Emuna Daily

In the beginning of his career as a rabbi, Rabbi Naftoli of Ropshitz was once asked to speak when he was unprepared.  He told his audience, “When delivering a lecture it is proper to state the truth, to speak concisely and the topic should be in reference to the weekly portion.  I do not have anything to say on this week’s portion.  This is true; it is concise; and it is a comment on the weekly portion.” ~ Ohel Naftoli as quoted by R’ Zellig Pliskin

The Gemara (Bava Metzia 59.) teaches that honoring one’s wife is also a segulah for parnassah. “Rava said to the people of Mechuza, ‘Honor your wives so you will become wealthy.'”

What is the association between honoring one’s wife and earning parnassah? We can explain as follows: Man was cursed that he must work very hard for his parnassah (Bereishis 3:19). The woman was cursed that her husband will rule over her (Bereishis 3:19). If he will be lenient with her curse, and not rule over her, then midah keneged midah (measure for measure), his curse will also be minimized, and he will earn his parnassah easily, without working hard for it.  ~  R’ Elimelech Biderman shlita

The Chasam Sofer zt”l taught that Hashem could have made people without needing anything, but then they would never turn to Hashem.  The greatest chessed, therefore, is that they lack things. ~ Toras Moshe

Tefillah is always necessary.  Even when Heaven decreed something, it won’t happen without tefillah. ~ R’ Tzaddok HaCohen zt”l

The Kohen Gadol, Reb Yishmael ben Elisha, was once in Heaven, and was shown rooms filled with terrible decrees. He said, “How can one endure all of this?” He was then brought to a higher room, and he saw even greater tzaros, “How can we sustain them?” he asked again in dread.

The answer he received from Heaven was, “When Klal Yisrael say amen yehei shmei rabba we rip up all of these gezeiros.”

The Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch said that only a part of a Jew’s neshama comes into the body, but when a Jew uses that part of the neshama to serve Hashem, it makes a difference for the balance and part of the neshama which is still in Shomayim!

The deepest prayer a person can pray is, Hashem I don’t want an answer, I just want you to listen! ~ R’ Shlomo Carlebach zt’l – Today is his 25th Yahrzeit

When we find excuses for a person’s poor behavior, we fulfill V’ohavta lereiacha Kamocha, for we always find excuses for our own mistakes. ~ R’ Moshe Meir Weiss

“Dear Hashem, I learned in class that you show yourself in everything. You are right there, next to me, all the time. You are always seeing me, knowing me and understanding me. I just have to open my eyes a little more and then this relationship will be mutual. However much energy I’m putting into seeing you, I have to put in a little more and never stop trying to understand you. It makes me feel important to know that you reflect yourself through me; but it also makes me realize that every single person is also a reflection of you, which makes every person special and amazing.

I need to learn to see past the fake, ugly, outer layer of people and see the real them that you are a part of. The part of them that emulates your qualities; the part that makes them amazing people no matter how bad they seem. I’m really going to try hard to see you more in myself, in others and in everything around me. Love, a girl who is trying to open her eyes more.” ~ A Tenth Grader at Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls

Giving affects not only the one you give to, but also you, the giver. Therefore, it’s not only important how much you give, but how often. Each act of giving uplifts and purifies you a little more. ~ R’ Tzvi Freeman

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Each year before Rosh Hashana, I post about “Keren Hashana,” an organization that distributes the charity each day of the year ensuring that you don’t go a day without giving charity.

I want to bring your attention to another wonderful organization with a similar concept which just started earlier this year.  https://dailygiving.org/ donors sign up to donate $1 per day to charity, which they distribute to over 40 wonderful charities that serve the greater Jewish community.  Click this link https://dailygiving.org/tzedaka-organizations/ for a list of the charitable organizations they distribute the money to.  You are probably familiar with the majority of them.  You even have the option of receiving an email each morning telling you where your dollar went.  I encourage you all to check out their website.  Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity!