From an email:
SHALLOOOMMM SWEEEETEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First - a HUUUGE mazel tov to my brother-master-teacher-hero-guide R' Yosef Tzvi and family on the wedding of his daughter Shira to Mordechai Zilberberg, taking place in a few hours in Monsey Ir Hakodesh!!!
ROUGH WEEK FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE AT LARGE!!!!
No - not the Bennet-Lapid thing. That is a passing phenomenon [whether you like them or not...].
I am talking about the decree that Moshe and Aharon not enter the Land of Israel because of the episode of the Mei Merivah where Moshe hit the rock instead of speaking to it. Had they entered - EVERYTHING would have been different!! We would have walked in like kings, built the Beis Hamikdash and all of human history would have been different.
That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.
Aldous Huxley
Says the pasuk:
Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, "Since you did not have faith in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly to the Land which I have given them."
to sanctify Me: For had you spoken to the rock and it had given forth [water], I would have been sanctified in the eyes of the congregation. They would have said,"If this rock, which neither speaks nor hears, and does not require sustenance, fulfills the word of the Omnipresent, how much more should we! - [Rashi from Midrash Aggadah]
Three of the lessons from this Rashi:
1] INCREDIBLE!!!! We need a ROCK to teach us to serve Hashem?? Like- How about we have to listen to Hashem b/c He said and He is Boss???
Ok. But we all know how hard it is to do the right thing with NO ulterior motives. If one is self-aware, if one is constantly keeping track of his thoughts and analyzing them from the outside as it were - called today "mindfulness" and by the בעלי מוסר it is called התבוננות, then he/she knows that the "what is in it for me" constantly creeps in there in different forms.
Do I REALLY want to give tzdaka b/c it is the right thing to do in the Eyes Of Hashem or am I giving b/c I feel badly saying no and giving will make me feel better or other motivations? Do I do the favor or act friendly so that people will like me more or b/c it is the right thing to do and b/c I was created to benefit others [Rav Chaim of Volozhin in the name of the Vilna Gaon]? There are infinite thoughts of self gratification that sneak in when we do the right thing [not to mention what we are thinking when we do the wrong thing!!!].
"It's not our job to play judge and jury, to determine who is worthy of our kindness and who is not. We just need to be kind, unconditionally and without ulterior motive, even - or rather, especially - when we'd prefer not to be."
Learn from the rock [that ROCKSSSSSS!!!]: The rock has NO SUCH THOUGHTS. The rock never thinks "If I let this pretty girl step on me then she will like me and hopefully eventually marry me". NO!
The rock doesn't think "If I let this guy fling me in the lake then maybe he will give my son a summer internship". NO ULTERIOR MOTIVES. THAT is precisely how we should keep mitzvos. Just b/c Hashem said that it is the right thing to do. Not for Olam Haba. Not for reward. Not for what will they say about me. Not for my conscience. But b/c it is the right thing to do in the Eyes Of The Commander In Chief!!!
"Relying on the power of kindness is a sensitive undertaking. The challenge is to inspire people to be kind more often without tainting the selflessness that comes from doing something nice with no ulterior motive."
2] Didn't the Jews already learn a TON from Moshe and Aharon abt. how to serve Hashem properly? Are there any better examples than these two titans?? So ONE TIME they didn't get it right! For that they can't fulfill their lifelong dream and enter the land?
YES!!!!
Every bit of Kiddush Hashem is CRITICAL. For crying out loud - that is our mandate in this world - to be מקדש שם שמים. As Yeshaya put it:
כֹּל הַנִּקְרָא בִשְׁמִי וְלִכְבוֹדִי בְּרָאתִיו יְצַרְתִּיו אַף עֲשִׂיתִיו
Everything called by My Name [i.e. the Jewish people] is for My Honor.
SHALLOOOMMM SWEEEETEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First - a HUUUGE mazel tov to my brother-master-teacher-hero-guide R' Yosef Tzvi and family on the wedding of his daughter Shira to Mordechai Zilberberg, taking place in a few hours in Monsey Ir Hakodesh!!!
ROUGH WEEK FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE AT LARGE!!!!
No - not the Bennet-Lapid thing. That is a passing phenomenon [whether you like them or not...].
I am talking about the decree that Moshe and Aharon not enter the Land of Israel because of the episode of the Mei Merivah where Moshe hit the rock instead of speaking to it. Had they entered - EVERYTHING would have been different!! We would have walked in like kings, built the Beis Hamikdash and all of human history would have been different.
That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.
Aldous Huxley
Says the pasuk:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָה֘ אֶל־משֶׁ֣ה וְאֶל־אַֽהֲרֹן֒ יַ֚עַן לֹא־הֶֽאֱמַנְתֶּ֣ם בִּ֔י לְהַ֨קְדִּישֵׁ֔נִי לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לָכֵ֗ן לֹ֤א תָבִ֨יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי לָהֶֽם:
להקדישני: שאילו דברתם אל הסלע והוציא הייתי מקודש לעיני העדה ואומרים מה סלע זה שאינו מדבר ואינו שומע ואינו צריך לפרנסה מקיים דבורו של מקום, קל וחומר אנו:
Three of the lessons from this Rashi:
1] INCREDIBLE!!!! We need a ROCK to teach us to serve Hashem?? Like- How about we have to listen to Hashem b/c He said and He is Boss???
Ok. But we all know how hard it is to do the right thing with NO ulterior motives. If one is self-aware, if one is constantly keeping track of his thoughts and analyzing them from the outside as it were - called today "mindfulness" and by the בעלי מוסר it is called התבוננות, then he/she knows that the "what is in it for me" constantly creeps in there in different forms.
Do I REALLY want to give tzdaka b/c it is the right thing to do in the Eyes Of Hashem or am I giving b/c I feel badly saying no and giving will make me feel better or other motivations? Do I do the favor or act friendly so that people will like me more or b/c it is the right thing to do and b/c I was created to benefit others [Rav Chaim of Volozhin in the name of the Vilna Gaon]? There are infinite thoughts of self gratification that sneak in when we do the right thing [not to mention what we are thinking when we do the wrong thing!!!].
"It's not our job to play judge and jury, to determine who is worthy of our kindness and who is not. We just need to be kind, unconditionally and without ulterior motive, even - or rather, especially - when we'd prefer not to be."
Learn from the rock [that ROCKSSSSSS!!!]: The rock has NO SUCH THOUGHTS. The rock never thinks "If I let this pretty girl step on me then she will like me and hopefully eventually marry me". NO!
The rock doesn't think "If I let this guy fling me in the lake then maybe he will give my son a summer internship". NO ULTERIOR MOTIVES. THAT is precisely how we should keep mitzvos. Just b/c Hashem said that it is the right thing to do. Not for Olam Haba. Not for reward. Not for what will they say about me. Not for my conscience. But b/c it is the right thing to do in the Eyes Of The Commander In Chief!!!
"Relying on the power of kindness is a sensitive undertaking. The challenge is to inspire people to be kind more often without tainting the selflessness that comes from doing something nice with no ulterior motive."
2] Didn't the Jews already learn a TON from Moshe and Aharon abt. how to serve Hashem properly? Are there any better examples than these two titans?? So ONE TIME they didn't get it right! For that they can't fulfill their lifelong dream and enter the land?
YES!!!!
Every bit of Kiddush Hashem is CRITICAL. For crying out loud - that is our mandate in this world - to be מקדש שם שמים. As Yeshaya put it:
כֹּל הַנִּקְרָא בִשְׁמִי וְלִכְבוֹדִי בְּרָאתִיו יְצַרְתִּיו אַף עֲשִׂיתִיו
Everything called by My Name [i.e. the Jewish people] is for My Honor.
We must bring honor to Hashem with everything we do. EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!! And how hard we must work to avoid Chilul Hashem!!!
3] Rashi said: "The rock neither speaks nor hears"! We have SOOOOOO many gifts from Hashem. We speak, hear, walk, think, laugh, play, eat, drink, sleep, whatsapp, facetime, email, scroll, bathe, breath, smell and the list is infinite!!! EVERYTHING we have is a GIFT from Hashem given for the cost of $0.00. WOW-EEEE!! [How much would you pay for oxygen if you needed it to survive? We have a FREE oxygen tank BUILT IN from day one!!! HOODDDUUUU LASHEMMM!!!!] So if the rock which is a pathetic rock listens - aren't we gifted human beings sooooo much more bound to listen??!
This requires an appreciation of all we have and never taking things for granted. This necessitates CONSTANT work!!! Saying Brachos with kavvana HELPS to this end!!!
“Ingratitude to God does not rely only on our refusal to give the verbal thanksgiving due to Him, but also resides in our inability to appreciate his gifts and potentials in us by leaving them untapped.”
“We learned when we were younger that if someone does something good for you, you say "thank you". By nature, if someone has a stable life, won the lottery, won an Oscar, won a championship, won an individual medal, got a specific job promotion, got pregnant, was cured of any illness, his/her children graduated from college, maintain a healthy body and/or mind, got on a flight on time, etc; then he or she is thankful. On the other hand, we were not told to be thankful if none of these great things existed or even the opposite of them.”
So beloved friends!!!!! May we have a doing-things-liSheim-Shomyaim-making-a-HUUUUUUE-Kiddush-Hashem-appreciating-our-infinite-gifts-and-having-a-complete-simchadike Shabbos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bi-ahava rabba
ME!!
