"I Love Yidden!"

In addition to the previous vertlach in preparation of the upcoming yahrtzeit of the Rebbe Reb Yaakov Yisroel, here is a tidbit about his exceptional ahavas Yisroel.

Last year (5770), Reb Aharon Twerski, shlit"a, said that Reb Yaakov Yisroel's "ahavas Yisroel was indescribable. If ten portions of ahavas Yisroel were sent down to the world, my father took nine." Reb Aharon described how when the Rebbe, ztz"l, came to Milwaukee there was a certain Rav who "really had it in for my father, [but] my father never responded with any hate. They turned out to be the closest of friends because my father could only show people love. The fact that somebody else hated him, that was [the other person's] problem."

V'Haarev Na

I noticed in the weekly summary that the CBJ Halacha Program is currently dealing with the halachos of Birchas HaTorah. It mentions there the malchokes about saying "V'haarev na" with or without a "vav" and whether or not to answer "amen". Seemingly, the two should go together. If one holds that v'haarev is a continuation of the first berachah, then one should not answer amen and the nusach should be "haarev na" without a "vav". If we hold that v'haarev is its own berachah then we would say amen to the first berachah but then the next berachah shouldn't begin with the a "vav" (normally used to connect one thing to the next).

Words of Rebbe Yaakov Yisroel Twerski, ztz"l

In honor of the upcoming yahrtzeit of the Rebbe's father on the 10th of Av, here a few kernels of his divrei Torah. After Shabbos, Reb Yaakov Yisroel would write down what he had said on Shabbos, and he had amassed quite a large quantity of hand-written maamarim. The unfortunate story is well-known. Somehow, the Rebbe's hundreds of kisvei yad were left behind in the old house during a move. By the time the Rebbe came back to retrieve them, all the boxes of papers had been destroyed by the new owners of the house. He never spoke about the incident.

Seder Hayom (6): Renewing Faith

In the First Thoughts post we mentioned that one of the main things we should be focusing on is the kabbalas ol malchus shomayim. See Seder Hayom (3): First Thoughts, from the Cherkasser and Reb Motele that a person should think about the fact that he was recreated in the morning for the sole purpose of revealing Hashem in every thing that we do, through acting in accordance with His will.

In another maamer in Pele Yoetz (Shelach, Reishis), Reb Motele, zy”a, quotes the Zohar Hakadosh (Behar, 108a) that one must accept the yoke of Heaven as does an ox when the yoke is placed upon it. Reb Motele explains, “Just like an ox cannot turn away from the yoke, not to the right nor the left, so too must a person accept upon himself the yoke of Heaven not to turn right or left from the will of Hashem.”

Video: The Rebbe speaking at Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid for the Deaf

This is from back in February 2009 but for those who have not seen it, enjoy and be inspired!

Yearnings Materialized

I stumbled upon an old post from A Simple Jew where he posted two quotes, one from the Rebbe of Kotzk, zy"a, and another from the Piasetzner Rebbe, zy"a. I found them both to be very connected to what the Rebbe, shlit"a, said on Shabbos about our speech effecting our commitments to change.

Yahrtzeit: Rebbe Yitzchak Yoel of Kantikuziva (Tamuz 24)

Yesterday (Tamuz 24) was the yahrtzeit of Rebbe Yitzchak Yoel Rabinowitz of Kantikuziva, the Rebbe Reb Leibele's father-in-law. Born on Shvat 16, 5600 (1840) to Rebbe Gadalya Aahron, the son of Reb Yitzchak Yoel, the son of Rebbe Gadalya of Linitz, the author of Tshuos Chein and a talmid of the Baal Shem Hakadosh. His maternal grandfather was Reb Shmuel Avrohom Abba, son of Reb Moshe of Slavita, the son of the famed Rebbe Pinchas of Koritz.

Stop Trying

Last Shabbos the Rebbe, shlit"a, spoke about the importance of our speech and the effect our words can have on the tenacity of our commitments.
Parshas Matos begins with a very clear example of the severity of our speech. A spoken vow is Biblically binding and one must make good on his commitments.
We all know that the world was created with speech. G-d spoke the world into existence with the Ten Utterances (עשרה מאמרים), "Let there be light" etc., and because the very fabric of our universe is made up of Hashem's speech, our words have the ability to build and destroy as well.

Yahrtzeit: Rebbe Eluzer Twersky of Faltichan (Tamuz 21)

Click to enlarge.

This past Shabbos (Tamuz 21) was the yahrtzeit of the Faltichaner Rebbe, Rav Eluzer Twersky.

Rebbe Yitzchak of Skver (one of the Chernobyler Magid's eight sons) had a son named Reb Dovid who had a son named Reb Shlomo. This Reb Shlomo married the daughter of Rebbe Aryeh Leibish Rokeach of Magrov, a son of Reb Sheya'leh Belzer. Rav Eluzer of Faltitchan was the son of Reb Shlomo. Hence, he was a direct descendant (ben achar ben) from Skver, and living until his chassunah with his uncle, Rebbe Yissachar Dov Belzer, he became heavily influenced by Belz.

Reb Eluzer had a daughter named Sarah who eventually married Rav Avrohom Stein. The names are familiar because Rav Avrohom and Rebbetzin Sarah Stein were our Rebbetzin's parents.

The King in Exile

כל רודפיה השיגוה בין המצרים - איכה א, ג

"All her pursuers overtook her in narrow straights" (Eicha 1:3).

The Rebbe Reb Dov Ber, the Mezritcher Magid, zy"a, said:

The Three Weeks (Bein Hametzarim) are especially opportune for spiritual attainments and drawing nearer to the Shechina Hakedosha, more-so than during the rest of the year.

Similar to a king who while in exile is approachable to all, and upon his return to the palace he will surely remember to fulfill the pleas of his loyal subjects. Surely the most appropriate and auspicious prayer during this time would be that the King should be reinstated in His rightful place.

Minhagim: Waking Up in the Morning

Every day there is a chabura who learns Shulchan Aruch HaRav for a hour before mincha (everyone is welcome, by the way). We are holding in Siman Vav which deals with the laws of the berachos of Al Netilas Yadayim, Asher Yatzar and Elokai Neshamah. Yesterday, the Rebbe came a few minutes early to mincha and sat down next to us. Upon hearing what we were learning, he mentioned the tradition from the Rebbe Reb Zisha not to put one's feet on the floor in the morning before washing negel vasser. He explained that the pasuk in Tehilim says, "התיצב על דרך לא טוב רע לא ימאס", "He set himself on a path that was not good, he will not be disgusted by evil." Reb Zisha said that one who stands up while still tamei in the morning is giving room for the yetzer hara to have a hold on himself, and during the day he will find it more difficult to "be disgusted by evil" and make the right choices. The Rebbe's tone of voice left no doubt that we are all strongly encouraged to follow this custom.

Medrash: 17th of Tamuz 5771

Today's Medrash Shiur was about the five things that are recorded as having occurred on the 17th of Tamuz. Interestingly, the Sin of the Golden Calf is not listed even though it too took place on the same day. The Rebbe expounded on the numerous levels of unity (achdus), and set forth the appropriate level of unity that is characteristic of Yidden. The Rebbe also said over how these ideas translate into practical service in Torah learning, davening and ahavas Yisroel.

DOWNLOAD - 45 minutes, 10.36 MB

What's My Purpose?

Today the Rebbe also spoke about finding one's tachlis (purpose) in life. There are primarily three clues given in the seforim hakedoshim: things one is good at, those things one finds most challenging, and the things one enjoys doing most. There are also many challenges we face when trying to look at our gifts and nisyonos objectively. In this shiur, the Rebbe speaks about the role of the tzadik in helping one find his life's mission. Although, the Rebbe said, we may not have people of the same magnitude as in previous generations, there is still something that we have which may be even stronger.

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The Chess Game Called Life

This morning the Rebbe spoke about man's ability to choose his own course of action freely, and how that ability does not interfere with Hashem's control over the outcome of history. The Rebbe mentioned that every place a person finds himself is as a result of his own choices, but that place is just as fitting to find Hashem as was the place he was at before. It may be different, he may be different because of the choices he made, but Hashem immediately offers him new custom-tailored opportunities to continue on the path that will ultimately bring him to where he needs to be. See also Drops of Rain, entitled Knowing That We Do Not Know (Parshas Sh'lach).

12 minutes, 2.8 MB

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Shemini: Vayidom - And He Spoke?

Yesterday after davening, the Rebbe, shlit"a, spoke briefly about Aharon's supposed silence upon the death of Nadav and Avihu.

The pasuk says, "vayidom Aharaon" which is generally translated as "and Aharon was silent". Is silence really the best response?

Another issue is that the word shtikah demonstrates silence much better than "vayidom". Also, Chazal tell us that as a reward for Aharon's reaction to the dreadful news he was rewarded by Hashem speaking the next parsha expressly to him. Where is the measure-for-measure? By Aharon's silence he is rewarded with speaking?  The Rebbe answers these questions in this short clip.

2 minutes, <1 MB
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