Partners In Prayer - Siddur

The Ari, of blessed memory, speaks of the separation and elevation of the Holy Sparks. These Sparks fell at the time when God “build universes and destroyed them.”   One must separate these Sparks and elevate them step-by-step, from the inanimate to the domain of plants, animals, and humans. These Holy Sparks are in the Husks of Evil, and must be elevated. This is the goal of the observance of the Torah and Commandments (Etz Chaim, Sha’ar MaN U’MaD 2). This is also the concept of eating: It is known that each Spark, even in the inanimate and plant domains, has a complete structure, with 248 limbs and 365 vessels. As long as it is in these lower domains, it is imprisoned. In this state, it cannot stretch out its hands and feet or speak. This is alluded to in the verse of Parshat Hachodesh , “Its head is on its knees, on its insides (Exodus 12:9).” When, while eating with his good thoughts and intentions, a person elevates the Holy Spark from the plant realm to the animal and human, ...

  Rabbi Nachman once spoke about those who are religious for it while and then fall away. He said that even the short time that they are religious is very dear to God, no matter what happens later.   It is written, “You have heartened Me with one of your eyes (Song of Songs 4:9).” God is speaking to the Jewish people, recalling the time they accepted the Torah. The Midrash asks why the verse says, “with  one  of your eyes.” It answers that the other eye was already on the Golden Calf (Shabbat 88b).  Even when Israel accepted the Torah, they already had plans to stray. Still, the short time they were close to God was very dear to Him. He therefore said, “You have heartened Me with one of your eyes.” [Sichot haRan 123] Many of us hesitate when reciting the blessing of repentance in the Amidah because we wonder how long our repentance will last. It is appropriate to recall the above lesson that even a short period of repentance is very dear to God. By: Rabbi Simcha...

The 19th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Dovid (ben Tzvi Elimelech) of Dinov (1804-1874). Rav Dovid was the author of Tzemach Dovid and Divrei Dovid, and the son of the Bnei Yissoschar. He succeeded his father as Rebbe   in Dinov following the latter’s petira in 1841.   “This is the decree of the Torah, which God has commanded, saying, ‘ Speak to the Children of Israel, and they shall take to you a completely red cow’ (Numbers 19:2).” Since the secrets of the Red Cow are revealed only to you, therefore, “they shall take to you,” meaning, they should attach to you and trust in what you know and understand. (Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov; Iggra d’Kallah) Machberes Avodas Hashem : I’ve used this approach, of attaching myself to the wisdom of the teacher, when studying with my father zt”l, and, ybcl”c, my Rebbi shlit”a; I understand that they have access to wisdom far beyond mine, and attach to that wisdom so that I may tast of that higher wisdom. I also use this approach on ...

Man’s excellence is to be found in, and achieved by means of, the very thing with which he is blemished. Thus, on the verse, “And they sewed fig leaves together (Genesis 3:7),” the Sages commented, “The very thing which brought   them ruin was the means for setting them right (Sanhedrin 70a).”   Similarly, our Sages state that “on the very day that the Temple was destroyed, the Messiah was born (Yerushalmi Berachot 2:4).” In this same vein they said, “Where in the Torah is the idea of the resurrection of the dead (Sanhedrin 91b)?” This also explains why the Red Heifer cleanses from the impurity caused by death. Our Sages commented, “Let the mother, and cleanse her son’s dirt (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:4).” The Heifer is the mother which gave birth to this; all comes from God; from Him all things emerged. Thus, the Red Heifer is the cleansing of the dirt. (Tzidkat HaTzaddik #70) The heifer, as stated, is the mother.  And in the Kabbalistic doctrine, the third Sefirah, Binah, is t...

The 21st of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of the Noam Elimelech: “This is the decree of the Torah, which God has commanded, saying, ‘ Speak to the Children of Israel, and they shall take to you a completely red cow’ (Numbers 19:2).”   It is incumbent on the righteous leaders of the generation, those who represent Moses in each generation, to transform the Attribute of Judgment, represented by the color, red, and make it whole, meaning, healed and healing for Israel. (Noam Elimelech) By:  Rabbi Weinberg, n''y 

In “ Consultations ,” we offered five views of Achashveirosh: Achashveirosh believes that his ascension to the throne was guided by the constellations, or, Achashveirosh as Bill Clinton, Achashveirosh who believes that he is a   man with a great destiny, a man determined that every decision be perceived as a ruling by the Supreme Court expressing his deep commitment to law and structure, and finally, who understands a king that for some reason he will need Jewish support to succeed as King. We will have to examine the sages’ decision to recuse themselves from the perspective of each of these descriptions of Achashveirosh.   The Midrash continues: The wicked Achashveirosh said to them, “Seeing that I ordered Vashti to appear before me naked and she refused, what is to be her punishment?” They replied, “Your Majesty, when we were in our own land, we used to inquire of the Urim and Tummim, but now we are tossed about,” and they quoted to him the verse, “Moab has been at ease from...

  The 29th of Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Chananya Yom Tov Lipa (ben Yekusiel Yehuda) Teitelbaum (1836-1904), author of Kedushas Yom Tov. Born in Stropkov, Slovakia, to the Yital Lev, who was a grandson of Rav Moshe Teitelbaum,   the Yismach Moshe. Rav Chananya’s primary teachers were Rav Chaim of Sanz and Rav Yitzchak Eizik of Ziditchov. At the age of 28, he became Rav of the small town of Tesh, a position he held for 19 years. After his father’s petira in 1883, he succeeded him in Sighet, Hungary. Rav Chananya had no children with his first wife, a marriage that lasted 14 years. He remained childless for many years with his second wife as well, until Rav Chaim of Sanz gave him a bracha. Indeed, he had two sons, Rav Chaim Tzvi of Sighet, and Rav Yoel, the Rebbe of Satmar. By 1941, 10,144 Jews lived in Sighet, comprising 39% of the town. The town was liquidated via deportation to Auschwitz. But, the community lives on in America and Israel.   “Speak to the Children of ...

The 28th of Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Menachem Nachum Twersky (ben Yochanon) of Chernobyl, the Rachmistrivka Rebbe (1840-1937). Grandson of Rav Menachem Nachum (author of Meor Einayim).   “And they shall take a portion for Me.” Rashi explains that they should separate their gifts for God’s Name. This is a problem, as are we not obligated to fulfill all the Mitzvot for the Name of God? Why would the Torah insist on this specifically with the construction of the Mishkan? It is known (Zohar II 246a) that the Divine Presence in the lower worlds is God’s Tzimtzum, Constriction of His Being, so that it can exist in the physical world. We are also taught that the Divine Presence rests only on the Children of Israel, as the Sages teach (Berachot 7a) that Moshe requested that the Shechinah rest only on Israel, and not on the other nations. We also know that even in the diaspora, we have not abandoned God, and He therefore continues to rest His Presence on us, focusing on the righteous ...

  “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed over Amalek (Exodus 17:11).” “Were, then, the hands of Moses making war? But what the verse refers to is this: As long as the Children of Israel   were looking upwards, they were victorious (Rosh Hashanah 29a).”   This means that they constantly contemplated ways to ascend higher, and as a result the learned men, the Tzaddikim of the generation, became important in their eyes for they longed to reach the Tzaddik’s level. And since within the Children of Israel itself, the head (Tzaddik) did not bow downward, therefore in the entirety of the nations too, Israel, which is called the “Head” of the nations, prevailed and subsequently ruled. However, when within the Children of Israel the heads of the people were not held in esteem, so too in the totality of nations was Israel defeated. And so it is always whenever Jews look upwards and heed the Torah and teachings of those who are above them, they are ...