If brevity is the soul of wit, then do you see the humor in this post?
Monthly Archives: January 2009
Guest post by Rabbi Micha Golshevsky
“Man is Always Responsible…”
The Kotzker Rebbe, zt”l, remarked that he learned life-long lessons from the Mishnah in Bava Kama 26: “אדם מועד לעולם”— “Man is always responsible for his actions.” He was careful to never damage any property whatsoever.[1]
The Kedushas Tzion of Bobov, zt”l, explained, “A more perfected person purifies himself to such a great extent that he never makes a move without hisbonenus, without carefully contemplating his actions. It follows that such a person will never cause damage.”[2]
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l, was just such a person. One Shabbos, when one man arrived in shul without his glasses, the Rav approached him and asked if was refraining from carrying his glasses on Shabbos.
“No,” answered the man. “I broke my glasses.”
Rav Shlomo Zalman was astounded. He wondered aloud, “How could you have broken your glasses? Do you see my glasses? I have had this pair for decades. Every night I place them somewhere where they cannot come to harm, so how could they possibly break?”
On another occasion, he had a student at his home. The young man was a bit preoccupied, and since he was not paying attention to his actions, he broke a glass.
Rav Shlomo Zalman smiled at him good-naturedly and remarked, “Do you know? I have never broken a glass in my whole life.”
He explained, “I don’t say this because I care about the glass. I point this out because a glass if for drinking, not breaking.”
When he saw the shards of broken glass his smile grew and he observed, “Did you know that this cup is from the time when the Turkish Sultan ruled Israel?”[3]
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[1] תולדות אדם, ליקוטים, דף קט”ז
[2] קדושת ציון, חלק ב’, ע’ קנ”ז
[3] חכו ממתקים, ע’ קפ”ג
Rabbi Golshevsky’s blog, A Fire Burns in Breslov, can be found here.
Sunday’s Spark of Mussar
Rav Yosef Yozel Hurwitz, the Alter of Novhardok
If you see that someone came to the station after the train he wanted had already left, do not say that the man was late and missed his train, but that he cam early for the next train. For everything is in the hands of Heaven.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
55th Yartzeit of Rav Dessler
Sunday morning, the day of the levayah [for his wife], Rabbi Dessler was found polishing his shoes. Rabbi Dessler explained, “She was always meticulous that my clothes shoudl be spotless before I left the house, and now I’m fulfilling her will.” (based on a page 340)
Identity Theft
Sunday’s Spark of Mussar
Rav Yosef Yozel Hurwitz, the Alter of Novhardok
“Blessed is the man who relies on G-d.” The blessing is that not only does he receive his material needs, but he also binds himself to G-d though his bitochon.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Rav Shumel Brazil in Chicago this Shabbos Kodesh
2823 West Touhy
Chicago, IL 60645
Mikor HaChaim is excited to announce a Shabbos of Chizuk with Rav Shmuel Brazil, shlit”a, magid shiur at Shor Yoshuv
and famous ba’al menagen
Rabbi and Mrs. Avi Banker, 2907 Coyle, beginning at 8:30PM.
Shalosh Seudos at Mikor after Mincha at 4:20.
this amazing Shabbos of Chizuk!
Games
what Teshuva is all about. It’s not the end of the world if the game ends or right at a critical point in a high pressured game of Jenga with your older kids your 2 yr old uber-toddler decides to “touch the tower”, and it all comes falling down. It’s just a game. You can just start over and maybe the next time you’ll win.
Am I reading too much into a simple game of Jenga? Probably so, but I’m always looking for a lesson to learn in everything.
The little niggun
I have been singing this since 1997. It came to me one day and stayed stuck in my head. It comes out when I’m feeling up and when I’m feeling down. Now it’s just coming out…
the little niggun…. |
If anyone is interested in putting it to music, email me and I’ll put you in touch with “my people”.
Shuls vandalized in Chicago and community gathering today
Over the weekend several shuls in the Chicago area were vandalized. You can read about it here.
Update: For coverage of the event today see this. I, along with about 300 others, attended the outdoor event it was a very nice showing of both obsevant and not-yet-observant Jews and even some non-Jews. Several rabbonim were present and there was a lot of media coverage.