Spiritual Growth

There's a common denominator between your most valuable asset and your birthright, which is even more than a basic human right. No person on earth has the right to take either of them away from you. What possibly fits that definition?

In this special preparatory lesson for Rosh Hashanah, we learn that one should avoid judging others altogether, especially during the month of Elul. What's more, when we forgive those who harmed us, we invoke Divine forgiveness for our own wrongdoings.

Imagine that every gift in life that we take for granted would disappear. How miserable we'd be! Shouldn't we rejoice when we do enjoy all of life's gifts, especially the spiritual ones?

In the springtime, all of creation renews itself. Renewal, especially self-renewal, is a wonderful process. Renewal is particularly important in relationships, to keep them fresh and meaningful. Communication is also vital to the success of a relationship. With this in mind, this time of the year is ideal to renew our own personal relationship with the Creator. We do that by finding a nice quiet place where we can speak to Him in solitude. Here's how...

Washing hands in prescribed ritual manner is called netillas yada'im. It seems like an insignificant mitzva, but the exact opposite is true. There is an amazing connection between netillas yada'im and Purim. What's more, this mitzva is very conducive for strengthening emuna and personal holiness. Our sages promise that those who observe this mitzva will never lack an adequate income.

Logic and intellect see things through physical eyes. Just as physical gravity brings an object down, logic and intellect knock a person down. Their interpretation of events is negative and pessimistic. On the other hand, emuna sees through spiritual eyes. Spiritual gravity lifts one up. Emuna is beyond the brain and beyond the realm of negativity. With emuna, there is truly no despair.

Today's podcast is a parable about the rewards we often fail to see for the good we do. Indeed, not only do we fail to hear a "thank-you", but we get hit on the head. What's happening and why?

Few people are able to understand what they see. To paraphrase the old saying, they're in a big area with oak and pine trees all around them but they don't see that it's a forest. Divine Direction is the Creator's active determination of every detail and occurrence in the world. The more we enhance our emuna in Divine Direction, the more we improve our spiritual eyesight. This lets us see the Creator personally directing our lives. Few things are more rewarding. There are five main ploys in enhancing our emuna in Divine Direction. These ploys are: Realizing that We Don't Run the World – Hashem does Learning to be Happy with Our Lot in Life Appreciating Life's Countless blessings Remembering the Many Salvations we have seen in our lifetime. Looking for the Divine wisdom in every creation Let's examine them, one by one.

In this clip from the holy Western Wall in Jerusalem, we learn the true meaning of emuna and how to expedite Moshiach's arrival. Do we really love Hashem? The more one loves someone, the more one thinks about them. Let's ask ourselves how often we think about Hashem. Once a week? Once a day? Once an hour? More frequently? That's likely the first and most important question of self-assessment.

Fitness trainers have an expression: “Get it right!” Any exercise, from simple breathing to the most complex routine, must be done in the best possible form to ensure optimal performance, gain and benefit to the body. Just as doing exercise is a workout for the body, doing mitzvas is a workout for the soul, making the soul strong and healthy. In that respect, good spiritual form is important for fulfilling a mitzva, so when it comes to observing the Torah, we have to "get it right" too.

Modern society is so preoccupied with body that most people don't even know that they have a soul. When people think that life is only body and the physical, they become candidates for depression. Why? For them, each day is a day closer to the cemetery. Is that all one has to look forward to in life? Thank goodness, no! Champion athletes are highly aware of their bodies. A marathon runner feels what's going on in each muscle of his legs and feet. Yet, an overweight person who never engages in physical activity and barely gets out of the sofa is utterly out of touch with his body. By the same token, one who never engages in spiritual activity loses touch with his soul. Spiritual awareness - awareness of the soul and its Creator - is a prerequisite for happiness and inner peace. Here's the good news: the soul is a tiny spark of the Creator. Just as the Creator is eternal, so is the soul. A person who prioritizes soul over body lives forever.

Why do we have so many difficulties in life? Is this how a loving Father in Heaven should treat His children? Why COVID 19, financial difficulties and all the grief? In answering these questions, we learn two important principles of spirituality: first, the distancing principle; the second, the end-of-year cleanup. Both are the tribulations we all suffer from, but with a closer look, they're a manifestation of the Creator's absolute love for each of us, as we learn in today's lesson.