Hashem is in charge of every button that you press even the wrong ones can sometimes be better than we thought!!

I just wanted to tell you the MOST incredible thing ever. You don't understand! These stories don't happen to me! Hashem is nuts!!! Ok so we were on the hotline last Thursday night and after we read Daughters of Dignity, some voice asked "What was that?" and we said the title and everything and moved on...
Later the person announced that we do not know her but her name is Rachel and how do we all know each other. We were so confused and say "Camp." As we continued a couple more questions popped up, like "So what exactly is this?" "Well we learn every night on here." "What do you mean?" And i got a little freaked out that she wasn't Jewish and it was just a little weird... and she explained that someone gave her the hotline number but she messed up the room code. But this girl stayed on the entire time. She remained all through 3 hours of learning not all of which she undestoond and then once it was only like 5 people left, she asked, "So you all go to yeshivas? Have you all been brought up religous." And we said yes and then asked totally hesitantly, "um, what's your background?"

This is going to blow you away. Here's her story: Well, some nonJewish person gave her that number and she by Hashem's total will messed onto our learning. Her grandparents were like old school religious and her parents weretotally anti-religion. A year and a half ago, she was diagnosed with cancer and sent to Maimonodes and her roomate was religious. Her parents made her switch rooms but she ended up back witht he religious girl. The religious girl always wore a skirt so Rachel asked her about it, and it made sense to her that if you cover your body, maye G-d will make your body better. So Rachel tried putting on a skirt and slowly became more religious and everything jsut got easier. Her parents are totally against it though (I even mentioned Aish.com because she mentioned R' Zelig Pliskin's books and she said that her parents filter her internet AGAINST the relgious stufff). Anyway, she now wears skirts and doesn;t even really think about, she sometimes does but she was saying how in the regular world, no one thinks of skirts covering the knees. The questions "Does it just cover or does it even reach your thighs?" But as she covered more and more, she just really saw how right it all was. But then, a few months ago, she just said forget it. And she was expecting fire and brimstone and the world to crash. But. Nothing happens. And she realized that the world doesn't work like that.. One time she even got a pair of jeans that she knew she would love and she cut it up and sewed it into a skirt- how crazy cool!!! weare all listening, mouths gaping open.

She also said a story about how she was discharged from the hospital for a few months, and she came home and decided that she was not eating meat any more, becoming vegetarian was an easy way to be kosher. Her mom was not happy and had a whole fight about it.
She had to head back to the hospital sooner than expected and had a feeding tube in her mouth. Right after she got off the feeding tube- the hospital began giving out kosher food. What crazy hashgacha!!

And she's still learning with a roommate and she is in public school, and lives in, get this, Brooklyn! And she has a crazy postive attutiude, such a cool, great attitude. And we were asking her questions, like how she keeps her emunah and how she got into all of this and how it felt to be becoming religous and sh was amazing! She was giving us chizuk!! This is so sent from Shamayim, it is nottt normal. Then it became just like 4 girls on and we were shmoozing and chilled and she asked us what different words we sai on the hotline meant and to explain things like Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos. She asked what Shabbos is like for us.. We began talking about Rosh Hashana and she has jsut no plans for ROsh Hashana.. I don't know what the significance of al this is, but I keep waiting for someone to say "Joke, sorry, shes my friend from whatever, there's a reason behind all this," but it's form hashem, most random coincidence, it's jus nuts, I can't get over it. We gave her an email address and she has emailed even and she has come back on the hotline 3 times. tonight, after, she asked what we learned exactly and I explained what each bok is. To keep coming and on and to eamil means she really is into it. It's just the coolest thing ever that's happened. And also we asked her what she does on Shabbos and she said she doesn't really know enough about Shabbos to do anything, and she wants to change and doesn't have the means to do so and we are all just not sure how we can help her out..
Here's what she emailed Tmima (learninghotline@gmail.com just btw)
"Guys its Rachel, this is the coolest thing ever. well i found out that the conference i wanted to call's pin was 74 and was over at ten O'clock. If you can give me the password for the blog you made i will try to look at it. you guys sure love camp, to all keep up! I think your hot line is the coolest thing ever. I wanna tell you what makes me stay on to hear you guys talk its not all those things you read (i x understand if you all grew up religious why do you have to read all those books?) but the respect you all show to one another. You all wait for the other one to finish talking and then ask if anyone else has anything to say... well I never heard that before. I want to thank you for the entertainment at night, one of my meds i take makes me really groggy so i end up falling asleep making me to a real night owl! "
This is what a real kiddush Hashem is...
she was not brought up frum and yet she realizes how beautiful our mitzvos are!! Even though her parents dont allow her look how Hashem worked it out for her to have a frum roomate!!
When we open our eyes we are zoche to get a glimpse of Hashem's incredible world!!
From a song one part that i feel is soo good for us to hear
Lost and alone no shelter in sight, feel his
hand on your shoulder, as he leads you towards the light!!
Fill your heart with faith only then will you find peace,
he's everywhere aorund you, just look and you will see!!
Tamar thank you soo much for this story!!
May we be zoche to open our eyes and see how Hashem is guiding every push of a button that we press!!

You Are a Diamond!!

The mitzvah of tznius is suuuch a special mitzvah and it’s really sad that there are so many girls who were not taught about it the right way! They were told that they cannot wear this, should not wear that, should close their button, this is too tight, this is too showy, the skirt is too short etc. and this can really turn you off! Is that all there is to this mitzvah?! Am I defined by what I wear and that’s it?! Is there anything deeper over here or is it all about what I wear?!

I would like to try to answer and explain this mitzvah because once you realize it, you will see and understand that we are so lucky to be able to be tznius! Yes, lucky!!!!
So what is this mitzvah all about?! Why is there so much emphasis on covering my body?
The explanation is really amazing (and this is not only one way to explain it – there are many other ways to explain this special mitzvah!) and it will make you feel so special about yourself.
Okay, here goes…

When something is really precious, we take great care in covering it and protecting it from the outside and we save it only for those special times when we will need it.
For example, look at the sefer torah – it is so, so precious that we are extremely careful with it, we don’t leave it on the bookshelf for everyone to see and touch! Rather, we keep it covered with a few coverings. The sefer torah actually has 4 coverings. It has an elastic clasp to tie it, a velvet mantel to cover it, it is placed in the aron kodesh and then the aron kodesh is covered with a paroches – that beautiful curtain. These four coverings correspond to the four places in a woman’s body that she covers – her legs, elbows, collar bone and (after she is married, her) hair.
Now is that all?! Certainly not!!! If a woman covers these 4 parts, does that mean she has fulfilled this mitzvah?!

Here’s a cute joke just to make you smile…
Amelia Bedilia trys to look modest…She came into a religious home on roller blades and everyone there thought she must be the worlds greatest roller blader (is that a word?!). Of course, she was wearing elbow pads and knee pads to keep her safe, right?! When they asked her if she was professional at roller blading, she answered, “No! I’m just trying to be modest! I heard that I need to cover my elbows and knees and I was never in a Jewish home before so that’s what I did!” Just to mention, she was wearing short sleeves and pants!! Covering those parts are not all there is to this mitzvah…

Another example is that a person who has a diamond will not carry it out in the open, rather, he will keep it covered in a special case and wrapped in a special cloth. You are a diamond! You are precious! You are not just any worthless 25-cent-machine-ring that a little kid puts on her finger and shows off to all her friends!! Your body is precious! Hashem made you beautiful and he wants you to save your body for the right time!!

When you have something special, you save it. Just like a beautiful wedding outfit or shabbos suit – you keep it in your closet for when you need it. The more special something is, the more careful you are with it. And then when you get to enjoy it, it is so much more special because you saved it properly! If you wore your shabbos clothing every day, it wouldn’t be special in your eyes! But the fact that you save it makes it all the more special! It’s the same thing with your body – it is special, precious and beautiful! If you save it and are careful with the way you dress, it will be that much more special and exciting when the right time comes!!!

Another thing – dressing in a way that’s modest means that you are dressing in a way that does not attract attention to your body. When a person wears clothing that emphasizes different parts of their body, they are taking away from who they really are. What does this mean?!
I want to be looked at as a person who has depth and meaning. When somebody looks at me, I want them to think, “I want to get to know that person for who she really is…” There’s more to me than my outside! I am a human being with thoughts and feelings. I am not just my body! There’s so much more to who I am!!! When I dress in the right way, I am making sure that others who see me think the same thing! I want them to want to get to know me!! When I look at my non-Jewish neighbors walking down the street in the tightest jeans ever (how did they ever put them on?! Lol), do you know what I think??? I think, "I feel so bad for her! Her whole life is revolved around her body and how she can dress in a way that will make guys look at her! Does she ever think about the fact that there is more to her than her body?! Every time she gets dressed, she probably thinks about what the guys will say! Is that all there is to life?! Is there any depth to this person?!" Okay, her body happens to be covered in a pair of jeans but looking at her makes me think of her body and nothing else!! I don’t think of her as a person, I see her as a body!!
Am I just my body? I don’t want people to look at me as a body and disregard the rest of me! There’s so much more to me! so dressing in a way that attracts attention to my body makes people look away from what’s really there – a neshama, a person with depth, personality, thoughts and feelings…

More to come soon iyh...but in the meantime, please let me know what you think about this. Thanks!

Rochel Imeinu's Yartzeit

Today is Rachel Imeinu's yartzeit. Here are two things I would like to share with you.

Why is Rachel the only one of the imahos that are called "Imeinu"? There's no Sara Imeinu, Rivkah Imeinu or Leah Imeinu? Why is she the lucky one to be called, OUR MOTHER?!
We all know, that Lavan fooled Yaakov and set up that Leah should marry him instead of Rachel. So what did Rachel do? She spared her sister major pain and emarrassment by giving over the simanim to Leah.
When she did this, not only did she give up her olam hazeh, that she would now have to be married to the rasha, Eisav, she also gave up her olam habah. At that point, she had no idea that she would still marry Yaakov. In her mind, by giving up the simanim, she was giving up her whole life - in this world and in the next!
The dream of every Jewish woman is to bring up a family. She wants to be a mother to her children so she can have a part in the future of Klal Yisroel.
When Rachel Imeinu gave the simanim over to her sister Leah, she gave up that dream. She gave up her whole future. She lost her chance to be a mother of the future generations. She would not be the mother of the twelve shevatim. She didn't know that in the end she would marry Yaakov and have a part in being the mother of two of the shevatim.
And that is why she is given the title of Rachel Imeinu. Since she gave up her dream to be a mother of Klal Yisroel, she is called by the beloved title of Rachel Imeinu.

***

Today is a very powerful day, a day when our tefillos can be accepted on a deeper level.
I remember learning the following in 10th grade from my teacher, Reb. Slomowitz…(b’shem omro, I hope it brings the geulah real quick because we really need it!)
When we speak about Rachel Imeinu, we say, “Kol B’ramah nishma…Rachel mivaka al baneha ki eineinu…” a voice is heard on high…Rachel is crying about her children…
The word mivaka seems to be grammatically incorrect. The definition of mivaka is to cause someone else to cry. The question is, why do we use this term for cry? If Rachel is crying for us on high, (as we know that Hashem says that her tears are going to bring the geula, not the tears of any of the avos) why is the term "causing to cry" used?! It should probably say, Rachel boche, Rachel "is crying" because she is constantly crying for us to come out of galus!!!!!
The answer is, that Rachel Imeinu is crying because we Jews are not crying! She is trying to get us to cry out of the pain of galus because we seem to forget where we are. Hashem puts us through soo much pain and suffering in galus and our job is to cry out to Him and BEG Him to take us out! But instead, we try to ignore the pain we are in and try to run away from the pain using all sorts of escapes and distractions. We forget that we are in galus by making ourselves comfortable here. We try to enjoy life to the fullest instead of remembering that we are supposed to be davening to come out!! What we have to do now is cry out to Hashem and beg and plead for Him to take us out!!!
Rachel is trying to get us to cry, to feel uncomfortable in galus! If we don’t feel like we are in galus and we don’t cry out to Hashem, then why should He take us out altogether?! If we are fine where we are, then why should anything change?! The only way to get out is by asking for it! And if Hashem sees we really want to come out, He will take us out!!!!
And I’m telling you, when we come out of this galus, life will be soo beautiful! Life will be soo unbelievable! We will live with total clarity and understanding of Hashem and His world and our job in it! We will feel what Torah means and realize how much we were missing out on beforehand!!
So take out your siddur, take out your tehillim or use your own words to BEG Hashem to bring us out of galus!!
And THEN Hashem will tell Rachel Imeinu, “Minee koleich m’bechee v’einayich midim’ah,” Rachel, you can stop crying, because “v’shavu banim ligevulam,” Bnei Yisroel will return to their boundaries!
May we all have the zechus to see these very words come true!!

Shema Yisroel

What a Great Mitzvah!

I am sooo excited to share some great things about tznius! Most important thing to know how great it is in the eyes of Hash em! (Orchos Tzaddikim pg.207 shaar hasimcha)If you do a mitzvah bec. you are excited about the mitzvah it is worth 1000 times more than a mitzva done with anger and negativity!! There aren't even 1000 days in a year to get sooo many brachos!! Do you hear the number how great it is!!! this is not made up or sarcastic its real!! So pls. open up your heart to see the awesome gift that Has hem bestowed upon us women!
Hashem created Chava from a piece of Adam and with every bone that was put onto Chava Hashem said Tehei Tznua!! Be tznius!! Why did Has hem make such a big deal? Why don't the guys have this mitzva as strong??
well lets understand when Hashem gave parts of beauty to the world Hashem divided them between men and women 9 were given to the women and 1 was given to the men!(heard from Rav Shimshon Pincus ztl)Hashem made a woman much more beautiful than a man! Take a look your hair, jewelry, makeup, perfume... come on lets face it we def. look diff. and a lot more attractive than men!
Why? Hashem wanted that Beezras Hashem when you get married your husband will find you the most special in his eyes and he won't go searching to others!! Hashem wants you to save your beauty for the right time and it will be used for great things to bring more kedusha into this world!!
This mitzva is def. one of the hardest and therefore the reward is sooo great!!
Lets think: How much do you want Hashem to watch over you and over your body??
100% every single day every min., you want to be healthy and have every part working!!
Think about it: when you are not feeling well, your whole body is out of commission and you are not in the mood of anyone...!
Well guess what!!
One of the gifts that Hashem tells us is that if we cover our body then Hashem will protect our bodies! Since when you cover your body you are incasing youself with the bracha that Hashem wants to give you!!
Here is a an incredible story to let us see how powerful it is:
Malka was on a very tight schedule. She had an appointment at 1:30 . Since she did not have time to make lunch, she decided to by some pizza by a nearby store before her appointment.
Malka remembered that even though she was in a rush she still wanted to make sure she was dressed appropriately since she knew that tznius not only will bench you with beautiful brachos from Hashem, but also it will protect your body! The next morning Malka was getting dressed to go to work and she realized that her collar bone was exposed, she decided that she would close it up. So she looked around her room for a safety pin it took longer than she expected. Malka ran out of the house in order to get some breakfast before her appointment. Panting and puffing, Malka arrived at the traffic light and looked towards the direction of the pizza shop she had intended to stop at. Bricks and rubble were cascading downward,and smoke was bellowing out of the top of the building, as people were hurriedly leaving the shop in a state of shock!
Just minutes before,the pizza shop had caught on fire and was quickly beginning to collapse. Malka stood at the corner glued to her place, as she realized that her scrupulousness in fulfilling the mitzvah of tznius had saved her life.
(adopted from Daughters of Dignity from Chana Toby)
So you see the power of such a small act of doing something for Hashem has great rewards!!
This is only the intoduction to this great mitzva!
pls. comment how this makes you feel...

Please Vote

There's a poll on the right - so go ahead and vote...and soon I'll try to write a post or two on the topic so hopefully soon we will all gain appreciation and love for this special mitzvah!!

One more thing: Can you please leave a comment letting me know which things are hard for you in this area and what the reasons are that tznius may have a negative connotation for you. I would like to address this important mitzvah and it would help me if you can point out why it's so hard for you and what affects your thoughts and feelings towards tznius.
And if you think of tznius in a positive way, please let me know why. It would be great to hear what things you heard that are inspiring in this area and keep you going!
Thanks!!

what comes to mind when you think of tefilla?

Is Hashem Evil?

This is brilliant!!! I had to post it!!!

The university professor challenged his students with this question. “Did Hashem create everything that exists?”

A student bravely replied, “Yes, He did!”

"Hashem created everything?” The professor asked.

“Yes sir”, the student replied.

The professor answered, “If Hashem created everything, then He created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then Hashem is evil”.

The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Jewish faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, “Can I ask you a question professor?”

“Of course”, replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, “Professor, does cold exist?”

“What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?” The students snickered at the young man’s question.

The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.”

The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?”

The professor responded, “Of course it does.”

The student replied, “Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

Finally the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?”

Now uncertain, to professor responded, “Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of Hashem; it is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the an existance without Hashem. Hashem did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have Hashem’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.
The young man’s name--- Albert Einstein

Choose Life & Dare To Dream

Here are two videos from aish.com - really powerful, watch them, before Yom Kippur!!

Sorry - Just Say It!!

A great message for the aseres yimay teshuva!!