Best wishes to all for a true fulfillment of "V'Samachta B'Chagecha"!

by Rabbi Chaimowitz

Did you ever feel when you end Yom Kippur as if you have been totally broken?

Is the real idea behind Vidduy to destroy your self image?

How can a person really regret everything they did anyway?

Why does the Rambam say that adding details of a sin is praiseworthy?

The answers to these and other questions can be gained from this astounding MP3 shiur, that may well change your perspective on Tshuva for life!

Prayers and Vidduy on Yom Kippur by Rav Chaimowitz

Size: 9.2 MB; Duration: Approx. 40 min.

Best Wishes to all for a G'mar Chasima Tova and a positive Yom Kippur experience!

Did you ever wonder what makes our spiritual experience on Rosh Hashana different than our experience on any other Yom Tov? This shiur is a worthwhile investment to enhance your understanding of the Yom Tov and will also give you insight into the goal of all our Tefilos.

Included in the Shiur:

What is our Neshama?

How can we relate to Hashem on Yom HaDin?

Where does the feeling of fear on Rosh Hashana come from?

Does everyone feel this way or is it just my imagination?

Tefillah and Rosh HaShanah

by Rabbi Chaimowitz

Size: 8.4 MB  ; Duration: Approx. 40 min.

May you all be inscribed in the book of life and have a year of sweet brochos!

The Middle Path Team

Be on the lookout for upcoming Shiurim this month to prepare for Rosh Hashana.

Guaranteed to change your Rosh Hashana experience or your money back.

http://www.sepherio.com/themiddlepath.co.il/TheMiddlePath.co.il-The-Life-of-the-Baal-Shem-Tov-by-Rav-Chaimowitz-1.mp4

http://www.sepherio.com/themiddlepath.co.il/TheMiddlePath.co.il-The-Life-of-the-Baal-Shem-Tov-by-Rav-Chaimowitz-2.mp4

http://www.sepherio.com/themiddlepath.co.il/TheMiddlePath.co.il-The-Life-of-the-Baal-Shem-Tov-by-Rav-Chaimowitz-3.mp4

http://www.sepherio.com/themiddlepath.co.il/TheMiddlePath.co.il-The-Life-of-the-Baal-Shem-Tov-by-Rav-Chaimowitz-4.mp4

http://www.sepherio.com/themiddlepath.co.il/TheMiddlePath.co.il-The-Life-of-the-Baal-Shem-Tov-by-Rav-Chaimowitz-5.mp4

http://www.sepherio.com/themiddlepath.co.il/TheMiddlePath.co.il-The-Life-of-the-Baal-Shem-Tov-by-Rav-Chaimowitz-6.mp4

Bs"d

As you know, every week of sfiras haomer we work on a specific middah – character trait. This week's middah is "Middas Tiferes". But what is Tiferes, and how do we work on it?

The root of the Hebrew word Tiferes is "Pe'er" (Peh, Alef, Reish). The word Pe'er means beauty, but it can also mean a branch (of a tree). Now, what could possibly be the connection between beauty and a branch? We know that in Hebrew, all the words that have the same letters are somehow related, so there must be some connection between the concept of beauty and branches of a tree. And even once we understand that, what does all this have to do with a character trait?

The Sefer Derech Mitzvosecha (written by the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe zy"a) explains¹, that beauty is perceived only when there exists a contrast. For example, imagine a flowerpot that holds in it some beautifully formed tulips – but everything around them is all the same color. Imagine that  the tulips are white, the stems and leaves are white, the soil is white, and even the flowerpot itself is white,. Would that be beautiful? It really wouldn't be very nice at all. Rather, the beauty is exhibited only when there is contrast. When the flowerpot is a red-brown and some of the tulips are white but some others are pink and red, and the leaves are green and the soil is brown – that contrast is what awards the perception of the flowerpot and its flowers its beauty.

The Derech Mitzvosecha proceeds to explain that this is the concept of middas Tiferes. The literal translation of Tiferes in Hebrew is beauty, and what causes there to be beauty is the aspect of contrast. Middas Tiferes represents specifically the contrast of the two middos that precede it – Giving and Constriction.These first two middos contrast sharply  – Giving and Constriction are two diametrically opposite expressions. When a human being can strike an equilibrium between his amount of giving and his amount of constriction (not giving), that is beautiful. Because when he gives too much, much more than his means allow, it is not beautiful, because in effect we see that he is leading himself to poverty. If, on the other hand, he restricts his giving too much, that is also not beautuiful, becase it shows that he is a person who can't share at all. The beauty that is represented by Tiferes is the exact point of balance between the contrasting acts of giving and constriction.

 A tree is a unique reprsentation of this. The tree starts out with one single trunk that runs straight up and then branches out into many opposing and contrasting directions. All the varying branches, however, are connected by one central trunk that's in the middle. If all that the tree would consist of would be its trunk, it wouldn't be very appealing at all. It"s because of the contrast of all the branches going in their various directions, that the tree exhibits such appeal. And so a tree is the  optimum metaphor for middas Tiferes.

We now see how Pe'er (a branch) and Tiferes are directly connected. But what message does this hold for us practically, and what does that tell us about the energy of this week? 

Our focuys during the weeks of sfiras haomer is on "tikun hamidos" – "fixing" the middos. We are expected to "fix" our middos very much like one fixes a thermostat or tones the strings of his guitar. When fixing the thermostat, a person tries to find the right balance between the temperature outside and what he wants it to be inside. Ideally what he's looking for is the pleasant balance between being too cold or too hot. And since the temperature outside is constantly changing, it's constantly necessary that the balance of the thermostat change accordingly.

When tuning a guitar, the musician tries his best to find the exact balance between loosening his strings too much and between tightening them too much. The exact balance betweenn his "giving" more string and his "constricting"  more string and taking it away by making it more taunt, will give him the optimum sound that he's looking for.

It's the same with our middos. The first week of sfirah, our focus is upon the middah of Giving; the second week our focus is upon the middah of inner strength and restraint – Constricting. It's in this third week – the week of Tiferes – that we seek to find the exact balance, the optimum temperture for our nature to operate at; the balance between our giving and our restricting, that will lead us to sound through our actions the best music that we can for all to hear.

The balance that we work toward in this week of sfirah, continues to escort us onward toward the day of Kabolas HaTorah. Since the temperture "outside" is constantly changing, we must use the knowledge of the equilibrium that we gain this week, to know how to gauge ourselves even afterwards in an ongoing way. When we aquire the special trait of Tiferes in all that we do, it arouses a sense of beauty in the eyes of our beholders. Everyone relates to and honors the strike of balance that we portray, and are then further inspired themselves to discover their own individual balance. The wonder that is created by the unified combination of the contrasting parts, is  the major energy that we then carry with us toward Kabolas HaTorah - toward receiving the Torah on Shavuous habah aleinu l'tova, Amen..  

Bs"d

The Ohev Yisroel¹ says in his explanation of Shabbos Hagadol² : [The Egyptians] would worship the constellation of "tleh" – the head of all the constellations, the b'chor ("firstborn") of all of them.  Hashem slew all the b'chorim that were in Egypt, and that was the idea of the smiting of the firstborn…The idea of b'chor, is the first strength and starting point. It is the [level of] Chochma".

We know that in the creation of the natural world, the level of Chochma was the first point of "creation". In regard to the constellations – those realities that have become conduits for energies to enter the world – "Tleh" [literally, a young sheep] – is the fist and starting point of those conduits that comprises within it the essence of all the other constellations.

Before actually leaving Egypt, Hashem commanded the Jewish people to each take a sheep and constrain it. This represented the subjugation of the energies that were flowing into this physical world through the source constellation of tleh, and with that came a subjugation of all the additional conduits as well. In effect, this was a denunciation of the view that the world is totally governed by the laws of nature, because the intial basis for such a view is the understanding of the chochma and wisdom of how the enegies flow through the system of constellations. This view of the world was one that the Egyptians contended so strongly, that they allowed all the sheep in their country to move about without constraint. It was the basis of belief for the entire Egyption culture, and it was the secret of their stronghold.

The subjugation which took place on "Shabbos Hagadol" in the year that the Jews exited Egypt, was a necessary precedent to what would eventually be the decisive blow to the Egyptian culture and would simultaneously lead to the Geulah of the Jewish Nation – Makas Bechoros. By Hashem slaying the level of b'chor, it was revealed that there is a greater level than the costelations that governs the world, there is a greater level even than Chochma. Although the "firstborn" level of Chochma seems to be the "highest" level and the "starting point" of what we can grasp in creation, there exists a level even beyond it that really governs all – Hashem's Ratzon.

This is the appropriate preparation before Pesach every year: to subjugate our level of grasp and Chochma to the level of Ratzon Hashem. Practically speaking this means, to work on subjugating our belief that the world is governed by the laws of nature, and to realize that only Hashem really controls of the constellations, all of the energies, all of the experiences that take place in our lives and in the entire world.
 

"Everything that goes up, must come down".

Basic Halachos
1. In order to properly fulfill the mitzva from the Torah of eating matzah on the night of the 15th of Nisan, it is necessary to measure the shiur of the k'zayis (the amount that is necessary to eat), to be at least equivalent the amount of the volume of half of an egg (Mishna Brurah, siman 486, seif alef, seif-katan alef).
 
2. It is necessary to eat the k'zayis within the amount of time of "kdei achilas pras"(Mishna Brurah, siman 475, seif vav, seif-katan tes). Ideally this is within two minutes; up until three or four minutes is still acceptable according to most poskim (Piskei Tshuvos, siman 475 ois yud).
 
3. In regard to maror as well, one should ideally (l'chatchilah) try to have the volume equivalent to that of half an egg. If he is weak and this is difficult for him, he can still fulfill his obligation (b'dieved) by eating an amount that is equivalent to a third of an egg (Mishna Brurah, siman 486, seif alef, seif-katan alef). To facilitate the fulfillment of this mitzva even more, one may chose a type of maror that has a more mild taste like romaine lettuce, and eat it slowly throughout the amount of time of "kdei achilas pras"¹ "(Mishna Brurah, siman 473, seif-katan mem-alef and mem-gimel).
 

Not So Well Known Halachos
 
4. Before eating the matzah, one should have in mind that he is doing so in order to fulfill the mitzva from the Torah of eating matzah on the night of the 15th of Nisan² (Mishna Brurah, siman 475, seif-katan yud-alef).
 
5. A good word of advice on how to practically measure the amount of Matzah required: The "large" k'zayis³ is a little more than 3/4 of a machine matzah; and some poskim write that its enough to eat 2/3 of a matza. In regard to hand matzahs, it is approximately a little more than 1/4 of an average-thick matza. One should add 2-3 grams to the shiur to compensate for matza that remains between the teeth and is not swallowed and for small pieces of matza that crumble and fall away during eating (Piskei Tshuvos, siman 486 ois alef and note 16).
 
6. A good word of advice on how to practically measure the amount of maror
required: If one takes leaves of lettuce and folds them into the palm of his hand (of a hand that is average size) and he closes upon it the palm of his second hand like someone who is clapping (the four fingers of his one hand between the the thumb and forefinger of his second hand) – without leaving spaces between his fingers or between his hands – and the leaves fill that entire space without crushing them strongly, that would include a shiur k'zayis even according to the most stringent opinion (Piskei Tshuvos, siman 486, note 19).
 
Deeper Insight
 
The Zohar HaKadosh⁴ calls matzah – "maichlah d'm'haimnusah" – a food of emunah – belief. The Bnei Yissaschar⁵ explains that the reason that matza is called this, is because of the unique quality that exists in matzah – both physically and figuratively.
 
The dough of matzah differs greatly from the dough of chametz. Whereas bread that has fermented is an example of the dough having risen in and of "its own" accord, matzah remains in the same form that it was originally shaped by the baker. Chametz assumes a different form than it given initially by its "creator", whereas matzah maintains whatever input its "maker" has initially imbedded in it.
 
The matza teaches us, that in a figurative sense as well, the ability of a Jewish person to have full and total belief in Hashem, is proportionate to how much egotistic input he has in regard to effecting changes and diverting from the "givens" of his life. The greater the "rise" of the ego and its fermentation – to deviate from ones innate kochos and hashgacha – the more difficult it is to have emunah. A real "ma'amin" follows the path of matzah, he accepts willingly what types of kochos and hashgacha his Creator has granted him, and he only tries to alter his situation if he knows that that is the Ratzon Hashem.
 
Therefore when we eat matzah, we come to realize the importance of accepting what Hashem has already given us, our neshama, our hashgacha, our unique kochos, rather than to "change form" and not to rely on what He has prepared for us because of our ego.
The Zohar therefore calls matzah the "food of emunah". When it comes the night of Pesach it's time to heal from a lack of emunah that we might have experienced during the past year. For some it may have been a difficult challenge that took place over the last year; for others it may have been a lack of education; still for others it may have been the fact that Hashem didn't yet answer them with everything that they were expecting and had prayed for over the year. Whatever the reason be for a weakening of the connection and our emunah in Hashem, Pesach at night is the time to "heal" from it.
 
As we eat the Matzah, we can concentrate on knowing that Hashem's secure and all-encompassing protection that we sense on this night – is really with us throughout the entire year. If He gave us the challenges that He understands is best, if He gave us a year that we wouldn't have orchestrated if we were Hashem, or if He endowed us with exactly those abilities and hashgacha that He sees fit -we can be sure that Hashem knows best and that certainly all of our experiences are leading to something very, very good – just like the suffering of the Jews in Egypt eventually lead them to levels of nevuah at Yam Suf, and onward to receive the Torah at Har Sinai. Our individual Hashgacha is certainly leading each and every one of us to levels of geulah and nevuah that we can't even imagine – even if we don't see it so clearly yet.
May we all merit to have a positive experience on the night of the seder and may the belief that the Jews show in Hashem throughout this galus, lead us to merit the final geulah and to see openly the positivity in each of our lives, speedily in our days, Amen.
 

  Connect back to the source

[For Halachos of Biyur Chametz – see HALACHA OF THE WEEK – March 25/09 ;For Halachos of Eating Matzah and Maror at the Seder – see HALACHA OF THE WEEK – April 2/09.] ————–
 

The Message of the Sun is the Message of the Seder
The sun's coming back to its original point of starting – exactly on the day of Erev Pesach in this unique hashgacha that Hashem has given our generation – holds for us an amazing message. In actuality the message of the sun's returning to its point of origin, is really the same message that we want to give over at the seder. At the seder, we seek to impart the tenets of all our most basic beliefs to our children. It's that special time that the Torah itself has designated to give over the story of our heritage to the next generation. And Chazal through their ordinances, have added the entire dimention that they knew would be the most conducive to planting the seed of Jewish faith into the pure hearts of Jewish children.
  
 
It's A Time for Children

In reality, when we experience the seder, we all really become again Jewish children. Even if we're older and we're now in the "taty's seat", we are still commanded on the night of Pesach to review the facts of Yetzias Mizraim specifically in a story form. We are even expected to enjoy and relive the story, as the Mishna says, "A person must view himself as if he is the one who is coming out of Mitzraim". And even if one is older and wouldn't normally get excited from the story of Yetzias Mitzraim – because he knows already all the facts and all the Midrashim – nonetheless the Ba'al Hagada tells us that whoever goes into more detail and length to tell the story, is all the more praiseworthy. On the night of the seder you've got to become like a child again, full of all that innocent wonder, and to be in touch with those same feelings that were present the first time you ever heard about Yetzias Mitzraim.
 
Believing the Basic Tenets of Judaism

The reason that the Torah tells us to do this, is because to believe in the basic tenets of Judaism – that Hashem exists, that He is the Ultimate First Cause and is far beyond anything we can grasp, that He controls and fully manages all of creation and all of the hashgacha – is really not so hard. Just imagine if you really would have seen the whole process of coming out of Egypt – the hopeless yearning for years, the ten makos, makas b'choros and kriyas Yam Suf – Hashem's Existence and His total control of everything in this world would not be hard at all to believe. Quite on the contrary, if someone would come at that time and claim that he doesn't believe after such an experience, we would look at him as if something were wrong. So then why is it really so hard for us sometimes to remember and to live with these most basic premises? Essentially it is  because the experience of Yetzias Mizraim seems so far away to us. It was so long ago – and that allows people naturally to raise doubts and to put into question even something that everyone has already experienced as being 100% true.
 
Importance of a Story

The way to rectify this, is to "reconnect" with the original occurrence. In order to "reconnect" it is necessary to relive the story – or at least retell it in story form. It is very similar to when you see people who are older already telling their grandchildren a story about a major incident in their lives; they suddenly become "alive" and they even seem much younger. Their descriptions, their animation, their emotions that surge forth during the narraration– it's almost as if right now they are actually reliving what happened forty years ago! And you know what – they really are. Because that's the way Hashem made us: if something is really very important in our lives, it becomes recorded and embedded within our neshamos and remains there with the same vivacity that it had when it originally took place. The person himself needs only to connect back to the story of what happened. And so Hashem gives us a mitzvah once a year, to go back to that place. Go back and experience that point that's imbedded in you. Sure, as Jews, we all know intellectually that Yetzias Mizraim, the ten makos, and kriyas Yam Suf took place; but we only know that in our minds. Without going back and retelling what happened in a story form, without getting into it and really experiencing it emotionally, there is no way that a person will be able to recall his heart 's 100% certainty of Hashem that came along with those emotions of the original experience.
 
Message of the Seder: Go Back to your Point of Origin

So the fact that today, exactly Erev Pesach, Hashem's gives us through His hashgacha the opportunity to make "Bircas Hachama", is just so amazing. Because the reason that we're blessing Hashem when we see the sun,  is precisely for this same reason – because on this very day, the sun comes back to its point of origin. Even the sun, who is "always shining", needs a renewal in Hashem's world plan; and Hashem has arranged for it that after a lapse of many years, it would be able to "re-experience" its starting point. So for us, human beings, most certainly we need to be able to reconnect to our starting point. And that reconnection to our starting point is the mitzvah of "Sipur Yetzias Mitzraim" – that we  need to fulfill on this very same day – to tell over the origin of the birth of our nation, and specifically in in story form.
 
The Secret of Imparting to Children

And so when it comes the night of the seder and we want to fulfill the mitzva of  Sipur Yetzias Mitzraim, we now understand that the goal is not only the intelectual reveiw  of the story. We all already know intellectually how it took place; rather the intent in the mitzva is that we be able to reconnect experientially and emotionally to Yetzias Mitzraim, to our point of origin as a nation. And that is the secret of how to give over everything that you believe in to your children: when they see that you are excited about it , when they see that you are animated and alive about this truth, then their young hearts will also desire that light, that shine, and they will embrace those beliefs throughout their lives. Blessed be Hashem for the amazing messages He hints to us through the hashgacha, even in our times, at the end of days. A Kusher and Freilachen Pesach to all. ———————–

(Posts will resume im yirtze Hashem from Sunday April 19).