The tunes used for prayer, Part 1

Hi,

"Would that they would warn poets and singers not to sing Kaddish and Kedushah in the garb of the nations, with the maqam [a musical mode of song popular in Arabic lands since the Middle lands]. One who knows it will come to bad thoughts, and so the leader sins and causes others to sin. This is an offering with inappropriate intent, and it will not be acceptable."

(Rabbi Chaim Palagi, Kaf haChaim 13:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

One's obligation toward others

Hi,

"Every Jew is instructed to separate others from sin, even an individual who does not have the status of a court."

(Rabbi Yaakov of Lissa, Netivot haMishpat, Choshen Mishpat 3:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Becoming a chassid

Hi,

"Two chassidim were carrying on a conversation.

"'How would you define what a chassid is?' one asked.

"'A chassid is someone who wishes to become a chassid,' the other answered.

"'Well, who would not wish to become a chassid?' the first asked.

"'Someone who thinks he already is a chassid,' the other answered.

"A chassid is a person who constantly strives for self-improvement and for greater spirituality. Although he knows one can never achieve perfection, he nevertheless aims to approach it as close as possible."

(Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski, Rebbes and Chassidim, chapter 40)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Wisdom does not necessarily translate into wealth

Hi,

"Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua were travelling on a boat. Rabban Gamliel had bread, Rabbi Yehoshua had flour. Rabban Gamliel’s bread was finished, and he depended on Rabbi Yehoshua’s flour. He said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Did you know we would take this long, that you brought flour?

"He replied: There is a star which ascends every seventy years, and it fools the sailors. I said, ‘Perhaps it might ascend and fool us.’

"Rabban Gamliel said: You knew all this, and still you entered the boat?!

"He replied: Before you express shock at me, express shock at your two students on land, Rabbi Elazar Chisma and Rabbi Yochanan ben Gudgida, who can estimate the drops in the sea but who lack bread to eat and clothes to wear!"

(Talmud, Horiyyot 10a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The merit of Jerusalem

Hi,

In Shemot 14:15, as the Jews stood between the attacking Egyptians and the raging Yam Suf [Sea of Reeds], Gd said to Moshe, 'Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the Jews, and they will travel.'

"R’ Yishmael said: ‘Why do you cry out to Me? I will split the sea for them in the merit of Yerushalayim,’ as it is written (regarding Yerushalayim, in Yeshayah 52:1), 'Awaken, awaken, don your strength, Zion! Put on the clothes of your glory, sacred city of Yerushalayim, for the uncircumcised and impure will enter no longer,' and (Yeshayah 51:9-10), 'Awaken, awaken, don your strength, you arm of Gd, awaken as in earlier days, the generations of old! You are the one who cut Rahav into pieces, who pierced the dragon, you are the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great depths, who made the depths of the sea a path through which the redeemed could travel.'"

(Midrash, Mechilta d'Rabbi Yishmael, Beshalach 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Reacting to a miracle

Hi,

"A man was travelling in Ever Yamina when he was attacked by a lion. Miraculously, he was spared. He went to Rava, who told him, 'Whenever you come to that place, recite this blessing: Blessed is the One who performed a miracle for me on this site.'"

(Talmud, Berachot 54a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The inevitability of repentance

Hi,

"Even when Jews sin, they ultimately repent."

(Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 23:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Like a dove

Hi,

"As a dove is saved only by its wings, so the Jews are saved only by their mitzvot."

(Talmud, Berachot 53b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Emotional Privacy

Hi,

"If it is good for a man, and his heart is full of joy, let him reveal his feelings to Gd... thank Him and yearn for Him; but not exhibit them to others, lest an alien gaze desecrate this holy of holies."

(Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, eulogy for R' Zeev Gold, cited by R' Shalom Carmy in Tradition 43:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Responding to evil

Hi,

"Of David: Do not compete against evildoers, and be not jealous of those who practice corruption. Like grass they will soon wither, and like the green grass they will fade. Trust in Gd and perform good deeds, dwell and the land and nurture your faith."

(Tehillim 37:1-3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Honoring mitzvot

Hi,

"One may not examine coins by the light of the Chanukah flames... lest the mitzvah be degraded for him."

(Talmud, Shabbat 22a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Blessings and Curses

Hi,

"Mishlei 10 says, 'The name of the righteous is a blessing, and the name of the wicked should rot.'

"Rabbi Yitzchak taught: One who mentions a righteous person without blessing him violates this instruction - 'the name of the righteous is a blessing.' And one who mentions a wicked person without cursing him violates this instruction - 'the name of the wicked should rot.'"

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 49)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Rabbis as physicians

Hi,

"As far as your request to record the medicines from the seventh chapter in Gittin, from Rav and Shemuel to the breakpoint of the mishnah, in terms of how they were received and to provide their translations:

"We must inform you that the rabbis were not doctors, and they stated general things they saw in their times, one by one. These are not mitzvah matters. Therefore, you shall not depend upon these medicines; one should not practice any of them until after they have been checked and we know with certainty from expert physicians that this will not harm or endanger someone. So our fathers and elders taught us and told us, not to practice any of these medicines other than kibla which we know causes no harm."

(Rav Sherira Gaon, Otzar haGaonim, Eruvin, Teshuvah 376)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

All help comes from Israel

Hi,

"“He will send your help from the sacred place (Tehillim 20:3).”

"R’ Levi said: All of the benefits, blessings and comforts Gd will provide for Israel will only be from Tzion, as it is written… (the midrash goes on to cite numerous biblical passages in which aid and blessings come from Tzion)"

(Midrash, Vayyikra Rabbah 24:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Is there no Messiah for Israel?

Hi,

Rabbi Hillel said: There is no Messiah for Israel, for they already consumed him in the days of Chizkiyah. Rav Yosef said: May his Master forgive Rabbi Hillel!...

(Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b)

"Rabbi Hillel did not come to contradict the arrival of Messiah; he did not say, “The son of David will not come.” Rather, he wished to say that Messiah will not come in the merit of Israel, meaning at the ‘possible’ time I have mentioned, and so he said that there is no Messiah for Israel, meaning he will not come because of their merit. Their merit was reduced because of the miracle performed in the days of Chizkiyah, in the fall of Sancherev, and this is the meaning of “they already consumed him in the days of Chizkiyah.” This means that they ate their merits at that time. The result is that Messiah will not come at the possible time, but at the time when he must come, the time which has already been decreed."

(Abarbanel, Yeshuot Meshicho, II 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The nature of prophecy

Hi,

"I say that… prophecy sometimes comes to a prophet as a concept known with certainty in their minds, and sometimes in visions they perceive with their imaginations, and sometimes in a voice sensed with their ears or an awesome sight perceived with their eyes, and all of these are species of prophecy."

(Abarbanel to Shemuel I 3:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Is Gd a Man or a Woman?

Hi,

“These are names of Gd, sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine… Not only these names,are sometimes male and sometimes female, but there is no Divine Name or Trait which is not mentioned sometimes one way and sometimes another way, other than those words which are specifically masculine, like רחום [merciful] and חנון [gracious] and פוקד עון [who remembers sin], which cannot appear in feminine form. But the Names are sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine, and there is no doubt that this true."

(Ramban, ha’Emunah v’haBitachon Perek 2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

What is a "great" nation?

Hi,

"Gd promised Avraham, 'And I will make you a great nation.'

"What will be the greatness of your children? Torah, as it is written (Devarim 4:6), 'People [will see these laws and] will say... This is only a wise and understanding nation.'"

(Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The two tests of Lech Lecha

Hi,

"Gd declared to Avraham: The first and last tests with which I will test you will only be with the words, 'Lech lecha [Go for yourself]':

"'Go, for yourself, from your land (Bereishit 12:1)' and 'Go, for yourself, to the land of Moriyah (Bereishit 22:2).'"

(Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The scent of Abraham

Hi,

"What did Avraham resemble? A pitcher of perfume placed in a cemetery, such that no one knew it scent. One person took it and moved it from place to place, and its scent began to waft through the world.

"So Avraham lived among idolaters. Gd declared: Why did you dwell among wicked people? Depart from them and spread word of your great deeds in the world! And so it is written (Bereishit 12): 'Go, for yourself.'"

(Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The punishment for theft

Hi,

"For the sin of theft, govai ascends and famine exists, and people eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, as it is written, ‘Hear this, cows of Bashan on Mount Shomron, who cheat the poor and crush the indigent… the plenty of your gardens, vineyards and figs will be consumed by the gazam.’ And it is written, ‘The remnant of the gazam will be consumed by the arbeh, and the remnant of the arbeh will be consumed by the yelek…’"

(Talmud, Shabbat 32b-33a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Gossip

Hi,

"The prohibition against accepting gossip includes a circumstance in which one hears the story from two or more people, or a story is circulating in the city that so-and-so said or did X. Accepting and deciding that such a story is true is prohibited. This applies even if the speakers are not wicked, stating that they intend only to benefit this person for the future."

(R' Yisrael Meir Kagan, Chafetz Chaim, Hilchot Rechilut 6:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The tougher battle - self-control

Hi,

"They said regarding a pious man that he encountered men returning from a war against enemies. After a mighty battle they had taken spoils, and he said to them: You have returned from the minor war bearing spoils, now prepare for the major war.

"They asked: What is the major war? He replied: The war of the inclinations and its soldiers."

(Rabbeinu Bachya, Chovot haLevavot 5:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Are you Aggressor or Victim?

Hi,

"Among a person's ethical obligations is to work to plant in his heart this great principle: That in every confrontation, he weigh upon the halachic scale who is the pursuer and who is the pursued.

"Study of ethics engenders love and mercy for the pursued, and bitter rage against the pursuer. How terrible is the obstacle, how great is the trap, to be among those who switch the pursuer for the pursued and the pursued for the pursuer!

"Knowledge of the truth can come only through the writings of the authorities, as transmitted to us by the pillars of the world, our masters of blessed memory."

(Chazon Ish, Emunah uBitachon 3:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Souls on the Ark

Hi,

[Bereishit 6:19 says: And from all of the living, from all flesh, pairs of each you shall bring upon the Ark...]

"Rabbi Hoshia said: Even spirits entered the Ark with Noach, as it is written, 'From all of the living' - from those for whom spirits, but not bodies, were created."

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 31:12)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Righteous in his generation

Hi,

[Bereishit 6:9 says that Noach was "righteous in his generation."]

"'In his generation' - Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Nechemiah disagreed.

"Rabbi Yehudah said: He was righteous for his generation, but had he been in the generation of Moshe or Shemuel he would not have been considered righteous....

"Rabbi Nechemiah said: If he was righteous in his generation, his righteousness would have been all the greater [alternatively: it is all the more certain that he would have been righteous] in the generation of Moshe or Shemuel."

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 30:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai