Hiding a deck of Cards - a Y. Kippur Meditation

B"H

I wish you a very amazing Yom Kippur

(Sun. Night - Mon. night).

May you and your family have a sweet year, with all blessings materially and spiritually.

May the best of last year, be the worst of this year!

Mendel Futerfas, fondly known by all as "Reb Mendel", was a special Chassid who inspired all who met him. He suffered much hardship in his life on account of his self-sacrifice to teach children Torah in Communist Russia where it was forbidden. He was finally caught at one point, and was sentenced to 15 years of labor in Siberia. He later moved to Israel and taught students there. He passed away in 1995.

A Teacher here in my yeshiva, Rabbi Kaplan, was a student of his many years ago.

He related to us the following story he heard directly from Reb Mendel:

"One night, I was resting in a room shared with many other Russian prisoners. They were playing cards and having a very good time.

All of a sudden we heard footsteps, and in stormed one of the officers.

"Where are the cards!?!" Yelled the officer, "I know you're playing cards and I'm going to catch you." Glancing around the room, the officer gave a final glare at all those around him, and left.

No sooner had he left, than the cards were right back on the table and the playing ensued.

After a few minutes, the door again slammed open.

"I know they're here!"

This time the Officer had brought a fellow officer with him, and they began frisking every prisoner, turning over tables and chairs, searching high and low for the illegal deck of cards. After 15 minutes of searching, the officers left angry & exasperated.

After they had left, the cards were placed back on the table and playing resumed. "I couldn't take it anymore," related Reb Mendel. "I had to know how these prisoners hid the cards with such amazing efficiency! So I asked them, "How do you do it?"

"We can't tell you," one of them answered. "You'll rat on us."

"Come on," Reb mendel argued, "I'm a prisoner just like you. Why would I care to do that?"

"Fine," one of them answered. "I'll tell you.

We prisoners are thieves by trade. We're quick with our hands. Whenever the officer enters, one of us takes the deck and secretly places it in his pocket. It's the only place he never thinks to check."

Reb Mendel sat back to think. In every circumstance and event Reb Mendel found himself in, he always liked to find a lesson to be learned in life and in the service of G-d. What lesson could be gleaned from this situation? At a Chassidic Gathering years later, Reb Mendel explained what he had learned:

"Oftentimes we're so busy checking other people's pockets, that we forget to check our own pockets, where the issue really lies."

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As Yom Kippur nears, it's a propitious time to reflect on how we may have wronged others in our lives, and ask for their forgiveness.

But in our hearts, many of us truly believe that we are not the ones to be blamed.

But we have to check our "pockets."

In marital relationships, a spouse has one of 2 options. To always blame the other for issues of contention that arise, or to have the sense of mind to check one's own pockets to see if he or she has an area which they could fix. This applies to all relationships. We all (including myself) mistakenly spend too much time trying to fix those around us, when we should rather be spending the time working on ourselves. For ultimately, at the end of the day, we only have ourselves to fix. Its much easier to find the faults in others around us. To look within, with honesty, and find areas that need fixing, is truly wise, and truly holy.

With this attitude in mind, our forgiveness of others at this time of year, and our requests for forgiveness, should meet with increased success, and continue throughout the year!

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To end off with one point about the auspicious day of Yom Kippur itself. Many of us spend the day in Synagogue, fasting, waiting for the day to end, counting the seconds on the clock and fantasizing as to which flavor of Jamba Juice we're going to get when it finishes

(Mango anyone? )

It's very important though, on such a special day, to try and choose a moment or two, to truly meditate on our lives and our connection to G-d and our Judaism.

I heard a nice idea last night. The final prayer of the day of Yom Kippur is called Ne'ilah. This time is usually described as the last chance of the year, as the heavenly "gates" are closing, to send our last pleas and requests to G-d for our coming year.

Chassidic teachings take this a bit deeper.

On Yom Kippur, our souls are awakened to a deeper connection with G-d. As Ne'ilah approaches, and the gates are closing, we are left alone with G-d - behind the gates, inside. It's taught that each of the 5 prayers of the day correspond to one of the *5 levels in of our soul. This is a time to really connect and revel in our close and unbreakable bond with our Maker. Let's take advantage of this day, and springboard into the year with its inspiration!

-Daniel

Jerusalem, Israel

May you be Sealed for a good & sweet year!

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*Classical kabbala identifies four levels of the soul - called 1)Nefesh, 2)Ruach, 3)Neshama, and 4)Neshama l'neshama. Nefesh is the animating principle of the physical body and the senses; ruach is the force vitalizing the emotions; neshama is the vitality of intellect; and neshama l'neshama is the essence of life of the human soul. The Arizal refers to this fourth level of soul as Chaya, signifying its function as the essence of life. However, all these four aspects of the soul he regarded as mere extensions of the essence of the soul, which he called Yechida.

Creating our Universe - a R. Hashana Meditation

B"H

Certain things are taken for granted.
For example, when we turn on a sink faucet, we expect and assume that water will emerge from the tap. Or a child in most households who opens the refrigerator expects to find food on its shelves. In truth, however, neither the water nor the food appear on their own. There is a well-staffed company which maintains the water pipes and pumps necessary to draw water from the reservoir into the residential home, and parents invest incredible energy to stock the refrigerator...

Beginning tomorrow night, Friday (the 1st day of Tishrei) and continuing through Sunday evening, Jews the world over will be petitioning G-d to continue maintaining the universe, like 'water through the tap' for another year. In the absence of the steady flow of Divine energy, all would cease to exist. As we celebrate the momentous holiday of "Rosh Hashana," the anniversary of the creation of the universe, we are not only commemorating creation, but are asking for a renewal of it. Our mystics explain that during these 48 hrs., depending on our requests & will, G-d Will Decide whether to renew the world for another year (and of course, whether that year will be filled w/ wealth, health, and all of our daily needs and desires).
Also, these 48 hrs. are considered the "Rosh" (lit. head) of our year - which, like a head, contains all of the life force for every hr. & day of the coming year (like limbs of the body).

Big Stuff huh?

There's just one hitch to this whole equation: Why in the world (no pun intended) are we commemorating the creation of the world, and are working to have it renewed, on the 1st day of Tishrei!?
"Why not?" you ask.
Well, it just so happens that the Midrash writes that Adam & Eve were created on this 1st day of Tishrei (Rosh Hashana). And we know that they were created on the 6th day of creation.
{ed. note: if you've happen to have been beaten over the head w/ the concept of the world's being formed by chance, check: here , here , or here as food for thought}
Which means that we're really celebrating Rosh Hashana and G-d's Creation on the 6th day of creation. How absurd!

Or is it?

Our Wise Sages explain that this is not by chance. The initial creation of the world came out of G-d's Kindness. But after that, every year the decision to continue creating & enlivening our universe depends on us. That is why we celebrate Rosh Hashana on the 6th day of Creation, for it's on every man and woman to work on our performance of G-d's Will in improving this world and ourselves, in order to elicit G-d's Will for Creation again each year. Our efforts directly affect the creation of the universe.
This idea can be very inspirational, for it shows how vital our efforts really are, in our day to day lives.
The number one focus of the short, precious hours of Rosh Hashana, say our Sages, is to crown Hashem joyfully as our King for another year. For that joy and willingness evokes in G-d the Will to be King for this coming year over His beloved people and world. By contemplating that we are able to give such a pleasure to the Infinite G-d, hopefully this actually can inspire us to really feel joyful when we sit in the synagogue or wherever we are this Rosh Hashana, and inspire us to live a year of more productivity in all areas of good.

May you be inscribed & sealed for a good and sweet year, physically and spiritually, and may all your dreams be fulfilled in all areas of good. And may we all merit to meet together here in Yerushalayim, with the final redemption, may it happen now!!

Daniel
Jerusalem, Israel

P.S. Please forgive me if I have wronged you in any way this yr.!

Perceiving Our inner hum

B"H

A Jewish student at Boston University enrolled in a course on Philosophy. Interestingly enough, this particular Philosophy Professor tended to include many spiritual themes, like "G-d" & "soul" on a frequent basis.One day, as students dragged themselves to class, this student took his seat among them. As they settled down and slowly quieted their chatting and laughing, the Professor stood at his podium looking ready to begin. But what came was nothing but silence. Nothing happened. Minutes ticked by, and the Professor wasn't saying a word! Everyone looked at each other with confused looks, thinking that the Professor must be off his rocker. Time continued to tick. Finally, after much squirming and uncomfortable silence, the Professor opened his mouth: "
Do you hear that?" Now they were certain. This poor guy must have a screw loose somewhere. No one had said a word and there was definitely nothing to "hear"! After a few more minutes of silence, the Professor asked again: "Do any of you hear that?" Again, no one could understand.During this whole perplexing scene, this student began to think as to what the teacher was referring to. "Come to think of it, I never heard the humming of the fan in this room before." After the Professor asked a third time,
this student spoke up: "I can hear the humming of the fan..." "Excellent" said the Professor.
"It was always there, but when all of you were busy talking, you never noticed it. You never heard it.
All of you are dismissed, have a great day."Everyone jumped out of their seats, ecstatic with their early dismissal. But this particular student remained in his seat, bewildered. What message is this guy trying to get across here? After 2 weeks of pestering his teacher, the Professor finally revealed his thinking to his student: "We're so busy talking, moving, being distracted, that we never just take a second to stop and hear our own soul."
(As told by this student to Rabbi Yossi Jacobson) Author Tzvi Freeman once said, that often-times after attending a "farbrengen" (Chassidic gathering) led by the Lubavitcher Rebbe (where hours upon hours of deep material was shared), he would drive from Brooklyn to a secluded place somewhere to quietly think over all that he had heard. "Nowadays," says Tzvi, "if you see someone thinking deeply for a minute, someone will probably walk over to him and gently ask him if everything's alright!"

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We all have souls, souls which our mystics desribe as literally "a spark of G-d."
How come many of us fail to ever feel this extremely powerful force within us?
True, many of us would love to feel that side of us more; to connect more with that deeper, more spiritual part that we all possess inside. So how do we get in touch with it?

As the above stories illustrate, too often we are so immersed in the physical world, and our senses are so bombarded from all sides and angles, we never give our souls a second to make themselves heard in our lives. If we are constantly gossiping, watching TV, talking on the phone, and eating, how can we expect our spiritual side to ever surface?

We need to be able to take a minute from time to time in our busy day, and just stop.
This is by the way, what prayer helps us do. "I'd like to stop from the busying frenzy of my day, but how can I?" This is why prayer was instituted; to force us to take a minute (3 times a day) to re-focus on the deeper things in life, to reveal our spiritual side more.
In a broader sense, this is what Shabbat is. That time in our busy week when we're forced to quiet down our connections to physicality a bit (not completely - we still eat well!) and spend more time on meditation and reflection on the purpose of our lives, and of what's truly important.

It's very difficult at first for one to reveal his spiritual side, because to do so means to perceive the subtlety in life. Rabbi Yosef Y. Shneerson once remarked: "If you can't stop and gaze at a painting, and appreciate it's intricacies and its message, than you will have a tough time meditating on G-d." The same goes for appreciating the rhythm of music, and the harmony of nature. Appreciate that which isn't yelling for attention, but whose beauty is screaming to be noticed.
For myself, sitting in a secluded area in nature (for me it was ideally by the trees near the ocean on my UCSB campus :) and listening to calming music, saying Psalms or just meditating on the wondrousness and detailed beauty of G-d's Creation, all of this helps to feel our souls more and connect. To shut off the laptop and cell phone, I-phone and TV, and just praise Hashem for the ability to breathe and feel and taste, to have family and friends who we love.

We are 1/2 way through this special month of 'Elul', where our Mystics tell us that "the King is in the Field" - G-d is more accessible. Every night when we sleep, our souls ascend to Gan Eden and plead with G-d Asking why they had to leave and descend into this coarse, insensitive world. Let's take advantage of this opportunity to, as the rapper Matisyahu rightly puts it, "Strip away the layers and reveal your soul!"

Just to end off with a quick story: Spiritual yearning often leads many Jews to search in every direction but their own heritage, oftentimes to Eastern Philosophies found primarily in India.
But sadly, many fail to realize that it was always right under their nose!
My good friend here in yeshiva, Diego G. from Chile, a very special soul, told me the other day that he spent many years in India studying their philosophy and living that life. One day, he visited a monk. Upon hearing about Diego's Jewish roots, the monk told him: "Go back and explore your Judaism. It's the true path for you."
Let's cash in on the special diamond of a soul we have and not just ignore it. Let's taste the sweetness of that deeper reality that we all have the ability to actualize.
Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel
Yerushalayim, Israel

P.S. If you haven't yet, please sign up your email on QuillofTheSoul.Blogspot.com
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May you be inscribed & Sealed for a good & sweet year!Remember: Your next deed will change the world. Make it a good one!

Chassidic Discourse

בס"ד. אור ליום ה' פ' שופטים, אדר"ח אלול ה'תשמ"ו

{A Chassidic Discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1986, roughly translated by my friend Doron & I, regarding the Spiritual energy found in the Hebrew month of Elul.}

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“I am to My Beloved and My Beloved is to me” is an acronym for the name of the month of Elul. The explanation of the significance of this is found in Likkutei Torah:

Elul is the time of ‘I am to My Beloved’, which is an arousal from below. This continues until Rosh Hashonoh and Yom Kippur, which is a time of revelation of G-dliness from above.

Meaning: ‘I am to My Beloved’ is an arousal from below to above in the month of Elul and after this ‘My Beloved is to me’ - a drawing down from above during the Days of Awe.

Although the month of Elul is an arousal from below, nevertheless we need to understand how this arousal from below is empowered from above.

And this is what is continued in the explanation, that Elul is a time of the revelation of the 13 Attributes of Mercy which are the arousal from above which precedes & empowers the arousal from below, “I am to My Beloved.”

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And we can understand this by way of analogy of a king, who, before he reaches his city, the townspeople leave town in order to welcome the king in the field. There he receives them all, and all the people can see the face of their ruler. However, once the king reaches his palace, the people can only enter it with his permission, based on their qualities.

Now we can understand the connection between the analogy and the month of Elul, which is the time when one can go out to receive the light and countenance of G-d “in the field.”

And this illumination of the 13 Attribues of Mercy by G-D - “May G-D make his countenance shine upon you” - represents the King’s welcoming of all the people.

And the details of how man’s service should be, are explained there in Likkutei Torah.

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In the expositions on the significance of the month of Elul in Likkutei Torah (arranged & printed by the Tzemach Tzedek), we find something very unique: These teachings lack their own section and heading, for ex. "דרושים לאלול" (which every holiday enjoys), rather they are included in the parsha of ראה.

Therefore, we need to understand the connection between the month of Elul and the parsha of ראה. We also need to know why there are no sections in Likkutei Torah for the parsha of שופטים, neither before nor after. Especially given the fact that we know many teachings from the Alter Rebbe on this parsha exist - both on the verses in the beginning & on the middle. As we find clearly written in ‘Or HaTorah’ of the Tzemach Tzedek, as well as in teachings from the Mitteler Rebbe, both of which are based on the teachings of the Alter Rebbe.

We also need to understand the connection between Rosh Chodesh Elul and the parsha of שופטים. The section in Likkutei Torah which contains this discourse of ‘Ani Ledodi,’ begins on the page “lamed beis” – לב (heart). This connection is surely not by chance. We see in Chapter 32 (לב) of Tanya , (based on the Biblical verse: “you shall love your fellow as yourself”), that the love of another Jew is connected to the point of the heart, as our Sages of blessed memory have said: “This is the fundamental principle of the Torah.”

This page ((לב of expositions on the month of Elul is found in the section of Likkutei Torah expounding on the book of “Mishnah Torah” - Devorim, as it was arranged to be so by the Tzemach Tzedek. This page symbolizes the heart of the section of Likkutei Torah expounding on the Mishneh Torah. Even if one would say, that it happened to end up on the page when printed, nevertheless, since it is a book of Torah, we can learn from it. As the Ba’al Shem Tov taught: “One can learn a lesson from everything one sees in his service of G-D, in all its details.”

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And we can say about all this, that the service of man in the month of Elul is like the parable of the king in the field. And we can also understand the connection between the month of Elul and the page lamed beis (לב). For in Elul “the king is in the field”, in as much as when in the field, everyone is equal and individually able to receive the countenance of the king, and the king in turn receives all. Furthermore, when the King is in the field, he nullifies any divisions between him & his nation, receiving everyone equally with open arms and a pleasant countenance.

In general (& specifically in Elul), ‘I’ (Yisroel) am to ‘my Beloved’ (Hashem): That both are, so to speak, the heart of the other.

And this connection is dependent upon the unity of the Jewish people, as is stated in Iggeres HaKodesh (in Tanya). There is also a connection to the parsha of ראה (lit. “seeing”): The illumination of the 13 Attributes of Mercy Face to face, which are the Internal Will of the blessed-G-D for the Jewish people (revealed during Elul) and the Jewish people for G-D, which is conveyed in the opening verse of the parsha of ראה, ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם- “See I’m giving you” - face to face. However, this is not the case regarding the parsha of שופטים, which highlights the divisions between people, by establishing guards and laws between every one.

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The exposition on the month of Elul & the ‘king coming to the field’ is explained further:

1) Just as there are fields, so too there are deserts.

2) A land does not sprout produce except in a place where man dwells.

The analogy to the month of Elul is a king coming to the field (and not a desert) because a field is on a higher level than a desert. A desert is a place where land does not yield produce, whereas the field is the source of the produce for bread, as the verse says: “from the land comes bread.” It says in Tehillim, “bread sustains the heart of man”. It mentions also in parshas עקב : “Man does not live by bread alone, rather by the very word that comes from the mouth of G-D does he live” – by the G-dly spark contained within the bread.

We find there is a superior quality of a field over both a city and a desert : The city contains houses which are in the “domain of holiness”, whilst the desert is outside of this domain – a place where man does not dwell. The purpose of the field is this: To refine that which is found outside of the “homes” of holiness, and enter them into the realm of holiness.

And this is the primary service of man, to lift up all worldly matters into the realm of holiness.

And this is also the reason why sacrifices are generally referred to as: “את קרבני לחמי לאישי” – the concept of bread (to bring the mundane into the realm of the holy).

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The totality of this service of sacrifices will be seen in the future era. Even though during the time of exile, the effect of sacrifices can be accomplished through learning the Torah laws regarding their fulfilment - as it says “we will offer the words of our lips instead of calves,” nevertheless the true and complete effect of sacrifices will be in the future era.

In the language of prayer, “and there we will offer to you...in accordance with the commandment of your Will” which is the fulfilment of all the mitzvos in the complete sense in the future era. And this quality of completeness will be specifically seen with the mitzvah of sacrifices.

In the future era, there will also be fields. As we learn in the Book of Yirmeyahu the Prophet: “houses and fields and vineyards shall be bought again in this land.” However, in that time the “partitions” between the field and the city will be negated, and the revelation in the 3rd Temple will spread through the holy city of Jerusalem and then out into the fields around. As our sages teach us, that in the future era, Jerusalem will spread throughout the Land of Israel, and the Land of Israel will spread throughout the entire world, as is says: “The glory of G-D shall be Revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of G-D has spoken it”.

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Additionally there is a hint in the connection between the teaching – the idea of the negation of all divisions, everything is equal – and that parsha of שופטים – that which is revealed in the end of the parsha.

And this is the idea of the parsha – you shall establish judges, police offices... the idea of positions of authority and divisions, however when the actions of the judges affect another to ”to go in His ways for all time” that causes a nullification of all division until “G-D expands your boundaries” (when you guard the mitzvos).

The idea of “G-D expands your boundaries” is expressed in spiritual terms as the idea of the land Israel expanding to all lands in the future. And there is also a revelation of the faculties of חב"ד as our Sages of Blessed Memory said, “when G-D expands your boundaries into the land of קיני קניזי וקדמוני” and the explanation given by the Mittler Rebbe is that these land refer to the faculties of חב"ד.

For what’s drawn down now is only the lower seven sefirot. But in order to achieve the upper 3 sefirot with the final Redemption, we must work (specifically) on spreading the well-springs of chassidus outward in a way that people can understand - in a way of חב"ד - to such a point that these three lands will be conquered, i.e. that your חב"ד will conquer the knowledge of the well-springs, until such a point that this part of Torah will be called by your name – “תורתו.”

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May it be His Will that through this service of spreading the wellsprings outward and conquering the Chabad of our souls, we will come very soon to the conquering of חב"ד in the world - until it’s completely conquered to the point where it’s called by His Name.

And this should be fulfilled speedily; that" מיד immediately" (as the Rambam says) the exile should end, and the land of the 7 nations should be completely conquered. And immediately after this the 3 remaining nations, so that together the land of the 10 nations will be conquered in the future time of redemption - 10 showing on the perfect completion of the time of redemption. As we see regarding the harp in the 3rd Holy Temple, that it will have 10 strings. So too there will be a “10th song”, a “10th red heifer”, and the “10th counting of the Jewish People” – that G-D Counts Yisroel because of His Great Love for them.

And all of this speedily in our days in a visible, real way, in our time and in our place, souls in bodies, with joy and gladness of heart.