who possesses extraordinary qualities. He will be proficient in both the written and oral Torah traditions. He will incessantly campaign for Torah observance among Jews, and observance of the seven universal Noahide laws by non-Jews. He will be scrupulously observant, and encourage the highest standards from others. He will defend religious principles and repair breaches in their observance. Above all, Moshiach will be heralded as a true Jewish king, a person who leads the way in the service of G‑d, totally humble yet enormously inspiring.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah Rivka bat Berta Bracha.  Please daven for the success of multiple surgical procedures that she will be going through today. May Hashem shower her with emuna, strength, clarity, chochman, binah and da’at, refuat hanefesh v’refuat haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Eleventh principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

There is reward and punishment for our actions.

The Torah discusses the idea of individual, national and universal reward and punishment. It is evident that Hashem rewards the tzaddikim by granting them bracha and punishes the wicked with devastation. In fact this is the basis of the second perek of the Shema, “… the rain of the land in its seasons” is dependent on our adherence to Torah and mitzvot. Even the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents is rewarded with “your days may be long upon the earth which Hashem will give you.”

All wrongdoings will be taken into account and will not simply be ignored. Even the tiniest misdeed is recorded and the soul of that person will need to be rectified either in this world of the next. Yet, the truth is that reward and punishment to many is just a belief and not a fact. If we are honest with our feelings because there is no absolute proof of consequence we many times fail to fulfill our calling.

The most important step is to first believe that our actions have consequences; that is the most powerful motivator possible. Yet if this would occur instantly free will would cease to exist. Therefore we have the freedom to decide whether we will or will not believe in the repercussions of our actions. All suffering serves as a means of rectification and healing; sort of like a spiritual rehabilitation making a new beginning possible.

Chazal teach us that “the reward for mitzvot is not in this world” rather it will be in Olam Haba. The reason is explained, there is no possible reward for mitzvot in this world; there is nothing of such great value that would compensate and compare.

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

Tenth principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

G-d is aware of all of our actions

Hashem knows everything that we think and do; He knows it all.  His knowledge is not limited to the past or the present; He knows the future as well. Hashem creates the world and continues to run all of creation down to the minute detail. Nothing exists, no activity occurs without Hashem.

Hashem in our compassionate Father; kind and merciful.  I am responsible to be proactive but rely on Hashem to look out for my ultimate best.  As written in the Chofetz Chaim, a Lesson a Day, “Hashem’s involvement in this world is unchanging and He continues to watch over those who place their trust in Him.”

Seeing Hashem as the source of all existence essentially leads us to recognize His goodness and constant concern over us.  Thus we are driven to praise Him for all the wonders of the world and constant miracles He performs.  All life is in the palm of Hashem’s Hand, so to speak, as we see in this week’s parsha of the plagues.  The Egyptians were no more than a mere fly to be swatted away, as Hashem saw fit. The world was dumbfounded when they learned that the Jewish nation fled Egypt and more so with great wealth.

Though this occurred thousands of years ago Hashem’s intimate interaction with existence and the Jewish people in particular still ensues. The Borei Olam “… Peers out from the windows, Peeks through the lattice work …’ as written in Shir HaShirim; is always aware of our every move.

We may not clearly see Him, but know that He is here; aware and involved in everything.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Lenoy bat Chagit.  May Hashem shower her with a refuah shleimah refuat hanefesh v’refuat haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Ninth principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

Since the entire Torah comes from G-d, one may not add to it or take away from it.

The Torah will not be changed and wasn’t intended to be given to us in installments in the future.  We have in our hands the entire Torah which communicates to us the ways of Shamayim.   Torah in all of its parts is relevant to each of us at all times in every generation.

The holy task of the Jewish people is to strive to grasp the depth that is contained within the Torah.  Essentially, Torah is HaKadosh Baruch Hu as is written in the Zohar Hakadosh.  We were given HaKadosh Baruch Hu when we received the Torah; we fundamentally bond with the Infinite each time we delve into Torah learning. Torah is the greatest gift that Hashem gave to man.  Through Torah Hashem brought all His power and all of Himself, so to speak, down to the world.

It is vital for us to understand that Torah does not have an expiration date or clause that limits chas v’Shalom its validity only to certain conditions and times.  The teachings of the past are just as relevant to our lives today as they were to our ancestors. The profound wisdom deeply tucked away in the words of the Torah offer us lasting guidance that benefit us today.

For example just as this coming week Parshat Bo writes, “Come to Pharoah…” so too does Hashem instruct the ‘Moshe Rabbeinu’ in us to come to the ‘Pharoah’ in us and demand freedom.  For more on this particular topic you can listen in to the soon to be posted shiur of the week, “Parshat Bo: Hashem is With Us.”

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Rabbanit Rut bat Ahuva.  May Hashem send her a complete healing refuat hanefesh v’refuat haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Eighth principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

Belief that the entire Torah is true and completely accurate as dictated to Moshe by G-d.

The same Torah we have today is the one given to Moshe Rabbeinu.  Every Rabbi imparts his wisdom to his disciples. Hashem, so to speak, the ‘Rabbi of the world’ transmitted to us more than just wisdom; He even gave us Himself along with it.  Each time we delve into the wisdom of Torah, we ‘take hold’ so to speak of Hashem Himself and bond with a ‘part of Him.’

It is vital for us to internalize the conviction that every letter of the Written and Oral Law transmitted through Moshe Rabbeinu was of Divine origin.  This is not to be taken literally, implying that all the letters of the Torah are the exact letters given to Moshe Rabbeinu.  Rather in a general sense.  The Torah we learn and live by is for all intents and purposes the same Torah that was given to Moshe.  Another words, absolutely none of it was edited by Moshe in any way whatsoever. As mentioned in the seventh principle, he had no input of any kind but functioned only as the mouthpiece of Hashem.

Additionally, it is important to remember that nothing was left in Heaven; the entire Torah was given to us on Har Sinai.  Torah was not given to us in installments, part by part for us to learn as history unfolds.  We received everything we need to know.

The Talmud teaches in Sanhedrin 99a, that denial of the Divine origin of a single word or letter of the Torah is as though the entire Torah is being rejected, chas v’Shalom. In order to attain emuna shleimah we need to fully trust that the Torah conveys Hashem’s will precisely and specific instruction on how to fulfill our spiritual mission in this world.

If there is even a small trace of doubt or uncertainty on the authenticity of the Torah, even the size of a pinhole, it will surely impede on our ability to live a life of emuna shleimah.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Esther Deena bat Risa, a 33-year-old mother of three, just diagnosed with breast C.  May Hashem shower her with a complete healing refuat hanefesh v’refuat haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Seventh principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

The prophecy of Moshe was greater than any other prophecy before or since.

Why is it so important to differentiate between Moshe Rabbeinu ztk’l and the other prophets?  Upon seeing the powerful wonders during their prophecy, all other prophets fell off their feet; they almost went insane.  They were overwhelmed by the intensity of the prophetic vision.  A prophet felt as if he was the only one in the world and lost all connection to this world.

Yet Moshe Rabbeinu was so holy that he received his prophecy while in full control still aware of his surroundings.  This enabled him to give over the prophecy with exact precision as though it was being spoken directly from Hashem’s ‘mouth’.

This fact is vital to internalize since the Torah was given to us through Moshe. Therefore it must be as though Hashem was personally giving over each commandment; since the Torah is the direct word of Hashem. Through Torah we perceive Hashem’s will and that is the ultimate goal of creation.  This message cannot be compromised or given over any other way than as though it is being told over by Hashem Himself.

This is contrary to the other prophets who relayed the messages although in absolute truth but in their own style. Other prophets would have to be awakened and returned to a ‘human state’ after receiving prophecy.  It was then in their ‘everyday state’ that they would relay the prophetic messages

Moshe Rabbeinu was an Ish Elokim, a G-dly man.  He was able to connect the upper and lower realms as though he was moving from room to room.  His prophecy was greatest as a result of his refined G-dly middot. He reached such a lofty level where he was able to transmit Hashem’s word without any barriers as the Torah states in the Zohar HaKadosh, “The Shechinah spoke from Moshe’s throat.”

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated l’iluy nishmat HY’D the four kedoshim that were killed in France. May Hashem reveal true justice to the enemies and shine His eternal love and compassion on the Jewish nation, Amen.

Sixth principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

G-d bestows prophecy to those who follow all of the Torah commandments and merit to perfect their personal attributes.

A founding principle of Judaism is that Hashem is intimately involved in our lives. He personally directs and oversees the minute details; He didn’t merely create us and leave us in the dark.   How has Hashem related His will to us; through His prophets.

Prophecy is likened to ‘seeing’ whole new worlds, seeing a truthful reality in its entirety.  The prophet entered into a whole new world of depth and perception; a place where only truth reigns.  It was in this place where doubt was completely erased and only the absolute reality of Hashem’s presence was recognized.  The purpose of a prophet was to guide the Jewish nation and for that he needed perfect clarity and understanding of what Hashem is.

The difference between a prophet and us is like the difference between the world of truth and the world of falsehood, light and darkness, closed eyes and opened ones.  A prophet must be with great wisdom and in full control of his yetzer hara.  He sees Hashem’s greatness in all of creation and is always connected to that which is directly under the Holy Kisei HaKavod. The prophet follows the Heavenly decrees and is connected to the worlds so that he knows what has been announced above.  He hears Hashem’s word.

The worst tragedy that ever beset us was that prophecy was taken from our midst.  The prophet assisted the Jewish people to achieve perfection by telling them which path to take according to the root of their soul.  Now that we are no longer worthy of prophecy we essentially live in the dark.

The importance in believing in this principle is so that we may fortify our emuna and trust that Hashem revealed His will and specifically guided us how to live our lives.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Rav Shlomo ben Elisheva Chana.  May Hashem shower him with a complete healing b’riut hanefesh v’briut haguf among all of Klal Yisrael who are sick and suffering b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Fifth principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

There is no power besides G-d whom it is fitting to serve.

This is a most fundamental principle.  Hashem has made it possible to communicate with Him through tefillah. He hears us, cares about us and even ‘lowers Himself’ so that He may attend to even the smallest of creatures.

Incorrectly we may feel that due to Hashem’s greatness He does not have any contact with this lowly world. Yet on the contrary it is because of His greatness that He is able to bridge the gap between heaven and earth and connect with us.  In fact this was one of the falsehoods that lead to idolatry; the belief that mankind needs an intermediary in order to relate to Hashem.  This clearly goes against a chief principle of emuna that Hashem hears us, understands us and feels our pain.  We can thus safely conclude there is nothing too small or inconsequential that Hashem does not care about.

It is through tefillah that we acknowledge that ‘Someone’ is listening to us and personally takes interest in what we have to say.  This serves to increase our emuna as the ego is faced with its sense of smallness and recognizes Hashem’s greatness.  It is our avodah, the foundation of our service and task in life, when we acknowledge Who we are speaking to, ‘A great and mighty G-d.’ Standing before Hashem and relating to Him is the most intimate mitzvah we are involved in since as we perform it we become an essential part of the mitzvah itself.

Tefillah is one of the most vital parts of our avodat Hashem. It refers not only to the prescribed prayers of the siddur but to the everyday intimate conversations filled with gratitude and longing that we should be having with Hashem.  Acknowledging how kind and caring Hashem is, sensing His infinite love and guiding hand is the avodah of tefillah and what essentially is called kavannah in tefillah.

Tefillah in its simplest form is the proclamation that there is no power beside Hashem.

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

Fourth principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

G-d has always been in existence and always will be. He is eternal.

Hashem is Omnipresent

Hashem is in all places at all times. He fills the universe and exceeds its scope. He is always near for us to call upon in need, and He sees all that we do. Closely tied in with this idea is the fact that Hashem is universal. He is not just the G-d of the Jews; He is the G-d of all nations.

Hashem is Omnipotent

Hashem can do anything. It is said that the only thing that is beyond His power is the fear of Him; that is, we have free will and He cannot compel us to do His will. This belief in Hashem’s omnipotence has been sorely tested during the many persecutions of Jews, but we have always maintained that Hashem has a reason for allowing these things, even if we in our limited perception and understanding cannot see the reason.

Hashem is Omniscient

Hashem knows all things, past, present and future. He knows our thoughts.

Hashem is Eternal

Hashem transcends time. He has no beginning and no end. This in itself should invoke awe by reminding us of the infinity of Hashem; it reminds us of our own limitations. As a result, we are lead to further rely on Hashem, a healthy dependence which further bonds us to Him.

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Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated L’iluy nishmat Dr. Yosef ben Sholom z’l. Dr. Herbert was my first MS doctor in the States and gently took care of me and all of his MS patients. He was the head doctor of the MS dept. at NYU hospital yet you would never know it by the personal relationship he had with each of us. May Hashem measure for measure envelop him with intimate love and care as he did for us. May his neshama bask in the Divine radiance of the Shechinah Kedosha and eternally rest together with all of the righteous who have departed from this world, Amen.

Third principle of Emuna according to the Rambam ztk’l:

G-d has no body or physical aspect

Hashem’s Oneness cannot be conceptualized since He is not limited to material; there is nothing at all to which He can be compared. All we know is that He exists, and that He is Hashem. We don’t know anything about His nature.

Since Hashem is knowledge itself, if we would have an understanding of Hashem, we would be Hashem! We cannot even understand a part of Hashem as Hashem is one indivisible whole. What He is, we do not know. But that He is, we know. Hashem exists. Hashem can act in many ways; He can act in a limited way, and also in an unlimited way, and it is not a contradiction.

Although Hashem is not definable in physical terms, we can still strive to have a personal relationship with Him and bond to Him with each breath. When you love someone you connect to that person with your mind and heart. In spite of the fact that you may be living across country from that person you may take them with you everywhere you go so long as you are mindful of their existence. Same applies to our relationship with Hashem. Even if we are physically unable to connect to Him this does not hamper the possibility of feeling closeness.

Rav Aryeh Kaplan ztk”l explains Hashem’s ‘non-defined existence, shape and form’ it the following way. Being that Hashem has no body, shape or form, any physical terms used in relation to Hashem come to express His relationship to the world. His ‘eyes’ become His awareness; His ‘arm’ is understood to convey His power and involvement.