Parshas Shemini

In this week's Parsha we learn about the animals, fish, insects, and birds that we may not eat. The Torah describes them as "Toeiva" - an abomination. We are taught that by eating these things we are destroying our Neshamos, and the damage is very great. Why is it that these things are so dangerous, and if it is, why do they only affect us, and not people from other nationalities?

The answer is simple. Just as a child would not be able to eat certain foods that are difficult for their sensitive stomachs to digest, while that same food is ok and maybe even beneficial for an adult who's stomach can handle more, so too by a Yid versus a Goy. The Kedusha of a Yid is so great that these types of abominable foods can throw the system out of whack. But by a Goy, being that his level is significantly lower, he will not be affected at all by their consumption.

Here on GYE, there are many things that we may not be able to do, while other non-addicts, may not have a hard time with them. As a married man, there are some things that are halachically permissible for me with regard to my wife, which I refrain from doing because of the sensitivity of my situation. As Bochurim, there may be a job or a store that is Be'Etzem not bad, and maybe even a good place to be, but because of your sensitivities, it's advisable to stay away.

In short, everything is relative. Just as one food may affect one person more than another, so too certain actions may be more dangerous for one over another. As responsible people, it would be wise for us to pay attention to our specific tendencies, and cater a program of avoidance specially for us.

Hatzlocha!!

I'd like to nominate "truckingness" as Word Of The Year. 

selfishness feeds lust which feeds selfishness... ... - an endless circle

Which is why the common שורש of גאוה and תאוה is אוה
They are intertwined one another



You can start from minute 11, and if you like gematria there are some pearls to be found

Thanks to Torahanytime
Forgive me for lowering the sound quality to be able to upload
 

Reb Levi Yitzchak and Chametz

One year, shortly before the first Pesach Seder, the holy Rebbe, Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, took several of his

students into town. He knocked on the door of a local store and asked to buy cigarettes. The storekeeper replied, "I

don't have any. Don't you know that they are illegal?" Reb Levi Yitzchak was persistent and again asked to buy

cigarettes. After several requests, the storekeeper produced the cigarettes and was willing to sell them.

Reb Levi Yitzchak then approached a man walking down the street and asked if he had a cigarette. "Don't you know

that they are illegal? I can get thrown in jail for possession!" Again, after several requests, the gentleman displayed his

stash and offered one to the Berditchever.



Reb Levi Yitzchak then sent his attendant to a Jewish home to ask if they had a small piece of bread. "G-d forbid!" was

the reply, and not knowing why the attendant was asking, continued to explain, "On Pesach we are forbidden to have

any bread or chametz in our home." The attendant went to a second home and a third home, and the reply was the

same.


When the attendant returned empty-handed to his Rebbe, Reb Levi Yitzchak held his hands up high and

exclaimed, "Master of the Universe! The Czar forbids the importation of these cigarettes. He has soldiers and policemen to

help enforce this law. But yet these cigarettes are on the streets and available to all, somehow smuggled across the

border.

"Three thousand years ago, You commanded Your children not to bring bread into their homes on Pesach. You have no

soldiers or policemen, yet there is no bread to be found in all of Berditchev.

See how powerfully Your children love You!!"

ive been wondering since i started gye why everything has to be associated with gd and Judaism.
i know this is a jewish website and we are basically all jewish and its all about the fight with yetzer horah...
why cant we look at the fight a health thing or a regular rehab why does gd have to mixed in?

ps:nothing against gd at all im frum yeshuva bocher learning hard shomer torah and mitzvot 
just wondering why this website is so cheesy? 

IMHO in low level addiction to Porn and Mast like myself, if we take Gd out of the equation I'd never have looked to change my life, which is why there's more religious guys here than elsewhere

Acc to my little research the non jewish / irreligious world, Masturbation isn't condoned at all

A religious life with Hashem has granted me a better physical life, but I only came here bc of Hashem

The twelve steps wasn't set up by a Jew, but still many goiem + yiden around the world are benefiting from the 12 steps. In the 12 steps, and for those who are working  the steps, use sentences or phrases of one giving your-self over to god or to an higher power.

Chametz and Matzah are very similar words. Chametz (spelled Ches, Mem, Tzadik) and Matzah (spelled Mem, Tzadik, Hey) have a difference of one letter - a Ches and a Hey. Dough when it rises too much becomes chametz. If you look at the difference between a Hey and Ches, a Ches is a Hey in which the line "grew too much" and reaches the top. Meaning that when we let our egos, our sense of self, rise - when we let our own selfish desires rule us instead of doing what Hashem wants of us, we have an issue of chametz. Someone recently told me that ego stands for Easing G-d Out.

Tonight as we have searched for the chametz in our homes, let us also search for the chametz inside of us.
Tomorrow as we burn the chametz that we have found, let us also burn the chametz that we have found inside of us until it is an unrecognizable mass of ash.
As we celebrate Pesach this year, let us each be liberated from our own sense of Mitzrayim, the things that are holding us back from fully doing Hashem's will.

As we were brought out of Golus Mitzrayim all those years ago, may we be brought out of this golus, this olam hasheker, so that the essence of our neshamas may shine and we can serve Hashem without any hinderance

Menachos 29b, but do you not think that's a little too serious for this thread?

BTW Mark, what's that M in a circle I see on some of your posts? It looks like a Halal logo. Are You Tachas Hashgachas HaImam HaMufti Abbas?

There's actually something along those lines in the Gemara, I can't remember the source. That you can fall out the bottom into Gehinnom but you can also climb back in through the side.