Upcoming release from Artscroll

Leave a reply
Black hat tip from A Simple Jew
A Simple Jew emailed me a link announcing a new book from R Zelig Pliskin, TAKING ACTION.  This is little book should be great.
As I was checking Artscroll’s website, I began to chuckle.  I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but the website states:
Scheduled to be released on August 14, 2008. Pre-order today!
Pre-order?  HaHaHaHa!  That’s the best Mussar humor I’ve seen in a long time.  Yashar Koach to the folks at Artscroll.

To read more about this middah, click here. 

Sunday’s Spark of Mussar

Leave a reply

Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, The Alter of Kelm
The words of our Sages are like sparkling stars hidden in the recesses of space.  The study of Mussar is a telescope that brings the stars within view of our human eyes.

From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik

Rav Hirsh on the prerequisite to peace

5 Replies

“וְהָאֱמֶת וְהַשָּׁלוֹם, אֱהָבוּ” – You shall love truth and peace


These words from the end of Zechariah 8:19 are quoted thoughout Rav Hirsch’s writings.  R Eliyahu Meir Klugman eloquently write is his biography of Rav Hirsch that:

He explained that the concepts of truth and peace invariably occur in that order in Tanach, truth first and only afterwards peace, “For peace is not a father of truth; peach is the child of truth.  Win the people for truth, inalienable truth that can never be sold, nor even for the price of peace, when sacred causes are involved, and then true, everlasting peace will follow of itself.” (page 314)

During the Three Weeks we all try to be a bit nicer.  There are time that I succeed and there are times when I seem to not be able to get past certain things.  It’s a nesoyon (test) for me.  I accept that.  But, it seems that from the words of Rav Hirsch, making peace should not come at the expense of Emes.  In some cases, it’s not the other party that need to see the truth, but ourselves.  We must only be willing to really see what the Emes is, despite any difficulties that may result. 

A story about Rav Kook and Reb Aryeh Levin

5 Replies
(Picture from istockphoto.com)

SerandEz has an awesome post last week titled “A List Letterman Won’t Be Doing Anytime Soon ” . I had actually planned on posting the except below a long time ago, but had forgotten about posting it until I read the above mentioned post.
This story about Rav Kook and Reb Aryeh Levin from A Tzadik in Our Time is one that I tell my kids as soon as they can understand the lesson within it.

who taught him compassion

In his memoirs Reb Aryeh wrote:
I recall the early days, from 1905 onward, when it was granted me by the grace of the blessed Lord to go up to the holy land, and I came Jaffa. There I first went to visit our great master R. Abraham Isaac Kook (of blessed memory), who received everyone. We chatted together on themes of Torah study. After an early minhah (afternoon prayer-service) he went out, as his hallowed custom was, to stroll a bit in the fields and gather his thoughts; and I went along. On the way I plucked some branch or flower. Our great master was taken aback; and then he told me gently, “Believe me: In all my days I have taken care never to pluck a blade of grass or a flower needlessly, when it had the ability to grow or blossom. You know the teaching of the Sages that there is not a single blade of grass below, here on earth, which does not have a heavenly force (or angel) above telling it, Grow! Every sprout and leaf of grass says something, conveys some meaning. Every stone whispers some inner hidden message in the silence. Every creation utters its song (in praise of the Creator).”
Those words, spoken from a pure and holy heart, engraved
themselves deeply on my heart. From that time on I began to feel a strong sense of compassion for everything. (Pages 108-109)
There are many times when it would be faster to walk to shul by cutting across a grassy stretch of land on Shabbos or easier to ‘cut across the grass’ or even walk over the planted grass that for some reason is in the middle of a parking lot. There are times when it’s easier or quicker, I know. I, mostly, try to stay on the sidwalk, though. Mainly because of this story. If each blade of grass and stone has meaning, then even more so, each person.

Ideas for the three weeks

Leave a reply
I often read this comment that Steve Briezel once posted at BeyondBT.com:

Here are some relatively easy suggestions to implement:

1) Say Good Shabbos, etc to anyone-especially if they daven in a shul other than where you go to shul.

2) Learn Sifrei Halacha and machshavah that you might consider out of your hashkafic orientation.

3) Try davening in a shul that you night deem either too noisy, quiet, etc.

4) Assuming that you ive in an area with a valid eruv -don’t look down at those who either use or refrain from doing so.

5) Think about giving to a tzedaka that you might not-even if it is in less quantity than to one that had more of an impact on you as a Torah observant Jew.

Sunday’s Spark of Mussar

1 Reply

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?