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Sukkot: When Jokes about the Cozy Heimishe Living of Frum Neighborhoods in Eretz Yisrael Come to Life

4/10/2021

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The cozy heimish living conditions in many frum neighborhoods in Eretz Yisrael lead to some pretty funny jokes—jokes which aren't far from the reality, as you'll see below.

One joke goes like this:

A man in his apartment in Bnei Brak opens his mouth to enjoy a dairy meal when he hears a neighbor's voice calling out: "Stop! You ate a hot dog only a couple of hours ago—you're still fleishig!"

Then another neighbor's voice rings out: "No, it's okay—it was a pareve hot dog!"

Other jokes feature a neighbor who corrects your bracha or says "Gezundheit!" after you sneeze.

Our real-life scenario occurred in our sukkah this year on Shabbat chol hamo'ed, the Sabbath during the intermediate days of Sukkot, between the festival/chag/yantiv days.

We build our sukkah on our porch, which sits across from the sukkah our next-door neighbors & diagonally under the staggered sukkahs of all the neighbors above us, and borders on the schach of our downstairs neighbors.

A bedroom window sits next to our porch where our under-the-weather teenager lay in bed.

So we all thought Shabbat Kiddush should be said really loud so he could hear it through the sukkah walls via his open bedroom window.

And so, the beginning of Kiddush was cheerfully bellowed out, with the Sefardi "Savri maranan" prior to the bracha (to which everyone answers "L'chaim!")—except we heard not even a faint "L'chaim" from the mildly ill child's direction.

So "Savri maranan" was repeated louder & louder, until we all figured he heard, but we just couldn't hear him.

As the bracha was being said, a voice rang out from above: "You're saying Kiddush for Shabbat-Yom Tov! You need to say Kiddush for Shabbat-chol hamo'ed!"

Because we were in the middle of hearing Kiddush, we didn't catch everything he said, so the Kiddush stopped and there was total silence before our side uttered the traditional "Ah-ah-ah?" that Orthodox Jews do when you can't talk, like between netilat yadayim & hamotzi.

So the neighbor loudly repeated: "You need to say Kiddush for Shabbat-chol hamo'ed. You just started saying Kiddush for Yom Tov—but it's not Yom Tov. You need to say Kiddush for Shabbat-chol hamo'ed. SHA-BAT CHOL HA-MO-ED."

"Ahhahh!" said our side. (Translation: "Okay, got it! Thank you!")

This was accompanied by lots of embarrassed giggling on our side of the schach (muffled by our hands because we didn't want the neighbor to think we were laughing at him; after all, he was absolutely right & definitely helpful).

After lots of frantic page turning (with all of us still convulsing with muffled laughter), the proper Kiddush was found & resumed.

Later, we all agreed it's fun to live a place with such a "shteibel ambience" (as one adult child put it).

​It's one of the aspects I very much appreciate & enjoy about living in frum Eretz Yisrael.
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Sukkahs on the porches of apartments in Bnei Brak by Dr. Avishai Teicher Pikiwiki Israel, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons


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Rav Avigdor Miller on Sukkot: The Ultimate Meaning of the Sukkah—Spiritually, Nationally, and Personally

20/9/2021

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In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Sukkos 2 - Lessons of The Sukkah, we learn how to hold on to all the goodness we earned from Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur.

​Here's Rav Avigdor Miller on pages 3-4: 
When I was in yeshiva in Slabodka — a long time ago — on the day after Yom Kippur, in the morning, the Rosh Yeshiva said a few words to the bnei yeshiva.

We were going home now; some of us stayed but most were going back now to their hometowns for Yomtiv and this would be the last talk we would hear from the Rosh Yeshiva until Cheshvan.

***
And so on the following morning, after shacharis, the Rosh Yeshiva spoke to all of us.

“You all labored very much on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur,” he said. “You put your hearts into your tefillos in the yeshiva and you were elevated and inspired; you accomplished a precious achievement. To pray in a good place these three days is equivalent to three months of learning.”

“But it is important now that you should be on guard,” he said.

“Because when you go home soon, so Yomtiv comes and then Simchas Torah; you have to beware of leitzanus.”

Leitzanus means lightheadedness, lack of thought.

​He quoted to us the famous words of the Mesillas Yesharim that leitzanus achas dochah meah tochachos – one leitzanus can overthrow a built up tower, a skyscraper of over a hundred tochachos.

Rav Miller offers examples he witnessed of people behaving with leitzanus on Simchat Torah—emanating from the misunderstanding of what Jewish simcha really means (i.e. being happy without disrespect or silly-seeming forbidden behavior).

​Sukkot also means a lot of socializing with both family & friends—which can lead to all kinds of behavior beneath Torah standards if we aren't careful.

Yet huge benefit of Sukkot is to hold on to all the good we earned from Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur.

The Meaning of Schach

In appreciating the standards applying to the building of the Sukkah (not too high, not too low, the walls & leafy/bamboo "roof" a certain way, etc.) & pondering these as we sit in the Sukkah, we recall the 40 years of Am Yisrael in the Midbar.

Such a large group of a couple million people altogether, and random diseases did not spread through the group, malnutrition & hunger never appeared—nor filth or theft (despite everyone leaving Egypt with lots of valuables & sleeping in unfortified sukkahs).

So on page 12, Rav Miller states:
But you’re thinking; you look up at the schach and you’re thinking.

“Once upon a time our forefathers sat in little huts like this for forty years. And they were the safest, the most protected of any generation in our entire history because they had the ananei hakavod; they had Hakodosh Boruch Hu protecting them. In the midbar there was nothing but schach overhead and still they were more secure in the midbar than ever afterwards in our history.”

And on page 14:
You should gain an awareness; a sensory feeling that the shechina is overhead at
all times on our nation.

And the schach is there to aid you to gain that perception that He’s watching over us.

And bringing that idea of schach into both a historical & modern perspective (page 14—not sure which President he refers to here):
It means we are living in a world of enemies and it’s only because we are in Hashem’s sukkah that we survive.

We always have had enemies who are talking against us, all kinds of falsehoods.

Every kind of canard, all the time.

The UN for instance even now came out with a declaration that Medinas Yisroel is to blame for shooting the Arabs.

Arabs are innocent fellows, of course. The murderous Arabs, the very worst, are poor innocent fellows and Israel is guilty. So they all came together and they made a declaration blaming Israel.

And our honorable President, maybe he wasn’t too happy about it, but he also joined in.

Now I'm not a big patriot of Israel, but we see that UN is one big gathering of anti-Semites.

They didn't even let Israel come into any one of their committees. No committee was open to Israel to become a member.

Not only in the UN. On all sides, anti-Semites are busy all the time.

There’s a tremendous literature of antisemitism and it’s been like that from the earliest times.

And still we're here.

The enemies who slandered us disappeared already.

The Greeks were the worst of all. Josephus quotes many Greek writers and their falsehoods against us. The Greeks never stopped writing against us and now they’re gone.

​Greece of today is not the Greece of antiquity. Greece is entirely lost.

All their gods have gone lost. Their religion and culture have gone lost.

And that's all what we should be thinking about (and discussing with others, if they're open to it) when we look up at the schach in our sukkah.

Rav Miller quotes a heart-warming idea from the Rambam (page 16):
...the stories that we read about in the chumash about the whole nation apply equally to each person individually.

And that means that just as our nation in general is protected by the sukkah of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, in addition, each person should know that Hakodosh Boruch Hu has a sukkah around him personally.

Hashem is protecting you individually.


On pages 17-18, Rav Miller presents an inspiring story of how a Mafia hit (they bombed his store) forced a Jew to get a different job, which allowed him more opportunity for davening & learning, which changed his life & himself for the better.

Rav Miller presents his own role in this as fleeting, but the truth is Rav Miller's advice both saved this man's life & enabled this positive change.

The Main Lesson to Take into the Sukkah

On pages 19-21, Rav Miller explains all the anthropomorphism used by the Torah when describing Hashem (like He has a Hand, Nostrils, Anger, a really awesome Chariot, and so on).

He explains why the Torah does that and why Rambam & Onkelos explain it away, and why the Torah does it anyway.

If the anthropomorphism woven throughout Tanach ever bothered you, these pages are good to read.

Let's go into to the holy day of Sukkot with Rav Miller's concluding words on the topic:
As much as possible, use the sukkah to gain an awareness of that great fact that Hakodosh Boruch Hu is overhead and He is the one who is guiding us and protecting us forever and ever.

No matter what the goyim try to do against us, we are going to exist and we will live longer than the gentiles.

And each person too should think, individually, that Hashem is protecting him all his life.

That’s the truth – He’s going to be our sukkah forever and He’s going to be your sukkah forever.

As you enter the sukkah, you're doing all the good things; Jewish minhagim, very good.

Ushpizin, noi sukkah, zemiros, everything; simchas Yomtiv, very good!

But don't neglect the opportunity of thinking that the sukkah now is a lesson to you that Hashem protects our nation forever and ever.
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By Gilabrand - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21874843
Don't forget to check out the Practical Tip for enhancing your Sukkot on page 24.

Credit for all material & quotes go to Toras Avigdor.


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Posts for Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Shemini Atzeret, and Hoshanah Rabbah

19/9/2021

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To download the free PDF all about Sukkot & Simchat Torah from Rav Itamar Schwartz's lectures, please click here:
//bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Succos.Talks.pdf

For past posts on Sukkot, please see:
  • www.myrtlerising.com/blog/parshat-emor-the-kli-yakar
  • www.myrtlerising.com/blog/sukkot-and-the-spiritual-physics-of-teshuvah
  • special-sukkot-yahrtzeits.html
  • what-is-the-hearts-nusach.html
  • the-sukkah-stone.html
  • whats-behind-the-final-days-of-sukkot.html
  • authentic-torah-true-self-esteem-self-love-with-rav-avigdor-miller-on-parshat-haazinu-hint-all-that-self-stuff-its-not-just-about-yourself.html
  • hoshanah-rabbah-sliding-into-that-final-verdict.html
  • the-power-of-the-lulav-on-sukkot.html
  • happy-sukkot.html
  • ​2-sefardi-torah-scholars-on-how-to-fulfill-the-mitzvah-of-inviting-the-poor-into-your-sukkah-in-modern-times.html
  • some-torah-insights-guidance-for-the-path-of-bnei-noach.html
  • 4-mitzvot-women-fulfill-on-sukkot.html
  • sukkot-inspiration-from-the-vilna-gaon-plus-some-reading-for-the-upcoming-chagim.html
  • its-not-too-late-to-look-at-what-rav-avigdor-miller-says-for-sukkot.html


For Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah:
  • judaism-the-real-religion-of-love.html
  • the-netivot-shalom-on-how-to-use-the-loving-joyful-power-of-simchat-torah-shemini-atzeret-to-support-you-throughout-the-darkest-times-of-your-life-all-year-long.html
  • some-post-yom-kippur-sukkot-shemini-atzeret-inspiration.html

Or, just click on Sukkot in the sidebar under "Categories."
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Oleander flowers in Eretz Yisrael — Image by Александр Деревяшкин


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Some Torah Insights & Guidance for the Path of Bnei Noach

9/10/2020

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From our Sages, we know that the non-Jewish nations have a part in Sukkot.

So I thought it might be nice to write a little bit about what people who aren't Jewish have to look forward to from a life lived right & how to get there.

In Rav Dessler's Strive for Truth!, Volume 2, Part 3: A Chance for the Nations, he writes that in the future, Hashem will test the nations with the mitzvah of sukkah.

Many insights into this Gemara exist, but Rav Dessler states it's because whatever degree of teshuvah (repentance) a non-Jew achieves needs a sukkah to preserve that teshuvah.

(In other words, the teshuvah isn't for nothing; Hashem will preserve it with a sukkah.)

Rav Dessler also states that the other nations will also eventually receive enlightenment from Hashem. After all, he explains, the world isn't set right until the entirety of Creation sees the truth without exception.

​In Volume I, Part 2: The Individual & Society, Rav Dessler declares the non-Jewish purpose as building a world suitable for assisting the minority "actively engaged in revealing Hashem's Glory."

In other words, non-Jews who assist Jews in fulfilling their purpose greatly benefit the world & earn reward for this.

Rav Dessler notes that non-Jews who help Jews in this way both conscientiously & with the proper intentions earn the title chassidei umot ha'olam—devoted ones of the nations of the world.


These non-Jews receive a portion in the World to Come.

Why?

Rav Dessler explains that because they freely choose "to help the process of the revelation of Hashem's Glory," they deserve Heavenly reward. 

Likewise, in the 1730 Me'am Lo'ez commentary on Beresheit/Genesis 1:31, Rav Yaakov Culi mentions a chamber for righteous gentiles that contains several entrances for these souls to enter (page 197-198):
These are the ones who behave decently toward the Jews and do them no harm.

​They are therefore worthy of rest & repose after death.

Likewise, there is a chamber here set aside for non-Jewish rulers who not only do not mistreat the Jews, but also constantly take care of them.

Needless to say, none of this is physical despite the physical terms used. It contains spiritual good unfathomable in our 3-dimensional world.

There's also Rav Avigdor Miller on the 2 Torahs for the Gentiles:
Of course it’s not that easy – you have to be a chossid [devotee] in the sheva mitzvos Bnei Noach [7 laws of the children of Noah]; you have to be devoted to it, but it’s possible to get Olam Habah [the World to Come]; no question about it.

***
And so to sum up – the gentiles have available to them two kinds of Torah.

One is the Torah which we call the Noachide Laws, the sheva mitzvos Bnei Noach. 

If they are interested, they should come to us and we’ll tell them what those laws are.

If they don’t want to hear them and they want to abide by the laws of their common sense conscience, it’s also something – it’s not as good, but it’s something – and it can help people live a more or less balanced and happy existence in this world.

It's very worth clicking on the clink and reading the whole thing.

Ultimately, the non-Jewish purpose assists the Jewish purpose.

Again, it's not about Jews, per se.

For example, if a non-Jew wishes to assist a secular Leftist Jew in the anti-God path, that's really bad and NOT considered helpful.

It's about revealing Hashem's Glory in the world—which is the Jewish role in the world—therefore, this means doing so as defined according to Torah.

​And the non-Jew can definitely assist with that.

​Being a "clean up my own backyard first" type of person, I don't know much practically about the role or halacha [law] for non-Jews, but I hope the above helps.

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2 Sefardi Torah Scholars on How to Fulfill the Mitzvah of Inviting the Poor into Your Sukkah in Modern Times

5/10/2020

 
In Mishkan Shilo, a weekly Shabbat magazine distributed throughout Eretz Yisrael, both  the Sefardi talmid chacham, Rav Bentzion Mutzafi, and the Sefardi talmid chacham & rosh yeshivah of Kisei Rachamim, Rav Meir Mazuz, answered questions about the mitzvah to invite poor people to eat in your sukkah throughout the chag [holiday].

One questioner noted that we don't have the same kind of circumstances today as decades ago, with regard to poor people (although sometimes there is).

Rav Mutzafi stated that contributing to a festive meal for the poor is sufficient.

Rav Mazuz stated that a minimum of 20 shekels comprises the price of a meal today, so a minimum of 20 shekels could be donated to the poor each day of Sukkot.

May everyone merit a generous, respectable & easy livelihood!
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4 Mitzvot Women Fulfill on Sukkot

4/10/2020

 
In Mishkan Shilo, a weekly Shabbat magazine distributed throughout Eretz Yisrael, the following Q&A appeared with the Sefardi talmid chacham, Rav Bentzion Mutzafi, regarding a woman's role & spiritual avodah [service] during the chag [holiday] of Sukkot:
Question:
If a woman is not obligated in the mitzvah of sukkah & lulav, what spiritual avodah does she perform?

Answer:
1) She sits in the sukkah & receives reward for that.
2) She is happy during the chag, and [her mitzvah] is the same as a man in this.
3) She eats & drinks & fulfills mitzvot.
4) She prepares the needs of the home & is therefore a full participant in all the mitzvot.
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2 Sefardi Torah Scholars on How to Fulfill the Mitzvah of Inviting the Poor into Your Sukkah in Modern Times

The Netivot Shalom on How to Use the Loving & Joyful Power of Simchat Torah & Shemini Atzeret to Support You Throughout the Darkest Times of Your Life All Year Long

20/10/2019

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Since coming to Eretz Yisrael, it took me several years to acclimate to the fact that all the final chagim land on one day at the end of Sukkot. Outside of Eretz Yisrael, they're 2 days.

Anyway, according to the wonderful book, Netivot Shalom, these final days of Simchat Torah & Shemini Atzeret comprise the real holiday of love: the Love of the Creator of the Universe for the Jewish people.

(Note: Everything in this post is taken from Netivot Shalom: Simchat Torah, Ma'amar 5, Ne'ilat HaChag.)

Netivot Shalom stresses that Hashem's Love always exists, but during this final autumn chag, Hashem's Love is revealed at its zenith.

This idea taken from the verse in Shir HaShirim, "the King brought me into His Chamber," describes the intimacy we have with Hashem during Sukkot, an intimacy that culminates in these final days.

Shemini Atzeret (a day unto itself outside of Eretz Yisrael, but the same day as Simchat Torah within Eretz Yisrael) is the day that "locks" up these autumn chagim.

We've made our final plea for rain and other blessings, we've received our final kvittel, the final seal on the upcoming year.

But why all the love & celebration?

Wouldn't it be better to end on the note of teshuvah?

Why, Netivot Shalom asks, do we end this time with such joy & love, rather than the teshuvah & atonement of Yom Kippur?

He explains:
Being that the rest of the year, many instances of material & spiritual darkness pass over a Jew, and the strengthening of many gloomy inclinations — the metaphorical aspect of the long nights of Tevet [the winteriest month-MR], which are so dark — therefore, The Holy One Blessed Be He gave a last day to lock up the Regalim (Pilgrimage Holidays), this holy chag Simchat Torah, which is an intimate time between Hashem and the Jewish people and within it is revealed the Ultimate Love of Hashem for the Jewish people.

This is so that a Jew can go out of these holy days with a clear feeling of the Love of the Blessed One, which is eternal in every situation — and this he should take with him for the rest of the year. 

In short, we end this period on the cusp of the darkest & gloomiest days of the year.

​While winter literally presents us with our darkest & gloomiest physical days, the above hints at the metaphorical interpretation of the spiritually dark & gloomy days that can occur any time throughout the continuing year.

Netivot Shalom adds:
It happens that even the sins & flaws cause "separating curtains" to appear and obstruct so that one cannot see the Love.

Yet because one believes that The Holy One Blessed Be He is always close to him, even when one doesn't feel it and one doesn't see it, then one believes it is now only "hiding."

Oncee a Jew has fully connected to Hashem in joy & love on Simchat Torah/Shemini Atzeret, this connection sustains him or her even through the times of darkness, both spiritual and physical darkness.

When we can't see or feel Hashem, the love & joy of these final days remind us that Hashem hasn't rejected or abandoned us; He is merely "hidden."

​Here's the rest:
Behold, this is the power that illuminates for a Jew throughout all the times of darkness of the year.

And a Jew needs to take this joy with him, that the engraving of Simchat Torah will remain within him all year long, enabling him to always feel HaKadosh Baruch Hu with him throughout all the situations of the material reality and the spiritual reality.

Hold on TIGHT!

In Hallel, which we recite on the chagim, we include the verse from Psalm 118:27 "issru chag ba'avotim ad karnot hamizbeyach" — which basically means taking strong cords to tie the offering to the Altar.

Yet there is a much deeper meaning too.

Netivot Shalom stresses that this time is a most auspicious time to purify one's heart & eyes.

This is a time to focus on shemirat einayim and shemirat halev.

The eyes notice the attractions of the world while the heart feels and ponders them.

This combination leads to sin.

But if we purify our eyes & hearts (especially by asking Hashem to help us with this now), then we save ourselves.

The trait of holiness is the most precious to Hashem.

When a Jew makes himself or herself holy, this grants the Jew special protection and blessings in the face of every kind & any kind of threat.

So Netivot Shalom encourages us to "bind the chag with strong cords, in all the opaque and worldly matters."

There is so much spiritual illumination throughout Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah & Shemini Atzeret.

Yet when it's all over, many people return to what they were before.

How can we prevent this?

"issru chag ba'avotim — bind the chag with strong cords!"

DON'T stay the same as you were before — take the spiritual illumination with you!

The Netivot Shalom quotes an Admor who said:
Thankful am I before You, O Lord My God and God of my Forefathers, for all the loving-kindness you have performed for me during these holy days that have passed. But it is the nature of a human that the day after the Yom Tov, he completely forgets what was.

Where was he the night before? And what was the movement of his thoughts? What were the requests of his heart at the moment he was dancing with the Torah: "Achat shaalti m'eit Hashem otah avakesh shivti b'veit Hashem kol yamei chayai — One thing I asked from Hashem, this I shall ask: that I shall dwell in the House of Hashem all the days of my life" [Tehillim 27:4].

About this, it's stated: "issru chag ba'avotim" — to bind the chag with strong cords so that it won't slip from between his hands, and so that it will remain engraved from the Yom Tov for all the year.

Everyone faces different situations at this time of year.

There can be ups and downs throughout this day (or especially two days). 

But whatever joy and closeness to Hashem we can manage, we need to hold onto it as tight as we can because this is what sustains us throughout the rest of the year.
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The above translation is mine and therefore any errors are also mine.
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What's Behind the Final Days of Sukkot?

16/10/2019

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According to the Netivot Shalom (which is based on fundamental sources), every single thing in Creation (including YOU) is renewed on Rosh Hashanah.

This renewal gives us the ability to make deep, long-lasting changes.

You literally become a new creation.

Then Yom Kippur cleanses us of sin.

Yet it can be disheartening as Sukkot comes around and you find that the new you is suddenly disintegrating into some old & unwanted patterns.

This is particularly distressing if you had a particularly transformative Elul-Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur and you really felt you'd done the work necessary, including the correct emotional internalization (i.e., you really do regret your sins & set out a plan to improve — a plan you genuinely enjoy).

The thing is, there is a Zohar that the end of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah, grants you your last chance. It's your final judgement.

This is the time when Jews wish a Piska Taba (Aramaic) or a Gut Kvittel (Yiddish), both of which mean "a good note." Like a final slip of paper, this can be last evidence to save the person in their trial.

I can't help noticing that, with all the delights of Sukkot, there tend to be some real challenges too.

Yes, it's easy to dismiss it all as the kids being on vacation, everyone's off schedule, hosting guests or being guests, plus lots of chag-Shabbat and meal-planning, and so on with all the derech-hateva stuff.

Some people also need to make do with very cramped or hot sukkahs (which can still be very pretty, but just not as comfortable to sit or sleep in).

And some people's jobs force them to work during chol hamoed while other people face the (hopefully worthwhile) chaos of traveling and outings.

Yet I can't help noticing that Sukkot usually brings me certain situations in which I tend to fail.

Sometimes, I face very odd nisayonot that seem so out of character, especially during Sukkot.

Putting 2 & 2 together, I realized that it must be Hashem giving a last chance to get it right.

(Or at least somewhat right.)

Maybe He's also giving me the opportunity to fully express the new me.

So if you're finding yourself in odd or stressful situations, situations that make you ask, "Why is this happening to me? And why davka NOW?" — this could be the reason.

One final point: While it's best to master a nisayon, we all know that it often doesn't work like that in real life with non-tzaddikim.

Sometimes, we feel like we totally failed.

But really, if we handled it just a bit better than we ever did before, that makes a huge impression in Shamayim.

What looks like an imperceptible step in This World shows up as a massive leap in the Upper Worlds.
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Authentic Torah-True Self-Esteem & Self-Love with Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Ha'azinu (Hint: All that "Self" Stuff? It's Not Just about Yourself.)

10/10/2019

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In Parshat Ha'azinu, we find that in Moshe Rabbeinu's painful last moments — intensified by his inability to enter his beloved Promised Land with the Nation in which he invested so much -- Hashem rebukes Moshe Rabbeinu.

In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah Parshas Ha'azinu: Recognizing the Greatness of Am Yisrael, Rav Miller points out that Moshe Rabbeinu is so great & his sin so fine-tuned (in Hashem's Eyes) that Chazal struggle to determine exactly what Moshe Rabbeinu's sin was.


Seeing as Moshe Rabbeinu achieved a closeness with Hashem that no other human being has achieved before or since, how could Hashem rebuke him in his final moments? 

Yaaay...US!

In Tanach, it's written that Hashem chastises those whom He loves.

By criticizing Moshe Rabbeinu in his last moments, Hashem ensured that Moshe Rabbeinu would come into the Next World COMPLETELY cleansed of even the most minuscule speck of ego.

Remember, Moshe Rabbeinu was one of the humblest people who ever existed.

​By criticizing him in his last moments, Hashem ensured the best Afterlife possible for Moshe Rabbeinu.

"The Bnei Yisroel, despite all the criticism, actually because of all the criticism, will remain His people and His servants till the End of Days. And that is so important to understand."

-Rav Avigdor Miller


This is so different than the ideas behind anyone's uppity "replacement theology."

(Not to mention the dire threats & curses Hashem promises to heap upon anyone who harms His People in any way.)

​Rav Miller's next words are so important, I can't help copying & pasting the entire text here [all text in square brackets & boldface my own clarification/emphasis]:
We live in a world that doesn’t accept the greatness of the עם ישראל [Am Yisrael/Nation of Israel]. 

It’s a world of darkness and sheker [falsehood].

And it has an effect on us. Absolutely it does. And therefore, you will have to put effort into internalizing the truth of the greatness of our people.

And no matter how much you speak about it, it won’t be enough.

​Now, I know that you all think that it’s a waste of time for me to talk about this.

You all believe it already. You all believe that the עם ישראל is Hashem’s beloved people.

But it’s not enough to simply believe. That’s almost worthless. You have to know and understand the greatness of our nation more than you know anything else in the world.

There is a certain prevalent attitude of knocking the frumeh, the best that our nation has to offer.

We have to be aware of this and realize that there is a certain form of anti-semitism in Jews themselves. When Jews knock the frum community it’s nothing but an echo of the anti-semitism in their own hearts.

You don’t realize how much the environment outside is affecting you.

I know that you don’t want to hear this, but most of you in this room are goyim. Yes, you are covered with a thin layer of Orthodoxy, but under that, if you scratch a little bit of the paint off, you’ll find that you’re thinking like the goyim around you.

It’s affecting you all the time.

The negative comments about frum Jews – whether individuals or different groups – that one hears from Orthodox Jews is simply the infiltration of gentile propaganda into our minds.

Not only gentile influence, but even more insidious is the influence of the non-religious Jews.

The Reformers, the Zionists, and all the Jewish resha’im have nothing but contempt for authentic Torah Judaism, and for those who practice it. We live among the resha’im, we see them, we speak with them, we read their writings, and we therefore think like them.

And therefore, the only way to counter that propaganda is by heaping praises on the Klal Yisroel as often and as much as you can.

​Everywhere you go, you can find opportunities to speak the praises of the עם ישראל. And if you can’t find opportunities, then you have to be wise enough and alert enough to make them.

Every day brings you many varied opportunities to propagandize on behalf of Hashem’s people. 

​(Note: If you are either offended by or can't imagine how Rav Miller could possibly call Zionists "reshaim," then please see A Review of "Guardian of Jerusalem" and What Do the Sephardi Gedolim Say about Tziyonut, the Medinah, and All That? You may still not agree, but it helps to at least understand why someone else thinks the way he does.)

And maybe it's important to acknowledge that yes, people will accuse you of being an apologist. 

People will accuse you of having your head buried in the sand or of sporting rose-colored glasses. 

​People will respond with unpleasant stories of the misdeeds of frum-looking folk (whether true or not).

And from personal experience, it does not matter much if you acknowledge the ugly warts marring the frum community as you extol its virtues and all the wonderful people you've met that you never met or heard of in any other community in the world.

Acknowledging the warts is simply not "honest" enough for some people. 


Unless you're trash-talking the frum community, you may be considered a distasteful, stupid, naive, hypocritical, blind apologist.
​

But you're not. 

Unconscious Propaganda-Indoctrinated Hypocrisy

Unfortunately, I was also affected by this at one point, thinking that being negative or focusing on negativity was being "honest."

I see that many, many frum Jews of all different stripes also suffer this mistaken assumption (again, with the very good intention of yearning to display honesty & sensitivity).

It was only after feeling somewhat battered during so many conversations with non-frum Jews (or anti-charedi Orthodox Jews) that I started to wake up.

Whether it was people I'd known and liked my whole life — and felt they'd always liked me too — or getting blindsided after I thought I'd made a completely innocent and inoffensive comment (including all the mental struggle to find just the right words so as not to offend, then the other person getting all offended anyway), or being confronted out of the blue in a way that would NEVER be tolerated by that same person if I (or any other frum person) would dare do that...I started to realize who the real hypocrites were. 

(Even though they didn't mean to be hypocrites; it was unintentional hypocrisy resulting from living in a culture in which the views deemed "politically incorrect" are presented in a distorted manner.)


For example, when I visiting my parents in the USA, an old family friend and one of my favorite adults growing up stopped by.

We were all enjoying a friendly conversation that drifted to the state of many "Conservative" (who are actually anti-Torah liberals) Jews in New York (where this man was originally from), and how it differs from "Conservative" Jews in most other parts of America.

Mentally struggling to find just the right word and keep the conversation inoffensive (for them, anyway), I settled on what I felt was a fairly neutral word: "traditional."

So I replied that the "Conservative" Jews in New York seemed more "traditional" than in other areas.

This old family friend smirked, then said, "You mean RIGID!" Then he and some others (not my wonderful parents) chuckled self-indulgently.

I felt punched. And outnumbered.

No, I did NOT mean "RIGID."

"RIGID" is not how I view people who are basically shomer Shabbat and observe more of the authentic halacha. (Halevei these "Conservative" New York Jews would become fully frum!)

And it's odd how he knee-jerk responded to the word "traditional."

​"Traditional" really can be viewed positively, negatively, or neutrally. It's interesting that he reacted so defensively to the (accurate) insinuation that the more mitzvah-observant "Conservative" Jews in New York were indeed more, well, traditional. 


Turning it around, how do you think this same person would respond had I said that "Conservative" Jews outside of New York tend to be even more compromised and assimilated than their already somewhat compromised and assimilated New York counterparts?

That's actually TRUE, by the way.

"Conservative" Jews ARE compromised and assimilated. Even the ones who don't mean to be and are simply misled by their pompous leadership, even they are still compromised and assimilated.

Do you see what I mean?

Double standard.

(In case you're wondering, I did not respond in any way, nor did I show I was hurt or offended.)

​That's just one example.

Where is All That Religious Coercion I Keep Hearing About?

Anyway, I started to realize who really engaged in thought-policing, "religious" (i.e. secular or anti-Torah) coercion, the imposing of their "religious" beliefs on others, and so on.

I couldn't help noticing that the most open-minded people, the people most concerned about the feelings of others (including those with differing opinions) were the more religious Jews -- whether they classified themselves specifically as charedi or whether they were just sincerely frum Jews who strove to uphold every iota of halacha regardless of any label.

As written in previous posts, I've had very positive experiences with the level of openmindedness of the Yerushalmi women I met when I lived in the Geula-Meah Shearim area of Yerushalayim.

I've repeatedly seen how so many frum Jews try to reassure others to feel comfortable around them, try very hard to hold onto their own values without offending others (keeping to the laws of lashon hara, for example, can be very tricky in today's culture of "I-have-a-right-to-express-myself-darn-it-and-if-I-can't-then-there'll-be-heck-to-pay").

Are You Searching for the Key to Self-Love & Self-Esteem? Introducing the REAL Pure Torah-Style Expression of Self-Love & Self-Esteem...

Rav Miller suggests we avoid wasting opportunities to insert Torah positives into conversations at:
  • weddings
  • bar mitzvahs
  • waiting in line
  • any other social opportunity

Rav Miller suggests we notice (and APPRECIATE) the following:
  • families with many children
  • a mother walking with a baby carriage
  • tsniusly dressed girls 
  • little boys wearing tzitzit & kippahs
  • fully kosher homes (despite the extra expense and effort involved)
  • fully kosher mezuzot on every doorpost of every home (not cheap, especially the beautified ones) — and then you need to tend to their upkeep and check them every so often
  • frummies give 10% (at minimum!) of their earnings to tzedakah (and NOT meaningless art museums, but REAL tzedakah)
  • all the Jewish parents who send their children to frum schools, despite the expense (especially in America) and sometimes the distance (I met a Chabad family in Long Island who drove their daughters to an excellent frum school that meant driving one hour EACH WAY every day!)​

If you live in a frum neighborhood, and especially if you live in Eretz Yisrael, you get to see sukkot everywhere. It's a real joy, especially if you grew up as a Jewish minority in America.

Instead of Halloween decorations hawked everywhere & carols already crooning from the radios and mall loudspeakers in November, you hear frum pop music and see sukkah decorations for sale until all hours. Sukkah boards and lumber stand along sidewalks and stick out of the backs of cars.

During Sukkot, you get to hear everyone singing from their sukkot because you're all outside together.

Baruch Hashem, we have such sounds and sights in our Land once more! May all Jews be redeemed sweetly to Eretz Yisrael and may Hashem erect the fallen Sukkah of David Hamelech.

And again, especially in Eretz Yisrael, the Sukkot weather is usually very pleasant (unless you live in a very humid area or there are thunderstorms & rain once or twice during the week-long holiday).

But heck, even that's part of the fun, everyone needing to escape into the house in the middle of the night. (The children, anyway, have very positive memories of this as fun.)

"A whole nation of people, all types of people, sacrificing and laboring for their ideals, for Torah ideals. And they are a people that are loyal to Hashem. There’s nothing better than the frum community, make no mistake about it."
​

- Rav Avigdor Miller


Of course, Rav Miller acknowledges that some frum people aren't behaving as they should.

​Yes, there is what to criticize.

He says it in the long quote above.

He says it in most divrei Torah. 

He says it in his advice for shalom bayit.

But he loves his fellow frummies anyway.

And he emphasizes that there is actually a lot to love!

Having lived in different places and communities throughout my life and having studied anthropology (the study of other cultures) in college, I can definitely attest to the fact that the level of chessed found in the frum community is unparalleled.

It may not always be perfect, but even with its flaws, it's unparalleled.

Recent emergency tzedakah campaigns have demonstrated the profound achvah we feel for each other and our generosity proves our respect for the mitzvah of redeeming captives or aiding the sick.​

"There’s no better time than now, as we begin the new year, to make a commitment to yourself. This year is going to be a year of raising the banner of the greatness of our people. This year I’m going to look only at the good of our people – because really there is so much good to see."

- Rav Avigdor Miller  


There's an art to finding and focusing on the good points of Am Yisrael, particularly the frum community.

Rav Miller acknowledges that you need to plan for it. You need to make a project out of it.

This is very important as far as sweetening din goes too.

Rav Miller quotes Mesillat Yesharim (Chapter 19) on this:
​”אין הקדוש ברוך הוא אוהב אלא למי שאוהב את ישראל — ​Hashem only loves only those who love the Jewish people” 
​(Mesillat Yesharim is a sefer with which no one can disagree. If you start quoting the Tanya, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe's sichos, or Rebbe Nachman's Azamra, people think it doesn't apply to them if they aren't in that group. But who is going to dismiss Rav Moshe Chaim Luzatto?)

"And therefore, what better way to find favor in the eyes of Hashem, than to praise and love His people. Think of their praises all the time. Speak of their praises all the time. And love them all the time because of their greatness. And the more you do that, the more Hashem loves you. And there is nothing greater in the world than the love of Hashem."

​-Rav Avigdor Miller


All credit for all quotes goes to the much appreciated Toras Avigdor.
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Hoshanah Rabbah: Sliding into that Final Verdict

26/9/2018

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The time between Yom Kippur and Hoshanah Rabbah presents the opportunity to get in your last bit of teshuvah to sweeten your verdict for the coming year.

I've found that Hashem throws a couple of trials at people during this time, often a watered-down version of trials they've previously failed.

If you're aware (and I wasn't until the past several years), you can identify a trial during this time period as a repeat of a challenge you've failed before.

So if you can identify it, you can also assume that whatever the trial is, it'll likely end with the end of Sukkot (no promises, though).

Therefore, if your usual response to that particular trial is, for example, an outburst of lashon hara or of raging temper, a drink or a sedative (legal or not), sarcasm, secular music or movies, scarfing down fat-laden carbs, or anything else that indulges subpar behavior, then this is your last chance to get it right.

Or to at least get it less wrong.

I've been going through it myself now and it has been up-and-down.

Sometimes, you don't even know what the better behavior is. How EXACTLY are you supposed to handle it?

Saying, "Thanks, Hashem" or "Gam zu l'tovah -- this too is for the best" is always a good fallback position, even when it feels like that's not enough.

So I've lost some, but also won some.

And that's how it goes.

For tzaddikim, it's different. They've done their work & now they're the Holy Winners.

But for the rest of us, it entails falling to the ground with a thud, then struggle to get back on your feet again.

So as long as you're not letting yourself remain sprawled face-down in the dust, then you're probably doing all right -- even if you feel like you aren't.

May we all merit a sweetening of the final verdict!
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