The value of Seudah Shelishit (Shalosh Seudos)

Hi,

"When you sit at seudah shlishit [the third meal of Shabbat] in the company of the pious, do you not feel anything?

"The righteous say that the time of seudah shlishit is the time described [in Avot 4:17] as, 'A moment of teshuvah and good deeds is greater than all of the next world's life.' My great father-in-law told me that he heard from the Maggid of Koznitz that seudah shlishit is in the category of, 'The righteous sitting with crowns atop their heads, benefiting from the radiance of the Shechinah. [Berachot 17a]'...

"Certainly, your laziness seduces you further, saying, 'Who could compare to the Maggid and other righteous people?' But I have already told you that responses like this are the product of your yetzer hara."

(Rav Klonymus Kalman Schapiro, Bnei Machshavah Tovah, Seder Emtzaei v'Yesod haChevra 11)

Have a great day,
Mordecahi

Know how to look

Hi,

"Therefore, our group instructs and declares to each of its members: Know how to look. When anything occurs within yourself or outside yourself, know how to look.

"Looking does not refer only to seeing that which is [readily] found, but to a kind of birth in which we birth and produce something upon which we can look... One who experiences some kind of stirring must look, meaning to produce a form and look upon it and so stir himself."

(R' Klonymous Kalman Schapiro, Bnei Machshavah Tovah, Seder Emtzaei v'Yesod haChevra 11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Does Gd listen to the prayers of the wicked?

Hi,

Mishlei 15:29 – “Gd is distant from the wicked, and He will hear the prayers of the righteous.”

“Rabbi Acha bar Chanina said: Come and see how Shlomo’s wisdom is so much harsher than the wisdom of his father. David said, ‘Gd is close to all who call Him, to all who call Him in truth (Tehillim 145:18),’ and Shlomo said, ‘Gd is distant from the wicked,’ meaning those who do not repent, ‘and He will hear the prayers of the righteous’ when they pray with the community.”

(Midrash Mishlei 15:29)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The importance of sensitivity to shame

Hi,

"The trait of bushah [sensitivity to shame] is a fence and iron barrier before all sin, for people violate many laws in private, with actions for which they would be ashamed in front of others."

(Orchot Tzaddikim, Shaar haBushah)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Moshe's love for Israel

Hi,

"Why did Moshe long to enter the land of Israel? Did he need to eat her fruit, or did he need to be sated from her goodness? Rather, Moshe said: Israel was commanded to perform many mitzvot, which may be fulfilled only in the land of Israel. I will enter the land, so that all of them will be fulfilled by me."

(Talmud, Sotah 14a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Holiness and purity require knowledge of Torah

Hi,

"It is written (Yechezkel 22:26), ‘Her priests have vandalized My Torah and desecrated My sanctuary.’

"Why did they not distinguish between the sacred and the mundane, and why did they not inform people of the difference between impure and pure? Because they are not people of Torah, they know not how to distinguish between sacred and mundane, between impure and pure."

(Midrash Tanchuma, Terumah 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Gd's conversations with Moshe

Hi,

"[It is written,] 'And Gd spoke [וידבר] to Moshe,' 'And Gd said [ויאמר] to Moshe,' and 'And Moshe said [ויאמר] to Gd,' 'And Moshe spoke [וידבר] to Gd.'

"This may be compared to a cave which is located at the shore. The sea rises and fills it, and then the sea does not leave it. From then on, the sea gives water to the cave, and the cave to the sea."

(Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 45:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai