2019-05-12- LM1 – Torah 139 – Torah 143 – Purity of Heart, Shofar in Elul, the Greatness of Avraham Avinu, Seeking Advice from the Wise

Podcast (shiurim): Download (Duration: 56:42 — 77.9MB)

Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon. This shiur is dedicated l’iluy nishmas (for the elevation of the soul of) Rabbi Hillel ben Meir Rogoff z”l by his son, Jonathan Rogoff. His yahrzeit is the 6th of Iyar. This shiur is also dedicated l’iluy nishmas Yitzchak ben Reuven z”l by his daughter, Batia Rozgonyi. His yahrzeit is the 12th of Iyar.
00:00 – Hashem derives great enjoyment from our childish attempts to perform a mitzvah.
08:30 – Torah 140. We have no comprehension of the tzaddik himself. It’s only through his students that we can appreciate his greatness.
11:03 – To illustrate how a student resembles the tzaddik he follows, Rebbe Nachman makes an analogy of a stamp or seal imprinting itself in wax. The bris kodesh is compared to a chosem (seal).
14:37 – Story: a student of Rebbe Nachman told a student of Rav Nasan z”l that students of Rav Nasan z”l can comprehend Rebbe Nachman with more clarity than Rebbe Nachman’s own students could achieve first hand.
15:46 – Torah 141 – A person can truly experience the full weight of his misdeeds if he removes the impurity of his heart, which is called “circumcision of the heart”. Wasted seed creates spiritual beings that lament a person who passes away.
27:21 – Minhag Yerushalayim (custom in Jerusalem) at a funeral: although the children attend the funeral eulogies, they do not go to the cemetery itself for the burial.
28:30 – Biographical account from the life of Rebbe Nachman relating to the fear he experienced on hearing the sound of the shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul. This fear was transferred to his daughter Udel.
30:22 – Torah 142. Yearning to study Torah is an aspect of actually learning Torah.
33:25 – Malachi 3. “Those who fear Hashem conversed, one with another.”
37:14 – Talmud Berakhos 6: When a person years to do a mitzvah but is prevented from doing it, he acquires credit as if he actually performed the mitzvah.
40:04 – Avraham Avinu is called tzur (a rock) because he had no tzaddik to learn from yet was the first to have a deep yearning to discover Hashem. (Yishaya 51 and Tehillim/Psalm 73).
42:21 – All converts are called by Avraham Avinu‘s name.
43:31 – Story about Rav Nasan z”l telling a student that every Jew can activate their heart to the yearning felt by Avraham Avinu.
44:06 – In Tehillim/Psalms: “A broken heart will never be rejected by Hashem” – initial letters spell Avraham. Avraham Avinu begged Hashem to reveal Himself, until at last his prayers succeeded.
45:26 – Torah 143. The great significance of seeking advice from the wise men of the generation.
49:04 – Question about the Name of Hashem “EL” – is it gevurah (constraint)?
51:38 – Why a tzaddik is called “Rav” (many).
*55:59 – How to pray for good advice using the text from the paragraph beginning “hashkiveynu” in Maariv and Kriyas Shema.