Don’t Read It; Breathe It

For me, the biggest obstacle to inspiration by Chasudus is the thought: “I heard this last year – can’t I hear something new this year?”

The trick is to live with it. When I do I have no such problem.

The essentials of life are the same every day; yet every time I take a deep breath it feels as tough I am breathing for the very first time.

Alive

You know that depressing feeling of getting inspired by the same thing time and time again, only to feel down why you forget it in between?

But maybe that's because it's alive. The idea is alive, so everytime you hear it it's like hearing it for the first time.

Like hugging your child, each time you hug him it feels like you've never done it before.

Is Your Freedom of Choice My Business?

I have a simple question: every person has complete free choice over their actions. So, you have free choice to harm me; I am, hopefully, protected by G-d, which means that you do not have free choice to harm me.

The answer lies in the words Yosef said to his brothers: “you thought for evil but G-d thought for the good”.

They had the free choice to enslave him, yet, Hashem transformed him to a master of the entire world.

You have free choice to harm me, yet, Hashem can always transform that evil to good.

It's All In The Mind?

I used to be a big believer in the mind. After all my mind was feeding me lots of grand ideas about itself. The mind, I taught, is all powerful; No matter how hard a time you are having you can control your mind, and if you have the proper frame of mind you be fine, happy and in control if yourself. After all it's your mind and you can use it as you wish.

Well, as my life moves on, I am beginning to have some doubts. No, don’t get me wrong, I still believe in the mind; the words of the Tanya that the mind is in complete control of the heart still resonate with me. However, I am beginning to feel that the mind must open the door to the heart and settle in their.

I can tell myself all day long that there is a reason for everything and I should be happy, yet it won't have any affect on me unless my heart buys into it. The mind will always remain skeptical at some level, the heart does not.

The mind is a great tool to unlock the heart; but to be in love, despite great distractions, with G-d, Torah, Chasidus, the Chasidic lifestyle, is completely in the hands of the heart.

Perhaps that is why, lately, my favorite and most meaningful prayer is "unite our heart to love and fear your name". I ask Hashem, help me. I'll get my mind involved, but please, give me a hand with my heart; "purify our hearts to serve you in truth".