DAY 39
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Ninth Day of Tishrei 5781
Erev Yom Kippur
Here is a teaching from Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav (Likutei Mohoran 282) to help you prepare for tomorrow, Yom Kippur.
“Know this. You must judge everyone favorably (Pirkei Avot 1:6). Even for a person who is completely wicked, it is necessary to search and find in that person some point of goodness, some little bit that is not wicked. By finding that point and regarding that person favorably, you genuinely elevate that person in the scale of merit and can bring that person to t’shuvah…
“Likewise, you must find some good point within yourself, too! You must take care to be happy always and to keep very far away from depression. It may be that when you begin examining yourself, you will see no good in yourself and believe that you are filled with sin, allowing your own harsh judgment to push you into depression and sadness. God forbid! It is forbidden to fall into such despair!
“Rather, you must search until you find in yourself some little bit of good. For how is it possible that you never once did some good deed? Ah, but even when you do find that good deed, you will say that this, too, is filled with flaws and contains no purity. You will think that your holy deeds are comprised of impure motives, external thoughts, and many other faults. Nevertheless, how is it possible that this good deed did not contain even a little bit of good? There must be some good point in what you did.
“You have to search and seek to find in yourself some little bit of good in order to revive yourself and bring back your joy. By searching until you find a remaining little bit of good in yourself, you genuinely move from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit and can return to God in t’shuvah…
“Once you gather more and more of those good points from the darkness and impurity within you, you can begin to join them together like musical notes to create melodies. Then, you will be able to sing them to give praise to God. In this way, you will bring vitality and joy to your life!”
Practice for this day:
Find the points of real goodness within yourself. Find another. Sing your song.
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Sunday, September 27, 2020
Ninth Day of Tishrei 5781
Erev Yom Kippur
Here is a teaching from Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav (Likutei Mohoran 282) to help you prepare for tomorrow, Yom Kippur.
“Know this. You must judge everyone favorably (Pirkei Avot 1:6). Even for a person who is completely wicked, it is necessary to search and find in that person some point of goodness, some little bit that is not wicked. By finding that point and regarding that person favorably, you genuinely elevate that person in the scale of merit and can bring that person to t’shuvah…
“Likewise, you must find some good point within yourself, too! You must take care to be happy always and to keep very far away from depression. It may be that when you begin examining yourself, you will see no good in yourself and believe that you are filled with sin, allowing your own harsh judgment to push you into depression and sadness. God forbid! It is forbidden to fall into such despair!
“Rather, you must search until you find in yourself some little bit of good. For how is it possible that you never once did some good deed? Ah, but even when you do find that good deed, you will say that this, too, is filled with flaws and contains no purity. You will think that your holy deeds are comprised of impure motives, external thoughts, and many other faults. Nevertheless, how is it possible that this good deed did not contain even a little bit of good? There must be some good point in what you did.
“You have to search and seek to find in yourself some little bit of good in order to revive yourself and bring back your joy. By searching until you find a remaining little bit of good in yourself, you genuinely move from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit and can return to God in t’shuvah…
“Once you gather more and more of those good points from the darkness and impurity within you, you can begin to join them together like musical notes to create melodies. Then, you will be able to sing them to give praise to God. In this way, you will bring vitality and joy to your life!”
Practice for this day:
Find the points of real goodness within yourself. Find another. Sing your song.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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