|
The Happy Minyan Schedule for This Shabbat |
Friday, 8/21
Plag Ha Mincha:
(early Candle lighting):
6:11 pm
Candle Lighting:
7:16 pm
Mincha:
6:00 pm
and
7:00 pm
followed by
Kabballat Shabbat and Maariv
Saturday, 8/22
Shacharit:
9am - 12:00pm-ish
followed by Kiddush
Mincha:
7:10 pm
followed by
Seudah Shlishit and Maariv
Havdallah from:
8:11 pm
|
Weekday Shiur on
Likutei Moharan -
presented by
Reb Yedidyah Blanton
|
Our own Reb Yedidyah Blanton teaches lessons from Likutei Moharan,
the teachings of
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Every Sunday night
8:00pm - 9:30pm
at Reb Shalom Yakov /
Jeff Mann's home:
1037 South Sherbourne Dr.
LA 90035
(between Olympic & Whitworth)
(There's no charge for this class!)
|
Awesome Phone Shiur
|
Listen to the deepest Torahs and stories from the teachings of Reb Shlomo Carlebach and the Izshbitzer, from the book "Lev HaShamayim" - given over by Rabbi Nossen and Rebbetzin Channah Schafer in Boston
Live: Sunday Night
9 pm - 10:00 pm EST
Call (641) 715-3300
Conf code: 818022#.
Recorded: Listen anytime! Each class is recorded and available until the next shiur, which will replace it.
Playback Number: (641) 715-3412
Access Code: 818022#
|
Always in Our Prayers
|
|
Please daven for the immediate
safe return of
Gilad (ben Aviva) Shalit;
Zachary (ben Miriam) Baumel;
Tzvi (ben Penina) Feldman;
Yehuda (ben Sarah) Katz;
Ron (ben Batya) Arad
and
Guy (ben Rina) Hever
as well as for the safety and success
of all of Israel's soldiers,
and the immediate release of Yehonatan (ben Malka) Pollard.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Happy Minyan Newsletter - Kol Sasson
Parshas Shoftim
|
August 2009 |
Greetings!
Today is the first day of the last month of the Jewish year - it's Rosh Chodesh Elul. In exactly a month, it will be Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year. On this day, 3,321 years ago, Moshe ascended Har Sinai again, to pray for The Jewish People to be forgiven for the grave sin of building the Golden Calf. He was commanded by G-d to make a new set of luchot with the 10 Commandments on them, and 40 days later, on Yom Kippur, Moshe descended the mountain with those luchot. It indicated that we had been forgiven.
This time, from Rosh Chodesh Elul until the High Holidays, is a time where we are working on ourselves, preparing to stand before the King of Kings, the Creator of the World, and on Yom Kippur to be forgiven and be restored to the holy closeness we experienced with G-d prior to making mistakes.
As I mentioned last week, I am including here more information about the significance of this special time of year. Since Reb Sholom Brodt already wrote a piece that very nicely covers the highlights of Elul, I am inserting it here for you. Enjoy!
TSHUVAH-RETURNING THE TSHUVAH OF THE MONTH OF ELUL.
There are many aspects in the process of doing Tshuvah, and
our learning today will touch on some of these. We have learned some of
these teachings in last two years, and they have been incorporated into
today's learning.
Tshuvah means to return, to return to your goal and purpose. And
it is to be done with Joy. Like one who has gone astray and lost his
way, wandering about trying to find his way back home, to the home of
his soul. When he will finally finds his way back home he is filled
with joy. True, he has to clean himself up and discard the many
blemishes, which he picked up along the way, for this too is a very
important part of doing Tshuvah, but ultimately there is great joy in
returning home! Don't forget the joy!
But is it really true that we can do Tshuvah, after we have done
so much evil? Every morning we recite the following blessing:" My G-d,
the soul which You have given within me is pure. You have created it,
You have formed it, You have breathed it into me, and You preserve it
within me. You will eventually take it from me, and restore it within
me in Time to Come. So long as the soul is within me, I offer thanks to
You, Lord my G-d and G-d of my fathers, Master of all works, Lord of
all souls.Blessed are You, who restores souls to dead bodies.
How can I say every morning that my soul is pure, knowing what I
did yesterday? The Kaballah explains that there are five levels of the
soul. Working our way upwards they are:
Nefesh- the aspect of soul which animates the body;
Ruach- the aspect that relates to emotions;
Neshamah- the aspect of consciousness;
Chayah- the aspect of life source; and finally
Yechidah- that part of the soul which is constantly in union with Hashem.
Only the three lower levels of the soul, Nefesh, Ruach and
Neshamah, are manifest in This World. Chayah and Yechidah are the upper
levels of the soul and they are not manifest here. On rare occasions,
Chayah does manifest here. Thus when we say "...my soul, it is pure",
this is referring to the aspect of our souls which are always pure, the
Yechidah of our souls, which can never be blemished by our wrongdoings.
When we are doing Tshuvah we are returning and reconnecting to that
place where we are still pure. It is from that place that we derive the
strength to mend our ways and restore our souls completely.
Reb Shlomo zt"l taught: The month of Elul, according to
Sefer Yetzirah, is associated with the left hand and also the letter
"yud". In a Torah teaching delivered, in 1990, Reb Shlomo, zt"l
explained that, this signifies that during the month of Elul, we are
'fixing' our subconscious. On Yom Kippur, we were asking Hashem to
forgive us for the sins that we committed, on a conscious level. But
then when the end of the year comes around, we realize that though we
may have succeeded in fixing our outer behaviors, there is still much
work to be done inside our selves. We still need to work at getting the
Torah and mitzvot to reach us deeper and deeper inside. As long as we
still have anger inside, within our subconscious selves, as long as we
still have to deal with jealousy and attachment to physical pleasure,
the Torah and the mitzvot have not yet reached the depths of our being.
It is easier to stop eating non-kosher foods, than to stop having
negative thoughts about yourself
and others, for example.
The letter "yud" is the smallest letter; it is a part of every
letter [as soon as you put the quill to the parchment, you have already
written a "yud"]. So "yud" represents, the innermost point--your
innermost point of being a "yid". The left hand represents your
subconscious actions. This means that in the month of Elul, we are able
to access the energy needed for doing the inner work, which needs to
get done before the year ends. The 'work', which we tried to accomplish
on Yom Kippur, on a conscious level, needs to become real on a
subconscious level. This is the spiritual task that we need to complete
before the year is over.
The 'yetzer hara', argues again and again that we cannot
accomplish such a task; his argument being that we find ourselves
repeating the very same behaviors again and again; no matter how many
times we have repented over them and promised G-d that we would not do
these things any more. "Sure, you can modify your external behaviors
from time to time, but it won't last! Because inside you are still the
same, and you'll never really change!" So goes the claim of the Evil
Inclination, and sometimes we even believe him a bit. Indeed, this
belief that we can actually accomplish deep change is not shared by
most of the world. The Torah teaches us that that we really do have
free choice, and consequently we are responsible for our actions.
Reb Sholom Ber of Lubavitch, the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, went
to see a doctor in Vienna. The doctor noticed that the Rebbe was very
weak and tired. Wanting to know why he was so weak, he asked the Rebbe
what he does for a living. The Rebbe replied that he builds bridges.
The doctor was very surprised at this answer; the Rebbe was frail and
didn't have the body or look of a construction worker!
He asked the Rebbe, "So please tell me, what kind of bridges do you build"?
To this the Rebbe replied: "I build bridges between the mind and
the heart." The doctor who was intrigued by this answer further asked:
"Is it really possible to do that"? The Rebbe replied: "Now you can
understand why I am so tired."
So what is different about Elul that enables us to really do this inner work?
THE KING IS IN THE FIELD
The holy Bal Shem Tov taught
that during the month of Elul, the KING IS IN THE FIELD. Every one of
us can approach Hashem, directly, informally. We don't need to pass
through guarded gates and chambers of inquiry and examination, in order
to get to the King. The King is in the field! When you approach "the
King" in the field, you approach Hashem, as Hashem whom you, the real
inner you, relates to.
Much of our relationships [all kinds] and behaviors have been
determined and affected by formality and structure [which to be sure
are also very important]. However during the month of Ellul, we are not
approaching Hashem through the veils of formality, in which one can
hide from one's inner self. The palace, the guards, the entourage, the
grandeur are not there to give definition to your belief in Hashem, and
to your relationship with Hashem.
The King is completely approachable; you can discover what
Hashem really means to you, in your insides, in your 'kishkes'. Hashem
is in the field to meet you, the real you, to relate to you in the
deepest way. It is from this deep encounter that you receive the
knowledge, the strength and guidance, and the love to do the fixing of
the inner self.
Hashem comes out into the field and is so to speak letting us
know "Rachmana leeba ba'ee"-- the compassionate One desires the heart!
Hashem is longing for a deep personal and intimate connection with us.
Wishing You a Good Chodesh and a Good Shabbos!
Rachel
|
|
|
Happy Minyan News & Upcoming Events
* The Happy Minyan's First Annual Tribute
Dinner Honoring Stuart and Enny Wax -
Thursday August 27th: RSVP today!
([email protected])
It's only one week away!!!
* Summer Schedule for Friday night!
We have two minyanim for Mincha / Kabbalat Shabbat at our regular davening location:
An early minyan will start at around 6:10 pm and, a later minyan (after candle-lighting) will start at around 7:30 pm. Early minyan'ers should please be sure to be on time so that the second minyan is not delayed.
|
Parshas Shoftim
- Rav Sholom Brodt, Rosh Yeshiva of Simchas Shlomo
MAKING HASHEM THE REALITY OF YOUR LIFE
JUDGES AND OFFICERS, YOU SHALL APPOINT FOR YOURSELF, IN ALL YOUR GATES... (16:18)
The Baal Shem Tov interpreted this verse as follows: The
'judges and officers' refer to "Ahavah and Yirah" - love and fear of
Hashem. 'In all your gates' refers to all your thoughts. I.e., appoint
judges and officers to ensure that your thoughts are guided by your
love and fear of Hashem.
['Sha-arecha' is the Hebrew word for 'your gates'. 'Shaar' is a
gate. 'L-sha-eir' also means to estimate and evaluate - hence
'sha-arecha' - your gates, is further extended to mean your thoughts
and considerations.]
This then is the deeper meaning of the verse in the Eishet
Chayil song that we sing on Friday nights at the Shabbos table before
Kiddush: "Her husband is well-known at the gates, as he sits with the
elders of the land." (Proverbs 31.) Her husband is referring to
Hakadosh Baruch Hu, The Holy One Blessed Be He; He is well-known at the
gates, meaning that Hashem is recognizable in the way she evaluates
things and in her decisions. In all her decision making it is apparent
that her vision of Hashem guides her footsteps. G-d is the evident
reality in her life.
MASTERING YOUR THOUGHTS
Rebbe Nachman zt"l taught the human mind is like a horse
that moves in whichever direction you pull the reins. Often we think
that we don't have control over our thoughts, as if our minds have
minds of their own. However, this is not so.
Learning to meditate is to learn how to master ones thoughts -
to think about what we want to think about and to think in ways that we
want to think. Love and fear are the two primary motivators of all
human behavior. Our thoughts can and should be determined by our love
and fear of Hashem.
POLICE NOW AND THEN
Our holy Torah is eternal. That being true, we understand that when the Torah says, "Shoftim
v'shotrim titein l'cha ... appoint for yourselves judges and police
officers" we will do so even after the arrival of Moshiach. The
question is asked, why would we need "shotrim" - police officers, in
the times of the ultimate redemption?
Reb Shlomo zt"l answered as follows: What's the difference
between a police officer now and then? Today police officers look for
the bad in people. If someone breaks the law, the police come after
him. But in Moshiach's times we won't be committing crimes, so what
will be the role of the police? Reb Shlomo explained that if a teacher
will learn Torah with children and not show them the greatest of love;
if friends will not be best friends, if parents won't be showing utmost
love to their children, the the police will come and ask "what's wrong
brother, how can we help you be your best?"
RESTORE OUR JUDGES
In the daily 'Amiddah' prayer which we recite three times a day, we ask of Hashem:
"Restore our judges as in former times, and our counselors as of yore;
remove from us sorrow and sighing; and reign over us, You alone, O
Lord, with kindness and compassion, with righteousness and justice.
Blessed are You Hashem, King who loves righteousness and justice."
In Pirkei Avot [Ethics of the Fathers] Chap. 1 :18 we learn:
"Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: The world endures by virtue of three
things- justice, truth and peace, as it is stated: "Administer truth
and the judgment of peace in your gates."" (Zechariah 8:16)
We need real judges who are ready to guide us truthfully. We are full
of sorrow and sighing. We read the newspapers and we sigh (sincerely?
politely?) as another crime and another have been committed. We sigh (a
sigh of relief) over small reductions in the crime rate, as if it is
okay to live with a 'respectable' crime rate.
In a 'sicha'-talk that the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave in 1954
he admonished his Chassidim against having televisions in our homes. He
warned against the corruption of our values that would be wrought upon
us by TV and focusing on evil- by watching 'murders' and violence on
the screen. Back then we were seduced into thinking that we must have
televisions. Back then we watched Howdy Doody and Mickey Mouse, the
News and Ed Sullivan; but what are we watching today? The Rebbe had
great foresight, as we all now realize.
Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, also foresaw the
dangers of TV and that it would undermine the values of Israeli youth.
He tried to prevent television broadcasting in Israel. In the sixties,
he allowed only two hours of daily 'educational' TV broadcasts. But the
tide could not be stemmed. And so . . . APPOINT JUDGES FOR YOURSELF IN
ALL YOUR GATES
"Judges and officers, you shall appoint for yourself, in all your
gates, which Hashem your G-d is giving to you, for all your tribes, and
they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not
pervert judgment, you shall not recognize a face [in judgment], and you
shall not accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise
and make just words crooked." (Devarim - Deuteronomy 16:18-20)
Though these mitzvot pertain to the community and its judges, they also
relate to each one of us individually for we are all judges. We discern
and we judge. We support and we condemn. We judge ourselves, but mostly
we judge others. It is a very human trait to discern and judge; indeed
our survival depends on our abilities to so correctly and justly.
Correct judgment is an essential skill for self-improvement.
However we are generally poor judges. We are quite frail in our ability
and resolve to stay far away from a lie and to pursue justice with
justice. We are easily deceived; we bend the rules for ourselves and
for those whom we recognize because we allow ourselves [or because we
desire] to be bribed. Bribes come in all sorts of forms and currencies.
They can be vulgar or ever so subtle, physical, psychological or
spiritual. Thus the very same mitzvot that were given to the judges,
also apply to each one of us personally.
The Netivot Shalom (Devarim p. 99) brings us the following teaching
from the holy gaon, Reb Chaim Vital z"l and from the holy Shal"a. The
individual person has a number of 'gates'. There is the gate of seeing,
the gate of hearing, the gate of smelling, the gate of speech and the
gate of touch. Man has to appoint (make himself) a judge over all his
affairs, and has to open his eyes to discern the truth. This is why the
verse says, "appoint for yourself" in the singular, because the Torah
is speaking to each individual of the Jewish people, instructing
him/her to erect fences and appoint judges at all his/her gates. It is
taught in the holy books that each person has seven gates of the skull,
two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the mouth. Concerning this the
Torah says: "Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourself in all
your gates", meaning that a Jew should raise all the gates of these
limbs and organs, to utilize these faculties solely to serve Hashem
alone, by appointing judges and officers for yourself.
Everyone knows that the judges at the ears are there to judge whether
we should listen to everything that we hear. We have to be careful not
to listen to 'lashon hara' evil talk. We also understand the roles of
the judges at the gates of vision and the judges at the gate of the
mouth. But what about the judges at the gates of the nostrils, what is
their task?
Reb Shlomo zt"l once said that just like with the physical sense of
smell, you know what is "cooking" without being in the kitchen,
likewise if you have a well developed spiritual sense of smell, you can
already sense the coming of Mashiach.
Then Reb Shlomo zt"l said a most amazing thing: he said that when he
meets a fellow Jew who is not yet observing the mitzvot, he can already smell the beautiful fragrance of this person's first Shabbos. Gevalt! We mammash need to take some time to think about the depth of this teaching.
The role of the judges at the gates of the nostrils is to be cognizant
of what you smell. Concerning one's self, and concerning others, are
you smelling the past, the odor left behind by the wrongdoings? Or, do
you smell the fragrance of their portion in the Garden of Eden?
Sometimes, before committing a transgression, our sense of smell, which
is the only sense that was not implicated in the eating from the Tree
of Knowledge, warns us "this does not smell good." Smell is a
sensitive instrument that we have relegated to the physical domain, and
have forgotten how to use it in the spiritual domain. We have to learn
how to smell the good in ourselves and in others.
JUDGING OTHERS
In a 'sicha' delivered on Rosh Chodesh Elul 5742, the Lubavitcher Rebbe
zt"l addressed himself to the Rabbis who at this time of the summer are
preparing their sermons for the High Holy Days. Rabbis want to raise
the levels of commitment to Hashem and Torah among the members of their
communities during these Days of Awe. This they should do, but they should do so in correct and useful ways. Hence the Rebbe admonishes as follows:
Some make the mistake of thinking that since during the month of Elul
we are getting ready for the Days Of Awe, it is appropriate to educate
their congregants with anger. They think that their anger proves that
they are truly devoted to the truth and that they are expressing the
real truth. They scream at the people and are not afraid of offending
them, because they believe that their words are completely true and
sincere! Meanwhile inside himself he is proud of himself and his
ability to 'tell them off', for he is an excellent orator.
To these Rabbis the Rebbe admonishes that they should remember the
principle, "the words of the wise are heard with tranquility." Without
serenity and tranquility, his words are not heard and the people will
eventually leave standing all alone on his pedestal. "Even if you are
not a big 'chacham' [wise one], there is no need for you to announce it
from the 'Bimah', [by screaming at the people] so that all should know
that you are not included amongst those concerning whom it says: The
words of the wise are heard with tranquility!" Furthermore they know of
their own poor levels in serving Hashem, yet they permit themselves to
angrily put the people down.
We learn that Hashem was displeased to hear Isaiah express himself
badly about his people and immediately punished him for doing so. This
teaching that Hashem does not want to hear anyone talking badly about
his people is true now just as it was then, for the Torah is eternal.
Most people experience a desire to rebuke and criticize others, from
time to time. And they think that this desire arises from their love
for their fellow man. Thus, says the Rebbe, we need to learn from
Isaiah, who truly loved his people, the consequences of expressing
oneself badly about Hashem's children. That Isaiah did so, though it
truly was not according to his character and stature as a true prophet
of Hashem, occurred so that we should learn from him how serious a
wrongdoing it is.
Especially now that we find ourselves in the month of Elul, we must be
very careful about how we speak about our fellow Jews, for these are
'the days of compassion'. It was during these days that Hashem, with a
joyous and complete heart, accepted Moshe's prayers, that He return to
us and bring us close to Him again.
This is the time of year that according to Halacha we already bless
each other to be inscribed and sealed into a good and sweet year, whose
goodness will be revealed and apparent. This is the time of year that
everyone can approach the King for He is in the field. And the King
greets all who approach Him with a gracious and loving countenance.
Especially at this time of the year we should be pointing out all the
good points in our fellow Jews.
If we must rebuke, then we should do so by pointing out the great
benefit and advantage of doing the mitzvot. If we must tell our friends
or our children to improve in their behavior and service of Hashem, we
should do so by showing them how beautiful they are and can be, by
doing that which is good and righteous.
The Rebbe Reb Zusha zt"l, would rebuke his fellow man by rebuking
himself. He would go near to the person and rebuke himself saying to
himself, "Zusha nebech did such and such a sin..." and he would cry
over it.
In this way his friend would also be aroused to do tshuvah. For, as we
have learned, if you see a fault in another, it is a reflection of
yourself.
If you want to fulfill the mitzvah of rebuking your friend (Leviticus
19:18), you must do it according to the rules of the Shulchan Aruch,
the Code of Jewish Law. Rebuke must be done privately between four eyes
and spoken in a tranquil manner that will be accepted.
Instead of pointing out the bad that the person is doing, point out the
great reward of doing the good. Encourage the person to conduct himself
in a way that will bring great blessings upon him. And if you must
mention the negative, says the Rebbe, do so very briefly only alluding
to it. Speak about the negative traits only if necessary, to underscore
the positive.
Do not mention the other person's weaknesses to them. The most
effective way to bring about positive change in another is by focusing
and building on the good that they already possess.
YOU SHALL NOT ACCEPT A BRIBE ... For The Bribe Will Blind The Eyes Of The
Wise And Will Make Just Words Crooked. [Alternatively- For the bribe
will ... pervert the words of the just.] (16:19)
Reb Shlomo zt"l taught us in the name of the Ishbitzer,
that as long as we are taking bribes, we are not capable of judging
ourselves honestly. The only way that we can have true free choice, is
by ensuring that we do not allow anything to bribe us. According to the
Gemara (Ketubot 105a) the word "for" in this verse, is not to be
understood as the 'reason' as to why it is wrong to take a bribe.
Rather, the Torah is teaching us that it is impossible for a bribe not
to pervert justice, " For The Bribe 'Will' Blind..." Furthermore, the Torah is also forewarning any judges who may take a
bribe, that they will not leave this world without suffering - even the
wisest of judges will suffer blindness of the heart, even a judge who
is [was] a complete tzaddik will suffer [some degree of] insanity.
To be bribed does not mean only that someone else comes
along and entices you to go astray, or to pervert justice by offering
you a bribe. As Reb Shlomo zt"l put it, "As long as you're crazy about
hot dogs, as long as you're crazy about Acapulco, don't tell me you're
[capable of] judging yourself [honestly]. "
YOU SHALL BE 'TAMIM' PERFECT WITH HASHEM YOUR G-D. (Devarim 18:13)
The Hebrew word Tamim means complete, whole, simple. To be
Tamim with Hashem, Rashi explains, is to walk with Hashem
wholeheartedly, constantly seeking to be close with Him, without
questioning what will be tomorrow - rather you are simply and
wholeheartedly receiving whatever is coming your way. If you do this
then you will "be with Hashem," and you will be His portion. *Note the
two readings of the verse:
a) Tamim teeheyeh im Hashem Elokecha - Be whole/perfect with Hashem your G-d.
b) Tamim teeheyeh --- im Hashem Elokecha - Be whole/perfect in your
trust and acceptance - then your portion will be with Hashem your G-d.
The holy Baal Shem Tov taught that whenever your love, fear,
joy or pleasure are aroused by external causes, be wise and realize
that all these are messages from Hashem to arouse you to come closer to
Him in love, fear and joy. By raising every experience, even the most
distant ones, up to Hashem - think about the source of each experience
- Hashem - in that way we can be whole/perfect with Hashem.
Have a wonderful Shabbos,
B'ahavah ubivracha
Sholom
|
Seeing the Forest for the Trees in
Shoftim
In the beginning of this week's parsha, Shoftim, we are told
that it is forbidden to plant an "Asheira" tree by the Sanctuary. Asheira trees
were used by ancient peoples for idolatry. Even if our intention were not to
use the tree for idolatrous purposes, since that is what it was primarily
planted for, we are instructed not to plant such trees.
In last week's parsha, we are instructed that when we go in
and conquer the Land of Israel
we must burn down any Asheira trees the idolaters left behind. Knowing that we
must destroy these idolatry-trees, wouldn't it stand to reason that we ought
not plant any by our Sanctuary? Why must we be commanded in this?
Furthermore, in the end of this week's parsha, we are also
instructed regarding conquering the Land
of Israel and trees that we find
there - namely that if we find fruit trees, we may not chop them down.
Fruit-bearing trees are valuable and therefore preserved. So while one may have
thought that the earlier command to burn down the Asheira trees was some sort
of catharsis or purging of all that the previous inhabitants had planted, this
mitzva to preserve the fruit trees shows otherwise. Clearly the issue is
specifically with Asheira trees, so again, why are we commanded not to plant
these trees by the Sanctuary?
Asheira trees bear no fruit. They are meant to be very
beautiful, though. According to the Ramban (Nachmanides), idolaters planted
these trees near their altars in order to attract people and entice them to join
in their ceremonies. Our mitzvah is not to plant these trees by our places of
worship, outside our Sanctuary, in the manner they did. With this mitzvah, the
Torah is telling us that we aren't meant to focus on the superficial and
exterior level of worship. Rather, it's all about what's on the inside.
Idolatry in the literal sense may be a hard concept for us to
relate to today. However, something a little more comprehensible is what our
Sages teach - that one who acts in anger is comparable to an idolater. Idol
worship is serving some other entity besides G-d, attributing power to
something else besides the Al-mighty. Giving in to anger means that one is
heeding the call of their feelings rather than G-d. This is a temptation that a lot
of us face and can relate to. But much like the Asheira trees, going against
the Divine Will to follow one's feelings is a temptation that bears no fruit.
May all distractions in our Divine service be removed. Let
us not be deceived by superficial beauty that bears no fruit. May we be focused
on the inner beauty contained in Divine Will, and honor the Divine Will in our
sanctuaries and in our inner-sanctuaries.
Good Chodesh and Good Shabbos,
Rachel
|
 David Sacks teaches every Shabbos morning at 8:30am at the Happy Minyan, and every Sunday morning at 10:30 am at Mogen David, 9717 W. Pico Blvd
You can also listen to David Sacks online anytime by down- loading his Torah on iTunes, or you can read some of his best articles - check out his fantastic site Spiritual Tools for an Outrageous World.
You Can't Fire G-d - Tests and Miracles in Torah
|
About Happy Minyan - Los Angeles
Please join us for davening every Shabbat!
Friday night: (Summer time) Early services begin at 6:15 pm. Regular Mincha begins at candle-lighting time, followed by Kabballat Shabbat and Maariv.
Saturday morning: David Sacks' class begins at 8:30am, followed by Shacharit at 9am, then Torah reading and Musaf. There is a Kiddush after davening at around 12pm.
Saturday afternoon:
Mincha and Seudah Shlishit are usually around an hour and a half before
Shabbat ends and followed by Maariv and Havdallah at the conclusion of
Shabbat.
We also meet for davening on all major Jewish holidays.
The Happy Minyan is located at
the Karate Academy
9218 West Pico Blvd (at Glenville)
Los Angeles, California90035
Good Shabbos! Good Shabbos!
The Happy Minyan
|
|
|
|
|
