Emuna Daily

Realize that when you are engaged in a mitzvah, it is not only an action you are doing.  Rather, you are transforming yourself into a more elevated person. You are not just doing, but becoming.

~ R’ Yeruchem Levovitz zt”l

One delving into Torah studies is able to have so much enjoyment and pleasure that the physical and material pleasures that others seek pale in comparison. ~ Ohr Yohail

Mazel tov to all those learning daf yomi that are completing Megillah today. Tomorrow we will IYH begin Moed Katan. It’s a great time to join us. Give it a shot. You won’t regret it.

It’s not how much or how little you have that makes you great or small, but how much or how little you are with what you have. ~ R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch zt”l

Hashem sustained the Bnei Yisroel in the form of Manna. The Manna did not fall during the day but rather in the middle of the night as they slept. 

The lesson is that our livelihood is not necessarily dependent on our efforts. If it is the will of Hashem we will get what we need even in our sleep! ~ R’ Bachya

Today, the Tuesday of Parshas Beshalach, there is a well known segula for parnasah – say Parshas HaMon “shnayim mikra v’echad targum” (2 times the pasuk and 1 time the Targum Unkelos).   Here is a link to the text http://www.tefillos.com/parshas_hamon.asp

Here is a another link with the interlinear translation but without Targum Unkelos – https://artscroll.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/the-chapter-of-manna.pdf

There are two things in life that you should never worry about.

It’s not worth worrying about things you can change, because you can change them.

And it’s not worth worrying about things you cannot change, because you can’t change them.  Worry doesn’t help.

What does that include?

Everything.

But it’s not the same as saying “Never worry about anything.” It’s the depth behind living: if you can’t change something, don’t worry about it – learn to accept it.

And if you can change things? Stop worrying.  Get out there and change them.

~ Rav Gav Friedman

If Moshe Rabbeinu were to come back today and need to borrow a pair of tefillin, I would be comfortable giving him mine because I know that they are exactly the same as every other pair going back to Har Sinai; our rules are what gives Judaism power. We are who we were.

I don’t know what the world will look like in a hundred years, but I am certain that Jewish women will still be lighting Shabbos candles. Our rules aren’t a means to an end, but the end itself.  ~ R’ David Lau

By makas bechoros, Moshe was careful to say that the firstborns will die at approximately chatzos. He didn’t tell them that it would happen exactly at chatzos (as indeed occurred) as Moshe was concerned that the Egyptian clocks might be slightly off, and when they think that it is midnight, and makos bechoros didn’t yet happen, they would say that Moshe is a liar.

The Brisker Rav zt’l wondered, how could they think Moshe was lying? They had already witnessed nine makos! Everything Moshe said occurred. How could they doubt him? The answer is, if one doesn’t want to believe, he can see miracles and proofs before his eyes, and he will still find excuses to deny them, and to attribute it all to nature. ~ R’ Elimelech Biderman Shlita

The end of this week’s parsha, Bo, discusses the mitzvah of Tefillin. So here are two thoughts to have in mind:

When one awakens in the morning and puts on tefillin, this good deed should draw many other good deeds throughout the day because we know, mitzvah goreres mitzvah – one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah.  R’ Yitzchak of Ravdil asked, then why aren’t we all tzadikim?  He answered that the segulah of mitzvah goreres mitzvah only occurs when one performs the mitzvah with joy.  If one wears tefillin by rote, it won’t have this effect. The same applies for all mitzvos.    

And second, some men have a tendency to take their tefillin off before davening is over.  However, keep in mind, R’ Dovid Biderman zt”l taught that wearing tefillin until after Aleinu is a segulah for parnassah. 

Your thoughts have the ability to elevate your body.  The physical effect of thoughts on the body is so great that one will actually not be able to move the body in a way that would be inconsistent with those thoughts.  When one is not immersed in thinking, however, the body is free and can do whatever the heart desires.

For this reason, we repeat Shema Yisrael twice each day.  We need to review the elevated concepts of Shema consistently in order for them to be the guiding focus in our lives.

Our goal in life is to have our thoughts become so powerful that our bodies will be totally under their influence.  Use all of your strength to build up the power of your thoughts.~ R’ Yeruchem Levovitz zt”l

We all have faults and yet we manage to love ourselves despite them.  But when it comes to others, we tend to be more critical.  We must looked past those faults and look for the good in every person. 

R’ Pinchas of Kortiz zt”l taught, “In every Yid, there is something precious and holy that no one else in the world has.”  Plus, each person serves Hashem in their own special and unique way.  Consider this and you will love and honor your fellow Jews.