Emuna Daily

I wasn’t in Heaven, and I don’t know the beis din’s verdicts.  However, I will know what was decided in the Divine Court when the year passes.

~ R’ Eliyahu Dessler zt”l

Imagine standing in court, awaiting sentencing for a crime you’ve committed.

Fear grips you—until you look up and see that the judge is your own father. Relief and hope flood your heart, for you know he loves you and will show you mercy.

This is the experience we have on Rosh Hashanah.

As the Beis Aharon said, “We have a compassionate Father. When we do teshuvah, Hashem forgives us. You need not fear.”

On this holy day, we stand before our Father, not with fear, but with trust in His boundless love and mercy.

I have sat in rehabilitation centers and heard the experts tell parents: Please, make sure your child believes that you will never give up on him or her. Maybe they will relapse, but you, the parents, can never give up, and your child needs to feel that.

We’ve fallen, Klal Yisrael has struggled over the years, but Hashem has never given up on us. He is waiting for us, and He refuses to give up.  He won’t stop believing in us and loving us.

If we know that He won’t give up on us, then we won’t give up on ourselves.

~ R’ Zechaira Wallerstein zt”l

Rabbi Natan says that every time we thank God, we get additional awareness.

Every time we complain, we lose our awareness.

The best way to turn our problems into opportunities is to thank God for them.

Don’t let your emotions and rational mind keep you stuck.

~ Gedale Fenster

Don’t be afraid of discovering that the “real you” may be different than the “current you.”

~ R’ Noach Weinberg

Our job is to grab inspiration and hold onto it, to bring it to life. That’s your neshamah.

We are not a religion that says “physicality here” and “spirituality here.”  We say it’s all one, we take an apple and make a berachah…We take the physical, infuse it with spirituality, and elevate it.

Then the next window opens and the window after that.  

Hashem sends us moments of inspiration and we have to capture them and move forward, elevating every moment, every opportunity, every gift we’re being given.

~ R’ David Liberman

If you find yourself wondering where Hashem is during a difficult time in your life, remind yourself that as long as you rely on Him, He is focused on you.

~ R’ David Sutton

When you do a business deal, work out the details, complete the transaction, and sign on the dotted line, it’s nice, but that’s not when the joy comes. It’s great, but it’s not the ultimate.

The happiest part of the deal is later, when you see the profit and take off maaser or more, decide how you’re going to give it out and who you’re going to share it with—that’s when happiness comes.

The greatest moment of all is when you give away the money you worked so hard for, to support something real and lasting, because that’s what it’s all for!

~ Kalman Wolchok

A person is obligated to do that which is demanded of him, and it is for Hashem to bring results.

It is incumbent upon man to act, not to accomplish.

This applies to physical and spiritual endeavors.

~ R’ Chaim Shmulevitz zt”l in Sichos Mussar

One who performs mitzvos with joy receives 1,000 times more reward than one who finds the mitzvos burdensome.

~ Orchos Tzadikim