Weekday Shiur on
Likutei Moharan -
presented by
Reb Yedidyah Blanton
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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!)
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Our Heartfelt Condolences
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ברוך דין אמתBaruch Dayan EmesWe are deeply saddened by the loss of 3-year-old
Shula Swerdlov, obm,
the daughter of
R' Yossi and Hindel Swerdlov of Jerusalem,
and the granddaughter of
R' Leibel and Miryam Swerdlov of Crown Heights and our dear friends -
Rabbi Shlomo (Schwartzie) and Olivia Schwartz, here in Los Angeles.
To send the Swirdlov family condolences, please email yossihin@gmail.com
To send Rabbi Schwartzie condolences, please email schwartzie@chaicenter.org
To send Rebbetzin Olivia condolences, please email olivia@chaicenter.org
May the Omni-Present comfort them amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
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Awesome Phone Shiur
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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#
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Lessons from
Noah's
Ark
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One: Don't miss the boat.
Two: Remember that we are all in the
same boat.
Three: Plan ahead! It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something
really big.
Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six: Build your future on high ground.
Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the
cheetahs.
Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow
waiting.
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Always in Our Prayers
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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.
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Happy Minyan Newsletter - Kol Sasson
Parshas Noach
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October 2009 |
Greetings!
This week began with Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan - the new month of Cheshvan. This month is also called Mar Cheshvan. Mar in Hebrew means bitter. Some say that this month is called bitter becasue - especiialy in contrast to the preceeding month of Tishrei that had 4 major holidays - it is a month without any holidays. It is also the month within which the Flood began. With no cause to celebrate, one could be bitter. However, we have a mitzva to serve HaShem with happiness, and Rebbe Nachman teaches what a great mitzvah it is to be happy always (which is our minyan's motto). So this idea of Cheshvan being bitter doesn't seem in keeping with the happy way we are meant to be. Besides, what holiday do we have in Tamuz? - the annieversary of the Sin with Golden Calf and the Seige of Jerusalem by Nevuchadnetzar? That seems like a bitter time as well.
I am grateful to our own Rabbi Meir Sabo for teaching the students (and this teacher!) at Shalhevet this week that Mar in fact is Aramaic for rain. Now it makes sense - "Rainy Cheshvan"! This is the month that we begin to daven for rain to fall in Israel. And rain is not only a blessing in and of itself, but also symbolic, representing both abundance and kindness. Now it makes more sense why the Sages refer to this month as Mar Cheshvan.
Our Rebbe, Reb Shlomo Carlebach ztz"l, would refer to this month as Ram Cheshvan - "Elevated Cheshvan" - (Ram and Mar are spelled the same, but with the letters reversed) as per the Bnei Yissaschar's teaching. What's so elevated about Cheshvan? It is still a month without holidays. The idea is that with the insight, the inspiration, the teshuva, the spirituality and so much more that we worked on and cultivated during Tishrei, we are now in a strong and elevated place where we can generate the connection and holiness from down here. We can make it a time of happiness and celebration on our own now.
No wonder our Rebbe's yahrtzeit is in this month. He makes sure to remind us every year of the renewed ability we have to elevate ourselves and connect to HaShem and each other, and cause the blessings to rain down!
Wishing You a Good Shabbos and a Chodesh Tov!
Rachel
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Happy Minyan News & Upcoming Events
* 11/6 - 11/7 - Shabbton with Reb Naftali Citron, Rabbi of the Carlebach Shul in Manhattan:
The Happy Minyan joyfully presents:
A very special Shabbaton with Rabbi Naftali Citron,
the Rabbi of the Carlebach Shul, Manhattan, NY.
Friday & Saturday, November 6-7, 2009
Services begin at 4:40pm with Mincha
followed by Maariv and Dinner
Friday night Dinner is $25.00RSVP: thru Paypal @ www.happyminyan.org or call 310-285-7777
* Sat. Night, 11/7 - 15th Annual Memorial Concert
in honor of Reb Shlomo Carlebach, ztz"l:
The Happy Minyan joyfully presents:
Our 15th Annual Memorial Concert
in honor of Reb Shlomo Carlebach
Saturday Night, Nov 7, 2009
Time & Place to be announced
Musical performers include:
The Moshav Band
Yedidyah Blanton · Yisroel Koch
The Carlebach Tribute Band from Long Beach,
The Happy Minyan Band & many more...
Guest speakers sharing stories about Reb Shlomo
Include: David Sacks, Stuart Wax, Schwartzie,
Rabbi Naftali Citron, Rachel Espana &others...
MInimum Donations: $20.00 per person
This event is also a fundraiser for the Happy Minyan
1) It is not too late to donate your etrog to be made into delicious and holy Etrog Liqueur to be auctioned and enjoyed next Simchas Torah. If you would like to donate your etrog, please contact me (Rachel) at tikkunrachel@gmail.com
2) Regarding the Special Sanctity of Shemittah (the Sabbatical Year) and its produce, and last year's batch of liqueur: the good news is, the two issues with the liqueur that were brought to our attention on yomtov can be fully remedied.
The first issue is that no money can be made off the liqueur since it is made from etrogs from Israel that were collected in the Shemittah year. Thus, no one should give the minyan any money in exchange for the liqueur. Of course everyone should give all they can to the minyan always! - just not in exchange for the liqueur. The bottles that were to be auctioned off have already been reclaimed, so that is solved. And.. they will be given as gifts at some other time.
The second issue was about the consumption of Shemittah produce. It must be fully consumed -yup, we gotta drink it all!!!Also, the part I didn't know: whatever remains of Shemittah produce (as is the case with the etrogs and thus the etrog liqueur) after the Shemittah year must be consumed or nullified by biur by the following Tu B'Shevat (about 6 months ago). Oops. I am very sorry for bringing the big bottle and sharing it with everyone without knowing it must have undergone biur beforehand. Please do teshuva accordingly for unknowingly drinking the liqueur without it having undergone biur, and I will aslo do the biur so the remaining bottles will be good to give (and totally consume!!!) as gifts.
The best news of all: This will not be an issue again for 7 years, and by then - moshiach will be here to better direct us all in fulfilling the Divine Command!
* High(est) Holidays at the Happy Minyan - 5770:
It's not too late to pay
for Happy Minyan Membership!
(In fact, it's NEVER too late to make a contribution and support our minyan! Be sure to pay for membership if you haven't yet! And please also be sure to send in your pledges from Yom Kippur and Simchas Torah. You can also make arrangements to pay in installments if that will help you give back to the minyan that is so happy to give to you!)
 To pay via Paypal, click here:
Or mail your checks to:
P.O. Box 16002, Beverly Hills, CA 9020
* Mazel Tov: to Vanessa (Paloma) and Maurice Elbaz on the birth of a baby boy; to Miram Goldsmith and Jonathan Friedman on their wedding; to Rabbi Parry and his family on the wedding of his daughter Nechama to Joshua Suffin.
* Happy Birthday: David Sacks, Michal Taviv-Margolese, Noah Oken, Debora Bell, Arielle Manesh, Simcha Nikravesh and David Seidenberg
* Refuah Shlaimah: Shaindel Feiga bat Baila Eeta (Sharon Asher), HaRav Chanan Velvel Simcha ben Bryna (Rabbi Chanan Feld)
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Moishe'leh Good Shabbos
R' Shlomo Katz
Dearest Friends,
Sometimes, as hard as it might to be to sit and
write, you just gotta share... no matter what. This past Wednesday night changed
my life forever, but before telling you exactly why, please refresh your
memory, and open your hearts to one of Reb Shlomo's most powerful moments
in his life.
*****************************************************************
Reb Shlomo, ztz'l:
Okay, I don't want to tell you sad stories, it's
not really sad, maybe a little bit, but it's a gevalt. Every person needs, especially our children... we should have
our fathers and mothers for a long time. We also all need Rebbes. And then
every person, once or twice in your life, you meet somebody and it mamesh reaches you so much that it really
carries you your whole life. So one of my Rebbes, which I saw just twice or
three times in my life, was a Yid and
his name was Reb Moshe.
My father was a Rabbi in Baden Bei Din, in Austria, and here comes 1938. I
don't want to mention their name in shul,
but they mamesh they took over. And
you know in Germany, it was not so dangerous
yet to walk on the street. In Vienna it was mamesh dangerous from the first day on. Yidden couldn't go to shul anymore, especially my father.
So Shabbos
morning, it was only dangerous from 8 o'clock on, but between 5 and 8
in the morning it was less dangerous. So my father made a minyan in the house. People would come at 6
o'clock,
mamesh they davened so fast, Keriyas HaTorah would go so fast because
everyone wanted to be home before 8.
My brother and I were little kids. When you don't
see people all week long, you are mamesh
hungry to see a person. So I remember my twin brother and I, we were nearly up
all Friday night. We couldn't wait; we wanted to open the door for the minyan.
At 6 o'clock, a knock at the door - to
see a Yid, mamesh standing there with pachad, afraid. I open the door a
little bit and he would slip through the door, and then I close the door fast.
But then one Shabbos,
I remember it was Parshas Bamidbar. I open the door. I see a Yid with little peyis, like most
Rizhiner Chassidim, they didn't have big beards. They just have a little beard.
But this Yid? He's not afraid. He
started singing:
"Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good
Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good
Shabbos, Good Shabbos! Good Shabbos, Oy! Good Shabbos! Good Shabbos, Good
Shabbos, Good Shabbos."
This Yid
was mamesh in another world.
Finally
he walked in and he walks up and down, and the whole time he is singing "Good
Shabbos, Good Shabbos."
Then he turns to me. I'm a little boy, and he
says to me in Yiddish, "What is your
name, what is your name?"
I didn't want to chas v'shalom stop the
melody, so I answered him back singing, "My name is Shlomo. - What is your name?"
He said "Moishe'leh,
Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos. Oy Good Shabbos, Good
Shabbos, Good Shabbos!"
So my brother and I called him "Moishe'leh
Good Shabbos"
I want you to know, he came in for the minyan and we began to daven fast. And you know, basically when
it comes to Nishmas Kol Chai you are not permitted to talk, but
obviously Reb Moishe'leh, nebech, couldn't hold back. He said to the
chazzan "You are davening down
instead of davening up. Your tefillos
have to go up, and the way you daven -
everything goes down, because you daven
so fast." And he was crying.
Listen to what he says. He says, "Yidden,
maybe this is the last Shabbos we are
saying Nishmas Kol Chai. Is this the way to say Nishmas Kol Chai?"
So the chazzan said, "I don't know any better."
I'll remember it till Mashiach is coming. Moishe'leh walks to the amud. I want you
to all to sing with me softly. He started singing: "Nishmas Kol Chai
Tevarech Es Shimcha Hashem Elokeinu Veru'ach Kol Basar Tefa'er Useromem..."
But you know friends, he davened the whole davening
with this niggun. Even chazaras hashatz, kedushah. Then
they lained, and by that time it was already 10:30, but nobody cared. Moishe'leh
mamesh lifted up the whole, nobody
had fear anymore.
Finally the davening
was over around 11, and my mother brought in wine to make Kiddush. And I want you to know, the whole time the windows were
closed and the shades were down. Moishe'leh says, "When you make Kiddush, you have to open the windows.
You have to say Kiddush for the whole
world."
I mean it's crazy. People started saying "Moishe'leh,
this is just too much! The people in the street want to kill us!"
Mamesh I'll never forget it. Moishe'leh
says, "Who are they? - the children of Esav."
He says, "They are our cousins. You know why Esav is Esav? Because he
forgot what Shabbos is. Maybe if some
Yid is saying 'V'shamru B'nei Yisroel
Es HaShabbos,' maybe Esav will
remember what he learned by Yitzchak."
He opened the windows, and Moishe'leh was
standing by the window, and mamesh
you could see the Germans walking up and down the street. It was Min
Hashamayim, he had the wine outside of the window and he was singing: "V'shamru
B'nei Yisroel Es HaShabbos...."
After davening,
my parents invited him to eat with us, and Moishe'leh began telling us, mamesh so much b'tzniyus, (half
telling, half not telling). He says, "I want you to know, I am on the black
list of the Germans. Suddenly we remembered, Moishe'leh's picture was on every
street corner. It said 'the most wanted Jew by the Fuehrer.'"
What was his avodah? What was he doing? If
you remember, thousands of Yidden
were arrested and nebech, their wives and children were dying from
hunger. Moishe'leh was up all night carrying food to every house. This was Parshas Bamidbar, and on Pesach,
he mamesh brought matza to 2,000
families in Vienna. Gevalt.
So they were looking for him, and one night he
says they caught him and hit him, over the head. But at that moment he said
that "The Ribbono Shel Olam gave me koyach," and he turned
himself away and ran off. "So," he says, "during the day I cannot walk on the
street; so I'll stay here."
Then he says to us, "I want to come again, most
probably I'll come Wednesday night." Now friends, I want you to know how Shabbos'dik
he was. He says, "I'll come Wednesday night and it will be around 4
o'clock
and I will knock on the door 7 times, L'Koved Shabbos, and you'll know
it's me."
And again, the way my house was, was that my
brother and I slept closest to the outside door. And I mamesh could not sleep all night, waiting for Moishe'leh Good
Shabbos to come. At around 4:30 we hear a subtle knocking
7 times. We open the door and Moishe'leh is standing by the door singing: "Good
Shabbos, Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good
Shabbos!"
We asked him, "Where is this niggun from?"
Moishe'leh told us that he was in Lublin on Rosh Hashana, davening with the Breslover Chassidim.
He heard it there from the old chassidim who said that his was the niggun
which Reb Nachman himself davened,
too. It was the first time we ever heard of Reb Nachman.
He stayed in our house all night long singing.
That was the last time I saw him.
We left for America, and my brother I went to
Mesivtah Torah VaDa'as. Everyone that came to the Mesivtah... we
taught them the niggun "Good
Shabbos."
Later on, I had the privilege of meeting young
people, especially in San Francisco. I had The House Of Love
And Prayer, it was a gevalt! Baruch Hashem, I want you to know,
this niggun mamesh turned on hundreds of thousands of people to Shabbos! Not to be believed.
The most important thing is that I taught all
those kids that even on Wednesday night, we say "Good Shabbos." We are
living in an age before Mashiach, we cannot wait till Shabbos to say "Good Shabbos."
You can say "Good Shabbos" all the time.
Anyway, this all took place 1938, and in the
meantime, time is flying. And I don't want to tell you bad things, but just
open your hearts. A few years ago, I was walking on the street in Tel Aviv, on
Ben Yehuda by street, by the Yarkon. Suddenly a Yid'eleh from Vienna sees me. "Aren't you
Shlomo Carlebach?" and I said yes. "Do you remember Moishe'leh? - You know, Moishe'leh
from Vienna?"
Somehow it struck me and I said, "You mean Moishe'leh
Good Shabbos? Is he still alive?" Maybe he's in Bnei Barak, Gevalt! Who knows where he is?!
He says, "Let's go down. There's a little park by
the river and I'll tell you the story." He says, "I want you to know I was one
the closest friends of Moishe'leh Good Shabbos." (By the way, I thought
my brother and I were the only ones who called him "Moishe'leh Good Shabbos." Obviously everyone called him that. All
of Vienna called him "Moishe'leh Good Shabbos.")
Chevre, give me your hearts for a second. This Yid'eleh
says that Moishe'leh finally got himself a false passport, an English passport.
Moishe'leh had two children - a little
boy and a little girl. He, his wife and two children were sitting on the train
leaving Austria, with a passport to go to
London. And this Yid'eleh says, "I was there on the train.
His wife kept on begging him, 'Moishe'leh, please don't sing!' And he was
singing this niggun nonstop. 'Please,'
she said, 'don't make any noise. Wait until we go out of the border.'
"The train is slowly leaving. Moishe'leh says 'I
have to sing "Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos!" one more time to say so long
to Vienna, I have to say goodbye to the city, I have to say Good Shabbos!'
He opened the window, and started singing one last time Good Shabbos, Good
Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos."
The most heartbreaking thing happened. Since his
picture was all over the city, one of the people on the train recognized him
and called over one of the Germans. They stopped the train and dragged off Moishe'leh.
"And I swear to you," this Yid'eleh
told me. "Moishe'leh didn't
stop singing "Good Shabbos" till that final whip which killed him.
Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good
Shabbos. Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos.
I want you to know something incredible. A few
years later, I was supposed to go to do a concert in Manchester (England) on a Sunday. And the way
to go to the concert, I had to leave Tel Aviv Friday morning, and I was
thinking of going to London and then Sunday I would go to Manchester.
While we are flying, suddenly they announce
there's a gas strike in London and they are landing in Zurich. Anybody who wants to go
to London - when they get to Zurich, they would take care of
it. And it would be a 16 hour delay, minimum - Friday afternoon.
So one Yid
says, "Why don't you got to Antwerp for Shabbos and from there, there will be a ship that leaves at 6
o'clock
in the morning and gets to London at 12, and from there go
to Manchester."
Ok, I'm right in Antwerp. It was 2 hours before Shabbos, and the Yid who is sitting next to me on the plane invites me for Shabbos and I say yes.
While I'm still talking to this Yid, someone comes up to me. I know this
face. He was so sweet that I didn't want to hurt him that he should think that
I don't know who he was. He says, "Mamesh,
Shloimo'leh, come to my house for Shabbos."
I said "I'm already going to this Yid'eleh,
but give me your telephone, if I have a Melaveh Malka, I'll invite you."
So he writes it down - his name is Heschel.
After he left I said, "Who is this Heschel?" He
said, "He's the son of Moishe'leh Good
Shabbos." Oy, Gevalt! I couldn't
believe it.
We have a Melaveh Malka, and this Yid is there. I say to Heschel'eh, "Do
you know your Tatty's niggun?"
You know something, the most heartbreaking thing; he was too small to remember.
I mean, can you imagine? It was clear to me the holy gas strike in London was only that I should be
in Antwerp and I could give him over
his father's niggun. And gevalt, he looks exactly like his
father.
And I want to share with you one more thing. The
last time I saw Moishe'leh, the last time before he walked out, he was standing
by the door for a long time and he sang, "Tzur Yisroel, Tzur Yisroel, Kumah
Be'ezras Yisroel, Uf'dei Chinumecha Yehuda VeYisroel..."
I want you to know friends - I'm singing this niggun all the time. All the time.
*****************************************************************
This past Wednesday night was the wedding of our
dear friend Rocky Ziegler to his beloved Bina Wilkinfeld. The wedding was
awesome, mamesh awesome. The colorful
range of shtreimels and hippies singing and dancing together was
incredible. Our dear friend and teacher, R' Sholom Brodt, had the zechus to
marry off the couple.
After the chuppa, a young Chassidishe Yid,
a princely looking chassid came up to R' Sholom asking him if he was
using the tune of Moishe'leh Good Shabbos for the brachos under
the chuppa. R Sholom said yes, and asked him why he is asking.
"I am Moishe'leh's great-grandson. It's my
great-grandfather's niggun," replied
this Yid.
We all began to come up to this very young, shy
and humble Yid. We couldn't believe
it. We felt we were all part of the story. One by one, we came up to him,
bursting with utter simcha and total amazement. This chassid
never saw anything like this, and hinted to me that this was very overwhelming
for him.
How do I begin to explain to him who his
great-grandfather is to us, and to thousands and thousands more? How do I begin
to explain to him that thousands of Yiddelach daven to his
great-grandfather's niggun every day,
every Shabbos, every holiday? How do
I begin to give over to him who his great-grandfather was to our Rebbe?
He approached me a few minutes later and asked me
if I was driving back home, and if I had room in the car for him, his wife and
two children. Crazily enough, he only lives 15 minutes away from us. I was
humbled beyond belief by the thought of driving him and his family home.
As we closed the door of the car, and a 25 minute
ride approaching us, I began to seriously feel Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur
and Succos all at once. It was so beyond my wife Bina and me, we simply
couldn't believe it.
But then, thank G-d, I remembered a recent disc
of Reb Shlomo, ztz'l, I had in the car during Succos. It was a concert
on Succos, on the night of the Ushpizin of Moshe Rabbeinu.
And during this concert, Reb Shlomo began pouring out his heart. "Friends, I
want you to know: One of my greatest Rebbes in the world, one of my greatest
teachers I will ever have, was Reb Moishe'leh Good Shabbos...' And then
Reb Shlomo told over the story with more fire than ever before.
My wife Bina found the cd, and we put it on.
This chassid, whose name is Eliezer Heschel, the
son of Moshe Heschel, the son of Eliezer Heschel, the son of Moishe'leh Heschel
- the Moishe'leh Good Shabbos... he had never heard the story
before. He knew some facts and some stories about his great-grandfather, but
other than knowing the tune... he didn't know that much more.
He sat behind me, and all I could hear while Reb
Shlomo, ztz'l, was davening away, in
the background was Moishe'leh's great-grandson's amazement. Pshhhh... Psssss...
He was literally going out of his mind.
His wife (who is related to Rocky's kallah)
gave me their home number. Eliezer told me that they have a picture in an old
family picture album - one picture of their great-grandfather. He is going to
dig it out of the storage in his parents' house and get it to us.
As he got out of the car and was about to walk
into his home, he turned to me and said "May the zechus of my
great-grandfather Moishe'leh stand for you, your family and your friends
forever."
I spoke to him last night, and he told me that
all they know is that Moishe'leh's ashes are buried somewhere in Vienna. He then told me that Moishe'leh's
yahrtzeit is coming up, the 10th of Cheshvan, just 6 days
before our Rebbe's yahrtzeit.
What on earth do we know?
Good Shabbos Kodesh
Shlomo & Bina Katz
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Noach - Bo El Hateivah - 5770
- Rav Sholom Brodt, Rosh Yeshiva of Simchas Shlomo
Bo El Hateivah - "enter the ark!" - "enter into the word!"
COME INTO THE ARK
Moshe
Rabbeinu said: "Let my teachings come down to you as a gentle rain, may
my sayings flow like the dew." In this month of rains we visualize the
letters, words and teachings of the Torah entering our hearts as
droplets of rain that come to nourish our seeds of faith, our seeds of
kindness and our continuing positive development.
Ribbono
Shel Olam, Master of the Universe, we need Your words and teachings
more than ever. Please shine Your light into our hearts. Please guide
us, for we have much to learn, much to fix. Please give us the strength
to be strong and firm in the commitments that we accepted upon
ourselves in the past month. Let Your rains cleanse our hearts and
nourish these commitments.
Rebbe
Nachman zt"l said, "there is no despair!" We will not give up! The
words of the Torah will guide us, nourish us and heal us. We will
continue to dance The Dance of the Torah that we began on Simchas
Torah; we will dance with the Torah always, we will not stop, b'ezrat
Hashem. Amen, keyn yehi ratzon.
We
live in an extremely turbulent world; the mighty waves toss us about
and fling us around and around, up and down, confusing our vision and
words, hardening our hearts. They cause us to walk about in drunken
stupor, as if we have forgotten who we are, why we are here and where
lie our goals. Through these stories, Hashem is teaching us what we
need to know for our survival and success, so that we wont 'drown in
the flood', so that the turbulence of the waves will not leave us
unbalanced, chas v'shalom. And so Hashem said to Noach, "Come into the
ark".
The
holy Bal Shem Tov teaches: "Bo el hateivah", "come into the ark"...
ENTER INTO THE WORD! The Hebrew word for ark is 'teivah'; 'teivah' also
means 'word'. Our spiritual ark is our word of prayer and Torah. Enter
into your words of prayer and Torah. Live in them, sing them with truth
and joy, and they will protect you. Through real prayer, you will find
yourself going to higher and higher worlds, closer, much closer to
Hashem, the One Living G-d of all life.
The
Baal Shem teaches further that the tzaddik's service of Hashem is
filled with joy and pleasantness. Serving Hashem only out of
obligation, without love and joy, does not allow us to be truly united
with Hashem. Neither will it help birth us up to our next higher levels
of 'dveikut'- deeper attachment to Hashem. Job said, "From my flesh I
see G-d." (Job 19) Thus the Baal Shem Tov taught that just like in
physical unification there must be joy and desire in order to bring
about a birth, so too in our spiritual unification with Hashem. When we
utter our words of prayer and sing the words of our Torah learning with
desire and joy, for the sake of heaven, without any expectation or
desire of reward, then these words are alive and they bring a spirit of
nachas-pleasantness to Hashem, and Hashem unites with us and we are
filled with His Infinite Light.
The
Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l added that we also find that Hashem said to
Noach, "tzai min ha-teivah"- go out from the ark." If in order to
survive in the turbulent waters it is so important to 'enter into the
ark', then why are we also told to leave the ark? The Rebbe explains
that it is indeed our task to leave the ark and enter into the world in
order to actualize Hashem's desire to have a "dwelling place in the
lowest of all worlds."
This is the order of our daily service, first we 'enter the ark- the
words of prayer and Torah' to spend a significant amount of time there
and [only] afterwards do we go out into the world and get involved in
the mundane matters of the world in the ways that Hashem wants us to
and thereby we make this world His dwelling place. Noach and his family
spent more than a year inside the ark- summer, autumn, winter and
spring, so too we need to spend sufficient time in the 'ark' of prayer
and Torah until the light of Torah and Prayer penetrate deeply into our
core beings, through all seasons of our lives; then we will have
acquired the strength and capability to go out into the world and
elevate it into Hashem's dwelling place.
Have a wonderful Shabbos b'ahavah ubivracha
Sholom
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Your Word in Noach
According
to our tradition there are two worlds that coexist, like parallel realities:
the physical world and the spiritual world. The physical world is comprised of
things that we can observe with our five senses, things that are outward and
concrete. The spiritual world is generally not observable, esoteric, and
experienced more internally. These two worlds seem to be quite different, if
not exactly opposite. What is the bridge between these two worlds? How do we
live in both at the same time?
The Maharal
of Prague (aka Rabbi Yehuda Loew) taught that there is one thing that is both
physical and spiritual, as well as uniquely human. That is speech. Speech is
taking thoughts and putting them into words. Words are amazing. They express in
sound, in the physical world, matters of the spirit - thoughts and ideas.
Speech is that bridge between the physical and the spiritual.
The
well-known story of Noah's Ark is in this week's parsha, Parshat
Noach. At the beginning of the parsha, Noach is instructed to build an Ark - "Teiva" in Hebrew - that he and
his family and the animals can live in during the Flood. Interestingly enough,
the word for Ark in Hebrew, "Teiva," is the same word as "Word". One
could then metaphorically understand that the way Noach and his family survived
the Flood was by building and living in the Word.
Some
Rabbinic commentaries derive from this that the words of prayer and Torah study
are the sanctuary we find from the deluge in life. Certainly we have a
tradition that these are the most powerful words we can utter. Prayer is
primarily acknowledgment of G-d as Creator and Ruler of the Universe, requests
for our deepest desires, and an expression of gratitude for the goodness in the
world. Torah study is not only an academic study, it is what connects us with
G-d and G-d's Word - His intention for Creation and for each of us
individually. Both prayer and Torah study can put the deepest yearnings and the
most spiritual desires we have into words, and that allows them to manifest in
the physical world.
There's
another kind of word that is very powerful in causing things we really want to
materialize. That's the word that we give to others or even to ourselves, our
commitment to a goal or endeavor. To be honest, it often seems like we are
flooded by many things that can prevent us from living a happy and fulfilling
life. There are places to go and things to do - being really busy can distract
us from our goals. There's also laziness (Not now, maybe later!), subjectivity
(It's too hard!), and emotions (I just don't feel like it!) that make us want
to give in or give up on our dreams and aspirations. The way to tackle this
kind of flood is by making and keeping our word. No matter what. No matter
which way the tide is flowing.
May we all
be blessed to be strong in our prayer and Torah study, and in pursuing all
the good that we deeply yearn for and aspire to achieve in this life.
Shabbat
Shalom,
Rachel
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 David Sacks
teaches every Shabbos morning
at 8:30am at the Happy Minyan,
and every Sunday morning
at 10:30 am at Congregation 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.
Bereishis - The Real Beginning
Dear Friends The question is, if we know that whatever is going on in the Torah portion of
the week is going on in the world - why aren't we reading the portion of
Bereisheet which deals with creation of the world on Rosh Hashana?
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About Happy Minyan - Los Angeles
Please join us for davening every Shabbat!
Friday night: Mincha begins around 10 minutes after 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 20 minutes before candle-lighting time 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
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