Lazer Beams

Controlling all of Creation

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?

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!

Pleasurable Parnassa - part 1

Today and tomorrow, we'll be talking about how to take the pain and aggravation out of making a living

A fundamental principle in emuna that underlies parnassa, one's effort to earn money and make a living, is that a person's livelihood for the year is predetermined from Rosh Hashanna. You don't have to chase money with a net - Hashem gives it to you.

The practical manifestation of emuna is one's level of trust in Hashem. Trust includes the awareness that Hashem sustains all His creations, and that He does His job dependably. Therefore, those who trust Hashem aren't worried where their next meal is coming from; they know that He who has fed them in the past will continue to do so in the future. They also know that their livelihood doesn't depend on their craftiness or on their cunning – it depends on Hashem only.

No one can detract from the income that Hashem designates for a person. The Talmud states emphatically (tractate Yoma 38b) that one human is incapable of touching a fellow human's intended portion. Equipped with this basic fact, a person need not worry nor fear anyone or anything.

Trust in Hashem – internalizing the fundamental principle of emuna that one's livelihood is predetermined and exclusively from Hashem – enables a person to conduct his or her business affairs with confidence, a clear mind, and a healthy outlook. Stress, anxiety, and worry fall by the wayside. With trust in Hashem, a person goes through life with inner peace, avoiding the pitfalls of crazy wheeling, dealing, and chasing money at the expense of their physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Sound exaggerated? Here's what futile chases after money do to a person:

·         Emotional damages – worry, anger, stress, and anxiety that also result in depression and severe changes of mood;

·         Physical damages – the above emotional strains increase chances of heart disease, digestion disorders, strokes, and cardiovascular problems, heaven forbid. Also, they are springboards for substance use and addiction, namely, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

·         Spiritual damages – money chasers forget the Torah's laws, and often resort to dishonesty, fraud, thievery, and other transgressions, all of which severely blemish a person's soul.

To be continued tomorrow, with Hashem's loving grace

Don't be jealous of someone on easy street

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?

Emuna is the key word

Why is emuna - the pure and simple faith in Hashem - so seemingly difficult to attain? Simple - all of our spiritual luminaries rom the Baal Shem Tov of blessed and saintly memory to our contemporary tzaddikim have stated unequivocally that the souls who come to earth in this current generation that paves the way for Moshiach will all have the obligation to correct the flaw in emuna (faith) from a former reincarnation. In other words, once you'ved attained emuna, you've achieved a priceless correction for your soul, and you've successfully performed your tachlit, the purpose that your soul was sent down to this earth. In other words, acquiring emuna is a mindboggling, monumental accomplishment.

There is no human imagination that can fathom the reward that awaits a person in the next world for attaining emuna. By the way, the benefits of emuna already have a wonderful effect on one's quality of life in this world.

The Yetzer (evil inclination) will fight you tooth and nail so that you don't achieve this correction, which once again, is your very mission on this earth. The souls who accomplish their tikkun emuna (soul correction of achieving faith) will be the heroes of the spiritual battle for Moshiach and redemption.

If you're in the DC, Baltimore, North Jersey or NYC areas, you're invited to hear a lot more about emuna. Take a look at our event schedule on the top right hand toolbar of this site. We'd love to see you...

The vestibule and the ballroom

The following is an allegory based on a story told by our renowned beloved sage, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, better known as the "Chofetz Chaim", of blessed memory:

A wealthy dignitary purchased a lavish six-million dollar penthouse in the posh Georgetown section of Washington, DC, for the purpose of entertaining his commercial and political associates. He had all the walls torn down, and then ordered an interior-design architect to plan the spacious 3000 square-foot apartment from scratch.

"This penthouse is for the sole purpose of entertainment," he told the architect, "so all I need is a vestibule for receiving no fewer than 150 guests and a ballroom for dining and dancing."

"Superb," said the the architect, "let's begin with the vestibule. What elements would you like?"

"I want my guests to be overwhelmed when they enter; there should be two rows of Italian marble statues, and a fountain in the middle. Both walls should be lined with no fewer than ten paintings on each side, preferably a French expressionist genre; I also want the finest Turkish-wool carpets, and in addition, I'd like..."

"Excuse me, sir," interjected the architect. Such a vestibule with room for the paintings, the statues, and the fountain will require at least 2000 square feet. You'll only be left with a ballroom of 1000 square feet; barely 70 people can dine in such a space. As far as room for an orchestra and dancing, forget it..."

"Then what do I do?" asked the perplexed dignitary.

"My suggestion," answered the architect, "is that you forego the fountain and the statues, and that we plan a limited, tasteful vestibule with a few paintings on the wall and a small reception bar. Let's confine the vestibule to about 500 square feet; as it is, people won't spend much time there. Everyone is interested in entering the ballroom, where the real action is. So, if we plan a 2500 square-foot ballroom, your 150 guests can dine and dance comfortably."

**********

The moral: This world is like a vestibule, and the next world is like a ballroom. Each of us has his or her allotment of "square feet", in other words, the days and resources of our lives. If we waste them on a fancy vestibule - a place where we only spend 70, 80, or 90 years, then we'll have nothing left for our "ballroom", our world to come, where we shall spend an eternity. Since this life is a mere corridor for the next life, then we'd be wise to invest as much of our resources as possible in spirituality - whose dividends are eternal - and as little as possible in material amenities, which are here today and gone tomorrow.

Recognizing the enemy

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.

It's Still a Jail...

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches us that a person is where his or her thoughts are. When I used to be Rabbi of the Ramla prison, I would encourage the inmates and tell them that concrete, iron bars, and barbed wire can jail a body, but they can't jail a soul. When you think about Hashem or when you talk to Him, your soul is free. Since your soul is the real you, you are free too. On the other hand, if you're driving a new Mercedes, but your thoughts center around peer pressure, car payments, money, career, and keeping up with the Jones's, you're worse-off than an prisoner with a ball and chain. Any melancholy canary will tell you that a gold-plated cage is still a cage.

אין עוד מלבדו - There is none beside Him!

The Torah says (Deut. 4:35), "You have been shown, in order to know, that Hashem, He is the G-d. There is none beside Him!" אין עוד מלבדו - "There is none beside Him," is the key to understanding everything that happens to us, both on a broad national scale and on a personal private scale.

"Shown, in order to know", explains the Ramban, refers to the revelation of Hashem on Mount Sinai. Moses received both the written and the oral law from Hashem on Mount Sinai. Therefore, whenever a person deviates - even in the slightest - from "Halacha Le'Moshe be'Sinai", or the law as it was given to Moshe on Sinai, one's understanding that "There is none beside Him," is seriously weakened.

"There is none beside Him" means that everything in the world happens because Hashem decrees that it should happen. No one can lift a finger against Hashem's will. So, if someone harms us or insults us, its pointless to bear malice toward that person. Rather, we should make an accounting of the soul, understand that Hashem does everything for our ultimate good, and pray to Hashem to help us understand the message and correct what needs to be corrected.

In light of the above, any time a person - or a movement of people - make any compromise on Shulchan Oruch, e.g. religious law, they weaken their own faith with their own two hands. Conversely, when a person strengthens his or her observance of the Torah's commandments, that person automatically benefits from a chizuk, or reinforcement, of faith. That's one of the reasons why Rebbe Nachman of Breslev implores us to learn Shulchan Oruch every single day of our lives, and not to budge an iota from its statutes.

Faith that "There is none beside Him" is the only reliable bridge to traverse this world safely to the other side. 

The Strongest Power on Earth

The Gemara in tractate Bava Batra 10a inspired the following one-minute clip, which shows you how emuna is the strongest power on earth: