Emuna Daily

One of the ways to fight against the yetzer hara is to be involved in many good deeds. The Rebbe of Kotzk zt’l told his chassidim that their sins don’t bother him as much as that they had time for sins.

A person should be so busy with good deeds, that there is no time for aveiros. A person that’s busy learning Torah, davening, giving tzedakah, doing chessed, working as well (with the intention to support his family) doesn’t have time to sin. ~ R’ Elimelech Biderman Shlita

At times, a person must tell himself or herself not to lose heart but rather maintain trust that Hashem will provide.  However, we should be quicker to employ this concept regarding our own problems than when approaching the trials confronted by others.  If we see a person in distress, we should make great efforts to help him without preaching to him about the virtues of trust. ~ R’ Yechezkel Levenstein zt”l

Never stop seeking to increase the number of friends you have.  Conversely, even one enemy is too many. ~ Orchos Chayim of the Rosh, 90

One can train oneself to be occupied with faith.  One can get used to saying at every opportunity, “Thank God,” “im yirtza Hashem-If God wills,” and so on. ~ R’ Eliyahu Dessler zt”l

At the end of the Seder we sing Echad Mi Yodeia.  The song is written in question and answer form: “Who knows one? I know one. One is Hashem in the heaven and the earth. Who knows two?…Two are the luchos…” and so on.

The Sheim Mishmuel zt’l asks, why does it need to be with questions and answers? It could have simply stated, “One is Hashem, two are the luchos, three are the avos,” etc. The Sheim MiShmuel explains that this song is a test. At the end of the Seder, we want to see whether we’ve acquired the lessons that the Seder teaches us. We ask, “When I say one, what’s the first thought that comes to your mind? Is it ‘one hundred dollars’? Is it some other materialistic factor, or is your first thought Hashem is one?”

We go through the numbers from one to thirteen and ask the family, what’s your first association when you hear these numbers? If we acquired the lessons of the Seder correctly, we should be able to answer: One is Hashem. Two are the luchos. Three are the avos, because we realize that only these matters are important, everything pales in comparison. ~ R’ Elimelech Biderman Shlita

I would like to share a thought I saw from Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein.

In Chad Gadya, we read how a man purchased a goat for two zuzim. Along came a cat and ate the goat; then a dog ate the cat; along came a stick and hit the dog; fire then burnt up the stick; water then extinguished the fire; the cow then drank the water; the slaughterer then slaughtered the cow; the angel of death then killed the slaughterer; and then Hashem smote the angel of death.

Everything naturally makes sense in the sequence of events. Cats eat goats, dogs eat cats, water extinguishes fire, cows drink water and so on. But how did the stick hit the dog? Sticks don’t walk. It should have said that a person came with a stick and hit the dog. But it doesn’t say that.

Clearly, Hashem must be holding the stick. And if that is so, the same is true of all the other ‘natural’ events. Even the cat eating the goat and the water extinguishing the fire is the hand of Hashem. Nothing is natural and happens by itself.

At the end of the Haggadah when we read about the events of Chad Gadya, we are meant to think of all the incidents in our own personal lives. And then we are to realize that even the stick that hits and the hardships that confront us are from Hashem. He is behind our lives every step of the way.

If you abuse wine [tirosh], you will become  rash-poor.  If you use it properly, you will become rosh-a leader.  ~ Talmud Yoma 76b