#1085
Pray One Step at a Time
Prayer is an excellent training ground for practicing control of one's thoughts.
Some people give up hope on concentrating during prayers because they
feel there is so much to say and they find it hard to concentrate for so
long. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov offered the following advice: When
external thoughts come to you during prayers, ignore them. Don't try to
fight them, since the more you battle them the more they will bother
you.
Make up your mind to concentrate on just a few pages. By using this
technique you will be able to concentrate during the entire service.
(see Chochmah Umussar, vol.1, p.283; Rabbi Pliskin - Gateway to Happiness, p.86)
#1086
Think about the Outcome
Even if someone has done something wrong to you, before
getting into an argument about it, think of the outcome you are striving
for. If there will be no practical benefit from your argument, avoid
it.
"Outcome thinking" is wisdom. A wise person considers the outcome before speaking.
Be wise!
(see Vilna Gaon - Proverbs 13:30; Rabbi Pliskin - "Consulting the Wise")
10 Tevet
In
424 BCE, Babylonia King Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem.
Actually, there was little damage on that first day and no Jews were
killed, yet it began a chain of disasters which ended with the
destruction of the Holy Temple. The 10th of Tevet is still observed
today by Jews as a public fast day, as mentioned by the prophet
Zechariah (8:19). One year after Nebuchadnezzar's siege, on this date in
423 BCE, Jeremiah purchased a field and prophesized that "Houses,
fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land" (Jeremiah
32:15). This gave hope to generations of Jews for a return to the Holy
Land -- a prophecy that we have seen fulfilled in modern times.
11 Tevet
In
1861, President Abraham Lincoln pledged to amend a federal law granting
only Christian clergy the right to serve as military chaplains. During
the Civil War (in which 6,500 Jews served for the North, and another
2,000 for the South), a religious Jew named Michael Allen had been
elected as the non-denominational chaplain of his army regiment. When
Allen's Jewishness became "publicized," rather than subject his family
to the humiliating ordeal of his dismissal, Allen resigned, citing poor
health. The regiment then elected Rabbi Arnold Fischel as its chaplain,
in order to test the constitutionality of the "Christian-only" law. Much
lobbying ensued, including Fischel traveling to Washington to meet with
Lincoln. Six months later, the law was amended to permit Jewish clergy
to become military chaplains. It is regarded historically as the first
case of American Jews successfully challenging federal legislation.
10 Tevet
God, alien nations have come into Your inheritance and have defiled Your Sanctuary (Psalms 79:1).
The tenth day of Teves is a fast day, on which we remember the
beginning of the siege of Jerusalem that led to the destruction of the
Temple. By depriving ourselves of food and drink, we experience the
discomfort of hunger and thirst, and in this way we share in the
national distress.
No other nation has anything similar to a fast day for an event that
occurred thousands of years ago. Most historic events are remembered by
historians interested in the subject. The average person is untouched by
such ancient events.
Not so with Jews, for whom spirituality and closeness to God are a vital
part of life. The loss of intimacy with God that occurred with the
destruction of the Temple is something from which we have never
recovered, and is a source of grief today. The fast of the tenth day of
Teves is not merely a commemoration of a historic event, but an
expression of the grief we experience today in being deprived of the
close presence of God in the Temple.
We have been promised that the Temple will be restored with the ultimate Redemption of Israel, and we will again have the Shechinah
which is the breath of spiritual life. To achieve this Redemption we
must merit it, by committing ourselves to total observance of Torah and mitzvos.
Today I shall ...
... try to understand how the loss of the Sanctuary thousands of years
ago is a personal loss to me, and what I can do to restore that kedushah.
11 Tevet
One who responds "Amen" after a blessing surpasses the one who recites the blessing (Berachos 53b).
"Amen" is an expression of confirmation, whereby we attest that
what the other person has said is indeed true. Thus, when someone
recites a blessing expressing gratitude to God or asserting that God has
commanded the performance of a particular mitzvah, one is
making a declaration of one's faith. When we respond by saying "Amen,"
we are essentially stating, "What you have said is indeed true," and
thereby we are not only concurring with what was said and expressing our
own faith, but also reinforcing the other person's statement and
strengthening the other person's faith.
There are things that one can do that will strengthen other people's
faith in God, and things that will weaken it. In Torah there is a
concept of arvus - mutual responsibility - by virtue of which
one is obligated to try to strengthen other people's belief and trust in
God. Although every person has free will, and God does not intervene to
deter someone from committing a wrong, people who have suffered because
of someone's misdeeds often feel that God has abandoned them. Thus, if
we deal unfairly with others, we may not only cause them to be angry at
us, but also bring them to doubt God for allowing an injustice to
happen. While such reasoning is faulty, the one who caused it is
nevertheless responsible for causing the victim to feel that way. On the
other hand, when we behave in the manner which God wishes, the result
is kvod shamayim - bringing glory and honor to God, and
strengthening people's faith. Our actions can and do affect how other
people will think and act.
Today I shall ...
... try to behave in a way that will result in people having greater respect for and trust in God.
