Category Archives: Mussar

A person lives with himself for seventy years, and after it is all over, he still does not know himself.  ~ R’ Yisrael Lipkin of Salant zt”l

Don’t use time or words carelessly; neither can be retrieved.

I don’t understand it.  If a person says that he is feeling sick, he is not always believed.  If a person says that he is poor, he is not readily believed.  Yet, if a person declares that he is a … Continue reading →

Emes – truth – is singular.  There is only one truth.  If one tried to divide this truth into a number of separate truths, what he’s done is create sheker – falsehood. ~ R’ Nachman of Breslov zt”l as quoted … Continue reading →

A desire fulfilled is less pleasurable than the absence of desire. ~ Da Es Atmecha (Getting to Know Your Self) I just want to point out that this line is so so so deep and sums up many pages of … Continue reading →

Halacha must be followed without compromise, but chumros must be carefully evaluated. Am I emotionally and physically able to follow these chumros without losing appreciation for the mitzvah? Rav Yerucham Levovitz, in Daas Torah, Bereishis pp. 19-20,writes that one may not accept upon himself additional chumros if they will … Continue reading →

One might say, “I have no time. I’m busy. I have a wife and children. I need to make a living.” That’s all true, but what can we compare him to? He is like a person in the hospital with … Continue reading →

The Talmud teaches: “A person should always provoke his good inclination to overpower his evil inclination.” (Berachot 5a).  Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz (1873-1936) taught that it is a mistake to assume that the struggle between these two inner forces is one … Continue reading →