Lazer Beams

Parshas Chayei Sara: All of Creation Seeks the Tzaddik

And the man took a golden nose ring…and two bracelets… And he asked, "Whose daughter are you?" (Breishis 24: 22-23).

The Torah tells us in the above passage that Eliezer gave Rebecca the jewelry before he verified her identity. How did he take such a risk? Later, when he spoke to Rebecca's father and brother, he was forced to alter the story so that they wouldn't accuse him of arranging a match for his master's son with a girl "off the street" of unknown origin. How was Eliezer so sure that Rebecca was the righteous intended bride for Isaac? With Hashem's loving guidance, the answer to our question lies in the following parable about the shepherd and the fish:

The princess was the King's only child. She was as beautiful as a harvest moon. Her modesty and impeccable character were all the more admirable in light of her superb intellect. She was a master of languages, literature, and sciences. Yet, this exquisite rose had a lone thorn – she refused to consider any of the outstanding marriage proposals that her father received in her behalf.

The bewildered King confronted his daughter: "Dearest, do you have any doubt that I have anything other than your absolute welfare at heart? Why do you refuse every single marital proposal?"

"Your Majesty, beloved father," responded the princess, "please don't think that I'm an ingrate. My entire vitality depends on the portion of fresh fish that I eat on Sabbath; I derive nourishment from nothing else." The princess was always sickly during the winter months, when the fish left the frigid waters of the kingdom and swam south to the warm waters of the great ocean. "I cannot commit to any marriage proposal unless my husband-to-be is capable of providing me with a fresh fish for each Sabbath of the year."

The King acted immediately. It was then midwinter, and the waters of the kingdom were frozen. There wasn't a fresh fish in the entire kingdom. At such times, the princess was pale and melancholy; it had been weeks since she had eaten a fresh fish for her Sabbath repast. The King announced that whoever would bring the best and largest fish to the palace by the coming Sabbath, only five days away, would win the hand of the princess!

The King's announcement became the talk of the entire kingdom. Everyone had an opinion or comment: "Who can possibly pull a fish out of our chilly waters in the middle of February?" Or, "How can the King possibly prefer a fisherman's son to the son of a nobleman?"

The fishermen dreamed of presenting the King with a silver blue rockfish or plump golden tuna. But, they'd have to sail to the ocean to get one, and the round trip alone would take two weeks? Who could possibly report to the palace with a fresh fish by the coming Shabbat?!?

In highlands of the kingdom lived a shepherd. He spent most of his time alone in the hills with his flocks. His needs were few, and he made his small but adequate living from his homemade goat cheeses. The King's proclamation soon reached the shepherd's province; he asked himself, "How can I, a simple shepherd in the hills, find a fish in the middle of the winter?"

The shepherd had an artesian well in proximity to his modest cabin, from which he drew the clear and refreshing waters that sustained him and his flocks. Late that afternoon, just as the shepherd was drawing water for the flocks, he gazed at the exquisite red and gold sunset; the clouds looked like shining threads of fire that wove their way along the crimson horizon. The breath-taking spectacle inspired the shepherd to sing a magnificent melody of praise to the Master of the Universe; who else could create such untold beauty? Mesmerized by the setting sun, he forgot what he was doing. The next time he inadvertently raised his rope-tied wooden bucket from the well, it seemed abnormally heavy. With extra effort, the shepherd brought the bucket to the surface, and…

Behold! A rainbow colored fish with fins and scales weighing no less that five pounds splashed and wiggled in the bucket. A moment after the astonished shepherd once more praised The Creator for his miraculously good fortune, he wrapped the fish carefully and raced to the palace.

No one in the palace had ever seen such a remarkable fish in the middle of winter. The King had one reservation: Could the upright shepherd secure such a fish every single week? The shepherd shrugged his shoulders and told the King that he had made no effort to catch the fish in the first place. Both humble and modest, the shepherd told the king that he could make no such promise; furthermore, he wasn't asking for the princess's hand. He had hastened to the palace for the sole reason of bringing gratification to the King.

"Come with me," said the King, enamored with the shepherd's selflessness and simplicity. "We shall go for a walk together." The King, the princess, and their entourage took the shepherd to the bank of the frozen river not far from the palace. The ice was full of holes from the many efforts of citizens that were searching for fish…

Everywhere the shepherd walked, fish began jumping out of the holes in the ice. Within moments, a ten-pound carp jumped right into the shepherd's arms. "Yes, father! He is my intended! I shall marry the shepherd," exclaimed the princess in glee. The King nodded in royal agreement.

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Rebbe Nathan of Breslev writes (Likutei Halachos, Hilchos Tisha B'Av, 3) that the soul correction of the four foundations of creation stems from the tzaddik.

The four foundations – earth, wind, air, and fire – are the elements that comprise the four types of creations – mineral, plant, animal, and human. Each of the four types has spirituality on its own level, what we term generically as the soul. Since each creation seeks its soul correction, and the soul correction stems from the tzaddik, then the various creations seek out the tzaddik to attain their soul correction.

In light of the above concept, when Eliezer saw the water in the well rising toward Rebecca, just as he witnessed the well water rising toward his master Abraham, he knew that Rebecca was a truly righteous woman and the compatible mate for Abraham's son Isaac. For that reason, he gave her the jewelry before he verified her identity and family ties. May Hashem help each of us maintain strong ties with the true tzaddikim of our generation, amen.

After Shabbat, G-d willing, Beams readers are in for a major league surprise over at BreslovWorld. Make sure to check it out any time after midnight Israel time this coming Motzaei Shabbat (Saturday night).

Parshat Vayera: Raising Outstanding Children

"And they shall keep the ways of Hashem" (Bereishit 18:19).

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches that by virtue of emuna, the complete and steadfast faith in Hashem, a person merits children (Sichos HaRan, 34). At a superficial glance, Rebbe Nachman's teaching seems odd. After all, the entire world has children; yet few have attained true emuna. Rebbe Nachman's intent must therefore be much deeper than what appears on the surface, as we will explain:

When the Torah states, "And they shall keep the ways of Hashem" the Torah is testifying that Avraham's (Abraham) offspring will guard and observe Hashem's commandments.

Continue reading here at BreslovWorld.

Parshas Lech Lecho: The Difficult Path to Holiness

There was a famine in the land, and Abram descended to Egypt (Breishis 12:10).

Our forefather Abraham's life is a saga of one continuous struggle with never-ending tests of faith. Hashem commands him to leave his homeland and to make the difficult journey to the promised but unknown land of Canaan. Shortly after his arrival in Canaan – the future Land of Israel - Abraham finds himself in the midst of a severe famine. He has no choice but to pack up and search for food and water elsewhere.

The famine is only the fourth in the series of Abraham's ten severe tests of faith (according to Rashi). One might ask, "Why must Hashem test Abraham's faith ten times? Why are the tests so difficult, from persecution and skirting with death in a fiery furnace to the Akeida, when he was asked to ritually sacrifice his only son? Doesn't Hashem know that Abraham's faith is steadfast?

Hashem knows exactly how Abraham will react – with perfect, simple, innocent, and unblemished faith. The tests are not for Hashem's benefit, but for Abraham's benefit.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev explains (Likutei Moharan I:66.4) that the obstacles that a person encounters in life are designed to enhance that person's desire. For that reason, before a person makes a significant accomplishment in the service of Hashem – especially in the acquisition of something that is vital to his or her Judaism such as enhanced holiness – the person is tested with a series of obstacles. He or she must overcome these obstacles to attain their goal. Nevertheless, the obstacles fuel the desire to reach the goal. Consequently, the obstacles are the agents that extract a person's very best efforts in making spiritual gain, since the obstacles fuel the desire.

With Hashem's loving grace, the following parable about Shraga Feivish the Matchmaker (illustration, below) will help us understand the above principle, namely, that obstacles fuel desire...

Continue reading here at the wonderful BreslovWorld English-language website.

Parshas Noach: Coalition of Evil

The whole earth was of one language and of common purpose (Bereishit 11:1).

The above passage is an apparent praise of the generation that built the Tower of Babel, in that the people were united. But, when we take a closer look at them, we see that under Nimrod's leadership, they were united in a double purpose of evil. First, as their leader's name indicates (Nimrod in Hebrew means "we shall revolt"), the people of Babel united in erecting the Tower of Babel as a declaration of revolution against Hashem. Second, they were united in their opposition to the tzaddik of the generation, our forefather Avraham (Abraham), the world's lone monotheist. Nimrod threw Avraham into the same fiery furnace that was used to produce bricks for the Tower of Babel. As such, the construction of the Tower of Babel and the attempt to kill Avraham were simultaneous acts of the same evil generation revolting against Hashem.

According to Rashi and the Midrashic texts, Avraham was thrown into the fiery furnace in the Hebrew year of 1972, when he was 24 years old. Hashem put an end to the folly of Babel by confusing the languages and scattering the people of Babel across the face of the earth a mere 24 years later, in the Hebrew year of 1996 when Abraham was 48 years old. To be exact, we find that the unity and "common purpose" of the evil generation lasted only for a few decades.

In reality, as we learn in retrospect, there was no unity at all among the different peoples; on the contrary, they hated each other. Yet, they united in their double purpose of evil to revolt against Hashem and to oppose the generation's one true tzaddik, Avraham. As the old adage says, even two dogs that hate each other will unite to fight the wolf.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches an eye-opening principle (see Likutei Moharan I:67.6) and says, "When the evil unite, they fall quickly."

With Hashem's loving grace, the following parable will help us understand Rebbe Nachman's principle:

Continue reading here at BreslovWorld's superb English site

Parshat Breishit: The Royal Scepter

And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good (Breishit 1:31).

Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) is known as the wisest of all men that ever walked the face of the earth. Yet, how could he criticize Hashem's world and say that it was devoid of all substance, "Futility of futilities" (Kohelet 1:2), in direct contradiction to the Torah?

Find your answer here, with another delightful pearl for the Shabbos table.

Benefit of the Doubt

Here's on excerpt from our recently published book Chassidic Pearls, special for Yom Kippur:

"We have spoken faulty things!" (Dibarnu dofi, from the "Vidui," the confession said during each portion of the Yom Kippur prayer service).

The Torah commands us to judge our fellow human fairly, in other words, to grant him or her the benefit of the doubt, for it is written, "With righteousness shall you judge your fellow" (Vayikra 19:16). If we see that our neighbor has positive attributes and faults, then we should avoid speaking about the faults and concentrate on the positive attributes. Indeed, we should even search for positive aspects within our neighbor's faults.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches (Likutei Moharan I:282) that by judging a wicked people fairly, in other words, by giving them the benefit of the doubt, we trigger a spiritual process that enables them to repent.

Is Rebbe Nachman's advice really practical?

Continue reading here at BreslovWorld

Slichos: The Last-minute Rush

"What can we say, how can we justify ourselves?" ("Lecho Hashem Hatzdaka," first Slichos prayer, said daily after Ashrei and Half Kaddish).

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches (Likutei Moharan I:9) that when a person utters words in truth, Hashem illuminates that person with His Divine Presence.

The biggest liar is one who lies to himself. To avoid the pitfalls of fooling ourselves, we should make honest, cogent self-evaluation and soul-searching a high-priority part of our daily routine, especially during the period of Slichos. When we compare our actual actions to the Torah's requirements, we come up lacking. Western society teaches a person to hide his or her shortcomings; Torah teaches the opposite. If we're smart, we'll turn to Hashem, lower our heads, and cry, "What can we say, how can we justify ourselves?" Rather than being punished, we receive the reward of Hashem's illumination on our souls for telling the truth.

With Hashem's loving grace, the following parable will help us understand both ourselves and the phrase at hand from the Slichos liturgy:

Parshat Ki Tavo: Trusting in Hashem

This week's lesson is especially timely, since the Shmitta, or Sabbatical year begins in two weeks. A farmer that allows his fields to be idle this year - as Torah requires - needs an extra measure of emuna and trust.

And blessed are you in the field (Devorim 28:3).

The simple interpretation of the above passage is that one is truly blessed when he receives his livelihood for an entire year by way of minimal effort in the field. Contrastingly, Adam was cursed after he sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Hashem told him (Breshit 4:17-19), "Cursed is the soil because of you; through suffering you shall eat of it all the days of your life … thorns and thistles it shall sprout … by the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread!" Since the Torah calls severe toil a curse, then we can certainly conclude that the opposite - "eating our bread" through minimal effort - is the Torah's blessing.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches that we are all capable of attaining the blessing of an ample livelihood without breaking our backs from sunup until sundown. On the contrary, Rebbe Nachman suggests that we heed the Torah's advice and spend minimal time and effort trying to make money. At this point, most people raise a skeptic brow and argue, "If I don't put in a solid day's work, my family will starve! Even at ten hours a day, I'm not making enough to make ends meet!" Such a reaction is the perpetuation of the curse, "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat…"

True, one can't decide to stop work and to go fishing or play golf all day and expect to see an outright miracle of money falling out of the sky and into his hand. Rebbe Nachman lists four conditions that one must meet in order to merit the Torah's blessing of ample livelihood with minimal effort. They are:

1. Trust in Hashem: By trusting in Hashem, and not in one's own efforts, a person creates a suitable spiritual vessel for Divine abundance so that he receives his livelihood at all times, whenever the need arises (Likutei Etzot, Bitachon, 2).

2. Torah and Prayer: One shouldn't let the worry about making a living confuse or bother him, rather he should invest his time in Torah and in prayer (Likutei Etzot, Bitachon, 4).

3. Tikkun HaBrit, or Guarding the Holy Covenant: Lewdness and licentiousness damage one's livelihood; the opposite, holiness, assures an ample livelihood with minimal effort (Likutei Etzot, Mamon, 2).

4. Sufficiency: By making do with what one has, one invokes further Divine abundance (Likutei Etzot, Mamon, 27).

The Yerushalmi Talmud (Peah 35a) tells the story of Rebbe Yochanan Ben Nuri, who'd go out to the field once a year after the harvest, after all the poor people would glean the leftover wheat grains. Notwithstanding, he'd collect enough grain to eat all year long.

Continue reading here at BreslovWorld

Parshat Ki Tetzei: The Double Standard

With Hashem's loving grace, Chassidic Pearls is now available in book form, as a lovely addition to your book shelf and Shabbat table. See the adjacent right-side toolbar to order.

Before the age of the digital and mechanical scales, people conducted their business with balance scales, where an exact predetermined weight was placed on one side, and the goods were placed on the other side. So, when a storeowner put a one-pound weight on one side of the scale, and six tomatoes on the other side of scale, if the sides of the scale stood perfectly balanced, then the owner and the customer both knew that they were conducting a transaction over one pound of tomatoes.

Dishonest merchants used to walk around with two sets of weights in their pockets. For selling, they'd use a deficient weight; for example, their one-pound weight might have weighed only fifteen ounces instead of the prescribed sixteen. The average customer wouldn't discern the deficient ounce and would be cheated by six percent, paying for sixteen ounces, but receiving only fifteen.

On the other hand, for buying, the dishonest merchant would have a one-pound weight that weighed seventeen ounces. When he'd buy tomatoes from a local gardener, he'd pay for sixteen ounces, or one pound, but by using a false weighing stone, he'd get seventeen ounces of tomatoes thereby cheating the gardener out of an ounce. Such dishonesty is not only a blatant violation of Torah law punishable by lashes, but it is also called an abomination.

Two sets of stones not only refer to cheating in commerce, but symbolize a double standard between the way we judge ourselves and the way we judge others...

Continue reading here at BreslovWorld. Shabbat Shalom!

Parshas Shoftim: The Gift of Self-Evaluation

This weeks's portion of Chassidic Pearls can be found here at Breslov World's exquisite site in English. A wonderful new month of Elul to everyone and a meaningful, holy, and restful Shabbat. Let's all pray for good tidings soon, amen.

Here's what Jeff Cohen from Texas writes about Chassidic Pearls:

Dear Rav Lazer,

I guess you could describe me and my family as Conservative Jews, but my wife and I are getting stronger all the time, mainly because of the joy and beauty we see in Rebbe Nachman's teachings, which thanks to your website and your CDs, we can relate to on our own level. One problem we had was our Shabbat table. With our 4 children (8, 10, 12, 15) it was quite a free for all. After I heard your Delight of Shabbat CD, I promised myself that this is an area that I have to improve on. I wanted to uplift the level of conversatIon at the table, but I really didn't know what to say, so I started printing out your weekly Chassidic Pearls. My wife and children have been spellbound by your parables. The great thing is that after I tell the parable and the moral, the whole family starts a discussion about it, and each of the kids voices an opinion. It's really great! Instead of talking about the baseball scores, they're talking about the weekly Torah portion! Maybe Torah-talk is normal for orthodox families, but for the Cohens in Texas this is a miracle. I have one small request - the computer printouts just don't seem to be fitting for a fancy Shabbat table (My wife prepares a beautiful spread, best dishes, linen tablecloth, silver cups, etc). Would it be possible for you to turn Chassidic Pearls into book form? Thanks for everything you do, and may Hashem give you strength. Sincerely, Jeff

Jeff's letter is really gratifying and ever so timely, as we'll soon see...