Miller's Musings Parshas Vayishlach: Our Last Line of Defence

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 לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם   ד בס''

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This week’s Miller’s Musings is sponsored  לעילוי נשמת מרדכי בן שלמה יחיאל ולאה בת אברהם

Quote of the Week: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Miller’s Musings

וישלחפרשת   

Our Last Line Of Defence

The epic battle between Yaakov and the angel of Eisov is one that can be viewed on any number of levels.  The eternal battle between the forces of evil in the world versus the powers for good.  The perpetual conflict between our Torah way of life and the influences that would corrupt them.  Or perhaps the struggle between our nation and those who would seek to do us harm or destroy us.  Whatever our understanding of this encounter, the question that poses itself is why it was specifically Yaakov chosen to engage with the angel rather than the other forefathers, Avrohom or Yitzchok?

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

If we focus for a moment on this skirmish as something of a metaphor for the endless fight that takes place between our animal self and our more elevated soul, then, suggests Reb Elchonon Wasserman zt’l, we can begin to see why it was Yaakov selected by the Yetzer Horah.  For in war there can be many individual clashes between the opposing sides.  And defeat is not necessarily conclusively gained by the loss of one such confrontation.  Even the vanquished can get up and rise again to once more step into the breach.  But if all of your adversary’s weapons have been lost or captured in battle, then you can truly consider yourself the victor.  Chazal tell us that the most potent antidote to the evil inclination is Torah and this is what Yaakov represented above all us.  A person may be riddled with sin and lacking almost all positive deeds, but if they have Torah then there is always a chance for repentance and a potential deterrent for this congenital proclivity for wrong.  Avrohom exemplified kindness and Yitzchok personified strict judgement.  But for the Soton to gain absolute victory he needed to conquer and ultimately crush Torah, as embodied by Yaakov.

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Whether individually or collectively, until the time of Moshiach, we are here to do battle and fight evil, in all its shapes and sizes.  Each day we must subdue our predilection towards focusing only on the self and instead look outwards.  Each moment we must ask what we should be doing, not necessarily what we want to be doing.  And in every generation there may be those that look to hurt us and cause our people pain and we must endeavour to triumph over their schemes.  But as the children of Yaakov, the Bnei Yisroel, we hold the most powerful protection and devastating armoury to combat all that have malevolent intentions towards us.  The Chofetz Chaim once said that the Yetzer Horah is not bothered if a Jew fasts, cries and prays all day as long as he does not learn Hashem’s Torah.  We must allow the Torah into our lives and souls and cherish its teachings.  Forces will always emerge to conspire against us as long as we do not bring perfection to the world, so we must make sure that we have the wherewithal to combat it.  Learn Torah, transmit Torah, absorb Torah and live Torah, and there will ultimately be nothing that can destroy us nor keep us from our purpose.

*May we utilise Shabbos for making Torah ever more part of our lives*

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Shimmy Miller
Rebbe/Teacher/Counsellor/Tutor| Manchester Mesivta and Private
07531322970 | rabbimiller.mesivta@gmail.com| http://rabbimillersmusings.blogspot.co.uk/
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Miller's Musings Parshas Chayei Soroh: Get It All Out

בס''ד

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This week’s Miller’s Musings is sponsored      לעילוי נשמת  לאה בת אברהם ולרפואה שלימה למשה חיים בן מרים ורג'ינה מלכה בת שרה

Quote of the Week: “A ship is always safe        at shore.  But that’s not what it was built for.”

Miller’s Musings

חיי שרהפרשת 

Get It All Out

He had shown himself willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.  To give up that which was most precious to him and for the rest of his life, live with that choice.  Avrohom had submitted himself to G-d’s will in the face of patent contradictions with what Hashem had told him would be and flagrant conflicts to his own teachings and life’s work.  And after he had passed this almost unpassable test, he returned to find his beloved wife had died from the shock of what had almost occurred.  What a tremendous test of Avrohom’s faith this must surely have been!  And then to have to deal with the insufferable Ephron and his underhanded tactics to procure a place to bury Soroh.  And yet, despite all this, this does not make it as one of the ‘ten trials of Avrohom’.  Why ever not?    

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

A common misconception is that a trial is there to determine the mettle of the person.  To find out what they are capable of in trying times. But even the most perfunctory reflection on this suggestion would see that this is entirely illogical and impossible.  For if this were the case, when it is Hashem that is administering the test, there would be absolutely no point.  He of course already knows exactly what level a person is currently at and is abundantly aware of what this person is able to achieve.  We instead understand a test to be as the Ramban explains it.  A means by which to extract from within us all the hidden strengths and potential that without a test would otherwise left dormant and never be unearthed.  When we pass a test we extract abilities that have, until now, been buried deep within us.  These are perhaps concealed even to us and consequently require these trials in order for us to reach these higher spiritual planes.  Therefore, says Reb Shammai Zahn זצ״ל,by the time Avrohom reached this moment of grief for his wife, his previous tests had raised him to such echelons that this presented no opportunity for further growth.  He had already brought into actuality abilities even higher than those needed now, hence this could not be counted as a test.     

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Over our life we build up a picture of who we are and what we can achieve.  It is based upon what we see and experience, but according to what we have said, it can be entirely wrong.  But worse than being incorrect, to have such limitations on oneself, can be incredibly stifling to one’s growth and restricting to who we can be.   If we do not believe we can be more than we currently are, it can elicit a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby we have failed before we even begin a test.  A true test brings out what we have not yet seen within ourselves, but if we already decide that there is nothing more within us, what hope do we have!  We must be absolutely clear in the knowledge that we have a potential far beyond our current perception of ourselves.  And we must view each of life’s tribulations as an opportunity to discover new truths about who we can be.  Understood in this way, the complexities and struggles of life are what allow us to be our better selves and attain the greatness we must strive for.    

*May this Shabbos enable us to realise our potential and see clearly that it is there*

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Miller's Musings Parshas Vayero: Don't Miss All The Good Bits

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This week’s Miller’s Musings is sponsored      לעילוי נשמת נפתלי מאיר בן הרב בנימין דוב  and in honour of the coming of Moshiach, may it come speedily in our days!

Miller’s Musings

ויראפרשת 

Don’t Miss All The Good Bits

If there was ever a man of contradictions, it was surely Lot.  Sent away by Avrohom, due to his polluting influence, he chose Sodom, a place reeking with malice and impurity.  Not only did he assimilate among the natives there, but he rose in power in his newfound home and became their judge.  And yet regardless of this, we see him display huge self-sacrifice and altruism, when he risks his life to shelter guests.  In a place where such behaviour incurred the death penalty, this feat of selflessness and courage stands distinctly incongruous to all we know of him.  And when he willingly offers his own daughters in exchange for the guests’ lives, we once again starkly see the incompatible and paradoxical nature of his conduct. How can we understand this?

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

In spite of our portrayal of Lot as a deeply perplexing individual of multiple inconsistencies, the truth is actually far more explicable.  Every person is the sum total of many parts; the innate attributes of their unique soul, the impact of their parents and the effect of their surrounding environment.  Lot was no different and in many ways was a hugely flawed personality.  It was not by coincidence that he simultaneously left perhaps the greatest human being that ever lived and entered a place doomed for ruin.  But having lived a major period of his life close to Avrohom, it was impossible that some of his virtue would not have affected Lot.  It was this exposure, says the Dorash Dovid, to a giant of kindness, empathy and true love for all others, that ultimately impacted on Lot to create this part of his makeup.  Residing with Avrohom, witnessing his benevolence, taking part in his giving and seeing the humanity a person could possess, shaped Lot, perhaps despite himself.  And, on occasion, it gave him that ability and urge, to do whatever was necessary for the good of another. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

How do we feel about ourselves?  I would imagine that each one of us has traits that we would rather we didn’t possess.  Traits that we struggle with but don’t seem to be able to purge from our life.  Perhaps we view them with shame, frustration and something bordering on despondency.  The key message that we can take from what we have said is to recognise that just because we fail in one area, even repeatedly so, this does not define who we are.  We are complex beings, composed of a myriad of different influences and inborn qualities.  Each one of our facets must be viewed individually and reacted to as such.  This is of course not to say that we can resign one area to being an unmitigated failure that can be abandoned.  We must strive all our lives to develop and correct every part of who we are.  But when we fail and perhaps fail badly, and that failure disappoints us once again. We must know that there is more to us than this one defeat.  There are so many times when we do succeed and we are triumphant.  If we look with care we will see there is far more good within us than perhaps even we realise.  Good that does express our true selves. 

*May this Shabbos shine a light on all the good that we are*

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Miller's Musings Parshas Lech Lecho: Beyond The Stars We See

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This week’s Miller’s Musings is sponsored      לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם ונפתלי מאיר בן הרב בנימין דוב

Quote of the Week: “How lucky we were to have had something that made saying goodbye so hard.”

Miller’s Musings

לך־לך  פרשת  

Beyond The Stars We See

The impact of the Jewish people on civilisation is, and always has been, vastly disproportionate to its numbers.  We are, relatively speaking, few in number compared to the rest of humanity.  Yet we have been leaders and architects of every field of endeavour, forging the path and illuminating the way.  Nevertheless, given our moderately tiny numerical presence, it would seem rather disingenuous to proclaim, as is foretold in this week’s Parsha, that our nation will be innumerable as the stars.  Furthermore we were described as being such in the time of Moshe, when our number was known and quantifiable.  We must therefore ask why the Torah compares us to the stars and how this comparison is indeed legitimate?

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

In actual fact there are many reasons that one may be unable to count something.  It may be because the number is just too vast and bordering on the infinite, but if one can see them, then given enough time, one is able to count even the most cosmic of entities.  But the other reason one may not be able to calculate something’s quantity, is simply because one is unable to see all that would need to be included within the totaling.  The stars, for example, extend so far into the endless void of blackness, that it is simply impossible to count them.  This, says Reb Shimon Schwab, is the true nature of the relationship between the Jewish people and the stars and in fact the reason that counting the Jewish people is forbidden.  For though we may be able to tally all those who are currently on this plane of existence, a Jewish soul is connected to the Source of life and reality and is therefore eternal.  To arrive at a figure based solely on those present amongst us, would be to effectively deny the existence of those souls in the Next World.  We as a people are therefore uncountable, for there are many more than those we see, living the true reality in the world of absolute truth.

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

To lose one we love or care for is always tragic, no matter the circumstances.  There is suddenly a gaping hole in our lives that cannot be filled nor restored and the pain of loss is deep and pervasive.  The Torah allows for a period of mourning because it is both vital for us as part of the human condition and in order for us to eventually find some healing.  It may perhaps be some source of comfort however to think of what we have said.  That no matter how distant they may seem, all those who return to their Creator, are still as much a real part of us as a people, as they ever were whilst alive.  We may feel it in their enduring legacy, their generosity of spirit and kind nature that so touched us or the indelible impression they made on their loved ones. It may be in the example they set for how we should live our lives, the moments we shared that can never be forgotten or the love that never leaves our hearts.  They cannot be seen, but they are here within us and will always be so.  Those dazzling stars hidden in the interminable darkness of the cosmos are in truth always there shining, gleaming, radiating their luminous light, touching the earth with their incandescent beauty.   

*May the miracle of Shabbos offer warmth and solace for all those who need it*

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Miller's Musings Parshas Noach: Picking Up The Pieces

This week's Miller's Musings is sponsored 

לעילוי נשמת

יחיאל בן אלעזר יוסף

                      בס''ד

Noach, it seems, is something of an enigmatic figure. It is somewhat a point of contention as to whether he was subjectively righteous compared to his evil generation, or objectively so. What is clear is that he stood head and shoulders above those of his time and was the sole reason for Hashem relenting on His decision to obliterate His creation. When all others lived lives of depravity and deceit, he transcended the filth and decadence and existed as a beacon of light in the dark. How was this possible? How could he elevate himself to such a degree, when everyone and everything around him should surely have contaminated and corrupted even the most noble of personalities? 

No matter where one finds oneself, there are always opportunities that await you. Some places provide huge opportunities for connecting with Hashem, whilst others are replete with the threat of distancing oneself from Him. Those that contain such spiritual dangers are time and again scenes of spiritual downfall and defeat to the evil inclination. A Rabbi was once asked by a man why it was that after he had gone through just such a place of impurity, the subsequent prayer after this experience was more elevated and powerful than any previous ones. He replied that any places that contained such potential for failures would have seen many people fall victim to its temptations, and sin. Any time that happens, some of the sparks of holiness fall from those who fail that test. When you walked through that place, and overcame the trials within it, you picked up all those sparks and left a spiritually uplifted man. These are rather esoteric ideas that I cannot claim to fully understand. But in a world bursting with impurity, a man such as Noach who strove to prevail over all tests he encountered, was able to not only reach higher levels from his own efforts, but also pick up those sparks wherever he went. It was perhaps this that granted him the ability to rise high above the world he inhabited and achieve what seemed the impossible, against all odds.           

Even if we cannot truly appreciate this concept, what we can perhaps comprehend is that a person able to achieve when all others have been unsuccessful, surely carries that person higher than would be possible if their efforts were without this comparison. The world is full of temptations; perhaps more than ever before. And we will slip up and we may fail. But we must realise that when we don’t. When we are able to make the right choices and do the right thing. We are not just gaining from that virtuous act. We are also seizing those fragments of holiness that have been left by those who have not passed their tests. Perhaps we feel that we cannot compare to the giants of the past and their incredible feats of faith and righteousness. But in a time where there is so much to drive us away from Hashem and where so many lack the fortitude or will to do as they should, each victory we achieve possesses tremendous power to bring us exponentially closer to our perfection.

*May we absorb all the holiness of Shabbos within us and leave it a different us*

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