Hi,
"There are four types of personalities:
a) One who is easy to anger and easy to calm - he cancels his gain with his loss,
b) One who is difficult to anger and difficult to calm - he cancels his loss with his gain,
c) One who is hard to anger and easy to calm - this is pious,
d) One who is easy to anger and hard to calm - this is wicked."
(Pirkei Avot 5:11)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The danger of trivializing Torah
Hi,
"King David was punished for calling the words of Torah "songs," as he did in the verse (Psalms 119), 'Your laws were songs for me in the house of my dwelling.'
"Gd said to him: You call these words songs? Regarding those words it is written (Proverbs 23), 'Blink your eyes and they disappear (meaning that understanding them requires great concentration)!'"
(Talmud, Sotah 35a)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
"King David was punished for calling the words of Torah "songs," as he did in the verse (Psalms 119), 'Your laws were songs for me in the house of my dwelling.'
"Gd said to him: You call these words songs? Regarding those words it is written (Proverbs 23), 'Blink your eyes and they disappear (meaning that understanding them requires great concentration)!'"
(Talmud, Sotah 35a)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Man starts helping others, and Gd completes the task
Hi,
"The Jewish people, providers of kindness, who involve themselves in the needs of the deceased, should not be overwhelmed and say, ‘How can we arrange and manage all of these processes and their associated recitations?’
"All follows one’s good intent; if a person does even a little, Gd will help him and support him greatly. A person begins and does not know how to complete the action, and then Divine assistance supports him and sets him straight."
(Rav Aharon Berachia of Modena, Maavar Yabok, Siftei Renanot 19)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
"The Jewish people, providers of kindness, who involve themselves in the needs of the deceased, should not be overwhelmed and say, ‘How can we arrange and manage all of these processes and their associated recitations?’
"All follows one’s good intent; if a person does even a little, Gd will help him and support him greatly. A person begins and does not know how to complete the action, and then Divine assistance supports him and sets him straight."
(Rav Aharon Berachia of Modena, Maavar Yabok, Siftei Renanot 19)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The merit of Abraham brought us the Torah
Hi,
"At that moment [when Moshe sought to receive the Torah for humanity], the ministering angels tried to harm Moshe. Gd transformed Moshe’s face to resemble Avraham’s face. Gd said to them: Are you not ashamed before him? Isn’t this the one to whom you descended, and in whose home you ate?
"Gd then said to Moshe: The Torah was given to you only in the merit of Avraham. Thus it is written..."
(Midrash, Sh'mot Rabbah 28:1)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
"At that moment [when Moshe sought to receive the Torah for humanity], the ministering angels tried to harm Moshe. Gd transformed Moshe’s face to resemble Avraham’s face. Gd said to them: Are you not ashamed before him? Isn’t this the one to whom you descended, and in whose home you ate?
"Gd then said to Moshe: The Torah was given to you only in the merit of Avraham. Thus it is written..."
(Midrash, Sh'mot Rabbah 28:1)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The essence of attending a wedding
Hi,
The Chafetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, 19th-20th century Poland) was once at a wedding of a needy couple, and when the bride and groom left the chuppah and came to a point near where he was, he raced forward to greet them.
He explained to his students: It is practically theft to attend a wedding and not gladden the bride and groom, for that is why you are invited to the wedding!
Have a great day,
Mordechai
The Chafetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, 19th-20th century Poland) was once at a wedding of a needy couple, and when the bride and groom left the chuppah and came to a point near where he was, he raced forward to greet them.
He explained to his students: It is practically theft to attend a wedding and not gladden the bride and groom, for that is why you are invited to the wedding!
Have a great day,
Mordechai
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The penalty for enabling others to sin
Hi,
"Do not hate your neighbor in your heart; rather, rebuke your friend and do not bear sin for him."
(Leviticus 19:17)
This teaches that one who believes another person is sinning, and doesn't attempt to correct that behavior, is himself actually sinning.
The Magid of Dubna (Mashal 195) highlighted the liability of those who enable sin by citing the uneven relationship between an alcoholic and a person who provides alcoholic drinks for others.
The alcoholic who drinks and does something wrong, and then is punished for it, has performed a prohibited act and must pay the price. But the person who didn't even drink is going to have to pay the price without even receiving the "benefit" of the prohibited act!
Have a great day,
Mordechai
"Do not hate your neighbor in your heart; rather, rebuke your friend and do not bear sin for him."
(Leviticus 19:17)
This teaches that one who believes another person is sinning, and doesn't attempt to correct that behavior, is himself actually sinning.
The Magid of Dubna (Mashal 195) highlighted the liability of those who enable sin by citing the uneven relationship between an alcoholic and a person who provides alcoholic drinks for others.
The alcoholic who drinks and does something wrong, and then is punished for it, has performed a prohibited act and must pay the price. But the person who didn't even drink is going to have to pay the price without even receiving the "benefit" of the prohibited act!
Have a great day,
Mordechai
Monday, February 9, 2009
In honor of Tu b'Shevat
Hi,
[For those of you who read these posts as emails, this will come a day after Tu b'Shevat - but the thought is still valuable.]
Background: The Torah prohibits use of the fruit produced during the first three years of a tree's life. This fruit is called arlah.
"From the day that a seed or shoot of a fruit-tree is consigned to the earth with a view to producing fruit, the fruit belongs to the tree for the first three years. You may not take it for yourself, nor may you derive therefrom any enjoyment nor use it either directly or indirectly, but you must leave the fruit for the natural purpose of its species and thereby learn not to lose consciousness of the worth of things per se as creatures of Gd - an unawareness which is the result of pride of possession. Thus do you express in deed that you have only the lien upon things which their Creator and Lord bestows upon you temporarily."
(R' Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, paragraph 303)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
[For those of you who read these posts as emails, this will come a day after Tu b'Shevat - but the thought is still valuable.]
Background: The Torah prohibits use of the fruit produced during the first three years of a tree's life. This fruit is called arlah.
"From the day that a seed or shoot of a fruit-tree is consigned to the earth with a view to producing fruit, the fruit belongs to the tree for the first three years. You may not take it for yourself, nor may you derive therefrom any enjoyment nor use it either directly or indirectly, but you must leave the fruit for the natural purpose of its species and thereby learn not to lose consciousness of the worth of things per se as creatures of Gd - an unawareness which is the result of pride of possession. Thus do you express in deed that you have only the lien upon things which their Creator and Lord bestows upon you temporarily."
(R' Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, paragraph 303)
Have a great day,
Mordechai
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