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A Reminder for Those Tough Times of Tumah

30/5/2019

Just a reminder:
For times when society indulges incredibly degenerate ideas, like the kind of degeneracy that can make Eretz Yisrael vomit out her inhabitants, God forbid, it's possible to counter such abominations in your own small, quiet way by following the suggestions described in this post:
6 Ways to Counteract Shmutz, Tumah, and Unwanted Consequences (i.e., Din)

May Hashem always respond to us with revealed Compassion & Mercy.

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The Ultimate Way to Reach Your Highest Spiritual Potential: Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Bamidbar

30/5/2019

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Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah booklet on Parshat Bamidbar is generously available at Toras Avigdor here:
Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Bamidbar: Walking Secretly with Hashem.

(It also contains the inspiring and illuminating story of Rav Yosef Zundel, the rebbe of Rav Yisroel Salanter, the firstborn & the Kohanim, insights into the Biblical nazir, gratitude, how to walk with Hashem, how to eat breakfast in the most spiritually effective way, how to become one of the greatest personalities of your generation in your own kitchen, and the real - and realistic - way to become your spiritual best.)

What are the 3 Things Hashem Wants from You?

From the Torah (Michah 6:8), Rav Miller gleans the 3 main things Hashem wants from you:

(1) "The first is עשות משפט [asot mishpat/do the law] – 'Keep the Torah.' That’s the basics, the minimum. You have to keep all the dinim of the Torah."

(2) "The second is אהבת חסד [ahavat chessed/love of kindness] – 'You have to be willing to do favors for others Jews. You have to like to help other Jews, to do chesed'."

(3) "And the third thing, the best of all things, the avodah that will make you truly great is הצנע לכת עם השם אלוקיך [hatzne'ah lechet im Hashem Elokecha] – 'You should walk with Hashem in a way that nobody could see it'.”

What was the Real Greatness of Our First Jews?

The humility of quietly imbuing even mundane tasks with meaning is a huge accomplishment, especially in our culture of self-promotion, selfies, self-esteem, self-defense, and self, self, self.

Rav Miller explains:

In order to better understand how important this career, the career of walking secretly with Hashem really is, we’ll listen to a statement from the Mesillas Yesharim [Pathways of the Just by Rav Moshe Chaim Luzatto].

He says: והנה זהו המבחן האמיתי – “This was the real test in which our forefathers were tested”.

And he explains as follows:
The greatness of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov was not in the great acts they did.

Now, we have to understand this properly because absolutely, these were men who performed great acts and wonderful deeds. No question about it.

But if we would measure them by their deeds alone as most people are wont to do, we would be underestimating their greatness.

The true greatness of the forefathers was in that whatever they did, they did it with thoughts of Hashem in their minds.

Our Avot & Imahot gave us their spiritual DNA. Their paths to success paved the way for ours too.

Their spiritual greatness exists within each of us too.

And their spiritual greatness was their humility and their focus.

In other words, it was the silent service of their heart.

Here's more from Rav Avigdor Miller [emphasis mine-MR]:

That’s the true greatness of our Avos.

The acts that they did, the simple acts, the things we also do, were what made them great.

They weren’t heroic acts in the sense that we think of today. Because we think about chitzoniyus [externality] and nothing else.

But that’s not what Hashem is looking at. השם יראה ללבב.

And because our Avos walked secretly with Hashem, it was these simple acts that made them our heroes.

That’s the true measure of a person’s greatness.

What Comes before Spiritual Greatness? Lowliness.

Throughout Tanach, we see that seemingly passive or terribly disadvantaged people accomplish great things.

This blog has already written about the greatness of quieter heroines like Leah Imeinu and Chana, plus a very quiet hero that came out of nowhere...Gidon.

Or we see astounding leaps from lowly anonymity to supreme status.

For example, up until Shmuel Hanavi made his famous visit to the house of Yishai, David Hamelech was just an unwanted shepherd boy. He was the redheaded youngest of a bunch of handsome & charismatic boys and everyone thought he was of halachically illegitimate birth (which he wasn't).

He spent much of his life alone, with only smelly sheep for company.

He fought with wild animals, suffered through endless summer days, and quietly communed with Hashem while taking exceptionally good care of the sheep.

But Hashem had already crowned him king.

Just think:

At the very moment he was a despised illegitimate (or so everyone falsely assumed) outside in his shepherd's clothes with all the smelly sheep, he'd already been designated King of Yisrael by the King of the Universe.

(Please see Shmuel I:16 for that episode.)

Davka BECAUSE David Hamelech made the most of his status as quiet, alone, and despised, he was chosen for eternal greatness and to be the progenitor of Mashiach.

The Key to Spiritual Greatness

Rav Miller has more to say to us:

NEVER GIVE UP!

And so, you frustrated people; you who feel like your lives are mundane lives, and that your dreams of greatness have been dashed on the sharp rocks of reality.

Had you been a Rosh Yeshiva, you would have founded big Torah schools, and you could have said big shiurim and pilpulim. And you could’ve raised up talmidim. Ahh! The sweet taste of greatness. That would have made you great.

Or people have other ideas how to be a success in life. Whatever it is, people are frustrated. I speak to people and they feel they missed out on the great opportunity in life of being great in the eyes of Hashem.

But if you came here just to hear what I’m going to tell you know, it was worth it.

So those of you who are dozing off, perk up for a few minutes.

Because there is still open a great career for every man, for every woman and for every child who dreams of success in this world. There is a career that is available to you that would make you more successful than you could have ever imagined in your wildest dreams.

And that’s the career of walking secretly with Hakodosh Boruch Hu.

And it should be such a secret that nobody should know about it.

Even your wife doesn’t have to know about it. Now if your wife comes to these lectures, what could you do already, but as much as you can, you walk in secret with Hashem. Your friends shouldn’t know and your children shouldn’t know.

When you walk secretly with Hashem, the key to success is to keep it a secret from everybody.
* * *
And so, any man who trains himself, or a woman who trains herself, anyone who adopts this as a career in life is bound to succeed.

Because that’s the true greatness, that’s the greatness of the Avos and that’s the potential success of any person.

"It’s not the spectacular deeds that will make you spectacular; it’s the ordinary deeds, the ones you do, that when accompanied with the devotion of the mind that truly makes a man great!"

- Rav Avigdor Miller
(Parshat Bamidbar: Walking Secretly with Hashem)

Leave the Island

28/5/2019

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After coming to Eretz Yisrael, I met a 30-something French woman living in a dorm at a seminary for French-speaking baalot teshuvah.

Born in France to Moroccan parents, she’d grown up in Paris. I liked her from the first. She spoke English and exuded a charismatic combination of iron self-assurance and a cheerful vibrancy.

When I asked her how she got to know English so well (nearly all the French I’ve met in Eretz Yisrael don’t seem to know English, so all the communication is in Hebrew), she mentioned that she lived in America for a year.

“Where?” I asked.

“Beverly Hills,” she said.

“Oh,” I said.

Beverly Hills is only for the rich and not where your average French mademoiselle would be able to spend a year. “What did you do there?” I asked.

She gave me a smile and a shrug. “I just wanted to experience America. I rented an apartment there, bought a Mercedes, and just lived life.”

“Okay,” I said. “But what do you do?”

I was intrigued as to what kind of a job she’d snagged to support that lifestyle.

Her smile became more self-conscious. “Shopping,” she said. “Mostly shopping. Clubs. I made a lot of friends and we did stuff together. The beach.”

Okay, but what job did she have?

“I didn’t have a job,” she finally explained with her slight smile. “I was taking a break from my job.”

This just did not compute in my mind.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “You lived in Beverly Hills for a year with a Mercedes and shopping—just from your savings?”

She nodded.

“What kind of job did you have before?” I needed to know.

In short, she specialized in a niche branch of law, which made her fabulously wealthy.

And as I got to know her, I discovered some amazing stuff about her.

Paradise Island

At one point, she became so wealthy, she didn’t need to work at all. As in, ever again.

So she moved to Tahiti where many other unimaginably wealthy people chose to spend the rest of their lives.

While many of the super-rich spend a lot of time at the office, there is apparently another society of the super-rich who desire to live in a state of permanent relaxation on an island paradise.

At first, she enjoyed herself quite a lot.

But as time went on, she noticed that many of her colleagues needed to drink or drug themselves in order to deal with the sheer meaninglessness of living in the perfect paradise.

Others turned to Eastern belief systems and meditation.

I’m not sure if she’d even hit 30 at this point, but she realized that she had her whole life ahead of her.

And this was it.

At one point, one of the men on the island said something to her that for the life of me, I cannot remember. But he basically pointed out that this level of luxury was kind of a curse and that whether people were meditating or partying, it was all sort of pointless.

The truth of this struck her smothered pinteleh Yid, and not long after, she decided to leave the island.

“I wonder if he ever left?” she mused. “He was also Jewish. I hope he’s religious now.”

From Secular Paris to Frum Jerusalem

Back in Paris, she met a nice Jewish doctor and they married.

Then she started attending shiurim and decided to become fully mitzvah-observant.

Unfortunately, the doctor wasn’t on-board with that, so after 2 years of marriage, they divorced.

“I was sad for a very long time,” she told me with a soft heaviness. “He was a very nice man.”

Then she came to the French seminary in Eretz Yisrael, where I met her.

I remained gob-smacked by how content she seemed sharing a mediocre dorm room with 2 other French girls—much younger than she, BTW—after all that luxuriant living.

She married another French baal teshuvah. The wedding took place in a very normal, not-extravagant Jerusalem hall, then they lived in a small apartment in the middle of Jerusalem.

The rent in that area is pricey, but the apartment was unimpressive and stood in an old dumpy building on a street full of the exhaust and noise of constant traffic.

(Okay, and I know this is impolite of me, but I couldn’t help wondering what happened to all her money that she had such a non-opulent wedding and lived in such a plain apartment. I think she decided to put a big chunk of it in savings and live under their means—which was yet another good decision on her part.)

I ran into her one day as she stood leaning against the rail on an outside stairway.

Her shoulders sagged and her mouth pouted in the charming way mouths do among the French when they're feeling glum. After greeting her, I asked her what was wrong.

Giving me a doleful gaze, she explained that “all the stuff about mitzvot and halachot sounds so inspiring in class, but really, checking rice is very tedious.”

Well, yes. It is.

Soon enough, she started having one child after the other. She was happy, busy, frazzled, and determined all in one.

Then with my own marriage, child-bearing-and-rearing, plus moving around, we lost contact.

Lesson #1: Mesirut Nefesh for Mitzvot

But I never lost my respect and admiration for her.

I never heard her yearn for any part of her old life.

But did she?

Did she ever look at her life on a particularly vexing and sleep-deprived day and say, “I gave up my Tahitian Paradise for THIS?!!”

I have no idea.

But the point about her journey is this: She is a regular person who did a very special thing.

She gave up Paradise on Earth for a life of Torah and mitzvot in Eretz Yisrael.

And as far as I know, she never looked back. (Or if she did, she never complained out loud. Well, not to me, anyway.)

Yet there’s another lesson here.

Lesson #2: Life is a Journey

She didn’t go straight from Paradise Island to full Torah-observance in a crammed in a city apartment with a new husband and 2 kids.

It was a journey.

In fact, even the decadent life in Beverly Hills wasn’t meaningless enough.

It was only when she luxuriated in the perfect life of an island paradise among the super-wealthy that she hit rock-bottom, and Hashem sent her the exact words she needed to hear.

And then it took another few years to start becoming frum, realize her first husband would not adjust, get divorced, then move to Eretz Yisrael.

Lesson #3: Making that Initial First Choice

And when she arrived back in Paris after Tahiti, did anyone realize she was on her way to a fully religious life in Eretz Yisrael?

No.

Did she even realize it herself?

No.

But she was.

And the entire journey of mesirut nefesh started with one step:

She left the island.

Before anything else, she needed to come to the realization that lounging around in tropical extravagance was not an appropriate way to live the rest of her life.

Then she needed to act on it.

And that’s the big special choice (and 3rd lesson) here:

She chose to leave the island.

And making that correct choice led to a series of other correct choices falling into place.

I think these stories are so important because while she’s a wonderful person, she is not a tzaddekes. (Most people aren't.) If you knew her, while you’d probably like her, you wouldn’t think she is this incredibly special person capable of such astounding mesirut nefesh (which she herself didn't consider astounding).

She struggled with the stresses and tedium of life just like everyone else. She had her ups and downs just like everyone else.

She was a wholly regular person.

Yet she made this extraordinary decision (which she doesn’t consider extraordinary at all because to her, the truth was fairly straight-forward and she is a decisive proactive person).

She left the island.

And this shows that anyone is capable of extraordinary acts.

You don’t need to be “special” or “great” to do great things.

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How to Try to Interpret Hashem's Messages & Why We Really Should Try to Do That

27/5/2019

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Let's talk a bit about reading signs & interpreting messages from God, Heavenly Hints, etc.

And let's do it from a traditionally Jewish point of view (which is the only legitimate way to do it).

This means the following:

Hashem sends us signs to prod us in the right direction.

Fortunately for us, He has, in His Great Mercy & Compassion, given us a handy book delineating how He defines “the right direction” (i.e., the Torah).

Judaism acknowledges & faces paradox head-on.

So if you are a black-and-white thinker, then even the more basic Jewish concepts will befuddle you (as they did me when I originally started my foray into frumkeit).

But black-and-white thinking can be remedied by studying Jewish sources, pondering them, and freeing your mind to reach its higher potential, a potential that has been limited by living in Edomite society.

Hanging out with good frum Jews and listening to classes by good frum Jews can also help a lot with expanding a constricted mind.

It’s not your fault if you started out that way, born into that society, but each person has a responsibility to at least start freeing his or her mind at some point.

(Not to mention, a freer mind makes for a happier mind.)

Even one little step at a time, even going at a snail's pace, can accomplish an astonishing amount over time.

Needless to say, I’m not an expert on suffering or all that Chazal has to say. (A talmid chacham is an expert in all this.)

So we're going to address this topic from a much more basic perspective.

The big DISCLAIMER here is that this whole post is an oversimplification of the issue. Entire chapters and even books have been written on suffering, and even that's not enough.

Anyway, as mentioned above, I had to work this through myself because I also was born into the brain-draining liberal Edomite culture.

And I, too, used to self-righteously splutter stuff like: “But how can AIDS be an onesh for mishkav zachur & pritzus when some babies and hemophiliacs have died of AIDS too?!”—and think I was being oh-so clever and morally superior.

I wasn't being clever; I was being simple-minded. And my self-righteous secularism was definitely NOT morally superior.

Millennia before any of us were born, Judaism already addressed the issue of the innocent getting caught up in the punishment of those who continuously transgress.

So let's take a look at how to attempt to understand Hashem's Messages...

Combing through the Signs

First of all, let’s look at one of the worst trials people face - death - & also look at many of the reasons Judaism offers for this frightening & traumatizing trial:

(NOTE: These can also be reasons for any kind of suffering.)

The person has lived out his or her pre-destined amount of years.

The person is relatively sin-free, and therefore his or her death (or suffering) is an atonement for the Jewish people. (In other words, Hashem takes this one person, rather than 1000 other people.) This kind of death is often reserved for either an unusually good adult or for an innocent child or baby, and should motivate the rest of to do teshuvah so that the innocent need not suffer.

The person has completed his or her tikkun (soul rectification), often connected to stuff they didn’t rectify in a previous incarnation.

The person is a bad person (i.e., death as a punishment).

The person has not been living life “right” (according to Hashem’s definition) and needs a certain type of death as an atonement in order to avoid Gehinnom. (This often means a martyr’s death, al Kiddush Hashem, a death doing something heroic for the Jewish people, etc.)

The person is going to end up doing some bad things later on, so Hashem takes him or her out of the world so that person won’t die a sinner and so that the person will inherit a good portion in the Next World rather than burn or be totally cut off. (This is a preventative death.)

In a mass situation (like a plague), there’s the concept that “the destroyer” has been given permission to cut down the good people along with the bad. (Usually, however, the good people are also dying for reasons stated above AND unfathomable reasons. Hashem is always Just. We just pray for Him to be Merciful too.)

Other reasons I’m not remembering right now.

But to repeat: All of this is a vast oversimplification of the topic.

The calculations of Hashem are far beyond human understanding, as Hashem Himself explained to Moshe Rabbeinu when asked about seeming unfairness in life.

Yet paradoxically, Hashem expects us to both accept His Judgments AND examine things according to our understanding (by using the Guide—Torah—He gifted us) in order to learn from loss and other painful events in order to take lessons for our own self-improvement.

That's right. It's NOT to finger-point or to luxuriate in our feelings of fake self-righteousness, but to self-introspect and thus self-improve.

So, for example, as you can surmise, a person might die due to a combination of the above factors, not just one factor.

(For example, a person can die as an atonement AND because of completing soul-rectification related to stuff from a past incarnation. AND due to other unfathomable reasons.)

Responding to the Message

The above is why, for example, when a tzaddik or a child dies (particularly if it is a bizarre or especially distressing death), frum people say it was a kaparah (an atonement) and understanding people invest in some soul-searching, realizing that the person possibly died for their sins and if we’d been behaving better, that person might still be alive.

(That is ONE reason Judaism offers for the death of a child. There are others - as described above.)

This is also why knowledgeable frum people will look at the sudden death of an anti-Torah person and declare, “Onesh!” (punishment) — the lesson there being that we all need to improve our ways to avoid an untimely death, if Hashem wills it.

(We are also supposed to utilize tact and compassion when dealing with the mourners, regardless of who or why a person died.)

Simplistic Thinking vs. Complex Thinking

Unfortunately, black-and-white thinkers tend to be very vocal in saying the following type of thing:

“When the Leftist anti-Torah guy was run over by a truck, you frummies said he was being punished. But when the innocent child was run over by a truck, you said it was an atonement and everyone needs to do teshuvah. You’re contradicting yourselves! AND you’re also stuck-up know-it-alls because you’re acting like you KNOW the reason why—when you’re contradicting yourselves! You guys are self-centered hypocrites!”

And this black-and-white thinker considers himself extremely clever & insightful for having made this point.

But Judaism already explained why a child might die and why a rasha might die.

And it’s not for the same reason (or not fully for the same reason) — even if it’s the same type of death.

Again, simplistic minds look at only ONE aspect of the equation and jump to a conclusion based on that.

But a more complex thinker looks at as many aspects as he or she can, looks at what Judaism says about it, and THEN gleans a message or lesson from it. (All the while knowing that he or she cannot understand everything about it. Only Hashem can.)

And we ARE supposed to use the events to propel us toward self-improvement.

Real Goodness vs. Pretend Goodness

Part of the struggle here is when a person has a different definition of good than Hashem’s definition.

For example, a Jew might be part of decimating the Jewish people via intermarriage.

Sure, that’s not his intention. He thinks he's being open-minded and helpful. But the bare-boned fact is that he is destructively misguided and he is doing a truly terrible thing that brings terrible din to the world.

And many times, such a person does have an inkling of it because intermarriage and a shrinking Jewish population is discussed ad naseum even among non-Orthodox Jews.

If he married a non-Jewish woman and brought non-Jewish kids into the world, then there is a Jewish lady out there living without her bashert and Jewish kids who cannot be born — i.e., Jewish souls that were meant to come down via his union with his Jewish bat zug, but cannot because the conduit for these souls simply isn’t there.

And to add fat to the fire, he may actively encourage intermarried couples and help them stay married — in other words, actively assisting or encouraging other Jews to commit one of the most destructive sins.

All this is in addition transgressing Shabbat, kashrus, and much else commanded in the Torah.

Yes, he might observe some commandments, like the commandment to give tzedakah or do chessed, but he is mostly indulging some of the most destructive sins — and doing so consistently for decades.

Yet because he has an appealing personality, many people will label him as “a good person,” and furiously resist any peep that he might have died as (or partly as) a punishment for his many very severe transgressions (whether he meant them or not).

This comes because such people cannot accept that Hashem’s definition of good differs from their own.

(And again, even frum people can fall into this mistake.)

But adopting such an egalitarian attitude leads to spiritual stagnancy and eventually, to bitter din.

Avoiding the Cruel Response

If we take the lackadaisical attitude of “We just can’t understand these things at all in any way no matter what, so why bother?”, then we simply continue with our lives as we were.

No change, no growth, no self-improvement, no overturning horrific judgments, no preventing atrocities — just feelin’ good and self-satisfied.

And yes, even frum people can get all mushy-brained about this, becoming surprisingly defensive if other frum Jews cast judgement on the untimely death of, say, an appealing yet tragically sinful (whether from ignorance or intent) and completely unremorseful Jew points toward this sinful Jew dying because of, well, his sins (at least as part of the reason).

So if something happens to a sincerely frum person (or a person who is on the journey toward being a sincerely frum person, even if he or she hadn’t yet completed that journey), Hashem is giving us a TOTALLY DIFFERENT message than if the same thing happens to a Jew who consistently, copiously, and unremorsefully transgresses Torah.

And yes, of course, there are certainly situations in which the message seems quite muddled.

At a fundamental level, we simply CANNOT KNOW.

But these things do demand at least some self-introspection. Not finger-pointing, but just figuring out at least a little bit of the message and what it means for the rest of us.

To do otherwise is considered cruel, as discussed in the Torah (Vayikra 26:27-28, for one), Rambam (Hilchot Taanit, Chapter 1, Paragraph 3), and numerous other sources.

What Does This Mean for You Individually?

And needless to say, the self-improvement for a person differs according to individual level and individual knowledge.

For example, a person who does not keep Shabbat might want to start from there.

Yet a person who already keeps Shabbat should look into improving shemirat Shabbat or focus on another area of Torah in which there is a weakness, like lashon hara, finding the good in others, expressing gratitude to Hashem, and so on.

It depends…which is why each person needs to invest in personal self-introspection to work out the message and direction for him or her.

Just as another example, Rabbi Alon Anava frequently mentions that after his near-death experience, he worked on doing teshuvah from the inside-out. Meaning, he still looked secular on the outside for 2 or 3 years after his big wake-up call because he was working on his middot, inner refinement, and even Shabbat...but he simply didn't LOOK like he was doing all that.

So self-improvement is an individual process.

Needless to say, I'm talking to myself as much as anyone else. I need to do more serious self-introspection & self-improvement as much as anyone.

There’s a general message for klal Yisrael & a personal message for each individual person too.

Summary of Main Points

To sum up:

Hashem is behind every single occurrence.

Hashem's definition of good & bad differ than that of society. Suffering & death should be viewed through Hashem's Eyes, and not those of the surrounding society.

Suffering demands self-introspection: Brachot 5a - "If a man sees that misfortunes are coming upon him, he shall examine his deeds."

Judaism offers some guidance on finding the messages. (See list toward beginning of post.)

Tehillim 25:8: "Yoreh chataim b'derech - Hashem teaches unintentional sinners the way." One way to teach is via suffering.

Gates of Teshuvah: "When a person accepts mussar, and he'll improve his ways and deeds, he should rejoice over them as over great successes."

By using your suffering as hints to discover what you need to work on in yourself, you turn your flaws and sins into great successes. Rather than getting depressed over your failings or engulfed in toxic shame, you should davka feel very happy.

Different types of death mean different things, depending on what happened, how it happened, to whom it happened, and when.

We cannot know for sure the reasons behind death and other suffering, but we are expected to search for some kind of message.

Attributing suffering to natural causes is cruel because it leads to more suffering. (See HERE for more on this idea.)

Attribution and searching for messages doesn't mean finger-pointing at others. We need to take the lessons for ourselves.

Just as 2 contrasting examples:
1) If a sinful person dies an untimely or unusual death, it should be a hint to us to fix our own ways so we don't end up like him.

2) If a pure person dies an untimely or unusual death, it should be a hint to us to fix our own ways because that pure person likely died for the sins of their society (i.e., us).

(Note: There are also OTHER reasons, like the person's own tikkunim and stuff leftover from their past lives. but as far as WE go, we focus on the message for US. Their tikkunim are theirs.)

Judaism is not simplistic.

Judaism demands the development of complex thinking.

Judaism fully acknowledges and works with the reality of paradox: 2 opposing ideas can both be true.

Regardless of the message or reason for suffering or death, people in pain should still be treated with compassion & empathy.

Hopefully, we can all continue to grow in the best direction and do real teshuvah, which can prevent bitter decrees (sort of like the ones that are happening now, as much as they are also softened with rachamim) and bring Mashiach in a sweet way.

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Living under the Influence - What Rav Avigdor Miller Teaches us from Behar & Bechukotai

24/5/2019

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The only dvar Torah from Rav Avigdor Miller available at this moment for Parshat Bechukotai is from last year, when Bechukotai and Behar were together in a non-leap year.

It's here:
Parshas Behar Bechukosai – Living Among the Best

But the main lesson is prime.

It emphasizes the importance of surrounding yourself with the right kind of people and placing yourself in the right kind of environment.

The Rambam mentions this as a fact of human nature.

Polishing a Shmutzy Soul

When I first started keeping Shabbos (in 12th grade), there was a certain amount of social clumsiness because what was acceptable in secular culture was not necessarily acceptable in among the frum people with whom I spent Shabbos.

Initially, I found myself in a predominantly modern Orthodox community, where they have absorbed a lot more of the surrounding culture.

Nonetheless, I still found myself on the wrong side of social norms at times.

Fortunately, people were mostly nice. The modern Orthodox girls my age mostly flowed with me, understanding where I was coming from and that any blips weren't intentional.

But I still picked up on a good-natured smile or laugh over something I did or said. An awkward or embarrassed or a “Let’s all pretend we didn’t notice what she just said or did…dum de dum de dum…” pause in the conversation.

Sometimes, someone even chose to confront me directly—in a very friendly, understanding, and gentle way.

And it was really good.

Yes, it was uncomfortable at times. Yes, I got fed up with the friction of something acceptable or even admired in secular society being looked down on in frum society.

But it was really good because I needed to change.

Later, I went for my year in Israel among the dati-leumi, and then later, I attended a charedi seminary for baalot teshuvah. There, they could explain a lot of stuff and what was acceptable, what wasn’t, and WHY.

Despite propaganda (and a few wonky examples) to the contrary, many frum people are much more patient, understanding, and tolerant than anyone else (would be in the reverse situation).

Why "Just Kidding!" Still isn't Okay

Another example:
In the secular American society of my childhood, it was perfectly acceptable to complain about your child while your child was standing right there—as long as you did so in a joking manner, of course.

I saw this repeatedly and never thought anything of it because it was so normal.

It was like how you get zits on your face or braces or other uncomfortable aspects of youth. Not pleasant, but normal and not much to do about it anyway, except get through it and outgrow it.

(FYI: Contrary to halacha, you can get away with a lot of nasty, abusive, hurtful behavior in America as long as you are “just kidding!” or insert just the right smiley emoticon at the end of your onslaught. All the more so, with behavior like the above which is “merely” uncomfortable or "somewhat" embarrassing.)

Anyway, people did this regularly to their children, include their teens, putting them in an awkward situation where they either needed to just take the humiliation and public lashon hara—which is hard to do gracefully.

Some teens just smiled ruefully. Others looked unhappy (at which point adults labeled them “sullen” or “hormonal”). And less often, the teens got angry or talked back in some way or stormed off, at which point the adults labeled them as “having a bad attitude” or suffering from “hormones” or whatever.

In contrast, I quickly learned that with many charedi mothers, complaining anywhere near your child—even a 2-year-old & even if you’re joking—is met with discomfort. Furthermore, complaining about your young child (even jokingly) in a group situation (like at the park) even when your child is out of earshot, is not acceptable either.

The truth is that many secular Israeli mothers also display caution with how they speak about and around their children.

Yes, charedi mothers might complain generally about how difficult bedtime is or how hard it is to clean up, but they won’t get specific about one child—not in a group situation. Privately between friends? Yes. Maybe. It depends. But in a group? No.

And they are absolutely right.

Why should you ruin your child’s reputation?

Why do you need to publicize their issues or anything they might find embarrassing later?

Children have a right to change, mature, and outgrow problematic behaviors—just like adults do.

And why should anyone have stuck in their mind any particularly unpleasant behaviors your child engaged in at the age of 5?

There’s an unconscious influence, whether anyone wants it or not.

Getting Comfortable with Good Influences

Anyway, there are many things to learn from being around the right types of people.

Some people are more refined, work on their middot more, dress & behave with more dignity, are more careful about lashon hara, cultivate a sense of humor about life (without jeering and sarcasm), and so on.

And if you can handle the initial discomfort if you aren’t yet like them, then you can find yourself changing for the better almost automatically.

And if you are already like them, then sticking together will reinforce & strengthen your goodness. (Plus, there is safety in numbers.)

Finally, it’s important to remember that humbling experiences are better for us than we usually realize.

Growth is rarely comfortable.

But it is definitely worth it.

Related link:
What's Stopping You from Making Real Change?

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Essential Advice on How to REALLY Live in This World - from Rav Avigdor Miller

23/5/2019

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Rav Miller’s dvar Torah on Parshat Behar is a very pleasant whomp right between the eyes.

One of my favorite aspects of Rav Miller on the parsha is his description of the true-to-life experience of Jews millennia ago in the Tanach.

Using plain & simple language, he brings it all to life.

Yovel, Plus You as a Ger in This World

In Rav Miller's dvar Torah for Parshat Behar (pages 1-3), you get to experience what the Yovel year was really like at the close of the 50-year cycle in which property reverts to its original owners.

Then (pgs. 3-7), using both stories of modern times & the Chafetz Chaim, Rav Miller details our temporary dwelling in This World and what that really means for us.

Pages 7-11 introduce the concept of geirus/geirut—usually understood to mean “convert,” it also means a temporary dweller in This World. (Also like how Moshe Rabbeinu said, “I am a ger in a foreign land.” He was born Jewish, but a ger, a temporary dweller in This World.)

In the Pele Yoetz chapter entitled Ger, Rav Eliezer Papo also discusses ger/geirut according to this interpretation. With Rav Miller, you get a glimpse into what Duties of the Heart/Chovot Levavot says about this idea, plus a modern-day analogy to make things clearer, what a mezuzah should inspire within us, and then the following amazing yet true story of a connected Jew with his heart & mind in exactly the right place:

I once knew a Mr. Herman zichrono l’vracha from the Lower East Side.

Now, Mr. Herman was one of the very few devoted frum Jews in the olden days of America.

B’leiv v’nefesh [Heart & soul] he was devoted to Hakodosh Boruch Hu.

And he told me once that when he saw that all his money was going lost, that his business was quickly failing - it was at the time of the Great Depression.

So he right away took a thousand dollars - in those days a thousand dollars was a small fortune - and he gave it away to tzedakah on the spot.

He said, “Why should I lose that too? Why should I lose my chance at exporting more goods into the Next World?”

And so Mr. Herman was a smart businessman…

Gadlus. And that was a so-called “regular” Jew no one has ever heard of!

Everyone can be great. It’s not at all a matter of renown or charisma.

Just quietly live for the Next World.

No one will write a book or even newspaper obituary about you (may you live in good health until 120), but you’ll be written in Hashem’s Book, and that’s all anyone really needs.

This section also helps you figure out how much you should invest in your material world here on Earth.

It goes according to individuals and their different situations, so Rav Miller doesn’t offer hard ‘n’ fast rules, but pages 7-11 can help you figure out how to clarify things for yourself.

God's Truth is Even Better than Science Fiction

Then (pgs. 11-14) you get some insights into David Hamelech and certain popular verses of Tehillim, insights you may never have considered before. (I hadn’t.) And you get to delve into the fascinating idea of how you and everyone you know are just figments of Hashem’s Supreme Imagination.

(This is not depressing, like how it is in sci-fi novels, but actually very comforting and inspiring.)

Pages 14-17 offer more insights into popular Tehillim, plus helpful hints on how best to utilize your alone-time and how to do hitbodedut in the most crowded, noisy circumstances.

The Pre-Mashiach Jewish Reality: Stuck between a Rock & Hard Place

Do you ever find yourself irked by the following, as described by Rav Miller?:

"… a Jew is always hounded in this world; the Jew walks on the street in Europe and the goyim cast slurs on him; they tell him, 'Get out of our country you dirty Jew. Go to Israel!' And if he does, so the Arabs tell him to get out, the U.N. tells him to get out."

Jew-haters are simply impossible to please! (So why bother trying? Hint, hint…)

Anyway, Rav Miller explains on page 17 why this dynamic exists and what it means for us.

One Torah, One People

Despite differences in custom, dress, culture, time, and language, real talmidei chachim keep coming up with the same themes and lessons from Torah.

Here (pgs. 17-18) Rav Miller speaks of Hashem as your Best Friend and what that means. And he sounds exactly like Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender.

Why?

Because all the real talmidei chachamim glean from the same sources and come to the same conclusions.

It ends on the heart-warming note of what you should remember about Olam Hazeh / This World whenever you look at a mezuzah:

"It’s the place where we spend our fleeting lives preparing to enter our permanent home in the Next World, where we will meet the Hashem Echad who was our One and Only True Friend in This World."

Note: After the dedications at the end of this dvar Torah booklet, there is a brand-new section for children: Toras Avigdor Junior, a 2-page large-print supplement accompanied by a pleasant drawing of Rav Miller with a child in the woods. After that, there is a Q&A regarding how to break the habit of losing one’s temper.

So even if you’re in Eretz Yisrael and already past this parsha, it’s very worth reading Rav Miller’s dvar Torah on it for the wealth of soul-nourishing Torah hashkafah it contains:
Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Behar: We Live in You

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How to Avoid Playing with the Most Dangerous Fire

22/5/2019

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Stay Out of It

While daas Torah unites in its primary goal (perfecting our souls & perfecting the world), it can diverge regarding how to accomplish the goal.

In shiurim in which someone asks the rabbi or rebbetzin about taking sides, either in a machloket between rabbanim or just differing streams of TORAH-TRUE Judaism (whether between the misnagdim & chassidim of yore, or the different chassidic groups, or any divergent derechs today), the answer was always:
"STAY OUT OF IT."

Rav Avigdor Miller constantly warned his listeners not to get involved in any way because he insisted it's getting involved in fire. Don't do it!

Rav Miller himself was a Slabodka Litvak. Yet not only did he never put down groups following other daas Torah, he even defended their right to follow their own Torah-based daas Torah, whether it was another type of Litvish (like Telshe) or Sephardi or any kind of Chassidus.

You can follow your Rav/Rebbe without fighting with anyone else and without denigrating anyone else, whether the Rav/Rebbe himself or someone from his group.

(Clarification: "Someone from his group" means someone who actually follows the rav, and doesn't just use a distorted version of the Rav/Rebbe's hashkafah to indulge his or her own yetzer hara.)

And honestly?

If it's a real talmid chacham, you should be able to see the value of his derech, understand WHY he is doing what he's doing...even if you don't personally follow or agree with that derech.

After exploring the issues, you should be able to come to some kind of intellectual understanding and even appreciation of a wholly Torah-allegiant yet different derech.

Furthermore, any kind of real daas Torah does not generally WANT you fighting with others, even to defend his honor.

So why do it? If you really respect him, why go against his will?

What If He isn't the Rav You Think He is?

Another reason why STAY OUT OF IT and APPRECIATE ALL LEGITIMATE TORAH PATHS are such important and helpful advice is that sometimes, you can think that your favorite speaker or your shul rabbi is a tremendous chacham for whom you're willing to go to battle.

This is particularly likely to happen among people who haven't yet gained enough knowledge to know that while their rabbi is a cool guy and a smart one, he's definitely not a talmid chacham.

I learned this lesson the hard way. (Story for another time.)

Anyway, this is something I wish I could shout from the rooftops:
Smicha does NOT mean a rabbi is wise, insightful, or good.

It COULD mean that, but it doesn't have to.

All smicha (rabbinical ordination) really means is that a guy passed a test of academic knowledge. If it was high-level smicha, he's probably intellectually intelligent.

But that doesn't mean he's "a big talmid chacham!" or anyone you should be swooning or tussling over.

(And yes, I've heard people swooning over or boasting of or defending the honor of their favorite rabbi, calling him a "a big talmid chacham" when he definitely is NOT. A smart guy? Yes. A nice, sincere guy? Maybe. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A charismatic guy? Yes. An actual talmid chacham? NO.)

So that's another reason not to get too wound up. You might be getting wound up for no good reason at all.

Case in point: When I was becoming frum, I really thought so many people were so smart and so frum, and that certain rabbis I met were powerhouses of Torah knowledge.

Then over the years, I realized that, while all these people should be appreciated and admired and respected for their many good points, they weren't Rebbetzin or Rav Kanievsky.

And that's fine!

So while it's important to humble oneself to listen and learn from people who know more than you, there are still higher levels and lower levels of Torah knowledge & behavior, and we shouldn't make people into something they are not.

It's a tribute to frumkeit that a guy can spend his childhood and young adulthood in yeshivah, and come out with such impressive knowledge. And then as he keeps reviewing throughout life and maybe even gets smicha, he really does accumulate an impressive amount of Torah learning.

VERY GOOD.

But it doesn't mean he has internalized it.

It doesn't mean he is a talmid chacham.

Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty

So...love and appreciate different groups and different daas Torah (REAL ones) even as you stick to your own derech.

And love and appreciate your favorite rav, but know what he is not (unless, of course, he really is a genuinely tremendous talmid chacham. Some are.).

And this all goes for me too, of course.

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What is a Clean Tongue?

20/5/2019

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A huge blindspot today is language.

Foul words have entered everyday vocabulary, with today's grandmothers using the very words (or worse) for which she originally washed out her own child's mouth with soap as a mother only 3 decades ago.

This can be true in parts of modern frum society too sometimes.

Foul English words have also entered Israeli Hebrew as slang (because they don't know what they're actually saying & because cussing in a foreign language doesn't have the same jolt). Even some frum Israelis end up using this vulgar English as slang within their modern Hebrew.

However, Judaism insists not only on non-vulgar language, but on refined language in general.

When asked about lashon nekiyah - clean language or a clean tongue - Rav Avigdor Miller mentioned the words mothers traditionally forbade their children.

Then he goes a step deeper and discusses refined language in general - "mindful speech," if you will.

For example, he explains, in Slabodka where he learned, they never said the word shlecht, which is Yiddish for "bad."

They never said the word shlecht. Never. I was there six years. Six years – and they never said the word shlecht. “Not good,” they would say. But they never said shlecht. They never referred to a goy as a “sheigetz.”

Because that’s a Sheketz. The word “sheigetz” comes from the word sheketz a disgusting creature. “Sheigetz” is sheketz. But a goy is not a sheketz. He’s a tzelem Elokim...

The word “sheigetz” is never found in Slabodka language.

So, in a good environment, if you make sure to stay in stay in a good environment, you’ll pick up what is called lashon nekiyah.

Tape #E-167

And that's worth chewing over.

Related link:
Try This: No Swearing for One Week

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Sefirat HaOmer: How to Transform Even the Most Mundane Aspects of Life into Meaningful Success

19/5/2019

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The following is actually from Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah on Parshat Emor, but the lessons are eternal.

It's all about making the most of your time.

Sefirat HaOmer is about not wasting time; pay attention to the day that just passed and take a minute to think whether you used it properly:

At least when the sun is about to go down, remind yourself:
“Did I count today? What did I accomplish today? Is there anything to count?”

Is it just another day passing away, maybe wasted away, that won’t ever come back?

The Waste of Obsessive Thoughts

And even if you're involved in mundane albeit necessary activities, he explains how your mindset can turn the activity into a meaningful activity - or even just a meaningful moment - and what not to think or obsess over:

The wealth of life is only for a few moments.

Relatively, life is only a fleeting pause in eternity.

And therefore is it any wonder that we pray to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, we beseech Him, we beg Him: limnos yameinu kein hoda - teach us how to count our days so that we shouldn’t spend our days being bemused!

You know how many people spend their yomim with their minds preoccupied with nothing at all.

Here’s a man who’s walking around thinking about ways and means of fighting with his boss; he’s spending his days thinking of ways and means how to get even with him.

There are people going around, and they’re tense and they’re worried, thinking that they’re being persecuted by their neighbors and their mothers-in-law. They spend time bemused about the injustice that is being done to them.

And their lives are being wasted away by silly and foolish imaginations. Not lunatics! I’m talking about sane people.

And what about the people who waste their lives pursuing after imaginary wealth, instead of the true wealth of yiras Hashem; people who waste their lives pursuing imaginary pleasures?!

Change Your Day from Success to Failure with 1 Minute

Within the entire dvar Torah is also advice for men, but this post will focus on the advice for women (boldface letters are my own emphasis):

And the ladies and the girls have a glorious opportunity as well.

While they’re stirring the pot in the kitchen, while they’re sweeping the floor or sewing, whatever they’re doing, they’re thinking of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. A glorious career!

And I’m serious about that; it’s a glorious career!

Instead of taking these minutes, these diamonds, and throwing them away, they’re cashing them in. They’re the most precious achievement. You counted a few seconds while washing the dishes?! You thought about Hashem while standing in the shop?!

You’re a great person already!

Try it; try thinking for one minute that you’re standing in front of Hashem.

Even one minute of thinking during the day is so precious that you can already count that day as a success!

Even if you don’t think all the time, even though you waste a lot of time, if you’ll spend one minute of thinking, it’s a tremendous achievement.

You’re one out of ten thousand, you’re a head taller than everyone just because of that one minute.

The Fastest & Simplest Way to Uplift the Mundane

And here's some more advice, for both men & women (boldface emphasis mine):

You know, a woman can bake muffins, she can cook chicken, and she can become heroic in the kitchen.

Imagine a housewife standing in her kitchen as she is kneading the dough, she is thinking, “My hands are the hands of Hakadosh Baruch Hu; like it says,...“Hakodosh Boruch Hu in His endless kindness gives food to all the living” (Tehillim 136:25).

How does He give bread? Does He stretch his hands from the sky and hand us something?

The pshat is that it’s through the woman who’s making the challah. So if you’re baking challah or if you’re selling bread over the counter, it’s a glorious opportunity for the reishis chochma, the most valuable of all wisdom.

All the bakers should be here tonight because otherwise their lives are being wasted. Think what a baker could accomplish every time he hands a loaf across the counter, and he’s thinking: ...“I’m giving bread to all the living and I’m doing it as a shaliach of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”

The fact that he’s being paid for it, that doesn’t detract from the greatness of this accomplishment.

And so, at the end of the day, the mother is standing in the kitchen, or maybe the baker or the grocer is standing behind the counter, and they look through the window and see the sun is going down; they should remember why Hashem made that great ball of fire:

“Don’t miss even one day!”

You remind yourself that once on Shabbos, you had prayed...“Teach me to count my days properly,” and so, in the last moment, as you put the muffins into the oven or as you hand the last loaf of bread across the counter to the boy who went on an errand for his mother, you do it with the thought that “My hands are the hands of Hakadosh Baruch Hu Who gives bread to all the living.”

You can change your day from empty failure to meaningful success with just one minute of Divine focus.

That's pretty encouraging.

Thank you to Toras Avigdor for their permission to use the above & for all their work in publicizing Rav Miller's Torah.

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6 Ways to Counteract Shmutz, Tumah, and Unwanted Consequences (i.e., Din)

16/5/2019

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One alert reader wrote in to point out the correlation between the earthquakes Israel received yesterday and this ridiculous tamei event that is occurring at the same time in Eretz HaKodesh.

To make matters worse, there is the usual absurdity of well-intended yet misguided Jews welcoming a performer who led the way in forging the social acceptance of brazenness, rampant pritzut, gender-morphing, and same-gender-attraction.

In fact, remembering the performer's influence on the society of my youth (and this performer had a MASSIVE influence on American teens and pre-teens), I firmly believe she shares responsibility for the downward spiral of American society and mores today.

Yet she comes off as heroic because she ignores BDS and comes to shmutz up our Land despite their opposition.

This is when I am SO GRATEFUL for a Torah hashkafah and for all the frum Jews who give shiurim and write articles promoting the authentic Torah view.

Simply put: There are some people who make you just want to beg them to boycott you.

"PLEASE capitulate to BDS!" you want to cry out. "Don't have ANYTHING to do with us! PLEASE boycott us! PLEEEEESE!"

We know that this is a Land that vomits out her inhabitants when they get too far from their Torah roots.

We also know that Hashem brings earthquakes for certain sins.

But seeing as no one here is an Israeli government official, what can we do?

What Can YOU Do to Counteract Shmutz & Tumah?

So based on different shiurim I've heard & sources I've read, the following is good advice:

Let Hashem hear your protest.

You don't need to take to the streets. Just standing in your kitchen or waiting at the stoplight in your car, you can say:

"Hashem, I protest this tamei event in Your Precious Land! I totally oppose such tumah shmutzing up the beautiful Inherintance You have so generously bequeathed to us! You don't like it, so I don't like it either!"

(I don't mean you should frighten children or other drivers, but it's very beneficial to find the time to offer up your protest.)

This is especially good because while we need to give the benefit of the doubt (i.e., "They don't know this event is wrong and an awful chilul Hashem"), that never means that the forbidden is permitted or okay. We can say, "These people don't understand, but I do understand. And therefore, I protest on Your Behalf, Hashem. I'm on Your Side."

Say Tehillim.

Any Tehillim. It always sweetens din. The 10 psalms comprising the Tikkun Haklali are wonderful because a tikkun fixes and rectifies things:
Tikkun Haklali in Hebrew

(For an English translation or an English transliteration, press the "abc" at the center-bottom or the "ת-A" at the bottom right.)

Do teshuvah.

Ask yourself how you might have possibly contributed to this chilul Hashem. Do you need to strengthen yourself in tsniut? Shemirat einayim? Separating yourself from non-Jewish values, beliefs, or entertainment?

Any step you take toward cleansing out your own spiritual gunk is really, really powerful and good.

You can even take on a kabalah of not doing something beneath your Torah-infused dignity for the duration of this event.

Everything helps. Don't think that you or your actions are too small or insignificant to matter.

You matter.

Learn more Torah.

This is one of the three pillars of the world, along with prayer and acts of loving-kindness.

And again, even a baby-step in this direction is huge.

Even one more word of Torah is significant.

You and your Torah-learning matter.

Tzedakah

Giving money to the poor or to causes that actually help people (i.e., not the local art museum) sweetens din and because one of the words for money is "damim," which means "blood" in plural form, giving tzedakah is like giving of your life - a wonderful atonement that doesn't harm you and benefits the other.

Say Pitum Haketoret

Found in any Orthodox prayerbook, reciting the procedure of the Pitum Haketoret (The Incense Offering) is a wonderful segulah.

Back in the time of the Beit Hamikdash, this procedure carried out by the Cohen protected Yerushalayim from very bad things.

It was a primary counter-agent against spiritual tumah/contamination. It literally cleansed the environment, both physically and spiritually.

Nowadays, reciting this with as much kavanah as you can releases its original protection.

It also has the power to improve marital harmony, health, and livelihood.

Ideally, it's recited at the beginning of Shacharit (Morning Prayer), at the end of Shacharit, and at the beginning of Mincha (Afternoon Prayer).

If you're not saying it at all, try saying it once in the morning.

If you're already saying it once or twice a day, then for this duration, try saying it 2 or 3 times a day.

If you are already saying it 3 times a day (and if you're a minyan man, then you probably already are), then try adding extra kavanah to it.

For more information (and there is a lot more to know about this), please read:
http://www.jewishmag.co.il/11mag/mystic/mystic.htm

And here you can see a list of the Kli Yakar's symbolism for various aspects & vessels of the Ketoret ceremony (at the beginning of the post):
Parshat Titzaveh

There are other things I'm forgetting, but this is what I've remembered for now.

May Hashem have mercy on us all & may we all return to Him with teshuvah from love.

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What are the 3 Things Hashem Wants from You?

What was the Real Greatness of Our First Jews?

What Comes before Spiritual Greatness? Lowliness.

Davka BECAUSE David Hamelech made the most of his status as quiet, alone, and despised, he was chosen for eternal greatness and to be the progenitor of Mashiach.​

The Key to Spiritual Greatness

"It’s not the spectacular deeds that will make you spectacular; it’s the ordinary deeds, the ones you do, that when accompanied with the devotion of the mind that truly makes a man great!"​- Rav Avigdor Miller(Parshat Bamidbar: Walking Secretly with Hashem)

Paradise Island

From Secular Paris to Frum Jerusalem

Lesson #1: Mesirut Nefesh for Mitzvot

Lesson #2: Life is a Journey

Lesson #3: Making that Initial First Choice

Combing through the Signs

Responding to the Message

Simplistic Thinking vs. Complex Thinking

Real Goodness vs. Pretend Goodness

Avoiding the Cruel Response

What Does This Mean for You Individually?

Summary of Main Points

Polishing a Shmutzy Soul

Why "Just Kidding!" Still isn't Okay

Getting Comfortable with Good Influences

Yovel, Plus You as a Ger in This World

God's Truth is Even Better than Science Fiction

The Pre-Mashiach Jewish Reality: Stuck between a Rock & Hard Place

One Torah, One People

"It’s the place where we spend our fleeting lives preparing to enter our permanent home in the Next World, where we will meet the Hashem Echad who was our One and Only True Friend in This World."

Stay Out of It

What If He isn't the Rav You Think He is?

Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty

The Waste of Obsessive Thoughts

Change Your Day from Success to Failure with 1 Minute

The Fastest & Simplest Way to Uplift the Mundane

What Can YOU Do to Counteract Shmutz & Tumah?

Myrtle Rising

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Copyright Notice

Davka BECAUSE David Hamelech made the most of his status as quiet, alone, and despised, he was chosen for eternal greatness and to be the progenitor of Mashiach.

"It’s not the spectacular deeds that will make you spectacular; it’s the ordinary deeds, the ones you do, that when accompanied with the devotion of the mind that truly makes a man great!"

- Rav Avigdor Miller
(Parshat Bamidbar: Walking Secretly with Hashem)