In light of the Tanya of the day the past few days...
If you happen across an extra hour in your day, check out this class (Rabbi Manis Friedman) its really worth the 45 minutes, and you'll even have 15 minutes left to do something else!
http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media.asp?AID=382061
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Wake Up Call!
I thought this vort was pretty telling.
(courtesy of my mom)
Are you jealous?
(courtesy of my mom)
Are you jealous?
Yosef Y. Jacobson
The tenth and final of the Ten Commandments recorded in this week’s portion (Yisro) reads: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, and anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20"14)."
The structure of the verse seems strange. In the beginning, the Bible specifies six things we should not covet: “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey.” But then, at the conclusion of the verse, the Bible states: “And anything that belongs to your neighbor." Why the unnecessary redundancy? Why not just state at the onset “You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor," which would include all of the specifics? And if the Torah does not want to rely on generalizations and wishes to specify details, why does it specify only a few items and then revert to a generalization, “And anything that belongs to your neighbor?”
A Holistic Story
In Hebrew, the word employed for “anything” and “everything” is identical, “Kol.” Hence, the verse can also be translated as, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, and everything that belongs to your neighbor." By concluding the verse with these words, the Torah is not just instructing us not to covet, but also helping us achieve this difficult state of consciousness.
How could you demand from a person not to be overtaken by jealousy? When I walk into your home and observe your lifestyle -- how could I not become envious?
The answer is, “Do not covet everything that belongs to your neighbor." What the Torah is intimating is that it is indeed easy to envy the home and spouse of your neighbor, his servants, his ox and donkey; yet the question you have to ask yourself is, do you covet “everything that belongs to your neighbor?" Are you prepared to assume his life completely? To actually become him?
You cannot see life as myriads of disjointed events and experiences. You can’t pluck out one aspect of somebody’s life and state “I wish I could have had his marriage, his home, his career, his money…” Life is a holistic and integrated experience. Each life, with its blessings and challenges, with its obstacles and opportunities, constitutes a single story, a story that begins with birth and ends with death. Every experience in our life represents one chapter of our individual story and we do not have the luxury to pluck out a chapter from someone’s story without embracing their entire story.
When you isolate one or a few aspects of someone else’s life, it is natural to become envious. But when you become aware of “everything that belongs to your neighbor,” your perception is altered. Do you really want to acquire everything that is going on in his or her life?
So the next time you feel yourself coveting the life of the other, ask yourself if you really want to become them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was correct when he observed that “Envy is ignorance.”
Challenges
Well, challenges seem to be the highlight of the past few days for me.
All I can say is that one of the only things that's helped me through it
is that I know getting angry won't help...if anything it'll just make things seem worse. It also seems that the only way Hashem can get one's attention and for one to REALLY live with Hashgacha Pratis is when all seems to be going wrong. It's crazy, but I know what if I had never learned Chassidus, I would have had an anxiety attack long time ago!!! Ashreinu Mah Tov Chelkeinu
All I can say is that one of the only things that's helped me through it
is that I know getting angry won't help...if anything it'll just make things seem worse. It also seems that the only way Hashem can get one's attention and for one to REALLY live with Hashgacha Pratis is when all seems to be going wrong. It's crazy, but I know what if I had never learned Chassidus, I would have had an anxiety attack long time ago!!! Ashreinu Mah Tov Chelkeinu
Monday, February 5, 2007
Recently, i asked a few people how one prepares for 22 shvat. are there standard hachanos? what are we meant to do to ready ourselves-to be proper kelim for the obviously intense inspiration that comes from standing together with hundreds of sister shluchim, all dedicating their lives to realizing the Rebbe's dream.
Interestingly enough, the common threads in all the answers involved shopping and cold weather- "buy good gloves" "make sure you have warm boots" "two words- down coat".
But I was not deterred. there must be some way to prepare a fitting vessel, one that will properly contain and maintain the chayus that comes from the convention. A way to store and channel it so that my entire year will run off the gas of convention.
I happened across a tape of various sichos the Rebbe speaks to women as i searched my cousins house for something to listen to on the way to hebrew school (our car only has a tape deck) and decided to give it a try. I was glued.
The Rebbe speaks in such a powerful, forceful way about the tremendous achrayus, and even greater zechus, of the Nshei U bnos Yisroel. I was amazed at the way the Rebbe actually screamed when speaking about the importance of tznius, even while saying everything in a positive way. The Rebbe speaks so strongly about the wonderful benefits proper tznius in all areas will have on our children and their children for generations.
The Rebbetzin was an extremely tzanua person. Even just speaking about her seems almost against her wishes, are we, by publicizing the greatness of her modesty, missing the point? that she was so beautifully hidden, even that was hidden?
But this question was answered by the Rebbe himself. The Rebbe told us about the Rebbetzin so that we may see how a true queen acts, so that we may model ourselves after her.
As i listened to the tape, and read the letters the Rebbe wrote to nshei u bnos yisroel in the year following the Rebbetzins passing, i came to realize that the proper hachana for this intense inspiration is to strengthen in my tznius- this is so obviously something that the Rebbe stressed so emphatically an the Rebbetzin demonstrated so absolutely.
We are currently in the parshios of yetziyas mitzrayim and kabalas hatorah. The Jews of mitzrayim, the most immoral place, even as they sank to the 49th level of tumah, maintained their modest dress, and in this merit they were redeemed.
May we be zoche to greet Moshiach Now- in the merit of the women!
Interestingly enough, the common threads in all the answers involved shopping and cold weather- "buy good gloves" "make sure you have warm boots" "two words- down coat".
But I was not deterred. there must be some way to prepare a fitting vessel, one that will properly contain and maintain the chayus that comes from the convention. A way to store and channel it so that my entire year will run off the gas of convention.
I happened across a tape of various sichos the Rebbe speaks to women as i searched my cousins house for something to listen to on the way to hebrew school (our car only has a tape deck) and decided to give it a try. I was glued.
The Rebbe speaks in such a powerful, forceful way about the tremendous achrayus, and even greater zechus, of the Nshei U bnos Yisroel. I was amazed at the way the Rebbe actually screamed when speaking about the importance of tznius, even while saying everything in a positive way. The Rebbe speaks so strongly about the wonderful benefits proper tznius in all areas will have on our children and their children for generations.
The Rebbetzin was an extremely tzanua person. Even just speaking about her seems almost against her wishes, are we, by publicizing the greatness of her modesty, missing the point? that she was so beautifully hidden, even that was hidden?
But this question was answered by the Rebbe himself. The Rebbe told us about the Rebbetzin so that we may see how a true queen acts, so that we may model ourselves after her.
As i listened to the tape, and read the letters the Rebbe wrote to nshei u bnos yisroel in the year following the Rebbetzins passing, i came to realize that the proper hachana for this intense inspiration is to strengthen in my tznius- this is so obviously something that the Rebbe stressed so emphatically an the Rebbetzin demonstrated so absolutely.
We are currently in the parshios of yetziyas mitzrayim and kabalas hatorah. The Jews of mitzrayim, the most immoral place, even as they sank to the 49th level of tumah, maintained their modest dress, and in this merit they were redeemed.
May we be zoche to greet Moshiach Now- in the merit of the women!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Be alive!!!
One of our speakers that came for Yud Shvat said that "Life shouldn't be such that you're only alive because you didn't get hit by a truck." I thought that was pretty powerful.
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