Articles with the tag: elul

The King in the Field

Holidays are unique streams of Divine energy permeating our world.
On those days, one can’t work and still be plugged into the holiday ‘energy’.
Elul: its unique energy is the 13 attributes of mercy.
Why is this month not a holiday?
Alter Rebbe: Analogy of the King in the Field.
1. You don’t have to change. Approach the king as you are.
2. You can ask for insignificant, personal things.
Elul is not a holiday as G-d’s Elul energy doesn’t disrupt our everyday lives.
How is that possible?

City: A spiritual city dweller represents a person whose life is consistent with G-d’s agenda.
Desert: A spiritual life that is a wasteland.
Field: In between. 
Our hands may be dirty, our…

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T’shuvah Time

It is the season of T’shuvah, more commonly known as repentance.  It’s happening even as we read these words.  The summer draws to its close and the harvest is brought in.  The corn stalks have grown to their limit, while the bee seeks the last drop of honey before the flowers fade and the squirrel drags one final nut to his winter store.
There is no time to be lost as the Master will soon call.
Our Sages visualized all of nature joining man in urgent preparation for the Days of Judgment.  Thus every creature and even every atom of existence readies itself for that annual rendezvous with its Creator.
Those days of self-inspection and spiritual improvement begin with the…

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Open Your Jewish Hand (21:7)

Approximately twenty five years ago two Israeli scientists, Dr. Leo Sachs of the Weizmann Institute and Dr. M. Bat-Miriam of the Israeli Institute of the Biological Research, came forth with an astounding theory. They analyzed the fingerprints of 4,000 Jewish immigrants and after careful analysis the scientists came to the conclusion that Jewish fingerprints show identical common traits which are not discernible in other races or groups of people. In other words, the Jew has a distinctive fingerprint!
Whether we accept their assertion or not, and whether further evidence will be discovered to either bolster or demolish their research, has yet to be determined. But this I do know, that in fact there is a time-tested and proven method of…

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The Rabbi’s Business

Recently, after koshering a congregant’s home, she asked, “What do I do if…”  Without letting her finish the sentence I replied, “Call me and ask.”
“Can’t you just give me some general pointers?” she persisted.  “I don’t want to keep on bothering you.”
Well believe it or not, that’s a Rabbi’s job.  I don’t mean being bothered.  Answering shailos, which is the Hebrew word for legal questions in Jewish life.  In fact, not too long ago in the shtetls of Europe, that’s what most community Rabbis spent their day doing.  And the questioning congregant was always made to feel like a welcome customer.  After all, if it weren’t for people with shailos, the Rabbi wouldn’t be in business.
There’s a…

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