Lazer Beams

Serving the same G-d

On Shabbat, the Melitzer Rebbe shlit'a told me the following beautiful story, passed down from father to son from his great great grandfather Rebbe Meir'l of Promiszlan; Keep it in mind before allowing yourself the "luxury" of feuding with a fellow Jew:

Serving the same G-d

Rebbe Meir'l of Promiszlan and Rebbe Yitzchok of Strettin were engaged in a long, drawn-out feud. Knowing that dissension serves no purpose, Rebbe Meir'l approached Rebbe Yitzchok and attempted to make peace. The latter only turned his face to the wall. "Please, Strettinner Rebbe, allow me to tell you a tale," said Rebbe Meir'l, and told him the following story:

During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, a Marrano* suspected of secretly being Jewish became deathly ill. The Inquisitors called the local priest, and told him to go see if the dying man would make last confession, proving that he's a Catholic, or else otherwise be burned at the stake as a Jew. The Priest and the Henchman entered the sick man's room, and the sick man turned his face to the wall, refusing to reject his true faith in Hashem during his last minutes on earth.

The Inquisitors said, "Ahah, he's a secret Jew!" The priest said no, he's embarrassed to confess in front of others. Everyone must leave the room!

Only the dying man and the Priest remained in the room. The priest, a Marranno himself, whispered in the man's ear, "You can say Shma Yisrael now, and express your belief in Hashem before you die. You no longer need to turn your back on me, because we both serve the same G-d." With his dying breath, the Marrano utterred, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is one!"

"So you see, Strettinner Rebbe," said Rebbe Meir'l, "You no longer have to turn your back on me, because we serve the same G-d!" The feud ended on the spot.

*Marranos - the Spanish Jews who posed as Catholics on the outside, and secretly continued to practice their Judaism behind closed doors

Emuna and Jewish Unity: The Invincible Combination

A little over three weeks ago, I arrived in Hamilton, Ontario for an evening with the entire Jewish community. The tension among the Jewish community - particularly among the Jewish students at the local McMaster University - reminded me of the days here in the south of Israel when GRAD missiles were falling two and three times a day. After the Hillel House in York University in neighboring Toronto was stormed by Arab students, the atmosphere at McMaster was electrified with the impending Israel Apartheid Week and the anticipated Arab and pro-Pally student demonstrations. Hamilton's Jewish student body was terrified. Nobody new what the Canadian Ishmaelites and their groupies were planning.

Thanks to the efforts of Canadian Betar's President Rose Lax, Rabbi Green of Hamilton, and Breslev Israel's Hamilton representatives Avi and Rebecca Shapiro, the entire Jewish community - including the Jewish students of McMaster - showed up for an evening of Emuna, unity, and encouragement. They asked me to address the challenge of Apartheid Week and what to do about it. I explained that we have to fight on our home turf (which is emuna and above the stars) and not to slug it out in the gutter of campus activism and counter demonstrations that are bound to fail.

To make a long story short,the evening was beautiful with all of us singing Rebbe Nachman's "Gesher Tzar Meod" and saying "Shma" together. The Jews of Hamilton responded just like the Jews of Shushan, learning that if you fear Hashem, you don't have to fear anyone or anything, including the Arabs on campus. Hashem put words in my mouth, and I promised that with such emuna and unity, nothing wrong could happen to the Jews of Hamilton and McMaster.

The very next day, everything went wrong on campus - all the anti-Israel and anti-semitic activities were either strangely cancelled or postponed indefinitely. In the words of Hamilton's Jews that wrote me, an outright miracle had taken place.

Earlier today, I received an email from Rose Lax. She writes: "It (Apartheid Week at McMaster U.) just literally fell apart. Furthermore and more importantly the JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER TURNED OUT IN MASS TO EACH OF THE PROGRAMS PRESENTED BY OUR SIDE. I have been fighting this with a few students since 2002 and this is the first time we have we have fought together as a people since Tel Hai..." Jewish unity is the real deal.

Emuna and Jewish unity are an invincible combination. Just ask the Hamilton Jewish community. I thank Hashem with all my being for the privilege of seeing His phenominal Divine Providence right before our very eyes.

All for the Best

Probably the biggest buzz on the Israeli web is INN's exclusive item entitled "America Moves Toward Abandonment of Israel." With emuna, you don't have to lose one second of your beauty sleep because of this. Do you know why?

Hashem does everything for the best. Whenever Israel leans on a wobbly reed, Hashem breaks the reed so that Israel will learn to depend on Hashem. This is all part of the scenario of Geula, and all for the best. Have a great Shabbat!

Parental Attention and ADHD

In my experience of counseling parents on child-rearing issues, I've found a strong correlation between kids being diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and lack of attention at home. In quite a few cases pertaining to the children of our own Beams readers, parents asked for my opinion after school counselors and educational psychologists had not only prescribed Ritalin, but stipulated that the child's continued attendance at their school was contingent upon his taking the drug every day.

I asked parents to delay the use of the drug while first planning a program of maximum parental one-on-one quality time. Each program was tailor-made to the child. In extreme cases, I recommended home-schooling. The results, with Hashem's loving grace, have been superb.

In general, I urge parents to invest "yechidut" time, where the the parent gives total attention to the so-called ADHD child, with no other siblings around. For example, a father takes the son on a hike in the woods for 2 or 3 hours, once a week, and together they learn about trees, rocks, and birds while also doing personal prayer together. A mother might take her daughter for a lengthy exercise walk & talk, or they might shop together or bake challas together.

The one-on-one quality time with a parent calms a child, elevates his self-image, and does wonders for his inner joy, which is ever so important in enhancing the child's attention span and thought process.

At least 3 dozen children of our readers - that we know about - have rendered the use of Ritalin superfluous in the above manner.

Many parents protest that they lack the time to invest in their children. Priorities, folks... In the end, they ending up wasting more time running to school counselors, doctors and psychologists, not to mention the money involved either.

One of our readers sent me the following poignant anecdote to bring the point home:

A 5 year old boy asked his Daddy one day, “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” His father was quite pieved and said, “What business is it of yours?” The little boy persisted, so in the end, the father said, “Well, if you must know, I make $20 an hour”.

“In that case,” said the little boy, “can I have $9?”

His father was furious. He told the little boy to go and sit quietly in his room. Eventually he calmed down, and thought to himself, well, maybe he had a good reason to ask for $9, and he doesn’t ask me for money often. So he went to see his son, and told him, “Perhaps I was too hard on you earlier, and I am going to give you that $9”. When he gave it to him, he saw his son take a number of bills from under his pillow, and add the $9 to it. The father was surprised. “If you had all that money already”, he said, “why did you ask me for more?”

“Well”, said the boy, “ I did not have enough money before. But now I do. Can I buy an hour of your time?”

Think about it. Our children are precious little souls that Hashem has entrusted in our care. They deserve our undivided attention.

True Freedom

Now that Purim is over, we have less than four weeks until Passover. Many folks are beginning their spring cleaning and other Pesach preparations. Don't forget, though - the spiritual preparations for the "Holiday of Freedom" (Passover marks G-d's redemption of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt 3,321 years ago) are just as important as the material preparations.

True freedom means that you are at liberty to seek the truth, even if that's not the popular thing to do. True freedom means that you don't carry around a ball and chain of conformity. True freedom is an ability to break free from anything that stifles your soul. When you walk away from a peer group that's doing something wrong, you are free. If you do what's right despite jeer and ridicule, then you're both courageous and free. That's the lesson of the courageous Levites at the time of the Golden Calf - they walked from what they knew was wrong. Let's follow in their footsteps and separate ourselves from the Golden Calf of 2009. There's no better feeling than doing what's right. The money and the cheap thrills are going down the drain, but Torah, emuna, and mitzva observance are here forever. Hashem is calling all of us in these final days before Moshiach to make a clear choice.

If your a Beams reader, there's no doubt about which choice in life you're making - certainly not the Golden Calf. You therefore deserve a treat - here's Ari Goldwag singing Ka Ribon Olam. Teach your family this melody at your Shabbat evening meal - they'll love it. Have a wonderful Shabbat Ki Tisa.

Beating the Tight Job Market

Dear Rabbi Brody,

My wife and I spoke to you briefly before you left for Toronto two weeks ago. We were having tremendous income problems in light of the recession and very tight job market.

You instructed me to read The Garden of Emuna and said that it would be just like sitting with you personally for a series of hour-long consultations. To be honest, at the time, I thought you were just politely cutting our conversation short.

Anyway, I had purchased the book long ago from your website but never got around to reading it. I had no idea what I was missing.

I read the first half of the book before an interview with the leading firm in my field. I had interviewed with the company three years previously and wasn't hired. To make matters worse, they have a drawn out hiring process. You have to write an essay, take computer exams, conduct an initial interview, and then - if you're fortunate enough - you get called back several weeks later for a second interview.

Miracle #1: When I left the first interview that day, I was informed that I would be contacted in two to three days regarding a call back for a second interview. I continued to read "The Garden of Emuna" on the train home.

Miracle #2: Only twenty-four hours later, I received a call from their personnel department offering me the job.

I now have a better, higher paying job than I did with the company I was laid off from four months ago. I thought you might like to hear. I plan to keep rereading that wonderful book until it's second nature. Emuna and miracles are for real. With appreciation, Stuart from Colorado

A Purim Lesson with Reb Shlomo

Here is a special Purim treat - a vintage thirty-minute clip of Reb Shlomo Carlebach of blessed memory giving over Rebbe Nachman's teachings about Purim. Happy Purim!