Ellul

This month is a serious time in the Jewish Calendar. It is a time when we are close to Hashem. But why this month? Why not every month? What is the nature of this month's element of "Ani Ledodi"? To find the answer we can learn Chassidus.

In Lekuti Torah the Baal Hatanya provides a useful analogy of Melech Basadeh

A king of flesh and blood prior to assuming his dominion will go into the fields and will meet and greet everyone from the commoner (hedyot or idiot) to the upper class of society everyone has his or her chance to make requests and to connect with the king. For when the King goes to his palace, all bets are off. Only those with special status can enter the king's palace to make requests.

Now the king, Hashem is in the field and he is close to us all Kivayochal. Even commoners can make requests but as time goes on Hashem becomes king on Rosh Hashana and as a king there is distance. We experience distance or fear of Hashem irah during Rosh Hashana when he is Melech in the castle, ki vayochel.

Now we have a window of opportunity and we must not squander it. Because now we have access that we won't have in the days approaching where we will experience an awe of the Holy one, or fear. When in awe or in fear there is a distance albeit a constructive and purposeful one.

Ahava and Yirah, Elul and Rosh Hashana are two concepts to be explored and experienced. Both are needed in our spiritual practice. But now the dominant part of our practice is with Ahava which connotes closeness. To be continued.

Rosh Hashana

For all of you out there its time for a post on Rosh Hashana.
Rosh means head.
Shana means year or time.
Notice that it doesn't say hischalas hashna. That would mean the start of the year.
It doesn't say hischadshos hashana that would mean new year.
So it is not a new year or a start of a year. What is it?
The gemara in eruvin says hakol holech basor reisha gufa azlrnun.
The head controls the body.
Rosh Hashana is a controler of this time cycle.
If we are blessed with a good head (good emotional and intelectual balance) then we can have a good life. If one's head is injured than one can not function.
The time of rosh hashana is critical for the rest of the time cycle for this time will regulate the fuctions of the rest of our year. We must not injure our spiritual head. We must take care of it in this sensitive time.
Then we can be at ease that the rest of the time cycle will have the momenteum to propell ourselves to further rectification of oursleves at all levels (emotional intellectual instinctual (habad, hagat, nahagi) nefesh reuach neshama chaya yichida and our friends at those levels as well.
Shana Tova.

sefiras haomer

Counting is what we do and it is a mitzva. A simple act. What is the point?
We are told that we are becoming clean tahor from the tumah of mitrayim and like a nidah must count in order to undue the tumah so must we.

pesach and shavous

In the Hagada we find four son's and the Rasha (wicked) son asks a question "What is this avodah (divine service) for you?" The hagada is troubled by this question.
In the hagada Kol Aryeh he explains that the holy zohar and holy ari' talk at great lenth about the spiritual redemtion. Klal yisroel descending to 49th level of tumah (impurity) and so they escaped and in 49 days to shavous they were metaken those levels. SO the Geula is on two levels. Geulas hakuf vhanefesh. The rasha does not deny the geulas haguf. He would a historical revisionist a denier. But he does not care for and accept the geulas hanefesh and because he does not care he would have not made it out of metzrayim. The ikkur geula is the geulas hanefesh. But why must we knock out his teeth what does his teeth have to do with it?
In the hagaada shel immrei emes from the spinka dynasty, it explains many peshatim. One is that the rasha does mitzvos, but when it comes to his teeth to eating and drinking he does not care to engage in a seudas mitzva. Perhaps he is a nice guy but he has not used his teeth for avodas hashem so we have issues with his teeth. Another pshat is that the teeth are sometimes revealed sometimes concealed. This hints that he is a rasha who is both revealed and concealed. We must bring the reshus out into the open in order to correct it.
May we be zoche to the geula shlema bmhara vyameinu.
Good yom tov.
Modern Chassidish.

Torah and blogs:

Aside from websites there are torah oriented blogs like this one.
Hirhurim.blogspot.com offers litvish yeshiva learning at its best. I have learned a lot from the blog and I hope you will to.
Deralter.blogspot.com has a wide range of guest columnist. His site is dedicated to disseminating authentic mussar. As chassidus teachings, when mussar is done right it can help our avodah. Additionally, the site often discusses chassidus in its relation to mussar. I plan on writing about mussar in comparision to chassidus at a later date. For now let me share with you a posting by Rabbi Yakkov Feldman. For your conveince it is posted here with reshus from the blogmaster and Rabbi Feldman.


Sunday, April 10, 2005

Humility in the Midst of It All
We're told to da'aven with "eyes lowered" and "heart raised high" (Yevamos 105b), which I'd always taken as simply meaning, humbly and with the Ribbono Shel Olam in mind. But the Tzemach Tzeddek offers a splendid insight (in Derech Mitzvosecha, Mitzvos Chametz uMatzah, p. 24b) which also feeds into the Mussar idea of picturing things in order to be aroused to action.He takes "heart raised high" to mean that we're to reflect at length upon the Ribbono Shel Olam's Mahus and Atsmus then -- on how "transcendent of and above all worlds He is" etc. And he warns us to *likewise and at the same time* keep our "eyes lowered" by realizing just how "yeshi" and "davari" (i.e., tangible, carnal, temporal) the universe is, and how it comes into being out of nothingness each and every moment by dint of Hashem's will alone. We're to do both at the same time because if we only reflect upon the Ribbono Shel Olam's Mahus and Atsmus then we're likely to fall for the world and all of its trappings when we finish da'avening, lapse into ta'avos and all sorts of delusions, and accept the physical as of primary importance (as we all do). But we won't fall for that just as long as we keep our "eyes lowered" at the same time and see the world for what it is in relationship to the Ribbono Shel Olam and His presence all over.It occurs to me that the best way to do that would be to picture oneself somehow suspended aloft in the very highest of Heavens and staring both at earth below and at the Ribbono Shel Olam far, far above (kaveyochol) at the same time, and marking the difference. I tried it and found the experience to be very ... uplifting.-- Yaakov Feldman

I posted this because it illustartes the importance of medidative practices in one's quest for balance and spirituality. At inner.org there are some classic meditiations that I plan on discussing.
Your comments are always welcome.
Modern Chassidish

Purim with a bang!

I was zoche to have purim seudah with my brother's mishpacha in Far Rockaway. I was mikayem the mitzva of Chayiv adom lbsumah bpurya ad dlo Yoda. At the seuda I said over some thoughts on purim. Here is a summary of what I said.

The Baal Shem Tov comments that the mishna says "Hakoreh es Hameglah limafraya Lo Yotzeh Yedai Chovso" (One who reads the migala out of order is not yotzei). One who reads the migaleh "backwards" Back in time as if it is a history book is not yotzeh his chiyuv. One must view the megila as a story to be lived in the present.

The megila says "Ish Yehudi Hayah Bshushan Ushemo Mordichai" Why is mordichai called a Yehudi when he is not descendant from shevet yehuda?

This answer is not as good as the question but we see that when one exibits the personality traits of a great tzadik it is as if he descends from him. Mordichai was called yehudi because he acted like one. He had the power of "HOD" admitance and regocnition of hashems control of the world. He would not bow to haman. He would only bow to hashem. We see elsewhere in the medrash shmuel on avot, that avraham was called a father to those who patterned their life after them. They were his children. Likewise, Mordichai can be called a yehudi because he followed in the path of yehuda. What was the path of yehuda?
To be countinued....

best of the web part 1

Here is a partial list of websites that are torah related.

chabad.org has chassidus

inner.org is one of my favorites

torah.org has a wide range of subjects

kolbrisk.com is a great website that has torah from one of the greatest torah scholars of our generation harav yosef soloveichik shlita.

Next week I will highlight other not well known sites for your learning expereince.

Good Shabbos