Lazer Beams

Weekly Live Broadcast

With Hashem's loving grace, our weekly emuna lesson and live broadcast will take place day a bit earlier than usual today, Wednesday at 7:15 PM local time at our Chut Shel Chessed Yeshiva, 13 Shmuel Hanavi Street, Jerusalem, in the main sanctuary. Everyone is welcome, both men and women.

This week's lesson is entitled, "Emuna Land." As always, it is open to the public - both men and women are welcome. You can see today's lesson here - the broadcast, as well as our lessons posted from now on - are Mac and iPod compatible. If you tune in too early to the live broadcast link, you'll be sent to the main page of the Breslev Israel website, so try to tune in on time as follows: 

9:15 AM in LA and the West Coast, 10:15 AM Denver, 11:15 AM Mexico and Central Daylight, 12:15 PM EDT, 5:15 PM in the UK, 6:15 PM Johannesburg and Capetown, 7:15 PM Israel, 12:15 AM Hong Kong and Singapore, or 2:15 AM Sydney and Melbourne. 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.

If you can't see the broadcast, you might need to download a new version of Flash Media player, which you can do here. We hope you enjoy the broadcast.

Personal Conservation: A Lesson in Practical Kabbala

Our forefather Abraham had a mind capacity and powers of reason that we can't begin to fathom. He realized – through observing the universe – that there is a single solitary G-d who defies any corporeal characteristics or description. Through intense observation and deep thought, Abraham arrived at the conclusion that G-d manifests Himself in the physical realm by way of the ten spheres and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, what the Midrash and Zohar call the building blocks that were used to create the universe. Together, these are the “thirty two lanes” that our forefather Abraham refers to in the opening chapter of the Sefer Yetzira, the “Book of Creation”, history's first Kabbalistic book.
 
The Sefer Yetzira talks about three dimensions of every Divine influence; they are olam, shana, and nefesh, or the dimensions of place, time, and body. In Chapter Four we learn the influences of several key letters. The letter Bet, for example, is the key influence of the planet Saturn (olam, place), Sabbath (shana, time), and the mouth (nefesh, body). The secrets in this tiny morsel are deep and vast. But from it, we learn how the mouth is especially connected to the Sabbath. We can now understand why speaking gossip and slander is seven times more devastating on Shabbat that it is during the week. Also, eating on Shabbat is much more holy than it is during the rest of the week.
 
The message of olam, shana, and nefesh - place, time, and body – teaches us vital information about ourselves and how to properly utilize our resources. The Gemara teaches us that man is a miniature world. With that in mind, just as conserving the earth's resources is vital to our sustenance, we must learn to conserve our own resources. Now that we're aware that Divine influences are manifest on three levels, we can do much to improve the quality of our lives.
 
Hashem enables our souls to fulfill their specific mission also by giving us the three dimensions of influence – place, time, and body. These are the soul's prime resources, which it must utilize effectively for a person to feel happy, fulfilled and successful. Consequently, when an individual squanders these vital resources, the soul suffers in the same manner that the entire world suffers when its natural resources are misused. Let's see how this works on an individual level:

Continue reading Personal Conservation in this week's stimulating issue of Breslev Israel web magazine.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: The Other Side of Arrogance

Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook: Three Priestly Blessings

Dr. Zev Ballen: The Old Neighborhood

Racheli Reckles: The Metamorphosis

Rivka Levy: No Mrs. Nice Guy

Dovber Halevi: Graduate-level Emuna

Rachel Tzippora Avrahami: The Real Shadchan, part 3 of a series entitled A Plea for Singles that you don't want to miss!

This week's editor's choice: The 21st Century Aryans, by Howard Morton - it's an eye-opener.

Have a great week! News of our upcoming (less than two weeks from now) USA-Canada speaking tour forthcoming, G-d willing...

If you're in Israel, don't forget about tonight in Hashmonaim. Hoping to see you!

The Archer

Many people ask me why Hashem doesn't grant them their heart's wishes. Consider the following examples:

* A person goes on a date and becomes totally infatuated. He/she begs Hashem that the match should be successful. Hashem knows that it's not that person's true soulmate, and certainly not for the best, and therefore doesn't grant the request.

* A person begs for financial success; Hashem knows that if that person would have a lot of money, he'd not only become arrogant, but he'd drift far away from Hashem and from observing His commandments.

* A person prays for a new Audi or Mercedes, despite the fact that his income doesn't justify such a purchase. Hashem knows that such a car will invoke neighbors' jealousy and even an IRS audit, for the tax people want to know where he got the money to purchase such a car...

* A person prays day and night that Hashem should help him to be accepted at a certain professional school or place of employment; Hashem knows that this would be a terrible move on the long run.

* A woman with two healthy children begs Hashem for another child, yet has terrible health complications after the third child is born.

The examples are endless. 

The Archer on this week's Breslev Israel magazine tells a lot more about prayers and how to have them answered.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: The Fancy Yacht

Rabbi Dovid Charlop: Loving Our Land

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach: No More Fear

Dr. Zev Ballen: Take this Key

Racheli Reckles: Breaking My Vessel

Rivka Levy: Spiritual Spleen

Dovber Halevi: Which Dome?

Chaya Ovadia: Fill'er Up!

Justin Taylor: USA Today - A Police State?

Have a great week! Don't forget, Lag B'Omer is this coming Wednesday night and Thursday. Big Beams blessings from the sunny south of Israel.

Better Than the Irish Lottery

I received an email from Chaim Michel (pen name, to protect his privacy for obvious reasons), calling my attention to his article, "What Husbands Need to Know" on Aish.com, where he attributes saving his virtually hopeless marriage to "The Garden of Peace" by our beloved rabbi and spiritual guide Rav Shalom Arush shlit"a. Chaim was quite upset that the Aish editors toned down his praise for Rav Arush and the book as well as removed some of his most important points, such as the necessity to guard one's eyes and maintain personal holiness to assure marital bliss. When he confronted them about it, they purportedly told him, "those parts are not for our readers." Hashem wrote Lo Taturu in His Torah, commanding us to guard our eyes. Hashem intended all of "our readers" to be aware of this commandment. Breslev Israel is therefore happy to present you with Chaim Michel's original uncut article entitled, My Personal Redemption, with the sections that the Aish editors completely removed highlighted.

* * * * *

Imagine that you failed to pay income tax for the last twenty years, and you owe the IRS back taxes that total a million dollars! You go before the head of IRS who is fully capable of throwing the book at you if he so desires. Yet, he’s kind, attentive, and understanding about everything you have to say in defense of yourself. Yet, despite your excuses for not having paid income tax for the last two decades, you still owe the money and are legally liable to pay it in full, or else…

Got the picture? Now imagine that the head of IRS offers you a proposal” “OK,” he says, “I’m willing to wipe your slate clean of the $1,000,000 dollars in back debts. All you have to do is to begin paying your income tax on a monthly basis from this moment on. Do you agree?”

Your head is spinning. What?! Such compassion!? Of course you agree! You take out your pen and you sign the commitment right away. You’ve just saved a million dollars and time behind bars…

A fantasy? No way – that’s just how teshuva works. In fact, that’s low-level teshuva, the teshuva out of fear. The Gemara says that if a person makes teshuva out of love, his transgression becomes a merit. That means that instead of paying a million-dollar fine, you get a check for a million dollars.

The Evil Inclination and the heresy of modern society have been giving Hashem, Torah and mitzvas terrible publicity. Teshuva really is umpteen times better than winning the Irish Lottery.

Continue reading The Wise Man and the Fool on this week's online issue of Breslev Israel Magazine.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Stop Comparing

Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook: The Omer Controversy

Dr. Zev Ballen: Stop the Insanity!

Rivka Levy: Smart and Simple

Racheli Reckles: Little Grease-stained Shirts

Chaya Ovadia: If Money Grew on Trees

Dovber Halevi: The Set-up

Yael Karni: The Road to Redemption

Bracha Goetz: Writing Books for Children

Bright Beam Blessings for a wonderful week!

The Key to Deterrence

Almost everyone in Israel laments our lack of deterrence. Some trace it back to Israel's hasty retreat from Lebanon a dozen years ago. Others go back further, to the first Intifada, or Arab uprising, in the late 1980's. Still others claim that our lack of deterrence is a result of Israel's failure to score a decisive victory over the Hamas and coalition of Gaza terrorists, both in operation “Cast Lead” two and a half years ago and in the recent round of Gazan rocket attacks against the south of Israel last month. Even worse, Israel failed miserably against a mere few thousand Hizbolla fighters five years ago in 2006, who virtually paralyzed the north of Israel.
 
The above facts, although noteworthy, are mere symptoms; they are not the core reason for Israel's lack of deterrence.
 
So where's the deterrence?

Read The Key to Deterrence in this week's issue of Breslev Israel online magazine to find out...

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Your Own Track

Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook: The Holy Cloud

Rabbi Simcha Raz: A Fatal Mistake

Dr. Zev Ballen: One Short Prayer

Rachel Tzippora Avrahami: Best Job on Earth

Racheli Reckles: Shaking the Carpet

Rivka Levy: Do it Right

Beams Bulletins:

* This coming Tuesday night and Wednesday is Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers.

* This coming Wednesday night and Thursday is Israel Independence Day. For those who are asking, there will be an emuna lesson and broadcast this coming Wednesday evening at 7:15 PM in the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva in Jerusalem as usual.

* G-d willing, we'll soon post the itinerary of our upcoming May 10-21, 2012 trip to Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. We look forward to seeing all of wonderful friends there. Have a wonderful week! 

The Valiant Leader

In recent months, we've lost some of our people's leading spiritual leaders. There's no adjective in the English language that can begin to describe the loss of the Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Natan Zvi Finkel, the Torah-Ohr Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, the Nodvorner Rebbe or the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, all of blessed and saintly memory. We can only beg Hashem to give us a spiritual leader who can uplift our people, meet the challenges of these times, and safely bring us to the full redemption of our people, soon, amen.

What type of leader do we need? Check out The Valiant Leader in this week's issue of Breslev Israel's online magazine, and you'll get your answer.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Your Own Melody

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach: Breathe For Real

Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak: Getting Up Early

Rabbi Pinchas Winston: Messages from Hashem

Dr. Zev Ballen: Angel Kids

Rivka Levy: 99% True

Yehudit Levy: Real Pearls

Breslev Israel and the Beams wish you a great new week and a healthy summer!

 

 

The Finest Fabric

Do you recognize quality when you see it? Many people don't.

The Melitzer Rebbe shlit'a told me a beautiful parable about the things with true lasting value in life:

There was once a young fabric merchant making his first transactions. He heard about the tremendous trade fair in the city of Leipzig, so he decided to attend in hopes of buying top fabric at low prices, which he'd ultimately sell for a handsome profit in the small villages.

The young merchant decided to first make the rounds among the dozens of fabrics wholesalers who wereexhibiting their wares at the fair, to become acquainted with the many types and prices before he'd make his purchases. He went from table to table and booth to booth, looking at rolls of every type of fabric imaginable. Finally, a booth with rolls of shiny chartreuse satin caught his eye. It looked gorgeous; the fabric shimmered in the sunlight. It resembled sunbeams shining through sheaves of wheat flowing in the wind. He never saw such a beautiful fabric. This would surely make a stunning evening gown fit for a queen. The price seemed more than reasonable too. The young merchant jotted down the name of the wholesaler, the type of fabric and the price, and made a mental note to return after he made his initial visits to all the different fabrics exhibits.

The last booth that the young merchant visited seemed to be shabby at best. The wholesaler was an old man wearing a tattered gray suit, not near as impressive as the Italian wholesaler who sold the fancy satin fabric. Yet, what caught the young merchant's eye was the price tag on a roll of a plain, monotonously-colored cotton fabric; it was triple the price of the fancy chartreuse satin fabric, and not near as pretty!

“What's going on here?” the young merchant asked the elderly wholesaler. “This fabric isn't nearly as attractive as the gorgeous satin fabrics I've seen, yet it's triple the price! How can that be?”

Continue reading The Finest Fabric in this week's issue of Breslev Israel web magazine.

See our Passover Section for dozens of articles to help you prepare for Passover and the Seder Night.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Stuck in the Mud

Rabbi Dovid Charlop: Doing What We're Told

Rebbetzen Chana Bracha Siegelbaum: Healthy Eating for Passover

Dr. Zev Ballen: Don't Worry, Father

Rivka Levy: What Stays Behind

Breslev Israel Staff: The Seder Overview

Yael Karni: A Tale of Two Friends

Bright Beams blessings for a wonderful week with easy & happy Pesach preparations!