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Rabbi Yehuda (Leonard) Blank MS, BCC
Vice President of Professional Development and External Affairs
Chair of the Chaplaincy Commission
Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim
917-446-2126 rablenblank@gmail.com
=September 19, 2024, Elul 16, 5784=
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Due to requests, I have included a repeat of the Chofetz Chaim
Heritage Foundation: The Hertz Family Edition
“Seek Peace, Live the Blessing. Daily lessons on how to
live in peace with family, friends and yourself.”
Click here for the link for this important booklet.
Click here for the link to the FEMA Communicating Disaster
Preparedness Webinar on September 23
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We are counting the days leading up to the Yomim Noraim. There are those who are in fear and whose thoughts are mostly about forgiveness and there are those who are concerned about what the future lies ahead. This is especially the time of year when we all become like those who we minister to with many of the same doubts and thoughts. However, we try our best as rabbis, rebbetzins and chaplains to convey the love H, our G, has for us. We try our best to convey encouragement, inspiration and all the support we are able to give with kindness, goodness, compassion and to be empathetic to the best of our abilities. Life does go on but we ourselves must have the inner strength to help others even if we have gone through trying times in our own lives. We must believe that nothing is impossible. Our belief systems have to be as pure and unadulterated as possible. We are involved with individuals and families within the life circle, from cradle to grave and everything and anything in between. We are with those who seek our guidance, chizuk, our inspirations and our blessings -to life, to life, lechaim-to life! No matter what trials and tribulations one might encounter in his or her lifetime, we do not give up. It is what is one’s heart, one’s desire, one’s wish as well as one’s relationship with G. It uplifting to dwell in the House of H. That relationship with G can be as strong as can be. That strength has nothing to do with physical strength but what is in one’s heart. Faith and emunah in H is of utmost importance and most of all one’s trust/betachon which goes beyond faith. From our Sages and our Gedolim we seek wisdom as well as their knowledge to help bring us understanding and guidance. There is so much to look forward to throughout our lifetime. We just have to have trust in H to help us overcome any obstacles we may encounter and be able to go on with life and to go with the flow. Nothing is perfect in life, but as the saying goes, “where there is a will, there is a way.” Even during trying and challenging times, we can still find simchas hachaim in our lives.
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From: “Living Emunah On Yomim Noraim
Gaining faith from the Days of Awe”
“Nothing Is Impossible”
By Rabbi David Ashear. Artscroll Series, Mesorah Publications Ltd. “Nothing Is Impossible” Pages 54-55. As we approach the awesome days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we should adopt the mindset that what is today does not have to be what is tomorrow. When the new year arrives the world resets; anything an happen. It is up to us to first improve our ways and pray with heartfelt sincerity to H, and then, may H give us all the yeshuos we seek. Even a situation that seems almost impossible can be turned around in the blink of an eye.
Yanky Kaufman grew up with a very sincere stuttering problem. His parents took him to specialists and therapy sessions, but nothing helped. It seemed there was no proven way for a stutterer to be cured.
Yanky was down on himself, worrying about going through life with this very difficult issue. When he reached marriageable age, not all young women were willing to go out with him. He knew there was only one girl out there for him, and H was the only One in charge of allowing him to find her.
H has a way of bringing couples together. The girl Yanky eventually married told the shadchan that a stutter would not bother her at all. In fact, two of her family members stuttered, so she was used to it. Although she herself did not suffer from a speech impediment, she told her chassan to please not be ashamed of his, because, in all honesty, it did not bother her at all. He continued searching for a possible cure after their marriage, but no one was able to help him.
One day, when he was 26 years old, he received a phone call from someone asking if he would give chizuk to Dan,* another young man who was suffering from a bad stutter Initially, Yanky didn’t know what he could possible tell Dan to encourage him, so he declined, But when he heard how depressed the young man was, he agreed to speak to him. They met the next day and, Baruch H, Yanky had siyata d’Shmaya and was able to cheer up this other young man. They met again the next day, and this time, a thought popped into Yanky’s head. It was an idea about how to improve a stutterer’s speech.
“Dan,” he said, “H just gave me and idea!” They practiced the method together. Amazingly, it began to work. They met a few more times, and each time they practiced this method, their stuttering improved. Yanky kept practicing this every day and, in a short time, his stutter was completely gone. Nobody could believe the way he was speaking. It was a breakthrough in the medical world!
He began sharing this information with other stutterers. The results were amazing! Within five years, Yanky helped over 500 people with their stuttering issues. When asked how he developed this new method of therapy, all he says is “biladai”- it was not me. I took the time to help another young man in need and H put an idea into my brain to cure myself and fellow stuteres.”
Today, Yanky spends all his time trying to help others. He had a stutter that seemed incurable, but with H involved, nothing is ever impossible.”
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From: Steps to the Throne
“To dwell in the House of H.”
By Rabbi Nosson Muller. Artscroll, Mesorah Publications Ltd. Pages 35-38. “Achas shealti meieis H osah avakeish, shivti beveis H kol yemei chayai, lachazos benoam H ulevakeir beheichalo” One thing I asked from H, that shall I seek:to dwell in the House of H all the days of my life, to behold the sweetness of H and to contemplate in His Sanctuary. (Tehillim 27:4).”
This verse, in the chapter of Tehillim added to our daily prayer during this special time of the year, has become the anthem of Elul. After all is said and done, the Jewish heart, at its core, seeks only one thing: to dwell in the House of H, and to gaze at his sweetness.
A foundational idea on which the commentary of the Malbin on Tanach is based is that no words in Scripture are chosen merely for poetic beauty. A message lies in each changed form of expression, each nuance expressing another layer of the Jewish soul.
The synonyms used in our verse to express the concept of request, sha’alti and avakesh, are a case in point.
What is the underlying message in this instance? What does she’eeilah denote, and how is it supplemental using the word bakashah that follows?
The Malbin explains that the term she’eilah is reserved for the means to achieve the item being asked for, and the term bakashah is the ultimate goal.
Take a person looking to purchase a chair, for example. When he asks his friend for 100 dollars to buy it, what he really wants is the chair. Yes, he is asking for money, but that’s just the she’eilah, the means to acquire what he wishes to purchase. He wants the chair, that is his bakashah.
In this verse, we utilize the word sha’alti ti begin our petition. We aren’t asking, however, for a place in G’s Home as a means to an end, but
And so we clarify our wishes by adding the second half of the verse, Osah avakesh-to dwell in Your Home is our end game as well. It is not only for the means to achieve it that we beseech You. Living constantly in Your Presence is the actual thing we want.
She’eilah and bakashah merge into one overarching plea: a desire to be close, to sit at Hashem’s table, to be part of His Home.”
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From: Faith and Trust
“With G’s Consent”
and
The Rebbe’s Prayer
By Rabbi Shemuel Houminer Feldheim Publishers. From the authors introduction. (From the authors introduction) “A story is told of a great Chassidic Rebbe who was visited by a woman who wanted his help. Her only son was desperately ill with leukemia, and it would only be a matter of months before he would succumb. The mother, trembling with fear, spoke to the Rabbe while tears rolled down her cheeks. The Rebbe looked into the mother’s eyes and said, “If you knew that it was G’s will, would you be willing to let your son die? Could you give him up if you knew that G wanted him?”
The poor mother just sat there, looking back at the Rebbe. After a long struggle with her emotions, she finally replied, “Yes, if I knew for certain that it was G’s will, then I would be willing to give up boy.”
The Rebbe nodded and said, “Now we can pray for the boy.” He then offered a prayer for the youth, surrendering him completely to the wisdom and mercy of G. Three days later the boy was released from the hospital. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan zt”l tells this story; he knew the boy. The boy is now a grown man.
Faith is a deeply personal and intimate experience. Faith and trust in G call upon us not only to believe, but to develop our relationship with G as the silent partner of our lives.”
(from page 57) “With G’s Consent” Without consent from the Creator, no living being has the ability to benefit or to harm himself or anyone else. When a person internalizes this notion that no creature can help or harm him unless G permits it, he will no longer fear or hope in others and will trust only in the Creator.” ( Chovos Ha-levanos)
Everything is minHaShamayim.
From Artscroll Siddur, Mesorah Publications Ltd.
“Kavei el H, chazak veyameitz libecha, vekavei el H. Place your hope in H, strengthen yourself and He will instill courage in your heart, and place your hope in H.” “Kavei el H- Place your hope in H. Because of my boundless faith in H I hope for His aid at all tines and pay no heed to my enemies. (Radak)
“Chazak veyameitz lebechach-Strengthen yourself and He will instill courage in your heart. Just as someone trying to purify himself is given assistance (Yoma 38b), so too, someone trying to strengthen his faith is helped by G (Alshich).
Malbim observes that hoping for G’s help is greatly different than hoping for G’s help, is greatly different than hoping for the aid of man. Heartache and disillusionment are the lot of one who is dependent on people. Not so with regard to G. Placing one’s in Him is exhilarating and brings renewed strength.”
May we be blessed with the strength to go on with life with H’s blessings for success in all that we do.
K’siva V’chasima Tova
Respectfully and sincerely. Rabbi Yehuda Blank