BS”D
PARASHAS CHUKAS
Miriam’s Well
Without water, life cannot survive. Nonetheless, millions of Jewish
people survived in the parched and barren desert for forty years. How
was this possible? Only through a miracle. During their travels through
the desert, the Jewish people were accompanied by a rock from which
an abundant supply of water constantly flowed. It was called Miriam’s
Well, because it existed in the merit of Moses’ older sister Miriam, who
was a righteous woman and a prophetess in her own right.
In this week’s portion, we read about Miriam’s death only months
before the entry of the Jewish people into the Holy Land. The Torah
also tells us that Miriam’s Well ceased to function after she died, and
the people were faced with a critical water shortage. They besieged
Moses and demanded that he provide water for them, for otherwise they
would die. God told Moses to take his staff in hand and speak to the
rock. Instead of speaking, however, Moses struck the rock with his staff.
The waters gushed forth again, but Moses forfeited the opportunity of
entering the Holy Land. Because of his mistake, he passed away while
the Jewish encampment was massed on the east bank of the Jordan
River.
A number of questions come to mind. Why was the water given to
the Jewish people only in the merit of Miriam? Why couldn’t the water
continue after her death without Moses speaking to the rock? Why
didn’t God want to leave the faucet open for the Jewish people?
The commentators explain that one of the most striking features of
water is that its viscosity allows it to adapt perfectly to its surroundings;
water will naturally assume the shape of any container into which it
flows. Symbolically, Miriam represented this quality. She was able to
adapt her faith and her steadfast fealty to God’s will under any and all
circumstances. Come what may, Miriam shone as the paragon of
staunch faith.
Miriam was born during the darkest chapter of the Jewish bondage
in Egypt. Her name, recalling the word marah, bitter, evokes the
bitterness of the Jewish condition. When she was just a young girl,
Pharaoh decreed that all male babies be thrown into the river.
Husbands and wives separated in order to avoid producing children who
would be drowned, but Miriam persuaded her parents to have faith and
remain together. As a result, her brother Moses, redeemer of the Jewish
people, was born. Miriam was the famous midwife Puah, who crooned
to the infants when they were born.
Like water, Miriam adapted to the oppression and the suffering and
remained strong in her faith. Therefore, in her merit, God provided the
Jewish people with miraculous water in the desert. And when she died,
a new demonstration of supreme faith was required. God wanted Moses
to draw water from the rock by speaking alone.
A man hired a wagon driver to take him to a distant city. As they
traveled through dense forests and over craggy mountains, the
passenger sat relaxed in his seat, enjoying the scenery.
Suddenly, a thunderstorm arose. The passenger told the wagon
driver to pull over, but he insisted that they could not do so safely. They
had to push on through the storm.
The passenger began to tremble with fear.
“Don’t worry,” the wagon driver reassured him. “All will be well.”
“But how do I know that?”
“Because I am telling you so,” the wagon driver replied. “You were
not afraid when we were travelling through dangerous forests and over
steep mountain roads on the edge of sheer cliffs. You relied in my skills.
Well, do you think I’ve never driven through a thunderstorm? You can
trust me.”
In our own lives, we find it easier to have faith when things are
going reasonably well. When we seem to be on the road to success and
encounter trials and struggles, we have faith that we will ultimately
succeed. But what happens when things are falling apart, Heaven
forbid? What happens when they become stormy? Those are the times
that test our faith. Those are also the times when our faith can spell the
difference between hope and despair.

There are times in our lives that we see G-d from afar. What do I mean by that? There are times that even though we realize and recognize that G-d runs the world and that everything happens from a reason, we lack the clarity of a certain situation or cycle  in our lives.

I learned this week from A shir from Rabbi Eli Mansour that the greatest in Tanach have asked them selves this same question. As a matter of a fact Moshe Rabbeinu our greatest leader asked himself the same thing. When he goes up to Sinai and receives the 10 commandments from G-d he asks to see his face. Hashem responded that He would show Moshe His back, for no living mortal would be able to see His face and live.The chachamim (wise men) are puzzled as to why at the peak of clarity Moshe would ask this question or better yet what was he really asking with the question?

We learn the same in Last weeks Parashat Shemot; the medrash tells us that Amram and yochebed Moshe's parents decided to get a divorce. Miriam tells them that they are worst then pharaoh for pharaoh's decree was against the boys but by divorcing, Moshe's parents where decreeing even against the girls. Miriam also tells them that through a prophecy she knew that to them would be born a boy that would be the leader of the children of Israel. So Amram and yochebed get back together and sure enough a boy is born whom they name Moshe.

However, at the peak of revelation of Miriam's prophecy she experiences a dark moment in chapter 2 verse 4 it says "The child's sister stood herself at a distance to see what would happen to him." Our rabbis learn form this verse that when it says she "stood at a distance" it means exactly this concept of seeing G-d from afar. She didn't understand how the baby could be saved and how contradictory her situation was to the clarity of her prophecy.

At this point we can begin to understand Moshe's question to Hashem; what he was asking is why do bad things happen to good people at times and good things to bad people. Why is such a painful process necessary before the redemption comes. We can even apply it today, why do we have to go through such a rough time so that moshiach can come? Or a bal teshuva can say on a personal level, why are things so hard for me now that I'm trying to live a Kosher lifestyle.

Hashem's answer can best be explained by a Mashal (parable) 

There once was a child who grew up on a farm one day, he got up  as he looked outside his window he began to admire the beautiful grass on the field. The next day, he woke up to the noise of a tractor that was plowing that field; he yelled no! stop! what are you doing? you are ruining the beautiful field. But then he noticed one day that wheat began to grow on it; he understood that in order for wheat to grow, the field had to be plowed. The next morning, he woke up to the sound of a tractor that was harvesting the wheat and he yelled out no! no! stop! stop! you will ruin the wheat. The next day he was horrified to see people putting the wheat shafts into a machine that would crushed them into little pieces and once again he could not understand why some one would want to ruin the wheat; so he proceeded down the line to see that grains where coming out of it and he understood what they where doing it. Until one day he saw them crushing and burning the grains once again he was frustrated, in despair why would some one want to ruin the beautiful grains? Until one day he noticed what was happening in ovens where the grain was being burnt; he smelled a sweet beautiful smell and to his surprise he saw that out of those ovens came out a gorgeous piece of bread. And only then he understood why one day he saw people plowing the field and harvesting the wheat and crushing and burning the grain. He realized that what he thought was cruelty was only kindness and he was able to see that in order to make sweet tasty bread there was a rough process, that by itself made no sense but at the end was all worth it.

We are all like this child, and our lives are like that field. Seeing G-d from afar means I don't understand what I'm going through this right now but I realize that if it comes form you Hashem it is for my best;  one day I will see the whole picture and understand that instead of cruelty it was all kindness. When Hashem tells Moshe's no one can see my face and live, he is telling him only when a person dies and sees everything in retrospect can a person understand G-d and why they had to go through what they had to go through. And like wise Miriam only until she saw that the boy was picked up by pharaoh's daughter and he would grow up in the palace did she understand what G-d was doing.

There is a saying amongst the Jewish people that says "Gam zot le Tova" "this is also for the good" we say it when things are tough. the Shulchan Aruch says that this concept of "Gam Zot Le Tova " is a higher level it means being able to see G-d in everything that happens to us; however it says that our obligation minimally is to have emuna ("faithfulness") that everything comes from G-d and and its for our good. Seeing Hashem in everything is the result and level obtained after having emuna("faithfulness") that it is all for the best.

May Hashem bless us with the strength to overcome our challenges, so that we can merit to see him in every step of our lives and recognize that after all is set and done it was all for the good.

Noach (Genesis 6:9-11:32)
Perfection of Character

"And as for Me - Behold I am about to bring the floodwaters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which there is a breath of life under the heavens; everything that is in the earth shall expire." (Genesis 6:17)

The prophet Isaiah (54:9) refers to the Flood as mei Noach - the waters of Noah - thereby implying that Noah bears at least partial responsibility for the Flood. Sforno suggests that Noah's failure lay in failing to teach his generation to know God and to walk in His ways. Had he taught them to know God, they would surely have repented.

We can explain this Sforno as follows. The Midrash comments on the phrase, "the path (derech eretz) to the Tree of Life," that derech eretz is middos, proper character traits. Middos are the paths that lead to the Tree of Life, the Torah. Hence, "Derech eretz precedes Torah." First one refines his middos, and only then can the Torah dwell within him. The Torah cannot reside in one who does not possess good middos: "Where there is no derech eretz, there is no Torah." (see Rabbeinu Yona to Pirkei Avos 3:22) Even though only Torah can bring one's middos to ultimate perfection, where there is no foundation of proper middos, the acquisition of Torah is impossible.

Rabbeinu Yona's categorical negation of the possibility of Torah residing in one who lacks good middos can be understood in two ways, both true. The first is that a person's lack of good middos makes ultimate retention of his Torah knowledge - no matter how great - impossible, because his lack of middos prevents the Torah from fully meshing with the essence of his soul. Hence when he leaves this world, the Torah will not accompany him, but be left behind with his other external physical components.

An alternative explanation is that even in this world the Torah will not remain with him. This idea can be illustrated with the following anecdote. Maimonides had a dispute with a philosopher whether instinct or training is the decisive factor in animal behavior. To prove the efficacy of training, the philosopher taught cats to stand erect, balance trays and serve as waiters. He dressed them for the part and conducted a banquet with the cats as the waiters. Maimonides countered his proof by releasing some mice at the banquet. The cats, forgetting all their training, let the trays and dishes crash to the ground as they rushed about on all fours in pursuit of the mice.

Human beings also have their baser instincts and desires that, without training, drag them onto all fours. A human being is distinct from the animals, however, by virtue of his ability to perfect his middos so that they control his baser instincts. One who has not worked on perfecting his middos will, like the trained cat, be able to put on a show of Torah discipline for a time, but only so long as no "mice" are released in his path.

A Torah scholar, says Maimonides, is one who has mastered good character traits. Since he has perfected his character, his sins are by their very nature incidental, not symptomatic of basic character flaws. Therefore we are told that if we see a righteous person sin at night, we should assume that by the next day he has repented. Because the sin did not flow from an intrinsic character flaw, he certainly recognized the need to repent in the interim.

Rabbi Chaim Vital explains that middos were not enumerated in the Torah among the Mitzvos because they are the very foundation of all Mitzvos and the Torah itself. It is in his ability to emulate the perfect character traits attributed to God that man is in the image of God. One who lacks proper character is therefore deficient in the very essence of humanity.

The Alter from Kelm once remarked that Darwin was able to formulate his theory of evolution only because he had never seen a real human being. Thus he could view men as no more than smarter monkeys. "Had he seen my teacher, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, who developed his character traits to a degree of perfection that fully expressed the essence of the Divine Image, he never could have entertained the possibility that human beings evolved from monkeys," said the Alter.

Darwin's peers were surely socially respectable people, but with regard to true character development, they remained mere trained cats, whose instinctive desires could at any moment bring them down on all fours.

The sins of immorality and robbery of the generation of the Flood were merely symptoms of the underlying disease of deficient character development. Noah attacked the symptom, but failed to cure the disease. He did not teach them to know God through contemplation of His middos and to walk in His ways by correcting and developing their own character traits. Hence he was unsuccessful. His rebuke may occasionally have suppressed the symptoms, but they soon reappeared, since the underlying cause had not been treated. Without changing their underlying character, no true repentance was possible.

The Torah describes the generation of the Flood as "rabbas ro'as ha'adam." This can be translated to mean the evil they perpetrated was beyond the boundaries of adam - of human beings. They corrupted the very essence of their humanity, their middos. Hence, the Midrash says, they were punished measure for measure with the overflowing of the great deep. They destroyed their natural humanity, and therefore the natural order was abrogated and the waters of the deep breached their boundaries and inundated the world. Likewise, the result of the Flood was literally to dissolve their human forms - an external manifestation of their inner spiritual decay.

The mystical works explain that the colors of the rainbow are representations of God's middos (attributes). Thus, the rainbow is the symbol of God's promise not to bring another flood, for by reflecting on and emulating God's middos, we ensure that another flood will not be necessary.

Only after the Flood did God permit the consumption of meat. Sefer Halkrim explains that mankind, prior to the Flood, equated animal life with human life; man was, in their eyes, reduced to but a glorified and more developed animal. To counter this tragic mistake, God permitted mankind to eat meat. He thereby demonstrated that there is an essential qualitative difference between people and animals that gives us the right to kill them for food. That essential difference is inherent in man's ability to develop and emulate the middos of his Creator.

Unlike Noah, Abraham was able to influence the people of his generation precisely because he concentrated on teaching middos. He was thus able to remedy the disease and not just the symptoms. At the age of three, Abraham knew that there was a God, but not until 40, says Maimonides, could he be described as "knowing his Creator," i.e. as recognizing God through the comprehension of His middos and their emulation. Only then did Abraham begin to teach his generation. By teaching middos, he succeeded in breaking the idols. He convinced his contemporaries to abandon gods made in their image for the service of the true God.

God explains His choice of Abraham as the progenitor of the Jewish people:

"For I know that he will command his children and household after him that they will keep God's way, doing charity and justice." (Genesis 18:19).

God knew that Abraham would direct his descendants in derech Hashem - the path of middos that leads to the Tree of Life, Torah. That is why we, Abraham's descendants, were worthy of eventually receiving the Torah.

http://www.aish.com/torahportion/outlooksandinsights/Perfection_of_Character.asp

Devarim 18: 15 "A prophet from your midst from your brothers, like me shall Hashem your G-d Establish for you to him you shall listen to."

This weeks Parsha is Parshat Shoftim speaks about prophets

"A prophet from your midst from your brothers, like me..." Moses told the people that Hashem would choose prophets from amongst them and not anywhere else. Furthermore according to Rashi this means that prophecy would be limited to Eretz Israel.

The parsha continues with a warning no to follow after falls prophets. When the people of Israel stop listening to real prophets and started listening to false once the gates of prophecy closed since became exiled.

Every single has the potential to reach the level of prophecy, but this is a level that is impossible in galut (exile) as we learned from the above verse. Even though this is true Hashem has left other way that he speaks to us, on of the mayor ones is Torah learning.

Any form of divine communication to know what God wants us to do next as partners in creation is very desirable.

There is another method to find out weather we are living our lives according to Torah. The mouth of our enemies, the nations will let us know i.e. Anti-Semitism. According to our Rabbi's anti-Semitism is a way for Hashem to speak to us and let us know we are in wrong path; A great Rabbi once said, "Anti-Semitism is the world’s way of telling the Jews we need more Torah.

Many people are sore to some of the topics discussing the suffering of so many Jews in the Holocaust.

However, many times its just to the ramifications of trying to understand the message, and what changes that would imply to our daily lives. When Anti-Semitism rises we need to pay attention to what the nations are saying about us, since they will tell us what is wrong with our actions.

One example is the Holocaust, after visiting different Holocaust museums including the famous Yad Vashem; and hearing the testimony of several Holocaust survivors.

There is one thing that strikes me as shocking; they all said the same thing

"No one believed that such a Highly Educated society could be possible of doing such a thing." Or "Everything was perfect we where at the top economic classes, many of even held office, nothing can explain the irrational amount of hate that was generated; it was all very quick."

The scary part of statements as those is that that we are in the same position today.

The Jewish people in America today are in a some what good economic situation, many hold office.

And even though that is the case instead of holding on to Torah we are assimilating at alarming rates; almost as if we learned nothing from the Holocaust. We dream and think that a Holocaust is impossible in America, but that is exactly what German Jews thought in Germany before the greatest massacre of Jews in the history took place.

Some will answer we can not know the why of the Holocaust now. However, we know that we have a righteous king, Hashem that Judges measure for measure so that we can learn from it. For a Jew to analyze why he is undergoing suffering or why he underwent suffering is part of being Jewish. Just like we can learn what the curse was from the blessing of bilam, so to can we learn from the curse that came instead.

The Answer is Obvious and found in our Torah, Hashem tells us that if we don’t hold on to his law and observe his commandments we will be exiled and forced to worship other idols of the nations, but even in exile we are given a commandment, "even there you shall seek me."

By Yosef Juarez

BS"D

A Rav once told his talmidim (students) what is the worst thing that we have inherreted from the Goyim? And the students replied, I don't know Rebbe sin, impurity...? And he answered, No ! The western concept of time. The idea that we can kill time. He explained with a mashal (parable) you see he said in the factory of time jews and goyim are at work. In the asembly line there are boxes of time goign along in the belts; each box represents a certain amount of time as the boxes comes by some one opens it uses it and waits for the next box. This is the same for the Goy and the Jew. However the difference between the two is that, in the goyish concept of time there is a mechanism called killing time where the box that he doesnt use goes back around the belt and comes back to him at a later time. In the Jewish concept of time, when he decides to kill time the box passes by him and falls into gigantic pit of fire, never to see that time again.

Rabbi chaim Luzzato wrote in his books quoting Rabbi Chaim Vital. "God is good, some one who is good wants to dispense good to others." The purpose of our existence is so God can give us from His goodness. he wants to give us the pleasure of pleasures. What is the ultimate pleasure? Olam Habah (The World To Come), if the the greatest pleasure is Olam Habah? Then what is the purpose of (this world) Olam Hazeh; Our entrance to Olam Habah is the mitzvots we do in Olam Haze. Every single second we are involved doing mitzvot, learning Torah and involved in good deeds we are gaining the proper merrit to be able to live in Olam Habah. To the extent that according to our work we will live in Olam Habah; the more we do in this world the more we will be rewarded in the next.

Therefore every second of our waking moment is an opportunity to invest in eternity.
There are those who spend their entire lives pursuing physical matters like money and riches. The irony is that a ben Torah (Son of Torah) is in the same business except we are investing in something for eternity. Yet everything in this world will remain in this world, all the cars, houses , money are all but an illusion. The reason for it in this world is to use it as a tool to perform mitzvot.

Every second of our time is valuable.

Imagine being givien five minutes in a vault to take as much as you can; every second is valuable and priceless.

The Chofetz Chaim used to say that life is like a postcard you begin to write and before your realize it your out of room and you begin to frantickly  write smaller and smaller; then we turn the card on its side. At first (early in ourlives) we begin writing big using up alot of space and as we grow older we begin to write smaller because we realize that it is impossible to fit it all in to such a tiny amount of space.

The young person lives in the future; in his dreams.The older person lives in his past because his future is eminent.

This is the trap of time, we are constanly involved in trying to save time every piece of technology that comes out supossibly saves time. This is the trap of the Yetzer Ha Rah (the evil inclination) that on a daily basis tries to distract us from our pupose in life; causing us to waste our time in frustration and depression. The lights in Las Vegas are there so that you can be distracted and stop.

What do you kill when you kill time?

If one was able to know that someone had 10 seconds to live; at the last second someone would walkin and kill that person. Is the shooter guilty of murderer? According to Halacha YES even for one second. Is it not suicide when we kill minutes, hours or even days of our lives?

Next time we find ourselves on a bus or at the doctors office wating for something killing time. Lets open up a sefer (book) of Torah and transform suicide in to time invested in Eternity.

by Yosef Juarez

BLESSING WITH A PURPOSE

Re'eh Anochi Nosain Lifneichem Hayom B'rocha V'Kloloh, Ess HaBrocha Asher Tishmoun
"See, I placed before you today a blessing and a curse, The blessing - that you shall listen"

As the transient pleasures of this world are insignificant compared to the great value of a mitzva (commandment), the primary place for reward is in the World To Come. The promises of material goodness that are mentioned in the Torah are not intended for reward. Rather, material bounty is given to the righteous as a resource so that they be able to do more good deeds. It provides more opportunities to do good deeds.

This concept is alluded to in the above verse. The Torah states "See I placed before you today a blessing and a curse." The word "today" indicates that the blessing discussed here pertains to the present world. The words that follow, "the blessing that you shall listen" can be understood to mean that the blessing will enable us to listen and perform the commandments.

(R'Noach Mindes - P'ninim MiShulchan Govoha)

What Is True Love?

Love is the most powerful human emotion. It electrifies, inspires and exalts us. It illuminates and gives meaning to our lives. The Torah wants our relationship with Hashem to be built on a foundation of love,

so that we can reach the highest levels of connection and exaltation. In this week’s Torah portion, we read the Shema prayer, which we say every morning and evening. It begins with a declaration of our faith, and the rest of the paragraph sets forth the commandment of loving Hashem.

The paragraph concludes with the following two precepts: “And you shall tie them things upon your arms as a sign, and as a symbol between your eyes, and you shall write them upon the doorposts of your homes and your gateways.”

These precepts are more familiar to us as the

mitzvah of tefillin, which we wear on our arms and our heads, and the  mitzvah of mezuzah, which we affix to our doorposts.

The question, however, immediately arises: What is the connection between these two precepts and the commandment of love? It would seem that these precepts fall more readily into the category of obedience than love. The answer lies in a deeper understanding of the essential nature of true love.

In contemporary society, there is a perception of love as an emotional frame of mind. We love other people as we would love a beautiful painting. It is a self-centered sensation, personal gratification rather a profound spiritual union with the object of our love. When we say we love a painting we are not implying a bond with the canvas and pigments.

We are expressing our own pleasure that is stimulated by the painting. It is, therefore, not the painting that we love but ourselves. Unfortunately, this attitude may often characterize our love for other people. If we examine these feelings closely we may sometimes find that what we call love is really only attraction and self-gratification.

True love, however, is a total absorption in the object of our love. The Torah wants us to love Hashem in a spirit of true love. We have to form a complete and constant attachment to Him, to be completely absorbed in Him in all places, at all times and under all circumstances.

“These things shall be close to your heart . . . when you dwell in your homes and when you are traveling on the road, when you go to sleep and when you awaken.” True love is total connection.

Therefore, when we affix  mezuzahs to our doorposts, when we place tefillin  on our heads, close to our brains, and on our left arms, close to  our hearts, we cement our close connection with Hashem and show our

consummate love. The young newlyweds had just come back from their honeymoon and were settling into married life. During the first few weeks, he went back to his normal job routine, and she spend her days setting up their new home.

One time, he returned from a particularly grueling day at the office, grabbed a quick bite, settled into his easy chair and buried his head in the newspaper. The young woman, who had been waiting for him all day, began to cry.

He looked up, surprised. “Why are you crying?” he asked. “Because I am not so sure that you love me,” she replied.

“Why should you say something like that?” “Because I’ve waited all day for you. I expected you to tell me what your day was like, and I would tell you about mine. And now, you just withdraw into yourself. You sat down in your chair and shut me out.”

“But can’t you see I’m exhausted?” the young man protested. “That’s exactly it,” she said. “Of course you’re interested in me when you’re relaxed and at ease. But if you truly loved me, you would be interested in me even when you’re frustrated and exhausted.”

In our own lives, we might do well to examine the love we feel for other people to determine if we have really achieved the transcendent state of true love. True love is what any normal parents feels for their children. No matter how much pride and gratification they derive from the children, their feelings are not self-centered but focused on the objects of their love.

Is this what we feel for the other people in our lives whom we profess to love? Is this what we feel for Hashem? Let us never forget that we have the power to control our feelings. We can look at the people important to us in a new light and learn to love them with a love that is truly true.

If we can rise above our self-centered impulses, we can enrich ourselves immensely and illuminate our lives.

© 2004 RABBI NAFTALI REICH & WWW.OHRSOMAYACH.EDU

The Ten Days of Repentance

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the Aseret Yemei Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance. The Novi (prophet) tells us in Isaiah (55:6) to “Seek the Lord when He is found”. Our sages of blessed memory explain this to teach us that during this time the Shechina (Glory) of Hashem is closer to His people.

What does this mean? Is there ever a time that His presence is not close amongst us? Isn’t Hashem always near? Of course, His presence is always amongst us, however what the Torah is teaching us is that during the Ten Days of Repentance He is especially close to us. During this time, His ear is inclined to listen to our supplications. What is He waiting to hear? He desires our teshuva. He wants us to come back to Him and to express to Him our wanting to return.

The Rabbis of the Talmud denote a four step process for doing teshuva (repentance):

1. Recognition and Regret

2. Deciding to refrain from sin and Abandonment of Sin

3. Confession to G-d and requesting forgiveness

4. Acceptance of the future or consequences

On Rosh Hashanah we came before the Judge and the verdict was given whether we would live or die. During these ten days, Hashem gives us the opportunity to do teshuva so that we can improve our judgement before it is sealed on Yom Kippur.

Although we are under the microscope during this time, we learn in the Talmud (Nedarim 39b) that Hashem’s mercy is so big that he created teshuva before the universe itself. His mercy can be understood by His 13 Attributes of Mercy, as he taught to Moshe Rabbeinu:

Hashem’s Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

Hashem, Hashem, Almighty, Compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth. Preserver of Kindness for thousand generations, forgiver of iniquity, transgression and sin, who cleanses.

Hashem, your G-d before you sin, Who gives you the ability to be tested. Hashem, Who has mercy even after we have sinned and repented. Almighty, powerful and all knowing Ruler of the universe. Compassionate one, Who eases the punishment of the guilty and doesn’t put us into unbearable temptations. Gracious to the undeserving. Slow to anger, Who withholds punishment until the last moment and gives us many chances to repent. Abundant in kindness, to those who lack personal merits, and truth, He never goes back on His word. Preserver of kindness, He preserves the kindnesses of our fathers for us. Forgiver of iniquity, willful sins, transgression, rebellion, and sin, error. Who Cleanses, He is the true and ultimate source of purity.

Hashem’s kindness in judgement

It is a kindness of G-d to judge us once a year so that our aveiras (sins) don’t continue to pile up against us. If He would not judge us once a year than we would be full of sin beyond what we could repair. The world would be full of crazy amounts of evilness.

Now is the time to perfect ourselves. Hashem gives us the opportunity, now is the time to act. Hashem has inclined His ear to hear us, but it’s up to us to reach out to Him. He wants to help us reach our potential, all we need to do is ask Him sincerely.

Most people go to the doctor for an annual physical examination. The Ten Days of Repentance are our yearly spiritual examination. This is the time to purify our soul from any sickness or deficiency. This is true to the extent that after Yom Kippur there is a notable feeling if we allow ourselves to do teshuva correctly.

May we strive to return to Hashem during the Ten Days of Repentance, and merit to be inscribed and sealed in the book of life this year!

Gemar Hatima Tova!

Emptiness Within

Tishrei 5769

Something makes us feel incomplete

Jerusalem

There is an innate aspect of our lives that makes us feel incomplete. It is something that makes us feel unfulfilled and unaccomplished. It causes us to shop for things that we don’t want or to involve ourselves in things that at first seem fulfilling but ultimately leads us to waste our time.

Western culture takes advantage of this aspect of ourselves. Actually, the entire marketing ideal is based on this fact. Companies strategically introduce new models of the same product knowing that people can’t wait to buy the newest shiny trinket around the corner.

The drive to materialism

We have this drive with in us; we feel as if the next thing around the corner will fill our emptiness. But when we acquire the object or pleasure we soon come to feel an inner void once again. The reason is because we have not realized what is the only thing that can fill our emptiness. Without that, all our attempts to patch over that gap lead to an even greater emptiness and us stronger desire for materialism.

We learn from our Rabbis that one of the names of the satan is Ba’al Divar (master of the thing). The thing they refered to is that which we think will fill our emptiness and make us whole again. The biggest mistake we make is to expect the physical pleasures of this world to make us feel whole. It is because we make this mistake that we have an extremely materialistic society.

Striving for Truth

When a person begins to strive for truth he realizes that what everyone wants is happiness. The problem lies with the fact that being happy is defined differently by every single person. After various attempts to try to understand what this means to us we realize that the only one who knows what is the best thing in our lives is G-d. And when we know that He is providing us right now with all that is best for our lives then we will be happy.

A common mistake is made by people that come to yeshiva or seminary. They realize that what they want is happiness, they also acknowledge that the Torah can teach us how to be happy, yet they are impatient and want to learn all the secrets of the universe in one week.

Why is it that we are willing to spend several hundred dollars in clothes, shoes and other materialistic things but we are not willing to spend longer that a few days on our soul? Why aren’t we willing to put in the time to better ourselves and discover what can make us happy?

We are asked “What do you want: to be happy or to have money?” Of course, we answer “Happiness.” So then we are told to stay in yeshiva, the place where we can learn how to have a happy life. Why then do we complain “But I have this job, or my career, or…”? What would we say to our accuser if they offered to pay us $1,000,000 to stay in yeshiva and learn? Of course, then our answer would be a most heartfelt “Yes!” Ahh, so now we see that all along, our true desire was for money.

The clarification of this dilemma can lead us to understand who we are. Understanding this can help us to identify what is the emptiness that we feel and determine how we can fill it.

My prayer is that the Jewish people should come to that realization. Now that we are standing in judgment we should be seeking to better understand the purpose for which HaKadosh Baruch Hu has put us in this world. May G-d allow us to find the clarity in our spiritual journeys and may we be sealed in for a good life in the Book of Life this year. שנה תובה!

Yosef Juarez

Edited by Ben Powers

To be continued……

Parshas Vayeilech (5769)

“I Am A Jew!”

Isn't it strange that on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, we read publicly the book of Jonah, a nice little story about a man who gets swallowed up by a whale? Is this a sort of comic relief on a very intense and solemn day, or what? How does the story of Jonah and the whale fit in with the theme of the Day of Atonement?

The Vilna Gaon, the great Torah sage and kabbalist of the 18th century, writes that, in addition to its literal meaning, the book of Jonah can be understood on a deeper level as an analogy to the sojourn of the neshamah (human soul) in this world. Jonah the prophet represents man's neshamah, and the ship upon which he sails, represents the physical body which envelops the soul and gives it the ability to function and do good deeds here on earth.

G-d sent Jonah to rectify the moral condition of Nineveh, but instead of fulfilling G-d's will, Jonah tried to escape his obligation by boarding a ship bound for a different destination. Similarly, the neshamah of each and every one of us is sent to this world on a mission to rectify ourselves and the world through Torah study, mitzvah observance and perfecting our character traits, but instead of fulfilling its mission, it allows itself to be deceived by the body's physical pleasures.

[The entire allegory is too lengthy to quote in these few lines, but is highly recommended reading for anyone who wants a deeper insight into the message of the book of Jonah, and a greater understanding of who we really are and what our purpose is here on earth. The book of Jonah with the allegorical commentary of the Vilna Gaon is published by Artscroll/Mesorah Publications, and is available at your local Jewish bookstore or online at www.artscroll.com]

You'll recall in the story how the ship upon which Jonah is sailing is being tossed violently in the massive storm, and all the passengers are praying to their respective deities. But Jonah knows why this is happening - it is because he has run away from G-d and from his intended mission to get the people of Nineveh to repent. The sailors find him hiding in the bottom of the ship, and they ask him suspiciously, "Who are you and what is your work?" To which Jonah responds, "I am a Jew and I fear the G-d of Israel."

Very often we go through our lives in this world blending in with the culture around us, hiding from ourselves and from G-d. People will sometimes ask us who we are and what we do, and we'll respond, "I am a doctor," or "I sell insurance policies for a living," or whatever. But that's not the whole truth.

You see, G-d didn’t put us Jews on this earth, making us go through an amazing 3,320 year journey unparalleled in the history of mankind, just to produce another 14 million lawyers, doctors, accountants and businessman. There are (a few) non-Jewish doctors out there too, you know. We have a special calling as Jews that transcends any job we might have. It is to live our lives - in whichever profession, business or lifestyle we choose - in a way that sanctifies G-d’s Name and elevates ourselves and the world around us. As we say in the Aleinu prayer throughout the year and on the High Holidays as well: “…L’takein olam b’malchus Shaddai – [our mission as Jews is] to perfect the world through G-d’s kingship”.

So that when we are asked who we are and what we do, Jonah teaches us that our real answer should be, "I am first and foremost a Jew and my most important job here on earth is to fear the G-d of Israel – meaning that through the way I lead my life as a Jew, and through the Torah that I learn and the mitzvahs that I do, I bring G-dliness down with me and thus fix the world." That's who we truly are and that's our true mission.

Sometimes it takes a really violent storm in our lives, G-d forbid, for us to realize our true purpose here on earth, and to come out of hiding from the bottom of the ship. Hopefully, we will figure it out without any major storms.

This is the powerful "whale-of-a-message" of the book of Jonah which we read every year on Yom Kippur. We are here in this world on a spiritual journey, and we can't hide from it.

It is now less than a week until Yom Kippur. So let's take advantage of the time we have right now to gain some clarity as to who we really are and what our most important job here on earth is …. this way, by the time the “Big Day” comes around, we will be able to say to G-d, “I understand what I am supposed to be doing down here – so please bless me with another good year of health, prosperity and happiness so that I can continue to do my work for you as a Jew”.

Source Torch Houston.

http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=25

Nitzavim-Vayeilech 5768

Commentary by

Yosef (Oscar) Juarez

Edited by Benny Powers

In this portion, Moses speaks to the people before they enter into the land. He stresses the fact that during this time we are all standing before the king, as the verse says: “29:10 your young children, your women, and your convert who is within your camp…” During this time (הי) Hashem evaluates the actions of everyone standing there, including women, children, and converts. Moses also speaks about another two groups of people who also stand before (הי) Hashem.

“29:14 but with those standing here with us today…”

This refers to all the souls of the people who would later convert to Judaism throughout history. This shows that even though, none of the nations accepted the Torah when (הי) Hashem offered it (except for the Jews), (הי) Hashem nevertheless left the door open to his covenant so that whom ever wishes to enter his covenant may be able to do so. It is, however, up to us to allow Him to be our G-d, as it is written: “29:12 in order to establish you this day as His people, and that He will be your God.” [Emphasis added]

It is easy to go about our daily lives with out having a true consciousness that G-d is there with us behind everything that happens for good or bad. As our days, weeks, months and years go by; the question we have to ask ourselves is “are we making (הי) Hashem the G-d of our lives?” Have we truly allowed Him to establish us as His people? 

 (הי) Hashem warned us about the idols that separate us from Him when we lived in Egypt. Our rabbis teach us that Egypt is representative of the exile, everything that has to do with physicality and immediate pleasure. as the verse states: “29:15 For you know how we dwelled in the land of Egypt, and how we passed among the nations through which you passed. 16 And you saw their abominations and their repugnant idols…were with them.” Which are the idols that surround our lives?

“29:17 Perhaps there is among you a man, woman, family, or tribe, whose heart strays this day from the Lord, our God, to go and worship the deities of those nations…”

Many times we feel as if there was no peace in our lives, as if we are just jumping from one problem to the next; we see our selves working like mules and find it hard to see the accomplishments that we expected. In the verse that follows, (הי) Hashem explains the reason for this effect.

“29:18 And it will be, when he [such a person] hears the words of this oath, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, "I will have peace, even if I follow my heart's desires…the Lord's fury and His zeal will fume against that man, and the entire curse written in this book will rest upon him, and the Lord will obliterate his name from beneath the heavens. (הי)”

“29:28 The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things apply to us and to our children forever: that we must fulfill all the words of this Torah.”

This is the importance of hearing the shofar; it’s a direct message to our soul that tells us, “Hey! Wake up! The king is coming! Are you ready? Are your vestments clean, your table set?” (הי) Hashem says to us “I’m going to help you. I will take care of the things you don’t see. You just have to worry about what you do see.” As David HaMelech (the king) use to say:

Psalms 27 “…in this I trust. One [thing] I ask of the Lord, that I seek-that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to see the pleasantness of the Lord and to visit His Temple every morning. That He will hide me in His tabernacle on the day of calamity; He will conceal me in the secrecy of His tent; He will lift me up on a rock. And now, my head will be raised over my enemies around me, and I will sacrifice in His tent sacrifices with joyous song; I will sing and chant praise to the Lord. Listen, O Lord, to my voice [which] I call out, and be gracious to me and answer me. On Your behalf, my heart says, "Seek My presence." Your presence, O Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your presence from me; do not turn your servant away with anger. You were my help; do not forsake me and do not abandon me, O God of my salvation.”

David HaMelech recognized that. It is why is he was the biggest (Baal Tshuva). He knew that after all (הי) Hashem was behind everything that happened to him no matter how bad it seemed.

In conclusion, one can say that (הי) Hashem is a G-d of mercy and kindness, but he is also a Righteous King. He created this world for us to derive pleasure, however only he knows what is good for us. In our daily lives of chaos and stress it is absolutely difficult to see him.

May our souls be awakened to a true repentance before (הי) Hashem, and may we be merited to have our names inscribed in the book of life this year.

From Jerusalem,

Happy New Year

 שנה טובה

Yosef Juarez