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Fascinating Links to Enrich the Understanding of Parshat Noach

23/10/2022

 
The stories told within Parshat Noach remain popular worldwide throughout generations.

Echoes of this fundamental transformation of the world reverberate through the ancient mythologies of every culture.

Delving into Parshat Noach via the authentic Torah commentaries reveals layer after layer of fascinating lessons & anthropological revelations.

Here are past links to enrich one's understanding of Parshat Noach:

From the 1730 Ladino masterpiece on the Torah Me'am Lo'ez:
  • the-7-universal-noachide-commandments-according-to-the-meam-loez.html​
  • what-noach-teaches-us-about-the-power-of-true-teshuvah.html
  • the-nations-established-by-the-sons-of-noach-where-are-they-now.html
  • the-meam-loez-on-the-descendants-of-the-sons-of-noach.html
  • the-generation-of-the-flood-has-reincarnated-into-our-generation-heres-the-evidence-also-what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself-others.html
  • communications-from-stars-or-angels-in-todays-ufo-cults-nothing-new-the-generation-of-the-flood-did-that-too.html

From the 1602 Torah commentary Kli Yakar:
  • the-kli-yakar-parshat-noach.html
  • the-kli-yakar-on-parshas-noach-why-did-hashem-destroy-the-world-with-water-and-what-is-the-connection-to-hurricanes.html
  • the-hidden-sin-of-the-flood-generation-what-we-can-learn-from-it-today-aka-the-kli-yakar-on-parshat-noach.html

From the 19-Century Torah commentary of the Malbim:
  • the-malbim-on-parshat-noach.html

General:
  • The Invasion of 3 Ancient Generations: How to Explain the Current Chaos & Corruption of the Modern World​
  • some-torah-insights-guidance-for-the-path-of-bnei-noach.html

​About the phoenix on Noah's Ark & Its Real Story:
  • discover-the-torah-truth-of-the-phoenix-bird-stripped-from-its-mythology-what-is-the-real-story-authentic-spiritual-meaning-and-jewish-symbolism-of-the-phoenix.html​
  • 2-ways-to-understand-how-noach-spoke-with-the-dove-the-raven-and-the-phoenix.html
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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vaeira: Falling in Love All Over Again with Torah & Tefillah

30/12/2021

 
Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Vaeira 5 – Always Enthusiastic revolves around getting back to basics.

It's all about really enjoying your prayers and also just the basic text of the Torah.

It's about looking at a verse with fresh eyes and saying, "Wow, isn't that just so totally awesome!"

Get emotionally involved in the text.

Probably all of us have some favorite stories from Tanach, a favorite verse or chapter of Tehillim/Psalms, a favorite prayer (or even a favorite verse from within a prayer).

Depending on our background, we connected to them as children or, if we only encountered them later, we connected to them as teenagers or adults.

Part of what held our fancy lay in the newness, the freshness of the experience.

(That happened to me as a teenager with Tehillim, which I wrote about here: part-i-books-that-changed-my-life-tehillim.html.)

As usual, Rav Miller combines his wittily related real-life observations (both the religious foibles & the religious successes) with practical tips for how to start heading in the right direction.

This post is shorter than usual. As I read through the dvar Torah, I just felt so good. From the initial sweet story of the Chafetz Chaim, I started smiling.

So I don't have stuff to pour out in writing this time. 

It just feels so nice to get back in touch with that initial appeal & fresh "ooh, shiny!" appeal—like a religious "Eureka!" moment.

Enjoy!
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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Shemot: The #1 Ultimate Way to Emulate Moshe Rabbeinu

22/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Shemos 5 - Career of Encouragement, we discover one of the greatest traits of Moshe Rabbeinu to emulate: noticing & encouraging others.

Encouragement (chizuk) is one of the aspects Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender stated as the obligation of a friend (Words of Faith):
  • Encourage your friend with soul-restoring words.
  • Give good chizuk.
  • Try to cheer up and uplift your friend.
  • Provide encouraging words
  • Seek his or her good points.

This is the authentic Torah approach for dealing with people.

(For more, please see here: www.myrtlerising.com/blog/how-to-really-love-another-person.)

And Moshe Rabbeinu was outstanding in this area.

And we should definitely follow our leader by doing this too.

As Rav Miller states on page 8-9:
Now I want people to listen to that – married couples, families, boys and girls — everybody should listen to this prayerfully because in many homes people are spending their lives doing the opposite.

And that’s a tragedy because the Jewish home is the scene where this great function of encouraging others can be carried out in the best possible way.

There’s no opportunity to be like a Moshe Rabeinu that is as prolific, as fertile in ways of fulfilling this, as the home.

​And therefore the principle of encouragement should be one of the foundations of a Jewish home.

***

Now, how exactly the encouragement is administered, everybody must utilize his or her own judgment.

But there is one simple and an easy form, and that's compliments.

It's not enough if you don't bicker, if you don't recriminate and belittle.

Unfortunately that’s done too – it's done all the time in very many homes, and these people are complete failures.

They might be successes in other things, in other forms of avodah, but if people are belittling each other, it means they're doing the opposite of this great career, this great mission of idud, encouragement, which Hakodosh Boruch Hu requires. 

​And Rav Miller provides us with engaging, practical examples for a variety of situations.

Encouraging a Wife

Pages 8-10:
Every man who marries must keep in mind that it's not enough that he doesn't transgress this in the negative.

It's so easy to gain Olam Habo if a man would make it a principle once in a while to give his wife a compliment.

***
But because he is begrudging in words so life goes by with lost opportunities, lost opportunities to be an eved Hashem.

***
If your wife once cooked a good meal, make it your business to be profuse, to be lavish in your praise.

Other things too — there’s a lot to praise there. 

There’s nobody in the world who doesn’t have a craving for encouragement.

And why should a housewife be different?

​And so, the Jewish woman who lives successfully in her house – or even not successfully, but she tries – she can be made happy even without any gifts at all.

***
That's what it says in Mishlei when it describes the Woman of Valor. “Her husband and her children arise and praise her enthusiastically.”


Encouraging a Husband

Page 10:
And a woman too, no less, must make it her business always to look for opportunities to drop a word of encouragement to her husband.

Some men when they have some setback and they need consolation they cannot go home and confide in their wives because women sometimes will utilize that to put salt upon his wounds.

But if a woman would learn her role, her role as a confidant, she would become a Moshe Rabeinu.

She has to assume the role of encourager and soothe the things away – to always tell him, “It’s not so bad; you'll forget about it soon.”

“That person didn't mean it the way you thought he meant it,” or “he is wrong and you're right and I know in the end they'll recognize your abilities.”

***
...a wise woman builds up her house [Mishlei/Proverbs] by encouragement and encouragement alone.

And even in those things where there has to be correction, if the husband has to be corrected
and improved, the best way to get results is to give an incentive of encouragement.

If he does something that even looks like what you want him to do, praise him for it, and you'll see that he's going to try his best to do even more.


Encouragement for Children

Page 10-11:
​It’s a tremendous mitzvah, a tremendous step to greatness, if you’ll encourage your children.

Children also have burdens; they might not be your burdens but in their own eyes they have very big burdens.

And you can put your shoulder under their heavy packages and lighten their load by encouraging them with kind words.

And children who are encouraged in the home learn better.

They are more neat in their habits. They are cooperative if they are encouraged.

***
​...most of the time a glett, a caress, on the cheek is the best option.

A kind glett and words of encouragement can do wonders.

And the children too, among themselves should be reminded to encourage each other.

Of course, usually they’ll look at you like you fell off the moon. “What encourage? We only bicker; we argue and fight.”

But say it anyhow – it goes in, it goes in.

When children are taught to encourage each other, to say compliments to each other, and the parents do it too, then the house becomes a happy place, a place of avodas Hashem.

Encouragement for Students

Page 11:
There are a lot of boys in the yeshivah that would benefit from kind words. So many bochurim could use it.

And so if you're a teacher, look around. Your pupils need encouragement.

There are some who are not getting along well, some are sad, some are broken because of home conditions.

Some have poverty. Some are not well. Some have difficulty keeping up with the studies.

So be a Moshe Rabeinu!

Encouragement for All Kinds of People

Page 11:
Encourage your chaveirim in the yeshiva.

Girls, encourage your friends in the Beis Yaakov.

Not only your friends — there are many who are getting lost; they’re struggling.

You know how much you could accomplish if you would say a few words of encouragement to ease their burden? There’s so much opportunity there.

Your rebbe too. He needs parnasah so make sure not to discourage him.

Honor him and make him feel good.

After the shiur walk over to him and say, “Rebbi, I enjoyed your shiur” – even though you didn’t. It’s a mitzvah to be mi’oded anavim, to encourage the downtrodden.

***
Certainly; even on the street, even on the bus, if you see somebody who is dejected and depressed and you could say a few kind words, there's no question that you have given a big donation.

There isn't a human being who cannot stand a few drops of kindness on his soul – it’s a world where everyone has some problems, some worries and troubles, and every human being appreciates some kind words.

If you put your mind to it, you can always find a few words to say, something to assuage, to soothe, to put some balm on their wounds and to encourage them.

That's the important lesson we're learning from Moshe Rabeinu’s story.

Our job in this world is to leave the comfort of our palace and see what’s doing outside by our brothers, [vayar—and he saw]; and not only to see but to think about what you can say to ease their burdens as much as possible.

​And that great attitude, that’s the first step into greatness in this world and the next.


The Power of a Friendly Smile

Pages 13-14:
It could be somebody was passing by dejected.

Let's say he has been trying to find a decent job for a long time.

And meanwhile the young lady with whom he was going out finally told him that it's all off.

And now he doesn't even have carfare to go to the bay – he's thinking of taking a long hike down to the bay and jumping in.

And as he passes by, here's a man. It’s you. You happen to know him and give him a friendly smile.

And now the whole world becomes illuminated with sunlight.

You have no idea what you have done.

You have given him a new hold on life.

Why Smile at Office People & Grouchy People?

Page 14-15:
Don't you know how many times – if you lived a long time, you look back how many times in your career a smile was the turning point.

You know how much courage you get from a smile?

It's really important for us to study this subject, to think about it, because it happens all the time – it's so easy to bestow this happiness on people.

You walk into your office in the morning and you have a bright smile for each person.

You don't just walk through haughtily and ignore everybody and just go to your office. 

People think that you don't like them. As you walk through, smile at each person.

And there's no question you'll get a mitzvah. In your own little way, you’re like Moshe Rabeinu.

And:
Now, don’t tell me people are too grouchy.

Look, if somebody is coming toward you with a club, naturally you're not going to encourage him, but if he's passing you with a scowl, you muster enough presence of mind to smile to him.

Like it says in Pirkei Avos hevey mekabel es kol ha’adam besimchah, greet every man with simchah.

Every man means even Mr. Sour Face.

Actually he needs it more than anyone else.

You can bestow happiness in the form of a little sunshine from your face, and that's better than a glass of milk.

People need a lift.

A lot of people are carrying around hurt in their heart and they need this.

​It’s a career that will make a man successful in this world.

When You're Smiling, The Borei Olam Smiles at You

Page 15 (boldface mine):
And so, if you'll cause your face to shine upon other people, Hashem will smile on you too.

You hear that? Just think about that when you want to do it. 

When you turn on the sunshine and smile at somebody, you have to know that above Hakodosh Boruch Hu is going to turn the sunshine on you.

He'll smile to you too. And when He smiles, all good things come.

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Credit for all material, quotes, and any resulting smiles goes to Toras Avigdor.

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vayechi: The Way To True Teshuvah

16/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Vayechi 5 – The Function of Regret, we see the importance of our fellows around us, how they contribute to our lives.

For example, explains Rav Miller, a family bursting with different personalities—yet who all strive to behave with derech eretz—contribute to each other.

Each person influences another with the good point they possess which the other lacks.

Hashem created us exactly like this. No one is perfect except Hashem, Who possesses all good.

We all have something good to learn from another, to gain from another.

And everyone else has something good to learn from us, to gain from us.

We are vital to this world and the other is also vital.

On page 7, Rav Miller says:
Of course in America, it’s overlooked. It’s ignored today.

Brothers move away from each other and members of the family sometimes have very tenuous connections. They’ll call each other on the phone, they send cards before Rosh Hashana; it’s a very weak connection.

But fundamentally the plan of Hashem was that this should be one of the joys of life.

Family is one of the pleasures of life!

The old time European families who came over to America used to spend time together.

They didn’t have the tendency to go to movies. The old timers didn’t go to movies – even the irreligious ones.

I remember as a child how the families used to come together frequently and they sat for three or four hours together.

​Grandfather, grandmother, the sons and the daughters, the grandchildren, little children crawling on the floor.

The house was swarming with people and that was their fun.

Today it’s boring.

“Let’s go someplace. Let’s do something.”

​People begin to exchange this form of happiness for imitation happiness that you have to pay money for; today you waste money on paid entertainers or traveling; things that are sold to you as forms of happiness instead of the original ways that families used to enjoy themselves.

Remorse, Regret, and Repentance from a Place of Self-Elevation

Another issue addressed in the parsha is teshuvah.

Rav Miller emphasizes the frightening part of not doing teshuvah, which many people in our times resent hearing.

Some people may have heard it too much, accompanied by a petty or hypocritical delivery.

For others, it's too scary or simply doesn't jive with the modern culture & mentality, which has even seeped into the frummest parts of the frum world.

​However, knowing that you'll have to pay for that moment of sinful pleasure exists as yet another tool in one's self-polishing toolbox.

It's meant to be used in conjunction with the idea of the reward & light & angels you create when you overcome that same inclination toward all sorts of prohibited self-indulgences.

Looking back and FEELING REMORSE does wonders for erasing the dark angels created by those mistakes.

Crying & sighing? Even better!

Certainly, one must do it with the attitude of:

How could someone as innately holy & precious & special as me have done something so out of character, so beneath my true stature?

I'm soooooo much better than that. My stunningly beautiful potential lies far above that lowly deed
.


If you do it with lots of self-denigration (or, for some people, even with a tiny bit of self-denigration), then the remorse paradoxically claws you downward, and you may get even worse.

For today's generation, the Slabodka approach of focusing on the gadlut ha'adam, the greatness of a human being, is the way to go.

Every human being contains the breath of Hashem—an aspect of Divinity—within.

Every human being was created in the Image of Hashem.

We are not just mammals!

We need to look at ourselves & each other as tzelem Elokim—God's Divine Image.

​If we do this, we'll treat both ourselves & others much better.

We each have something of the Divine within us—regardless of our physical, mental, or spiritual defects.

If you're Jewish, then you also possess an extra Yisrael neshamah & are a true-blue ben or bat Melech.
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Questions to ask yourself from Rav Moshe Chaim Luzatto, courtesy of Rav Itamar Schwartz: https://bilvavi.net/english/after-holydays-advice-ramchal
A generous chunk of this week's parsha booklet addresses the ins & outs of teshuvah—not to be missed!

A delicious discourse on teshuvah runs from page 8 to page 17, with uplifting chizuk from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov on pages 16-17.

Likewise, part of doing teshuvah & preventing loss means proper efforts—safety precautions, making sensible decisions before one gets stuck in an unwanted situation, and the like. Rav Miller covers that all-important aspect hishtadlut & behaving responsibly on pages 14-16.

Credit for all quotes & material goes to Toras Avigdor.

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

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vayigash: Using Your Sight Wisely

9/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Vayigash 5 – Seeing the Secrets of the World, Rav Miller questions Yaakov Avinu's first response to hearing of the survival of his son Yosef  HaTzaddik.

One would assume, knowing Yaakov Avinu, his first response would be one of gratitude & song.

But no, it was basically: "I have to go and see him while I'm still alive."

Travel proved especially grueling back then, especially for the elderly, and Egypt remained steeped in spiritual filth.

Yaakov was a spiritual man—more elevated than we can imagine.

He knew he'd seen Yosef again, at least in the World to Come.

So why his desire—before gratitude & thanks-giving—to go see his long-lost son?

For Hashem.

Rav Miller explains the great joy at seeing his son's face would fill Yaakov Avinu with tremendous joy & gratitude toward Hashem.

And that explains Yaakov Avinu's response.

The Importance of Looking at Your Children's Faces in the Right Way

On pages 5-6, Rav Miller details how to apply to concept practically to your own life:
​As you sit at your table on Shabbos and you’re looking around at the faces of your children; maybe everybody is talking, eating, whatever it is, so you remember what we said here.

You look at your child’s face and you’re thinking, “Ah! What a beautiful face! What a beautiful experience this is that Hashem is giving me! I love this child!"

And the next one too. “Such a sweet face – I love this child! Thank You Hashem for this gift!”

You love every one of them tremendously and it should be translated into stimulating your love of Hakodosh Boruch Hu more and more.

There’s a great happiness in seeing your children.

Even if your child is not a gadol ba’torah, but he walks b’derech ha’yashar, he’s a shomer torah u’mitzvos, it’s a tremendous happiness to see his face. If Hashem gives you normal good frum children, you should be so happy; you should enjoy them.

Enjoy them and thank Hashem every time you see them.

You enjoy the child’s face and while you’re doing it you’re thinking, “I’m not doing it merely because I want to have nachas; I’m doing it because I want to love Hakodosh Boruch Hu Who gave me this tremendous experience to see my child’s face."

The act of seeing allows you to take pictures with your mind.

Once a sight goes in there, it stays.

True, we forgot stuff; we bury stuff.

But unexpectedly, these pictorial memories can reappear when stimulated by smells, sounds, or other sights associated with these mental snapshots.

Unfortunately, people tend to misuse this facility by filling the mind with unwholesome sights & sounds.

​But by making sure you look at the right things (like the faces of holy children), then you're using your sight right.

How to Look at Hashem's Creations for All Their Worth

Another way to use sight correctly is to look at Hashem's creations for all their worth.

On page 11, Rav Miller describes in colorful detail the glories of a leaf.

He even knew why leaves have irregular shapes rather than round shapes (I didn't know why!).

​On pages 12-13, Rav Miller speaks of how to look at the display in a bakery window.

On pages 13-15, Rav Miller delves into the glories of everything to do with fruit, including this gem on page 15:
Last week I had a conversation with the fruit store man.

I said to him, “How did the seeds get inside this fruit?”

He looked at me like I fell off the moon.

I said to him, “Did you ever find a fruit with a nickel inside?”

So he tells me that it never happened.

He’s been selling fruit for thirty years on Kings Highway and he never found a nickel in a fruit.

So I asked him, “If you find a nickel inside the apple would you think that a person put it in there?”

He said, “Yes, I would know somebody put it in there.”

​And you find a seed inside the apple – a seed is a thousand times more complicated than a nickel!

Reading the above pages in the parsha booklet offer wonderful ideas for enhancing your day by using your sight to maintain awareness of Hashem (a huge mitzvah with huge reward) & fortify your emunah.

​Rav Miller regularly took his children berry-picking & exploring — and used the above to make entertaining lessons for his children.

We can also do this for ourselves and others.
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No nickels here! □


Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Miketz: The Real Chanukah Story & What We Learn from It

2/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Mikeitz-Chanukah 5 – Suffering of Chanukah, pages 1-6 contain the Chanukah story, which is very worth reading just for that.

Then Rav Miller discusses the value of suffering & yissurim before returning to the Chanukah story on pages 12-14, including the bitter & not-so-well-known end of the Chashmonai family—meaning, their descendants, not those who starred in the Chanukah saga.

Then Rav Miller returns to the theme of suffering and turns our attitudes on their heads.

We think of times of suffering as "bad" while easier times are "good."

But on page 16, Rav Miller reorients us:
Don’t think that! Those are the good old days!

That’s the best time of your life. That's the apex, the summit of your success.

​Your throne in the next world is built on tzaar, on sacrifice and difficulties.

You’ll be sitting on a golden throne because you had to chew the earth with your teeth in order to arrive at even a little bit of success in avodas Hashem.

On pages 18-19, Rav Miller returns to the Chanukah story & explains exactly the miracle of the pure olive oil.

Whenever Rav Miller describes an event from Torah & tradition, he always adds details that bring it to life, and that is exactly what he does with Chanukah story.

Plus, a Q&A appears on the last page regarding why our Sages utilized weapons at times, but today, they don't.

This is a common misunderstanding when people look back and use Jews like the Maccabees, etc., as their role model for military values; it's taking the idea out of context. So Rav Miller clarifies it there.

You can see more of his views on the subject here (including how the young Rav Miller got a hold of his own father's gun, which almost ended in a tremendous loss for Am Yisrael):
  • https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-carrying-a-handgun/
  • https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-gun-safety-and-security/
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Chanukah lights on a window sill in Eretz Yisrael by chavahjacobs


Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vayeshev: Fighting the Jewish Inferiority Complex

25/11/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah Parshas Vayeishev-Chanukah 5 – The Chanukah Battle, we start off by receiving a fully detailed scene of what happened when Yosef HaTzaddik tried to escape the clutches of Potifar's wife.

Based on the Midrash, here's the illustrative description (page 4):
So now this poor innocent woman is standing on the street shouting to everybody,
pointing at this dirty fellow who had tried to violate her...

...Potiphar rushed home from work and when she told him the story, all the details about what this wicked Ivri had tried to do, he became full of rage; he seized Yosef and began pummeling him.

And after a good beating, he grabbed Yosef by the ear and she grabbed him by the other ear, and they dragged him to the police station, to come before the judges to be sentenced...

...She and her husband are dragging Yosef through the streets by his ears.

Potiphar was an important official and his servant was well known so this disturbance certainly drew a crowd.

Women and children were staring from the windows; the men were rushing out of their houses to the streets to see what was going on...

And our sages tell us that as Yosef was being dragged through the streets, Potiphar
and his wife were heaping contumely upon his head.

She was shouting accusations, and Potiphar was gnashing his teeth.

“Look what we did for him. We elevated him. We made him the majordomo, the manager of our house, and that's how he tried to pay us back? By acting so lowly?!”

And the Egyptians who witnessed this spectacle, they were looking on and shaking their heads.

“Well, that’s what you get for taking him as a slave in your house. What else could you expect from a Hebrew? Only a dirty Ivri could be that wicked and do such an uncivilized thing.”

Ivri means a Hebrew but for the Egyptians it meant a hated nation, a corrupt people.

And they were kicking Yosef and spitting at him, insulting him as he was being dragged through the street.

At the same time he endured all this, Yosef HaTzaddik kept repeated the same verse (Tehillim 39:9): "The reproach of low people should not come upon me."

Potiphera's wife had pursued Yosef. The Egyptian people were steeped in immorality.

Yet now all the hypocrites came to fore with appalled, offended, pearl-clutching sensibilities.

As if!

​Yet Rav Miller notes this as characteristic of Jew-haters.

Dirty people will call a Jew "dirty Jew."

Greedy, power-hungry people will accuse Jews of loving money over all else.

Cold-hearted, hostile people accuse Jews of being the same.

​ Rav Miller references a letter Pope Gregory wrote to King Louis of France, declaring that “Jews commit the most terrible crimes that are too horrid to speak about.”

Oho, Catholic Church!

Not sure exactly which King Louis & Pope Gregory corresponded here, but we all know about the Catholic Church.

Yeah, there are some decent and sincere people there. In modern times, some proved instrumental in saving Jews during the Holocaust AND returning Jewish children to the Jewish people.

But historically, the Church has shown itself as a bastion of corruption & immorality & bloodshed.

​Talk about pot calling the kettle black.

As noted within the PDF, Protestants complained about Jews trying to kill Christians at every opportunity. That was not true of the Jews, but of the Christians themselves.

Nazis accused the Jews of trying to murder & corrupt society...while the biggest murderers & corrupters of society were the Nazis themselves.

​The list goes on.

Here's an interesting note on page 6 from Rav Miller:
There is extensive literature on this subject only that you can't get it.

It's very hard to buy these books that speak about the crimes of the church.

There's a powerful organization that sees to it that this literature is not available and therefore to get books, real works that reveal the deeds of the papacy is almost impossible.

One historical work I wanted to see when I was writing one of my books but it was very hard to get my hands on.

There's one copy in the public library in the main branch and you can't take it out.

​That's what an organization can accomplish.

Look Who's Talking

Rav Miller notes how a person can feel ashamed if someone speaks publicly in Yiddish—even as Italians & all sorts of other ethnic groups freely speak their language without a care.

Some Jews feel ashamed or uncomfortable with traditional Jewish garb. Even seeing another Jew in Chassidic garb makes them uncomfortable.

Yet scores of non-Jews go about wearing purposely ripped clothes or pants sagging to an extreme, or other extremely undignified or vulgar styles.

​Some even feel proud of their ugly, demeaning style.

​Many belief systems entered the heads of frum Jews.

At one time, Jews felt attracted to the Egyptian mentality. Later on, many internalized Greek & Roman philosophies—including their music, literature, and attitudes.

Today, many frum people seek to harmonize atheistic & hedonistic ideas with Torah Judaism.

Some do so purposefully while some do so automatically.

​Rav Miller elucidates how evolution crept into the Orthodox Jewish community on pages 10-11.

On pages 11-12, Rav Miller mentions books of Jew-hatred from the time of the Greeks until an old edition of Roget's thesaurus.

​On pages 13-14, the rav offers examples of Jewish self-hatred.

Fighting the Jewish Inferiority Complex

On pages 14-19, Rav Miller describes the seeds of the Chanukah saga...and it all started out with a massive Jewish Inferiority Complex, which even infected knowledgeable Jews who should've known better.

In a nutshell, everything went into a slide all because of what Yosef HaTzaddik initially experienced at the hands of the despicable hypocritical Egyptians: cherpat naval.

In other words: being despised by lowlife hypocrites.

​And here is the main lesson & goal of Chanukah for us today (page 18):
On Chanukah we’re expected to grow great in combating the yetzer hora that caused the trouble of Chanukah.

It means we have to begin falling in love with the Am Yisroel – that’s what Chanukah is trying to teach us.

And if we don’t get busy studying the emes of the Torah, then sooner or later the yetzer hora will win out and we’re going to fall into that error of the ancient Misyavnim [Hellenists].

On pages 19-20, Rav Miller describes his experience with one way to do this: reading Shir HaShirim.

It's true that if you pay attention to the words & understand that it's Hashem speaking to you personally with the uncompromising love expressed within, it's an incredibly powerful experience.

Saying Shir HaShirim for 40 days is also a good segulah to meet your zivug. My husband & I got engaged on Day 39. (He was saying it too, but not sure which day he was up to at that point.)

A synopsis of the real Chanukah story appears on pages 20-25.

​​Throughout pages 25-31, Rav Miller emphasizes the importance of appreciating the goodness of the frum community.

He acknowledges we are not perfect.

And he goes into detail on those pages.

By the way, thinking of yourself with self-worth helps you act that way. People tend to act to expectation.

Having grown up in a mostly non-Jewish secular society with the Conservative & Reform movements, I always noticed that frum Jews are THE most self-critical.

No other group ever criticizes themselves like frum Jews.

This includes all the frum Jews who constantly say, "We're in denial about this-and-such! Our community refuse to acknowledge/deal with this-and-such!"

No other community does that as far as I've ever seen.

Even the activist frum Jews who ARE doing their best deal with [fill in the blank], still go around decrying themselves by saying "we frum Jews aren't doing enough!"

It may be true they're not doing enough & that so much more needs to be done.

Yes, it's true!

But it drives me crazy when these same frum self-critics refuse to see through the self-propaganda of the non-Jewish/secular society, which portrays itself as having its act together, but really doesn't.

(I think this results from working exclusively with the frum community while studying articles, books, lectures, and podcasts from the non-frum/non-Jewish. You see all the problems in the frum community while the non-Jewish/non-frum community paints a picture of what they want. And let's not pretend their material has nothing to do with making a bestselling book or course, right? Sure, they focus on problems in their society, but with a coat of paint over it. Also, nowadays, many non-Jews lack the values to understand what is a problem & what isn't, and what is a solution & what is not.)

Their supposed resources & solutions are not as effective as they like to claim.

I have personal experience in this with them.

Yes, all their organizations and so forth manage to help some people.

They aren't completely useless.

But the reason why Western society as a whole is plummeting in every area results from a lot of stuff being mostly talk with very little action, or simply ineffective.

​They can advertise & promote as much as they want, just like a pig can advertise & promote its kosher sign of a cloven hoof as much as it wants.

But inside, its digestive system acts like that of every other treif beast.​

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Credit for all material & quotes goes to Toras Avigdor.

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vayishlach: Start Climbing the Ladder to Your Full Potential by Starting on the Bottom Rungs

17/11/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Vayishlach 5 – Living with Intent, we learn about the importance of proper intent behind our actions.

This means taking a moment to look at your own tzitzit (or that of your husband or son), and think about what it means (page 9): 
They should see it and remind themselves of the great ideals.

“How happy I am that I’m a Jew! How fortunate we are that Hakodosh Boruch Hu chose us!...He chose us from all nations from all languages!”

It doesn’t take long but even in a flash, as these thoughts pass through your mind, you have transformed the mitzvah into a different mitzvah altogether. 

It's fantastic to do the same when you give tzedakah or look at/kiss the mezuzah.

​Even if you're only giving tzedakah because you're embarrassed to say no, adding the above thoughts transform your giving into something far greater.

The Great Virtue of Allowing Yourself to Do Things Imperfectly

One of the terrible mental diseases today is purity of thought & motivation.

Demanding absolute purity of motivation while completely invalidating any good act as long as it carries the faintest whiff of impure motive?

That's the recipe for disaster.

That keeps a person sunk in despair, rage, and bitterness.

You see this in secular society, that people will say something is not clean or not good or not right ONLY because a certain purity of motivation is lacking.

And people are never satisfied.

There's all this nitpicking like, "This is a sign of low self-esteem, this means you're co-dependent, this is hints at your need for control, this is a sign of emotional immaturity, this means he's ADHD, this is narcissism," and so on. 

Everything is pathologized.

Now, sometimes the above are true and need to be addressed.

But sometimes the negative labels are overexaggerated.

And even when true, a person is a LOT more than "co-dependent" or "ADHD" or whatever.

The human soul possesses an aspect of the Divine.

​Why not focus on that?

In many societies, people want perfection, yet feel furious, depressed, resentful when they cannot receive this illusive perfection.

And certainly, purity of intent is a wonderful goal.

But as we're climbing the ladder of goodness, it's okay to mix pure intentions with less pure intentions.

No one can ever simply leap from the ground to the top rung of the ladder.

Impossible!

We must start somewhere—and that "somewhere" lies on the bottom rungs of the ladder to achieve potential.

You're not a hypocrite if you've mixed motivations. You're allowed to try!

You're allowed to be imperfect!

Here's Rav Miller on pages 14-15:
It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy life!

Enjoy! You can be happy!

You can make a lot of money! Nothing wrong!

Where do you find in the Gemara, anyplace that it’s wrong to make money, it’s wrong to be rich, it’s wrong to be happy?

It’s a fundamental error to think it’s wrong.

A man can marry a pretty wife. He doesn’t have to take the ugliest wife he can find and say, “I’m marrying only l’shem Shomayim.”

It’s a big mistake people make in pshat. You can marry a pretty girl. You can make money.

You can eat a big lunch and fall asleep on a comfortable pillow. Why not?

Only that you should add some intent.

While you’re doing it, you shouldn’t waste your life. You add the intent l’shem Shomayim.

So you say, “Well, he’s a faker. He’s not doing it for Shomayim! He wants to make money. He wants to eat a good lunch.”

No! That’s a mistake! It’s a mistake! You can add an intent even though it’s not your sole intent.
​
And therefore, whatever you are, wherever you are, you could transform your life with a little bit of thought.

It's not hypocritical.

Hakodosh Boruch Hu doesn't expect you to give up your livelihood, your good life, but while you're busy living that life, why not add the intention of doing it for some noble purpose, for the end of serving Hashem.

​And therefore everything you do becomes noble; it becomes sublime and your life is packed with accomplishment.

By allowing yourself to be imperfect, you conversely enable yourself (and others) to become better & closer to perfection.

Some Final Tips

On page 16, Rav Miller explains what's wrong with the general welfare programs.

On pages 17-21, Rav Miller offers little thoughts to think in your daily routine to uplift in one second your mundane acts to the Divine.

Also, on the last page, Rav Miller offers advice to parents struggling with a child attracted to less-than-ideal pastimes.
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"One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day!"


What Rivka Imeinu Teaches Us about Using Our Flaws & Dysfunctional Backgrounds to Save the World

5/11/2021

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In the Bitachon Weekly for Parshat Toldot, we receive tremendous encouragement & mussar regarding our flaws (both in ourselves & our upbringing.)

While Hashem answered the prayers of Yitzchak Avinu as a tzaddik ben tzaddik, Rivka Imeinu saved Am Yisrael (and the world) by understanding who Esav really was & arranged for Yaakov to receive the blessings of the firstborn.

Rivka Imeinu grew up with an evil, greedy, manipulative father in a society dark with the occult—with her father, Lavan, being one of the leading occultists.

Yet she managed to not only realize the wrongness of her upbringing, but transform herself to turn out completely differently than her family & background.

True, she merited help along the way. She grew up hearing about Avraham Avinu & Sara Imeinu (who merited fame in ancient Mesopotamia), knowing they were her relatives.

It seems her nursemaid, Devorah, also influenced Rivka positively.

But Rivka needed to accomplish the main work herself.

And she achieved the opposite extreme of her father.

Where Lavan was evil, Rivka epitomized pure goodness.

Where Lavan was greedy & manipulative, Rivka excelled in loving-kindness & seeking to fulfill the needs of others in any way imaginable.

Where Lavan relied on the gruesome dark occult, Rivka clung to the Purity & Oneness of Hashem—without elaborate rituals, but only her lips & heart.

And even though Yitzchak Avinu's merit of tzaddik ben tzaddik brought the fulfillment of their prayers for children...Rivka Imeinu's merit as tzaddik ben rasha, a person born into a corrupt society & flawed upbringing—THAT enabled her to identify the real Esav and to take action to rescue the future.

Swimming against the Current Makes You a Stronger Swimmer

The process of building ourselves & overcoming all that drags us down often reveals the best of ourselves.

It doesn't mean we all respond perfectly.

It doesn't mean we don't have down times & failures & times when everything we do feels so dry & lifeless.

That bare fact of us making any effort at all to be different than our society & our upbringing—THAT matters to Hashem more than the visible accomplishments measured by the standards of whatever society we find ourselves in.

That effort matters even more to Hashem than our feelings about the effort.

Just like Esav looked more accomplished & impressive than Yaakov Avinu...

Esav strode out into the fields to hunt the choicest meat for his father. He prepared the food in the most delectable way & always donned his finest clothes before entering the presence of his father. In a sincere desire to feel pious & good, Esav asked his father all sorts of probing questions regarding Torah Law.

Yes, Esav LOOKED like the ideal son.

Esav acted the part to perfection.

​Esav also felt great about himself & his actions. He enjoyed giving his father so much honor!

But it was quiet, introspective, non-flashy Yaakov whom Hashem saw & chose.

Could Rivka Imeinu have become who she became & accomplished what she accomplished had she grown up among tzaddikim?

She would've been great, of course...but apparently not as great as she became.

How do we know?

Because Hashem gave her exactly the flaws & dysfunction she needed in order to become one of the most outstanding people who ever lived.
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Image courtesy of Toras Avigdor. Used with permission.
https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-adam-harishon-the-heretic/

To subscribe to Bitachon Weekly, please send a request to:
thenewbitachonweekly@gmail.com
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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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