I just finished reading a gem of a book by Estie Florans called From Their Daughters' Hearts: Daughters of 18 Gedolim Reminisce about Their Fathers.

Many of you probably already read parts of it in Binah magazine or read the entire masterpiece yourselves.

It's a very welcome appearance after all the years much of frum English literature presented a "real" Gadol as aloof, incapable of anything outside of the actual study of Gemara, and not a particularly good or sensitive or even spiritual person (including to his wife & children) — thereby making it seem like being a middot-challenged intellectual was the pinnacle for both aspiring Torah scholars & kollel wives desiring a real ben Torah.

In other words, all brain with very little heart or soul.

(I'm not saying the presentation was accurate, just that it was the presentation.)

Not all literature did this. Some valuable exceptions existed. But the above portrait was indeed bemusingly common for years.

Just as a side point to give the benefit of the doubt:

I think a lot of women's classes & rabbinical biographies (both books & articles) resisted presenting a balanced portrayal of the Torah world's great men because they wanted to provide pushback against the feminist influence (there are better ways to do it) & because they didn't want a wife to use the Gadol's lofty behavior as a weapon against her husband (i.e., "Rav Scheinberg used to wash all the dishes at night without his wife even asking him...so why can't YOU?") or to even feel resentment in her heart (i.e., "When Rav Yisroel Mendel Kaplan's wife felt weak, he tended to the children, including waking up with them at night, and then rocking them to sleep as he learned from his Gemara...but MY husband just SLEEPS!")

But better ways exist to deal with envy & resentment than pretending great rabbis weren't actually so great in their personal lives & character.

Aside from that, there are other reasons why an unbalanced narrative developed & took hold for a while.

But baruch Hashem, the frum world realized this & sought to correct the imbalance with much more realistic portrayals.

And it's great this writer came along to present us with a much more complete picture from a more feminine point of view (along with some of the sons' narratives too).

Reading about the rabbanim who ended up as single fathers made for fascinating & inspiring reading. 

Both the Manchester Rosh Yeshivah Rav Yehuda Zev Segal & the Bridder Rebbe Amram Taub of Baltimore lost their wives to illness when they still had children at home.

In fact, his wife's passing left the Bridder Rebbe with 9 orphans from age 2 to 18.

It was heart-warming & awe-inspiring to read how much they both strove to be both mother & father to their children, even as they upheld their high standards of Yiddishkeit (before it became easier to do so) and continued to serve their communities.

Both strove & succeeded in attending to their children's emotional needs as well as their physical needs.

When the Manchester Rosh Yeshivah's 14-year-old daughter let him know she emotionally needed him more at home, he immediately rearranged his schedule to accommodate her, which included meals with her & learning Chumash with her.

​(The way the daughter told that story was also humorous.)

Both rabbanim made it a point to prioritize their children before others, regardless of how important or prestigious the others may have been.

In addition to the loss of the Bridder Rebbe's wife & single-parenting 9 children (plus his community work), the Bridder Rebbe struggled against his previous trauma: the murder of his first wife & their 5 children by the Nazis in Czechoslovakia.

He never spoke about his pain from that horrific loss, but one night in Baltimore, his oldest son heard the Rebbe crying out in his sleep, "Antloift, kinder! Antloift, kinder! — Escape, children! Escape, children!"

Nightmares frequently plague Holocaust survivors & one can assume the Rebbe was reliving that horrific moment when the Nazis came after his first family in Czechoslovakia.

But the oldest son was shocked to see how the morning following that nightmare, his father rose to rouse his children with his usual cheerful song: "Oifshtein l'avodas haBorei! — Arise to serve the Creator!" 

His eyes sparkled with the same joy they did every morning upon greeting his children.

Their respective chapters reveal so many stirring anecdotes about their humility & genuine love for others, it was incredible to see what heights can be reached in the face of such overwhelming obstacles.

Despite even the most superwoman wife's dedication to her rabbinical husband, she can't always do things on her own.

Furthermore, fathers have obligations toward their children, their children's chinuch in particular.

A father can not raise a child properly by ignoring the child.

Here are just a few heart-warming examples of just a few of the rabbanim featured in the book:

Rav Yisroel Mendel Kaplan
​ 
Because of his wife's physical weakness resulting from their living circumstances in Shanghai during World War II, Rav Yisroel Mendel Kaplan assisted his wife with the children as much as possible—including at night—and despite the hard physical job he needed to perform after immigrating to Chicago (before meriting a job teaching Torah).

Rav Kaplan remained attentive to his daughters' needs even after they became wives and mothers themselves.

For example, Rav Kaplan:

• wouldn't allow a pregnant daughter to bend down while sweeping; instead, he rushed to fetch the dustpan and bend down himself to collect the dirt.

 

• stocked a married daughter's home with the then-luxury of disposable diapers after seeing her use cloth diapers.

 

• would take out his grandchildren when their mother wasn't feeling well or when she needed to tidy the home.

​Upon hearing a married daughter tending to a colicky baby at night, he insisted on taking over so this married daughter could sleep.

(Needless to say, he also showered chessed on his sons- and daughters-in-law, but because the book focused on the personal experience of daughters, we hear mostly about the daughters' experiences.)

In fact, the evening before he passed away, Rav Kaplan cared for his pregnant unwell married daughter by wrapping her up in a large down jacket & woolen socks, then serving her hot food.

The next morning, he got up with his grandchildren (who woke at 5 in the morning) so their exhausted mother (his daughter) could rest. He tended to them & fed them — only moments before he passed away (not in front of them) with a book of Tehillim in his hands. 

Chessed until the very end.

Rav Avigdor Miller

For years, Rav Avigdor Miller created bedtime stories for his children in order to inculcate Torah values in an appealing way.

One series featured Jewish characters & their imaginary adventures in Africa while another series featured the exploits of a young boy hiding in a forest during the Holocaust, and a tzaddik in a cave.

In general, Rav Miller encouraged women with writing talent to author inspirational fiction & non-fiction to imbue the reader with yirat Shamayim because story creates such a great conduit for instilling values.

During hot summer nights without a fan or air-conditioning, Rav Miller stood over his children to fan them with a piece of cardboard. (This takes exertion & made him hotter as he made his children cooler.)

To help his wife, Rav Miller took their children to the zoo on chol hamoed Pesach, making an enjoyable Torah lesson out of it.

​In the summer, Rav Miller took the children berry-picking & exploring — and used nature to teach his children about Hashem's deeds & kindness.

He kept a memorable prize box for his grandchildren while his wife kept an equally memorable nosh box.

When his daughters became grandmothers themselves, he routinely greeted them with, "Hello, Millionaire Bubby!" — to praise them for the children & grandchildren they raised.

Rav Chaim Pinchas & Rebbetzin Basha Scheinberg

After the birth of her own first child, Rebbetzin Basha Scheinberg also nursed the baby of a non-Jewish Polish neighbor who could not manage to do so on her own.

When a bout of pneumonia endangered the life of one of his young daughters, Rav Scheinberg vowed to refrain from speaking on Shabbat. (And she recovered.) Yet he upheld this vow with pleasantness, making it into a game by gesturing to his children what he wanted to say, so they experienced this vow of silence as fun.

Rav Scheinberg often declared "Chessed begins in the kitchen!"

Every morning, Rav Scheinberg gave his children breakfast to allow his wife to sleep longer.

He often washed the dishes, perching a Gemara where he could learn while he scrubbed.

Another time, he realized the weekly task of cleaning the floors for Shabbat might temporarily harm the health of a teenage daughter.

So without evening telling her, Rav Scheinberg made sure he got to work on cleaning the floors before his daughter even woke up.

Rav Elazar Menachem Man Schach

Rav Schach's daughters aren't in the book, but it's intriguing to know that sometimes he answered the door while holding a mop — much to the shock of his students. When his wife was sick, he cleaned the floors & brought her meals.

Rav Moshe Sherer

Rav Moshe Sherer made sure to visit his children at camp outside the official visiting days so he could spend time exclusively with his children without people coming up to talk to him or ask him questions.

At bedtime & during Shabbat afternoons, Rav Sherer invented engaging stories & funny songs about a brother & sister named Pinchikel & Chana Fufeleh.

Rav Aharon Florans (the author's father-in-law)

To assist his wife & create an example for his sons, Rav Florans washed the dishes after Shabbat.

Despite raising a family full of boys, he never raised his voice.

While working full-time, Rav Florans spent weeks up at night caring for each newborn so his wife could get some sleep.

Again, the above doesn't do justice to these great men.

(And the above doesn't even touch on all the Gedolim mentioned in the book — a lot is missing from this post.)

They did so much more chessed & humble heroism than described here.

Also, the book goes into the interactions with compelling detail & dialogue, plus their dealings with others outside their families.

Another thread running through all the stories of these 18 Gedolim was the great love & joy permeating their homes.

Whether they expressed their love in words or through actions & facial expressions, their children continuously described feeling extremely valued & cherished, like an only child, and so on.

These rabbanim proved phenomenal listeners with their children — anything the child of any age needed to talk about.

Also, those who ran an open home full of all sorts of guests refused to do so in a way that might endangered their children. Guests were surreptitiously screened under welcoming smiles.

(This point often goes lost amid the stories of hospitality for mentally unwell people. Even the great hosts of the world, the Machlis family in Yerushalayim, took care to maintain an open home in a way that would not risk their children's safety.)

This book imbued me with increased love & appreciation for these great Torah scholars & activists for Am Yisrael.

The entire purpose of such stories should be to affect us positively, and hopefully inspire improvements in our own behaviors.

These portrayals also made me pay increased attention to how much I was focusing on interactions with my own children.

I found myself doing more to give full focus to even simple chatter from a young child & to be even more patient, pleasant, positive, and sensitive.

(Not that I was ignoring or always distracted before, but I'm on a path of continuous improvement, even as I stumble into potholes along the way...)

After all, if some of the greatest Torah scholars of the century related to their children that way, then it must be the correct way to parent & absolutely important.

For more on the behavior of Gedolim at home, please see:

• www.myrtlerising.com/blog/rav-ovadia-spent-the-night-learning-in-a-closet-rav-elyashiv-indulged-in-flowery-compliments-what-we-can-learn-from-real-gadolim-by-their-behavior-toward-their-wives​​​​​

 

• www.myrtlerising.com/blog/rav-chaim-kanievsky-as-a-devoted-caring-father

I just read an extraordinary memoir called Sori's Story: An Amazing Life of Survival & Faith by Sori Kraus & Devora Gliksman, also based on interviews with Rosalyn Livshin.

(Devorah Gliksman also authored another of my favorites, a memoir of the Paneth family from pre-WWII until they reached America: The Sun & the Shield.)

Born in Czechoslovakia in 1933 to a loving regal mother and a father who was both a talmid chacham & the epitome of bitachon & exemplary character, Sori led a charmed life with her younger sister Ruti.

Sori & Ruti received an ideal upbringing from caring, frum, devoted parents.

Interestingly, Sori's mother's chassidish father decided to wed her to the Litvish Shmuel Juda Binyomin Bernfeld in an effort to save his daughter from the encroaching Haskalah & Reform Movement—the Sori's chassidish grandfather believed that by marrying off his daughter to a talmid chacham, she would be saved & protected from the poisonous winds of change.

And he was right.

Sori's parents enjoyed an idyllic marriage together, full of the richness of Torah.

Together, they succeeded in imbuing their children with yirat Shamayim, bitachon, and wholeheartedly joyful devotion to Torah & mitzvot.

This memoir, more than any other, portrayed Hashem's Hand in Sori's survival during the Holocaust.

Although stories abound of children who survived, I found Sori particularly striking because up to the point she separated from her parents, Sori led a very sheltered & genteel childhood with gentle & loving parents, maids & nannies, plus warm & loving extended family.

Sori herself was a very sweet, well-behaved, lovely, innocent little girl.

Pampered yet disciplined, Sori's parents continued to shelter her & Ruti with piety & gentility even after they were forced to move into the ghetto.

At age 8, Sori's father & mother suddenly told her she needed to wear peasant clothing, get on a train by herself with false identification papers (and a new identity which Sori needed to memorize on the spot, and travel all alone until she would see through the window a distant cousin leave the train from another car. 

Furthermore, Sori was only told this right before she needed to actually do it! (This was the best way to handle this difficult situation.)

The family needed to escape to Hungary and they could not do it together.

As I read this, I found myself, How on earth...?!

According to all logic, a little sweet sheltered girl like Sori should never have made it past the train ride.

Usually, the children I read about had experienced more independence & responsibility before they found themselves on their own.

Or they were accompanied by an adult, even one from the non-Jewish underground.

Or they were a bit older than Sori—like age 10 or 12.

Or they possessed spunkier or bolder or shrewder personalities (like Sori's sister Ruti).

Sori was one of these quiet, sweet, guileless little girls.

Her parents had no choice & setting Sori off on her own was clearly agonizing for them (though they outwardly projected calm & resolve to Sori).

Such a sweet, sheltered, refined little girl like Sori should never have survived that journey (which, after successfully getting off the train, included a trek through the woods & a dangerous border-crossing on foot, plus nearly getting ravaged by pitchforks in the hands of Nazified Hungarians searching for Jews as she lay hiding under a stack of hay).

The fact that such a little girl like Sori managed the train journey displayed such a clear Hand of Hashem.

Miraculously, Sori, Ruti, and their parents all survived.

The book describes Sori's experiences hiding in Hungary, moving to a different Jewish family (all wonderful) every 3 months, a stint in a Christian orphanage, and a horrific 3-day stay with her sister in a center for immigrants & homeless—including the criminal & mentally ill dregs of Hungarian society.

Hungarian law forced the girls to stay there for 3 days, during which the frum community of Budapest did their best to help the girls by providing them with kosher food & kind treatment. 

​Sori's family ended up on the Kasztner train with the Satmar Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, which included a stint in the inhuman Bergen-Belsen death camp.

​It was fascinating to read the first-hand impressions of the Satmar Rav, whose purity & humble greatness even awed the secular Jews around him.

(Though not everyone. At one point, the Satmar Rav ended up in barracks with "mainly rough, secular people who gave him no rest," as Sori's father described it.)

​The Satmar Rav made sure to eat only kosher food (though he permitted others to eat whatever food they could find, kosher or not), he fasted 3 times a week, gave Torah classes, learned privately with others, and made himself available for questions & advice.

On Simchat Torah, the Satmar Rav managed to create an atmosphere of joy amid all the torment, leading everyone in singing & dancing. Sori found this accomplishment miraculous & rejuvenating.

The Satmar Rav risked his life for acts of caring & concern for every other Jew, whether he knew them or not.

A frum woman who dedicated herself to supplying the Satmar Rav with kosher food received his blessing for survival & his promise of a shidduch for her.

She merited to leave that horrible place before the Satmar Rav did.

In 1945, Sori's family made it to Eretz Yisrael and, after a brief stay in the Atlit detention camp, the family settled in Tel Aviv.

Sori's family settled in Eretz Yisrael for Torah reasons and distanced themselves from the secular Leftist Tziyonim.

Sori describes the tireless efforts of the secularists in Atlit to secularize the religious.

They insisted religious practices were no longer necessary & that life on a kibbutz would be perfect, painting a picture of "financial prosperity and communal living and utopia for everyone." 

Note: In reality, the kibbutzim never achieved this—except for those that eventually turned to capitalist enterprises. The rest survived on government assistance or shut down.

Furthermore, many children who grew up on kibbutzim left due to their traumatic memories of waking up frightened in the children's house at night with no adult around—the person assigned to night duty in the children's house usually abandoned this duty to go to sleep—and their parents unreachable in another building. The children did not enjoy this communist lifestyle and later sought to create normal homes for themselves outside the kibbutz movement. Some "utopia."

​These secular Leftist influencers approached the religious Jews with displays of compassion & tremendous concern for all they suffered. 

They particularly targeted religious children, many of whom came on their own as Holocaust orphans.

Sori recalls how bad she felt for them, with no way to resist the constant pressure & wooing of the secular Leftists.

Despite the innate gentleness & kindness of Sori's mother, the Leftist onslaught forced her to speak sharply to the camp organizer & counselors, demanding that they leave her daughters alone.

But they ignored Sori's mother.

As Sori sums up on page 273:

Fortunately, Sori continued to enjoy the love & bitachon that always emanated from her parents, which made her impenetrable to the wooing of the secular Left.

The chareidi Agudah did its best to help them, and managed to succeed despite the Agudah representatives only allowed to visit (rather than join the staff as the secular Leftists did).

The family rebuilt their life in a suburb of Tel Aviv (later moving to Tel Aviv proper), and even brought a lovely new baby into the world: Yishaye Yosef.

Even before the UN voted to allow the Jews to create their own state, Sori emphasized that she and her family felt at home in Eretz Yisrael (page 291-2):

This beautiful feeling was marred by the Arab-sympathizing British occupiers and their suffocating limits on Jewish immigration to Eretz Yisrael.

During Israel's 1948 War of Independence, Sori's father felt so sure of Mashiach's imminent arrival, he laid out his Shabbat clothes every night so he'd be ready to greet Mashiach upon waking up.

(He continued to do this until the end of his life in I think the 1960s.)

The book does an excellent job of describing the mixed feelings the non-Tziyoni frum Jews experienced during that time.

On one hand, Sori felt that Hashem's Great Love for Am Yisrael would allow the Jews (despite the secular majority) to triumph. She & everyone else felt innate optimism, a feeling of unity with all other Jews despite their level of practice, pride in their Land & the Jewish soldiers fighting to defend both the Land & the people, plus they felt united with other Jews in the desire for the struggle to "culminate in a safe, secure haven for Yidden from all over."

She describes her initial perception of the Jewish victory as "a dream come true" and "To live in a place run by Jews, for our benefit, without being subjects of anti-Semitic rulers" and as a "harbinger of Mashiach's times."

Yet events in 1949 would mar than initial optimism, noted on page 304:

In other words, the secular Leftists now in charge did not share the same feelings of unity that the profoundly religious Sori & so many other Jews felt in Eretz Yisrael.

In 1949, the Israeli government brought 40,000 Jews from Yemen to Eretz Yisrael.

It's rare to come across an eye-witness account by a religious neighbor of the Yemenite Jews.

Fortunately, we have Sori's.

She remembers when they moved into her Yad Eliyahu neighborhood (a suburb of Tel Aviv) with nothing but the clothes they wore, optimism, and large families of children.

Sori found them very religious, very pleasant—and very poor. She describes them as "very simple, sweet people who were staunch believers in Hashem and in their mesorah."

Sori's fondness & admiration for her new neighbors made what happened next all the more painful.

The Tziyoni leaders began a campaign of pressure on the Yemenite Jews to change their ways.

These leaders & their minions actively worked to convince the Yemenites to change their views and compromise on Torah & mitzvot.

They confused the Yemenite Jews with lies, claiming that they—these secular Leftists—also kept Torah...just in a different way. These propagandists asserted that things had changed.

They insisted the Yemenites were "crippling" their children.

The pressure started in the maabarot tent camps & continued into this Tel Aviv neighborhood, where the large Yemenite families lived in impossibly cramped apartments in poverty with little food.

Note: Charedi activists struggled to intervene on behalf of the Yemenite Jews in the maabarot, but the secular Leftists blocked them at every turn, going so far as to beat up the young charedi yeshivah students who insisted on coming in to help their Yemenite brothers & sisters. 

The secular Leftists boasted of their generosity regarding the cramped housing they gave the Yemenite Jews in Yad Eliyahu, insisting they could not give them larger homes & claimed they were trying to find jobs for the Yemenite husbands. 

They promised to take the children to a place where the children would receive sunlight, nutritious food, spacious living, and fresh air.

(Remember, the journey from Yemen and the stint in the squalid maabarot prior to Yad Eliyahu greatly weakened the children's physical health, which they found difficult to regain living in cramped conditions of Yad Eliyahu without porches or yards, and without enough money for plentiful food.)

The Jewish Agency reps promised the children would return home "happy and rejuvenated."

After tremendous pressure over the long term on these impoverished people, most parents finally capitulated out of concern for their children's health & the reassurance of the observance of religious traditions.

The Jewish agency counselors cleverly showed up in conservative (though modern) clothing to take the children.

Sori & her family watched the scene with great foreboding.

She described the counselors as young men & women brimming with health & energy (something very attractive to young children).

As they took the Yemenite children to the waiting buses, Sori noted how the "Large, pale, white palms clasped the small chocolate brown hands tightly" and how the petite, undernourished "waifs" were dwarfed by the "ebullient counselors both physically and emotionally."

It foreshadowed what was to come later.

During the absence of the children, Sori felt pained by the infinitely sad eyes of the Yemenite mothers who remained behind without their children.

A few months later, these formerly sweet refined children returned with shrieks & wild noise.

Sori described feeling ill upon seeing how the children appeared after a few months in the hands of the secular Leftists.

Yes, the children returned well-fed, happy, confident, and wearing new clothes.

But as Sori saw it (page 308):

Also gone were the boys' payot & tzitzit and the girls' long braids.

Their mothers burst into weeping, and continued weeping even as the children reassured them they still kept Torah & mitzvot.

Yet the children only went through the motions of mitzvot out of respect for their parents.

The fathers looked stoic & upset, and Sori's heart ached for them all.

As time went on, Sori realized that the Jewish Agency representatives had "secularized those children beyond recognition."

She viewed their initial campaign to wear down the parents as "all but kidnapped" these Yemenite Jewish children.

She continued to see profound sadness in the eyes of the Yemenite mothers long after the return of the children.

Finally, Agudah received permission to send their own representatives to the maabarot for one summer.

Sori chose to go help.

Due to her former imprisonment in Bergen-Belsen, Sori did not experience the shock her friends experienced upon encountering the squalid conditions in the camp.

Sori described the children as "sweet" with "sunny personalities" despite the impoverished conditions.

The parents expressed their gratitude & pleasure over their children finally receiving a Jewish education in contrast to the "foolishness" taught in the secular schools infiltrating the maabarot.

Sori noted that most of the children participated eagerly with the Agudah counselors & even happily readopted some of their old traditions.

After their time was up, Sori and the other Agudah activists tried to maintain contact with these children.

Indeed, with this support, some Yemenite children managed to withstand the unrelenting onslaught of the secular Leftists—and remained religious.

However, the secular Leftism swamped the charedi efforts.

Sori acknowledges that the loss of most of the centuries-old Yemenite community to secularism caused her deep pain, especially as she was forced to watch the process while helpless to do much to stem the onslaught (despite her heroic efforts in the camp & her family's support of Agudah to help their Yemenite brothers & sisters).

On page 310, Sori's great love for her fellow Jews & for Eretz Yisrael cause her to muse:

A lot of people dislike hearing such words & seeing these events in their true light.

However, Sori speaks from a great love & understanding of Torah, Am Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael.

Listening thoughtfully & open-mindedly to her perceptions can help us understand where our true struggle lies & to whom & what we should really be aligning ourselves.

This is important & still affects us today.

Sori's family remained in Eretz Yisrael for the rest of their lives, though Sori herself eventually moved to England (for reasons explained in the book), where she married, raised a family, and worked to enhance the Torah Judaism of England.

However, she looks back on that choice with some reservation.

A part of her regrets not settling in Eretz Yisrael after her marriage, but she acknowledges that everything comes from Hashem and that for some reason, she and her husband decided to settle in England despite her father's pleas for them to settle in Eretz Yisrael.

Despite her humility in describing herself & her accomplishments, reading between the lines indicates that Sori did a lot to build Torah Judaism in England, much of it via girls' education.

Nonetheless, a great love of Eretz Yisrael remains with Sori.

One of the most charming parts of the book lies in Sori's description of life in her family's new apartment in Tel Aviv.

Their apartment stood nearly on the seaside of the Mediterranean.

During the summer nights, the family dealt with the heat & humidity of Tel Aviv by sleeping on the sand of the seashore.

Sori remembers those nights on the sand & how much she relished the cool Mediterranean breeze, the sound of the waves, the spacious night sky filled with sparkling stars, and the salty smell of the sea.

The experience also brought a beautiful wake-up at dawn, accompanied by a dip in the sea, which Sori described as "my own private pool."

Despite the length of this review, the book includes so much more than what's written here, such as:

• the profound warmth & love Sori's parents managed to give her throughout her entire life, regardless of any traumas or distance
• a vivid description of Jewish life in Pressburg/Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, prior to the Holocaust
• the astounding bitachon Sori's father managed to cultivate & imbue in his family
• the other wonderfully special & heroic people in Sori's extended family
• Sori's experiences during the Holocaust
• Sori's return to Czechoslovakia as an adult
• Sori's years in England, plus her special marriage and raising a family
• Sori's work in England
• Sori's struggles with trauma & healing
• Much, much more!

I'm very grateful to Sori and everyone involved with publishing this invaluable book.

It's very special & offers the reader so much, both as a memoir and as a beautiful & loving guide on how to cultivate a beautiful Torah-based family life & live your life with Hashem despite difficulties & traumas.

I'm reading a book right now about Rav Shlomo Hoffman, translated into English from the original Hebrew:

Secrets of the Soul, Volume I: Self-Awareness & Dealing with Challenges

The book consists of a series of classes given by Rav Hoffman, recorded & transcripted.

Rav Hoffman wasn't well-known, but several Gedolei HaDor not only knew him, but consulted with him.

Other Gedolei HaDor served as his mentors.

I met Rav Hoffman a few times when he was around 80 and found him to be a sweet, gentle, patient person.

Though the book focuses on Rav Hoffman, the passages regarding Rav Isaac Sher of the  original Slabodka Yeshivah really stand out.

Rav Sher was Rav Avigdor Miller's rav in Slabodka and continued to be Rav Miller's rav throughout the rest of his life.

​Rav Miller told people that when he didn't provide a source for an idea or hashkafah, then just know that it came from Rav Sher.

Initially, I assumed Rav Miller, in his humility, wished to deflect credit away from himself (and to a certain extent, that's true because Rav Miller certainly offered ideas of his own).

​However, I'm pleasantly intrigued to discover how much Rav Sher's voice reminds me of Rav Miller—indicating that Rav Miller's humility really did allow him to be intrinsically influenced by great Rav Sher.

Rav Sher merited to survive the Holocaust, but he attributed his survival to one thing only (page 51):

In other words, Rav Sher meant Hashem gave him the ability to assist young men in refining themselves and their avodat Hashem.

(Also, please note that Rav Sher attributed nothing innately to himself, but merely described himself as "experienced" in that particular area.)

​But please, don't believe for one minute that was the only reason Hashem saved him! 

Rav Sher was a tremendous Torah Sage and a wonderful person.

But in his humility, this is what he believed about himself and thus he dedicated the rest of his life to helping young men—including the young Rav Hoffman.

The above quote was first said by Rav Yisrael Salanter, then passed down via the Alter of Slabodka, and on to Rav Isaac Sher, who made it a cornerstone of his work with young men.

Drawing on sources like Seforno, Targum Yonatan, the Vilna Gaon, the Ohr HaChaim, Targum Onkelos, and more, Rav Sher made the case of a positive attitude toward sinning & teshuvah.

• (1) EVERYONE SINS.

This is a normal, unavoidable part of being a human being.

That's why these Slabodka leaders (and the ancient Sages before them) placed so much emphasis on dwelling on the solution, rather than on the sin itself.

• (2) TESHUVAH REQUIRES OPTIMISM.

We need to be positive about our ability to change.

Here's Seforno on Beresheit 4:6, detailing what Hashem meant when He asked Kayin (Cain) why his face had fallen after he murdered his own brother (page 92):

This is not pop psych gobbledeegook.

This is authentic Torah wisdom. (Seforno lived in Italy 1475-1550.)

​We need to look forward toward spiritual healing.

• (3) DON'T LEAVE YOUR GOOD PLACE.

This is a direct idea from Targum Yonatan on Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 10:4, who stated:
​"...do not abandon the good place that you had until then..."

Because the above rabbanim focused on their work with yeshivah bachurim (young men), they (and the above commentaries) emphasized the importance Torah study as the remedy itself to sin.

They opposed taking on all sorts of stringencies, self-punishments, fasts, acts of piety, and the like.

Don't leave your good place! You were learning Torah? Keep going with that!

The book also mentions that not abandoning your good place means to resist the pull to drop all the good things you are doing.

Don't let despair and self-loathing cause you to spiral downward.

The good things you do still retain their goodness despite the bad things you've done.

• (4) DON'T BROOD OVER THE SIN.

The Ohr HaChaim and others emphasize how thinking about the awfulness of your sin paradoxically brings you into temptation again.

In other words, all that brooding & self-recrimination lead you to dwell on the sin, which paradoxically reminds you of how alluring the sin was in the first place.

Rav Shlomo Hoffman states on page 102:

Not good.

​Focus on fixing, on problem-solving instead!

BTW, while regret is integral to teshuvah, you need not brood & mope over the sin.

Saying, "Gosh, I sure do regret that, Hashem!" is enough, especially if sinking deeper into regret will cause you unproductive pain and even paradoxically awaken the desire to sin again.
​

• (5) FOCUS ON WHAT TO DO NOW.

In Parshat Metzora 33:8, the Kli Yakar (1550-1619) states:

​This is an incredible statement from the Kli Yakar who himself was a tremendous tzaddik and Torah Sage and who personally knew & was taught by Torah giants—like the Maharal of "Golem of Prague" fame, who produced volumes of insights & mussar, plus Rav Shlomo Luria who produced Yam shel Shlomo.

In the original context, he uses this as proof of why you shouldn't indulge in fault-finding because you can actually find a genuine fault in everybody. 

So what's the point?

NO ONE IS PERFECT & NO ONE CAN EVER BE PERFECT FROM BIRTH UNTIL DEATH.

So why bother picking people apart—including yourself?

​Here's Rav Isaac Sher (page 108):

The above provides scintillating advice, particularly in light of modern-day attitudes, which careen from ripping a person apart for the most minor "flaw"...to the "feel-good" approach of reassuring people that God understands and therefore, there's no need to move much out of your comfort zone.

These attitudes derive from the surrounding non-Jewish society, but we unfortunately encounter them among some frum people—including some of those whom we innocently turn to for guidance.

But the guidance presented in this post emanates from true talmidei chachamim throughout the ages—in other words, authentic Torah guidance.

Secrets of the Soul was compiled by Rabbi Simcha Meir Stein & distributed by Feldheim.

In Europe, this book is distributed by Lehmanns.

In Australia, it's distributed by Golds World of Judaica.

I found it in the English section of my local Israeli bookstore (which hosts a limited selection of English books, but sometimes I get lucky—like with this book).

For me, its most valuable aspects are the sourced commentaries sprinkled throughout and the direct conversations of guidance & advice from some of the greatest Torah Sages of the 20th century.

Many of these Torah Sages are no longer among the living, so it's very precious to have access to their literal words featured in this book.

Rav Hoffman worked with a wide variety of Jews across Israeli society, including hardened criminals. The book also contains illuminating stories & observations & insights from Rav Shlomo Hoffman (including his own inner struggles), who was a talmid chacham in his own right.

The post on the Kli Yakar on Parshat Metzora (http://www.myrtlerising.com/blog/part-i-dealing-with-blabbering-fault-finders-or-the-kli-yakar-on-parshat-metzorah) came about after reading classic Jewish sources (Pele Yoetz, Orchot Tzaddikim, Kli Yakar, etc.), which offered advice on dealing with difficult people—advice that contradicted much of the well-intended advice popular today.

I found these Sages so helpful because following some of the popular advice can davka harm you with regard to certain kinds of difficult people—as happened to me.

It was also validating to read the timely words of these towering Sages. They definitely understood the pain & harm caused by critics, fault-finders, and snipers—the Pele Yoetz even describes such interactions as to "gore each other."

Anyone who has ever suffered from such a "friend" understands exactly what this means! 

Modern English describes feeling "gutted" or "stabbed in the back" or "punched in the stomach." Likewise, the Pele Yoetz likens it to being gored by the horn of a bull.

Pretty descriptive—and accurate.

So I wrote up that post in the hope of providing authentic Torah validation & guidance to others via the actual words of our Sages.

In modern times, it seems the Kli Yakar's insights about blabber-mouthed fault-finders also apply to blogs & media outlets who indulge in that behavior.

But always remember this reassuring fact:​

I don't remember when I first heard of the 4-Elements theory of personality.

The idea of both nature and the human psyche being rooted in the 4 elements of fire, water, air, and earth is something you hear about from time to time because it was very popular among ancient Greek philosophers.

Later, I realized that ancient Jewish Sages also discussed the 4 elements, but I never paid much attention until reading Ahavat Kedumim (A Commentary on The Lost Princess) by Rav Ofer Erez.

There, Rav Erez presents a brief discussion of the 4 elements as they relate to the human psyche and how to use that knowledge for middot work.

That's when I realized this was a big thing in Judaism.

This realization was strengthened upon encountering Rav Itamar Schwartz's writings. Rav Schwartz leans heavily toward using the 4 elements as a tool to do teshuvah and rectify one's soul at the deepest level.

Also, Rav Schwartz provides a list of where the 4 elements are rooted in Jewish sources: Torah Sources of the 4 Elements (Hebrew Only).

It's important to note that even if a Torah book was only printed later, most of its sources are rooted in even more ancient sources that were either transmitted orally or written down in a book that got lost over the millennia.

(For example, some sources say that Avraham Avinu wrote several books and only one is said to be in existence today, but we no longer have the rest of them. Please see HERE for mention of that.)

Also, in Hebrew, the 4 elements are often referred in various sources as the 4 yesodot — but also the 4 yesodin, the 4 teva'im, or the 4 gufim, and maybe other terms. 

If you look on page 3, section bet/2 of the above-linked pamphlet of sources, you'll see that Sefer Yetzirah Perek 3: Mishna 3 mentions the 3 amot (air, water, fire), stating that the heavens were initially created from fire, and the land (earth) was created from water, and that air is the a type of defining buffer between the fire and the water.

It explains other things about it too.

Anyway, I started to realize that the 4 Elements was an authentically Jewish way to understand personality and middot, and I started reading what Rav Schwartz says about it, yet I couldn't pin down my own elements and got lost in it all.

To use the system correctly, it's essential to know your base element and then the main influencing element, and then the next influence after that, and so on.

Recently, Rivka Levy published a new self-help book called People Smarts: The System: Understand yourself, understand others, and crush your stress.

​Originally, I wanted to list & review the main books that formed my opinions & knowledge of the modern history within Eretz Yisrael.
 
Yet what was supposed to be a list & review of several books ended up turning into one long review of what was, for me, the most transformational of the books:
Guardian of Jerusalem: The Life & Times of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld written by his grandson, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Sonnenfeld. (Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld ztz"l was born in Eastern Europe in 1848 and passed away in Eretz Yisrael in 1932.) 

This is an abridged translation of the 3-volume Hebrew Ha'Ish al HaChomah (The Man on the Wall). 
 
On the other hand, while I and others found this book transformational, I met other people who found the book merely “interesting” or even just so-so.
 
Yet for me, this pivotal book opened my eyes to so much.

​For example, the people I was always taught to respect as the “pioneering heroes” of Turkish- and then British-occupied Palestine were actually dangerous power-hungry rabble-rousers who either cared very little for or outright hated Judaism, and continuously endangered their fellow Jews.

Ironically, these "pioneering heroes" nearly wiped out Jewish settlement in Eretz Yisrael — ​which was then rescued by the very ultra-Orthodox rabbis so profoundly despised by these pioneering heroes and their adherents; such adherents also include historians who should know better.

​For example, throughout the world, non-Orthodox Jewish communities hold up Eliezer Ben-Yehudah as a great hero, mostly for his revival of Hebrew as a modern language.
 
Yet he created great problems, not only for religious Jews in Eretz Yisrael, but for all Jews living in Eretz Yisrael, and ultimately ended up endangering every single one of the Jews living under the rule of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
 
For instance, Ben-Yehudah published an article in 1895 that seemed to encourage a bloody revolution of the Jews against the Turkish rulers.
 
And while religious Jews have always been coming to Eretz Yisrael over the millennia, it was the new secular nationalist Jewish movement that caused the Turkish rulers to ban Jewish immigration in 1884.

Sometimes, the Ottoman authorities issued decrees prohibiting Jews from outside of Eretz Yisrael to buy land or housing in Eretz Yisrael. When some Jews tried to go around this prohibition, the Turkish authorities expanded the decrees to ban home repairs — like fixing leaky roofs.

Needless to say, this not only impeded Jewish aliyah, but also increased the deprivations of Jews already settled in the Holy Land.
 
In fact, the famed tzaddik, Rav Shmuel Salant, tried intervening with the Turkish governor to allow Jewish aliyah, but the nationalist revolution-mongering articles repeatedly published in the secular Jewish newspapers of Eastern Europe kept the Turks in a state of wariness. It was only with great effort that Rav Salant was able to convince the Turks to re-open Jewish immigration.
 
This is only one example of this particular historical deception put out by the secular Left.
 
So it was actually the “ultra”-Orthodox Jewish Sages who came to (or were born in) Eretz Yisrael, these same pious Sages who lived in Eretz Yisrael and did everything they could to keep the borders open for the aliyah of their fellow Jews.
 
The secular Leftists in Eastern Europe who called themselves “Zionists” and embraced Communism were the ones who actually provoked the bans on aliyah and stunted Jewish immigration to Eretz Yisrael.
 
But you’ll never hear that outside the frum community because in the Leftist narrative, the Torah-observant Jews are always the bad guys and the obstacles, and the assimilated “progressive” Jews are always the heroes.
 
So when the Turkish rulers got wind of this article, it spelled very bad news for ALL Jews throughout the empire.
 
As a result, Rav Salant convened a meeting of fellow Sages, including Rav Sonnenfeld.
 
Rav Sonnenfeld advised turning to the local Sephardi Gadol Hador Rav Yaakov Shaul Elyashar for assistance.
 
Why?
 
Due to all the nationalist revolution-mongering sentiment coming out of secular Jewish Europe, the Turks lost their trust of Ashkenazi Jews (although Rav Salant himself still had some influence). Because the Sephardi Jews under their reign never agitated against them, they still trusted the Sephardi Jews.
 
Along these lines, Rav Sonnenfeld recommended that Rav Salant and the Ashkenazi beit din proclaim their support of Rav Elyashar, to which Rav Salant and the other Ashkenazi rabbis immediately agreed.
 
The Ashkenazi Gadolei Hador sent a rabbinical emissary to this Sephardi Sage Rav Elyashar with a copy of the incriminating article. Upon reading Ben-Yehudah’s inflammatory message, Rav Elyashar became incensed upon realizing the danger his beloved Jewish brethren were suddenly in.

​Rav Elyashar immediately contacted the Turkish authorities with a message of unequivocal rejection of the ideas within the article, insisting that such ideas did not reflect the Jewish community at large.
 
This showed Heavenly assisted foresight because at that moment, news of the article reached the seat of the empire in Constantinople, which resulted in the Sultan himself summoning the Gadol of Turkey, Rav Moshe HaLevi.
 
The advisers to the Sultan recommended harsh measures against the Jews. In fact, unbeknownst to any of the Jews (including these great Sages) of that time, the Turkish council decided it wanted to expel ALL Jews from the ENTIRE Ottoman empire!

(According to my estimates, this included around a million Jews — maybe less.)
 
Needless to say, this would have sparked a terrible catastrophe for Sephardi Jewry, with nowhere to go — and the Jews of Eretz Yisrael included in this expulsion! At that time, the Ottoman Empire compassed Jewish communities throughout the entire Middle East (minus Arabia & Iran).
 
Fortunately, the Sultan held such a high opinion of Rav Yaakov Shaul Elyashar & Rav Shmuel Salant (the two leading Sephardi & Ashkenazi authorities in Eretz Yisrael at that time), the Sultan first wished to hear from these two great Sages.
 
A reply to the Sultan was dictated by Rav Elyashar in his name & the name of Rav Shmuel Salant to Rav Yosef Rivlin, who then sent it to Rav Moshe HaLevi in Turkey.
 
Admirably, the reply was straight-foward & unapologetic about the innate Jewish yearning for the re-establishment of Tzion & Yerushalayim.

Yet it stated this fundamental Torah concept in an appealing & non-threatening manner.

​The great Sage emphasized the Jewish yearning to return to Yerushalayim & live under their own king, but emphasized that they are praying for God to bring this about. He also reassured the Sultan that Jews are commanded to pray for the welfare of whatever kingdom they live in and that they certainly pray for the welfare of the Turkish empire.
 
This communiqué signed by the 2 great Sages of Eretz Yisrael freed the Sultan to refuse to issue a decree of expulsion.
 
Interestingly, this communiqué also saved Ben-Yehudah, whom the Turks wanted to punish harshly. Instead, he was sentenced to 1 year in prison (which is still pretty bad, considering the Turkish prisons of that time) — but even that sentence was eventually suspended.
 
Yet how was this tremendous salvation reported by the agitating anti-Torah activists in Europe?
 
Negatively!
 
The secular Jewish newspaper HaTzefira condemned this heroic act of the Gedolei Hador as “mesirah”—informing on fellow Jews to the non-Jewish authorities!

It bears emphasizing again: The Turkish authorities already knew about the article. It wasn't the Sages who brought it to their attention. If there was any mesirah here, it was committed by Ben-Yehudah and the irresponsible publishers of such articles. And anyway, this wasn't the only article that worried the Turks; this had been going on for a while.
 
So we see how a distorted Jewish history is taught to unsuspecting Jews outside the Torah community.

Here's another story that appeared in a previous post, but I'm reposting here for your convenience:

​At one point, Rav Sonnenfeld went way out of his way to save the life of a terrible Jew (“one of the leaders of the Zionist Labor Federation, known for his virulent anti-religious attacks”) who needed the superior medical treatment provided only at Shaarei Tzedek hospital...and only Rav Sonnenfeld could make it happen.
 
To provide some background: The Beit Din of Yerushalayim had placed a ban on anyone who entered the Missionary Hospital, whether for work or for treatment, with dire results for anyone who violated this ban.
 
Anyway, it was assumed that the legendary Dr. Wallach of Shaarei Tzedek would refuse to admit a person who both intentionally chose treatment at the Missionary Hospital (despite the ban and the poorer medical treatment there) and who operated as a rabid anti-Torah Leftist bent on destroying Yiddishkeit in Eretz Yisrael.
 
Indeed, upon being brought to Shaarei Tzedek, the Leftist and his family encountered resistance from Dr. Wallach.
 
Interestingly, the family asked an off-the-derech youth to approach Rav Sonnenfeld.

​This youth was the son of a big talmid chacham and well-known to Rav Sonnenfeld. This youth also knew that Rav Sonnenfeld was “quite upset” with this same youth for leaving Torah and befriending this anti-Torah Leftist.
 
Nonetheless, this same youth approached Rav Sonnenfeld at home, where Rav Sonnenfeld still received this youth with warmth.

Upon hearing of the urgent situation, the rav braved a severe thunderstorm to rush to Shaarei Tzedek, where Rav Sonnenfeld insisted that halacha demanded the admission of this dangerously ill traitor (but promised to discuss the matter with Dr. Wallach later).
 
Two weeks later, the anti-Torah Leftist experienced a miraculous recovery, then continued his nefarious activities.
 
Knowing how much the Leftist disliked Rav Sonnenfeld, none of the Leftist's associates informed him of Rav Sonnenfeld’s life-saving intervention & mesirut nefesh.
 
By the way, this also shows the mentality of such misguided people. Why not tell the Leftist leader? Why not tell this rabid hater that one of the Gadolei Hador saved his life? Maybe it would soften him up a bit. At least, it might stop him from attacking the tzaddikim. Maybe he’d more willingly to hear Rav Sonnenfeld’s side and compromise a bit.

​But those who knew davka decided to be careful not to tell him. So once again, we see that Leftists don’t really pursue peace; they have other agendas.
 
Anyway, a year later, this same Leftist delivered a keynote speech at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new settlement in the North. When he reached the climax of his speech, this Leftist gave a frenzied shout:

​Sitting in the audience was the same youth who’d interceded on the Leftist’s behalf.

This frenzied proclamation spurred the youth to jump to his feet and shout his protest against such slander.

​At the invitation of the shocked Leftist, the youth took over the podium and explained to all assembled “exactly how the ‘black arm’ of R’ Chaim Sonnenfeld had interceded to save the life of one who had vowed to destroy him.”
 
Not that this revelation of Rav Sonnenfeld's great goodness softened up the haters.

They continued on as they were.

Furthermore, Guardian of Jerusalem shows clearly how the secular Leftists keep landing on the wrong side of history.

Because they don’t actually care about their fellow Jews, but only their own political interests, they tend to make concessions when it’s better to be unyielding, and conversely, display aggression when diplomacy would work better.
 
History has shown again & again that Socialism & Communism demand a complete takeover of the government.

Because these movements necessitate what’s known as “big government,” this inherently means that they must take over all aspects of government. By virtue of their big government policies, Socialism & Communism demand complete domination (for themselves) and complete submission (of their citizens).

(And in the case of the Communists, this domination & submission repeatedly occurs via much cruelty & bloodshed.) 
 
But people like Rav Sonnenfeld & other Gedolei Hador (who actually care about all Jews) knew when to stand tough and when to seek peace. Real talmidei chachamim routinely seek win-win solutions, which benefit the surrounding non-Jews too.

​In fact, Rav Sonnenfeld decided to make a kind of peace agreement with the King of Jordan (known at that time as King Hussein ibn-Ali of the Hashemite Kingdom). 

Considered the senior & most influential leader in the Middle East at that time, King Hussein’s newspaper actually lauded the Jewish return to their Homeland & called on the local Arabs to remember the writings & traditions that bade them to be hospitable & tolerant, focusing on the accomplishments of the Jewish and stressing that Eretz Yisrael was the “holy and beloved birthplace of the Jews.”
 
Once again, we see repeated throughout history that our holy tzaddikim often win the love and respect of the non-Jewish leaders.

​As the last Gemara in Brachot says: "Talmidei chachamim increase shalom in the world."
 
Rav Sonnenfeld sought a meeting with the king to enable unlimited Jewish aliyah, but was thwarted by the secular Leftists who wanted to take over.
 
Unfortunately, the anti-Torah Leftists discovered this planned charedi delegation and denounced it as “treacherous,” presenting it as undermining the interests of the people of Israel.

(It didn't. It only improved the interests of the people of Israel. However, it did loosen the anti-Torah Leftist stranglehold on Jewish society in Eretz Yisrael.)
 
The anti-Torah Leftists also resorted to physical threats, which intimidated several of the charedi delegates into withdrawing.

However, 3 delegates managed to reach the king and presented an appealing plea, not only for continued aliyah, but also for an improvement in the conditions of the Jews already living in Eretz Yisrael.
 
The king received them warmly, bestowed honors upon them, and even handed them a large sum of money to be distributed among the Jewish poor of Yerushalayim.

​At the same time, Rav Sonnenfeld viewed the actual Land with reverence and saw both the return of religious Jews and the newfound patriotism of the secular Jews as the beginning of the Geula — even as he waged an unwavering battle against all the anti-Torah leaders and their agendas, and against encroaching secularism itself.
 
In fact, Rav Sonnenfeld was not afraid to tell Chaim Weizmann that: 

​Rav Sonnenfeld went on to denigrate the secular concept of Zion as:

​...while considering a Jewish sovereignty as “icing on the cake, which will come by itself.”

​(page 375)

Rav Sonnenfeld lovingly told a grandson (who received an invitation to serve as rav in one of Czechoslovakia’s leading communities): 

His grandson decided to remain in Eretz Yisrael.  
 
After the savage riots & massacres of 1929, Rav Sonnenfeld insisted on performing a bris milah in an area that necessitated his passing through some particularly dangerous Yishmaeli neighborhoods.
 
When a friend literally grabbed Rav Sonnenfeld’s arm and begged him not to proceed, Rav Sonnenfeld declared:

​(pg. 252)

Throughout the book, you repeatedly see displays of Rav Sonnenfeld’s dedication to the poor, the downtrodden, Jewish settlement in Eretz Yisrael, bringing Torah to all Jews; you see his incredible ahavat Yisrael and his profound sympathy toward even the most errant Jews.

You see his dedication toward peace among fellow Jews, particularly among the different groups of Torah-observant Jews, and also peace with non-Jewish authorities in an effort to prevent wars and bloodshed of both Jews & non-Jews.

The ultimate example of a warrior from love, Rav Sonnenfeld exemplified humility & a total commitment to Hashem.
 
In contrast, the viciousness & power-lust of the anti-Torah Leftists also come through: 

• their willingness to assassinate individuals who interfere with their grab for power
• their willingness to starve entire communities, including children
• You see their impetuousness that threatens Jews far & wide.
• You see exactly how their ego-driven efforts actually shut down the very aliyah they claim they stand for and increase the suffering of the Jews of Eretz Yisrael

​ 
This is also seen through the secular manipulation of the Sephardi communities, which continued long after the establishment of Medinat Yisrael.

​While the Ashkenazi tzaddikim (like Rav Sonnenfeld) displayed great concern for their Sephardi brethren, the secular Leftists would plot against the Ashkenazi religious community and when the religious Ashkenazim resisted, the Leftists would cry, “Racism!” and insist they were acting on behalf of the Sephardim.
 
They never were, as repeatedly shown by their actions since then. 

Looking at everything altogether, it seems inconceivable that the anti-Torah Leftists hated Rav Sonnenfeld so rabidly.

Here was a man who loved Hashem so much, he couldn't help but to love Hashem's Land and also Hashem's people — even the most errant ones.

Looking at just a sampling of what Rav Sonnenfeld achieved:

• He saved Ottoman Jewry from terrible suffering.
• He saved the entire Jewish settlement in Eretz Yisrael (exactly what the self-proclaimed Zionist claimed to be so gung-ho about).
• He saved Ben-Yehudah from harsh punishment.
• He saved one of his vicious opposers from certain death.
• He refused to allow others to say yemach shemo when mentioning Ben-Yehudah.
• He even found a positive merit in the extremely dysfunctional Ben-Yehudah.

​ — How is it possible to hate such a person as Rav Sonnenfeld?

Not to mention that as far as Jewish assertion over who Eretz Yisrael really belongs to: Rav Sonnenfeld showed far more dedication & courage than the anti-Torah Leftists who made settling the Land into a Nationalist Communist vision, rather than a holy one.

Why did this paragon of love (love of God, love of Torah, love of the Jewish people, love of Eretz Yisrael) engender such hatred, including from the very people who benefited from his efforts?

(Even if they didn't know of his efforts on their behalf at the time, they still should have been able to sense his sincerity, holiness, and caring — ​because it was so palpable.)

And I think it goes back to a chassidish idea: A tzaddik is a mirror.

(Please see the story of The Black Wolf for illustration of this concept.)

These anti-Torah Leftists were full of ego and hunger for power & dominance. They literally hated anyone who got in their way. (You must have a very black heart indeed if you are able to starve small children death.)

I think that they couldn't grasp the concept of love and living your life out of love.

I think they couldn't ever relate to going to battle out of love rather than hate & ego.

And when they saw someone who represented everything they weren't, it looked so wrong that they literally could not tolerate him.

Along these lines, there is the well-known rabid envy that some uneducated people feel toward Torah scholars, as described by Rebbi Akiva in Pesachim, that when he was an illiterate man, he could have bitten the Torah scholars with the bone-shattering gnash of a donkey.

​The above is just a tiny sampling. At around 470 pages, this book contains many more well-documented examples of the truth behind the promoted history of modern Eretz Yisrael.

​Ultimately, I found myself in heartfelt agreement with the man who told Rav Sonnenfeld's grandson (page 135):

​And this insight shows how vital it is to read this book again & again in order to fully grasp Rav Sonnenfeld’s ideals & who he really was, to study and glean from his deeds and his words how to truly follow in his path.

The Sassover Rebbetzin’s 2015 memoir, Forever in Faith: The Sassover Rebbetzin Reflects, was one of the harder Shoah memoirs for me to get through.
 
They’re always difficult to read, but this one was even more so.
 
The Sassover Rebbetzin Bluma Teitelbaum a"h was just 17 when the Nazis invaded. And she ended up losing her entire God-fearing illustrious family in the Shoah.

Enduring harrowing experience after harrowing experience, the horrors didn’t cease with the end of the war.
 
While many survivors recall difficult conditions after the war, whether rehabilitating themselves in Displaced Person camps or trying to track down surviving relatives and making a quick (and often risky) trip back to their original home, Forever in Faith records a particularly frightening period upon liberation in which Bluma was still on the run for her life — and still starving.
 
Young Bluma and the smattering of other girls who survived the Death March found themselves in a German village still smoldering with Jew-hatred.

The “liberators” were Russian Mongols whose behavior was so bestial that a German village woman who’d initially expressed vicious Jew-hatred toward Bluma ended up taking Bluma and another girl into her home — for her own protection more than theirs, but it still gives you a picture of how bad the Russian soldiers were.

​(Rebbetzin Teitelbaum, being a very refined person, did not go into much detail.)

When Bluma finally made it back to her people (albeit still in Europe), she noted that many Jews left the fold due to the horrors they’d endured.

​Yet she also noted several remarkable girls from assimilated families who, upon fathoming the miracles that had saved them, decided to explore what Judaism was all about and strengthened their mitzvot observance. (They received support from other young female frum survivors, intent on rebuilding Am Yisrael.)
 
At this point, Bluma made a shocking resolve that shows the depth of her personal greatness: Upon realizing she was the only survivor of her family, she decided that she owed Hashem something in return for His Great Grace in enabling her to survive impossible conditions.
 
This boggles the mind because she could have so easily (and understandably) decided to resent Hashem for killing off her entire family, which consisted of such wonderful & dedicated Jews.
 
But no. The now twentysomething Bluma decided to face her devastating situation with gratitude (!).
​
After pondering how she could best serve Hashem, she decided she would marry a genuine talmid chacham and dedicate her life to Torah.

So, while most other survivors were getting married and starting new lives, Bluma held out for her dream.

After several years, she met a tzaddik who’d also survived the Shoah — and who was 20 years her senior — and they married.
 
Happily, she dedicated herself to her tzaddik husband and his Torah. But not long after they married, he took ill and then passed away, leaving no children.
 
Still committed to her initial decision, Bluma held out again for marriage to another genuine talmid chacham. She ended up married to the Sassover Rebbe Lipa Teitelbaum, and they had several children in quick succession.
 
Tragically, the Rebbe also died early, leaving the Sassover Rebbetzin to raise their children and manage his institutions on her own.

​Due to her own spiritual greatness, Rebbetzin Bluma Teitelbaum was accorded honors by Gadolei Hador generally reserved for other Gedolei Hador and genuine talmidei chachamim.

The Gerrer Rebbe of that time (the Beis Yisroel) used to give her priority whenever he heard she was in his waiting room.

​The Chazon Ish, who met with people as little as possible and kept visits short with those he did meet, used to accord her honor by going out to receive Rebbetzin Bluma whenever she needed him and spent as much time with her as she needed.
 
Time and again, the greatest Gadolim of Am Yisrael accorded Rebbetzin Bluma honor and deference they reserved only for other Gadolei Hador.
 
Why?

​When asked, these Gadolei Hador expressed reverence for Rebbetzin Bluma’s solid emuna and the fact that she wholeheartedly dedicated herself to tzarchei hatzibbur—the needs of the community.
 
And I think this gets lost in today’s world of self-promotion, impressive degrees, and nifty titles.
 
Rebbetzin Bluma was not accorded honor due to her illustrious husband (although that would’ve been appropriate too) nor because of her great intelligence and scholarship (although she also possessed a brilliant mind that enabled her to assist her sons with learning Gemara).
 
It had to do with Rebbetzin Bluma’s middot and other mind-boggling inner qualities, like her emuna and dedication to Torah & the Jewish community — especially in the face of the extreme horror she suffered, in addition to the heartbreak of being widowed twice and other challenges.

​Likewise, Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky a"h merited the power to give brachas on the basis of her commitment to dedicate herself to tzarchei hatzibbur.
 
In fact, when her husband Rav Chaim Kanievsky went to Rav Elyashiv for a bracha in success with a particular issue, Rav Elyashiv asked Rav Kanievsky why he didn’t go to Rav Elyashiv’s daughter (Rav Kanievsky’s wife) Batsheva for a bracha? She has the power, Rav Elyashiv affirmed.
 
Though Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky was Rav Elyashiv’s daughter, Rav Elyashiv wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true. He was a very loving father, but not a blindly sentimental one.

If he said it, it was true.
 
This is despite the fact that Rebbetzin Batsheva was highly intelligent. Her former classmates and teachers repeatedly attested to Rebbetzin Batsheva’s brilliant mind. And of course, she was a learned woman.
 
Yet Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky’s power to give brachas and to positively influence people didn’t come from her scholarship.

It came from her internal qualities, her personal holiness and dedication to the Jewish people.

Unfortunately for both men & women today, titles and degrees and IQ levels predominate.
 
And unfortunately, some quasi-Orthodox women wish to take on the negative aspects of men (“I need an impressive title! I need an impressive certificate! I need kavod!”), which has been typical of the feminist movement.
 
Meaning not that all men pursue kavod, but men and women each have certain positive tendencies and negative tendencies.

​For millennia, Chazal has propounded against the male tendencies to covet kavod & titles & position. (You can see this in every mussar sefer and the Gemara, where the Sages are clearly addressing a male audience, although women are certainly invited to and can benefit from these mussar sefarim too.)

​Yet rather than trying to refine men, society has encouraged women to take men’s negative tendencies upon themselves. (So now women can be weighed down with double the negatives—ooh, I feel so liberated!)
 
And the most high-falutin’ “rabbah” will never merit the honor and deference the Sassover Rebbetzin Bluma Teitelbaum merited from the greatest Gadolei Hador.
 
(And neither will the high-falutin’ male rabbis who lack the personal inner qualities needed to merit the kavod of tzaddikim.)
 
Real spiritual giants do not covet titles or honors or impressive degrees.
 
That’s the point: They don’t seek honor at all; not from great people and not from small people.
 
They just do what they need to do and keep their eye on the ball: Hashem’s Ratzon.
 
The honor, the accolades, and the powers they receive are the natural result of their inner development.
 
Those things aren’t the goal and never should be.

Last year saw the first appearance of the following workbook:

30 Ways to Make Your Soul Shine:
​A Guide to Making a Self-Accounting Based on Rabbeinu Bachya's Classic "Duties of the Heart."

Thank you very much to everyone who purchased it!

To learn more about how it evolved and what it's can do for you, please keep scrolling down.

To open in another tab or download PDF sample chapters, please press the blue button:

I'm indebted to both Feldheim's excellent English translation & Rabbi Yosef Sebag's excellent English translation of Chovot Halevavot, (Duties of the Heart) along with his English translations of its commentaries. Extremely useful in understanding this all-important mussar classic!

Please click the following to check it out:
Excellent English translation of Chovot Halevavot plus commentaries

(The following post is an updated version of the post that appeared a year ago.)

Throughout the years, I’ve read Rabbeinu Bachya’s Cheshbon Hanefesh ("Self-Accounting" or "Soul Accounting") within Chovot Halevavot (Duties of the Heart) several times, but always got stuck as if it couldn’t penetrate my brain.

Every few years, I looked at it anew hoping that wherever I was holding anew in my frumkeit and advancing knowledge would finally reveal to me what I didn’t perceive before.

But to my puzzlement, it remained the same impenetrable chapter.

My problem was that instead of it reading as I thought a self-accounting should read, it contained urging after urging to “contemplate this” and “contemplate that,” or “imagine that you didn’t have this” and “imagine that you had something else instead.”

It seemed to be a convoluted way of merely counting your blessings.

Where were the middot I needed to scrutinize, the transgressions I needed to root out?

What I only realized much later was that my own mind was too narrow.

I got stuck on what I thought a cheshbon hanefesh was supposed to be and couldn’t see Rabbeinu Bachya’s view of what a chesbon hanefesh really is.

It was only after I read Rav Shalom Arush’s book on saying thank you (Garden of Gratitude) that the light bulb went on.

Contemplating Hashem’s Goodness along with the Unfathomable Wisdom with which He created the human soul, human mind, and human body leads to teshuvah and avodat hamiddot.

In other words, gratitude on its own is transformational.

Sure, there are a few cheshbonot in which Rabbeinu Bachya describes what you’d conventionally consider a “cheshbon.” But mostly, it’s “contemplate the different parts and organs of your body, how smoothly they all function, and how your bones and sockets fit so perfectly together.”

Rabbeinu Bachya guides you to start at the root: become a good person...NOW.

Had I just sat down and started doing any of the 30 techniques he details within, I would’ve automatically become less bitter, more expanded, more attuned to what I was doing wrong, and increased my overall emuna.

But I’m the type of person who likes to understand how and why something works before I start. This is usually a good tendency. Yet sometimes, the best way to understand something is to just do it. And with a tzaddik on the level of Rabbeinu Bachya, I have nothing to fear. It’s okay to just trust his guidance and take the leap.

So I finally took the leap, but felt I would manage better if I could break each technique down to the steps detailed within. Then I wished I could organize it into a workbook form because I needed to make it even more concrete in order to get my head around it.

Then I thought, if I’m going to make a workbook anyway, why not make it available to a wider audience?

And that's how 30 Ways to Make Your Soul Shine: A Workbook Guide to Making a Self-Accounting Based on Rabbeinu Bachya's Classic "Duties of the Heart" was born. (Sample pages available for download both above & below.)

I’m not the only person who has read mussar sefarim and come away feeling perplexed or dissatisfied because I couldn’t figure out how to do what they suggested.

The thing is, you just have to jump in (which is hard if you're like me).

Either with paper & pen or with your mouth, just do what they say. Meaning, if they say “contemplate,” do it verbally or manually (like with a pencil and paper), and not just mentally.
 
My big disclaimer is that the workbook falls very short of what you could do for each technique if you just sat down and did it. Really, you could spend 30-60 minutes on each technique, either talking it through with Hashem or doing a stream-of-consciousness freewrite. So if you don’t need the workbook, then GREAT. That’s ideal; you’ll get more out of it. But if you ran into the same issues I did, then this workbook can help you get more out of it than you would otherwise.

Note: It's fine if you don't fill out every single line of the workbook, if you fill out only one page, or if most of it ends up blank. In the spiritual world, even the tiniest baby step reaps tremendous results, whether you sense them or not. Any good act you perform can never be erased. So if you write down only one thing to be grateful for, only one organ you appreciate in your body, or whatever, that is very powerful and stays with you forever...whether you feel this or not.

Rabbeinu Bachya himself did not state any order and he stressed the need for each person to do it according to one’s individual level and situation.

So there is a lot of room for flexibility and no room for guilt or pressure.

Right now, it’s being offered on Amazon a special low price.

(It is currently available at several of the Amazon sites in that country's currency of pound or euro.)

I'm publishing it under the name "Myrtle Rising."

• There is a glossary of all non-English terms to make the workbook accessible for everyone.
• Each cheshbon includes suggestions if you get stuck.

Table of Contents
        Introduction

1. Gratitude Owed to Hashem as Your Rescuer and Benefactor
2. Gratitude Owed to Hashem for Your Physical Body
3. Gratitude Owed to Hashem for Your Intellect
4. Gratitude Owed to Hashem for the Torah
5. Your Obligation to Resist being Superficial
6. Your Obligation to Obey Hashem out of a Sense of Gratitude
7. Your Obligation to Serve Hashem out of Gratitude
8. Your Obligation to Serve Hashem with Gratitude and Sincerity
9. Your Responsibility to Perform Mitzvot with Enthusiasm
10. Remembering the Attention Hashem Lavishes on You
11. An Accounting of Your Gifts and How You Use Them
12. Redirecting Your Pursuit of the Physical World
13. Your Obligation to Avoid Wasting Time
14. Using Gratitude to Prevent a Spider Web
15. How to Prepare for Your Ultimate Journey
16. Reflections When Remembering Another’s Death
17. The Benefits of Solitude
18. Your Very Greatness as a Human Being Obligates You in Humility
19. Gratitude toward Hashem When Bad Things DON’T Happen
20. Your Obligation to Cultivate a Healthy Attitude toward Money
21. Asking for Hashem’s Help
22. Loving Your Fellow as Yourself
23. Gratitude to Hashem regarding Natural Occurrences
24. Looking at the Torah through “New” Eyes
25. Minimizing the Material while Maximizing the Spiritual
26. Really Feeling Hashem as King
27. Thanking Hashem for What Seems Bad
28. Complete Acceptance of Hashem’s Will
29. The Greatness of Your Soul Over Your Body and Other Attributes
30. Recognition of Your True Position in This World

 Glossary

Sample Pages
I've included the Introduction and the first 15 Cheshbonot, and Cheshbon #21 because #21 is the only one I saw fit to get artistic about.

Thank you more than I can say.

May we all have a lot of hatzlacha in scrubbing our souls.

Rabbi Eliezer Papo, author of the Pele Yoetz (published in 1824), was a saintly sage born in Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1785 and passed away during Sukkot in Silistra, Bulgaria in 1827 (20 Tishrei 5588) after having served as their rabbi for around 14 years.

Both in his actions and his writings, Rav Papo invested all he could in helping the Jews of the Balkans achieve both their material and their spiritual needs.

Reading his book the Pele Yoetz or reading the prayers he composed (some of which are included in the Pele Yoetz and all of which appear in his book of prayers called Beit Tefillah), one gets the impression of a very wise and caring father, a father full of passion, concern, and hope for even his most errant child.

He yearned for his fellow Jews to fill themselves with Torah wisdom and in this way, achieve true happiness and contentment, both in This World and the Next.

The Pele Yoetz displays Rav Papo's passion to make the Jewish world a wiser, happier, kinder, and more serene world filled with emuna. To these means, he encouraged the education of both men and women, and encouraged everyone to learn Torah with whatever abilities they possessed.

Yet prior to the Sukkot of 1827, he received a devastating message from Heaven:
His community had been sentenced to suffer a horrible plague.

Many would fall ill and many would die.

Needless to say, as the plague would take its toll on the lives, finances, and well-being of the community, the initial suffering would extend on for years.

However, there was a way to cancel out this plague.

If Rav Papo would agree to take on the plague himself -- including the resulting death -- then the entire community would be spared.

Rav Papo agreed.

He suffered the plague for several weeks, knowing he'd never survive it. But Rav Papo never stopped praying to Hashem and expressing his yearning for Hashem that entire time. He kept up a stream of confessionals and supplications, although one wonders what sins could such a tzaddik possibly have to confess? (That right there is a tip for all of us.)

It was an incredible act.

Presumably, Heaven decreed the plague due to the sins of the people. And in Pele Yoetz, you discover the stumbling blocks of that generation at that time. Of course there were many good people (Sarajevo was a Torah center that produced many great Torah sages at that time) and many good deeds, but the encouragement, rebuke, and advice he gives in the Pele Yoetz also spotlights problems that are still familiar.

Some people were envious, contentious, indolent, pompous, bad-tempered, miserly, gossipy, indulged their taavot as much as their situation allowed, wasted their time in eating & drinking & hanging out, and all the rest.

Yet Rav Papo still felt they were worth dying for.

And not only did Rav Papo literally die for the sins of the people (yet no one made a god out of him), but he even sought to provide for us forevermore after his death with the promise that whoever would immerse in a mikveh and pray at his grave with a broken heart, then their prayers would be accepted before the Creator of the Universe.

Even today, Jews still make their way to the place near the Danube where Rav Papo is buried and have apparently seen miracles as a result.

I'm writing this because Rav Papo left us a book of advice.

And unfortunately, many people today prefer to dismiss Sagely advice that doesn't suit their emotional level or doesn't make sense to them with ideas like "this doesn't apply to our generation" or "that's for the people who follow him, not my group" or "that's only for tzaddikim" or "you have to be on a very high level to really understand what he's saying" or "but it doesn't tell you HOW to do what it advises" and so on.

And though I'm not proud to admit it, I used to say this stuff too.

But it's mostly not true.

Rav Papo was clearly writing for everybody. He was clearly aware of the different levels on which people stood (whether a tzaddik or a Jew at the 49th gate of tumah) and he also knew what he was talking about.

Yes, it's true that some of the specifics of his advice applied only to his time, a time without electricity or indoor plumbing, a time in which some homes possessed a dirt floor. And some are culturally specific (i.e., Jews living in the 19th-Century Balkans under Muslim rule).

But the general lessons are still valid.

And yes, it's true that this generation needs to grind its mental gears to understand what he means. Even in the English translation (which I recommend), Rav Papo does not use the language or nuance we're used to. So yes, you do need to work harder to understand what he's saying, especially if you hit something that rubs you the wrong way.

(And yes, I'm speaking from personal experience.)

But who says that's bad? Why should that be an insurmountable obstacle?

If you need to ruminate over the advice of a tzaddik, if you need to turn it over in your head a million times, if you need to wrangle with it, then what's wrong with that?

On the contrary, that's exactly what both sharpens your mind and leads to increased emotional maturity.

Furthermore, the very idea that rubs you wrong or seems incomprehensible now often because helpful and clear later on as you grow.

But if you're never exposed to the idea in the first place, how will you know?

And this idea also applies to mussar works by all our tzaddikim.

Having said that, you'll also find many statements in the Pele Yoetz that are appealing and easy to understand. It depends who you are and where you're coming from.

Anyway, I just think it's good to give the old-time original mussar literature a chance as much as you can at whatever pace you can manage at whatever level you're at.

I started out very slow at a very low level, and I still feel that I benefited over time.

And I wish the same for everyone else (including myself because I still have a long ways to go and it hasn't been easy).

May Hashem open our minds & hearts to receive His Truth & Wisdom.
_________
The Pele Yoetz in English online
The printed 2-volume set of the Pele Yoetz in English

While writing about the different personalities in Tanach, I realized that I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Rebbetzin Holly Pavlov for her masterpiece, Mirrors of Our Lives: Reflections of Women in Tanach.

It's a deep, scholarly, mind-blowing book that delves into several different personalities of Jewish women in Tanach and, with power and depth, explains some hard-to-understand events that occurred (like Rachel Imeinu's death after birthing Binyamin).

Anyway, before I read Mirrors of Our Lives, I never noticed the pronounced differences between the personalities of the Imahot (Matriarchs) and their marital relationships. Therefore, I certainly didn't realize what they had to teach us in this regard.

What Rebbetzin Pavlov inspired me to realize was that despite some presentation to the contrary, there are different ways of being a great Jewish woman and different ways of being a great Jewish wife and different styles of marriage dynamics — all of which can be very good.

(There are also different ways of being a great Jewish man, as we see throughout Tanach.)

Until then, I'd been receiving a narrower view.

​This depends on your community and the books you read and the shiurim you listen to, but if you aren't careful, you can imbibe a narrow interpretation of what's acceptable or emulatable.

Some people can make you feel bad for being an assertive, driven type while others can make you feel bad for being less driven and more contemplative.

Some people have more physical energy while others possess more mental energy.

Some advisers emphasize the importance of balance, but that often ends up trying to make everyone the same by, say, advising driven people to scale back and contemplative people to up their game.

Yes, it's true that driven people may need to scale back a bit at times and that contemplative people should up their game at times, but it's really yishuv hadaat we should aim for as our guide.

Meaning, we should look to channel our capabilities and vibrancy in Torah ways rather than try to smush them this way or that in the futile struggle to achieve the ever-elusive "perfect balance."

The goal is not to be a Stepford Yid.

For example, Sara Imeinu came from the exact same background as Avraham Avinu.

They worked mostly as equals, a hand-in-hand partnership. He represented chessed and she represented gevurah, and they acted very much as two halves of a whole.

They were both solidly in the center of the world, reaching out to the society around them.

Sara Imeinu was very assertive, bringing the idea of a second woman to fulfill the promise of progeny for Avraham Avinu, then ordering Hagar and Yishmael out when their presence proved a threat to her son Yitzchak.

Chazal even notes that her level of prophecy was higher than that of her husband's.

Rivka Imeinu's relationship with Yitzchak Avinu seems almost the exact opposite of the first set of Patriarch-Matriarch:

• She was chessed, he was gevurah.
• She was the daughter of a rasha, he was the son of a tzaddik.
• They are the only couple who never brought in another woman to deal with the lengthy infertility.

And from the moment Rivka Imeinu leaned off her camel and covered her face before Yitzchak Avinu, their relationship displayed a different dynamic.

Though full of mutual love and trust, Rivka Imeinu held onto to a certain reserve with regard to Yitzchak, a reserve which comes up repeatedly.

At the same time, Rivka Imeinu and Yitzchak Avinu are the only couple described as "metzachek" in Parshat Toldot.

​Chazal gives interpretations for this word and that scenario, but its root is "laugh." In this otherwise serious, self-contained, reserved couple, there was happy affection.

Yet despite all their differences and contrasts, all four of these people are considered models of good Jews and their very different marriages are also considered equally good!

Both Sara Imeinu and Rivka Imeinu are considered ideal women and both Avraham Avinu and Yitzchak Avinu are considered ideal men.

And you can continue on examining the different personalities and marital dynamics in all the relationships of the rest (Leah Imeinu and Rachel Imeinu to Yaakov Avinu), including those of Zilpah and Bilha to Yaakov Avinu.

But the book helped me learn that you don't have one model.

There isn't one ideal.

Sometimes, people present a narrower view of Jewish ideals and models simply because they are projecting too much of themselves or their own desires onto their audience.

This is certainly not intentional and I'm not sure that it's even avoidable.

​We see things how we see things, and how can one imperfect human being completely avoid bias and personal blindspots?

This is why I feel it's so important to do your own research and delve in as deep as you can.

You may be limited by language, time, and concentration capabilities.

(These also vacillate as your personal situation vacillates throughout your life. One life-stage is conducive to heavy-duty immersion in scholarship while another stage gets you overwhelmed just by reading a magazine sidebar.)

But whatever you can manage at any stage is still really good.

Some of the classic commentaries (like Rashi, Ramban, and some of the Kli Yakar) have been translated into English.

There are also books (like Mirrors of Our Lives) and articles that delve into detailed descriptions and analyses of a particular personality's facets and events.

A variety of shiurim also bring you deep into different personalities and events.

So even if you can't manage 12th-Century Hebrew (or English translations of 12th-Century Hebrew), there are still other and more digestible options, as described above.

And rather than others (including this blog) telling you what you should get out of a certain role model or event in Tanach, I think it's ideal if you extract it yourself as far as you can using whatever tools you have.

Hashem guides each person in the way they need to go.

When you sincerely try to understand, you merit Heavenly assistance.

​(This Heavenly assistance can still be a process, BTW, and not instant illumination, frustratingly enough.)

Hashem gave us the Torah with all its breadth and depth in order for us to enhance and elevate ourselves, and not to confine or repress ourselves.

May Hashem grant us all blessing success in our soul's journey.

With Pesach coming up, here are some reviews of some books you might want to check out for that 2-day chag/Shabbat at the end of Pesach or for any downtime you find on chol hamoed:

It feels weird to write a review on what's essentially a holy mussar book, but I do highly recommend this 2-volume set: Words of Faith.

​I am not Breslov, but I gain tremendous mussar and inspiration from Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender each time I open this book, something I've done many times.

No matter how many times I just glance into it, I get something vitally new each time.

Due to trepidation at losing the essence of Rav Bender's words via translation, the book's English version is a very literal translation of the original Yiddish. This means that it doesn't flow as well as a standard translation, but what you lose in eloquence, you gain in essence and authenticity, which is preferable in my opinion.

If you'd like a sampling of his wisdom, this blog has stories and wisdom from his book, if you click on "Rav L.Y. Bender" under "Categories" in the sidebar.

Consisting of transcribed lectures Rav Bender gave over the years, Words of Faith is filled with essential spiritual advice, spiritual truths, and fascinating heart-stirring stories you'll never hear anywhere else, I really feel that this book is a must-read for every Jew.

A Daughter of Two Mothers is one of my all-time favorite books and I've read it a thousand times. I don't even know where to start. It's the true story of Leichu, who was an aunt of the author and who told the author that she could publish the story after her passing. And that's how Miriam Cohen came to write this book. It involves a forbidden adoption, plus a young frum Jewish girl is saved by a Roma couple and together, they survive the Shoah by living in a cave in the Carpathian mountains for a year.

I've written about this book elsewhere on this blog:
Scaling that Steep Mountain

Miriam Cohen's other non-fiction book, Behind the Walls, is excellent too.

When I used to read Mishpacha magazine, Libi Astaire was one of the writers whom I would always read no matter what topic she covered, and even whether it was fiction or non-fiction.

Being a history buff – especially of women’s and Jewish history – I had my eye on Day Trips to Jewish History for a long time, even though I knew I'd already read most of these articles in Mishpacha already.
 
But I finally bought it anyway and was not disappointed.

For me, it's material I enjoy re-reading.

Libi covers all sorts of stuff that isn’t widely known, but is very intriguing. For example:

• What really happened to the Jewish children kidnapped to the Portuguese-African island of Sao Tome and whether they were really eaten by the giant lizards that inhabited the island at that time as other sources had mentioned.

(Libi sheds an astounding amount of light onto that event and what happened afterwards.)

• Or what was really going on with Shylock’s portrayal in the Merchant of Venice?
• Jewish female doctors, Jewish female moneylenders, etc...
• And was Hebrew truly close to becoming the official language of Colonial America?

And for some reason, I’m always very interested in what people ate at different times and in different cultures, so happily, Libi covers this too.

The book also addresses a wide variety of periods, topics, and cultures in Jewish history:

• Regency England
• early Spanish-Jewish settlement in the Americas
• Shakespeare
• and much more.

It’s very well-written and the research she invested is incredible. Getting her hands on early source material, consulting with experts and officials, and even visiting many of the places about which she writes lends solid credibility and delicious detail to her writing.

This book is a real gem in the Jewish history genre.

(Note: Libi has also been quite prolific in writing high-quality, deeply researched, Jewish-themed historical novels that are worth checking out.)

I'm a big fan of Rivka Levy's books. Here are some of my favorites and why:

The How, What and Why of Talking to God is a great little book you can finish in half-an-hour, and it gives you helpful tools to get started talking to God. If you feel intimidated or lost when facing concepts like hitbodedut, "Just daven!", 6-hour hitbodedut, "Just turn to Hashem," or making a direct personal connection with God, then this little conversational book is a great way to start.

Unlocking the Secret of the Erev Rav is such an eye-opening book.

Using respected sources, Rivka sheds some much-needed light on the Erev Rav phenomena and how to deal with it.

It is also very well-written and a fascinating read.

49 Days: An Interactive Journal of Self-Discovery is a gorgeous colorful journal with wonderfully thought-provoking exercises that take you on an inner journey through the Omer time period, but can also be used by anyone at anytime.

(If you'd like it for the Omer, then best to order it now. I just ordered my copy from Book Depository.)

I think it would be interesting to fill this out each year, then compare the previous with the current to gauge certain aspects of one's spiritual growth.

The Stolen Light isn't really by Rivka Levy because she translated it from Yitzchak Leibowitz's brilliant manuscript, but it very much benefits from her writing skills!

Inspiring, exciting, riveting, this book makes great reading, whether you're looking for great fiction or great non-fiction. Written in a fiction format, the stories within are actually true. I loved it and my teenagers (who read it in Hebrew) loved it too.

For more Myrtle Rising book reviews, please click on "Book Reviews" under "Categories" in the side bar.