Emuna Daily

A truly happy person does not allow his happiness to be dependent on any external factor over which he may not have any control. ~ Chochmah Umussar

Most people do not appreciate that we should feel fortunate and happy just because we are alive. (Ahavas Maishorim).

Imagine yourself in a situation in which you were about to die. Actually feel it.  Then picture yourself being given another chance.  The more vividly you can imagine this, the greater you will be able to feel the joy of life itself. ~ R’ Zelig Pliskin

Look around. You can see we’re facing more challenges than ever before, because before Mashiach comes, everyone needs to call forth a little more depth, a little more meaning in their avodah. It isn’t enough to assume that things can just coast along, that a person will never have doubts, that marriage will be perfect; everything takes work! But how does one develop the passion necessary to work hard?

It comes from the realization that Hashem is always with us, and the desire to learn to live with Him, to realize Whom you are working for and Who is cheering you on.

It can change your life. And the way to build up that awareness is to talk to Him, constantly, to go through the day thanking and asking and telling and thanking again. The more you work on feeling the connection, the more you will feel Him. Crying where you are in pain, laughing when you’re happy, these are all tefillos once you are aware of that reality. ~ R’ Shalom Arush Shlita

I was recently interviewed by C. Saphir of Mishpacha Magazine regarding a hike I took with my family a couple of years ago in Israel on which we got lost in the desert without water, reception or safety equipment. It was the scariest and most dangerous experience of our lives, but Baruch Hashem, we are here and able to share this amazing story with you.  Here is a link to the article: https://mishpacha.com/on-a-narrow-cliff/

The greatest gift of giving is the opportunity to give. ~ R’ Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l

Diseases come to the world because of bad speech. Forbidden speech pollutes the air and ruins the nature of the world [which results in diseases].

Therefore, be cautious and don’t speak forbidden words. Sanctify your mouth with Torah and tefillah from the depths of your heart…” ~ The Trisker Magid zt’l

The yetzer hara (inclination for evil) is misunderstood. Hashem is all goodness. Therefore, if He made a yetzer hara, it’s a tremendous chesed (kindness). But it’s a perilous form of chesed.

If you know how to utilize the yetzer hara, you can become great. But if you don’t think about it, you can’t even try to protect yourself, and it’ll conquer you. ~ R’ Avigdor Miller zt”l

Someone once asked R’ Bunim of Pshischa zt”l the following: “Every morning I say the Brachah, ‘sheasah li kol tzarchi’ (who arranges for me all my needs). But I don’t feel that I can say this brachah, because I don’t have all my needs – I am so poor. I think that if I say this brachah, it is a brachah levatala (a brachah said in vain).

Rebbe Bunim told him, “You have one need: to accept every situation that Hashem arranges for you with love. Therefore, Hashem is giving you all your needs, for your need is to go through these hardships and to accept them all with love.” ~ The Sifsei Tzaddik

If someone asked you to identify the most important moment of your life: some people would say it was the moment they were born, and others would say it was the moment they were married, or when they had their first child.

But the truth is that the right answer is the moment you live in right now.

That’s the most important moment of all.

The other ones have either passed or they haven’t come yet: the only moment that’s real to you is the one in which you’re existing.

Live it. ~ R’ Jonathan Rietti

On Chanukah we enter a world that is beyond nature, a world where miracles are the norm.

Tzaddikim tell us: The way to earn miracles throughout the year is to serve Hashem beyond nature. Everyone has their comfort zone, the level they are accustomed to serve Hashem. If a person can go beyond this limit to serve Hashem, he will merit miracles. This rule applies to every day of the year, and especially on Chanukah. If you serve Hashem beyond your limitations, Hashem will perform great miracles for you. ~ R’ Elimelech Biderman Shlita