Yosef Hatzadik wrote on 10 Jan 2011 17:52:

my heart is warmed
ahhhhh
i think i will invite you to my next possum BBQ

together with all the other Yosselach of course

Bendy,

your shtikel in this fudem as well as in today's chizuck email is Gevaldig!

I'm amazed how after dealing with this problem for years we have no clue that there's a way out.

then suddenly we find GYE and a new world opens up.

Suddenly it all makes sense.

Suddenly we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It's amazing how fast you picked up on the GYE attitude and adapted to it.

You have such clarity as to what the problem is & what needs to be done to fight or not fight it.

I see myself in so many things that you write and it helps me understand myself even better after all the time I have spent on GYE.

Also your way of writing & bringing the issues to life is very refreshing.

The mixture of Serious & Funny post has just the right balance we need.

Please keep them coming for you have no idea how much you help others when you do. (BTW that is a big Tikun for this Chet)

Looking forward to your next post.

Mi K'Amcha Yiroel!
Yup! it is Efshar Letaken!

Efshar Letaken put my thoughts into words!  :-X

DAY 12

B"h Hashem is taking me down the GYE-90 at a fair clip, just ribbons and ribbons of Tarmac in front of my eighteen-wheeler...

OOPS...(swerving into the right lane to pass a high school girl on her lunch break, and cruisin' back into the left)

(looong pull on the airhorn- how do you write that in bb-code?) WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOONK!!!!!!!!!!!! Women Drivers!  >

Well where were we? Oh yeah... Gas Gauge...full b"h! Ah! So much chizuk on this site to fill up on...Tires good...full but not overblown with hot air....Coffee? Well that's a good idea....

Ay I don't need gas? I'm doing just fine!

But it pays to take a pit stop anyways, clean out the cabin and get rid of some trash and use the facilities.

You know something?

Could be K'dai to fill up anyways...

The Noam Elimelech in the beginning of Parshas Emor interprets Rashi's explanation of the seeming redundacy "Emor Vi'Amarta"  -"LeHazhir Gedolim Al HaKetanim" as follows:

Every Yid has times that he feels elevated and close to Hashem -like when he is engaged in Torah or Tefillah or any other Mitzvah -and at these times he feels like he's on top of the world. His mind and heart are open; he feels that he has attained clarity and sees the world in a spiritual light (Mochin DeGadlus). But then, when it's time to go back to the humdrum material realm, he falls from this high level and can't bring that same clarity to his mundane affairs (Mochin Dekatnus). Says the R"R Meilich Zy"a, this is not the way to do things. Rather, one should make sure to "charge his spiritual batteries" to the max when he feels uplifted, in such a way that he will be able to connect his thoughts with Hashem even when he steps down from that madreigah where he was earlier. And that is alluded to by the Ma'amar Chazal which Rashi cites:

"LeHazhir Gedolim" Take heed when you are in an uplifted (big) state of mind, "Al HaKetanim" that one must remain holy even at times that are mundane (small).

Okay, Ben D. you say, enough of that Hassid stuff about Mochin -We're just recovering addicts, come on... ... what does this mean for us.

Okay...

Here's my take on it (or at least one of my takes -you could probably say tens of shticklech Torah on this piece). Let's analyze what the R"R Meilich said -What's wrong with being up when I'm Davening and Learning and Down in my everyday life. Well, if you ask me the RR"M is saying that anyone who wants to be an oveid Hashem has to realize that as Shlomo Hamelech said "B'yom Tov Heyei B'tov, Uv'Yom Ra'ah Re'ei". R' Wolbe actually has a whole piece of chizuk on this concept, which is that nobody (who hasn't had a frontal lobotomy) is so stable that their days -or the periods of their lives- are homogeneous; there are good days and bad days, good years and bad years, good hours and bad hours... and so on and so forth. If you keep on going up and down -you're going to get about as far on your journey (and probably feel) as a yo-yo does! That's what's known as Kiyyum HaTohu.

Sounds like a roller-coaster, no?

Well, it depends who is driving. One who flies high when the wind is strong, and plummets when the wind is knocked out of him -that person's life is definitely akin to a roller coaster. Not only that -he's not an airplane -he's a glider. But one who is truckin' along and coasting down the mountain in order to gain momentum so that he can give it his all when he gets to the bottom of that hill and chug-a-chug-chug up the next mountain at clipper speed- HE'S TRUCKIN'.

What's the difference between the two?

The first one doesn't know the secret. When he feels close to Hashem, he figures that this is the way it's supposed to be... and doesn't bother using his clarity in those moments to put anything away for later. And then when he comes down from his good experience, the time comes for him to approach his ordinary dealings and battles with the YH -his gas tank is empty... he gets confused because he forgot to remember that most of life is ordinary day in day out travails, and we will only be able to persevere and actually enjoy life by bringing Hashem into our challenges... not into "our" success stories when we have a good davening or a geshmake session of Torah study. The truth is that this good feeling and clarity that one feels at moments of D'veikus are actually heavenly gifts, on loan to us by G-d's grace in order that we utilize them. The proof is that sometimes we can invest our best efforts in an act of Avodas Hashem and not feel anything. That's just life.

The second person knows the secret... and he uses those times of clarity to remind himself that just as at this moment I am clear on what I want from my life and what Hashem wants from me... more often are the times that we are involved with mundane affairs (that's why they're also called "everyday" run of the mill affairs because that's the bulk of our life, and that's when we are showing that we're true servants of Hashem-) and even at those times I will recall the clarity and connect with Hashem in my mind....

This piece is about me and you and all of us (even non-addicts, because everyone has to come on to Hashem's help). Get so much chizuk and put some away for the bleak days. Remind yourself to remind yourself how good it feels to be close to Hashem. And what connects us to Hashem more than our little mental communication countless times a day...Hashem, I cannot manage this by myself, Hashem I know that you can help me, Please take this nisayon away from me, You can handle it etc. (everyone has their own "shprach" with the RBS"O) Remind yourself that when the YH jumps out from behind a bush you will talk to Hashem...and not dare to mess with the enemy's guerrilla soldiers. Such a person can with Hashem's help KEEP ON TRUCKIN'.

Okay, well I just remembered that I have to fill up those jerry-cans which I keep down in the hatch next to the steps just in case.... I guess I'll stop off at the next exit...

KEEP ON TRUCKIN'!!!

Elazar Ben Durdayah

Woooosh

Bendy that was gOod

Since when were u yoiresh the bardichever mehalich of answering your own questions

The yeso of yom tov hayeh bitov is soOooo huge

I once heard a pshat (I'm sure I posted it somewhere. Zemmy or yosef hatzaddik will help find it)

Viyirayu oisanu hamitzrim

The mitzrim convinced us that we are bad

Its a teefer yesod

A yeed is good. No matter what. Even if he acts bad he IS b'etzem good

KOT

B

beutiful!

Thanks ben for the chasidishe part and the litvishe part. It was really a big chizuk.

chaimhelp wrote on 12 Jan 2011 11:25:


There is no Chassidish part and no Litvish part... it's all one holy Torah!

(All the big Litvishe Ba'alei Machshava learn and give shiurim in Tanya -for example R' Moshe Shapira. All the Chassidish Mashpi'im and Mekubalim learn and give Shiurim in Nefesh HaChaim -for example R' Tzvi Mayer, and R' I.M. Morgenstern. The deeper you go, thhe more you get down to the Achdus HaPashut).

EBD, wow!
beautiful and masterly presentation
thank you!

and rebbe b that was a great vort as well, any idea where i should start looking to find it?

I THINK ITS IN A BELZER HAGOODAH

BUT THE HAGOODAS ARE PACKED AWAY IN THE PASSOVER SECTION

OF THE BARDSTOWN SYNAGOUGE

Thanks for biting i knew you would say thay

possums dont bite

zanvil and zemmy dont mish on pesach

when all tha chamets is sold to billy

reb EBD,

there once a discussion about how does one go about putting away inspiration for the days we don't feel it. It is sort of impossible to save an inspiration for when we are not inspired .

we can take concrete action to protect ourselves when we have the proper clarity but we cannot reach across time and insert the inspiration when we need it.

can you shed light on that?

EBD

IM A T-----S on the tish guy

whats going on??

VEE IS THE SIMCHA/ THE LITZONEESA DIYITZRA DI-ARAYIS?

NUUUUU

KKEEEEEPPPP PPPPONN TTTTRUUUKKININIGNG

Sorry Reb B., the leitzanusa d'yitra d'arayos doesn't wake up until at least 12 AM Israel time...

Zemmy, you've raised a good point, and I thought that I had answered that in between the lines in yesterday's shtickle.

DAY 13

IMHO the way to utilize the times of clarity in order to prepare for those moments of fuzziness, is simply to bake in to ourselves then when we are clear, that nisyonos come along, and that even then we will just turn to Hashem and talk to him B'pashtus.

It's not the high-falutin' feelings and ideas that talk to us when we are feeling spiritual that are going to help us in harder times that inevitably come; it's remembering even when things are going good, that when the going gets tough, we turn to Hashem. 

I think that on a spiritual level by just reminding ourselves in the 'clear' times that in the murky times we will turn to Hashem... then and there we have elevated those mundane times, and connected them to Hashem; and thereby drawn Hashem's Presence into those harder corners of our lives.

An example of how this works for me (Hashem should help that I should always remember this), is a post I made on a day that I was feeling good and clear, but even then -I was in tune with myself and worried what would be when this 'high' passes me over. So I posted this:




To remind and clarify for myself when I'm doing good (LeHazhir Gedolim)--when my mind is open and receptive--exactly how I should behave when things get mundane (Al Haketanim) which is to bring Hashem to me and Myself to Him --which is the only eitzah.

Which is the kind of thing that helped me here:



Turning to Hashem when the nisayon comes (was I feeling GYE-ish B'sha'as Maaseh? Not really) and bringing Him to me and me to Him on Day 11 instead of starting up with YH as shown above was only possible through the hisbonenus when the hisorerus and geshmack of having found the attitude was still fresh on Day #4 -and I was on a spiritual high.

Sorry if this wasn't such a clear post but even the chelek ha'avoda here as I see it is pretty abstract. And sorry for filling this post with re-runs...

But hey, If Reb Guard can send re-runs...can't I? 

KOT!
Ben-d