Emuna Beams

Confinement in a jail with an unlocked door is senseless. Yet, people confine themselves to a prison of needless inner turbulence every day. A substantial amount of our suffering in life is self-induced. Therefore, once a person realizes that certain actions induce trouble in life, and learns to refrain from those actions, the trouble disappears. No law says that you have to suffer so much! You can terminate a good portion of the anguish in your life with the ease of walking away from an unlocked jail. Let's learn how:

So many people suffer from stress and anxiety because of overload. Who says that life must be that way, so seemingly cruel and unfair? What law says that you must carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? Here are two minutes of encouragement.

Life's obstacles and difficulties are not punishments from Above. They're part of the Divine GPS that's designed to guide us along a better route that we might not have initiated or even considered on our own.

How do I repay a person who helped me strengthen my faith and make me happier?  What's it worth, a million dollars? A billion dollars? There's a big difference between paying back a material favor and paying back a spiritual favor. This time of year is especially conducive to pondering the spiritual side of our lives...

Today's 8-minute podcast is a 4-in-1:

1. It's a preparation for Succoth, telling about the significance of the Four Species;

2. It tells a traditional story, well known to Iraqi Jewry;

3. It's an ethics lesson, and -

4. It has a special message about rescinding the harsh decree of the Corona-virus pandemic.

Enjoy it, and feel free to share and download it at no charge, thanks to our wonderful supporters.

Rebbe Elimelech of Lizensk longed for the coming of Moshiach (Messiah), a day when truth and justice will prevail the world over. He told a parable about a baker sifting flour, which he said would be indicative of Moshiach's imminent arrival. This amazing parable helps us understand current events 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.

There are forms of Divine abundance that no money in the world can pay for. Divine abundance has a price tag, but it's spiritual. If a person prays profusely and does good deeds, he or she generates spiritual revenue that pays for a portion of the Divine abundance. Even though we must think that everything is a free gift from the Almighty, it's like a line of credit. What we use and don't pay for, we pay in the next world. What we use and do pay for, the credit remains for the next world.

Prayer generates Divine abundance. But sometimes it's not enough. Suffering, tribulation and disparagement – when accepted with emuna – are the tears that bring phenomenal treasures that we would not have attained under any other circumstance.

Gisel, in her early 30's, suffered from obesity, terrible eczema and feet so swollen that she couldn't get out of bed. She lost her job. The doctors told her she'd need to go on a kidney machine. Then, a friend told her to contact Rabbi Lazer Brody. Here's her testimony, which she shares with the participants of Rabbi Lazer's weekly Zoom class.

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.