You are moving towards a traffic light, and you see it turn yellow. You know that it will turn red either right before or as you are traveling through the intersection. You have to make a split-second decision--go through the light (perhaps honking loudly to be on the safe side), or stopping for yet another one of those one- or two-minute lights keeping you from home, shopping, your appointment, your destination. The question we pose is--Is it really your decision, is it really your choice? After all, if you feel the Hashgacha Pratis in your daily life, isn’t the yellow light a message to you that the light is no longer green, and that you should be cautious? Perhaps you are really better off waiting at the light, than being a mile down along the road… Is it really up to you to take matters into your own hands?! We do not bring any Halachic rulings on this matter--we simply raise the point for your consideration, and if warranted, discussion with your Rav.
Special Note Three: In just one week from today, we will celebrate Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, inaugurating the last three months, or final calendar quarter, of the year. In a financial framework, the last quarter of the year is a time when people begin a review of the year, think about tax planning techniques, and consider what they can do to improve the year’s final quarter, so that it ends more successfully, and they can start the next year off on the right footing and in a positive mode and direction. All the more so, of course, should we prepare ourselves for the last quarter of the pivotal year we are living in. We have a week to ponder and reflect--what have we accomplished thusfar; where our goals are; what can/should we attain in the coming months. It is no coincidence (as it never is) that as the world slackens off in the summer, we energize ourselves and achieve--for our calendar--and our agenda, is simply very different!
Special Note Four: We present several excerpts from _A Treasure for Life_ by Rabbi Avraham Yachnes, Shlita (Feldheim Publishers) which provides an excellent translation, commentary, and insights into the classic sefer Orchos Tzaddikim. Each of the following excerpts provides a real, practical, and poignant lesson which each one of us can use to grow from:
a. “It is told about HaRav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, Z’tl, that he was forever whispering to himself the words ‘Shivisi Hashem L’Negdi Samid--I have set Hashem before me always’ (Tehillim 16:8), to remind himself constantly that all of his actions and thoughts are always in the presence of Hashem.”
b. “If one were blindfolded and tried to walk through even the most familiar of rooms, he would certainly stumble and fall many times. Now imagine traveling through the unchartered waters of life, blindfolded by the desires and passions that have been allowed to rule over one’s wisdom. The more a person’s desires control him, the thicker the darkness--even to the point of being spiritually paralyzed.”
c. “People often say ‘I’m doing the best that I can.’ What is considered doing the best that you can? I remember hearing from my Rebbe, HaRav Henoch Leibowitz, Z’tl, that on any given day, when you feel that you have reached the level of doing the best that you can--that is, you have invested all of your resources and every ounce of energy--then you should do a bit more. This way, when you begin the next day, your starting point is from that extra bit. Then there will be growth. Otherwise, every day is a repeat performance of the day before with no real growth. This same concept was expressed differently by Rabbi Joseph Grunblatt, Shlita, Rav of the Queens Jewish Center in New York. He said that when people work in a profession for ten years, they often claim to have ten years of experience. They need to understand that if they have been doing the exact same thing on the exact same level during those years, it does not mean that they have ten years of experience, it means they have one year of experience ten times. Only if there had been a broader commitment and a deeper level of responsibility every day during those ten years, can one say that he has ten years of experience.”
d. “A few years ago I had the opportunity to be a Kashrus supervisor at a soda bottling plant. Standing there in amazement, watching 3,200 soda cans filled and sealed per minute, something interesting caught my eye. An inspector wearing a long, white coat, who was overseeing the operation, randomly plucked a can off of the speeding conveyer belt. I followed behind as he walked into a laboratory and began performing all kinds of experiments with the beverage. He placed some of the liquid in test tubes, poured some into a decoding machine, and also drank some to check the taste. Finally, I asked what all of these procedures were about. ‘I’m checking for the right amount of sweetener, the proper measure of syrup, and the correct balance of carbonation to flavor,’ he said. ‘Quality control, Rabbi, quality control.’ It struck me like a ton of bricks. So much research, so much checking; so much investigation, effort, and exactness for quality control of a can of soda. How much more so must one measure the exactness of his thoughts and actions for the quality control of his Middos!”
Important Numbers
