Who gives sight to the blind

“For us, - whatever's undergone, Thou knowest, wiliest what is done, grief may be joy misunderstood; Only the Good discerns the good. I trust Thee while my days go on. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)”

The darkness of exile is often compared to blindness. However, we continue to rely on God, "Who knows, Who Wills what is done," Who, "discerns the good." We thank God for the gift of Bitachon, trusting in, and relying on His vision.

By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

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Pesukei d’Zimrah Baruch Sh’Amar

The Gra (Haggadah: Baruch HaMakom) explains that when we recite the words, “Blessed is He Who spoke, and the world came into being; blessed is He.” We are blessing both the revealed and the hidden. The specific praise of, “Who spoke, and the world came into being,” refers to the world we see and can comprehend. The praise, “Blessed is He,” refers to all that is hidden in the creation, and cannot be described. This idea of “Hidden and Revealed,” refers to the worlds of “Thought and Action.” We referred to what we see as Action, and to what we cannot see, as Thought. This teaches us that when singing this song of praise we must remember that there are two levels to each of the Ten (Explained by the Abudirham as corresponding to the Ten Statements with which the world was created) praises we recite; the Hidden–Thought, and the Revealed–Action. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

Shekalim 1

Parent and Child: Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (Kehillat Yaakov; Shekalim 1) explains that when the Holy One, Blessed is He, created a person with a body and soul, He gave them as a gift to the person. We belong to ourselves, and God relates to us as independent children. However, when we rebel against God, it is considered as if we have stolen the gift of our lives from the Creator. A thief who cannot repay what he has stolen is sold into slavery to pay his debt. It is impossible for us to repay the Creator for the gift of life, and we are sold, so to speak, into slavery. When we offer the Half Shekel we are paying half the debt, the second half is forgiven by God, Who never completely lets go of the relationship of parent to child. The Half-Shekel is a statement that we are acting in partnership with God, our Father. One must have intention that he is giving his half of the shekel together with God. One should focus on God as a loving parent when giving the Half Shekel. By: ...

TAKING IT WITH YOU-MISHPATIM-ALEINU

Our sages teach us, “On the Red Sea, God appeared to them like a young boy, while at Sinai, He appeared like an old man.” At first thought, this is extremely difficult to understand, since it is written, “You have not seen any image (To see Deuteronomy 4:15).” We can explain this with an example. When a parent loves his child, this great love causes the child’s image to be engraved on the parent’s mind. It is therefore as if the child were actually standing in the presence of the parent. When the child is young, he exists in his parent’s mind in the image of a small child. Later, when he grows, the image in the parent’s thoughts is that of an older person. It is known that, “Israel rose first in thought.” This means that they are constantly engraved in the Supernal Thought, just as a child is in its parent’s mind. When a child acts properly and does what its parent wishes, this is the image that is engraved in its parent’s thoughts. The same is true when the child goes aga...

Partners In Prayer - Siddur

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