crying

Most people aren't at a level where they can mamish cry over the temple. But they can cry over other things - e.g. during movies, or life events, etc.

Perhaps the secret is to see that the tears that we really understand are just a form of the ultimate tears, for the temple.

Doorways are an awesome place

"You shall write them upon the doorposts of your house, and on your gates"
- Deutoronomy, 6:9

"The doorway is a sort of "no man's land" between the home and the street, an area where these two realms overlap and interact with each other..."
- The Chassidic Masters

“Whenever we enter or leave our house, we are confronted with His name, the Name of the Holy One...we will be aware that nothing in this world endures forever, except the knowledge of the Rock of the world, and we will at once come to our senses...”
- Code of Jewish Law


The simple meaning seems to say,
That doorways are a shade of grey,
Between a home and outside street,
For which two lowly worlds compete.

But if I read beneath the text,
Perhaps both this world and the next,
Are symbolized beneath the arch,
Through which we daily, humbly march.

Indeed, we pass through with our “soles”,
Return and run, with noble goals,
And taste a form of higher being,
From things that are worth more than seeing.

Beneath the arch in which I stand,
Indeed, it is a no-man’s-land,
For like a sheep lost in the flock,
I’m try to find the steady Rock.

Breaking chains of events with prayer

I could never understand the teaching of Rabbeinu that prayer can break the course of nature. It sounds awesome, and I wanted to believe it, but it never stuck and I could never understand it.

Then I meditated on this, and realized with breathtakingly clarity the utter simplicity of the truth. And I see it in the Baal Teshuvah movement. Here's how.

The Holocaust set into motion a chain of events where families and dynasties were totally annihilated. It is unclear how Jews could ever return to Judaism when so many generations are basically pulled away from everything aspect of the faith, raised as "tinnuk she'nishbah" - in captivity.

So how do we get out of this spiral? There is no possible way, except through prayer. Prayer sets into motion everything - pursuit of halacha, pursuit of acts of kindness, love of Hashem - everything. There is no way to stop the degeneration of Jewish people except through prayer.

And this helps me understand what Rabbi Nosson says vis. that if something is lacking it wasn't prayed for, or it wasn't prayed for enough. How come some families have children who return, and others who don't? It is because of the power of someone's prayers. Either the parents, who secretly or openly prayed and talked to Gcd in front of their children, or the children themselves, whose passion for prayer was awakened by the tefillot of their grandparents.

Worshipping the Stars

In Hebrew, the word for "idol worshippers" is "eved kochavim" - more accurately translated as "servants of the stars".

The Torah often compares the Jewish people to stars. In fact in last week's Parsha, Moshe says "You are like stars in Heaven in abundance". The Midrash goes on to draw other parallels between the attributes of stars in the sky, and Jews. Stars have their own light; they aren't jealous of each other; and they'll live forever (more or less) - just like Jews.

By this account, eved kochavim (idol worshippers) could be good people - "serving" the "stars" (i.e. helping the Jews).

Nothing could be further from the truth. The comparison between Jews and stars is incomplete in one major way: although Jews have their own light, that light only came from Gcd and is a reflection of Him. And so any nation that tries to help the Jews, without understanding and committing to the belief that in fact the Jew is only reflecting the light of Gcd, such a nation is not helping bring the Messianic era at all.