Aftermath

The Baal Shem Tov taught that a sin in itself is only the bite of the snake.  The real damage comes from the poison that spreads afterwards, saying “What a worthless thing you are.  Look what you’ve done!” With those few words, all the gates of hell open wide. ~ R’ Tzvi Freeman

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Never Satisfied

“One who loves money will never be satisfied by money.” ~ Koheles 5:9

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Twelve Gates

There are various different rites of prayer among the Ashkenzim, the Sefardim…  These different rites do not merely involve poems and prayers that were added on later, but involve the basic form of the service as required by law.

My master [the Arizal,] said that there are Twelve Gates in heaven, one for each of the Twelve Tribes.  The prayer of each different tribe would ascend through its own particular gate.  These are the gates mentioned at the end of the Book of Ezekiel.

Each of these gates is different, and therefore the forms of prayers are also different.  Each person should therefore keep the custom of his fathers, since…his prayers can only ascend through their own particular gate.

All the laws stated in the Talmud, however, are the same for all Twelve Tribes. ~ R’ Chaim Vital zt”l

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Silence is Golden

“Shimon his son says: All my days I have been raised among the Sages, and I found nothing better for oneself than silence; not study, but practice is the main thing; and one who talks excessively brings on sin.” Avos 1:17

Man is given a limited number of words in this world.  When he uses up the quota, his life is over. Hence nothing is as good for man’s physical existence as silence. ~ Tiferes Tzvi

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Don’t beat yourself up

“Be careful not to consider yourself wicked.  Such a person will not even attempt to improve himself and is likely to become worse than he already is.” ~ R’ Avraham Ben HaRambam zt”l from Torah Tavlin

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Put your Trust in the Right Place

The story is told of one of the pious whose neighbor, a skilled scribe, supported himself from what he earned in the practice of his art.  One day the pious man asked his neighbor, “How are you faring?”  “Fine,” he said, “so long as my arm is sound.”  That very evening he shattered his arm, and he could not write with it for the rest of his life.  It was Divine retribution for having placed his trust in his arm.  ~ Chovos Halevovos

Leilui Nishmas Eliyahu ben Eliezer Moshe

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Who just said that?

If both a friend and an enemy give you advice, you can be sure that the enemy wishes to mislead you.  When an idea comes into one’s mind, one should ask himself, “What is the source of this idea, the Yetzer Tov – good inclination, or the Yetzer Hora – evil inclination?”  ~ The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l

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Love Thy Neighbor

They asked Rabbi Schneur Zalman:

“Which is greater: love of G‑d,
or love of your fellow man?”

“Love of your fellow man,” he replied.
“For then you are loving the one that your Beloved loves.”

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Revolution

If you were there and the Romans or the Babylonians were about to destroy Jerusalem and you had the power to do something about it, would you sit and mourn and cry?

Or would you turn the world upside down to change history?

So what is stopping you? Overturn the world today! ~ R’ Tzvi Freeman

…..

Here is a link for a great video by Rabbi Fohrman for Tisha B’Av.  I highly recommend that you find some time today to watch it.

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Help me Feel it!

There was once a girl who was davening at the Kotel on Tisha B’Av and crying. Her friends asked her what she was crying about. They wondered what she really felt.  She replied that she was crying because she didn’t know what she should be crying about.  She didn’t know what to feel.

Dear Klal Yisrael, today we are so lost, we don’t even know what we are truly missing. “Please Hashem help me feel it”. ~ Divrei chizuk

Bizchus Moshe Dovid ben Mordechai

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