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Dear Naaleh Friend,
This week we begin Chodesh Elul and in preparation for this month we have featured a class by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller from the Naaleh series
Elul, Rosh Hashana, and Yom Kippur: Days of Closeness and Awe. The class, entitled
Elul: The Sweetness of Tikkun Hamidot discusses Elul and repentance. Rebbetzin Heller describes the sweetness of returning to Hashem through correcting one's character traits, and outlines four systems for Tikun Hamidot. The methods of the
Rambam, the Ba'al HaTanya, Sefer Cheshbon Hanefesh, and R' Nachman MiBreslov are all described in detail. To view the class now click on the image below:
This week's Torat Imecha Parsha Newsletter on Parshat
Shoftim is now available below. Click here for the printer friendly version. Be sure to visit the homepage as well, for lots more inspiring Torah classes!
Shabbat Shalom!
-Ashley Klapper and the Naaleh Crew
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Dedicated in memory of Rachel Leah bat R' Chaim Tzvi
Torat Imecha- Women's Torah
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The Mussar Revolution: Kelm Part 2
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Hanoch Teller
The Alter of Kelm was one of the oldest and closest disciples of Rav Yisrael Salanter. It was about him that Rav Yisrael said, "
Henei yafa rayasi mum ein bach
." You are beautiful my friend perfect without a blemish. The Alter had incredible inner strength and he tried to give over the ability to never lose focus to his students at the Talmud Torah of Kelm. The Alter could take a student apart screw by screw and fashion him back again into the person he envisioned he could be. Among the famous personalities that eventually emerged from the Talmud Torah were Rav Rosenheim, Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, Rav Yerucham, Rav Elya Lopian, and Rav Dessler.
The Alter stressed the importance of order and discipline as a way to foster self -control in thought and action. He taught that laziness was a reflection of mental sloth. If you can get rid of the former, you can get rid of the latter. The Alter emphasized the idea of
shevirat haratzon
, breaking one's will. After a fast he would eat little fish which were very bony so that he would be forced to eat slowly. Today people look for instant gratification. In Kelm, that was antithetical. The practice was that you didn't open a letter right away no matter how much you anticipated it. The Alter pointed out that Yom Kippur falls out smack in the middle of harvest season so as to break one's mind and will which would normally be focused on one's fields to the will of Hashem. In Kelm, there was no concept of chilling. You had to have a plan and a program and every moment was precious.
The Talmud Torah had no custodian. All the maintenance work was performed by the students themselves and it was considered an honor and a privilege. Jobs were auctioned off during Rosh Hashana. The most respected learned students got the dirtiest job. Rabbi Hillel Goldberg explains that this was very central to the philosophy of molding the whole person and not just the mind. There was a sense of mutual responsibility fostered by the student run maintenance that nurtured worthwhile traits like promptness, cooperation, and helpfulness. Think about it. If your colleagues are mopping the floor, you're not going to be inclined to litter all that much.
In New York city in the 1980's crime was at its apex. The Broken Window Theory was the brain child of two criminologists who argued that crime is the inevitable consequence of a broken window. If you see a building with a broken window and many days lapse without it being repaired, they'll be another broken window very soon. And soon it will become a crack house. Neglecting to rectify what needs fixing, creates an environment that is conducive to decay. The Alter distrusted sudden leaps of spirits and shortcuts. Kelm was a life plan where one had to constantly try to fine tune one's personality and moral sensitivity. If you say you'll do a little but not everything it's not enough. Small things are as significant as major things. The Alter taught that refining oneself is a gradual, lifetime, process.
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Yechezkel Perek 33: How to Rebuke
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller
Hashem speaks to the prophet Yechezkel, "And he sees the sword coming upon the land and he blows the
shofar
and warns the people." On a simple level Hashem exhorts Yechezkel to warn the Jewish nation to repent before foreign armies overtake them. On a deeper level this refers to what we say every day in
shemonei esrei
, "
Teka b'shofar
," blow the great
shofar
. Make us hear, wake us up. Hashem does not take pleasure in fulfilling prophecies of doom and destruction. He wants us to arouse ourselves and do
teshuva
.
Rav Godlevsky tells how he once succeeded in drawing a young man closer to Judaism. The man began eating kosher and keeping Shabbat, but he was just at the beginning of the road and was still shaky and frail. His friends were very disturbed by the changes in him. They called him on a Friday and said, "Yoel we're going to the beach tomorrow and we're picking you up." They lured him into coming with them and he had a good time at the beach. By late afternoon he was thirsty. He bought himself a drink, popped open the lid, and made a blessing. His friends looked at him surprised. He then said, "If I can't do what is hard at least I will do what is easy."
This is what we have to internalize. Many times when tragedy strikes we are told that it is a wakeup call and that we must look within ourselves how we can improve. There are many things too hard or too big to take on. But if we can't do what is hard at least let us do what's easy. It's not enough to hear the
shofar
. We have to move forward .
"He (the
rasha
)
will die for his sins. But I will demand his blood from the lookout (Yechezkel)." Hashem tells Yechezkel, even if you're sure the person is a
rasha
and will not listen to you and he in fact doesn't and dies a
rasha
, I will demand his blood from you. The Mishna says,
"Hevei dan et kol adam l'kaf zechut
." You have to judge every person favorably, even a
rasha
. It doesn't mean denying that he is a
rasha
. It's finding the part within him that is still meritorious and relating to him on that level. In that way you become like a magnet, says the Ohr Hachaim, where you draw forth his holiness and goodness and make that the basis of your relationship. Relating to the good in the
rasha
can eventually draw him back to
teshuva
. But if you throw up your hands and say, "This person cannot be reached," you're held accountable. Rav Nachman Breslover noted that if the
rasha
happens to be you, you have to find the part within you that's pure and unsullied and connect to its light. "Repent of your evil ways for why should you die." A way refers to a
middah
. If you fail to correct a specific
middah
through one way, try to fix it another way. We should never let ourselves fall into the fallacy of thinking, I am beyond help.
If a person chooses to trust the level that he is at and says, "I'm basically a good person and I'll do what I want," the 'do what I want aspect' will take over to the point that he may become blocked and spiritually dead. Conversely,
teshuva
brings a person to eternal life as it says about Reuven who was the first
baal teshuva
, "Reuven shall live and never die."
"But you say Hashem's way is not right." People don't instinctively believe in teshuva. For us time only moves forward. If one has already done something, there's no going back. But Hashem is the master of time. For Him, reversing time or making it go forward is the same. So retroactively he can heal the damage a person did through sin.
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Preparing for the Amida
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by
Rabbi Ari Jacobson
The Torah tells us, "
Ul'ovdo b'chol levavchem
." (Serve Hashem with all your heart.) The Gemara explains, What is service of the heart? It refers to prayer. The basic Torah obligation of
tefilah
is to say a prayer once a day at any time in any language that includes, praise, request, and thanks. The Rambam writes that the obligation to pray three times a day and the particular form of
shemonei esrei
as we have it today is Rabbinic in nature. The Ramban in his glosses to the Sefer Torat Hamitzvot notes that the obligation to pray daily is not Torah mandated. The only time one is obligated to pray is during an
eit tzorah
(time of need). Rav Soloveitchik points out that this is really semantics as there has never been a time in Jewish history where there hasn't been an
eit tzorah
. So even according to the Ramban there is still an obligation to pray every day.
The Rambam writes that originally people would pray every day as their hearts led them. They would say a prayer that included praise, request, and thanks, but there was no fixed text. Formal prayer only became necessary in the aftermath of the destruction of the first
beit hamikdash
when the Jews were exiled to Bavel and other countries and became less proficient in the Hebrew language. It was at that time that Ezra and the Men of the Great Assembly convened and forumulated18 specific themes that would make up the
shemonei esrei
. The first three blessings consist of praise, the middle thirteen are requests, and the last three are thanks. Later on Shmuel Hakatan instituted the blessing of
V'lamalshinim
, the blessing against the heretics. The commentators explain that we still refer to
shemonei esrei
by its original name as a way of expressing our hope and prayer that the 19
th
blessing should very soon no longer be needed.
The Magen Avraham quotes the Arizal that there is legitimacy to the different texts of the
tefilot
. Each segment of Klal Yisrael has their own unique
nusach
(mode of prayer) and their prayers enter heaven through 12 distinct gates. One can insert small requests within the 19 relevant blessings but there has to be a fixed basic framework. Rav Hirsh explains that the root word of
tefilah
is
palel
which means to judge. The sages could have left prayer free style. But instead they formulated 19 specific themes not only as a way to communicate with Hashem, but to compel us to judge ourselves. If I'm
davening
for redemption, theoretically, I shouldn't just be moving my lips. It should mean something to me. And if it doesn't, I have to recalibrate my entire thought processes. My value system has to be re-adjusted to the ideal mindset as set out by the sages in the
shemonei esrei
. Likewise, we begin
shemonei esrei
with the words, "Hashem open my lips and allow me to sing your praises." Rav Yonoson Eibishitz explains, we begin this way to arouse ourselves to pay attention to what comes out of our lips.
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch explains that the ideal time to pray the morning
shemonei esrei
is at sunrise as it says in
Tehilim
, "I will greet Hashem with the morning star."
B'dieved
(after the fact), if one prayed after sunrise one has fulfilled one's obligation. The earliest time to pray
shemone esrei
is at
amud hashachar,
72 minutes before sunrise.
The Gemara says that in addition to its association with the
avot,
our daily
tefilot
also correspond to the daily sacrifices in the
beit hamikdash
. Just as the morning
tamid
was offered before the end of the fourth hour, so too the morning
shemonei esrei
, should be completed by that time.
B'dieved
if you intentionally pushed off the
shemone esrei
you can still pray up to
chatzot
(midday). Although you lose credit for
tefilah b'zmanah
, you still receive credit for praying. After
chatzot
you can no longer daven
Shachrit
. If you intentionally missed
Shachri
t you cannot make it up and about such a person it says, "Something that is crooked cannot be fixed." However someone who was an
onus (
forced to push off praying) can make up
Shachrit
by davening the
Mincha
shemonei esrei
twice.
The Mishne Berura rules that you have to finish praying by the end of the set zeman. There are some poskim like the Pri Megadim and others who suggest that as long as you began before the time, even though you will finish after the time, you can still receive credit for praying with the zeman. They learn this from a Gemara in Berachot that tells us that Bilaam figured out that there is a millisecond in the course of the day when Hashem's wrath is aroused. That is the most opportune time to curse the Jews. Tosfos asks, what kind of a curse could Bilaam get in at that fraction of a second? Tosfos explains that Bilaam understood that if you begin at the moment of wrath the curse could still be effective beyond the moment. We know that Hashem's propensity for good is 400 times greater than His propensity for bad. If with respect to a curse it is effective even after the zeman, how much more so with respect to a prayer. Certainly you should try to finish at the designated time. But if it happens that you cannot, there is justification to finish later.
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