NO COMES IN IF I DONT LET

Anecdote "No One Comes Inside If I Don't Let" By "Tomim" on the forum: Many years ago in Russia, a chossid once complained to his Rebbe that he was having difficulty maintaining control of his eyes and thoughts, and he requested from his Rebbe a lesson that could perhaps help. The Rebbe did not respond to his question. Instead, he was sent to visit the house of another chossid at the outskirts of town. The chossid did as he was told, and began looking for the house he was sent to. It was in the dead of winter, and he was faced with ferocious cold. By the time he had arrived, he could  bare it no more. He quickly ran towards the house and pounded loudly on the door. From inside the house came a sound of an old man's voice. "Who's there?" he said. In response came, "It's Yankle", and he began to explain his his purpose for the visit. Still, the door was not opened.   After some time passed, feeling ignored, the chossid pounded on the door once again, only this time, much louder than before. Again, through the door came the voice of the old man: "who is it?". The chossid repeated his name and once again mentioned his reason for coming. Still, nothing! He wasn't let into the house. This repeated itself over and over several times, till, cold, confused and with nowhere to go, the chossid cuddled up on the doorstep of the house and went to sleep. Early the next morning, the old man, greeting the chossid with a smile, opened the door and welcomed him inside. The chossid angrily shouted out at him: "Didn't you hear me banging on your door yesterday?! Why didn't you open your door when you first heard me?!" The old man smiled and calmly replied: "I'm the baal habayis here. No-one comes inside if I don't let!"

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From Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach Z"L

Sayings of the Day

From Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach Z"L

 

1. To go beyond my mind, I wear a yamulka. G-d spoke to us; we are connected to that which is above - I can literally reach above my head.
 
2. Neshama (soul) comes from the word noshem, to breath. What is the closest to life I get? When I breathe; the breath is always new. A neshama-person is always new, every second.
 
3. Doing an aveira is bad, but feeling guilty is evil, because guilt kills the spirit. 
 
4. You know what G-d showed us when He gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai?  That Heaven and earth are so close!

Click here for the "Bardichev" Niggun Sung by Rav Shlomo.

G-d is in your hearts my sweetest brothers. Gevald!

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

 

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.  

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