Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, the Alter of Kelm
A person who slaughters his Evil Inclination is considers to have offered a sacrifice on the alter. But he must now the laws of kosher slaughtering- how and what to slaughter.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, The Alter of Kelm
“Avohom raised his eyes.” (Genesis 22). The Torah emphasizes that even the raising of eyes should be the result of thought and intent.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
As an aside, please see this story about R Eliyahu Lopian:
While waiting for a bus in Yerushalyim with one of his talmidim, Rav Lopian was learning. At some point he picked his head out of the sefer he had and looked up to see if the bus was coming. Right after he did this, he turned to his student and said something like, “Had I been in Kelm and did this, I would have gotten an hour mussar shmooze.”
The idea being two fold:
a) Looking to see if the bus was coming doesn’t make the bus come any faster
b) It’s a bus. Is a bus so important that you are willing to give up even a second of your seder in learning. Who is in control? You or the bus?
Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, The Alter of Kelm
“Nothing in nature is perfect; everything requires correction.”
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Rabbi Yisroel Lipkin of Salant
R’ Yisrael was once praising his student R’ Simcha Zissel Ziv of Kelm. Said a rabbi who was present, “If R’ Simcha Zissel would devote his talents completely to Gemora, instead of spending time also on Mussar, he would become a tremendous goan.”
“The Shulchan Oruch,” answered R’ Yisroel, “teaches that if a person has before him a small, perfect challah and a large but imperfect one, he must cut the perfect challah first. Similary, spritual perfection takes priority over scholarly greatness.”
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
