העורך Editor

There seems to be poorly explained leniency with women when it comes to fasting, in general. And few rabbis take the trouble to consider reality in Halacha, especially in Niddah, where much of the reality has changed. Rabbi Meir Mazuz here corrects that with an example which doesn’t even pertain directly to Niddah. What’s not to like?

I quote from Rabbi Mazuz‘s weekly sheet on Parshas Vayechi:

Thank You Notes to Hashem

I have a friend who has gone through a whole lot of challenges, many painful surgeries, a child who is not well, plus an endless list of difficulties too numerous to mention. She has found a way to deal with her situation that is simply stunning. One day she made a conscious decision to count her blessings, focus on what she has, and not complain about what she lacks.

She began keeping a Thank You Journal to Hashem and filling it with at least a hundred thank you notes a day. She thanks Hashem for just about everything good in her own life and in the life of her family and friends. She thanks Hashem for everything good He ever gave her. She thanks Hashem for every individual item she buys for Shabbos.

Every day she asks me what the highlight of my day was and when I share it with her, she writes it down and thanks Hashem for it. She writes anywhere from 100 to 500 to 1000 or more thank you notes, depending on that particular day. She numbers them and counts them and cherishes them as she is uplifted by them and as she connects to Hashem in love and in gratitude.

In the last four years, this beloved friend has written over 420,000 thank you notes. They have shaped her and turned her into a woman of greatness. A woman who thanks Hashem for her successes, as well as her failures. A woman who focuses on what is right in her life rather than on what seems to be wrong. Every day I tell her that she is a bas yechida to Hashem and that her thank you notes are a wonder stored in Hashem’s treasure chest.

ראו אתר שיעורי וכוללי הרב דוד לייבל, כאן.

לכל המיואשים מלימוד אמיתי (להבדיל מ”חקירות חיצונות”) כיון שבאו בשנים, ומפחדים מלעג הבריות קורא החזון איש:

מעט חוצפה, מעט עזות, ותראה נכוחות, ומה נחשב מחשבת בן תמותה בשר ורוח כחלום יעוף, ולמה תכנע מראות עיניו, ולמה לא תכנע מכלימת עולם המאיימת עליך בהשארך ריק, מיגע לריק ונולד לבהלה. חזק נא בן אדם חזק ולבוש אומץ, חגור מרץ, והוי שקוד ללמוד הלכה.

אין כזה לשון בשום מקום בחז”ל ובזוהר, וזה כפירה בעיקר. ישראל אינו אחד עם אלהיו.

תבדקו במקורות לבד. אכמ”ל.