GOING TO THE BANK TO CASH IN OUR PRAYERS


             Did you ever ask yourselves how to
explain, the three sections of prayer of first words of praise, followed by
requests and then finalized with words of thanks, to someone who doesn’t see any
connection between the cause and effect of such actions becoming effectual?

               Perhaps we can use the following (moshal)
analogy to better understand how the sincere expressions of our heart can help
to elicit abundant blessings. Let yourself picture receiving a very large check
in the mail, which you deposit in your account at the bank. Next the check goes
through a collection process which will hopefully clear and be finally credited
to your account.

           The “depositing” the check which brings
with it great delight, correlates to the praiseful joy we express for having
another opportunity to “deposit” our time and energy towards our spiritual
account.

           Then just as the bank “requests” for
the crediting of the check, before making it available to the account holder,
so we in our prayers  make “requests” that
will hopefully lead to a crediting our spiritual account.

               Finally just like after the
check has cleared, we are filled with thankfulness for this these available “funds”,
so also after our prayers we heartfelt offer words of thanksgiving for any and
all “funds” that have been or will be credited to our spiritual accountant.

                 May we all be blessed that our “deposits”
of Torah, mitzvos and misim tovim here and now also serve as available “credits”
for our Olam Haba.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

EXPERIENCING THE BEAUTY AND SIMCHA OF HALACIC AND SHABBOS PERCEIVED LIMITATIONS

                 Unfortunately there are some
people that feel that adhering to Jewish laws (halacas), especially the twenty
four plus hours on Shabbos,  feels overly
restrictive and limiting.  How can we
therefore explain to others how to truly appreciate the inner beauty and
expansiveness that is actually achieved through strictly adhering to each
halaca and keeping the Shabbos?

             First let us clearly acknowledge
that the nature of everyone is to feel free and unrestricted, That being said
also at the same time all of us without complaint or negativity everyday strictly
follow the exact rules and regulations for “dialing up” our cell phone or
activating our e-mail in our computer. We willingly and even joyfully push each
button in an exact order because any variance will a cause a malfunction of
some sort.

                  Therefore if we are so
willing to follow perfectly the cell and computer manual  instructions to a tee then why should we find
it so challenging to follow the Torah’s “manual” for keeping Shabbos or other
halacas? After all if that is what works – then do it!

                 Perhaps the following thoughts
will clearly explain the fundamental difference between our cell phone and computer
dial ups and our spiritual “dial ups”. Since no one wants to feel restricted or
limited we are always trying to find new ways to expand our horizons. Whether
though travel, entertainment, hobbies or numerous other intellectual or
emotional outlets each one of us in our own way try to fill our lives with
activities that help make us feel happy and fulfilled. The problem is that we
clearly see that many of those people who have everything they could possibly
want are not truly happy and definitely not feeling fulfilled. Therefore let us
ask why is this so?

              Perhaps we can answer that
although the need for expansion is legitimate and reasonable the direction that
most follow to try to expand is only in the horizontal direction. Take another vacation
or buying another gadget brings temporary pleasure at best. True joy comes
through connecting ourselves to eternal values.

   What is needed for true happiness and
fulfillment is veridical movement. Traveling vertically is the spiritual
component of our lives that connects us to our souls true purpose of living in
this world. This means for example that the same money that can be used to
awaken our physical senses for corporeal pleasures, but that same money can also
be used for acts of kindness.    

   Our problem is that our physical senses are
only calibrated to experience ephemeral joy and happiness which is within the
corporeal horizontal realm of existence.

                Therefore our goal is to learn
how to tune into our spiritual “senses” which can feel the vertical everlasting
joy and happiness that radiates from the fulfillments of mitzvos and keeping
Shabbos.

              Shabbos is a day of total
transformation from the mundane to the supernal, from the transient to the transcendental.

               To all our blog audience – Have a nice Shabbos                     

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

LANGUAGE, LETTERS AND LIFE CONNECTIONS

Bs’d   

                                                                                           
                                          

                 G-d is (Echad) one, Hashem and
that Divine Oneness is never more apparent then in the deep and subtle
connections between language, even secular language, and life. In this case let
us take the English language, and examine the messages that travel just below
the surface of the words themselves, for here too we can find meaning and
significance.

             “A is for Apple . . . B is for
Bird . . .”  a simple child’s chant with
an interesting twist.  There are
conceivably hundreds of words that start with each of the more commonplace and
popular letters of the alphabet.  A quick
perusal of any standard dictionary might lead one to believe that any
connection between these words is pure chance. 
But we know that there is no (mikra) accident in the world, so let us
look a little more deeply and see whether we can find in the letters a subtle
connection.  Let us look at the letter P,
which is for People and which could be a vehicle that helps connect us to
others.  P is  for  prophets
and presidents, professors, performers, politicians,
photographers, pharmacists and  painters.  P is for playwrights and peacemakers,
physicians and physicists, philanthropists and  poets, policemen and  practitioners.  P is for  press-agents and publishers, principals
and psychiatrists, psychologists and  postmen, pilots  and plumbers.

What is the common
link between all of these people? They all serve in professions
that benefit the public? They are all potential agents for
improving community service. They range in diversity from spiritual guides to
blue collar workers from educators and healers to business leaders and they provide
a gamut of services that form the infrastructure of society streamlining function
and maintaining its cohesiveness.

Since (Lashon
Hakodesh) Hebrew is the root of all languages we should be able to see a
connection to all these professions through the holy tongue. The most
obvious and striking linguistic connection between Lashon Hakodesh and English
in regard to these “P” words is that in Lashon Hakodesh the word for
worker is – Poal, indeed even a working word is a poal, a verb,  and the word for livelihood is – Parnosa. It
gets better, “P” or Peh is the first letter of the word for  pruta  a coin  classically
used by (Chazal) the Rabbis to represent the minimum monetary value – money
being the common medium of exchange in return for services rendered. (Mikra)
Coincidence?  .

             Realizing that there is a
concealed interrelationship within language, even every day secular language
can help us respect the power of speech, and help us to choose our words
wisely.  Using language with due
deference to its power will hopefully open our minds to the thought that the proper
pathway to prosperity is not only through our professions,
but through sincere prayer and philanthropy which leads to
everlasting pleasure and true inner peace.    .    

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

SOME AFTER THOUGHTS OF CHANUKAH

 

                            

                 Since everything that exists in the
physical world has a spiritual counterpart, let us try to see if there is any
correlation between the three security mechanisms that are made for physical
protection for our homes and three other spiritual “security systems” that we “install”
that not only protect us but also greatly enhance our lives.

   
    Probably all homes are equipped with door
knob locks, while many people also have bolt locks located higher up on the
door. Then there are a few people who even add a panoramic surveillance security
system on their roofs for what they feel is added protection.

          Let us therefore see if we can possibly
find our spiritual counterparts to these physical security systems? Perhaps our
three mitzvos of of Nar Chanukah, Mazzuah, and Parapet (Ma’aca) can be seen as
our core protection in our homes.

          Interestingly, most of us light our
Nar Chanukah about the same height as our door knobs locks, while we attach the
mezuzos on our doorposts at about the approximant place of the bolt locks.

            Also at the same area of the edge
of our roofs where we would place our parapet (ma’aca) – when required – is
also the ideal place to attach the surveillance security system.

          Therefore let us delve into the heart
of the manner and try to discover a deeper relationship between the placement
of these three mitzvos that are connected to the home and the three security
systems.                            

         At best the surveillance security
helps to protect our possessions from “falling” into the wrong hands, whereas
the supernal crown of the mitzvah of Ma’aca has the power to also protect our
thoughts from “falling” from their elevated heights.

            At best the bolt locks on the doors of our
house can protect us from unwelcome influences, whereas the mitzvos of mezuzos,
which are placed opposite “hearts”, have the ability to also guard us from
uninvited feelings.

          At best the locks on our door handles
can keep the darkness outside, whereas the Neros of Chanukah also have the
power to transform the darkness of galus into the radiance of geula – may it be
so soon in our days.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

CHANUKAH – THE LIGHTING OF OUR INNER LIGHTS

                    

           Let us explore a harmonizing correlation
between the joyous holidays of Chanukah and Purim How so?

             The main tribute of the leader in
the Chanukah story,  Mattisyahu ben
Yochanan, is that he was the Kohan Gadol. The main accolade of the leader in
the Purim story, Mordacai HaTzadik, is that he was the Gadol Ha-Dor. How do
these two important roles complement one another in avodas Hashem?  

                 Perhaps we can say that The Temple service,
as performed by the Kohanim is primarily the paradigm of how to take this finite
physical reality (which includes the animal, mineral and vegetable kingdoms)
and elevate it, raising its inert sparks of holiness, whereas learning and
deriving Torah laws is primarily the paradigm of bringing down and revealing
an aspect of the will the Infinite and thereby instilling holiness into this
corporal reality.

               This means that the Kohan’s quintessential role
is to perform the Divine service within the holy Temple and then those
spiritual lights will radiate throughout the creation, whereas one of the
Talmid Chachim’s exemplary aspects of Divine service is, whenever necessary, to
enact (tackanas) “fences” around the Torah thereby spreading out its kiddusha.
Perhaps we can suggest therefore that our Talmidei Chachamin have been given
the ability to perceive the “spiritual architectural design” of reality and to
bring down, in the form of the halacos, what was previously in the supernal realms
– (makif),  in order to enhance the
sanctity of our lives.                             These two Divine
forms of avoda of The Bais HaMigdash which elevate the kidduha and the Torah of
the Talmud Chachom that draws kiddusha down into this world complement each
other, therefore it is very appropriate that the very same beginning nusach of
Al HaNisim is said on both Chanukah and Purim.

                    May the flame within our
hearts rise up like the narot of Chanukah thereby helping us to merit the
decent of the Bais Shlisi soon in our days. 
               

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia