Tuesday, December 26, 2006
DAILY DOSE: The Power of the Individual
B"H
The Power of the Individual
---------------------------
Chanukah was a victory of few over many. Each Maccabee was a hero, essential to the victory.
One could think that, in those days, when the population of the world was so much smaller, a single individual would have more power to change the world. In fact, just the opposite is true. Technology and information has put enormous power in the hands of whoever wants it.
Just over fifty years ago, one madman came to the verge of destroying the world. His failure to develop atomic weapons on time is still inexplicable -- it can only be attributed to the great mercies of the One Above who takes care of His world and promised it would always stand. Today we have seen that not even an army is needed, nor warheads or missiles -- but only an obsessive will to destroy.
Such is the power of darkness.
A thousand times over is the power of light, of any one of us to transform the entire world to good. A small child kissing the mezuzah on the door of her house, an act of kindness asking nothing in return, a sacrifice of convenience to benefit another -- each of these things are as bursts of light in the nighttime sky. True, they make less noise. Rarely are they reported in the daily news. But while darkness passes as the shadows of clouds on a windy day, this light endures, accumulating until it leaves no room for evil to remain.
A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Tevet 1, 5767 * December 22, 2006
The Power of the Individual
---------------------------
Chanukah was a victory of few over many. Each Maccabee was a hero, essential to the victory.
One could think that, in those days, when the population of the world was so much smaller, a single individual would have more power to change the world. In fact, just the opposite is true. Technology and information has put enormous power in the hands of whoever wants it.
Just over fifty years ago, one madman came to the verge of destroying the world. His failure to develop atomic weapons on time is still inexplicable -- it can only be attributed to the great mercies of the One Above who takes care of His world and promised it would always stand. Today we have seen that not even an army is needed, nor warheads or missiles -- but only an obsessive will to destroy.
Such is the power of darkness.
A thousand times over is the power of light, of any one of us to transform the entire world to good. A small child kissing the mezuzah on the door of her house, an act of kindness asking nothing in return, a sacrifice of convenience to benefit another -- each of these things are as bursts of light in the nighttime sky. True, they make less noise. Rarely are they reported in the daily news. But while darkness passes as the shadows of clouds on a windy day, this light endures, accumulating until it leaves no room for evil to remain.
A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Tevet 1, 5767 * December 22, 2006
DAILY DOSE: The Quantum Leap
B"H
The Quantum Leap
----------------
There are times when moving forward is not enough. There are times when you can’t just change what you do, how you speak and how you think about things. Sometimes, you have to change who you are. You need to pick both feet off the ground you tread and leap.
A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Tevet 5, 5767 * December 26, 2006
The Quantum Leap
----------------
There are times when moving forward is not enough. There are times when you can’t just change what you do, how you speak and how you think about things. Sometimes, you have to change who you are. You need to pick both feet off the ground you tread and leap.
A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Tevet 5, 5767 * December 26, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
DAILY DOSE: Higher Consciousness
B"H
Higher Consciousness
--------------------
Torah observance is not an exercise in behavior compliance. There is only one way a person can learn to fulfill the Torah the way it is meant to be fulfilled. And that is by achieving a higher state of consciousness.
The constant awareness that all you see and hear, the wind against your face and the pulse of your own heart, the stars in the heavens and the earth beneath your feet, all things of this cosmos and beyond,
All are but the outer garments of the King, a projection of His radiance, His will, His thoughts, His words to us, within which He is concealed.
In such a state of mind, Torah becomes natural response.
A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Kislev 10, 5767 * December 1, 2006
Higher Consciousness
--------------------
Torah observance is not an exercise in behavior compliance. There is only one way a person can learn to fulfill the Torah the way it is meant to be fulfilled. And that is by achieving a higher state of consciousness.
The constant awareness that all you see and hear, the wind against your face and the pulse of your own heart, the stars in the heavens and the earth beneath your feet, all things of this cosmos and beyond,
All are but the outer garments of the King, a projection of His radiance, His will, His thoughts, His words to us, within which He is concealed.
In such a state of mind, Torah becomes natural response.
A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Kislev 10, 5767 * December 1, 2006
