GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT THEN HASHEM WILL LIFT YOU UP

Rashi tells us that the middle of the ladder in Jacob's dream was above the Beis Hamikdosh. The question that struck me is, what do we have to know this for?

And I thought of an answer with a story (told over in the name of the Bal Shem Tov) of a king that promised his daughter to whoever will climb this massive huge building of 100 floors - till the top.

Loads of people started ascending the stairs, but they eventually became exhausted at some level. The strong ones climbed up till the 40th, others till the 45th floor, and then they gave up.

There was one person who was on the verge of giving up but he thought to himself, "if the king said climb to the top, it must be possible. It can't be that he gave a task that nobody can fulfill", and with this he climbed another 5 floors.

Upon reaching the 50th floor, he saw that the stairs finished at a lift, and as soon as he entered the lift, it took him straight to the top!!

The king just wanted to see who will trust him blindly; and he took care of the rest!

That's the lesson of Jacob's ladder. You are trying to climb up? Just do all you can, even if it seems impossible and you want to give up. Trust Hashem that if he gave you this task, you will succeed. And once you have done your part - that is like reaching the middle of the ladder ("our half" as opposed to "Hashem's half"). And Rashi is telling us, that the middle of the ladder is parallel to the Beis Hamikdosh, i.e. Hashem's lift that will shoot us straight to the top!

May we all continue climbing only upwards

Yankel Hits Bottom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anecdote of the Day     Yankel Hits Bottom A Story from the Bal Shem Tov By Uri Perek 38, Mizmor Levodid. "Your arrows have been shot into me, and Your hand has come down upon me." "My heart is in storm, my strength has forsaken me, and the light of my eyes - they, too, are no longer with me." "For I am prone to crippling pain, and my ache is always before me." A depressing psalm at best; hopeless at worst. Sounds like what I've been feeling like lately. What is Dovid telling us? What does he want from us? Let me share with you a story about the Baal Shem Tov.... One Thursday morning, the Baal Shem Tov turned to his Chassidim and said: "Prepare the carriage. We're going somewhere for Shabbos." He did not disclose their destination, and the Chassidim knew better than to ask. So they headed out and traveled all day until they got to a remote village. They continued to the edge of the village and came to a stop by the most broken-down shack that any of them had ever seen. Out came running a poshut yid who, judging by his patched-up clothes, did not have much money to his name. "Guests! Please come in! Have something to eat! Will you please stay by us for Shabbos? The Baal Shem Tov agreed, and as the yid went running inside to find some food, the Baal Shem turned to his Chassidim and said, "No matter what, do not tell this man who I am." The yid, Yankel was his name, was meanwhile begging his wife to let him shecht the cow. "We never have guests, my wife. What a zechus! They need a proper meal!" The wife solemnly answered: "But we need this cow for milk for our kids. Do you want them to starve??" "The guests come first. Hashem will provide." So he slaughtered the cow and served his guests a nice lunch. The Chassidim felt bad eating at all, because they knew that this man obviously was taking food from his own children's mouths. But the Baal Shem Tov finished everything in sight. The next morning, he finished whatever was left from the previous night. His Chassidim were shocked, but they didn't say anything. After breakfast, the Baal Shem said to his host: "Now I will give you my menu for shabbos. I want two types of fish, soup, chicken, meat, wine, challas, cakes, etc." Yankel rushed to his wife.  "My wife, we need to give our guests a special Shabbos meal." "But Yankel, we have no money! And we slaughtered the cow yesterday! What are we supposed to feed them with?!" But Yankel was not deterred. "We have only one choice. We must sell our house." "WHAT?!" "Yes. For the honor of our guests and for the honor of Shabbos, I am going to sell the house." So he went to the local real estate agent and sold the house. A broken-down shack, how much is it even worth? Just enough for three Shabbos meals, really. Yankel made the sale and agreed that he would hand over the house next week. That shabbos, the Chassidim felt sick. They knew that this meal was finishing off Yankel for good. They'd rather have died than be sitting there at that Shabbos table. But the Baal Shem Tov ate everything that they left over. He did not leave a morsel. After Shabbos, the Chassidim rushed to the wagon, desperate to leave. But the Baal Shem walked slowly out. As the wagon pulled away, the Baal Shem Tov leaned out and said: "I just want you to know. I am the Baal Shem Tov!" Yankel watched them disappear and slowly realized his situation. He had nothing. No house. No money. No food. His wife wasn't speaking with him. What was there to do? Yankel made for the woods. He went to his regular secluded spot and burst out in tears. "Hashem! What am I to do?! I have nothing! I have given it all to you! If only I had some money, I would host a thousand guests every shabbos! Please Hashem, help me so that my children won't die of hunger." And he cried. And cried. Finally, dried out of tears, he slowly trekked home. On the way, he bumped into Velvel, the town drunk. Velvel said to him: "Yankel, I have been looking all over for you. Yankel, I want to tell you something. I feel my days are numbered. I will die soon and I have no one to pass my money on to. My children show me no respect. They curse me and mock me. You are the only one who ever treats me respectfully. Therefore, I will share this secret with you. Though people don't know it, I am a very rich man. I have a treasure hidden in this forest and I want you to have it when I die." Any doubt that Yankel had vanished when Velvel took him to his hiding spot, which revealed a massive amount of gold hidden under a tree. The next day there was a big commotion in town. Velvel the drunkard had passed away during the night. Yankel was now a very rich man. As he had promised, he had many guests every Shabbos. When he went to visit the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe explained: This life is a cycle. I saw in Shamayim that there was great wealth waiting for you. But you were always happy with your lot and you didn't have the vessel for it; you had to hit rock-bottom first. So I had to be mean to you and empty you out to get you to cry out to Hashem, as you did.  And only then you would be zoche to receive all the bracha as you did. Why do I bring this story? There comes a time in a person's life when he feels completely beaten down. He is empty. He has nothing. He has hit rock-bottom. Some people get this once in their lifetime. Some people get this more than once. But either way, it is a blessing. Every person I know that has recovered from addiction, has done so after hitting rock-bottom. They're life became unbearable. One person told me how they went to their rebbe's house and fell at his feet crying for an hour. Another person told me that his wife was about to divorce him. And a cry comes from the depths. "Hashem, before You is all my yearning, my sighs are not hidden from You!" We realize we are helpless. And we reach out to Hashem. We place ourselves in His hands. Our feeling of bottomness brings out the deepest from our neshamos. Our deepest yearnings. Our deepest desires. Hashem sometimes needs to knock us down so that we can soar up. I don't know if I'm expressing myself well here, but the times that I felt closest to Hashem were not when I was doing well. It was right after a fall. When I had just cried out everything I had. When my eyes hurt from crying so much. When I yelled "ENOUGH!!!!" When I realized I was nothing. And that was when I became something. I am who I am, because of my falls. Every time I fall, I'm actually getting closer to my eventual goal. I'm not just talking about acting out. I'm talking about being down to the utmost. Somehow, these always bring me higher.

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THE MAGNET

TACHLIS OF A PERSON IS TO STICK TO HASHEM LIKE A MAGNET TO HAVE A NATRUL PULL TO HIM AND AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD SVESEY

HOW TO SCEAM TO HASHEM

Rabbi Nachman Writes:

Sexual temptation is the main test in life. It is sent as a challenge to refine us. When you are subjected to this test it puts you in a type of "exile". You should cry out to G-d: scream and cry out to Him over and over again, like a woman in labor who cries out from the pain of her contractions. Seventy times she cries out (Zohar III, 249b). You must do likewise and cry out to G-d again and again until He takes pity and helps you to strengthen yourself and break your desire. New ideas and new perceptions will be born within you. The secrets of Torah, which before were guarded, will now be unveiled for you. The greater the determination with which you stand up to the trial, the greater the revelation you will receive in Torah and devotion to G-d. You will be able to see the seventy faces of the Torah

TO PICTURE YOURSELF IN IT

WHEN LEARNING IMAGINE YOURSELF LIVING THE INYAN ,WHEN DAVEING IMAGINE THE KING IN FRONT OF YOU

WHAT IS CONTROLLING YOU YOUR MIND OR HEART

WHAT IS CONTROLLING YOU YOUR MIND OR HEART ,IF ITS YOUR HEART YOU WILL LOOSE CONTROL VERY QWICKLIY,SO GET YOUR MIND WORKING NON STOP SO YOUR THE BOSS

RABBI MATYA BEN CHERESH

From the Medrash Yalkut Shimoni, Vayechi
THE FOLLOWING STORY HAPPENED TO RABBI MATYA BEN CHERESH WHO WOULD ALWAYS BE SITTING IN THE BET HA MIDRASH ENGAGED IN TORAH STUDY AND THE BRILLIANCE OF HIS FACE RESEMBLED THE SUN AND THE APPEARANCE OF HIS FACE RESEMBLED THAT OF THE MINISTERING ANGELS, BECAUSE HE HAD NEVER RAISED HIS EYES TO LOOK AT WOMEN
Once the Satan fixed his sight on this Tzaddik and said to himself: "Is it possible that this man does not sin? " Then the Satan went and asked G-d: "How do you consider Rabbi Matya Ben Cheresh?" And G-d replied: "He is a perfect Tzaddik" The Satan said to G-d: "Give me permission to put him to the test". G-d told the Satan: "Go".
THE SATAN APPEARED TO THE RABBI AS A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND HE PREFERRED BEING BLIND THAN SINNING BEFORE HASHEM
The Satan appeared to the Rabbi as a beautiful woman the like of which there had never been in the world. When the Tzaddik saw he immediately turned his face away from the woman. Then the woman quickly moved to the side where Rabbi Matya had turned his face to, and he quickly again turned his face away from that woman. Then the Tzaddik said: "I am afraid that my Yetzer haRa will overpower me and will cause me to sin" What did the Tzaddik do? He called a student that was there with him and ordered him to bring him fire with nails. The student brought him nails and the Tzaddik put them to his eyes and became blind. When the Satan saw this he trembled and fell on his back.
HASHEM ORDERED THE ANGEL RAPHAEL TO CURE THE TZADDIK
At that time The Holy One Blessed be He called the angel Raphael for he is in charge of healing and told him: "Go and heal Rabbi Matya Ben Cheresh" Then Raphael came in front of the Rabbi and he asked: "Who are you" and he replied: "I am Raphael the angel, I came for G-d sent me to cure your eyes" and Rabbi Matya replied: "Leave me alone, what is already done is what will be" Raphael returned before the Holy One Blessed be He and said: "Master of the World, thus spoke Matya" G-d said to him: "Go back to him and tell him that I will personally guarantee that the Yetzer haRa will have no power over him". Immediately Raphael went and cured Matya. From here Our Sages said: "All those that are careful not to look at women, The Yetzer haRa has no power over them".