Do you believe that only famous people have a unique purpose?  Do you think that only larger-than-life personalities have a raison d’etre, and you do not? You might want to reconsider those attitudes, for we all have a Divine purpose – a G-d given, soul driven mission in this world which we may have intuited as a child and experienced through our identification with great people. That secret yearning, to strive to reach ones ultimate potential, is an intuitive message from our souls (neshoma) encouraging us to be that special someone.

In order to achieve this lofty goal we not only need to refine ourselves but it is most conducive to structure our surroundings with supernal cues that remind us of our true purpose and highest aspirations. The third essential “ingredient” is the elusive “dimension” of time. Just like space can be measured, so also time can be measured by the amount of cerebral ticks of our minds as they synchronize with pulse beat of our desires. Time is not just an invention of convenience for personal scheduling but has been given by The Creator to help us define the spatial reality of the Jewish year. Like each room in a house, which each serves a unique purpose and function as designed by its architect and constructed by its builders, how much more so are the coordinates of time, which can be perceived as an ethereal “structure” that have an on the sight Architect and His wise talented “builders” (the Sages) who have authorization to synchronize our calendar with the Heavenly timelines. So let us take an opportunity to focus on the use and value of our precious time.

               When we learn how to manage our time so as to prioritize our tasks and put our service of the Creator (Hashem) first and foremost, then we receive our “promotions”, but first we are tested in using our time well.  Although each of the calibrations on the clock is evenly spaced and the hands of the clock travel at a uniform speed, time is not objective and homogeneous, but subjective, varied  and  responsive to our attitudes and moods.  This flexibility gives us an opportunity to make a meaningful choice:  We can consider time to be  a vessel  that can hold a collection of  golden eternal currency or see it as merely a container for storing the ephemera of a mundane existence.  We are all capable of transforming time by converting it from an earthly time piece into a G-d given gift that can be used as the vehicle for achieving eternal holiness in our lives.  

Each one of us has the most desirable of all possible goals for which to strive towards – those being specified good deeds known as mitzvoth which are instruments of eternality. These precious “gifts of opportunity” bestowed upon us by the Creator are embedded within even the most “mundane” task and activity, just ready to transform it into one of overarching   importance. 

Mitzvoth are not only limited to great and heroic community projects but  any act  can be done in service of Hashem when it is done for the right reasons in the correct way.

When  we attempt to realign our priorities, there is one force that will not be happy.  Our negative inclination (yetzer hara) will use all of its wiles to dissuade us from our goals, which is often an easy task, since the array of opportunities for misaligning  time is seemingly endless. [1]   Thus our first step in this process is to ask Hashem for help in refining and maximizing the use of our precious time. The Sages inform us that we need only move in the right direction, creating an opening as small as the size of a pin hole, for the Creator to then  open for us opportunities the size of the doors of  the Holy Temple (Bais HaMigdash) in Jerusalem, may it be built soon in our days.

Watch an expert packing a suitcase.  He or she will be able to put more in and get it to close more smoothly then we ever could have imagined.  Our days are like that suitcase in that, throughout each day, we are given opportunities to find corners and crevices of time that are just right for certain activities.

And where is all of this leading?  After we have practiced these techniques for a while, we may truly appreciate that each minute of life and opportunity is precious thereby always being inspired to fill that time in meaningful ways with a positive attitude. Through striving to fulfill ones unique abilities our inner creative energy will come bursting forth with joy and dedication. Priorities will then align themselves almost naturally and intuitively and the time we devote to our good deeds will often be expressed in minutes salvaged from the corners and crevices of that “suitcase” we spoke of earlier and placed into the service of Hashem to fulfill His purpose for us in this world. May we merit this blessing soon in our days.

---

[1] .  Indeed, the Sages tell us that the main stumbling block of even the greatest righteous people (tzaddikim) were rooted in the miscalculation of  time.  This sin of Adam and Chava was not that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge at the wrong time. The Sages explain that had they waited until  Shabbos, the Creator would have given them permission to eat from this tree. Likewise, King David was judged for marrying Bas Sheva before  the Heavenly designated time.

 

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

                    We see them frequently – health articles that offer a seemingly simple prevention or even claimed cures for serious illnesses.  We may sometimes dismiss them as wishful thinking, but perhaps we shouldn’t.

The article that caught my eye recently was about how bananas can cut the risk of kidney cancer. [1]  By now many  of us know  that certain herbs with very exotic names like gotu kola or ginkgo now have documented medical preventive and even in some cases curative effects, but bananas . . .!   Nonetheless, the dietary study that was reported in a prestigious scientific journal was pretty impressive. It was conducted with some 61,000 Swedish people between the ages of 40 to 76 who were followed for an average of thirteen years. And what were the results?  Apparently the subjects who ate bananas four to six times a week had about half the risk of contracting kidney cancer as those who did not. Eating root vegetables such as carrots and beets, white cabbage, lettuce & cucumbers also greatly helped to protect against renal cell carcinoma.

            So this article was more difficult to dismiss then many undocumented natural health claims, not merely because it teamed up two such unlikely partners as kidneys and bananas, but because there are many things about this small organ that are fascinating.

In a 160 pound adult, the kidneys weigh only about three quarters of a pound, yet they do an incredible job.  The kidneys filter the blood at a rate of 45 gallons a day.  Since we have 7 or 8 liters or somewhat less then  two gallons of blood in our bodies, this means that the entire blood volume gets filtered approximately 20 to 25 times each day. 

What the kidneys are doing in this process is balancing the  composition of the blood by keeping the ratio of important substances constant.  They also keep the amount of water in the body stable, remove wastes and keep the acids and bases in balance. The kidney is the only organ in the body in which two capillary beds laid out in a series connect the arteries with the veins. Arteries carry oxygenated blood and nutrients to the cells while the veins  transport blood containing carbon dioxide and waste products discarded from the cells.

This physiological function, as amazingly complex  as it is, does not quite explain why or how David Hamelech “consulted” with his kidneys and Avraham Aveinu was taught by them and the fact that our Sages therefore learn that  the kidneys are the “seat of  the power of judgment and the source of  advice”.   

             Sounds interesting! But wait it gets even more interesting because these food stuffs that protect the body against various malignancies are, according to this research study, all common place vegetables. What is the secretive power hidden within these natural foods.

According to the scientists,  these vegetables work to help to protect against cancer because they contain antioxidants and antioxidant boosters.  Antioxidants  fight the scourge known as “free radicals.” Free radicals are  chemically active atoms or molecules that have an unbalanced number of electrons, that is instead of even numbers of paired electrons they will have either too many or too few.   To reach the necessary state of equilibrium, free radicals will scavenge the body either releasing or stealing electrons in an effort to rebalance themselves, and leaving, in their wake, more unstable products in a chain reaction effect.  This activity causes tremendous damage to cells, proteins and DNA.  Anti oxidants fight this process by stabilizing the radical before it begins to do its damage or by breaking the chain after it has been formed.   

Let’s see what comes out of all of this.  On the physical side the kidneys are the organs that mediate between the two major opposing components of the circulatory system: that being its the arteries and the veins, as well as balancing the composition of the blood in the process, while its counterpart spiritual “kidneys” serve as the “organs of discernment”. How so? Just as the role of the kidneys are to mediate the divergent flows of the life force within us and neutralize any negative influence so as to rebalance the body, our “supernal kidneys” are given to us in order to maintain the health and balance of our souls.

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

                   Have you ever found yourself praying (davening) mechanically –your lips mumbling through  the familiar and soothing cadence of the liturgy (nusach) — as  your mind  wanders off  the page and goes on an excursion of its own.  Unfortunately, many of us have had this uncomfortable experience.  When we do, we find ourselves fighting a battle on several fronts. We could feel inadequate and perhaps even hypocritical in our prayers (tefillos) thereby making it all the more difficult to achieve the joy, enthusiasm and sincerity we strive for. How can we experience renewal and joy in our tefillos when we daven almost the same words each day? [1]  

One might think that our service of Hashem would be much more enthusiastic if we could pray simply in accordance with our emotions and thoughts.[2] Of course, personalized prayer is not only permissible but very encouraged.  However, here, we are exploring the need for and unique value of set prayer.  It is the combination of personal and set prayer that  allows us to maximize our potential to communicate with Hashem. Also as we properly understand and utilize set prayer, it becomes our own.

  What we do not realize is that the words of our tefilloth are indeed different and unique every time we pray (daven), however, these delicately nuanced and subtle changes usually are not perceptible to us even though they have significant profound long term effects on a spiritual level.

            Though we may understand these concepts intellectually, how can we better connect and relate to them?  By recognizing that it is the Creator (Hashem) who renews these brachas every single day and not taking any peaceful, healthy moment for granted, we certainly will feel the need and value of every tefillah.  

One of the challenges with finding inspiration is not seeing the effect of our prayers. Ironically, this ‘silence from Above’ is one of the greatest blessings we have, albeit one that may be difficult for us to appreciate.  This ‘silence’ can serve to inspire our emunah – belief.  To appreciate the gap between belief and knowledge,  take a moment to imagine how we would feel  if  we were actually able to  see how  our heart-felt tefillos for  the recovery of a loved one, provided health and healing to unknown ,countless others.   Imagine how inspired we would be if we could  see how our prayers for sustenance were bringing plenty into this world; how our blessings (bracot) provided spiritual nourishment for the fields of grain and the fruit orchards.

       Consider the following (moshal) paradigm: You are the pilot of a hi-tech plane that is flown only with instruments without any windows. You are assigned to fly several missions, but are not told what precisely what is being accomplished.  You are highly trained to respond to all of the data that is fed back to you and you program in delicate course adjustments and press certain buttons and pull certain levers. At the end of  the flight, you see that you have returned to your original point of take off.

              If you would ask your flight director what value the flights had, he might tell you: You flew over the vast fields that provides much of the produce for that area. The first time you flew you seeded the fields. The next time you flew over the fields you watered the sprouting seeds and then finally you sprayed the young crops with a substance that protected them.  If you had missed any of the flights, there would have been no produce available in the area. You served your country well by providing it with nourishing food.

             We each have been sent here with specific missions, in which we often don’t see the results of our actions and efforts. We can, however, be sure that by following our (Torah) Jewish teachings, we are helping to cultivate blessings throughout the world and the entire universe. Indeed, part of the definition of exile (galus), is to be “spiritually blind” to the relationship between our prayers, (mitzvoth) essential good deeds and the results that flow from them.  However, our inability to see the cause and effect result of our efforts does not minimize their great importance and even increases the blessings and benefits for all mankind.

Even during those moments that our tefillos seem imperfect, we can  take strength from the knowledge that the holy nusach is working for us. This is because tefillah is an idealistic form of altruistic service. Even the self-importance we may feel when we have a “good davening,” can jeopardize it.  Thus when we  humbly recognize that our tefillos are lacking, that very humility may serve as an impetus for their acceptance.    Indeed, Hashem is close to the broken hearted and humble of spirit , and it is at that moment that we can pray (daven) for the Divine presence (Shechina) which  is in galus with us sharing in our exile. Tefillah allows us the opportunity to pray (daven) sincerely for others, whether or not they are known to us.  The opportunity to daven for others provides a profound lesson in unconditional giving. Another facet of  prayer is its  capacity for connecting us to the Divine Presence (Shechina), whose exile, so to speak, is reflected through the problems of this world.  The difficulties we personally experience allow us to relate the exile of the Shechina. For, in the future when the Shechina will dwell among us in its full glory the world will reflect this revelation through health, happiness and all good things.   

The set nusach , created by the Sages of the great courts know as the Anshei Kenesset Hagedola during the time of the holy Temple in Jerusalem,  is a beautiful astonishingly durable vessel which has remained constant in our service over the centuries in galus no matter where we have lived and what our needs were. It is  universal in that it has been able to convey the  heart felt appreciation, needs, dreams and hopes of a nation as diverse as ours, and yet sufficiently specific so as to  effectively convey  our uniquely personal connections with Hashem.  

The nusach that many of us know so well, and indeed have even committed to memory, releases us from the need to overly concentrate on the pronunciation, grammar, word order or sentence structure and thus  allowing us greater focus on the purpose and intentions of the tefillos.  It is the nusach of our set prayer that specifically allows us to transcend our physical limitations and safely travel the beautiful “spiritual highway of  prayer” created by our Sages, allowing us to offer our inner thoughts, needs, and emotional outpourings directly to Hashem. This then allows us to open the door to our higher consciousness which then aids us to peel off the superficial outer layers allowing us to reach our inner spiritual core. Through the perfectly crafted prayers that our holy Sages designed, we are able to enter a new realm of highly contemplative thought.

Thus, it is specifically through the set nusach that we can gain access to the innermost Palace. Not surprisingly the word nusach – נוסח — contains the same four letters as chason — חסון –which means sturdy, strong and powerful. Our nusach is that sturdy, strong and powerful vessel that carries the soul’s expression of praise and need up to the Heavenly throne.  

 May our unified tefillot awaken Divine mercy from Above, thereby bringing peace and harmony along with the long awaited final geula to all mankind 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

     One of the experimental and clinical findings of scientists and doctors has corroborated the benefits of meditative breathing, because the combination of cadenced contemplation has apparently the power to harmonize imbalances to the psyche and emotions caused by life’s daily stresses. However, the esoteric teaching of the Jewish scriptures (Torah)  reveals far deeper connections between the breath and the soul (neshoma). It is no coincidence that the word for breath in Hebrew (Loshen HaKodesh) is the word neshima whose root letters are the same letters (osios) as neshoma which is the Hebrew word for the soul [1] . The Torah thereby has for over three thousand years revealed this secret of the symbiotic relationship between the soul (neshoma) and the (neshima) breath. In lay language one could say that in order to turn up the volume of the metaphysical realm one needs first to turn down the volume of physical sensations.    

        Many mistakenly assume that these meditative practices originated in the far East, however this revelation actually has its roots going all the way back to the very creation of man. [2]                 

On a deeper level we can add that within every breath, that is bound to a positive thought, we are able to nourish from the spiritual treasury of the Source of all life. Then through our exhaling we have the ability to share those blessings with others and with the whole creation.

 Also, we can consciously envision each inhalation as a Divine reenactment of that initial breath that came directly from the Creator to the first man. (Please look at footnote 2 here if you have not already done so).  Each breath is a new opportunity to reawaken our souls energy thereby revitalizing the health of the body, mind and emotions.

            One of the main purposes of the neshoma having been sent into this world is to endeavor to help purify and rectify it. The body, mind and emotions are meant to be helpmates in providing their unique functions and talents. Since thought comes before words and action, the building blocks of righteousness begins in sifting and straining any less than ideal thoughts that arise and replacing them with “kosher vibrations”.

  What are kosher vibrations you are asking? They are the kind of thoughts and perceptions that we are not ashamed to entertain in front of anyone including the Creator.  They are the good conscience factors that counsel restraint rather than indulgence.  They are the kinds of thoughts experiences we would feel proud to relate to a beloved grandparent or a respected teacher.  They are the kind of thoughts that we can safely assume have occupied the head space of great righteous people (tzaddikim). 

                Ideally, every sound we hear and image we absorb should afford us only the purest and most focused thoughts. However, in our world today, such is often, unfortunately, not the case. We begin therefore by setting up a series of “filters” through which impressions from the outside and our inside world can be sifted.  The first such filter is watchfulness.  A good exercise in watchfulness is to first identify undesirable thoughts and feelings, then isolate and expel them as you exhale into oblivion.  At first blush, this may seem stilted, however, once we begin to scrutinize how many unwanted sights and sounds pass through the “boarders” of our senses we will begin to realize that we need to tighten our “border security”. 

After a relatively short period of contemplation, we then are able to quickly recognize potentially detrimental thoughts, words and images and immediately either escort them to the waste bin or transform them into kosher thoughts and feelings that elevate the soul. However, if all we do is purge ourselves of the mental and emotional toxins, this is not enough to bring us to glowing vibrant health, because just as in a healthy diet, we need to replace those “empty calories” with nourishing foods, how much more so do we need to absorb only a highly refined supernal diet filled with holiest “nutrients”. The Torah teachings offer us a lifestyle that is balanced and the highest quality of spiritually enriched nutrients.

              (Let us now do a Jewish meditation that will aid in the purification and enlightenment process. First find a quiet moment where there are no outer distractions. Begin, for example, by saying Psalms (Tehillim), chanting in your own words, scanning some esoteric passage or by listening to an uplifting song or melody.

          Once you have begun to relax, try to stop all mental activity except for the observation of your breath.  As you inhale, picture your breath (neshima) as a renewed aspect of your soul sent to you from on High and entering  as a pure radiance of holiness and then  circulating throughout  your entire body.  Breathe in slowly, deeply holding each breath for as long as is comfortable. During this time, concentrate on the breath thinking  that this, neshima,  breath is giving you your renewed Neshama, soul which comes directly from the Creator to you with Infinite love and care and that through this you are intimately connected  with G-d.

        Then as you slowly exhale,  send  mental and  emotional stresses and undesirable thoughts out of your mind. Just breathe and let them go with a puff as if you are winnowing out undesirable chaff.    Feel  burdens and stress   lifted  from you as you purify and refine your thoughts and emotions exchanging negative thoughts for positive ones. Continue doing this until you feel totally relaxed, renewed and free from toxic stress and negative thoughts and emotions.  Now  you are able to exhale pure thoughts, filled with holiness and goodness.  Visualize yourself  as sanctifying the entire world with these pure breaths  and  thoughts, understanding  that  they are a spiritual place (mikveh) of purification for the world, bringing it  to greater levels of holiness. Before completing your meditation, verbally express your gratitude and appreciation for the gift of life.)

   Perfection of the meditation practice that was described is not meant to be an end unto itself, but only act as catalyst to help bring about a shift in consciousness that we can adapt into all of our days activities.  Even as the baby is crying or the boss is making demands or a tire goes flat on the highway, we will be able to spontaneously exhale away the stress and feel reinvigorated as we reconnect, through the breath (neshima), with our soul (neshoma) thereby successfully dealing with the challenging situations with equanimity and dignity.  However, even this desirable level is not our ultimate goal, as we should continue to refine our thinking until we reach the place where we can use every breath, word and action to express our deep appreciation of life and the bounty we constantly receive from the Creator.

---

[1]    The soul (neshima) has no corporal form and does not exist in space and time,  yet  each individual has a unique soul. That uniqueness is expressed in the human personality, yet the personality is not the soul. How can we understand this conundrum? The Infinite Creator knows exactly which form of vessel – body – will best serve the needs of a particular soul. Like water, the soul which has no shape or form of its own disperses throughout according to each person’s potential and needs. Every place that the soul reaches is therefore potentially sacred.

            

[2] In Genesis,  the Torah teaches that G-d, created man by breathing the soul of life into his nostrils. The Zohar, in the kabalistic tradition, tells us that “One who blows, blows from within himself,”  thus teaching that  G-d  placed into man a soul, neshama, that originated from within G-d Himself .  In the holy tongue, lashon kodesh, the word for soul, neshama and the word for breath, neshima, are very similar.  Neshima, breath, has one extra letter. The extra letter in the word for breath is the letter yud which represents G-d’s Holy Name.  This parallel suggests that the breath is intimately tied to the soul and that every soul is harnessed constantly to the Supernal  Will of  G-d.                              

Parsha Bereishis 2: 7 “And Hashem, G-d, formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into the nostrils the soul (neshoma) of life; and man became a living being.” The Stone Editon Chumash

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

THE ECONOMICS OF TIME

                         Do you believe that only famous people have a unique purpose?  Do you think that only larger-than-life personalities have a raison d’etre, and you do not? You might want to reconsider those attitudes, for we all have a Divine purpose – a G-d given, soul driven mission in this world which we may have intuited as a child and experienced through our identification with great people. That secret yearning, to strive to reach ones ultimate potential, is an intuitive message from our souls (neshoma) encouraging us to be that special someone.

  In order to achieve this lofty goal we not only need to refine ourselves but it is most conducive to structure our surroundings with supernal cues that remind us of our true purpose and highest aspirations. The third essential “ingredient” is the elusive “dimension” of time. Just like space can be measured, so also time can be measured by the amount of cerebral ticks of our minds as they synchronize with pulse beat of our desires.

Time is not just an invention of convenience for personal scheduling but has been given by The Creator to help us define the spatial reality of the Jewish year. Like each room in a house, which each serves a unique purpose and function as designed by its architect and constructed by its builders, how much more so are the coordinates of time, which can be perceived as an ethereal “structure” that have an on the sight Architect and His wise talented “builders” (the Sages) who have authorization to synchronize our calendar with the Heavenly timelines. So let us take an opportunity to focus on the use and value of our precious time.

               When we learn how to manage our time so as to prioritize our tasks and put our service of the Creator (Hashem) first and foremost, then we receive our “promotions”, but first we are tested in using our time well.  Although each of the calibrations on the clock is evenly spaced and the hands of the clock travel at a uniform speed, time is not objective and homogeneous, but subjective, varied  and  responsive to our attitudes and moods.  This flexibility gives us an opportunity to make a meaningful choice:  We can consider time to be  a vessel  that can hold a collection of  golden eternal currency or see it as merely a container for storing the ephemera of a mundane existence.  We are all capable of transforming time by converting it from an earthly time piece into a G-d given gift that can be used as the vehicle for achieving eternal holiness in our lives.  

Each one of us has the most desirable of all possible goals for which to strive towards – those being specified good deeds known as mitzvoth which are instruments of eternality. These precious “gifts of opportunity” bestowed upon us by the Creator are embedded within even the most “mundane” task and activity, just ready to transform it into one of overarching   importance. 

Mitzvoth are not only limited to great and heroic community projects but  any act  can be done in service of Hashem when it is done for the right reasons in the correct way.

When  we attempt to realign our priorities, there is one force that will not be happy.  Our negative inclination (yetzer hara) will use all of its wiles to dissuade us from our goals, which is often an easy task, since the array of opportunities for misaligning  time is seemingly endless. [1]   Thus our first step in this process is to ask Hashem for help in refining and maximizing the use of our precious time. The Sages inform us that we need only move in the right direction, creating an opening as small as the size of a pin hole, for the Creator to then  open for us opportunities the size of the doors of  the Holy Temple (Bais HaMigdash) in Jerusalem, may it be built soon in our days.

Watch an expert packing a suitcase.  He or she will be able to put more in and get it to close more smoothly then we ever could have imagined.  Our days are like that suitcase in that, throughout each day, we are given opportunities to find corners and crevices of time that are just right for certain activities.

And where is all of this leading?  After we have practiced these techniques for a while, we may truly appreciate that each minute of life and opportunity is precious thereby always being inspired to fill that time in meaningful ways with a positive attitude. Through striving to fulfill ones unique abilities our inner creative energy will come bursting forth with joy and dedication. Priorities will then align themselves almost naturally and intuitively and the time we devote to our good deeds will often be expressed in minutes salvaged from the corners and crevices of that “suitcase” we spoke of earlier and placed into the service of Hashem to fulfill His purpose for us in this world. May we merit this blessing soon in our days.

© YB and SE Falk

All rights reserved

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

   Have you ever found yourself praying (davening) mechanically –your lips mumbling through  the familiar and soothing cadence of the liturgy (nusach) — as  your mind  wanders off  the page and goes on an excursion of its own.  Unfortunately, many of us have had this uncomfortable experience.  When we do, we find ourselves fighting a battle on several fronts. We could feel inadequate and perhaps even hypocritical in our prayers (tefillos) thereby making it all the more difficult to achieve the joy, enthusiasm and sincerity we strive for. How can we experience renewal and joy in our tefillos when we daven almost the same words each day? [1]  

One might think that our service of Hashem would be much more enthusiastic if we could pray simply in accordance with our emotions and thoughts.[2] Of course, personalized prayer is not only permissible but very encouraged.  However, here, we are exploring the need for and unique value of set prayer.  It is the combination of personal and set prayer that  allows us to maximize our potential to communicate with Hashem. Also as we properly understand and utilize set prayer, it becomes our own.

  What we do not realize is that the words of our tefilloth are indeed different and unique every time we pray (daven), however, these delicately nuanced and subtle changes usually are not perceptible to us even though they have significant profound long term effects on a spiritual level.

            Though we may understand these concepts intellectually, how can we better connect and relate to them?  By recognizing that it is the Creator (Hashem) who renews these brachas every single day and not taking any peaceful, healthy moment for granted, we certainly will feel the need and value of every tefillah.  

One of the challenges with finding inspiration is not seeing the effect of our prayers. Ironically, this ‘silence from Above’ is one of the greatest blessings we have, albeit one that may be difficult for us to appreciate.  This ‘silence’ can serve to inspire our emunah – belief.  To appreciate the gap between belief and knowledge,  take a moment to imagine how we would feel  if  we were actually able to  see how  our heart-felt tefillos for  the recovery of a loved one, provided health and healing to unknown ,countless others.   Imagine how inspired we would be if we could  see how our prayers for sustenance were bringing plenty into this world; how our blessings (bracot) provided spiritual nourishment for the fields of grain and the fruit orchards.

       Consider the following (moshal) paradigm: You are the pilot of a hi-tech plane that is flown only with instruments without any windows. You are assigned to fly several missions, but are not told what precisely what is being accomplished.  You are highly trained to respond to all of the data that is fed back to you and you program in delicate course adjustments and press certain buttons and pull certain levers. At the end of  the flight, you see that you have returned to your original point of take off.

              If you would ask your flight director what value the flights had, he might tell you: You flew over the vast fields that provides much of the produce for that area. The first time you flew you seeded the fields. The next time you flew over the fields you watered the sprouting seeds and then finally you sprayed the young crops with a substance that protected them.  If you had missed any of the flights, there would have been no produce available in the area. You served your country well by providing it with nourishing food.

             We each have been sent here with specific missions, in which we often don’t see the results of our actions and efforts. We can, however, be sure that by following our (Torah) Jewish teachings, we are helping to cultivate blessings throughout the world and the entire universe. Indeed, part of the definition of exile (galus), is to be “spiritually blind” to the relationship between our prayers, (mitzvoth) essential good deeds and the results that flow from them.  However, our inability to see the cause and effect result of our efforts does not minimize their great importance and even increases the blessings and benefits for all mankind.

Even during those moments that our tefillos seem imperfect, we can  take strength from the knowledge that the holy nusach is working for us. This is because tefillah is an idealistic form of altruistic service. Even the self-importance we may feel when we have a “good davening,” can jeopardize it.  Thus when we  humbly recognize that our tefillos are lacking, that very humility may serve as an impetus for their acceptance.    Indeed, Hashem is close to the broken hearted and humble of spirit , and it is at that moment that we can pray (daven) for the Divine presence (Shechina) which  is in galus with us sharing in our exile. Tefillah allows us the opportunity to pray (daven) sincerely for others, whether or not they are known to us.  The opportunity to daven for others provides a profound lesson in unconditional giving. Another facet of  prayer is its  capacity for connecting us to the Divine Presence (Shechina), whose exile, so to speak, is reflected through the problems of this world.  The difficulties we personally experience allow us to relate the exile of the Shechina. For, in the future when the Shechina will dwell among us in its full glory the world will reflect this revelation through health, happiness and all good things.   

The set nusach , created by the Sages of the great courts know as the Anshei Kenesset Hagedola during the time of the holy Temple in Jerusalem,  is a beautiful astonishingly durable vessel which has remained constant in our service over the centuries in galus no matter where we have lived and what our needs were. It is  universal in that it has been able to convey the  heart felt appreciation, needs, dreams and hopes of a nation as diverse as ours, and yet sufficiently specific so as to  effectively convey  our uniquely personal connections with Hashem.  

The nusach that many of us know so well, and indeed have even committed to memory, releases us from the need to overly concentrate on the pronunciation, grammar, word order or sentence structure and thus  allowing us greater focus on the purpose and intentions of the tefillos.  It is the nusach of our set prayer that specifically allows us to transcend our physical limitations and safely travel the beautiful “spiritual highway of  prayer” created by our Sages, allowing us to offer our inner thoughts, needs, and emotional outpourings directly to Hashem. This then allows us to open the door to our higher consciousness which then aids us to peel off the superficial outer layers allowing us to reach our inner spiritual core. Through the perfectly crafted prayers that our holy Sages designed, we are able to enter a new realm of highly contemplative thought.

Thus, it is specifically through the set nusach that we can gain access to the innermost Palace. Not surprisingly the word nusach – נוסח — contains the same four letters as chason — חסון –which means sturdy, strong and powerful. Our nusach is that sturdy, strong and powerful vessel that carries the soul’s expression of praise and need up to the Heavenly throne.  

 May our unified tefillot awaken Divine mercy from Above, thereby bringing peace and harmony along with the long awaited final geula to all mankind 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

             On January 4, 1954 six of the largest cigarette companies in the country and certain large tobacco growers got together and published “The Frank Statement” in the New York Times.  In this full page ad they attempted to deflect growing concern with the health risks of smoking, announcing that they were aware of the experiments with mice that linked smoking with cancer, but claimed that the “experiments [were] not regarded as conclusive in the field of cancer research,” and pledged “aid and assistance to the research effort into all phases of tobacco and health.” 

Over the last few decades, juries in courtrooms across the country have had to decide whether this statement was evidence of a massive conspiracy of silence among cigarette manufacturers who already knew all too well of the link between smoking and cancer or whether it accurately reflected the paucity of their knowledge at the time and their genuine interest in clarification. 

In any event, no one today doubts that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer and other fatal illnesses.  According to the American Cancer Society,  the use of tobacco in its various forms, in the United States was responsible for 1 in 5 deaths. This means that hundreds of thousands of men and women die each year because of tobacco use. 

Each year second hand smoke may be responsible for about 3,000 lung cancer deaths in non smoking adults and an additional 35,000 to 40,000 cases of heart disease in people who are not current smokers . At present still tens of millions of people in this country alone are still currently smoking.

In recent times has arisen a new potential health hazard as the number of cell phone users in the world has already reached the billions. There has been a flurry of research tending to show that cell phones may cause damage at the cellular/genetic level under laboratory conditions. A number of European institutes have done thorough studies that have showed that cells exposed to electromagnetic field similar to those emitted by cell phones showed significant increases in DNA strand breaks.  However, some of the world’s mobile phone makers are calling for more research and “awaiting evaluation by the scientific community.” It is starting to sound a bit like the smoking and cancer controversy of the fifties and sixties.  Okay, but is that all there is to the cell phone- cigarette connection– or is there something deeper here.

We are taught by our Sages that each of us is given a lifetime quota of words, however words that we use to learn Torah or to accomplish (mitzvoth and ma’asim tovim) acts of kindness are not deducted from this fund. Perhaps it can be inferred that unnecessary words are subtracted from the total.  This makes sense because– as we may quietly admit to ourselves–we have been more often “tripped up” by our tongues than by our feet.

The extra “air time”, now  available to cell phone users for little or no extra cost  could raise the total amount of time spent in conversation  and thus statistically  increase the potential for some of those conversations to be spiritually as well as physically detrimental.  Both cell phones and cigarettes involve the use of our breath and in both cases –  what is not so obvious is that the passive by-stander can also be harmed.  When  cigarette smoke is exhaled, this so called, second hand smoke, has proven to be very dangerous to those exposed.   Like the person who inhales second hand smoke, the person who merely listens to (richilus or loshon hara) slander or gossip can be as detrimentally affected by what is being said as is the speaker.   

The good news is that cell phones unlike cigarettes can and do have positive applications and can enhance the (simcha) joy of life by making traveling safer, planning and doing (mitzvoth) good deeds easier and keeping relatives and friends more accessible. Some scientific researchers have suggested that potential side effects can be minimized by keeping the cell phone away from the head by using wireless ear phones and keeping the cell phone itself away from any vital organs. We might add one more suggestion to our cell phone do and don’t list:  Keep in mind our Heavenly “calling plan quota”!

              A final upbeat note: Just as friends and lucrative business deals are instantaneously within our reach at all times and places, how much more so is the Creator always available– all we need to do is connect and speak up.

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

              From Atkins to the Zone and everything in between, diet, nutrition and fitness are the all consuming topics of this generation.  Countless hours are invested in trying to find that perfect combination of food, nutritional supplements and exercise.    In the process, kitchens are transformed into mini-labs complete with scales and measures, herbs and sprout growers, juicers grinders and processors of all sorts.  Precious space in small apartments has been dedicated to all kinds of exercise equipment. Books and magazines on health and nutrition crowd the shelves and pantries are filled with nutritional experiments.

Contemporary diet and nutrition programs have, for many, virtually  become  belief systems.  Each dietary path has its devoted adherents – ready to defend their faith to the last spoonful.   How can this be, we wonder?   Health and fitness are purely a physical, factual matter– are they not?  Yet people speak in terms of guilt, shame and taboo when they talk about eating. What is the deeper message in all of this from the Heavenly prospective? Is it only weight control or is there a more profound meaning to this diet revolution?

            First, let us take a moment to think about just how many facets of  life reflect occupation or preoccupation with food.  Eating and drinking are primary pleasures that have generated a multi billion dollar industry. Today, there is virtually no taste experience that is not available to the kosher consumer and so all of the  gustatory adventures available to the world at large  are open to observant Jews as well.

Inspired by the media and the merchandizing masters, the average person spends a startling percentage of his or her waking hours, buying, preparing and eating food and drinking beverages.  In reaction, many will then invest additional time learning to resist temptation.  If we add to these figures the amount of time and effort spent on learning to live with  food allergies and combating eating disorders we can easily see how  some enormous percent of  time and energy is spent in these pursuits.

Thus, dieting has a tremendous mass appeal because it meets the diverse needs of large numbers of people.

       Let us return to our original question.  What is it about diet –whether elective or mandated by  an allergy or condition–that has become such a preoccupying factor in people’s  lives? Perhaps this phenomenon is a preparatory precursor to the time, in the hopefully not too distant future, when the Creator will impose a new world order known as the “birth pangs” of the the world’s redeemer (Mashiach) bringing with it a new state of higher consciousness for all mankind. Yet to achieve this new state of consciousness there will have to be a refocus upon things spiritual.  How can this happen we may wonder when we spend so much time pursuing materialistic goals. How will we ever willingly follow principles that are linked to spirituality which require the dedication of considerable time and effort?

Society’s preoccupation with food and specifically with dieting is perhaps a part of the Divine solution to this question.   For there is nothing like a diet to train a person in the skills needed to  achieve the discipline of following rules established by someone other than themselves  and experience the humility of  trying to overcome obstacles. 

Instilling belief:     Dieting works best when the dieter believes in his or her chosen diet.  Changing life long eating habits is challenging and for most  that challenge can only be met when the dieter is persuaded that the diet will completely overhaul and change his or her life.

Disciplined Action:   Once convinced of the virtues of a  particular way of eating, the dieter is willing to weigh every mouthful, go miles out of the way to find certified organic foods,  eat only according to a rigid schedule and learn to tolerate the physiological and psychological challenges that are a  part of the process.   

Reaping the Rewards:    When  dieters  painstakingly follow their diet plan, they experience  the  “good feeling”  that comes with  gaining control and mastery over their desires.  Indeed,  weight control may  be their first  experience of  self imposed discipline and restriction which leads them towards personal empowerment.  

Let us bring that intuition into focus and look at it more closely.  

Towards a Universal Diet: 

The new age goals of fitness and  health  are very important to many of us.   Whether prodded by their fears of gaining or losing weight, of becoming ill or of  showing the signs of aging,  many of us are willing to spend time and effort studying and investigating competing dietary claims and adhering to restrictive dietary regimens.  Many are willing to swallow the inflated costs of  buying  organic foods and  nutritional supplements and endure strenuous and often monotonous  exercise regimens.

For the health advocate, a profound yet practical benefit of these programs  is an enhanced awareness of the significance of  these actions.  This awareness  can lead to an heightened level of consciousness that will incorporate self control and discipline into many other facets of  their lives.                 However this is only the beginning.  May we soon see the day that we who  had previously weighed and measured our portions,  are weighing  and measuring the consequences of our actions; monitoring and directing our thoughts and emotions  in accordance with the Creator’s guidelines. We will then be able to  “exercise”  our free will to choose to fulfill the Creator’s will (mitzvoth and ma’asim tovim). These acts of Divine service will then serve as spiritual “wings” for us to reach new supernal heights. This elevation of the consciousness will also empower us to resist ephemeral temptations as we will now see life from an ethereal position  and understand the futility of pursuing temporal goals and ambitions as an end unto themselves.

   Therefore, we need not despair for  the Creator has already embedded within the mundane activities of this world the potential for reconnecting with Hashem.  May  we all  merit to see the final redemption (geulah) 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