Thursday, September 06, 2012

CLD #675


For the Ilui Neshama of Avraham ben Ester ZT’L & Yissachar ben Yona Z’L.
If we would really know the magnitude of our actions we would not do 80-90% of what we do on a daily basis. During this month, Hodesh Elul, it is a time where we should sit down with ourselves and calculate/reflect our actions in the past year. What have I done wrong? How selfish have I been? What did I do that helped make my neshama (soul) comfortable in my body? How much attention do I give my neshama?

On the most simple level: whenever we do something spiritually positive it affects the neshama and every single person in the world positively. Whenever we fall to the yetzer hara and follow the desires of our body it affects the neshama and every single person and even more so living and nonliving thing in the entire universe. The Orhot Tzaddikim explains in depth the power and strength of the Neshama (the soul) by bringing us a little metaphor/fable.

The neshama is like a toddler who was kidnapped at a young age from the royal palace (the son of a king) and taken very far away to a land where the toddler will be placed in a village. The toddler reached levels of village people that no royal family member can even begin to think about. Years went by and the toddler grew up to become a serious village worker until one day people began hinting to him that he was kidnapped from the royal palace and he is really the son of a king. The young man was excited but he didn’t know if it was true so continued working and living his simple life.

After many months the royal guards came to the village on a mission commanded by the king (who just heard his son is still alive in a village). After a quick search the royal guards found the man and he was sent to the palace. But not only was he now certain he is the son of a king, he was also bathed and dressed with royal tools and garments. The man was on the highest level of happiness.
 
The same goes for the neshama, which is taken from the Heavens and placed in an impure and spiritually dirty body. The body all day wants to be surrounded by physical actions yelling: feed me, bathe me, fulfill my desires. The neshama simply wants to stick to Hashem. The main idea is: what are our priorities? If we put the neshama before the body, then the neshama overrules and feels like it’s the son of a king! The more we distance from our body’s desires (there is a limit), the more we purify ourselves and become glued to Hashem. Let's make sure our neshama is comfortable and we purify our bodies, let's do Teshuva 10 days before Rosh HaShanah.

Shabbat Shalom!

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