Why Logic Is Not Enough To Find G-d

"The heart which involves the desire of the soul, i.e. the will, is a very important sensibility. Binah by itself is not enough, if emotion is not joined with it. There must be a unity of brain and heart, a harmony of intelligence and emotion.

…Human beings who think that they can come to know G-d through research, philosophy and intellectual insight, are mistaken. “The teachings of his G-d are in his heart” (Psalms 37:31) There is no more suitable insight to attain the divine than through the heart. When a person purifies his traits, he will find the Divinity in his heart

…“From there you will seek G-d, your Lord, and if you pursue Him with all your heart and soul, you will find Him.” (Deut.4:29) 

Reb Simcha Bunim explained it this way:

“All the efforts to know G-d which comes only through wisdom and research will not reach the desired objective because those efforts do not flow from this other special source. Thus it is written ‘From there,’ i.e. from another place. ‘From there you will seek G-d, your Lord…’ A person may twist and turn to seek G-d through research and study but he loses his way because he is seeking ‘from there’. Suddenly a ‘finding’ appears upon his path in front of him, ‘a ray of light’, a wondrous light, which breaks through all his darkness, ‘and you will find’. Why? ‘Because you pursue Him with all your heart’; one needs to pursue G-d with all ‘your heart’.”

- R. Simcha Bunim of Pshischa – His life and teachings (pg. 84-87)

Source: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=37905542320&topic=36537

The Prayer Before Prayer

All of this time, only until now I  have come to realize that "prayer before prayer" is one of major features in Jewish prayer. So I googled around and found this beautiful story.

A STORY IS TOLD of a Hasidic Rebbe who was known to begin his morning prayers long after most others had already finished them. Since it was well-known that he was up at dawn, someone once asked him what he was about in the hours before he said his morning prayers. He answered, “I am praying that I may be able to pray.”

The great Tzaddik, Reb Elimelekh of Lizhensk also had such a practice and even composed a special “prayer before prayer” to be recited before every service. This prayer is as important today---if not more important---than it was even in Reb Elimelekh’s own day, for most of us do not enter into the period of prayer with the awesome awareness, “I am about to pray.” Thus, we have translated this wonderful prayer with the hope that, every once in a while, someone might pray this prayer with deep feeling, even if they do not pray anything else, and thereby, place themselves in the awesome Presence of G-d. 

   

The Ba’al Shem Tov once said, “It is impossible to pray with kavanah [focus] without support. Therefore, you must ask G-d for help”.  Perhaps this is the meaning of “Prepare to meet your G-d, O Yisra’el” (Amos 4:12).

PART TWO

Our sages spent years creating the perfect prayer. The accumulated wisdom of the 120 Men of the Great Assembly brought to fruition the blessings that temporarily replace the daily sacrifices offered in the Holy Temple. The power of holiness invested in them inspired them to create a series of prayers that include all the possible words man can utter to G-d. The final product, the Shemone Esrei, is recited trice daily by millions of Jewish people for the past 2000 years. We ask G-d for health, for wisdom, for sustenance, for peace, for finding oneself. But are we saying it right? Is there a guarantee that it is going to work? Will we be humbled by the G-dly words?

We truly don’t have control over the outcome of our actions. Inasmuch as we prepare a speech, a song or a presentation, the impact it will have on people is up to G-d. No matter how perfect our prayers are, they are limited to what a human can accomplish. And humans can’t control outcomes. So before I pray I read a verse of Psalms, to introduce G-d to my prayer. Before I read the holy blessings of the Shemone Esrei I ask G-d to speak through me. I ask G-d to take whatever it is that I am uttering and do with it what He wants. I humble myself by reminding my heart and my brain that I am standing before G-d, and must put my ego and my expectations aside.

"My L-rd, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise"- Psalms 51:17

Source:

The story and prayer is taken from Reb Zalman Legacy Project

The eye-opening teaching in Part Two is of Chabad.org

Yetzer HaRa: not that bad after all

Torah teaches us about the dual nature of human. In Genesis 2:7, we read that G-d formed (vayyitzer) man. The spelling of this word is unusual: it uses two consecutive Yods instead of the one you would expect. The rabbis inferred that these Yods stand for the word "yetzer," which means inclination, and the existence of two Yods here indicates that humanity was formed with two inclinations: the good inclination (Yetzer Hatov) and the evil inclination (Yetzer Hara).

Yetzer Hatov is the moral conscience, the inner voice that reminds us of G-d's law when we consider doing something that is forbidden. Yetzer Hara, on the other hand, it's not evil by itself. It is a primitive appetite that drives our selfish nature, the desire to satisfy personal needs (food, shelter, sex, etc.) without regard for the moral consequences of fulfilling those desires.

They are sometimes personified as "angel", one is a good angel and the other a bad angel. In Psalms 90:11 where it is written "For He will instruct His angels in your behalf, to guard you in all your ways", the word angel is plural indicating that at least there are two angels. Some rabbis also identified the Yetzer Hara and Satan are one and the same. However, this must be understood as meaning that the angels are merely personification of our own internal forces. Thus, the idea that "the devil made me do it" is not in line with Judaism.

The Yetzer Hara is not a bad thing. It was created by G-d, and all things created by G-d are good. The Talmud notes that without the Yetzer Hara, man would not build a house, marry a wife, beget children or conduct business affairs. But the Yetzer Hara can lead to wrongdoing when it is not controlled by the Yetzer Hatov. There is nothing inherently wrong with hunger, but it can lead you to steal food. There is nothing inherently wrong with sexual desire, but it can lead you to commit rape, adultery, incest or other sexual perversion.

We need our Yetzer Hara, our evil inclination.  The goal is to control these internal forces and use them to serve G-d.  As Rashi taught on the Sh'ma, "Serve G-d with both of your inclinations."

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (the Ramchal) in his work "The Way of G-d" describes the role of the Yetzer Hara is man's quest for perfection.

"Man is the creature created for the purpose of being drawn close to G-d. He is placed between perfection and deficiency, with the power to earn perfection. Man must earn this perfection, however, through his own free will... Man's inclinations are therefore balanced between good (Yetzer HaTov) and evil (Yetzer HaRa), and he is not compelled toward either of them. He has the power of choice and is able to choose either side knowingly and willingly..."

That is the heart of the Jewish understanding of free will. Without Yetzer Hara, the free will cannot really work.

The Inclusive Golden Rule

Many Gedolim (great scholars) has instructed us to follow the custom of the Ari"zal by stating prior to prayer: "Hareini mekabel 'alai mitzvas 'asei shel ve-ahavta le-re'akha kamocha" - Behold, I accept upon myself the positive commandment to 'love your fellow as yourself' (Leviticus 19:18). According to Rabbi Akiva, one of the foremost Talmudic sages, this is the great principle in the Torah ("K'lal gadol ba-Torah").

While many people render the word 're'akh' here as 'your fellow Jew' (according to its context), this great principle can always be broaden to its fullest expression to include the whole humanity.

There is famous story of Rabbi Hillel, who lived in the 1st century B.C.E.

A gentile who wants to convert asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel replied, “What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole of Torah and the rest is but commentary. Go and study it.” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

To include all men, the same Hillel used the term "beriot" (creatures) when inculcating the teaching of love: "Love the fellow-creatures" (Abot i. 12). Hatred of fellow-creatures ("sinat ha-beriyot") is similarly declared by R. Joshua b. Hananiah to be one of the three things that drive man out of the world (Abot ii. 16). 

The term "neighbor" has at all times been thus understood by Jewish teachers. In Tanna debe Eliyahu R. xv. it is said: "Blessed be the Lord who is impartial toward all. He says: 'Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor. Thy neighbor is like thy brother, and thy brother is like thy neighbor.'" Likewise in xxviii.: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God"; that is, thou shalt make the name of God beloved to the creatures by a righteous conduct toward Gentiles as well as Jews (compare Sifre, Deut. 32). Aaron b. Abraham ibn Ḥayyim of the sixteenth century, in his commentary to Sifre, l.c.; Ḥayyim Vital, the cabalist, in his "Sha'are Ḳedushah," i. 5; and Moses Ḥagis of the eighteenth century, in his work on the 613 commandments, while commenting on Deut. xxiii. 7, teach alike that the law of love of the neighbor includes the non-Israelite as well as the Israelite.

Not surprisingly, Israel's postal service quoted from this commandment when it commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a 1958 postage stamp.

Source: Jewish Encylopedia on Brotherly Love

Why Do Things Go Wrong?

By Tzvi Freeman

Question:
I am living the wrong life. I should have done sciences in college, not humanities. And even in humanities, I should have gone for a law degree, as my parents wished and not a major in basket weaving. I was supposed to marry Jessica, not Ellen and we were supposed to live in Atlanta, not Atlantic City. From there on, it only gets worse... What do I do now?

Answer:
You may not want to hear this: All your fears are justified. You are not paranoid. You are probably right on every point. How do I know? Because this entire world is operating on Plan B.
Of course, there is The Plan. Plan A. The way things are supposed to go. But in the history of the world, there hasn't been a single thing that went the way it was supposed to go.

Adam wasn't supposed to eat from that tree. Cain and Abel were supposed to talk things out. Everyone was supposed to get along. Things got so out of hand the first time around, G-d drowned all the specimens and started all over. But things never stopped going wrong.

Take the story of Esau and Jacob. Esau was born with certain challenges, but he was supposed to have gotten a hold of himself. He was supposed to grow up as "El Macho Fearless Provider" while Jacob would sit and study. Esau got carried away with the El Macho part and Jacob ended up having to do the job of two brothers in one life -- including getting Esau's blessings and marrying his wife. It took Jacob twenty years to get those two wives out of Laban's lair. Esau could have taken care of it in a day. Nobody messes with Esau. Laban would endure some discomfort pinned up against the wall of his tent but Leah would be Esau's no sweat. But Jacob? Wrong man for the job. But that's Plan B.

Then there's the balagan with Joseph and his brothers -- an exercise in just how many things could go wrong in one story. Joseph miscommunicated. His brothers misinterpreted. Judah miscalculated and Reuben missed the boat.

The Exodus seems exciting, but keep in mind that the first meeting with Pharaoh was a complete, counter-productive disaster and nine out of ten plagues were effectively failures. And then, when we finally make it to the high point of the story, at the Giving of the Torah, the people make the grandest blunder of history with a dumb golden calf. That calf just wasn't according to script.

There is a script, but it never gets played. That's why the Torah starts with the letter Beit -- the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Because everything in this world works according to Plan B. In fact, if you study the six days of creation with the classic commentaries, you'll see that not a day went by without something coming out not quite the way it should have.

Apparently, before this world began, in a time continuum that does not infringe upon ours by a nanosecond, there were other worlds where things went right.1 There were worlds where Adam and Eve were good little kinderlach and didn't even touch the fruit of that tree. Where Cain and Abel were the best of buddies for all their eternal life. Where Esau married Leah and supported his kid brother, Jacob, so he could earn his degree in transcendental enlightenment by meditating in the wilderness. All people were so good and nice, the world was filled with light, and evil didn't have a chance. Those worlds in G-d's grand imagination were all Plan A. The Plan.

What happened to all those worlds? Well, G-d looked at each of those worlds His supreme wisdom had conjured up and He said, "Blech." And He scrapped them one by one and went on.
Until finally He made this world, where He invested His Infinite Consciousness into the confines of a frail being that takes one step forward and falls on its face, where Murphy has more credibility than Newton, where Dear Derailed marries Ellen instead of Jessica and all the progress of life and history is nothing but grand rescues from big blunders.

And He said, "Now this is what you call a world!" And He chose the world of Plan B to become a real world, not just a fleeting imagination like the other worlds, and here He gave His Torah.
So, you may ask, what is so exciting about a world of blunders, mess-ups and downright sins? What's up with a G-d Who creates beings who flagrantly obfuscate His Divine Plan? If it's goodness, beauty, light and wisdom that He wants, why choose a harsh, dull, dark and stupid world to have it in?

The answer must be that there's something deeper than The Plan. There's the Master of the Plan. There isn't just a script -- there's a playwright. There isn't just a score of music -- there's a musician.

Let me put it this way: Let's say you pass by a room and you hear a piano playing. You stop to listen. You think, "Maybe it's not a piano playing. Maybe it's a pianist playing."

How can you know? How can you know if you are listening to a piano or to a pianist?

So you listen a little longer and then you hear it: A blunder. The music stops. A pause. Then the same bars repeat themselves. Perhaps several times. And then the music goes on.

"Aha!" you say. "It's a person. There's someone behind the music." And you know what? The music takes on a whole new depth.

Same with The Plan. There's a G-d behind The Plan. If everything just went according to The Plan, there would be no room left to discover Him within it. We would only know a G-d Who is limited by the themes and plot of The Plan.

But when G-d chose The Plan, He didn't choose it because He had to or because this defines Him in any way. He chose it freely. And He wants that essential aspect of Him -- that which is free and beyond any form or definition -- to be revealed within that Plan. He wants the musician to be heard, and not just the music.

That's the opportunity that comes with every failure -- the opportunity to reach deeper into the essence of things, into your own self, into Truth. The failure itself may be a bummer, but the fruits of cleaning it up are more precious than gold.

That's why Torah enters only our world and no other. There is the wisdom of creation, there is the wisdom of beauty, there is the wisdom of light. But the Torah is deeper than all that. Torah is the wisdom of healing, of cleaning up messes. And that's a wisdom that touches G-d himself.

So, dear Derailed, take advantage. The angels are jealous. They're still stuck in Plan A.2

FOOTNOTES
1.
The Kabbalists call this the "First Shemittah." A Shemittah is seven years, or, in this case, seven millennia. This world has six millennia of progress and one of rest; so did those. But they were built on Chessed -- kindness and goodness, whereas ours is built on Gevurah -- harshness and severity.
2.
Inspired by a deep reading of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's Kuntres Yud Shvat 5751 and Likkutei Sichot, vol 4 pp 1340-1341.

Source: http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=66168&print=true

How to get your prayer answered?

by Rabbi Noah Weinberg

Do you feel like you're talking to a wall when you pray? Here are five key tools for getting your prayers answered.

Let's get one thing straight: God wants to answer our prayers. He is our Father in Heaven, and we are His children. He loves us unconditionally.

So why does it seem that God ignores so many prayers? And if He already knows what we want, why is prayer necessary in the first place?

THE INFINITE LOVE

Even those who stay far from a synagogue intuit the existence of God. As the saying goes, there are no atheists in a foxhole. When a guy is dug in and the enemy is coming, he will cry out:

"Almighty, get me outta here! I want to live!"

What is he really saying?

"Dear God: Although I have ignored You for all these years, denied Your existence, and not appreciated all You have done for me, I'm in trouble now. And I know You're the only one Who can help."

To pray properly, you have to understand that not only God loves you, but His love for you is infinite.

God has given you eyes, ears, intelligence, life itself! Every morning, a Jew recites blessings of thanks to God for all the gifts He has bestowed upon us. These blessings remind us of how deeply God loves us.

If we appreciate what God can do for us, it is crazy not to stay in touch.

WHY DO WE NEED TO PRAY?

When we pray, of course, we are not pointing out anything new to God. He does not need us to remind Him of our needs. So why doesn't God just give without our asking?

Because we need to pray. Prayer helps us refine and affirm what we want out of life. It's a process of maturity.

If a billionaire father handed over unlimited cash on a silver platter, his child would grow up spoiled and irresponsible.

So too, if God gave us everything automatically, we may never define for ourselves what we want in life. True, life would be easy. But we would not grow.

Since God has our best interests at heart, He wants us to earn it. Because that's what will make us great.

WHY DO WE HAVE PROBLEMS?

God has all the right connections. He can find you the right spouse. He can solve your financial problems. So why in the world do we have all these problems?

Because no matter how brilliant or powerful you are, you will never be able to live your children's lives for them. In fact, part of genuine love for your children is to allow them to branch out on their own, to be independent.

If we were just robots, mechanically following every instruction, the world might be neat and tidy. But life would have neither significance nor meaning.

God wants us to be independent, to think and make our own choices.

We have the "free will" to make decisions that are eternally meaningful. We can choose to move away from God -- and He will let us do that. Not because He wants that to happen, but because He wants us to have independence -- even at the risk of it being misused. We may suffer the consequences, but it keeps our independence intact.

AN ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYERS

Have you ever had a prayer answered?

Stop for a moment and consider the implications...

You live in a small town in Midwestern America. There is an extremely large and unsightly pothole in front of your house. For the last four months the local municipality has ignored your insistent requests to have it fixed. Finally, in an act of frustration, you call the White House and ask for the president. (Hey, it's worth a try.)

To your utter amazement, the president himself gets on the phone. You quickly explain your problem. The president listens for a minute and then hangs up. You don't really expect anything to be done about it.

The next morning you look out your window and, lo and behold, the army corps of engineers is busy at work fixing your road. The President of the United States took your request seriously and sent in the troops to help!

That is what it means to get your prayer answered.

Now who is the one person who can always get through to the president?

The president's son, of course.

That is our relationship with God -- Father and child. Just as a parent fulfills a child's request, so too God answers prayers. The Infinite Genius Who created every molecule on this earth, can alter the course of existence in order to answer your prayer.

To really talk to God, you need to know He is willing and able to do it all. Otherwise, you're only talking to your finite concept of God -- and not to our true Father in Heaven.

FIVE TOOLS OF BEING SINCERE WITH GOD

TOOL #1: EXPECT THE GOOD

Anticipate that God wants to help you. Anything that you could ask Him for is infinitesimally small compared to what He has already given to you.

If you don't expect the good, God is not going to invade your space. He wants you to connect to your Father in Heaven. Yet He wants you to work for that understanding.

By not answering you, God is telling you that you've got a problem, that you need to change. That's doing us a big favor. Because if He wouldn't do that, we'd just remain stuck in our illusions, unclear on the idea that God can do it all.

You're 22-years-old and driving through Manhattan in rush hour in the middle of July. Red lights... Gridlock... Honking... Summer heat... A-g-g-r-a-v-a-t-i-o-n.

What if your father was in charge of all traffic lights in New York City and was able to track your location at any given time? He would arrange for green lights all the way! Green light! Zing... green light! Ding... green light!

The Almighty can arrange it for you. He created the universe. Traffic in Manhattan is not overly taxing for Him.

So here you go. Green light, green light, green light, green light. You say to yourself: This is too good to be true. I don't deserve this.

Red light.

If you don't anticipate God's help, then you have lost sight of God as your Father. So God breaks the flow in order to realign your focus.

Focus on the fact that the Almighty wants everything good for you. When you do that, He'll move mountains to answer your prayer.

TOOL #2: BE SHOCKED IF YOU DON'T GET IT

Nothing God does is by accident. If things don't go smoothly for you, your first reaction should be: "What's going on? Why is God doing this? Why is He trying to get my attention?"
An uncle wrote newsy letters to his nephew at college. After six months and numerous letters, the nephew hadn't written back once.

In the next letter, the uncle wrote his standard letter. But this time, he added a P.S.: "I've enclosed a hundred dollar check for you." Then he deliberately mailed the letter without a check.
The nephew received the letter and (of course) couldn't find the check. As expected, the uncle immediately got a letter in return: "College is great... I like my dorm room... I'm taking physics. By the way, you forgot to enclose the check. Love, your favorite nephew."

The Almighty knows how to get our attention. When we forget that He loves us, He sends a red light to refocus us.

But there's one big difference between the uncle and God: God is not hurt when we ignore Him. We are. God has no needs and doesn't need a relationship with us. It is we who need a relationship with Him. Our greatest pleasure is being in touch with God. That's why He arranges small mishaps to get our attention. All for our own benefit.

TOOL #3: LISTEN TO GOD'S LESSONS

If you are serious about a relationship with God, then you understand that God is always teaching you.

When life is suddenly full of inconveniences thrown your way, stop and ask: Why is He trying to get my attention?

When the problems are larger than minor inconveniences - i.e. an auto accident or financial stress, then God is calling out to you on a different level. There is something deep within yourself that you need to rectify.

A young man came into Aish HaTorah to meet with me. "Rabbi," he said, "I've got news for you. I don't need a yeshiva. You see, God and I are very close. God does miracles for me."

I looked at him a little suspiciously. "Would you mind illustrating a miracle or two?"

"Sure. Once I was riding my motorcycle up a winding mountain road. A truck came around a curve and swerved into my lane. My only choice was to either smash into the side of the mountain, or to go off the cliff. Next thing I know, I'm flying through the air with nothing but rocks beneath me. I screamed out, 'God! Help!'

"I hit the ground and it was a miracle. My bike landed between two rocks, which acted like shock absorbers and cushioned the impact. I was gently tossed off my bike into a hedge of bushes. I didn't get a scratch! So you see, God does miracles for me."

I looked at him and said, "Tell me, my friend. Who do you think pushed you off the cliff?!"
God is not Superman. He doesn't wait until you stumble off a cliff so He can fly in at the last moment to save you. He controls everything in your life: the troubles and the solutions.

Don't wait for God to push you off a cliff and catch you. Pay attention now and ask: "What do you want from me, God? What is the message? And if You want to get my attention, please do so without too steep a cliff!"

TOOL #4: FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT

To get our prayers answered, we have to be clear that what we are requesting is really the right thing -- and not just some momentary whim.

When I was 8-years-old, the World's Fair came to New York. My whole class decided they were going to play hooky one day and go to the World's Fair. But there was one condition: Everyone had to bring a dollar. No freeloaders allowed. If you didn't have a dollar, you couldn't come. I didn't have a dollar, and the only way I could get a dollar from my father was to learn a chapter of Mishna by heart. But there was no way I could pull off a whole chapter on such short notice.

So I figured I might as well go to school that day. I'd be the only one there -- a hero!

I started walking to school, when it suddenly occurred to me: Keep your eyes on the pavement, Noah, maybe you'll find a dollar!

I started looking. One block. No dollar. Two blocks. No dollar. I started to pray, "Almighty, a dollar bill... You have them around the street all the time. Just this one time, let me find a dollar bill."

Two more blocks, no dollar. I thought maybe God wants something from me. So I said, "Almighty, I'll take out the garbage. And I won't fight with my sister." I was determined to strike a deal.

No dollar.

Finally, I round the corner and the school is in sight. The moment of truth. "Almighty, give me one dollar, and I'll never, ever do anything wrong again for the rest of my life."

And then I caught myself. "Noah, who are ya kidding? If you find the dollar, you're gonna play hooky!"

Many times the Almighty sends us what we truly need, but we don't recognize it because we haven't done the work of clarifying our needs! God's answer -- whether yes or no -- always tells you something important about yourself.

So before you ask, make sure it's good for you.

TOOL #5: MAKE AN EFFORT

Prayer is not an escape from personal effort or responsibility. It is a vehicle for us to refine our choices, and to realize that God is the source of all that we accomplish.

Prayer focuses us on reality, and keeps us in touch with where our life is heading. It's not just a pipe dream. You have to work for what you want. If you're half-hearted, you're not serious about it.

When you pray, reevaluate every step of the way:
Do I really want to accomplish this?
How much am I prepared to sacrifice for it?
Is it worth the price?
Are my goals realistic and right for me?
Am I getting there?

The purpose of life is growth. Prayer is not a magic button to escape that process. By compelling us to make an effort, God gives us the means to truly grow.

God is always waiting for your call. The lines are open. Toll-Free. Pick up the phone today.

Excerpt from: http://www.aish.com/spirituality/prayer/How_To_Get_Your_Prayers_Answered.asp

What's so different with Jewish charity?

The Jewish view of tzedakah, means "justice" or "righteousness" is usually translated, somewhat inaccurately as charity. In Judaism, the act of giving tzedakah is operating on a whole different level than just giving what and when one feels like giving. So what's so different with Jewish charity? The following is the answer from Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson.

Giving "what and when I feel like it" stems from a mindset that the money I earn is the product of my own efforts, and when I choose to give charity, I am going beyond my duty. I am being generous with that which is rightfully mine.

The Torah teaches otherwise. We believe that everything that we have is a direct blessing from G‑d. Those who have been granted the means to give were chosen by G‑d to be the givers, as opposed to others who, due to reasons known to the Creator Himself, were chosen to be the receivers.

Banking has always been a Jewish profession, and in truth every Jew is a banker. I may have money in my pocket, but it was merely deposited with me—with the trust that I will manage it wisely. Some of the deposited money is for me, and some is for me to dispense. If I misappropriate funds, G‑d forbid, the Depositor might find someone else to handle His money (maybe even the money earmarked for me...).

With this in mind, it is understandable why Judaism requires that, if possible, we should give whenever we see someone in need. If, by Divine Providence, I was exposed to someone's lacking, it's a clear indication that I can do something about it. We always have to give what we can; if not money, at least a smile and an encouraging word.

This is aside for the minimum ten percent of our earnings which must be set aside for charitable purposes.

The difference between the two attitudes toward charity expresses itself in another area as well. If I feel that I am giving due to my personal generosity and munificence, then I am rightfully deserving of recognition and honor. And if the recipient has to pay a little with his dignity in order to benefit from my largess... well that's just par for the course.

If, however, I am just dispensing money, just discharging my duty, then a) it's not a cause for ego-inflation, and b) the recipient shouldn't have to pay with his dignity. We're both just partners in the Depositor's cosmic investment plan.

Source: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/704984/jewish/What-is-the-Jewish-take-on-charity.htm

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

By Aron Moss

Question:
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is this world so unfair? Please don't tell me "We can't understand G‑d's ways." I am sick of hearing that. I want an explanation.

Answer:
Are you sure you want an explanation? Do you really want to know why the innocent suffer? I think not. You are far better off with the question than with an answer.

You are bothered by the fact that people suffer undeservedly. As you should be. Any person with an ounce of moral sensitivity is outraged by the injustices of our world. Abraham, the first Jew, asked G-d, "Should the Judge of the whole world not act fairly?" Moses asked, "Why have You treated this people badly?" And today we still ask, "Why G‑d, why?"

But what if we found the answer? What if someone came along and gave us a satisfying explanation? What if the mystery were finally solved? What if we asked why, and actually got an answer?

If this ultimate question were answered, then we would be able to make peace with the suffering of innocents. And that is unthinkable. Worse than innocent people suffering is others watching their suffering unmoved. And that's exactly what would happen if we were to understand why innocents suffer. We would no longer be bothered by their cry, we would no longer feel their pain, because we would understand why it is happening.

Imagine you are in a hospital and you hear a woman screaming with pain. Outside her room, her family is standing around chatting, all smiling and happy. You scream at them, "What's wrong with you? Can't you hear how much pain she is in?" They answer, "This is the delivery ward. She is having a baby. Of course we are happy."

When you have an explanation, pain doesn't seem so bad anymore. We can tolerate suffering when we know why it is happening.

And so, if we could make sense of innocent people suffering, if we could rationalise tragedy, then we could live with it. We would be able to hear the cry of sweet children in pain and not be horrified. We would tolerate seeing broken hearts and shattered lives, for we would be able to neatly explain them away. Our question would be answered, and we could move on.
But as long as the pain of innocents remains a burning question, we are bothered by its existence. And as long as we can't explain pain, we must alleviate it. If innocent people suffering does not fit into our worldview, we must eradicate it. Rather than justifying their pain, we need to get rid of it.

So keep asking the question, why do bad things happen to good people. But stop looking for answers. Start formulating a response. Take your righteous anger and turn it into a force for doing good. Redirect your frustration with injustice and unfairness and channel it into a drive to fight injustice and unfairness. Let your outrage propel you into action. When you see innocent people suffering, help them. Combat the pain in the world with goodness. Alleviate suffering wherever you can.

We don't want answers, we don't want explanations, and we don't want closure. We want an end to suffering. And we dare not leave it up to G-d to alleviate suffering. He is waiting for us to do it. That's what we are here for.

Source: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/622117/jewish/Why-Do-Bad-Things-Happen-to-Good-People.htm

Why pray if everything G-d does is good?

Question:
We trust that G-d knows what's best for us and does only good for us. Why, then, do we pray to change what is? Why are we trying to change what G-d gives--even if we don't see the good, it's good, right? Are we lacking in our trust and faith if we pray to G-d to change what is?

Answer:
This is a question with which philosophers have struggled time immemorial. Many answers have been given to this question, and I will attempt to give you some of the answers offered:
Prayer is G-d's way of allowing us to explain to Him how things look like from OUR perspective. From G-d's perspective--seeing the whole picture, of past and future, physical and spiritual words, etc.--everything is good and perfect and accomplishing exactly what is necessary. But prayer is G-d's way of saying to us, "tell me how things look like from your perspective in your world, and I will try to accommodate your perspective, by alleviating what seems like negative and showering you with more of what looks like positive." G-d, being infinite and omnipotent, can obviously accomplish the "good" of His plan while still doing it in a way that looks positive to us and that is openly revealed good. (See my essay Baby Talk for more elucidation on this subject.) Furthermore, prayer serves many different purposes.

The Hebrew word for prayer, tefillah, means self-judgment and introspection. Prayer is meant to be an introspective process. The reason why we pray is not always to change what G-d had intended for us, but for us to get a better picture of true reality. We might enter the prayers thinking about all that WE need and want, but we are meant to finish the prayers with a new realization of all that G-d does for us and how little we may actually deserve.

A person who experiences prayer as it is intended to be experienced, will finish off his prayers as a very different person than he began. The person who began the prayers (as a selfish, self-oriented individual) might not have really deserved what he was asking for, but the new person who concluded the prayers (as a thankful, grateful and more spiritual being) might now deserve it. In this way our prayers are actually answered, because WE change in the process and any negative decrees are then naturally averted.

Check out our Prayer Anthology for more insight on this crucial component in our service to G‑d.
Wishing you well,

Chana Weisberg for Chabad.org

Source: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/524072/jewish/Why-Pray-if-Everything-G-d-does-is-Good.htm