Teshuva

A flat tire is definitely not the end of the race. You can change it! Rebbe Nachman of Breslev says that if you believe you can ruin something, then believe that you can rectify it. This is not just a pleasant expression, but a signed promise in the Torah and a fact of life. The second chance we all get is a much more effective way to beautify and overhaul ourselves than plastic surgery, and a whole lot cheaper...

Suffering severe abdominal pain, Rabbi Shalom of Shatz made a rare visit to a physician. Before the examination, the Rabbi asked the doctor to diagnose the source of the pain. "Doctor, I simply need you to tell me which internal organ is not functioning properly. I don't need any treatments or medication." Today, we learn his age-old secret to self-healing.

There's nothing healthier for body and soul than a new beginning, making a fresh start. The spirit influences the body. So, when the spirit declares a fresh start, the body becomes rejuvenated! By removing the focus from our setbacks and disappointments, we avoid sadness and depression. And if we messed up by committing some transgression, we simply ask forgiveness from Hashem and promise to do our best to improve. Once we've made teshuva, the past is wiped away – the transgression no longer exists! Therefore, by declaring a new start, we destroy sadness and depression, especially the depression that follows a transgression.

Just as cholesterol clogs the arteries, transgressions clog the pathways to the heart and the heart itself. A clogged and hardened heart has no desire to pray, for it cannot feel the Divine presence. Today, we learn how to perform a spiritual stent. Powerful prayer - a silent scream - penetrates the depths of the heart and renews its spiritual health.

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.

Avraham Bell didn't let his second-class status in the segregated U.S. South of the sixties to extinguish his dreams. He grew up with a spiritual hunger. He excelled as an athlete and as a musician. He was an honor student in microbiology at Ohio State and went on to do an MBA at Arizona. Avraham is also an exquisite artist. He now pours his power and passion into Torah scholarship and Divine service. Having moved to Israel with his remarkable wife Yehudit, he now raises children and grandchildren in the way of emuna. As phenomenal a human being he is, that's how humble he is. Meet Avraham - you'll love him as much as we do.

She's incredible. One of less than ten women in the entire USA who is a 7th degree blackbelt and Taekwondo Grand Master. The only Jewish woman in the world with that distinction and a mother of six as well. She was a Pan Am Games gold medalist and a US Olympic hopeful who became poster girl for United Airlines, Coca Cola and McDonalds. Her agent wanted to strangle her when she gave up a million-dollar Hollywood contract to pursue an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. Meet this amazing superwoman, Sunny Levi:

Nicknames are dangerous. Our name is by far one of our most important assets and determines so much in our life, as we'll learn today.

Today's podcast is entitled, "The Last Minute", and it's an emergency message designed to rescue all of us in the last moments before Rosh Hashanah. Many people don't even know where to begin in rectifying themselves. Oftentimes, they fall into despair and just do nothing. There's good news, though. Here's an effective, last-minute way to grab the train of penitence, to be absolved of wrongdoing and to be inscribed in the Book of Life for  a fantastic New Year.

This week's Emuna News shows how the similar pattern of politics on both sides of the Atlantic is a clear sign of the way Hashem is preparing the world for the new era of Moshiach.

We're spellbound when we saw a rainbow, because it's one of three sights that refect the Divine Presence. Therefore, whenever we see one, we should immediately make the blessing of "zocher Habris:"
Baruch ata A'donai, E'loheinu melech ha-olam, zocher habrit v’ne’eman biv’reetoh v’kayam b’ma’amarav.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֶ'לוֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם זוֹכֵר הַבְּרִית וְנֶאֱמָן בִּבְרִיתוֹ וְקַיָם בְּמַאֲמָרוֹ

Here is a formula for success on Yom Kippur, success that will influence a person's entire year for the very best –
EMUNA – believe in Yom Kippur's power of atonement and believe that Hashem will forgive you of all your sins
EFFORT – asssess yourself, make teshuva and return to Hashem
EXPECTATIONS – a clean bill of spiritual health: not only forgiveness for all your sins, but purification of the soul which is a magnificent gift from Hashem, with the following 10 benefits:
1) inner peace, 2) happiness, 3) patience, 4) no anger, 5) forgiveness, 6) prayers answered, 7) spiritual awareness, 8) understanding of Torah, 9) no outstanding judgments, 10) no fear
Gmar Chatima Tova and much love from the Land of Emuna, LB