Nothing stands before the will

This morning in my BBA we had an interesting discussion, is the concept "where there is a will there is a way" a Jewish concept. One person said that it is not, that everything is controlled by Hashem, another person said that we learn, "Nothing stands before the will (ain devar omed lifnei haratzon)". This has a practical application in our lives in terms of how much control do we have to change ourselves and our addiction.

I would be interested to hear what you have to say.

Food as a spiritual tool.

The table of a Talmud Hacham is like a mizbayach because he uses food as a spiritual tool.

We can change our lives through our eating. The self control gained from going through the steps, and the honesty that is required to work the steps is life changing. Everyone I have spoken to who has followed the program and worked the steps talks about how they have grown spiritually from the process.

What is freedom?

Pesach is a time of freedom.  What is freedom?  Is it to be free to do whatever you want?  No, it is to be free to do the right thing, Hashem's will.  Hashem took us out of Egypt to become his people, to do his Mitzvot, not to do what ever we want.  Freedom brings responsibility.

How free do you want to be.  Do you want to be weighed down by your old baggage, that prevents you from doing the right thing, or do you want to be truly free?

We can use the power of the month of Nisan to be truly free to do Hashem's will.

From an OA meeting.

Dvar Torah from a Torah 12 Step Meeting

This mornings meeting was about ways of making Shabbos meaningful without indulging in food. One woman shared that she uses Shabbos as a time for gratefulness. She talks to Hashem and expresses all of the reasons that she is grateful, going through all of the blessings of her life. She said that she often takes a walk and spends the whole time telling Hashem how grateful she is.

There were so many people sharing that I was not able to get on the conference call so I will share here. Just like some people put a lot of time into planning their food, I plan my learning. I will buy myself a new sefer L'kovod Shabbos, or a Magazine. I give myself something to look forward to that way.