Emuna Daily

Let’s work on not talking to our friends in shul, especially during the Torah reading, chazaratz Hashatz and other times that it is forbidden to speak.   I won’t discuss the scary things Chazal say about one who violates these halachot, but instead discuss the blessings one receives for keeping them.  For instance, the Tosfos Yom Tov promises that one who does not talk during davening will be subject to all the blessings in the Torah, will be saved from illness, have healthy children who are Torah observant, who will get married, do good deeds and always serve Hashem truthfully.

Even if you have been talking during davening your whole life, if you have the urge this Shabbos to do the same, and you actually refrain from doing so, that is complete teshuvah!!  All those sins will transform into mitzvos! 

To help fight the urge and discourage others from talking to you, try putting your finger on the place and following along in your siddur with the chazzan or bal korei.   Another idea is to close your eyes during chazaratz hashatz.  Treat it like a second shemona esrei where you can just concentrate while the chazzan is saying the words.   I was doing this for a while and actually looked forward to going to minyan for this reason.  This is a good reminder to myself to start doing that again.

Here are a few suggestions to implement before going to sleep:

1. Bedtime Shema – There are so many reasons to say this. I’ll just point out two briefly:
   1. When we sleep, our neshamos leave us and go up to Heaven to be judged. During that time, our bodies are more vulnerable to Kelipot (evil spirits) (This is similar to thieves that wait until you leave the house before they break in).  By saying Kriat Shema al HaMita, it helps protect us from them.
   2. A second reason is because of the beautiful Ribono Shel Olam prayer which precedes Shema where we express our forgiveness to anyone who had wronged us. Constantly forgiving others will hopefully translate to Hashem constantly forgiving us, which we ask for as well.
2. Learn a paragraph of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch before you go to sleep. It takes literally a minute and you will learn and accomplish so much.
3. Keep a notebook next to your bed and write down something you learned each day. It could be just a line or two.  How often do we learn something really beautiful only to forget about it a few weeks later?  The Ohr Hachaim says that the Torah you learn and write down come up with you after 120 and stand as your defendants.  You can write your own Seifer!  I called mine Uvilechticha Vaderech – The Torah I learned along the way.   I love it.  You will too!

Perhaps, if you are not doing so already, add saying some Tehillim to your daily repertoire. 

The power of reciting Tehillim is well documented.  The Tzemach Tzedek, went so far as to say: “If people would realize the power of the verses of Tehillim and its influence in the heavens, they would recite it continually. The chapters of Tehillim break through all barriers as they soar aloft, higher and higher, uninterrupted. They prostrate themselves before the Master of the Universe.”

Some customs include saying the psalm corresponding to your age, each day.  For example, a person aged 41 recites Psalm 42 (since from the age of 0 to the day before a first birthday would correspond to Psalm 1).  Other customs include saying a daily portion based on the monthly cycle of thirty readings, which could be found in every book of Tehillim.

Let’s give it a shot.  Who knows what an effect it will have!

Let’s work on coming to shul on time or even early!

First consider this quote:

“It was worthwhile for Hashem to create the world, and to keep it existing for six thousand years, just for one person to recite ‘Baruch hu u’varuch shemo‘ just one time.  However, saying ‘Baruch hu u’varuch shemo’ even a thousand times is less important than responding ‘Amen‘ once, and responding ‘Amen‘ a thousand times is less important than answering ‘Amen, Yehei Shmei Rabba…’ once.” ~ R’ Elya Lopian heard this from the Alter of Kelm

Now consider the following:

“One who comes only five minutes late to davening every day, loses the possibility to answer ‘Boruch Hu Uvoruch Shimoh’ and ‘Amen’ five thousand times over the course of the entire year!” ~ R’ Aizik Ausband Shlit”a

What a shame it is to come late to davening!   Let’s try to make an extra effort to get there on time.  But while we are at it, (and this is geared more toward the men) maybe make the extra effort to come earlier and be one of the first ten at the minyan.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One should always rise up early so as to be among the first ten [in shul to form a minyan].  Even if a hundred come later, he receives the reward [equal to] them all.  ~ Berachos 47b

If we can’t do this every day, how about trying to be among the first ten to minyan on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.   Wouldn’t those be great days to “receive the reward [equal to] them all?”

However much Torah we are learning, we can probably learn more.  I don’t think there has ever been a time history where the opportunity to learn Torah was more accessible to the average person than it is today.  There are so many resources available to us.  Are we fully taking advantage of them?

I can’t believe it has been four and half years since I posted this idea – https://emunadaily.com/2015/03/22/day-1-of-a-lofty-6-year-goal/ – of learning Mishna Berura Yomi.  Yesterday we finished the 4^th volume of 6, and today we will IY”H start the 5^th which discuss the halachos of all the Jewish holidays.

Today is the perfect time for you to join.  It will only take you 10-20 minutes a day, 5 days a week.   Listen to it on your computer, as a podcast on your phone or just by using the OU Torah app.  Here is a link to today’s shiur – https://www.ou.org/torah/halacha/mishnah-brurah-yomi/mb5-2a-learning-laws-of-pesach-before-pesach-4291/

In a year from now, you will wish you started this today.   Go ahead and give it a try.

If that is not for you, consider learning something else for even just 5 extra minutes each day.  Do you have 5 minutes before or after davening, while in the car or train, before you go to sleep?  A few years ago, I started learning one halacha each night out of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch with my wife before we would go to sleep, and now we are almost done!  Don’t underestimate how much you can accomplish with just a few extra minutes a day.

There is a famous story about Rav Zelig Reuven Bengis zt”l, who went through shas hundreds of times throughout his life.  One time, after completing shas, he decided to make a siyum.  One of his students asked him why he decided to make a siyum this time, considering he hadn’t made a siyum upon completing shas the previous few times.  R’ Bengis answered that this siyum is special, because “I completed shas when I didn’t have time to learn.”  He explained that whenever he was standing on line or waiting for a bus, he pulled out his gemara and learned.   He made the most of those moments and used them to complete shas.

Let’s also try to find those moments and make the most of them.  You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish with those moments.

When we speak lashon hara about someone else, it essentially allows the Satan to speak lashon hara about us.  By speaking lashon hara, we literally give the Heavenly prosecutor the right to prosecute us for our sins. This is measure for measure – we spoke about someone else, so the Satan could speak about us.

Let’s not give him the opportunity!

Going into Rosh Hashana, we all want to have a good year.  We know that we blow 100 kolos from the shofar.  What do they represent?   Ramchal says the first 30 are an atonement for gilu arayos, the second 30 are for shefichas damim, the third 30 is for avoda zara and the last 10 are an atonement for Lashon Hara.  Why is lashon hara included with the three cardinal sins?  Because on Rosh Hashana, we need to remove the power of the Satan and prevent him from prosecuting us for our sins.

Furthermore, consider the following:  What did the holiest person (the kohein gadol), on the holiest day (Yom Kippur) in the holiest place (the Beis Hamikdash) do?  You would imagine that whatever he did at that time is essential.  What did he do?  He burned ketores.  Why? Because burning ketores is an atonement for none other than lashon hara!  That is how important it is to refrain from speaking lashon hara.

Therefore, let’s make an extra effort not to speak lashon hara.  If cutting it out completely is too difficult, pick certain times of the day to refrain from speaking it.  Preferably, a time that you might typically speak lashon hara.  Then, slowly increase those times.  You have no idea how beneficial it will be to refrain from speaking lashon hara even one time.  Start small and slowly you will get there.

Another good idea would be to implement a No Lashon Hara Policy whenever you sit down to eat a meal with people.  I would suggest you implement this at any meal, but certainly on Shabbos and Yom Tov.  Make an announcement before the meal that you have a “No Lashon Hara at the Meal Policy” that you have taken on and are committed to.  People will respect that.  I have tried this before and it works!

One of the most famous parts of the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur davening is when we say “Teshuvah (repentance), Tefillah (prayer) and Tzedakah (charity), will remove the evil decree.”

Certainly Teshuvah and Tefillah belong here, but why is Tzedakah included among the three?  One answer is because when we give tzedakah – money that we worked hard for – we are essentially giving over ourselves, our time and our lives for someone else.  So just like we give our lives to someone else, we ask Hashem to give us life this year.

We all give tzedakah, but here are some suggestions that perhaps you might want to implement.

I was recently very inspired by a D’var Torah I read by R’ Avigdor Miller zt”l which can be found here (https://torasavigdor.org/parshas-shoftim-2-the-third-witness/).  I highly recommend you read it, but the conclusion was that when you join in with a group who is performing a mitzvah, you get rewarded with the group, even if you joined late or had just a small part of it.  This applies even when they don’t need your help.  By you joining, it shows that you want to associate with those people who are doing a mitzvah and therefore, you get the full credit.

For instance, maybe you are not currently learning in yeshiva, but you want to be a part of their learning.  Therefore, let’s make a small donation, maybe $18 each week, to a different yeshiva.   Start now and by this time, next year, you will already have joined in the mitzvah and merit of over 50 yeshivas!    There are thousands of yeshivas that need our money.  Make a list, start donating each week and let’s join them in this incredible mitzvah of Talmud Torah.  What an opportunity!

Another idea that I try to post every year before Rosh Hashana is to give to “Keren Hashana” a fund that the Lubvaticher Rebbe established many years ago,  that will disburse your tzedaka (charity) to worthy causes, daily, giving you the benefit of this mitzvah every day of the year!

You can give as little as 10 cents per day ($35.50 for the year) for you and each of your family members to ensure that you and your family don’t go a day without giving tzedaka.

Right now, before Rosh Hashana is the perfect time to set it up.  You can easily do it online by using this link https://lubavitch.com/donate.html?o=2026760&src=side If you wish, you can then email hq@lubavitch.com to send the names of your family members so that it is clear that the charity is coming from each member of your family.   If you prefer to call them, the phone number is 718 774-4000.

Don’t wait!  Now is the time to take care of this.

Lastly, consider the following:

“Causing others to give tzedaka is greater than giving tzedaka yourself” (Bava Basra 9).   Therefore, pass this on!  By forwarding this to friends and family, who knows how many people will sign up for this great mitzvah and how much of an effect it will have on your neshama going into Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

As discussed in my previous post, over the next couple of weeks, I am IY”H going to post different ways that we can each attempt to improve ourselves.

Let’s get started with working to improve our davening experience.

One way to do so is by focusing on one short portion of the davening each week. Choose a paragraph or even one line of the davening and read the English to make sure you understand it. Then perhaps see if you can find any commentaries on it in your siddur or from online sources. Finally, for the rest of the week, whenever you get to that portion of the davening, slow down and really concentrate on it.

Start with something short like Mizmor Lesoda or Baruch She-emar, certainly nothing longer than Ashrei or Aleinu. Pick a different tefillah each week. Soon you will have a much better davening experience and a new appreciation for it.

Friends, as Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgment is quickly approaching, I want to try something a little different.  Now is the time of year when we should all be working on self-improvement.   The question, however, is what we are doing to improve ourselves?

IY”H, over the next couple of weeks, each day, I am going to send some suggestions for us to consider.  I realize that no two people are on the same level or have the same challenges, but what I will suggest will apply to everyone and will hopefully encourage us to work on ourselves.

I am excited to share these ideas and hope you enjoy and utilize them.

A childless person went to many doctors for treatments. The treatments were extremely painful, but all his attempts proved futile. One year, he came to his rebbe, and he begged him to bless him with  children. It was then Slichos, and he was hoping that that he could yet merit a child in the coming year.

The Rebbe replied, “If I tell you the name of a tzaddik who has the ability to bless you with children, will you go to him?” “Certainly,” the chassid replied.

“And if the tzaddik requests something very difficult from you, will you do as he advises?”

“Of course I will,” the man replied. “I’ll do whatever I can to have children.” The Rebbe said, “Well, there was a tzaddik many years ago, renowned as the Tosfos Yom Tov zt’l. He blesses all people who don’t speak by the davening to have children. I advise you to follow the Tosfos Yom Tov’s counsel. Be cautious, don’t speak during the tefillah, and you will receive the brachah from the Tosfos Yom Tov,  and you will merit healthy children.”

He followed the counsel. A year later, around Selichos time, he had twins. He said, “The doctors gave me painful treatments, but nothing was as hard as remaining silent during the tefillah. It was especially difficult when someone came over and wanted to speak with me. My face changed colors, as I would motioned to them that I can’t speak until after the tefillah…” He passed the difficult test, received the Tosfos Yom Tov’s blessing, and had children. ~ R’ Elimelech Biderman Shlita

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The Tosfos Yom Tov further promises that one who does not talk during davening will be subject to all the blessings in the Torah, will be saved from illness, have healthy children who are Torah observant, who will get married, do good deeds and always serve Hashem truthfully.