Heaven on Earth

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 9.) teaches that the world will exist for six thousand years. The first two thousand years are called תהו (void) because there was no Torah in the world. The following two thousand years are called the years of Torah. The final two thousand years is the era of Moshiach because Moshiach will come then." The first two millennia of Torah began when Avraham Avinu was 52 years old. Why don’t the two thousand years start from the time Avraham recognized Hashem (which is at the age of 3, 40, or 48, as discussed above)? The Satmar Rebbe zt'l answered that when Avraham was 52, Nimrod threw him into the fiery furnace at Ur Kasdim because he refused to worship idols. The value of Torah is when it’s kept with mesirus nefesh. Avraham believed in Hashem earlier, but when he was 52 years old, he kept the Torah with mesirus nefesh. That’s the beginning of the two thousand years of Torah. During the Communist regime, it was difficult to find a mohel in Russia. One Russ...

The Gemara (Succah 29.) says that the Jewish nation is compared to the moon. The Lubavitzer Rebbe zt'l noted that the moon is always there, only sometimes we don't see it. Similarly, the spark of a Yid is always present, only sometimes it is covered over, and we don't recognize it. But the holiness is there, his spark can be ignited, and then he will return with teshuvah sheleimah. (Torah Wellsprings, Lech Lecha 5783, Rabbi Elimelech Biderman shlita)

Anyone who regularly reads the words that come just before the Shema during Shacharit and does not come to Eretz Yisrael is not adequately focusing on those words.  Clear as day, we read: ותוליכינו מהרה קוממיות לארצנו (Speedily lead us upright to our land).   Think about what   קוממיות means.  Translated as "upright," it means a lot more than that. It means standing up proudly and independently, something a Jew can only do in Eretz Yisrael. Those waiting for HaShem to take them to the Promised Land on a magic carpet are in error.  He has already provided the means; all you need do is book a flight on El Al and you will speedily arrive in our land. And a few words after we pray that HaShem lead us upright to our land, we say the Shema. The implication is clear: Only by going to our land can we properly appreciate the meaning of the essential  declaration of our faith.

So we just fasted to commemorate the murder of Gedaliah ben Ahikam.  After Eretz Yisrael had been virtually emptied of its Jews following the destruction of the First Temple, Gedaliah was appointed governor over the remnant that remained. Following his murder, those remaining Jews dispersed as well. We fast in mourning over the exit of the last Jews from our land, even while some may question the propriety of this fast since the establishment of the third Jewish commonwealth in Eretz Yisrael more than seventy years ago. In any case, the appropriate way of honoring Gedaliah would be to pack our bags and return to our land. Somehow we continue to linger in exile, cynically dismissing the obvious significance of the Fast of Gedaliah, together with the 10th of Tevet, 17th of Tammuz, and Tisha B'Av fasts.  Clearly, these four fasts of destruction are meant to remind us of the supreme value of Eretz Yisrael and of our sacred obligation to dwell in it.

During the Six Day War, many people took refuge in the bomb shelter basement of the Mir Yeshivah in  Jerusalem.  After the war, some bachurim went up to the roof of the yeshiva and found three bombs there. Miraculously they hadn’t detonated. Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz zt'l told the yeshiva students, "You probably think you were saved in the merit of your never-ending Torah and tefilot in the bomb shelter, but I know the real reason we merited this miracle. A mother and her five children were with us in the bomb shelter. Her husband abandoned her years ago, and since then she struggles to support her family all by herself. As bombs fell in Yerushalayim, I heard her say, 'Hashem, You know that I have all the reasons in the world to be angry with my husband. Nevertheless, I forgive him. And just as I forgive him, You should forgive and save us.' Her vitur and forgiveness is what saved us." (Torah Wellsprings, Yom Kippur 5783, Rabbi Elimelech Biderman, shlita)

The Zohar relates that Reb Abba saw a man, tired from his travels, lie down on a mound of earth. A poisonous snake approached the traveler, but, fortunately, a moment before the snake struck, a heavy object fell on the snake and killed it. When the man awoke, he saw the dead snake and understood that a miracle had saved him. When the man stood up, the mound of earth that he had laid on crumbled and fell down a cliff. He realized he was saved a second time because had the mound crumbled a moment earlier, he would have toppled down the cliff together with it.  Reb Abba approached the traveler and asked him, "What are your merits that Hashem performed these two miracles for you?" The man replied that he merited the miracles because he forgives his fellow man. "At night, before I go  to sleep, I forgive everyone who wronged me, and I seek to do kindness with them." Reb Abba cried and said, "Your deeds are greater than Yosef HaTzaddik's. Yosef forgave his brothe...

Rashi's commentary on Deuteronomy 30:3 includes the following: "The Divine Presence dwells with Israel in all the misery of their exile so that when they are redeemed, He ascribes redemption to Himself -- He shall return with them. Furthermore, the day of the ingathering of  the exiles is so important, yet so difficult, that it is as if He Himself must grab hold of their hands and drag them from their places." Ah yes, what a difficult time God has had dragging us to Eretz Yisrael.  We stubbornly refuse to  grant Him the redemption He so desperately wants for both us and for Him.

A community near Radin asked a bachur to join them for Rosh Hashanah because they wanted him to give over divrei Torah and mussar on Rosh Hashanah and to rouse them to teshuvah The bachur refused at first because he wanted to be with the Chofetz Chaim on Rosh Hashanah. The Chofetz Chaim told the bachur the following important message: "A mentch leibt nisht far zich — man doesn't live for himself." A person came down to this world to help others. The bachur went to the neighboring town for Rosh Hashanah. (Torah Wellsprings, Rosh HaShanah, 5783, Rabbi Elimelech Biderman shlita)

Rebbe Gedalyah Moshe of Zvhil zt'l asked someone why he wasn't going to a certain mussar drashah that many people were attending. The man replied, "I know myself. Even if the speaker inspires me to do teshuvah, the teshuvah won't last for long. Soon afterwards, I will return to my old ways." The Rebbe replied, "If someone swims up to a person drowning at sea, and says, 'I can save you for a half hour, but then you will fall back into the sea again,' would he accept the offer? Of course he would. So why shouldn’t you also seek to do teshuvah? It is worthwhile, even if it only lasts for a short while." (Torah Wellsprings, Ki Teitzei, 5782, Rabbi Elimelech Biderman, shlita)

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.

Someone owned a very strong and quick horse, and the proud owner fed it well and took good care of it. But eventually the horse became old and its upkeep was costly. Nevertheless, the owner had hakaras hatov to the horse, so he continued feeding it and caring for it. One day, the horse fell into a very deep pit and couldn't get out. The owner thought it was an opportune time to put the end to his horse and began shoveling dirt into the pit to bury it. The horse looked up with pleading eyes, wondering why his owner was throwing earth over him. But the owner didn't pay attention to his horse's plea and kept tossing in earth. As the pit filled up with earth, the horse climbed on top of that earth, and slowly, slowly it was raised, until it was able to leave the pit. There are circumstances in life that seem negative, and sometimes we feel that someone is trying to bury us alive, but ultimately we grow from all those hardships, as everything is planned only for our benefit. (To...

 A young child was observing a truck on the road. The child was too short to see the person sitting in the driver's seat, and it looked to him like the truck was riding on its own. Afraid that the “driverless” truck might crash into him, he urged his mother to get out of the truck’s way. He also asked his mother how the truck knows, on its own, when to stop and when to slow down or speed up. The mother explained that when he will be taller, he will be able to see the man sitting in the driver's seat. The nimshal is that it sometimes seems to us that the world is running on its own with no one in charge. But when we become greater and taller (in a spiritual sense) we recognize that nothing happens on its own. Everything is led by Hashem's hashgachah pratis. (Torah Wellsprings, Matot, 5782)