Saturday, October 27, 2012

Finding your path

Confession:  Lately I have been struggling with my Avodas Hashem.  I have not really wanted to get up for davening, I haven't really been davening period, and getting up even on Shabbos has been non existant.  It has been horrible, I have really struggled.  Thankfully I have been shomer Shabbos, and shomer Kashrut, which is a good thing since my job depends on it.  Lately, due to events in my life that I will not share about here, maybe ever, I have found myself more interested in the mussar path within Judaism, and have shied away from Chassidus for now, not totally mind you, just not front and center.  Both movements place emphasis on a person's relationship with Hashem, but focus on different aspects of it.  Once I understand the goals of both more, I look to discuss more in depth, but for now, I will leave it at the fact that Chassidus in general focuses on the greatness of Hashem, whereas Musar looks more at the lowliness of a person, although, Slobadka focuses on the greatness a person could attain.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Patience

I always used to say that patience was a virtue I had little time for.  It was always meant to be a joke, but the truth is, is that patience is something I've needed to work on for a while now.  It was not at the top of my list of things I needed to improve, many others come to mind, but there are times where I could be more patient than I have been, mainly with my wife.  The Ribbono Shel Olam saw this, and of course arranged for me to have a job that would hopefully teach me many such middot that I need to work on, including holding back and not giving in to desires (something I need to work on) and patience.  As a manager/mashgiach for a kosher restaurant I have to have patience each and every time I check a bag of lettuce for salads, because I never know how many washes it will take before it is bug free, and it will be my head that rolls if I miss them, either down here or up there.  Also, since food is always available and around me I have to work on my strength (not always- scratch that never easy) and not just take random snacks.
But, above all I am glad to have a job and the chance to improve myself while at work.  What more could a person ask for?

Sunday, October 7, 2012

The K-O-G

In Yeshiva my friends and I joked all the time about the K-O-G.  What is the K-O-G?  It means the Kiss of G-d (Hashem).  We first learned about this when our Rabbi in Yeshiva told us that when Dovid killed Goliath, instead of falling backwards like would be suspected, he fell forwards, just so Dovid did not have to walk so far to cut off his head.  Succos is a holiday for all, anybody, Jew and non Jew alike could bring an offering to Hashem on Succos.  Shimini Atzeres, the 8th day, was only for the Jews, 7 is nature, and 8 is above nature.  The 8th day, or Shimini Atzeres reminds us Jews that we are above nature, we are Hashem's beloved, and we gain so much good so many brachot on Shimini Atzeres, because it shows how much we love Hashem, because we are willing to spend just that extra day with him.  Shimini Atzeres, is a perfect example of a K-O-G.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

yartzeit

Tonight is the yartzeit of Rabbenu Nachman.  On yartzeits it is important to do something to memorialize the fallen, whether that is learning in a person's honor, or if the person has put out Torah lessons of his own, to learn those lessons.  We are lucky that Rebbe Nachman has left us a treasure trove of Torah to learn from, so tonight, it is important to just learn something from him, even to just contemplate on one of his many teachings or quotes.  So here is one to think about.
"All the world is a narrow bridge, the important thing is not to be afraid."