Heaven on Earth

Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin zt'l related the following story: A G-d fearing man sold  furs from his home for his parnassah. At one point, business was slow, and he was sitting with many furs  in stock. Early one morning,  someone knocked on his door and said he wanted to buy all of the furs. But this fur merchant hadn't yet davened Shacharis, and it is forbidden to do business before Shacharis (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 89:3). "Come back in an hour,  and I'll sell them to you for a good price." "No. I need them now. If you don't sell them to me right away, I'll go elsewhere." His parnassah was tight,  but halachah comes first. So he quoted the goy an exorbitant price for the furs, figuring that the goy  wouldn't pay so much, and he would leave. But the customer was desperate and agreed to that price! The yetzer hara told him,  "You can't afford to lose this deal. It is a miracle! He is willing to pay double the market price." ...

Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk zt'l said that a person could earn parnassah and even become wealthy if he works with simchah.  What he does doesn't matter as much as his happy disposition.  If he is happy, he can sell sawdust and splinters and become incredibly wealthy. (Torah Wellsprings, Re'eh, 5782)

The Chovot HaLevavot (Bitachon 7) writes, "A story is told about a chasid whose neighbor was a quick-scribe  (סופר מהיר), and he earned his livelihood through writing.  Once, the chasid asked him how things were coming along. The scribe replied, 'As long as my hand is healthy, everything is well.'  That night, his hand was injured, and he couldn't write with that hand for the rest of his life. This was his punishment for trusting in his hand instead of Hashem Yitbarach."

In the Torah potion of Ve'etchanan that we read last week, the words that come immediately before "shema Yisrael HaShem Elokeinu, HaShem echad" are "eretz zavat chalav udevash," a land flowing with milk and honey. (Deuteronomy 6:3-4) Only in the land flowing with milk and honey can we properly hear (shema) the essential message of our faith.

Let us first mention exactly what the Chovos HaLevovos says (paraphrased from   Sha'ar HaKeniah , Chapter 7): "When a person who speaks  lashon hara  gets to  Shamayim , he will find that he is accredited with many sins that he does not have any recollection of committing. When he asks about them, he will be told that they were taken from the individuals that he spoke  lashon hara  about, and added to his record. Further, he will have merits taken away from him." He cites a story of a  chassid  whom someone spoke  lashon hara  about. When the  chassid  found out, he sent the speaker an expensive gift with the following note: "You were kind enough to give me your  mitzvos . I am sending you my appreciation." (Rabbi Boruch Leff, Jewishpress.com., 7 Nissan 5779)

 Reb Shimshon Pinkus writes that at a levayah, only the family or those who are very close friends of the  niftar cry. Similarly, during these days of mourning, those who are close to Hashem mourn and cry, but  those who feel detached from the whole matter don't cry. He writes, "We are able to measure one's attachment to Hashem by the extent that he mourns." (Torah Wellsprings, Tisha B'Av, 5782)

A woman asked her friend, "What did you make for lunch today?" She replied, "Beblach (beans)." "And what are you planning to cook for tomorrow?" "Sha sha! Al tiftach peh l'Satan. [Don't imply that tomorrow will be a regular day]! But if, chas veshalom, Moshiach doesn't come, I'll make noodles." This demonstrates how we should wait for Moshiach. Every day, we should hope that maybe this will be the day Moshiach will come. (Torah Wellsprings, 5782)

The Dubno Magid zt'l told the following mashal: A wealthy person sent his five sons overseas to study Torah. Oneof them, Reuven, became deathly ill. The doctors said that the only cure available is extremely expensive. The brothers replied, "Money isn't a problem. We will write a letter to our wealthy father and he will send us money." This is the letter the oldest brother wrote: "Dear father, kindly send us a large sum of money because Shimon's eyeglasses broke, and he needs new ones. Also, Levi's clothes are old and torn. That is another expense. Yehudah owes 450 dinar and has to pay up the debt. Also send money for Reuven because he is dangerously ill, and the medicine costs a fortune." When the father received the letter he was angry at his eldest son. He said, "How did my foolish son turn around the order of this letter? He should have written about Reuven first because that is the biggest problem." The Dubno Magid said that this is ho...

Nowadays you can get almost everything delivered to your door, from food to footballs. There is only one thing that cannot be delivered and that's Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). You have to go there yourself. Maybe I'm just lucky. I enjoy so many blessings. I experience difficulty fearing God because He has been so incredibly good to me. God's greatest gift to me is the Land of Israel. It is truly humbling to realize that after 2,000 years of exile, I should be among the lucky ones who found their way back.  And somehow, some way, I have been blessed with the opportunity to constantly rejuvenate in an apartment with an unobstructed view, where I can see from the south end of Jerusalem all the way to Mount Scopus. And I never need to put on the air conditioning because a breeze is always blowing through. And there is a synagogue around the corner, two minutes away, with men who articulate every word of the morning prayers.