* A REFINED LOVE --by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook

* WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM A CHILD
--by Rabbi Yechiel Moshe (av beis din of Kamaravke and Yadimave)

* THE CHILDREN OF THE "HOLY JEW" (continued)
--by Avraham Stern

* THE NATURE OF BEING
--by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook

* WISDOM
--by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

* I HAVE DECIDED
--by Yaacov Dovid Shulman

A refined love for the spiritual gifts of the [entire] Jewish nation expresses the exact same thing that a simple fear of heaven and sincere faith do. Only a lack of understanding brings about a state in which some people, making use of a misguided expression, think that the two contradict each other.

Sometimes the expression of appreciation for the Jewish nation and a love of its glory demonstrates more fear of heaven and more faith than do actual expressions of fear of heaven and of faith.

Orot (Orot Yisrael 4:7)

I heard that R. Yitzchak of Vorke said that we can learn three things from a small child.

One, if he is hungry, he cries. Similarly, if we lack necessities, we must cry to God.

Two, he does not sit idle. Similarly, we must not be idle.

Three, he does not worry at all. And we too must not worry at all, but we must be joyful.

Niflaos Chadashos

When [these two sons of the "Holy Jew"] remained alone in the beis medrash, they stepped out from behind the oven and began the Kabbalas Shabbos service–striding back and forth across the large beis medrash and praying with great emotion and concentration, and they did not even notice that someone had come into the beis medrash. When they finished their prayers, they were astonished to see a Jew standing at the door with great humility, and next to him a few servants holding wine, spirits, challah, fish, meat and compote, waiting for them to finish their prayers. They asked the man why he had gone to such trouble. After all, he could have invited them to his home and served them there. He answered, "If you would like to hear, I will tell you a story." They agreed, and he told them the following.

When the rebbe of Lublin–R. Yaacov Yitzchak Halevi Ish Horowitz-became known as the "Polish Seer" (a few tzaddikim called him the Urim V'tumim), I decided to go see him. I wasn't rich. I took my tallis and tefillin, a piece of bread and a staff, and set out on the long journey from deep in Volynia to Lublin. I arrived on a Friday and asked people where the rebbe was. Someone told me, "A rebbe is staying here." But since there are differences between Volynia Yiddish and Polish Yiddish, I thought he had told me, "Here is where the rebbe lives." I entered the house and saw a tzaddik with a beautiful face. Thinking that this was the rebbe of Lublin, I introduced myself with great humility.

As soon as I had done so, a number of men arrived, young and old, upon whose holy faces shone the beauty of Torah and fear of heaven, and they also wanted to greet him. The rebbe answered them, "Here I am not a rebbe. Here I am a Hasid. I want to push my way up to the rebbe's tish and listen to his teachings like any other Hasid. Until I greet my rebbe, the rebbe of Lublin, I will not greet anyone else. As for this Jew"–he pointed to me–"I returned his greeting because he earned it. He came by foot from deep in Volynia to see the holy rebbe, just as I did." Immediately he told his gabbai to prepare his Sabbath clothes in order to greet the rebbe of Lublin. From this I understood that this was not the rebbe of Lublin. He was, I discovered, the "Holy Jew," and I also learned also that evil tongues had spread slander between these two great tzaddikim.

I immediately ran to the rebbe of Lublin to greet him. But how shocked I was when, coming into his room, I saw a fine-looking Jew approach him, and I heard him say, "The ‘Jew' has come here and is acting as a rebbe in your town. Doesn't that mean that he is in the category of a ‘man who teaches in the presence of his own teacher'--which is strictly forbidden?" When I heard this, I trembled. How could a fine Jew think up such a lie in order to create hatred between two tzaddikim? A Chumash lay on the rebbe's table. With courage born of earnestness I ran up to the table, put my hand on the Chumash and said loudly, "I swear that what this slanderer said is a complete lie. I just came from the Holy Jew and he does not even want to greet anyone until he greets the rebbe of Lublin."

Just a few seconds later, the Holy Jew walked in. The rebbe of Lublin hurried up to him, met him at the door and greeted him warmly. The Holy Jew asked, "Rebbe, you have greeted me with more honor than you ever did before. What need do I have for honor?"

The rebbe answered, "I wanted to make up with you. If not for this Jew"–and he pointed at me–"who made an oath to counter slander against you before it could travel from my ear to my heart, I would have harbored some hatred in my heart towards you."

The Holy Jew said, "Rebbe, I consider you to be a person with true divine inspiration, exactly like the Urim V'tumim in the Temple. So how can it be that you did not understand that the slander was not true?"

The rebbe justified himself, "Holy Jew! Believe me when I tell you that for a full three-quarters of a year, the Baal Davar (Satan) kept this slanderer from having even one evil thought, not even one stray thought during his prayers, in order that I would believe his slander, heaven forbid. Now that this Jew"–and he pointed to me–"has fixed everything, I would like you to bless him."

The Holy Jew turned to me and asked, "What do you want: this world, or the world-to-come?"

(to be continued...)

Chasidishe Maasiyos

The torch of holy fire of the love of God constantly burns within our soul, warming our spirits and illuminating our lives. Its delights have no end. Nothing finite describes its pleasantness and sweetness.

How cruel a person is to himself when he remains immersed in the dark shadows of life, "troubling himself with many accountings" (Kohelet 7:29), removing from his heart the Life of life, the edenic basis of life–in consequence of which he retains no portion of it (cf. Sanhedrin 10:1). Because the oppressive hand of coarse physicality has gained ascendancy over him, he walks hunched over, without light and without radiance.

Such a state is in opposition to the entire nature of the spirit and the entire nature of existence. A supernal lovingkindness must break forth from its bonds, and the holiness of life will create paths by means of which edenic existence will stream down, appearing in the entire array of its colors (cf. Shoftim 5:30) and with the entire thundering glory of its powers (cf. Iyov 26:14, Tehillim 145:12).

"No eye besides Yours, God, has seen what You do on behalf of the person who awaits You" (Yishayahu 64:3).

Musar Avichah

Israel is a holy nation, and every Jew has within himself a "portion of divinity from above" (Iyov), which is "wisdom." Therefore, do not allow any alien wisdom into your thoughts, for the mind is the soul. When you sanctify your mind, you bring everything back to its root. And that is the essence of teshuvah (repentance).

Likutei Moharan 35:1

I have decided to love
My foot. My foot has decided
(Despite its rivalry) to love my other
Foot. My left eye has decided to appreciate

My right ear. This takes study.
This is not mere puppy love!
At one point, my small and large toes were going
To a therapist. They wanted to get along, but

Although they naturally
Loved my fingers (they admired
Them, they praised them freely), they had grown tired
Of each other's jostling, how each took up so much room

In deep and lightless shoes. What
A revelation they had one
Afternoon–an epiphany! For many
Days, they insisted on sandals, airy and broad-soled.

Men's Learning Group: Hakhsharat Ha'avreikhim ("Spiritual Training"), step-by-step guidebook on how to develop an awareness of our souls and of God, by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapiro (the Pieszesner Rebbe), Sunday night. For information, call (410) 358-8771.

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