ROSH HASHANAH WITH NEFESH CLICK HERE
Question of the Week:
We are enjoying another Melbourne lockdown in all its confinement. I am trying to remember the concept in our religion about the person who has had a more troubled past doing good vs the person who was always well behaved . It reminds me of my feelings towards this lockdown. If we can happily evolve past this hardship, and overcome this wall of difficulty, I feel it is sort of akin to the more troubled person making themselves better…. If you have the time, please would you point me in the right direction?
Answer:
You are thinking of the Talmudic quote: The place where a reformed sinner stands, a saint can ever reach.
It's a bit like a bow and arrow. The further back you pull the bow, the further and faster the arrow flies. Similarly, when someone realises they have fallen low, they have a determination and resolve to get back up. Someone who has never fallen can't muster this rebound energy. Only after being pulled down by failure do we generate the momentum and velocity to fly back up.
This happens in marriage too. Things can be bumbling along nicely in your relationship, you're getting on well and that's nice. But even in the best of marriages, the connection can at times become a little stagnant. When does a couple really become closer? What is the greatest catalyst for deepening a connection? An argument.
In a moment of tension, when one of you said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing, it can sometimes seem like the love is lost. There's a point when you realise you have hurt the one you love, and you are gripped with terror that you may never be able to fix what you have broken. It is at that moment that you reach deeper within to find a love that transcends the hurt, you apologise from the depths of your soul and are willing to do anything to restore the relationship to what it was.
But it never goes back to what it was. It's deeper now. After surviving a challenge, you see just how strong the connection really is. You wouldn't have learnt that had the tension never arisen.
Similarly, the perfectly righteous person is in a smooth relationship with G-d. It's nice, but untested. We naughty people who have done wrong have an opportunity to go far deeper than that. If after all I've done, I still come back to my soul and my G-d, that proves just how innate my bond with G-d is.
Take a look at the Jewish people today. Most of us have been disconnected from Jewish spirituality for generations, and yet we tend to come back home. And often those who return come with a greater passion and fervour than those who never left the fold. The Jewish spark was always there. The further your soul is pulled away, the more powerfully it yearns to return.
I like your parallel to our current global challenge. The restrictions are the bow pulling us back, and we are the arrow ready to fly. The more we have been separated, the more we yearn to connect. The greater the isolation, the more we find creative means to reach out. You can't lockdown a soul. The more our bow is pulled, the higher our soul will fly.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
Sources:
Talmud Brochos 34b
To subscribe click HERE
NEFESH EVENTS AND CLASSES
THIS WEEK'S VIDEOS
Live every Tuesday 8pm Facebook.com/rabbimoss
. 
THIS WEEK'S PODCASTS
(16:37 min)
SHABBOS SERVICES & COMMUNITY INFORMATION: KI SEITZEI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some instructions for praying at home. Page numbers are from the blue Chabad Siddur.
Don't have one? You can download it here and print it.
We will hold services for those who would like to attend, 5:30pm Friday and 10am Shabbos morning.
PLEASE REGISTER HERE.
Friday 28 August – 8 Elul
Light Candles........... 5:17pm
Before 5:35pm:........ Mincha p101
After 6:00pm........... Shabbos evening service p154
Kiddush.................... p179
Saturday 29 August – 9 Elul
Morning Service for Shabbos: p5-25, p181-219, Torah reading for Ki Seitzei, Mussaf p234, Kiddush p248.
Followed by Kiddush sponsored Anonymously.
Before 5:35pm ... Mincha p253
Pirkei Avos ... Chapter 1 & 2 p271
After 6:00pm ... Maariv p161
Shabbos Ends... 6:13pm
Havdala p297
Latest Shema this week... 9:05am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Paloma Rochat........9 Elul/Saturday 29 August
Hania Skimin........ 10 Elul/Sunday 30 August
Deborah Graham... 10 Elul/Sunday 30 August
Mem Eichenblatt.... 14 Elul/Thursday 3 September
Kevin Smaller........ 15 Elul/Friday 4 September
Claude Sandler..... 15 Elul/Friday 4 September
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Daniel & Stephanie Nadel...15 Elul/Friday 4 September
LONG LIFE FOR YORTZHEITS
Beth Lipovic for her late mother
Ruth bat Avraham...11 Elul/Monday 31 August
Mildred and Tanya Stocks for their late husband and father Alfred (Freddy) Stocks
Avrom ben Hiam...14 Elul/Thursday 3 September
If you would like Nefesh to include your Birthday, Anniversary or Yortzheit in our newsletter and send you an email reminder, just fill in this quick ONLINE FORM.
| This email is sent from Nefesh Shul. We'd love to stay in touch with you, but if you wish to be unsubscribed from this list please click here, or click here to manage your subscriptions. | Sent via ChabadOne Communicator |
No comments:
Post a Comment