Wake up with Nekuda Tova

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Wednesday, July 29 09: PART FOUR NT: Nekuda Tova means, "good point". R' N. says that even if you think that you are living in darkness and sin, even if you feel that the most negative about yourself, as you awaken in the morning look and find the "good point" within yourself and wake up with Emunah (faith) filled with Simcha (Joy), bring your Nekuda Tova into your day and by seeing the good in you so will Hashem.

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

By bringing your nekuda tova into your every morning wake up call, then you will Daven each day with joy. When you see the good in you, and give yourself the benefit of the doubt, then with emunah b'simcha you Daven to Hashem, you will learn B'simcha and you will do the mitzvos B'simcha. This is the essence of waking up and starting off each day with emunah through the NEKUDA TOVA within yourself.

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Wishing you all an easy fast and a good Shabbos. Practice the NEKUDA TOVA within yourself. Review the lessons and then we meet back again on Sunday and move forward with Emunah, Bitachon, and B'Simcha.

Awakening from the darkness

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Tuesday, July 28 09: PART THREE NT: Alot Hashachar means, when the morning rises. The word Shachar (morning) and Shachor (darkness) comes from the same word root. Therefore, R' N. teaches us that in the morning (shachar) when we rise from our darkness (shachor) is when we need to judge ourselves more favorably and to see the good in us (nekuda tova). This way we awaken with a roar from within our darkness.

Now we must awaken and take our firststep forward on this new path of seeing the good in us, the good in others and the good in everything Hashem created in this world.

See the good in YOU

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Monday, July 27 09: PART TWO NT: The halacha says that when one wants to awaken from his/her slumber a voice comes along saying don't get out of bed. R' N. says that waking up in the morning is likened to waking up from our personal deep sleep. This is why the voice says stay in bed. It is trying to tell you that in the past you had done so much so bad, don't wake up, from your personal slumber... continued below

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Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

It is precisely at this point one must see the good in himself and not ponder on bad things. One needs to wake up from their own slumber and judge themselves in a favorable way. This will bring you closer to Emunah in Hashem and will allow you to pray better and be a better person.

Nekuda Tova Intro

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha This week we will present a FOUR parts look into the concept of nekuda tova. Simply stated the "good point" of every person. Especially these days leading up to the saddest day of the year when we cry and mourn our great loss of the holy temple. Wishing you all a meaningful week and easy fast.

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Sunday, July 26, 09: PART ONE OF NEKUDA TOVA: R' Nachman talks about the start of the day. We are instructed to wake up with a roar and give ourselves the charge for the day to begin to serve Hashem anew. We all know the hardships of waking up. Here we are instructed to seek out something good about ourselves and to awaken with that good thought. I bless you to awaken with good thoughts about self. Thank You Hashem!

Weekly: Something to think about

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Friday, July 24 09: A review of the tools we discussed this week is in order and let us practice them over the weekend. May Hashem bless us with a greater awareness of the paradox of emunah and continue to have bitachon in Hashem B'simcha. Good Shabbos

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

THANK YOU HASHEM Psalm #100: A psalm of thanksgiving, call out to Hashem, everyone on earth. Serve Hashem with gladness (joy), come before Him with joyous song. Know that Hashem, He is God, it is He who made us and we are His, His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise, give thanks to Him, bless His name. For Hashem is good, His kindness endures forever, and from generation to generation is His faithfulness. {Translated from the ArtScroll weekday Siddur}

Prayer and Hisbodadot

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Thursday, July 23 09: Since prayer is a very powerful tool toward achieving emunah, talking to Hashem in the form of hitbodadot should be done on a daily basis. Ozer Bergman's book "Where Earth and Heaven Kiss" is a very useful guide toward Hitbodadot. Also, praying for others, helps with Emunah. Help me with my Emunah by joining our group on praying for others.http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=208007680526

PRAYERS FOR YOU

We are collecting names to pray for at Kivray Tzadikim throughout Israel and the world. Our site is different then any other, in the following ways: 1. You only enter your name not your prayer request... click on PRAYERS FOR YOU (above) to find out more...

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

Here is more information on Ozer Bergmans book on Hitbodadot:
http://asimplejew.blogspot.com/2006/09/where-earth-and-heaven-kiss-guide-to.html

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

If you live in Eretz Yisroel we host a class by Ozer every Monday night:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138738425984

Chodesh (Menachem Av) Tov!

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Wednesday, July 22 09: Chodesh Tov! A note about Simcha (joy) and doing things B'Simcha during the next 9 days and the rest of the month. In the Torah it states that one reason punishments come upon us is that we did not serve Hashem B'simcha (with joy). In Adar we increase the Simcha, in Av we lessen the Simcha. Some people translate that to no simcha at all. More in comments box below

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

To lessen does not mean to cut it out completely. Therefore, today we will introduce a lesser simcha tool called an act of gratitude. By taking action of gratitude you are taking positive action toward hakoras hatov and saying THANK YOU to Hashem B'Simcha as well. Call someone randomly today and ask if they need help. This simple act of Chesed done B'simcha may not make you get up and dance but it will accomplish a sense of gratitude to Hashem and others and you are able to do it with joy. As time goes on if you can make this a weekly task it will definately increase your joy. However, for now, let's do this act of chesed, and build our way up to Thanking Hashem and others, always.

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

Psalm #100: A psalm of thanksgiving, call out to Hashem, everyone on earth. Serve Hashem with gladness (joy), come before Him with joyous song. Know that Hashem, He is God, it is He who made us and we are His, His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise, give thanks to Him, bless His name. For Hashem is good, His kindness endures forever, and from generation to generation is His faithfulness. {Translated from the ArtScroll weekday Siddur}

THANK YOU HASHEM

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Tuesday, July 21 09: Rabbi Avigdor Miller of blessed memory used to say that just saying THANK YOU HASHEM randomly throughout the day brings you closer to Hashem. Certainly if we used this case of random plus saying THANK YOU HASHEM each time you eat, drink, and see the good in yourself and others, would boost your emunah and bitachon with much joy. Let's do that today. THANK YOU HASHEM!

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

I'm sure you noticed that I wrote THANK YOU HASHEM three times and yesterday I asked for three times to recite psalm 100. One day soon we will discuss what numbers and letters have to do with emunah, Bitachon and B'Simcha. THANK YOU HASHEM

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

Psalm #100: A psalm of thanksgiving, call out to Hashem, everyone on earth. Serve Hashem with gladness (joy), come before Him with joyous song. Know that Hashem, He is God, it is He who made us and we are His, His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise, give thanks to Him, bless His name. For Hashem is good, His kindness endures forever, and from generation to generation is His faithfulness.

{Translated from the ArtScroll weekday Siddur}

Psalm of Thanks

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Monday, July 20, 09: Psalms are useful for any occasion or event. Yet when it comes to building emunah, tehilim (psalms) works best. Today, we will say chapter 100 three times and see if you can feel emunah on a greater scale. This chapter gives thanks to Hashem and talks about serving Hashem with joy. THANK YOU HASHEM! {below in the comments is the translation of chapter #100}

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha

Psalm #100: A psalm of thanksgiving, call out to Hashem, everyone on earth. Serve Hashem with gladness (joy), come before Him with joyous song. Know that Hashem, He is God, it is He who made us and we are His, His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise, give thanks to Him, bless His name. For Hashem is good, His kindness endures forever, and from generation to generation is His faithfulness. {Translated from the ArtScroll weekday Siddur}

Tools to help with Emunah

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Sunday, July 19 09: This week we will concentrate on the tools that can help us with our Emunah. Tehilim (psalms) is a very powerful book that has 150 chapters of King David thanking Hashem. Tehilim helps for all kinds of ailments and especially helps bring you closer to Hashem. When reading tehilim daily it also helps with your emunah and bitachon. Choose your favorite chapter and say a psalm of thanks to Hashem!

Week in Review

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Friday, July 17 09: Today would be a great day to review everything we learned this week and spend the next few days puting the words to use in a positive way. Most importantly find the good in you and learn to give others the benefit of the doubt. With emunah, faith. With Bitachon, trust. B'Simcha, with joy. THANK YOU HASHEM! Good Shabbos!!

Let go and let Hashem

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Thursday, July 16 09: Joy with Emunah means to let go from the deepest pains that we hold so dearly. Want to experience joy with emunah? Cry out your pains to Hashem and from the tears will grow a clearing for joy to enter. Then let go, and let Hashem come into your life with emunah. Emunah B'Simcha comes from breaking away from the pain you are still holding. Thank YOU Hashem!

Emunah is the base

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Wednesday, July 15 09: Taking one small step forward. Accepting upon ourselves the paradox of emunah. Faith in Hashem does not depend on things getting better or not. Faith/Emunah is the base, everything else is built above that. The paradox is that when things don't seem to get better. Some people only have faith when things go right for them. This is possibly the toughest part about Emunah. more in comments...

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha at 10:03am July 15

The fact is that when one lives with Emunah life seems different. Accepting things with faith brings us more calmer to every day situations but in truth that doesn't mean that just because we have faith that nothing will go wrong in our life. Emunah is the base of life no matter during good times or not. Emunah strengthens us, it uplifts us and most of all it teaches us to let go and let God. Let's work on building that base of emunah that is so vital to our daily life. THANK YOU HASHEM

Taking action

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Tuesday, July 14 09: Today is action day. We will list 2 items from the past we could have handled better. Then we write how we would have handled it better had we had the Emunah in Hashem we are striving to have right now. Then we see the good in what we just did and allow ourselves to know that the next time this challenge happens we will have more Emunah and make it better. THANK YOU HASHEM

Seeing the good from way back

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Monday, July 13 09: Slow and gradual steps closer to Hashem. Today we allow ourselves to see the good of all things in the past while at the same time making a mental note not to repeat the same mistakes as we did before. The mental note is done with a positive tone and with a goal to work better and improve ourselves the next time the challenge arrives. THANK YOU HASHEM for everything.

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha at 2:07pm July 13

Usually we do something about it. As in ACTION taking. Today we begin to utilize the process of thoughts and mind. We start with a mental note and as the days go one we will grow to doing something (ACTION) to help us see the next challenge better. THANK YOU HASHEM

Small gradual steps forward

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Sunday, July 12 09: As we step forward, we are taking small gradual steps closer to Hashem. We begin by seeing the past events in our lives no matter how tragic, as potions of the good that Hashem has bestowed upon us. A good cry and/or Hitbodadot can really help move us to this next step. THANK YOU HASHEM for everything. "May our past be accepted as was, and today be seen for the good that it is!"

Sensless hatred

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Friday, July 10 09: As we begin the 3 weeks of introspection let's look at one reason the beit hamikdash (holy temple) was destroyed. Sinas Chinam (senseless hatred). If we will work on giving the benefit of the doubt to others we must first begin with ourselves. This weekend continue to see the good in you, that is why Hashem created you here. "And Hashem created ... and it was good!" That includes YOU! Good Shabbos

Shimon Aaron Detwiler at 4:07pm July 10

"And in but a little bit the evil person is not; you shall reflect upon his place and he will not be there" ~ Tehillim 37:10

This verse is telling us to judge everyone favorably. Even if you see that someone is a complete sinner, you must hunt and search until you find some bit of good in him. There, in the place where this little bit of good exists, that person is not evil.

By focusing on this place of good, we judge him favorably and genuinely move him off the scale of guilt and onto the scale of merit.

This is most importantly applied to ourselves. When we focus on our own good points we move ourselves onto the scale of merit which gives us the strength and courage to remove anger and depression from in front of our eyes. Thereby giving us a different perception of the world. The perception of compassion, the opposite of Sinas Chinam. Every journey starts with our next step, finnding the good in yourself and focusing on that point is a GREAT place to start. Good Shabbos!

A day for gratitude

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Wednesday, July 08 09: Today we will give gratitude to Hashem by saying THANK YOU HASHEM randomly throughout the day. Tomorrow begins the three weeks of introspection at the loss of our holy temple. Inward it is about what we need to do to get back on top. Number one thing to do is to find the good within ourselves and to talk to Hashem from that space. THANK YOU HASHEM

Putting into practice

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Tuesday, July 07 09: Now that we have taken upon ourselves that during certain times of the day we will see the good in everything and have FAITH that its all for the good, now we put it into practice. THANK YOU HASHEM! This is not easy to do. It takes lots of practice. You will fall and feel like giving up, don't! Please Hashem give us strength to do this today, and help us get closer to you!

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Shimon Aaron Detwiler at 4:57pm July 7

The key is to not associate our commitment to emuna and avodat HaShem with the outcome. When we look to a certain outcome the yetzer will use this to cause discouragement --- which ultimately is a lack of spiritual awareness. As we endeavour to strengthen our good points and to focus on the good in the world around us we must do it for its own sake not for the sake of the "intended" outcome.

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha at 9:54pm July 7

The yetzer will come either way. As long as we stick with our commitment we will succeed. The yetzer will get stronger as we get better and we need to learn how not to allow the yetzer to alter our path, but we're not there yet. For now, accept yourself at the place you are at, see the good in everything as best as you can and begin the process of a slow growth

One step at a time

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Monday, July 06 09: Wasn't so easy yesterday? I failed to do it all day too. HOW can we begin this vital step when our tapes are so strong from so many years of programming? HOW can we each day as is without analyzing it to death? HOW do I move past the negative thoughts? Since FACEBOOK only allows a few lines here, I will answer them in my comment below. Hope you (press) LIKE or even comment on my explanation!

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Emunah Bitachon Besimcha at 11:31am July 6

Good Monday Morning to all. The reason its not an easy thing to do is because there is a step before this one that is vital to any CHANGES we are going to make on a daily basis. That change is the way we look at ourselves. Yesterday I proposed that we accept each day as is and to allow ourselves that with FAITH we can notice that it is all from HASHEM and it is all GOOD! This is a concept that will help us wake up every day and move along life with a better attitude. However, first we must accept who we are TODAY. As of today HOW much can we do with this concept? Some can do it all day and some can do it for half a day and even some can do it for one hour a day. You have to accept your current status otherwise we give up before we grow. Those who use the Shmiras Halashon chart (watching the words that come out of our mouth) take upon themselves an hour or two a day when they do not gossip, slander etc. What makes our lessons on Emunah Bitachon any different?

Today we will ask everyone reading this post to take upon themselves a chunk of time throughout the day to take upon ourselves yesterdays challenge. To accept each day as good, and to realize that with faith in Hashem all is good and for our good. Question now is HOW much time per day according to the place you are now in will you accept upon yourself? I take upon myself 1/2 day minimum. How about you?

Ask HOW not WHY

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Sunday, July 05 09: Asking HOW questions will attract better results. We have a unique opportunity every day to change into a positive thought process. Step one, HOW do I move past the daily negative thoughts? Accept each day as is and allow yourself to have FAITH that it's all from Hashem and it's all for the GOOD. Please do not move past this vital step. Please send feedback and questions, help is on the way!

Getting closer to Hashem

It was a good day. I decided to start breaking open the Emunah discourse with a bit of important information to carry us through the next three weeks. Here is the post from facebookand the comments that followed.

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha Thursday, July 02 09: Let's begin the process of getting closer to Hashem by realizing that WHY is a stop word, and HOW is a go word. Why me? will never have a proper answer, How can I work things out gives us a path to work with. Today let us concentrate to stop asking Hashem Why, and begin asking Hashem... HOW! THANK YOU HASHEM

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Shoshanah at 10:04pm July 2

How about why should I do this mitzvah over that one? Is that a why question we can ask? How else do you learn to discern which mitzvah to do at what time and when a given mitzvah takes precedence?

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Richard at 12:03am July 3

Maybe asking HOW can I do both would be the question?

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha at 3:48am July 3

Asking WHY does God do this or that? Why me? These Why questions - the one that takes us away from Emunah, Bitachon B'Simcha. How can I come closer, How can I move forward etc. Those are good questions. Emunah is a paradox not everything can be understood. Asking Why people die, why bad things happen, they do not have any answers. Asking HOW to handle it, how to move forward, that we can answer. We need to stop victimizing our WHY? and staying focused on the HOW

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Shoshanah at 5:00am July 3

Thanks. What does it mean that Emunah is a paradox?

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Shoshanah at 8:17am July 3

I hear not getting into victim thinking, however there is one value in asking why and that is to correct our ways. e.g. someone who had a stroke or heart attack (lo aleinu) who had lived a fast paced life with no exercise and unhealthy food, needs to learn how to live a healthy balanced lifestyle. In this case asking why shows all the lifestyle ... Read More

Emunah Bitachon Besimcha at 2:41am July 5

Dear Shoshana
Asking How after a heart attack is to take steps not to get there again. Asking Hashem why did I get a heart attack is futile and has no answer. Emunah means when we do not understand God/Hashem. Our father Avraham was told go take your son to the mountain, and before Hashem said in Yitzchok your son there will be nations created, how are both possible? That is the paradox of Emunah/Faith. After something happens it is possible to go back and say I understand why, if we want to... but until then what we do as we move forward is believe that Hashem knows what he is doing and we have faith that it is all for the good.
This process of believing is a hard thing to process, that is why we are teaching it here one step at a time. We are not father Abraham, but over time we may reach a step closer to have faith in Hashem even on his level of belief. Stick with us - there are more baby steps yet to take.

THANK YOU HASHEM!