Category: Rav Itamar Schwartz

Bilvavi Posts to Enhance the Month of Iyar

12/4/2021

As many of you know, the month of Iyar hints at:
"Ani Hashem Rofecha—I am God, your Healer."

(The first letter of Iyar--alef—stands for Ani/I while the 2 yuds stand for Hashem's Name, and the last letter--reish—stands for Rofecha/your Healer.)

But even more lies hidden in Iyar.

For insights into Iyar's astrological sign The Bull/Taurus/Shor, please see this transcript of a lesson from Rav Itamar Schwartz:
https://www.bilvavi.net/english/rosh-chodesh-mazal-004-iyar-bull

The Tribe associated with Iyar is Yissachar:
https://www.bilvavi.net/english/rosh-chodesh-tribe-002-iyar-yissocher

Like other months, Iyar is associated with a soul ability. For example, the winter month of Kislev focuses on sleep.

Nissan focuses on speech and Iyar, deepening Nissan's ability, focuses on thought & visualization:
https://www.bilvavi.net/english/essence-month-002-iyar-thought-visualization

This post emphasizes the type of thinking in which women excel...binah:
https://www.bilvavi.net/english/rosh-chodesh-avodah-002-iyar-serving-hashem-through-thinking

Chodesh Tov!

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Bilvavi Links to Enhance Your Month of Nissan

12/3/2021

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Here are some Bilvavi links to get us in a Nissan state of mind:

http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Woman-s.Power.of.Speech.pdf
"The special ability in the month of Nissan is identified as the power of speech/'sichah'."

www.bilvavi.net/english/essence-month-001-nissan-speech-and-prayer

http://www.bilvavi.net/english/rosh-chodesh-mazal-001-nissan-lamb-part-1
The astrological sign associated with the month of Nissan is Taleh/Lamb/Ram/Aries.

http://www.bilvavi.net/english/rosh-chodesh-tribe-001-nissan-shevet-yehudah
The Tribe associated with Nissan is Yehudah.

http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Cleaning.For.Pesach.pdf

http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Hagaddah.pdf

NEW! (Regarding COVID-19)

Also, Bilvavi recently published a new collection of translations of the transcripts of the lectures of Rav Itamar Schwartz!:

http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Corona.Talks.pdf
(62 pages)

http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Faith.and.Trust.In.Uncertain.Times.pdf
(12 pages—it also discusses the covid-19 saga)

A Friendly FYI to subscribers who sometimes receive posts on Shabbat: The delivery service (FeedBurner) is completely automated. There's no control over when the automation sends posts (which is why sometimes you'll receive 3 posts in a bulk or a post on Shabbat). So even though I neither write nor schedule posts for Shabbat, it still comes out that way sometimes due to the bots.

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How the Texas Cold Disaster Revealed Torah Wisdom

10/3/2021

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As Jews, we're supposed to view the big picture as much as we can in our limited 3-dimensional state.

And most people (including me) struggle to maintain the balance between normal derech-hateva understanding & efforts versus maintaining a solid knowledge that Hashem is orchestrating everything down to the tiniest detail.

That's normal. But it's a paradox and not an easy one to live in (which is a massive part of our job here in This World).

Furthermore, all the different analyzations about a variety of subjects available today with finely tuned theories (which often include profound bias—or undergo adjustment to fit political correctness) often seem intriguing.

It's easy to get caught up in all the debate & analysis surrounding a hot topic or an intriguing phenomenon.

I have the same tendency, of course. So I try to rein it in as much as I can.

But over the years, I discovered that listening to our real Torah Sages and their conclusions help one arrive at the truth much faster—and putting it all together under a Torah lens proves even more intriguing than a sound-clip-oriented TV debate or the flaming back-and-forth in a forum or comment section.

A Brief Look at Winter in Texas throughout the Century

Let's look at Texas in February 2021, for example.

Shockingly cold weather hit Texas.

First of all, most people don't know that the state of Texas is huge:
268,596 square miles/695,662 square kilometers

The entire United Kingdom could fit into Texas.

Or the Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Luxembourg and Hungary could easily move into Texas together.

Some Texas ranchers own property reaching over 400 square miles.

So when we're talking about a polar vortex covering Texas, we're talking about something massive.

Climate-wise, most of Texas is hot-subtropical. The next biggest climates are hot semi-arid, cold semi-arid—with pockets registering as hot or cold deserts.

See here:

By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Redtitan" title="User:Redtitan">Adam Peterson</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

In much of Texas, winter temperatures rarely dip below the 40s (Fahrenheit) with many days of weather in the 60s.

A friend who grew up in Texas recalled going outside in summer clothes when it snowed in the winter.

Why?

The air was so hot, the snow melted on its way down. It never made it to the ground.

I never heard of such a thing. She said they watched the snow come down, then melt in midair.

That's a snow day in Texas.

In fact, most of Texas sees less than an inch of snow per year.

On the other hand, Texas gets hit with blizzards—but not over the ENTIRE state.

Northwest Texas got hit with 10-20 inches of snow in 1957, which killed off 20% of the local cattle population & defeated snow plows.

A 1985 January storm left San Antonio covered in over a foot of snow—the worst San Antonio had seen in 100 years (must be all that global warming!).

West Texas caught one of the worst blizzards in its history in 2017 (dang that global warming again...) with 8-foot snow drifts & 50 mph winds.

Houston's 2 biggest snowfalls hit in 1899 (20 inches) and 1960 (over 4 inches).

In 2018, the North American Ice Storm hit Northwestern Texas in a 1000-mile rampage.

But none of these caused anywhere near the damage & suffering Texans faced as a whole in February 2021.

Results of the Cold Disaster in Texas

Right now, you can hear Texans gnashing their teeth about their failed infrastructure during the February disaster.

Pipes burst or froze & the power grid failed, leading to millions of people stranded at home in freezing conditions without heat, electricity, or water.

(Even people with generators didn't necessarily have heat because key components froze.)

One house burned to the ground while the firemen watched because their equipment could not operate under the conditions.

Around 70 people died.

Texas lost over half its grapefruit crop and 100% of its orange crop.

Burst pipes resulted in the loss of 325 million gallons of water.

Overall damage resulted in estimates of 195 billion dollars.

Some Texans are receiving utility bills charging them tens of thousands of dollars—even when they didn't have power.

Texan pipes aren't made for such freezing conditions and many Texans blame their politicians because even though extreme cold rarely hits Texas, it still happens.

(Although when has such extreme cold hit most of Texas for such an extended period of time—10 days?)

I think the infrastructure could have been better prepared. Texas authorities also gave terrible advice by telling people not to drip their pipes, which would've helped prevent their bursting—maybe.

But even if Texas had been prepared for its rare short-lived snow storms, does that mean it would've been prepared enough for this one?

Despite cold weather hitting Texas periodically, it was only this severe storm that broke the water pipe in a northeastern building—a pipe that managed to survive since 1924.

While the Texas government must do its best to benefit its citizens, focusing solely on prepping & water pipes misses the big picture.

Winterized Infrastructure Would Have Helped, But Not Completely Prevented the Problems—Why?

Hashem knew the exact limits of the Texan infrastructure and He sent them a weather phenomenon to overwhelm their grid by a long shot.

Even if hot & dry Texas installed the kind of pipes used in North Dakota's frigid blizzards, a fiercer storm could still overwhelm that.

Such a bizarre weather anomaly should make us sit up & pay attention.

It reminds me very much of Dor HaMabul (Generation of the Flood).

Prior to the global Mabul, Hashem sent repeated warnings in the form of natural disasters: earthquakes, local flooding, constant thunder & lightening...He even caused the Sun to rise in the West rather than the East when Metushelach passed away (Me'am Lo'ez, Parshat Noach).

See more here: http://www.myrtlerising.com/blog/the-generation-of-the-flood-has-reincarnated-into-our-generation-heres-the-evidence-also-what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself-others

I don't know why davka Texas got hit with such extreme cold weather. It could be connected to a certain gashmiut, like how America's oil mainstay exists in Texas.

Or something else entirely.

But several points stick out:

Such an extreme cold weather attack flies in the face of the global warming theory—a theory policy-makers use to extort money (carbon taxes, etc.) from citizens & invent useless programs (for both money & to gain or stay in power).

Yes, I realize part of the global warming theory contorts itself to make it seem like global warming ironically leads to global cooling. But anyone with common sense can see that such cold extremes deny global warming.

Even those prepared found themselves in dire straights when their preps failed them—like their generator.

Even those with enough food found themselves battling freezing temperatures with no way to even warm a can of beans or water for tea.

People with wood stoves didn't have enough wood prepared for this magnitude or couldn't always access the wood.

As noted by president of the Texas Farm Bureau, a dairy farmer himself for 40 years: "It's hard to prepare for what you've never lived in." (source)

His entire life, he never saw a weather event like this in South Texas.

And he was prepared! He needed to be because of his livestock.

So despite previous cold weather events, there was never any reason to prepare for a cold weather attack of this magnitude, especially in South Texas.

Yet discussions abound on how Texas can "combat climate change" and how to better winterize Texas infrastructure, plus which politicians to blame.

All that totally misses the point.

Dor HaMabul attributed their natural disasters to mundane reasons.

And so does today's generation.

The Information Superhighway Will Remain Open until the End

The Texas cold disaster also pinpointed a very interesting insight made by Rav Itamar Schwartz around a year ago in this PDF Q&A:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Corona.Q.and.A.pdf.

(Please note that some of Rav Schwartz's students made transcripts of his original Hebrew lectures, then translated them into English, and posted them on a website independently of Rav Schwartz. That's how I access his material.)

He claimed that the nisayon of the media/Internet would last until Mashiach.

That struck me because it flew in the face of the sensible-sounding predictions made in society, like, "There won't be any CNN around to film the End of the World."

Or, "The End of the World will not be recorded."

Or Einstein's: “I know not with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones."

In other words, technology will be busted. Of course! How could it not?

But Rav Shwartz, with his Torah-knowledgable spiritually attuned point of view, said (page 10):

When the media will disappear, Moshiach will come.

But until Moshiach comes, the innermost level of the shaar hanun d’tumah [50th level of spiritual impurity/blockage] dominates in the world and it contains a mixture of kedushah [holiness] and tumah [spiritual impurity/blockage], from the highest level of kedushah all the way down to the lowest level of tumah.

That is why in this generation everything has become mixed and confused together in a disturbing way, which our logic cannot comprehend.

This will not change until the coming of Moshiach.

And even more clearly on page 66:

Q.
What will be happen with the media (mass communication)?

A.
This is the last thing which they the media will cut off from. It is from this the media that they live from.

From this, they the media will not cut off!

Hashem will be the One to cut it all off.

It's important to note that when Rav Schwartz says "media," he also means the Internet, social media, etc. (That correlation may not be clear in the above excerpts, but it's very clear throughout the original PDF.)

Anyway, his idea intrigued me because in trying to imagine an End of the World according to this idea, I found it difficult to imagine, especially in light of what most people (especially American preppers) predict.

Yet we saw exactly Rav Schwartz's insight during the Texas disaster.

During some hours, people lacked power, electricity, heat, water...but they had cell phone service.

They managed to call loved ones & communicate online (send tweets, update Facebook, comment on blogs & forums)...even as they were unable to bathe, cook, heat their home, or any other basic modern function.

Running out of food & water, they still managed to charge the cell phones in their car.

Isn't that weird?

Yet that's exactly what happened.

These are the times in which we live.

Following the True Wisdom as Best You Can

As you can see, I have Internet & email.

I have access to media (though even the frum media is increasingly disappointing...).

I place a lot of restrictions on my Internet usage, but I'm not perfect about those restrictions and according to Rav Schwartz, I really shouldn't have it at all.

But I still follow him in whatever I can manage because that's how we grow on our own level: by listening to someone who tells us to reach higher, to wiggle at least a little bit out of our comfort zone.

Same thing with Rav Avigdor Miller.

Do you think I manage to uphold every single thing he advises?

Ha!

But I try to do what I can.

The point here is to listen to the real Torah scholars. The ones who truly work on their middot, who possess real knowledge, who know how to think, and who understand how to analyze current events to offer us their true meaning & genuine wisdom regarding events.

True understanding is found among our own, starting from millennia ago until now.

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"This is the Third World War...and We are Currently Found in the Intense Part of It": Insights & Advice from Rav Itamar Schwartz on Surviving the War of Gog & Magog

3/3/2021

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UPDATE March/3/21: What follows is a tiny drop in the vast wisdom & deep ideas propounded by Rav Schwartz. If the following leaves you with more questions than inspiration, feel free to explore further on the website set up by some of his students, which contains the English translations of the transcripts of Rav Schwartz's lectures:
https://eng.bilvavi.net/

In the Bilvavi issue for Parshat Ki Tisa, Rav Itamar Schwartz reveals intriguing insights regarding the Geula and the current War of Gog & Magog:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi_179_Ki.Sisa_Turning.Directly.to.Hashem_5781.pdf

The whole thing provides essential reading in only 4 pages (so it's very worthwhile & fascinating to read the whole issue).

Certain passages really struck me in the Q&A, like this one (page 3):

QUESTION:
What level of teshuvah and emes (truth) is needed in order for one to experience the Geulah?

ANSWER:
One needs a genuine ratzon (will [desire]) to do the will of Hashem, no matter how many various ups and downs he has been through.

Please note that the answer isn't "one needs to be an exalted tzaddik" or "a multi-tasking baalas chessed" or "the best boy in yeshivah" or "the best girl in school" or "a lamdan" or "a masmid" or "tamid b'simcha/eternally happy" or "one who never eats too many brownies" or "one who never gets persnickety" or anything else superlative (although if you are these things, then that can help a lot and...yashar koach on achieving such wonderful accomplishments!).

Rav Schwartz even acknowledges that the Geula-experiencer can endure both ups AND downs.

However, a basic SINCERE desire to fulfill the desire of Hashem needs to exist.

That's it.

Here's another on why we need to do teshuvah now, even though Mashiach ben Yosef and then Mashiach ben David will come & fix everything anyway (page 3):

Because doing teshuvah draws the Redemption closer.

The more that a person fixes with teshuvah, to that extent will a person merit the spiritual benefits that will come from the two Mashiachs, on his own level and to the degree that he does teshuvah.

Because even when Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben Dovid will arrive, not everyone will merit to equally partake of the spiritual benefits that they will bring.

It's a sobering thought, but very similar to what Rav Avigdor Miller always said: Your future enjoyment depends on your present investment.

Also, please note his emphasis on YOUR OWN LEVEL and what DEGREE you do teshuvah.

For example, someone can be very frum as a product of upbringing and never invest much thought or effort in inner frumkeit.

In other words, it's questionable whether they ever did any serious teshuvah or even a thoughtful chesbon hanefesh (self-accounting).

Another person could have been born into the 50th level of tumah and managed to drag themselves up to the 40th level with every intention to keep on going.

Yet another person may have seemed very frum, suffered a massive fall, and is now on the way back up again.

Externally, they look a lot less frum than the first example, but they are doing teshuvah on their own level to a very high degree.

So that's something to keep in mind.

In yet another instance, a person may have been born into a very frum family, yet decided to push himself even higher despite there being no external pressure to do so. He looks like a regular frum person, but is actually doing so much more.

Only Hashem sees what's really going on inside.

Also, any teshuvah you do brings the Geulah/Redemption closer.

And that's a very good thing. We should all be grateful to each other for that.

In another answer, Rav Schwartz emphasizes how we are already in the middle of the War of Gog & Magog.

(The first time I heard this, I actually found this somewhat reassuring. Instead of dreading the unknown looming of an upcoming disaster, I felt relieved to hear we're already in the middle of it. Is that a weird reaction?)

Anyway, the questioner wished to know whether the internal/spiritual aspect of this War will materialize as an actual physical war?

Here is Rav Schwartz's answer (page 3):

Certainly.

It cannot “spread” to the outer world – it is already going on!

There have always been wars taking place in the final years of our world.

But all of these wars are just the final outcome of something deeper and more internal.

All of these wars have been the result of the internal “wars” that have been taking place inside people’s souls.

The war of Gog and Magog will be revealed outwardly [in our world] as it will be, and it should make no difference to us how it will happen.

If a person is busy thinking about it, he is wasting his time.

So what we see in the outside world emanated from our inner world.

Also, it helps to know not to focus on this so much. Priorities help us aim our energies in the right directions. Again, it's the inner work, the teshuvah that matters.

Then there's this gem (page 4):

This is the third world war which the Chofetz Chaim spoke about – and we are currently found in the intense part of it, and there have already been many casualties, mainly in the spiritual sense, Rachmana Litzlan.

It mainly affects people on a soul level, and very little on a physical level.

Here are 2 quotes from war experts that describe what's going on now:

"In wartime,
truth is so precious that
she should always be attended
by a bodyguard of lies."
– Winston Churchill

This is where we find ourselves now: "Protected" by a "bodyguard of lies."

It's aaaaaaaaaaaaall for your own good, darlin'! Dontchya know?

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
– Sun Tzu

I wish I could quote this as being from the Yetzer Hara rather than Sun Tzu, but I suppose it's all the same.

Either way, we see this all over the world now.

People want everything that's bad for them because it's easier, feels better (at least temporarily), tastes better, and makes life easier (at least temporarily).

So they actively seek out everything that's bad for them.

They've been subdued without fighting.

Fighting back really does feel pointless at this juncture.

That may not be the right attitude, but it's an understandable one.

This is War...Now THAT Explains Everything!

I find this idea helpful for down times because this means it's not really me (or you!) that's the problem.

There's a war going on.

It's a war against your mind, heart, and your soul—but NOT in the way other religions perceive it.

(Meaning, there isn't some idolatrous battle between God & a devil. No one can fight God. That's ridiculous.)

And the down times, the times of despair or depression, are battle wounds, shrapnel, and so on.

The people you see walking around spiritually bereft are casualties of war. (This includes people who, conversely, may look fine & frum, but feel & behave spiritually bereft privately.)

And maybe you sometimes feel like you're going in that direction too.

(Hopefully, you don't feel that way. On the other hand, some people struggle in such impossible, never-ending situations, it's understandable if they feel like they're sinking under.)

Tragically, physical causalities result from this spiritual war when people harm themselves into oblivion via drug overdoses, disease-inducing food habits, eating disorders, reckless behavior, intentional suicide, and so on.

The main thing is to connect with Hashem (even for just a few minutes a day) and try your best to do teshuvah on YOUR level.

Let's end with a couple of quotes from Rav Schwartz from pages 4, 3, 2:

Repeat to yourself the emunah peshutah, the simple belief, that Hashem does everything and that there is nothing in the world which has any power, other than Him: Ain Od Milvado...[There is none but Him.]

Each person, at his own level [should work on whatever he can do].

One should set aside a few minutes to talk to Hashem, simply and earnestly.

This is the revelation we can come to in the Acharis HaYomim [End of Days]:

To uncover our power of directly connecting to Hashem, through having a very real relationship with Him.

We need to simply talk with Him, no less than how we talk to a friend...

May we please all merit to survive this War completely intact—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually!!!

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The 4 Elements of the Soul: What are They? How Do They Work? And How Do You Use Them to Understand Yourself?

2/12/2020

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I don't remember when I first heard of the 4-Elements theory of personality.

The idea of both nature and the human psyche being rooted in the 4 elements of fire, water, air, and earth is something you hear about from time to time because it was very popular among ancient Greek philosophers.

Later, I realized that ancient Jewish Sages also discussed the 4 elements, but I never paid much attention until reading Ahavat Kedumim (A Commentary on The Lost Princess) by Rav Ofer Erez.

That was around 2 years ago.

There, Rav Erez presents a brief discussion of the 4 elements as they relate to the human psyche and how to use that knowledge for middot work.

That's when I realized this was a big thing in Judaism.

This realization was strengthened upon encountering Rav Itamar Schwartz's writings of the Bilvavi organization. Rav Schwartz leans heavily toward using the 4 elements as a tool to do teshuvah and rectify one's soul at the deepest level.

Also, Rav Schwartz provides a list of where the 4 elements are rooted in Jewish sources: Torah Sources of the 4 Elements (Hebrew Only).

It's important to note that even if a Torah book was only printed later, most of its sources are rooted in even more ancient sources that were either transmitted orally or written down in a book that got lost over the millennia.

(For example, some authoritative sources state that Avraham Avinu wrote several books, yet only one is said to be in existence today, but we no longer have the rest of them. Please see HERE for mention of that.)

Also, in Hebrew, the 4 elements are often referred to in various sources as the 4 yesodot — but also the 4 yesodin, the 4 teva'im, or the 4 gufim, and maybe other terms.

If you look on page 3, section bet/2 of the above-linked pamphlet of sources, you'll see that Sefer Yetzirah Perek 3: Mishna 3 mentions the 3 amot (air, water, fire), stating that the heavens were initially created from fire, and the land (earth) was created from water, and that air is a type of defining buffer between the fire and the water.

The Torah Sources PDF explains other things about it too.

What Do the 4 Elements Represent?

I'm still at the beginning of exploring the 4 Elements personality system, focusing on Rav Itamar Schwartz's approach (even though many others also discuss it, especially going way back in Chazal).

Also, most people generally label the 4 elements as:

Fire
Air
Water
Earth

But Rav Schwartz uses the term "wind" (ruach) in place of "air." Ruach also means "spirit."

This makes good sense because "wind" captures the constant movement that element represents in a personality.

Two definitions of each element exist in traditional Jewish sources:

Early Sources in Chazal:

Fire—destructiveness
Wind—movement
Water—sustenance/vitality
Earth—stability

Rav Chaim Vital:

Fire—arrogance
Wind—speech
Water—desire
Earth—laziness & sadness

Rav Chaim Vital describes the elements as causing the following behaviors:

Fire—conceit & anger
Wind—excessive chatter
Water—the pursuit of pleasure
Earth—sadness

Some of the definitions sound negative, but Rav Schwartz notes that there is also atzlanut d'kedushah (a holy side of laziness). Additionally, destructiveness can be used positively, like to destroy evil, including the evil middot within a person.

According to Rav Schwartz, our goals are:

to use these elements for the good
to balance the elements within ourselves

Using each of these elements for good purposes is clear enough, and a well-known concept within Judaism (using all middot for the good).

Will Balancing Our Inner Elements Make Us All Clones? (No.)

But if we achieve an equal balance of all 4 elements, will that make us clones?

No.

For example, different personalities overwhelmed by their fire element aren't clones.

Sure, there exist the battle-thirsty warriors who relish the physical destruction of their enemies (or whoever they THINK are their enemies).

History focuses on these fiery warriors who burned, plundered, and slaughtered their way through life—changing borders, societies, dynasties, and destinies.

On the other hand, artistic personalities overwhelmed by their fire element burn through relationships, are prone to emotional outbursts, can't seem to avoid tremendous emotional drama, and live lives full of emotional adventure (often accompanied by physical adventure, but not always).

Fire-filled sticklers-for-rules enact & uphold iron-clad frameworks. They also hunt down rule-breakers—with severe consequences for their quarry. Such people may manifest as parents, teachers, policemen, or politicians who, unlike their warring or artistic counterparts, often love uniforms & conformity.

The fiery artist may be a flaming liberal while the fiery stickler may be a flaming conservative.

If over-fired individuals balance their fire with the other elements, they still maintain their individuality, but channel their unique personality in a much healthier manner.

Furthermore, the 4-Elements system progresses with increasing complexity.

For example, maybe you realize your most dominant element is Fire.

But maybe your next most dominant element is Wind.

So you end up being a Wind-of-Fire.

If your next dominant element is Water, then you end up with a Water-of-Wind-of-Fire personality.

Interestingly, you can also have a "doubled" element, like being Earth-of-Earth-of-Fire.

Or Earth-of-Fire-of-Earth.

I'm not sure exactly how...yet. Still working on it.

(You can see why I'm finding it complex. Invaluable, but complex.)

To see an example of the above idea, please read this:
Fixing Your Fire (Conceit)—Stable Growth

I admit I'm still getting used to the idea of balancing the elements—rather than only channeling a person's main element for the good, which is what other personality systems do.

But reading Rav Schwartz's material on the subject shows that we need to:

balance the elements of our personality

AND

use each element for the good.

That provides invaluable help in doing teshuvah.

But to do this, you need to work out the elemental proportions of your particular personality.

And how can you figure out your personal composition of these 4 elements?

Figuring Out Your Individual Composition

Traditionally, people figured out their individual composition of elements by studying the elements and analyzing themselves to see what fit where.

This works, and even as he acknowledges the challenge of doing so, Rav Schwartz reassures us that's possible to figure ourselves out this way.

(Not to mention, the struggle to understand often contributes to the refining teshuvah process.)

For some of you, your composition might be very clear.

But for others? It's a head-scratching exercise.

For example, differentiating between Fire & Wind can prove challenging.

Differentiating between Water & Wind can also prove challenging.

Or differentiating between aspects of Water & Earth can prove challenging.

For example, Rav Schwartz says that depression emanates from either Water or Earth:

Depression from the Water element derives from a lack of vitality in life.
Depression from the Earth element derives from not wanting to exist at all.

See? Same emotional state, but 2 different (albeit similar) reasons.

Then Rivka Levy published a book on the 4 Elements personality system and included a 40-question quiz to help people figure out their composition.

(I think you can access the quiz HERE.)

In Rav Ofer Erez's book on the deeper meanings of Rebbe Nachman's The Lost Princess, Ahavat Kedumim, he works it out the following way:

Fire
Root: Arrogance & anger

Positive expression: "Tov l'hodot l'Hashem — It's good to thank Hashem."

Emuna
Optimism
Humility
Bitachon (trust in God)
Seeing the good in everything
Being happy with what one has
Investing spiritual efforts with enthusiasm
Wisdom combined with healthy logic
Interpreting reality correctly

Wind
Root: Corrupted speech

Positive expression: "V'amcha kulam tzaddikim — And Your Nation is comprised entirely of righteous people."

Giving the benefit of the doubt
Compassion
Loyalty
Listening
Accepting others as they really are
Precision (diyuk; I think this means avoiding statements of exaggeration and melodrama)
Minimizing the amount of talking one engages in
Holy speech for the sake of Am Yisrael
The power of tefillah
The power of private discussions with Hashem (hitbodedut)
Wisdom emanating from a higher awareness that arrives on its own

Water
Root: Earthly pleasures & envy

Positive expression: "Lev basar — a heart of flesh," "Lev tahor bara li Elokim — "O Lord, create within me a pure heart."

Love
Caring
Warmth
Protectiveness
Innocence
Giving of oneself
Doing things for others
Being satisfied with little
Spiritual pleasure
Love of learning
The ability to delve deeply into practical knowledge
Taking an interest in all subject matters

Earth
Root: Indolence, laziness, heaviness

Positive expression: "L'hiot b'simcha tamid — to always be in a state of joy."

Joy
Happiness
Energy
Vitality
Nimbleness
Reassurance
Yielding (vatranut)
The ability to rejoice
The ability to become healed
The ability to recover good health
The ability to cause others to blossom
The ability to revitalize others
Stability
Perseverance
Alacrity in both practical and spiritual matters
Emotional intelligence
A high level of psychological wisdom
Awareness of others' psychological state

Another insight offered by Rav Schwartz is how each element responds to an enemy:

Fire wants to destroy the enemy.
Wind wants to whoosh away the enemy or whoosh itself out of the interaction.
Water wants to give something to the enemy to make peace.
Earth wants to sit down & work out the issue.

You identify your FIRST response to a FIRST encounter with an "enemy."

For example, while a predominantly Water personality might wish to proffer a peace-offering, continued negative encounters with the same enemy might cause the Fire element to flame up as a desire to destroy the same enemy with whom the Water initially wished to appease & nurture.

But the predominance of Water is demonstrated by the person's INITIAL response.

Needless to say, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

A lot more information to help you figure out your elements (and how to both balance them & use them for the good) lies in Getting to Know Your Soul and the Bilvavi website. (This links to their recently created English-only website. It's a beautiful & smooth interface, a real pleasure to navigate. They still have English articles on their Hebrew website, but it's a lovelier experience to visit their English-only website.)

Links for more information on this topic:
Understanding Your Middos (a PDF booklet of the 4 Elements personality system by Rav Itamar Schwartz)
Fixing Your Middos (the 1st article in a series, you can just keep pressing on "next" to go through the whole series)
Torah Sources of the 4 Elements (Hebrew only)
Rav Schwartz's English PDF ebooks
Rav Schwartz's English books in print
Rav Itamar Schwartz on: How Self-Awareness Leads to Love, How Inner Unity Leads to National Unity, the Quandary of Sensitive People, and a Simple 2-Word Meditation Exercise (a Myrtle Rising post)
Using the 4 Elements for Self-Awareness & Self-Improvement (a Myrtle Rising discussion of Rav Ofer Erez's book)

Here are Rav Schwartz's PDF booklets for special focus:
Fixing Your Fire
Fixing Your Wind
Fixing Your Water
Fixing Your Earth

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Rav Itamar Schwartz on: How Self-Awareness Leads to Love, How Inner Unity Leads to National Unity, the Quandary of Sensitive People, and a Simple 2-Word Meditation Exercise

1/12/2020

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Recently, I acquired Rav Itamar Schwartz's book in English, Getting to Know Your Soul.

(Yes, his books can be found as free articles on the Bilvavi website, but for such deep & contemplative reading, I prefer print. So I bought the actual book.)

While the initial reason for the book was for its elucidation in the first half on doing inner work according to the four elements of personality (earth, wind, fire, water), the second half on the 13 faculties of the human soul also provides tremendous insight.

While different opinions exist on how to count the faculties of the human soul (the Vilna Gaon addresses 70, much of Chazal describes 10), Getting to Know Your Soul utilizes the system of Rav Chai Gaon, who enumerates 13 faculties.

(As a side point, while the original Tribes of Israel are numbered as 12, they're actually 13 if you count Menashe & Ephraim as 2 separate Tribes.)

The 13 faculties of the human soul are:

Havayah—Sense One's Own Existence
Emunah—Faith
Oneg—Pleasure
Ratzon—Will/Desire
Chachmah—Wisdom
Binah—Contemplation
Chessed—Kindness
Gevurah—Limitations
Rachamim—Compassion
Netzach—Victory/Eternity
Hodayah—Gratitude/Acknowledgement
Hitkashrut—Connection
Shiflut—Lowliness

Certain ideas jumped out at me in the section on Oneg—Pleasure.

The Torah Way of Self-Love

On page 107, the rav discusses the idea of self-love.

Growing up within the American culture of pop psychology, I heard about the importance of self-love for most of my life.

As written elsewhere on this blog, I basically rejected the pop psychology approach because I didn't see it in Chazal.

(Also, many proponents of self-love aren't particularly loving or generous or connected with others.)

Chazal tends to focus on love of Hashem, rather than love of self.

(Once you love Hashem, you can truly love yourself & others.)

Likewise, the Pele Yoetz discusses love of self. But again, he connects it to love of God and taking care of yourself so you don't die early, unnecessarily suffer ill health, or go to Gehinnom.

In Strive for Truth, Rav Dessler notes the more you maintain the conviction of your own intrinsic value, the less you need the approval & kavod of others (Volume I, Part II, Parable & Meaning).

But again, your intrinsic value is based on the value imbued within you by Hashem, due to your lofty soul & your Tzelem Elokim (Divine Image).

In other words, it's not self-love just to feel good.

Genuine self-love emanates from genuine self-awareness, which in turn leads to ahavat Yisrael.

Along these lines, Rav Schwartz notes that ahavah (love) equals the numerical value of echad (one).

Thus he states:

Proper self-love is to have the various parts of one's soul interconnected.
***
True ahavas Yisrael (love of fellow Jews) only exists in someone if there is a unified Yisrael within himself.

Think about that for a moment.

You must be united within your self before you can unite with others.

The more you cultivate inner unity, the more that will naturally spill over and enable you to truly love others.

Very powerful idea.

The rav notes that there are 3 ways of returning to yourself:

Return to the Creator
Return to the beginning of Torah by focusing on the word Beresheit.
Return to the basis of Self.

While affirming that returning to the Creator is the highest level, the rav also acknowledges that most people cannot find their inner calm by focusing on the knowledge of the Creator's Existence because they lack a strong belief (emunah) that our Creator will take care of us.

This shows a very clear understanding of our generation because so many of us sincerely work on emunah, and even as we make some progress, we still find ourselves falling on our face in this area when coming up against massive humps in the road that we simply cannot manage to overcome.

The truth is, you can work on both.

You can continue to fortify your emunah while also doing the Havayah exercise (in another 2 sections) to return to your self.

Working Out the Puzzle of Self-Love

The idea of inner unity explains why Judaism places such a strong emphasis on cheshbon hanefesh and self-awareness.

How can you unify your inner Yisrael if you aren't aware of the different aspects of your inner self?

You can't. You'll be like an incomplete puzzle.

This perhaps explains the inner fragmentation many people experience today.

People describe themselves as feeling "broken" or "lost" or "lonely" or "confused."

Exactly—they're missing pieces of their own self!

Rav Itamar Schwartz describes our current situation as "a world of individuals who are all strangers to each other."

Strangers aren't necessarily hostile. But even when pleasant, strangers lack emotional connection with each other.

Yet as long as others act nicely, many people feel content with the status quo.

However, notes Rav Schwartz, if you express too much concern about this lack of emotional connection with others, people criticize you as being too sensitive—as if you're looking for problems.

Ooh, the "you're being too sensitive!" label. It's the scarlet letter of Western society.

And so, on page 106, Rav Schwartz presents one of the best descriptions I've ever heard of the highly sensitive person:

To say to someone not to be sensitive is like telling someone to close his nose when there is a foul odor.

He will die from lack of air.

And that's the truth about sensitive people.

But tachlis, how do we achieve this inner unification?

The 2-Word Havayah Exercise toward Self-Unification

We start off small.

VERY small.

Remember: In Judaism, baby steps lead to major growth.

First, we start with Havayah—The Sensing of Our Existence.

How do you know you exist?

Descartes was wrong with his whole "I think, therefore, I am" philosophy.

As Rav Schwartz explains, based on the list of 13 above, "think" falls into the category of Chachmah—Wisdom, which only hits number 5 on the list.

We want to start with #1: Havayah.

(This is why you should always stick with authentic Torah philosophy; the other stuff tends to be superficial at best & inaccurate at worst.)

So Rav Schwartz suggests finding a few quiet moments in a quiet place (closed off from the outside world as much as possible) and think simply:

"I exist."

And keep repeating this to yourself.

That's it!

That's the first step.

He advises that relaxing music can be helpful, if you need it. (Kosher music, of course.)

Also, how should you respond to the natural movement of your thoughts during this exercise?

Rav Schwartz recommends simply noting the distraction, allow your thoughts to return, and then repeat to yourself, "I exist."

This imbues you with a centering focus to which you can always return.

Not coincidentally, now is a great time to do this before you sleep.

As the rav said in his class Power of Sleep, this month of Kislev contains the power of sleep.

Paradoxically, sleep is davka the time when you can achieve high spiritual levels.

The rav advises a really geshmak Kriyat Shema as you recite the order of the Bedtime Shema, in which you focus on being mosser nefesh (self-sacrificing) for Hashem.

This can give you very powerful sleep, especially now in the month of Kislev.

So you can do the "I exist" exercise before Bedtime Shema.

Frankly, I've done it after too, if I couldn't fall asleep right away.

In his class on Power of Sleep, the rav notes that going to sleep with a Kriyat Shema of mesirut nefesh can cause you to wake up an entirely new person in the morning.

Very compelling.

Again, the more you cultivate inner unity (via increased self-awareness), the more that inner unity will naturally spill over and enable you to truly love others.

Again, here are the links for more information:

Pele Yoetz on Love of Self
Havayah Exercise (Scroll down to "A Helpful Exercise for Self-Awareness.")
Kislev: Power of Sleep
Practice of Hisbodedus (discusses self-love)
Inner Silence (discusses self-love)

To acquire Rav Itamar Schwartz's books in English:
Eichlers
Seforim Store
Moshe Books/Sifrei Avramovitch (with stores in Yerushalayim & Bnei Brak)

For those in Eretz Yisrael dealing with non-English-speaking bookstores:
I approached my local bookstores and asked for Da et Nafshecha (Getting to Know Your Soul) of Bilvavi in English. It's important to stress the Bilvavi organization of Rav Itamar Schwartz so they know exactly what you mean. The first bookstore had no clue how to do this, but the second one did.

And there you go.

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Fascinating Links for Kislev

18/11/2020

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UPDATE:
If anyone would like to subscribe to receive Rav Itamar Schwartz's newsletters (1 in English & 1 in Hebrew) directly to your inbox, you have 2 options:

Subscribe to newsletter via email: subscribe@bilvavi.net

Or online:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfU1XchUBIY_hwNX12d28zonTHILlDXSmtaXOsOMl6InfCshA/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&gxids=7628

(Note: I don't receive anything for recommending this. Just trying to be helpful.)

If you ever wondered what was going on with the Rambam's approach to Aristotle (whose science hasn't stood the test of time), please read:

Rav Avigdor Miller on The Rambam and Aristotle

Also for this new month of Kislev, please check out the following from Rav Itamar Schwartz:

Tribe of Binyamin (which is associated with Kislev)
Mazal - The Bow (Sagittarius, the astrological sign for Kislev; Jewish astrology is totally different than atheistic non-Jewish astrology.)
Avodah of Sleep (Winter is a time of sleep & is therefore associated with this very wintery month. Here, Rav Schwartz explains how sleep explains a woman's nature—woman, Chava, was created from sleep—and also how to use our dreams for personal growth, plus practical steps toward understanding your penimyut, i.e., your unique soul.)
Power of Sleep (Going to sleep with the right intention is a form of mesirut nefesh AND mesirut nefesh is one of the ways to sort out the Erev Rav! For that source, please see the last paragraph in What to Do about the Erev Rav?)

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3 Articles to Deepen One's Understanding & Appreciation of Tu B'Av

4/8/2020

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Here are links to 2 articles by Rav Itamar Schwartz, describing the deeper meanings & symbolism of Tu B'Av & its historical events:

And here is a link to the annual Tu B'Av post, which describes several true stories of how dancing expresses a person's true nature:

Tu B'Av - How Dancing Reflects the True You

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2 Fascinating Links to Enhance Your Life during This Time

3/8/2020

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Here's a video of a shiur from 2017 by Rabbi Yehoshua Zitron from Torahanytime.com called: Dybbuk/Exorcism/Adultery Part 1: Understanding Possessions Through Stories.

UPDATE: Here is the rest of the series: Dybbuk/Exorcism/Adultery: Part 2 - What Happens To A Spirit & Dybbuk/Exorcism/Adultery: Part 3 - The Destroyers

The first part of the shiur discusses a plague so lethal that as victims approached Rav Laniado for help, they dropped dead on the spot, and it explains how Rav Laniado remedied that.

(I couldn't catch the name of the book in which this story appeared, so if anyone figures it out, I'll be grateful if you let us know.)

Rabbi Zitron also brings fascinating stories from the Arizal & Rav Yehudah Petayah's Minchat Yehudah.

It all reinforces the importance of emunah and being real about your Yiddishkeit, kosher mezuzot, believing in the 13 Principles of Faith, and Torah learning.

And if you ever wondered why non-Jewish exorcists appear to succeed, Rabbi Zitron explains that the forces of tumah utilized in non-Jewish exorcisms damage the already damaged soul even more, so the soul flees in horror. (It's sort of like trying to clean a filthy garment by rubbing sewage into it; that only ruins the garment even more.) He also mentions exorcisms performed by priests in recent years, which resulted in the host's death (if it was even a real dybbuk-possession in the first place).

Also, Bilvavi produced a PDF collection of Rav Itamar Schwartz's insights into the month of Av, its astrological influence, its connection to Shimon ben Yaakov, and other helpful material to assist us in the avodah appropriate for this month.

Also, if you were born in Av, it can help you glean extra insights into yourself.

Here it is:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Rosh.Chodesh.Av.pdf

Note: The Jewish view of astrology (mazalot) is that there's an influence that can always be overridden by our prayers, deeds, and Hashem. We may not rely on the mazalot nor may we attempt to predict the future with star charts. Jewish astrology walks in temimut with Hashem. However, Hashem created the influence for a reason & we can utilize the ruach of each month for beneficial purposes.

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Facing Coronavirus with Mesirut Nefesh: Channeling the Power of Death in a Holy & Positive Direction

3/8/2020

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Before this blog continues with discussions & insights into Rav Itamar Schwartz's Q&A on Coronavirus, it's important to address what people CAN do to manage the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

(Otherwise, the whole thing can turn into an overwhelming fear-mongering dynamic, which is pointless. The entire purpose of fear is not crushing despair or paralyzing anxiety, but self-improvement via awareness of Hashem.)

On pages 32-34 & 44 & 103 of the Q&A, Rav Schwartz discusses the response and the "remedy" for coronavirus.

It has to do with self-nullification, which I stated before I'm not qualified to go into that. However, it's imperative to mention the basic idea of self-nullification: One should strive to internalize the fundamental idea of "Ein od milvado — There is nothing but Him."

And while in today's world of self-promotion and self-esteem, the very idea of self-nullification seems offensive or even frightening, a person who achieves true self-nullification experiences freedom & happiness on a level impossible to otherwise comprehend.

We see this among our tzaddikim who achieved this level, like Rav Aryeh Levin, a person who was wholly selfless and truly happy & content.

Self-nullification occurs when one wholly bonds to & unites with Hashem with no interference of cognitive dissonance or ego.

Self-nullification doesn't cause you to lose yourself.

On the contrary, self-nullification enables you to discover & fulfill the real you — the pristine neshamah residing within you.

Halevai I was on that level & could actually know what I'm talking about!

But that's the basic definition as written in books & exemplified by tzaddikim who reached that level.

Mesirut Nefesh: Breaking Your Middot

According to Rav Schwartz, one can fight coronavirus via mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice).

Different types & levels of mesirut nefesh exist.

One way is physical death.

But another (and more appealing) way is on the spiritual, nefesh level.

When you break your middot, you kill off your bad middot.

This is a wonderful thing!

Because we feel attached to our bad middot & taavot (desires), letting go of them causes pain.

Some people even define themselves by their bad middot or taavot.

For example, some people pride themselves on their sharp tongue (they call it "clever") or their insistence on always getting their way ("being assertive," "nobody's doormat," "never a sucker," "I don't take dirt from anyone," "nobody messes with me!").

Some pride themselves on their ability to control others, whether it's a classroom, an office, or their home.

I knew someone who prided himself on being an innate (and successful) businessman. However, he sunk to manipulative & exploitative behavior to maintain his self-image as "Benjy the Businessman!"

It took me a while to see that he wasn't a bad person, but his commitment to his self-image as "A Businessman" led him to behave with less compassion or integrity in business situations — behavior he took pride in.

Yet in other situations, he could behave with a lot of compassion and fairness.

But think of how hard it is for someone like him to relinquish his commitment to winning in business when his entire self-image depends on that.

It's a kind of death because he needs to let go of his pretend "self," which feels very real to him.

And the transition phase feels like a hermit crab switching from one shell to another: horribly vulnerable & desperate.

But completing the transition phase brings increased emotional maturity, wisdom, and satisfaction.

So it eventually feels good, but yeah, the transition phase is a wringer.

Mesirut Nefesh: Breaking Your Taavot

Breaking taavot also demands mesirut nefesh & feels like a type of death.

For people addicted to alcohol or drugs, dealing with problems by facing them head on is torture.

In fact, getting out of bed in the morning or facing the upcoming weekend with no high or drunkenness to look forward to often depresses the addict. (That's why treatment programs encourage them to take it one day at a time.)

Life initially feels blah without the hit people get from watching their favorite show/movie/podcast, smoking a cigarette, eating their comfort foods, reading their favorite non-kosher novels, social media, listening to their favorite non-kosher music, mixed dancing, unwholesome relationships, "juicy" gossip, or whatever is their taavah of choice.

So for such a person to think they'll never engage in a certain act or have that thing again...it's unbearable.

In fact, they often describe the desire for that which they deny themselves as: "It's killing me."

Mesirut nefesh.

If it helps, the Pele Yoetz recommends relating to the pain of the unfulfilled taavah (specifically alcoholism) as a kaparah (atonement) for all the damage & transgressions caused while indulging in that taavah.

This puts a positive & beneficial spin on the pain of NOT getting what you crave.

In other words, the pain is l'to'elet; it is useful & rectifying. It has meaning & purpose.

Your Own Unique Mesirut Nefesh 2 Inches at a Time

Immediately after a shiur to a group of frum women regarding halachically appropriate shaitels, a woman approached the rebbetzin and asked her how she should change her own shaitel.

The shaitel in question comprised 100% human hair & hung down to the wearer's waist.

The rebbetzin thought for a moment, then said, "Cut off 2 inches, then get back to me in a month and tell me how it went."

The woman thanked the rebbetzin, then went on her way.

My friend, a very unmaterialistic person who lives an especially simple life in Eretz Yisrael, witnessed the exchange in astonishment.

She asked the rebbetzin why only 2 inches? To my friend, that seemed insignificant. After all, even at 2 inches shorter, the shaitel remained far from tsniyus.

But the wise rebbetzin explained that a woman willing to invest in such a shaitel obviously felt very attached to that particular shaitel.

The woman also showed tremendous sincerity in that after hearing only a little mussar on the topic, she immediately sought to improve herself in this area. And the woman's question was open-ended. Notice that she did not ask whether she should do this or that, but she simply asked what she should, making herself vulnerable to a big & possibly overwhelming change.

That's sincerity.

If you think about it, the rebbetzin showed excellent judgement.

These types of shaitels cost more than a used car.

Women who invest so much money in such a shaitel also invested their hearts in the length, style, and color.

There is a very real emotional attachment to THAT particular shaitel in all its details.

Furthermore, if the woman made a drastic change in her shaitel, her family & friends will certainly respond and usually the response won't be one of praise & encouragement, but of discouragement. (Particularly if her husband likes her in the untsniyus shaitel and especially if his ego depends on having a trophy wife — which is a VERY un-Jewish attitude in marriage — and a husband's criticism of her appearance is a bitter pill to swallow.)

For most people, it's too much to ask of them to change their identity & self-image to that point (meaning, if the woman would cut her shaitel to above her shoulders, for example) AND the discouraging responses she's likely to receive from others.

It could cause her to give up completely. (Like selling the newly vamped shaitel and buying a new one with the old waist-length again.)

In addition, a human-hair waist-length shaitel has issues other than length. These types of shaitels look way too realistic & alluring from the front too.

Yet the rebbetzin only focused on one aspect of the shaitel: its length.

And she had the woman start with just 2 inches.

So for that woman, this is big-time mesirut nefesh. Hopefully, she continued on her journey toward a more dignified & refined hair-covering.

However...

What of the woman who already wears a shaitel that conforms to all opinions of tsniyus (of those who permit shaitels)?

If she would look at the above situation superficially, she would go out & buy a custom shaitel that comes down to 2 inches above her waist and say, "I'm being mosser nefesh too!"

But for the one already wearing a refined & dignified shaitel, buying a nearly waist-length shaitel would be a HUGE step backwards!

It's a yeridah, not mesirut nefesh at all.

So we see that these things are individual.

We cannot copy the mesirut nefesh of others.

We must find our own.

Specific Acts of Teshuvah

On pages 17-21 & 44, Rav Schwartz discusses practical suggestions for teshuvah (a form of mesirut nefesh).

Intensifying & deepening prayer is one strong recommendation.

As we've seen from Rav Avigdor Miller & others, focusing on one aspect of Shemoneh Esrei (like saying "Baruch...magen Avraham" with total kavanah and/or feeling a pang in your heart when you recite the prayer for the Beit HaMikdash) is an excellent way to start.

Bonding with Hashem even for only a few minutes every day is excellent. (Yes, 30-60 minutes is ideal, he says, but a few minutes is also very good.) Regarding time spent with Hashem: QUALITY is more important than quantity — especially now. (You can see this guidance on page 44.)

Our focus now is getting real.

Refraining from any type of lashon hara takes a lot of self-control. Depending on the situation & your own personal impulses, NOT saying something can feel almost physically painful.

And therefore, you receive FABULOUS reward for this restraint.

The only reason you restrain your mouth is for Hashem.

And that's such a beautiful thing.

Forgiving someone is also very powerful (both Rav Kanievsky & Rav Gedalyah Edelstein recommended releasing grudges in the coronavirus era).

Our reasons for holding tight to grudges & resentments can go very deep.

Working through this causes pain. (How much depends on the depth of hurt & anger & damage caused by the object of your resentment.)

Forgiveness makes you into a different person than you were before.

Forgiveness does not mean whitewashing truly bad behavior.

If someone intentionally & intensively hurt you, that is not so forgivable, practically speaking. After all, the person MEANT to hurt you and feels NO remorse. Maybe they're even happy about it.

Forgiveness in that case means connecting to the idea of emunah, that everything comes from Hashem.

That awful person was the agent for something you needed to go through for the rectification of your soul.

You don't pretend the person or the actions were okay. They weren't.

But you let go because you realize Hashem was behind the entire disaster and there is somehow in some unfathomable way a benefit.

I'm the first to admit this is much easier said than done.

But any step forward you can make in this area is a form of mesirut nefesh & very powerful.

Gratitude

Gratitude remains an essential component of mesirut nefesh & teshuvah.

Noting your spiritual progress & also feeling grateful for aspects of your life foster feelings of happiness & contentment.

Even if you can't manage to feel wholly happy & content, saying "thank You" to Hashem still increases happiness & contentment.

Even if you can't achieve a wholly positive state, a smidgen of positive feeling is a million times better than none.

The Specifics of Davening during the Coronavirus Era

On pages 18-19 & 84, Rav Schwartz emphasizes we must NOT daven for the world to return back to "normal."

That would be worse.

We should daven that coronavirus is uprooted BECAUSE everyone returns to Hashem and develop a warm & genuine connection with Hashem & our fellow human beings.

So we daven for a global return to Hashem & genuine connection with Him & other people.

We daven for the light of Redemption to illuminate all souls and we daven that a global healing is activated by kedushah (holiness) overcoming tumah (spiritual blockage/impurity).

Another Tip for Successful Mesirut Nefesh

Rav Avigdor Miller repeatedly stresses the importance of NOT sharing your baby-steps with others.

Unless the other person is spiritually aware, they often discourage or mock you for your efforts.

This can ruin everything.

This caution contradicts the newest generation, in which every little thing you do needs to be photographed and advertised on Instagram.

Of course, you can share your baby steps (or your grandest efforts) with another person, but only if that person will recognize your individual need for this particular type of mesirut nefesh, and will validate your efforts.

Many times, your efforts will be between you & Hashem.

And that's perfectly fine.

You're making Hashem supremely happy & that's all that matters.

Even a Tiny Drop MATTERS!

It bears repeating this idea again: One drop matters.

Drop after drop fills a lake.

Drop after drop erodes stone.

On page 32, Rav Schwartz reassures us that person can activate a little bit of mesirut nefesh by working on just one area, as long as it is an area on which one needs to work.

Mesirut nefesh is channeling the power of death in a holy direction.

Rather than destroying your body, you destroy your unhealthy ego and bad middot.

You destroy the tumah blocking you from being your best — the wonderful person you really are underneath all the spiritual blockage.

By taking only 1 thing each day — something you personally find difficult — and working on that, you achieve a form of mesirut nefesh.

That's Rav Schwartz's practical advice.

On the emotional inner level, Rav Schwartz recommends cutting oneself off from everything that's happening in the world. He encourages a feeling of separation from the entire world.

He emphasizes doing this "deeply," which I think means not only that you stop checking the news or social media, but that you make yourself realize how meaningless much of it is so that you don't even WANT to see the podcast of your favorite political commentator or check your social media account every 5 minutes.

It's important not to misunderstand this.

He means the world & all the distractions & fake news.

He does not mean to stop davening for people or to ignore pleas for verified tzedakah campaigns.

We still need to look both ways before we cross the street and cultivate warm, caring connections with others.

We should concern ourselves with the genuine emotional & material needs of those around us.

But many things portrayed as A Very Big Deal do not actually matter. It's sheker.

Summary of Main Points

Ultimately, in comes down to:

Focus on mesirut nefesh & self-nullification
Start small: Pick ONE thing in ONE area YOU find challenging.
Make it individual; Hashem created you unique with unique needs.
Daven for the right things: Redemption, Divine Illumination, the victory of kedushah over tumah, etc.
Do not daven for things to return to normal. (What we consider "normal" is actually sick & warped.)
Try to cut off & distance yourself from the world as much as you can.
Aim for real inner change (though only practical behavioral change is also really good).

May Hashem grant us all tremendous hatzlacha & bracha in our spiritual endeavors!

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<<Previous

NEW! (Regarding COVID-19)

A Brief Look at Winter in Texas throughout the Century

Results of the Cold Disaster in Texas

Winterized Infrastructure Would Have Helped, But Not Completely Prevented the Problems—Why?

The Information Superhighway Will Remain Open until the End

Following the True Wisdom as Best You Can

"In wartime,truth is so precious that she should always be attended​by a bodyguard of lies." – Winston Churchill

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."– Sun Tzu

This is War...Now THAT Explains Everything!

What Do the 4 Elements Represent?

Will Balancing Our Inner Elements Make Us All Clones? (No.)

Figuring Out Your Individual Composition

The Torah Way of Self-Love

Working Out the Puzzle of Self-Love

The 2-Word Havayah Exercise toward Self-Unification

Mesirut Nefesh: Breaking Your Middot

Mesirut Nefesh: Breaking Your Taavot

Your Own Unique Mesirut Nefesh 2 Inches at a Time

Specific Acts of Teshuvah

Gratitude

The Specifics of Davening during the Coronavirus Era

Another Tip for Successful Mesirut Nefesh

Even a Tiny Drop MATTERS!

Summary of Main Points

Myrtle Rising

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"In wartime,
truth is so precious that
she should always be attended
by a bodyguard of lies."
– Winston Churchill

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
– Sun Tzu