Understand

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Emuna Daily

Man wants to believe in himself and to understand God, when in fact he should believe in God and understand himself. ~ The Alter of Norvordok, R’ Yosef Yozel Hurwitz zt”l

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Speaking Loshon Hora to a Group of People

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Emuna Daily

You are forbidden to relate loshon hora to a single individual or to a group.  The larger the group that hears your loshon hora, the graver your sin, since the victim will be degraded in the eyes of more people.  Furthermore, a larger number of people have sinned by their hearing your loshon hora. ~ Guard Your Tongue

Posted in Shmiras Haloshon | 3 Comments

Perspective

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Emuna Daily

Standing by his wagon, the wagon driver donned tallis and tefillin and recited the morning prayers. In the midst of his prayers, he realized that his wagon was broken. He became occupied with fixing his wagon and was distracted from his prayers.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who is legendary for judging favorably, noticed this scene. He raised his hands toward heaven and proclaimed, “G-d Almighty – see how wonderful Your children are. Even while working, they pray to You!” ~ Heard from Zevi Raskin in Chicken Soup to Warm the Neshama

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Talking to God

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Emuna Daily

When I pray, I talk to God;

When I learn, God talks to me.

~ The Rogotchover Gaon, R’ Yosef Rosen zt”l

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The Entirety of Man

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Emuna Daily

This is the entirety of man: Not for himself was man created, but instead to help others to the extent of his ability to do so. ~ R’ Chaim of Volozhin zt”l

Posted in Chesed | 2 Comments

Government

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Emuna Daily

R’ Yisroel Salanter used to pray for the welfare of the government.  When he happened to be in a synagogue where the prayer was not read, he read it himself.  ~ Sparks of Mussar

Posted in Prayer | 1 Comment

Going the wrong way on an Escalator

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Emuna Daily

If a man is not ascending, he is inevitably descending. ~ The Vilna Gaon

Posted in Mussar, Spirituality | 1 Comment

My Shabbos with a Mekubal

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Emuna Daily

This past shabbos I had the honor and pleasure of hosting Rav Shimon Ben Dovid shlita, a mekubal (kabbalist) from Netivot, Israel.  This is a man who receives around 80 phone calls a day from big business people, brain surgeons and others asking for his special advice.   It was amazing to see over shabbos what he was able to know about a person just based on his or her hebrew name and then be able to advise them accordingly.  It is one thing to spend 10 minutes with such a mekubal, but to spend an entire shabbos and motzei shabbos with him was truly a gift and very special.

Anyway, after shabbos, someone mentioned “Emuna Daily” to the rav.  He then turned to me and told me to post the following:

לאהוב מישהו פרושו לראותו כמו שאלוקים ברא אותו

“To love someone means to see him as God created him.”

Posted in Spirituality | 3 Comments

When You Include Yourself

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Emuna Daily

Adding something derogatory about yourself when you disparage others does not mitigate the fact that you have spoken loshon hora.  This includes instances when you mention that you and a friend both did the exact same action or have the same fault, and you begin by talking about yourself.

For example:

“Ben and I shoplifted when we were younger.”

“Nobody in our group studies Torah Properly.”

“I don’t give enough charity, but neither does Mr. Stern.” 

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Oy! My appoligies

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Emuna Daily

You may have noticed that the story about the Chofetz Chayim accidentally went out this morning instead of tonight.  I am sorry about that.  I set it before shabbos to go out at 8:30, but accidentally left it as AM instead of PM.   I just noticed and didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.

Shavua Tov!

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