Category: Tehillim/Psalms

Saying Tehillim: Getting Back to the Barest Basics

12/4/2020

In the standard Sifrei Tehillim (Book of Psalms), there are notations on what Tehillim to say if you want to finish davening the entire Book in one week or in one month.

I was investing in the monthly completion of Tehillim and was happy to finish the entire book between Purim & Pesach. Thinking it would be nice to complete the entire Sefer Tehillim every month, I intended to start the same schedule again.

But then I came across this:
https://dinonline.org/2020/04/01/how-to-recite-tehillim/

The questioner is obviously a wonderfully sincere person, likely somewhat new to Torah observance (with no experience in saying Tehillim), and would like some guidelines on how to get started.

The halachic expert who answers the question praises the questioner for this new step forward, explains a bit about Tehillim, then states:

The main thing is that it be said with concentration, understanding what one is saying.

Since you are not familiar with the words or their translation, use a Tehillim that has English translation so you can read the English as you say it.

The amount of chapters is not the idea, but the realization while saying it that I am beseeching H-shem and taking to Him, and pleading with Him to help me and whomever I am davening for.

That was an important reminder.

And it was said by a real expert in Jewish Law.

(If you read the answers to the questions on the website, the rabbis' knowledge in phenomenal. Sometimes, it seems like they pull sources out of a hat. But really, it's not that easy – not at all.)

I don't know how everyone else is, but sometimes, I can get so into "accomplishing" (with all the accompanying feels of failure or at least "not good enough") that it's hard to maintain the essential kavanah too.

Of course, there are mitzvot we must carry out, whether we have kavanah or not (although the kavanah is still vitally important).

We must say brachot before eating, whether we have kavanah or not.

We must daven (this obligation varies according to gender and for women, other essential responsibilities), whether we have kavanah or not.

But saying Tehillim? That's a very worthy and holy act, but not obligatory.

Then the questioner added a follow-up question about whether it's necessary to say Tehillim according to the schedule featured in the Tehillim book:
https://dinonline.org/2020/04/01/reciting-tehillim-accordingly/

And again, the halacha expert emphasizes the great significance of the quality & devotion being said, not the amount. Regarding the weekly or monthly schedule, he states:

You don’t have to do this, and that is exactly why I wrote that the main point is not the amount of chapters you say, but the quality and devotion that it is being said.

Therefore right now disregard the days that it says on the top of the pages.

Both times, the rabbi also blesses the questioner for her efforts.

Anyway, it got me thinking that maybe I should scale down my own Tehillim-reading to one a day – yet say each word with total kavanah.

But then you'll only complete the entire Sefer Tehillim twice a year! protested something inside my head.

And that something is not holiness speaking. That's more like neurosis.

If I say each Tehillim with supreme kavanah, then I'll complete the entire Sefer Tehillim with total kavanah...YAY!

That's a GOOD thing.

And isn't 2 recitations of Sefer Tehillim said over time with total kavanah MUCH better than 12 recitations of Sefer Tehillim raced through with wildly fluctating kavanah?

So I started saying one chapter a day with as much absorption as I could muster. Many Tehillim are something like 9 verses – or less that 20, anyway.

And it feels great.

It's absolutely geshmak.

And then, without meaning to, the Tehillim-reading is followed by something like a mini-hitbodedut session, in which I instinctively start discussing the Tehillim and its meanings with Hashem.

I had no idea that would happen; it's just a natural outgrowth of reading a little bit at a time but with total focus.

And it's very healing, very centering.

And it all made me realize how important it is to get back to basics with spiritual efforts.

Sometimes, you need to scale everything back and pare everything down to the most basic fundamentals.

It's sort of like an anecdote I read about a tremendous talmid chacham who asked his young grandson to read a page of Gemara to him – just the basic text without commentaries or elucidation.

The child was surprised, but complied.

Later, the scholarly grandfather explained that sometimes, he just wanted to hear the words of the Gemara on their own – to hear them anew, fresh & sweet, just the purity of the words themselves.

And this is something that only a not-yet-learned child could give him.

I used to read Tehillim with total simplicity and sincerity. (You can read about that HERE.)

And it seems like this is the perfect time to get back to that.

0 Comments

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

0 Comments

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.

The above translation is mine and therefore any errors are also mine.

0 Comments

Perek Shirah's Song of Lightning: What Does Lightning Say?

15/10/2019

2 Comments

Here in Eretz Yisrael, we've been having some impressive lightning & thunder throughout Sukkot so far (though not as fierce as the thunder & lightning storms of a year or 2 ago).

(NOTE OF CLARIFICATION: The Sukkah storms of last year or the year before consisted of unrelenting booming thunder, which made it frightening to sleep in the Sukkah. This year, lightning played a stronger role, with the thunder not as strong or as frequent. The lightning also appeared as defined bolts, rather than large sheets of flashes in the sky, which is unusual in our area, meaning, the defined bolts are unusual.)

I've been in Eretz Yisrael for over 25 years, and these phenomena are a new thing.

There has also been some mighty wind, but interestingly only a bit of rain (some of which seemed mixed with tepid hail).

What is the message here?

I'm not sure, but Perek Shirah features the Song of Lightning:

בְּרָקִים אוֹמְרִים. בְּרָקִים לַמָּטָר עָשָׂה מוֹצֵא רוּחַ מֵאוֹצְרוֹתָיו

Brakim omrim: Brakim lamatar asah motzeh ruach me'otzrotav.

The Lightning Bolts are saying, “…He makes lightning for the rain; He brings forth the wind from his storehouses.”

- Tehillim/Psalms 135:7

A glance at the main commentaries on this verse (Rashi, the Metzudot, Ibn Ezra, Radak, and Malbim) reveal some insights.

First of all, this verse appears in a Psalm lauding Hashem for all that He did to bring the Jews to Eretz Yisrael, starting off with pounding the Egyptians and taking us out of Egypt, continuing with pounding the Kanaanim and gifting the Jews with Eretz Yisrael, denigrating idols & their adherents, then ending with blessing those who serve in the Beit Hamikdash, and Hashem's Dwelling Place (so to speak) in Yerushalayim.

It begins with the word "Hallelukah" and ends with "Hallelukah."

The commentaries note that wind isn't seen on its own until Hashem makes it move, then we see it by it's effect on stuff and we hear it.

Also, Hashem brings out the wind to blow the clouds to exactly where He wants it to rain.

But what about the lightning?

The commentaries note that lightning flashes brilliantly even amid rain.

"...and the rain does not extinguish it."

- Metzudat David

The commentaries note that the power of the wind is there all the time, but not seen until Hashem withdraws it from its "storehouse."

Malbim states:

"...at the time Hashem will desire for rain to fall, the element of fire and elektri will separate and lightning will be produced."

Basically, the commentaries note the quality of lightning existing among an element that theoretically should extinguish it.

In other words, the brilliant illumination of lightning occurs among that which should disallow its very existence.

As mentioned above, the this week's lightning has been mostly without rain, but its fundamental aspect of rising above its fiery nature and not being extinguished by water (including copious amounts of pouring rain) is still true.

So to summarize, the Song of Lightning hints at:

Hashem's All-Encompassing Mastery of even the routine aspects of nature
Hashem's Fondness for the Jewish people (as evidenced by gifting us Eretz Yisrael as our Divine Inheritance)
A solid & uncompromising adherence to monotheism
The paradoxical and very powerful nature of lightning to overcome its natural "enemy": water. (Not only is lightning not extinguished by even huge amounts of pouring rain, but it's not even diminished by rain, as evidenced by the astounding brightness & power of lightning.)

So there's some food for thought about the message of lightning.

(For the message in wind, please see Song of the Wind.)

Just a random photo of lightning in an unknown location, chosen simply for its prettiness.

2 Comments

What to Do When It's Just You against the Giant Whirlpool of Mud

3/10/2019

0 Comments

"I have sunk in a whirlpool & there is no place to stand..."

-Tehillim/Psalm 69:3

The word translated here as "whirlpool" is metzulah in the original text.

Rashi and others translate it as like a muddy mire (more companionable with the previous post).

But Rav Avraham ibn Ezra describes it as in the middle of the sea -- a whirlpool.

Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender acknowledges the simple meaning of the verse:

This person is not only in the terrible quandary of getting stuck in a whirlpool; he can't even stand there — there is additional pain & suffering.

All hope seems lost.

How to Win the Massively Unfair Fight between You & the Giant Muddy Whirlpool

But the Breslover Sages provided an insightful twist on these words:

"There is no place to stand" can also mean that one is not stuck there.

Do not stand in place.

Rav Bender exhorts (Words of Faith Vol. I, pg. 405):

"Deal with it and wrestle and make all effort to get out."

Rav Bender explains that even if all the person sees is mud and he simply cannot wrench himself free, however hard he tries...nonetheless, if he remains stuck and does not move to free himself, "he will certainly sink deeper with no possibility of being saved, chas v'shalom."

The way of struggling is one foot in, one foot out.

"I give a blow, I take a blow," says Rav Bender.

Taking a blow or getting caught in the mud, getting all wet & dirty — this itself is the nisyon, it's not the final judgement on you.

Too many people condemn us when they see us struggling and muddy.

Heck, we condemn ourselves for our clumsy desperate flailing & our muddily soaked appearance.

But according to Rav Bender and according to David Hamelech, that's not how Hashem sees things at all.

Rav Bender insists that the main thing is to try. We must be strong and ensure that last foot steps out...

As long as we WANT to escape the muddy whirlpool and the mire, as long as we TRY to free ourselves, we're beautiful to Hashem.

And He'll make us win in the end.

0 Comments

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Shelach & Parshat Korach

27/6/2019

2 Comments

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

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

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

Here's an excerpt:

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

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

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

Not just to eat.

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

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

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

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's this doing here?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leitzim means jesters.

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

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

A Real Moshav Leitzim

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

Glatt Kosher Leitzanut

However, there is also kosher leitzanut.

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

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

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

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But even the Jewish newspapers are full of garbage.

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

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

It's definitely worth a good read.

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

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

As always, thank you tons to Toras Avigdor.

2 Comments

Which Jew is Really for Peace?

27/6/2019

4 Comments

My Moroccan-born husband grew up in an immigrant neighborhood in Eretz Yisrael.

The neighborhood consisted of lots of Moroccans, plus a generous handful of Bucharians, and one Danish family who, for some reason, ended up there after making aliyah.

My husband attended the local mamlachti-dati (government religious) school along with the rest of the neighborhood. And he was one of the very good boys, in that he was shomer negiah and always wore his kippah & tzitzit, even when playing basketball, plus he always went happily to shul with his father for all the tefillot & voluntarily attended shiurim at night.

(There are more good things to say about my husband, but to head off any ayin hara, we'll stop here.)

Anyway, he'd gotten into Gemara in his teens. And though he always dreamed of joining the army, he decided to go to yeshivah instead. (For more on that story, please see God Helps: A True Story.)

I asked him how that was viewed in his neighborhood, seeing as everyone went to the army and while people had started off as religious, the secularization process went quickly and intensively.

"It was fine," said my husband. He explained that for all its social problems, it was still a traditional community. Therefore, even the more secular-seeming people still held Torah study in high esteem.

And even though the useless jobnik positions were less back then, people still didn't attack my husband about why their sons had to risk their lives while my husband sat in yeshivah.

They intuitively understood the value of Torah study.

The point here is that, yet again, your average Jew in Eretz Yisrael is not innately offended by yeshivah bochurim not "sharing the burden" of army service.

That unforgiving outrage & seething resentment comes from somewhere else.

Since Shevet Levi in Tanach, the Jewish people have always had Jews who sat and learned continuously.

Mishnah Avot states that the world - not just the Jewish world, but the entire world - stands on 3 things:

the Torah
the avodah (tefillah & serving Hashem, service in the Beit Hamikdash)
gemilut chessedim (acts of loving-kindness)

That's our base and for EVERYONE'S sake, it cannot be weakened.

(And if you examine these 3 pillars, you'll see they're all linked. In other words, you can't have one - or two - without the other.)

And many, if not most, Jews sense this.

So where is the venom coming from? Where is this seething rip-their-eyes-out resentment coming from?

It's being aggressively imposed upon the innocent Jewish people by media incitement and by those with political agendas.

Ani shalom v'ki adaber hema l'milchamah - I am peace; but when I speak, they are for war." (Tehillim 120:7)

Or, as Rashi interprets it:
"I am at peace with them, but when I speak peacefully with them, they come to wage war with me."

4 Comments

Essential Advice on How to REALLY Live in This World - from Rav Avigdor Miller

23/5/2019

2 Comments

Rav Miller’s dvar Torah on Parshat Behar is a very pleasant whomp right between the eyes.

One of my favorite aspects of Rav Miller on the parsha is his description of the true-to-life experience of Jews millennia ago in the Tanach.

Using plain & simple language, he brings it all to life.

Yovel, Plus You as a Ger in This World

In Rav Miller's dvar Torah for Parshat Behar (pages 1-3), you get to experience what the Yovel year was really like at the close of the 50-year cycle in which property reverts to its original owners.

Then (pgs. 3-7), using both stories of modern times & the Chafetz Chaim, Rav Miller details our temporary dwelling in This World and what that really means for us.

Pages 7-11 introduce the concept of geirus/geirut—usually understood to mean “convert,” it also means a temporary dweller in This World. (Also like how Moshe Rabbeinu said, “I am a ger in a foreign land.” He was born Jewish, but a ger, a temporary dweller in This World.)

In the Pele Yoetz chapter entitled Ger, Rav Eliezer Papo also discusses ger/geirut according to this interpretation. With Rav Miller, you get a glimpse into what Duties of the Heart/Chovot Levavot says about this idea, plus a modern-day analogy to make things clearer, what a mezuzah should inspire within us, and then the following amazing yet true story of a connected Jew with his heart & mind in exactly the right place:

I once knew a Mr. Herman zichrono l’vracha from the Lower East Side.

Now, Mr. Herman was one of the very few devoted frum Jews in the olden days of America.

B’leiv v’nefesh [Heart & soul] he was devoted to Hakodosh Boruch Hu.

And he told me once that when he saw that all his money was going lost, that his business was quickly failing - it was at the time of the Great Depression.

So he right away took a thousand dollars - in those days a thousand dollars was a small fortune - and he gave it away to tzedakah on the spot.

He said, “Why should I lose that too? Why should I lose my chance at exporting more goods into the Next World?”

And so Mr. Herman was a smart businessman…

Gadlus. And that was a so-called “regular” Jew no one has ever heard of!

Everyone can be great. It’s not at all a matter of renown or charisma.

Just quietly live for the Next World.

No one will write a book or even newspaper obituary about you (may you live in good health until 120), but you’ll be written in Hashem’s Book, and that’s all anyone really needs.

This section also helps you figure out how much you should invest in your material world here on Earth.

It goes according to individuals and their different situations, so Rav Miller doesn’t offer hard ‘n’ fast rules, but pages 7-11 can help you figure out how to clarify things for yourself.

God's Truth is Even Better than Science Fiction

Then (pgs. 11-14) you get some insights into David Hamelech and certain popular verses of Tehillim, insights you may never have considered before. (I hadn’t.) And you get to delve into the fascinating idea of how you and everyone you know are just figments of Hashem’s Supreme Imagination.

(This is not depressing, like how it is in sci-fi novels, but actually very comforting and inspiring.)

Pages 14-17 offer more insights into popular Tehillim, plus helpful hints on how best to utilize your alone-time and how to do hitbodedut in the most crowded, noisy circumstances.

The Pre-Mashiach Jewish Reality: Stuck between a Rock & Hard Place

Do you ever find yourself irked by the following, as described by Rav Miller?:

"… a Jew is always hounded in this world; the Jew walks on the street in Europe and the goyim cast slurs on him; they tell him, 'Get out of our country you dirty Jew. Go to Israel!' And if he does, so the Arabs tell him to get out, the U.N. tells him to get out."

Jew-haters are simply impossible to please! (So why bother trying? Hint, hint…)

Anyway, Rav Miller explains on page 17 why this dynamic exists and what it means for us.

One Torah, One People

Despite differences in custom, dress, culture, time, and language, real talmidei chachim keep coming up with the same themes and lessons from Torah.

Here (pgs. 17-18) Rav Miller speaks of Hashem as your Best Friend and what that means. And he sounds exactly like Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender.

Why?

Because all the real talmidei chachamim glean from the same sources and come to the same conclusions.

It ends on the heart-warming note of what you should remember about Olam Hazeh / This World whenever you look at a mezuzah:

"It’s the place where we spend our fleeting lives preparing to enter our permanent home in the Next World, where we will meet the Hashem Echad who was our One and Only True Friend in This World."

Note: After the dedications at the end of this dvar Torah booklet, there is a brand-new section for children: Toras Avigdor Junior, a 2-page large-print supplement accompanied by a pleasant drawing of Rav Miller with a child in the woods. After that, there is a Q&A regarding how to break the habit of losing one’s temper.

So even if you’re in Eretz Yisrael and already past this parsha, it’s very worth reading Rav Miller’s dvar Torah on it for the wealth of soul-nourishing Torah hashkafah it contains:
Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Behar: We Live in You

2 Comments

The Power of Imperfect Prayer?

10/4/2019

4 Comments

As many people know, there was a mass prayer gathering in Chevron (Hebron) on Tuesday night, starting at 10 PM.

I decided to participate from home via the livestream (which ended up not working for me, but no big surprise there because that has been the story between me and hi-tech for years now).

But for this reason or another, I only ended up being able sit down for virtual participation at around 11 PM.

The authentic Jewish approach is intend all the good things l'katchilah (from the outset), but b'dieved? Better late than never. Seriously.

So I started out saying Tikkun Haklali with kavanah, but there were loud boisterous offspring around and my kavanah ended up zonked.

Oh, well.

What was interesting was that my youngest (age 4) had a deep barking cough that got pretty bad at night the past couple of nights, and he'd been coughing a lot...until I was a perek or two into Tikkun Haklali (with the intention to join my recitation of Tikkun Haklali to the general one being said at the mass prayer gathering).

His coughing stopped at that point and didn't return that night.

Huh, I said thoughtfully.

His cough didn't return until the next afternoon and then it went away again and tonight, he has been sleeping peacefully -- no coughing.

It's also worth noting that this child has had a tendency for coughing since he was born. When he starts coughing, it can just go on for weeks and nothing -- not herbs, oils, vaporizers, cough syrup, nothing -- can ease the coughing.

(The only thing that ever worked was saying once a day for several days in a row Tehillim 119 according to his full name, using the method described in this post. )

But now the terrible night coughing just stopped -- and stopped at the moment described above.

Anyway, just wanted to share that.

I don't believe in coincidences.

And you don't need to be perfect in order to awaken Heavenly Compassion.

You just have to try.

(Plus, it helps if you join your own imperfect prayer to the sincere prayer of thousands of dedicated Jews praying in a profoundly holy place.)

Maarat Hamachpelah in Chevron/Cave of the Patriarchs & Matriarchs in Hebron

UPDATE: My son's cough returned, but not as bad as before, yet just the fact that there was a break in the coughing is amazing, giving his usual tendency. Anyway, I'll go back to saying Tehillim 119 according to the letters of his name again. I guess part of what his soul needs is to have Tehillim said according to his name.

It's all good.

4 Comments

UPDATED: Please Daven for the Recent Terror Survivors

10/12/2018

4 Comments

UPDATE #2: Tragically, as many of you likely already know, the little baby passed away. Please continue to daven for Shira Yael bat Liora Sara and her husband Amichai Yishai ben Feiga Gitel Galila.

Thank you very much to caring reader, Hava, for this update and for letting me know that the father still needs davening & for providing his name.

UPDATE 1: Thank you to the caring reader who sent me the correct names for davening. Also, I see they're referring to the baby as rach hanolad (newborn) and not tinok (baby). So the post has been updated as follows...

Please daven for Shira Yael bat Liora Sara, the formerly pregnant woman wounded in the terror attack in Ofra on the last night of Chanukah.

Also, please daven for her newly born baby, Rach Hanolad ben Shira Yael.

While the medical staff was able to deliver the baby prematurely, both he and his mommy are still in critical condition.

The baby has been given an especially harsh prognosis, but you don't need to believe it because prayer can change everything.

May they have a complete and speedy refuah among all the other ill Jews.

According to the Chida, the following Tehillim/Psalms can be helpful:
9 is good to say for a sick child.
22 is good for every kind of trouble (tzaar)
92 can help one merit seeing great miracles.
116 can save one from a strange death.
119:89-96 (lamed) sweetens or nullifies a negative judgment.
127 is good to say for a newborn.

Also, 119 is divided up according to Alef-Bet and there's an old tradition that it's very good for a sick person if you recite the sections according to their name.

In this case, you have:

שירה יעל בת ליאורה שרה

So you would recite the following:
119:161-168 (shin) ש
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:121-128 (ayin) ע
119:89-96 (lamed) ל
119:9-16 (bet) ב
119:169-176 (taf) ת
119:89-96 (lamed) ל
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:1-8 (alef) א
119:41-48 (vav) ו
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:161-168 (shin) ש
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה

And do likewise for Rach Hanolad ben Shira Yael:
רך הנולד בן שירה יעל

119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:81-88 (kaf) כ
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:105-112 (nun) נ
119:41-48 (vav) ו
119:89-96 (lamed) ל
119:25-32 (dalet) ד
119:9-16 (bet) ב
119:105-112 (nun) נ
119:161-168 (shin) ש
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:153-160 (reish) ר
119:33-40 (hei) ה
119:73-80 (yud) י
119:121-128 (ayin) ע
119:89-96 (lamed) ל

You can also go to the following site and type in the names in Hebrew and it will give you the sections you need from Tehillim 119 in the right order (instead of flipping around in your Tehillim book). You can print it out too:
tehillim-online.com/read-segula/psalm-119-by-the-name

There are other traditions for saying Tehillim by the letters of the ill person's name, but the above tradition is the one with which I'm most familiar.

Doctors Fight to Save Life of Expectant Mother After Shomron Terror Attack: Baby Saved; 6 Other Jews Wounded

Ofra Attack: Condition of Baby Deteriorates; Mother’s Condition Still Serious

May Hashem please bring Mashiach now in a sweet way.

4 Comments

How to Read Tehillim according to Your Individual Needs

12/9/2018

2 Comments

Kavanah for the Different Words of Tehillim

In the Pele Yoetz's chapter on Rosh Hashanah, he provides recommendations for reading Tehillim:

Every place that mentions enemies (oyavim), haters (sonim), oppressors (tzarim), etc., you should have in mind the Heavenly prosecutors (mekatrigim), who are are the true enemies: enemies of our souls.
Every place that mentions misfortune (tzarah), distress (tzukah), etc., you should have in mind your own personal distress
Every place that mentions "life," you should have in mind 2 things:

1) Your spiritual existence:

that you should be alive
that you should feel the love of God all your days
that you should feel the fear of God all your days

2) Your physical existence:

you should want to live in order to serve your Creator
you should not be the cause of any anger or grief for Hashem or the Shechinah
you should complete the rectification (tikkun) of your body, spirit, and soul.

If it helps to know, the Malbim defines the above words as follows:

Oyev (enemy) – Hidden enemy, one who hates in his heart and wishes one evil
Soneh (hater) – Hates without wishing one evil
Tzar (oppressor) – He actively torments
Metzukah, tzukah (distress) – Emotional, internal troubles and suffering
Tzarot, tzarah (misfortune) – Outer troubles, troubles that come upon a person

In addition to the above kavanot, the Pele Yoetz encourages you to keep in mind that there are deep secrets in the words of Tehillim, so your intent should also be according to the intent of David Hamelech.

As the Pele Yoetz explains [Vol. II, pg. 289]:

When a person says Tehillim with humility, from the depths of his heart and his intention is for the desires of Heaven, the words are ancient, words of the living God that were said by the holy Divinely inspired mouth of David Hamelech, whose merit should protect us. They will certainly bear "fruit" and he will thus find his redemption, and he will be written the Book of Good Life, which refers to the life of the soul.

How to Read Tehillim according to Your Individual Ability

The Pele Yoetz repeats the well-known recommendation to read all of Tehillim twice because there are 150 chapters of Psalms and 150+150=300, which is the numeric equivalent of kaper (atone).

He recommends doing this over Rosh Hashanah (read all of Tehillim each day for those 2 days), but I've heard others recommend doing this over the 10 Days of Teshuvah, which comes out to a book day. (Tehillim is split up into 5 books containing around 30-40 chapters each.)

While the Pele Yoetz lauds the recitation containing proper understanding of the meaning of the words, he adds that if one doesn't know the actual meaning, one should at least read them carefully letter by letter, word by word.

(I'm assuming there was no Bulgarian translation of Tehillim available at that time because he doesn't mention reading Tehillim in another language for those who can't understand the Hebrew, which is admittedly very hard Hebrew, harder than the Hebrew of Chumash. In Israel, they sell Tehillim with the modern Hebrew "translation" underneath each word because the syntax and vocabulary of Tehillim can be so challenging until you learn it well enough.)

Needless to say, translations of Tehillim exist in almost every language, so you can use that too.

I personally know of illiterate women who cannot even read the words. Instead, they place their finger on each word and look at it. And in this way, they can participate in saying Tehillim, even as they technically remain completely silent.

It's the heart and the intention that counts.

At the same time, the Pele Yoetz repeats a well-known statement of the Sages in Tur, Orach Chaim, Siman 1:
"A small amount with proper intent is better than a large amount without proper intent."
("Tov me'at b'kavanah m'harbot b'lo kavanah.")

So each person needs to know his or her own heart and capabilities.

And again, more than anything else, it's the heart that counts.

2 Comments

<<Previous

Saying Tehillim: Getting Back to the Barest Basics

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

Hold on TIGHT!

Perek Shirah's Song of Lightning: What Does Lightning Say?

What to Do When It's Just You against the Giant Whirlpool of Mud

"I have sunk in a whirlpool & there is no place to stand..."

-Tehillim/Psalm 69:3

How to Win the Massively Unfair Fight between You & the Giant Muddy Whirlpool

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Shelach & Parshat Korach

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach

A Real Moshav Leitzim

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

Glatt Kosher Leitzanut

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

Which Jew is Really for Peace?

Essential Advice on How to REALLY Live in This World - from Rav Avigdor Miller

Yovel, Plus You as a Ger in This World

God's Truth is Even Better than Science Fiction

The Pre-Mashiach Jewish Reality: Stuck between a Rock & Hard Place

One Torah, One People

"It’s the place where we spend our fleeting lives preparing to enter our permanent home in the Next World, where we will meet the Hashem Echad who was our One and Only True Friend in This World."

The Power of Imperfect Prayer?

UPDATED: Please Daven for the Recent Terror Survivors

How to Read Tehillim according to Your Individual Needs

Kavanah for the Different Words of Tehillim

How to Read Tehillim according to Your Individual Ability

Myrtle Rising

Categories

Jewish Blogs

Jewish Current Events

Jewish Health

Archives

Copyright Notice

Home/Blog

Contact

Comment Policy

Aliyah

Kli Yakar in English

Hold on TIGHT!

"I have sunk in a whirlpool & there is no place to stand..."-Tehillim/Psalm 69:3

How to Win the Massively Unfair Fight between You & the Giant Muddy Whirlpool

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Korach

A Real Moshav Leitzim

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

Glatt Kosher Leitzanut

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

Yovel, Plus You as a Ger in This World

God's Truth is Even Better than Science Fiction

The Pre-Mashiach Jewish Reality: Stuck between a Rock & Hard Place

One Torah, One People

"It’s the place where we spend our fleeting lives preparing to enter our permanent home in the Next World, where we will meet the Hashem Echad who was our One and Only True Friend in This World."

Kavanah for the Different Words of Tehillim

How to Read Tehillim according to Your Individual Ability

Myrtle Rising

Categories

Jewish Blogs

Jewish Current Events

Jewish Health

Archives

Copyright Notice

"I have sunk in a whirlpool & there is no place to stand..."

-Tehillim/Psalm 69:3

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller

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

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

- Rav Avigdor Miller