Todays eMussar Lesson TISHA B’AV\THE NINTH OF AV

 

eMussar – The Wisdom of Personal Growth
A daily inspirational, concise idea, with a suggested action.

Today 8th Av, 5769 – eMussar Lesson -
The Tikun for the Destruction of Our Temple

TISHA B’AV AND SELF-DISCOVERY
TISHA B’AV\THE NINTH OF AV

The Talmud (Yoma 9b) states: “The First Temple was destroyed because of three sins that took place in that era – idol worship, adultery, and murder. Whereas during the period of the Second Temple the people where engaged in Torah study, the performance of Mitzvoth, and good deeds. If so, why was the Second Temple destroyed? It was destroyed because the people of that generation were affected with the trait of baseless hatred.”

Rabbi Akiva taught that the axiomatic principle of the Torah is: “Love your fellow as you love yourself.” There are two components of love: (1) Deed and (2) Thought. “Deeds of Love” means to perform acts of kindness – unconditionally, abundantly, and unceasingly.

Whereas “Thoughts of Love” consists of two ideals: Firstly, is the contemplation of the great benefit of each member of our community, as well as the value of the community at large. The very awareness of these precious thoughts, i.e., the love and worthiness of other people, is the basis of the world’s existence.

Accordingly, the baseless hatred of the people of the Second Temple period caused the Temple to be destroyed. The Temple was the link between the Nation of Israel and Heaven. The Torah urges us to love and value each other. When the love is replaced with baseless hatred, we no longer have the merit to have the Presence of HaShem dwell among us. Consequently, the Temple, i.e., the dwelling place of HaShem, can no longer exist on earth.

The second ideal of “Thoughts of Love” concerns sensitivity to others, i.e., to feel the joy, pain, and needs of our fellow human beings.

The Tikun (rectification) for the sin of baseless hatred is to relate to others with unconditional Love. Let us endeavor to view all of our family members and friends with a positive eye (including yourself.)

In this way, we will re-establish the awareness of “Love for our Fellow,” which is the required condition for the Temple to be re-built.

May we merit seeing the return of the Divine Presence amongst the People of Israel.
[Based on Chachmah V'Mussar of Rav Simchah Zissel Ziv]

Today: Rebuff all negative thoughts of others and fill your mind with positive thoughts about them.

By Rabbi Zvi Miller.

New Blog Post: “Maintaing Mussar Mode“

Daily eMussar

Salant Foundation’s eMussar(sm) gives you a piece of practical wisdom and perspective for your daily life…in just 3 or 4 minutes a day!

These practical character enhancement and personal growth tools stay impact your mind and your character….and you’ll likely have a chance to try out these inspiring insights and lessons almost every day.

Just so you know, “mussar” is the traditional name for the teaching of character development and personal growth. And Salant Foundation’s eMussar delivers this perspective to you every day via e-mail.

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Todays eMussar Lesson 8th Av 5769

 

eMussar – The Wisdom of Personal Growth
A daily inspirational, concise idea, with a suggested action.

Today 8th Av, 5769 – eMussar Lesson -
Special Tisha B’Av Issue

TISHA B’AV AND SELF-DISCOVERY

During the nine day period leading up to Tisha B’Av, we contemplate and mourn over the destruction of the Temple. Yet, since the Temple was lost some 2000 years ago, it is hard for us to grasp exactly what we lost.

After the destruction of the Temple and subsequent exile of the People of Israel to Babylon, HaShem appeared to Ezekiel the prophet, and revealed to him the awesome holiness of the Temple. HaShem told Ezekiel to describe the Temple to the People of Israel, in order to inspire them to return to HaShem.

The Temple was a microcosm of the universe. The energy center of the Temple was the Kadosh HaKadashim – the Holy inner sanctum. The Kadosh HaKadashim corresponds to man, himself. That is, just as man is the central purpose of creation, so too, the Holy inner sanctum, relates to the unique holiness of man.

During the duration of our existence in the material realm, the light of our soul is eclipsed by earthliness. The special quality of the Temple was its “conscious-heightening” function. Whoever entered the domain of the Temple became immediately aware of the powerful holiness of his or her own soul. Through the holiness of the Temple, our own intrinsic holiness was awakened and elevated. The holy stature of our soul illuminated with its true light, like a glorious sun and a radiant angel on high.

This self-awareness is what we lost – the very essence of who we are! To lose the Temple is to lose our true sense of self. Whereas its re-establishment is the foundation of our very life, identity, joy, wisdom and strength!

May we reflect on this wonderful quality of the Temple – to know and enrich ourselves – and yearn for its immediate return.

[Based on Mishnat L'Rebbe Aaron Cutler]

TODAY: Envision yourself entering the Temple – and discover wholeness, holiness, and goodness.

By Rabbi Zvi Miller.

New Blog Post: “Maintaing Mussar Mode“

Daily eMussar

Salant Foundation’s eMussar(sm) gives you a piece of practical wisdom and perspective for your daily life…in just 3 or 4 minutes a day!

These practical character enhancement and personal growth tools stay impact your mind and your character….and you’ll likely have a chance to try out these inspiring insights and lessons almost every day.

Just so you know, “mussar” is the traditional name for the teaching of character development and personal growth. And Salant Foundation’s eMussar delivers this perspective to you every day via e-mail.

It’s FREE…so why not sign up now, please click here to Subscribe.

Support Salant

Secure Donations With Any Credit Card, please click here.

Source: Salant Foundation.

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Daily PiCK ME UPs 8th Av 5769

 

Quotes

from “PiCK-ME-UPs” the book

   

Difficulties Quote

Heart-softening

Suffering pummels our hearts, softening and sensitizing them to higher life-experiences.

By: Rabbi Avraham Tzvi Schwartz of “Self-Growth.“

PiCK-ME-UPs:
Empower yourself, enjoy life!
Not just another book, but a series of lessons to change our lives, turning darkness to light, misery to joy, shame into dignity; giving us a sense of direction, that we may move through our days with enthusiasm and passion, turning each moment into a jewel, a treasure, and a source of great pleasure and enjoyment. Click here for more.

FREE INSPIRATIONAL POSTER – To download high resolution version, click here.

Please visit Rabbi Avraham Tzvi Schwartz’s blog at: Keep Smiling ~ Self-Wealth

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KESER SHEM TOV 8th Av, 5769

 

KESER SHEM TOV

Anthology of the Teachings of the Baal Shem Tov

Section 5.

The Baal Shem Tov taught: “A bat kol (a voice from Heaven) comes out from Mount Chorev (Mount Sinai) and says, “The entire world is sustained b’shvil (literally, for the sake of) my son Chanina . . . . .” Brochos 17b. The Hebrew word “shvil” also means a path, a channel. Thus, the sages mean here that Rabbi Chanina opened up a channel and a path for the flow of Divine beneficence, and hence, “The entire world is sustained through the shvil of my son Chanina”.¹

¹This teaching is based on the premise that there can be no interaction between two utterly different states of existence. That is, there can be no interaction between the spiritual and material worlds, without a medium or an entity that has aspects of both (Etz Chaim, 42:1:42; Toldot Yaakov Yoseph, Kedoshim 5). Thus, we are taught that Moses served as the intermediary between G-d and man in transmitting the Torah, since Moses was, “the man of G-d.” While he was G-dly, he was still fully a man (Deuteronomy 33:1; Sidduro Shel Shabbath, II:2). In this regard, every tzaddik bears a spark of “Moses soul,” and is thus an intermediary – a channel – between G-d and man (Maor Eynayim, Vayelekh [end]; ibid. Yithro, q.v. B’Masecheth Shabbath). This channel is not only for material benefits, but for spiritual ones as well. For example, the great tzaddikim pave new spiritual paths that are then open for others to travel. Sometimes, just by their very attaining spiritual heights, they make it easier for others to attain them with considerably less effort
(Noam Elimelekh, Chayee Sarah, q.v. V’Avraham Zaken).

Translation and commentary by Rabbi Yehoshua Starrett.

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