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The Happiness Dynamic

By Tzvi Freeman

A good life, like a powerful dynamo, is generated between the opposite poles of wonder and joy.

At its foundation there is wonder and awe—a sense that you stand naked before a presence that encompasses all and fills all, and that presence awaits you to act, and relies upon your action.

Wonderment then flows outward into beautiful deeds, helpful words and healthy thoughts—along its way encountering joy and delight.

And when there comes a time to rest, on Shabbat and special days, then that joy breaks out of its cocoon of your deeds, in an outburst of pure bliss and delight.

What could be more delightful, more worth celebrating, than a life spent each moment in the presence of an infinite, loving G-d?

Likutei Sichot volume 26, pp. 209-218 (Purim Katan)

You won’t always feel strong, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t. Courage isn’t always loud; it’s often the quiet decision to try again when everything inside you is ready to give up.

There are days when simply getting out of bed, showing up, or taking one small step forward is an act of faith. On those days, honor yourself and your efforts. Progress doesn’t have to roar to matter – it’s found in the moments you keep going despite the weight you’re carrying.

Quite often, a person’s greatness is not measured by the heights they reach, but by the depth they overcome. Resilience isn’t built in comfort; it’s forged in the steady choice to continue when stopping would feel easier. Each obstacle you push through, each time you rise after falling, you are quietly building fortitude from within. Just as diamonds are formed under pressure, the very struggle you wish away is shaping unbreakable strength.

And know this: sometimes the quiet effort to keep going when it feels difficult and unseen is more precious to Hashem than soaring in the clouds when it comes effortlessly. That quiet persistence shines brighter than achievements that come easily, because it carries the light of relentless effort, sacrifice, and a heart that refuses to give up. The whispered “I will try again” may ascend higher than the loudest triumph, because it’s being carried on the wings of sincerity and unwavering hope.

One day, you’ll look back and realize that the days you thought were breaking you were actually building you. One day, you’ll look back and thank yourself for never giving up.

Inspired by the teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner (1906-1980)

Always be a source of encouragment. One kind word can silence a thousand inner critics.

Inspired by the teachings of Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe (1914-2005)

The Strength to Let It Be

Once something has already happened, fighting it in your mind only drains you.

You may not like it.

You may not understand it.

You may wish it were different.

But resisting it internally does not change it. It only exhausts you.

Bitachon does not mean you pretend it feels good.

It means you stop arguing with the fact that it is here.

Instead of wasting your energy resisting the outcome, redirect that strength.

Not into fighting reality.

Into how you show up inside it.

You do not control what happened.

But you absolutely control how you respond to it.

Yes, you get to choose how you respond to it.

You can respond with panic.

Or you can respond with steadiness.

You can respond with frustration.

Or you can respond remembering that this too is from Hashem — the One who loves you more deeply and more completely than anyone ever could.

Once you stop fighting the moment, you regain your strength.

Now your energy is not waited on resisting.

It is invested in rising.

Bitachon means accepting that Hashem allowed this moment into your life.

And if He allowed it, then there is purpose in it.

You may not see it yet.

But you can trust that it is not random.

And when you trust that, something shifts.

You stop negotiating with reality.

You start living inside it with dignity and calm.

That is strength.

Not controlling the outcome.

Controlling your response.

And that is where real peace begins.

https://rumble.com/v75jw4q-danielle-slupesky-shares-her-near-death-experience.html?e9s=src_v1_eh_cs&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sunfellow%20Near-Death%20Experiences

Cavities Are Not an Infectious Disease

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Four Excuses

By Yanki Tauber

The "That's how G-d made me" excuse:

Why shouldn't I do whatever I want? After all, if I want it, that means that there's something inside me telling me to want it, right? I'm just being me. Isn't it natural for me to be me?

The "Sorry, I lost it" excuse:

Look, I know it's wrong. But I can't control myself. I have this violent streak in me that... well, once you start me off, I can't stop.

The "I'm special" excuse:

I'm an artist/business tycoon/holy man//commander-in-chief/heiress/scientist. I have very special talents and abilities and great things to accomplish. The regular rules don't apply to me. I can't be constrained by laws designed to keep the herd in line.

The "Little me" and "What's the use" excuse

You know, I used to care about these things and try to right the world's wrongs. But what's the point? The world is what it is, and what I do or don't do won't make much difference anyway. So I just let things take their course.

The Torah reading of Mishpatim ("Laws" -- Exodus 21-24) includes much of what can be called the Torah's "civil code" -- the laws governing criminal assault, theft, damages, loans and rentals, employer-employee relations, etc. But as the Chassidic masters repeatedly remind us, everything in Torah has both a "body" and a "soul": the most lofty or esoteric concept has a practical application, and the most technical law has a spiritual import.

Mishpatim includes the laws of the "Four Prototypes of Damages" (as the Talmud defines them) -- "the animal, the pit, the man and the fire." Technically, these describe four basic categories of damages for which a person is responsible: 1) "Animal": damage caused by one's animal or other possession (e.g., your ox gores your neighbor's cow; your goat eats up your neighbor's tomato plants); 2) "Pit": passive damage caused by one's criminal negligence (e.g., you dig a hole in the middle of the street and someone falls in and breaks a leg); 3) "Man": active, human-inflicted damages (e.g., you break his $1000 lamp or the only nose on his face); 4) "Fire": damages arising from the failure to control potentially damaging forces that are one's responsibility to control (e.g., you're burning garbage in your back yard and it spreads to your neighbor's property).

The "Four Prototypes of Damages," says the Rebbe, also describe four spiritually damaging phenomena: the tendency to blindly and indiscriminately follow our wiles and desires ("the animal"); the failure to control anger and other destructive forces in our psyche ("fire"); the delusion that everything is permitted in pursuit of a "higher" goal ("man"); and the inertia of the passive, hollowed-out soul ("the pit").

As the laws of Mishpatim warn against and prescribe the remedies for the physical "Prototypes of Damages," so does the "soul of Torah" counteract its four spiritual analogs:

Yes, our animal instincts are natural, necessary and desirable, but only when guided and directed by the higher instincts of our G-dly soul.

Yes, volatile forces rage within us; but we have been given the responsibility, and the means, to control them.

No, our highest and most spiritual aspirations are not exempt from the rule of law. On the contrary, when they fail to submit to its higher authority, they become the cause for the greatest evils perpetrated by man.

Indeed, passivity is all too easy a rut to roll into. We must constantly remind ourselves that our actions do make a difference in G-d's world: He created it, He entrusted us with the task to improve it, and He supplied us the resources to do so. We need only scratch the surface of our soul to uncover the faith, the will, the passion and the energy to act.

Trust That Melts Mountains

Tehillim 46 takes us straight into the soul of emuna—where Dovid HaMelech teaches us that even when mountains crumble and chaos swirls, Hashem remains our unwavering shelter. Earthquakes of the world? They’re orchestrated by the same loving Hand that created us.

This perek reminds us that emuna isn’t about “when things go right.” It’s about knowing that even in the roar of uncertainty, Hashem is in the midst. When nations rage, strategies fail, and the world seems unstable—our strength is not in the illusion of control, but in the reality of Divine involvement.

It’s not about understanding every twist and turn. It’s about trusting the One who writes the script. And when we trust? We melt our fears away—just like the earth melts at His word.

​

Animal Taming

By Tzvi Freeman

You are the master over the animal within, not its slave.

Just because it burns inside like a furnace doesn’t mean you must obey.