Bs"d  Issue 1  Tishrei 5775 From the Teachings of Yitzchak Ginsburgh

A New from Rabbi Year’s Yitzchak Blessing Ginsburgh

he new year that has just begun is the God is the one who supplies for and sustains year 5775, which in Hebrew is referred those who commit themselves to One of the numerical (as the Midrash teaches us that “The Torah was .(תשע"ה) Tto as 775 allusions to this number is “the jar of manna” only given to those who ate the manna”). This comes to the fore in particular in the fact that .( צִ נְ צֶ נֶ ת הַ מָ ן) When the Jewish People left Egypt, on their this year is a shemitah (seventh, or sabbatical) journey to receive the Torah on Mt. Sinai, they year. Anyone who lives in complete faith and were granted the manna, “Bread from Heaven,” trust in God, will live their lives as if they are which provided them with sustenance for forty living in the Garden of Eden. This is alluded to years, “Until they reached a settled land.” God by the fact that the numerical value of "faith" is equal to the “Garden (אֶ מּונָ ה, ּבִטָ חֹון) "commanded Moses to preserve one omer and "trust .( ַ ג ן עֵ דֶ ן) ”measure of the manna in a jar that was placed of Eden in the Holy of Holies, together with the Ark of During the time of the Prophet the Testimony, to commemorate their eating Jeremiah, the Jewish People the manna in the wilderness. The purpose of needed to see that manna this preservation was not only to remind us jar once again, to strengthen of the loving-kindness that God did for us their faith and trust in the through His miracles in the desert, but also fact that sustenance comes to reinforce our faith and trust in the fact that only from God.

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“Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our Father in Heaven, Have Mercy!” Protecting Our 4 Sanity from the And Moses Was Enraged Serpent’s Venom 6 This issue is dedicated to the speedy recovery of Noah bat Sarah and Rachel bat Na'amah3 2

When Jeremiah asked the Jewish People, trust in the Almighty and allows him to move “Why is it that you don’t occupy yourselves ahead—because any human framework with Torah study?” They replied, “If we occupy is limited and is therefore incomparable ourselves with Torah study, how will we find to the unlimited powers that God fills us sustenance?!” At that point, he brought out the with. It is actually by undermining our trust jar of manna and said to them “O generation, in “government, kings and ministers” that you see the word of God. Was I a desert to strengthens our ability to observe the or a land of thick darkness? Why have of appointing a king as the Torah requires us to My people said, ‘We have been separated; we do; a king who, “Has none above him besides will no longer come to You’? Your forefathers Havayah, his God,” one who boldly depicts the occupied themselves with Torah study, see how Torah’s vision and aspires to observe it without they were sustained; if you occupy yourselves taking heed of the gentile nations. with Torah study, I will sustain you.” Indeed, regarding the mitzvah of the manna Radak interprets “We have been separated” jar, the Torah states three times that it was to be to read, “We have ruled,” [as in the phrase, “preserved”: “And Moses said, ‘This is the matter ( רַ נ דְ ּו) that God commanded, a full omer measure of ּוְרדּו ּבִדְ גַ ) ת”And rule over the fish of the sea“ meaning that we have a government, it to be preserved for your generations, so ,[( הַ ָ י ם kings and ministers, “We will no longer come to that they see the bread which I fed you in the You.” From Radak’s words it becomes clear that wilderness’… and God said to Aaron, 'Take a jar the root of the people’s lack of trust in God is and put into it a full omer measure of manna their negative trust in “government, kings and and place it before God to be preserved for ministers”—the people are complacent in their your generations. As God commanded Moses' trust of the ministers and the government; and Aaron placed it before the testimony to they have a central authority that “takes care be preserved.” The first preservation was for of them” so they have no need to set their faith the generation of the wilderness; the second and trust in God on High. However, when the preservation was for Jeremiah’s generation; the people publicly rely on flesh and blood, then third preservation is for the days of Mashiach. in the personal realm they also feel that their May it be God’s will that we merit the third sustenance depends on their own toil, and they preservation—that of Mashiach—in the year neglect their Torah study and their connection 5775 as we become as one with the “jar of with God. manna” in our faith and trust in God alone. (תשע"ה) The “jar of manna” comes to remind us The special quality of the year 5775 ,( ּתִ ׁשְ עָ ה ַ י רְ חֵ י ֵ ל י דָ ה) ”foremostly that sustenance comes daily from is “nine months of pregnancy the Almighty’s open, Holy and over-flowing i.e., the ability to hold abstract thoughts (that hand. Therefore, no-one should completely are like the manna—“white coriander seed”— devote themselves to their sustenance in a which was semi-spiritual), and to nurture them way that makes them forget their role in this to maturity and to a successful birth. In this world—the vessel that holds God’s blessing year, may we merit an abundance of births, is actually formed by studying Torah and by both physically and spiritually, including the fulfilling the mission that mankind was created birth of the genuine king that we hope for— for. This realization has public ramifications— Mashiach—of whom it states, “You are My son, it must release the people from its imagined I have given birth to you today” (through a perspective according to which one can rely on consciousness of constant rebirth and renewal), the state and the approach that “government, and may it be God’s will that this year be the king and ministers,” are those that allow our year of “The mainstay of the home, the mother existence in the land and therefore we have no of children rejoices.” more need for God’s loving-kindnesses. The “jar of manna” reminds us all that everything Wishing the entire Jewish People   depends entirely on God and we must all come a good and sweet year to Him and accept His authority. may we all be written and signed It is actually by undermining this imaginary in the book of Eternal Life stability that grants the individual faith and Yitzchak Ginsburgh 3 Psychology for the

Jewish Edited by Mrs.Soul Rachel Gordon

this in mind, we can then ensure that the entire Protecting Our year ahead will be free of sin. from the Day of Remembrance: Rosh Hashanah is when we (יֹום הַ זִּכָ רֹון) Sanity the Day of Remembrance ask God to remember us only for our merits. Serpent’s Venom Since everything that we ask of God also Rosh Hashanah is the day God created Adam depends on our own efforts from below, Rosh and Eve, and on that very same day they Hashanah must also be associated with our sinned; they were seduced by the serpent to own memories. The first thing to remember is believe that by eating the forbidden fruit they our Creator, who conceived the world on Rosh would become like God. Hashanah, as we say in our prayers, “Today The serpent’s venom affects its victim’s the world was conceived.” Furthermore, on mind, by contaminating it with delusions of Rosh Hashanah we are not allowed to mention grandeur. While ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) sin at all, so this is a good time to remember is a fear that has been well-documented, our our own good points. From a psychological comprehension of the serpent that sojourns point of view, Rosh Hashanah, the Day of deep within our psyche needs to be further Remembrance, is the most auspicious day to developed. counteract the serpent’s venomous attack The sages state, “No-one commits a sin against our sanity; an attack which often unless a spirit of folly [i.e. temporary insanity] involves a loss of memory. enters him.” Losing one’s mind, or a loss of Shofar: “Blast the shofar on the [new] attention to the outcome of our deeds, opens month.” The sages interpret the word “new up the possibility of sin. As long as we are truly ”,to mean “renew your actions ( ֹּבַ ח דֶ ׁש) ”month aware of the implications and consequences of is from the same root as to (ׁשֹופָ ר) and shofar our actions, we would never allow ourselves to Renewing and improving .(שפר) ”improve“ transgress. ourselves at the start of the year, counteracts Rosh Hashanah― the effects of getting stuck in a spiritual, snake- Our Spiritual Anti-Venom ridden rut. To add a final thought: when we consider There are three unique blessings in the long shares the ( ׁשָ ָ נ ה) that the Hebrew word for year Musaf prayer we say on Rosh Hashanah. These the name of ,(ׁשִ ינּוי) ”same root with “change three blessings include ten verses that express (ראֹש הַׁשָ נָ ה) this awe-inspiring Head of the Year ten ;(מַ לְ כּויֹות) our coronation of God as King takes on the new meaning of “mind change.” verses in which we ask God to remember Indeed, Rosh Hashanah is the spiritually and finally, ten verses that ;(זִכְ רֹונֹות) our merits auspicious time to change, renew and improve the ,(ׁשֹופָ רֹות) mention the blast of the shofar our mindset, and the perfect antidote to ram’s horn that will ultimately usher in the final prevent the psychological decline that leads to redemption. sin.  Coronating God: The teaches us that the entire body follows the lead of the head; Adapted from Rabbi Ginsburgh’s class on Torah and Psychology, Chile, 5769 the seat of the mental faculties that are most prone to the serpent’s venom. Since Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year, it also leads the entire year that will follow. By leaving all our This space could be grandiose thoughts of omnipotence behind, we can then coronate the truly omnipotent your's! King of Kings on Rosh Hashanah. By keeping call to advertise: +972-523003085 4 Understanding

a ByChassidic Oded Mizrachi Story

rustic man. The worshippers who stood by him tried to Cock-a-doodle-doo! silence him and wanted to send him out of the “Our Father in Heaven, synagogue, but the young man retorted, “I am also Jewish, and your God is my God, too!” HaveThe selichot we Mercy!” say during the The elderly synagogue attendant, Reb Yosef month of Elul, together with the Yozfa calmed the worshippers and told the shepherd to stay where he was. Rosh Hashanah prayers, channel The Ba'al Shem Tov, whose face suddenly lit through to the intense moments up with joy, began the repetition of the amidah of the shofar blast – that simple, prayer with a special tune, and recited the coarse sound that expresses the concluding verses of unifying God’s Name with innermost point of the soul great arousal and sang joyful songs. During the meal after the Yom Kippur fast, the In the time of the Ba'al Shem Tov, there was a Ba'al Shem Tov explained that there had been decree of annihilation on one particular Jewish harsh judgment on one Jewish community community. When the Ba'al Shem Tov learnt of and when he had attempted to arouse Divine the dire situation, he prayed fervently during compassion on them in his prayers, he saw the Days of Awe. that there was harsh judgment upon him At the ne’ilah prayer, his disciples became too, because he had made efforts to settle aware of the gravity of the situation, and they Jewish families in the villages and at junction too made special efforts to pray from the depths points and they were liable to learn from their of their hearts. When the other congregants neighbors’ ways, God forbid. The Ba'al Shem saw that the Ba'al Shem Tov and his disciples Tov concluded, “I saw that their actions were were crying bitterly, their hearts broke. When under examination and that the situation of they saw that the time for the evening prayer the congregation and my own situation were had already arrived and the Ba'al Shem Tov and in dire straits. Then, suddenly, the sound of the his disciples were still praying fervently, they all shepherd's call was heard upon High: ““Cock- realized that the situation was very grave. The a-doodle-doo! Our Father in Heaven, have men and women wept profusely and there was mercy!” and that innocent call caused great a great uproar. contentment to the highest degree and all the In the synagogue was a rustic shepherd who judgments upon the congregation and upon had come to pray on the Days of Awe, and myself were annulled. since he was illiterate, he just listened and silently watched the face of the prayer leader. The Animal Point of the Soul Root Since he was from the countryside he The Ba'al Shem Tov once told a parable before knew how to mimic animal and bird sounds, the sounding of the shofar: a great king once especially the crow of a rooster. When he sent his sons out hunting and they lost their way. heard the weeping and shouting, his heart was They shouted out in the hope that their father broken and he cried out, “Cock-a-doodle-doo! would hear them but there was no reply, then Our Father in Heaven, have mercy!” they said to themselves, we have forgotten our When they heard a rooster crow in the father’s language, therefore he does not heed synagogue, everyone was appalled, and when our call, let’s yell without speaking. They sent they heard him shout, “Our Father in Heaven, one of them to yell, warning him, “Remember have mercy!” they saw that it was the young that our lives depend on you!” 5

The moral of this story is that God sent us prayer, women and children, the literate and to elevate holy sparks, but we got lost, and the illiterate. because we have forgotten His language, we The rooster-like crow that suddenly broke can no longer cry out with words. We send out was the end of a chain reaction: the Ba'al you, the shofar blower, to arouse Divine mercy Shem Tov’s prayer caused his disciples to upon us with sound, without speech, but take selflessly devote themselves to their prayers, heed, because we all depend on you. the disciples’ prayers moved the simple folk to The mitzvah of shofar is the link that connects heartbreak, and finally, the rooster crow arose, all of the Days of Repentance. On the mornings as if a spring had snapped in the soul of the of Elul it wakes us up from sleeping through rustic, who had absorbed all the supplications the follies of time, and arouses us to prepare and could bear them no longer. ourselves for the “Day of Blowing the Shofar” – Chassidut explains that “Every returning light, Rosh Hashanah. Then it returns on Yom Kippur returns to its primordial state.” Any arousal at the moments of elevation that conclude the from above is referred to as “direct light” the ne’ilah prayer, with a simple blast. influence of a high light that is sent to illuminate The uncomplicated sound of the shofar is its the distanced spark that has forgotten its hallmark; an animalistic sound that is unbroken source. Once the light has achieved its goal, by letters or refined expression. Even on Yom the spark is aroused and wishes to return with Kippur, during the reading of the Prophets immense force. This is the “returning light” – during the afternoon prayer service, we find the enormous distance between the lost spark the animalistic motif at the conclusion of the and its source are etched into its soul, and it Book of Jonah, “An individual who cannot runs full-force back to its source, so much so distinguish between his right and his left, and that it rises above the source of light that it was an abundance of animals.” searching for. “Why do the Jewish People shout, but are This is how it is in our service of return to God. not answered? Because they do not know Once we realize how much we have forgotten the intentions of the Name.” According to the our Father’s language, we understand that Chassidic interpretation, the sages’ words take the Torah’s wisdom alone cannot save us. on a deeper meaning—it is neither a Holy The complexity of our entire soul has been Name, nor a letter combination that is required bombarded by sins and by our forgetfulness, in order to be saved. The problem is far simpler and all that there is left to do is to make an than that – we don’t know how to call God by effort to request the one simple point that has Name. We might intend one way and think survived—the animalistic point of our soul- another, but we don’t hit the essential point. root – “But, I was brutish and I did not know; I It is actually from the coarsest and most was [as] a beast with You.” distant point in the synagogue that salvation This is that very same “animalistic” force that arrives. When we look for the real secret of searches for God, not by any merit, but merely God’s Name, the identification that, “You are through un-complex compassion – because our Father!” We can never know where it will You are our Father.  come from. This is why the righteous must From Or Yisrael, Ba'al Shem Tov stories always gather the congregation together in with elucidations by Rabbi Ginsburgh

Editor: Menachem Stern  Translation: Mrs. Rachel Gordon  Graphics: Deah Giladi To subscribe to email updates, transcriptions and our weekly newsletter in Hebrew or English: [email protected] The magazine is sponsored by Gal Einai for disseminating the Torah's inner dimension in the Holy Land and the Diaspora 6

Q with & Rabbi A Ginsburgh

whose function is to align the student upon their path and “to warn them away from And Moses wrong-doing”—is required to show anger towards their student when the student Was Enraged behaves wrongly. Maimonides explains that Question: Is it correct for a teacher to berate the educator should not genuinely become a student, or punish them for unsuitable angry, rather they should show an angry face behavior or talking back, while the teacher for the sake of their educational duty, however, feels impaired by the same unrefined trait, or from Rebbe Shneur Zalman’s words, it appears while they feel angry or personally hurt by the that the educator must indeed become angry student’s behavior? What should the teacher’s to a certain extent, and that such anger is not correct response be to a breach of discipline by included in the sages’ statement that “anyone a student in class? who becomes angry is like an idolater.” Answer: Obviously, an educator, like everyone Nonetheless, we learn that the expression, else, is required to observe the sages’ words in “forgives insults” does not hold for a situation in Tractate Avot (6:1) “And be modest and patient which one is obliged to “warn them away from and forgive insults.” Modesty, in terms of being wrong-doing,” which is the educator’s task. satisfied with little, causes the individual to be However, the educator must know how to carry patient in the realization that what God has out the task correctly. Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak given us is plenty, and I have all that I need, Schneerson, in his leaflet, “The Principles of and automatically, they will never become Education and Guidance” negates the solution angry, irritated or insulted. of shouting at the student, and certainly negates Relating to the educator’s anger, Rebbe hitting a child. He explains that even though Shneur Zalman wrote in Tanya (Igeret Hakodesh 25): we might achieve the short-term solution of With respect to anger—that one [who restoring order, in the long-term, shouting can becomes angry] is like an idolater. This is so act like a boomerang and achieve the opposite with reference to mundane matters, because, of what was intended. If the student has come “Everything is in the hands of Heaven except to the point where they are going a little “crazy,” for the fear of Heaven.” Hence, with respect to one might consider dismissing them from the matters of Heaven, “To warn away from wrong- class for a limited time, until they calm down. doing,” the reason stated does not apply, and as However, one should not send the child home it is written: “And Moses was enraged.” This is as a punishment for their behavior. different because God caused him to encounter In any case, since the subject here is using this mitzvah of “Warning away from wrong- judgment, it always needs to be sweetened. doing” in order to make him meritorious. Of the three Patriarchs, the attribute of might in particular, whose ( ִ י צְ חָ ק) From Moses, we learn that the educator— belongs to Isaac This space could be your's! call to advertise: +972-523003085 אוהבספר יבינו אותך בדיוק

name is from the same root as “laughter” In Chassidut there are many lessons .(צְ חֹוק) to be learnt from the connection between עריכת תוכן fear (Isaac) and laughter. With reference to עריכת לשון education we can learn that using the attribute of judgment should be accompanied by a great תרגום .deal of laughter Laughter serves a number of functions: first ניסיון רב בעבודה of all, we need to know how to smile at the disruptive child—sometimes what they need תורנית ומדעית is a smile and the warmth that radiates from it. Secondly, the educator should make the מנחם גורדון ,situation humorous, turning it into a joke so that the “judgments” that came from the child’s end will also filter out and be lost. The 058-7123609 [email protected] 6580146 result is, as said, that from a situation full of

judgment, both on the child’s behalf and 054 from the necessary rebuke from the educator, it becomes possible to rectify and restore a positive atmosphere. Finally, both the teachers’ and the students’ desire is that everyone should be happy. יינות בוטיק איכותיים In order to reach happiness, the rules need כרם תקומה יצהר to be kept, while simultaneously keeping a לכבוד החגים מבצעים מיוחדים .balance between using judgment and laughter Obviously, this is not an easy piece of advice to למגוון יינות יוקרתיים מכרמי תקומה heed, and the most important thing is to pray להזמנות: אריה to God that we reach the correct formula, as 052-6070976 King David prayed, “And may the pleasantness of the Master our God be upon us, and the work of our hands establish for us, and the work of our hands establish it.” The Almighty is the one who completes our actions according to the desired intention. 

Excerpted and adapted by Aviv Moyal from a class delivered by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh at the Ya'alet Chen girl's school 6580146 הַ נְחָ יַת ּכְתִ יבָה - - 054

תקומה כתיבה יוצרת אחד על אחד רוצה ללמוד כתיבה דרך טקסטים שלך? ללטש, לעבד ולהשתפר? יש הנחיה כזו דעה גלעדי, כותבת, עוסקת בעריכה ובהנחיה, מזמינה אותך שנה טובה ומבורכת לשלוח טקסט מהמגרה ולדייק אותו בדוא"ל צעד אחר צעד לפרטים ולטיוטות: [email protected] | | 054-6580146 המשך מהעמוד הקודם<<<

הזורעים בדמעה ברינה יקצורו כאן מגיעות אנו לאופן נוסף של הבנת ההליכה הכפולה ב"כושרות". כאשר אנו גדלות באמת, מסוגלות אנו לא רק להיות "או או" אלא בזמן אחד להיות "גם וגם". בלשון החסידות נקראת תנועה זו "נשיאת הפכים", והיא נדרשת גם בכל 'נישואין' שבנויים ביסודן על נשיאת הפכים. לענייננו, הנפש יכולה להכיל בזמן אחד בכיות ושירות. אנו יכולות להיות עסוקות בקטנות של עבודות הפסח, ובו בזמן גם לשיר ולשמוח. בעומק הענין, אין כאן רק זוג שיושב יחד, אלא התכללות, כאשר בכל צד מוארים הפנים של הצד הנגדי. אפשר לגלות בפסח את השחרור שיש בהיותנו עבדי ה' – השמחה בדקדוקי הכשרות, והכשרות שנמצאת בשמחה. בכורך של ליל הסדר מוזמנות אנו לכרוך יחדיו מרירות וחדוה. נבין כי דווקא "הזורעים בדמעה" הם אלו ש"ברנה יקצורו", ודרך דמעות הטיבול במי מלח נזכה לשירת ההגדה. אנו מוזמנות להעז להתחדש מתוך המשברים, להחליף תפקידים ולגלות פנים חדשות. נשב כבנות חורין בגדלות הנפש, שתאפשר לנו להיות נשים כשרות ושמחות כאחת.

]מבוסס על 'סעודת משיח' ה'תשע"ג,

ועל המאמר 'הדילוג לגאולה' בתוך "מעין גנים", ויקרא[.