Are you honest, or not? About boycotting Israel “And the truth is lacking; whoever turns away from evil is declared insane.” “And God saw it and was displeased, for there is no righteousness.” Isaiah 59:15 We live in an era unlike anything we have ever experienced before. Never before has information spread so rapidly. Never before have opinions spread so easily. Never before has it been possible for a lie to travel the world as fast as it does now with the internet. Social media gives everyone an opinion, but it provides no wisdom. Nowadays, a slogan is accepted as a fact. A viral message is called “proof.” A carefully edited video is considered the whole story. Thousands of people repeat the same story until repetition itself is considered truth. But the Torah (Bible) teaches something different. Truth is not determined by popularity. Truth is not established by the majority. Truth does not become untrue be...
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Reb Usher Freund zt’’l many call him the Ba’al Shem Tov in our time.
“One must rely on the Creator…devote oneself to Him…speak to Him…Let your ego, which brings hatred toward others, fade away.” These were the teachings of the tzaddik, Rav Asher Fruend zt”l. Rav Freund never believed in titles or acronyms. He demanded truth in character and yet held infinite patience toward those who lacked it. “If I had ten people who were willing to venture out to a desolate field with me and who were willing to negate all worldly materialism and devote their entire being to G-D…we could bring Moshiach right away. This is how Rav Asher, as he was best known, expressed his desire and ambition to serve G-D and strive towards truth – without compromise, and without ego. Rav Asher was a wondrous man who is dearly missed by many around the world. On the night after Yom Kippur, on the 11th of Tishrei, we remember and mark the anniversary of his passing. He was a unique servant of Hashem, a rabbi and f...
Moshe was stuttering, what do we learn from this?
Moshe finds himself assigned the most momentous task in Jewish history, to stand before Pharaoh and represent G-D by demanding that he “Let My People Go!” he meekly begs off. He demurs. He says, I can’t. “Please, my L-rd, I am not a man of words, not since yesterday, nor since the day before yesterday, nor since You first spoke to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of speech.” ( Shemot 4:10) Rashi teaches that G-D pleaded with Moshe for seven days to accept the role of leader. But he said, I can’t. I am a kevad peh. I am kevad lashon . What exactly did these excuses mean? In Vaeira ( Shemot 6:12) Moshe again proclaims his inadequacy in speech. “B’nai Yisrael don’t listen to me; how then would Pharaoh listen to me, after all I am aral sefatayim ?” He is a man of “sealed lips.” Daat Mikra understands aral sefatayim to be an idiom wh...
How to deal with anger - a Fiddler on the Roof
One of Rav Asher's students asked him: "How is it possible that I will not get angry if someone really annoys me?" "All kinds of desires (Ta’avot), when they come they come slowly, and we have time to be aware of them and to fight it beforehand. However, anger comes suddenly," said Rav Asher. "It is like a person balancing on a roof of tiles. How come this person does not fall off the roof while he is standing on a slope?" "Because he knows he’s in a danger. He does not forget for a second about his danger, he has to keep his balance". "The same thing when it comes to anger. If you live every second with the awareness of your anger that you can fall any moment in a burst of anger, and you are aware that you are in danger, this the way you can rescue yourself from getting angry" Said Rav Asher.
"For People who are at Least Somewhat Desperate #2"
Selections from the Spinka Rebbe, Shlita, of Bnai Brak [A recent letter received by the Admor, Shlita, followed by his reply] The Question: I don’t understand what the Yosher Divrei Emes meant when he wrote that the worst thing, the great evil is to fall into depression and gloom. Then right after that, he continues and says that this state of mind comes about because of arrogance and a false, exaggerated sense of self. I cannot understand the connection between them. It seems that depression is the opposite of pride. Depressed people are broken people, not prideful people. The Spinka rebbe answers: Rav Asher Freund taught us that a person generally lives his 70 years with either excessive pride or despair. Despair comes as a result of excessive pride. If things don’t bring me happiness, enabling me to be prideful, then I find myself settling into despair. For example, when a person walks into a room full of people and someone...
How do you feel when you do good? And what language is actually a Holy language?
How should a person feel when he does good things for other people? Says Rav Asher Freund zt''l, G'd gave a lot of examples in our world. Just like an electric iron, that straightens out all of the clothes, nobody thinks he has to get up an stand and thank the iron. Because without any electricity, the iron would not be able to do anything. The same applies to a person, he himself does nothing. It is only G'd who gives him the electricity, the life, that he should be able to help other people. The Holy language The Ahavas Yisroel from Vizhnitz said: "I was looking for a language that is clean from slander, gossip, anger and conflict . I, G'd, found a language, a holy language. When a person talks clean, without lashon harah, slander and conflict even if it's English, Danish or Dutch, it is a holy language. Source: Spinkah Rebbe Bnei Berak