Baking Matzah

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Emuna Daily

Someone asked Rav Yisroel Salanter which hiddur he should take on when baking the matzah. He answered to be extra nice to the almanah sweeping the floor in the bakery.

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Posted in Mussar | 1 Comment

Would you Trade Places with Abraham?

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Emuna Daily

“If I was offered to trade places with Abraham Our Father, I wouldn’t do it. What would G-d get from this? He’d still have one Abraham and one Zushe!”  ~ R’ Zushe of Anipoli

Posted in Spirituality | 2 Comments

Filling Your Resume with Vacation Spots

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Emuna Daily

Attempt to go through all our sacred books in the course of your lifetime.  You will have then visited every place in the Torah.  The very rich constantly travel from land to land.  They spend huge amounts just so they should be able to boast that they have been to some faraway place.  They consider it a sign of high status if, for example, they can boast that they have been to Warsaw.  You should likewise travel everywhere in the Torah.  In the Future Life you will then be able to boast that you have visited every place in our sacred literature.  At that time, you will also remember everything you have learned.  ~ R’ Nachman of Breslov zt”l

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Causing Damage without saying anything Derogatory

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Emuna Daily

Any statement, even if not derogatory, that might ultimately cause financial loss, physical pain, mental anguish, or any damage, is loshon hora. ~ Guard Your Tongue

Posted in Shmiras Haloshon | Leave a comment

R’ Yaakov Kamenetsky’s Shalom Bayis

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Emuna Daily

Shortly after R’ Yaakov Kamenetsky’s second marriage, Shavuos fell on Friday.  The rebbetzin prepared an elaborate dairy Kiddush, including an assortment of cheese dishes.  R’ Yaakov had forgotten to tell her that it was his family’s minhag (custom) not to eat cheese on Fridays – and a minhag has the force of halachah.

As they gathered around the table that morning, the rebbetzin noticed that R’ Yaakov appeared preoccupied, but when she asked him about this he replied, “I just wasn’t prepared for such a beautiful Kiddush.”  He did not want to tell her the truth, for this would have hurt her feelings.  As the Torah relates, Hashem altered the truth somewhat so as not to cause any ill feelings between Avraham and Sarah (see Bereishis 18:13).

When the rebbetzin returned to the kitchen momentarily, R’ Yaakov turned to the three talmidim who were his guests and asked them to serve as a beis din to be matter neder (release him from his vow) so that he could eat the cheese dishes.  He explained the halachah surely permitted this, for if he were to refrain from eating the foods, his new rebbetzin’s feelings might be terribly hurt – and he would never have accepted the custom had he known this in advance.

The rebbetzin returned to the room and R’ Yaakov recited Kiddush, partook of the cheese dishes, and praised his new wife’s culinary skills.  She was very happy and had no idea of what had taken place during her absence.  Some time later, R’ Yaakov informed her of his custom and returned to his practice of not eating cheese on Fridays.  ~ 5 Great Lives

Posted in Shalom Bayis, Stories of Tzaddikim | Leave a comment

What Befits Your Income

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Emuna Daily

One should always eat less than befits his income, dress as befits his income and provide for his wife and children beyond what befits his income. ~ Rambam and Chazal

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A Single Act

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Emuna Daily

A single act is better than a thousand groans. Our G-d lives, and Torah and mitzvot are eternal; quit the groaning and work hard in actual avoda, and G-d will be gracious to you. ~ Rebbe Rashab Sholom Dovber Schneersohn of Lubavitch

Click here for day 5 of Mishna Brurah Yomi regarding halachos of getting dressed in the morning.

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Hashem’s Phone number

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Emuna Daily

People seek spirituality. They seek G-d’s phone number. Kabalah teaches us that G-d’s presence is invested in a Mitzvah. The proper translation of a Mitzvah is a connection. A Mitzvah is G-d’s phone number. ~  R’ Yisrael Baron

Click here for day 4 of mishna brurah yomi.

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Another Question to Ask Yourself

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Emuna Daily

Let every Jew, religious or not, ask himself one simple question: If 150 years ago, all Jews in the world were at my level of religiosity and Torah erudition, would there be Jews in the world today? ~ Rabbi Nachman Kahana

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Click this link for today’s Mishna Brurah Yomi.

Posted in Mussar, Spirituality | 5 Comments

Ask Yourself ** (My own 2 cents)

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Emuna Daily

When I come to shul to daven, and in fact, everything that I do in life, I find it very helpful to keep myself in check by constantly asking myself questions in order to put things in the right perspective.  I want to share just some examples of the questions I ask myself

Why am I here?

What is my purpose in life?   Is it really to just go to work, come home,  watch TV day in and day out?

There’s got to be a reason I am here.  What is my mission?  Am I doing everything I can to accomplish that mission?

When I come to daven, do I really believe that Hashem is standing right before me?  Am I saying the words in a way that if someone was requesting something from me, I would listen?

When I daven, do I know what I am saying?

If I don’t know what I am saying, am I doing anything about it so that one day soon I will know everything I am saying?

When I have the urge to speak to a friend during davening, I ask myself is it worth saying these few words to my friend or will I possibly look back at this moment after 120 years IYH, and regret for all eternity that I sinned.  That goes for any sin.

When I am in middle of a great seifer and bring it to shul to read, but don’t just learn it between aliyas, but I learn it during the actual laining, I ask myself is this really what Hashem wants me to be doing during laining?  Or is this the Yeitzer Hara convincing me that it’s okay to ignore the laining since after all, I am learning?

When I learn or daven, am I just going through the motions or am I actually trying to get closer to Hashem?

Am I setting aside enough time to learn halacha so I know How to serve Hashem?

I think more important than the answers to these questions are the questions themselves.  If you constantly ask yourself questions like this, not only will you put yourself in the right frame of mind, but you will find that Hashem will immediately answer your questions.

I once again want to bring to your attention that we are at the very beginning of a 6 year cycle to learn a page of Mishna Brurah a day, 5 days a week.  Each shiur is just 15 minutes per day and I can’t think of anyone better to be giving the shiur than Rabbi Dr. Aaaron Glatt.  Today is day 2, but here is a link to day 1 and 2 in case you choose to start today.

Here is a link to the first shiur (Daf 4a, the first page in the Mishnah Brurah):
https://www.ou.org/torah/halacha/mishnah-brurah-yomi/mishnah-brurah-4a/

And here is a link to today’s shiur:

https://www.ou.org/torah/halacha/mishnah-brurah-yomi/mishnah-brurah-4b/

The gemara (Talmud Niddah 73a) states that one who studies Halachos daily is guaranteed a portion in Olam Haba, the world to come.  Let’s take that guarantee, become a “Ben Olam Haba” and not let this opportunity pass us by.

Posted in Learning, Mussar, Prayer, Spirituality | Leave a comment