Category: Rav Avigdor Miller

Every Jewish Face is a Pleasure! A Snippet of Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Balak (Plus a link to Parshat Pinchus: A Career of Seeing Hashem)

19/7/2019

Shockingly, I had an outside project to complete this week, so blogging was sporadic and I didn't get around to highlighting everything I love about Rav Miller's parshat hashavua from Toras Avigdor.

So I'll leave you with this from Parshat Balak: Beloved Multitudes of Israel:

FAT JOLLY JEWS ARE A PLEASURE!
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Look at a Jewish face as it passes by - every single one is a pleasure.

It’s a pleasure to have skinny serious Jews – it’s very important to have them.

And fat jolly Jews – it’s a pleasure to have them too.

Business-like Jews, they’re also pleasure.

Each one is a pleasure – no question about it, and that’s why Hashem is counting us.

So don't forget to check out:

Right! So let's make sure we say "Modeh Ani" with a happy heart.

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Why We NEED Different Halachically Legitimate Frameworks in Torah Judaism

17/7/2019

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With regard to yesterday's post (Why Roles & Structures are So Important for True Self-Liberation), there are many things you can take away from a discussion of utilizing your God-given framework in the best way possible.

But upon second glance, I feel I didn't emphasize one aspect enough.

Part of our God-given framework is the type of avodat Hashem we were either born into or adopted later on.

The reason why there are a variety of Chassidic groups and even divergent paths among non-Chassidic Ashkenazim is because Hashem WANTS there to be--just like He wanted there to be different Tribes with different tafkidim and even different pronunciations (like Shevet Efrayim and their pronunciation of "shin" as "sin.")

Hashem WANTS there to be Sefardim--and among Sefardim, Hashem WANTS there to be Bucharian ways, Yemenite ways, Moroccan ways, and more.

There are even differing levels among tzaddikim:

You have a person defined as a tzaddik because his good deeds outweigh & outnumber his sins.

Then you have a tzaddik who hardly sins at all.

Then you have a tzaddik who hardly sins at all and is an active miracle-worker or someone with genuine ruach hakodesh.

But the highest level of tzaddik does not mean that the minimum standard of tzaddik is nothing.

Such a person is still very precious, both to Hashem and to the merit of our Nation!

Here is some advice from Rav Avigdor Miller on the subject that should be taken very much to heart, regardless of which group you cling to (boldface is my own emphasis & all quotes taken from Toras Avigdor):

The Fiery Danger of Denigrating ANY Gadol

But I must tell you that I disagree with the attitude of being mivatel, of putting down, someone else’s gadol.

No; I disagree with that attitude.

Gedolim can be here and Gedolim can be there, and we have to appreciate all of them. Your Gadol doesn’t have to be the only Gadol.

And even though there might be a machlokes, a disagreement, between them; yes, there may be a machlokes between them, but we should stay out of it.

It’s fire! Worse than fire! We shouldn’t say a word. Not a word!

(Source: TAPE #901)

Okay, Fine. I Don't Put Down Other Groups or Their Gadolim, But How Do I Respond When THEY Act Like THEY'RE Superior?

And if they consider themselves superior, so we can ask the same question:

Why is it that most non-Lubavitcher chassidim consider themselves superior to Lubavitcher chassidim? Why do Breslover chassidim consider themselves superior to Lubavitcher chassidim? And why do Satmerer chassidim consider themselves superior to Breslover chassidim?

And the answer is that all idealists who follow certain systems, they do it because they think it’s the best system – otherwise they’d follow a different system. It’s common sense!

What should a man be a Lubavitcher if he thinks something else is better? Why should a non-Lubavitcher be non-Lubavitcher unless he thinks that it’s better.

All idealists follow the system they follow because they think it’s the best.

Now, who is going to be the arbiter and say who is the best? Moshiach will come, and in order to keep peace between everybody, he’ll say, “You’re all the best!”

And the truth is that they are all the best.

But right now, it’s not really a question if the Lubavitcheh feel superior, because if you ask a litvishe yeshiva bochur, he feels he’s superior.

Ask a Satmarer and he feels he’s superior.

And go into a sefardisheh yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel, go into Porat Yosef, and he’s knows that he’s superior too.

Everyone is superior.

And the answer is that’s how idealists have to be. No idealist will do something that he thinks is not superior.

(Source: TAPE # 271)

Why Do We Need All These Groups Anyway?

What’s the benefit of different types of servants of Hashem?

Who needs chassidim and misnagdim and sefardim?

Wouldn’t it have been better if we all walked together on one path towards Hakodosh Boruch Hu?

So I always say: Why is it that you’ll find in the supermarket clover honey and orange blossom honey and buckwheat honey? There are at least ten varieties of honey! Who needs it?!

And the answer is that it makes life more delectable! Variety is a pleasure!

After all, Hakodosh Boruch Hu could have given us nothing but red delicious apples. Let’s say you’d pass a fruit stand and all you would see is bins and bins of red delicious apples.

Now, red delicious apples are a treat; we can’t complain about them, but how much more fun it is when we have ten different kinds of apples!

And even better, to have tens and tens of varieties of fruit. It’s much more fun when you can choose from a wide variety of good things.

And therefore, there are all kinds of methods of serving Hashem, each one that has been cultivated by Hashem Himself, by the separation of kehillos.

Sometimes a person can choose one method and stick to it always. Or sometimes you can choose from the fruit store of the different shevatim.

Sometimes you’ll choose something from the Gerrer, another thing you’ll take from Lakewood, something you’ll pick from Lubavitch, something you’ll take from Belz, and something else you’ll nosh from Satmer. And so on.

Every shevet had something to contribute. You can be sure that there are a lot of delightful fruit in all of these various places that help the Am Yisroel in its avodas Hashem.

Everybody is helping out!

Some kehillos brought to the Am Yisroel the great benefits of mussar to the Am Yisroel, while other kehillos brought chassidus.

From some communities we learn to be kanaaim for the truth and others impress us with their hasmadah in limud hatorah or gemillas chasodim.

I myself have learned from one group of Jews in Flatbush what it means to be michabeid talmidei chachomim.

Because there’s no end to the variety of paths that the Am Yisroel walk toward the One Hashem and there’s what to learn from everyone.
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Now I’m not going to tell you what’s best. Someone asked me, what does Hakodosh Boruch Hu want from me? Am I supposed to be chassidish, or litvish or what?

Now that’s some big order. He wants me to make enemies, the one who asked me that question.

Hashem wants you to be the best that you can be.

Some people can be their best if they’re chassidish.

Some people can be their best if they’re litvish.

Other people can be their best if they’re sefardi.

It’s like asking – “What is the best diet for all of mankind?”

The best type of diet depends on each individual person. People are different.

Some people are so different that their diets are radically different.

So whatever it is that you choose, you should make it a principle in your life to always choose whatever it is that will give you the most success in life – and success in this world means preparing for the Next World.

(Source: Parshas Beshelach: Learning to Love All Types of Jews)

Different halachically legitimate groups of Jews....as sweet as the varieties of apples and honey!

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Spotting the Snake Slithering through Your World in Parshat Chukat & Loving Yourself and Your Fellow Jews in Parshat Balak

11/7/2019

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Yet again, Rav Miller makes the desert scene and the whole snake fiasco come alive in Parshat Chukat: The Copper Snake.

He explains all about the Copper Snake and its symbolism and what that was all about.

So if you’ve ever wanted to understand what was going on with the fiery biting serpents and then the giant healing Copper Snake, it’s all in there.

Who & What is the Yetzer Hara Today?

But whether it’s the First Nachash in Gan Eden or the fiery serpents biting complainers, snakes are all about dissatisfaction.

And to fight the snakes of dissatisfaction, we need to pump up our gratitude and appreciation.

As usual, I cannot resist quoting Rav Miller’s views on modern American society:

Of course, today, Russia doesn’t have to bother to send spies across the ocean because America has so many lunatics in its government, so many meshugener communists in its educational system and in the public media, that they’re doing the work for free.

They’re doing the work of disrupting the country without being paid.

But in normal times the best way for a spy to operate is by working undercover, by blending in and remaining unnoticed. Only that today the public is so stupid that the lunatics can proclaim it openly, with big headlines.

The Yetzer Hara (the king of the snakes of dissatisfaction) operates as a psychopath.

In the Garden, the Nachash (i.e., the Yetzer Hara when it was external; now it is internal) was obviously a Nachash standing on legs and talking. But he made his personality appealing. Sheker hachen.

He’s sneaky and doesn’t want you to know what he’s really up to. He comes in a much more appealing form—not serpentine at all.

As Rav Miller explains:

Today he appears in the form of a college professor or a neighbor.

Sometimes he’ll even come as a man with a beard and long peyos.

It has to be that way because if the nachash would have continued to exist in the form that it had in the time of the cheit, so we would already know to watch out for that fellow.

We know, “Watch out for him!”
…
And if you don’t look beneath the facade, you will never see the truth.

The falsehoods today fill the world. Big buildings, libraries, universities. And they have the media today to spread their falsehoods.

The sheker fills the world today because he’s choosing the most effective forms possible and he is succeeding.

Wherever you go today you can no longer say the truth - you have to use political correctness when you talk.

A tremendous tolerance of sheker was erected right under our noses.

"One way or another, people have been bitten by the nachash. For one person the nachash of sports has bitten him. For another person it’s clothing or cars or money. Arayos, television, politics, whatever it is, the snake is biting."

Rav Miller on Sports & Travel Vacations

Rav Miller also discusses his opinion on travel vacations (unless you have a real tachlis need to travel to that location).

He admits that it’s not a popular opinion and that he doesn’t meant to offend anyone, but he simply sees it a certain way and feels that point of view should be expressed.

He discusses making the most of your background and your family situation, realizing that the difficulties and obstacles are there to for you to use for spiritual growth.

This is what he says about sports:

You’re thinking, “Maybe the newspapers are reporting important news - maybe I should go out and look in the newspaper.”

The front page talks about a certain man, a top basketball player who was captured by another team. Oooh ah! Big news!

A nobody.

When he went to high school he never attended class - he stood in the schoolyard and practiced basketball. A bum, that’s all.

And this bum is on the front page, and everybody is talking about him.

Or another bum who has nothing in his mind at all, no intelligence at all. Only that when he holds a bat he’s able to smack the ball. He can give the ball a smack and everyone goes crazy.

A homerun! Meshugenahs! It’s nothing!

"And the more you think about that truth, the more we train our minds to combat the yetzer hara that makes what we’re doing seem plain and ordinary, the more we’ve learned the lesson of lifting the copper serpent out from the high grass and placing it on the high pole."

PARSHAT BALAK

For those in Eretz Yisrael, Parshat Balak has arrived.

Rav Miller explains that this is such an important Parsha, Chazal wanted us to say the entire parshah every morning!

He also explains why Hashem is so exacting with Am Yisrael.

That’s one of the reasons church-goers believe they’ve replaced Am Yisrael. Hashem (via the Nevi’im) constantly exhort the Jewish People even as He expresses the most beautiful and profound Love for us in the Universe.

Why Is Hashem So Tough on Us If He Loves Us So Much?

Why do we suffer genocides and pogroms for our sins?

We aren’t nearly as bad as the nations. Sure, they suffer stuff too. But not like us. And we’re not nearly as bad. (Despite what many Jewish periodicals and blogs claim, we really aren’t as bad as the nations!)

So Rav Miller explains that with a convincing mashal of a kallah and a wedding photographer, which is very worth reading inside the dvar Torah booklet. (Seriously. It’s very convincing.)

Then Rav Miller explains:

"But when you grow older, you have to understand the truth of the Torah. And that is that the Am Yisroel is the greatest and purest nation, much more than any nation in the world!"

Many people have been misled, even talmidei chachomim.

I remember once I was saying a drasha in shul and I mentioned that the Dor Hamidbar was beloved by Hashem.

I said that they are called yedidim [friends] and ahuvim [beloved ones].

And this one man, a talmid chochom, finally lost patience with me. He was so angry with me when I said that. “It's against the pesukim what you're saying” he told me. “They didn't know My ways.” He showed me the possuk in the siddur. And how can you blame people for being mislead?

All the seforim in the Torah criticize the Am Yisroel. Terribly!...

...But the maskanah of the gemara is: Asfu li chassidai - Gather in to Me, My devoted ones, the dor hamidbar. They were Hashem’s chassidim.

There’s a reason why Jews are incredibly self-critical.

And as written on this blog before, frum Jews are the most self-critical. And Rav Miller discusses this tendency toward self-criticism (both justified and unjustified) and why we are like that.

So how do we gain some perspective?

Go Tell It from The Mountain

We do like Bilaam and look at ourselves and each other from a distance—from a mountain top:

Let's say, here's a kollel family.

And there's another person standing in the street, a Jew, a frum Jew, and he sees the kollel family. To him it seems like they're human beings. Just like he is.

The children are boisterous, a little wild. The mother is busy cooking and cleaning. And life goes on in their house like any other house.

And therein lies the great error of not appreciating the Am Yisroel.
…
And so, when you look at that kollel family, you'll have to get off the ground.

To understand the greatness of any frum home, you are going to have to get off of the ground and view them with a nobility of mind.

If you go through life without thinking, then you'll never appreciate the Am Yisroel.

It's only when you take a step back, and you see the Am Yisroel with the clear sighted view that Bilam had, that's how you'll appreciate our greatness.

Go, us! Rah, rah, rah! Yaaaayy...US!

Of course, none of this precludes a raw cheshbon hanefesh.

Judaism acknowledges and embraces the innate paradox of our 3-dimensional world.

We need to regularly perform a thoroughly scouring cheshbon hanefesh—yet at the same time, never lose sight of how wonderfully fabulous and profoundly cherished we are.

Rav Miller goes into detail about how to see ourselves & each other in the real light—the way Hashem sees us.

There are no rose-colored glasses here—Rav Miller gives plenty of mussar; he knows our weak points.

It’s about changing your angle of vision.

"Taharas hamishpacha, tzniyus, decency, morality fill the Jewish home. And you hear brachos in that home all day long - a different blessing for every item that you're eating. How beautiful is the Jewish home!"

As always, credit goes to Toras Avigdor for everything, including generous permission to cite this amazing material.

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What You Didn't Know about Odd Gemaras & What Your Yearnings Really Mean: Rav Avigdor Miller on Some Heavy-Duty Concepts in Parshat Korach & Parshat Chukat

4/7/2019

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Parshat Korach 2: Your Mind is Forever

For our brothers & sisters in chutz l'Aretz, Toras Avigdor has produced Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah on Parshat Korach 2: Your Mind is Forever.

And it's a real geshmakeh doozy.

Rav Miller describes aspects of Gehinnom, sheds light on strange stories from the Gemara (like raising Bilam from dead to talk to him and the conversations of 2 dead girls in a cemetery), and delves into the importance of doing teshuvah NOW.

Even if you think you can't keep up a better behavior, try anyway. Whatever you do is really, really good.

And as always, Rav Miller fights the good fight against the tsunami of anti-Torah culture:

There’s a whole outside world of gentiles and secular Jews, and every second, their sewage is pouring into our world.

And therefore we have to stand guard day and night over our minds.

Think about how unequal of a contest this is.

Because how much yiras shomayim are we really pouring into our minds day and night?

How many exhortations to tzniyus are your wives hearing from the novels they read?

How many Torah ideals are you hearing on the radio?

How much do English teachers in the yeshiva high schools urge the boy to become great talmidei chachomim and to spend their free time studying Torah?

How many billboards do you see warning you to be careful with lashon hora, and urging you to do chesed and mitzvos?

All you see is the opposite.

With even very bad things becoming the norm, or even considered good nowadays, we need to ponder how much we're being affected by sources formally considered neutral.

Even listening to right-wing conservative religious pundits or reading their articles is a problem. Maybe you need it for something in particular l'to'elet. But despite their good intentions, these pundits have been very influenced by Leftist values.

Nowadays, even Right-wing conservative religious pundits dress like cocktail waitresses (if they're women), encourage mechanisms to prevent pregnancy in pre-marital relationships rather than encouraging abstinence until marriage, cuss like sailors, and other behaviors that would've been considered indecent even by liberals in our grandparents' time.

Not to mention the Jew-hatred at the edges of the conservative religious Right.

With the Leftist hatred of God-based morality in general and its anti-Israel stance, plus its love of fake science, the Left has always been a force against the Jewish people.

But the Right also has its bigots. And many on the Right cannot accept that church-attendees did not replace the Jewish People as the Am Segulah and cannot differentiate between the profoundly assimilated Erev Rav-esque Jews (who muck around in Leftist garbage) and the genuinely searching or committed Jews.

So we need to guard our minds.

As Rav Miller continues:

The outside world is pouring in all types of filth and we’re not pouring kedusha into ourselves, it’s a very unfair contest.

But even if we would be pouring into ourselves Torah and yiras shomayim day and night...All day long you’re cramming your head with Chovos Halevavos [Duties of the Heart].

It’s a good thing by the way - even one drop is a good medicine.

But if at the same time the sewage is pouring in too, then what good is it?

You have the best wine, the most expensive wine, and you pour it into a cup that’s filthy with mud, a cup that’s crawling with bacteria and worms, so what kind of taste will it have?

"To create a mind, that’s our job in life. And that’s the most important business we can do in this world."

Even if you're in Eretz Yisrael and already went through Parshat Korach, it's very worthwhile reading what Rav Miller has to say because he explains things you might have always wondered about and he also gives very good mussar for the very real challenges we face today.

Let's get to work creating wonderful minds for ourselves!

Parshat Chukat: The Reality of the Next World

In Parshas Chukas: The Reality of the Next World, Rav Miller goes into detail about why Judaism insists on burying a body a soon as possible. It's not the entire reason, but he details why it's good for US to do it quickly.

He talks about tumah, defilement of the mind.

Then he elucidates one of those Gemaras (Brachot 44a) that apikorsim and Jew-haters love to hold up as an example of Talmudic weirdness and impropriety.

As usual, there are layers of meaning beneath the surface.

People who insist on taking such Gemaras at face-value are either ignorant or looking for excuses for their apikorsut.

Either way, it's only something that really dumb and disingenuous people do.

And Rav Miller draws the curtain aside to show us what's really going on behind the scenes.

Clarification: Not understanding the Gemara is fine. That's honest. Yeah, I also didn't know anything about the underlying meaning of all that fruit-eating until Rav Miller explained it. But using the superficial translation of it to fuel Jew-hatred or apikorsut indicates a dumb and disingenuous person. That's all.

And even our seemingly This-World yearnings derive from a deeper source in the soul.

Rav Miller says:

Or let's say you're standing on a country road, and you look down the road and it's winding down for miles and miles.

And you're thinking, “I'd like to travel on this road, to see what's doing at the other end.”

That yearning is real!

That yearning for travel, “I'd like to go and travel down this winding road,” should be a symbol for us.

"Because there is a road, a true road to happiness. The road to Olam Habah is the winding road without any deceptions."

Hakodosh Boruch Hu is not deceiving us.

The road of your life leads somewhere.

Our life is a road that leads to a much greater destination than any other road.

Our desires to travel down the road, to sail to the horizon at the edge of the sea, to find the end of the rainbow - these are all yearnings rooted in a much holier yearning, to remind us for what we really need to yearn.

All the pleasures of this world: extravagant weddings, continental breakfasts, chocolate cake and a shluf on Shabbos, a sparkling home, scrumptious food...these are just allegories for Olam Haba to make us yearn for a good portion in Olam Haba and to motivate us to do what we must to get there.

Focusing on Olam Haba creates joy and prevents suicide and all sorts of problems.

A person focused on utilizing This World for the Next remains silent in the face of anger, criticism, and foolishness - including when they come from one's own spouse.

But we need to talk about it a lot.

Once, after Rav Miller mentioned Olam Haba in several lectures, a man burst out: “What's this that you're mentioning Olam Habah, Olam Habah. You sound like a little girl.”

What a humiliating way to speak to a talmid chacham.

But Rav Miller just kept on going with what he knew was right.

This dvar Torah also presents ways to inculcate a desire for Olam Haba in children, whether you're a teacher or a parent.

"Be a propagandist for Hakodosh Boruch Hu."

And all that Rav Miller writes in Parshat Chukat is connected to the Parah Adumah.

So if you want a better understanding of an unfathomable aspect of Torah, this dvar Torah is worth a good solid perusal.

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Shelach & Parshat Korach

27/6/2019

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

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

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

Here's an excerpt:

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

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

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

Not just to eat.

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

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

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

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's this doing here?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leitzim means jesters.

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

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

A Real Moshav Leitzim

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

Glatt Kosher Leitzanut

However, there is also kosher leitzanut.

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

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

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

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But even the Jewish newspapers are full of garbage.

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

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

It's definitely worth a good read.

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

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

As always, thank you tons to Toras Avigdor.

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Rav Miller on Imagining Yourself into Greatness & The Profound Power of Tzitzit.

20/6/2019

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If you're reading Parshat Behaalotcha this week, Rav Avigdor Miller has his usual gems. It's all about fulfilling your potential even if you have absolutely no way to fulfill your potential.

Parshas Behaaloscha 2 – Pesach Sheini; Opportunities Forever

Just wanting good things earns you reward.

(BTW, Toras Avigdor Junior gets this message across by using ice cream in a modern-day parable.)

For example, if you honestly cannot donate to a certain worthy Jewish cause or you cannot donate more than a little, your sincere disappointment and not being able to earns you reward.

Groaning or sighing over your inability to perform a mitzvah earns you reward.

And it's interesting that in light of this, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov held sighing or groaning in very high regard.

On the other hand, wanting the wrong thing is a problem for the opposite reason.

Rav Miller quotes Masechet Gittin (6b):

המטיל אימה יתירה בתוך ביתו ... והפילה כמה רבבות מישראל

"A person who instills excessive fear in his home - that means that his wife and family are afraid of him - it's as if he killed many tens of thousands of Jews."

Rav Miller goes on to explain that these mini-tyrants would also tyrannize multitudes of people if they were in that position. Angry people can kill (but the law or other deterrents stop them).

So yes, we are judged by our actions. But we are also judged by our desires.

What do you really want?

Rav Miller advises that at least once a day, whether you're sitting on the couch or walking to the parking lot, you should say with real regret and desire:

"Ribbono Shel Olam, please rebuild the Beit Hamikdash."

Rav Miller lauds this as "a tremendous accomplishment."

If you're reading Parshat Shelach this week, Rav Miller goes into a fascinating and witty parable of the importance & meaning of wearing tzitzit, including wonderful advice on how women can also earn reward for this powerful mitzvah.

As Rav Miller says: "And, believe me, there are women who have become greater than men from the mitzvah of tzitzis."

He also paints a compelling picture of even the simplest & most degraded Jew or Jewess as a prince or princess.

(Interestingly, the Kli Yakar describes that the stunning techeilet tzitzit against the pristine white tzitzit symbolizes love and can bring us to great love with each other and deveikut with Hashem.)

It's very, very worth a read:

Parshas Shelach: The Royal Medal

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The #1 Easiest & Most Effective Thing You Can Do Next Time Someone Does Something You Find Problematic

16/6/2019

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Based on Rav Avigdor Miller’s dvar Torah for Parshat Nasso, I wanted to discuss another angle of “Va'avaracha mevarchecha…I shall bless those who bless you...”

How many times do condemning thoughts pop into our head?

Maybe we don’t even realize these thoughts are so unforgivingly judgmental.

And if the condemning thoughts are coming from a place of self-righteousness, we may not even classify them as negative (because self-righteousness FEELS so darn good).

And sure, maybe someone really is doing something wrong or inappropriate or irresponsible.

But still, why can’t we bless them in our head?

Why can't we wish them a better life & better mazal & better behavior?

Why can’t we think to ourselves, “Oh, Hashem, I hope that apparently misguided teenage girl discovers the joys of tsnius and finds a wonderful shidduch," rather than allowing ourselves to be engulfed with the thought, “Look what the world is coming to. Even when I was a secular zero-population-growth atheist, I NEVER dressed like THAT!”

Instead of mentally condemning another parent for irresponsible behavior, we can mentally wish for Hashem to protect their child, help that child to grow up well, and to imbue the parent with wisdom & common sense.

Sure, we can’t always stop the initial judgmental thought. (And like I said, maybe we shouldn’t if the person really is doing something problematic.)

But we can certainly direct the mind toward blessings and good wishes, even after that initial mental condemnation.

It genuinely helps them and we reap blessing too.

For more details on how this works and more ideas of how to do it, please see:
Rav Avigdor Miller on Why Hashem Rewards Good Wishes So Generously

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Why Hashem Rewards Good Wishes So Generously

13/6/2019

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Rav Miller’s dvar Torah for Parshat Nasso: Blessing His Beloved People is especially important.

It’s all about the incredible benefit of blessing your fellow Jew—a benefit both to you and him or her.

Rav Miller starts off with an event from Chullin 49a, in which a non-Jew greets Rav Yishmael.

“Shalom,” said the courteous non-Jew. “Peace upon you.”

Rav Yishmael responded with, “I don’t have to answer you. Your answer is already said; it’s done.”

Lest you think that’s a rude response to a decent greeting, the Gemara explains Rav Yishmael’s response:

“The answer, the blessing for you, was already said by Hakodosh Boruch Hu to Avraham Avinu.”

Avarecha mevarchecha - “I’m going to bless all those who bless you.”

So Rabbi Yishmael was saying, “As soon as you blessed me, you were already blessed by Hakodosh Boruch Hu.”

In essence, Rav Yishmael was reassuring this courteous non-Jewish passerby that just by wishing peace upon a Jew, Hashem Himself immediately blessed this non-Jewish passerby.

What a beautiful and easy way to accumulate blessing straight from the Creator of the Universe.

(This is also yet another example of why unexplained English translations of the Gemara are unreliable. Written in short-hand yeshivish Aramaic, the Talmud is one of the easiest things for self-haters & Jew-haters to take out of context, which is why you should never listen to a Gemara quoted in English for the purpose of arousing doubt & hatred.)

Rav Miller emphasizes from the Gemara that even the most superficial greeting—Good morning, Have a good day, Thank you, etc.—elicits blessing directly from Hashem.

Any greeting said by a non-Jew to a Jew—no matter how superficial—will reap blessing in full directly from Hashem upon that non-Jew.

And What about the Big Curse?

Yet Rav Miller reminds us of the end of the verse: “Umekalelecha a’or—those who curse you, I shall curse.”

Two different words are used here for the same meaning: curse.

Rav Miller explains that the root of mekalel is kal—light. So anyone who even just makes light of a Jew will be cursed.

But here’s the meat and bones of the dvar Torah and why it’s so worth reading…

The Art of Good Wishes

When you say Shalom (or even better, Shalom Aleichem) to a fellow Jew, you do so with intent. You should be secretly wishing him a day of peace—no unpleasantness with his boss, co-workers, or customers. No fight with his wife. No hassles.

And it’s a very powerful things because in a sense, it’s praying for your fellow Jew. A meaningful Shalom Aleichem can really grant your fellow Jew a better day, AND reap you blessing too.

Same thing with uttering a perfunctory “Yashar koach” or “Mazal tov” or even “Good night.”

Even if you’re just uttering it mindlessly as a formality, it still has koach. But if you put some heart into it, it has even more force. You reap more both for the person you addressed and for yourself.

Rav Miller recommends looking for opportunities to wish fellow Jews all the best—privately of course.

He offers the interesting recommendation:

After wishing a fellow Jew a customary “Mazal tov,” continue walking a few paces and then murmur: “Hashem should help you find all the money you need to pay the chasunah bills. And your daughter and her new husband should get along with each other b’shalom. And you should find good shidduchim for your other children too.”

“Now, nobody should hear you talking to yourself! Be careful about that because most people don’t understand greatness – they scorn greatness. But don’t let that stop you from doing it.”

Rav Miller recommends doing this every time you see a mezuzah on a home (which he admits is not entirely possible to accomplish in a neighborhood flourishing with frum Jews). Do it to an empty house! Do it when you see a yeshivah.

And so one of the best opportunities, one of the most authentic and real opportunities, is when
the one you’re heaping brachos upon doesn’t hear, and doesn’t know.

For example, when passing by a frum girls school, he says:

So you pass by a Beis Yaakov and the little girls are playing in the yard.

You see little Jewish girls, and it’s warm outside, it’s hot, but they’re wearing stockings, and sleeves.

It’s beautiful to see! Don’t just pass them by! They’re tzon kodoshim, it’s a holy nation.

These are going to be the mothers of our people, mothers of frum families. How could you pass them by without a generous blessing from the bottom of your heart?!

Rav Miller offers many other juicy examples, including from the Slabodka Rav, so it's definitely worth reading the original.

Your Precious Answer on the Day of Judgement

Rav Miller spends that last part of the dvar Torah talking about love and offering great suggestions.

By wishing your fellow Jew all the best in your heart and murmuring it to yourself, you are creating love. Maybe you aren’t such a loving person to start off with. Or maybe you’re going through a hard time, leaving you feeling emotionally depleted.

But by delivering heartfelt wishes to others, you can make yourself more loving.

"And it’s the greatness that Hashem loves more than anything else. He loves those who love His people!"

We’re in this world to gather diamonds, Rav Miller reminds us. We need to stock up on spiritual accomplishments. Even sincere attempts are counted as spiritual accomplishments.

And in the end, what can happen?

And when you come back to Hakodosh Boruch Hu after a lifetime of blessing fellow Jews and He says, “So, what happened?”

Oh, that dreaded question: “Did you accomplish anything in that world I sent you to?”

So you’ll tell Him, “Well, I blessed many Jews.”

“Oh,” Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “Now we’re talking! Now you’re Mine, because that’s My job; I’m busy blessing My people ba’shalom all the time! Hashem yivoreich es amo ba’shalom. And you’re helping Me out? If that’s the case, then you belong with Me and you come back into My bosom forever and ever. I am the Oheiv Amo Yisroel [Lover of His Nation Israel] par excellence, and all those who love My people, I love eternally.”

"I am the Oheiv Amo Yisroel par excellence,
and all those who love My people,
I love eternally.”

Warming Your Heart from the Chill of Amalek

We’re living in Amalek’s world today, a cold world, a world that seeks to chill our hearts and our spiritual avodah.

But by doing the above, we can fight off Amalek and warm our hearts.

It might take time, but we can do it.

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Making Ma'amad Har Sinai Real & Relevant (including tips on how to REALLY utilize da'as Torah, plus some healthy rebuke for writers & podcasters)

6/6/2019

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Rav Miller’s dvar Torah on Parshat Bamidbar: Forever at Har Sinai arrived in my inbox this morning.

And even though that’s not the parsha for Eretz Yisrael right now (we’re on Parshat Nasso), it vital reading for Shavuot because it’s all about Shavuot.

(Note: If you're in Eretz Yisrael, you can contact them to receive your weekly parsha: ey@torasavigdor.org. They also have a well-done Junior supplement alongside the dvar Torah. If you work with children and you need the Junior supplement earlier in the week or you need it in Yiddish, you can contact them: info@torasavigdor.org.)

Envisioning Ma'amad Har Sinai

Elishama & Ephraim at Ma'amad Har Sinai!

The Kav Hayashar states that upon waking in the morning, one should envision the Giving of the Torah at Har Sinai in his head, and with that powerful imagery, you should then say, “Modeh ani.”

That’s quite a way to start the morning!

I don’t know about you, but envisioning Ma’amad Har Sinai is difficult for me and so it ends up with the colorful illustrations from the children’s book, Elishama & Ephraim at Ma’amad Har Sinai.

(This is a wonderful book from a wonderful series, by the way.)

Anyway, reading Rav Miller’s dvar Torah for Parshat Bamidbar helps a lot with envisioning Ma’amad Har Sinai.

The Right Way to Elicit Daas Torah

Rav Miller also delves into the importance of asking real da’as Torah, in addition to addressing the confusions people have about daas Torah.

For example, there is a difference between sketching out a whole plan to show a talmid chacham and THEN asking for his approval, in contrast to asking him an open-ended question (“What should I do?”) before you even start.

People like to say they have haskamos from big people, but there is a difference between consulting a talmid chacham beforehand and requesting cursory approval after the fact.

So Rav Miller delves into that a bit, providing helpful clarification to those of us who don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.

He emphasizes the fact that people don’t ask gedolim regarding, say, what school is best for your child. (And to be forthright, we didn’t think to do that either.)

But I have a friend who did.

Admission Woes with a Happy Ending

My friend was a Sephardi chutznikit who couldn’t get her son into neither the Sephardi schools nor the Ashkenazi schools in her area.

And even though she was downhearted and frustrated about the whole issue, rather than railing about discrimination and religious hypocrisy, she decided to go to one of Israel’s English-speaking Sages, Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg ztz"l, instead.

He was sympathetic and pleasantly asked her if she would consider the Chabad school in her area? (Please note that he did not command her to do so, but asked her.)

His answer surprised her. For some reason, she hadn’t considered Chabad, despite the fact that she’d attended Chabad summer camps and shuls as a child and held warm fuzzy feelings toward Chabad.

“Yes, I would,” she answered.

Then he pleasantly suggested that she try them and see how it goes.

Chabad easily accepted her son and as the family developed over time, I saw that it was best for her children there, rather than in the other schools in the area.

And even though at the outset, it looked like the mainstream Ashkenazi and Sephardi schools were nitpicking at the family (a family which actually had some chashivut in her country of origin), it was actually Hashem’s way of ensuring that her children received the chinuch best for them.

And if you’re wondering how a Mirrer Litvak like Rav Scheinberg could recommend a school of Lubavitcher chassidus to a Sephardi family, I’d just point out that real gedolim genuinely care about Jewish children and their chinuch, and also someone on his level totally lacks sinat chinam. So there you go.

Personal Greatness vs Intellectual Greatness

Also, the dvar Torah ends with a Q&A, where Rav Miller is asked: How are we to determine which talmid chochom has the right Torah attitudes in order to attach ourselves to the right person? And if he has wrong Torah attitudes what should we do about it?

It’s not the first time he has addressed this issue. (Please see Which Rabbi Should I Listen To? and More Tips on How to Recognize a Real Gadol Hador for more.)

And he’s one of the only people I’ve seen do so.

It’s really important because sometimes you can meet a rabbi who, on the surface, seems to fit the description of a talmid chacham—but really, he’s not personally great.

Some people possess brilliant intellect and if they weren’t frum, they’d be esteemed professors of philosophy at some hotshot university, or they’d be part of an elitist think tank, and so on.

So they have the Gemara in their head, but not necessarily their heart.

Internalizing the Jewish concepts you learn is a real avodah incumbent upon every Jew, as Rav Miller frequently emphasizes.

Incompetent Writers, Half-Baked Torah Scholars, and Self-Declared Authorities...Oh, My!

Finally, Rav Miller gives major criticism regarding Jewish media. At the time of his constructive rebuke, there was only print media, no blogs.

But it’s definitely giving me food for thought because I believe his critique applies equally to bloggers.

Here’s Rav Miller:

In the newspapers today, the Jewish newspapers, there are people who are incompetent; writers, half-baked Torah scholars, self-declared authorities, who answer every kind of question.

Some are dangerous questions, things that could not be discussed in public without harm; things that need a great deal of deliberation.

And anybody with a typewriter rushes in where gedolim fear to tread, and they not only offer their opinions, but they publicize them with fanfare, as valid Torah opinions.

Almost every newspaper has a page--sometimes more than one page—for every ploni almoni to give his opinion.

Who cares what he thinks?! Did he learn Mesillas Yesharim many times?! Did he learn the Chovos Halevavos from cover to cover? Sha’arei Teshuva l’Rabeinu Yonah? The Rambam Hilchos Teshuva? Who are you to voice an opinion b’rabim?

It’s only the Voice of Hashem that we care about—the Voice we heard at Har Sinai--the same Voice that Moshe Rabeinu heard in the Mishkan, and the Voice that we continue to hear from the ba’alei hamesorah, the ones who pass down to us the Torah true attitudes and ideals--that’s the only Voice we want to hear.

Even if someone could quote one authority, but there are many others who may differ with that one sefer which he quotes.

If we would rely on an individual opinion, we would be in a sorry state. It’s only the gedolim who are able to collate the different opinions. They’re the ones who are competent to choose.

Many times, even when one opinion is intrinsically correct, but it has to be weighed carefully.

And it’s only those who have the fear of Har Sinai in them who can be trusted to make decisions--even those that do not seem significant—for Klal Yisroel.

“Anybody with a typewriter rushes in where gedolim fear to tread…”

I suppose that nowadays, it could read: “Anybody with a keyboard and an Internet connection…”

Or maybe: "Anybody with recording equipment and a YouTube account..."

May Hashem renew our days (and our souls!) as they were before.

Thank you to Toras Avigdor for all their hafatzah and permission.

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A 60-Second Exercise to Fulfill Your Main Purpose in Life

5/6/2019

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In Parshat Emor: Count the Days (page 13), Rav Avigdor Miller asks rhetorically:

What if you only had 60 seconds left to live, chas v’shalom?

How could you best utilize those 60 seconds?

Then he encourages us to apply this lesson at least once a day, making that day entirely different—with only 60 seconds.

So here’s the exercise on how to make 60 seconds the most meaningful moments of your life:

Seconds 1-10

Think or say some version of the following:

“There’s a Borei who created the universe out of nothing and that means that there’s nothing that has any intrinsic existence except for Hashem.

"And He created me as well.

"Hashem Echad! He’s the only thing that matters to me.

"And He gave me this great kindness that for the following 50 seconds, I can think about Him and achieve the prime purpose of my being here: The Purpose of Recognizing the Borei."

Seconds 11-50

Think or say some version of the following:

“So for the next 40 seconds, I am going to become more and more aware of You and fulfill my purpose here.

"I’m looking outside at the setting sun and I know what You’re saying to me Hashem; time is passing by.

"So I express now my gratitude to You Hakadosh Baruch Hu for everything You’ve given me: I love You Hashem, and I speak to You, my King, my Creator, and I express my gratitude to You for the beautiful world You made for me.

"Thank You for my eyes and my kidneys and my feet and I especially thank You for making me part of Your Chosen People.”

Seconds 51-60

Think or say some version of the following:

“I thank You, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Who has given me this great opportunity to count the seconds in this world and achieve my purpose in this world of thinking about You.”

Rav Miller then concludes with the following sunny thoughts:

"And then time is up; you go out of this world having achieved your purpose. Yesh koneh olamo b'sha'ah achat - 'A person can become great in only one minute' - only that you have to know how to make that minute count."

Rav Miller reminds us that we needn’t only do this exercise during quiet moments alone. We can also do this while hanging onto a subway handle, walking down the street, or while stirring a pot.

"A person can live his whole life without ever doing this, which is a big mistake because a primary reason for our existence is to do the above."

Now that Rav Miller has taught us how to do it, he sends us off with fond wishes:

“So now you can go out into the world for many more minutes and live successfully.”

Thank you once again to Toras Avigdor for making Rav Avigdor Miller's material so widely available at:
Toras Avigdor – Authentic Torah Thought for Life

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The Fiery Danger of Denigrating ANY Gadol

Okay, Fine. I Don't Put Down Other Groups or Their Gadolim, But How Do I Respond When THEY Act Like THEY'RE Superior?

Why Do We Need All These Groups Anyway?

Who & What is the Yetzer Hara Today?

"One way or another, people have been bitten by the nachash. For one person the nachash of sports has bitten him. For another person it’s clothing or cars or money. Arayos, television, politics, whatever it is, the snake is biting."

Rav Miller on Sports & Travel Vacations

"​And the more you think about that truth, the more we train our minds to combat the yetzer hara that makes what we’re doing seem plain and ordinary, the more we’ve learned the lesson of lifting the copper serpent out from the high grass and placing it on the high pole."

PARSHAT BALAK

Why Is Hashem So Tough on Us If He Loves Us So Much?

"​But when you grow older, you have to understand the truth of the Torah. And that is that the Am Yisroel is the greatest and purest nation, much more than any nation in the world!"

Go Tell It from The Mountain

"Taharas hamishpacha, tzniyus, decency, morality fill the Jewish home. And you hear brachos in that home all day long - a different blessing for every item that you're eating. How beautiful is the Jewish home!"

Parshat Korach 2: Your Mind is Forever

"To create a mind, that’s our job in life. And that’s the most important business we can do in this world."

Parshat Chukat: The Reality of the Next World

​​"Because there is a road, a true road to happiness. ​The road to Olam Habah is the winding road without any deceptions."

"Be a propagandist for Hakodosh Boruch Hu."

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach

A Real Moshav Leitzim

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

Glatt Kosher Leitzanut

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

"Ribbono Shel Olam, please rebuild the Beit Hamikdash."

And What about the Big Curse?

The Art of Good Wishes

​“Now, nobody should hear you talking to yourself! Be careful about that because most people don’t understand greatness – they scorn greatness. But don’t let that stop you from doing it.”

Your Precious Answer on the Day of Judgement

"And it’s the greatness that Hashem loves more than anything else. He loves those who love His people!"

"I am the Oheiv Amo Yisroel par excellence,and all those who love My people,​I love eternally.”

Warming Your Heart from the Chill of Amalek

Envisioning Ma'amad Har Sinai

The Right Way to Elicit Daas Torah

Admission Woes with a Happy Ending

Personal Greatness vs Intellectual Greatness

Incompetent Writers, Half-Baked Torah Scholars, and Self-Declared Authorities...Oh, My!

Seconds 1-10

Seconds 11-50

Seconds 51-60

Myrtle Rising

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"And the more you think about that truth, the more we train our minds to combat the yetzer hara that makes what we’re doing seem plain and ordinary, the more we’ve learned the lesson of lifting the copper serpent out from the high grass and placing it on the high pole."

"But when you grow older, you have to understand the truth of the Torah. And that is that the Am Yisroel is the greatest and purest nation, much more than any nation in the world!"

"Because there is a road, a true road to happiness. The road to Olam Habah is the winding road without any deceptions."

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

“Now, nobody should hear you talking to yourself! Be careful about that because most people don’t understand greatness – they scorn greatness. But don’t let that stop you from doing it.”

"I am the Oheiv Amo Yisroel par excellence,
and all those who love My people,
I love eternally.”