The Timeless Rav Hirsch - Parshas Vaera

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and torah.org?

That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוהYeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

 

The Timeless Rav Hirsch         by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein         Print Version
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Parshas Vaera Worse is Better1 Elokim spoke to Moshe and said to him, “I am Hashem.” I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchok, and to Yaakov as Kel Shakkai, but with My Name Hashem I did not make Myself known to them. Moshe gets a good deal more than he bargained for, it would seem. We understand his doubts about a mission he never wanted. Always prepared to take up the cause of his people, Moshe had voiced his disappointment a few pesukim prior. “Why have you done evil to this people; why have you sent me?...You did not rescue Your people!”[2] We also note, however, that he received an answer sufficient for the question. “Now you will see what I shall do to Paroh…”[3] You think, Moshe, that something has gone terribly awry? Don’t worry. I assure you that nothing has changed. You don’t understand why things have taken a turn for the worse. That may be, but do you really need to understand? Surely humans need not understand what they cannot – the Mind of G-d. You will be glad to know that nothing we discussed has changed, and that the end of the ordeal is in sight. That could have worked. Hashem, however, wanted to tell him more. Even if we did not know what events were about to occur, we could detect something profound and momentous in our pesukim, where three different Names of G-d are juggled in a single breath. Elokim speaks, telling Moshe that He is Hashem, the revelation of Whose nature is only now going to become a reality, having been hidden from the Avos who knew Him in the capacity of Kel Shakkai. What do these three Names mean to us? Elokim works in and through Nature. He is the invisible cause of all that is observable and visible. In the world of natural cause and effect, the predicament of the Jews was entirely unremarkable. The Egyptians were strong and immoral; the Jews small and powerless. That the former enslaved the latter is hardly surprising. Nothing, however, simply “happens.” Behind all predictable phenomena is Elokim, the One Who masterminded all the conditions that produced their results. There was a reason that the Bnei Yisrael found themselves in such dire straits. (We will return later to examine it.) All that has happened was foreseen and coordinated by a Divine Will. While the Name “Elokim” sufficed to explain the state of affairs current at the time of Moshe’s conversation with Him, G-d advances the argument to the next rung. Something new will be added. He tells Moshe, “Ani Hashem.” The four-letter Name combines the words for was, is, and will be. All Being is resident in Him. The new and unexpected are completely possible, because everything that we think of as new exists within Him. Hashem tells Moshe that the rules are changing. From here on, He will display His Will independent of existing conditions. Predictions based on perceived causes and their effects would fail; anything would become possible. This is a sea-change, Hashem goes on to say, because the Avos never saw such a manifestation of this aspect of Him. He related to them with the Name “Kel Shakkai,” the G-d of sufficiency. When the Avos needed help, He was there to provide it, providing assistance proportionate and sufficient to the need, but keeping within certain bounds. From this point on, there would be no bounds, no limits. Ironically, showing Himself to human beings to be the G-d Without Conditions required certain conditions! In them, Moshe is shown the answer to his question about the downward trajectory of the fortunes of the Bnei Yisrael. This is what Hashem says to him. You are pained, Moshe, by the worsening treatment of the people. Have you noticed that this is nothing new, and that the history of the people almost from its beginning has been travelling on a downward slope? Avraham was received as a respected “prince of G-d” by those with whom he met. Two generations later, his grandson Yaakov was reduced to near-slavery in the house of Lavan. Even in Avraham’s lifetime, things did not go according to “expectation.” It would not have been difficult for Hashem to have granted Avraham a family much earlier in life than the age of one hundred. His children could have flourished from his tutelage, and thrived to become the beginning of a new nation. This, though, would not have worked. The people that emerged from such a conventional background might have become a nation that served G-d, but not one in which G-d becomes revealed as the absolute Master and Source of all being! A people created by the same natural processes as created all other peoples would look to its own resources and power for its security. It would turn to spiritual endeavors only in the space allowed for it by small gaps in its materialism. This was not G-d’s plan for His people. He wanted that people to have no foundation and no recourse to their own power. Everything that they would have should come from Him, and be devoted to serving Him. Every aspect of their existence would point to Hashem. Most importantly, this people would remind the world of the human gift of free choice. Any fundamental dependency on material factors would leaves people with that much less freedom. Hashem wished to create a people whose existence and survival would point to transcending all dependency, all limitation. Their utter dependence upon G-d and G-d alone would point to the Source of full freedom of human will. G-d’s absolute free choice would be the engine that drove theirs. The world would not be able to explain the latter without the former. Through the Jewish people, a humankind for whom freedom of will was lost and forgotten by being mired in the physical could once again remember it. Through them, the rest of the world would reclaim the freedom of will that is one of Man’s most important gifts. To make this work, the Jewish people could not develop like other nations did. It would have to begin in abject need and vulnerability, looking at itself in despair and loathing. Bnei Yisrael would have to rebound from the abyss, from a place that others would regard as beyond hope. When life would stir in its almost lifeless corpse, all would recognize in it nothing less than the creative call of Hashem Himself. In Him, and Him alone, mankind could find freedom.     1. Based on the Hirsch Chumash, Shemos 6:2-3 2. Shemos 5:22-23 3. Shemos 6:1 Questions or comments? Email feedback@torah.org. Join the Jewish Learning Revolution! Torah.org: The Judaism Site brings this and a host of other classes to you every week. Visit http://torah.org or email learn@torah.org to get your own free copy of this mailing. Permission is granted to redistribute, but please give proper attribution and copyright to the author and Torah.org. Both the author and Torah.org reserve certain rights. 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Newsletter Parasha Vaera 5771

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

Sukkat David Ministry?

That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוהYeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

 

Newsletter registration   Sukkat David Ministry Contact us Study Torah   NEW SUKKAT DAVID STUDY ON TITHES AND OFFERINGS  A study you never got on the topic of tithing in the Kingdom at the light of Jewish sources! Time to enter His blessings!       The Identity of the Bride up to the Torah We just prepared a new book, based on our Yeshiva study Chayyeh Sarah. You will discover what the Torah and Jewish sources teach about the Bride. The Identity of the Bride up to the Torah   Dutch translation: Nieuw: Ons boek over Ishmael is nu in het Nerderlands vertaald Our last book has now been translated into English and Dutch now!   It is a strong prophetic message that sheds light on the rise of Islam and the solution HaShem has planned to fight it.  We are at the dawn of the 21st century, 2,000 years after the coming of our Master Yeshua and the world is on the road to ruin. While the Church should be strong after these centuries of practice, we witness the rise of a conquering religion, entering with power in all the civilized Christian countries to subjugate and submit men and women to an iron yoke. What are the reasons for this spiritual war and why does G-d allow Islam to conquer the Western world? What are the secret agreements concluded by our governments to give access to mass immigration for Muslims in Europe and in the United States? We will try to answer these questions in part, in this study based on the sacred texts of the Word of G-d and certain Jewish sources.   Yeshiva Sukkat David    Distance Messianic Yeshiva  Study with Judah Messianic Torah Observant Teachers in Israel.  DISTANCE MESSIANIC YESHIVA   A very interesting comment from one member of the Yeshiva: "This past weekend when I was meditating, the L-rd showed me something---not a profound revelation mind you, just a continuation of what He's been showing me concerning the House of Judah---I correlate it to 2 Corinthians 3:3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.  Judah is not just the keeper of the Oracles of G-d, they are not just leader in the things of G-d; He has made them a  "living epistle"---His book on display, so to speak. Again, Judah, the elder brother has been leading the way. This living epistle has been and continues  to be a visual, living  depiction of His eternal plan set in the midst of man for all to see.  Through obedience to the practice and keeping of the annual feasts, Shabbat, Torah, they continually and symbolically depict His redemption, death, burial, resurrection, infilling, ingathering, forgiveness, light, eternity through  openly keeping His commandments! This "epistle" has been on display for centuries, as a testimony, but sadly, man has not seen and has openly condemned, criticized, ridiculed, tried to destroy and has oft times refused to receive this wonderful display of HaShem's faithfulness. His awesome plan truly on display every day for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to receive what has been written and given. I pray that all would see, but especially the House of Israel/Ephraim  as the tribes make their return. I thank G-d for putting on display through Judah, in the keeping of His appointed feasts, His eternal plan and that He has given me eyes to see!! "   You have two possibilities to study: Complete training with graduation or Personal enrichment. The Complete training will allow those who want to teach Torah to be part of our network of Torah teachers, who desire to start a Yeshiva in their home or at their kehila. Sukkat David will offer help to those who want to initiate Torah study groups. Take the opportunity to study Torah starting with the highly prophetic Book of Genesis. Torah is the key for the end times; everything has been written in it. We just need to dive into it and receive tremendous revelations on Yeshua and His plan for our lives.   From the beginning of the messianic calling of the first Patriarch, the Torah teaches us that faith is the key to salvation. Grace also has been present since the beginning. The foundations are laid from the first Book of the Bible, to help us understand the perfect plan of salvation that G-d has for mankind. If one doesn't study the foundations of this plan a great part of the Revelation is lost, notably, the Revelation of Messiah Yeshua.   Receiving Him in our heart as Savior and Master is one thing, one first necessary step for our salvation, but our path doesn't stop there. After Pesach (salvation by grace), we must head to the Festival celebrated in honor of HaShem, "three days walk" after the reception of the Torah: Shavuot. Avraham saw the L-rd, and the story of his life and of his descendents reveals His Presence, even from the beginning.   The same way we have received the Savior in our hearts,  it is now about receiving His Torah engraved in our hearts, even as proclaimed by the prophets in Jeremiah 31:31.  True new birth takes place by the action of the Ruach HaKodesh, who circumcises our hearts to be able to walk according to the criteria of holiness of Elohim. But in order to be able to walk in these commandements, under Yeshua's yoke, we need to know the Word. When did G-d speak, before the eyes and to the ears of all, with the sound of thunder, setting ablaze an entire mountain? The answer is obvious: the Creator of the universe came to reveal His heart at Mount Sinai, a place that didn't belong to anyone,  and that was open freely to all those who wanted to drink the waters of life. Yeshua manifested Himself on that day at Mount Sinai, but only Moshe could see Him. Moshe's skin shone so intensely that he covered it with a veil. He shone from the initial Light of Creation: the Light of Messiah. He is the PURPOSE of the Torah; He fills us with His love and calls us to follow Him, to prepare a heavenly Bride. He left us these words: John 5:45-47 But don't think that it is I who will be your accuser before the Father. Do you know who will accuse you? Moshe, the very one you have counted on! For if you really believed Moshe, you would believe me; because it was about me that he wrote. But if you don't believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say? Indeed, if we don't believe the Torah of Moshe, how will we believe the words of Yeshua? They are the same, only revealed to our  understanding, because the veil was lifted. By studying the Torah, our intimate knowledge and revelation of Yeshua grows.   Don't stay at the stage of Pesach and salvation by grace; move on to the stage of priesthood! He is preparing the Kingdom of priests for the Glory of G-d the Father! Register to the Yeshiva, we are over 180 students from  many different English and French speaking countries. Join the set -apart people on their way to meet their Groom! Study Torah and be transformed!    Support this ministry By purchasing our books, you support the ministry. You can now donate safely to help us continue to work in Israel and produce some Torah oriented material to restore the fullness of His Word in His Body as announced:  Many peoples will go and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of ADONAIto the house of the God of Ya'akov! He will teach us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For out of Tziyon will go forth Torah the word of ADONAI from Yerushalayim.Isaiah 2:3		SUKKAT  DAVID  MINISTRY The Renewed Covenant by the light of the Torah סכת דויד    NewsletterTevet 24  5771- December 31 2010 Shabbat shalom!   "If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, ADONAI' s holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. Isaiah 58:14 If you do, you will find delight in ADONAI-- I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Yaakov, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken." Isaiah 58:13-14   Shalom to all our readers, The solar year 2010 ends, a new year begins, that will bring us closer to the return of Yeshua.    "As the years succeed one into another and draw us closer to the return of our Savior, the reality of the Torah becomes more and more accurate. Spiritual pressures increase, financial difficulties rise, bombings explode all over the planet and the faith of many is tested. It becomes urgent for us to dive into the study of the Word, to draw the strength, encouragement and anointing necessary to resist the darkness released on earth.  As in times past, we will be bombarded with new prophecies, visions and declarations via the internet, churches, through word of mouth and by other means, concerning this new year.  How will we handle this new information? Will we just swallow the words as "truth," or will we pray and use godly discernment and wisdom, through the help of the Ruach HaKodesh to validate these prophecies? Has all that was prophesied last year been fullfilled? Has the Kingdom of G-d grown on the earth? Has the promised revival happened? We need to become mature believers, not being carried away by all kinds of doctrines. We need to look at the world situation with our spiritual eyes. We need to discern what the Spirit is saying.   For our part, it seems that Yishmael has grown stronger in the Western civilization, and that the Church has compromised itself considerably with its "permissive" love. Where is the fruit of true holiness, obedience and perfect, righteous love? Hard times are clearly in sight: times of great trial, testing and shaking." This is the message we were sharing last year. Islam does become stronger and apostasy grows daily. We encourage those who haven't yet gotten our book about Yishmael to order it. The Torah gives us the keys to get ready for the times to come. It is the ultimate weapon G-d prepared for the end times. It teaches us about G-d's will, it encourages us in our faith in Yeshua and it makes us the people kadosh, set apart for G-d.   We stand at the crossroads: the set-apart ones will continue to do so, wile others continue to walk away from truth: Revelations 22:11 Whoever keeps acting wickedly, let him go on acting wickedly; whoever is filthy, let him go on being made filthy. Also, whoever is righteous, let him go on doing what is righteous; and whoever is holy, let him go on being made holy.   O ur prophetic message is the same as the past year: Study Torah with true Messianic teachers who don't walk in compromise. Prepare yourself by studying the Scriptures, undigging the ancient wells of the Torah. Practice the Feasts of the L-rd. This is the message of the endtimes in order to be able to keep a strong and deep faith based on truth! When the L-rd will come back, you will tell Him: Yes, L-rd, I have read and I have believed! Come L-rd Yeshua, Your Bride is ready.     Sign up for the next study session in January.   Teaching Seminar with Sukkat David in Belgium - end of January 2011! The theme of the seminar will be: How to conciliate faith in Yeshua and Torah. Yeshua's birth: The first question to ask is the following: If we confess  Yeshua as G-d and Savior,  why speak of "birth"?  Our G-d is eternal, He has no beginning nor end. It is true that for a time, He lived in flesh to fulfill His plan: save mankind by offering Himself as the ultimate Sacrifice. He appointed times for this fulfillment and the Biblical Feasts reflect these steps. In this perspective, we must study the Word to understand the meaning of His coming. The link provided below is a study that will show you that Yeshua was never born at Christmas, which everyone knows to be from pagan origin. Instead, He was born at Sukkoth. It is time to become mature, be men and women in His stature, study His Word, it is time. Don't mix the profane and the sacred. Have a family party if you wish, but don't include Yeshua! He has nothing to do with Christmas! Read the study from our book Sukkoth: The Feast of Eternal Joy:  http://www.sukkatdavid.net/node/200. Click on the pdf file at the bottom of the page.   Torah Weekly Portion: Vaera. HaShem has started to send the first plagues... All those themes are developped in depth in the studies of our Distance Messianic Yeshiva. Messianic commentaries of the Parashot from the Book of Shemot: a trip  through Torah to discover the Messiah...   The second volume of this series speaks of the spectacular deliverance of a whole people in order to make him a nation of priests by the giving of the Torah....Those commentaries will help you grasp very essence of the Weekly Torah portion read each week at the synagogue, by the light of the Ruach Hakodesh: For if you really believed Moshe, you would believe me; because it was about me that he wrote. But if you don't believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" John 5:46-47   NEW KEDEM PRODUCT OF THE MONTH: Salt pipe with salt from the Praid salt mine.  We invite you to have a look at our new KEDEM products made of organic plants from Judean desert and Dead Sea. These products are of excellent quality, very efficient. We recommend you the ones for respiratory disorders, asthma, flues and other winter or viral infections: KALITA, ORANIT, MASHAV and the 100% natural device . SALT PIPEwhich contains salt from the Praid salt mine.EXCELLENT PRODUCT FOR ANY TYPE OF FLU!   The Saltpipe Natural Asthma and Allergy treatment-for asthma, allergies, hay fever, bronchitis, chronic coughing, sleeping problems, snoring, respiratory disorders & more. A 100% natural device with no side effects and safe to use. The Saltpipe is a clinically tested handy porcelain pipe filled with salt crystals from the Transylvanian Praid salt mine. The salty microclimate calms and cleanses the cells of the respiratory system. When using the pipe, the moisture of the passing air absorbs the micron sized particles of the salt, then penetrates into your respiratory system to achieve the beneficial effects. The sodium content of the active ingredient induces natural self-cleansing mechanisms that flush away the impurities from the surface of the cells. Salt particles also mechanically clean the air passages. Active substance: Miocene halit salt crystals from the Praid salt mine. Composition: sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium. The active ingredient of the inhaler will last approximately 5 years of normal use. Clinical Tests prove the effects of The Saltpipe: . Gives significant improvements in Forced Expiratory Volume during the first second of exhalation . Mucus becomes thinner thus easier expectoration . Night suffocation and coughing is reduced or prevented completely . Easier breathing A few minutes of regular daily use can - Induce the respiratory system's natural self cleansing mechanism - Assist rehabilitation and medical treatment - Help you breathe more easily - Help the general well being of the lungs and respiratory system   MESHI: a wonderful Facial Serum with wheat germ oil Check the last night cream KARMEL, and the new veinic ointment AFULA.   Visit our Shoppe.        NEW PRODUCT very efficient: NEVE for Acne Pro Skin. Use with NIKUZIT Herb Tea and ZORI Solution      Books of the month: Chanukka:I will stir up thy sons o Tzion, against thy sons o Javan Chanukkah: I will stir up your sons O Tzion against your sons O Yavan   Yom Kippur: Babylon or Jerusalem?          Kingdom Tithes and Offerings  A Jewish Perspective     Parashat HaShavuah Messianic Commentaries

 

Tanach Study Center for Parshat VA'EYRA

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

The Tanach Study Center?

That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוהYeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

 

The Tanach Study Center
Copyright (c) 2005 by Menachem Leibtag
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Perceptions - Parshas Vaera

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

Rabbi Pinchas Winston and Torah.org?

That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוהYeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

 

Perceptions         by Rabbi Pinchas Winston         Print Version
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Parshas Vaera The Plague of Darkness and the Light of Redemption These are Aharon and Moshe, to whom God said, “Bring out the Children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.” (Shemos 6:26) Someone asked me recently, is Moshiach born with everything he needs to do his job, or does he pick up assets along the way? The reason for the question is to know if Moshiach is someone we can recognize by his exceptional abilities, or if he will just become that way over time. If the latter, then he can be here today and we might not yet even know it. There is no question in my mind that Moshiach is here today, because of the timetable that seems to be running history, and because of current events. And, if we take a page or two from Moshe Rabbeinu’s life, it seems that though great Torah leaders are often exceptional from birth, they certainly pick up additional greatness along the way, especially once they take on additional communal responsibilities. Certainly facilitating the Final Redemption will be no small feat, especially if it happens the b’ittah, Gog u’Magog route. Such a path to redemption, one can sadly assume, will find the Jewish people in a dire position, and the rest of the world spiritually out to lunch. Righting all of that will take extra siyita d’Shemaya—Heavenly help. No problem, since whoever becomes Moshiach will have the soul of Moshe Rabbeinu, even if he has the body of someone born in this generation (Sha’ar HaGilgulim, Ch. 20). The only question is, will that be enough? It wasn’t enough to redeem all 15,000,000 Jews from Egypt in his time; will it be enough to redeem 15,000,000 Jews in our time? Perhaps this is why, as the Talmud explains, the miracles that will occur at the end of our history will be much greater than the ones that occurred at the beginning of our history. And since, as the Arizal explains, the souls of the Jews at the end of days will be those that left with Moshe Rabbeinu in the first redemption, constant reincarnation may have made us more open to redemption once it finally comes. There is another level to this discussion, and we see this all the time in the physical realm. How many times have people performed far beyond their physical capabilities? Or so we think they do. However, unless a miracle has happened for them, chances are that they only tapped into physical resources they always had but never revealed, usually because they never had to. But, necessity is the mother of extension, meaning that when situations and crises arise that require more from us than we think we have to give, we try to give it anyhow and sometimes are quite pleasantly surprised. In times of need, people have been known to exhibit great feats of strength, physically and emotionally. The same thing is true spiritually as well. A person’s spiritual capacity goes way beyond what he thinks it is, for an even better reason than it does physically. For, whereas the physical body is limited by its physical parameters, our souls reach all the way to the top of Creation. Indeed, the soul that powers our bodies is just the final of five levels of soul, the top one receiving its light directly from God. Then, that level filters the light and passes over the balance to the level below that, a process that continues all the way to the bottom of all five levels. This constriction of light is what allows us to receive light from God, but which also allows some of that light to make it down to our bodies without destroying them. However, chances are, the amount of light making it to the body is still far less than what the body can handle, evident by righteous people who live on a very high spiritual level in their bodies. Hence, should a person boldly seek new spiritual heights, more light can and will be drawn down to the person increasing his spiritual capacity in the physical world. Indeed, probably that will happen anyhow at the end of days. In order to increase our spiritual capacity to deal with what will have to happen to bring man across the threshold from this world into Yemos HaMoshiach, our spiritual reservoirs will have to be increased, something that God has been doing already, perhaps, by allowing society to advance in such a way that it helps us to better relate to the spiritual world. At least those who wish to better relate to the spiritual world. However, those who choose not to enhance their spiritual sensitivity and instead turn their back on God will not be able to receive such additional light from above and therefore will be spiritually ill-equipped to deal with the events at the end of history. The Zohar speaks of some people dying just from the shock of the War of Gog and Magog. Therefore, one of the most important tasks at the end of history is to make oneself into a better conduit for the light of God. As simple as that sounds, it is not so simple, not today. For, we are living in the Period of Distraction, an era of history during which more things vie for our attention than we can or should pay attention to. Today, with the wonderful help of modern technology, we can finally be in many places at one time, and therefore never in one place completely. Even for those who keep Shabbos and Yom Tov, it is probably difficult to focus even on those days in the here-and-now after being conditioned the rest of the week to be in constant communication with the world. Just as fax machines were meant to provide more leisure time and ended up reducing what we previously had, modern technology promises to make life more manageable but instead makes it impossible to keep up. Just as Amalek wants it, especially at the End-of-Days. Among the many weapons Amalek uses against the Jewish people, distraction is his favorite. Success in life, especially spiritual success, is often a matter of being in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing for the spiritual opportunity. That is why we make a big production out of the Haggadah on Pesach night, so that when the light comes down that night we are in the right frame of mind to receive it. What is worse is that not only is it easy to stay connected to so many things at one time, resulting in what one psychologist calls ‘Artificial ADD,’ but it is also much easier to get connected to things that we might not have in the past, and sometimes, to things we never should be connected to. This results in tremendous wastes of time, which wear us down physically, and exposure to some things that spiritually wear us down. The net effect is that we become filled up with all kinds of nonsensical things that make it impossible for the light of God to enter us. It’s like trying to fit another person into a room that is already filled to capacity, except in this case the room is the person’s consciousness, which is filled with all kinds of material distractions, and the person trying to get in is the light of God. It is not a matter of completely divesting oneself of all his gadgets and means of entertainment, although that would probably be very therapeutic. But, like a lot of things in life, it is a matter of setting up boundaries, and not trespassing them. It is an issue of making a clear distinction between what we need and what we want. Ironically, this idea came up on the radio when I was driving home one night from shul while in Toronto recently. A financial advisor was being interviewed because statistics had just came out that revealed Canadian consumers to be spending far above their means, resulting in a lot of unnecessary and dangerous homeowner debt. Apparently she had written a book on the topic and was being sought out my many people who are trying to keep from drowning in their burdensome overspending. She gave many examples of conversations that she had with homeowners regarding their monthly spending, and it was incredible how little self-control people exercised when it came to budgeting based upon their income. As she said, thanks to easy credit, ‘affordable’ has come to mean how much space remains on a person’s credit cards, regardless of his or her monthly income. One person, only 22 years of age, had already racked up $70K worth of personal debt! Among the many reasons for such irresponsible spending is people’s inability to distinguish between what they need and what they want. For example, she said, when one man was questioned regarding his cell phone, he insisted that he needed it and could not do without it. However, after analyzing his lifestyle, it became clear that his cell phone only performed meaningful functions worth about $20/month. The remaining $140, the analyst said, was simple unaffordable want. This mentality has also infected the Torah world as well, resulting in debilitating debts, and in some cases, cheating, stealing, and scandals. Indeed, new cell phones, even kosher ones, are constantly in demand, but that is just one small aspect of the material lifestyle that many Torah families have since adopted and adapted, all of it creating even greater need for even larger incomes, resulting in less time for spiritual matters. In fact, though the world keeps changing, man does not. Hence, though modern technology can keep saying, “Faster! Faster!” our inner voice keeps saying, “Slow down! Slow down!” It’s not that we’re working to capacity already, because we’re not. It’s just that we’re putting too much energy into things that do not matter that much, ultimately. That is the way it was in Egypt as well. As a result, as each plague brought more light of God into the world, 12,000,000 Jews were unable to receive it. They may not have had cell phones and computers, and they certainly didn’t have big homes and fancy cars. However, whatever they did have, it prevented the light of redemption from impacting them, causing them to be left behind spiritually and physically: they died in the Plague of Darkness. It is happening to us as well at this time. The light of redemption is entering the world, but not our consciousness. As a result, millions are dying in spiritual darkness, and not all of them are secular, making some wonder just how many Jews will be around at the end of history to turn the lights off on what once was, and to turn them on for what it is coming up.     Perceptions, Copyright &copy 2010 by Rabbi Pinchas Winston and Torah.org. Questions or comments? Email feedback@torah.org. Join the Jewish Learning Revolution! Torah.org: The Judaism Site brings this and a host of other classes to you every week. Visit http://torah.org or email learn@torah.org to get your own free copy of this mailing. Permission is granted to redistribute, but please give proper attribution and copyright to the author and Torah.org. Both the author and Torah.org reserve certain rights. Email copyrights@torah.org for full information.

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