Securing a Hazard

You took my lock, without my permission, to secure a hazard that you were responsible for; I later came and took my lock, leaving the hazard exposed. Someone then came along and got hurt; who is responsible you or I?

Surprisingly, the Gemara writes that you are responsible; because being that the lock was not yours, you should have assumed that the owner will take it back; thus it is as if you never protected the hazard at all.

Do you agree with the logic? 

(Talmud, Baba Kama 30a) 

Tzaddik vs. Beinoni

What is the difference between the Tzaddik and Beinoni?
A Beinoni can't sin and a Tzaddik can't sin. A Tzaddik can't because he loves Hashem so much that he abhors sin. Yet the Beinoni does that too, by davening! He loves Hashem so much that he puts his taavos to sleep.
So why is it not just a quantitative difference, by the Beinoni the love is for davening and for the Tzaddik all day? And why can't a beinoni love Hashem all day? Is that out of his hands?
Of course this can't be right because there is a beinoni who loves Hashem all day and is called the beinoni who davens all day, and he's no Tzaddik.
So is it that when you strip the tzaddik of everything, of all his avoidah, what do you have? Someone who loves Hashem. When you take a Beinoni and strip him of his avoidah, what do you got? A baal taavah.
Is that the difference?

Listen

Prayer is on of the three pillars of divine service, the other two are study and acts of kindness. The Alter Rebbe teaches that prayer isn’t about talking, as one would think by walking into a synagogue, rather prayer is all about listening. The talking that we do is just to get us into the right mind frame to be able to listen.

What should you listening for? For the sound of your soul, as well as the soul of every creation, singing and longing to G-d. For the divine energy within each person, and each creation, is continuously singing a love song to G-d. For the energy feels it's source and it wants to return to it's source, the divine infinite light. The fact that it is placed in this world by the divine plan does not diminish it's continues yearning to return.

So, next time you go to shul, between reading all those words, make sure you make time to listen. Listen to the voice singing in your heart, in the heart of every human being, in every blade of grass, in every drop of water.

Listen and perhaps sing along.

(Chasidus Mevueres Tefilah, first Mamar)

On Being In Love

I want to be involved with this relationship at every moment. No, doing things for you all day long is not a burden. I look forward to every opportunity I have do something for you. We are in love.


Between the commandments of the Torah and the customs instituted by the sages, Judaism can occupy every moment of the day. To an outsider it may look like a burden, to the person in love with Hashem there is nothing he'd rather be doing.

In the prayer said just before the Shimah we say “enlighten our eyes in your Torah, make our hearts cleave to your commandments, and unify our hearts to love and fear your name”. We want to connect to Hashem with our mind and heart. And we want to fulfill the Mitzvot with Love.

The Art of Living

Life is a mess. You have a great moment and a second later you loose it. You spent a year saving up fir the vacation; after just a few hours of pleasure you managed to get into a fight with you kid and destroy everything you worked for.

So people created art. If you think about it, it's a great invention. For every form of art is defined with a beginning and an end. It captures a particular feeling or story; once captured its; complete, nothing can change it.

We yearn to create something outside ourselves. We are not satisfied by who we are inwardly, we strive to be able to create something we can put on the shelf. Something that our next bad mood won't be able to take away.

The Tanya teaches that every Mitzvah we perform is a creation of a piece of art. “this unity (created by the Mitzvah) is eternal in heaven”; there is a place that the good in our lives is captured and is everlasting, future negativity can't detract from its beauty.

The artist hangs his creation on the wall, then evolves to discover that he must place the art in his heart. Filling his life with everlasting beautiful moments.

The Modern Malchut

I always felt bad for Malchut (the divine attribute of kingship). Ever since the European revolutions in 19th and 20th century monarchy is foreign, leaving much of the Chasidic teachings on Malchut a bit outdated.

This morning it occurred to me that one aspect of Malchut can be better understood in a modern democracy.

Chasudus says that Malchut is the attribute of speech – expressing to others what was concealed within the person. The reason that speech is associated with kingship is because the king rules by the decrees he commands with his speech.

Never was this point clearer then with the modern politician, whose primary way of gaining power is the spoken word. A person with the greatest ideas will never get elected unless he can persuade people with his words.

Shabbat

Hashem created the world with speech. Hashem continues to create the world with speech. Speech is effortless in comparison with action; it follows then that Hashem did not have to work too hard to create the universe.

So why dies he get so tired? Why does he need to rest every weekend? And how does the world continue to exist if the creator is resting?

It's not hard to talk to someone who shares your knowledge, background, culture, and expertise. It is, however, very difficult to talk to someone who does not share your perspective and with whom you have nothing in common.

For the first six days of creation, as well as every week day, Hashem works very hard. He is talking to a realty that does not understand him. He must limit how much he revels of himself. He is like the great scientist trying to explain to a five year old child a theory far too complex for most adults. No wonder he gets so tired.

Then, finally, on the seventh day, as well as every Shabbat, he stops working hard. He is like the professor that was suddenly transported to a room full of PhD’s. There is no need to hold anything back. There is just a flow of revelation.

That is why Shabbat is a spiritual day. You may have to work harder to understand what Hashem is telling you, but it's all there. He isn’t hiding anything. All you need to do is tune in.

(Bireyshis, Ateres)

The Will to Play

I'm reading a book.

My friend says to me 'Menachem; let’s play a game of chess'. I would prefer to continue reading, but for the sake of friendship I'll play the game.

Somehow, I feel like he is not interested in playing with me, he is playing because he can't find anything else to do. I immediately loose interest in the game and go back to reading my book. I mean, I am willing to play, but please, you need to want me to play.

I think this is the essence of all the Chasidic commentary on Rosh Hashanah.

We interact with Hashen all year; he is willing to have a relationship with us although it is more natural for him to mind his own business. Yet, once a year he needs to feel that we really want him; that we are not just saying it to be polite.

So we grab the horn and we scream to him from the depth of our hearts. Words won't do it, words are too scripted. It must come from the deepest part of our soul. He must feel that all we want is him.

Then he'll play for another year.

He'll be there when we call him.

We'll know that he is always here, close by, playing with us; if we can't see him, then hey, that's just part of his game.

And we can be sure that if we really want him, then there is nowhere else he'd rather be.

Perfection

From last night's baseball game and the quest for a perfect game.

Man's perfection held back because of man's imperfection.

"Your staff and your rod they will comfort me"

He believes. He tells himself and tells his child that G-d is good. It's a comforting thought.
Then tragedy strikes.
All of the sudden, despite his intense pain, the believer must try to explain to himself and to his child how to find his G-d, the one that is good.
He tries to get philosophical, rarely is he comforted.
David, the greatest Jewish poet of all times, had a different way of being comforted by G-d.
He told himself and he wrote to us, his spiritual children, "even when I walk in the shadow of the valley of death I will fear no evil for you are with me, your staff and your rod they will comfort me". No mention that G-d is good; only that he is always with me. Yes, even when I walk in the valley of the shadow of death.
David certainly wanted all the goodness he could get. After all, the conclusion of his beautiful song is "only goodness and kindness shall pursue me all the days of my life".
G-d may or may not show him the goodness, yet, he is always comforted by G-d. Because he is "always with me"

G-dliness or Holiness?

Which is greater G-dliness or Holiness?

Atzmus and Giluyim

The Tzemach Tzedek would say that when the Alter Rebbe was in an ecstatic trance, the saying, "I don't want your Gan Eden or your Olam Habaoh just you yourself." would be heard from his mouth.

And I was thinking about this and what it meant. Now the Alter Rebbe was not asking to experience everything, just Atzmus. So it seems that either G"E and OH"B are an obstacle to that experience or he didn't want to get sidetracked.

What is the difference?

If it was just practical, not to get sidetracked, then it is conceivable to achieve both. But if G"E and OH"B are an obstacle it might be humanly impossible to experience both and this will only be achieved at the coming of the Moshiach. V'Einey Kol Basar...

It seems to be that this is similar to the difference between Giluyim and Atzmus. That the experience of G"E etc. actually inhibit the ability to experience G-d as opposed to G-dliness. Menachem tells me that he doesn't know a source in Chassidus for this but I have touched on it in an earlier post how they are pretty much mutually exclusive (G-d's Essence).

It seems like this follows true with the limitations of the mind but with a different twist. The more we understand and think the further we naturally move from feeling. And even more so from belief. Therefore we stress L'Maaleh M'Taam V'Daas. Yet we can't just toss away the mind and try to become a Posheter Yid. So what is the solution?

If we really want to experience G-dliness not just a revelation, how do we do it?

The Rebbe stressed that since we know about this story it is not just a nice biographical story of the Alter Rebbe rather it was related to us so that we know that this is a level that we can all aspire to.

Can we just aspire to be connected to Atzmus or can we actualize this connection. Here is not the place to get into a discussion on which is greater, Torah or Mitzvos, but I feel that through doing a Mitzvah we are not interested in, that we get no personal enjoyment from and that we don't really understand, it is there that we connect to Hashem the M'Tzaveh. We do it not because we need to be good, as we all know how bad we truly act at times, rather we do it just because.

And this is a Maaleh about our generation. In previous generations there were Giluyim, whether from the Aibershter or through a M'Mutzeh HaM'Chaber or from ones own lofty level through pristine personal conduct. But nowadays, we see nothing, we feel nothing and we know nothing.

Yet, we learn Torah and do Mitzvos. This is Atzmus.

This is similar to something I heard about how is it possible for our generation to bring Moshiach. The Mashal is given about a midget on a giant's shoulders. And I don't really understand it, true our Z'Chusim add up but what about our demerits. And here is not the place to go into the concept of two G-dly souls vs. one animalistic soul because we are not talking about combining sins rather sins existing.

And I heard an explanation (we know most sparks were already elevated while the Yidden were still in Egypt ( I always joke that yeah that's because they just took the easy ones and left us all the hard ones). But this brings us to another question. Is it really possible to be able to elevate a spark that a previous generation was not able to? Is it just geographical, that we are in more Farvorfaneh places in the world than before?) The Avodah that we do now is not just geographically different or quantitatively greater, rather it is a qualitatively deeper, more precious battle that we are engaged in. The challenges that we face no Jewish society has ever faced and had the success that we are having.

And that is why we are bringing Moshiach.

So why are we called midgets? Maybe it is because we don't recognize our true greatness.

Wisdom

“Who is wise? One who sees what is born” (- the consequences of his actions.) - Talmud.

So here you have it, wisdom is seeing. Notice that the Talmud does not say: one who understands that which will be born, because we all do. That’s not wisdom. Wisdom is when the  future can be seen - the future is the reality in the present.  

The wise will never do something for a moment’s pleasure. For in the moment he sees the future and feels the emptiness of fleeing pleasure.

Perhaps that’s why he spends so much time studying.

(Based on Leku”s Achrei 17 Sicha 1 )

Humilty Before Whom?

I am humble.

I am humble before Hashem, yet I can’t get myself to be humble before other people.  

Moshe was humble before other people; he was not humble before Hashem.

He was humble before people - that’s why he masked the radiance of his face while speaking to others.   

Yet he removed the mask when he was speaking to Hashem. Because a good student can’t be shy.

You also can’t be shy before if you need to constantly challenge Hashem on behalf of the Jewish people.

Yet the man who stood up to Hashem was humble before people.

Now that’s humility.  

(Based on the Kli Yakar)

Boundless

If I only had one word to capture the essence of Purim I would choose boundless.

The Jews' commitment to Hashem was boundless. It defied logic. There can be no logic in being prepared to give your life for a cause. That's why there is no reason given in the Torah explaining why one should give up their life to sanctify Hashem name, because there is no reason.

The commitment was boundless.

So, when the sages instituted a celebration for Purim, they understood that the joy commandment in the Torah on the Holidays would not capture the essence of the day, so they said "a man must rejoice on Purim until he does not know the difference between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai". "Until one does not know", until we break the boundary of our Knowledge, until we reach boundless Joy. 

Only boundless joy can celebrate a boundless connection.

(Torah Or – Chayav Inish) 

Self Defense

You are lying in bed in the middle of the night; you are awakened by a soft noise. you open your sleepy eyes, there is an intruder in your bedroom. Is he dangerous? You have no idea. Can you shoot him? (let's just say you believe in the second amendment).

In general, the law says, that if you think your life is in danger you may protect your life by killing the intruder.
 
The problem is that the law does not give an exact definition to what genuine danger is. At 2:00am, having just been awakened, frightened and  in the dark, it is difficult to make such an important decision in a split second. The problem is even greater: the jury sitting in judgment may not understand the threat you felt at that moment. Sitting in the safety of the court house they may feel that you used too much force.

So the bottom line is that the law leaves you on your own in the dark, literally.

Here is what the Talmud says:
If someone is in your bedroom (as long as he is not trying to escape) you can kill him. Because the intruder expects you to be there, you can assume that he is prepared to use force, you therefore have the right to protect yourself.

Now take a look at this interesting detail:
If you find an intruder in a place were he does not expect to see you, such as a place of business after business hours, you may not kill the intruder. The reason for this is, that since the intruder did not expect you to be there you can't assume that the intruder is prepared to use violence against you. Therefore you have no right to harm him.

The True You

People usually define themselves by their talents; the intellectual likes to think of himself as a thinker, the good hearted as kind, etc.

The problem is that these are talents not the essence. We posses them but they are not the true I; they are the garments we put on to look and feel good. When you want to discover someone's true personality, you must dig beneath the surface. You don't know your friend until you see him in a bad mood and under pressure. 

The self can only be discovered, according to Chasidic Philosophy, when the talents are hidden. To figure out who she really is, the intellectual must look at her self when she is not able to think properly, how does she react then? The good hearted person must look at himself when his kindness does not shine; only then can the essence express itself without the filter of the talents.

When we say to ourselves "I am not acting myself" we mean to say "I am not acting the way I like to define myself". For only when you are outside the comfort zone of your talented self can you meet your true self.

It is scary to meet the self. We are afraid to even look; were afraid to discover what we will find under the hood of our personalities.

Yet, when we do just that, when we find ourselves forced to do something way out of our league of expertise and comfort, we get to meet our true personality that is so much deeper and more profound then what we expected.

This then is the beauty of exile. When we don’t understand that G-dlyness is the true reality, when we are in love with the world and not with the divine, when the qualities of our soul are hidden, only then can our essence emerge. Only then can we be assured that our commitment to Hashem and his Torah is not a hobby that we engage in because were good at it, rather it's our essence. 

Only after we demonstrate that our essence is connect to Hashem  under all circumstances  are we worthy of receving the Torah. Only then can we be assured that the essence of our soul, revealed during the Egyptian exile, Is awake and listening to the word of Hashem. 

(inspired by Leku"s shmos vol. 16 sicha of Shmos - 24 Teves)

Jewish Concept of the Monarchy

Malchus is Keser.
How is that possible?
Well, Malchus is the lowest level of the preceeding world and is the highest level of the subsequent lower world.
In this past week's entry in Torah Or we have another explanation. M'l'malah L'mate and M'l'mate L'malah. What does this mean? The maamar goes on to explain that the level of Malchus is considered to have nothing original, Lais La M'garma Klum, but after it becomes a receptacle for all the higher levels it then becomes King and lords over all these higher levels. This is called Keser Malchus and it is called such because it becomes a Keser only after it receives from the higher levels, hence M'l'mate L'malah.
The maamar continues with an allegory about a human King of flesh and blood. A King collects gold and silver as taxes yet he rules over the people despite the fact that they are the ones giving him wealth (and power).

When we look at the concept of Jewish monarchy we see an altogether original concept a King that has responsibilities to his people. The verses which introduce the King in D’varim only mention his responsibilities and none of his rights. “Som Tosim Alecha Melech” means coroneted by the people (chosen by Hashem through his Novi) as opposed to taking rule as an extension or son of the divine.
We see here some fascinating parallels with the maamar.