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Dear Rabbi Lazer,
During the past 24 hours, Roy and I witnessed Psalm 91 in action. We are located right in the middle of the path of the tornado outbreak that left destruction in Mississippi and across the state of Alabama. In addition to thanking Hashem for His wonderful protection, we also thank Him for all of your emuna CD's and books. While other people were gripped with panic and terror, we were completely calm as we put our trust and our lives in Hashem's hands.
I've enclosed a screenshot (above) of one of the tornadoes that was captured live by the local news skycam as it approached Tuscaloosa. About 30 minutes earlier, this same tornado passed by our house. Trees were uprooted and tossed about, limbs and other debris were thrown around, blocking streets and causing a lot of damage. Except in our yard! Not only did Hashem protect our lives, He also protected our house and our vehicles which came through without a scratch! Only a few scattered leaves in our yard. Absolutely amazing. Thousands of people across the state are still without power this morning. When I awoke and saw that our power had been restored, I immediately told Roy that we had to tell Rabbi Lazer about this miracle!!!!
Thank you so much for all that you have taught us. You are truly a "light unto the nations".
Cookie and Roy D.
Cookie, Roy, and all our special friends in Alabama are always in our prayers, especially now. G-d bless and take care!
The sign on the entrance to the main sanctuary of a synagogue in the USA where I spoke several months ago really made me laugh.
Some people mean well, but they flub it when they try to get their message across. The directors of the synagogue probably wanted to convey to the congregants that it's not respectful to walk in the door in the middle of the rabbi's sermon. Maybe they also wanted to convey that barging-in in the middle is disruptive and distracting, both to the rabbi and to those already seated.
On the other hand, you can interpret the sign comically, as Breslev Israel's General Director Yosef Nechama (who took this priceless photo) and I did: "Hey, Pal - it's dangerous to hear the rabbi talk! Don't come inside!!"
I'm happy to have the laugh on me; at any rate, my weekly shiur (lecture/lesson) in English that's open to the public (both women and men are welcome) resumes today, Wednesday 27 April, at 6 PM local time at the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva in Jerusalem, 56 Shivtei Yisrael Street.
You can see today's lesson live right here at 10:00 AM PDT, 12 Noon Mexico and CDT, 11:00 AM EDT, 4:00 PM in the UK, and of course 6:00 PM Israel time. As soon as we can, G-d willing, we'll post a link to the lesson for all those who couldn't see it live. Best wishes for a healthy Spring and Summer.
" By virtue of the Omer that I counted today…may I be purified and sanctified with the sanctity from above, and may this cause an influence of great abundance in all the worlds."(Seder Sfirat HaOmer, terminating prayer).
At the conclusion of each night's counting of the Omer, we ask Hashem that we be purified and sanctified. We also say that our purification and sanctification triggers an influence of tremendous abundance in all the worlds – both material and spiritual.
Before attempting to comprehend the above principles, we have to realize that the people of Israel at Pesach are a nation of newly redeemed slaves. Not only were we newly redeemed slaves at the time of our exodus from Egypt, but every year at Pesach as well. Pesach is the furthest time of the year from the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when all of Israel makes tshuva out of the awe of Hashem. As the long winter months transpire, we drop our guard and fall slaves to our bodily urges and appetites.
At Pesach time, we complete a process of physically cleaning our domains from chometz, or leavened agents, and begin a spiritual process of cleaning our hearts as a preparation for freedom. Tshuva is the cleansing of the heart from all evil.
True freedom, which includes the liberty from social pressure and bodily urges, comes only from Torah. Therefore, even though we break off the chains of bondage at Pesach, we're not really free until we receive the Torah 50 days later on Shavuot. During the interim 49 days, we count the Omer as a process of preparing ourselves to receive the Torah. Rebbe Nathan of Breslev says that each of the 49 days corrects a character attribute that corresponds to the 48 ways of attaining Torah (see tractate Avos, 6:6 for the entire list), while the 49th day serves as a correction to our prayers.
Rebbe Nathan writes (Abridged Likutei Moharan 63:2) that the 49 days of the Omer also correspond to the 49 gates of Tshuva. By reciting Tehillim (Psalms) every day, one can open each gate of Tshuva. Therefore, concludes Rebbe Nathan, saying Tehillim during each day of the Omer is extremely important.
Rebbe Nathan's principle of Tehillim and Tshuva explains how the purification of our souls during the days of the Omer invokes abundance in all the worlds, as we shall see – with Hashem's grace – in the following parable:
Tonight (Sunday) at midnight marks the exact time when The Almighty split the Red Sea for the children of Israel. As such, the 7th day of Passover makes for a very inspiring day.
The same G-d who performed miracles 3323 years ago is still around today, performing miracles. Just because a miracle is subtle doesn't make it any less of a miracle. If you examine your own life carefully, you'll find endless miracles.
What's a bigger miracle than the human heart? Guess what - the same G-d that split the Red Sea is personally massaging your heart and mine this very second. No, He didn't create the world and then retire upstairs. He's still with us performing miracles, every second of the day. He's the same One that was at the Red Sea.
