Redefining the Past

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Emuna Daily

Nothing can hold you back – not your childhood, not the history of a lifetime, not even the very last moment before now. In a moment you can abandon your past. And once abandoned, you can redefine it.

If the past was a ring of futility, let it become a wheel of yearning that drives you forward. If the past was a brick wall, let it become a dam to unleash your power.
The very first step of change is so powerful , the boundaries of time fall aside. In one bittersweet moment, the sting of the past is dissolved and its honey salvaged. ~ R’ Tzvi Freeman

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Luxuries

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Emuna Daily

The luxuries we indulge in eventually come to seem to be necessities, as if we could not live without them. ~ R’ Yisroel Salanter zt”l

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Keeping our Heads Above Water

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Emuna Daily

The Gemara tells us that a father is required to teach his son how to swim.  The secret to swimming is to move along in the water without allowing one’s head to go under. We live in a world that pulls us along, but we must always be careful to keep our heads above the water – not allowing ourselves to be totally dragged under by the constant struggles of daily life. ~ Kotzker Rebbe

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Take Action

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Emuna Daily

It is not enough for one’s heart to be in the right place; his hands must be there too. ~ R’ Shraga Silverstein zt”l

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No Names

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Emuna Daily

All forms of loshon hora are prohibited even when no names are mentioned, if it will be possible for people to determine who is being discussed.  If names are omitted but the story will reflect badly on an entire group of people, it may not be spoken.  Speaking critically about an unnamed student at a yeshivah is often taken as a statement about the entire student body or as a reflection on yeshivah students in general.  If this is the implication, the statement is a more serious form of loshon hora, for it reflects on a multitude of Jews. ~ Sefer Chofetz Chaim

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The Steipler zt”l

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Emuna Daily

The Steipler once made a surprise appearance at a bar mitzvah seudah to which he had not been invited.  He wished the father “Mazel tov,” then sat down next to the bar mitzvah boy, spoke with him for a very short while, and left.  After the Steipler left, the bar mitzvah boy explained that several years earlier, the Steipler had seen him enter the Lederman’s Shul on Yom  Kippur carrying a large sefer, which the Steipler assumed was a gemara.  He told the boy, “Yinge’le (young boy), now we are to daven; learning is for later.” The boy then showed the Steipler that he was carrying not a gemara, but an oversized machzor.

The mechilah (forgiveness) of a kattan (boy under bar mitzvah) is not valid, so the Steipler made sure to find out when and where the boy’s bar mitzvah celebration would be held, so that he could ask forgiveness at the first opportunity. ~ 5 Great Lives

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Tears

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Emuna Daily

Tears are the sweat of the soul ~ R’ Samson Rapahel Hirsch zt”l

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Needs

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Emuna Daily

Who seeks more than he needs, hinders himself from enjoying what he has.  Seek what you need and give up what you need not.  For in giving up what you don’t need, you’ll learn what you really do need. ~ R’ Shlomo Ibn Gabirol zt”l (1021-1058)

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Missed the Train?

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Emuna Daily

If you see that someone came to the station after the train he wanted had already left, do not say that the man was late and missed his train, but that he came early for the next train.  For everything is in the hands of Heaven. ~ R’ Yosef Yozel Hurwitz zt”l

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“Practice what you Preach”

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Emuna Daily

We must see to it that what we preach is practicable and what we practice preachable.  ~ R’ Shraga Silverstein zt”l

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