Monsters

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Emuna Daily

“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”  ~ Primo Levi

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Yom HaShoah

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Emuna Daily

Yom HaShoah is a vital day in the Jewish calendar, providing us with a focal point for our remembrance. We cannot bring the dead back to life, but we can bring their memory back to life and ensure they are not forgotten. We can undertake in our lives to do what they were so cruelly prevented from doing in theirs. ~ R’ Jonathan Sacks

 

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R’ Aryeh Levine zt”l and the Thief

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Emuna Daily

A neighbor once knocked on Rabbi Aryeh Levine’s door and told him that he just saw a thief break into a nearby kiosk.  The neighbor said that he wanted to stop the thief, but he feared to do so lest the thief harm him.  Undaunted, Rav Aryeh ran to the kiosk, approached the thief, and whispered in his ear, “My son, perhaps you have forgotten that the Torah states that it is forbidden to steal.”

The robber stared at Rabbi Levine’s white-bearded face, lowered his eyes in shame, and returned the merchandise he was about to steal. ~ Ish Tzadik Haya as quoted by R’ Zelig Pliskin

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The Now

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Emuna Daily

There is no moment more vital than the one right now.

There is no space more crucial than the one in which you stand.

There is no act more powerful than the one you have been empowered to do.

For this is the moment and this is the place from which the moshiach  may come. ~ R’ Tzvi Freeman

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No Bad Can Come From It

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Emuna Daily

None ever became poor from giving charity, nothing bad or injurious is caused by Tzedakah, as it is written: “The Lord will be kind and compassionate to you and multiply you” (Deuteronomy 13:18) ~Mishna Torah 10:2

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The Sound of Torah

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Emuna Daily

“I am like the mill owner who hears the noise of his mill grinding and is happy and relaxed because he knows that the mill is working properly and work is getting done.  Similarly, the sound of Torah learning, no matter how loud and noisy, is exactly what puts me at ease and enables me to rest.” ~ The Netziv

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On the Last Day of Pesach

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Emuna Daily

“On Acharon Shel Pesach, the radiance of the light of Moshiach is shining openly!” ~ The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l

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R’ Natan of Bresolv’s Complete Trust 

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Emuna Daily

Once, on the last market day before Pesach, Rebbe Natan still did not have any money to buy his household needs for the festival. Before he could even say his morning prayers, his wife, Dishel, pressed him for money, causing him great anguish. “Oy! Did she learn a chapter of bitterness with me,” he said. Still, when he began his prayers, he strengthened himself with faith and trust in G-d, and put all his energy into his prayers, as if nothing at all was wrong. 

Reb Nachman of Tulchin, who was there at the time, said, “After Rebbe Natan finished his prayers I saw a tremendous change on his face. He looked as if all of his needs were fulfilled.” Later that day some of Rebbe Natan’s followers from 
nearby Rairid, came to Breslov for the market. They brought Rebbe Natan a sizeable sum of money, sufficient to cover all of his needs for Pesach. Reb Nachman of Tulchin was with Rebbe Natan when they gave him the money. He said he saw no change whatsoever on Rebbe Natan’s face when he received it. This was because of his complete trust in G-d. (Aveneha Barzel p. 76 #64).” ~ “Through Fire and Water” by Rabbi Chaim Kramer

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Transformation

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Emuna Daily

“Before the experience of Mount Sinai, the coarse material of which the world is made could not be elevated. It could be used as a medium, an aid in achieving enlightenment, but it itself could not be enlightened. Jacob used sticks for meditation. Isaac dug wells. But neither the sticks nor the wells became imbued with G-dliness. 

All that changed at Mount Sinai. When you take a piece of leather and write upon it a Torah scroll, you have transformed the material into spiritual. And the same with flour used for matzah for Passover night, and branches used to cover a succah, and even the earnings which you tithe for good causes.  And so you may do in every aspect of your life.” ~ R’ Tzvi Freeman

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Bargain

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Emuna Daily

“Just as one goes early to the market to take advantage of bargains, so too, should one rush out to seize every opportunity to perform mitzvos!” ~ R’ Aharon Hagadol of Karlin zt”l from Torah Tavlin

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