Chapter 11: How to Merit a Good Year: Coming Out of Your Ego
( Adapted from sefer Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh, Yomim Noraim, Chapter8)
How can we escape the confines within our own soul? (not just our physical confines; parnassa needs etc)
Coming out of your confines means to come out of your narrowness and instead expand beyond yourself.
Reb Yisroel Salanter: “True righteousness is when a person leaves his confines and expands beyond himself, and he isn’t self absorbed and only worrying about himself.” (The shofar is compared to a cry in the Gemara because it is only a mitzvah when it comes from the small end - narrow confines- and releases into the larger end- we each sign our own decree- the narrower a person is, the narrower his income, health, and happiness)
We need to realize that there is no such thing as a “private” life.
When we stop thinking only of ourselves, we will come to serve Hashem perfectly. The yetzer hara tries to convince us to just worry about ourselves.
“The Nefesh Hachaim writes in the introduction: A person was not created except to help others.”
It is impossible to completely eradicate self absorption but the Gemara says we should combine shelo lishma (ulterior motives) with lishma (pure motives). (eg, when you learn Torah, give some of the z’chusim to others so that it is not just for your own benefit; give tzedaka to help others not just to gain respect or because you know your parnassa will increase as a result).
Hillel said, “What you don’t want done to you, do not do to others.” How can this help our relationship with Hashem though? When we give up something for someone else, we will have more self control when it comes to sin, we will get used to nullifying our desires and stop thinking only about ourselves. When this happens we will automatically have a deeper relationship with Hashem.
This is a slow growth process. Take a minute a day to think how you can give for the sake of giving, how you can help someone with no ulterior motive.
“If a person takes these words to heart, then just as he will learn to worry about others, so will Hashem worry abut him, measure for measure.”
Below is from Atara who lives in Ramat Bait Shemesh:
Below is from Atara who lives in Ramat Bait Shemesh:
Things here are progressively getting worse.... Please take the time to watch the amazing video below and pass along to anyone who cares. It shows the strength of the people in Israel who just want to live in peace...while the Arabs just want to spill Jewish blood.
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