Category Archives: Daily Dose Of Emuna

BS’D

Today’s daily dose is dedicated L’iluy neshmat Chaim ben Esther and Chava Yenta bat Moshe Yosef z‘l.  May their neshamot bask in the Shechinah together with all of the righteous tzaddikim who have departed from this world, Amen.

Yesterday’s question:  how can we be asked to accept the seemingly bitter times in our lives as though they were sweet moments?

Precisely because of the fact that the human mind is limited in its ability to fathom Hashem’s ways and the depth of His intervention and direction, every Jew is required, each according to his capability, to accept that which is above his ability to intellectually grasp.

We cannot attach ourselves to the wisdom of Hashem.  However through tefillah mankind can reach a heightened level in which he is able to ascend his material form and draw near to the level reached by the prophets. Although we will not be able to ever comprehend the ways of Hashem and understand why this or the other occurred but we can attain a level of trust where we will be able to feel and live with inner security. This is the level we are commanded to reach.

The passageway to deveikut (cleaving to Hashem) is decorated with emuna.  The main barrier to emuna and deveikut is our transgressions; when we use our will to go against Hashem we distance ourselves and essentially disconnect until we do teshuva.

The lesson to be learned; it is not just a nice Jewish saying when we utter the words, “Everything Hashem does is for the best” it is the foundation to how to live a happy life.

To further this lesson there is a Midrash from Mishna Brurah that teaches how Yitzchak Avinu beseeched Hashem to bring suffering into the world since he recognized the great pain of Gehinnom that would need to be endured if not. Hashem readily agreed to his request.  We simply cannot value or attach human understanding to anything that occurs in life.  All that happens is just, calculated and under Divine love and care.

Life would be so much more enjoyable if we only would live with this concept that Hashem is always there as a loving father figure, embracing every event.  Our limited vision does not allow us to see what is going on in Shamayim. Consequently, we cannot understand what we see down here on Earth.

But know, just know, that all is for the best.

One of the daily dose readers asked to post this: 
An organized five day trip from NY to Uman (to the kevarim of R’ Nachman in Uman, R’ Yitzchok m’Berditzov and the Holy Ba’al Shem Tov is Mezibutz) is being arranged and headed by Rav Eliyahu Shiri from Oct. 24^th-Oct. 29^th.  For women and girls only and boys under the age of seven.  Includes airfare, hotel, workshops and buses.  The cost is $1,570 all inclusive. The tour is for Hebrew speaking people.  Please contact 845-213-0602 or 845-538-6770 for more information.  It certainly is a trip that will inspire and transform you.

Today’s daily dose is dedicated L’iluy nishmat Akiva Moshe ben Dov Ber Schor z’l.  May his neshama bask in the Divine radiance together with all of the tzaddikim who have departed from this world, Amen.

Some of the studies coming out of the science world indicate that our emotions physically reside in a section of the brain.  They are placed there by us and it is our choice to change them as well.  We can think differently and as a result feel differently.

It is a matter of rewiring and rebooting the way we think, and this takes training.  Training of the mind to think and react differently to the bitter circumstances that we may be enduring.  In essence, we can literally think our way out of negative thinking patterns.  The lesson here is that we are in full control.  Thoughts belong to us as we allow them to be.

Let’s look at this more closely.  We govern the way we think, and therefore, we determine the way we see life.  We paint our lives whatever color we choose to see it in.  Our life critically depends on the way we view life and how we respond to life and its struggles.  Our level of happiness affects the choices that we make and the way we respond to Hashem, others and to ourselves.  The conclusion: happiness is a given choice available for everyone to grab!

We make happiness and happiness makes us. This is very different from the way we were trained to think.  It was once believed that happiness is something that is influenced by the outside, maybe even luck.  It was never believed to be a mental choice.  However, this certainly supports the reason why people who seemingly have everything are not happy. They ‘have it all’ but choose not to see it so.

Acquiring the trait of living happily is a life-long goal.  We are summoned to develop our capacity to think, feel and live happier lives.  The pathway to achieving happiness is not decorated with spontaneous people or occurrences that will magically appear in our lives and bring us joy.  Happiness is the feeling that stays with us long after the circumstances that seemingly made us happy have already passed.

BS’D

Today’s daily dose is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Nasan Karpel ben Devorah Basha, a baby who has heart and lung problems.  May he be completely healed amongst all of those sick and suffering in Klal Yisrael b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen!

There is another opening to join our Shabbat tehillim group.  The perakim are עג’-עט’/73-79 inclusive.   Please let me know if you wish to read these perakim every Shabbat (anytime from candle lighting until motzei Shabbat) for the zechut of Klal Yisrael.  Tizku’ l’mitzvot.

Being that we have been discussing the slight downfall that may occur after the High Holidays, it is relevant to speak of the importance of happiness.  How do we attain true joy and keep it?

I read a beautiful saying: “Happiness is the process of bringing life to the point of understanding why what happened, happened.” This certainly contains within it a strong point of truth which includes accepting what happened to us as being necessary or at least relevant and beneficial to our future.  This incorporates with it a feeling of fulfillment in life; sensing wholeness within ourselves.  It is a clear definition of the purpose of living.

Achieving sincere happiness requires an unfolding process which happens in time.  It takes time to discover what it is that really makes us happy.  Throughout the stages of life, it becomes clearer to us that happiness is closely linked to the greatness of our soul.

In fact, the pursuit of happiness affects every aspect of our lives on every level of our being.  It impresses on our emotions, relationships and on all of our life’s decisions.  The world is obsessed with the attainment of true lasting contentment.  There are endless surveys, statistics and experiments to measure happiness comparing one to another.  The conclusions of these reports are clear:  money and power are not connected to the essence of joy.

So where and what is this coveted thing called happiness?  Is it simply the absence of depression?  Or maybe a matter of being satisfied?  The definition must be crystal clear in order for us to use every moment of our limited time here in this world to conquer it.  Why spend a life of delusion chasing what we think will bring us happiness?  Even more so, how can we protect ourselves from giving up on our hunt for real happiness?

It is our obligation to answer these questions and figure out how to embark on this journey and remain focused on the goal: a life of unshakable happiness in spite of shaky occurrences.