There are many levels of faith one must face daily. As one travels his path, the world affects his faith. Sometimes one uses their beliefs to insulate themselves from the world. This does not build faith. 

There once was a king who loved to go hunting. One day the king gathered his friends and advisers to go hunting. They followed many trails and paths through the woodland. 

In late afternoon skies dark and the skies were streaked by lightning and the thunder roared as heavy rain fell in torrents. The wind blew strong the king’s friends and advisers scattered in all directions leaving the king alone. The king was afraid as he had never been alone before, but he was determined to find his way out of the forest. So he began to walk. He had no idea where he was going and was quite lost. 

The day turned to night and the night creatures came out. The king was terrified as he had never been in the dark by himself before, but he kept walking through the forest. After some hours he saw the distance a light any hiked toward it as he got closer he saw it was a tumbledown shack. 

The king went to the door and knocked. The door was opened quickly by a middle-aged man who invited the wet tired stranger into his house. He did not know the stranger was the King.

The man ushered him into a roaring fire to warm himself. The king stood by that fire until he was quite dry. 

The man came to his guest and said, “I don’t have much, but I can offer you kasha.” The king ate the kasha, a tasted finer that any dish served to him in the palace. He savored each spoonful.

As the king finished eating, the man noted, “You must be tired. You sleep in my bed and I will sleep upon the floor.” The bed was nothing but a mattress stuffed with straw. This simple, plain bed was so comfortable that the king had the soundest sleep he’d ever had. 

The storm passed sometime during the night. The skies were clear and the wind was calm.

The king was awakened by the smell of cooking food and fresh brewed tea. He ate and sipped the tea and felt the calm and happy. 

About midmorning there was a knock at the door of the tumbledown shack. The man answered the door and the king overheard an advisor at the door. 

“Have you seen the King?” No, I have not.” Will you help us find the king for this is very grave for the kingdom?” I will help by all means said the man. 

Hearing this, the king came to the door and told the advisor he was safe. The advisor told the king,”Your majesty I have a carriage for you, guards and an escort to bring you back to the palace.” “I won’t go with you” “Your highness the kingdom can not endure without you.” I will not go with you” Your majesty the throne can not remain empty.” “Go back to the palace and I will see you there” 

The king returned to his tea and conversation with the man. He left the tumbledown shack and returned to his palace in the man’s buckboard. They rode into the capital city and up to the very gates of the palace. 

The king insisted the man come into the palace and wait by the throne room doors. He quickly ran and changed into his royal robes. He went into the throne room and beckoned that the doors be opened. The man entered the great hall and began to walk toward the king and the king waved him forward. He came before the first step in front of the throne and there were whispers and chatter throughout the room. The king waved him forward, and he went up to the step. The whispers became louder, but the king waved the man closer. The man went up to the second step and the king asked him to stand before him on the highest step before him and the king told him to stand by its right hand. 

One of the king’s advisers burst forth and exclaimed:

 “Who is this man that he should stand at the king’s right hand?”

“He is my friend” the king answered.

 “He has no noble blood, education, wealth were standing. He is a nobody. He’s a beggar and his clothes are an offense to the king! Why should he stand at the king’s right hand?” The adviser responded. 

The noise became louder as everyone was talking. The king’s stared from one side of the throne room the other and silence fell throughout the room 

The king began:

 “you who call yourselves my friends and advisers scattered and left me by myself because of some wind, rain, thunder and lightning. This man knew not who I was yet he treated me royally. He would treat any one who came to his door with the same honor, dignity and respect. This indeed is a true friend was he is not afraid to act upon what is in heart.”

No one dared to speak a word in the throne room that day and the king continued, “From this day forward you who call yourselves my friends and advisers are banished from the palace.

The king appointed the man to be his only adviser. 

So it is with those in relation to faith. There are those who are very exacting in their fulfillment of religious obligations and rituals but lack faith. Therein is the issue, they become so involved the mechanics of religion they take faith for granted. 

Faith can only be manifest to those who are simple and humble in their beliefs. For they grow stronger every day in their faith. 

By doing mitzvahs (religious deeds) from the heart and through  one’s awe of Hashem the words “he who does not exalt himself will be exalted by Hashem.” (Mo’ed Katan 28) will come true.

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If you see a man wise in his own eyes? there is more hope of a fool than of him.  (Proverbs 26:12)

A very holy rabbi came to town for a visit. The whole town, led by their most honored scholars, turned out to gaze upon this man of G-d. As for the saintly guest himself, he did not as much as turn to face them. He simply stood looking through a window at a certain high mountain. Those who had as­sembled there longed to hear at least some Torah thought from his holy lips — but he remained in his place in earnest meditation.

Now among all those present there was a certain young man whose scholarship and distinguished lineage were equaled only by his conceit. He was always ready to show everyone his vast knowledge and engage in debate over the revealed and hidden meanings of TaNaCh (Scriptures). He became angry because the holy rabbi was not showing the assembled scholars the anticipated honor and reverence which were their due, in his opinion. 

This was too much for the young man to swallow. 

“Esteemed sir,” he began, “would you perhaps be so good as to explain why, you are gazing so intently at that hill — which is, after all, only a pile of dust?” 

“That is precisely what amazes me,” replied the holy rabbi. “How can a plain pile of dust blow itself up so mightily until it becomes a proud mountain? “ 

The arrogant young man had learned his lesson as he remembered:

“Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear HaShem, and depart from evil (Proverbs 3:7)

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The Jewish way of life is filled with wonder, beauty and love. So many times people become so involved in the mechanics of the “religion” we call Judaism that they lose sight of the warmth, excitement and enjoyment of life. To be Jewish you must commit yourself completely as it says in the Torah and we say everyday in the Shema, “with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.”

To be Jewish is not to blindly follow a “religion” it is to live and experience life. To see and feel the world around us as we go about our daily lives. Being Jewish is a lifestyle that enables us to see the world in a holy context. The most mundane of tasks becomes part of our service. Everything can be raised to a higher level. As we go about our daily lives we unravel mysteries that can only be seen through faith and belief.

Many search for meaning in their faith, and expect an epiphany or great signs to “show them the way.” They become so intent on the search they don’t see, feel, hear or experience the many things in their everyday life that speak of great faith. Love is a powerful element in faith. Love of G-d, love of family, love of fellow man, love of all creatures and the very creation surround us everywhere. We just need to seize the opportunity.

A Tale of True Love : The Son of a Sage and a Princess

The wife of a rabbi was barren. One night in a dream the rabbi saw an angel who told him that his wife would bear him a son. And so it came to pass. But on the day following the birth of his son, the rabbi had to go on a long journey. Before he left the rabbi commanded his wife to teach the child, whose name would be Shlomo, to read and write. And, indeed, the woman did as her husband had bidden her, and the boy learned much, and when he was fifteen ‘years old he was more learned than his father who was a great sage.

One day the lad climbed onto the roof of their house, and suddenly an eagle flew over the roof and snatched the boy. The eagle took the boy in its flight to a city in which not one Jewish person lived. And the eagle put the boy down in the king’s garden. When the boy awoke he found himself in a strange garden. The servants of the palace saw him and they wanted to know how he had come there.

“Who are you?” they asked him.

“I am the son of a rabbi,” he told them.

“I have expelled all the Jewish people from my country,” the king said to him. “But I will let you stay with me, for it is holy One, blessed be he who has brought you here.”

“But I cannot live here without other Jewish people,” the boy said.

“For your sake I will permit all the Jewish people to return,” the king said to him. “Let them live here together with you.

And the king kept his promise and allowed a number of Jewish families to return to the city. They built themselves a synagogue, and the lad sat in it from morning till night, studying the torah.

Now this king had an only daughter and, as the boy’s room was just beneath that of the princess, she would listen to his voice as he studied night after night. The princess did not know anything about Jewish people and their ways, and she used to ask herself, “Why does this young man read without a pause, day and night?”

One day she could no longer restrain herself. It was after midnight when she rose and went to a place facing the boy’s room. At first she tried to speak to him, but he did not even answer her, for he thought that it was a spirit that was speaking to him. He began to utter the Holy Name until the princess left the threshold of his room and went up to the dome of the roof. There she found one of the servants and she told him about the boy who did not wish to speak to her. “Who is this young man who does not even wish to speak to me?” she complained.

The servant went down to the boy’s room to speak to him of the girl who had stood on the threshold of his room. The Jewish boy asked her pardon saying that he had thought the young girl was a spirit. “Had I known she was a princess I would gladly have replied to her.”

So the princess returned to the boy’s room and said to him: “I wish to learn the things that you are studying. And also I would like to know why you study so much.”

The boy replied: “The Jewish people engage in the study of the torah so that we may be found worthy of the resurrection of the dead and of the world to come.”

“If that is the case, then I too wish to study and to observe the laws of your religion,” the princess said. And so every night the princess used to study until she began to eat only kosher food and then she became converted. She proposed to the boy that he take her for his wife, and he made only one condition, that she observe the commandments of the Jewish religion.

To this the princess agreed. The couple set the day of their marriage and the girl took a Hebrew name, Miriam.

One day, when the young man was on the roof of the palace, the same eagle that had snatched him was seen in the skies. Once again it seized the boy and restored him to his mother. The boy opened his eyes and, behold, he was in his mother’s house, but Miriam, the princess, was no longer at his side.

Some days passed and the lad fell ill because of his great love for Miriam, and she, too, fell ill because of her love for him. From day to day the state of the boy steadily became worse. He became very thin and it was soon clear that he would not live long. One day his father asked him, “My son, what has over-taken you?”

At first the boy refused to tell his father all that had befallen him, but finally he told him about the princess who had become Jewish. He was about to marry her when the eagle had come and borne him away.

The father promised his son that he would do all he could to find the princess and bring her to him. Leaving his son on his sickbed he took ship and set forth on that distant journey to find Miriam.

The king, Miriam’s father, sent messengers throughout his kingdom, commanding them, “You must find a doctor who can cure my daughter.”

When the boy’s father heard of the sick princess he understood that it was she who was the Miriam he was seeking, and he resolved to present himself as a physician. And so he asked the king to allow him to remain with his daughter. He prepared a broth of doves which he gave to the princess and, as she was drinking the broth, he whispered in her ear, “Miriam!” The girl opened her eyes wide and the father continued in a whisper: “I am the father of Shlomo!” And the princess soon began to recover and everyone thought that the cure had been effected thanks to the doves’ broth.

When the princess was well enough to walk, the father and his daughter-in-law made plans to leave secretly so that they could return to Shlomo.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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The father went to the king and said: “Sire, you know that your daughter is an invalid and that if she sickens again she will die. Allow her, therefore, to travel together with me for a few days and I will cure her entirely.”

The king agreed and gave him much money and his royal ship.

The father took the princess and both set out for the town in which Shlomo lived. But the same moment that the princess and the father crossed the threshold of the house the boy died.

The princess wept bitterly and complained to the father: “You Jews believe in the resurrection of the dead. I too believe in it and for that reason I gave up my faith and took on the Jewish religion. But if my beloved Shlomo does not rise from the dead, your religion is worth nothing at all.”

Then the father whispered, “Blessed be He and blessed be His Name!” And straight away Shlomo’s spirit returned to him. “Rise, Shlomo!” the father said to him. “Miriam has come!”

The wedding was celebrated by the wise father. Miriam remained strong and true in her faith and never returned to her father’s home.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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Knowledge of the physical sciences was never consid­ered to be a deterrent from the study of Torah (Scriptures). Some of our greatest sages, from the Talmudic era to our own generation, were extremely well versed in mathematics and the sciences. Works on these subjects by ibn Ezra, Maimonides (RaMbaM), Zacuto, and the Gaon of Vilna are consulted to this day and demonstrate their vast knowledge.

The haskalah (Enlightenment) movement tried to un­dermine traditional Judaism and the study of Torah by introducing secular studies in all Jewish educational institutions, and they tried to use mathematics as a way of getting a foot in the door. The rabbis were against the education as presented by the maskilim. While they had no problem with the study of mathematics, they knew this was only a trick to destroy the traditional religious cheder (classroom).

One member of the haskalah movement argued with the rabbis, saying that the knowledge of mathematics would not affect anyone’s Jewishness in the least. One of the rabbis challenged him: “Then let me ask you a simple arithmetic question. How many days is it today in the counting of the Omer (days between Pesach and Shavuos)?”

When the maskil was unable to answer, the rabbi said, “See, with all your enlightenment, you don’t even know simple Jewish arithmetic.”

haYom esra yamim sh’hem shevu’ah echad v’shelisha yamim l’omer (Today is the tenth day, making one week and three days of the Omer.)

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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In a yeshiva there were some students who studied day and night and they davened with kavannah. They were the top students in the yeshiva and were very close to the rosh yeshiva.

One day, they went to the rosh yeshiva and asked him if it would be possible for them to see moshiach (the Messiah). The holy rabbi looked at them for some moments and stroked his beard and then answered:

“To be able to do such a thing one must prepare themselves with prayer, holy meditations, fasts and other religious service.”

The students seemed to answer in one voice, “We will do all that you tell us for we really wish to see moshiach.” The students immediately began to say special prayers, spend hours meditating, fasted many days and performed other religious deeds. After some time, they went back to the rosh yeshiva told him they had completed their preparations and asked where they can see Moshiach.

The holy rabbi looked them and told them that in a faraway village they would meet moshiach. The students immediately boarded a carriage and set off on the long journey to the village.

When they arrived in the village they went to the local inn and gathered around a table. They told innkeeper that they wanted a meal with meat, bread and cake. As they were ordering their food they began to ask, “Where do you get your meat?”

“From the butcher.”

“Is the butcher shomer shabbos? Does he have yirah shamayim?”

“Yes, he’s a very religious man.”

“Did your wife properly kasher the meat? Is she very careful to separate the day for the meat?”

“Yes”

“When your wife makes bread, does she use water or milk? Does she use oil, butter or schmaltz when baking bread?”

Now in the inn there was a large stove that warmed everyone. From behind a stove came a beggar.  The beggar walked up to the table where the students were seated and greeted them, “Shalom Aleichem” the students did not respond. The beggar greeted them again, “Shalom Aleichem” again the students ignored him.

The beggar then asked, “May I sit with you?” one of the students responded, “go away, you are dirty and filthy. We are torah scholars here on very important business and have no time for the likes of you.”

The beggar looked at the students for a moment and then asked, “Can I share your meal with you?” the students responded, “You are dirty and offensive. Look at how you are dressed? How can you sit with us scholars?”

The beggar then looked at each student, and then asked, “Can I give you a piece of advice? The students laughed at him and said,

“We are very learned and are here on a very holy mission. You’re dressed in rags and are obviously a man without means or knowledge. What advice could you possibly give us?”

The beggar waited for the students to stop laughing and quietly told them,

“you are so careful about the level of kashurus of what goes into your mouth, you should be just as careful that what comes out of your mouth is kosher.” He then turned and went behind the stove and was seen no more.

A week went by and the students had not met moshiach.  They then returned to yeshiva. The rosh yeshiva was waiting for them. When they arrived, he asked them excitedly, “well, what was it like to meet moshiach?”

“He was not there.”

“He was most definitely there. Who did you meet?  Who did you talk to in the village?”

The students told the holy rabbi about the travelers, merchants and peasants who came to the inn during the week.  the rabbi asked, “wasn’t there anyone else that you met?”

The students answered, “Not really.” The rabbi told them to think hard because the moshiach was definitely in the village while they were there.  The students were silent and then one of them said there was that annoying beggar when we first came to the village.

The rabbi asked, “did you offer him Shalom?”

“No, he was a beggar.”

“Did you invite him to sit with you?”

“No, he was dirty, filthy and offensive.”

“Did you share a meal with him?”

The rabbi began to cry.  The students were surprised and could not understand why the rosh yeshiva was so upset.

The rabbi explained, “If you had offered Shalom to him, every Jewish heart would have been touched the messianic time to have begun.  If you had allowed him to sit with you, all of the Jewish people wouldn’t be gathered together.  If you would have shared a meal with him, the holy Beis haMikdosh (Holy Temple) would have been rebuilt. Instead you chose to ignore him.  Did he by chance teach you any secrets of the Torah?”

The students look to one another and one slowly said, “He only gave us a short bit of advice.  He told us you are so careful about the level of kashurus of what goes into your mouth, you should be just as careful that what comes out of your mouth is kosher.”

The Rosh Yeshiva tore his coat, sat on the floor and cried.

Offenses of man against his neighbor are greater in the eyes of Hashem than offenses of man against Hashem. The first Beis haMikdosh was destroyed because of the sins of man against Hashem, namely, Avodah zarah, resulting in an exile of only 70 years. Yet look at how long the exile from the second Beis haMikdosh has been. This exile was caused by the overwhelming hatred among klal Yisro-l .   An aveirah caused by loshon hara. (A sin caused by wrongful speech)

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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Shir haShirim, The Song of Songs is read in many Synagogues on Shabbos Chol haMoed.

Sometimes the meanings of the words are hard to understand. The verse says: Like a rose among the thorns (2:2), but what can this mean?

One may think that tavern would seem to be a most unpromising place in which to serve one’s Maker. So, at least, was the conflict that raged inside a simple Jewish tavern keeper who came to pour out his heart to the holy rabbi who was visiting the village. Since he earned his living by pouring drinks for all kinds of vulgar people, and had no choice but to hear their coarse language and see their improper behavior, he was afraid that he might become common by his contact with them.

The holy rabbi smiled and said:  ”It seems that you want to fulfill your function of being faithful and proper by being given a sack full of gold coins, being seated in a clean and splendid palace, dressed in silken garments with an impressive fine hat upon your head, with shelves on all sides filled with holy books — and then you will be able to serve the Almighty with your prayer and study proceeding from a clear and pure mind. But you may take my word for it: if the Holy One, blessed be He wants individuals to serve Him without any distractions or ob­stacles — why, for that he’s got hundreds of thousands of angels! The real delight that He finds in This World comes from those who are surrounded on all sides with difficulties and hardships, until it almost seems to them that they have been forced into a gutter — and even with this their minds cleave firmly to their Creator, and they anxiously yearn for the happy opportunity of one single moment when they’ll be able at last to ad­dress just a few words to Him. This longing no angel can experience! Do not complain about your livelihood. On the contrary, give thanks to Him for hav­ing given you the privilege of serving Him in this manner — to stand all day long in a place of impurity, and yet in your heart of hearts to cling to the wellspring of holiness and faith!”

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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And whoever elaborates on the story is praised… 

Whoever tells at length about the leaving from Egypt, increases his own praise, because the more one recognizes and appreciates the great miracles performed on his behalf, the more his own worth becomes apparent. 

It once happened that…. 

A ship transported many merchants to a distant land to sell their wares. The ship’s passengers included all sorts of merchants, each with his own merchandise: flour, fabrics, art objects, and precious stones. 

Out at sea, a pirate vessel approached the ship. The pirates commanded the ship’s captain to veer from his course and fol­low their vessel, as a captive ship. 

Fear descended upon all the ship’s passengers, for the pirates were infamous for their cruelty. 

The fearless captain immediately gathered his crew together and told them how to behave at this difficult time. The sailors obeyed his orders. Some climbed up the main mast and stretched out the sails. Some stood on the deck, swords and boarding hooks in hand, and some descended to the belly of the ship and from there, fired cannons at the pirates’ ship. 

When the pirates saw the captain’s and sailors’ courage and heard the sound of cannons exploding, they turned around and hastily sailed away. 

Although surely all of the mer­chants felt great happiness, this was not felt equally by each and every one of them. The relief of a merchant whose sacks of flour have been saved cannot be compared to the rejoicing of one whose precious jew­els have been saved. 

And even without knowing which merchant possessed the most valuable cargo, one could guess it by seeing which merchant most abundantly expressed his relief that the ship had been saved. The more elaborate the merchant’s appreciation of the rescue, the more valuable his wares. 

So too it is as the haggadah says, “and whoever elaborates on the story is praised.” When a person elaborately recounts the story of the leaving from Egypt, he reveals true faith and, “makes a joyful sound unto the L-rd.

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The hagaddah says:

“…even if we were all wise, all of us clever, all elders of our people, all fully versed in the Torah, we would still be obligated to recall the leaving from Egypt.”

It is the retelling of the story and the strengthening of faith that will bring us closer to the time when we will no longer be slave.

There was once a city that was very well fortified. It was enclosed by a thick stone wall, thought to be impenetrable.

A wise king decided to conquer this fortified city. After inspecting the fortifications, he sent his mightiest soldiers to bring down the wall and attack the city. These soldiers fell.

He next sent a second wave of less mighty soldiers, and then a third wave, and so on. Before long, his entire army had been depleted and the wall had not come down.

But the king did not give up. Once again he circled the city, inspecting its walls “How can you expect to capture this city if all your mighty soldiers are gone?” he was asked. The wise king smiled. “If you look closely, you will see that though the soldiers could not breach the wall, they did succeed in cracking  and weakening it. It is no longer strong and impenetrable. Now, with even the weak and wounded I can bring down the wall.” The king then sent his few remaining and weakest soldiers into battle and conquered the city.

Though the armies of the King  did not succeed in bringing the Mashiach, all the great Tzaddikim of the previous generation did succeed in cracking the wall.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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