Category: Mishlei/Proverbs

More Inspiration against Despair from the Me'am Lo'ez on Mishlei/Proverbs 2:4

15/12/2021

This post comes as a continuation of a previous post:
www.myrtlerising.com/blog/inspiration-against-despair-from-the-meam-loez-on-mishleiproverbs-24-6

Hashem WANTS us to succeed.

The effort is PART of the success.

The effort & success exist as integral parts of each other...which is why it is so important to NOT GIVE UP.

As long as you try, as long as you "dig," then you are succeeding.

You are doing exactly what Hashem wants you to do.

You ARE fulfilling your purpose—just via your effort.

A treasure of beautiful hidden sparks lies within even the ugliest aspect of life.

Here's the English Me'am Lo'ez (page 55) on Mishlei/Proverbs 2:4:

If you will seek her like silver and search for her as hidden treasures;

אִם-תְּבַקְשֶׁנָּה כַכָּסֶף; וְכַמַּטְמוֹנִים תַּחְפְּשֶׂנָּה

A man should know and believe that there is a treasure of hidden sparks of holiness within all material things, even when they appear ugly on the outside.

He must believe that by sufficient effort, he will certainly find the hidden great good.

God has concealed precious stones and pearls in this world, and a man who sufficiently refines all his deeds will find the pearls.

Compare it to a king who dropped a gem into the sand, and commanded his son to search for it.

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Inspiration against Despair from the Me'am Lo'ez on Mishlei/Proverbs 2:4-6

14/12/2021

The commentary of the Me'am Lo'ez for Mishlei/Proverbs never appeared in Ladino, but resulted from Rav Shmuel Yerushalmi's work.

Rav Shmuel Yerushalmi translated the original Me'am Lo'ez commentaries from Ladino to Hebrew, incorporating more Torah commentary as he did so.

(In other words, they aren't literal translations; they are adaptations, which include translation & other well-sourced additions.)

The Me'am Lo'ez evolved into a collaborative work spanning the centuries since Rav Yaakov Culi's initial publication of the Me'am Lo'ez in Ladino in Turkey in 1730.

Other great sages continued Rav Culi's work after Rav Culi passed on in 1732, two-thirds of the way through completing Sefer Shemot/Exodus.

But not all books of Tanach merited a Ladino translation & commentary.

As Rav Yerushalmi went through each book of Tanach, he added his own wealth of knowledge to the collaborative series. This including preparing his own extensively footnoted anthology of Torah sources for any book not already appearing in the original Ladino of the Me'am Lo'ez series.

Such is the case with the Book of Mishlei, which never appeared in Ladino, but only Hebrew around 1985, courtesy of the efforts & knowledge of Rav Shmuel Yerushalmi.

Fortunately, Zvi Faier translated the Hebrew masterpiece into English in 1993.

And that's what I'd like to quote from now (Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez, The Torah Anthology, The Book of Mishlei I by Zvi Faier, page 53-54), regarding Mishlei 2:4:

If thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures

אִם-תְּבַקְשֶׁנָּה כַכָּסֶף; וְכַמַּטְמוֹנִים תַּחְפְּשֶׂנָּה

At times, a man performs mitzvoth and does good deeds, studies and prays, yet despite all that, he does not feel that he has achieved any kind of higher plane of living.

As a result, he may begin to despair.

Since it appears to him that he has not been successful until now, he may conclude that there is no hope, that he will never succeed.

This state of mind may lead to sin and breakdown.

Therefore, the scripture says, "If you seek her like silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures."

Follow the example of those who mine for silver.

Even if after a long search they find nothing, they are not discouraged, but continue to dig.

The same obtains when serving God.

Continue to dig, do not give up, persevere until you attain a high plane.

So many people reach this point—oftentimes repeatedly.

They conclude there is no hope to succeed in that area.

If they keep on that process of despair, they eventually break down. They sin.

Rav Yerushalmi did not make stuff up. He culled ancient sources commenting on Mishlei.

This all-too-human tendency has existed for millennia, and the above describes exactly how it manifests in avodat Hashem.

In fact, this way of thinking is so prevalent & so lethal, Shlomo HaMelech himself sought to address the issue toward the beginning of his immemorial masterpiece.

After addressing the issue in the 4th verse of the 2nd chapter, he reassures us in the following verse (2:5) that in the end, we'll definitely get there:

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and you will find the knowledge of God.

אָ֗ז תָּ֖בִין יִרְאַ֣ת יְהוָ֑ה וְדַ֖עַת אֱלֹהִ֣ים תִּמְצָֽא

Why?

Because wisdom comes from Hashem.

It's a gift He grants those who work for it.

As noted with Rashi in Mishlei 2:6:

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth [come] knowledge and discernment.

כִּֽי־יְ֖הוָה יִתֵּ֣ן חָכְמָ֑ה מִ֜פִּ֗יו דַּ֣עַת וּתְבוּנָֽה

For the Lord gives wisdom:

Here you have learned that it [wisdom] is great, for it was given from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Therefore, you must acquire it.

(Rashi)

The timely Torah advice contained in the Me'am Lo'ez also applies to those who've already broken down and sinned.

You can still pick yourself up & renew your efforts!

Again:

Continue to dig, do not give up, persevere until you attain a high plane.

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Toldot: How to Avoid becoming a Narcissist

4/11/2021

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In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Toldos 5 – Recognizing Your Motivations, he addresses one of the more confounding scenarios in Tanach.

In addition to Yitzchak Avinu being spiritually great person, he was also brilliantly wise.

So how did Yitzchak Avinu almost give Esav his bracha?

As Rav Miller explains, had Yitzchak done so, we would have Shevet Esav (the Tribe of Esav) in addition to Shevet Reuven and all the rest.

We would say "Elokai Esav" at the beginning of Shemoneh Esrei, in addition to saying "Elokai Avraham, Elokai Yitzchak, v'Elokai Yaakov."

(Or, as Rav Miller notes, we wouldn't being saying it because Esav would've wiped us out by now, rachmana litzlan.)

But after Yitzchak Avinu dedicated the future to Yaakov Avinu, and then Esav strode in asking for his firstborn blessing...only then did Yitzchak Avinu realize what happened.

Only then did Yitzchak Avinu realize who Esav really was all this time.

How can that be?

What's going on here?

Esav Entrapped Himself

The answer is:

Esav deceived himself.

When Esav asked his father all sorts of chumradik questions ("How do we tithe salt?"), Esav genuinely sought to be machmir (stringent) on all sorts of matters.

Esav felt sincere.

From beginning to end, everything Esav did in the fields with trapping deer, then preparing the most delectable venison, and then serving his father while wearing his best clothing—it was all for the sake of honoring his father.

It really was.

Esav went to tremendous lengths to honor his father & genuinely viewed himself as superior to his twin Yaakov, who sat in a tent all day communing with Hashem, polishing his character, and learning Torah.

Of course, Yaakov Avinu honored his father on a very high level.

But Esav exerted himself for his father more than anyone else did for their father.

So Esav believed in his own righteousness.

Esav viewed himself as a tzaddik.

And, says Rav Miller, the person convinced of his own righteousness is the most dangerous deceiver of all.

Esav as the Prototype for Understanding the Abusive Personality

This view of Esav once again demonstrates the great wisdom & insight flourishing within the Torah.

The most dangerous, brutal, and bloodthirsty villains in the world have always been those convinced of their own righteousness.

We see this on the macro-level with the Nazis who genuinely considered themselves victims of the non-Aryans. This perceive victimhood lead them to commit atrocities on a level never seen before.

Communists, convinced of their own righteousness & victimhood, carried out persecution & murder by the millions.

And what more merciless warrior exists today than the one willing to martyr himself for Jihad?

On the micro-level, we see that abusive people always believe themselves in the right. They often view themselves as victims, which enables them to see any abuse they commit as a type of self-defense.

People with personality disorders play terrible mind games with others, sabotage others, go on lashon hara campaigns, and treat others horribly (while being nice at other times, which makes their victims feel crazy)—and consider THEMSELVES the victim the entire time.

This sincere belief in their own righteousness is what makes them so convincing to outsiders. (And even confuses their victims.)

As Rav Miller states on page 18:

Some of the people are so wrong that they don't realize how wicked they are.

And it’s based on nothing but some small middah, a foolish characteristic, a weakness in a trait of character, that misleads him.

Only that no one even imagines that he is the guilty party.

And we learn this all from Chazal's analysis of Esav.

This knowledge has been there all along.

There's No School like Home

But Yaakov Avinu became who he was BECAUSE he remained at home.

In the tents of Rivka Imeinu & Yaakov Avinu, a person could learn how to be the best he could be.

These twin boys merited the 2 most exceptional parents in the world at that time...and only Yaakov really took advantage of that gift.

On pages 9-11, Rav Miller explains how the formal Jewish schooling initiated millennia ago was actually a step down for Am Yisrael.

Previously, Jewish children received everything they needed from their parents, probably grandparents & surrounding family members too.

He describes what the Jewish street used to be like & the respect children felt toward elderly people who sought to curb unfitting behavior in children outside.

Because he remained at home under the tutelage of his parents, Yaakov Avinu learned how NOT to lie to himself.

He learned to take constructive criticism, to see himself honestly, and to truly refine his character.

Making the Most of Mishlei

As usual, Rav Miller warmly encourages us to read Mishlei/Proverbs.

Even in English with no commentary.

It's incredibly valuable.

It took me months & months, but I went through it with Rashi & the Metzudot, and could not believe how powerful it was, how much it affected me.

I'd love to go through it again with Radak and Malbim, but haven't managed to get my act together to do it. A good "shortcut" is the Me'am Lo'ez on Mishlei in English. (Just for knowing, it's 2 volumes.)

While Shlomo Hamelech wrote down the values & parables as Mishlei, the original ideas & parables come from our Patriarchs & Matriarchs—meaning, Yaakov Avinu basically learned Mishlei in the tent.

Mishlei & Tehillim also explain how Hashem examines our minds & hearts.

We convince ourselves of our own victimhood, cuteness, cleverness, or hilarity.

But Hashem sees our real motivation.

As Rav Miller explains on page 18:

And so what will it help to deceive yourself if Hakodosh Boruch Hu is going to measure your mind?

Hakodosh Boruch Hu is measuring the depths of your mind, what are your real intentions, your real thoughts, your real motivations.

The Bitachon Weekly for Parshat Vayeira 5782 on page 15 mentions:

I know a Yungerman in Lakewood whose father Zatzal had a dream in which a Yid told him that he was not allowed to get to his place in Gan Eden for thirty years, because he never took care of his Ka'as problem!

This is worse than Gehinom!

It sounds like his father was a frum & learned man.

The problem with ka'as (anger) is mentioned with uncompromising severity so much all throughout Torah scholarship.

What was this man telling himself his entire life that he never went to work on his anger?

Think about it.

And think of how that applies to us.

The Self-Righteous Self-Lover's Final Destination

Rav Miller explains what blinds us on page 19:

Now if that's the case, there's one bribe that we have all received that puts us out of commission permanently and that’s self-love.

The biggest bribe in the world is love of one's self.

Everyone has persuaded himself that he's doing right because what bribery is there greater than love of yourself?

And everybody is subject to such bribery!

You have to watch out always because all day long you’re accepting that bribe!

Today, we call it narcissism.

Real healthy self-love, as described by the Pele Yoetz, means being truly good to yourself with sincerely good middot.

But feel-good self-love leads to narcissism.

No one describes it better than Rav Miller here on page :

Eisav was a ramai [deceiver], not because he intentionally came to deceive.

He thought, “I'll be machmir with melach, why not?”

I'll ask my father “Eich me’asrin es hamelach?”

It wasn’t just a trickery trying to deceive his father. No, he had deceived himself!

But Hakodosh Boruch Hu said, “You want a chumrah in melach?! Very good! But what about a chumrah in middos tovos? What about a chumra in recognizing your motivations? That’s the most difficult thing and that's what I'm waiting for."

Rav Miller sums up the entire issue on page 21:

And that’s what it means that when Eisav walked into his father’s tent to take the brachos that he thought he deserved, that Yitzchok saw the opening of Gehinom right there in the tent.

Yitzchok saw himself standing on the precipice of Gehinom but he saw that Eisav was already falling in!

And that’s why Yitzchok was shaking terribly; not only did he realize the mistake he had almost made but more importantly, he saw now that the mistake was caused by the self-deception of his son.

He saw now that not knowing yourself is the opening to Gehinom.

Eisav had brought ruin upon himself because he wasn’t willing to study himself, and because of that he had almost ruined the Am Yisroel forever.

Related posts:
How feeling victimized lead to the extremes of Nazism:
how-ingratitude-leads-to-genocide.html

The Pele Yoetz (among others) on self-love:
what-does-judaism-say-about-self-love-self-esteem.html

To subscribe to Bitachon Weekly, please send a request to:
thenewbitachonweekly@gmail.com
(I'm not connected in any way to this amazing publication, just offering the opportunity to subscribe.)

To learn Mishlei/Proverbs with Rashi in English for free, start here:
www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16372/showrashi/true

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach: How to Cultivate an Orchard in Your Mind

10/6/2021

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In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Korach 4 - Garden of Positive Thought, we learn how the cultivation of land parallels the cultivation of the mind.

First, Rav Miller takes us through verse 30 in chapter 24 of Mishlei/Proverbs.

It tells the story of a field of thorns & thistles—a field clearly under the ownership of a lazy man.

He sought to rest & relax more than he sought to tend his field—with obvious results.

And so, notes Shlomo Hamelech, your poverty will come upon you like a mithalech—a vagabond.

Rav Miller discusses the ominous mithalech, both the actual vagabond & its metaphor for poverty (page 4):

You know, when you meet a vagabond on the road, it's not such a happy experience. You're afraid of him; he might do something to you.

And so, a man who doesn't attend to his business, he doesn't manage his affairs, he'll encounter unhappy surprises in life.

“You’ll encounter poverty,” Shlomo said, “like you encounter a bum on the street.”

That’s the first peirush; the possuk is telling you that if you have a field or a shoe store or even if you’re a rebbi in the yeshiva, whatever it is you’re doing you have to be a hustler.

That alone offers sound advice for life.

But Rav Miller peels off another layer to reveal its metaphor for our mind.

The Perils of Environmentalist Extremism (AKA Nature-Worshipping)

Despite what environmentalist extremists will have us believe, allowing nature to follow its own inclinations only leads to a great big mess, which intensifies mass wildfires, plus destroys habitat for native wildlife, and chokes out the growth of other vital native vegetation.

(For more about that, please see here: the-torah-view-of-our-planet-earth-use-it-or-lose-it.html.)

The earth actually NEEDS us to cultivate it.

Not strip it dry of all its resources.

But to utilize it, to cultivate it.

Hashem created it for the purpose of human habitation & cultivation.

To leave nature to its own devices is actually unnatural.

However, arriving at the right conclusion of what's truly natural is only possible with the acknowledgement of One Creator.

Those who view the Universe as a captain-less ship (or as a ship with many random, vying captains—like a mutinous crew of gods), and therefore see nature as random or as with a mind of its own, cannot properly appreciate how much nature needs human input.

So their entire concept of natural vs. unnatural is completely upside-down.

Perhaps this is why even the most advanced & educated minds today are so confused & tangled?

Their ways of thinking often reflect the nature-worshipping attitudes that lead to choking jungles & fiery destruction.

As Rav Miller explains (page 5):

Now you have to know something right away.

If you'll just wait, if you’ll just let your mind remain, don’t think it will lay dormant, an empty field waiting for you to begin planting. Oh no!

It will produce the things that grow naturally.

And naturally means you'll have thorns and weeds.

Even on a city street if you leave things alone, if traffic would stop for ten years, the whole street would begin to change.

The weeds and grass would begin to sprout and trees would drop seeds into the cracks and new trees would begin to grow. It would lift up the sidewalk.

In fifty years, it would be a jungle.

How does this connect to the mind exactly?

Here's Rav Miller again (page 5):

But you must know that if a man is poor in his mind, that's the worst of all tragedies.

To not have parnasah, that’s terrible; it’s a big sin to be lazy and not fulfill your obligations in the kesubah.

But after all there’s always welfare; maybe you have a rich uncle who will bail you out – something you’ll find.

But if you have a poor mind, nobody is going to save you.

And we have seen that so many times.

No one can save the person with a poor mind.

As far as our minds go, it's every man (or woman!) for himself (or herself!).

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?"

Cultivating a Nice Variety of Orchards

Rav Miller describes the different kinds of orchards you need to cultivate in your mind:

a Gemara orchard
a Chumash orchard
an emunah orchard
a bitachon orchard
a chessed orchard
an ahavat Hashem orchard
a yirat Hashem orchard

And that's not all!

There are many different Torah orchards to choose from—some like to cultivate an orchard of Chassidus, or even an orchard of a specific Chassidus—and all truly Torah-based orchards purify & clean out the mind, making the mind beautiful & well-developed.

According to Rav Miller, one of the most important orchards to cultivate is looking favorably at your fellow Jew.

Rav Miller warns that without cultivating this orchard, weeds will sprout amok, spreading poisonous seeds.

As he describes (page 6):

And once your mind is filled with weeds, uva mishalech, a vagabond might come along and grab you unexpectedly.

You'd be surprised – the wrong seeds that grow wild in your mind might someday confront you with a nisayon; suddenly a test will come up and you’re vulnerable – who knows what can happen chas veshalom because you’re not prepared.

Sometimes a person is ruined entirely in his ruchniyus – his entire life is ruined because of the poisonous seeds that slowly grew in his head.

After telling the story of a bright yeshivah student who turned out much more disappointingly than anyone expected, Rav Miller emphasizes (page 7):

He wore a nice black velour hat but you can't rely on that — what matters most is what’s under the hat.

Unless you put something here in your garden and you cultivate it all the time you won’t be ready for a yom tzarah, for the tests of life, and who knows what could happen?

Rav Miller notes that sitting with & listening to speech of lashon hara & negativity sprouts weeds, not orchards.

And this brings us to Korach.

How It All Started

First, Rav Miller reminds us that Korach was a great man.

Only the best of Am Yisrael left Mitzrayim. The Pesach Haggadah clearly states a rasha would not have been redeemed.

Korach passed through the Yam Suf (Reed Sea) and sang Az Yashir in his beautiful Levite voice along with the rest of the Nation.

He stood at the foot of Har Sinai as one with the rest of the Am & accepted the Torah.

So what on earth happened? And how?

Rav Miller declares that Korach "allowed brambles to grow in his mind."

How did it start?

One of the most joyful days in history occurred when Am Yisrael erected the Mishkan in the Midbar.

Imagine millions of Jews shouting "in great ecstasy" at the sight of the Holy Shechinah.

And then a fire burst forth to consume the 2 sons of Aharon Hakohen.

Realizing Hashem had a reason for this shocking tragedy, Korach began to suspect the worthiness of the Aharon's sons—Moshe Rabbeinu's nephews.

Perhaps, he mused, it's not a coincidence that Moshe appointed his own brother as a Kohen? After all, Korach was also a Levite. Maybe he & his sons should've won the Priesthood.

According to Rav Miller, he thought something along the lines of: "Hakodosh Boruch Hu showed his displeasure – they weren’t really fit for it. It was Moshe Rabeinu who gave the kehuna to his brother’s family, not Hashem."

In other words, maybe the sons of Aharon died of nepotism.

And that was the beginning of the end for Korach.

The Truth about Korach

It sounds like petty envy, but in truth, Korach really was a very special person.

And so were his sons, who merited to compose Tehillim exquisite enough to be included in Sefer Tehillim.

Korach was a knowledgeable, studious Yid. Rav Miller describes him as a tzaddik.

Yet Korach suspected Moshe Rabbeinu of requesting from Hashem the Priesthood for his older brother (along the lines of tzaddik gozer v'Hashem mekayem—Hashem upholds the decrees of a tzaddik).

Yet that's not what happened. Not even close.

It was all Hashem's idea.

Rav Miller notes that truly great Torah leaders possess the ability to nullify their personality to prevent the influence of personal interests.

In the Kelm yeshivah, the elderly Rosh Yeshivah gave his lecture from the back seat.

That's right.

He sat behind everyone so no one was looking at him. He did not stand out at all, even as he lectured.

In this way, the Rosh Yeshivah also could not see anyone—no approval, no smiles, no lit-up faces—none of the things on which speakers & performers rely, whether they mean to or not.

Yet Korach could not conceive of such impartiality.

He thought Moshe Rabbeinu was stuck in the same state of denial common to many people: catering to one's own personal interests while claiming a supposedly objective reason for this.

It all happened because Korach allowed these brambles to grow in his head.

He missed cultivating that particular orchard.

And so the Torah warns us not to be like Korach, which means (page 11):

You shouldn't make machloket (controversy).
You need to avoid the basic seeds of machloket: judging unfavorably.

Proper Cultivation Starts at Home

As usual, Rav Miller emphasizes (based on Chazal's definitions) being dan l'kaf zechut applies to Jews who are mitzvah-observant.

Like most everything else, good middot start at home.

How many people feel impatient with their spouse, yet behave with such graciousness & forbearance with strangers?

One of the primary behavioral contradictions today occurs when frum people bend over backwards to judge favorably & even defend Sabbath-transgressors & atheists & same-gender relationships while nitpicking at other perfectly frum groups.

Such people (with the intention of displaying their honesty & objectivity) indulge in derisive scoffing of people who may be flawed, but are at least trying—and at the very least, are bumbling down the right path.

Not to mention, that some of the people scoffed at are exceptionally fine people—maybe even much better than the derisive scoffer!

Rav Miller states (page 12):

That’s an extremely important function among Jews.

We have to be misgaber on this Yetzer Hara of trying to find faults in our neighbors and in our mechutanim, in our daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, and everyone else we come in contact with.

It's very, very challenging to do this right.

Rav Miller on page 13:

We're not talking about ma’asim now – we're talking about correcting the mental attitudes, to learn how to think good thoughts about your fellow man.

It’s a big job and I’m far away from that myself.

I'm saying this not for you; I’m listening to it myself as I’m saying it.

But let’s listen and maybe a little bit of it will stick to us.

The Ultimate 2 Ways to Cultivate the Anti-Korach Orchard

Rav Miller quotes his rav who noted that a person isn't just one middah, but a bundle of middot.

There are 2 ways of judging favorably, and Rav Miller mentions both of them throughout this dvar Torah:

Find a compassionate reason why someone exhibits unwanted behavior.
Look for a good middah among the person's bad middot.

You can definitely combine the two.

Giving the benefit of the doubt does not mean labelling a forbidden behavior or bad middah as "permitted" or "good."

Labelling the forbidden as permissible falls under the category of chanifah—a very serious Torah prohibition.

It basically means assuming, for example, an impatient person may be in pain, received terrible news that morning, or suffered a tongue-lashing from a boss or family member before they answered your phone call.

Another example:

Sometimes, a pregnant woman on a bus is trying not to throw up.

And for the first few months, a woman often doesn't even look pregnant. So if a female passenger seems unfriendly or immobile, it could be that she is simply trying not to barf.

I've literally seen this as the problem, including when a woman did not even look pregnant—but she was.

Sometimes, the person rudely hurrying past you is desperate to reach the facilities or is shlepping a not-fully-potty-trained child in need of the facilities.

Or maybe the unfriendly bus passenger or the rude shoulder-bumping passerby really IS a rude, inconsiderate person—but maybe they do good things too, like giving tzedakah, honoring their parents, and much more.

The big yetzer hara against this is nitpicking at the person's motivations—as if all the rest of us are doing all our mitzvot totally l'Shem Shamayim—I WISH!

Sure, we needn't pour our adoration on actors.

(Some of the starry-eyed gushing that goes on over people who, though impressive, are not the real deal—is weird.)

But at the same time, we should give credit where credit is due.

If the person gave a lot of money to feed frum families for Shabbat—then they did.

Even if they make sure everyone knows about it (which is certainly not the right way to do it)...

Tachlis?

The recipients enjoyed an abundance of good food for Shabbos. Jewish children ate & enjoyed Shabbos.

Yes, he did it for his own kavod. But a certain good still came out of it.

Let's end with Rav Miller's words from Gemara Shabbos 127b:

Ifּ you make the effort to judge somebody in a positive light; you overcome the natural laziness of the mind and you look for the good...then middah k'neged middah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will always judge you favorably too.

And when He does that, you can be certain He does it with a full Hand, a heaping Hand of reward in this world and also in the world to come.

An orchard in Eretz Yisrael (Image by avner nagar )

Credit for all quotes & material goes to Toras Avigdor, which offers us so many wonderful tools & seeds with which to cultivate our orchards.

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Shelach & Parshat Korach

27/6/2019

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For Parshat Shelach: Making His Name Great, Rav Miller speaks about chilul Hashem & kiddush Hashem, including compelling examples of both. Then he spends a lot of time talking about gratitude, focusing on fruit, and doing so in a really interesting & witty manner.

Plus, he offers practical tips for improving your derech eretz.

And as usual, he places tremendous emphasis on noticing all the good that Hashem does for us.

Here's an excerpt:

If you sit and look at an apple or an orange for fifteen minutes, you won’t be the same person anymore - I guarantee it.

If you look at the apple for fifteen minutes and think about the wonders that you see there, you’ll see the gilui shechina, absolutely.

And Hashem made the apple for that purpose - so that you should think about Him. He told us that when He introduced us to fruit for the first time: "...v'nechmad ha'etz l'haskil - The fruit is desirable to make wise” (Bereishis 3:6).

Not just to eat.

The real function of the fruit is to make you wise - fruit causes wisdom, yes!

Only that in order to make the lesson more delicious, He makes the apple taste delicious too. It’s like having a gemara printed on sponge cake.

So you’re saying the Rashi, and then you take a little bite from the margin - it’s a geshmaka sugya!

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach

For Parshat Korach: On Dangerous Neighbors, we have a discussion about bad neighbors.

As usual, Rav Miller brings the world of Tanach to life and draws us into it.

Ever wonder what it was like when your house caught tzaraat? With Rav Miller, you're suddenly standing in the house and experiencing it all, including the emotional aspect.

He elaborates with vivid visualization (you on a telegraph pole in an attempt to escape a bereft she-bear) on the verse in Mishlei 17:12.

The part about guarding your mind is so powerful and so chilling.

Rav Miller explains why David Hamelech started Tehillim the way he did:

He begins with the following words: Ashrei ha'ish asher lo halach ba'atzat reshaim - “How fortunate is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (1:1).

What's this doing here?

We want to hear about great ideals, about kirvas Elokim, emunah, ahavas Hashem. And it's there; it's all there in Tehillim.

But Dovid is teaching us here that it all starts with maintaining a clean mind. You can never really say Tehillim, you can never love Hashem and sing to Him, if your walking with the resha’im and filling your mind with their ideas.

Now, it's not praising the man who just doesn't follow the advice of the wicked.

It means he didn't walk, he didn't even pace the streets together with them. Because if you walk their streets, if you are in their company, then to a certain extent, you are in “the counsel of the wicked.”

Whatever they are thinking, whatever attitudes and feelings they have, is shared by you to some extent. Even a walk down the block with them causes you to be a partner in their thoughts, their attitudes, and their emotions.

And the possuk continues: "...uvmoshav leitzim lo yashav - How fortunate is that man who never sat down in the place where the scoffers sit” [Tehillim 1:1].

Leitzim means jesters.

To sit down let's say in a kosher restaurant, but it's a place where there are other customers; leitzim, jokers, kibitzers, scoffers. Even though they're not laughing - they just came to buy kosher food - still it's a moshav leitzim.

How fortunate you are if you change your mind and decide to go home and take something from the refrigerator!

A Real Moshav Leitzim

It reminded me of an online gathering place for frum people. A few years ago, I read it a couple of times when the topic seemed interesting, but I quickly learned to avoid it.

First of all, you learn very little about whatever topic is running there.

Secondly, it was the most obvious moshav leitzim I'd ever seen. Interestingly, I don't recall anything untsnius or anything clearly forbidden. It was kosher - like kosher narishkeit. Or kosher jelly worms.

A lot of people were just there to crack jokes (regardless of the seriousness & sincerity of the questioner), and part of the reason I felt uncomfortable was because some of these people seemed to lead mechubad lives: an intelligent older frum guy with a large family and married children, plus grandchildren - and he's just shmoozing and cracking jokes?

I get that people need a break from learning, but this was just weird.

It actually makes more sense when people behave rudely online or even speak lashon hara (although both are really bad and totally forbidden) because maybe they got offended by something they read or they feel the need to say something l'toelet haAm (though they're mistaken and should look up the relevant halachot).

But these were people who could & should know better and were doing it anyway.

It's hard to explain the dynamic...just a total waste of time, a moshav leitzim...by people who really could have known better. They weren't carried away by their emotions; they were carried away by their narishkeit. Or something.

"Your desire for kirvas Elokim, will always be perceived by
the friend who stands one rung below you, as extremism.

'Meshuga ish ruach - The man who wants to be a man of spirit is always meshugah to other people' ” (Hosheah 9:7).

- Rav Avigdor Miller

Glatt Kosher Leitzanut

However, there is also kosher leitzanut.

You can make fun of spiritually damaging things that deserve to be mocked.

Judaism is all about embracing the paradoxes in life. It's about balance and figuring out what Hashem really wants (your closeness) and how to achieve that.

As described in a previous post, we live in an upside-down world in which bad things are now considered good.

"And that's one of the most important ways of avoiding the insidious influence of the outside world.

"Through ridicule, by deflating the worth of all of these empty ideals, you protect your own mind from them seeping in."

- Rav Avigdor Miller

His description of baseball, TV (this dvar Torah is from 1974), and magazines is highly entertaining.

Okay, I can't resist quoting what he says about magazines:

You have to watch out what kind of magazines come into your home.

It's very important because your wife and your children also have minds that are just as valuable and just as sensitive as yours.

You think that reading the Orthodox newspapers and magazines is not bringing the shachein rah [evil neighbor] into your home.

Of course, it's a thousand times better than gentile newspapers and television - more than a thousand times!

But that's because bringing a New York Times and the New York Post into your home is not just a shachein rah - it's bringing in adultery, and avodah zarah [idol worship], and shfichas damim [bloodshed] into your home.

You're bringing in a whole troupe of leitzim and apikorsim into your head and into the heads of your wife and children.

But even the Jewish newspapers are full of garbage.

Page after page of this and that and this and that. What about Hakodosh Boruch Hu? Oh, Him? Oh, He's put away in a different section; don't bother me about Him now.

So all of those newspapers are a shachein rah - except that instead of living next door, you invited him into your living room.

It's definitely worth a good read.

It's pretty tough mussar for those of us entrenched in Western society since birth.

But it's delicious at the same time. Nice, juicy mussar!

As always, thank you tons to Toras Avigdor.

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Mishlei 17:24: How to be Wise in 1 Step & Avoid being a Self-Defeating Fool

6/5/2019

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Intellectually, we all know not to get discouraged by the long journey or the giant mountain ahead of us.

Yet emotionally, it's hard to internalize this.

Furthermore, other people can discourage us by overemphasizing out how far we need to go, how high we need to climb, or how much work we need to do in order to accomplish our goals.

They can do this mockingly too.

But whether the discouraging words come from ourselves or others, we've all heard the following:

"My efforts don't really matter in the end."
"It's too much."
"There's no point in even starting."
"It's impossible, so why bother?"
"Only really great people/tzaddikim/chachamim can do that."

Such a person feels (or causes others to feel) discouraged before even taking that first step.

Yet in Mishlei/Proverbs 17:24, Shlomo Hamelech/King Solomon labels such a person as a "kasil."

According to Malbim, what is a kasil exactly?

Usually translated as "fool," a kasil is the kind of fool who understands what Malbim calls chukei hachachma/the laws of wisdom. He doesn't question the sensible stuff that anyone can understand.

(Malbim frequently defines kasil. One place is Mishlei 12:23.)

But his desires lead him to deviate from or distort his view of things.

I'm guessing that a kasil is the kind of person who knows exactly what smoking does to the body, yet smokes anyway.

A kasil is presumably the kind of person who, despite all evidence to the contrary, convinces himself that "just this one time/one drink/one thing won't hurt" or "Yeah, but I'm different..."

So here is Mishlei 17:24:

אֶת-פְּנֵי מֵבִין חָכְמָה; וְעֵינֵי כְסִיל, בִּקְצֵה-אָרֶץ

"Et p'nei mavin chachmah v'einei kasil biktzeh aretz."

"Directly before the understanding person is wisdom; and the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth."

Rashi explains this as if the kasil is saying to himself:

"...There is no wisdom found before me because it's far from me. How will I be able to learn Seder Nezikin, which is 30 chapters, 30 chapters of Masechet Keilim, 24 chapters of Masechet Shabbat?"

Then Rashi encourages us by describing what a chacham does:

But for a wise person, it is an easy thing: "Today, I learn two chapters. And tomorrow, two. And I shall say, 'This is how they accomplished these, those who accomplished before me from time immemorial'."

(Please see Mishlei 17:24 with Rashi for the full English translation of Rashi and that verse.)

To recap:

The kasil (the discouraged fool in denial): "Whine, whine, whine, kvetch, kvetch, kvetch, self-defeatist talk, blah, blah, blah."

The chacham (the wise person): "I will do as much as I can at a time, even if it's only a little bit. That is exactly how all the great chachamim started out since the beginning of time. Baby-steps was their way of accomplishing--and therefore, the correct and wise way to proceed."

Please note that at this point, the person whom both Shlomo Hamelech and Rashi are calling "chacham" does not yet know the Mishnah or Gemara! (Or at least, these particular areas of the Mishnah or Gemara.)

Yet this person is still called "chacham."

The chacham tries.

The kasil does not.

Be a chacham, not a kasil.

Hang out with chachamim, not kasilim.

Listen to chachamim, and not kasilim.

Yet once again, Judaism tells us that:
We aren't defined by our success so much as we are defined by our efforts.

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Mishlei/Proverbs 17:23: Amazing Encouragement for Awful People

5/5/2019

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Here is one of many very encouraging verses in Mishlei/Proverbs, Mishlei 17:23:

שֹׁחַד מֵחֵק רָשָׁע-יִקָּח לְהַטּוֹת אָרְחוֹת מִשְׁפָּט

"Shochad mechek rasha-yikach l'hatot archot mishpat."

"A bribe from the bosom of a wicked man-he shall take to tilt the ways of justice."

At first glance, it looks like it's commenting on the kind of degenerate person who thinks nothing of bribing officials and anyone else who can help him avoid justice.

Or the kind of degenerate person who will accept the bribe of a wicked person in order to do that wicked person's bidding.

And commentaries like Metzudat David definitely interpret it that way. And certainly Shlomo Hamelech/King Solomon intended that interpretation.

But Shlomo Hamelech also had Rashi's interpretation in mind.

Rashi interprets it as an interaction between Hashem and someone who knows he is evil...and wants to change.

Here's Rashi:

"A bribe from the bosom of a wicked man--He will take..." — The Holy One Blessed Be He accepts words of humility and placation from the bosom of the reshaim [evil ones, intentional sinners]; that is to say, in secret between Him and them.

"...to tilt the ways of justice." — to overturn his din [verdict] from bad to good.

This is tremendously encouraging.

Malbim and others define rasha as an intentional sinner.

A rasha KNOWS he is doing the wrong thing. He KNOWS.

Yet if he (or she!) quietly turns to Hashem with sincere contrition and promises to change, asks for help to change...then Hashem overturns the original din from bad to good.

Once again, Hashem doesn't necessarily demand grand gestures from us.

Okay, yes, sometimes grand gestures are exactly what's needed.

But here, Rashi (and really, Shlomo Hamelech) is saying that even if you are a wicked person and you are WILLINGLY & KNOWINGLY being awful...you can simply turn to Hashem in a private moment (as signified by "from the bosom"), humbly submit to Him (by confessing your awfulness) and promise to be better, tell Hashem how much you'd like to be better, and ask Him to help you.

And voilà! The negative consequences in store for you transform into positive consequences.

And probably most of you aren't even intentional sinners, but accidental & occasional ones—which means that you have even more to be optimistic about.

So there we go.

Happy teshuvah to us all!

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Mishlei 11-9: The Absolutely Charming Path to Destruction

5/4/2019

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Mr. Cohen has left comments with quotes from the Vilna Gaon on Mishlei/Proverbs on a couple of posts. (See HERE, for example.) And the Vilna Gaon’s commentary on Mishlei 11:9 really caught my eye.

So I decided to zoom in for a closer look and it proved once again how eternal the Torah's insights are for us.

(Thanks for bringing it to attention, Mr. Cohen.)

Take a look:

ט בְּפֶה חָנֵף יַשְׁחִת רֵעֵהוּ; וּבְדַעַת, צַדִּיקִים יֵחָלֵצוּ

B’peh chanef yashchit re’ehu; uvda’at tzaddikim yechaletzu.

9 With his mouth the hypocrite destroys his fellow; but through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered.

First of all, the prohibition of chanifah (often translated as “flattery”) consists of praising deeds or people that are wrong.

That’s chanifah in a nutshell.

So a chanef is a person who commits chanifah.

Personally, I consider chanifah to be hypocrisy more than flattery because you could be flattering someone by gushing about something true. Yet chanifah means that you know that the person or deeds are bad, yet you are basically telling this person that he’s doing just fine.

Furthermore, Malbim defines a chanef as "his inside is unlike his outside; he won’t perpetrate evil openly."

That's a hypocrite.

Anyway, here is my translation of the Vilna Gaon’s commentary on this verse:

With his mouth the hypocrite destroys his fellow — “mashchit/destroy for no reason” is considered a transgression that occurs between a person and God, like they [Brachot 5b] said: “that he destroyed Yisrael for their Father in Heaven.”

And as is said [Mishlei 6:32]: “One who is no’ef a married woman lacks a heart; he destroys his soul — he will do it.”

Note: “Lacks a heart” means that such a person lacks sense.

It is a senseless act because, according to Rashi, it’s not like he was hungry or something & couldn’t stop himself from stealing what didn’t belong to him.

There’s just no excuse to be no’ef; it’s a senseless act that fulfills no real need.

Likewise, Malbim defines a mashchit as someone who "wants to destroy for no reason."

Senseless. No reason. Irrational.

There's a theme here...

The Vilna Gaon continues:

And he who comes to lead astray (l'hadiach) does so with a peh chanef — a hypocritical mouth. For without that, it’s impossible to lead astray.

And therefore, the majority of heretics are good-natured because he even steals the heart of his "friend," and destroys him and leads him astray from the good path.

And that is b’peh chanef — by means of the mouth, the hypocrite will destroy even his “friend.”

...uvda’at tzaddikim yechaletzu — Only the tzaddikim who always toil in the mitzvot of Hashem and know the ways of Hashem — only they will recognize his enticements, that his words turn away from the words of Hashem and they understand that whoever speaks “good words” is a chanef and understanding this, they will be delivered.

"Good words" — words that SOUND good. Appealing words.

And again, if one's "heart" is also synonymous with one's sense and discernment, then the above-mentioned "steals even the heart of his friend" means to completely deceive someone, which destroys that person who considers him a friend, God forbid.

Modern Examples of Harmonious Hypocrites

Look at how much we can learn just from one commentary on one verse of Mishlei.

We see it so clearly today.

Remember how incredibly appealing Obama was?

Or Bill Clinton?

In fact, it’s still hard to emotionally accept the brutal things Wild Bill has done to women despite copious & corroborative testimony. Sure, it’s easy to accept President Affable as an unfaithful dandy. That fits. But the more brutal stuff is very hard to see with his affable personality. Yet the evidence is undeniably against him.

Or look at the Leftist leaders in Eretz Yisrael, who are so full of hatred and disdain for anyone who is not exactly like them, yet convince so many people that they actually care — and that they even know how to fix stuff.

(I mean, do you really want someone who thinks that his time as a B'Machaneh propaganda writer qualifies as "military service" leading your country and making life-and-death decisions regarding national security? Of course not. Yet he has obviously convinced many people that this is a great idea.)

And while this blog has already covered the terrible character of feminist leaders, I didn’t even say everything because I’m always deliberating how much to expose because we already hear so much dirt.

But in addition to being really horrible in general and abusive to their own children, feminist leaders also tend to be just plain bizarre and disgusting.

I mean, let’s take the award-winning novelist & poet who REGULARLY preferred to wet herself in her luxury living room in front of her daughter rather than get off the phone and go to the bathroom — she’s the feminist icon and selected as one of America's Top 100 most beautiful & intelligent women?

Intelligent, eh. Seriously?

They are such bizarre and revolting people, yet they influence minds and policies.

Why? Because as the Vilna Gaon said, most of them are “tovim b’teva—good-natured.”

They’re appealing.

And yet they are so awful, they even destroy their “friend.” Or child too, I guess.

Ugh.

So what’s the solution?

Our Top-Notch Interpreters

Who is qualified to see through the chanef’s charm and to read between the lines of the chanef’s “good” words and appealing nature?

The tzaddik who always toils in the mitzvot of Hashem and knows the ways of Hashem.

Please note that the Vilna Gaon did not say “your local rabbi” or “your favorite speaker” or “the editorial section of your favorite publication" or “your parents” or “your husband” or anything like that—unless, of course, your rabbi/speaker/whoever is indeed a tzaddik who always toils in the mitzvot of Hashem and knows the ways of Hashem.

(The exception, of course, is if your rabbi/speaker/whoever ACCURATELY quotes a tzaddik who always toils in the mitzvot of Hashem and knows the ways of Hashem. But then you’re not relying on that person as the source, but as a faithful messenger of the real source.)

And even if you’re not a tzaddik yourself, my guess is that the more you occupy yourself with Hashem’s mitzvot and learn the ways of Hashem, the more successfully you too can see through all the twisty charm, the seemingly “good” words and catch on to the enticements and destructive ideas that lie in ambush behind all the allure.

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Why Your Response to a Fall Matters More than the Fall Itself

2/4/2019

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Yesterday, we saw how Mishlei/Proverbs 10:30 explains the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha:

When a tzaddik falters or falls, when he finds himself standing on crooked ground or suffering weakness in his legs, he gets back up again.

A rasha doesn’t.

And we see this in society.

How Bad Can It Get When You Stay Down?

For example, I came across a Q&A in which sociopaths were asked if they could remember themselves before their sociopathy sunk in, and if so, what were they like?

Note: The "official" difference between sociopathy and psychopathy is that psychopaths are considered born with their lack of empathy while sociopaths developed that way from their upbringing or other experiences.

(Also, lack of empathy doesn’t always mean they actively seek to hurt people. Yes, some are sadistic, but some are “just” insensitive.)

Anyway, several sociopaths did remember what it was like to love and empathize.

One mentioned that when she was 8, her mother came home with a new baby. Upon seeing her new sister, this 8-year-old girl felt immediate love and felt like this little baby was someone with which she could bond and care for.

At that time, she was part of a poor family and abused in some way by her parents and one of her older brothers.

Yet when she reached out toward the baby, her mother snapped at her to leave the baby alone.

Something shut down within her at that moment.

She never tried again — not with her baby sister nor anyone else.

Different Kinds of Descents & Ascents

Needless to say, we don’t judge an abused, deprived child for an instinctive and unconscious decision made when she was 8.

The point is that she was kicked down — and never got back up again.

Furthermore, I think we all know people who made a decision at some point to “look out for number one” or to relegate themselves to permanent victimhood or who decided that anything they do is “cute”— no matter how much it hurts another person — or who decide that other people are just uptight and so why should they ever take any criticism from anyone?

Others decide that being smart or financially successful is all that matters.

And while current psychology insists that such people are simply helpless victims of their circumstances with no other choice than to give up, I personally know people who instinctively made positive resolutions at a very young age.

For example, one girl who suffered from her parents’ volatile and unfaithful marriage resolved to give in and take the high road with others. She did this from a place of strength and never came off as a doormat or a pushover. She was a very likable & grounded person about whom I was shocked to discover her awful & chaotic upbringing.

She's an example of someone who instinctively picked herself up and kept picking herself up.

We can't blame or credit such young children for their decisions, but it's clear that some people seem born with better inclinations than others.

Yet that doesn't need to set things in stone. The person born on a higher floor may have a lower ceiling (i.e., their potential is less).

On the other hand, the person born on a lower floor may actually have a much higher ceiling (i.e., while they start out on a much lower level than others, they have the potential to rise higher than most).

Daily Falls

Other times, the decision to stay down can be made regarding smaller things on a daily basis.

For example, you sometimes see someone who snarls at or snubs people for no other reason than her own funk and whatever caused that funk — in other words, nothing to do with the people she treats poorly.

Instead of picking oneself up again, this person sinks into a funk or depression or some kind of unhealthy self-indulgence, like overeating, drinking, smoking, flirting, buying stuff unnecessarily, and so on.

Faltering through Mid-Life Crisis?

I’ve also noticed that many people find themselves at a crossroads around the age of 35-40.

That’s a stage in which you’ve lived long enough and worked hard enough to analyze the fruits of your labors.

And you might be very disappointed with the results.

Despite your strenuous efforts, your career may not be what and where you intended and you may not see a way to rectify this.

The same can be said of your living situation, your finances, and your relationships.

At that stage, many parents also look at their children and are mystified when they see that the child in which they invested the most is either doing just so-so or wildly off the derech, while the child they practically ignored (unintentionally as a side effect of dealing with the more challenging child) is doing splendidly.

People can start feeling irrelevant or that their efforts (whether practical or spiritual) haven’t amounted to much after all.

I think this is sometimes why you see people of this age getting divorced (with 6 kids), or going on long-term medication, quitting their job or throwing themselves into their job, moving to another country, gaining lots of weight, or a host of other stuff.

Of course, some of the above could be done for positive reasons. Maybe the marriage really was fatal and they finally got the courage and resources to leave. Maybe someone really does need a change of career or country for the better.

But I’m talking about when the above results from despair and saying, “Oh, just stuff it all. Nothing I do really matters after all. I’ve been lied to all this time...”

In Conclusion...

Anyway, the commentaries on this verse just really struck me because the result of staying down when faltering or falling, and NOT getting up really does prevent one from becoming a good person.

It's only considered a successful fall if they can get back up after they've landed.

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The Faltering Tzaddik of Mishlei 10:30

1/4/2019

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Many people are familiar with the proverb 24:16 that states: “A tzaddik will fall seven times and rise”—implying that in order to reach such a righteous level, you must endure several falls…AND recover from those falls.

Yet there is another similar verse in Mishlei/Proverbs 10:30:

ל צַדִּיק, לְעוֹלָם בַּל-יִמּוֹט; וּרְשָׁעִים, לֹא יִשְׁכְּנוּ-אָרֶץ

"The righteous will not falter forever and the evil will not dwell quietly in the land."

The word yimot can be translated as “falter” or some kind of weakening, including a fall or a collapse. Malbim describes it as “absence of strength” or “slackening.”

Rashi says about the tzaddik in this verse:

“When he falters, his faltering is not an eternal falter because he will fall and rise.”

Notice Rashi doesn't say “if.” He says “when.” And again, the defining characteristic of the tzaddik is that when he falls, he gets back up.

A tzaddik (or potential tzaddik) doesn’t stay down.

Metzudat David says:

“Even if he falters, he will never die because he will return and rise.”

(In contrast, Metzudat David also notes that any peaceful dwelling for the wicked is only temporary. In other words, a tzaddik's fall and a rasha's stability are both temporary states.)

Malbim explains that

“...the weakening [hitmotetut] comes for a reason — meaning, by means of weakness of the legs or a sloping ground. And the tzaddik, even if he should slacken because he didn’t stand upon a good situation, nonetheless, he will not slacken forever because a tzaddik will fall seven times and rise.”

However, you translate yamot/hitmotetut and all its conjugations (the root word being מּט), King Shlomo comes to tell us that a tzaddik can encounter a situation in which he’s knocked off balance.

Perhaps his own legs have given out from under him. Or perhaps he finds himself standing on a steep incline.

By the way, it’s interesting to note the Malbim’s language: He doesn’t say that the tzaddik finds himself on a slope because he was dropped there; the implication is that the tzaddik chose the wrong place to stand.

How did the tzaddik get on the sloping incline in the first place? It seems that he put himself there—whether by mistake (he didn’t realize the ground wasn’t straight there) or perhaps he thought he could handle the incline.

Either way, the tzaddik finds himself in a place where he literally cannot stand straight, whether because of the ground or his own legs. He physically cannot walk normally.

He weakens. He falters. He falls. He collapses.

Nonetheless, he gets back up on his feet. Again.

The Vilna Gaon comments:

“That is to say that even if the tzaddik falters sometimes before the rasha, but it is temporary and not forever as stated: 'A tzaddik will fall seven times and rise'…but if the rasha’im begin to fall, they will not dwell further in the land and will not continue to rise. Furthermore, even if now they dwell quietly in the land, they shall not dwell quietly forever.”

And there you have the key difference between a tzaddik and a rasha:

A tzaddik gets up after he falls.

A rasha does not. A rasha stays down.

Everyone falls at times. Everyone slackens and falters.

You can even crash and burn.

Maybe it’s your fault.

Then again, maybe it’s the fault of your legs or of the ground you’ve chosen to stand on.

Regardless, what is your response to your vanishing strength, to your faltering and falling?

Do you stay down?

Or do you pick yourself up — yet again?

That’s the defining difference between a rasha and a tzaddik.

How do you respond to your falls and your falters?

Sometimes, a tzaddik needs to do this. And then do it again. And again. And yet again.....

Note: Malbim defines shikun (שיכון) as a temporary settlement while yishuv (ישוב) is a permanent settlement.

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Esav Entrapped Himself

Esav as the Prototype for Understanding the Abusive Personality

There's No School like Home

Making the Most of Mishlei

The Self-Righteous Self-Lover's Final Destination

The Perils of Environmentalist Extremism (AKA Nature-Worshipping)

Cultivating a Nice Variety of Orchards

How It All Started

The Truth about Korach

Proper Cultivation Starts at Home

The Ultimate 2 Ways to Cultivate the Anti-Korach Orchard

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach

A Real Moshav Leitzim

"Your desire for kirvas Elokim, will always be perceived bythe friend who stands one rung below you, as extremism. 'Meshuga ish ruach - The man who wants to be a man of spirit is always meshugah to other people' ” (Hosheah 9:7). ​- Rav Avigdor Miller

Glatt Kosher Leitzanut

​"And that's one of the most important ways of avoiding the insidious influence of the outside world.​"Through ridicule, by deflating the worth of all of these empty ideals, you protect your own mind from them seeping in." - Rav Avigdor Miller

אֶת-פְּנֵי מֵבִין חָכְמָה; וְעֵינֵי כְסִיל, בִּקְצֵה-אָרֶץ

"Et p'nei mavin chachmah v'einei kasil biktzeh aretz."

"Directly before the understanding person is wisdom; and the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth."

שֹׁחַד מֵחֵק רָשָׁע-יִקָּח לְהַטּוֹת אָרְחוֹת מִשְׁפָּט

"Shochad mechek rasha-yikach l'hatot archot mishpat."

​"A bribe from the bosom of a wicked man-he shall take to tilt the ways of justice."

​ט בְּפֶה חָנֵף יַשְׁחִת רֵעֵהוּ; וּבְדַעַת, צַדִּיקִים יֵחָלֵצוּ

B’peh chanef yashchit re’ehu; uvda’at tzaddikim yechaletzu.​9 With his mouth the hypocrite destroys his fellow; but through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered.

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Copyright Notice

"Your desire for kirvas Elokim, will always be perceived by
the friend who stands one rung below you, as extremism.

'Meshuga ish ruach - The man who wants to be a man of spirit is always meshugah to other people' ” (Hosheah 9:7).

- Rav Avigdor Miller

"And that's one of the most important ways of avoiding the insidious influence of the outside world.

"Through ridicule, by deflating the worth of all of these empty ideals, you protect your own mind from them seeping in."

- Rav Avigdor Miller

"A bribe from the bosom of a wicked man-he shall take to tilt the ways of justice."

ט בְּפֶה חָנֵף יַשְׁחִת רֵעֵהוּ; וּבְדַעַת, צַדִּיקִים יֵחָלֵצוּ

B’peh chanef yashchit re’ehu; uvda’at tzaddikim yechaletzu.

9 With his mouth the hypocrite destroys his fellow; but through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered.