Practice What You Preach

At those times when the study of Torah is forbidden I enjoy very much reading books of secular wisdom. Sometimes I am so enthused by the books I go on to the computer to find out more about the author. What I often discover is quite troubling...

The person who wrote about child raising used to beat his own children from whom he was later estranged. The person who writes about faithfulness in marriage was a faithless philanderer. The person who writes about the importance of discipline and health was a chain smoking, lazy and overweight couch potato. I still can benefit from their wisdom but it gives me an appreciation of the fact that it is not always easy to practice what you preach.

Our Holy Sages throughout the generations are only held in high regard because they were men of exemplary character. If we would find a chink in their armor they would cease to be sources of reverance and adulation [barring a case where they later did tshuva].

As I embark on this new project of having a kollel [and hopefully one day much more..] devoted to matters of Avodas Hashem such as good middos and deep abiding faith in Hashem and prepare shiurim on those topics, I hope that I can live what I am learning.

Not an easy task but I believe I will be all the better for trying - and hopefully those around me will "get the fever" as well, making the world a brighter, happier, more spiritual place!