It Is Time For The Truth To Be Told

The Jewish People have one little spot on the planet that to the Torah Jew is sacrosanct to the nth degree.
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The Bible that Islam and other religions depend on, is all about this land and this people. They are special in the eyes of the Master of the Universe and yet people have been trying to lure them away, kill them, and defame them.
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What people don't understand is that there is a spiritual realm and Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov were not just ordinary men. They were world changers from a perspective far and above the "world."
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There are teachings about this geographical area that are mystical and yet simple and easy to understand when people step away from their personal agenda and "self."There are lessons to be learned in the fact that Jacob went to Goshen, but his burial was in the land of Israel. This is not just ceremony. Korach collected money, Moses collect bones some Rabbis say more than just the ossuary of Joseph, but all the buried bones of Klal Yisroel.Why?
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There are even stories about earth in Genesis and how it disrespected the blood of Abel. The four elements have more life and existence than our simple minds can understand and which is far beyond the scope of my learning.So the actual "earth" of Israel, the pipelines and Techiyas Ha Masim, are all pieces of the puzzle.
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The challenge is for all to work on their characters, but the Jewish People carry a far more difficult burden. People are jealous, plain and simple of the Jewish People, but what they don't realize is how difficult it is to be a Jew and the cost to the individual who ditches Yiddishkite.The farther they are, the harder they fall.
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God Bless the Jewish People and give them the courage to finally shut up pride, ego and self. This is not a popularity contest, tell the world to take a hike and shut the Meraglim up and fight for Israel, which is a true fight for the world.
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Why I Love Torah

Blue Snow - David Adler

There is nothing in the world that can bring us closer to Hashem than Torah. It is a realm, a beautiful realm that when you enter it you know you are there. It is similar to the feeling we get when we listen to the music of a particular era of our life. There are songs that remind me of my youth, my first love, my failures. It is mystical, but Torah is far and above, many millions of miles above even this glimpse called music.

When life gets hard, I have this sanctuary at my desk that feels like a nest. I am surrounded by Torah, from Chumash to RamChal.

I ask myself all the time, why did I deserve this glorious treasure? I have not been an admirable in my actions so many times that I'm ashamed. Looking back at my past makes me shudder. Why me an Irish German lady?

I can't explain it, but I remember clearly after a life of seeking Hashem, the moment I found Rabbi Kalatsky 1/2003 and heard the words of True Torah. I was down at the river and what I thought was an inadvertant scream of joy was the release of my neshamah from the chains of world.

That portion of my life that was like tohu and bohu, darkness and confusion, was amputated like a gangrenous limb. It has been a long hard road, very slow, bitty steps to get even to this level I'm on today. And I know clearly that his is like mile 47 in a zeccazillion mile path to know Ha Kodesh Baruch Hu.

All that I know for sure is that my thirst for world is quelled and my appetite is growing. How wonderful is that?

RamChal: These words have the unique property of causing one who reads them to incorporate in himself the highest excellence and the greatest perfection.

The condition: That they be read with hoiness and purity, with the proper intent of fulfilling God's Will.

MH: Even to the slightest degree.

Thank you Hashem.

Poetry, my heart is singing.

Mary Hogan

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The panic ignited by Nancy Pelosi

Of self-aggrandizement and weaving her legacy

A legacy so rife with ego pollution

Like a twisted embilical exphyxiating all children

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A congress supported by animals like Soros

As corrupt an conniving as a night stalking junki

Who bark out their minds, as if they ever had minds

An sell their glass as diamonds on the playground

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No heart, no soul, no brains only ego

Only ego and checkbooks and checkbooks and ego

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No good, no bad, only ways of confusion

Only ego and checkbooks and ways of confusion

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No right, no wrong, only depths of enslavement

Only ego and checkbooks and ways of confusion, only ways of confusion and depth of enslavement.

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Intricacies of Job, Iyov II

Rabbi Eisemann

What is unquestioning integrity?

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Tam v'yashar, Rashi writes for tam, perfect in his actions.

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R' Eisemann: "We believe this to imply a life lived in congruence with the ideals and principles which guide it. There are no aberratations, everyithing contributes to a totally integrated person."

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MH: Can you imagine?

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There are other connotations of tam, Genesis 25:27 Jacob is described as a tam. In this situation, tam implies a simplicity of sorts, a naivete. It is a person that speaks from the heart with no guile or alternative motivation. This person has a very difficult time lying, which when you study Jacob and get to know him you understand the situation of the blessing and the lamb's wool.

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The Gra, the Vilna Gaon to Proverbs 2:7 discusses tam and Yashar. He states that the Torah is offering advice to the tam and the yashar.

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Rabbi Eisemann: The yashar is a man whose intellect directs his steps and human qualities into the straight and virtuous paths laid down by God.

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MH: So what's the difference, really? The yashar depends greatly on the precepts of the Torah to keep him from slipping into worldly processes. The Tam doesn't deviate right or left. His path is simplistic, so to speak (although definitely not easy, it is not the "easy path.") So, his path depends on the same precepts of Torah.

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What's the difference then between a tam and a yashar?

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The yashar depends on his intellect, while the tam follows the Torah he has learned. Please don't quote me, this is my own take. The tam does everything from a base of true faith.

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Rabbi Eisemann: "He needs no advice since his understanding is not the determining factor. "

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MH: He doesn't have to prepare himself against battles in his mind.

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Rabbi Eisemann: "He may well stumble and thus he needs a shield to protect him from faltering."

Looking at Torah Through Hebrew II

Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Malbim, Abarbanel

Rashi: 1:2 And the "ruach" of God was hovering over the water. Rashi interprets ruach spirit, and asks "The Scripture has not yet revealed at that point when the creation of the waters took place."

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The "hey mayim" the water with the definite article according to Rashi "indicates that it refers to pre-existing water, not water created after the creation of the heavens and the earth."

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Rashi goes on to suggest that this tells us that water preceded the earth and the heavens because Chagigah 12a explains that the heavens were created from fire and water. This also, according to Rashi proves no chronological order.

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Ramban: Ramban translate ruach as wind. "The wind from God hovered upon the surface of the waters." Also notice "on" instead of Rashi's "over."

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Ramban asks "Why is the the wind in our verse described as a wind from God? Weren't all four elements "from God?" Ramban explains his query according to his opinion: "wind is more intangible than the other elements and is above them all."

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Rashi: "The breath of God was hovering. The Throne of Glory was standing in the air and hovering over the surface of the water, by the breath of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and by His statement, like a dove that hovers over a nest."

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Chagigah 15a; Midrash Tehillim 93-5, breath does not hover.

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MH; So what does this teach me? One thing I've learned about Great Sages and Rabbis compared to teachers of other religions and belief systems, is that Rabbis believe God. In this belief they realize that a lot that is going on is impossible to understand.

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Unlike Hellenistic systems, where some guy reaches a high level of understanding and puppets follow him without study, deeming themselves inferior, this study takes every element of Torah and scrutinizes not only the tapestry, but the details of the writing down to letters and combinations of letters.

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I believe that we are here to gather the Truth and we are then weighed on a scale according to how much we actually got correct. Personally, I think that Rashi's voluminous work will stand high in the crowd, but learning a Ramban can even elucidate further.

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Torah is the greatest Treasure on the planet.

Trouble, Your Name Was Test

All the scary things that occurred in the last week or so are all resolved. The health problems have been addressed and stamped clean. It was a test. And guess Who saw me through it all, Ha Kodesh Baruch Hu, the Holy One Blessed is He!!!!

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There are no words for my gratitude, Hashem. No words can describe how much I love You!!!

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(Please no more tests for a while) But I do remember the learning about Yaakov begging You for time of rest and You responded, "You want rest in this world and the world to come?"

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It never hurts to ask!!!!

For Time Bomb

Derech Hashem /Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto / RamChal http://www.feldheim.com/


As I study Derech Hashem 1:5:8 this morning I thought of you. I am very cautious of what goes in my mind and what stays out, but I thought of you as I studied this morning.

Light is not just a free concept, like a butterfly ready to be caught indeterminately. I've been working on understanding a Tanya teaching of bittul and bottol. It has been a long walk that is a golden ring for me, but it eludes me.

My study this morning lead me slightly closer and it is seemingly so simplistic that a first grader could comprehend. But there is a deeper learning from this simple knowledge.

I learned many, many years ago that the Light (all goodness) is God and that absence of this Light, to whatever degree is evil. It sits firmly in my mind, but my heart understands it only superficially. I'm not asking for explanation from anyone, I will find it on the pathway. A short constructive discussion could be interesting, but my veto pen would be in hand because far flung, half baked, teachers outside of Torah study are very dangerous. I do read Hebrew and have learned many intricacies according to my level.

RamChal: The True cause of everything good, whether among the Forces or their effects, is the Light of God's Presence. The cause of all evil, on the other hand is the absence of this light.

MH: So the God is the cause of actual good, "both general and in particular." So evil is the absence of this "good." Like a shade tree blocks the sun's light. A boxed in room with no windows is all dark. It is not dark in itself, but is merely the absence of the sun. This is where my mind seizes in regard to bittul and bottol.

There is deep learning in this that I want to extract in this lifetime.

So, in essence, God is an indirect cause of evil, because He is not present in darkness. Very explanatory of the situation of the world we live in now.

RamChal: The purpose of the source of evil was to give rise to particular concepts, to the extent that the Highest Wisdom determined necessary so that both man and the world be in its desired state. Isaiah 45:7. [God] forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates evil.

MH: It is about a deficiency.

RamChal: The activity of these evil forces, both individually and as a whole, depends on the extent to which God's LIght is absent and His Presence concealed. The greater this absence of LIght, the more authority and power these Forces have to act, both in general and in particular.

MH: The more weakened good, the more powerful evil. Today we have weakened good to the extent that bad is seen as totally acceptible.

RamChal: When these evil Forces are subjugated and deprived of their authority and power to act, on the other hand, then the good becomes strengthened. The Roots of all created things are then rectified and are set in a agood state so that both they and their brances are strengthened.

Looking at Torah Through Hebrew

Abarbanel, Malbim, Chazon Ish, Ibn Ezra, Rashi, Ramban

Berashit bara Elokim et hashamayim v'et haaretz.

1:1

Rashi: In the beginning of [God's] creating. Rashi says that this verse screams "expound me!" It is the beginning of the Torah which is called rashit darcu, the beginning of His way. The verse is not teach the order of creation. Rashi says if it were chronological It should have been written "At first, He created the Heavens, etc." The word Rashit in Torah is always attached to the word that follows it.

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The perplexing proof Rashi uses is "And the spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." Ha Mayim "the water" with a definite article indicates a pre-existing water. So does the water precede the earth? We see also that the water was created before the Heavens.

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Rashi maintains that water, wind, earth, and many other things were created on the first day.

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Ibn Ezra: In full agreement with Rashi on the first three words of 1:1 "In the beginning of God's Creation, however there is disagreement understanding the verse as a whole.

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He sees the Heavens, the earth, the deep and the water, were not created on the first day, rather on their respective days. Before them all, God created light.

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Ramban: In the beginning God created. Ramban states that it is imperative to begin the Torah with in the beginning God Created, for the account of creation is the basis of all faith.

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The Holy One created all creation from absolute nihility. There is no word to express this and that is why bara (create) was used.

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Derech Hashem/The Way Of God III

Derech Hashem/Ramchal

http://www.feldheim.com/

Ramchal: The purpose of all that was created was therefore to bring into existence a creature who could derive pleasure from God's own good, in a way that would be possible for it.

MH: Everyone is looking for True Good. This is a clue that everyone is really looking for God. Even though the physical pulls at us, there is a differing percentage of desire for good in every one of us. The extent of our merit (talk is cheap actions speak louder than words) is weighed by the distance we pull away from physical desire.

Some examples: Take a cantankerous person. This person may just seem like a miserable person happy to be unhappy. If he happens to run into a truly loving person with no guile, just the ability to love the people he meets, even the cantankerous can feel True Good.

Take a thief. There was a story I heard, I think it was Rabbi Tatz. He had been in a market when theives entered with guns and robbed everyone. This is the tsk, before he robbed Rabbi Tatz he said "forgive me father." There was a glimmer in the thief.

God gives us the opportunity to attach ourselves to Him. This is D'vakus and the spectrum is huge. The above thief had attached, but in a very limited way. I spend every waking moment thinking about Hashem, but I will also see how limited that attachment is, and how it as grown closer throughout my life.

RamChal: The purpose of all that was created was therefore to bring into existence a creature who could derive pleasure from God's own good, in a way that would be possible for it.

MH: The last week has been a bit scary. It worked out to a great degree, but the whole time I refused to allow myself deep fear. Why? I said over and over, that Hashem is the Conductor and Arranger of this life of mine. I knew deeply that out of it would come a courage so embedded with True Good, a refinement, that the result would be far better than the challenge.

I'll be back very soon

Picture by R. Wangsa

I have been a little preoccupied this week. I will return ASAP.

MH

Alone But Not Alone

Alone But Not Alone

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In the darkness of the early morning, fighting trouble and its fears, I know I am not alone. Although as frightening as life may be at times, I fight for D'vakus, clinging to the Rabboina Shel Olam. In times like these, when nothing makes sense at all, I know that Genius of all Geniuses has orchestrated the scenario.

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That feeling in the pit of my stomach is only a test of Truth and Action. I will find the strength to carry on.

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Life has gotten a little rocky for me in the last few days. There is a reason and a purpose and my only job is to cling to One I truly love, Hashem. I will make it through this storm also and I will do it with courage I have never experienced before.

Our Ultimate Destiny

There are big shots and then there are the wee ones. This world is just a preparatory stage for the Olam Haba, the world to come.

For those of us with no stature in society, with a deep hunger for Torah, we see the True Treasure every day. I love the Modeh Ani. I look out the window at the pink sky, and thank God for another opportunity to work on my character. My desire to prove anything about myself is based solely on my knowledge of how the decision will impact Hashem. Without a glimmer of audacity and assumption, I know I know very little and deserve even less.

This world and all its enticements looks to me like a Styrofoam display cake in a bakery or a wax sample meal on at a restaurant. Underneath it all you know that meal you actually get is not so perfect and that you've somehow been had. With Torah, every taste is delectable and makes you want more and more.

One thing I have learned is that when I stand before the Beis Din Shamala, there are going to be things I thought I had in the bag, and then the details will show me how I was absolutely clueless.

Thanksgiving 2008

The sun has just set and it was a beautiful vision. Although every day for me is a beauty, today was exceptional.

I have been praying for a grandchild since my daughter was 2 1/2 when the doctor told me because of medication my daughter would never have a child. I never mentioned it to her, but it was there in my heart, this silent prayer to the One I love the most, Ha Kodesh Baruch Hu.

There were a few troubles and traumas along the way even after her marriage over five years ago. I fought the want for jealousy at the grandmothers all around. I prayed and I prayed.

This Thanksgiving, tears are in my eyes, I spent the day with my daughter, my son (in law, but my son) and my grandson.

There are no words to describe how much I love the Rabbona shel olam. There are no words to tell Him thank you, believe me I've tried.

I love you Hashem, I am so grateful for everything, especially the Torah that you have given me.

Thank you for my own baby girl, and her son...my grandson.

What is valuable?

What is the value of something? It depends. There was a happy man of the country who knew the value of a good milk producing cow, but nothing of diamonds and sapphires.

One day the king was passing by his barn when a tree fell upon the king's carriage and the happy farmer saved the king with a rope and a cow.

As a reward for the effort the king took the farmer to his treasury and told him to take whatever he wanted. He immediately spied a few wooden stools, a pile of sacks, brooms and wooden boxes. The king said, but you don't understand, I'm offering you great riches.

The man said, what are riches? I think I'm rich already, but I can always use these supplies, thank you very much. He picked up his valuables and he walked out of the treasury.

What are riches? Hmmm.

Thoughts of A Simple Jew

http://www.simplejew.blogspot.com/

Man's intellect can be likened to a heat-seeking missile. Once he has made up his mind, his brain locks on the target and nothing can divert its course.How many of us, however, stop mid-trajectory to ask Hashem to validate our choice of targets, and to show us whether there is a flaw in our logic? A Simple Jew

Derech Hashem/The Way Of God II

I have spent the last two days in Derech Hashem I. Fundamentals / 3. Man. This is my second trip through the book although I have been studying R' Moshe Chaim Luzzatto via Rabbi Kalatsky, Rabbi Tatz and many other shuirim for five years, eleven months.

This particular portion I'm delving into because I want it in my heart much deeper than I have it now.

It starts out with "man is the creature created for the purpose of cleaving to Hashem. Only man is placed between perfection and deficiency, with the power to earn perfection."

I speaks about free will and how that is only a test of the level of compunction a person has attained. We live in a society where guilt is a "bad thing." Why? Because we live in a "let it rip" society. We have become desensitized to the fact that we are not just here on a joy ride, that this is a time of action.

RamChal: If man were compelled towards perfection, then he would not really be the master of it. Rather He who compelled him would be the one responsible, and God's purpose would not be fulfilled.

This speaks volumes to me these days, whereas the many years of previous learning weren't a pointed as these facts are at this time for me. And yes, I call what I learn from Talmud, Torah...facts -' a piece of information presented as having objective reality.' And yes, I know the difference between subjective reality and objective reality. You can eat an orange, but you can't truly describe the pleasure or perhaps displeasure of that particular orange as no two oranges are ever identical. Kinda like an expert of great pottery who knows not only the aesthetics of a piece, but the provenance of that object.

RamChal: It was necessary that man be given free will, and be balanced between good and evil, and not be compelled towards either. He has the power of choice, and able to choose either side, knowingly and willingly, and possess whichever one he wishes.

The Rabbi's teach that God will help a person no matter where he is headed. If he is headed for evil, he will also be helped along that pathway. This life is a tricky path. It is all about "talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words."

RamChal: In order that God's goal be best achieved, the Highest Wisdom decreed that man should consist of two opposites.

A person has a soul, which is pure an unadulterated. He also has a physical body which is unenlightened. The body is inclined towards the material and the soul toward the spiritual.

This is a battle.

RamChal: If the soul prevails, it not only elevates itself, but elevates the body as well, and the individual thereby attains his destined perfection. If he allows the physical to prevail, then besides lowering his body, he also debases his soul.

The beauty is that even though at some point he may go too far, he still retains the ability to subjugate the physical to his soul and turn it all around, back to the desired direction.

I love Tshuvah.

Derech Hashem/The Way Of God I

Derech Hashem - RamChal - http://www.feldheim.com/

Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzato

Translated by Aryeh Kaplan

Ramchal: Every Jew must believe and know that there exists a first Being, without beginning or end, Who brought all things into existence and continues to sustain them. This Being is God!

MH: This whole believe system that God is a kind of clock maker who made this clock called our world, wound it up and let it go on its own is blindness. God does not recreate the world once a year, a month or a day. He creates every nanosecond of every day new and fresh. That we see it as routine is depictive of the fact that we don't look deeply into any particular day.

Today I will have a combination of joys and frustrations that I have never experienced in the exact detail that they occur today.

Ramchal: It is further necessary to know that God's true nature cannot be understood at all by any being other than Himself.

MH: With each level I have achieved, it has been made clear to me that knowing God is a process and that I am on about mile forty-seven in a zezzazillion mile path. When I started on this path I thought I knew it all, and I still have to fight this trap of thinking.

Ramchal: The only thing we do know about Him is that He is perfect in every possible way and devoid of every conceivable deficiency.

MH: The most beautiful result of realizing this is when things get rough. I have to fight to embed this in my heart with each and every conflict, viccissitude that crops up. What I have noted though lately is that I am stronger and not so easily blow over by the yetzer hara.

Ramchal: It is also necessary to know that God's existence is imperative. It is abolutely impossible that He should cease to exist.

It is further necessary to know that God's existence does not depend on anything else at all. His existence is intrinsically imperative.

To be continued

One of my favorite sites

http://www.asimplejew.blogspot.com/

I found this picture at A Simple Jew, today. R' Yosef Caro. It appears to be his Synagogue. I don't know if A Simple Jew took this or not. Its a beautiful picture and A Simple Jew is a beautiful site where I learn a lot.

Real Reality

Chagigah 15b

Elisha ben Avuyah's (Acher, the Other)father was a very prominent man.

On the day of Acher's bris his father invited all the prominent men of Jerusalem and seated them in one room. He also invited Rabbi Eliezar and Rabbi Yehoshua and seated them in a different room.

After they ate and drank, the people in the first room began to sing, clap and dance. R' Eliezar said to R' Yehoshua, "While they are engaged in their activity let us engage in ours." They sat down and began to engage in the words of Torah.

A fire descended from Heaven and surrounded them. Acher's father came in and said, "Are you trying to burn my house down??"

They said "no, Heaven forbid! We were just sitting and reviewing the words of Torah from the Torah to the Prophets and frm the Prophets to the Writings and the words were so joyous that the fire was lapping them up.

Acher's father said, "If that is the power of Torah I will set this son aside for Torah."Unfortunately the father's desire was not for the sake of heaven, but for the power of Torah.

Acher abandoned the Torah.

Why?

I ask: When the parlor games are over, and the hotshots are wormfood, one wonders why no one can figure out that all this "ego" is for nothing.

Dixie Yid - Thoughts on life and Chassidus: Overcoming Challenges When You Have No Arms or Legs - Video#links

Dixie Yid - Thoughts on life and Chassidus: Overcoming Challenges When You Have No Arms or Legs - Video#links

Nick Vujicic, a man born without arms or legs, speaks about life's challenges and being "sameach b'chelko," happy with your portion. Definitely puts our challenges and setbacks into perspective. He throws in a little Xian sounding lingo at the end, but he only really speaks of having Bitachon in Hashem, trust in G-d. Thanks to my father for sending me this video!-

Dixie Yid

Rav Dessler Interesting Insights III

Rav Dessler/ Strive For The Truth/Feldheim
http://www.feldheim.com/


ALL FOR THE BEST (Rav Desslers section title)

There are many attitudes one can accept in this lifetime. When troubles come, we can either collapse or know that these troubles are for our own benefit. How can this be? None of us like situations of pain and discomfort. Discomfort is the perfect word, not comfortable.

Rav Dessler: All for the best is the attitude to life which was irrevocably acquired by Abraham.

MH: I love this concept of irrevocable attitude. People who think life is random cannot understand such an ability.

Rav Dessler: Abraham withstood the trial of the famine and likewise many other trials and tribulations.

MH: One thing I've learn, especially when studying Mishlei/Proverbs is the word vicissitude. Just when you think that you are finally at peace a change occurs.

Rav Dessler: Abraham's heart did not fail him in spite of all his troubles because he was unshakeably convinced of the goodness of God and the infinitude of His mercies and bounties.

MH: What a beautiful legacy of potentiality. The Jewish People have an indescribable inner power passed down from this one of a kind greatness.

Rav Dessler: However numerous and grievous the hurts and persecutions that we suffer and have suffered for thousands of years, we do not give up. We know in our heart of hearts that all is for the best. .

MH: If you ever take the opportunity, look up Nachum Ish Gamzu.

The things that do occur are tests, nisoynos. According to the Sages, reality as we know it is not reality at all. Everything we go through in this foyer to the banquet hall called life, this testing ground, is for our own good. It is hard to understand in the moment, believe me I know full well. Psalm 126 speaks of this. When God returned the captivity of Zion we were as dreamers.

Jews who are lured by false promises of 'enlightenment' and enticing gentile culture will be awakened from their dream. There will be a time, due time.

Rav Dessler: The evil we experienced in the long night of exile, and which we thought at the time so real and so fearsome, will turn out to have been nothing but a bad dream. The reality, as we shall then see, is and always was nothing but goodness and love.

Micha 7:8
Do not triumph over me, O my enemy; If I have fallen, I rise up; If I sit in darkness, God is light unto me.

Rav Dessler: On this our Sages comment: "From the very falling is the rising; from the very darkness is the light. (Yalkut Shimoni, Michah, 558).

MH: If you find yourself slipping into despair, fight. Do not ever roll over and play dead. The test is how hard you are willing to fight to believe Ha Kodesh Baruch Hu.

Virtual Yeshiva

http://www.virtualyeshiva.com/

The Sitra Achra has won the election

My predictions:
1.) It will be a crime to believe the Torah, in that homosexuality is an abhorrence to God and completely immoral.
2.) Churches will be deemed the "wicked" and the tax free status will be revoked, and the churches will be told what they can and cannot teach.
3.) Statewide systems of school taxation will be modified to spread the money instead of working for your own community and the citizens thereof. There are no winners here, only destruction.
4.) Money will be distributed according to the plan of the "wisest One." Which will lead to a slave society, where no one has any hope.
5.) The welfare state will look like a "good" job and the workforce will figure out very quickly how to use the system. The end product is a lazy society just ripe for the picking. Slaves. This is what happened to the Russian people.
6.) The children will dabble in homosexuality which has it complications in the hormonal system of the human being. In other words, there is no turning back.
7.) A sense of entitlement only leads the population to the feeling that "everything" is theirs for the taking. The end product, theft the thing that caused the disasters in the only Book that will be banned by the government, the Torah.


This sounds impossible? Well it isn't, it has just begun. The Sitra Achra has won the election.

Free Will II

Your original point of free will is not up to you. It is merely your starting point. Where the point of free will exists, you are accountable.

The free will point changes with every choice made. As you act, move or decide something it changes. Every time you make a correct decision, you elevate the point.

The effect of all this is that your free will point becomes more refined, and thus more difficult. The result is that you are a wee bit stronger than before the correct decision. These wee bits add up over time. (mtzvos goreros mitzvos).

If you take piano lessons from a teacher and then become better than that teacher, you need to find a new, more challenging instructor. It is like music itself. Once you master a piece, you must go on to attempt a more difficult piece otherwise you stagnate.

The more power, the more adversities. In the gym a five pound weight may be challenging for a week but then you must upgrade the weight. Each weight is more challenging.

We must be locked in battle with our own physical self, our guf. The whole purpose of life is to refine our character from the first original point of choice. It is not about remaining stagnate at any level across a large spectrum of different choices,be they psychological or physical, or societal.

A definition of good and bad is only how the power is channelled. Let's say you have a desire for cake, if you channel the desire for weight loss, you will consider the piece. If you have a desire only for pleasure, you will consume the whole cake.

Let's say you were born a greedy person. You could channel everything to you, or you could start giving to others.

There was a story of a Torah student who became very rich. He fled the community and isolated himself in the biggest house in town.

Many years later the Rabbi stopped by for charity. Many people had been turned away and so the Rabbi was concerned about the man. He knocked at the door and the man greeted him. The Rabbi needed $1,000 for the marriage of an orphan girl. The man said "Of course, here Rabbi." and he handed the Rabbi a penny.

The Rabbi went on and said "Oh, how generous sir. Thank you." and he left. The Talmidim that were with the Rabbi said "How could you say this, you know flattery is not halachically permitted?"

The Rabbi said: "Nothing changes immediately. This man doesn't know how to give. We'll just take it slowly."

At that the man called the Rabbi back into the house and gave him another penny, over and over again. Before the Rabbi actually left, the man gave him the entire amount, bit by bit.

R' Aryeh Kaplan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAB19Jyp1BA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9gflnY8NDM

For many years I have thought about Aryeh Kaplan's genius and early death at 49. To find this live interview was like finding a diamond in the yard.

Chagigah and Obama

NBA Jordan Farmar at the Kotel.

In my study this morning, Chagigah 14b there was first a reference to Ov and Yidoni. Ov Ama, the people of the necromancers. These people are no longer alive on this planet. Obama's face looks to me like one of these people.

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So, what does this have to do with my study? Just a few inches down the Talmud discusses Is 3.

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I will go into this further when I have more time.

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So why Jordan Farmar and Tefillin? If the Jewish People step away from self and start learning Torah, and honor Shabbos, the whole scenario can change.

I have a very special turkey like this that frequents my backyard. The feathers are beautiful. There are down type feathers that have beautiful herringbone pattern and a copper colored belting.

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How amazing.

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Aside from that, my Shabbat was beautiful. I spend Fridays baking my Challah, and pies or cakes. I love to decorate cakes.

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This week we had a leg of lamb that was succulent because it wad cooked on my beloved Ron Popeil rotisserie. We had asparagus and Nishiki rice. My mouth is watering right now.

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Shabbat morning it is challah French toast like I used to enjoy at a placed called Kiev in Lower Manhattan.

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Y'all probably get sick of hearing me say I love life, but I do. Simcha is a choice and I spent years commanding myself to be joyful and now it is natural.

Rav Dessler Interesting Insights II

Rav Dessler/Strive for the Truth/Feldheim.

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This is a great book for those with no Hebrew, and also those who need a translation. If everyone in the world studied just this, the world would be a far better place.

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Rav Dessler on Free Choice: We know that every human being has free choice in whatever situation he may be. His free choice extends to the one point at which the forces of truth and falsehood are equally balanced in his mind.

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MH: My first question is, what the heck are the forces of truth and falsehood? How can these forces be balanced? Are these forces corrupted by external influences?

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Rav Dessler: It is here that free will comes into play. Areas above this point, and those below it, lie outside the range of his free will at that particular time.

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MH: So I think again, is this a spiritual point where my neshamah knows something beyond the intellect? When I study it and think about it (sometimes for years)I know there is a superficial meaning and a very deep meaning. The clue "that particular time,"refines the thought from the general to the particular. This is telling me that this is indeed a path, a derech replete with tests and situations. It is like a trip with clues along the pathway to lead you to the final destination. Without these clues, a person is blind and only goes around in circles. The mightiest clue with "that particular time" convinces me that I am a work in progress, mere potential.

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Rav Dessler: Areas above the free-will point" mean questions of right and wrong which a person's moral sense cannot yet grasp.

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MH: I understand this slightly. Before this path, I was a self-justification expert. I could come up with a viable answer to any blatant mistake that I made. Why? I ask myself today. What was I proving and to whom?

Perhaps I'm right, perhaps I'm wrong, I love rebuke, but I think Rav Dessler is saying that Truth is truly immutable. It is not open for discussion, or changeable to suit our needs, or era.

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Rav Dessler: Areas below the free-will point mean questions about matters which are already part of his established moral behavior-patterns, so that he would normally be relatively immune to temptation on these points.

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MH: Now here I am lost, not mature enough to understand the gravity of this point. Are these moral behavior-patterns apparently incorrect, corrupted? No, I think this is more like a good person who would never think of mugging an old lady, and so the temptation to mug an old lady is simple not in that person. The yetzer ha-ra will never be able to tempt me to mug an old lady.

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Before 2003 I loved baby back ribs, then all of a sudden they started smelling like a 4 day-old corpse. You talk about disgusting. My behiro point for pork was drastically altered and I haven't had pork since.

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So here I think I learned that sometimes Hashem intervenes and makes the behiro point change easier. I quit smoking over 8 years ago immediately. I know that Hashem was giving me a gift in this and so I ased him to respond and help me with the carbs and fat grams. No deal. So my behiro point has been lowered for cigarettes and pork, but the battle is on with food.

Note: behiro = choice.

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Rav Dessler: The situation is never static. It can change for the better, and then our free-will point will rise.

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MH:

If I buy a pack of cigarettes and smoke them tonight, my behiro point could possibly rise and I would be addicted again.

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Mitzvos goreros mitzvos, one good choice leads to the desire for more good choices. Aveiros goreros aveiros, one bad choice, not matter how insignificant leads to the desire for more bad choices.

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Hmm, so much to learn. So little time.

My Picture

This picture was taken January 24, 2007.

Free Will

What is free will? To me it is the choice I'm confronted with at every step along the pathway.

When is a choice truly free?

To me a choice is free only when a person gets rid of all the backwash from input, be it Familial, Sociological, or Psychological. Basically, it is when a person is freed from need to prove anything to anyone besides Ha Kodesh Baruch Hu. Primarily it is the self that is trying to dig itself out of its own low self-concept. But.....

Example One: You are faced with a situation where a clerk gives you more change than you deserve. Do you walk away gleeful at the pittance, or do you wonder about the consequences to the clerk? It depends on how much you have worked on your character.

What a beautiful day

I have so enjoyed every single second of this day. I have an extra dog, a Yorkie and usually that alone drives me nuts, but today, either he or I have mellowed out. Life is a beautiful thing.

I have swept up leaves from the carpet all day. This is a thing that I used to gripe and gripe about an now, its a pleasure.

Leaves are amazing, air is amazing, the sky, the wind and the hills are amazing.

What a beautiful life.

The Intricacies of Job / Iyov I

R' Eisemann / ArtScroll Tanach Series

http://www.artscroll.com/

The Intricacies of Job

R' Eisemann states: The one, mauor and unforgiveable error that Job - and indeed his three friends had made, was to trivialize God, to create Him, as it were, in their own image.

We are challenged by our own limitations by the events in this book. There is a world that surrounds us that is not apparent through our senses. Job had nothing physical to work with in understanding the problems that occurred.

If we could really grasp the message of Job, nothing would ever truly bother us again. This is a quest.

Job 1:1 There was a man....

This is not very descriptive. At least when we first hear of Abraham, we get his geneology. So we begin not knowing anything about the man. Was he a Jew? Was he a gentile? Besides this, we have chronology to tell us exactly when Avraham was born, 1948 years after the creation of Adam HaRishon.

Perhaps this cryptic beginning keeps the focus on Job alone? Bava Basra 15a tries to place Job in an historical context, but it doesn't resolve any maklokis. Rambam Moreh Nevuchim 22 discusses particular time-frames from Avraham to the return from Babylon.

Is it factual, is it a parable?

Rabbi Eisemann: Even though there seems much to commend the opinion that the book is a parable, such an assumption is not without difficulties. Chief among these is the argument that if indeed it is a tale with no basis in actual events, we would have expected the author (whom Bava Basra 14b amd 15a identifies as Moses) to have chosen Jews as Protagonists, and the Torah as the thought-world within which the ideas of Job and his friends are formed.

The main idea that place it preTorah is that nowhere is halacha, or Torah Instruction noted in the possible trangression that could have created the effects Job was realizing.

I've run out of time.

This is my world

This is my world. I have so little time and so much to learn.

Sukkot

My esrog this year is more fragrant than any other esrog I have ever received (Esrog Headquarters). It to me is the smell of Gan Eden. The pitum is like a fragrant wick of citrus, but not just any citrus, that esrogim citrus beauty that I have only a few weeks a year.

I have spent hours in my Sukkah. Last night there was a torrential rain, but I have it all dried out and ready for this evening.

Sukkot to me is the most lovely time of the year. The days of Awe are behind, Marchesvan, the kind of darkish month is ahead, but its okay. It is like Sukkot will waft through my Cheshvan and I will drink the memories of my sukkah for months.

Thank you Ha Kodesh Baruch Hu for everything in my world.

Rav Dessler Interesting Insights I

Rav Dessler



Rabbi Eliyahu E. Dessler
Strive For The Truth/Feldheim Publishers
Michtav M'Eliyahu.

Volume I part I

Rav Dessler:

Death brings no fundamental change to the human personality. The characteristics we either worked on or didn't work on survive the bodies death and are the basis of future experiences in the World to Come.
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MH:

Can you imagine the implications of this situation?
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I am so amazed when I think of the road I have traveled. I used to think that my character was immutable, as if I were stamped out of iron and that was that. Even iron can be melted and reshaped, but that wasn't the way I envisioned who and what I was.

Then after many years of Torah and learning like that of Rav Dessler, I found out that my purpose was to correct flawed character traits. Believe me, there are some dastardly traits that have been seemingly impossible for me to battle. Dastardly is a great descriptive, because the only reason it was a battle was because I was too cowardly to fight them.

I used to lie like a rug because I was embarrassed of my own self-conception. Then I learned that these images and faults have a purpose and that purpose is action to prove sincerity. I don't lie at all anymore. I even correct myself in public if I stretch the truth.

Now, learning the above, I realize the benefits of non-negotiable Truth. Great Rabbis have access to a great storehouse of knowledge which is applicable to every possible situation that comes down the pike. It is Torah.

This accumulation of wisdom shed great light on our own obscurity. R' Dessler "Everything falls into place with the utmost precision, as befits the absolute Truth." This is why in retrospect we with foresight are able to see why certain things occurred as they did in our lives. With this wisdom we can see difficulties melt away.

There will be times, there have been a few in my life, where no matter how hard I tried I couldn't understand the extent of the difficulty. Rav Dessler "The part can bear witness to the whole."

Clarity emerges from Torah, and with great difficulty (hard work) sometimes we can reveal the depth of many problems. Even though the whole understanding may elude us, there is a sense of confidence in Hashem, that knows it will work out for the best. Gamzu l'Tova (Nachum of Gamzu) was a man who believed even though his body was broken and his skin was raw flesh, he believed completely.

Until next time, Baruch Hashem.

Two of my three dogs