No subject

and
making a living. We have to 'listen'; before we take something we have to 
listen'
is Hashem telling us that we may or may not take this?

In Devarim-Deuteronomy 7:12-13,.we again find the connection between 
listening and
making a living, as we read:

And it shall be that because you will listen to these laws, and you will 
guard
them and keep them: Hashem your G-d will guard for you the covenant and the
kindness that He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you, 
and
multiply you; and He will bless the fruit of your belly and the fruit of 
your
soil.........upon the soil that He promised to your forefathers.

We also find that Hashem listens to the oppressed and we too are taught to 
listen
to the cries of the poor. In a sense instead of just "making" a living, we 
also
need to "listen" for a living........... Thank you Ze-ev.

THE 'GOLDEN CALF'

Amazing story! It's going to be Shabbos here soon, so i'd like to share just 
one
teaching, real fast which i heard from my teacher Reb Shlomo zt"l. He said 
it in
the name of the holy Kotzker Rebbe, zt"l.

'Avodah zarrah', 'worship that is strange' is strictly forbidden to us, in 
the
Torah. But, not only are we not permitted to make and worship idols and 
false
gods, we are also required to make sure that we don't do the mitzvot in a 
manner
of 'avodah zarrah'.

One may do all the right things, and yet they can remain strange to you. I 
can
pray, i can learn, i can give tzedakkah, without being in the mitzvah. I am 
I, and
I also do the mitzvot. Why? Because I'm obligated to, and I wish [G-d 
forbid]
there wouldn't be so many mitzvot; why is Hashem so demanding, placing so 
many
restrictions on us! With such an attitude I am a stranger to this worship, 
and
this a strange worship.

Hashem forbids avodah zarrah. The Kotzker Rebbe is teaching us that we have 
to do
the mitzvot with holy fire. We have to be at home in the mitzvot, in our 
'avodat
Hashem', serving G-d with warmth and joy.

SHABBOS

The Slonimer Rebbe teaches that we are to enjoy and take delight in the holy
Shabbos. If we want to taste the sweetness of the Garden of Eden, in the 
'world to
come', then we must learn to taste the sweetness and joy of Shabbos in this 
world.
One could conceivably make it to the Garden of Eden, and yet be bored there. 
If we
never taste the sweetness of Shabbos, the garden of our souls, then we won't 
be
able to taste it, G-d forbid, in the world to come.


Have a very very good Shabbos, and may the Light of the holy Shechinah glow 
from
within your Mishkan... may every Jewish soul know that it is a part of your
Mishkan and has a place in it, and may each one of us know that every Jewish 
soul
and the entire Creation is a part of our inner Mishkan. Let us all have a 
joyous
Shabbos, tasting its sweetness, always looking toward and remembering the 
future,
the World to Come, and really at home in the garden of Shabbos, together 
with all
our loved ones and friends. Amen

love and blessings
Sholom






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