"Freedom is a State of Mind"

This  Pesach let's become FREE, IY'H

Three steps to Freedom/geulah: (from shiur by Rabbi Doniel Katz)
 Arizal: when we/Bnei Yisrael are/were in mitzrayim our da'as is/was in galus.

Every Pesach we are elevated from the galus to the state of geulah (please Hashem let us remain there and let everyone experience the geulah from within and without)

da'as: is consciousness of our true self- a pure untainted soul

step 1: leave mitzrayim: become conscious of who we really are; conscious of the distorted beliefs and desires that are not us. Once we have this consciousness- we can begin to feel...

step 2: yishuv hada'as: returning to our true selves (like on Shabbos)- a feeling of connection, calm, happiness, joy which we use to create unity in the physical and spiritual world to achieve...

step 3. Haaras Hada'as: Living on this Divine level every moment- feeling the connection we have to Hashem in our deepest selves. This level is experienced at the Seder, then we are dropped down and have the omer to work our way back up, and IY'H experienced again on Shavuous.  

Stay tuned For Omer work and/or check out Jewish Women Unite.

Please call me if you have any questions.  Chag Kasher Vesameach!

Love, aviva 

sent from Tzipora Harris- what to have in mind when eating at the seder...

1. Matza-  Matza is just flour and water. Nothing else mixed in. It represents your soul which wants nothing other than to do the right thing and live out G-d’s incredible plan for your life. When you eat the matza, you can have this in mind:

More than anything, I yearn to live as a soul, I want to do what’s right, I want to make the greatest contribution I possibly can, live the vision You have for me, G-d and draw close to You! and I know I don’t need to know how- You have infinite ways to get me there! I’m just YEARNING TO BE SOUL DRIVEN in my life from this point on!

2. Maror- (bitter herbs)-  Maror is a reminder that even though it’s easy to get pulled by your lower drives, like beating yourself up, losing your temper, letting feelings of anxiety or despair about your circumstances overtake you; or that ice cream at 12am, you end up feeling horrible afterwards. Letting yourself be driven by lower forces is bitter. When you eat the maror, you can have this in mind:

I recognize that in some ways I let my lower self run my life at times in the past and I see that living as a lower self is BITTER. I don’t want it. Please help me rise above it, again and again. I don’t know exactly how- I trust You will guide me.

3.        Korech- (sandwich)-  The Matza-Maror-Matza sandwich focuses you on the goal of channeling your lower drives (maror) to help fulfill G-d’s amazing vision for your soul (matza) and thereby drawing closer to Him, which is our ultimate purpose in this world.

Help me remember that in Your eyes I am always beloved, possessing infinite worth, I am Your exalted and precious child and You are with me forever. Every aspect of my life is exactly what I need to fulfil my unique mission. That will help me see my lower self voices and my struggles for what they really are- the perfect training and development program wired into my life by the Ultimate Coach. Help me see the blessing in my struggles. And use them as stepping stone to elevation. I don’t know how, I just know You, G-d, can help me.

A refuah for Noa Bas Sheila and all the cholim in our lives

TEFILAH 

Does Hashem need our prayers?

What do our tefilos actually do? 

We know our entire purpose in life is:
To have a relationship with Hashem to have deveikus to HIM

Rav Kalish in his shiur titled, ’sing your song’, states, “to have a profound connection, we need deep seated appreciation”. 

We are alive, BH, so let’s not settle for anything but a profound connection. 

Chazal say we should view this world from this vantage: B’shvili nivrah haolam- the world was created for me. 

Therefore, it stands to reason that tefilah is for me- it can give me this profound connection. 

There is a uniqueness to each of our connections with Hashem,

Rav Salanter said zulas zeh Aino Torah- if you don’t have your own perspective- it’s not Torah. 

And this is the gift of tefilah to each of us, a specifically designed moment in the day when we can be makir tov- recognition of Hashem which gives us this relationship with HIM, gives us eternity. 

It’s where our moments become real and vibrant. 

It’s true this can be done 24/7, by constantly thanking Him and recognizing Him in the moment to moment- mundane life. 

But what about in the siddur, when I am most likely to space out, then I would be missing the greatest gift He has given to me, Himself, awareness of His love within the words of chazal- 

We can actually see Hashem in the moment in the siddur in our relationship to Him. 

In Tehillim 142, Dovid Hamelech states
Break me out of this prison of myself, to thank YOU. 

What breaks us our of our jail- thoughts actions and feelings that hold us hostage? 

l’hodos es shmecha-
when we thank You Hashem. 

Our song begins to change when we are no longer disconnected- when we pick up a siddur or tehillin or chumash and think first: 

What does this mean to me? 

Hashem doesn’t need our payers, we need them to feel a deeper relationship with Him. 

This is my song to You Hashem- this is the recognition I offer to You...

and then IY’H each one of us will feel this eternity, a profound relationship with Hashem.

HUMILITY-

Print · Read Online Moses, it is written, was the most humble of all men. Obviously, he knew who he was. He knew that of all men, he alone was chosen to accomplish the greatest tasks of history—to lead an entire nation out from bondage and bring them to the greatest revelation that would ever be. He was the loftiest of all prophets, who spoke directly to G‑d whenever he wished. He knew all this and yet he was humble. Because Moses told himself, “This is not my own achievement. This is what I have done with the powers G‑d has gifted me. Perhaps, had someone else been given these same powers, perhaps that someone else would have done an even better job.”