R’ Chayim Ozer Grodzenski zt”l – Hachnosas Orchim on Sukos

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Emuna Daily

R’ Chayim Ozer Grodzenski entertained a guest during sukos.  At mealtime, R’ Chayim Ozer went outside to his sukah, but then said that due to his ill health and the suffering he undergoes in the cold weather, he was not obligated to eat there.  The guest told him that since cold weather did not affect him, he felt obligated to eat in the sukah.

A few minutes later, R’ Chayim Ozer joined his guest in the sukah to eat the meal. The guest was surprised to see him and asked R’ Chayim Ozer why he had changed his mind.

R’ Chayim Ozer replied “Suffering does not free one from the mitzvah of entertaining guests.” ~ R’ Zelig Pliskin

Posted in Stories of Tzaddikim | 2 Comments

He Shall Not be Foreign

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Emuna Daily

“You shall have no foreign god” (Psalm 81:10)

The intent of Scripture is not that you shall not have an alien god, rather, that the God in Whom you believe shall not be foreign and alien in you, in your mind and in your soul.  ~ The Kotzker Rebbe

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Read Before Advancing to the Next Level!

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Emuna Daily

I posted this 3 years ago, but it is worth posting again especially right after Yom Kippur:

When a person wishes to enter into the service of God…he must at all times advance and rise from level to level.  Now, every time a person is about to move from one level to the next, each in his own way, he has to encounter the full force of the kelipot, the husks, all over again.  These are the desires and fantasies and wild thoughts, the distractions and obstacles which are ranged against a person at every moment and try to prevent him from entering the gates of sanctity.

This often leads to great confusion in the minds of honest people who have truly worked hard on themselves.  Suddenly they find all these old desires, confusions and obstacles rising up against them.  They start thinking that they must have fallen from their level because before this they had had rest from all these desires and confusions.  They lay dormant.  Now that they have reappeared, these people come to think they must have fallen down.  But this is no fall.  What is happening is that the time has come for them to advance from one level to the next, each in his own way.  This is why all the desires and confusions and obstacles – all the ‘crookedness in the heart’ – are stirred up against them with fresh force.  Each time this happens you must fortify yourself and refuse to lose heart.  Strengthen yourself against these forces and break then anew.” ~ R’ Nachman of Breslov in Lekutey Moharan

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An Atonement for All Your Meals

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Emuna Daily

According to the great tzaddikim, eating on erev Yom Kippur atones for all the meals you ate without the proper intention all year.  Since the purpose of eating on erev Yom Kippur is to give you strength to fast on Yom Kippur, the meals on erev Yom Kippur have the power to restore and instill kedusha into the meals of the entire year. ~ Sfas Emes as quoted by R’ Dovid Meisels

G’mar Chasima Tovah!

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A Reason to Celebrate

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Emuna Daily

If one could have but one Yom Kippur in a lifetime, this alone would be reason for tremendous joy. ~ R’ Yisroel Salanter zt”l

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Speak for only For Yourself

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Emuna Daily

When Yeshayah said, “for I am a man of impure lips and I dwell among an impure people” (Yeshayah 6:6), Hashem said to him, “Yeshayah, you are permitted to say “I am a man of impure lips” about yourself, but about Israel you say “And i dwell among an impure people?!”

The verse says “and one of the Seraphim came upon me and in his hand was a burning coal.”  What is meant by a burning coal?  A burning coal [to be thrown] on one who speaks lashon hara about my child. ~ Midrash Tanchuma, Vayishlach

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R’ Moshe Dweck zt”l

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Emuna Daily

It is told about R’ Moshe Dweck zt”l that in his final illness in 2005, when he was seriously ill and hospitalized, a close friend came to visit.  The friend said, “R’ Moshe you don’t belong here, you should be teaching Torah.”  R’ Moshe replied calmly, “Right now I belong right here.  The proof being that Hashem put me here.!”  When his son came to visit him and he was wracked with terrible back pains and was connected to oxygen tanks, he asked his son, “ Do you love me?”  “Of course, Abba, definitely,” came the reply, not understanding what his father was getting at.  R’  Moshe continued, “if you could remove all of my pain and suffering, would you do it?”  Visibly upset, his son countered that of course he would.  R’ Moshe explained, “Hashem loves me many times more than you love me, there is no limit to His compassion.  Moreover, Hashem can easily alleviate all of my suffering.  So why doesn’t He?  Not only does Hashem not remove the suffering, He is the one who afflicted me with it.  Why?”  The questions echoed in the room until R’ Moshe concluded, “ Precisely because Hashem loves me , specifically because His compassion is unlimited did He inflict this upon me.  He doesn’t make me suffer despite His compassion, He makes me suffer because of His compassion.”  (Zichron Moshe)

Posted in Stories of Tzaddikim | 2 Comments

The Month of Tishrei

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Emuna Daily

By Hashem choosing the month of Tisrhei to judge the world, it demonstrates His great compassion.  He judges the entire world at a time when He is favorably disposed and full of mercy.  For in Tishrei, Klal Yisrael is busy doing a great many mitzvos: shofar, Yom Kippur, sukkah, and lulav, all of which arouse Hashem’s abundant compassion.  ~ Abudraham

Posted in Spirituality, Teshuva | 1 Comment

Double Jeopardy

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Emuna Daily

In spirituality, double jeopardy is illegal – the Heavenly Court can’t judge anyone who has already judged himself. ~ R’ Lazer Brody

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Did the Gates of Heaven Open?

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Emuna Daily

How does a person know that the gates of Heaven have opened to allow his prayers to enter?  When he feels his heart opening up and a fountain of faith surging up from below, it is a sign that the gates of Heaven have opened up. ~ Toras Avos as quoted by R’ Dovid Meisels

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