The Jewish Star - Parshat Balack 5771

Overcome Your Fear

B’shalach: Monday: Overcome Your Fear

     “And the Children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, Egypt was coming after them and they were extremely afraid and the Children of Israel called out to G-d…and Moses said to the Nation, ‘Do not fear, stand firm and see the salvation of G-d…G-d will fight for you and you must remain silent.” The Children of Israel are afraid and they cry out to G-d. What is more natural and fitting than that? If you feel fear – start praying!

     True, it is very good to cry out to G-d and to pray. But Moses saw that the Children of Israel were still in an immature state. They were like a small child who is afraid and calls out to his father. Moses wished to raise them up to a state of maturity. The mature person knows how to employ his mind to overcome his emotions and to calm his fear. Thus, the fundamental point is “Do not fear, stand firm and see the salvation of G-d” (and understand that there is no reason to fear).

     “And know that a person must pass over a very, very narrow bridge, and the rule and the main point is not to feel fear at all.”  (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov). And if you are afraid and run to pray to G-d, it is best to stop praying and put your effort into overcoming your fear by strengthening your faith in G-d.

     (From Rabbi Ginsburgh’s book, Amudeha Shiv’ah)

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The Dreidel's Four Letters

By tradition, the dreidel has 4 faces. The first thing one notices about the dreidle is that each of the dreidel's four faces has one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet inscribed on it. The four letters are nun(נ), gimel(ג), hei(ה), and shin(ש),  the initials (beginning of each word) of the phrase "A great miracle occurred there." נס גדול היה שם.

The first thing to note is that the numerical value of these four letters together is 358, also the numerical value of Mashiach (משיח)! The recurring motif found in the dreidel's hidden meanings is that of the Mashiach and Redemption - changing the world and making it a worthy dwelling place for the Almighty.

In the past generation, some Jews living in the land of Israel decided that it would be proper to change the last word from "שם" to "here" (פה) thus making the phrase whose initials are on the dreidle, "A great miracle occurred here." Following this idea, the letters on the dreidel would be נגהפ, and their numerical sum would come to 138. But, as it is, you cannot escape the dreidel's inner meaning, and 138 is the value of Menachem (מנחם), one of the names of the Mashiach according to the Sages; it is also the value of the word Tzemach  (צמח), the name of the Mashiach appearing in the Bible, "Tzemach is his name. ..."

I CAN SIT ALL DAY TO SOAK UP the TORAH of HaRav Yitzchak Ginsburgh

http://www.inner.org/holidays/chanukah/chanukah-hidden-secrets-of-dreidel.php

Chanukah Lights - Deeper Meaning

Vayeitzei:Friday:Lev Lavan-The Heart of Lavan

11/24/17, 8:20 AM - Gal Einai: *Vayeitzei: Friday: Lev Lavan – The Heart of Lavan*

_“And Jacob stole_ *Lavan’s heart*, _not telling him that he was fleeing.”_ In Hebrew, the word _Lavan_ is spelled lamed, _beit_, _nun_. The first two letters, _lamed_ and _beit_, spell the word _lev_, which means ‘heart’. When the letters _lev_, heart, are stolen from _Lavan_, all that is left is the final nun, which alludes to _nefila_h, falling.

Jacob took from Lavan the holy sparks that were in captivity by him. This is the lev, the heart, of Lavan. After this clarification was completed, there was no reason to stay. It was imperative to flee quickly and whatever was left of the husk would fall by itself - the vitality had already exited.

One of the things that Jacob acquired by Lavan was the wisdom of leadership. Shepherding is preparation for leadership, as we see with Moses and King David. Abraham and Isaac also had flocks, but they had shepherds. Jacob, on the other hand, was actively  and deeply involved and shepherded the flocks with devotion for twenty years.

If so, the lev, heart of Lavan is the wisdom of leading a state. Lavan thought that Jacob was completely with him in leadership of the state. Suddenly, he understands that it was all a charade, a leadership school - and that in truth, Jacob, already equipped with the wisdom of leadership,  the lev, heart, of Lavan, is going to lead his own state.

*The translations this week are l’ilui nishmat Alteh Necheh bat R’ Chaim Nuta and R’ Elimelech ben Moshe*.

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Audio of Rectifying The State of Israel

With the permission of the publisher Gal Einai - here is the link with all  Audios "to date" in order. GoldieZP begins the reading of Rectifying the State of Israel. Thank you for listening and please share the link.

Rectifying The State of Israel

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1w-dYWy-KWKcgyEfWj7MauGGA5F-JWzk5?usp=sharing

This wonderful , MUST READ, book can be purchased at inner.org

Vayeitzei: Monday: How Beautiful*

*Vayeitzei: Monday: How Beautiful*

_“And when Jacob saw Rachel…and Jacob kissed Rachel.”_ This is a story of love at first sight. Jacob feels that Rachel is the twin soul that is waiting for him. Subsequently it is written in the Torah, _“And Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance”_. Was Jacob attracted to Rachel because of her beauty? Yes. There is a very deep point here, as the Rav the Maggid of Mezeritch explains. Jacob embodied the character trait of *tiferet*, splendor, “the _tiferet_, splendor, of Israel.” As such, he has a particular sensitivity to identify points of splendor and beauty in the world. When Jacob sees Rachel’s beauty, external beauty that reflects inner beauty, he immediately identifies with this beauty and knows that Rachel is his soul-mate.

Jacob also correlates to the trait of emet, truth, as is written, “Give emet, truth, to Jacob.”  Truth comes from above, demanding that we ‘straighten out’ according to the Divine yardstick. Beauty, however, ascends from below. Something beautiful in the world catches our eye. Jacob connects truth and beauty, thus achieving perfection. This is beautifully hinted at in gematria: *אמת* _(emet)_ plus *יפי* _(yofi)_ = *ישראל* Israel (the name that expresses the loftiness of Jacob).

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Vayeitzei: Sunday: The Evening Prayer

*Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh*
*Vayeitzei: Sunday: The Evening Prayer*
_“And he impacted upon the place and he slept there, for the sun had set”_. From this verse our Sages say that Jacob enacted the evening prayer. The Talmud says “The evening prayer is optional”. The morning and afternoon prayers are obligatory, while the evening prayer depends upon the will of the person.

Daylight is likened to clear and bright recognition of G-d’s light. In the daylight, a person can concentrate his thoughts and intention on the presence of G-d and say, “Blessed are You”… But when evening ( _erev_ in Hebrew) falls, everything becomes mixed up (mitarbev in Hebrew, the same root as erev, evening), darkness covers the earth and a person enters into his own self and doesn’t see G-d. This world is likened to night – particularly when one deals with mundane, optional matters, like one’s livelihood, for example. (This is what Jacob is on his way to accomplish).

 In the *optional* realm, it is difficult to demand of a person to turn to G-d. After all, he is in a distant place that seems like a space void of Divine Presence, bereft of Torah and commandments. For this reason, the evening prayer is *optional*.

But wondrously, the Nation of Israel accepted the evening prayer as an obligation and this is the Halachic ruling. We are the children of Jacob, who also prays from amidst the darkness. We find G-d in the midst of our mundane and optional matters, as well. As Jacob said, “There is G-d in this place.”

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Toldot: Friday: “And He Shall Give You”

Gal Einai: *Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh*

*Toldot: Friday: “And He Shall Give You”*

Isaac blesses Jacob, _“And G-d shall give you from the dew of heaven and from the fat of the Land and an abundance of corn and wine.”_ Why does Isaac add the word, “And” at the beginning of his blessing? After all, this is the first sentence in his blessing!

This is why Rashi explains, “He will give and give again”. In other words, a never-ending blessing. He will give and give again and again…for eternity. 

We must also go in G-d’s path and adopt this character trait: Never-ending giving of charity and loving-kindness, to give and to give again. The more that we conduct ourselves in this way, the more that the Holy One, Blessed Be He will give to us and give to us again – an abundance of blessing with no end.

This year, the Friday of the Torah portion of Toldot falls out on the 28th of Cheshvan. This is the 58th day from the beginning of the year. 58 is the numerical value of the word חן, _chen,_  which means “grace”. The concept of grace in the Torah is expressed by the completeness of symmetry, exactly like the first appearance of _chen_  in the Torah: _“And Noah found favor_ (‘grace’ *chen*) _in the eyes of G-d”_. The Hebrew for Noah, *נח* , is *חן* _chen_  in reverse.

The Hebrew word for _“And He will give”_ in our verse, ויתן , _Veyiten_, also hints to the secret of _chen_. If we write out the letters of the word _chen_ in Hebrew in full, _chet חית_ and _nun  _ נון, we discover that the letters that fill out those two words actually spell out ויתן , _Veyiten_. The letters that fill out  the _nun_  - _vav_ and _nun_, surround the letters that fill out the _chet – yud_ and _tav_. Something so graceful always finds favor, awakening never-ending giving. He will give and give again and again. 

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*The translations this week l’ilui nishmat Alteh Necheh bat Chaim Nuta and R’ Elimelech ben Moshe.*

Toldot: A Mother's Love

11/16/17 Gal Einai: Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh

Toldot: Thursday: A Mother’s Love

Jacob manages to receive/steal the blessing from his father Isaac in place of Esau, his brother. But Jacob is just a _shaliach_, a messenger of his mother, Rebecca. She is the person who initiates the plan for Jacob to receive Isaac’s blessing and she takes responsibility for it, telling Jacob that if Isaac discovers that he is not Esau and curses him, _“your curse will be upon me”_. Actually, there is a conflict between two sides in this story: Isaac and Esau on one side and Rebecca and Jacob on the other. And the second side triumphs. 

On a deeper level, the struggle is between  two loves: Isaac loves Esau and Rebecca loves Jacob – and Rebecca’s love for Jacob triumphs. Why is Rebecca’s love greater than Isaac’s love?

We read in the Torah, _“And Isaac loved Esau for venison was in his mouth, and Rebecca loves Jacob.”_ Isaac has a very good reason to love Esau: _“venison was in his mouth”_.  Esau honors his father and brings him delicacies. Kabbalah explains that Isaac sees the holy sparks in Esau, the sparks that were revealed in subsequent generations as great righteous converts who descended from Esau. But _“Rebecca loves Jacob”_. She simply loves him, no reason given.

In other words: Isaac’s love for Esau, in a certain way, is “love dependent upon a reason.” But Rebecca’s love for Jacob is “love that is not dependent upon a reason.” It is the pure love of a mother for her son. And it triumphs. 

⭐ *Tonight*, Thursday night, or-l’28 Cheshvan, farbrengen with Rabbi Ginsburgh in honor of his birthday. 

10 PM at the Talmud Torah in Kfar Chabad. *Live broadcast* (Hebrew) here - https://goo.gl/da9fF3

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11/16/17, 9:00 AM - Gal Einai: AUD-20171116-WA0000.mp3 (file attached)

11/16/17, 9:00 AM - Gal Einai: A New Nigun By the Rav

Regarding Last Week's Parshas Chukas

The Torah portion prior to Chukas (חקת) is Korach (קרח), and the Torah portion following Chukas is Balak (בלק).

An Interesting connection is seen here. Each portion contains the letter 'ק' (kuf).

Korach begins with the letter kuf.

Chukas contains the kuf in the middle.

Balak ends with the letter kuf.

The letter kuf is a symbol of kedushah, holiness. Korach had holy lineage as he was a great-great grandson of Jacob. Balak, who was a Moabite, had future holy descendants as King David and Mashiach.

The middle portion, Chukas, which describes the purification process of one who has become impure, features the kuf in its center, underscoring that one should not look to his noble lineage or future descendants for spiritual merits, but rather work on oneself in order to claim one's own Divine merits and rewards.

The above TNT is posted with permission from the author "Anonymous" of his book TNT Torah Novel Thoughts published by Jewish Publishing House 

Omnipresence – Redemption of Fallen Sparks

I have just received HaRav Yitzchak Ginsburg's book The Hebrew Letters: Channels of Creative Consciousness - I am learning much from it. And in the words of HaRav........"Within the limitations of the scope of this book, we hope to inspire the serious student to "rest" his head on the Hebrew letters. If one's heart is sincere and true to G-d he will then merit, as our father Jacob, to experience, first in a "dream" as it were, the letters permuting to form words, and finally "awaken," in one's unique style of expression, to the full, awesome consciousness of the House of G-d." pg 6 

Two letters, a reish and a zayin, combine to form the letter kuf. The zayin, to the left, descends below the line, while the reish, to the right, hovers above it. The paradoxical union symbolized by the two components of the kuf is the secret of “There is none holy as G-d.” In general, the kuf stands for kedushah, “holiness.” The unique level of holiness inherent to G-d is expressed, in the words of the Zohar, as: “He is grasped within all worlds, yet none grasps Him.” The descending zayin of the kuf symbolizes His being grasped in all worlds, permeating even realms of reality “below the line,” i.e., worlds antithetical to those in whom G-d’s Presence is revealed. The reish, G-d’s ever-present transcendence, remains “separate” and holy (in Hebrew, “holy” means separate) in relation to His descending immanence.

In the name of the letter tzadik, its initial reading, tzadi, “hunts” for fallen sparks. The holy spark, captured “below the line” in physical matter (“anti-matter,” relative to that of spiritual realms) is the secret of the following letter, the kuf, to which the tzadi connects to form the full, rectified name – tzadik.

The tzadik is the eighteenth letter of the alef-beit, the gematria of chai, “life,” thus symbolizing the power to enliven the fallen sparks, as represented by the kuf. The kuf, the nineteenth letter, is the secret of “Eve” (Chavah = 19; in ordinal numbering, Adam equals 1 plus 4 plus 13 = 18 = chai), whose name also derives from the root meaning “life,” as is said: .”..and Adam called the name of his wife Eve (Chavah) for she was the mother of all life.” Nonetheless, of her is said: “her feet descend into death,” for in the primordial sin of eating (the “sense” of the letter tzadik, as explained above) from the Tree of Knowledge, she was ultimately responsible for bringing death to the world. Even within the “broken” (dead) corpse, a spark of life remains hidden, awaiting the power of the tzadik, (chai, life) to reinforce its dormant potential of life and to resurrect the body to whom it belongs.

As well as the hidden inner spark of life, a hovering, relatively transcendent “vapor” is present above every corpse or fallen, “dead,” physical object. (The word for “vapor,” hevel, is also the name Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by his older brother Cain. Hevel = 37 = 18 plus 19.) These two components of life present within the seeming state of death, correspond to the two letters, the reish (the hovering vapor) and the zayin (the hidden spark), which compose the letter kuf. For this reason the kuf symbolizes in particular the reality of fallen sparks, as well as the paradox of the simultaneous omnipresence of God’s transcendence and immanence. The innate holiness of each spark insures its ultimate redemption and elevation by the tzadik (i.e., souls of Israel).

The most fundamental significance in Torah of the number nineteen, the ordinal value of the kuf, is the nineteen-year cycle of the moon in relation to the sun, the basis of our Jewish calendar. The moon represents the female figure, the secret of the sefirah of malchut (“kingdom”), personified by Eve (Chavah = 19, as above). The sun represents the male figure (the bestower of light, whereas the moon is the receiver of light), and in particular the sefirah of yesod(“foundation”; yesod = 80 = 8 · 10, chet times yud = chai), as personified by Adam. Just as explained in the secret of the form of the letter zayin, “the woman of valor” who is “the crown of her husband,” when the letter kuf precedes the letter tzadik, the word keitz, the “end” of time, is formed. This hints at the verse: “…He has set an end [keitz] to darkness.” The “end,” the coming of Mashiach and the subsequent era of resurrection, is the ultimate revelation of the great light and energy latently present within the secret of the letter kuf.

FORM

A reish above with a zayin descending below the line on the left.

Worlds:

“Shells” of impurity “suck” lifeforce in this world.

The zayin and reish spell zar, “foreign.”

Souls :

The mission of the soul – its descent to clarify sparks of holiness.

The zayin and reish spell zeir, “crown.”

The “boomerang” property of the soul.

Divinity:

“He is grasped in all worlds [the zayin], yet no one grasps Him [the reish].”

The reish and zayin spell raz, “mystery.”

NAME

Monkey; to surround or touch; strength; in Aramaic: the eye of a needle.

Worlds:

Monkey – vanity, the false imitations of this world.

The eye of the needle – the empty point of tzimtzum.

Souls:

The touching and connection between souls.

The soul opening to God.

Divinity:

Great strength as revealed in miracles.

NUMBER

One hundred.

Worlds:

The one-hundred year life span of the eagle.

“The youth will die at the age of 100.”

“At the age of 100 one is as though dead, passed away and ‘null’ from the world.”

Souls:

The age of Abraham at the birth of Isaac.

“Go to you”: to the source of your soul or to enter your body.

Divinity:

Perfect beauty.

The perfection of the square, 10 times 10.

The ten sefirot interincluded.

The one hundred daily blessings.