Lazer Beams

Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Uman Experience

The Uman experience is a great way for an English speaker to spend Rosh Hashana with the Breslever Chasidim in Uman. A special group of English speakers just like you has a wonderful lodging with glatt kosher home-cooked meals for YomTov, and you'll be staying with Menachem Herman and Rabbi Lazer Brody. For more information write: umanexperience@gmail.com . Have a great Shabbat Nachamu!

Ad Ana Bechiya - How long will we cry?

My very dear friend Ari Goldwag - Torah scholar, brilliant musician and composer, and former lead singer of the Miami Boys' Choir - is the author of today's guest post about Jerusalem. Not only that, but he has composed a beautiful song - voice only - which you are allowed to listen to on Tisha B'Av, as you'll hear in the film clip following Ari's superb essay.

It was very disturbing for me to hear that the United States government has demanded a halt to construction in Jerusalem. This is our city, torn from us so long ago, the city we have hoped for and dreamed of for centuries. This city has been the center of our prayers, and we ask three times a day that it be rebuilt. There isn't a Jewish wedding that does not remind themselves of this city, even at the time of their greatest joy. Yet we are told that we may not live in our city, and must give it to a group of bloodthirsty animals whose soul desire is our destruction or at best our recognition of their Arab supremacy.

And what of sensitivity? The leader of the United States is very aware of Arab sensitivities and makes sure to pander to whatever they wish to hear. Where is the awareness of Jewish sensitivity? Is it appropriate to make such harsh demands during our nation's period of mourning for Jerusalem's destruction? Could they not wait until a later date?

The truth is that these questions only bothered me at first glance. The deeper question is, Why does Hashem allow this to happen? We know, of course, that לב מלכים ביד השם - the hearts of kings are in the hand of Hashem. Why has Hashem chosen to open the mouth of the prideful United States president at this time? What is the underlying message for us?

I believe that the answer is to be found in the Gemara that teaches us why the Sages instituted many different enactments to remind us of what was done in the Hamikdash (e.g. taking the Lulav for all seven days of Succos, as it was done in the Beis Hamikdash, as opposed to only one day, as is required from the for other places). The Gemara brings the passuk in Yirmiyah פרק ל which states - כי נדחה קראו לך ציון היא דורש אין לה - You, Tzion, were referred to as one who is pushed away, none seek you. The Gemara says that from the fact that the verse laments that none seek Tzion (Yerushalyim), this implies that we must do things to encourage people to seek and remember Tzion.

When the United States pressures Israel to stop settlement growth, including Jerusalem, what is our natural response? It is righteous indignation. Who are they to tell us what to do?! This is our land, and this is our Jerusalem. We will live here and we will build here!

This is exactly what Hashem wants, and this is exactly when Hashem wants it. We are now in the nine days and we are entering greater and greater levels of mourning over our loss of Jerusalem. Yet, like the passuk says, 'none seek you.' We are all lost when it comes to feeling a true sense of loss. But if we have no sense of loss, how can we get Jerusalem back? If we do not seek her, how will we have the merit to keep her?

In order to merit a true Geulah, we must want this Geulah. Nevertheless, Hashem is constantly doing whatever it will take tomake us want it! Once we want it, he will bring it, but it starts with Him. This is what I believe is the understanding of the two phrases we have - השיבנו השם אליך ונשובה - return us to You Hashem, and we will return; and שובה אלי ואשובה אליכם - [Hashem says,] return to Me, and I will return to you. First Hashem inspires us to want to return, then we return, and He returns to us.

It is amazing to witness how everything in the world is but a tool in Hashem's hands, which he uses only for our benefit.

Years ago I composed a song whose words come out of the kinnos of Tisha B'av. They are עד אנה בכיה בציון ומספד בירושלים תרחם ציון ותבנה חומות ירושלים - How long will there be crying in Tzion and eulogy in Jerusalem? Have mercy on Tzion and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

When I have had difficulty getting emotional on Tisha B'av, I will inevitably turn to these words and this song, and the tears come. I hope it will inspire you too. The song is A capella - there are no instruments, just voices.

Pentakika: The Story of a Simple Jew

Don't be impressed with the people that show a glittering facade of money and status. Likewise, don't ever underestimate the value of a seemingly lowly individual such as the street cleaner or the custodian. One of the lessons of this particular week of Tisha B'Av is the urgent need to uproot hatred and disdain from our midst. That's why it's important to hear the 9-minute story of Pentakika from the Yerushalmi Gemara:

Guarding our Eyes

Many people seem to think that Shemirat Eynayim (Guarding the Eyes) is some type of Breslever Baal-Teshuva eccentricity. Is that true? See You Can Too, My Brother on this week's Breslev Israel web magazine.

Queen of the Class is required reading during the "Nine Days" that precede Tisha B'Av.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev tells us if anyone is capable of reprimanding anoyone else in Who Can Rebuke? 

What do you do about the exhorbitant cost of Torah education in the US and Canada? See Honey-scented Nectar to find out.

Things not going your way? Maybe there's a problem with the "I" Syndrome.

Breslev Kids learn The Song of the Farm Animals in Perek Shira for Kids.

This week on our 7 Noahide Mitzva series is the prohibition of stealing.

This week's Torah portion is Va'etchanan - Rebbetzen Siegelbaum writes about A Mother's Essence. This is also known as Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of Consolation, as you'll read in National Consolation.

Uman Experience Accommodations – Rosh Hashana – 2009

Important Bulletin from "Uman Experience":

Join us for a unique, one of a kind, life changing experience; a trip to Uman for Rosh Hashana. Perfect for both novice and the seasoned traveler!

We are proud and at the same time humbled to say, we’ve been working together on the Uman Experience since 2007 and our trips have been more than successful! Our in-house catering is delicious and our accommodations this year can equal the most beautiful home at American standards and of course are safe.

Although Uman isn't a vacation hot spot, its rather a spiritual journey - we still feel, that if the physical can be taken care of for you (the cooking, a safe clean place to stay with similar minded people, etc.) your stay will be so much more enhanced and your head free to absorb the Rebbe's Rosh Hashana – which is why you’re coming.

The beautiful friendship that continues on with many of our guests long after our trips are over is simply a bonus! Stories about your trip will be told and retold. Best of all, the atmosphere and lessons shared hold a warm place in each of our hearts; and this is indeed the fortification we need for another year of life’s challenges. This IS the place to gain clarity in a world gone mad with so much external trappings, that we think without them we can never be happy! Or worse, we think we will live forever, never having to face our Master and account for our lives in this world. To quote our beloved mentor and very missed dear friend and Rav, Rav Michel Dorfman Zal, “…it’s not the house itself or the items in it that make the home, it’s the people in that house that makes a home.”

What is it about Uman that yearly attracts thousands upon thousands of people from literally all over the globe from all walks of life? Spirituality – Kabbalah? Both and more…

The answer is …the Tzaddik – a saintly individual, who has an unparalleled mastery of the spiritual, which gives him the ability to bridge the physical and spiritual worlds, the answer is - the way we feel once we experience it.

Only with Hashem's kindness, we managed to close on the most beautiful estate in Uman - and of course we named it  "The Uman Experience Estate."

It would be hard to find an American home this nice, just doesn't get better!

Price: $661 per adult, $631 per child under 7, which includes:

* All linens, 1 pillow, 1 quilt.

* Light meal served erev (before) Yom Tov, Friday Sept. 25th.

* Home cooked meals with our in-house chef brought all the way from Israel cooking up a storm for you with his culinary delights.

* Kitchens will be open 24 hours for coffee, teas and snacks.

* Kiddush items, Havdalah items

* Malavah Malka meal, Motzaie Yom Tov, Monday night, Sept. 21

We have the Estate from Sunday Sept. 13 until Thursday, Sept. 24th.

We will be joined by our very own Rav – Rav Lazer Brody - who will inspire us during meal times, explaining what it means to be with Rebbe Nachman on Rosh Hashana and much more.

The dining room will be closed to outside people.

Later on we'll send a list of items to bring and not to bring.

For booking your accommodations today send us and email to:

UmanExperience@gmail.com

Calling from abroad: +972 2 9918 314
Mobile in Israel (also MSN - text option):  052 470 4066
Calling or texting from abroad: +972 52 470 4066
Faxing from abroad: 972 2 9918 669
Faxing in Israel: 02 9918 669

Once we hear from you, we will send you the payment options, once we receive the payment, we will send you your room number with a map of the estate and an itemized list of what and what not to bring.

Blessings always, Menachem and S. Herman, Uman Experience

Uprooting Hatred

We finally have the processed video of this past week's emuna lesson. If you want to help reunite Jerusalem, rebuild the Holy Temple, and uproot the cause of exile and Diaspora, then join us in learning how to Uproot Hatred. Have a wonderful week!

Happiness Milestones

The entire purpose of all my books, CDs, and lectures is to help people live healthier and happier lives by strengthening emuna and getting closer to Hashem. Some folks measure success in money and fame; money doesn't mean much to me except for being able to produce another CD or to be able to send spiritual care packages to GIs in combat zones or to the terminally ill that the doctors have given up on. 

A well-known Israeli personality recently visited me at my home to discuss his battle with chronic depression. The individual makes about $160K a year, which is an astronomical sum in Israel. Yet, he and his wife are constantly overdrawn at the bank. He sat down at my Shabbat table, looked around our simple living room which is really nothing but walls filled with books, and said, "It's so calm and peaceful here - I feel more relaxed already!" I told him that the walls of a person's home absorb peace and holiness, as well as the opposite, G-d forbid. My so very wonderful wife Yehudit and I try to maintain an atmosphere of spiritual fresh air in our humble but happy home.

Talking to Hashem, seeing His wisdom in every creation, and learning His Torah make me happy. Also, hearing your good news. Since the month of Av is a time when we need encouragement, I want to share with you a few choice happiness milestones of fellow Beams readers, that have resulted from their listening to our books and CDs:

* Dennis from the USA has been cold turkey on alcohol for 6 months now.

* RS from South Africa has traded his former addiction to porn sites on the web with Tikkun Klali, mikva, daily personal prayer, and Arush-Brody CDs - he writes me that he hasn't looked at an immodest picture in over 6 weeks

* David and wife have scrapped their plans for divorce. They just finished learning 30 minutes of "The Trail to Tranquility" together every night, and they've just started learning The Garden of Emuna.

* RT from Ramat HaSharon and Michael from Haifa haven't seen shrinks or taken pills ever since they started listening to the Emuna-series CDs several months ago. Michael says that without the CDs, he would have had a nervous breakdown during the recent economic squeeze.

* More than 4 Beam-reader families have strengthened their emuna and have cast birth control aside.

* More than 6 Beam-reader families have discontinued the use of Ritalin on their children with encouraging results.

* 9 months ago, the doctors told Morris from the UK that he had 3 months to live; smiling Morris is still with us, putting on tefillin and talking to Hashem for an hour every day. He no longer needs blood transfusions.

* William from Florida was unemployed for 3 years. His confidence was shot and so was his marriage. A month after he began listening to our CDs (which he couldn't even afford at first; Emuna Outreach sent him his first three CDs as a gift, thanks to your generous donations) and talking to Hashem every day for an hour of personal prayer, he landed a great job at $8K more than he had ever earned annually before. He writes, "Rabbi Lazer - tell everybody that I said that emuna works miracles!" Tell it to the people, William!

And more... The above list doesn't include a long list of outright miracles that people have written me about since I took their kvittlach to Uman this past Shavuot. These are the type of things that make me the happiest person on earth. When your goal in life is emuna, you walk around with a sparkle in your eyes and a smile on your lips all day long. Thank You, Hashem - for everything. And thanks to you, dear friends and readers, for sharing your wonderful news.

Survival in 10 Easy Steps

Survival in 10 Easy Steps is an eye-opening set of lectures that can help a person maintain his or her emotional balance in these crazy times. This superb set of 10 mini-lectures, given by my esteemed friend, brilliant Kabbalist and scholar Rabbi Pinchas Winston, is available for downloading from his website here. Anything Rabbi Pinchas writes is worthwhile reading, and anything he says is worthwhile listening.

Eradicating Intramural Hate

It's vital that we all improve our relationships with others during the Three Weeks, for intramural hate caused the destruction of our Holy Temple. To eradicate intramural hate, we must strengthen our awareness of verbal abuse, avoiding causing anguish to another person at all costs.

There are 2 types of mitzvas in the Torah – between man and Hashem (Shabbat, tefillin, kashrut, to name a few), and between man and fellow man (dealing fairly in commerce, paying a worker on time, loving our fellow human, etc.). This time of year, during the Three Weeks, it’s especially important to discuss the mitzvas between man and fellow man in general, and specifically about the severity of insulting or causing anguish to one's fellow human.

Many people bring grief to their fellow human without batting an eyelash. But, most people are unaware that causing pain or grief to another person, not only by verbal insult but even with a mere gesture of the body, is a severe transgression of Torah, even worse than eating something unkosher. The reason is that the teshuva for doing something against Hashem is relatively simple, and Hashem is always forgiving. But, when a person harms his fellow man, he must now placate his fellow man in addition to doing teshuva to Hashem. That’s no simple task.

In the Book of Leviticus, 25:17, the Torah commands, "You shall not bring grief to your neighbor." Our sages learn from this passage that the Torah expressly forbids all forms of causing embarrassment, sadness, and humiliation to our fellow human, again, not only by word of mouth, but by a mere gesture. In other words, if your rabbi is making a sermon and you don't like what he says, and you react by turning up your nose at him or by dismissing his words with a wave of your hand, you've just committed a severe transgression of Torah. This mitzvah, that's called in Hebrew "Issur Onaat Devarim" or the "prohibition of causing grief to another person" is probably the most violated mitzvah in the Torah, which has a dangerous negative backlash on the violator. Let me give you an example – the Gemara teaches that if a husband causes his wife to shed even one tear, he's subject to the death penalty. The transgression of causing grief to another person is very serious...

Read more about the Dangers of Verbal Abuse in this week's Breslev Israel web magazine.

Elements from without and within seem to be threatening continued Jewish presence in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem. But, directing anger and frustration at the President of the United States or at the Prime Minister of Israel is just as silly as the jungle tribesmen trying to move The Iron Elephant.

Anyone that's not Including Hashem is bound to be suffering in life. Here's what it means to be Living with Hashem.

The Glowing Blue Door is the exciting second part of Light at the end of the Cave.

Nobody said that conversion is easy, as we see in The Challenges of Conversion.

Baalei Teshuva? Think of them as Copilots...

The Three Weeks and associated calamity doesn't change our status as The Treasured People.

Let's keep our priorities in The Right Order.

Part 13 of Perek Shira for kids is The Song of the Sea Creatures.

Here's wishing you a wonderful week!

Cherokee Nation and Emuna CDs

My esteemed friend "Sitting Owl" is one of the distinguished elders of the Cherokee Nation in Tennessee. Recently, Emuna Outreach sent him some of our emuna CDs. Here's his reaction:

Dear Rabbi Wolf Brother,

NO words can explain the Blessings I received from listening very carefully to the CD's you sent me...we will be using these in our counselling to our Cherokee People. Wado equa (Many thanks), Sitting Owl

Rabbi Shalom Arush and I are pleased to announce the release of our latest CD, "Stop Crying." This CD is a master key for unlocking all the gates of whatever salvation you need.

Think a minute...

Does a champion athlete complain because of a difficult workout? No - he knows that his exertion in training will make him a champion. Instead, he's extremely grateful to his coach. Even though the coach puts on a tough exterior, the champion athlete isn't fooled - he knows that the coach cares about him...

Do you think that Hashem is any less compassionate than the champion's coach? By no means! Hashem is more loving and caring than the most affectionate parent. That's why the root of our troubles is ingratitude, failing to thank Hashem for everything He does for us.

This eye-opening CD is a master key that unlocks blessings for you. It could even save your life...

You can order "Stop Crying" online from our Emuna Beams Book & CD store. Have a great week!