ותקוה טובה לדורשיך
may all who are searching in their hope to find hashem, be succesfull in finding him

Omein!

V'omen!

Hashem accepts us with love, no matter what .  Theses days are to see if we accept ourselves with love.    (Even on Yom Kippur, in the beis ha'mikdosh, the avoda to give to azalzel took  place...  Even on the holiest day in the holiest place, the 'negative' side was given attention, and even an offering!...

How much more so, us 'average guys'!! Every single one of us: simple, average, normal people, also with our own inner negative side...

The negative was never created to be abolished (until mashiach), rather it was made for G-d to rejoice with us in our victories when we DO overcome it... Every single moment we overcome and connect to Hashem is the greatest joy ever!  (When we fall however, these are the normal times, that everyone goes through)

A wonderful teshuva of simcha and joy (even tears of joy) to all!

The worst possible thing for a parent is to see their very own child consistently down and depressed, unmotivated and unhappy..  No matter where the parent is, this weighs very heavy on the heart and mind..

A happy child however, even though he/she obviously won't be perfect, and may slip and stumble, causes winds of joyous energy to constantly breathe life into the mind and heart of the parent....

We are all, one by one,no matter what we are doing, and no matter where we are, Hashems precious child...

Our happiness, simply 'because', causes Him much much nachas.

(This entire website is not so much about us 'avoiding sin' [which obviously should happen], as much as it is about us learning to rejoice and be happy with the greatest loving 'parent' in heaven)


(Um,... for any 'sharke litvaks' out there, yes, this means learning, and learning too,...  But without the emmese yiddeshe simcha 1st, that won't last too long :-) )

"Smolo tachas l'roshi, v'yimino ti'chabkaynee" (his left hand is under my head as his right hand hugs me) Shlomo Ha'melech...  The 'left' side (gevurah) had our heads 'down' ('tachas') in self evaluation these past 10 days, digging deep inside ourselves (happily of course)... But now is coming the 'right' side:chesed.. To hug us.    A bare minimum kosher sukka is 2 full walls plus a tefach of a 3rd...imagine u r hugging someone in front of you: Look at your shoulder to your elbow, then your elbow to your wrist, and your wrist is bent in towards your stomach... U have  2 full walls plus a tefach of a 3rd as Hashem hugs us with all love b'zman simchasaynu in the sukka!  (Ba'al Ha'Tanya)

beautiful vort.where in baal htanya is it?

(Been over 8 years since I looked for/learned this one :-) ).  It's in a sefer by the Ba'al Ha'tanya called 'lekutey Torah', in the 'derushim l'sukkos', p. 79 (left column on the front side.. Each 'page' is 4 columns, 2 on front, 2 on back. This is in 2nd column on the front.. The whole discourse is soooo nice..).  Seems like the idea is from Pri Eytz Chayim. (It's also in other places in those 10-20 pages before and after 79..  But like I said, been a loooong time since I've delved heavily into these holy words..  )

My head is exploding now.. Little sleep last night, guests 'moved in' for tishrey... I'm happy they're there..  Bh, headacges are ok sometimes.. 

I've listened to a cd called 'songs of our soul' by richard (reuvain) samuels at least 1000 times in the last 2 1/2 years (on the train to and from work while learning/relaxing mainly and at work on low volume too, as background music) There are 5 songs I repeat over and over on loop which are so enormously soothing. Just piano chassidik melodies: no vocals, 'fancy/cool quick stuff', big band stuff, or other instruments. My head is already way too busy: my mind needs soothing, not additional 'pep-zip' stimulation.

As my wife puts it; "it's guaranteed to relax us every single time". when she needs to sleep she puts it on.

I know all too well what an 'exploding brain' feels like and am happy to pass this on. It's helped me so, so much

Meeting with other sick recovering people like me a few times every week gets me out of my own head. My own head is a bad neighborhood. It replaces my wishy-washy goofy head with one that is calm and thinks about things that are useful.

Al mei menuchos y'nahaleini....Nafshi yeshovev....

I love Hashem.

Yep :-)..  Without good friends in a queit setting, we'd be D.O.A....  Ideally we should've had such quiet unconditional loving settings as kids (and for those who do.. IT SHOWS!)  (Between the meetings, this music still helps keeps the 'inner noise', substantially less).. A. Gut moed!..

The Yerushalmi says "yona ben amitai drew ruach ha'kosdesh from simchas beis ha'shoeyva"...    There were 1000's of nevi'im there then! Why just him?? 

The zohar gives an answer totally relevant for us all here: " 'yona' is related to 'onah' (like 'lo sonu eish es amisecha'- you should not taunt/tease/cheat your friend)...

And yona is a remez for the neshoma which has to taunt/tease/cheat the body and physical world, by finding ways 'swerve and curve' around them, and almost 'mock' them, to stay connected to Hashem and real spirituality... 

So yes; yona (AKA our neshoma as it comes out victorious above and beyond the physical obstacles and challenges of this world), gets an enormous boost of kedusha this time of year...  If we focus and stay 'connected'

(Ps, these days, reaching out to a friend via phone to say 'hi', or responding to a post, is 'bikur cholim' :-) )

Wanted to get this one in b4 yom tov is over..

U can show love, by looking at someone w/affection, saying words of love to their face; eye to eye, or giving them something..  All are to the front of that person..

Then u can embrace them too..  Which affects the front AND 'back' of that person...        Our entire being; the open good everyone sees, as well as the 'hidden back side' we hide from the world, is encompassed in the sukka.. Every yid(!), no matter how far 'back' his 'back/hidden' side may have ever been (or still may be), is completely surrounded by Hashem's love to him in a sukka: head to toe/front and 'back'..  We are all here, slowly making amazing lives of blessings for ourselves...  And Moshiach is coming!

(Oy, I'm such a grub sack of flesh and blood.. And Hashem wouldn't have it any other way!...  )

Endless struggle...

"Some think life is all about doing good and keeping away from evil. To them, struggle has no purpose of its own -- to have struggled is to have failed. Success, they imagine, is a sweet candy with no trace of bitterness.

They are wrong, very wrong. Struggle is an opportunity to reach the ultimate, when darkness itself becomes light. In the midst of struggle, an inner light is awakened. Light profound enough to overwhelm the darkness, encasing it and winning it over.

But if darkness never fights back, how will it ever be conquered?"

(Based on a letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe)

 

after winning a long streched battle, you can actually see how ALL those challanges where building you up
dovid hamelech said:
אודך כי עניתני ויהי לי לישועה