Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Closin' up shop

30 Tishrei 5769

With my sincerest apologies, it looks like my time constraints are going to prohibit me from continuing to post reliably and regularly on this blog. iyH we will resume again next year, although if the Mashiach comes before then, we probably won't need to - Hatzlacha Raba!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Symbolism of a Succah

17 Tishrei 5769

We say in Maariv, "Hashem, spread out your Succah of peace over Bnei Yisrael." Rav Eliyahu Dessler asks in Michtav Me'Eliyahu - what does a succah have to do with peace?

Rav Dessler explains the following: a succah is a temporary dwelling. This temporary dwelling reminds us of a much greater temporary dwelling - namely, our existence in this world. Chazal tell us that this world is merely a corridor to the next; this world is a temporary dwelling for our neshamah. When we sit in the succah, a temporary dwelling, we are reminded that our existence in this world is merely temporary, as well.

Most arguments are built off of material things - money, power, fame. (Very rarely does an argument get started for purely spiritual reasons; and that is l'shem shamayim, something that is praiseworthy). Explains Rav Dessler, if we would be able to internalize this message of the succah, that we're all on this earth for a temporary time period, we wouldn't fight about trifle, physical pleasures. We would realize that these material goals are temporary, as well, and we'd look towards the future, towards the next world, with our pursuits. This would lead to Peace. Nobody would be fighting over money, possessions, or things of the like. So we daven every day: please Hashem, help us internalize the message of the succah. Help us realize that this world is only a corridor. Help us have peace between each and every one of us.

This also answers the question as to why Succos is placed right after Yom Kippur. As you may know, the miracle of Succos - whether it was the Clouds of Glory or actual physical booths that Bnei Yisrael sat in when they left Mitzrayim - that all happened in Nissan, right after Pesach. Why do we celebrate Succos now, in Tishrei? There are many answers, but one of them is this idea - we need a chag like this to steer us through a long winter. There aren't many holidays to remind us of the spiritual highs of the Yamim Noraim. How can we maintain the holiness, the pledges, the way of life that we chose during the Aseres Yimei Teshuva? How can we keep that going through the cold, dark winter? The holiday of Succos is a great way to kick us into that next level - we have more than a week of dwelling in a small hut, to remind us that this world is also a temporary existence. With Hashem's help, this chag we will internalize this message, and we will live this year with a constant remembrance of what this world truly is - a corridor to the next.

Hatzlacha Raba!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Keeping It Going

11 Tishrei, 5769

Okay, so Yom Kippur is over. You had a great davening, your tefillos were answered iyH, you feel great. The question now is: how do you keep that going?

Many of us know what it's like to make a New Year's Resolution. No, not the ones you make on January 1st - the ones you make during עשרת ימי תשובה. You want to daven better. You promised not to say Lashon Hara for ten minutes a day. Maybe you even decided to work out twice a week, to stay in better shape and help you observe the mitzvah of ושמרתם את נפשותיכם. How do you make sure you're not back to your old ways by the end of Succos?

Before we get to that, if you do happen to get back into your old habits, you shouldn't feel bad about it. Human beings are creatures of habit - Rav Yisrael Salanter is famous for saying that it's easier to keep 613 mitzvos than to change one character trait. So don't get down - get back up and try again.

But how do you avoid that first failure? Well, there are no surefire secrets, but here are a few methods that might help you keep that New Year's Resolution for a month or two, until it's ingrained in your being and you don't even have to think about it anymore because you do it so readily:

1) Write it down. Sounds 5th-grader-ish, I know, but it works. When you write down your two or three middos/mitzvos a day, it keeps you focused on it. Mark off whether you were successful or not. That way, you can literally see your progress as you grow.
2) Don't pick too many. Keep it simple - one, two three - but not more. If you finish these, you can move on to other things.
3) Grasp inspiration from somewhere else. The Shofar, the Selichos, the fasting, the tefillos - all these are great reminders of the need to grow and improve our neshamas. During the year, we lack these reminders. Pick out one or two religious items that will spark your neshama and inspire you to grow. A suggestion, if you need - Mezuza. You see one every time you walk into a room, and Rav Eliav Silverman pointed out that the Rambam kinda compares Mezuza and Shofar - by both he has a לשון of עורו שנה משינתכם, wake up from your slumber.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them - please feel free to post underneath!

Also, if people are interested in this blog running through Hoshana Raba, or throughout the year (that'd probably be once a week), please feel free to post and let me know. Thanks!

הצלחה רבה!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Mashiach is Still Coming

8 Tishrei 5769

My previous post discussed something very real. We are living in historic times. One only needs to open his/her eyes, to behold the world through Jewish glasses, to understand that there are forces at play here beyond our understanding.

Just this past month saw the near-collapse of the American economy. It is not hard to imagine that if a few more banks go under, the near-collapse will be come a true and definite collapse (the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has already predicted that more banks will fail in 2009). What will happen then? If one looks at history, it's not hard to figure out - most often, the country in question blames the Jews. Most recently, it happened in Germany, where an economic collapse led to the rise of the Nazi regime. It has happened in every country throughout our Galus. And it can happen in America. We often have the illusion of safety in our lives - we have a secure job, a wonderful home, a great life. What could possibly go wrong? The thing is, history has a habit of changing in an instant - an attack on 9/11, a drop of an Atom Bomb, a Six-Day War. Things usually do not take too long to swerve in a totally different direction.

But forget history. Look at the present - look at last week. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is accepted everywhere when he shows up in the US, literally proved my point straight out. The following is taken from Ahmadinejad's speech, to which there has been barely any Jewish response or outcry whatsoever:

"The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support. This means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people. These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes and occupations and the threats of the Zionist network against their will."

The United States and Israel walked out before Ahmadinejad's speech, but the rest of the nations applauded him. He got a hug from the Master of Ceremonies, or whatever that guy is called. He was invited to appear on American TV shows, to speak at colleges, to further his agenda. This guy is given free reign in this country when he openly speaks of genocide and nuclear proliferation.

It is not a stretch by any means to imagine the United States becoming another anti-Semitic blip on the radar of history. Spain, Germany, Russia, France - everyone has had a turn. If the economy goes bad, people will look for a scapegoat, and the anals of history tells me that it's not hard to predict who the scapegoat will be.

Why am I telling you all this? So I can say "I told you so" when it all happens? Chas Veshalom. I am telling you this to strengthen your resolve to do Teshuva, to get closer to Hashem during these uncertain days. If Hashem is truly bringing about the Mashiach, which I feel certain that He is, we mustn't waste any time in getting as close as possible to Him. If we are to merit seeing the redemption, we have to be on a level that will enable us to experience it! With Hashem's help, will be able to reach the appropriate level, and reach our own potentials in life. In that way, we will rejoice in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, train and all, במהרה בימינו, אמן!

הצלחה רבה!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Mashiach is Coming

6 Tishrei 5769

I'm not sure how the view is from Chutz La'Aretz, but over here in Eretz Yisrael it's becoming plainer and plainer that the ימות המשיח is around the corner.

Just recently, an old tzaddik in Yerushalayim - almost 100 years old, an actual talmid of the Chofetz Chaim - told his talmidim that the Chofetz Chaim appeared to him in a dream, telling him that the משיח is coming. I know Jews who have met this fellow. In addition, it was supposedly in a recent issue of Mishpacha magazine, but I didn't see that myself.

That would be a cute story, if there wasn't an accompanying rumor to it. Supposedly, Rav Shach recently came to Rav Chaim Kanievsky, שליט"א, in a dream and told him the exact same thing. As I heard the story, Rav Shach came to Rav Chaim once, and Rav Chaim dismissed it as שטויות. Rav Shach came a second time, and Rav Chaim dismissed it as שטויות. Finally, Rav Shach came a third time and said, "What is this about שטויות? The Mashiach is coming, really soon!"

Rav Yaakov Moshe Katz supposedly tells his talmidim not to worry financially about the long-term future. He feels that yes, a talmid should acquire money for the short term, but there is no point in worrying about three, four, fives years down the road because things are going to be totally different very soon.

Okay, so these are cute stories. But if one takes a look around at the world, there are clear signs that the Mashiach is coming.

My favorite is an idea pointed out by a Ben Miller, a chaver of mine over here in the Kollel. If you haven't heard, the government is building an enormous train throughout ירושלים. Upon completion, it will travel from Tel Aviv to Yerushalayim, stopping at various points in Jerusalem and winding back around and up north again. For those of us living here, it's an enormous pain - they're building the train to travel straight down Rechov Yafo - literally, right in the middle of town - and it's wrecking havoc with traffic in the City Center. (Would you ever build a train right down 5th Avenue? Of course not.) If you haven't seen the picture of the enormous suspension bridge, check it out - the thing can be seen literally for miles, stretching upwards and spreading out in a harp-like accordion, holding up the bridge that winds the train around the Tachana HaMerkazit (Central Bus Station).

For the government to break even with this endeavor, they have calculated the necessary population on the train - 75,000 people, each day, for 10 years. In the most optimistic of predictions, city officials assume that at most 25,000 people a day will use the train. Now I ask you - what event could cause the number of people travelling to Yerushalayim to triple in size? What would demand a mass-transit system that could take the place of cars and cabs? (Imagine the number of cars in Yerushalayim tripling - if you think we have bad traffic now, forget about it). What could possibly require the building of a train that literally weaves its way through the most popular streets in Yerushalayim, stopping right in front of the Old City, and moving on to every other major neighborhood within reach?

Furthermore - what event would necessitate the building of a brand-new airport in Tel Aviv, four times the size of its predecessor? What event would necessitate a new Tachana HaMerkazit, which allows Jews to travel the country with the greatest of ease? If you have taken a bus outside of Yerushalayim, you know it's the easiest thing in the world to do. I don't know if you remember the old Tachana - it was still in use during my Shana Alef - it was a dump! A small parking lot near Gan Sacher! There was no way it could hold a big increase in volume. What could be the reason for all these mass transit upgrades in the past seven years? Why would a poor city build a $300 million bridge, when its purpose could be attained with a few well-placed cement beams?

The answer, my dear dear friends, is clear as day. There is Someone Else calling the shots. The government is not thinking along this line of reasoning - it is being put in their heads. We have a new airport to handle the future immigration of thousands of Jews. We have a new Tachana to allow Jews to travel their homeland with ease. We have a huge bridge that points to the sky so that Jews in literally every corner of Yerushalayim can see something that reminds them of their Father in Heaven.

My friends, when this train is completed, it is not going to travel from Tel Aviv to Yerushalayim.

It's going to travel from Tel Aviv to the Beis HaMikdash.

(More on this tomorrow.)

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Hashem Loves You

3 Tishrei 5769

Gmar Chasima Tova! I hope Rosh HaShana was meaningful for you. May Hashem bless you and your families with much bracha, hatzlacha, and siyata d'shmaya.

Now that we're getting into Aseres Yimei Teshuva, I'm sure we're all focused on how we can change ourselves. But before we get to that - a word about our relationship with HKBH.

Rav Dessler points out in Michtav Me'Eliyahu that the Western world's concept of Love is mistaken. They think that love is purely by chance - people fall in love, and they fall out of love. It has nothing to do with the effort a person puts into it.

Judaism, says Rav Dessler, dispenses with this whole notion. The word for love in Hebrew is "ahava." In Aramaic, "hav" - the middle part of "Ahava" - means to give. Explains Rav Dessler, love is created through giving. When Reuven gives to Leah, love grows inside of Reuven for Leah. This is how love works. This is why a husband and wife married for 30 years love each other more than two newlyweds. They have given for a much longer period of time. This is why parents love their kids more than kids love their parents - the parents have given to their children so much that it is nigh impossible not to love them, even when they do ridiculous things.

So giving creates love. This really requires a longer discussion, but the above paragraph will have to suffice for our purposes. Now, think about how much Hashem gives to us. He gives us everything, doesn't He? In fact, Hashem gives the whole world to us; He gives us life, He gives us existence, He gives us the enjoyment of this world and the next. What does this say about our relationship with HKBH?

My friends, this tells us that Hashem loves us. He loves us in an immeasurable way! Can you imagine how much love is generated by the amount of giving that Hashem does for us? And if Hashem loves us that much, He must care about every single little thing that we do! He cares if we get to minyan on time. He cares if we sneak a little ice cream before the 6th hour, or if we hold ourselves back until that 6:01 mark. He cares if we decide not to look as we pass by the pritzus on our streets. HE CARES ABOUT EVERYTHING! He is proud of every single nisayon (test) that you pass, every little fight against the Yetzer Hara that you win.

How incredibly comforting, how exciting! We don't have to feel alone when we do Teshuva this week - we can feel as if Hashem is looking down at us, arms crossed, smiling, proud of His child that He loves so much! What an encouraging thought!

If we approach Teshuva this attitude, then iy"H our Teshuva will be so much more meaningful, and it will be accepted on Yom Kippur, kein yehi ratzon.

Hatzlacha Raba!