Should we be storming the heavens about the bringing of Moshiach?

 Rav Avigdor Miller on V’sein Tal U’matar

Q:

Should we be storming the heavens about the bringing of Moshiach? 

A:

Every day you should storm. את צמח דוד עבדך מהרה תצמיח; say that with a storm! You should also storm by ברך עלינו את השנה הזאת ואת כל מיני תבואתה לטובה. When you get to the words ותן טל ומטר you should storm. Storm by tal u’matar! Don’t just be yoitzei. What a miracle tal u’matar is! You think it just happens? Tal u’matar just happens?! It’s a neis, no less a neis than the mann.

If the mann had happened only once, ooh would that have been something! But because it happened for forty years, so they became accustomed to it and it stopped being a neis. You know, when they came to Eretz Canaan and they saw food coming out of the ground, that was a neis. Food coming out of the ground?! “Look! It’s a neis! Food is coming out of the ground!” They thought food comes from the clouds. Because really it’s all a neis; only that habit makes you not notice. So we have to storm the heavens for tal u’matar.

And we have to storm for everything else too. You have to storm for רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות! You went to the bathroom? It’s a neis that you were able to go to the bathroom! Miracles are happening when you go to the bathroom! ומפליא לעשות – it’s all wonders what happens in the bathroom only that we’re fast asleep. Our minds are m’tumtam;  we’re stupefied by gashmiyus so we’re not thinking. So we have to storm; it means we have to fight back against the gashmiyus and see the yad Hashem, the miracles of everything in this world. Certainly we have to storm about everything.

TAPE # 854

Belzer Rebbe

  The late Belzer Rebbe, Rav Aharon Rokeach, would say that the evil inclination focuses mainly on weakening our dedication to Torah. He explained that the yetzer horo is an angel, and therefore knows all about how powerful the Torah study of each individual is. That is why he initiates so many temptations to be mevatel his victims away from Torah.

suitable Torah environment

Eisov told Yaakov: “Let’s not live so far removed from each other. My people won’t be so wicked, and your people weren’t be so righteous. Let’s compromise with each other”. Yaakov knew that he would not be influenced by Eisov, but he responded that his children would. Rav Yisroel Friedman, the Chortkover Rebbe derived from this that if a person is asked to move to a place with no suitable Torah environment in order to engage in kiruv work, even if he is convinced that this will not have detrimental effect on him, he is not entitled to assume the same about his children.

connecting

 What's Your Only True Happiness?

“A man will never see Me as long as he’s alive.” (Shemos 33:20).

This world is not a place to realize the ambition of seeing Hashem. It’ll make us happier as we come closer and closer, but we’ll never fully realize that until we come into the next world. 

Rabbi Avigdor Miller

There are people who rarely talk about Hashem. And recently I met someone who actually did it too much because really you need to talk Torah or you are just talking yourself. In this world, we need Torah to connect to hashem.

3 strings

 “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.”

The story goes that Itzhak Perlman finished a violin concerto with only three strings and uttered that quote. It's not clear that the story is true but the sentiment is a worthy one.

Here's what hysteria does to you

  Chabad shulchim convention group photo before COVID hysteria:

and after COVID hysteria

In the sefer Chafetz Chaim al HaTorah [Va’eschanan] the Chafetz Chaim explains why the posuk of “vi’nishmartem meod l’nafshoseichem”, which includes the commandment to guard one’s health, uses the term of nefesh, rather than the term guf. He explains that while engaging in the process of guarding the physical health, one may not thereby trample on his spiritual health.

saving souls with a gentle touch

"There are some rabbis whose expertise lies in saving Jewish souls through teaching about Torah and its precepts and Judaism in general and bringing Godliness into all areas of life. This requires a nuanced approach combing a gentle touch with steadfast commitment among ways to promote Judaism."  Lubavitcher Rebbe