A Guide To Miracle Working

Chazal say ראתה שפחה על הים מה שלא ראה יחזקאל בן בוזי - A simple maidservant saw at krias yam suf what the holy Navi Yechezkel didn't see in his heavenly visions. Meaning, that she reached a much higher level. If so, why are we so enthralled by the great personality of Yechekel? We have a sefer of his [Sefer Yechezkel], a street named after him [right off ככר שבת], and much discussion about him in our ancient sources. We don't hear much else about the simple שפחות. Why not - they were apparently even greater?!

The Baalei Mussar have a field day with this question: The שפחה remained a שפחה!! She saw the most exalted visions but didn't change much from the experience. Yechezkel, in contrast, was a lofty and elevated personality and continuously grew from his experiences and visions.

What is the difference? What separates the "men from the boys" or the "prophets from the maidservants"??

HARD WORK.

Tyere yidden - we have to be willing to work hard if we are going to change. When Hashem performs miracles he breaks through the normal routine of nature. In our daily lives we are ALL, NO EXCEPTIONS, stuck in patterns of behavior and thought that are not always conducive to spiritual growth and development. A "miracle" for us would be to follow the Divine model and break our patterns to reach the next level.

When you go to a [separate] gym you can hire a personal fitness instructor who will design a special tailored-fit program to help bring you to the highest level of physical fitness. In your spiritual world you need a similarly tailored-fit program to help bring you to the highest level of spiritual fitness. [A Rebbe helps....]

This computer is so inadequate in expressing what I really want to say.

Argggghhhhhh!!!

But you catch my drift.

BELOVED FRIENDS - With the inspiration of שביעי של פסח and the miracles Hashem performed for us, let us perform a few of our own...

A zissen yom tov followed by a Shabbos from the heavens.

:-)