Category Archives: Repentance

Little Acts that Changed lives

Posted on by
Reply

A screen writer wrote an article. Once he was eating in a non-kosher restaurant on Shabbat. He was sitting with a friend. His friend remarked that a religious Jewish family was walking together from a Kollel / Torah Study Institute. They were dressed in beautiful clothing, walking and interacting naturally happy. The friend remarked “I feel sorry for those kids.” He replied “I am sure they feel much more sorry for you.” The sight and his own words stirred something in his heart. Little by little it influenced him to investigate Judaism and eventually he became an observant orthodox Jew.

That family had no idea that they influenced the man. But after they go to the next world they will be rewarded for having brought this man back to Teshuva / Repentance to Judaism.

This story is found a in a book called – “One Small Deed Can Change The World” by Nachman Seltzer. Rabbi Feifer of the Agudah Yisrael of Bayswater said a story.

Once an overprotected child was sent on a bus from Benei Berak to Jerusalem to deliver a package to his uncle. His uncle was to wait for him at the bus station in Jerusalem. The boy boarded the bus with the package in his suitcase.

He fell asleep. When he woke up – he found himself in Teveria. Scared, he disembarked and searched for a phone. A hippy kiosk owner was closing up shop. He let him phone his parents. The boy didn’t know where to spend the night. The kiosk owner told him to sleep by him. He did so. He remembered that he did not say Arvit / the night prayer. He was shaken by the entire experience. He prayed fervently Arvit. The next day he was woken by the man and took a morning bus to Jerusalem.

About 20 years later – he decided to search for the kiosk owner to pay him back for the money he gave him to take the bus to Jerusalem. He finally found him in a kiosk next to the bus station. He reminded him who he was. Exuberant, the man lifted the young father in the air. The kiosk owner took out a picture. He showed him the picture of his observant Jewish family. He told him – after he witnessed the boy praying Arvit – he realized a person can have a personal creation with the Creator / Hashem.

His fervent prayer influenced the kiosk owner to explore Judaism and motivated him to have a close connection with the creator and build a beautiful Jewish family. One Small Deed Can Change The World.

How does G-d Forgive? Is G-d Fickle?

Posted on by
Reply
Mount Sinai?

Why are people Fickle? Apparently they want to make the best decision. Thus they search for more information. When they find it, they change their mind. It could be new information that changes their decision- it could be a whim, a mood change. OK. But said and done – apparently if they have all the information at their disposal- that will help them make their decision.

A person might encounter new information that alters their direction in life. This information was not before them – is that considered fickle? They made the best decision. Now they have another variable to deal with.

G-d has all information before him. He knows all past , present and future- thus he doesn’t change his mind.

Two things you can derive –

1. A person who follows a religion that says G-d gave the Torah to the Jews and then changed his mind – by choosing another people or – nullifying what He expects them to do (ie, nullified the responsibility to follow the commandments He gave at Mount Sinai) – must answer the question “Am I following a religion that assumes G-d is fickle?”

The Torah Stance : G-d in making the Torah commandments had all information at His disposal when He made the commandments of the Torah. He knew some people could follow all 613 commandments – and gave them for the Jewish nation. He gave 7 commandments (which are really 30) to people who can’t commit to doing the 613 – the 7 Noahide laws for all non-Jews / gentiles to follow.

A gentile can decide to become Jewish and then follow the 613 Laws. A Jew cannot relinquish their commandments. When each reaches the next world – Heaven – they will be judged based upon their respective laws. Based upon observing these laws – they with receive a portion in Heaven.

2 – How can G-d forgive if he doesn’t change his mind? When a person repents / does Teshuvah for not having followed in the pleasant path of the Torah – he or she is changing themselves. Thus they are not the same person as they were before Teshuvah. Now Hashem takes this information into account and forgives them.

G-d loves those that return to His path.

Learning Lessons from Lego

Posted on by
Reply

It was a camp raffle. The prize – a new Lego set – Truck and command center. The little boy davened / prayed to Hash-m. He won.

He asked his father to build it with him.

His father – reluctantly followed him to the Lego set sprawled out on the sheet.

When he started he got into building. The father started telling his son “pass me this piece.” until finally he finished the truck.

Nice True story.

What do you learn?

Firstly – it is important to connect with children. It is not just giving them the toy – but helping them to build it. You are not just building Lego. You are building a relationship. Connect with things that he or she are interested in.

Also – prayer of a pure child or a sincere prayer to Hash-m / G-d works. The child prayed & won the set. We can pray too – even for little things – a parking space, that you can find one more bottle of your favorite drink, that you pass that test…

Sometimes you don’t want to do something. You take the first step and you get into it. Many don’t want to step into an Orthodox synagogue. Take a step in. Ask the rabbi to learn something with you.

Things you can learn from Lego:

Build one vehicle at a time. – choose a task and concentrate on that task. Better to work on it than to multi task.

Dump the Lego pieces on a sheet – put all the pieces you need in one place so that you can easily complete the task and not lose one – or lose your time searching for it in the middle of a task.

Separate Lego into piles of similar colors. Then separate the large pieces and small pieces. This will help you find the pieces you search for more quickly. – Separate your tasks into similar tasks. separate large tasks ad small tasks. Do the easy tasks first. Or break the big tasks into digestible smaller tasks. When you see the small tasks – the big task doesn’t see the task as so daunting.

It says in the Torah – I forgot the source – that when people will go to the next world – the achievers and non-achievers will cry. The achievers will see all that they accomplished as a big mountain and cry and say – wow I can’t believe I accomplished all that.

The non-achievers will see what they could have accomplished as a small mound and cry and say – wow i didn’t know it was so easy to accomplish that which I thought was so hard.

You can do it. Just break it down and take the first step.

The Secret Parallels in the Megillah of Esther

Posted on by
Reply

I Listen to a Rabbi named Rabbi Shaked Bohdana / הרב שקד בוהדנה.

Everything is accounted for in life. What goes around comes around is a Jewish concept. It is called Midah Keneged Midah / measure for measure. You are kind – the kindness comes back.

There is reward and punishment. There is a second chance. G-d allows us to do teshuva (repent).

Rabbi Bohdana says that the Ariz”l says that Mordechai was the Gilgul / reincarnation of Yaakov Avinu. Haman was the Gilgul of Esav – Yaakov’s Brother.

Yaakov erred in bowing to Esav. He bowed to Esav 7 times. His 4 wives followed his action and bowed to Esav. Each of the 11 sons of Yaakov also bowed. Yaakov caused 22 bowings to Esav. In the story of Purim Mordechai – refused to bow to Haman. He repaired the error he made. We read the word “BeOmram” as “KeOmram”. One is written with Bet. The other with a Kaf. The values of each are 2 and 20 respectively. Added together is 22.

Yaakov bought the Birthright from Esav. Esav had animosity because of this. Mordechai bought Haman as a slave. Haman had animosity because of this.

It uses the word “VaYibez” when Esav denigrated the Birthright in Bereshit / Genesis.

It uses the word “VaYibez” when Haman denigrated that it would not be proper to destroy Mordechai – because it would look like a personal vendetta.

Another Parallel is – the 10 sons of Haman are hung. In the Megillah Esther asks the King to Hang the sons of Haman again Tomorrow. When it says “The King” in the Megillah – it also refers to Hashem. She asked Hashem to kill the sons of Haman / Amalek again.

In the Megillah – the Book of Esther (9:6-10), where the 10 sons of evil Haman are killed, three Hebrew letters are written smaller than the rest. These letters [Taf (400), Shin (300), Zayin (7)] when added to 5000 (Hay”), add up to 5707. This is the Hebrew year (1946-1947 C.E.) when 10 Nazi war criminals were hung in Nuremberg, Germany (October 16, 1946) for their atrocious crimes against humanity.

Mental Healing – through Judaism

Posted on by
Reply

I spy. Intentionally? Sometimes. People speak. Distraction draws my attention.

The House of Study

I came to the Beit Midrash / Jewish house of study. A beit midrash is not like a library. In a library – you are asked to speak quietly. A Torah Beit Midrash – you are asked to participate, give your opinions, thoughts, logic, sweat and blood to get to the truth. People speak aloud. The cacophony of voices allows you to concentrate on what your study partner is saying.

There is only Hash-m

If it is a small Beit Midrash – you may be able to dsicern a conversation on the other side of the room. I was listening to a Rabbi speaking to a group of young eager students. He happened to be talking about kidney stones. He said he knew people that were able to pass kidney stones by concentrating on the thought of “Ein Od Milevado” – There is no one but Hash-m / G-d.

Self-Healing

If you think of it Hash-m made the body in a way that it heals itself. A cut develops a scab. then the skin returns to normal. Impressive. A person gets a cold – after some rest the body is healed.

Hash-m the Ultimate Healer

Hash-m is the ultimate healer. We say it daily in the Amida – standing prayer – the 18 Benedictions – “Blessed are you Hash-m who heals the ill.” If one has enough faith and prays to Hash-m he can be healed. Obviously – one should also see a doctor and follow their recommendations – provided they make sense. But scientific studies have shown statistically that when people pray for ill people – they are more likely to be healed.

It is more prudent to pray for good health than praying for healing. One needs more merit to be healed than to be maintained with good heath.

Believe & Achieve

Ein Od Milevado – means that everything is Hash-m’s hands. He is the one running the world. The more you believe – the more you open your heart to pray and have faith and love for him and do teshuva (repent) – the greater you open the gates of heaven.

Spiritual / Body Connection

The Torah has 613 commandments – 248 action commandments and 365 prohibitions. The 248 commandments are connected with parts of the body. The 365 prohibitions are connected with the days of the year – meaning we avoid them every day of the year. If one knows the mitzvah that corresponds to the part of the body – he or she can achieve healing – if he does that mitzvah properly. I tried to research the subject – to find the corresponding mitzvot – but was not able to find all of them.

Torah Therapy

I did hear a story of a person having shoulder pain – how they healed their pain through doing a mitzvah. There is a concept called Torah Therapy.

Apparently Music can also help to heal the psychological state of a person – by uplifting the soul to a higher level.

The Benefits of an Old Used Car

Posted on by
Reply

I asked my mechanic today if he needs an assistant. I had so many car troubles – I know many car parts, troubles, and their solutions. He laughed.

He told me it is more worth my time to learn & teach Torah. He told me a story that once – I believe Moshe Reichman – a Multi-Billionaire – asked – the Gadol HaDor – great Rabbi of the Generation – could he retire and just sit and learn Torah. Rav Shach said – He supported so many Yeshiva Students – with his wealth – that he should remain in business and keep his Torah learning schedule.

A Greater Place in Heaven

I then told him a story – Once Moshe Reichman asked Rav Schach – “Who will have a greater place in Heaven – Himself – because he supported so many Torah learning Institutions and Yeshivot or Rav Shach who was the Torah leader of the Generation?”

Rav Shach replied – “I don’t know who will have a better portion of Olam HaBa / in Heaven – but I know I have a better portion in Olam HaZeh / this world.” Moshe Reichman was a billionaire. Rav Shach lived very simply. He meant that living & Learning Torah was greater than the life of a billionaire.

The Benefits of an Old Used Car

I said to my mechanic – It is good to have an old used car. Why? Because the troubles that you have are an atonement for sins. Instead of physical harm – the atonement goes on the car. So spending $1000 for a new Intake Manifold isn’t so bad – after all.

Rabbi Harvey Gornish, an Orthodox Rabbi, brought a story in response to a question – “How did King Solomon / Shlomo Hamelech learn the language of the animals?”

In I Kings 3:5–14 Solomon begs G-d for the wisdom of a LEV SHOMAYA or understanding heart, and a Midrash informs us that when he woke up from what he thought was a dream (3:15), he found that he could understand the chirping of the birds.

There is a remarkable follow up to this Midrash. One day a friend of Solomon, obsessed with learning the secrets of the birds, implored the king to teach him this secret language. Solomon cautioned him that it would serve him not well and lead to disaster, but the friend was relentless. Upon learning how to understand the chirping birds, the man heard two birds conversing and was shocked to hear that they were speaking about himself, warning that tomorrow his house would burn down. Shrewdly, the man raced to the market and sold his house to a idolatrous gentile. How happy he was to incur no loss when the house burst into flames on the morrow.


A week later he heard the birds warn that his cattle would die of a plague. Once again he shrewdly sold them quickly and suffered no loss. Finally, the last avian warning was that HE was about to die. Terrified, the man ran to Solomon begging for advice.

Solomon explained there was nothing he could do; the man had tried to outsmart the Al-Mighty, and deserved his fate. The merciful G-d had tried to awaken him to repentance by depriving him of a somewhat painless monetary loss; a house, some cattle, etc. But NO, HE was too smart to allow G-d to do this. So finally, there was nothing left with which to punish his sins except to take his very life.And that was That.

And so the Torah warns us in Deuteronimy 18:13 Tamim Tihihey Im Hashem Elokecho: Be WHOLEHEARTED with Hashem your G-d. Refrain from astrology, divination, fortune telling and tarot cards in order to outwit your fate. It can not be done and it is a sin to try. Instead TRUST in His love that whatever befalls you was not only necessary, but also the best outcome that is beneficial to your soul. Trying to outsmart the Al-Mighty is really for the birds!

Spending $1000 for a new Intake Manifold isn’t so bad – after all.

There is No Coincidence Unless … You Believe in Coincidence or G-d’s Daily Providence

Posted on by
Reply

As the Joke Goes: A guy is running late to an interview in Manhattan. He’s looking for parking. He prays to G-d : “Hash-m – please help me find a parking space. If you do I will start keeping Shabbat, putting on Tephillin regularly, and keeping Kosher. He turns the corner and right in front of his appointment site – he finds a parking space. He declares “What a Coincidence!”

G-d’s Individual Supervision

Hashgacha Pratit is Individual Supervision. For certain individuals – who believe in Hash-m’s Providence – He will guide the situation. If not He will leave the situation to “chance” – rather let things be guided without His help. Bar Kochba was a great warrior. He believed in Hash-m. He won battles consistently. Rabbi Akiva thought that he was Mashiach / Messiah. He asked Hash-m to “step aside” and let him take care of his battles. He was killed soon afterward.

The Divine Matchmaker

Once a Noble Woman asked a Rabbi – after G-d has created the world – what is G-d doing? He replied he is matching couples. The woman said – that’s all? I can do the same thing. She took 1000 menservants and maidservants and married them together. After the Marriage – they came back to her complaining – one had a broken arm, one a black eye, each with another wound. She told the Rabbi – “Your G-d is truly superior.”

Rabbi Michael Toledano of Ohr Baruch Yeshiva in Yerusalayim explained – “It is not just that G-d is matching couples for marriage. Hash-m is matching a person with a toothache with the right dentist, a building contractor with someone who needs a house, etc. That is the meaning of Mezaveg Zivugim / matching couples.”

If one prays to Hash-m – Hash-m will help. If One believes in Hash-m’s providence He will help. One who does not – He leaves to the hands of “chance.”

Hearing G-d’s Messages

Emmanuel AssarafTo see and understand G-d’s providence we are to be observant to the daily messages he sends us. About a Month ago – my cousin Emmanuel passed away in Florida at the ripe age of 28. He was a kind, smiling, soft-spoken soul.

I feel a bit guilty that I should have reached out to him more. I should have learned Torah with him. If I did perhaps  he would have had the merit to live longer. I regret my indolence towards him. He was a good person.

But with all my other activities it slipped my mind. But G-d apparently did send me messages. I looked on my Talit and Tefillin bag today. I noticed on the tag the name of the artist who made it – embroidered there was “Emanuel”. I didn’t pay attention to that detail. I didn’t make the connection that it should have reminded me of my cousin – perhaps to reach out to him.

I regret. What now? Let’s learn to reach out the people we can help.

Emmanuel in Hebrew means “G-d is with us.” Let’s also learn Hash-m is with us.

Mazal Tov! Does Judaism Believe in Astrology or The Real Months of the Zodiac

Posted on by
Reply

Strive for Truth

I Overheard the Rabbi in synagogue teaching “Michtav MeEliyahu.” In English it is Called “Strive for Truth.” A Sefer / book by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler. He was talking about the influence of the Jewish Months.

The Time Spiral

Time in Judaism is not a straight line – it is a spiral. Imagine a spiral. in the middle is the beginning of time. Each complete single spiral represents the Jewish year. Draw a circle around the spiral. Make 12 slices – as you would in a pizza (instead of 8 slices – 12 slices). Each slice has a particular influence in the world. Each slice is a Jewish Month. Each Slice represents a particular influence on the world. As the spiral goes outwards we grow.

The True Astrology

He asked “Why do the Zodiac signs – start in almost the middle of secular calendar months? He  mentioned that really Astrology / the Zodiac signs correspond to Jewish months – which are months based upon the moon – a lunar calendar adjusted to the Solar Calendar.

Jewish Months & their Influence

Mazal is the astrological influence.  Adar (Pisces – the sign of fish) – the month of Purim – has good Mazal for the Jews. Haman thought he could persecute the Jews in that month – because he thought Jews would be occupied eating – because fish eat other fish. Nissan – the Jewish Month when the Jews were freed from Egypt – has an influence of freedom in it. The Purity of the Young Girl – Virgo – is the Month of Elul – when the Jews do teshuva (repent) for their transgressions. It  is the Month before Tishrei. Tishrei – the month of Rosh HaShana – is when the people of the world are judged. Thus the sign for Tishrei is the Balance scale because it represents judgement. The Flood of Noah occurred in Cheshvan – the sign of scorpion – because scorpions are water resistant creatures. (Rokeach Bereshit 7:6-13)

There is an excellent set of Sefarim / Jewish Books called – “The Midrash Says” – which explains the stories of the Torah. Their Passover “Little Midrash Says Haggada” (p.97) – has a list of the Mazalot. It explains that when the sun is found in a particular area of the sky where a pattern of stars is found – that has an influence over events. Hash-m causes the monthly Mazal to influence events in the world. The Egyptians picked up on this and worshiped that constellation. Hash-m told the Jews to sacrifice the lambs – as a test of their faith – in the month when the lamb constellation was strong – Nissan – to show to the world that it is only Hash-m / G-d who has power over the Mazal. Nissan is the Month of Passover.

Jews are above the Mazalot. Meaning with prayer and actions they can change what may be destined for them.

Chart of Jewish Zodiac

Hebrew

Name

 Transliteration English

Name

 Description Hebrew Month Hebrew Month Stars in the Constellation Dates of Sun’s Presence

טָלֶה

 Taleh Aries “ram/sheep”

נִיסָן

 Nissan March 21 – April 20

שׁוֹר

 Shor Taurus “bull/cow”

אִיְּיַר

 Iyar April 21 – May 21

תְּאוֹמִים

 T’omim Gemini “twins”

סִיוָן

 Sivan May 22 –

June 23

סַרְטָן

 Sartan Cancer “crab”

תַּמּוּז

 Tamuz June 23 – July 22

אַרְיֵה

 Aryeh Leo “lion”

אָב

 Av July 23 –

August 23

בְּתוּלָה

 Virgo “virgin”

אֶלוּל

 Elul August 24 -September 22

מֹאזְנַיִם

 Moaznayim Libra “scale”

תִּשְׁרֵי

 Tishrei September 23 –

October 23

עַקְרָב

 Akrav Scorpio “scorpion”

חֶשְׁוָן–

 Cheshvan October 24 – November 22

קֶשֶׁת

 Keshet Sagittarius “bow”

כִּסְלֵו

 Kislev November 23 – December 21

גְּדִי

 G’di Capricorn “horned goat”

טֵבֵת

 Tevet December 22 – January 19

דְּלִי

 D’li Aquarius “water bucket”

שְׁבָט

 Shevat January 20 – February 18

דָּגִים

 Dagim Pisces “fish”

אַדָּר

 Adar February 19 – March 20

 

If a person wants to look into their Astrology information – it is better to go to a person who follows Torah – who is knowledgeable in the matter. Some horoscopes are just made up by newspaper writers and people who are not versed in true Astrology. A person should also seek what is the Jewish law before consulting astrology, fortune tellers, hand readers, etc. – because fortune telling, soothsaying, magic, witchcraft, etc is forbidden by Torah for Jews & Non-Jews – according to the 7 Noahide laws of the Torah for all people of the world.

What is the Reason for Turmoil in the World?

Posted on by
Reply

Corona. 4000 Rockets sent against Israel by terrorists. 45 People Perish in Meron. A Building Falls in Surfside, Florida. Iran attacks the US. Fears of Impending Floods. What is happening here?

Why the Turmoil in the World?

The world is going through turmoil. What is the reason?

There is a word for reaching the truth by experience – by trying a way of life and rejecting falsity. I thought it was catharsis – but apparently that means releasing pent up stress.

In a sense a person follows a path in life – then either they discover it is good or not good. The stress they had by following a particular way of life is removed when they find another “truth” – until they find the real truth.

The Search for Truth

The path of Avraham Avinu / Abraham our Forefather was to investigate the ways in life. He investigated until he could find truth or rejected it if it was lacking truth. He rejected all idolatry, until he found G-d / Hash-m. Yitzro / Jethro did the same. Yitro followed all forms of Idolatry, Religions and cults until he came to the conclusion to the truth of the Torah. He then converted to Judaism. (Judaism does not require a person to become Jewish to receive a place in heaven – a gentile just follows the 7 Noahide laws from the Torah – for the sake of the Torah). Many of the “Ism”s came and went or came thinking it could solve the world’s problems – yet they did not – like communism, anarchism, fascism, Marxism, totalitarianism, liberalism, socialism, etc.

One day there will be no more war – when people find the truth. It takes effort and willingness to give up one comforts to find truth. Would you switch your smart phone for a flip phone if it meant pursuing truth?

G-d’s Messages

G-d / Hash-m is sending messages to the world. We think it as a bunch of random events – but really they are a wake up call for us to return to Our Father in Heaven and finally seek His help – seek His guidance – seek to do the good in His eyes – not only in ours.

Messiah on the Doorstep

We are in the period of the Messianic times.

Two ways to bring Truth to the World

The sad truth is logically – there are two ways to bring truth to the world. One by allowing people to find truth. In the over 5700 years of the world existence – the entire world never achieved that status. One nation did – the Jews  – when they received the Torah at mount Sinai where millions of witnesses heard G-d speak.

The Second way is to eliminate people who follow not the truth. There are grim prophesies that say in “World War 3” – if people don’t search for truth – One Third of the world population will remain. One Fifth of All Jews will remain.

Opportunities to Open Our Eyes

Thus G-d is giving us opportunities to open our eyes and return to his ways – Jews by following their Torah Commandments and Gentiles – by following their 7 Noahide laws from the Torah.

Ask a competent Orthodox Rabbi to explain you your questions on the world. He’ll probably be able to answer. The problem is – many people are attached to their lifestyles and want a semi-truth. A truth allows them not to change. It’s possible – but really should put all their lifestyle on the line if it means pursuing truth – that was the way of Avraham Avinu / Abraham our forefather – that’s the way of Yitro / Jethro.

News to Jews

To observant Jews, News is not just an outlet to learn what is happening in the world – it is a message from G-d / Hash-m to repent / Do Teshuva, improve and to return to Hash-m’s ways.

G-d is One

We say it in the last line of Aleinu Leshabeach / It is incumbent upon us – the Concluding prayer Jews say 3 times a Day. And on that Day Hash-m’s will be One [meaning all people will recognize Him as the True G-d] and His Name will be One [He will be the G-d that everyone will call to]. (Zecharia 14:9)  Zecharia also has some prophesies of our current time period.

Search for Truth

A simple message – a challenging task – search for truth.

What’s Stopping My Success? Breaking Barriers to Blessings

Posted on by
Reply

Torah to Your Inner Self

A Person Following Torah becomes their real self. The Torah contains the guidelines to help a person reach their essence. A person’s essence is their soul. Think of it. A body is basically a sophisticated network of physical material. Normally a body should be inert. What gives it animation? A Soul. So really the soul is the essence of the person. The body is the “clothing” of the soul – so to speak.

Through following the Torah laws person sheds the secondary and focuses on the primary. One gets in touch with their soul, becomes closer to the Creator / Hash-m and thus becomes much more of an individual – as opposed to a follower of trends and fashions. I know. I used to be a trend setter and fashion follower.

Individualist Rabbis

Thus you find Orthodox Jews who are very different in terms of goals, aspirations and skills. This applies to Rabbis as well. You have Rabbis that do computer research on Torah – like Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson. You have outreach Rabbis – Like Rabbi Noach Weinberg, z”l – the Founder of Aish HaTorah. You have Great Rabbis in Jewish Law – Like Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Zt”l. You have Rabbis that are Kabbalists – Like Baba Sali, zt”l and Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri – involved in the Mystical secrets of Torah.

The Tale of Blocked Blessing

I think I heard this story from Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein. A business man – involved in various lucrative business ventures – noticed that many of his deals went bad just when he was ready to close. He went to a kabbalist Rabbi – who knew the spiritual nature of the world. The businessman explained his problem. The Rabbi responded “Your children are stealing from you!” The man was very surprised. “How is that possible? My children are 3 years old and 8. They can’t steal?”

The Kabbalist asked “Do you ever spill your seed?” The man responded affirmative – he explained hesitantly that he goes on many business trips without his wife and thus he falls to the temptation of spilling the seed in vain – which is forbidden in Torah. The Kabbalist explained – that when he did this it created defective spiritual children in the other worlds. When pipes of blessing for this man started flowing – these children would complain to G-d and say look what their father did to them and thus the flow of blessing stopped. Thus he kept losing his business deals.

No Person that Never Sins

There is not a person in the world that only does good and never sins – according to the laws of the Torah. Some accept this as their nature and have no remorse for the bad they have done or don’t even recognize it as bad – either because of ignorance or because they say “everyone else is doing it.”

From the Story we see how blessing is blocked. Sins block blessing. Lack of merit also may block blessing.

Things that Block Blessing

In Torah – there is a physical nature in the world and a spiritual nature of the world. Gravity causes things to fall to the ground in the physical world. Sins block blessing in the spiritual world.

Quarrels also block blessing. Once a married couple was childless for many years . They were in a quarrel with another family. Finally after many years – one decided to get up and ask for forgiveness. When they made peace – the couple had a child.

I heard a story of another childless couple. All the time they were living in a house – they weren’t able to have children. Once in cleaning the house they found inappropriate magazines in the attic above their bedroom. They threw them in the garbage and shortly after they had children.

It’s possible that a person promiscuous when single – might have sins come to block their blessing them when married. Although a newly married couple is forgiven of their sins – the repercussions might still come to block them.

The Evil Eye

Blocked blessing may be caused by the Evil Eye / Ayin HaRa’. Keeping things simple might be a way to avoid blocked blessing. What is the Evil Eye? When a person feels slighted because of someone else’s blessing – G-d takes out the books of both and sees if the person really deserves his blessing. Someone shows off their new Land Rover in front of a person – whose car was just repossessed. G-d then sees if he really deserves that car.

A Rabbi, in charge of an organization – Bonei Olam – that helps childless couples to bear children – asked Rav Steinman, zt”l – why are their so many childless couples. He answered – because of Ayin HaRa’ / The Evil Eye. He Said that Either they had a lavish wedding, or moved into a lavish home after their wedding. (Story from Torah-box.com)

The Rabbi tried to confirm this by asking some of the people who he was dealing with if they had a large wedding or got a large apartment after getting married. Many of the couples answered affirmatively.

Unblocking Blessing

 To unblock blessing – it might be as simple as doing Teshuva (repentance). Teshuva in Torah starts by recognizing ones faults. One then regrets those faults or failings. One makes an effort to correct them. And One commits to not doing them again.

If someone wronged someone else – they can go and apologize. Or if you see your friend – who may have slighted you in the past is suffering – forgive them with all your heart. Remove yourself from all quarrels.

To Remove the Evil Eye from oneself – there are many remedies or segulas. A Sefer called  רפואה וחיים can be found on a site called hebrewbooks.org (search refuah) – that contains remedies / segulot against it. The Moroccan Jews know of certain spices to make incense to rid oneself of it.

Prayer & prayer with tears always are a way to break down the barriers of blessing.

Being thankful for what G-d gave you also opens doors. A special prayer of thanks to Hash-m – can be said.

Tikkun HaKlali – תיקון הכללי  by Nachman of Breslov – מחבר: נחמן מברסלב‎
are a group of ten psalms arranged by Rebbe Nahman to atone for sins and especially for wasted seed. Rabbi Nachman

Tikun haklali can correct & infuse the 10 powers of the soul with spirituality & joy. It corresponds to “Ten Kinds of Music” · frequencies of holiness · corresponding to ten Sefirot (Spiritual Emanations of G·d). It undoes 10 forces of impurity & opacity, blocking soul & preventing passage of Divine abundance, understanding & clarity. It opens doors to blessing & unblocks blessing withheld due to sin. The 10 Psalms / Tehillim are 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137 & 150.