Simple, Relaxed Faith – or Stormy, Questioning Faith?

Three rabbis contemplate emuna [faith] and how it intersects and works alongside knowledge and intellect.

Firing a Contractor – part I

Plaintiff 2 (=pl2) was the contractor for major renovations of the defendant’s (=def) home; plaintiff 1 (=pl1) was the supervisor. The contract stated that pl2 would finish the job in 120 work days within approximately six months. After over eight months, with the job not close to complete, def fired them, with the claim that pl2 was working only sporadically because he took on another job. Pl2 claims that he took the other job only after def fell behind in payments and that he had already worked 140 days because def made additions to the original plans. Pl2 claims that def fired them when she received a bill for the additional work. Def says that she wrote a letter to fire them before she received that bill, that she paid less than spelled out because she bought some of the materials that pl2 was required to, and because the work was behind schedule. She claims that pl1 approved the amount she paid and that pl2 did not protest.

Ha'inu Ke'cholmim motivation video

A motivation video for handling difficulties in daily life, production: Ha'inu Ke'cholmim

Signs of Being Caught Up in Sin

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 207

The Marketplace – Where Human Weakness Is

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 206

When a person goes out to the marketplace, he should view himself as one who was given over to a judge.

Divine Plan or Human Initiative?

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 204

A Tannaic statement emanated from the school of Rabbi Yishmael: “Should the faller fall from it (mimeneu)” (Devarim 22:8). “Mimenu” implies that the faller was fit to fall from the six days of Genesis, as the Torah calls him a “faller” before he fell. The idea is that meritorious matters are brought about by meritorious people and negative matters by negative people.

Enough to Know About Hardship

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 202

Rav Yitzchak the son of Rav Yehuda said: One should always request mercy that he will not become ill, for if he becomes ill, they say to him: “Present merit, and you will be freed of it.”

Appreciating Sanctity

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 200

Rabbi Yishmael ben Elazar says: Due to two sins, ignorant people die: for calling the aron kodesh (ark holding Torah scrolls) arana (roughly, a closet) and for calling a beit knesset (synagogue) a beit am (house of the people).

Decreased Activity for One who Relies on Miracle

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 194

Rabbi Yannai said: One should never put himself into a situation of danger and saying that a miracle will occur, as it is possible that the miracle will not occur, and if the miracle occurs, his merits will be lessened. This is what the pasuk [said by Yaakov] means: “I have become smaller due to all the kindness and the truth that You have done for Your servant” (Bereishit 32:11)

Avoid Overstepping the Boundaries of Trust

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 192

Rav would not pass in a ferry in which a non-Jew was sitting, as he would say: “Perhaps there is a decree upon him, and I may be affected along with him.” Shmuel would pass only in a ferry in which a non-Jew was sitting, as he would say: “Anger against the members of two nations will not have dominion.” Rabbi Yannai would check [for holes in the ferry – Rashi]. Rabbi Yannai was consistent in his approach, as he would say: “A person should never stand in a place of danger and assume that a miracle will happen to him, for not always is a miracle done for him, and if a miracle does occur, it is subtracted from his merits.”

Losing Sensitivity for that Which Is Frightening

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 178-8

[The gemara is based on p’sukim in Tehillim (73:4; 49:13), which are very hard to translate, especially if one wants to translate them according to p’shat and also wants to understand them in context of Chazal’s derasha. Therefore, we will bring the statements without the p’sukim upon which they are based.] Hashem said: It is not enough that the wicked are not afraid and saddened about the prospect of the day of their death, but their heart is as robust as the opening of a hall. This is as Rabba said: The wicked know that they are headed to death, but they have fat over their kidneys [to keep them from reacting appropriately]. This is despite the fact that they have not forgotten their destiny.

Legendary Villain? Say, “No!”

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 176

Ulla expounded: That which it says, “Do not be evil very much …” (Kohelet 7:17), doesn’t that imply that it is only very much that one should not be evil, but he may be evil a little bit. Rather, [it is related to the idea] that one who ate garlic and his breath smells, should he once again eat garlic and have his breath smell [worse]?

A Man of Fear of Sin

Ein Aya Shabbat CHapter B Paragraph 172-3

Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Elazar were sitting. Rabbi Yaakov bar Acha passed by. One said to his friend: “Let us stand up before him, for he is a man who is fearful of sin.” The other one said to him: “Let us stand up before him, for he is a man who is a son of Torah.”

Keys for the Inner and the Outer Doors

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 169

Rabba bar Rav Huna said: Whichever person has Torah but does not have within him fear of Heaven is like a treasurer to whom they handed over the keys to the inner doors, but the keys to the outer doors they did not hand over. How will he be able to get in?

Preserving, Widening, and Perpetuating Goodness

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 164

At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him: “Did you do your dealings with honesty? Did you set time for Torah study? Did you involve yourself in procreation? Did you look forward to salvation? Did you delve (pilpul) into wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?”

Preserving, Widening, and Perpetuating Goodness

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 162-3

At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him: “Did you do your dealings with honesty? Did you set time for Torah study? Did you involve yourself in procreation? Did you look forward to salvation? Did you delve into wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?”

Preserving, Widening, and Perpetuating Goodness

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 162-3

At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him: “Did you do your dealings with honesty? Did you set time for Torah study? Did you involve yourself in procreation? Did you look forward to salvation? Did you delve into wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?”

Forcing the Liberated Soul to Deal with the Bitter Truth

Ein Aya Shabbat chapter B Paragraph 160

At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him …

Backing Up Emotions with Fear of Hashem

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 159

Reish Lakish said: What is referred to by the pasuk (Yeshaya 33:6): “And it shall be the belief of your times, the power, the salvations of, the wisdom of, and the knowledge”? “ The belief of” refers to the Order of Zeraim (agricultural laws); “your times” refers to the Order of Mo’ed (the holidays); “the power” refers to the Order of Women (family law); “the salvations of” refers to the Order of Nezikin (monetary law); “the wisdom of” refers to the Order of Kodashim (laws of the Temple); “and the knowledge” refers to the Order of Taharot (laws of purity). Even so, “fear of Hashem is its storehouse” (ibid.)

The Place of the Talmudic Subjects in the World

Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 153-4

Reish Lakish said: What is referred to by the pasuk (Yeshaya 33:6): “And it shall be the belief of your times, the power, the salvations of, the wisdom of, and the knowledge”? “Emunat (the belief of)” refers to the Order of Zeraim (agricultural laws); “itecha (your times)” refers to the Order of Mo’ed (the holidays)…