A worthwhile embarrassment

Hi,

"There was a group of Jewish women who had been taken captive, and Rav Amram Chasida arranged their ransom. They were brought to his house, and he housed them on an upper floor and he had the ladder [to prevent any immorality from men in his household].

"As one of the women was passing by the entrance to the upper floor, light from her beauty illuminated the entrance. Rav Amram took the ladder - which ten men could not have lifted - and began to ascend.

"When he got halfway up, he planted his feet and called out, 'There is a fire in the house of Amram!' The sages came running, and when they arrived they exclaimed, 'You have embarrassed us!' He replied, 'Better for the Yeshiva of Amram to be embarrassed in this world than for you to be embarrassed from me in the next world.'"

(Talmud, Kiddushin 81a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Teach your child a trade

Hi,

"How do we know that a parent is obligated to teach his child a trade? It is written [Kohelet 9], 'See [choose] life, with the woman you have loved.'

"Either 'woman' refers to one's spouse, and just as a parent must marry off his child so a parent must teach his child a trade [so that the child will be able to live], or 'woman' refers to Torah, and just as a parent must =tach his child Torah so a parent must teach his child a trade [so that the child will be able to live]."

(Talmud, Kiddushin 30b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Clean speech

Hi,

"It was taught in the school of Rabbi Yishmael: One should always speak with clean language...as it is written, 'And one should be selective in his speech as clever people are (Job 15),' and 'And the knowledge of my lips was expressed selectively (Job 33)."

(Talmud, Pesachim 3a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Three ways to get Gd's [negative] attention

Hi,

"Rabbi Avahu said: There are three things from which Gd's sight is never blocked [i.e. He always sees these events and acts on them]: Cheating people, theft, and idolatry."

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 59a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Who governs you?

Hi,

"The righteous are governed by their good nature...the wicked are governed by their evil nature...the deeds of the intermediate are governed by both simultaneously."

(Talmud, Berachot 61b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

When to compliment

Hi,

"Rabbi Yirmiyah ben Elazar said: We say part of a person's praises in front of him, and all of them in his absence.

"Only part is said in front of him as the verse says (recording Gd's words to Noah), 'For I have seen you to be righteous before Me, in this generation.' All is said in his absence as the verse says (recording Gd's higher praise about Noah), 'Noah was a righteous man; he was complete in his generation.'"

(Talmud, Eruvin 18b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Maybe I can't learn Torah?

Hi,

"As to whether you are competent to learn Torah, the guarantee of this is that Gd demands it of you... What you have to learn is not high above nor far away. It lies quite close to you, like the thought of your mind and the prompting of your heart, for it is your way of life that you have to learn, and it is for practical life that you have to study."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, paragraph 492 (based on Deuteronomy 30:11-14))

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why is Torah study different from other intellectual pursuits?

Hi,

"The conditions which must accompany Torah study are (1) awe of the Torah, and (2) constant self-improvement.

"The power of Torah study exists only because Gd made His influence dependent on it... Otherwise, speaking about Torah would be no different from speaking about any business or any book of wisdom."

(Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, Derech HaShem (Path of Gd) 4:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

In honour of the wisdom of Torah

Hi,

"Fortunate is the one who finds wisdom,
the one who produces wisdom,
for its trade is better than commercial trade
and its fruit is better than engraved gold.
It is more precious than pearls,
and all of your possession are not its equal.
Long life is in its right,
and in its left are wealth and glory.
Its paths are paths of pleasantness,
and all of its ways are peace.
It is a tree of life for those who hold on to it,
and all who support it are fortunate."

(Proverbs 3:13-18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Rebbe's instructions to his children

Hi,

"When Rebbe was dying, he said, 'I need my children.' His children entered, and he told them: Be careful of your mother's honor. In addition, make sure that the lamp will always be lit in its place, the table should always be set in its place, and the bed should always be arranged in its place."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 103a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Classic

Hi,

"You shall neither take revenge nor bear a grudge against a person of your nation; you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Gd."

(Leviticus 19:18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Sharing in the suffering of others

Hi,

"Rav Yehudah said, citing Rav: One who goes hungry [even if he has food to eat] during years of famine thereby saves himself from an unnatural death."

(Talmud, Taanit 11a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Share!

Hi,

"Gd, to Whom you owe everything you possess, imposes upon you the duty not to consider it as given to you alone, but also to allow your brother who is poorer than you to make use of it, and to lend him money to enable him to rise out of his distress, to earn a livelihood and gain his independence at your side."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb paragraph 565)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Service of the heart

Hi,

"We are instructed, as a mitzvah, to pray each day, as it is written, 'And you shall serve HaShem your Gd.'

"We have been taught that 'service' refers to prayer, as it is also written, 'to serve Gd with all of your hearts.' The sages commented: What kind of service is performed with the heart? That is prayer."

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer 1:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Reincarnation?

Hi,

"If a person does not fulfill all of the 613 mitzvot, he will come back to this earth in a reincarnation [to try again]."

(Vilna Gaon, Kol Eliyahu 182, to Berachot 31a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Man: Natural and Transcendent

Hi,

"We come across a dual concept of man in the Bible. His element of transcendence was well-known to the Biblical Jew. Yet transcendence was always seen against the background of naturalness. The canvas was man's immanence; transcendence was just projected on it as a display of colors. It was more a modifying than a basic attribute of man."

(Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, The Emergence of Ethical Man, pg. 9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Travel by day

Hi,

(Preface: The Torah says that when Gd created light, "He looked at it, and saw that it was good." Thus daytime is labelled "the time which is called, 'That it was good.'")

"Rav Yehudah said, citing Rav: A person should always enter (from the road) during the time which is called 'That it was good,' and depart (for the road) during the time which is called 'That it was good.'"

(Talmud, Bava Kama 60a-b)

(The idea is that night is a time of unseen danger, and one should be careful to preserve his safety and travel by day.)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Hillel's advice

Hi,

"Hillel used to teach: One who is ignorant cannot be truly afraid of sinning, and one who is not learned cannot be pious.

"One who is easily embarrassed will not learn, and one who is too exacting will not teach, and one who is too involved in business will not become wise.

"Where there are no 'men,' work at being a 'man.'"

(Pirkei Avot 2:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A kingdom of priests and sacred nation

Hi,

"You have seen that which I did to Egypt; and I will raise you up on the wings of eagles and bring you to Me.

"And now, if you will listen to My voice and guard My covenant, and you will be a unique splendor for me from among all the nations, for all the land is Mine. And you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a sacred nation."

(Sh'mot 19:4-6)

[Note: The Hebrew word נשרים may be translated as 'vultures' rather than 'eagles'.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Imitating Gd

Hi,

"Mitzvah #8 [in the Torah] is to make ourselves appear like Gd, as it is written, 'And you shall walk in His ways.' This is repeated in the Torah, in the verse 'to walk in His ways.'

"This is explained (in Sotah 14), 'Just as Gd is called 'Giving', so you should be giving. Just as Gd is called 'Merciful', so you should be merciful...'

"It is also repeated in the Torah with different language, 'You shall walk after Gd.' This is explained as trying to say that one should imitate the good deeds and honored traits that are ascribed to Gd - as if description of Gd were possible, for Gd is far above anything else."

(Maimonides, The Book of Mitzvot, Aseh #8)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The importance of circumcision

Hi,

"Come and see how important the Mitzvah of circumcision is - Our master Moshe was not allowed to delay this mitzvah for even an hour, even though he was then travelling on the road. (When Moshe delayed, Gd sent a serpent to kill him. Only Moshe's wife Tzipporah saved him, as she took quick action to begin the circumcision. This is found in Sh'mot 4:24-26.)

"Further, all of the Torah's laws were sealed with three covenants, but regarding circumcision the Torah stated 13 covenants."

(Rambam, Laws of Circumcision 3:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Women, Men and Maturity

Hi,

"What motivated R' Yehudah haNassi to say that women mature faster than men?

"The Torah says: 'And Gd built [VaYiven - ויבן] the side He had taken from the man, [creating Eve].' This teaches that Gd placed greater understanding [Binah - בינה] in Woman than in Man."

(Talmud, Niddah 45b)

Note: The association between VaYiven and Binah is based on the fact that VaYiven, "And Gd built," is an odd verb to use for forming a person; in contrast, the verb used regarding the formation of Adam is VaYitzer, "And Gd formed."

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Of Flattery and Hypocrisy

Hi,

"A lie concerning the personality of the person to whom it is told... is flattery. A lie concerning your own personality is hypocrisy.

"But just as nowhere is truth more necessary than in knowing oneself, and nowhere isdeception more harmful than here, so hardly any lie is more harmful than flattery."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb paragraph 373)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

All are needed!

Hi,

"One who is wise of heart recognizes the need for every entity in this world, for nothing in this world is for naught - all is the creation of Gd."

(Commentary of R' Yosef Yaavetz to Avot 4:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Our angelic commitment at Sinai

Hi,

On the Jews' promise at Mount Sinai of "Naaseh v'Nishma," "We will do and we will hear," in which they pledged loyalty to Gd even before they heard what Gd would instruct them:

"R' Elazar taught: When the Jews said 'We will do [whatever You say]' even before they said 'We will hear [whatever You instruct us],' a voice emerged from heaven and asked, 'Who revealed this secret of the angels to My children?'

"For it is written (Psalms 103), 'Bless Gd, mighty angels, who perform His words and heed His voice.'" [Again, doing precedes hearing.]

(Talmud, Shabbat 88a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Piety trumps Torah knowledge

Hi,

"R' Shimon and R' Elazar were sitting together, when R' Yaakov bar Acha approached.

"R' Elazar said to R' Shimon, 'Let us rise before him, for he is someone who piously fears sinning.

"R' Shimon replied, 'Let us rise before him, for he is a man of Torah.'

"R' Elazar said back, 'I told you he is someone who fears sinning, and you reply that he is [merely] a man of Torah?!"

(Talmud, Shabbat 31b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai