B"H
Monday, Elul 9, 5778 / August 20, 2018
Rosh Hashana is three weeks from today. In the High Holiday prayers we recite, "Repentance, prayer and charity nullify a bad decree." The following was told by Rabbi Meir of Premishlan.
"I had a dream," said Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, "in which my soul ascended to heaven and came to Gan Eden (paradise) where I sat down near its gates. I saw a respectable Jew demanding to go in."
"Who are you? What merits do you have to deserve entry into Gan Eden?" the angel required. "I was a Rabbi. All my life I studied and taught Torah. I deserve to enter through these gates," he replied.
The angel wasn't impressed. "You will have to wait. We have to check if your studying Torah was truly for G-d's sake or was it for ulterior motives."
Then another distinguished looking Jew arrived at the gates of Gan Eden and wanted to enter. "Who are you? And why do you deserve entry to Gan Eden?" questioned the angel.
"My entire life I devoted to G-d. I spent my days in prayer and study of Torah. Sure I deserve entry into Gan Eden, for whom else was the Gan Eden created?" he replied.
"Not so fast," replied the angel. "Although you may have done everything you claim, we must be sure that it was done with purity and sincerity. You will have to wait until we check it out thoroughly."
As the angel is still arguing with this man, a simple looking Jew appears at the gates. "I would like to go into Gan Eden," he declared. "Who are you and what did you accomplish during your lifetime that makes you worthy to enter Gan Eden?" asks the angel.
"I was a very simple person and earned my living from an inn at the roadside. Whenever travelers came hungry and tired, I made sure to give them food and lodging. If a person was poor I charged him less or didn't charge him at all. I tried my best to accommodate my guests. But on second thought, perhaps I'm not worthy of entering Gan Eden, especially seeing these rabbis and scholars waiting."
"Come right in!" exclaimed the angel. Then the angel explained, "We have to check all the others to see whether their deeds were pure and sincere. However, helping people in need and giving them food and lodging does not need any checking. It doesn't matter why you did it, as long as the other person was helped!"
"Every other mitzvah," concluded Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, "requires purest and holiest of intentions to be done properly. With charity, however, the reason or motive doesn't matter, as long as the other person was helped!"
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY & SHANA TOVA
B"H
Tuesday, Elul 10, 5778 / August 21, 2018
Rosh Hashana is less than three weeks away. On Rosh Hashana we pray to be inscribed in the Book of Life, for a good, happy, healthy and successful Year.
We also perform symbolic expressions for our wishes and desires for the New Year. For instance, on Rosh Hashana we dip the Challah in honey, which symbolizes our request for a sweet year. We dip a sweet apple in honey and say, "May it be Your will to grant us a good and sweet year."
Some eat from the head of a fish or lamb on Rosh Hashana and recite, "May it be Your will that we be a head…" Yom Kippur, we wear white, a symbolic gesture that our sins are forgiven.
The Magid of Dubna gives the following parable to explain that the most important thing is our good actions, not just the symbols:
A poor man was once invited to the home of a wealthy man for a meal. He was overwhelmed by all the glamour and wealth that he saw. One thing amazed him the most. Every time the owner would press down on a small bell, immediately servants would enter the room with all kinds of delicacies and wonderfully tasty foods. When they finished the course, the rich man would again sound the bell, and again the servants would enter, clean off the table and then serve the next course.
He was fascinated by this magic bell. On his way home, he bought a bell just like that one. He came home and with great excitement, called for his wife and children to sit down at the table. He placed the bell on the table and proceeded to ring it as hard as he could, anticipating that any minute now, waiters will enter with platters of food. But ring as hard as he would, nothing happened!
Angrily, he went back to the storekeeper and complained that he was cheated. "Why didn't you sell me the same exact bell that you sold the wealthy man?" "But it is exactly the same bell!" replied the storekeeper. "What makes you think that it is not the same?"
He told the storekeeper the purpose for which he wanted the bell. "How can this be the same bell, when in the rich man's house, every ring of the bell brought food to the table! In my house, I rang and rang and not a morsel of food was brought to the table!"
The storekeeper replied, "The bell is worthless in and of itself. It doesn't prepare nor serve the food. The wealthy man had prepared food and the waiters to serve the food beforehand. The bell was only a reminder to the waiters that it was time to bring the food to the table. ..
“The same is with our many customs,” explained the Magid, "like dipping the Challah and apple in honey, wearing white on Yom Kippur, etc. We must prepare ourselves beforehand, during the month of Elul, through the performance of mitzvot and good deeds, which act on our behalf to bring us a happy and healthy New Year.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY & SHANA TOVA
B"H
Thursday, Elul 12, 5778 / August 23, 2018
Each holiday has its special mitzvah or mitzvot. For example: The special mitzvah for Pesach is eating Matzah, performing the Seder, etc., On Sukkot we eat in the Sukkah, we recite a blessing over the four kinds, etc. The special mitzvah associated with Rosh Hashana is the blowing of the Shofar.
The mitzvah to blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashana is found in the Torah (Leviticus 23:24), but as with many other mitzvot, the Torah does not state the reason for this mitzvah.
The sages have related various explanations for the mitzvah of the Shofar and its connection to Rosh Hashana. Here are some of them:
* Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgment, is the first of the Ten Days of Repentance. The sound of the Shofar on Rosh Hashana serves as a call to repent, to better our ways and become closer to G-d.
* On Rosh Hashana, we declare and accept G-d as our King, as proclaimed in the Rosh Hashana prayers. At the coronation of a king, it was customary to blow trumpets. Blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashana is part of our proclaiming G-d Kingship over us and the entire universe.
* The sound of the Shofar reminds us of the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, which was accompanied by "thunder, lightning and the sound of the Shofar" (Exodus 20:15). Sounding the Shofar on Rosh Hashana reminds us to observe the Torah and adhere to its mitzvot.
* The Shofar is made from a ram’s horn. Sounding the Shofar on Rosh Hashana recalls the ram which Abraham sacrificed in place of our forefather Isaac. With that, Abraham withstood the greatest of all tests. By sounding the Shofar on Rosh Hashana we pray that G-d take into account the merit and dedication of Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, and Isaac’s merit for accepting his fate willingly. We pray that G-d bless us, their descendents with a sweet New Year.
* The Shofar is also a sound of hope for it reminds us of theultimate redemption, with the coming of Moshiach, whose arrival will be announced with the sound of the Shofar. May it be speedily in our days. Amen.
Q. Why is the ram's horn, from which we blow at the Rosh Hashana service, called "Shofar?"
A. "Shofar" comes from the same root as "Shapru" which means to "better" and "beautify." The sound of the Shofar is a call which reminds us to "better and beautify" our deeds in the coming year.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY & SHANA TOVA.
B"H
Friday, Elul 13, 5778 / August 24, 2018
Amongst the many mitzvot in this week's Parsha, Ki Teitzei, we read, "When you shall make a vow unto the L-rd your G-d, you shall not be slack to pay it; For the L-rd your G-d will surely require it of you and it would be a sin... Whatever has gone out of your lips you shall keep and perform." (Deuteronomy 23:24).
The Torah tells us the significance and responsibility of one’s words and commitments. One must also be careful not to bring others to a situation in which they will say something which is not truthful.
Sefer Chasidim writes, "If you see people speaking amongst themselves quietly, do not ask them what they are talking about. They may not want you to know and you may cause them to lie to you."
Our rabbis make the following interesting observation: The three letters Shin, Kuf, Reish which spell the word, "Sheker" (lie), are next to each other in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. But the three letters, Aleph, Mem, Tav, which spell "Emet" (truth), are the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It tells us that there are no half truths. Truth is from beginning to end.
The Talmud tells that the Talmudic sage, Rav Safra, was not only very careful with his speech, but also with thoughts. Rav Safra was once in the middle of prayer, when someone approached him and offered him a price for an item Rav Safra was selling. Being in the middle of prayer, Rav Safra didn't respond. The buyer, thinking that Rav Safra didn't agree to the price, offered more. Yet, as Rav Safra still didn't reply he kept increasing his offer. When Rav Safra finally concluded his prayers, he told the person, "I will sell the object to you for the original price which you offered. For in my mind I agreed to give it to you as soon as you offered that price!"
The Midrash tells the following story: In the vicinity of Rabbi Shimon ben Shatach there lived a young man who had a habit of stealing. He tried to control his bad habit, but time after time couldn’t succeed. One day he decided to repent and better his ways. He came to Rabbi Shimon ben Shatach and asked for his advice. Rabbi Shimon told him, "Take upon yourself never to say a lie!"
The young man agreed wondering, "How is this going to make me stop stealing?"
A while later he passed by a house whose inhabitants were away and his desire to steal got the better of him. He entered the home and gathered up many valuable items. As he was ready to take them out, he remembered that he promised not to say a lie.
He asked himself "What will I say when I'm asked if I stole from the house? Or if I saw who stole? How will I get away without lying." He put everything back in order to fulfill his vow not to lie.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montrealcandle lighting time: 7:28 / Shabbat ends: 8:32
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