Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Connecting Our Thoughts To The Great And Wise

לרפואת נעמי בת טובה ור' יצחק בן ברכה בתוך שח"י.

One effective way of dealing with spiritual problems [ALL of our problems are spiritual - maybe more about that another time] is by connecting our mind and thoughts with those who are examples of emotional and spiritual health. 

That is the idea of giving money to a Tzadik [called "Pidyon"]. Money is the source of our life [it says in the Yerushalmi that all of our organs depend on our hearts and our hearts depend on our pockets] so we give our lives [i.e. money] over to the Tzadik, thereby connecting to him, helping him do his special Avodah. When we connect to the Tzadik we essentially connect to all of the Jewish people because the Tzadik is not just an individual living his own personal life but rather he lives for the community. 

That empowers us to rise above our own personal difficulties. 

Here is a good exercise - when struggling with a problem, try to think what a person you respect greatly would do. That enables you to step out of your somewhat narrow way of thinking ad connecting to something higher and broader.







[For a better understanding of what ויקץ כישן פיגול means - see Zevachim 31a at the top.]