Power Cuts
So im starting with my usual apology, i know its been a long time, but i havent flown in a while! i dont know how recent you are with the local news but we experienced something this past week that was a massive blast from the past! if you guys heard abt tropical storm dolly, welll anyway it passed through here as well, and Baruch Hashem for that bcz the heat wave that it dispelled made me long for israeli weather! anyway, getting back to the point, as the storm blew her way through trees fell down and power lines were cut, hence we had no power. it was fine we are used to this kinda thing happenin and we have plenty of candles and a gas stove so we could cook. that wasnt the anomaly.
what was different this time was that for some reason bcz the power was cut the power was also cut in the water purifying system. meaning all the city water was dirty! as in the water department told everyone that the water was unusable that we shouldnt shower in it, wash our dishes in it, G-d 4bid drink it. if you needed to use water then we had to boil it then use it. now, whoeever knows me knows taht i have no patience for "only drinking filtered water" plus i needed a shower so i got up and showered anyway. but thats not the point. the point is that we were like this for three days before the water was usuable again. now my question to you is : when was the last time you thought abt teh water that was coming out of your shower head or teh tap of your sink as you start to wash the dishes?
we assume its always gonna be there bcz it always has been there. we have no idea where it comes from, maybe a vague recollection of a water tower you saw somewhere once. its just THERE! and thats all there is to it. but this extends further. where does the water really come from, where does the rain come from ( hint: the answer isnt the clouds) where does your personality come from, your laugh. where does the food in the fridge come from (again, hint: not the store!) we have all these things in our lives that we never stop to think, y is it there, where did it come from, why was this specefic thing given to me as a tool to use ?
now i dont have all the answers but really it is somethin to think abt. we all know intelectualy that we are supposed to appreciate everything we have and always look at everything as a gift from Hashem but knowing intelectually doesnt really cut it, it actually makes it worse bcz then you cant plead ignorance so whats a girl to do? this is actually the age old battle of the dimyon and the seichel. right now im learning bridging the gap by Avi Fertig (its an amazing mussar sefer btw) and he quotes R'Yisrael Salanter and im gonna quote him " Man's dimyon leads him wildly in the direction of his hearts desires, lest he fear his inescapable future -when Hashem will acount for all his actions, he will be inflicted with harsh punishments. [the dimyon seduces man into thinking that ] a stranger will take his place , he alone will bear the consequences of his sins. he who transgresses and he who is punished is but one man...Lest one say . ' it is my sickness-i can bear it.' know this suffering in this world is petty in compariosn with the retribution in the next. the soul will despise it- a day will seem like a yr!"
yeah i know harsh right? but that is the way mussar works, however was in Rabbi Septimus's vaad knows that mussar today is not what it used to be and that we need to hear for our own sakes bhcz otherwise we will pay for it after 120.
so think abt life, become an active participant and make real choices dont do things by rote bcz then it hasnt become part of your avoda, avoda means work, adn we need to work , work hard to become the pple that are capable of becoming, the pple G--d expects us to be, ill just end with a quote i read in my friend's room " Good loves all His children but is He proud of you?"
Shabbat Shalom!
what was different this time was that for some reason bcz the power was cut the power was also cut in the water purifying system. meaning all the city water was dirty! as in the water department told everyone that the water was unusable that we shouldnt shower in it, wash our dishes in it, G-d 4bid drink it. if you needed to use water then we had to boil it then use it. now, whoeever knows me knows taht i have no patience for "only drinking filtered water" plus i needed a shower so i got up and showered anyway. but thats not the point. the point is that we were like this for three days before the water was usuable again. now my question to you is : when was the last time you thought abt teh water that was coming out of your shower head or teh tap of your sink as you start to wash the dishes?
we assume its always gonna be there bcz it always has been there. we have no idea where it comes from, maybe a vague recollection of a water tower you saw somewhere once. its just THERE! and thats all there is to it. but this extends further. where does the water really come from, where does the rain come from ( hint: the answer isnt the clouds) where does your personality come from, your laugh. where does the food in the fridge come from (again, hint: not the store!) we have all these things in our lives that we never stop to think, y is it there, where did it come from, why was this specefic thing given to me as a tool to use ?
now i dont have all the answers but really it is somethin to think abt. we all know intelectualy that we are supposed to appreciate everything we have and always look at everything as a gift from Hashem but knowing intelectually doesnt really cut it, it actually makes it worse bcz then you cant plead ignorance so whats a girl to do? this is actually the age old battle of the dimyon and the seichel. right now im learning bridging the gap by Avi Fertig (its an amazing mussar sefer btw) and he quotes R'Yisrael Salanter and im gonna quote him " Man's dimyon leads him wildly in the direction of his hearts desires, lest he fear his inescapable future -when Hashem will acount for all his actions, he will be inflicted with harsh punishments. [the dimyon seduces man into thinking that ] a stranger will take his place , he alone will bear the consequences of his sins. he who transgresses and he who is punished is but one man...Lest one say . ' it is my sickness-i can bear it.' know this suffering in this world is petty in compariosn with the retribution in the next. the soul will despise it- a day will seem like a yr!"
yeah i know harsh right? but that is the way mussar works, however was in Rabbi Septimus's vaad knows that mussar today is not what it used to be and that we need to hear for our own sakes bhcz otherwise we will pay for it after 120.
so think abt life, become an active participant and make real choices dont do things by rote bcz then it hasnt become part of your avoda, avoda means work, adn we need to work , work hard to become the pple that are capable of becoming, the pple G--d expects us to be, ill just end with a quote i read in my friend's room " Good loves all His children but is He proud of you?"
Shabbat Shalom!
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