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Lag B'Omer Links, Plus Excerpts from Bilvavi Q&A

17/5/2022

 
For Lag B'Omer, please see last year's beautiful poem by Nechumelle Jacobs here:
www.myrtlerising.com/blog/a-poem-for-lag-bomer-by-nechumelle-jacobs
And please see the PDF by Bilvavi, compiled from various lectures by Rav Itamar Schwartz (who himself no connection to the website or anything else Internet-related):
https://bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Lag.Ba'Omer.Talks.pdf
A separate PDF provides a thought-provoking & enlightening Q&A with Rav Itamar Schwartz. While it mostly concerns last year's tragedy, it also answers general existential questions regarding suffering, mussar, teshuvah, and dealing with others' needs regarding individual responses to suffering:
https://bilvavi.net/qanda-weekly/eng/Bilvavi_242_Bilvavi%20Q&A_Bechukosai-Lag%20B'Omer_5782.pdf

Here are some excerpts (boldface my own addition):
ROCKETS & MERON TRAGEDY: IS MASHIACH COMING?

QUESTION

Are the rockets now in Eretz Yisrael a sign of the “war of Gog and Magog” and that Mashiach is coming?

ANSWER
It is not a sign – it is a part of the war of Gog and Magog, for we are already
amidst it.



LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE MERON TRAGEDY

QUESTION

When more people told me about it, I said Hashem wants us to do teshuva.

To my surprise, people had strong negative reactions to that!

One wanted to be in the moment of grief feeling for the families of the victims and absorbing the shock, basically calling me unsensitive to the pain of others.

Another did not want to be blamed and told me I was burning up the world.

And both felt very strongly that telling people to do teshuva was too harsh on people who cannot take it, who have gone off the derech hearing those crushing messages about Hashem’s anger at us and becoming hardened and cold to Him.

A third person told me that she is so numb from everything that the tragedy simply has not registered in any way.

I realize that the galus has been long and we are storm tossed and we need Hashem to be gentle with us. Is the message that Hashem wants the Yidden to do teshuva applicable here?


ANSWER
Speak to each person on their own level and in their "language."

Any one lesson that can be learned from something will not be understood by everyone equally.


QUESTION
Is the [negative] reactivity to that all a kelipah in which the very light Hashem wants to come into the world being concealed?

ANSWER
Yes, but before giving over the message to others, first see if the message will be taken positively or negatively by the other.

QUESTION
If it is indeed a message to do teshuvah, what is a way to respond so that those experiencing a push back to doing teshuva can recognize Hashem and “do the work” of opening their hearts?

ANSWER
...You need to figure out what the individual in question needs to hear, based on his on her personal soul and what you think they need to hear.
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Essential Hashkafah for Our Times

5/5/2022

 
An important word from Rabbi Yehuda Mandel appeared in The Bitachon Magazine ​Volume I, Issue 3, Parshat Kedoshim (a separate publication from Bitachon Weekly; The Bitachon Magazine consists of only 4 pages & seems geared more for women):
The Baal HaTanya writes that some people were created NOT to conquer a Midda; just for the battle itself.

There has to be a side to you that is enjoying working without success, meaning just to enjoy the "working" on the Midda itself.

The world today is heavily involved with success.

They say that even the most successful people have a "Blue Monday."

Boldface & underline my own addition.

Thank you so much to N.E.J., who sent this magazine my way.
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Please Daven for the Safe Recovery & Return of the Missing Jewish Teenager AVRAHAM MOSHE BEN GITTEL

4/5/2022

 
Someone sent me the following about Avraham Moshe ben Gittel, a 16-year-old boy missing from Modi'in Ilit/Kiryat Sefer, Israel. The information originated from Yeshiva World News:
 FROM YWN:
The Israel Dog Unit issued an "urgent appeal to the public" in its search for a missing youth whose life may be in danger.

Avraham Moshe Kleinerman, 16, of Modiin Illit was last seen over a month ago at Meron.

He has a thin build, dark hair and eyes, and wears glasses.

The unit requests that anyone who knows about his whereabouts or could be of assistance in finding him should contact:
—
Israel Police at 100
— the Israel Police Modiin Illit station at 08-644-7200
— or the Israel Dog Unit-Search and Rescue at 054-487-6709.

***
PLEASE DAVEN AND SAY TEHILLIM THAT HASHEM OPENS THE EYES OF THE SEARCHERS AND LET'S AVRAHAM BE FOUND AND THAT NO HARM COMES TO HIM.  

UPDATE 3- MAY-2022 SUSPECTED ABDUCTION BY ARABS.  PLEASE DAVEN AND SAY TEHILLIM THAT NO HARM COMES TO HIM!  Here's what was printed in YWN:

Avraham was once injured by Palestinian Arabs throwing stones at him in the Shomron and even has a large scar on his forehead due to a stone thrown at him.

According to his father, he was hospitalized after the incident and has never been the same since, wandering around confused since he was released from the hospital.

Perhaps due to the trauma of the incident, he attempted in the past to return to the scene of the attack despite the fact that it occurred in Area A, which is legally forbidden for Israeli citizens to enter and extremely dangerous.

Additionally, the IDU received a threatening message in Arabic from a Jordanian telephone number that Avraham was captured and would be killed in 24 hours.

Security officials fear that he indeed may have been abducted.

“This is very serious,” said IDU director Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov. “Over a month has passed and it’s as if the ground swallowed him up. We are not ruling out a terrorist motive. I can’t say more at this time, other than request from the public to contact us if they can recall seeing Avraham any time over this past month, at our special missing person hotline.”
 

​PLEASE INCREASE YOUR PRAYERS AND TEHILLIM FOR HIM THAT HASHEM PROTECTS HIM.

Once again, the name is AVRAHAM MOSHE BEN GITTEL.

May Hashem protect him and quickly bring him back to his family.
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Baruch Dayan Emet: Rabbi Zecharia Shimon HaKohen Wallerstein (it's really, really hard to write his name after BDE)

3/5/2022

 
The announcement of Rabbi Wallerstein's petirah hit me in the heart like a battering ram.

It just feels wrong, like: "This wasn't so supposed to happen!"

While I knew he wasn't well, he sent out reassurance that it wasn't serious. So I davened for him, but not with the heart and kabbalot that I would've had I known his illness really was so life-threatening. (And maybe he didn't really realize until the end either.)

I just sat staring at the message in disbelief. Then I cried a little, then felt ill, then cried some more.

Hashem blessed Rabbi Wallerstein with unusually strong energy, drive, and raw honesty — and he used these qualities to save Am Yisrael, both physically and spiritually.

Hashem also blessed him with the ability to call a spade a spade and to see the seedier side of things—most people like that turn cynical & harsh—but Rabbi Wallerstein simultaneously could also see people's holy & pure neshamot and also honing in on what they COULD be.

Our generation desperately needed someone who could combine seeing people and situations as they are while also seeing what they could be AND what they were right now underneath it all.

And Rabbi Wallerstein was one of the few who could do all that.

I'm heartbroken for his wife Rebbetzin Estee and all his offspring who must feel his loss most intensely.  

Thank You for Saving Me From Social Media, Rabbi Wallerstein

The only reason why I'm not on any social media is because of Rabbi Wallerstein.

Right about the time I started feeling social, family, and parnasa pressure to go on Facebook (before Twitter and all the rest), Rabbi Wallerstein repeatedly attacked Facebook in such a compelling & uncompromising manner, he convinced me not to do it.

Ever.

Maybe a minority of people legitimately need it, but I know I'm not one of them.

So I'm grateful that Rabbi Wallerstein made me avoid social media (which is so hard to get off once on).

​And I know I'm not the only one he saved from social media.

It should always be a zechus for him.

The Ideal Tatty & Knight in Shining Armor

I know a lot of women in their hearts called Rabbi Wallerstein Tatty, even if they settled for calling him only "Rebbi" or "Rabbi Wallerstein."

Privately, many felt like he was the father they never had, but always wanted.

​And I mean women WITH fathers. I'm not talking about orphans.

Rabbi Wallerstein felt so strongly about the kavod of every single bat Melech. He exhorted against any hefkerus of bnot Yisrael, including exhorting bnot Yisrael not to be mafkir themselves at any stage and to recognize their inestimable worth & value.

And he was willing to fight for the kavod & safety of a bat Yisrael.

Women and girls across the board sensed and appreciated this. Even regarding the ones for whom it was too late to save personally, many found it healing to encounter someone like Rabbi Wallerstein (even just hearing him through earphones).

Just as one example of how this played out:

As a secular girl of thirteen, a friend of mine ended up in a relationship with a 21-year-old guy. Not sure how it initially started, but as expected in her modern ultra-liberal progressive society, he felt the right to more physical engagement (to put it delicately) & directed her to acquire the means to prevent conception.

Not knowing how to say no on her own, this 13-year-old girl repeated the guy's directive to her committedly liberal, educated, and progressive mother, secretly hoping her mother would rescue her from this much older and bigger male.

But her well-meaning mother acted according to the doctrine of the times and promptly took her daughter to the doctor to get the contraceptives. 

Where was her father in all this?

I don't know. While she had a decent relationship with him, he wasn't involved in this particular parsha between his daughter and his wife.

Maybe he knew, maybe it didn't, but he wasn't involved. And therefore, he never fulfilled that all-important protective role of a father for his daughter.

Despite becoming contentedly frum later, including marriage and children, my friend always carried this pain with her, this feeling of having been violated as a naïve, helpless, confused young teen by a full-grown man with the full consent of her parents and her society.

And whenever she talked about Rabbi Wallerstein, something came through indicating part of the reason she felt so attached to Rabbi Wallerstein is because had HE been her father, this particular trauma NEVER would have happened.

(And also, Rabbi Wallerstein would have rearranged the guy's face just for trying to get it on with her. This thought is also incredibly comforting to those who've felt violated.)

Bereft

Because Rabbi Wallerstein's work lay in hatzalat nefashot (both saving physical lives and spiritual souls), I'm very concerned about what will be with the many dependent on him now and over the years. (I think it numbers in the thousands.)

Not to mention the people who need him in the future.

I feel like we've been left orphaned & devastated by Rabbi Wallerstein's passing.

And I guess that's all there is to say for now.​

Here are some past posts about Rabbi Wallerstein:
new-rabbi-wallerstein-shiur-on-kav-hayashar.html
new-series-by-rabbi-wallerstein-on-the-kav-hayashar.html

​solid-20-minute-discussion-from-rabbis-wallerstein-epstein-about-why-the-morning-blessing-thanks-god-for-not-having-made-me-a-woman-is-not-offensive-or-misogynist-what-it-all-means-and-where-the-question-is-coming-from.html
And Rabbi Wallerstein on Torah Anytime:
Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein | TorahAnytime.com
And this (H/T Yeranen Yaakov):
https://matzav.com/why-did-rabbi-wallerstein-want-to-be-buried-with-his-tallis-bag/

Link to Pesach Posts

14/4/2022

 
For previous Pesach posts (including recipes), please either click "Pesach" under "Categories" in the sidebar (which, if using a phone, will be at the end below & not the side). 

Or just click on this: Pesach posts

May Hashem please grant us all a Pesach that is truly kosher & overflowing with joy.
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How to REALLY Help the Situation with Russia & the Ukraine

6/4/2022

 
Whoever really wants to help the situation in the Ukraine can donate to any of the following funds, which work to evacuate and provide for Ukrainian Jews—remember, every little donation helps, especially in that part of the world:

Ukraine Relief Fund - Agudath Israel of America
https://agudah.org/ukraine-relief-fund/

Agudah Ukraine Crisis Fund - Toras Avigdor
https://charidy.com/agudahukraine/torasavigdor


Ukraine Jewish Relief Fund—Every moment, lives are being shattered. We must act now!
https://www.chabad.org/special/campaigns/ukraine/donate.htm

Please remember that cursing Putin while praising the Ukraine does absolutely NOTHING to help anyone. Nor does taking the side of Russia against the Ukraine.

It brings no merit to the world.

It does not sweeten any bitter Heavenly judgements hanging over the world.

But doing something to ACTUALLY HELP the true victims of this fiasco?

THAT helps.

THAT provides merits to sweeten dinim.

Feel free to check out any of the above links to see which venue suits you best.

Again, even just one dollar/pound/euro MATTERS.

Note: I get nothing for posting this, no one asked me to, no ulterior motives, nothing. I just wish to see innocent sufferers helped.
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"Boycott Woke Disney": A Prophetic 22-Year-Old Q&A with Rav Avigdor Miller

3/4/2022

 
Received this Q&A in the Inbox from Toras Avigdor's daily email subscription.

It's amazing how Rav Avigdor Miller knew specifically this back in the year 2000.

While it had been known for a while that Disney weaves in a lot of filth into their animation, I hadn't picked up on Disney's inclination toward this particular toeva at that point. 

​It's amazing how the rav called it back then—and it has ballooned to revolting proportions only recently:
Rav Avigdor Miller on Disney’s Immorality 

Q:Is it wrong to allow one’s children to read Disney books like Mickey Mouse and things like that?
A:
Now, whether or not you should be reading Walt Disney to your children is one question.

But I say that you shouldn’t for a different reason.

I say that you should boycott Walt Disney because Disney is an active force in promoting all types of immorality and I don’t want to say what else.

They promote very filthy things like H-O-M [the Rav spelled out the three letters] – I really don’t want to say the rest.

And therefore, we should boycott Walt Disney as much as possible.

And if they hadn’t been promoting immorality then it would just be stam a waste of time.

What do you get out of books that make it that mice talk and other animals are talking? It’s meaningless.

But Walt Disney is worse than meaningless because of the immorality that they are promoting in America.

And therefore we should do everything we can to lend our support to those who are trying to make this world more moral.

We should help the people – even the goyim – who are fighting for morality. 

​We really should do that.


TAPE # E-219 (January 2000)

https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-boycotting-walt-disney/

Used with permission.


The Authentic Torah View & Response to Jew-Hatred (based on the teachings of Rav Avigdor Miller)

30/3/2022

 
Rav Avigdor Miller often spoke about the real reasons behind Jew-hatred.

It doesn't mean that the perpetrators are guilt-free. Not at all. They are evil. And they're going to pay for every vile thing they do.

But as long as Jews keep attacking the stick that hits them rather than looking at the prime cause (i.e., our own attitudes & deeds), this will not solve the problem.

​Even worse, as we've seen many times throughout history (including current events), the Jew-hatred keeps going and even intensifies as long as Jews focus on the agent rather than the underlying cause.

Because this approach rams against every other kind of reasoning, many often see this approach as cruel, unjust, and blaming the victim.

But it's not.

Like so much else in Judaism, it forces us out of black-and-white thinking.

Jew-hatred provides messages for us to improve...at the same time, we are absolutely allowed to defend ourselves and the evil perpetrators will not escape ultimate justice. 

We are also allowed to hate the perpetrators—no problem.

But as the Rambam explains, attributing suffering purely to natural causes is CRUEL.

THAT is cruel.

Why?

Because focusing solely on natural causes ensures the continuation of the suffering.

Sure, some suffering may continue due to the needs of a particular soul-tikkun.

But any suffering that can be remedied via adjustments in our minds, hearts, and deeds?

Then it is cruel to ignore that.

At the same time, a person still may struggle emotionally with this concept. That is totally normal.

But a minimal intellectual acceptance leads to clearer thinking, which enables us to improve whatever we need to improve.

Below, you'll see Rav Avigdor Miller's Torah-based insights on Jew-hatred (particularly terrorism in Eretz Yisrael).

As he passed away in 2001, these explanations are from years ago. But they remain just as applicable today. (Unfortunately, the situation hasn't changed much.)

He is not making up anything. His is the traditional Torah view.

At the same time, please keep in mind how much Rav Miller's writings & lectures brim with ideas on how to serve Hashem with joy and how to work on ourselves via humor & baby steps.

So here's Rav Avigdor Miller on the fundamental way to view and respond to terror against Jews in Eretz Yisrael today:
Could we think Hakodosh Boruch Hu will be silent when He sees that the reshaim are trying to wipe out the Torah in the Eretz Yisroel?

The answer is, He’s not silent.  That’s why there are terrorists. 

It’s a big mistake to read the newspapers and think that it’s the result of them not wanting the peace treaty or because they want to have the Jews out of Eretz Yisroel. 

No. 

The terrorists are sent by Hakodosh Boruch Hu as a puraniyos on the Labor Party, on the apikorsim, on those who are trying to teach Jewish children immorality and atheism in the Israeli public schools.


https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-when-hashem-is-not-silent/


And:
But I have to tell you something. People don’t realize this, but why did this uprising happen right now?

Just before this uprising began, Barak came out with a statement and it was in all the headlines.

He said that he’s going to do everything in his power to change Eretz Yisroel into a secular medinah. What it was up till now, I don’t know.

But he said that he wants to make it, that religion should have no connection to the Medinah at all.

Do you hear this statement from the Prime Minister of the State of Israel?!

He wants that the Am Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel should be a completely secular nation – a nation without any Torah at all.

And he said this openly.

It was all the headlines. And the New York Times was very happy about it. They wrote these headlines with excitement.

But our people were very disturbed.

People protested against such a thing. People wrote letters. I sent him a letter.

And then, just now, immediately after Barak announces his plans, the Intafada erupts.

That’s why they’re suffering through this now. Because they made a public declaration that they’re going to rebel against Hakodosh Boruch Hu and that the Torah will play no role at all in our nation.

That’s what he said, that the Torah will play no role in the life of our nation. We are a secular nation and the Toras Hashem will play no role.

So Hakodosh Boruch Hu said, “I’m going to give you a lesson about my role.”

And now people are crying out to Hashem. “Please help us Hashem.”

And even some choifshim are beginning to think, “Maybe we should also cry out to Hashem.”

​And this is midah ki’neged midah.


https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-terror-in-eretz-yisroel/


And:
Everything that’s taking place in Eretz Yisroel, you should know, is done by Hakodosh Boruch Hu – not by Arabs. 

Arabs are not killing anybody – Hashem is killing.  No question about that.  


Why is He doing it? 

Because the Jews in Eretz Yisrael are going m’dechi el dechi.  


Here they passed a law decriminalizing homosxuality.  It’s kosher now to be a homosxual in Eretz Yisroel. 

Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “That’s a toevah.  If that’s what Eretz Yisroel is going to be, I’ll take steps.”
​

They passed a law now that you could import treifeh meat now. 

For the first time since the history of the medina you could import treifeh meat in Eretz Yisroel. 

Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “I’ll show you.  I’ll show you.”
​

And now Tel Aviv has become a place of hefkeirus.  All kinds of wickedness in Tel Aviv.

Hashem says,  “I made Eretz Yisroel for Tel Aviv?!” 

The Israelis, some of them, are so terrible, they’re even worse than goyim in some places.  
​

Why are women in the Israeli army?  You know why they’re there? 

So a man wrote a book about the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force; not a frumme. He said, “The purpose of women is not for fighting.” 

You hear that? The purpose of women in the Israeli army is not for fighting, not for defense. 

You understand that? You understand what that means?  
​

And this great wickedness happened before America had female soldiers. 

America is now no good either. But Israel led the way with this abomination.
​

And therefore, Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “Pay attention.  הֲיֹסֵר גּוֹיִם הֲלֹא יוֹכִיחַ – The one who is bringing upon the nations adversity, isn’t He showing something? He’s showing something! הַמְלַמֵּד אָדָם דָּעַת – Isn’t He teaching wisdom (Tehillim 94:10)? 

So it’s up to us to understand that we’re being taught. 

We’re getting messages from Hashem.
​

Of course we have to fight back.  Of course, we have to defend ourselves. 

Of course we have to look for ways and means of stopping the terror. 

And yet, fundamentally we have to understand it’s Hashem and the purpose is to teach us that something is very wrong in Eretz Yisroel today – very wrong!  


​In the schools, they teach atheism.

In the schools in Eretz Yisroel they teach Jewish boys and girls atheism!

Children should be taught there’s a Boirei, a Creator. In every school, even not a religious school.

But no, in all the Israeli schools they’re being taught atheism.  
​

So what does Hakodosh Boruch Hu say? “You’re forgetting about Me? I’ll remind you.”
​

https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-investigating-terror-attacks/


And:
Why are many who were killed frum people?

I must explain something here. 

It’s a fundamental principle that Hakodosh Boruch Hu conceals His hand.

He doesn’t want to show that it’s a neis.  


Now suppose only reshaim would be killed; suppose only mechalelei Shabbos and oichlei treifos would be killed.

Then everybody would do teshuva.

Let’s say a man who walked in the street on Shabbos and lit a cigarette, he would fall dead right away; so nobody would smoke on Shabbos. Even the Puerto Ricans would make teshuva. The Mirrer Yeshiva would be filled with Puerto Ricans.
​

So Hakodosh Boruch Hu conceals it. 

In order to leave room for bechira, for free choice, He makes it look camouflaged; so you shouldn’t see His open hand. 

And that’s what it says, כיון שניתן רשות למשחית – when a mashchis has power, שוב אינו מבחין בין צדיק לרשע – he makes no distinction between a tzaddik and a rasha.  
​

Like it says in Mitzrayim; when the malach came to destroy the firstborn in Mitzrayim, אתם לא תצאו איש מפתח ביתו עד בוקר – you shouldn’t walk out in the streets. 

Why not?  We didn’t do anything wrong.  Egyptians oppressed us – why should we be afraid to walk in the streets? 

The answer is no.  Once the mashchis is loose, then he makes no distinction.  

And therefore, Hakodosh Boruch Hu doesn’t make any distinctions. 

People should know that once there’s a tzara, the tzara comes upon the tzaddikim and the reshaim equally – that’s a fundamental principle of how Hashem guides the world in order to leave room for free will; so His hand shouldn’t be so evident.


TAPE # 942 (November 1993)


torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-investigating-terror-attacks/

And:
Look, I’m not saying that the message is that we should therefore walk across the border with outstretched arms to embrace the Arabs and make peace – because most likely they’ll greet us with gunfire.
​

But there is a message from Hashem that we have things to fix inside of Eretz Yisroel. A lot of things. 

Maybe, for instance, we have to start pressing for the observance of Shabbos in the Land of Israel.

The Torah says, “Michalileha mos yumos” – those who profane the Shabbos will be put to death. The Torah says that.

And the Gemara says “Af al pi she’batlu Sanhedrin,” although we do not have a Sanhedrin to execute sinners today, “din arbah misos lo batlu,” the judgement will still be carried out.

So maybe when men fall at the border, or when a hand grenade is thrown into a bus, or when people are gunned down in Tel- Aviv, maybe we should think, maybe we should suspect – and it’s a reasonable suspicion – that maybe Hakodosh Boruch Hu is carrying out what He said He would do.

If buses publicly travel on Shabbos and if the Ministry of Labor is giving out permits to so many factories to allow them to open on Shabbos – so many factories are open in Eretz Yisroel on Shabbos!

A lot of factories, with the explicit permission of the government. In the Land of Israel, it is now accepted to profane the Shabbos!

We should think about this!

* * *
They’re destroying Jewish souls!

So maybe, if you’re destroying Jewish souls, that’s why Jewish bodies are being destroyed.

It’s really not hard, not difficult at all, to look for reasons for why things are happening.

Of course, if you don’t have ears, so you say, “Well, this is nothing. Every new state has troubles. Growing pains. They have battles in the beginning. For the first hundred years they have to battle.”

But the truth is that it’ll never get better.

And it will get worse and worse.

So there are plenty of messages being sent by Hakodosh Boruch Hu that we have to listen to.


https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-the-message-from-the-terrorist/

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Please Daven for the Refuah of ZECHARIA SHIMON HAKOHEN BEN TZIREL

29/3/2022

 
UPDATED 4/5/2022: Heartbreaking shock here:
baruch-dayan-emet-rabbi-zecharia-shimon-hakohen-wallerstein-its-really-really-hard-to-write-his-name-after-bde.html

Please daven for Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein:
Zecharia Shimon Hakohen ben Tzirel

The message I received stated he is ill, but not in dire condition.

I owe a big debt to Rabbi Wallerstein because right at the time I felt pressured to go on Facebook (before other social media existed), he repeatedly spoke against Facebook, so I never opened up an account there nor went on any social media at all.

And it's only because of Rabbi Wallerstein.

May Hashem please send him a refuah shlaim u'meheirah b'toch sha'ar cholei Yisrael.
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Why You are Better & More Successful than an Angel

27/3/2022

 
Today, we're explaining why you are better than an angel.

Yes...YOU.

You...with all your flaws, frustrations, addictions, taavot, and failures...YOU are more successful than an angel.

And here's the proof:

Many of us are familiar with the teaching from Pirkei D'Rebbi Eliezer 22 regarding the angels sent down to this world in the generation of Kayin (Cain, son of Adam).

It didn't end well for them.

Despite their lofty experiences in Heaven & all the awareness they brought with them to this world...yet once immersed in this world, they sank so deeply into this gross existence, they indulged in every possible abomination.

As a result, they remain chained within the Mountains of Darkness (whatever that means exactly) until today.

Likewise, when Hashem sent His angelic messengers to destroy Sedom, even that brief dip in this earthly world polluted them with enough gross materiality to claim: "We are destroying this place" (Beresheit 19:13)—implying a disconnect from Hashem as their Master & Primary Cause of Everything, as if they were acting on their own at their own discretion.

And that resulted from only a brief sojourn in this world, where the angels retained all their memory and experience of the upper worlds and closeness to Hashem.

And they were ANGELS, for crying out loud! Not human beings, but otherworldly angels! Their entire being & creation consisted of the spiritual!

(Just for knowing: This breach in awareness resulted in Hashem banishing them from His Presence for 138 years—Beresheit Rabbah 50:9.)

Because even a brief immersion in our world—an existence suffused with deceptive earthly materialism, affects angels so negatively—is one of the reasons why Hashem needed to come through Egypt Himself (so to speak) for the final Plague (the Death of the Firstborn).

We know this from Hashem's famous statement as recorded in the Pesach Haggadah: "I—and not an angel, and not a seraph, and not a messenger."

As Rav Yaakov Galinsky stated, "The impurity of Egypt was so great that even angels could be defiled there..."

​So what does that mean for us?

What does that say about us?

We, who lack any memory of the Upper Worlds...we, born into this wholly material existence which covers any true spirituality or goodness or morality with a veil of deception...

We, many of whom endured either an upbringing completely devoid of Torah or an upbringing mixed with true Torah & a distortion of Torah...

We, NOT composed of light like the angels, but composed primarily of earth and water, keeping us firmly anchored to the earthly world, and covering up our neshamah (which is the only pure light we hold yet cannot see)...

What chance do WE have?

Some Chizuk for All Us Non-Angels

So it means that...

...we are pretty great!

We don't really stand a chance.

Yet for some reason, so many of us ARE doing things simply because HASHEM told us to!

So many of us struggle against the current.

And today, it really is harder than ever.

​In this history of mankind, it has never been this all-encompassing.

Think about it.

Sedom was the materialist pinnacle of ancient Mesopotamia.

It was like the Beverly Hills or Palm Beach or Tahiti of today.

(If you develop a whim to copperplate all your plumbing in the middle of the night in Beverly Hills, plumbers exist to accommodate you—for the right price, of course. The point being that in such places, you can micromanage your life to a ridiculous degree and indulge almost any whim you have as long as you can pay for it.)

But because of today's technology, the modern world has become like Sedom if Dr. Frankenstein had messed with it AND then given it steroids & heroin.

And today's impurity is beyond Mitzrayim/ancient Egypt.

They reached the 49th level, but we've reached the 50th (as noted by Rav Itamar Schwartz and many others).

It's so addictive and all-encompassing.

If the angels sent down in the pre-Flood times became so animalistic...

And if the angels sent by Hashem on a mission to destroy Sedom become corrupted by such a brief dip in our world...

And if the spiritual pollution of ancient Egypt proved so potent that no angel could remain unaffected by it...

...then those of us who make any sincere effort to keep Torah must be pretty AWESOME!

Think about it.

Think about our physical composition, our experiences & influences, and how the encroaching tumah pollutes everything with such convincing deceptions and lies.

And think about how even an angel remains unable to merely flit through this world unsullied.

Think about how an angel immersed in this world cannot maintain its purity or nobility on any level.

Yet YOU do!

You try, and you struggle, and you DO do good things.

And that means you succeed more than an angel when faced with the same challenges.

Hopefully, this will encourage you to focus on all the good you do (despite the fails & falls we all endure) and to keep on going with that good (even when it doesn't FEEL good—or important).

But just know: You ARE on a MUCH higher level than you realize.

​Just because you try. Or even just because you refrain.

The above ideas (including the quote from above) are gleaned from V'Higadeta: Beresheis—Insights, stories, and teachings on the weekly parshah from the treasure-trove of the maggid HaRav Yaakov Galinsky, ztz"l. pages 87-88.

Rav Galinsky (1921-2014) was a tremendous talmid chacham and tzaddik who carried the torch of Novadok mussar throughout the Nazi invasion of Europe, the Siberian labor camps, and the vicissitudes of life in Eretz Yisrael until his passing. His teachings ring with joyful energy & uncompromising devotion to Hashem.

For more on this topic, please see:
why-this-generation-is-so-astounding.html
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