Heaven on Earth

The renowned tzaddik Reb Zelig Braverman zt'l and his Rebbetzin would bake and distribute challos on erev Shabbos, to the poor of Yerushalayim. Once, a poor person came to his door late on Friday afternoon and asked for two challos. Reb Zelig replied,  "I'm so sorry, but all the challos have been distributed. Nothing is left." The man got angry and smacked Reb Zelig on his face, twice. Reb Zelig immediately took the two challos that were on his table for the Shabbos meal and gave them to the poor man. When the poor man left the house, the family members asked Reb Zelig, "Why did you give away our challos? We need them for the seudah. And does he deserve anything after he slapped you?" Reb Zelig explained that if this poor man slapped him, he probably neededs the challos desperately. Reb Zelig understood that the poor man's wife would be angry if he came home without challos, and there would be a serious shalom bayis problem in their home. "As for us...

When the Vilna Gaon zy'a was a young child, he was playing seesaw with friends, but he didn’t play for long. His father asked him why he stopped. The Vilna Gaon replied that he doesn’t want to go up by causing his friend to go down. (Torah Wellsprings, Kedoshim, 5782)

Rebbe Dovid of Lelov zt'l said, "When people ask me for advice on how to fear Hashem, I don't know what to tell them. But when they ask for advice on loving Hashem, I respond that the path is to love your fellow man." (Torah Wellsprings, Kedoshim, 5782)

Rav Shlomo Wolbe had such radical thoughts that I hesitate to present them here. Most of the rav's work has never been translated, in accordance with the rav's wishes, including the classic "Alei Shur." In the next several po sts, I will present some of the Rav's ideas together with my own attempt to understand and reconcile them. One of the quotes from Rav Wolbe that is probably more famous than any other is this:  "Many people believe in G-d. This is not something unusual. However, many people do not believe in the greatness of the human being, but I do." This is a noble idea to be sure. But is it consistent with what we daven in Hallel? " It is better to rely on the Lord than to trust in man." (Psalms 118:8). King David, the author of this psalm, does not say that man cannot be relied upon, or that people are not to be trusted, but his words do seem to diminish the idea that man possesses an innate nobility or inborn potential for greatness....

Reb Shlomo Frishtik married the daughter of Rebbe Gedalyah Moshe of Zvhil.  Before the first Pesach  as a married couple, Reb Shlomo wondered whether he should eat machine-matzos in his father's home or whether to honor his wife's family, who only ate hand-matzos. He asked scholars for advice, and they advised him to pose this question to his wife's grandfather, Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil zt'l. Rebbe Shlomke told him, "When we go up to heaven, we won't be asked whether we ate hand-matzos or machine-matzos. They will ask us two questions: (1) Did you guard your eyes? (2) Did you guard your mouth from hurting another Yid?" The Zvhiller tzaddikim were also very cautious not to eat gebroks. Once, a guest in Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil's home was eating gebroks. Members of Reb Shlomke's family wanted to stop him, but Rebbe Shlomke signaled to them not to say anything. The Rebbe explained, "In heaven, you will not be asked whether you ate gebroks or not. Ins...

How does a mikvah purify? Rebbe Shlomke zt’l said that it is because in a mikvah one closes his eyes and his mouth, and that is what purifies. (Torah Wellsprings, Pesach 5782)

One year, when the Beis Yisrael of Gur's zy’a was taking off his kittel after the Seder he said, "Earlier tonight, we put on the kittel and now we’re taking it off. But there will come a time when we wear a kittel and never take it off..." (Torah Wellsprings, Pesach 5782)

The Nesivos Shalom zy'a once saw a bachur from his yeshiva eating a falafel with immense relish. To rebuke him in a non-confrontational manner, the Nesivos Shalom told him, "The way you are eating reminds me of how the Beis Avraham would eat the matzah on Pesach." (Torah Wellsprings, Pesach 5782)

The Chasam Sofer (Choshen Mishpat 196) writes, “The mitzvah of eating matzah Seder night is the only mitzvah through eating that has remained with us in exile. We don’t have the mitzvah of eating korban Pesach anymore or eating from the other korbanos. We can’t eat terumah or maasar sheini either.  Matzah is the only mitzvah we have for eating, and we can only perform it once a year. If this mitzvah will also not be performed correctly, will Hashem be happy with that?” (Torah Wellsprings, Pesach 5782)

Reb Yeruchem, the mashgiach of Mir zt'l, said, "If we came to this world just to perform the mitzvah of biur chametz, דיינו , it would already be worthwhile. This mitzvah imbues us with kedushah and teharah." (Torah Wellsprings, Pesach 5782)

The Gemara (Chagigah 15:) states, "If your rebbe is like a malach, ask him to teach you Torah. Otherwise, don't learn Torah from him." But how should we know if our teacher is like a malach if we never saw a malach before? One thing we know about malachim is that they are עומדים because they stay at the same spot. They do not rise from level to level. We should choose a rebbe who is prepared to be an עומד, to stand at the same place. He must be a person who is ready to jeopardize his own growth, if necessary, to help and teach others. Someone once told Reb Chaim Kanievsky zt'l, "I have many students, and each year, my alumni increase. My students keep returning to ask me questions, and although I want to help them, I am left with hardly time for my own studies." Reb Chaim replied, "Speaking with bachurim after the shiur is part of studying and teaching Torah." The man explained to Reb Chaim that the conversations weren't always about Torah. Mor...

A Slice of Life by Susan Handelman I grew up in suburban Chicago in the 1950's, a typical third-generation assimilated American. Like many of my generation I fled from Sunday School and the Temple to which my family belonged, and could see nothing true or compelling in what seemed to be the hollow rituals that most of the congregants hardly understood. Being Jewish in that milieu was a vaguely uncomfortable and perplexing experience, but not any obstacle to full immersion in the non-Jewish culture which surrounded us and swept us along with it. What power took me out of the deep exile in which I lived — not just geographically, but intellectually, spiritually and emotionally? Of course, the Torah promises that ultimately each and every Jew will be returned from exile and redeemed. But it was the Lubavitcher Rebbe who could not wait placidly for that redemption, who reached out to every Jew wherever she or he was found... to the furthest corner of the globe. Among other reasons this...

“In the city of Vitebsk lived two tea merchants, both named Hosheia, known as ‘Big Hoisha’ and ‘Little Hoisha.’ ‘Big Hoisha’ was a wealthy man, with a large, respectable establishment and a well-developed distribution network. ‘Little Hoisha’ was a small-time operator, running his business from hand to mouth, forever scrambling for loans to keep it afloat. “One day a message arrived that one of Little Hoisha’s tea shipments had been confiscated at the border by customs officials. For the poor man this spelled utter ruin. Not only would he lose everything, he would be left with crushing debts which he would never be able to repay. “I was there,” Devorah Leah related, “when they broke the news to   Reb   Hoisha, who was in   Lubavitch   at the time. The unfortunate man collapsed in a dead faint; time and again they revived him, but as soon as he remembered what had occurred, he would collapse once more. “We ran to my father and told him of Reb Hoisha’s state. Father in...

This shall be the law of the  metzora...  he shall be brought to the Kohen (Vayikra14:2) Both the onset and the termination of the state of  tzaraat  are effected only by the proclamation of a Kohen. If suspect markings appear on a person, they are examined by an expert on the complex laws of  tzaraat --usually, but not necessarily, a Kohen; but even after a diagnosis of  tzaraat  had been made, the state of ritual impurity does not take effect, and the  metzora's  banishment is not carried out, until a Kohen pronounces him "impure." This is why even after all physical signs of  tzaraat  have departed, the removal of the state of impurity and the  metzora's  re-admission into the community is achieved only by the Kohen's declaration. The Kohen's function as a condemner and ostracizer runs contrary to his most basic nature and role. The Kohen is commanded by G‑d to "bless His people Israel with love"; our sages describe a "...