Emuna Daily

The Vilna Gaon states that there are 3 painful days on the calendar for the yetzer hara, when the yetzer hara can’t incite people to sin. 

They are Rosh Chodesh Elul, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur.

A tightrope walker requires absolute concentration on the wire; distraction will cause him to fall.

Likewise, the more a person maintains his focus on Hashem, the less likely he will be to plummet into sin.

~ R’ Benzion Abba Shaul (1924-1998)

Tzadikim look at the endgame, how the choices they make today will affect not just how they live today, but down the road as well…They say “okay, what do I have to do now to make sure that I don’t fall off the wagon, and that I have the fuel necessary to keep growing, to keep moving forward.”

“Sur mei’ra, va’asei tov – stay away from bad, and do good.”

Make choices that will allow you to keep doing good, not just today, but in the years ahead too.

~ Rav Gav Friedman

Had I not fallen, I would not have arisen, had I not sat in darkness, Hashem would not have been a light for me.

~ Midrash Shocher Tov, Tehillim 5

The more we realize that there is no one else to rely on, the better off we are, and the better is our chance to survive and succeed.  Whether we are looking at the moral and physical dangers facing our world, or those we face in our own lives, bitachon is the only path to redemption.

~ R’ David Sutton

When a person trusts in Hashem to provide for him, he will find peace of mind and tranquility of soul, for he knows that his allotment will not be passed on to someone else, nor will what was ordained for him come any earlier or later than its predetermined time. [He, and no one else, will receive whatever funds Hashem has allotted him, at the time that He sees fit, regardless of efforts.]

~ Chovos Halevovos

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Now more than ever – Tefillah at the Kotel is so precious! 40 days of Tefillah from Rosh Chodesh Elul through Yom Kippur!
http://www.westernwallprayers.org?a_aid=65f1bcf5b9676

And now, O Israel, what does Hashem, your God, ask of you? Only to fear Hashem, your God, to go in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve Hashem, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, to observe the commandments of Hashem and His decrees…

~ Devarim 10:12-13

One of the questions that a person is asked at the ultimate judgment after death is,

“Did you treat others like a king, with a pleasing and calm manner?”  

~ Maseches Chibut HaKever

Realize that whenever something happens in your life, it is because it was decreed by Hashem.  As the Sages (Chulin 7b) have said, “A person only bangs his finger in this world because it was so decreed from Above.”

Therefore, whatever you have to do because of life’s circumstances, you are fulfilling the will of Hashem.  

Those of us who left the countries where we were born to go to another country ultimately did so because it was the will of Hashem.  

A wise person will maintain this awareness in all situations.

~ R’ Moshe Feinstein zt”l

“One does not rely on a miracle.” (Pesachim 64b)

The person, however, who serves Hashem over and beyond nature, may rely upon a miracle, which is over and beyond nature.

~ The Kotzker Rebbe zt”l