TIforOA

Sanctify yourself through the permissible... Yevamos 20a

Divrei Torah to provide Chizuk in the struggle to balance spiritual and physical needs.

L'Iluei Nishmas Mirkah Bas Yosef




Monday, July 12, 2010

The blessings that come from eating Pas Shacharis

Our Rabonim bring down over 60 different blessings that come from eating Pas Shacharis.  We all look for sources of Bracha. Many people run to do this Segulah or that Segulah, yet they overlook a simple thing, like eating Pas Shacharis.


 Heard from Rebbetzin Vital Kalmanovitz

I asked her specifically if oatmeal counts as Pas Shacharis and she said yes.

Elevating all of our eating to the level of a Seudas Mitzvah

There are three kinds of eating. Eating at a Seudas Mitzvah, permissible eating, and forbidden eating. Eating at a Seudas Mitzvah is a tremendous source of Brachah.  We have the ability to transform all of our eating into  eating at a Seudas Mitzvah.  If we eat with the intention that we should have the strength to do Mitzvahs, and we say our Brachas with Kavanah, and we say a Dvar Torah or Learn during our meal, our eating is elevated to the level of a Seudas Mitzvah. 

Heard from a Shiur by Rebbetzin Vital Kalmanovitz

Hashgacha Pratis Story

Tonight at my OA meeting someone came up to me and told me that my article on Aish changed her life.  She had just come to the realization that she was incapable of controlling her food and had told her husband that "this is it, I am going to have my stomach stapled."  That day she read my article on Aish and instead of having surgery she is following the program.

Isn't it amazing the way that Hashem caused my article to be published just when she needed it.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Am I responbible for my spouse's sins?

This week I had the zechus to drive home Rebbeztin Kalmonovitz and we were discussing the fact the the neshamah of a husband and a wife are really one neshamah.  I asked her if this means that we are responsible for our spouse's sins, and what happens when we are reunited in shamayim.  She said that each person goes through a soul correction when they get to shamayim, then you are reunited with a purified neshamah.  This is a very powerful insight because it give us a framework to understand the extent of our responsibilities of ours spouse's actions.  It also means that we can't blame our spouse, and say whats the use.  We  will pay for only our own actions, but we will pay for them. 

She also mentioned that if a wife acts with sincerity and creates a warm and loving home with the intention of supporting her husband in learning, but he goes out and secretly does something else, she is rewarded as if she facilitated his learning.

She also added that when one is frustrated by something that there spouse does, it helps to think to yourself that inside of this person is a pure neshamah that I am going to be reunited with in the future.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Our words are binding.

When we say something, if we don't say Bli Neder, it takes on a very serious status.  If a person says, "I am never going to eat ice cream again" it takes on the status of a neder, and ice cream becomes traif to that person.  We have to be careful not to say something that we do not mean because it will effect us in a very negative way. from the Shiur on Naaleh: Parshat Matot & Masei: Science of Speech
Teacher: Mrs. Shira Smiles Class: Parsha for Our Lives 5770
 
When we commit our food to our sponsor, we are making all other food traif.

Eating in place of the Korbonos

It is well known that Tefilah is in place of the Korbonos today, but Achilah (eating) is also in place of the Korbonos.  Just like a person davens 3 times a day, they eat three times a day.  If a person eats correctly, for the needs of their body and not for desire, then a person is bringing a Korbon to Hashem.

from a Shiur about Eating by Rebbetzin Vital Kalmonovitz

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Why are things so difficult for the Jewish People right now.

Hashem is making things very difficult for us right now so that the only way that we can solve our problems is to unite together as one nation.  Achdus brings Geulah.


heard in a Shiur by Rebbetzin Kalmonovitz

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Examine your motivation to control your eating.

When you are controlling your eating it is important to examine your motivation.  You have to be careful that you are not trading one physical attraction for another, overeating for looking good.  You should have the following 2 motivations:
1) To be healthy
2) To learn spiritual self control.
from the Shiur:
Eating:Advice Series (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov) by Rabbi Yitzchack Kirzner
http://www.rabbikirzner.org/system/scripts/search.cgi?category=1

Get dressed each day as if you will be going before a Gadol Hador.

Recently I had a very difficult question arise that required going to ask a Shailah of a Gadol.  I was at work and had no time to go home and change.  I learned a very important lesson from that, "Get dressed each day as if you will be going before a Gadol Hador."  We never know what the future holds and we have to prepare ourselves to face any eventuality. 

For those of us on OA Tznius can be a very big Nisayon. When we  lose a lot of weight we want people to notice how good we look, but we don't want to do something wrong.  I shared this observation at a meeting last night and many people thanked me so I wanted to share it here  Every morning when you are ready to go out the door, look at yourself in the mirror and say, "If I have to go in front of a Gadol the way that I am dressed, will I be happy with the way that I am dressed?"

Monday, July 5, 2010

Learning from other's tragedy.

Today I went to the levayah of a 22 year old man, who died suddenly.  His father said that we should learn from this that we should not put off till tomorrow what we can do today, we don't know if tomorrow is coming.  He also said that we should all go home and hug our kids a little more.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Wonderful Video - Warning Kol Isha

The way that we eat can help us to climb closer to Hashem.

A person's table is like an altar to Hashem.  What does this mean?  We are able to break down our connection to the physical world through our eating.  We are able to get closer to Hashem by the way that we eat.  I can actually build myself spiritually by the way that I eat.  It is a wonderful thing that a person can eat and climb closer to Hashem.

from the Shiur: 
Eating:Advice Series (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov) by Rabbi Yitzchack Kirzner


http://www.rabbikirzner.org/system/scripts/search.cgi?category=1

Breaking free from being bonded to the physical world.

Rabbi Nachman says that when a person works on the physical discipline of controlling his eating, he is affecting himself, he is transcending a physical order of himself by his own choice. This will help him to transcend other physical nisyonos that come along later.  This comes from training himself to build up strength in breaking free from being bonded to the physical world.

We tend to think that by indulging ourselves we are controlling ourselves and calming ourselves down.  The reality is that by controlling our eating we are building a framework that will help us to  grow spiritually.

We have to eat to live, not live to eat.  We can not allow ourselves to indulge ourselves like an animal, our physical behavior is totally tied to our spiritual growth.
from the Shiur :
Eating:Advice Series (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov)  by Rabbi Yitzchack Kirzner
http://www.rabbikirzner.org/system/scripts/search.cgi?category=1

Making ourselves worthy of divine protecton.

When we think about Tisha B'Av and all of the tragedies that happened to the Jewish people, we have to stop thinking out what they did to us, and start thinking about what we did to ourselves.  If we are not worthy of divine protection, this is what is going to happen to us.
from the Shiur on Naaleh:
Parshat Pinchas: Elevating the Elevated Offering
Teacher: Mrs. Shira Smiles Class: Parsha for Our Lives 5770

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Filling ourselves with nonsense.

In previous generations people where always busy.  Just working to put bread on the table was a very full time occupation.  Yet, they managed to learn more Torah then.  Someone once asked the Chasam Sofer, "how much should a Yeshiva Buchur learn durring Bein Hazmanim ?"  His answer was, "like a Baal Habus, 7 or 8 hours a day."  Today we do not have these standards, a Talmud Chacham learns 7 or 8 hours a day.    We do not realize how much this effects us.  When a person doesn't fill himself up with Torah and learning, he becomes an Adam Chaser (a person who is lacking).  He winds up filling this void with nonsense.

from a Shiur by Rabbi Wachsman
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