Skip to main content

Posts

Another Zusha Tale

The story is told of a wealthy Jew who would quietly support Rabbi Zusha. He also received Rabbi Zusha’s blessings, and his business did very well. One time, the man came to Anipoli and discovered that Rabbi Zusha was not in town. “Where is the rabbi?” he asked. “He went to visit his Rebbe,” people told him. The wealthy man was surprised. “My rabbi has a rabbi?” Being a sharp businessman, he made a quick calculation. “If Rabbi Zusha’s blessings have helped me so much, then surely his Rebbe’s blessings must be even more powerful. Why support the student when I can support the teacher?” So that is what he did. He stopped supporting Rabbi Zusha and began sending his donations to Rabbi DovBer, the Maggid of Mezritch, Rabbi Zusha’s own Rebbe. Not long afterward, his business began to decline. When he realized what had happened, he hurried back to Anipoli and poured out his heart to Rabbi Zusha. “I understand that I lost my success because I stopped supporting you,” he said. “But was my logi...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Stone and Iron

When the stone altar was constructed in Jerusalem for the Holy Temple, we are told that no iron could be used in its construction.  Each stone had to be quarried by hand using no metal implements.  As the Mishnah directs, "... iron is used to shorten lives while the altar extends life."   Middot 3:4 We use metals to destroy.  Our deepest hopes, aspirations, learning and prayers must be used to allay our worst impulses.  We must never confuse to the two. Our task to bring Godliness into the world, not introduce more chaos and  destruction.
Post a Comment
Read more

We Choose

" C louds don’t worry about falling into the sea because they can’t (a) fall or (b) drown. But they are free to believe they can, and they may fear if they wish." -Richard Bach We choose our limitations and our expansiveness.
Post a Comment
Read more

Life's messiness

" E verything is exactly as it is for a reason. The crumb on your table is no mystical reminder of this morning’s cookie, it is there because you have chosen not to remove it." Richard Bach This is the way of life.  We array the things and then live with the consequences.   No one else is to blame.
Post a Comment
Read more

To Really Pray

“In the holy Zohar (Vol. II 20a) it is written, R. Yehuda said: “Yelling and crying are the highest forms of prayer. The Hebrew words tsa’akah and za’akah, meaning ‘yelling’ and ‘crying,’ are one and the same thing. They are much closer to the Holy Blessed One than moaned or whispered prayers, as it is written: ‘If he shouts to Me, I will listen to his cry.’ (Exodus 22:22)"   - Sacred Fire,  Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (the Warsaw Rebbe) To fervently pray is to open the blocked emotional vessels of the soul. Too often we dampen our heart's need to express what is most needful to us - the deep yearning to love and be loved.  Allowing ourselves to feel the raw power of  emotion is the pathway to be touched by God and becoming whole.
Post a Comment
Read more

True Strength

  It was taught that when Zusya was young and in the house of his teacher, a man came before Rabbi Baer and begged him to advise and assist him in an enterprise. Zusya saw that this man was full of sin and untouched by any breath of repentance, he grew angry, and spoke to him harshly, saying, “How can a man like yourself, a man who has committed this crime and that, have the boldness to stand before a holy man such as my teacher without shame, and without longing to atone?” The man, as you might imagine, turned and left in silence. But Zusya regretted what he had said almost immediately and did not know what to do about it. Then his teacher pronounced a blessing over him, that from that moment on, he might see only the good in people, even if a person sinned before his very eyes.   -Martin Buber Who has the internal strength to realize a wrong and bring about a life-long change?  Only a person of resolute character.
Post a Comment
Read more

Faith

Soren Kierkegaard used the example of a ship at sea.  When the sea is calm, the sun is shining and the captain is sober and you have faith that the ship will reach its destination, that is not faith. Faith is when the waves are rough, the sea is tumultuous, the ship is floundering and the captain is drunk and you still believe the ship will reach its destination, that is faith. In a famous illustration of Kierkegaard, when the sea is calm, the sun is shining, and the captain sober, and you have faith that the ship will reach its destination, that is not faith. When the seas are raging, the ship floundering, and the captain drunk, however, and you still have faith that the ship will reach its destination, that is really faith. For In a famous illustration of Kierkegaard, when the sea is calm, the sun is shining, and the captain sober, and you have faith that the ship will reach its destination, that is not faith. When the seas are raging, the ship floundering, and the captain drunk,...
Post a Comment
Read more