If you feel down for some reason, watch the following 3-minute clip. It will pick you up. My gift to you today is a 3-word saying that you must tell yourself as soon as you sense the slightest bit of sadness or depression: Hashem Loves Me. It's true, and it kills the evil inclination. Enjoy.
You can obtain the Hashem Loves Me CD and many more Rav Arush/Brody titles at the Breslev Israel Online Store. For Chanukah, send the people you love Emuna books and CDs.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches (Likutei Moharan I: 34), that every individual has the potential of being a "righteous governor". Certainly, each of us has the potential of being righteous, a "tzaddik", for the prophet said, "And your people are all tzaddikim!" (Isaiah 60:21). A tzaddik has the special ability to govern over all of creation.
Reb Nosson of Breslev explains (Likutei Halachot, Yora Dea, Mila 4:16), that "Creation continues to exist and function by virtue of Israel's service to Hashem, and their blessings and praise of Him, blessed is He." In simple terms, every creation fulfills its purpose in the universe thanks to the prayers and songs of Israel, thanking and praising Hashem. For example, when Israel blesses Hashem for creating the sun, moon, and stars, they glitter and illuminate! As such, the Israel that controls nature is virtually above the level of nature; nature cannot control Israel.
Rabbi Alexander Ziskind of saintly and blessed memory writes explicitely (Yesod VeShoresh HaAvoda, Gate 3, Section 5) that Israel governs over creation and that creation must comply with Israel's directives. In his elaboration of Psalm 148, he notes that a person in this lowly physical world has the power of commanding all the creations – both in the upper worlds and in the lower worlds – to praise Hashem; they are required to obey, as a fundamental law embedded in the very fiber of creation. Anyone who realizes that his or her prayers, Psalms, and songs of praise have the power to dictate orders to all of creation will surely acquire a burning desire to sing constant songs of thanks and praise to Hashem; these songs of thanks and praise are a scepter in a person's hands that enables him or her to rule over nature.
Do you know what that means? With songs of thanks and praise, together with emuna, one can order bacteria and viruses to leave the body, and they must adhere!
All of creation sings to Hashem. Why don't you join in?
People often ask me a basic question: If Hashem wants me to get closer to Him, why doesn't He simply reveal Himself to me?
Imagine that the electric company wanted to save money, so they closed down their transformers and relay stations, and sent a direct cable from their main generator to your house. When you'd turn on the switch to your 100-watt bulb in the living room, 50,000 watts of power would come through the cable. The bulb would burst to smithereens in a split second. Even worse, the cables in your walls would explode, and the whole house could catch fire. For that reason, the electricity can't reach your home without a series of transformers, circuit breakers, and relays that reduce the core power of the generated electricity to a measure that you can safely use.
By the same token, Hashem's divine light is infinite and unlimited. For our own benefit, Hashem doesn't give us an illumination that is too strong for our souls to handle, otherwise we'd "burn out" - die, become insane, or lose our faith altogether, heaven forbid. Consequently, Hashem – like a good coach – gives us opportunities to strengthen our spiritual selves so that we'll be sturdy enough vessels to receive an increased portion of divine light.
Every time a person undergoes a test of faith, overcomes an obstacle in his or her performance of a mitzvah, or fights against temptation and bodily urges, he or she strengthens their soul and becomes a proper vessel for increased divine light. The greater the illumination, the closer one gets to Hashem and vice versa. As we come closer to Hashem, life becomes ever so sweeter.
The Talmud tells the story (see tractate Chagiga 14b) of four sages that entered the "citrus grove", allegoric of the upper spiritual worlds. One died, one went insane, and one lost his faith altogether. Only Rabbi Akiva entered safely and returned safely. The first three lacked the spiritual vessels that were required for such a high-level exposure of divine light. Rabbi Akiva, on the other hand, had reinforced his spiritual self to the extent that the illumination not only did not damage him; it was gratifying to him, since he was a proper vessel for such a level of divine light.
Rabbi Akiva was the son of poor converts. He invested tremendous effort in refining himself during his transformation from common peasant to monumental Torah scholar with tens of thousands of disciples. Rabbi Akiva couldn't rely on a blue-blooded pedigree or a father that was a great rabbi. Spiritually, he was a self-made man. At forty, he began the long road of Torah and tshuva, strewn with indescribable difficulties and obstacles such as poverty and limited natural learning capabilities. The Gemorra teaches us that he spilled rivers of tears in begging Hashem to enable him to learn and comprehend the Torah. He was so poor that he slept in a barn. But, the disadvantages of his life fueled his burning desire to get close to Hashem. Through years of effort, deprivation, suffering at the hands of the Romans and after being cast away by his father in law, Rabbi Akiva continued slowly but surely in his tenacious and relentless efforts to learn Torah and to get close to Hashem. As such, he built himself into an exquisite vessel of spirituality that far exceeded his better-advantaged contemporaries.
Rabbi Akiva's three colleagues each had easier lives than he did; they came from families of high social standing, and were each a great scholar in his own right. But, they lacked Rabbi Akiva's depth of spiritual strength and were therefore damaged by an excess of divine light that their souls were incapable of handling.
Knowing that our difficulties in life are the vehicles that actually strengthen our souls and bring us closer to Hashem, we become girded with the strength to handle any situation. What could be a bigger encouragement than knowing that Hashem wants to bring us closer to Him? So, when we look at our lives through eyes of emuna, we instantly become both stronger and happier.
Don't be jealous of someone that has an easy life – that's not a prize. An athlete or weightlifter knows that without pain, there's no gain. People that haven't been tested are very limited in their capability to understand faith or to get close to Hashem.
You don't live on easy street? You're under the gun? Be happy - you're one of Hashem's favorite children. He's giving you a rigorous workout because He wants you to get stronger; with a stronger soul, you'll be able to receive a stronger illumination of divine light, and Hashem will be able to bring you closer to Him. What could be better?
The Yetzer (EI) is the nastiest, lowest, most evil dirty fighter that ever lived; what makes life even tougher is that the Yetzer is an angel.
The Talmud teaches that the Yetzer tempts a person into going against Hashem's will, and then flies upstairs to the Heavenly Court to report the crime and demand the punishment. He's the pits...
Here's an example: The Yetzer will tell you that it's perfectly OK to talk about another person; once you do, he makes sure the book gets thrown at you, with all the tiny clauses. He'll tell you that it's OK to relax in front of the TV or to go to a movie - once you do, he'll make sure you get nailed for bitul Torah, or forsaking Torah study in your free time.
As an accusing angel, the Yetzer's a pest; as an inner emotional enemy, he's deadly. The Yetzer tells you that you're worthless, that you'll never succeed. He robs you of your most important armaments in life - your confidence and your self image. Without them, you're an emotional cripple. The Yetzer will literally drive you crazy, send you to the shrink, and drive you to substance usage.
Here's the good news: Hashem maintains a perfect balance of good and evil to insure your free choice. This site is a forward command post with all its big guns trained on the Yetzer. So, for a counter-offensive, let me tell you that the Yetzer is the biggest lier there is. Look at this picture:
What you see is a microscopic view of sand particles from a tropical beach. Notice that each particle is totally unique. Sand, a dormant mineral, is the fourth and lowest order of creation. Above the mineral comes the plant, and above the plant comes the animal. Man is the highest order of creation, since he/she has a physical body with spiritual attributes.
If a grain of sand is special, then your own unique talents transcend your wildest dreams. You are capable of doing things that no one on earth can. That's what you need a good spiritual guide for - to help you learn about yourself and your talents. Fortunately, we are blessed with the best spiritual guides that history has ever known. Never have there been such masters of the soul like Rebbe Nachman of Breslev, Rebbe Schneur Zalman of Ladi, Rabbi Eliahu the Gaon of Vilna, or Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, all of blessed memory. If you 'd like to know what you're really worth, read their books.
Whenever the Yetzer gets down on you, he's lying through his teeth. The only way to defeat the Yetzer, and to begin tapping the reservoir of wonderful potential within you - for your own happiness and emotional welfare - is to begin giving your exquisite soul what it needs. There's no better food for the soul than personal prayer and emuna.
