Lazer Beams

Spiritual Email: A big deal about a dot

Question of the Week:

Dear Rabbi,

Why does the Jewish religion seem to fuss over insignificant details? How much matza do we have to eat, which spoon did I use for milk and which for meat, what is the right way to tie my shoelaces? It seems to me that this misses the bigger picture by focusing on tiny trivia. Is this nitpicking what Jews call spirituality? I actually already sent you this question over a week ago and didn't receive a reply. Could it be that you have finally been asked a question that you can't answer?!  Signed, Rob

Dear Rob,

I never claimed to have all the answers. There are many questions that are beyond me. But it happens to be that I sent a reply the same day despite the fact that I've been away from home on a rigorous speaking tour in the USA. The fact that you didn't receive it is itself the answer to your question. You see, I sent you a reply, but I wrote your email address leaving out the "dot" before the "com". I figured that you should still receive the email, because after all, it is only one little dot missing. I mean come on, it's not as if I wrote the wrong name or something drastic like that! Would anyone be so nitpicky as to differentiate between "yahoocom" and "yahoo.com"? No, it's not ridiculous. Because the dot is not just a dot. It represents something. That dot has meaning far beyond the pixels on the screen that form it. To me it may seem insignificant, but that is simply due to my ignorance of the ways of the web. All I know is that with the dot, the message gets to the right destination; without it, the message is lost to oblivion.

Torah observance and mitzva fulfillment contain a world of symbolism. And every dot counts. When the mitzvot are performed with precision, a spiritual vibration is emailed throughout the universe, all the way to G-d's inbox. If you want to understand the symbolism of the dot, study cyber tech. If you want to understand the symbolism of Judaism, study Torah. Yours always, LB

Above the stars

Our forefather Abraham was an expert astrologist; he gazed up at the stars, and saw that he would never be a father.

Hashem told Abraham that his reading was accurate, but that he must put the astrology aside. By virtue of Abraham's clinging to Hashem, he raised himself to a status where he was above the stars - the zodiacs no longer had an influence on him, and he became a father to great nations.

Astrology is a true discipline, but those who cling to Hashem in faith and in loving obedience to the Torah's commandments are surely above the stars.

Nature, teaches The Ramcha'l in chapter 7 of Derech Hashem, is certainly influenced by the stars, for that is the way of Hashem's creation. But, Hashem gives us the opportunity to transcend nature, and to live above the stars' influence. Therefore, anyone can change fate or a stroke of bad luck by making Teshuva and clinging to Hashem. As such, the Gemara declares (tractate Shabbos 156b), Ayn mazal leYisroel, in other words, the stars have no influence over Israel, the loyal ones who cling to Hashem.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev adds that for those who live above the stars' influence, miracles are natural.

The Sombrero Galaxy, courtesy of utahskies.org

The Lesson of Orla

Monster Hurricanes and Divine Providence

The Creations Rejoice, by Chassidic artist Rabbi Baruch Nachshon of Hevron

The very first tenet of the Jewish faith, the first of the Rambam's thirteen principles is:

I believe with complete faith that The Creator, blessed be His name, is The Creator and Ruler of all the creations, and He only did, does, and will do every single deed.

Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov of blessed memory, the founder of the Hassidic movement and the great grandfather of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev, elaborated on the above principle, as follows: Not only does The Almighty decide the fate of the great nations, He also decides what a particular silk worm in Japan shall eat for supper, and the exact moment when a certain oak leaf shall fall to the ground from a particular tree in the Ukrainian forest.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev of blessed memory, teaches that the environment is the language that Hashem uses to speak to a person. Therefore, we are all obligated to try our best to search for the Divine wisdom in every creation, and therefore understand Hashem's personal message to each of us.

Here's an example: The Talmud teaches that one who slanders a fellow human is worthy to thrown to the dogs (tractate Pesachim 118a); the Zohar goes further, and says that one who slanders shall be bitten by a dog. So, if The Almighty sends a dog to bark at us and scare us, it's most likely a message that we either spoke, read, listened to, or wrote something slanderous about another human being. The dog scare is not a punishment - it's a catalyst for Teshuva.

Breslever Chassidim spend at least 60 minutes a day in hitbodedut, personal prayer and soul-searching, while pondering the events of the last 24 hours in order to facilitate Tshuva, or repenting. Rebbe Nachman says that hitbodedut is the loftiest act of Judaism; all the prophets and the great tzaddikim, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and King David, achieved their supreme spiritual levels by virtue of hisbodedus. By hitbodedut, they were able to understand the causes and effects of each creation, and the Divine messages within each creation.

If someone tells you that a hurricane is just a hurricane, a random event in nature external of Hashem's Divine providence G-d forbid, that person is an epikoris, a non-believer by definition according to the above-mentioned very first tenet of our faith. Hashem creates the hurricane and its intensity, then decides when and where it will strike, according to His master plan for the world and according to His individual plans for each of His creations, whether mineral, plant, animal, or human. Hashem decides zillions and zillions of tiny details in exact Divine providence, such as whether or not the wind will blow away Mrs. Wilson's hankies that are hanging up to dry on a Mississippi clothesline.

Meteorologists warn that a monster hurricane could be spawned before the season the hurricane season ends on November 30.

Yes, I believe that we have the power to neutralize monster hurricanes.

Our High Holiday liturgy says: "Teshuva, prayer, and charity can overturn a harsh edict." Ask the people of Nineva: "And G-d saw their deeds, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented of the evil that He said He would do unto them; and He did it not (Jonah 3:10)."

Hashem literally gives us the power to control creation. Teshuva, prayer, and charity are three cogent weapons that can reduce a hurricane to a ripple in a tea cup.

Spiritual Hygiene

The Code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch) is like an iceberg: The statutes that teach proper conduct in every facet of our lives are only a mere manifestation of deep spiritual causes and effects that transcend time, place, and matter. What you see is only a tiny portion of the spiritual benefits you get.

During the period between Rosh Hashana and Yom kippur - what we call the "Ten Days of Repentance" - we can do wonders in mitigating harsh judgments. This is a propitious time for prayer and self-improvement. The Melitzer Rebbe shlit'a told me that all Hashem expects of us is that we're a tiny bit better than we were yesterday.

If up until now, you weren't careful about washing your hands first thing in the morning, here's a great chance to perform an easy mitzva that could save your life, literally.

Jewish law dictates that you should wash your hands as soon as you wake up in the morning, pouring water three times alternately on each hand from a large cup, a minimum of approx. 150ml on each hand. The apparent reason for the hand washing is that one inadvertantly touches or scratches unclean parts of the body at night, and before saying G-d's name, the hands must be clean. Yet spiritually, the explanation is much deeper, as follows in a nutshell:

When you sleep at night, your soul leaves the body and enters upper spiritual realms. A body without a soul is tantamount to dead, even if the basic life forces continue functioning. When the soul leaves the body, as in the case of a dead person, the body is rendered ritually impure. Evil forces of the "Sitra Achra", or the dark side, easily control a person who is spiritually and ritually impure. That's why many people - especially Chassidim - put a pail with a large plastic or tin cup that holds a liter of water immediately beside their bed, so they can wash their hands even before taking their first step of the day, thus cleansing themselves from ritual impurity at their very first opportunity of the day. Why the hands? Spiritual impurity is especially concentrated in the fingertips, the point where the soul leaves the body.

One who harbors ritual impurity has difficulty believing in G-d or understanding the Torah, since ritual impurity acts as a barrier against Divine Illumination, thus preventing Divine light from reaching the soul. Only Divine light can nourish the soul. Therefore, an undernourished soul is easily vanquished by the animal urges of the body. The minute the body reigns, the person becomes a slave to base inclinations, and that's bad news, both in this world and in the next. You can study Kabbala day and night, but if you don't wash your hands in the morning, you're spiritually in the mud.

Wim, if you don't do so already, start washing your hands every morning, and within a week, you'll feel a marked change within yourself - LazerBeam guaranteed.

Melava Malka with Menachem Herman

When the Sabbath leaves us, so does our neshama yetera, our extra soul that we receive for Sabbath. To avoid the letdown of losing our extra Sabbath soul on Saturday night, we have a special "fourth Sabbath meal" that's called Melava Malka, literally, "escorting the Queen" (the Sabbath Queen, namely, the Divine Presence). We do this with singing, telling stories, and overall spiritual inspiration to keep from crash-landing after Shabbat. Please join Menachem Herman and me for Melava Malka:

Pidyon Nefesh Saves Lives

Pidyon Nefesh is a surrogate for a sacrifice in the Holy Temple that mitigates severe judgments - it is charity money that is given to a true tzaddik who knows how to invoke Divine compassion for the soul of the donor. A Pidyon Nefesh can safe a person's life. It is highly recommended to give a Pidyon to a true tzaddik before Rosh Hashanna.

Send your Pidyon to Rabbi Shalom Arush here. You'll be glad you did.

"I Await His Coming"

We are delighted to share with you a magnificent clip of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed and saintly memory, speaking about Moshiach. Seeing and hearing a true tzaddik is in itself a purification of the soul. Have a wonderful Shabbat and weekend.

Preparing for Shavuot: The Barometer of Successful Torah Learning

Our sages teach that all of Torah centers around loving our fellow human as we love ourselves. Apparently, this is an odd concept: What do the laws of Kashrut, Shabbat, or tefillin have to do with brotherly love? The following video clip, filmed in the gorgeous Judean Hills between Gush Etzion and Hevron, provides the answer and gives us food for thought in preparation for Shavuot, the holiday that commemorates our people's receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai.

Counting the Omer

" 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 49^th 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: