Today we will share one last Ahavat Yisrael thought related to Chanukah. As we mentioned, weread the Nasi'im/princes on Chanukah. One ofthe reasons for this is that right after the 12 Nasi'im comes Parashat Baha'alotcha ,which talks about the Menorah. What's the connection between the lighting ofthe Menorah and the Nasi'im ? Rashi tells us, in the beginning of Baha'alotcha that Aharon HaKohen had what is called Chalishut HaDa'at. He was down.He said, " My tribe is not connected to the 12 Nasi'im...
Dec 02, 2022
Today we will share a Hanukah related thought from the great Klausenberger Rebbe. The Rebbe points out that the miracle of Hanukah took place during the era of the second Bet Hamikdash, as we know. He says that the issue of Sinat Hinam was already brewing then, and that was part of the reason they got into trouble. Therefore, after the miracle of Hanukah, they strengthened themselves in the area of Achdut/ unity. He says there are two very interesting things about the mitzvah of the Menorah. Num...
Dec 01, 2022
Today we have another thought about Ahavat Yisrael in relation to the holiday of Hanukah, which comes from the sefer Akedat Yitzhak Al HaTorah , from one of the Hasidim. He writes that Matityahu was the Sadik HaDor, and the job of the Sadik HaDor is to unite the hearts of Jewish people. That's why Matityahu’s cry was, “ Mi L’Hashem Elai/ Who is to Hashem come to me.” When he gathered together the Maccabim , he was trying to gather Jewish people together. He says that the only reason they won the...
Nov 30, 2022
Moshe Rabbenu, in Shemot 33,16 says וְנִפְלִ֙ינוּ֙ אֲנִ֣י וְעַמְּךָ֔ We ( the Jewish people) should be separated from the rest of the world. And right after that, God introduces the 13 Attributes of Mercy, which is a special covenant called the Covenant of the 13 Attributes that is made specifically for the Jewish people. This is what bothered the Greeks. They were bothered by anything that made the Jewish people stand out, apart from the rest of the world. These 13 attributes are what separate ...
Nov 29, 2022
As we're now in the month of Kislev, we will speak a little bit about Hanukah in order to get ready. The Ben Ish Chai quotes the Arizal that when one says the berachot of the Nerot Hanukah, he says LeHadlik Ner Hanukah, unlike Shabbat when we say LeHadlik Ner Shel Shabbat . He answers with a Kabbalistic reason: Because we want to spell out the letters נחל N a H a L (using the first letters of each word L eHadlik N er H anukah) which means stream . And this stream is a two way stream- One stream ...
Nov 28, 2022
We continue with the trait of God called She’erut Nachlato, that God views the Jewish people as relatives, and it hurts God when we're in pain. The Gemara In Masechet Hagiga says When a man is in pain, what does God say? My head hurts. My arm hurts. And that's talking about sinners . So it’s surely so when a Sadik is suffering. Rav Chaim Volozhin, in his Sefer Nefesh HaChaim ( Shaar ב perek יא ) says, “What does it mean, ‘My head hurts and My arm hurts?’ He says, that connects to the tefilin tha...
Nov 25, 2022
We're continuing this concept that the Jewish people are connected to God cause we're related. The pasuk in V’Etchanan 4,7 says כִּ֚י מִי־ג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל אֲשֶׁר־ל֥וֹ אֱלֹהִ֖ים קְרֹבִ֣ים אֵלָ֑יו כַּיהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ בְּכׇל־קׇרְאֵ֖נוּ אֵלָֽיו Who is a great nation that God is related to? Whenever you call out to Him, He responds. Which means that because we're related, He responds to our prayers. Asks the Brisker Rav on Shemot 33,19, What do you mean? Goyim can also pray and Goyim can do teshuva,...
Nov 24, 2022
AY 331 We are all Related We're talking about trait number four of God, called L’she’erit Nachlato, which means Hashem considers the Jewish people as His relatives. And regardless of what they're doing or not doing, or what they're deserving of, He can't see their pain and has to alleviate it. How does that apply to us? Says the Tomar Devorah, That's how we have to act with our friends, because we are all connected, our souls are connected. Our bodies might not be connected, but our souls are co...
Nov 23, 2022
We continue in the 13 attributes of mercy, as delineated by Rav Moshe Cordovero in his sefer Tomar Devorah . We are up to trait number four, L‘She’erit Nachlato . She’er means relative, like She’er Besaro , and Nachlato means an inheritance. God looks at us as if we are She’er Basar/ we are related t o Him, and Nachlato , we are His inheritance. And therefore, God says, What should I do to the Jewish people? They're My relatives. As God refers to the Jewish people in Shir Hashirim , They’re My d...
Nov 22, 2022
We continue going through the sefer Tomar Devorah, which talks about God's Thirteen attributes of mercy and how we are supposed to emulate them. We are up to the third Middah, which is called the V’Over Al Pesha / He passes over sin. . “ This is a great attribute, ” says the Tomar Devorah, “ because God's forgiveness is not through a messenger. God Himself forgives ," as it says Ki Imcha Haselicha/With You, is forgiveness. And what is the Selicha ? God washes away the dirt of the sin… and he quo...
Nov 21, 2022
We've been talking about the concept of כל העושה עבירה קונה לו קטגור אחד Whoever does a sin buys (or creates) a negative force. But since we don't like to end on a negative, let’s flip to the positive side of this: When a person does a mitzvah, he creates a positive force. As the Mishna says, he gets a defense attorney. As we say in our prayers, “ There should stand up, a defense attorney for us .” An angel that’s a defense attorney is created from our Mitzvot. The Sefer Ya’avetz, from one of th...
Nov 18, 2022
We continue in the Sefer Tomar Devorah, discussing the traits of God that we have to emulate. Trait number one was God's level of tolerance and patience, which we call Savlanut . Trait number two is called Noseh Avon , which literally means to carry a sin. The term first shows up when Kayin tells God, “ Is my sin too great to carry?” Simply, it's poetic, But the Tomar Devorah explains that when a person sins, he creates a negative force, like the Mishna in Avot 4,13 says, One who sins (buys or) ...
Nov 17, 2022
We've been discussing the Middah of Savlanut , which means to tolerate or be patient . Another term for this trait is Ma’avir Al Midotav , which literally means someone who lets his Middot “pass.” Rashi describes it, in Masechet Rosh Hashana 17A, as Not being exacting, not being measure for measure to those that pain him. He lets his middot go, and he just keeps going. He just moves on. And if that is the way the person acts, then God's justice isn't exacting with him, it just keeps moving as we...
Nov 16, 2022
We've been talking about Hashem’s tremendous patience and tolerance, and how even though we sin, God continues to bestow His bounty and blessings upon us. The Hovot Halevavot, in his Shaar Cheshbon HaNefesh section (chapter 3, 6th calculation), says, “ If any of our limbs would not do what they're supposed to do, for example, if the ones that are supposed to be moving would stop, or the ones that are supposed to be stopped would move ( Like we say in Asher Yatzar, if one of them opens, that is s...
Nov 15, 2022
We are now going through the sefer Tomar Devorah , which talks about God's 13 Attributes, as mentioned by Micha. The first is called Mi El Kamocha/Who is a God like You, the point being that God has tremendous tolerance and patience for His creations. Even though they act in a rebellious way against him, God continues to shower His kindness upon them. We will give some examples of what God does, in order for us to learn to emulate Him. In Beresheet (3,21) it says that after Adam and Chava sinned...
Nov 14, 2022
We continue to talk about God's tremendous tolerance, patience and acceptance of disgrace. We go back to the pasuk in Nehemiah (chapter 9), where he is giving a speech to the Jewish people and he says the words ואתה מחיה את כלם God gives life to all, and it continues on, as we know in our prayers, with: You are the one that chose Avram and took him out of Ur Kasdim and gave him the name Avraham, made a Brit with him.. and so on. until it says, You split the sea and the enemies were thrown into t...
Nov 11, 2022
Today's class is dedicated in memory of my uncle, Albert D. Sutton, Avraham Ben Emma a’h May this class should be an Ilui Nesham for him. We're discussing the trait of God, that He has tremendous tolerance because He’s constantly being disgraced. In his Sefer Shaar Hayirah, on the topic of fear (10th chapter), the Reshit Hochma, (a student of Rav Moshe Cordevero, author of the Tomar Devorah), says that a pious man once said, Don't rebel against your master when he is watching you . The only prob...
Nov 10, 2022
We've been speaking about the concept of tolerance , to be Sovel . As we mentioned from Rav Wolbe, a lot of this comes from the beautiful sefer Tomar Devorah, by Rav Moshe Cordevero, on the 13 attributes of mercy, based on the pasuk in Micha , Mi El Kamocha. The Pele Yoetz, under the topic of Devekut , says that a person should read the Tomar Devorah once a month, and try his best to live up to these Middot of Hashem. In Arot Elim, another sefer by the Pele Yoetz, he includes a shorter version o...
Nov 09, 2022
We've been talking about the trait of Savlanut/ tolerance . Rav Wolbe, in his sefer Alei Shur ( vol 2 page 216), says that first a person has to condition himself to get the idea of tolerating others. But he says, a person also has to learn how to tolerate himself. What does that mean? Sometime a person is trying to work on a trait, such as tolerating people. He decided, “ Hey, that's a great thing to work on. I really need to work on tolerance. I don't have tolerance for people,” and he’s been ...
Nov 08, 2022
We continue to discuss the topic of Savlanut , which we translated literally as to carry, to tolerate and to be patient with situation s that not to our liking. The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat brings the following braita: Those that are disgraced and don't disgrace back, that hear their disgrace and don't respond, that serve God out of love and are happy with yisurim/suffering. So these are three areas of tolerance; being tolerant of insults, or disgrace or tolerating suffering. And on them, it s...
Nov 07, 2022
We've been talking about tolerating this week, and Rav Wolbe talks about how to view somebody who is suffering with physical or emotional distress. He brings the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat 88B that discusses.. those are disgraced and don't disgrace others , people that hear the disgrace and don't respond.. As two examples of people that tolerate. This term is used in connection with humble people like Moshe Rabbenu, that were disgraced and didn’t respond. It says, On God, he's disgraced . But th...
Nov 04, 2022
This week has been dedicated to the topic of Sevel/ tolerating. Rav Wolbe, in his sefer, Aleh Shor, says that we need to dedicate a special focus on Savlanut - tolerating situations or people- when it comes to our family. Because the more contact you have with somebody, the more you need to train yourself in tolerance. Your family is not like a friend that you meet from time to time, that occasionally might arouse some kind of uncomfortable feelings or frustrations. A family, and a household is ...
Nov 03, 2022
We are talking about the trait of Sevel , which is important for good middot/character traits. We have also discussed that it’s important for menuchat hanefesh/serenity . But when we talk about the term Menuchat Hanefesh , it’s not just about the concept of the peace of mind. There’s a term choli hanefesh/ referring to someone whose soul is sick, which is a term for mental illness. And Menuchat Hanefesh is the ultimate mental wellness. So let us discuss the concept of tolerating , as it refers t...
Nov 02, 2022
We are continuing with the theme of being Sovel / Tolerating x. We quoted the Elder of Kelm who said that the trait of Sovel is the source of all good character traits (as we discussed in the past two lessons) and it's the source of menucha / serenity and peace . How so? A pasuk in Bereshit says, יִשָּׂשׂכָר חֲמֹר גָּרֶם רֹבֵץ בֵּין הַמִּשְׁפְּתָיִם: (טו) וַיַּרְא מְנֻחָה כִּי טוֹב וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ כִּי נָעֵמָה Yisachar is like a donkey with strong bones, he sees that serenity and tranquility is go...
Nov 01, 2022
In our previous lesson, we spoke of the trait of being Sovel , which we said has different meanings in English- either patience, tolerance of pain or carrying a load . And we explained from Rav Wolbe that there's really one theme. One who is patient, or one who is tolerating pain is, in essence, carrying a load. There's that that need to react, that uncomfortable feeling that you're just holding inside of you and being Sovel , carrying the fact that this person is dealing with you in a certain w...
Oct 31, 2022
