Please click here for my post last year.
Last year’s tax tip
Leave a reply
Sunday’s Spark of Mussar
Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant
Before Pesach, R’ Yisrael was once unable to be present during the baking of his shmurah matzah, in which he was extremely meticulous. His disciples, who has undertaken to watch over the baking in his place, asked him for directions. R’ Yisrael instructed them to be extremely careful not to upset the woman who kneaded the dough and not to rush her for she was a widow, and to upset her would be a violation of the prohibition against oppressing widows and orphans. “The kashrus of the matzos is not complete,” added R’ Yisrael, “with hidurim in the laws of Pesach alone, but with the meticulous observance of the laws of behavior towards other people as well.”
The Salant Foundation’s new website
Just over a month ago, the Salant Foundation updated and totally revised their website. From being mostly informational, it is now a mussar destination on the web. What simply used to be eMussar email postings has matured into a mussar workshop. The free membership offers you limited access to the forums and a Gratitude Journal. Here’s some information about the gratitude journal from their website:
The Sages of the Mussar tradition designed a wonderful spiritual practice to help us recognize and appreciate the kindness that Hashem bestows on each one of us. This enlightening exercise has us reflect our lives and write down five things that we are grateful for each day. They can be items of Hashgachah Prati (Divine Providence), for instance, “Just as I pulled into a crowded parking lot, a car pulled out giving be an immediate parking space.” Or you can write down blessings that you are grateful for, like, “I have a wonderful spouse,” or more specifically, “My spouse called me at work today to see how I was feeling.”
For some time now I’ve been keeping a list of things I’ve been grateful for, but the concept of an online journal that only you can access is pretty cool. I’ve put in several entries that are more thought out than the stale list of one or two items that pop into my head.
For example: After spending a great Shabbos afternoon in the park, I am so thankful that my children are living in a vibrant Torah community. A community where they can play with dozens of kids on Shabbos that fall across the wide spectrum of Torah Judaism. Hopefully as they grow these feeling of “Shabbos park achdus” will be something they will hold on to.
With the Forward’s article, “The Path Of the Just: Is Mussar the ‘New Kabbalah’?” it seems that this derech in Yiddishkeit is getting a wider viewing ( I’ve chosen not to blogging about the Forward article). It’s a site like The Salant Foundation’s that offers a fresh approach for a generation of web users.
Sunday’s Spark of Mussar
Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant
In Koenigsberg, after R’ Yisrael had ascertained that he could not influence the storekeepers to close their stores on Shabbos, he made up with them that at least they would not bring their keys from the house to the store on Shabbos; but would hide the keys close to the store instead.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Quotes
In line during a very hectic, draining, and busy week for me. I didn’t even read much on anything online, including email. Part of my week took me to the post office. While waiting in line I saw the follow quote from Benjamin Franklin (who’s writings, BTW, influenced this sefer):
Energy and persistence conquer all things.
This happened to be one of several things that I needed to read and think about this week. These also hit home:
Never despair. It is forbidden to give up hope! -Reb Nachman
There is no greater illness than discouragement.- Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant
Impossible Is Nothing!- Current ad campaign for Adidas
Have a great Shabbos Kodesh!
Sunday’s Spark of Mussar
Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant
While living in Mamel, R’ Yisrael instituted the practice of lighting the ovens in the beis medrash very early in the morning, so that the wagoners who crossed the border at night would be able to come in and warm themselves.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
A peak at how I think
Although my wife and I loved the Shaloch Manos that we made this year. I had several other ideas that I knew wouldn’t even make the cut. Here’s one of them:
Nineteen of these:
One of these:
Packaged in this box:
Can you guess the theme?
Sunday’s Spark of Mussar
Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant
So careful was R’ Yisrael to honor others, that he would even address young boys with the formal you (Ihr) in Yiddish in order to develop their self-esteem.
From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik
Purim: Rethinking Last Year
I think the other angle, that both foods can have the same bracha made over them is also worth thinking about. Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, in LIVING BEYOND TIME, quotes a beautiful idea by Rav Hutner z”tl. Rabbi Stolper write (based on Rav Hutner) that “the practice of gift giving and charity is unique to Purim, because it was on Purim that the Jewish people reaccepted the Torah. Unity is a prerequisite to the giving of the Torah. The Torah records that when the Jews prepared to receive the Torah, “Israel camped against Mt. Sinai.” The Hebrew word camped, vayichan, is written in deliberately written in the singular instead of the plural so as to inform us, as Rashi observes, that the Jews assembled at Mt. Sinai “as one man with one heart,” fully united.” (page 264)
Rabbi Stolper points out later that in Megillas Esther (9:23) we have the phrase, “ve’kubale haYehudim la’asos, And the Jews undertook to continue that which they had initally undertaken.” Again, the word ve’kibale is written in the singular. We were again an Am Echad when we reaccepted the Torah in the days of Purim.
This concept of being unified when being given the Torah is so important. IMHO, when it comes to Purim we want to emulate Hashem by giving, as this is one of the most direct ways to attach to Hashem (see Rav Dessler’s Kuntres HaChessed, or Discourse on Loving Kindness). “Man has been granted this sublime power of giving, enabling him too be merciful, to bestow happiness, to give of himself.” (Strive For Truth! Volume I, page 119). This idea of Rav Dessler’s has recently been “given over” and expanded by the author the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh in the translation of video seven, here (link thanks to Dixie Yid).
Ultimately, by giving to another (especially to someone we are not so close with) we are making a connection. We, in essence are looking past the differences that we have on the surface, no matter if those differences have to do with where we daven, if we daven, what we wear on our heads, or where we send our precious children to get their education. While it’s important to maintain one’s uniqueness within the collective whole, the bigger picture is that it doesn’t matter if it’s a Coke or some salmon we all fall into the same category, that being a Yiddishe Neshama.
A Freilichen Purim to you!
As heard from R Paysach Krohn…
Last month I had the privilege to hear Rabbi Paysach Krohn speak about “Being a Jew in today’s workplace”. One of the most important things I felt that he said over was that we must strive to be emesdik and ehrliech when dealing with both Jews and non-Jews. He said we can become close to Hashem by being honest. He then quoted a Rabbeinu Bechaye that is gevaldik.
Rabbeinu Bechaye says this importance of honesty brought in the first words of the Torah. Every nekuda is in the first pasuk of the Torah, except the shuruk. He explains that this is because the letters which spell the word shuruk (shin-reish-kuf)can also be rearranged to spell the word sheker (shin-kuf-reish), lying, and because sheker cannot be even hinted to in foundation of the Torah. Hashem created this world to be a place based on truth, there was no room for sheker!
