Don't flatter Gd

Hi,

"Daniel said [when addressing Gd in prayer], "The powerful, the great, the awesome," but he did not include [the standard Mosaic text], "the mighty." His children are in chains, where is His might?... 

"But is flesh and blood empowered to make such decisions?! Rabbi Yitzchak ben Elazar said: His prophets know that their Gd is a Gd of truth, and so they do not flatter Him."

(Talmud Yerushalmi Berachot 7:3)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Respect the mitzvah, Respect the One who commanded it

Hi,

[The Torah instructs us to bury the blood of certain animals, as well as birds, after performing shechitah.]

"When one buries the blood, he should not bury it with his foot, but with his hand, or a knife, or another tool, so as not to treat it with disgrace and degrade the mitzvot for himself.

"This honour is not due to the mitzvot themselves, but to the Blessed One who issued them, rescuing us from feeling our way in the dark and preparing for us a lamp by which to straighten the crooked and a light to show the paths of righteousness. Thus Tehillim 119:105 says, 'Your words are a lamp for my feet, and light for my path.'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Shechitah 14:16)

המצפה לישועה,

Mordechai

Lengthen your lifespan!

Hi,

"Rav Yehudah said: Three things abbreviate a person's days and years: If he is given a Torah from which to read and he refuses, if he is offered a cup [of wine or grape juice] with which to bless Gd and he refuses, and if he acts in the manner of high office."

(Talmud, Berachot 55a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Care in speaking the Name of Gd

Hi,

"What would be wrong with saying, 'An offering for Gd' [in dedicating an offering]?

"Lest one say 'For Gd' and not 'an offering' [due to interruption], and so produce the Name of Heaven for naught."

(Talmud, Nedarim 10a-b)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Be like a banker

Hi,

"Each individual is obligated to make every effort in pursuit of the honor of Gd, at all times, leaving himself only a little time to earn his household's needs, just as a banker makes do with small amounts of food when he goes off to the army."

(R' Yisrael Meir Kagan (Chafetz Chaim), Chomat haDat, Perek 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai