The secret remedy! It's so easy!

BS"D

You are about to find out an amazing secret remedy that is vey easy to do which I was taught by a Hidden Tzaddik here in Yerushalayim. It works for any problems and difficulties in life. (It's free, so you can relax and read on :)

A few days ago I was walking along deep in my thoughts of some of the different worries and problems I have in life. Don't worry, I wasn't sad or depressed, just deep in thought of what does Hashem want from me, and what is the way out of these difficulties?

Just as I was asking Hashem to please send me some kind of message, to please show me some kind of sign, to please give me some kind of way out... 

I hear "Shalom, how are you (in an old Yiddish accent - but full of life). It was Rav Brizel, a very special Tzaddik that lives here in Yerushalayim. I looked at him and said, "Yeah Baruch Hashem, I'm OK." He then gave me a blessing and I walked on. 

Just then, I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe this is the sign Hashem is sending me. Maybe he can give me some advice or direction to help me with my problems." I quickly turned around and walked right back to him and started telling him what was going on in my life. I mentioned one problem, "I don't have..." and another one, "I don't know..." and another one "I'm not able..." and then he stopped me and asked me if I sing?

I was a bit taken aback. Do I sing - I thought to myself? Yes, but not so much lately, and not as much as I probably should I answered. He than asked me to sing him a song, so I thought for a while and thought some more and some song of the past came to me that I have used to help me out af a few tough times, "Say don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be allright..." I wasn't singing it with full enthusiasm - I was a bit embarrassed as well. Then he said, "another one." I was a bit relieved, and I thought again, I said come on Hashem help me fing a good one. Then it hit me, this was a song I really liked and it has really helped me tremendously out of several downs - it was a real winner, 

"Uman Rosh Hashana sheli oleh al hakol, mah omar lachem - ein davar gadol mizeh, lihyot etzli al Rosh Hashana. Umi shehaya etzli, etzli al Rosh Hashana, rauy lismoach - lismoach kol hashana." (Translation: My Uman Rosh Hashana is greater than everything. What shall I say to you, there is nothing greater than to be by me on Rosh Hashana. And one who was by me - by me on Rosh Hashana, it is fitting for him to rejoice - to rejoice the entire year.) Since I made it to Uman this past Rosh Hashana, B"H, I remind myself by singing this song that inspite of anything, I should be happy all year long just because of that.

OK, so back to our story. Rav Brizel picked up on the song and started humming along the tune while I was singing it. He then jumped into the tune with different words. He sang "Hodu L'A-donai ki tov, ki leolam chasdo" (Translation: Acknowledge / thank Hashem for He is good, forever is His kindness.) He went on singing it for a while, and then he explained the following.

He said that this above verse contained the winning formula that can solve any and all problems and difficulties in life. It works like this. 

Hodu L'A-donai: (Acknowledge  / thank Hashem) - He explained that we must always be thanking Hashem. If we truly believe that everything Hashem does is for the good, so we need to be thanking Him all the time for everything. He then stressed the importance of saying the Name of Hashem A'D-onai when singing the song and not substituting it with the word Hashem. He explained that when you want to call someone you see in the street you need to use their name, otherwise they will not know you are calling them. So too with Hashem, if we want to call Him to our assistance, we must use His Name. When Hashem hears us call His Name, He right away pays attention - so to speak and listens to what we have to say to Him.

He then stopped to tell me a story:

In a certain town there was a barber who did not believe in G-d. When asked why, he responded, "Look at all the sick people, look at all the problems people have, how can there be a G-d if such things exist in the world!?" Upon hearing this, the man he was speaking to turned around and began to shout out in the street, "I do not believe that there is a barber in this town, there is no barber in this town!" The barber then stopped him and said with surprise, "But I am a barber, I am standing right in front of you. How can you say that you do not believe there is a barber here?" To this the man responded, "I look around and see people with long hair, with messy hair, with dirty hair, since all these people have problems with their hair, it must mean that there is no barber in this town. To this the barber responded, "But what can I do, I can only help these people if they come to me." The man said, "Hashem too can only help those who come to Him!"

Now back to explaining our song:

Ki Tov, Ki Leolam Chasdo: (for He is good, forever is His kindness) - Aha, says Hashem, he is calling Me good and kind. My child below is calling Me and praising Me for my goodness and My kindness. This draws Hashems' attention to us and invokes His mercy on us and all our problems begin to dissappear. He explained it like this, when you acknowledge someone for their goodness and kindness, then you make them want to bestow more goodness and kindness. Same thing with Hashem, if He hears us singing to Him and saying that He is good and kind, then He will automatically start sending us more goodness and kindness, and making sure that we can see His goodness and kindness, so we can thank him and acknowledge Him more.

(This by the way is a big secret in any relationship, especially in a marriage and as parents. The more we acknowledge the good in our spouse and in our children - the more good we will keep bringing out of them - YG)

That is the secret of the above verse and the Rav said I should sing it all the time. When I am walking, when I am sitting, at home, on the road, just keep singing "Hodu L'A-donai ki tov, ki leolam chasdo," and he said I would see miracles.

We sang it a bit more and he then explained to me the other approach. What happens if we say all day long, "I have this problem," "I have this difficulty," "I have no strength," "I have no money," "My child always makes trouble." He said that we should train ourselves not to speak like this because our words make a decree on ourselves. When you say, "I have no money," you have just decreed upon yourself with your own words that you have no money. If you say, "My child always makes trouble," you have just decreed upon yourself to have a child who always makes trouble. 

You see how it works. It's scary when we actually begin to think about how many times we make such horrible negative decrees upon ourselves with our very own mouth. Insted we need to just sing all the time "Hodu L'A-donai ki tov, ki leolam chasdo." In this way we are decreeing upon ourselves that our lives are filled with nothing but good and kindness. We are thanking Hashem for filling our lives with only good and kindness and this is the secret to positive thinking and positive speaking and this will miraculously change everthing in our lives for the good, G-d willing.

I realized myself this past Shabbat in the Mizmor LeDavid Psalm we say before the Kiddush, that near the end it says, "Only good and kindness has chased me all the days of my life." Then I thought, David Hamelech was probably the most chased and downtrodden figure we have in the whole Bible. He was an outcast from his family, Shaul Hamelech tried to kill him, his own son Avshalom tried to kill him, he suffered shame and humiliation from the incident with Batsheva, Doeg publicly cursed him, he had enemies and wars all around him, it goes on and on. Yet what does he say, "Only good and kindness has chased me all the days of my life." That is what made him great and that is why he survived it all and in the end became David Hamelech the father of the eventual Moshiach. In the merit of the greatness of his tests and the fact that he still only praised Hashem for the good and kindness and asked to dwell in the house of Hashem for all his days, that is what made him truly great and that is why he merited what he merited.

Ribbono Shel Olam, may You have mercy on Your beloved children. May we remember to call Your Name in all our times of trouble. May we never forget that everything You may put us through or send our way is nothing but good and kindness with the purpose of drawing us closer to You. In the merit of David Hamelech may we be worthy of singing to you from whatever place we may be and may Your kindess and mercy always to be aroused upon us to help us out with whatever way we may need.

Never just a story....והגדת לבנך...And you shall tell your son… (Shemos 13:8)

The following is a story from Rabbi Fischel Schachter whom I've started listening to a little while back on http://www.torahanytime.com/  והגדת לבנך And you shall tell your son… (Shemos 13:8) Rabbi Fischel Schachter tells the following story: As my career as a rabbi began with storytelling, I would travel from school to school and captivate the hearts and minds of children. Usually enthralling and exciting, the stories were well liked and attended by many children. However, there was one particular time when matters went awry. I had told a particular story in about fifteen other locations, but this time for some reason the children were not interested. One of the kids in fact began to sarcastically and facetiously shout every so often, “Ha-ha-ha! That’s so funny…” Sooner than later, many of the other children as well caught on to the rude laughter of the child and in unison shouted, “Ha-ha-ha! That’s so funny…” They were clearly having a better time repeating this line than listening to my story.

However, it suddenly hit me.

As I stood there with a half an hour remaining to speak without any other teacher in the room, I began to think to myself, “My storytelling career is over.” I considered at one point facing the children and saying, “You are a bunch ofmechutzafim (impolite children)!” but I figured that it would not go over too well. Then I thought about storming out of the room and making a scene. However, it suddenly hit me. I began to think, “Listen to yourself. You are angry at the kids, angry at the principal and basically angry at everybody. There is only one person you are not frustrated with: yourself. Maybe Hashem wants something from you right now?” And so, needing to think quickly, I realized that perhaps for some reason Hashem was indirectly telling me to switch the story. And so I did. I remember having heard a story that very day from Rabbi Boruch Rabinowitz, principal of the school Torah V’Daas, about Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter. Taking a deep breath in and hoping for the best, I began telling the kids the following episode: Rav Yaakov Meir is blessed with many children. Unfortunately, however, many of them are not well. In particular, his daughter is very sick both physically and emotionally, and must be detained to a wheelchair. With an unpromising future, she was depressed and dispirited. One day, Rav Yaakov Meir decided to take his daughter up high in the mountains in Ramat Shlomo. As he pushed her along and she took in the breathtaking sight surrounding her, she turned to her father and asked, “Tatti(father), do you love me? “Of course I do,” Rav Yaakov Meir replied. “Do you love me more than anything else in the world?” she persisted. “Yes, I really do.” “Will you do anything for me?” she asked again. “Yes, I will do anything possible for you,” he answered. “If that is so,” continued his daughter, “I want you to push me off the cliff. I am in pain and depressed. There is no hope for my life. Push me off the cliff; my life is full of misery.” Looking down at his daughter, Rav Yaakov Meir said, “I cannot do that.” “Why not?” she sternly asked. “You said you will do anything for me!” “It is true that I said I love you,” explained her father, “but my love pales in comparison to the love Hashem has for you. And if Hashem loves you that much, I cannot let my love get in the way of His. Right now He is giving you a heart which is beating and lungs which are letting you breathe. He clearly loves you dearly.” As I finished relating this story, I left the room. The principal, noting my departure and hearing the story I had just told over, turned to me and said, “We called you for Chanukah; not for Tisha B’av.” But I wasn’t going to explain myself, and so I continued on home. Later that night, the phone rang. It was a parent of one of the children from the school. Thinking to myself that I will most certainly be told, “How could you have said such a story? My child cannot go to sleep at night! I was also a rascal when I was a kid and I still ended up alright!” I prepared myself to hear a long-winded speech. But it was nothing of that nature. The father said, “I want to thank you very much.” I wasn’t sure if I heard him correctly, until he explained what he meant: I also have a similar situation at home with a child who is not well. All my other children are taking it very hard, forcing them to go to therapy and express their feelings. I have one son, however, who does not talk at all. He doesn’t say a word. He is the most depressed about the situation of all the siblings. Today, however, when he came home, he said to me, “I want to tell you a story.” He proceeded to tell me the story you related today, and then asked me, “Does Hashem love our sister?” I assured him that Hashem loves her dearly, putting him at ease. It was the first time we had a healthy conversation in a long while. Rabbi, I cannot thank you enough. You have helped my son and our family immensely.” As I listened to this father speak, I knew there was a reason my first story did not go over well. Hashem wished for me to tell this other story and change the life of a young child. The father concluded by asking me, “How did you know by looking at the kids which story to tell? You did a great job!” “Experience,” I said as I let out a smile; “it’s all experience.” Sometimes we will be thrown a challenge in life which seems overwhelming and impossible to handle. It may be a child misbehaving or difficulties at home. But we would be wise to realize that at that very moment Hashem is speaking to us. He is telling us, “You can do this! You can overcome this situation!” And believe it or not, when we muster the strength to deal with whatever faces us, the results we produce may be more than ever expected. Instead of just telling another great story, we tell a life-changing story.

יציאת מצרים! Take us out already!

So a few weeks ago I mentioned the idea that we find in many of our ספרים הקדושים, that each and every one of our lives runs parallel or better yet correlates with the weekly Torah portion. One of the people listening was blown away, not in the positive sense, saying to the people around him "have you ever heard such a ridiculous thing?" So that goes into my mind and I start thinking, maybe he's right, maybe it's only on an esoteric level but not on an actual day to day level, after all i'm doing great, i'm in the clouds not in the depths of slavery and exile;  and then boom! I am thrust deeper into my very own personal מצרים! Or maybe not necessarily deeper, but thanks to that guy (b/c we know that we never hear anything that we weren't meant to hear) my eyes were opened more to my personal גלות. No, sorry, I'm not going to indulge you in the details and there's no need. My saga may sound trivial to you and vice versa. The point is that we all have our struggles on all different levels and if we want we can pick up survival tools from the Torah. The more we look and the more we pray for understanding and direction the more Hashem will connect us to and show us our own lives in the Torah. So what's the message of hope for today? That it's all for us and that its all for the best. The slavery, the trials and tribulations, the apparent suffering, are all for our benefit. To make us better fit and ready for the redemption and blessings that are about to come our way. The other important lesson is to not get stuck in the here and now. Sometimes when we go through tough times it seems like they will las t forever and that this is our lot in life. Don't get stuck, next week is another parasha and after that another one. There's a famous Hebrew saying " עברנו את פרוע נעבור גם את זה - We survived Paroh, we can survive this as well." When we connect more to the Torah, these sayings become less like catch lines and more like lifeline's, and we find our struggles to become somewhat easier. It attaches us more to the כלל so we feel even if just a little bit less on out own.