From an email that is circulating.
This Dvar Torah is dedicated to my most beloved friend Moshe Yehuda ben Pesha Dina. KB"H should shower upon him and his family, limitless blessings in all areas of their lives.
How To See Holy Visions
The Medrash [Psikta on the pasuk והיה מדי חודש בחודשו וכו' יבואו כל בשר להשתחוות לפני אמר השם] says that the best way to "see the face of the King" is to overcome one's evil inclinations and particularly guard one's eyes..
The angels were not worthy of receiving the Torah because they don't have battles with more base and fleshy desires [see Shabbos 88]. The secret of human greatness lies in our ability to withstand temptation and trials. If we can keep our eyes pure and not look at things we shouldn't see, our eyes will be able to envisage the מלך ביופיו תחזינה עיניך - beauty of the King [Yeshaya 33/17]. There are so many images out there that are begging for our attention and the task of mankind is only to see what is necessary for the service of the Ribbono Shel Olam.
Pischu Li Shaarei Tzedek
There are two ways that Hashem "opens" his gates of spirituality to man. One is when we open up a little - He reciprocates in a big way [פתחו לי פתח של מחט ואני אפתח לכם כפתחו של אולם- See Makkos 10 and Shir Hashirim Rabba 5/2].
The greater level which earns us a far greater, UNLIMITED, Divine "opening" is when we "keep our eyes at home" [as my ninth grade English teacher used to say during tests when the great "baalei chesed" in the class would "help" the weaker students....] and thereby achieve purity and holiness. This is what the pasuk calls ועוצם עיניו מראות ברע [See Bava Basra 58].
Yaakov was called an איש תם יושב אהלים - He was a pure tents dweller. The pasuk says אהלים in the plural [not because the Torah is chas vi-shalom pluralistic...] because it refers to two types of tents. One is that the tent hides a person's good deeds from others. צניעות. Not everyone has to know what a tzadik you are. And number 2 - To avoid looking at all of the bad things out there that contaminate the eyes and the soul. Yaakov was a יושב אהלים.
That is what Bilaam meant when he said מה טובו אהליך יעקב - How GOODLY are thy tents O Yaakov!! AZOI SHEYN!!! So puuuureeee!!
As Rashi says ראה שאין פתחיהם מכוונים זה מול זה - Their "openings" weren't angled opposite one another. Meaning [on a deeper level] that the openings that the Jews made to merit Divine bounty were not positioned in such a way that we "opened up" with a little of our own enthusiasm and desire for Divine closeness and corresponding to that Hashem opened up in a big way.
NO! We did better. We were closed up in our tents [the pasuk says nothing about "openings" just about be ensconced in our tents] as Yaakov, hiding our good deeds and avoiding contact with the impurity that rages on the streets. That merits us the HIGHEST level of unlimited spiritual blessings.
מה טובו אהליך יעקב.
[Based on the Eretz Tzvi of the Kadosh HaRav Aryeh Tzvi Fromer ztz"l הי"ד].
We are in the midst of a "World War". Not a war with missiles and rockets but a spiritual war that has ramifications far beyond the confines our tiny, eensy weensy planet. The world cries out to us "LOOK AT ME". Come to my Facebook page. Click me a "like". "Friend" me. Look at the billboard on 42nd street. Check out that "Rebbetzin" who nebuch nebuch either forgot to get dressed that morning or just can't afford clothing. Every storefront window screams "Look at me!!" Come in and buy something that you don't need. Hotels advertise - "We will give you a week of Paradise. 24 hour fressing. Pretty girls everywhere. Mixed swimming ["heimish" - everybody in the pool is Jewish], golf course [someone once said that golf ruins a really enjoyable walk], entertainment [kosher of course - everyone watching the goyim perform is Jewish], and OF COURSE daily minyanim and daf yomi. SOOOO SPIRITUAL. If it wouldn't be the middle of the Californa or the Bahamas you would think that you are in Yerushalayim at the Kotel. And all for only 41,455 dollars [INCLUDING AIRFARE!!!] for one week. Why are you working so hard if not to spend it all on pleasures that your soul doesn't want and your body doesn't need. [Note from the editor/censor/writer: There is nothing wrong with taking a vacation - the question is where, why, how, with whom and at what cost. We are in favor of enjoying Hashem's blessings and as followers of the Baal Shem Tov don't preach abstinence].
People read this advertisement and it WORKS. "Josh", the woman says to her husband as she looks up from the ad on the Jewish Press on line, "this looks really good. Pesach in Egypt. They have a great program. I think the kids will really enjoy it. I mean - they are bored of Miami already. Wow! Jeep rides on the pyramids over chol hamoed. Better than Six Flags. Lets go!" And who can say no to his devoted faithful wife - so off they go. 50k and a day after Pesach later they are already planning the next one.
We are people of tents. We need not indulge in all the world has to offer.
What we CAN do [in the positive sense] is involve ourselves in mitzvos that nobody [or the fewest possible people] know about. This is the second aspect of the tent. We learn as much Torah as we can, we generously share of Hashem's money that He kindly deposited in our accounts with those less fortunate, we do chesed for those in need, we comfort widows, set up singles, invite the lonely to our homes for Shabbos meals and quietly lives lives of which Yaakov would be so proud.
In that merit we will certainly see the end of this bitter-bitter galus and no longer have to fast and mourn but rather live in a world of complete joy and bliss. The שכינה left because we expelled Her and by elevating ourselves and purifying out "tents" she will return. In fact, the mishkan, where the שכינה would dwell is called by the Torah an אהל. In the merit of our אהלים we will once again enjoy the presence of Hashem in His אהל- but this time forever.
A Shabbos of bliss!!
Love and blessings to all,
Me
