Yiddishe Mamme

  “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 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...

  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.