By Dr. Zev Ballen Image credit: tryzub724
The effect of Rosh Hashanah is to strengthen faith. There are great gatherings of Jewish communities everythere. Especially significant are the gatherings of Jews around the true Tzaddikim. Through these gatherings, all the different facets of faith expressed in all the different souls are joined together in a common whole.
By Dr. Zev Ballen Image credit: AkShAy(๏̯͡๏) SAGAR
By the power of Emuna, the entire world is a blossoming garden that sprouts limitless varieties of exquisite plants, fragrant herbs, and sweet fruit.
With Blessings,
Dr. Zev Ballen
By Dr. Zev Ballen
As I was walking through the old religious neighborhood where I live in Jerusalem, a little boy splashing in a tiny pool caught my interest. It was the tiniest little pool on the tiniest little terrace that I ever saw.
I stopped for a moment and wondered how that little boy could be having so much fun in that cramped little space. I watched him as he splashed around with total abandon.
A thought went through my mind: Maybe he didn't realized that he was playing in the tiniest little pool that I ever saw. Maybe he wasn't comparing his pool to the Olympic size pools on rolling estates that I have in my mind. Maybe the little boy on the other side of the world
who is splashing in his more lavish pool is not even as happy as this boy is.
So I asked myself: "`what is the message in this scene for me?"
The answer came:
I can also have fun with less. I too can appreciate what I presently have. What good does it do to think back to the spacious home that I once owned. The truth is I am happier now. I need to be grateful for that and also jump with glee!
This was my message.
But if a hundred of us were standing together watching the same exact scene. All of us would be getting a different message.
One of us might think that it is dangerous for that boy to be there by himself without supervision. The message for that person may be that she needs to be more careful in the coming days to supervise her young children more closely. The message for her may not relate directly to a swimming pool, but it could relate to helping them cross a busy street or avoid playing near the electrical outlets.
For someone else, this scene might trigger a pleasant memory - perhaps a picture of himself as a child having fun in some similar way. The message for him might be to take a few moments to re-visit those joyful memories and re-integrate those positive feelings into his current life.
Another person might receive still a different message from this scene. For example: that he needs to be more spontaneous, playful and uninhibited in his relationships.
It's so amazing that Hashem is spontaneously speaking to all of us all of the time in trillions of different ways.
When the Jewish people were standing at Mount Sinai, we received the greatest gift that G-d ever bestowed upon man - His Holy Torah. As Hashem uttered the first commandment: "I am Hashem your G-d," everyone present heard something personal and uniquely designed for himself. Those who were well-versed in the deep Kabbalistic mysteries of the Torah, heard Hashem on that level - the woodcutter and water-carrier, on the other hand, received a simpler message from the very same words.
Hashgacha Pratis or Divine Providence is everything that is taking place in the world from the movements of the celestial bodies to the heart beat of a tiny worm. The world reaches out to us through our senses, imploring us to enter its hidden calmness and security. As he lets go and falls into G-d's embrace, the person-of -Faith is immune from fear, anger, envy, impatience or doubt. He is no longer fighting the current of reality, but humbly flowing with it. Every loving nuance that G-d sends him is like a mother whispering to her beloved child: "Come to mommy, sweetheart ...that's right...you can walk...take another step...and another...you see...now you're walking by yourself!"
The following day I was feeling restless and blocked. I decided to take a walk outside. Continue here...
With Blessings,
Dr. Zev Ballen
|
|
By Dr. Zev Ballen Image Credit: John & Tina Reid
Here is one way to strengthen our emuna. Once a day, when something upsets us, rather than blaming it on "natural" forces, on others or on ourselves, say it was from Hashem otherwise it would not have happened. Write this in a notebook and review it periodically.
Good Shabbos!
Dr. Zev Ballen
By Dr. Zev Ballen
How are you?
It's a seemingly innocent question:
People are always asking: "So How's life?"; How's it going, man? What's new bro?
Is it just a polite greeting? If so, why are they so incessant to know?:
"Really...how are you?...Truthfully...how's it going?"
I don't mean to sound cynical. Of course they're being polite; but what are they so curious about? What do people really want to know?
Don't they know how hard life is? Do they really think that life is so much different for you? What are they expecting you to say?: "Oh, my life is absolute paradise!; it's Heaven on earth!"
If your life is paradise on earth, I'm happy for you - mine isn't.
I'm still in daily pain.
I suffer and I see others suffering all around me.
I'm being constantly beset by tests and challenges.
If you're not, will you tell me your secret?
Is that what people are hoping to hear?
Before Adam sinned, his situation was far better than ours today. There was much less evil in the world. Whatever evil there was created by G-d - not man - and was perfectly balanced and equal to the good in the world.
In Adam's world, it was relatively easy to conquer evil and earn everlasting bliss.
But Adam failed - and in a way - Hashem wanted him to.
When Adam, himself, brought evil into the world, he upset the perfect balance of good and evil which G-d intended for the world. By rebelling against G-d, Adam brought terrible suffering into the world.
We were born into the suffering of a world that is far darker and more painful than G-d "originally" intended it to be. Yes, we can still attain perfection and earn our eternal bliss - but it's not going to be easy. In order to achieve it, we're going to need to suffer much more than we were originally supposed to.
What kind of justice is this? Did any of us choose this life? Did our perfected souls ask to be brought into the violence and decadence around us? Why should we be punished for Adam's sin?
Did G-d "change his mind" after Adam's sin? How can we trust that G-d will keep his promises to us? How can we continue to believe in Him?
One needs enormous Faith to not question the need for our suffering and to simply believe, as our Rabbi's tell us, that every bit of pain that we endure enables us to achieve much more than even Adam could have achieved.
Rav Arush says that a person who waits Hashem out can even put an end to his tests.
For example, when Rav Arush moved into his present home in Beit Yisrael many years ago, he barely had bread to feed to his children before sending them to school. They had nothing but the four walls. The only thing he says they had a lot of were rats.
When Rav Arush saw that every window in his house had a cross on it he smashed every one of those windows and the family froze for a whole winter without windows. The Rav encouraged his family to thank Hashem for this test. He told them that if they would pass this one test, that they would never again have to worry about money.
It is not natural for me to thank Hashem for my hardships, but I try because Rav Arush tells me that by bending my nature to act illogically when I think my life is threatened and to thank Hashem for the pain, that Hashem will in turn, relate to with me in a un-natural (supernatural way) way - and He does.
When I have the humility to see the Blessings that Hashem is sending me I can feel happy even in the midst of a trial.
No, my life isn't paradise on earth - but...continue here...
May you and your loved ones be inscribed and sealed in the Good Book of Life!
Dr. Zev Ballen
By Dr. Zev Ballen Image credit: SFB579 :)
An inspired young woman is being challenged to step up and provide hope and spiritual meaning to a holocaust survivor who has been religious all of her life. Read about it in this week's edition of our parsha sheet.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
Dr. Zev Ballen
By Dr. Zev Ballen Image credit:Phillip Chitwood
Change is easy after we make a real decision. The difference between a real decision and the "decisions" that most people make is that a real decision is like an incision - it cuts us off from everything that stands in its way.
When someone really decides to stop smoking he is never tempted to smoke again - not because has "decided" that he prefers not to smoke but because he has changed the kind of person he is. Its the difference between: "I don't want to smoke" and "I'm a non-smoker - I'll never smoke again - I'm not even interested."
Faith in G-d is also decision. Once you DECIDE to believe, you completely burn your bridges with sadness, fear and doubt.
May you be inscribed and sealed in the Good Book of Life,
Dr. Zev Ballen
