a journey into the vastness of creation

Rav Lazer Brody 
See more at: lazer beams 
A Journey into the Vastness of Creation
The Beams is happy to take you on a journey of the macrocosm, then of the microcosm. Now think how Hashem makes the effort to confine Himself within your heart and brain, to make sure they're functioning properly. The author of this presentation probably had no spiritual intentions, but, I find this a mind-boggling aid in contemplating the vastness of Hashem and His lovingkindness.
Please allow about 10 seconds for downloading, depending on the speed of your connection, to enjoy the most thought-provoking 10 minutes you've had in a long time, here: A Journey into the Vastness of Creation.

Best bet in a chancy world

 

By: Rabbi Lazer Brody
The latter half of 5773 faces us with unprecedented uncertainty, not only in Israel but in America and Europe as well. There's considerable saber-rattling in the Far East. North Korea has an itchy finger on its nuclear trigger. Radical Islam is thriving. The economy and health care are subjects that most people prefer to avoid. Syria's chemical weapons are up for grabs. In Israel, just this morning, both the Golan in the North and the Eshkol region in the south have been bombed. Also, President Obama's recent visit to Israel, despite all the photo-ops and smiles, reawakens folks to the political pressures that will once again try to twist Israel's territorial arm. Who would have believed that Bibi Netanyahu, a former special forces commando himself, would have apologized to Turkey and Erdogan over the Mavi Marmara affair? That's just an example to show us that Hashem is in charge, not the politicians.
Meanwhile, there's an entire political upheaval over here, with the Bayit Yehudi party led by Naftali Bennett and the Yesh Atid party led by Yair Lapid now pulling the strings of the coalition with a severely weakened Bibi Netanyahu and his Likud party. They have all types of plans that call for drafting Yeshiva students into the army and cutting back financial benefits for Torah institutions and the Haredi populace.
Certain doomsday prophets in the Haredi community are yelling bloody murder. I humbly ask them, since when are we dependant on flesh and blood? Hashem does only the best for us; with the current government, we'll simply have to strengthen our emuna and place our total dependance on Hashem. Besides, if Hashem doesn't want the Haredim in the coalition, there's certainly a good reason and that too is for the very best. So why talk bad about other Jews? Let's invest our energies into more Torah, more prayer, and more mitzvoth. Jewish activism means doing something to make the world a better place. Let's not waste a moment on negative thoughts. Stop worrying! I certainly don't know what the future holds, but I can promise you that it will be good, even more than good. 
Sure, Israel suffers from big problems and major threats, from within and from without. But it's heaven for your soul. The fact is that here, more and more people are quietly getting closer to Hashem. In Israel, a beautifully quiet spiritual revolution is taking place. Entire communities of emuna-oriented Jews are mushrooming in places that for years never had a synagogue or a Torah scroll. Yavniel, Carmiel, and Maalot are three examples. Folks there aren't yelling at social protest demonstrations because they're talking to Hashem. Many of our good friends in the USA and Canada have made Aliya recently. I urged those who sought my advice to consider places other than Ramat Bet Shemesh and Har Nof. I sent them to Maalot, to Katzrin, and to Yerucham, where they could buy nice apartments for a song, not worry where the kids are playing and breathe clean air. I've heard no complaints, only expressions of how happy they are to be here. I firmly believe that the latter half of 5773 will be a wonderful for the Jewish people in Israel, despite the threats.

A short film about Passover

Rav Lazer Brody - An Encounter with Jonathan Livingston Seagull

This Shabbat is Shabbat Shira, Parshat Beshalach; an old Chassidi custom is to honor the birds.

I was about two hours north up the Pacific coast from Los Angeles. Having found a beautiful cliff with a breathtaking overlook of the Pacific, I asked my driver to pull over and to give me at least an hour. What a magnificent spot for Hitbodedut...

Hitbodedut means solitary personal prayer. But, I wasn't alone for long. A very handsome gull with much finer flying finesse than I've seen from other seagulls glided effortlessly toward me and landed on the edge of the cliff about 5 feet in front of me. He looked at me with probing eyes, then said in perfect Hebrew, "Shalom Aleichem!"

"You're a Breslever, aren't you?" he asked, before I had a chance to snap back from my gaping amazement. "So am I," he said, not waiting for an answer. "I'm especially fond of Rebbe Natan's discourses on hitchazkut, spiritual strengthening."

"But your species are halachically impure," I remarked.

"True," he acknowledged. "But I am no normal seagull; I refuse to barbarically rip away at my fellow bird to fight for a fish. I have overcome the lust for bodily appetites. Besides, Rebbe Nachman says that there is no despair in the world. I may have been born impure, but I can uplift myself. My whole life centers around solitary flight and communing with The Almighty."

"I've never met a bird on such a lofty spiritual level. Do you have a name?" I asked.

"It's obvious that you're a foreigner," the gull said. "Everyone here knows me - I'm Jonathan Livingston Seagull."

I was stunned once more. "I thought you died at sea."

"I almost did. Really, there was no way out. The Almighty shined a ray of hope on me and I mustered up the strength to keep on going. Sound familiar, Rabbi Lazer?"

"How do you know who I am? And how do you know that my story is so familiar to yours?"

"Rabbi, how did you get through Rabbinical Seminary? Don't you know that King Solomon said (Ecclesiates 10:20), 'The bird of the sky shall carry the voice?' We seagulls know everything that's going on."

Jonathan then took off, singing "Dear Father," his song to Hashem. It was really moving. I want to share with you the poignant moment when Jonathan overcame despair and decided to keep on living and flying at all costs (see film clip, below).

Dear brother and sister, there's a little bit of Jonathan Livingston Seagull within all of us. No matter if we're down and bleeding, we can call out to "Dear Father" and He'll pick us up. You can soar skywards too. Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Tu B'Shvat: This coming Shabbath

I love trees, especially the native fruit-bearing trees of Israel that are mentioned in the Torah - olives (photo above), grapes, figs, dates, and pomegranates. Our citrus and deciduous orchards here are magnificent too, and if you've ever tasted Israeli fruit, it's hard to eat anything else.

My best personal prayer sessions and musical inspirations are out in the orchards.

Trees are a metiphor to our existence. The deeper our roots, the stronger we are. I write about it this week on Breslev Israel web magazine, so check out Save the Trees. My esteemed and beloved teacher Rav Shalom Arush also speaks in tree imagery this week in First, the Peel.  Tal Rotem is also in a Tu B'Shvat mood in Here to Stay, writing how no one can uproot us from our holy land as long as we cling to our roots.

Rivka Levy talks about The Two Voices in your head. Racheli Reckles starightens people's thinking in The Look of Love. Chaya Ovadia is tested From Head to Toe. Dr. Zev Ballen gives a knockout to traditional psychological thinking in Depressed? So What!

Yael Karni acquaints us with basic mystical concepts in Divine Illumination. 

This week's Torah portion is Beshalach. Don't miss Rav Dovid Charlop's elaboration in A Kiss From Above.

Bright Beams Blessings for a beautiful week!

source

Guardian of Israel with Rabbi Lazer Brody בס"ד

What is the secret of our miraculous survival - both physical and spiritual - for the last 3300 years? Once we learn the answer, fear and anxiety no longer plague us...

http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2013/01/guardian-of-israel.html

Rabbi Lazer Brody speaking at Torah Day School

Beautiful talk that Rabbi Lazer Brody gave at Torah Day School, Dallas on Thu 11/15/2012. Please check out www.breslev.co.il for more information.