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It is an eis tzarah l’Yaakov. The murderous barbaric attacks on Acheinu Bnei Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael have cast a pall of mourning upon Jews all over the world. As maaminim bnei maaminim we know that we who are not fighting at the front must do our part in this milchama. We know that Hashem is the ish milchama and the way to invoke rachamei shomayim is through Torah and tefilla. Whether it is taking on a new kabbalah to join the new worldwide Amud HaYomi program that begins on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan or to increase Torah learning in any other meaningful way, that is the response that is needed for Klal Yisrael. All Torah learning brings down a shefa of rachamei shomayim and indeed, on Motzoei Simchas Torah, the venerated senior posek, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita, called on all yidden to increase their Torah learning.

A father set out one day to teach his young daughter a powerful lesson. When she woke up in the morning, he took her in front of a mirror and asked her, “What do you see?”

She smiled and answered, “I see myself!”

Genuine t’shuvah is not just about self-transformation; it’s about self-expression, returning to your true and higher self. As we have previously explained, there are three stages of genuine t’shuvah:

The first is individual t’shuvah, where we return to our higher selves, our fetal selves, our true selves.

The birth of a new year is a time of reflection and resolution, a time when hope and inspiration fill the air. We dream about what this upcoming year holds in store, how we can make the rest of our life the best of our life. We all have ideas, ambitions, and aspirations that we yearn to bring to fruition, and the new year gives us “permission” to revisit these goals and breathe new life into them. For a brief moment, everything is crystal clear; we see our purpose and our path with vivid clarity. However, there is an underlying frustration that accompanies this time period, as well. If we reflect honestly, we often realize that our new year’s resolutions are awfully similar to those of last year, and the year before, and the year before…

Eight-year-old Josh sat in his living room, excitedly opening his birthday presents. He had already received some new toys from his grandparents, but his parents told him that their present was extra special. He’d be able to use it to light up whatever he wanted, to make unique shapes on the walls, and to play games in the backyard. As he took his brand-new flashlight out of the box, he excitedly flicked the switch to turn it on. Nothing happened. He flicked the switch off and back on, and again nothing happened. He pointed it around the room, then ran outside to the backyard and pointed it around out there, as well. It must be broken, he thought sadly, as he trudged back into the house and dejectedly ate his birthday cake.

In our previous article, we continued exploring the deep and inspiring ideas relating the importance of the Jewish People’s journey through the Midbar. After all, the Torah doesn’t waste a single word; every word has infinite meaning. Thus, if the Torah went out of its way to mention every single place that klal Yisrael encamped along their long journey through the Midbar, there must be a fundamental message that the Torah is trying to teach us. We began our discussion by emphasizing the importance of each step in any journey, and then developed a deeper understanding of the purpose of a goal and the importance of the journey itself.