The 5 Challenges of Living: Loss, Illness, Moral Impurity, Finances & Uncertainty

Questions and Exercises
1. What is the underlying structure of the portion of Emor?
Are we here just to watch a new drama of a TV serial? No! We have serious, high level classes! and once in a while we look through a curriculum! It’s there, crystal clear.
What was the most painful experience in your life?
Life itself is not just a big fun, but leaving one country and settling in another is very tough. (That’s why we need that special “Lech Lecha” request from Above…)
And how did you deal with it? In very precise paced manner: letting one or two family members at a time escape Metzraim of Russia…
2. Are you stressed about money? How you deal with it?
Let’s do a little bit of “GUMZA L’TOVA” meditation: isn’t it greater stress when you have money? They appeal to you and all problems are boiling in your head, but when you don’t have money- you don’t have big TZOROS: no doubts with saving accounts, no troubles with gain and loss, no temptations of misuse, no battles and so on.
Do your children feel your financial stress?
Next stage of “GUMZA L’TOVA”: Where there is no pie- there is no complains. Money had never been highest of values they were raise on. Moreover they were happy that this particular control button doesn’t belong to me, and they are free to do whatever they want.
How does it affect them?
Being 15, my son made his first free choice: he got a job in order to pay for his Jewish private school. Now he is in Air Forces earning scholarship for college. My daughter has her own short- long way to the Holy Land…
3. Do you have serenity, or constant inner turmoil?
I have inner serenity with constant turmoil about details.
Why? To avoid complacence.
What is the best way to deal with it? Constant inner turmoil hit us only when we are lack of trust. Our inner demons like company of misery and ignorance. Everything is frightened in darkness, but a small light of Torah knowledge can expel most of turmoil. ( Proved by this class…)
Key words to remember answers for 5 and 6.
Birth V. Death: Passover navigates us to the original source of both.
Existence V. Life: Shovuot and Torah brought spirituality in this world and now any existence gets its meaning
Man’s Image V. G-d’s Image: On Rosh Hashanah man was created in the image of G-d and therefore he has no limits of renewal
Man V. Angels: on Yom Kippur transcendence reveals that money is just means but not the ends
House V. Hut: on Sukkot we surrender ourselves, because ultimately, without G-d we own nothing and hardly can control anything.
Shabbath covers universal approach for all four major problems over which we don’t have control.
7. What is spiritual “stoning?”
It’s a stage of stagnation when a person’s heart become like a stone. SCARE!
Why does cursing G-d result in spiritual “stoning”?
It can hurt only endless microscopic part of G-d that is within that person.
Looking for black spots on the sun with non- equipped eyes may bring blindness to the seeker…