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Newsletter Contents
Printable Version of This Week's Parsha Newsletter
Refua Shleima List
Featured Classes
Student Testimonial
Creating One Nation
Elul Smooth Sailing
Netivot Olam: Comparing Evil
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Esther Leora bas Chava   
Reuven Peretz ben Fayge Chaya

Dovid ben Bracha

Michelle bas Noach
   
Avigail Rachel bas Zahava Sarah

Hillel ben Shimon

Rachel bas Simcha

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Rochel bas Zahava

 

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Student Testimonial 

"Thank you so so much for the many hours of shiurim I have already benefited so much from. I've never learned so much in my life in such a concentrated span of time, and it makes tons of difference to doing household chores when I can be listening to words of Torah as I go.I especially enjoy Rebbetzin Heller's Q & A sessions"

 

-YR, Beitar Israel



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Quick Links...
Dear Naaleh Friend,
  
Rosh Hashana is just a few weeks away and Naaleh.com has dozens of inspiring shiurim to get you ready for this meaningful holiday.  One class available is Dayan Shlomo Cohen's class titled Businessman's Approach To Rosh Hashanah. In this class, Dayan Cohen discusses the business approach to Rosh Hashanah. 
To view this class now click on the image below:  



Be sure to check out this week's Torat Imecha below and view the printable version here

Shabbat Shalom,

Ashley Klapper and the Naaleh Crew
Dedicated in memory of Rachel Leah bat R' Chaim Tzvi
Torat Imecha- Women's Torah
Creating One Nation
Based on a Naaleh.com class by Rabbi  Moshe Weinberger 
Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi writes that on Rosh Hashana the souls of the Jewish people gather to the root and source of their existence. Rosh (head) refers to thought, which is the highest aspect of a person. The Rebbe expounds the pasuk, "Vayehi beyeshurin melech b'hisasef roshei am." When the kingdom of Hashem is reinstated, then there will be an ingathering of the thoughts of the Jewish people. Throughout the year, we are subjugated to domain of the body, the world of separation. What most powerfully defines the sitra achra (evil side) is disunity. The Rebbe calls this the reshut harabim (public domain). What makes one person separate from another is yeshut - a focus on self, and the sense that one's presence is the only thing that matters. People will get along with each other if it's to their mutual benefit. They could temporarily form a kind of peaceful coexistence. But it is not true unity. As soon as their interests are no longer served, the unit collapses. Unfortunately this can happen in marriage when each spouse is in it for himself. The home becomes a reshut harabim where each spouse lives for himself.  Hatred is the essence of the alma d'peruda (world of separation). In contrast, bitul (self nullification) will help a person develop holiness.  

 

 

The central theme of Rosh Hashana is not focusing on one's failures and shortcomings, but rather the return of the soul to the root of the souls of Yisrael. All Jews gather together on Rosh Hashana in the world of sanctity and unity. We are all one before the Creator. This doesn't take away from the authority of the Rav or Rebbe.  Rather it strengthens, clarifies, and sweetens our respect for our leaders. It's only in the alma d'peruda where  hatred and arrogance exist, where everyone thinks "I should be at the head."  

 

The highest avodah of a Jew is to transform the reshut harabim into the reshut hayachid (private domain) where 600,000 Jews become one Knesset Yisrael. The mezuzah is affixed at the point where one crosses over from the reshut hayachid to the reshut harabim. At the point of entering the public domain, we touch the name of Hashem to remember that wherever we are in the world we must stay in the reshut hayachid and not get lost in the reshut harabim.  

Why does Yom Kippur come after Rosh Hashana? The way of kedusha is to first crown Hashem King, to return back to the root of nishmat Yisrael where there's no beginning or end. Then we can honestly look at our mistakes, where we slipped in the alma d'peruda, and repent. Sukkot follows Yom Kippur. After crowning the Almighty King and purifying ourselves of all sins, we dance in a circle together with Hashem.

 


What is the connection between the cities of refuge that we read in the parsha at this time of year, and the month of Elul?  

 

Rav Friefeld discusses an intriguing Midrash in Parshat Achrei Mot on the verse, "B'zot yavo Aharon el hakodosh." The simple meaning is that Aharon was commanded to offer the incense on the altar. But if we look deeper, we find that our sages gave us the keys to attain holiness.

 

The first way is through the experience of Shabbat. The Matnat Chaim explains that we say in Lecha Dodi, "Likrat Shabbos lechu v'nelcha." Let us greet the Shabbat. To the extent one invests before Shabbat, to that extent will we be able to access the wellspring of blessing inherent in the day. We begin Kiddush with the words, "Yom hashishi." This hints that the preparations on the sixth day for Shabbat are intrinsically connected to Shabbat. The aspect of shamor, guarding the Shabbat, means anticipating its coming. The Ben Ish Chai said that one can merit wealth and blessing by bringing in the Shabbat early. The holy Rebbe of Lechovitz taught that the impact of Shabbat is so strong it cannot be concentrated in the world of materialism. All the physical blessings come in the merit of bringing in Shabbat early. The earlier we bring it in, the more bounty we draw down upon ourselves. When we expand the borders of the kedusha of Shabbat, Hashem will expand our borders by giving us our deepest desires.

 

The second way is by learning Torah. The enlightenment of Torah enables a person to enter into the kodesh. Although a woman is not commanded to study Torah for its own sake, she is obligated to learn about the mitzvot that she is required to fulfill. This includes all the negative mitzvot and all positive non time related mitzvot. If she has more time, it is praiseworthy for her to study works of mussar and yirat shamayim. We find that Jewish women throughout the ages studied Torah. The Gra wrote a letter home that his daughters should spend Shabbat studying mussar and works of Torah thought. The Chatam Sofer studied Agadata with his daughters. Rav Sonnefeld studied Orach Chaim a half an hour each day with his wife. The Tiv Hamoadim points out that just as a person gets weak if he doesn't eat all day, our souls should feel weak if we don't learn. Take a few minutes every day and dedicate it to Torah study. Choose a halacha bookor mussar work. In this way, the light of Torah will illuminate your soul and bring you more kedusha.

 

With this we can understand the connection of Elul and the cities of refuge. When we don't live up to our inherent potential, we've killed an aspect of who we could have been. Elul is focusing in on our true selves. We can enter into the kodesh, into the holy month preceding the Days of Awe, by bringing in Shabbat early, dedicating a few minutes every day to Torah, and doing mitzvot with love and joy.


The Maharal says the root of all evil is lack. The Ramchal says it is materialism. The two are related. All material things are inherently lacking. Physical pleasure may momentarily satiate a person, but a new desire soon rears its head. The more materialistic a person is, the less he will hear the voice of the spirit. Physicality conceals spiritual light. It keeps us from drawing close to Hashem. If used in the right way, it help us express our spiritual self in the world. But as soon as we give it equal time and let it take any form of conquest over our emotions or consciousness, we doom our spiritual side. Having an aesthetic and beautiful home gives people a sense of connection, harmony, and unification. But it can also be corrupted. In the secular world, one's value is often measured by how beautiful one's home is. If you open a copy of Better Homes & Gardens you won't find them selling harmony, at best it will be aesthetics, at worst status.

 

Most people aren't happy. This is because the more a person is pursues materialism, the more unfulfilled he feels, because everything physical is lacking. A lot of what we distract ourselves with, such as passion, escapism, and secular literature, just takes us further down. The only way to break out of the descending cycle is to become more spiritually aware and to bring Hashem into our lives. So if you're going to distract yourself, do it in a meaningful way. If you're riding the train, think about where you're going and why, the incredible nature of travel, how interesting the people you encounter are, and how much of Hashem's image you see in them.

 

When the Rambam discusses choosing an occupation, he doesn't just talk about satisfaction, but about becoming the person you could be. Fulfillment isn't a goal, it's a dividend. Hashem made people work so they could discover Him through their own efforts. It's hard to make a case that a woman will become more actualized outside the home than as the mainstay of her home where she is enabling people. We view human life as enormously significant. When a woman creates a home and raises children, she's actualizing her potential. The right choices have to do with how you can develop yourself and bring more spirituality into the world. When you have a choice between mitzvot, you need to choose the one that you can do and no one else can. Nobody can be your husband's wife or your child's mother. A man's test is not being consumed by work to the point where it becomes his identity. There are more and more women in today's world who face this every day. So when choosing an occupation, of course you should choose something that gives you fulfillment, but don't let it grab your identity or be you.

 

Chaos in its intellectual spiritual form is freedom. We create limitation so that we can make the material side of life more convenient and aesthetic. But it gets us nowhere in terms of the bigger picture. In contrast, the mitzvot give us structure. Hashem, with His superior wisdom, saw all the forms of lack that are inherent in man and what he would need to develop within himself in order to come close to Hashem. Hashem gave us boundaries and limitations so that we could refine physical activity and bring it to perfection. Mitzvot empower a person to bring out his inherent potential. The verse in Shir Hashirim states, "He kissed me with the kisses of his lips." The first kiss, the kiss of connection expresses the message, "I want you." The second kiss, the kiss of exclusivity says, "I don't want anything to destroy our relationship." Similarly, there are two kinds of mitzvot, positiveand negative mitzvot. The positive mitzvot teach us how to connect. These are the mechanisms that will move you towards perfection and fill the empty space. The negative mitzvot say, "Don't go there. This will create more lack and submerge you deeper in the physical world." The more we do mitzvot, the more we move beyond the power of the evil inclination towards perfection. When we try to find fulfillment through materialism we give ourselves a death sentence. The animal side of ourselves claims all of us until we have nothing left, because everything it could offer is transient. Rather than being defined by physicality, we could shape our own journey. We can choose who we want to be and where we want to go. We can adopt the Torah and mitzvot as our guide and reach higher for the shleimut that Hashem wants us to achieve.