Lazer Beams

A Worthy Vessel

Our desire - the will, efforts, and yearning to seek Hashem - is a prime vessel for the Divine illumination of emuna just as a crystal goblet is for a fine wine. We wouldn't want to pour a thirty year-old Chateau de Rothschild Cabernet wine in a broken or dirty glass, for the wine would either spill on the floor or become ruined. A fine wine necessitates a whole and immaculately clean goblet. By the same token, without proper vessels, a person can't receive Divine illumination. Hashem doesn't want to spill His "fine wine" on the floor – we must be able to contain it. 

The Master Nurseryman

Did you ever wonder why a greenhouse is also called a nursery, and the horticulturalist (also known as greenhouseman or plant farmer) is also referred to as a nurseryman?

Any plant farmer with a soul knows that his plants have souls. He cares for each plant like a baby, no matter how big his greenhouse is or how many plants he has. The same goes for a tree farmer with a soul; no matter how big his orchard is, he treats each tree as an individual, which in spirituality, it truly is.

In the photo above, taken from a greenhouse in the Samarian Hills, you see a classic example of drip irrigation. An individual hose and dripper reaches every plant, feeding it water and liquid nutrients just like a baby. The plants in the greenhouse are just like babies in a nursery. That's why the plant farmer is called a nurseryman, watering and feeding each one of his green "babies."

Don't worry about where your next meal will come from. Hashem is a much more loving Nurseryman than the best of tree farmers. He has His own method of drip irrigation to give us exactly what we need when we need it.

Overwatering and excess nutrients can kill a plant; Hashem knows also that excesses are not good for us, so we should always be happy with what we have. The Master Nurseryman knows what's best for each of us.

Why Hang with Turkeys?

Do you know why so many of us lack confidence in ourselves? Have you ever thought why so many people are under-achievers? It's because we lack emuna and we have no idea of our potential.

It doesn't matter if we're sorely limited. Hashem is not. He can lift us on the wings of eagles; so why be satisfied by hanging around with turkeys?

There's a lot more to say. Check out my article Wings of Eagles on this week's issue of Breslev Israel web magazine. You'l be glad you did.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush - Turning Bitter into Sweet

Dr. Zev Ballen - Parental Expectations

Rivka Levy - Nature's Song, with a bonus free English translation of Perek Shira for you to download

Racheli Reckles - Inverse Desires

Michal Kovan - Mouser Money

This week's Torah portion is Bamidbar; check out Rabbi Berel Wein's A Book About Humans

Editor's Choice - Murky Waters by Howard Morton

Bright Beams Blessings for a wonderful week!

Lean on Me

Hashem wants us to lean on Him only. Anything else we lean on, in the words of the prophet, is nothing more than a wobbly reed.

What does it mean to trust Hashem completely? It means that we sincerely believe that our salvation from any predicament is in Hashem's hands. It means that we lean on Hashem, and on Him only. So, when we lean on Hashem, we never fall and we're never disgraced. 

Here's an example: Suppose that you're a soldier in combat and that your best friend has just been wounded seriously. You have to rush him to a waiting evacuation helicopter otherwise he'll be in grave danger. Your friend can’t walk, so he must rely on you and three of your fellow crewmen to carry him on a stretcher to the chopper. You and your buddies know that if you let him go for even an instant, he'll fall; you therefore grip the stretcher tight, because you're fully aware that his life depends on the four of you.

Hashem is a million times more compassionate than we are. Imagine for a moment that if a person truthfully and innocently leans on Hashem because he or she doesn't have the strength to deal with whatever they have to, do you think for a moment that Hashem will let you go? Never! All we have to do is strengthen our simple and uncomplicated trust in Hashem, and bingo! We're home free, we never fall.

All for the Best

Sometimes difficult things happen in our lives. We have all kinds of questions, "Why me?" "Why do I deserve this?" Emuna tells us that it's all for the best; see for yourself in the following 2-minute clip:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Happy Always

Our beloved teacher Rabbi Shalom teaches us that "simcha" - true inner happiness - is the key to every success in life. Attaining true happiness is much easier than you think...

Pleasurable Parnassa: The painless way to make a living - part 2

With trust in Hashem, a person doesn't think about money all day long. Peace of mind is only two words away – Hashem provides.

Business is one continuous test of faith. Businesspeople are tested every single second: If they believe that their livelihood comes from Hashem, then they're calm and composed, conducting their affairs on an honest basis. If they believe otherwise - that their income depends on their own efforts and aptitude - then they're most likely working much too hard and wasting energy looking for all types of ploys – legal or otherwise - to make money.

One's entire life depends on emuna that Hashem provides for every creation. Emuna creates a clear, clean, and shining spiritual pipe that abundance flows through, directly from heaven to a person's bank account or dinner table. Drinking from the pipe of emuna is like drinking from a silver goblet. Without emuna, one drinks from the spiritual equivalent of a sewer pipe, where one's income is contaminated with negative emotions, bad health, and damage to the soul.

Decide which option in life you'd prefer, because basically, there are only two:

First, you can believe that Hashem predetermines your income, and that every last cent designated for you will reach you at an exact time and in its entirety, if not from one source, then from a different source, if not today, then tomorrow. As a result, you are calm and composed, and avoid the troubles of illegal and dishonest business procedures.

Or second, you don't believe in Hashem or in His ability to support you, and you bang your head against the wall trying to make a living, angry and irritable most of the time because life is a living death. You sink into debt, you're confused, and you can't think clearly with the tensions and stress that weigh you down. Oftentimes, you catch yourself cutting the corners of honesty and wholesome business practices in trying to make an additional buck.

Remember! A person receives his or her heavenly stipend to the cent. By cheating, lying, or dealing dishonestly, a person won't earn a cent more.

Here's an example: Joe and Harry are both store owners; each is destined to earn one hundred thousand dollars this year. Joe earns his money honestly and in good faith, and therefore enjoys it. Harry wants a lot more money than what Hashem gives him, so he wheels, deals, lies, and steals, bringing in a gross income of an additional fifteen thousand dollars. Harry will now suffer sicknesses, accidents, home damage, income tax investigations, law suits, and any number of other aggravations. As a result, he'll lose the fifteen thousand that wasn't destined for him, and he won't enjoy the hundred thousand that was destined for him, since he'll be busy running to doctors, lawyers, repairmen, and the like.

True, a person can't lie in bed and say "Hashem will provide", because that's relying on an outright miracle, something we're not allowed to do. But, as long as you're trying your best and doing a reasonable day's work (that's all you're expected to do - if in doubt, consult your personal rav or spiritual guide as to what a reasonable day's work is for you), then the miracle of Hashem's personal supervision over your livelihood is clothed in seemingly natural circumstances.

Spending money you don't have and buying on time, whether with loans or by plastic, is destructive for parnassa. If Hashem wants you to have something, He gives you the wherewithal. Don't say that you trust in Hashem when you squander, charge on your credit cards, or purchase things that aren't necessary; that's not trust, but stupidity.

Emuna and bitachon (complete faith and trust) must be complemented with common sense, thrift, a careful budget, and making do with what Hashem gives you.

For your convenience, the following is a table of 20 factors that are detrimental or conducive to parnassa, that I compiled from "Sefer HaMidos" by Rebbe Nachman of Breslev:

Detrimental Factors	Conducive Factors
1. Lack of trust in Hashem	1. Trust in Hashem
2. Cruel to others	2. Compassionate
3. Lewdness	3. Shmiras HaBris
4. Alcohol	4. Spiritual awareness
5. Disdain of Torah	5. Respect of Torah
6. Tomfoolery	6. Clean speech
7. Desecrating the Sabbath	7. Honoring the Sabbath
8. Failing to repent for old sins	8. Tshuva
9. Sadness and depression	9. Happiness
10. Ingratitude, especially to Hashem	10. Gratitude and prayer
11. Stinginess	11. Charity, especially a full tithe
12. Idol worship and blasphemy	12. Strengthening faith in Hashem
13. Immodesty	13. Modesty
14. Anger	14. Patience
15. Judging others severely	15. Judging others fairly
16. Dishonesty, fraud, cheating	16. Integrity
17. Arrogance	17. Humility
18. Infidelity	18. Honoring one's wife
19. Domestic strife	19. Peace in the home
20. Instigating hate between people	20. Making peace between people

May Hashem bless you always with abundance, amen!