Category: Rav Avigdor Miller

How to Drink on Purim: Rav Avigdor Miller

15/3/2019

Some people have a lot of confusion about how much to drink on Purim and what ad d'lo yada (drinking until you don't know the difference between Haman and Mordechai) really means.

And some people think they know, but don't even know that they don't know & should really ask.

As usual, there are different interpretations of this and here is Rav Avigdor Miller's opinion:

"You drink up to the point of losing your da’as. You drink just enough. But not enough to lose your da’as. On Purim you have to have da’as. You have to have more da’as on Purim, not less."

Rav Miller cautions against drinking so much you fall asleep or need to be rescued by Hatzalah.

You need da'as on this holy day of Purim!

"And you won’t be gaining any da’as lying on the floor waiting for Hatzalah to come."

(All quotes used with permission from Toras Avigdor.)

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Rav Avigdor Miller on the Secret Power of the Korbanot of Parshat Vayikra

14/3/2019

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The idea of korbanot sounds strange in our times. We’ve never seen it, so it’s hard to imagine its healing power, kedushah, and effect on us.

Yet we have the capability of sincere tefillah in place of korbanot today — so why do we need actual korbanot?

And why, despite their current absence in our lives, are korbanot still such an important aspect of Torah today?

The Hidden Imprint of Korbanot

Rav Avigdor Miller explains that the emotions aroused by properly given korbanos can elevate a person to true knowledge of Hashem and excellence of character.

This elevation causes Hashem to tell you:
“My beautiful child, I’m so happy with you, I love you.”

Avraham Avinu set the stage for all future korbanos.

He loved his son Yitzchak more than his own life. But when he thought Hashem wanted him to offer up Yitzchak Avinu as a korban, Avraham Avinu was willing to sacrifice his precious son — and in a sense, sacrifice his own self and his future — out of his great love for Hashem.

Fortunately, Hashem stopped the Akeidah of Yitzchak just in time. Yet Avraham still wanted to make a sacrifice and offer up something to Hashem.

So he took another ram — ayil acher — in place of Yitzchak. Yitzchak was the original “ram” for the korban, so the Torah makes sure to say that Avraham Avinu took another ram instead.

This engraved within the Jewish people a passionate devotion for Hashem, which overrode all else — including their own lives.

This is why you have a history of Jews of all backgrounds and levels willingly sacrifice themselves to the sword rather than accept upon themselves the emptiness of Christianity.

It’s with THAT devotion that Jews brought korbanot to the Beis HaMikdash.

The Meaning of Life

Rav Miller zeroes in on the pasuk in Vayikra 1:2: “אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן להשם. This means: “A man of you, when he offers an offering…”

The word adam, a man, isn’t used in this way with any other mitzvah.

So why here?

Rav Miller explains:

“The word adam signifies the source from where Mankind first came, adamah, the earth. And it intimates, it hints, to the place where all of Mankind will one day return.”

To really earn the title of adam, a person must feel gratitude toward Hashem. Eating, breathing, running, writing, seeing, speaking — the more you appreciate every single thing about even your most basic physical existence, the more of an adam you are.

How vital is hakaras hatov for being a good, frum Yid? Rav Miller states:

“If you’ve never once turned to Hashem and said ‘Thank You Hashem for bringing me into this world and keeping me alive,’ then you haven’t even taken the first step in serving Hashem. Don’t be ashamed. You should say it.”

This wields tremendous power — as Rav Miller continues:

“Of course, when you come to the Next World, you’ll see that even that tiny little step, talking to Hashem, thanking Him for life, is really a tremendous step, but it’s still only the beginning. Because gratitude to Hashem for being alive is what you’re alive for.”

How Did the Korbanos Work?

Yet as everyone already knows, Judaism despises human sacrifice.

So instead, Jews offered up a korban to Hashem out of gratitude.

That’s why the owner needed to lean his hands on the animal prior to shechitah; this leaning woke the owner to the fact that this korban was a literal representation of him! And everything the Kohen did to the animal in front of the owner further ingrained within the owner how this korban should actually be him.

So the whole process essentially says, “Out of my tremendous love and gratitude for You, Hashem, I wish I could offer You my very self. So here’s a korban instead.”

Yes, tefillah has always been very, very important. You can change yourself through tefillah. You can change fate. You can change world events. You can even save lives — all through tefillah.

But as powerful as tefillah is, offering a korban with the right kavanah is even more powerful.

How to Achieve Greatness without Korbanot

Yet without korbanot today, we can still achieve greatness and find favor with Hashem in This World and the Next.

How?

Rav Miller recommends focusing on the following:

There are so many things — so many processes, so many organs, so many bones and limbs that are functioning just as they should right now in your body.

You’re not strewn out on the floor waiting for an ambulance to come…

Did you ever stop to think about how many millions of things have to function perfectly for you to be a basically healthy person? Your chromosomes, your DNA molecules, your enzymes… You don’t have cerebral palsy, right? You don’t have multiple sclerosis, or muscular dystrophy. You don’t need dialysis on kidney machines. You don’t have a tumor on the brain?

There are tens of thousands of disorders and you have been exonerated, you have been exempt from all of them.”

Yishtabach Shemo for all that chessed and more!

Note: If you'd like to understand more about the process of the korbanot and the powerfully transformative effect they had on a person & why on earth we still yearn for them, it's a great idea to go read Rav Avigdor Miller's original booklet with all that information inside:
Parshas Vayikra — Animal Sacrifice: The Pillar of the World

(All quotes used with permission from Toras Avigdor)

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Jewish Aristocracy

8/3/2019

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I think one of the very compelling aspects of Rav Avigdor Miller was his way of making ancient dynamics come alive.

Describing scenes and events from Tanach or Gemara in picturesque snippets using everyday language pumped life into Jewish life and personalities from thousands of years ago.

In this week’s dvar Torah Parshat Pekudei—Torah: The Heart of Our Nation, Rav Miller brings Dor Hamidbar to life.

(All quotes used with permission from Toras Avigdor.)

Yeshivas Hamidbar

What was Am Yisrael doing in the Sinai Desert for 4 decades? No plowing, no harvesting, no sowing, no laundry—not much to worry about there. Lots of free time.

Okay, we know they were ridding themselves of their slave mentality too.

But how?

“Yeshivas Hamidbar,” says Rav Miller. They were learning Torah.

And they loved it. They were on fire for learning.

Try to imagine a place where you could access talmidei chachamim ten times greater than the Baba Sali, the Chafetz Chaim, Rav Aryeh Levine…

Try to imagine a place where daas Torah was clear as day and easily accessible—after all, Moshe Rabbeinu was right there.

In fact, women were included in this too. Rav Avraham ibn Ezra says that all the women gathered at the entrance to the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting), where Moshe Rabbeinu taught them himself. (And I cannot remember exactly where the ibn Ezra wrote that.)

Can you imagine hearing a shiur directly from Moshe Rabbeinu?

You know your favorite speakers? Well, imagine them, but something like 10 times even better.

(I guess Moshe Rabbeinu must have considered women pretty important if he insisted on giving the shiurim himself, rather than relegating it to a lesser prophet.)

And there was no foreign influence. Rav Miller points out that no one tried to get their hands on any Midianite newspapers. (Nor were there bamboozled Jews to print up newspapers like Idi’ot Rishonot or Ha’shegetz.)

The Holy Leftovers

Rav Miller quotes a Gemara which describes a talmid chacham as a sarid. A sarid means a remnant, a survivor—or a leftover.

What is a talmid chacham a leftover or remnant from?

Dor Hamidbar, Yeshivas Hamidbar!

Extending this even farther, Rav Miller insists that a man studying Gemara with or without Tosfos or Shulchan Aruch—he’s part of Yeshivas Hamidbar, one of the most prominent and stunning yeshivahs to have ever existed in the history of Mankind.

Nice!

Rav Miller also relates several heart-warming anecdotes from his personal experiences with Torah Jews back in pre-WWII Baltimore and Slobadka. And because Rav Miller heard or saw these events himself, he gives it over to you as if he’s your friend sharing a nice chat with you.

Take It 1 Line at a Time

And as always, Rav Miller encourages you to take pleasure in even just a little bit of Torah learning—whatever you can manage is worth more than diamonds:

One line of Torah is more important than all the mitzvos put together.

How can that be?! It's astonishing!

All the mitzvos together, the tefillin and mezuzos and tzitzis and matzah and korban pesach, all the obligations of the Torah cannot compare to one thing of the Torah.

You sit down, open a gemara and learn one line, it's such a tremendous happiness, such a great achievement, that it eclipses, it far outdoes all the good things together.

If you can open the gemara for one line, you should know what you're doing for yourself in this world. I’m not saying you’re a talmid chochom already; that takes work after all.

But you’re already joining the aristocracy of the Am Yisroel; you’re emulating the upper class, the elite of our nation.

Cool!

Here’s more on learning just one line of Gemara (and REALLY learning it):

If you would learn one line a week, you know that in ten years you’d know something!

One line a week, and you’d review it constantly.

One line a week; who couldn’t do that?!

And so, there won’t be any excuse to give on that great day when the question will be asked, “Osakta batorah? Did you engage in the study of My Torah?”

Everybody must study the Gemara. And it’s not hard.

It’s difficult to learn a lot of Gemara, the whole Shas, but one line?!

Needless to say, women can do the same with mussar or Tanach. In fact, the Vilna Gaon strongly encouraged his own daughters to learn mussar and Mishlei/Proverbs.

The Real Aristocrats of Am Yisrael

And Rav Miller testifies to the power of sincere Torah learning to effect profound change:

I was once walking on Eastern Parkway and a man with a big beard approaches me - "Rabbi Miller," he calls out.

"Who are you?" I asked, and he tells me his name. Whoooo! He was in the yeshivah with me years before.

He was a nobody, mamesh ah lo klum [a literal nothing]. It seemed hopeless.

And now he has a big beard - a frum Jew. And his grandchildren are learning in Yerushalayim, he tells me.

That's a result of the Beis Medrash. I can tell you stories like that without end. Again and again.

Needless to say, Rav Miller mentions this man’s big beard symbolically. Rav Miller is the first to acknowledge that merely having a big beard doesn’t automatically mean you’re great.

And what about women?

Certainly, a wife whose heart is happy when her husband learns Torah and even encourages him to go out to the beit medrash receives a weighty share in his Torah learning.

But not only that, says Rav Miller. Every child a woman raises is like finishing Shas several times. So maybe your husband never finished Shas even once, but if you have 2 children, then it’s like you’ve completed the entire Shas many, many times.

I’ll let Rav Miller have the final say:

"Ein umatenu eleh umah baTorah - Our nation is a nation only because of the Torah.”

And it’s those who keep pumping the blood of Torah through the veins of our nation, who are keeping us alive.

And therefore it’s the Torah learners who are the aristocrats of our nation, the ones whom we admire and emulate.

And the more a person is mechaber himself to the Torah, the greater of an aristocrat he is.

Once you understand this, you have gained a new perspective on the Am Yisroel, and you’ve learned to see our nation the way Hashem sees them.

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Shabbat: The Mind-Transforming Gold Mine

28/2/2019

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One of the most important things to remember about Shabbat is that it is an undeserved gift of unfathomable worth.

The angels actually protested to Hashem against giving us Shabbat.

They said we wouldn't appreciate it properly.

And for the majority of our people today, the angels have unfortunately been proven right.

But there is still the priceless minority who DO appreciate Shabbat — and want to appreciate it even more!

How to REALLY Appreciate Shabbat

There is a lot of work entailed for Shabbat. Some of it is grunge work. If you can afford it, you can pay someone else to do it for you.

But if you can't?

In Parshat Vayakhel - Building the Shabbos Home, Rav Avigdor Miller emphasizes that it's similar to a diamond merchant who is seen carefully sweeping the dust off the floor under his work table.

Why is he doing such menial work and doing so with such care?

"This is diamond dust!" says the sweeping diamond merchant. “And therefore it’s worth my while to sit on my knees and collect dust that comes from diamonds.”

Here's one of the amazing (yet imperceptible to most people) events that occurs on Shabbat:

When we stand up in Shemoneh Esrei and in Kiddush and say [or hear someone else say], "Vayechulu haShamayim v'ha'aretz v'chol tzeva'am — The heavens and the earth and all their hosts were finished at the end of six days,” to our surprise it’s such an important declaration that the Gemara (Shabbos 119b) says: "B'sha'ah sheh omer 'Vayichulu' — “At that time when a person says Vayichulu, shnei malachei hasharet hamelavin lo l'adam, so two angels come — manichin yadeihem al rosho, and they put their hands on this man’s head. V'omrim lo, and they say to him, V'sar avonecha v'chotecha yechupar, Your iniquity will depart and your sins will be forgiven.”

What Came Before "Beresheit"?

We hear about the concept of Beresheit—In the beginning—so much, that we don't think more deeply about the real meaning of it.

"The Universe was created ex nihilo!"

"There was absolutely nothing before Hashem created the Universe!"

How many times have you heard all that?

Yet was does that really mean?

Rav Avigdor Miller explains:

Now this is a startling idea that has no equal; here the Torah tells us a statement which is so revolutionary that it has no equal in all the statements and writings since the beginning of time.

And never again will another statement be made that has the same impact.

And that is that Hashem created from nothing.

***

But when you say Vayichulu, you’re declaring that there were no building blocks in the beginning, that the world was created out of nothing. Before Bereishis, nothing existed. There was no Big Bang, and there was no Little Bang. There were no black holes and no explosions of stars.

There was nothing to explode. There was zero.

Nothing at all existed except for the ruach Elokim, the spirit of Hashem which pervaded all
space — I don’t want to say space because there was no space yet — but Hashem pervaded All.

There was only Hashem and nothing else.

Can You Really Imagine "Nothing"?

The human mind can't really imagine "nothing."

When completely blind people are asked, "What do you see? Do you see darkness? Black?"

"No," they answer. "I see nothing. Not even black."

That's interesting because seeing people often describe blind people as living in darkness, but the truth is, they don't because they don't perceive even darkness.

To a sighted person, blind people live in visual darkness. But that's not how a blind-from-birth person perceives it. They simply do not see.

So could a blind person imagine "nothing"?

Visually, perhaps.

But "nothing" includes an absences of sound, scent, and everything else.

We just cannot imagine.

This week's dvar Torah is bursting with all sorts of necessary and luscious insights:

how to REALLY keep Shabbat
Hashem's "Imagination" & how it works
how the science of matter has changed
how dvar Hashem can be both energy & material
how anger, anxiety, and excitement can harm one's physical eyes
the effect of the weekday on one's mental & spiritual eyesight and how Shabbat heals this effect
why saying Vayichulu last Shabbat can make the coming erev Shabbat more peaceful
how Vayichulu is like a mini-Yom Kippur every week
why being a frum cow is better than being a wicked cow, but how to avoid being a frum cow anyway

Parshat Vayakhel - Building the Shabbos Home

Enjoy!

(All quotes used with permission from Toras Avigdor.)

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If Someone is Eating a Treif Salami, Should He Make a Bracha?

21/2/2019

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I subscribe to an e-newsletter that sends out transcribed Q&As from Rav Avigdor Miller's ztz"l lectures.

This week featured a particularly interesting question that I believe many people wonder about.

Rav Miller's answer is equally interesting (even shocking at times) and inspiring.

GREAT Torah hashkafah and guidance.

Here it is:

Tape #463: Still Not Observant...and the Paradox Within

This email is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210

QUESTION:

On the way into orthodoxy, if somebody is eating non-kosher salami, should he make a bracha?

I'll paraphrase the question, we'll forget about the salami. We have many people today who are still not observant, but they are definitely on the way in.

Should we consider their behavior as non-consequent, which means that they are contradicting themselves, that they are committing a paradox?

Or shall we say that despite the fact of their non-observance, these people still are on the way to success, and they should be encouraged?

ANSWER [from Rav Miller]:

I recall a boy who worked on Shabbos.

This boy never rode the train, he always walked all the way across town to his job, and he walked back.

Now the question is, did it make any sense? In his place where he worked he did all lamed tes melachos, he did every kind of work, and still he refused to ride?

That man is doing a tremendous thing, the man is leaving one area where he is protesting his love for the Shabbos, and anybody who is going to ridicule him is demolishing something that's precious.

There used to be Jews who worked on Shabbos, but didn't smoke on Shabbos. There were a lot of Jews like that; now don't ridicule them. If you use that as a leverage, if you don't smoke on Shabbos, then you shouldn't do this and you shouldn't do that either, that's good, but don't tell them what good is it not to smoke on Shabbos.

Therefore there are lots of Jews today who are coming back, and you must be patient with them, because some of them will turn out to be the best idealists, and I'll tell you a little anecdote:

Reb Yisroel Salanter zichrono livrocho, who lived a long time ago, a hundred years ago, he visited the German town of Memel; it's right near Lithuania.

In Memel all the stores were open on Shabbos. So when he went there for a Shabbos, he asked if there were any Lithuanian Jews present.

They said yes, some Lithuanian Jews are visiting there for business, so he didn't say anything.

He waited for another Shabbos when no Lithuanian Jews were present, and then he got up and made a speech, and listen to what this great man said:

To keep your stores open on Shabbos, that's something that you cannot help yourself. But is it necessary to go to the port and to take the merchandise from the ships that are brought in for you? (Memel was a port city) That you could do on Monday!

That was his speech. It had an effect. Then he waited for another Shabbos, he didn't want any Lithuanian Jews to be present, because the Lithuanian Jews all kept Shabbos then, a hundred years ago, he didn't want them to hear.

The next Shabbos when no Lithuanian Jews were present he said:

If you keep your stores open on Shabbos that's your parnosso, but do you have to write? Can't you get away without writing on Shabbos?

And he spoke about the importance of not writing, and he gained his point.

The end was, a number of German Jewish families in Memel became not only shomrei Shabbos eventually, but they became Torah aristocrats, and that's the way we have to deal with people.

When a man comes into the Shul and he doesn't observe much, don't shame him; you have to treat him delicately, because you can never know.

And I want to tell you something, that these people many times have more idealism than people who are in it all their lives.

People who are in it all their lives, many times are on the way out, and this man is on his way in.

It's the truth.

And even those who don't think that they are on the way out, they're hankering to be out, they are prisoners of the in, and you see it in their children.

Therefore, this question is a serious question, an important question, should a man make a blessing over a piece of treifa salami?

So in practice you don't make any blessing, but I'll tell you what he should do, he should say words equivalent to a blessing in English.

He should express his gratitude to the Almighty who has given him food, and eventually that man will say birchas hamazon over a kosher meal, I guarantee you.

Good Shabbos To All

Amazing.

With thanks to A Moment with Rav Avigdor Miller Z"L for generously permitting me to use their material.

You can also sign up for these enlightening once-a-week newsletters here:
http://rmillerqa.com/

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Ki Tisa

18/2/2019

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This week's dvar Torah by Rav Avigdor Miller, Parshas Ki Tisa 2: Thinking by Torah, is so current and applicable to our times, it's hard to believe it was written in 1980!

Rav Miller talks a lot about socialism and how it's affecting America - very interesting stuff.

Plus, he makes a point I'd never considered: The other religions of the world have been so willing to swallow all sorts of bizarre ideas and customs - what's the big deal about accepting Torah?

"They didn't live by the strict ideas, the strict precepts of the mind. They lived with a hodge-podge of emotions and arbitrary ideas, different gods for different situations; there wasn’t much seichel there, and I’m being gracious when I say that."

He doesn't flesh out the answer much, but the main idea is that the Jewish people stood out as a group of independent thinkers and that is exactly whom Judaism is for.

Na'aseh v'nishma is a challenge to independent thinkers, but at the same time, the Torah way is also exactly what an independent thinker needs.

Likewise, history shows that people attracted to authentic Torah are often those who think outside the box. (Or, as Rabbi Wallerstein puts it, those "who color outside the lines.")

And then Rav Miller delves into the mystery of how the same people who crossed the Yam Suf and experienced Ma'amad Har Sinai and the leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu could suddenly start frolicking around an idol of shiny gold veal.

Very compelling stuff.

So what's the main nugget here?

This:

"Anochi Hashem Elokecha, 'I am Hashem your model,' is the command of the Torah; not only that you should know that I am Hashem your G-d, but you should know what I think, and think along with Me.

"That was what Kabolas HaTorah really meant. We give up our own thoughts, our baby thoughts, and we rise to the thoughts of the Supreme Intelligence and think His thoughts. And those are the attitudes and ideals we adopt as our own."

Throughout, Rav Miller discusses socialism, erev rav, child discipline, vegetarianism, and Torah hashkafah, and how Am Yisrael went from the heights of spiritual purification to the depths of spiritual pollution.

Definitely worth a read.

The Sinai Desert at sunset

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My Wedding-Hitbodedut Experiment

14/2/2019

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A while ago, we read of Rav Avigdor Miller's advice (How to Break Out of being "Ordinary") on how to enjoy a wedding while under the assault of eardrum-blasting music:

Do hitbodedut.

The rav reassured us that people will just think we're singing along with the band.

He also suggested that we daven for the couple as part of our hitbodedut.

Recently, I was at a wedding where I scrounged up the guts to try this.

I NEVER would have thought of this on my own and I certainly wouldn't have the guts to try it without Rav Miller's reassurance that this kind of hitbodedut looks like singing and not holier-than-thou eccentricity.

My personal addition was to sway back and forth while I spoke to Hashem because it doesn't really look like singing if I just sit there while my mouth is moving.

It helped a lot that the woman next to me kept breaking out in rhythmic clapping and chair-dancing in time to the music. (Thanks, Hashem!)

So here's my take on it:

It's not as satisfying as talking to Hashem without heavy bass and loud warbling in the background, but it's definitely possible.

Honest to gosh, no one thinks you're doing anything weird (or anything spiritual or meaningful, chas v'shalom! ;-). It really does look like you're just singing along.

It gets the job done.

It makes you feel good.

So I just wanted you to know.

And...

...try it! You might like it.

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You Can't Have Spirituality without Law & Justice

31/1/2019

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A famous story is told of an apprentice walking around with his master of Eastern mysticism.

Seemingly detached from the material world and free of human vice, they spy a lost wallet lying on the ground.

The master slips it into his pocket.

“Shouldn’t we find the owner?” worries the apprentice.

“No,” says the enlightened master with a smile. “The gods have smiled on us today.”

You can’t have spirituality without justice & laws, without mishpat & mishpatim.

This is why all these countries bursting with Eastern spiritual practices and so-called rejection of worldly desires and vices also host terrible human rights abuses and deplorable living conditions with little hope of escape.

People grumble (or at least wonder at) the myriads of detailed laws within Judaism. It seems so nitpicky! And who needs all that...especially after the astounding spiritual experience at Har Sinai?

Yet Parshat Mishpatim imprints upon us the dire importance of creating a society based on justice. If you want real spirituality, then you absolutely must care about damages – even the most minor.

You can’t do a mitzvah through speeding, double-parking, breaking something, or stealing (like taking a Gemara to study without permission from the Gemara’s owner).

Talking loudly in divrei Torah while walking through the streets late at night when people are sleeping is not okay.

Even something like sharing a holy word with another while suffering from halitosis is not okay.

For more, please see Rav Avigdor Miller’s dvar Torah:
Parshas Mishpatim: Preface to Chassidus

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The Feminine Path to Greatness

29/1/2019

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For the past few decades, women have been encouraged to compare themselves to men.

This fosters unhealthy competition, including within marriage.

Of course, this ends up infiltrating the frum world too.

But really, it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

Apples & Oranges

If you’re an apple, you should be interested in your appley potential and being the best apple you can be — according to whatever apple you are. There are many different kinds of apples and no 2 are the same.

But if you’re obsessed with how you compare to an orange, you end up holding yourself back.

For example, you may obsess over how your peel is fully edible – yet the orange’s peel can be used for flavoring in high-end desserts. “Orange zest” somehow sounds so much more prestigious than “apple peel.” Yet you’ll be missing the wonderful vitamins and taste experience inherent in your own peel.

Or you fret about how to add more orange to your color. But you’re a Green Delicious! Adding more orange will only downgrade your market appeal and inherent beauty. Customers seek you out davka because you’re a Green Delicious or a Pink Lady rather than a juicy Jaffa.

Self-denigrating apples also ignore the absolutely scrumptious & comforting pies they make and instead yearn to be part of a citrus fruit cocktail or mourn their lack of vitamin C and pre-formed sections.

Likewise, Hashem set up spiritual physics so that women can achieve what men can, albeit in a different way.

How to be a Gedolat Hador & a Mekubaless

I still remember the wonder I felt when reading Rav Yehudah Petiyah’s account of an old illiterate Jewish lady who worked at sifting wheat with her millstones. Upon finding a date among the wheat, she recited a bracha with all the kavanah she had, then ate it.

Upon dozing off, an old man suddenly appeared before her, praising and thanking her for freeing him from his suffering — “even though you did not rescue me completely" —
before vanishing into thin air.

When she consulted Rav Yehudah Petiyah, he informed her that the date contained the reincarnated soul of this old man and via her pure-hearted blessing, she succeeded in rectifying him 2 levels upward!

The astounding part is that she succeeded in doing so even though she recited the wrong blessing. She said borei pri ha’adamah rather than borei pri ha’etz.

Had she recited the proper blessing, this lost soul would have achieved complete rectification.

Yet as far as I've seen, in order for men to accomplish such a thing, they need to fortify themselves with lots of Torah study and learn the proper kavanot of the kabbalists. You hear stories of a soul trapped in a fruit achieving some kind of rectification when eaten by a righteous Torah scholar – not a well-intentioned am ha’aretz.

Think about this for a minute:

In all the stories of rectifying souls via blessings, have you ever heard of a regular yeshivah bachur achieving this? No. It’s always a learned tzaddik or even a mekubal. So how was this poor illiterate and somewhat ignorant (it’s not difficult to guess the correct blessing for a date, like it is for bananas) old lady able to achieve this?

And again, even with the wrong blessing, she managed to rectify this soul up 2 levels. Had she said the correct blessing, this soul would have achieved complete rectification — all because of her heart and mental focus, regardless of her actual knowledge. So she was able to achieve what only mekubalim can achieve. Amazing!

In a nutshell: Hashem set up the world so that women can achieve great things by taking a completely different path than men.

Upon being asked what a girl is taught in the womb by the angel, Rav Avigdor Miller explained she is taught “an endless Torah” of good middot, character refinement, emuna, and daat Hashem. He quotes the Vilna Gaon, who insisted that his daughters should learn all the mussar books. (The category of mussar books today includes but is not limited to: Duties of the Heart, Pathways of the Just, Ways of the Righteous, Pele Yoetz, Rav Eliyahu Dessler, etc.)

As Rav Miller emphasizes in tape from A Moment with Rav Avigdor Miller-Tape #459:

All the mussar seforim are available to girls.

If a girl learns all these things, then she is a gaon, she's considered the same as if she would be a gadol hador.

She has learned her Torah, she is a success.

This isn’t patronizing or being satisfied with "less."

Hashem set things up so that a woman who excels in her path really does become a success, a gadol hador, and can even accomplish miracles.

This is a truth that both men and women need to internalize and appreciate.

For the full account of Rav Petiyah and the millstone lady:
The Jewess Mystique: The Truth about Women & Mitzvot

To receive a weekly email with choice transcriptions of Rav Avigdor Miller's classes like the one above, please go to the sign-up page here: http://rmillerqa.com/

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The Secret to Fulfilling Na'aseh V'Nishma

24/1/2019

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For Rav Avigdor Miller's full dvar Torah on the parsha, please see:
Parshat Yitro 1: Na'aseh V'Nishma
Parshat Yitro 2: Hearing Hashem's Messages

In Parshas Yisro, Am Yisrael bursts onto center stage by virtue of one statement:

Na’aseh v’nishma.

But how could they promise such a thing? How can you do something BEFORE you ever hear it?

Unless you’re psychic, you have no idea what you’ll be asked to do.

So you can’t do it.

Except that you can.

The secret to na’aseh v’nishma is revealed through Avos 3:12:

כל שמעשיו מרובין מחכמתו, חכמתו מתקיימת

“Anyone whose good deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom will endure.”

What does that mean? Rav Avigdor Miller explains:

“If a person does more than he knows about, more than he learned, that’s a man whose wisdom endures and has eternal value.”

How can you possibly do more than you know?

“If you know ten halachos, you can fulfill ten halachos. And if you learn one more halacha, then you’ll be able to do that one as well, and you’ll have eleven.

"But you won’t be able to fulfill twenty. You can’t fulfill what you don’t know about.”

Exactly.

So what’s the solution?

You say, “Na’aseh v’nishma” about anything Chazal says.

“Whatever you’ll learn in the seforim, whatever the chachmei haTorah will tell you is necessary to do — right now, even before you heard their words — you accept upon yourself to do it.”

And what happens when you do that? Hakadosh Baruch Hu says:

“That man is marked by Me as a man of success. He’s a man who I consider to have already fulfilled these mitzvos that he doesn’t even yet know about.

"And even the mitzvos that he will never hear about.”

Of course, this works if you are actually trying to accomplish more; it’s not a loophole for lazy learners.

But if you strive to increase your observance, then accepting upon yourself to do whatever the chachamim command will ultimately earn you schar for any future mitzvos — including those you may never have the opportunity to learn.

“If a person will say with sincerity, ‘I know there’s much to learn still and a lot of things that I’m not doing correctly.

"But I’m making up my mind that I want to fulfill everything, without any hesitation,’ then all of the Torah laws and details that he has accepted upon himself — everything — are considered his ma’asim already.”

How to Really Want It

“If you want to succeed in this world, it’s not enough to just get by.

"You have to feel a yearning, a desire, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu should lead you in the right way. And you should be crying out in your heart. It has to be coming from your heart!

אחלי, 'I hope to You Hashem, that I should be able to do those things'.”

So how do you achieve this ideal of hope and desire?

Step 1: Fill Your Mind with Torah Ideals (by reading, listening to, and pondering the right things).

Many people daydream of what they’d buy if they could. Others daydream of popularity, fame, the ideal vacation, and all sorts of goals unrelated to their neshamah’s real needs.

These kinds of daydreams are a waste of time. They’re no more than a fake escape because you’re still exactly where you were when you started — maybe even lower.

But once you get your heart focused on the right things, then you’re on your way to daydreams that aren’t only pleasurable, but also productive.

Step 2: Start Dreaming.

What’s the best way to build up your heart to where your mind knows it should be? Let your imagination get to work. Stare off into space and free your mind to start flowing in the right direction.

Rav Miller gives the example of a person with no money who dreams of building an even bigger Torah community than that of Lakewood. Such a person fantasizes about everything that goes into creating a fantastic new yeshivah community in New York or Eretz Yisrael.

You can also fantasize about helping other Jews with your imaginary wealth or the ill people you’d heal if you could. You can fantasize about shalom coming to Jews suffering from either the thugs on the American streets or the terrorists in Eretz Yisrael. You can also fantasize about Jews living affectionately with each other.

“ ‘Ohhh,’ says Hashem, ‘You’re hoping to Me. You’re not just going through the motions and trying to get by. You’re really hoping in your heart.

"If so, then I consider that as if you are actually participating in those things that you desire to do’.”

Step 3: Verbalize Your Hopes and Wishes

Start wishing out loud (but not necessarily where others will hear you).

Rav Miller suggests the following:

A frum woman who walks down a street full of atheists and tumah can say to herself, “Ah, if I could have lived in the good old days. If I could have lived in the days of the Beis Hamikdash and watched the Kohanim bring the karbonos onto the מזבח with the fear of Hashem on their faces.”

When you pass by a yeshivah and see bachurim streaming out, say, “Ribono Shel Olam, give a bracha on the roshei yeshivos and their rebbetzins, and on their sons and daughters. And on their eidim and their daughters-in-law. And on their einiklech as well. And the same is for all the Kollel people too. And all the bachurim, all the youngsters in the cheder and in the mesivta, should all live long.”

A working man who dedicates some precious time to the beis medrash can end his learning session by detouring over to the Shas on the seforim shrank and say, ““Ribono Shel Olam, how I wish I could stay here all night, every night, and learn through Shas. I have such a desire to sit over a daf of Gemara and slowly absorb the sweetness of the words of Chazal. But what can I do already? I have to get to sleep tonight so that I can get up for work tomorrow.”

Actualizing the above 3 steps ensures the following:

You forge increasingly deeper layers of sincerity within your heart.
You earn schar for your desires as if you actually did them.

Yet Rav Miller understands that initially, you might feel fake. You’ll feel silly. Walking around in stiff new shoes makes for awkward steps — at the beginning.

“Now, the first fifty times you don’t mean it. You don’t mean it all. But one thing you do mean – you want to mean it!

"‘I hope that someday I’ll mean it.’

"So Hakadosh Boruch Hu says: הבא לטהר מסעיין לו — ‘If you’re taking the first step, then I’m going to help you,’ says Hashem.

"And little by little, you become a man who sincerely desires to be goimel chasadim toivim l’amo Yisroel [one who bestows good kindnesses for His Nation Israel].”

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Apples & Oranges

How to be a Gedolat Hador & a Mekubaless

The Secret to Fulfilling Na'aseh V'Nishma

How to Really Want It

Myrtle Rising

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Copyright Notice

The Hidden Imprint of Korbanot

The Meaning of Life

How Did the Korbanos Work?

How to Achieve Greatness without Korbanot

Yeshivas Hamidbar

The Holy Leftovers

Take It 1 Line at a Time

The Real Aristocrats of Am Yisrael

How to REALLY Appreciate Shabbat

What Came Before "Beresheit"?

​Can You Really Imagine "Nothing"?

Table of Contents

Tape #463: Still Not Observant...and the Paradox Within

​Do hitbodedut.

Apples & Oranges

How to be a Gedolat Hador & a Mekubaless

How to Really Want It

Myrtle Rising

Categories

Jewish Blogs

Jewish Current Events

Jewish Health

Archives

Copyright Notice

Can You Really Imagine "Nothing"?

Do hitbodedut.