Category: Kav Hayashar

New Series by Rabbi Wallerstein on the Kav HaYashar

15/11/2021

For those of you who were interested in Rabbi Wallerstein's shiur on Kav HaYashar way back pre-plague as mentioned here: www.myrtlerising.com/blog/new-rabbi-wallerstein-shiur-on-kav-hayashar, please note he has started up that shiur again from the beginning.

I'm not planning to constantly update about it because the list of all his shiurim (including Kav HaYashar) appear here:
Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein | TorahAnytime.com

So people can just check out that list from time to time to see if there's a new shiur (that's how I'm planning to inform myself too).

So far, three shiurim appear on that list:

As Rabbi Wallerstein himself says in the second shiur, it's not for everyone.

As inspiring as the Kav HaYashar is, some people find the Kav HaYashar as disturbing as it is inspiring.

But a lot of us find it fascinating & inspiring overall.

If you'd like a taste of the Kav HaYashar, posts about it have appeared on this blog. You can click here to see them:
www.myrtlerising.com/blog/category/kav-hayashar

(The first 2 posts as you scroll down only have minimally to do with the Kav HaYashar. You need to scroll down beyond them to get to the full-blown Kav HaYashar posts.)

UPDATE:
The entire book is available at Sefaria in Hebrew-English here:
www.sefaria.org.il/Kav_HaYashar%2C_Author's_Preface.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

Or just English:
www.sefaria.org.il/Kav_HaYashar%2C_Author's_Preface.1?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en

Or just Hebrew:
www.sefaria.org.il/Kav_HaYashar%2C_Author's_Preface.1?lang=he&with=all&lang2=he

(For some reason, could not get the auto-link to work, so you'll have to copy & paste the links. Sorry!)

B'ezras Hashem, may this series please help us all to do teshuvah.

A lake in Eretz Yisrael

The Vital Importance of being Tamim with Hashem (or, Why You Really Should Never Mess with Demons, No Matter What)

25/1/2021

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This post has been a long time in the making because ever since my husband first told me the story, he graciously went back & forth between my questions and his friend's answers.

Also, while the friend (who is the grandson of the rav in the story) allows his family's real names to be used (and even published a book in Hebrew, which included the story below), I hesitate to use the real names only because certain aspects end up in a negative light (like how most of the rav's descendants ended up divorced, irreligious, dead, etc.).

It's a bizarre story, but the lesson is clear in the end.

So let's get started...

The Moroccan Beginnings

In Morocco, there's an area pronounced gutturally as "Dahra" (spelled in English today as "Draa").

It hosted a thriving Jewish community that produced quite a few rabbanim proficient in what some call "practical kabbalah."

For Moroccan Jews, Draa became the go-to place if you needed protective amulets.

Family names like Edry, Edri, and Deri indicate Jewish families who come from Draa.

Anyway...a certain family headed by a talmid chacham came from Draa to Eretz Yisrael in the 1950s or 60s and settled in the North, not far from the Golan Heights (prior to 1967, when the Golan was still under Syrian occupation).

Basic Jewish Law: The Best Protection

Before we continue with the family's personal story, we need to discuss the concept of spiritual protection within Judaism.

Within Judaism, different levels of spiritual protection exist.

Many of our prayers contain protective elements: the morning blessings, Pitom HaKetoret (the Incense Offering), Shemoneh Esrei, the Bedtime Shema, and so on.

These are beautiful prayers & very holy, very humble, and beloved to Hashem.

Prayer in general provides wonderful protection & blessing.

Objects of protection include a mezuzah on every doorpost of a home, holy books in the home, and so on.

Tsniyut (dignified & modest behavior & dress) provides both practical & spiritual protection for both men & women.

(Although men's tsniyus receives less emphasis, we tachlis see that every single major talmid chacham dresses with full modesty regardless of heat & humidity, and entire religious communities of men dress with full modesty and would never even entertain the idea of appearing on the street wearing, say, shorts no matter how blistering the sun.)

Learning Torah (and assisting others in learning Torah) is one of the most powerful forms of protection.

Other Jewish concepts clearly provide all sorts of protection: shemirat halashon (guarding the tongue), shemirat anayim (guarding the eyes), and so on.

The Hebrew word shemirah can be translated as keeping, guarding, securing, or protecting.

All the above consist of following basic halacha, so people aren't doing anything unusual (albeit they are doing something heroic & special) by performing the above.

So those are the standard types of protection and if you invest only in these for the rest of your life, you have made a wonderfully effective & holy investment.

Active Appeasement of Entities? Controversial–Not Recommended

The next category is one that the vast most majority of Jews—including very holy Sages—tend to avoid.

And this category consists of appeasing impure entities (demons).

Not everyone agrees it's even okay to perform acts of appeasement, but those who do rely on what Rav Chaim Palagi (1788-1868) wrote in Chapter 34 of Chaim BaYad. (Rav Chaim Palagi is best known for his halachic sefer Kaf HaChaim.)

At this point, I must thank my husband for reading through the difficult print & esoteric Hebrew in order to explain the ideas to me—couldn't have done it on my own. Thank you, husband!

In Chaim BaYad, Rav Palagi allows acts of appeasement, which he likens to appeasing human officials, like how we bow before a non-Jewish king—not because we worship him, but as part of cultural etiquette.

This ranges from passive customs that all frum Jews observe, such as not sealing up a window in a room without making some kind of an opening in that same room, to other more proactive acts of appeasement not performed (or desired) by the majority of Jews.

It depends a lot on the holiness of the person performing the act and mostly, such acts aren't necessary (i.e., you're better off learning Torah or saying Tehillim), so it's best to stay away from the whole topic—which, as stated, exactly what the vast majority of Jews do: They stay away from it.

Today, if you hear of people seeking out these more proactive forms of appeasement (which you don't much hear), it tends to be not-so-frum Jews seeking out rabbis to perform these acts for success in business, and so on.

The truth is, these traditional-yet-not-so-frum people would be much better off guarding their eyes, davening in a minyan EVERY time EVERY day, and committing themselves to other fundamental halachot before turning to these types of appeasements.

(Also, the minority of rabbis willing to carry out these acts—for a nice price, of course—aren't generally the best of the rabbinical lot—far from it, actually—and it's questionable whether Rav Palagi himself would approve of their actions...especially the price they demand for the "favor.")

Another issue is where the more passive appeasement ends & a more proactive (and dangerous) role begins.

Judaism, being a truly pure & holy system derived straight from Hashem, definitely provides real protection.

That should be enough. We shouldn't feel the need for more.

Yet relying on that protection might make a person feel a bit too comfortable messing with these entities because he truly knows (unlike non-Jewish practitioners) how to best protect himself from harm.

The problem is that even the wisest of all men, Shlomo Hamelech, ran into trouble dealing with these entities.

So ideally, Shlomo Hamelech's experience should be a lesson to everyone else.

Let's Go Back in Time to BEFORE We Knew that Every War Ended in a Miraculous Victory

Those of us who live with the modern history of Medinat Yisrael have become accustomed to miracles:

The 1948 War of Independence? Hashem clearly on our side! How else?

The 1967 Six Day War? An impossible & obviously miraculous victory!

The 1973 Yom Kippur War? THANK You, Hashem, for yet again doing the impossible!

All those scuds falling all over the place during the 1990-91 Gulf War? Of course hardly anyone got hurt—that's how it always goes!

(Yet what's missing in the hype over the early victories is the very real human toll. The Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael paid a very high price for these early miracles.)

But before the early miraculous victories occurred, things looked really bad.

REALLY, REALLY bad.

Vastly outnumbered by the surrounding countries, the massive enemy troops, the enemy's superior amounts of equipment & weaponry, plus the enemy's thirst for blood, vengeance, and feeling super macho, these attacks really seemed like they might be the end of the Jewish presence in Eretz Yisrael.

Remember, prior to the 1967 Six Day War, the Syrians held "the eyes of the country"—the strategic Golan Heights.

In addition the threat of mass genocide, the savagery of the enemy soldiers toward the Jews struck fear in the hearts of everyone.

Stories of mutilation of the bodies of dead Jewish soldiers and even more chillingly, reports of mutilations committed against live, but helplessly wounded Jewish soldiers (not to mention the horrific abuses committed against civilians) imbued the Jews with desperate terror & dread.

So this rav living with his family in the North, not far from the Syrian border, saw the situation prior to the 1967 Six Day War and felt compelled to help by any means possible.

The Demon Draft

So remember: Back in Draa, the rav already developed solid experience in communicating with entities for protective purposes.

He sincerely intended this to help others.

I don't (nor wish to) know the particulars, but apparently, it takes two people to perform the interaction because the initiator needs the hands of another person, through which he sees the entities & communicates with them.

So the rav used 3 different people: his daughter, his son, and one of his talmidim.

He had other sons and daughters and talmidim, but these 3 were the ones who assisted him.

Combined with this, the rav went along the Syrian-Israeli border and placed amulets meant to stop the Syrian troops via the use of demons.

This actually isn't such a bad idea if you think about it.

Rather than stationing Jews to face military onslaughts, station demons!

Charedim against the IDF draft can demonstrate with signs saying:

Leave yeshivah students alone!
Draft demons!
Demons must share the burden!
Nezikin tzrichim l'set banatal!

(What else could Lapid have meant when he said "hatzibur kuuuulo"—the entire public!—must share the burden of military service? Let's be fair & share the burden across the entire breadth of ALL populations! Ha!)

This method obviously has the potential to save human lives, plus enables the continuous learning of Torah by our precious young men.

Also, it would be a lot more entertaining to see the above signs in the anti-draft protests.

After all, we're probably all tired of the same old slogans.

Anyway...

The rav from Draa clearly possessed only the best of intentions.

And indeed, Israel won the war.

What Won the War?

At this point, my husband & I segued into an interesting discussion.

How much did the rav's efforts help stem the enemy invasion from the North?

I tended to think that the copious prayers going on at that time made the difference.

Plus, Hashem had His Plans. He clearly did not want the Syrians to win.

My husband of course agreed with this, but he also felt that the rav's entity-enlisting amulets contributed.

He's very into the power of the chachamim.

Certainly, my husband has good a point, but nonetheless, I tend to think the prayers and merits of Torah learning & other good deeds decided the outcome, not to mention the recent genocide of the Jewish people only a couple of decades prior to the Six Day War.

In other words, I think the war & the land would've been won without the amulets.

Really, it's impossible to know their specific influence on the outcome, whether it protected the locals or nationally, or how much they protected at all.

So, I'm just stating the opinion of a small person, that I firmly believe in the power of the prayers & merits of that time, not to mention the tragic kaparah of the Shoah that preceded the Six Day War.

A Disclaimer for Any Brainwashed Jew-Haters Reading This

At this point, I feel beholden to provide a disclaimer to any Jew-haters out there who think that Jews are reptilians, utilizing black magic to exploit the "goyims" (learn proper Hebrew conjugation, bigots!), worshipping entities (clearly a projection of the crazed haters themselves because pretty much every other religion worships entities EXCEPT Judaism), and all sorts of other irrational accusations.

These entities are notoriously impossible to control.

They don't like human beings and the only way to control these entities is compulsion—meaning, against their will.

Holy & knowledgeable rabbis utilize the best of protection, but sort of like how even very holy people don't go walking off cliffs due to the effects of physical physics (i.e., gravity), very holy people also don't summon entities due to the effects of spiritual physics (i.e., the entities' insatiability & innate need to harm humans).

This is why even holy & knowledgeable rabbinical Sages stay far away from this type of activity.

For example, a Sage in the Gemara decided to view these entities, took precautions to avoid harm, but was harmed anyway. (His fellow Sages helped him recover.)

So even the greatest & holiest people get no guarantee against the entities.

And even if these entities respect the holiness & purity of a Sage, it doesn't make them nice.

That's why in Minchat Yehudah (Parshat Miketz), the demon pretending to be Eliyahu HaNavi did not simply 'fess up when confronted by the holy tzaddik Rav Yehudah Petayah.

When directly confronted by such Torah greats as Rav Shimon Aharon Agassi & Rav Yaakov the son of the Ben Ish Chai, the deceptive demon did say, "Aw, shucks...I simply cannot keep up the act any longer in the face of such good & holy people! No, I'm not really Eliyahu HaNavi, but simply a demon named Elijah. I sure am sorry about fooling everyone."

No, the demon kept up the deception until Rav Petayah tried to force him to translate a verse from Yirmiyahu 10:11 predicting the destruction of demons, and the demonic pretender got really angry & swore never to return—and he didn't.

So the vast majority of talmidei chachamim (and regular Jews) completely avoid them because they're icky, psychopathic, & one is likely to pay a very high price for any perceived benefit (as you'll unfortunately see in a moment).

And there you go.

The Bitter Ends

So here's what happened to the rav & his assistants & descendants later:

The talmid, whose hands the rav used in summoning demons, fought as a frum soldier in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, where his body was riddled with bullets—yet he miraculously survived.

The twentysomething son died while riding a motorbike, which suddenly drove straight off the road & crashed.

(I know this kind of thing happens with motorbikes, but he wasn't reckless, there weren't problems in the road that might lead to this, and witnesses said it looked like he suddenly just drove off the road for no reason.)

The rav died relatively early, like in his fifties, leaving his faithful wife a widow.

And while the rav ended up with around 100 grandchildren & great-grandchildren so far, hardly any of them are frum & nearly all of them divorced once. Their second marriages aren't so happy either, and the one or two who remained in their first marriage also aren't happy.

But the most bizarre & disturbing outcome affected his daughter Ora (yes, her real name), who was in her early twenties around the time of the following story.

Ora was the daughter whose hands the rav used to communicate with the entities.

After the rav died, Ora made the occasional journey to Yerushalayim to deal with acquiring property the family wanted to own.

Back then, the bus ride from the North to Yerushalayim took hours & depended on erratic bus service. It was a big help to the widowed mother that Ora took this task upon herself.

On her last trip, Ora got on the bus in the North—but never got off.

She simply disappeared.

Now, I know what you're thinking because I was thinking the same thing: Surely she must have gotten off the bus and THEN something happened, rachmana litzlan.

But no.

The family made inquiries on their own, plus they reported her disappearance to the police who launched an investigation.

She disappeared en route. She never got off the bus.

There was simply no sign of her and no sign of criminal or terrorist activity involved in her disappearance.

So, being from Draa & having lived with the rav all these years, the widow suspected entities were involved in Ora's disappearance.

Despite the distance & wearying journey, the rav's widow made her way to Yerushalayim to speak with big rabbanim there, but no one wanted to get involved.

(As stated earlier, these entities are extremely harmful & difficult to manage. No wise person wants to deal with them for any reason.)

Finally, she went to a Druze practitioner of kochot hatumah (impure powers) in the North.

These types of practitioners—whether you call them demonologists or priests or sorcerers or shamans or whatever—also deal with these entities, but with impure manipulations. And just like human manipulators, these entities don't mind putting on an act as long as the practitioner gratifies their demands.

Lacking any real connection to Hashem, these practitioners get fooled into thinking they possess real powers.

So this Druze practitioner contacted some demons who informed him that Ora was still alive, but held by the demons. They abducted her from the bus.

Again, none of the big rabbanim wanted to get involved in retrieving Ora because in order to do so, they'd need to contact the entities themselves and then engage in some kind of transaction to free her—which is obviously extremely risky.

After all, that's how Ora got snatched in the first place, and what rav wants to risk his own family's well-being?

However, the Baba Sali was in Eretz Yisrael at that time (1964-1984), so why not ask him for assistance? Sure, he lived way down south in Netivot, which was a VERY long & unreliable journey from the North, but worth it.

However, the grandson of the rav (who provided my husband with all this information) said he didn't know why they didn't contact him.

In Yerushalayim, some very great & holy mekubalim lived at that time, but the grandson wasn't sure exactly which ones were consulted. He only knows that out of all the rabbanim consulted, no one wished to get involved due to the great danger to both themselves & their families.

As an interesting correlation to this demonic abduction, Rabbi Wallerstein gave a famous lecture regarding a story in the Kav HaYashar that occurred a few hundred years ago.

Just to summarize it: A mohel is called upon by a wealthy stranger who needs to make a brit milah for his newborn son.

The mohel travels with the stranger in a luxury carriage for miles & miles until they arrive at a city populated by mansions hidden in a valley.

As the mohel prepared the baby for the brit milah, the baby's mother confides that she is a Jewish woman kidnapped by demons as a young girl. The entire luxury town consists of demons and the baby's father is a demon too.

She tells the mohel how to prevent being trapped there too, and the story ends happily for the mohel, but no more is known about the young Jewish woman who remains behind with the demons.

Though she clearly lived a life of luxury, it doesn't seem like she enjoyed it so much. After all, she helped the mohel avoid her fate while making him promise not to let on that it was she who revealed the secret to him.

It all reminds me of Rebbe Nachman's story The Lost Princess, in which the viceroy initially finds the banished princess trapped in the opulent environment of a palace, surrounded by delicacies & the finest in music & entertainment—yet the lost princess called the environment the place of the Lo Tov—the Not Good (often translated as "the evil one").

But just as the princess eventually merited rescue from the place of the Lo Tov, may Hashem rescue all of us from the Palace of the Lo Tov too!

But back to our story...

The Importance of being Tamim with Hashem & the Power of a Mezuzah

Judaism places a powerful emphasis on being tamim with Hashem.

It's stated outright in the Torah: Devarim/Deuteronomy 18:13.

Tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha.

We need to go through our lives with wholehearted trust in Hashem.

Apart from normal hishtadlus, we need to rely on sincere prayer from the heart & improving our deeds, delving deep into our heart & psyche to accomplish this.

Sure, Syrian troops are scary, but the best way to fight them is through teshuvah, prayer, tzedakah, and physical hishtadlus (like advanced weaponry).

On the other hand, if the Israeli government ever decides to abandon their pursuit of yeshivah bachurim in favor of recruiting demons, that might be a good idea.

Except that instead of well-meaning talmidei chachamim, we could have the Torah-hating Leftists summon the demons.

For example, just imagine if Tommy Lapid would have said, "Yair, come here please—I need to use your hands for something..."

And then later, while being chauffeured to dinner with fellow kofrim at a non-kosher restaurant, Yair suddenly disappears from the limousine!

The chauffeur alerts the Lapids: "One minute I see him uploading anti-charedi rants to all his social media accounts, and the next minute—my rearview mirror shows an empty seat, except for Yair's phone lying there with the annoying beeps of unanswered messages!"

A search reveals no criminal or terrorist activity. Illegal interrogations of hilltop youth ("We've never even been within dalet amot of a limo or a treif restaurant—leave us alone!") reveal no leads.

Finally, they consult a Hamas shaman, who informs them: "He's been kidnapped by demons. They're forcing him to serve as ringmaster for their circus, where he must now wear a black top hat for all performances, which so reminds him of charedim, he cries and tantrums all day long."

But getting back to reality now...

In the same chapter mentioned above (Chapter 34 of Chaim BaYad), Rav Palagi mentions the disturbing behavior of a specific group of Jewish women who discovered certain machinations to communicate with demons and compel them to do their bidding.

Again, they probably meant well. Women in those times possessed no rights in non-Jewish society. Outside of prayer, even Jewish women possessed little control over most aspects of life.

(The truth is that every person lacks control over life, but modern developments fool us into thinking we possess a lot more control than we actually do.)

Finances, childbirth, health, and many other aspects of life lay far out of control.

Back then, poverty meant life-threatening deprivation & hardship. Furthermore, antibiotics, infusions for those unconscious & incapable of eating, anesthesia, proper knowledge & sterilization of germs, and many other developments lay far in the future.

Also, their surrounding Muslim culture also indulged in this kind of behavior, making it seem normal. (Sort of like how we're influenced by our surrounding cultures today, even when Judaism outright forbids these influences.)

When the local rabbanim found out about their activities, they put a firm stop to it.

That kind of thing is completely forbidden in Judaism.

But what intrigued me about that anecdote was how the women removed the mezuzot from their homes in order for their machinations to work!

Meaning, even though they went through effective machinations to communicate with these forbidden entities, the entities still could not enter as long as the mezuzot remained in place!

This alone shows the power of a mezuzah.

And what is a mezuzah?

It's so little & passive. All in all, it's a little piece of kosher parchment with the routine Shema prayer properly inscribed on it by a knowledgeable scribe (sofer), and rolled up into a little case.

(For basic information about the mezuzah, please see here.)

While some mezuzot reside in beautiful cases, many reside in simple plastic cases.

Yet what protection they provide!

Being Tamim with Hashem is the Best!

In Parshat Bo (I think), the Kli Yakar states the importance of not using Hashem's Name to accomplish things.

He addresses using Hashem's Name verbally, but with regard to our story, what was in the amulets stationed along the northern border by the rav?

Not sure, but usually amulets contain holy verses, holy names, etc.

There are different kinds of amulets.

But again, the main lesson here is to go tamim with Hashem.

Just keep on doing what you're supposed to & that's more than enough!

We see, despite the rav's personal holiness & knowledge, the rav's extremely well-intentioned yet controversial efforts led to negative consequences affecting the rav's family at least 2 generations later and long after the rav's passing.

The fundamentals of Jewish Law & Jewish belief provide wonderful blessing & protection!:

Guarding your eyes brings blessing & protection.
Guarding your tongue brings blessing & protection.
Guarding yourself from anger brings blessing & protection.
Keep Shabbat & Shabbat keeps you! (It makes more sense in Hebrew. Basically being shomer Shabbat is shomer you. The observance of Shabbat provides blessing & protection.)
Prayer—particularly heartfelt prayer—brings blessing & protection.
Tsniyus (dignified & modest dress & behavior) brings blessing & protection.
Learning Torah brings blessing & protection.

Hashem gifted me with a tough example of this:

Once, due to rushed & stressful mornings, I decided to drop Pitom HaKetoret from my morning davening. Though it's an incredibly powerful part of davening with many compelling segulot, it's not strictly necessary, particularly in the obligations of Shacharit for women...and anyway, I found myself unable to say it with decent kavanah.

Within a couple of days, one of the few people I know with psychopathic tendencies started contacting me after YEARS of no contact.

I could not figure out what the person wanted from me, but I knew from past experience that this person meant harm covered by a veneer of innocence or helpfulness. This person derived pleasure from hurting others & causing profound emotional distress.

As common among such people, this person reeled in other unsuspecting "helpers" to participate when I tried to avoid interaction.

This person also excels at trapping others into a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dynamic, making it impossible to reach a healthy response to the person's deviousness.

Fortunately, Chazal states that if you encounter suffering, you must examine your deeds.

So I did.

I realized that the whole distressing saga welled up shortly after I dropped Pitom HaKetoret from my morning davening.

You can bet that I immediately made it part of my regular Shacharit again.

Right after I started Pitom Ketoret again, the entire distressing situation evaporated as if it never existed.

No one from that whole set-up contacted me again—neither the person nor the "helpers."

The entire time I'd been reciting Pitom HaKetoret, I hadn't seen any obvious blessing or protection.

It looked like it wasn't "working."

And anyway, I hadn't been saying it with much kavanah.

But the entire time, it HAD been protecting me—I just didn't know it!

Why?

Because if the distress doesn't occur, then how can you ever know about it?

So that was a big lesson for me. Talk about tough love!

Just keep on doing what you CAN do and what you SHOULD do.

Even when not perfect, it still contains value & power.

Tamim tihyeh im Hashem Elokecha.

That's more than good enough!

Postscript

I just have to add a funny-spooky thing that happened in conjunction with the story of the family from Draa.

As my husband & I discussed the particulars of the story with the rav & Ora & everything else, two lights in our living room suddenly went out.

My husband and I looked at each other and he gave me a reassuring smile.

But as a joke, I put my hands to my face & gave a fake quiet scream, like how they do in the campier horror movies. (I made it quiet because we live in an apartment and it would be onaat devarim to distress my neighbors.)

The truth is that those 2 lights are connected & have flickered out on their own a couple of times before.

But then, my husband's kosher Hadran cell phone clicked on all by itself while lying on the table out of reach of either my husband or I.

As we listened to the duet emanating on its own from the cell phone, I said, "Gosh, who knew that demons also like music by Yishai Ribbo and Amir Dadon?"

But my husband pointed out that his phone contained mostly songs by Yishai Ribbo and that any random press of the cell phone would most likely elicit a song by Yishai Ribbo.

Also, he noted that sometimes the cell phone clicked on by itself.

That's true; I've seen it happen.

But the timing, during that particular conversation, was freaky.

And funny. We laughed.

Also, we have kosher mezuzot—so nothing to fear!

And there you go.

Temimus: Wholeheartedness is Necessary to Build Torah Institutions
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Mitzvah of Mezuzah
The Theory of Absolute (one of several times Rabbi Wallerstein tells his story of gambling addiction & exit; his story starts at around 15 minutes)
Torah Perspectives on Addiction (one of several talks Rabbi Wallerstein has given on his prior addiction and lessons learned; I think this is one of the times when he tells the mohel story from the Kav HaYashar)
Past posts about Rav Yehudah Petayah & his book Minchat Yehudah

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How to Wrench Yourself Out of the Paralyzing Plague of Darkness: The Life-Changing Lessons We can Learn from What Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus Says about Why Hashem Hardened Pharaoh's Heart & Why Hashem Punished Him Anyway

24/1/2020

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In the book of Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus's ztz"l transcribed lectures Nefesh Shimshon - Gates of Emunah, Living with Faith: Bringing Hashem into Our Daily Lives, Rav Pincus gleans from the Rambam to clarify an issue that confounds people when they come across it in the Torah:

Why does Hashem harden Pharaoh's heart?

And why does He then punish Paroh (Pharaoh) when it's HASHEM who repeatedly hardened Paroh's heart?

It all connects to the paradoxical concept of bechirah chofsheet – free choice.

What Does "Free Choice" Really Mean?

Rav Pincus notes that this concept is often misunderstood.

Human bechirah goes far beyond that of animal bechirah.

Animals don't have bechirah. A hyena cannot decide to skip eating a fresh carcass just because it wasn't properly slaughtered.

Even with their offspring, animals care for them out of instinct. Animal sentimentalists don't like to hear this, but many species either abandon or eat their young when they feel the environment won't support them or when they sense their newborns are weak.

But human bechirah goes even further.

In order to have real bechirah, a person must have the ability to either do wonderful healing acts or cruel destructive acts.

This includes the ability to destroy oneself – not just physically in This World, but to actually destroy one's soul and eliminate any chance of obtaining even a tiny smidgen of bliss in the Next World.

In other words, to enable true bechirah, a person must have the ability to NOT do teshuvah...even if they want to.

And this chilling truth explains the dynamic between Hashem and Paroh.

When You Cannot Even Move to Save Your Life

Theoretically, a person has the ability to repeatedly make such poor decisions that he cannot return from that state of evil...even if he wants to.

In fact, during the Plague of Hail, Hashem sent Moshe Rabbeinu to tell Paroh that everyone should move inside.

Whoever remains outside would be killed.

The Brisker Rav explains that even though these giant fiery hailstones could certainly break through roofs, Hashem set things up so that the roofs would provide protection.

Only those foolish enough to remain outside would be killed.

Then Hashem caused a weird reaction in the Egyptians (who'd decided themselves into a state where teshuvah was impossible).

If the Egyptians feared the hailstones, they wouldn't be able to go inside!

They lost the ability to move, even an obvious move for their own self-protection.

Instead, Hashem decided to make their hearts so hard that when they saw the hailstones, they'd say, "It's not for real. It can't be."

And that's exactly what happened.

As it states in Shemot 9:20, only those who feared Hashem (and not the hailstones) retained the ability to access their free choice and protect themselves by ducking into a building.

Rav Pincus explains that when a person can no longer move spiritually, his state is called Choshech Mitzrayim (Darkness of Egypt, the 9th Plague). He quotes Shemot 10:23: "No man could arise from his place."

So a person who falls into "a state of total immobility" is "like Pharaoh and the Egyptians at that time."

Rav Pincus likens it to incurring a massive debt without ever getting one's finances together. Then when the time comes to pay up, the debtor has nary a penny with which to even start returning the massive debt.

This can be experienced on a less sinister level, explain Rav Pincus, like when a person damages his capability of kavanah in davening to the point that he can no longer daven Shemoneh Esrei.

Even on the day of his wedding while davening Mincha at the Kotel, a groom may discover that despite is best intentions, he was not able to daven this all-important Mincha with kavanah.

It's because of all the previous Shemoneh Esreis without kavanah.

Rav Pincus says this is the reason why some people fly out of shul the minute the davening ends. It's as if the shul spits them out do to their repeated lack of desire.

On page 115, Rav Pincus states:

The power of free choice gives man the frightening ability to chain himself and throw away the key.

Of course, this reminds me of the story popularized by Rabbi Wallerstein from the Kav Hayashar, in which a fabulously wealthy yet uncompromisingly tight-fisted mohel is particularly mosser nefesh to travel a great distance to perform a brit milah, where he discovers he must perform the brit milah on the half-demon child of a captive Jewish mother.

Despite his appalling miserliness, this mohel always conducts a brit milah completely free of charge. A brit milah was always the exception to his utter lack of generosity.

After refusing to accept anything from the demon father, the demon father finally opens a cabinet containing the mohel's "keys," and tells the mohel that he can have these keys since they don't really belong to the demon because they originally belong to the mohel.

After getting his "keys" back, mohel then returns to normal society and is indeed able to generously give tzedakah after that.

And therein lies the solution to recover the ability to do teshuvah even when you've destroyed that ability.

(See? In Judaism, there is never despair! Even from the Point of No Return, you can still return IF you REALLY want to!)

Teshuvah from Love Fixes Everything

The secret is teshuvah from love.

Even if in the extremely rare instance that Hashem doesn't want you back, your pursuing of Hashem's Will can turn everything around for the best.

Teshuvah from fear is still a million times better than not doing teshuvah at all.

However, if one has reached the Point of No Return, if one is stuck in Choshech Mitzrayim (whether it's the guy who can't daven or a complete rasha like Paroh), the key to getting unstuck is teshuvah from love.

Teshuvah from fear:
Giving someone money only after being threatened with a big stick.

Teshuvah from love:
Giving someone money because you really want to give it.

Teshuvah from fear is Hashem's Act.

Teshuvah from love is completely your act.

Rav Pincus states that while teshuvah from fear can be eliminated, teshuvah from love can never be taken away since that type of teshuvah belongs to the person.

Page 119:

Hashem will never take it away from him because that would contradict the principle of free choice.

And how can we access that?

How to Free Yourself from the Paralyzing Plague of Darkness

Here is Rav Pincus's advice on page 120:

When a person is in one of those low states where he feels nothing is moving for him, his goal at that time should not be to change his deeds.

Rather it should be change himself, his inner being.

Certainly easier said than done, but nobody ever said that escaping the Point of No Return was a bowl of stone-free cherries.

And this is where it gets a bit confusing, but still doable.

Rav Pincus presents the example of someone who wants to get out of his distraction and start learning seriously out of fear for his future (maybe the fear of getting a bad shidduch or no shidduch, getting a bad reputation or a lackluster portion in the World to Come, etc.).

So he commits to learning 5 hours straight with passion.

Rav Pincus says that is changing one's deeds, not one's self.

However, if a person works to develop a feeling of love for Torah, an appreciation for the value of Torah itself, this changes his whole approach to learning. In that case, a person should decide to come even just 5 minutes early to learn and then stay 5 minutes later.

That is changing one's self.

Why?

Because it demonstrates a thirst for learning. When you love something, when you crave it, you can't wait to get it! And then you don't want to leave it.

Superficially, it looks like both are changing deeds only.

But when a person makes a mental shift in his attitude and decides to come early to learning (or davening for that matter) and leave later, that reflects his own self.

NOTE: It's even more beneficial to read the whole thing in Rav Pincus's own words, the section called "How Far Free Choice Reaches," pages 109-122.

Final Thoughts & Plan of Action

Please also note that despite the fact that Rav Pincus himself absolutely loved learning & davening, he absolutely loved Hashem & felt loved by Hashem, Rav Pincus still recommends baby-steps.

5 minutes earlier and 5 minutes later!

This is something you run across again and again in Judaism.

BABY STEPS MATTER.

No one should scoff at small steps in the right direction.

Your smallest toddling step in Hashem's direction is very precious to Hashem.

So tachlis, what can you do if you find yourself immobilized in Choshech Mitzrayim?

I believe it's to consider your soul's real desire:

Where do you want to go?

Who do you want to be?

Why do you want to go there & be different in that way?

And how can you express that new and better desire?

And if you do find yourself in that frightening place where teshuvah from fear no longer exits, consider that rather than it means Hashem is rejecting you...

...consider that maybe it's a sign that Hashem cherishes you so much, He wants you to do teshuvah from love so He can pour upon you all the reward and closeness that comes from teshuvah from love.

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New Rabbi Wallerstein Shiur on "Kav Hayashar"!

4/1/2019

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Here's a delicious piece of news:

Rabbi Wallerstein just started giving a Tuesday shiur to Ohr Yitzchack on Kav Hayashar (which will also include material from Tomer Devorah).

Kav Hayashar is a transformative book and even though I read it once & felt I got a lot out of it, just Rabbi Wallerstein's first shiur on it gave me so much more.

(Kav Yashar is the book Rabbi Wallerstein from which he told the story of the miserly mohel and the demons, connecting it all to addiction.)

So just to reiterate: Rabbi Wallerstein will go through all 102 chapters of the Kav Hayashar every Tuesday until they finish the entire book. It's thrilling.

Here is Rabbi Wallerstein's first shiur on the Kav Hayashar:
The Newspaper Boy

For a little bit more on the Kav Hayashar, please see these posts:
Encouraging Words from the Kav Hayashar
The Demonic Draw of Dimyon

You can also find all posts on the Kav Hayashar by clicking "Kav Hayashar" under "Categories" in the sidebar or simply click HERE.

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The Kav Hayashar's Prayer for Humility

26/8/2018

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Ga'avah (haughtiness, pride, arrogance) is one of the traits that distances us from Hashem more than any other.

And according to any mussar book, it's also one of the hardest traits to uproot.

So any steps we can take in the direction toward humility and away from gaavah are really good.

Gratitude toward God is one of the most effective ways to immediately & enjoyably deflate gaavah.

And the Kav Hayashar 7 Stanza 12 offers us inspiration and a prayer to improve in this all-important area:

עַל כֵּן צָרִיךְ הָאָדָם לְהִתְפַּלֵּל לִזְכּוֹת לְמִדָּה זוֹ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הֶחָסִיד בַּסֵּפֶר "שַׁלְהֶבֶת", לוֹמַר אַחַר הַתְּפִלָּה קֹדֶם "יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִי": רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, זַכֵּנִי לְמִדַּת עֲנָוָה וּלְמִדַּת הַכְנָעָה, כְּדֵי שֶׁאֶהְיֶה מְקֻבָּל וּמְרֻצֶּה לָעָם. וְאַחַר כָּךְ יֹאמַר: "יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן וְכוּ'". וּבֶאֱמֶת שֶׁצָּרִיךְ הָאָדָם לְהִתְגַּבֵּר בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ בִּבְכִי וְתַחֲנוּנִים לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁיָּסִיר מִמֶּנּוּ מִדַּת הַגַּאֲוָה וְיִדְבַּק בְּמִדַּת הָעֲנָוָה, כִּי הָרֹב בַּעֲלֵי גַּאֲוָה מֵתִים בַּחֲצִי יְמֵיהֶם. וְהָעִנְיָן, בַּעֲבוּר שֶׁזֶּהוּ בְּוַדַּאי כָּל הַמִּתְגָּאֶה הוּא שָׂנאוּי בְּעֵינֵי הַבְּרִיּוֹת, כִּי זֶה הוּא עִנְיָן רַע בְּעֵינֵיהֶם הַמִּנְהָג שֶׁל בַּעַל גַּאֲוָה, וּמַמְשִׁיךְ עָלָיו שִׂנְאַת הַבְּרִיּוֹת, וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיא אוֹתוֹ מִן הָעוֹלָם, וְגַם אִם עָלְתָה לוֹ תַּאֲוָתוֹ לִהְיוֹת רֹאשׁ הַקָּהָל אוֹ מוֹרֵה צֶדֶק לַעֲדָתוֹ, אַךְ בַּעֲבוּר גַּאֲוָתוֹ כֻּלָּם נֶחְשָׁבִים לְאַיִן כְּנֶגְדּוֹ, וּמְזַלְזֵל בִּכְבוֹד הַבְּרִיּוֹת, אֲשֶׁר גַּם זֶה הוּא סִבָּה לְקִצּוּר יָמָיו וּשְׁנוֹתָיו, רַחֲמָנָא לִצְלַן.

Therefore a person must pray that he merit this trait. The pious author of the sefer Shalheves (i.e., the Shlah) writes that at the end of the Amidah, before reciting, “May the words of my mouth be acceptable, etc.,” one should say this meditation:
“Master of the Universe, allow me to merit the traits of humility and contrition so that I will be acceptable and desirable to the people.” Afterwards, let him recite, “May the words, etc.”

In truth, a person should pray fervently to the Holy One Blessed Be He with tears and entreaties asking that He free him of arrogance and help him acquire humility.

For as a rule, arrogant people live out only half their years. The reason for this is that they are generally hated by others. This causes them to be removed from the world.

And even if such a person achieves his desire to become head of the community or rabbi of his congregation, his pride causes him to think of those under him as nothing and to belittle their honor. This is another factor in the shortening of his life span, may Heaven spare us.

So here is the short little prayer for humility below in downloadable images (in both Hebrew and English). For the Hebrew, feel free to change the verbs to feminine form if you're female, so that the Hebrew prayer would read:
Ribbono Shel Olam, zakeni l'middat anavah u'l'middat hachna'ah k'dei sheh aheyeh mekubelet u'mrutzah l'Am.

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Is What Happened to the Ancient Egyptians Also Happening Now?

22/8/2018

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Recently, I came across a section in the Kav Hayashar that describes the 10 consequences that will happen to those who oppress the Jewish people, just as these 10 consequences happened to the ancient Egyptians who oppressed Am Yisrael.

Symbolized by the 10 pieces of chametz placed around the home the night before Pesach on Bedikat Chametz (they also symbolize the 10 Plagues), the Kav Hayashar explains the following in Chapter 89:

וְקַבָּלָה הִיא בְּיָדִי מִן רַבּוֹתַי, שֶׁהָיוּ מְצַוִּים לְהַנִּיחַ חָמֵץ בַּעֲשָׂרָה מְקוֹמוֹת, נֶגֶד עֲשָׂרָה מַכּוֹת שֶׁהֵבִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל הַמִּצְרִים, וּכְנֶגֶד עֲשָׂרָה דִּינִים שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עָתִיד לְבַעֵר וּלְנַעֵר וְלִכְרוֹת וּלְהַמֵּם, לַהֲרֹס וְלַעֲקֹר וְלִנְתֹץ וְלִנְתשׁ וּלְכַלּוֹת וּלְקַעֲקֵעַ בֵּיצָתָם שֶׁל מְצֵרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

We have an oral tradition that our mentors used to order that leaven bread [chametz] be left in ten places. This corresponds to the ten plagues that the Holy One Blessed Be He brought upon the Egyptians as well as the ten judgments with which He will one day punish those who oppressed Israel. That is, He will 1) eradicate them, 2) shake them out, 3) cut them off, 4) confound them, 5) destroy them, 6) uproot them, 7) shatter them, 8) abandon them, 9) finish them off and 10) uproot their tessticles.

[Note: The translation for #10 is as found on Sefaria, which I believe originates with the original Metzuda text. But many thanks to an astute reader who enlightened me that this term commonly means just "to totally uproot" -- meaning, "to totally uproot their roots." The example given was Rashi on Beresheis 32:26 HERE. -- MR]

It occurred to me these judgments seem to be happening now.

True, we're not seeing them in full, but perhaps we are seeing the beginning of this process.

Our enemies, though they also attack us, mostly fight each other, eradicating each other. They're uprooting each other and shaking each other out, so to speak.

Earthquakes (a definite form of shaking) have been occurring all over, but it can't be denied they've also happened in places that contain they who oppose Israel, whether for religious reasons or political (Leftist) reasons.

And in fact, the above list strikes those who oppose the core VALUES of Yisrael, whether they politically support the State of Israel or not. And many places stricken by the above definitely reject Torah values.

Furthermore, with gender-change surgeries on the rise, we are certainly seeing a rise in the literal uprooting of the male part.

And the people who opt for these radical surgeries are people who oppose Torah values with all their might, with leaders bent on coercing the rest of society to think like them.

"Confound them" -- society is certainly becoming more and more confounded, isn't it?

Shocking things happen and no one on either side quite knows how to respond.

Just as one of many examples, President Trump's rapid ascendancy certainly confounded a great many Leftists to the point that we've seen the rise in something coined "Trump Derangement Syndrome."

And look at how many people are on psychotropic medication, especially children.

Drinking has been a problem for decades, but now there's also what's called an "opium epidemic."

People feel they can't manage life on their own.

Suicide is up among youth in America, one of the world's best places to live.

It all fits the above, except that instead of getting hit by a storm of hail, locusts, or frogs, people are doing it to themselves. (Although yes, the wildfires and volcanoes and earthquakes aren't being caused by humans.)

While those on the political right in support of traditional values (some of whom are also Jew-haters and despise our pure monotheism) view the above as a type of persecution (as I do) and a war on traditional values, I'm starting to wonder whether maybe it's not so much an attack on us, but Heavenly Judgement being carried out against them.

True, we're affected by their meshugas, but it seems like they're actually suffering more, even if they don't realize it. Or even if they misidentify the source of their suffering.

For example, those suffering from gender confusion point to society's nonacceptance of their dysphoria as the source of their suffering, but the truth is that the source of their suffering is their own dysphoria and their unwillingness to take an honest look at what really needs to be healed.

At least we have the Torah. We have Hashem. We have emuna.

What do they have?

Nothing.

As things start shaking up, confounding, uprooting, shattering, abandoning, destroying, we have the unbreakable Cord of Emuna on which to grasp tight.

They have nothing.

And this Cord of Emuna is available to anyone who wants to grasp on to it.

Anyone. You just have to grab it.

Ashreinu! Mah tov chelkeinu!

May Hashem bring the Geula in a sweet way.

Note: Sorry for the inconvenience, but my filter is inconsistent and some words can get me blocked from my own blog page and I won't be able to respond to your comments. So if you could use coded language or misspelled words (as I did above), that would be best. Sorry again.

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The Message of Your Mood: What is Your Soul Telling You?

20/8/2018

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In Chapter 71, the Kav Hayashar explains how, despite claims to the contrary, Hashem still speaks to us today.

It's much more subtle and it's filtered through our neshamah, which we sense with our nefesh (the seat of our emotions):

וְגַם צָרִיךְ לְהוֹדִיעַ: בְּעוֹד הָאָדָם בְּחַיִּים חַיּוּתוֹ, אָז הַנְּשָׁמָה מְעוֹרֶרֶת אֶת לִבּוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם לִדְבַר ה', כִּי זֶה קַבָּלָה הִיא בְּיָדִי מִסְּפָרִים קַדְמוֹנִים

It has also been passed down to us through the writings and texts of earlier generations that even while a person is still alive, his neshamah arouses his heart regarding the word of Hashem.

A Good Mood

Then the Kav Hayashar offers an interesting insight into what our moods might be telling us. He starts off by explaining the hint of a good mood:

כִּי בְּכָל עֵת שֶׁיָּבוֹא פִּתְאֹם מַחֲשָׁבָה טוֹבָה בְּלֵב שֶׁל אָדָם, מַחֲשָׁבָה שֶׁל שִׂמְחָה וְאַהֲבָה לְדִבְרֵי תּוֹרָה אוֹ מִצְוָה, אֲזַי תֵּדַע שֶׁאָז הוּא עֵת רָצוֹן שֶׁתִּהְיֶה מִתְפַּלֵּל. וְזוֹ הַתְּפִלָּה דְּבוּקָה תֵּכֶף בְּהֵיכַל מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא

You should know that whenever a good thought suddenly enters a person’s heart — such as joy over or love of words of Torah or a commandment — it is a favorable time for prayer.

The prayer that one utters at that time will immediately enter the palace of the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One Blessed be He.

A Bad Mood

And the possible message of a bad mood?:

וּבַאֲשֶׁר שֶׁיֵּשׁ לִפְעָמִים עֵת וּזְמַן, שֶׁנַּפְשׁוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם עֲגוּמָה עָלָיו, קָרוֹב הַדָּבָר שֶׁיֵּשׁ אֵיזֶה גְּזֵרָה רָעָה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם עַל הָאָדָם אוֹ עַל קְרוֹבָיו, אוֹ גְּזֵרָה רָעָה עַל כָּל הָעוֹלָם, כִּי עַל פִּי רֹב כְּרוּזִים יוֹצְאִים וּמְעוֹרְרִין לְבָבוֹת הָאָדָם, כִּי הַלֵּב יוֹדֵעַ מָרַת נַפְשׁוֹ, אַף שֶׁבְּאָזְנָיו לֹא שָׁמַע. וְעַל כֵּן אִם יִתְעַצֵּל הָאָדָם וְלֹא יִתְפַּלֵּל תֵּכֶף, אֲזַי הַגְּזֵרָה מְמַשְׁמֶשֶׁת וּבָאָה

And if on occasion, a person experiences a moment or period that his soul is filled with melancholy, it is very likely that some evil decree has been issued against him, Heaven forbid, or upon a member of his family or upon the entire world.

In most cases when decrees are issued, heralds are then dispatched to arouse people’s hearts.

For a person’s heart knows the bitterness of his soul, even if he does not hear anything with his ears.

Therefore, if a person is slothful and fails to pray immediately, the decree becomes a reality.

Occasionally, Not Chronically

Interestingly, he specifies that if a person experiences a melancholy moment or period on occasion — sheh yesh lifa'amim, then that could likely be a "herald" dispatched to arouse people's hearts.

To me, this is an important emphasis because people who spend years in an embittered or depressed state tend to self-aggrandize.

Some drift into a sort of paranoia or think that Hashem is punishing other people on their behalf when something bad happens in the world; they even feel gratified by this.

Certainly, those people should also turn to Hashem, preferably in search of gratitude, to heal their souls from their darkness.

But if a person experiences a nefesh agumah (a melancholy soul) occasionally, it could be a sign of marat nefesh (bitterness of soul) resulting from a negative decree that only his heart senses, even though he doesn't "hear" the decree or perceive it with his other senses.

And in such a case:

עַל כֵּן יְזָרֵז הָאָדָם עַצְמוֹ וְיִתְפַּלֵּל לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּדְמָעוֹת כְּפִי כֹּחוֹ

For this reason let him arouse himself to the best of his ability to pray with tears before the Holy One Blessed Be He.

Prayer, Not Panic

Please note that he doesn't say to panic, fret, or start "disasterizing" when you experience the herald's call of a bad decree.

He just says that you should immediately start praying to Hashem.

And simply by doing that, you may nullify an evil decree.

May Hashem please sweeten all decrees.

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The Demonic Draw of Dimyon

16/8/2018

In Chapter 69, the Kav Hayashar presents a freaky story that occurred in Posen in the mid-1600s to a Jewish smith who kept a demoness "wife" living in his outhouse.

(However, she made the inside of the outhouse appear as a luxurious home with beautiful furnishings. And if that's not the perfect illustration for what's going on today with the allures of modern society, then I don't know what is.)

This smith had a kosher Jewish wife and children, but he kept getting pulled toward this demon-wife in a way that the Kav Hayashar describes as against the smith's will.

In fact, this smith even got up in the middle of the Pesach Seder to be with the demon-wife in the luxury-illusion outhouse for 15 minutes.

His real wife, concerned about his sudden leave of absence, went to go peek through a crack in the wall and, distressingly, she got a real eyefull.

Fortunately, a holy Sage named Rebbe Sheftel (son of the Shlah Hakadosh) lived in their area and the human wife reported her discovery to the holy Rebbe.

Rebbe Sheftel sent for the smith who admitted he had "an alien wife (ishah zarah) who was not from the seed of a human being."

Rebbe Sheftel gave the husband an amulet which broke the power of the demoness over him and forced him to separate from her.

Not long before his death, the demoness came to him weeping, protesting about how could her abandon her and her children? Then she showed him a playful & smiling face (panim sochekot), with lots of body language and cajoling him until he agreed to grant her and her children a portion of his property: the cellar.

Yet only a short while later, something the Kav Hayashar refers to as "wars in the states of Poland from 1648 to 1658" occurred. (I assume this refers to the Khmelnitsky massacres.)

And the smith and all his heirs were killed during these uprisings.

Demons in the Cellar

It was only in 1680-81 that the new owners of the home discovered the real danger of the demonic entities (chitzonim) in the cellar.

It began around 1678 when a young man entered the locked cellar and 15 minutes later, was found dead on its threshold, but no one knew why.

Two years later, the entities started making trouble in the outer buildings, where people used to cook. Then the entities started wandering freely through the main living quarters, breaking things and terrifying the inhabitants.

Interestingly, they first tried a non-Jewish exorcism using Catholic priests, but it obviously didn't work.

Finally, they called on Rebbe Yoel Baal Shem of Zamusht (Zamosc) to intervene. He convened a special beit din, which he compelled the demonic entities to attend. He could hear them although he could not see them.

These chitzonim claimed to be the offspring of the Jewish smith and his demon-wife and, with no human heirs left to inherit the property, these demonic offspring insisted that they were the rightful inheritors of the smith's property and not the new unrelated owners who legally bought the property.

However, the current owners claimed true ownership for the following reasons:

They purchased the property legally from the smith and his representatives.
Demonic entities don't have the status of human offspring (zera bnei adam).
Their mother the demoness compelled the smith to cohabit with her against his will.

After hearing both sides, the beit din delivered their psak (verdict) that the demonic entities had no rights to the smith's estate, including no rights to the cellar, because their primary dwelling place is the wilderness and the forests, and not the yishuv (places of human habitation).

Then Rebbe Yoel Baal Shem Tov bound the entities by oath to leave the smith's estate (including the cellar) and go to the wilderness and the forest.

The Kav Hayashar concludes the saga by saying:

הֲרֵי לְךָ רְאָיָה בְּרוּרָה, שֶׁהֶעָווֹן הַזֶּה גּוֹרֵם כְּשֶׁהָאָדָם נִדְבַּק בְּלִילִית אוֹ בְּשֵׁדִית מִן כַּת מַחֲלַת, אֲזַי נֶעֱקָר הוּא מִן הָעוֹלָם וְגַם מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ, וְאֵין לוֹ שׁוּם זִכָּרוֹן בָּעוֹלָם

From this incident you have a clear demonstration that this transgression causes that when a man clings to Lilith or to one of the cohorts [kaht] of Machalat, he uproots himself and his entire family from the world until no memory of him remains.

I don't know why the man's children were also victims of his transgression, except that maybe because he obviously couldn't have proper intentions with his human wife, then that caused him to bring down blemished souls via his human wife.

And anyway, there was heavy judgement going on at that time as a horrific amount of Jews were slaughtered during those years.

The Teshuvah Cure

In his final summation of events, the Kav Hayashar writes:

עַל כֵּן יִתְרַחֵק הָאָדָם מִן הַזְּנוּת, כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יָבוֹא אֵלָיו שֵׁדִית בִּדְמוּת אִשָּׁה, וְיִדְבַּק חַס וְשָׁלוֹם בּוֹ אוֹ בְּזַרְעוֹ, וְגוֹרֵם רָעָה לְעַצְמוֹ. וְהַגּוֹדֵר עַצְמוֹ בְּגָדֵר עֶרְוָה וּמִדַּבֵּק בְּאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרָיו שֶׁהִיא כְּגֶפֶן, אָז אַשְׁרֵי לוֹ וְאַשְׁרֵי לְנִשְׁמָתוֹ שֶׁלֹּא נָתַן כֹּחוֹ לְזָרִים. רַק יִהְיֶה הָאָדָם נִזְהָר מִלְּהוֹצִיא זַרְעוֹ לְבַטָּלָה. וְאִם יַגִּיעַ אֵלָיו חַס וְשָׁלוֹם חֵטְא זֶה עַל יְדֵי אֹנֶס, אֲזַי יִרְאֶה תֵּכֶף לְתַקֵּן אֶת הַפְּגָם בִּתְשׁוּבָה, וְאָז טוֹב לוֹ יִהְיֶה סֶלָה

Therefore a man must distance himself from licentious behavior lest a demoness come to him in the form of a woman and cling to him or his offspring, Heaven forbid, so that he will cause himself harm. Fortunate is the one who makes protective barriers for himself and adheres to the wife of his youth, who is likened to a grapevine. And fortunate is his soul, for he does not deliver his strength to alien entities (zarim). In any event, a man must be careful not to waste his seed.

And if this sin should overtake him against his will, Heaven forbid, let him immediately rectify the blemish through repentance. Then all will be well with him, selah.

Although the Kav Hayashar doesn't specify how this demonic relationship began, he implies that the smith wasn't careful about his personal holiness, which opened him up to being approached by a demoness.

And this demonic relationship was a committed relationship because he kept referring to her as his "alien wife (ishah zarah)" and the Kav Hayashar describes it as "his soul was bound up with hers."

Also, it's worth noting that, like with the Pele Yoetz and all the other writings of tzaddikim, after the Kav Hayashar provides strict frightening warnings about a particular sin, he offers reassurance that teshuvah can still remedy everything "and then all will be well with him, selah."

Serving WHOSE Needs?

What I found interesting was that while he didn't seem to fight his inclination for the demoness, the Kav Hayashar presents the situation as if the man was going to fulfill HER needs, not his own.

As the Kav Hayashar writes:

וְהָיָה דָּר עִם שֵׁדִית אַחַת, וְהוֹלִיד בָּנִים זָרִים וּבָנִים מַשְׁחִיתִים, וְגַם הוֹלִיד מֵאִשְׁתּוֹ גַּם כֵּן בָּנִים. וְהָאִישׁ צוֹרֵף הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל הָיָה לוֹ אַהֲבָה יְתֵרָה, וְנַפְשׁוֹ קְשׁוּרָה בְּנַפְשָׁהּ שֶׁל שֵׁדִית, וְלִפְעָמִים הָיָה מֻכְרָח לְבַטֵּל תְּפִלָּתוֹ וְלָצֵאת מִבֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן הַשֵּׁדִית הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל

He used to cohabit with a certain female demon, who bore him “foreign sons” and “destructive sons.” He had a human wife as well, who also bore him sons.

But the smith was very much in love with the demoness to the point that his soul was bound up with hers.

Sometimes he was forced to interrupt his prayers and leave the synagogue in order to fulfill the wishes of the demoness.

The Illusion of Obsession

The Kav Hayashar notes that a demoness named Machalat "and her kaht (type, group)" can appear to men as a beautiful, laughing, playful woman.

(The term he uses is "heret lo panim sochekot — she showed him a laughing/playful/smiling face." She showed him such a face. It wasn't real, just something she showed him. Sort of like what many people do on Facebook and Instagram.)

Yet the children they created together weren't considered his real children and prohibited from inheriting him. Tragically, the man left the world with no descendants behind him, which is why the demonic offspring thought they had rights to his home until the local beit din informed them otherwise.

So it was all dimyon.

Elusive & Illusive

In modern Hebrew, dimyon translates as "imagination." But it also means "to resemble," to have a similar appearance to something.

The demoness resembled a beautiful happy woman, her relationship with the smith resembled a marriage, the results of their relationship resembled children and heirs - but in actuality, it was all nothing.

Even the outhouse resembled a luxury villa from the inside, but was only ever a simple structure encapsulating a dark stinking hole full of repulsive waste.

It was all dimyon.

Nothing concrete. Nothing real or long-lasting.

Elusive and illusive.

Interestingly, the above scenario portrays the man as leaving his family and a profoundly significant Torah obligation (Leil HaSeder) to spend 15 minutes with his demoness. Fifteen minutes! Couldn't he at least postpone it?

But no, she compelled him. The Kav Hayashar refers to this several times above:

He was forced to interrupt his prayers.
He was compelled against his will - hi hayatah kofah et hatzoref ba'al korcho."
Sometimes, licentious sins "come about by force - al yadei oness."

Yet the smith created the initial opening.

And what started out as controllable and desirable veered out of control and overtook him against his will.

And this reminds me of other stories: stories from modern times...

When Dimyon Takes Control

I've heard of women whose husbands got up in the middle of supper with an oh-so innocent "dum-dee-dum-dee-dum!" attitude to go look up unwholesome images on the Internet — photoshopped, airbrushed, carefully made-up, plastic-surgeried women with fake smiles (panim sochekot) and fake allure.

These younger women also possessed such genetics that even if the kosher wives themselves underwent plastic surgery and carefully applied make-up, they could never achieve the look of these Internet bunnies.

And as for such men who can't even make it through a simple meal with his family: What a rascal of a baal taavah! It's bad enough he gazes at such images — can't he even wait until the end of supper?

But no, he just gets up and abandons his kosher wife and children. He doesn't even care that in his wife's despair and helpless rage at his abhorrent behavior, she'll mishandle normal child mishaps (like a picky eater, a kvetchy eater, or a toddler who throws his bowl of noodles on the floor).

No, he doesn't care. His need to immerse himself in these fake images is stronger than his love for his family.

Texting Ties into This Too

Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein has already spoken of frum girls who transgress Shabbos by texting with their friends.

Texting is mostly text, but it can include playful smiley emoticans. And the whole texting dynamic resembles a human relationship and seems fun, but it's actually highly destructive.

Furthermore, relationships conduct primarily through texting aren't at all the same as real person-to-person relationships. Yet the obsessive texting feels like a real satisfying relationship.

Finally, according to Rabbi Wallerstein, these girls care about Shabbat. Texting demands major Shabbat transgressions.

So why can't they control themselves?

Rochy's "Demons"

In Malky Feig's heart-stirring book Mountain Climbers 2, we meet an extremely sincere frum girl named Rochy whose glance into the secular novels kept by her grandmother's non-Jewish caretaker creates an opening for a reading addiction.

She's a happy girl who likes her school and family, yet these trashy novels sucked her in.

Initially, she fights their pull ("Why was I doing this if I knew it wasn't right for me?").

At one point, she resists picking up the alluring novel and instead picks up a siddur and begs Hashem to help her: "Please, Tatte, please! Help me remain pure. You know how badly I want to serve you in sanctity...Please, Tatte, cleanse me. Don't let me fall now. Help me resist this overpowering temptation..."

After such sincere heartfelt prayer, Rochy states: "I was sure my battle was over."

Then: "Sunday morning, however, I was once again under the spell."

Rochy finds herself living a double-life of a dedicated frum girl who teaches popular classes in Yiddishkeit to adoring students while secretly consuming forbidden reading material at every opportunity.

She's aware of her hypocrisy and hates herself for it. But she still can't stop.

Then, just like the mesmerized smith 3 centuries ago, this frum girl leaves her family Seder to huddle next to the light of the upstairs bathroom to immerse herself in the mesmerizing secular novel hidden there.

Again, a novel's characters aren't real, but as any voracious reader knows, the world of a compellingly written novel feels real.

(Another interesting correlation to the story that began with the smith: The demons ended up in the cellar, then spread throughout the house. Likewise, Rochy's "demons" — the trashy novels — were located in the basement, then spread to her room and she ended up carrying around the images in her head wherever she went, as if her "demons" and left the basement and spread out. Also the parallel between them carrying out their forbidden deeds in the outhouse/bathroom.)

Yet that plunge to rock-bottom forced Rochy to realize how low she'd fallen.

Again she turned to Hashem with her whole heart and begged Him to forgive her and rescue her from her compulsion.

And she succeeded.

She refused to finish the novel that took her out of the Pesach Seder and needed to physically restrain herself from descending to the converted basement of her grandmother's apartment where the novels lay.

As time went by, she felt freer from her addiction. Eventually, she was able to go down to visit her grandmother without feeling the allure of the novels.

Occasionally, she felt a twinge, but she fortified herself by thinking of what she wanted to be and how short life is.

"Life was too short, our souls far too precious, to blemish with temporal indulgence."

And just like our tzaddikim promise, sincere teshuvah cured her of her unwanted compulsion.

How Panim Sochekot Infiltrates Today

In the above scenarios, everyone is shown panim sochekot — appealing fictional characters and situations, emoticons and textspeak, women with fake come-hither looks...

Interestingly, many people caught in the above situations express a helplessness. They want to stop, they're distressed and mortified by their behavior, but they feel they can't stop.

Men addicted to disgusting images describe their self-disgust and the measures they take to stop themselves, but as if compelled, they find themselves at the computer yet again.

Facebook is another source of panim sochekot.

People tend to post images and announcements that show them in the best light, happy and successful. Many people feel addicted to Facebook, even as studies show that Facebook makes them feel worse.

Nonetheless, so many feel compelled to constantly check their Facebook.

I can't know what's really going on here, but the similarities of modern addictions to the story of the smith and his demonic cohabitation are too much to be ignored.

Yet the frum girl above managed to disengage from her compulsion by turning to Hashem and the Kav Hayashar promises us the teshuvah is not only possible, but effective.

May Hashem help all of us overcome all our "demons."

Note: I tweaked some of the translation above to reflect the more literal meaning of the words. Yet much of the Hebrew is included here for your edification, along with a transliteration of many phrases included in the English translation. The entire Hebrew text with its English translation are available on Sefaria as linked above to Chapter 69.

A Peek into the Deeper Meaning of a "Regular" Parsha

15/8/2018

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One of the many unique aspects of Torah is the increasingly deeper level of meaning inherent in even the most seemingly mundane verse.

For example, the story of Avraham Avinu and Sara Imeinu isn't only about the actions and interactions of our first Jews. It also represents the actions and interactions of the Sefirot in a completely different dimension. In addition, there are many more layers of meaning to every word of their story inscribed in the Torah.

In other words, the Torah is not only true, but it's truer in more profound ways than we could ever imagine.

For example, the Kav Hayashar Chapter 42. He refers to a well-known section of the Chumash that seems to "only" discuss an aspect of Jewish Law. Yet the Kav Hayashar gleans from the Zohar an underlying lesson for which the halachic description is pure metaphor:

-כְּתִיב

וּבַת כֹּהֵן כִּי תִהְיֶה אַלְמָנָה וּגְרוּשָׁה וְזֶרַע אֵין לָהּ, וְשָׁבָה אֶל בֵּית אָבִיהָ כִּנְעוּרֶיהָ, בִּתְרוּמַת הַקֳּדָשִׁים לֹא תֹאכֵל וְכוּ

מִקְרָא זֶה נִדְרָשׁ בַּזֹּהַר, דִּמְרַמֵּז עַל הַנְּשָׁמָה, שֶׁנִּבְרֵאת לֵילֵךְ לְהַגּוּף לְתַקְּנָהּ וּלְקַשְּׁטָהּ בְּמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים; וּכְשֶׁהָאָדָם עוֹשֶׂה עֲבֵרָה וּפוֹגֵם אֶת נִשְׁמָתוֹ — אָז הַנְּשָׁמָה צוֹעֶקֶת אֶל ה' וְאוֹמֶרֶת: נְתָנַנִי ה' בִּידֵי לֹא אוּכַל קוּם! וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שׁוֹמֵעַ צַעֲקָתָהּ וְאוֹמֵר לָהּ: נְשָׁמָה, בִּתִּי הַחֲבִיבָה, מְגֻדֶּלֶת אַתְּ הָיִית בְּאוֹר הַכָּבוֹד תַּחַת כִּסֵּא כְּבוֹדִי וְנִקְרֵאת "בַּת חֲבִיבָה", וְהוֹרַדְתִּיךְ אֲנִי לְגוּף הָאָדָם, וְהָיִיתִי סוֹבֵר לְהַעֲלוֹתֵךְ לְמַעֲלוֹת מַעְלָה מַעְלָה בְּמַעֲשֵׂה הָאָדָם הַטּוֹב; וְעַכְשָׁו שֶׁחָטָא הָאָדָם, הִיא יְרִידָה לְךָ, שֶׁיָּרַדְתָּ מֵאִגְרָא רָמָא לְבִירָא עֲמִיקְתָּא, לְגוּף הָאָדָם, וְנִקְרָא הַנְּשָׁמָה עַכְשָׁו 'גְּרוּשָׁה', כִּי הַנְּשָׁמָה נִתְגָּרְשָׁה מִמְּקוֹמָהּ בְּעַל כָּרְחָהּ. וַה' יִתְבָּרַךְ שׁוֹמֵעַ צַעֲקָתָהּ וְנוֹטֵל הַנְּשָׁמָה מֵהַגּוּף וּמְצָרְפָהּ עַל יְדֵי דִּינִים. וְאַחַר כְּלוֹת הַצֵּרוּף וְהַדִּינִים הִיא מִתְעַנֶּגֶת וְאוֹכֶלֶת מֵעֹנֶג אָבִיהָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם

It is written-- “And when the daughter of a Kohein shall be widowed or divorced, having no offspring, and she returns to her father’s house as in her youth…” (Vayikra 22:13) [and in the previous verse it is written,] “…she shall not eat of an offering of the holy things.”

According to the Zohar (2:95b; 3:7a) this is an allusion to the soul.

The soul was created to enter the body in order that it should be rectified and adorned with good deeds.

But when a person transgresses, he blemishes his soul, causing it to cry out to Hashem, saying, “Hashem has delivered me into the hands of one against whom I cannot stand” (Eichah 1:14).

When the Holy One Blessed is He hears this cry, He says to the soul, “My precious daughter, you were raised in illumination and honor beneath the Throne of Glory and were called, ‘precious daughter.’

"Then I lowered you into a human body, intending to elevate you to the highest levels through that human being’s good deeds. But now that he has sinned you have been degraded, plummeting from a lofty rooftop to the deep pit of the human body.”

At this point the soul becomes known as a “divorcee” because it is banished from its place against its will (“divorced” and “banished” are expressed by the same word in Hebrew).

But Hashem hears its cry and takes the soul from the body and purifies it though chastisements, after which it is able to relish the delights of its Heavenly Father.

See?

So yes, this scenario as written in the Torah provides us with guiding laws and insights.

But there is also the whole other hidden meaning described above, which seems unrelated to the straightfoward meaning, yet has everything to do with it.

And this still isn't even the whole meaning behind these verses. There's much more, but this is enough to make the point.

The above is just one of many reasons why rationalist arguments regarding the Torah fall short. The Torah and all it encompasses is far, far more than the 3 dimensions we perceive.

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How to Deal with Quickly Answered Prayers & Unanswered Prayers from the Kav Hayashar

14/8/2018

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In Chapter 64, the Kav Hayashar offers both comfort for unanswered prayers and guidance in prayer. The following contain just a few excerpts from that chapter:

Avoid Pride from Answered Prayers

דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם כָּתַב בְּסֵפֶר תְּהִלִּים (ד, ב): "בְּקָרְאִי עֲנֵנִי אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי... חָנֵּנִי וּשְׁמַע תְּפִלָּתִי". נִרְאֶה לְפָרֵשׁ הַפָּסוּק עַל פִּי מַה שֶּׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה: כָּל הַמְבַקֵּשׁ רַחֲמִים בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ וְנַעֲנָה מִיָּד — אַל יִתְגָּאֶה בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ בִּשְׁבִיל כָּךְ, לַחֲשֹׁב בְּלִבּוֹ שֶׁהוּא צַדִּיק בַּאֲשֶׁר שֶׁנִּתְקַבֵּל תְּפִלָּתוֹ מִיָּד

King Dovid wrote in the book of Tehillim, “Answer me when I call out, God of my righteousness…, be gracious to me and hear my prayer” (4:2).

I believe this verse can be understood in light of the Sages teaching that if person’s prayers are answered immediately he must not become conceited and suppose it to be on account of his righteousness.

וְזֶהוּ כַּוָּנַת דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּאָמְרוֹ: בְּקָרְאִי עָנֵנִי, אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי, אָכֵן לֹא תֵּכֶף וּמִיָּד, אֶלָּא: חָנֵּנִי וּשְׁמַע תְּפִלָּתִי, וְאַחַר כָּךְ תֵּן וּתְמַלֵּא בַּקָּשָׁתִי

This is what King Dovid meant when he said, “Answer me when I call out, God of my righteousness.” That is, he did not wish to be answered immediately. He wished first to find grace and to have his prayer heard and only afterwards to have his request fulfilled.

So when Hashem answers us immediately, we shouldn't feel pride; we should feel pleasure. We should be grateful that Hashem loves us so much and so unconditionally despite our flaws.

Even a tzaddik like David Hamelech worried about his merits and whether he deserved Hashem's Compassion, so he first prayed "Chaneni - be gracious to me." He wished for Hashem's Grace despite his flaws, and then asked Hashem to hear him out.

Don't Despair of Unanswered Prayer

וְכֵן יַחֲשֹׁב הָאָדָם בְּדַעְתּוֹ, שֶׁאַף אִם הֶאֱרִיךְ בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ וְלֹא נַעֲנָה — לֹא יִתְיָאֵשׁ מִלְּהִתְפַּלֵּל עוֹד, כִּי אַדְּרַבָּה: הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתְאַוֶּה לִתְפִלָּתוֹ כְּשֶׁהִיא בְּכַוָּנָה, דְּהַיְנוּ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הַלֵּב יוֹדֵעַ לְכַוֵּן לְמַה שֶּׁהַפֶּה מְדַבֵּר

By the same token, a person who prays at length and is not answered should not despair of praying again.

For the Holy One Blessed is He does indeed desire his prayers but He desires that they be with proper intent. That is, the heart must concentrate and know what the mouth utters.

Sometimes it takes a long time for fulfillment of prayer. Even as it's frustrating or heartbreaking, repeated prayer offers the benefit of deepened humility and deeper introspection.

This is true even when the answer is "No."

After her son Nachshon was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists during a rescue attempt by Israeli commandos, Esther Wachsman noted that Jews prayed for 2000 years to come Home. The fact that we are able to live in Eretz Yisrael is the result of all those seemingly unanswered prayers.

"Eventually," she said, "the time comes for a prayer's fulfillment."

One of the commandos involved in the mission was a secular guy who told Nachshon's father:
"You know, you are probably wondering what happened to all the prayers and mitzvot and chapters of Tehillim everyone said for your son. But I'll tell you. Because we know exactly what happened to them. You see, when we were in that house holding your son, we all should have died. We have no idea how we were alive today...it should not have happened. You see, all of those prayers said for the Jewish soldier Nachshon Wachsman are the only reason any of us are alive today. Hashem took all those prayers and, for whatever reason, used them to save different soldiers."

Final Tips for Potent Prayers

הַכְּלָל הָעוֹלֶה מִפֶּרֶק זֶה: שֶׁטּוֹב לָאָדָם לְהִתְפַּלֵּל מְעַט בְּכַוָּנָה וּלְהָרִים יָדָיו וְאֶצְבָּעוֹתָיו בַּתְּפִלָּה וּבַבְּרָכוֹת וְהוֹדָאוֹת וּבִקְרִיאַת שְׁמַע וּבַתְּפִלָּה שֶׁל "וּבָא לְצִיּוֹן", וְיַרְחִיק עַצְמוֹ מִן הַגֶּזֶל וּמִמָּמוֹן שֶׁאֵינוֹ שֶׁל ישֶׁר — אֲזַי אֲנִי עָרֵב בַּעֲדוֹ, שֶׁחֵפֶץ ה' יַצְלִיחַ בְּיָדוֹ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, וּשְׂכָרוֹ יִהְיֶה כָּפוּל בָּעוֹלָם הַבָּא, כְּמַאֲמַר הַמְשׁוֹרֵר: וּמָאתַיִם לַנּוֹטְרִים אֶת פִּרְיוֹ

To summarize what we have learned in this chapter:
~It is better for a person to pray for a shorter amount of time with concentration than for a longer time without it.
~And let him raise his hands and fingers whenever he prays, utters blessings, gives thanks or recites the Shema or the prayer “And a redeemer will come.”
~Let him distance himself from theft and from all ill-gotten gain.

Then I will be his guarantor that Providence will cause him to prosper in this world and that his reward will be double in the next world. As it states, “And two hundred for those guarding its fruit” (Shir HaShirim 8:12).

May all our prayers be fulfilled l'tovah.

To see the original article on Nachshon Wachsman quoted above:
When God Says No - The Story of Nachshon Wachsman

To read a moving essay by his mother, Esther Wachsman:
His Name was Nachshon Wachsman

For more posts quoting the Kav Hayashar on various topics:
Inspirational Kav Hayashar

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The Moroccan Beginnings

Basic Jewish Law: The Best Protection

Active Appeasement of Entities? Controversial–Not Recommended

Let's Go Back in Time to BEFORE We Knew that Every War Ended in a Miraculous Victory

The Demon Draft

What Won the War?

A Disclaimer for Any Brainwashed Jew-Haters Reading This

The Bitter Ends

The Importance of being Tamim with Hashem & the Power of a Mezuzah

Being Tamim with Hashem is the Best!

Postscript

What Does "Free Choice" Really Mean?

When You Cannot Even Move to Save Your Life

Teshuvah from Love Fixes Everything

How to Free Yourself from the Paralyzing Plague of Darkness

Final Thoughts & Plan of Action

A Good Mood

A Bad Mood

Occasionally, Not Chronically

Prayer, Not Panic

Demons in the Cellar

The Teshuvah Cure

Serving WHOSE Needs?

The Illusion of Obsession

Elusive & Illusive

When Dimyon Takes Control

Texting Ties into This Too

Rochy's "Demons"

How Panim Sochekot Infiltrates Today

Avoid Pride from Answered Prayers

Don't Despair of Unanswered Prayer

Final Tips for Potent Prayers

Myrtle Rising

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