I AM VISITING NY FOR 2 WEEKS…
BSD
BEZRAT HASHEM, I WILL BE VISITING NY AREA FROM AUG 20-SEPT 3.
YOU CAN EMAIL ME AT KOLRENA@YAHOO.COM IF YOU NEED TO REACH ME.
HOPING TO SEE YOU SOON
MOVING
BSD
I WILL BE MOVING APARTMENTS IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND WILL NOT HAVE IMMEDIATE INTERNET ACCESS.
IF YOU NEED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME, CALL ME ON MY ISRAELI CELL PHONE
052 7611508 OR 02 652 8759
I WILL BE IN NY AUG 20-SEPT 3, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ARRANGE A SHIUR IN YOUR AREA, BE IN TOUCH.
KOL TUV
MESHANEH MAKOM, MESHANEH MAZAL LETOV
BONEI YERUSHALAYIM HASHEM
MAZAL TOV ON THE BIRTH OF MY NEWEST GRANDSON!
BSD
IN HIS MERIT, LISTEN TO THIS SHIUR AND MAY IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE LETOVA IN YOUR LIFE!
MAY WE ALWAYS SHARE SIMCHAS.
KEEP DAVENING- IT BRINGS DOWN THE BRACHOS! ESPECIALLY IN THESE DAYS
MAY THESE DAYS TRANSFORM INTO WHAT THEY WERE MEANT TO BE- DAYS OF CLOSENESS TO HASHEM YISBARACH SHEMO
THREE WEEKS- POWERFUL TIMES OR SAD TIMES?
HERE ARE TWO AUDIO SHIURIM ON THE WEEK OF PARSHAT MATOS AND THE THREE WEEKS-
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU-
parshas-matos-5768-three-weeks
Parshat Pinchas
BSD
Pinchas became Eliyahu Hanavi- and he taught two great lessons for eternity. Listen here…
Be Aware of Your Power, Be Assured of Your Success
Getting Clarity
BSD
This post and shiur is dedicated to all of you who had a rough week last week. Listen and you might see the source of your Bilbul confusion.
May we finally all see clearly where we should be, and act on it!
TAMMUZ- STARTING AGAIN…AGAIN.
BSD
The month of Tammuz has arrived, and with it, another chance for renewal and Geula. Here is an audio shiur given Erev Rosh Chodesh in Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh. May the holy Jews who lost their lives at almost the same time this shiur was given be raised to the highest heavenly heights and may those who remain be comforted.
This posting is Leilui Nishmat Simcha Daniel Ben Menachem Mendel who returned his soul to his Creator on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz 5768. He was a happy, sincere and honest man, who was beloved by everyone. He worked hard to support his family and raised generations of honest, Torah observant and proud Jews. May Hashem comfort his family and may he be a Gutter Bayter for them and for all of Klal Yisrael. Yehi Zichro Baruch.
ABOUT KORACH/ AUDIO LINK AT END OF POST.
BSD
PARSHAT KORACH
B’H PARSHAS KORACH YERUSHALAYIM IH’K
Frustration
Exasperation
Confusion
These are some of the emotions we experience when we read about the failure of the spies with the resulting galus, and of the divisiveness and subsequent death of Korach.
Each of the men involved began as a Tzaddik. Each made a fatal error, one that had an effect on the entire Jewish Nation.
This can be frightening to those of us who aren’t yet Tzaddikim- how can we know we won’t fail at the major tests in our lives? What hope is there for us?
There are also many statements of Chazal that point out the good intentions of the spies, and of Korach and his students. Yet, they all perished.
The Haftora is the portion from the Neviim, the Prophets, which is read after the Torah reading. Each Haftora has a direct relationship, and usually explains the major theme of the Parsha. The theme for the Haftora of both Sh’lach and Korach is Tikun- correction and fixing of the failures in the Parshiyos. In the Haftora of Sh’lach, we learn that Yehoshua sends out spies that remain true to the spirit in which they are sent, and indeed inspire the Jewish Nation to fearlessly trust Hashem. In Korach, the Haftora brings the teachings of Shmuel Hanavi, a direct descendant of Korach, regarding the Halachos of establishing a Jewish King. Both the spies and Korach have a fixing.
Tzaddik Katamar Yifrach- when Mashiach comes the tzaddikkim will blossom and be vindicated and be deeply rooted and appreciated. The final letters of these three words spell out Korach.
Hashem always sets in motion a derech for us to return to Him and to our selves.
Remember the story of Noach. Hashem told him there would be a flood that would destroy the world. Noach and his family were chosen to survive and repopulate the world. They spent years making the ark, and then a full year on the ark, together with all species of animals. Then they left the ark, alive and grateful for the opportunity to begin again.
Now, what if there was just one slight change in Noah’s life. What if Hashem hadn’t told him that this ark business was to save his life? Imagine Noach spending years constructing this vehicle, being ridiculed by all his friends and acquaintances. Then, he has to spend a year in this thing, surrounded by animals, their needs, their smells. He and his family are working round the clock, just to survive. What anguish, what torture. “Why is Hashem doing this to me?” He thinks.
We know of course that it’s to save his life. In the story as it happened, Noach also knew.
If we would only know the reasons Hashem is doing to us what He is doing, we would be B’Simcha, knowing and seeing that it’s a total chesed, that it is saving our life.
Our not seeing the entire picture is the source of our pain and worry, and at the same time the root of our Bechira which brings our eventual reward.
Chazal teach that at the end of time, we will make a huge circle, with Hashem in the center. Each of us will point to Hashem and say, “This is my Hashem, whom I have served”. Each point on the circumference of a circle is equidistant from the center. Chazal teach that, when Mashiach comes, each of us will see that every different Torah Derech in serving Hashem was equal. Different, yet equal.
This is also true with every day of our lives. We have ‘good’ days, when we feel close to Hashem. We can daven, learn, live like a Jew should. Then we have our ‘bad’ days, when we feel so distant, so inadequate, as if we’re such a disappointment to Hashem.
Our Tzaddikim teach that at the end, we will see that each of our days is also on the perimeter of the circle which is the sum total of our life. Hashem will be in the middle of that circle also, and we will see that in fact, each day of our life was equal in its perfection of serving Hashem.
The Emes is, we are here to serve Hashem. We are only here to serve Hashem. To proclaim His Majesty and rulership in this physical world, much as the angels do in the higher worlds. We get distracted, forget and get involved in this world for its own sake. We forget that we are only alive to serve Hashem. And not the other way around.
We plan out a day, with all our lists and needs, and of course we include Mitzvos and sundry. Then, we get a flat tire, are late for work, miss the minyan, miss the shiur and lose our temper and begin yelling at some innocent bystander, who may or may not be related… We thought Hashem needed us to serve him in an ideal way. What he really needed was for us to take a course that might be entitled ‘Patience 101’ or ‘Intro to Exasperation’.
So we needed to shift our focus from serving Hashem our way, to serving Him His way. This is one of the sources of true and deep Simcha. When we release the ego hold on our mind and emotion, we actually can relax and enjoy life. Its about serving Hashem as He wants. Rebbe Nachman teaches that we don’t get the grades from this school of life until we graduate and enter the higher world. And we usually get much higher grades than we expected. Because what Hashem expects from us has to do with the heart, the intent, and how much effort we expend to do our best, with the deck of cards He deals us.
Korach means separation. These weeks, when our Nation is going through political Korach, we have the chance to bind together all that is separate in our lives. We can bond with our mishpoches, our friends, our students, our selves. We can begin to bond seriously with Eretz Yisrael, our Home. We can begin to learn the seforim that awaken our hearts to appreciate the centrality of Eretz Yisrael in the life of a Jew.
Moshe Rabbeinu was the first aspect of Mashiach. We need to prepare our selves to the geula’dic mindset of a single leader, The Mashiach. We need to begin to imagine what life will be like for us, in a redeemed Eretz Yisrael, with our redeemed Mashiach. This week, the Parsha revealed a questioning of the authority of the Moshe/Mashiach. We need to commit ourselves to accepting that authority again, hopefully very soon. Our minds need to begin to shift into Mashiach consciousness. We need to do this collectively and individually.
The Vilna Gaon says that every person who encourages others to wake up to a Mashiach consciousness, to yearn for Geula from their deepest depths, to speak of Geula with practical intensity, to bring others to realize the holiness of Eretz Yisrael, is an aspect and a part of Mashiach Ben Yosef.
The Rabbis here are now saying that every one who has a deep and real yearning to be here in the Holy Land, but cannot yet come, has a din of living here. You ‘are’ where your heart and mind ‘are.’ So come… In whatever way you can… Each of us can come to Eretz Hakodesh. Some in the totality of their being, body included, and some in their deepest and most real desire.
We really need to do things right now. On all levels. Let’s give each other and all of Klal Yisrael the strongest Bracha that each of us should finally complete our individual chelek in the pre-Mashiach avoda, so that the total Geula can finally break through. And it should be with Rachamim and Simcha.
Have a wonderous and sweet Shabbos!!
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The link below should take you to an audio shiur given to the Adult Education Womens Group at Neve Yerushalayim. Enjoy and share!
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parshas-korach-5768-nesivos-shalom-m
Opposites can enhance!
Bsd
May we all be Zocheh to love Eretz Yisrael, and to enter her gates, and be absorbed in her holiness.
The Land shines in beauty, bounty and health. Life here is wholesome, simple and gratifying.
May all Jews come, settle, be comfortable and comforted.
The audio shiur is a fascinating introduction to the unity of Chochma and Bina. R’ Moshe Valley, a student of the Ramchal begins to classify Jews as either Chochma Jews or Bina Jews. He teaches that Ashkenazim are from Bina and Sefardim are from Chochma! Listen and hear why…
May we be Zocheh to see and understand that all Jews can be different in their Derech of serivng Hashem, yet we are all precious, loved, beloved and actually our differences are necessary to bring the Geula.
Have a great Shabbos and be in touch!
Parshat Behaalotcha
HOPING YOU HAD A GREAT SHAVUOT AND ARE READY TO BRING THE TORAH INTO YOUR LIFE AGAIN AND WITH MORE STRENGTH.
REMEMBER THAT THERE IS A REASON FOR EVERYTHING- AND THAT WE GROW BY BEING TESTED
IN THE END, WE WILL SEE THAT EVERYTHING IN LIFE WAS JUST A HUG FROM HASHEM—