I suffered from back pains which
have increased over the past two years and despite having check-ups with
hospitals, MRI scans etc, nothing seemed to help. I was informed by a leading
physician that I had nothing life threatening to worry about, but nevertheless,
I was disturbed every night when sleeping, as I was woken up by pains that
literally woke me up in the middle of the night.
A few months ago, having been
recommended by my doctor, I had a course of treatment by an alternative
practitioner (his name is Andre Moncreif-Ressouw Telephone 07448 425125).
After a few months treatment,
which consisted, in the main, of pressing on the nerves all over by body, we
finally stumbled on the answer. He stated early on that he felt that what was
causing the problem was that the thoracic system, which is in the chest and
controls that part and towards the back, was blocked. Ducts which should have
drained away were not being drained away. He worked on this and was convinced
that he was getting there, but, nevertheless, I kept on telling him that it was
not clearing at night but during the day I felt better.
I have always requested him, when
I lie down on his couch, that the head rest should be raised and that my head should
not be lying flat, and he complied.
Very recently, it dawned on him
that he ought to ask how I lay down at night. When I confirmed that I used two
cushions, he suggested that this might be causing the problem in that I was
pressing my chest between my head and my tummy and this was stopping the draining
action which was necessary. I, therefore, stopped using one of the cushions and
almost, by magic over the past few weeks, I have virtually no pain at night and
certainly do not get woken up by it. I am, of course, grateful to Hashem for
having sent Andre to me and for him to having done this, as well as having
improved my general well being. (The reason why I used two cushions was that I
found that my head would go round at night on occasion and it helped if my head
was that much higher up than the rest of my body.)
He has discussed with me the
interplay between nerves which are situated, for example, in the foot,
nevertheless have a direct effect on the head. When twisting one of my toes, he
told me that this would help the balance in my ear to be improved.
By working on those nerves and
various others situated much nearer my head, he managed to reduce the giddiness
and the sensation of my head going round. He explained to me that the nerve
which then sends the message from the toe to the ear was one of the fastest in
the body and, furthermore, mentioned that the reason why it was situated in the
toe was that if a person is walking and the ground is uneven, he is therefore
likely to go off balance suddenly and this needs to be corrected. The correction
takes place in the ear where the balance of a person is situated. Therefore,
there has to be a very quick response from the foot to the ear.
Likewise he mentioned other such
pressure points which have an effect, not only in their vicinity but sometimes
in a completely different part of the body. Having learnt much about biology
through his ministrations and discussions with him, I got thinking about how
Hashem created Odom Harishon and matters flowed from there.
We know that Hashem created Odom
Harishon with 248 limbs and 365 sinews. There are also 248 positive
commandments מצות עשה and also 365 negative commandments לא
תעשה.
Furthermore, we are told that
every limb has an affinity with a particular positive mitzvah and every sinew
with a negative mitzvah.
With this, we can perhaps begin
to understand why there are certain mitzvos which are known as prime mitzvos
for example, Shabbos, Kashrus, Teharos Hamishpocho, etc. These are comparable
to the parts of the body which if not functioning can bring instant death, for
example, the brain, the heart, the lungs, the backbone, the liver etc. In the
same light, learning Torah appears to be directly connected to the neshomo of
every Yid, the חלק אלקי ממעל.
We know that certain mitzvos
cannot be performed by everybody, for example, there are mitzvos of the
Kohanim, the Levi’im, Dayanim and Yisroelim which are exclusively in their own
domains. At the time that there was a Bais Hamikdosh, all the Kohanim there
performing the עבודה, the service carried out each day there. There were also the
Levi’im who assisted, opened gates, singing songs etc. There were even Yidden
who were in attendance. There was also the great Sanhedrin which sat in
proximity to the Bais Hamikdosh as the final Bais Din in the Land. Furthermore,
three times a year, every male had to attend and once in seven years at the
time of Hakhel everybody had to attend the Bais Hamikdosh including the small
children. Therefore, all Klal Yisroel had an uplift which centred on the Bais
Hamikdosh but spread outwards.
In the same way, the bodies of
all the B’nai Yisroel received direct or indirect affinity with the mitzvos by
this. Let us take an example of a negative mitzvah at the time of the Bais
Hamikdosh. We are told לא תטע לך אשרה כל עץ אצל מזבח ה'
אלקיך אשר תעשה לך, you may not
plant a tree as idol worship next to the altar of Hashem which you make for
yourselves.
The very fact that at the Bais
Hamikdosh the Kohanim were assisted by the Levi’im and possibly by the
Sanhedrin ensured that nobody planted any trees near the mizbeach. This was a
mitzvah which concerned every Jew wherever he was, but was physically dealt
with there, by the experts on the spot.
How do we deal with the mitzvos
which concern particular sections of Klal Yisroel nowadays, I believe that
there are two ways. Firstly, our חז''ל instituted בתי כנסיות and בתי מדרשות. Houses of Congregation, namely Shuls, and
Houses of Learning. These are known as בתי מקדש מעט, smaller versions of the Bais Hamikdosh.
Of course, they are not of the standard of holiness and do not have the mitzvos
performed in the Bais Hamikdosh but, nevertheless, people attending a Shul or a
Bais Hamedrash, a Yeshiva or a Seminary, or for that matter a cheder or a
girls’ school, by joining in the tefillos and/or learning about mitzvos tap
into the same sources of Kedusha as those that emanated from the Bais
Hamikdosh.
We are told by our חז''ל that Avrohom
Avinu was shown future generations and he was told that there would be a Bais
Hamikdosh. He was pleased to see that there would, therefore, be a place where
his descendents would be able to be elevated in holiness and also receive
atonement for any sins. He was then shown the Bais Hamikdosh being destroyed
and was upset, but Hashem told him ונשלמה פרים שפתינו, by davening with kavonnah one can also
achieve the same purposes.
We are also told כל העוסק במצות עולה כאלו היקריב עולה, somebody who busies himself with learning about the mitzvah of
bringing a sacrifice known as an Olah, one which was completely burnt on the
mizbeach, is equivalent to somebody actually bringing the sacrifice at the time
of the Bais Hamikdosh and the same goes for other mitzvos.
Coming back to the connection
that I made earlier on with Odom Harishon having 248 limbs which are connected
with the 248 positive mitzvos and the 365 sinews connected to the 365 negative
mitzvos, we are enabled to have our bodies spiritually uplifted and spiritually
connected with Hashem. Not only by keeping the actual mitzvos that we are able
to perform nowadays but also by davening and learning, we can also have a
connection with the ones that unfortunately we are not able to perform because
there is no Bais Hamikdosh or alternatively, the ones which belong to
specialised situations.
Let us take another example, this
time of a specialised situation. The Torah tells us כי
תבנה בית חדש ועשית מעקה לגגך,
if you build a new house, you need to put a fence around the roof. What happens
if somebody never built himself a house or has a house with a sloping roof and
no flat roof at all etc.. By learning about the mitzvah one achieves an
affinity with the mitzvah as well.
Sometimes the Torah itself gives
us a clue as to cause and effect. We are told ולא תקח
שוחד כי השוחד יעור עיני חכמים,
one may not take bribery because this will cloud the judgement of wise people
etc. I have read stories of such happenings where the person taking bribes
became blind which is really the literal translation of יעור
עיני חכמים. By taking a bribe
and “turning a blind eye” this can actually lead to physical blindness.
Maybe we could take a further example
from the third Parsha of Shema, ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם
ואחרי עיניכם למען תזכרו etc. You should not explore after your heart
(for forbidden pleasures) or after your eyes (for impermissible images) in
order than one should remember to keep a spiritual balance and, therefore, keep
all the mitzvos and be Holy Jews. One can see nowadays, the interplay between
degenerate images which can found very easily on the internet etc. and which
has the exact opposite effect of us keeping mitzvos and being Holy.
I mentioned earlier on that there were prime mitzvos
which I thought were comparable to parts of the body which are impossible to
keep alive without. I started off with Shabbos as the mitzvah and the brain as
an example of a very important part of the body. I think that one can take this
a little further, that, in fact, the Shabbos is comparable to the head, and the
brain in particular. Shabbos is the most important part, the Head of the week.
As far as Shabbos is concerned, it has two mitzvos, זכור
את יום השבת and also שמור. These
practically are the mitzvos asei, the positive command to Remember Shabbos and
the negative to Guard against not performing one of the 39 מלאכות, the works
which one may not carry out on Shabbos. I believe that one can compare this with
the brain which produces positive things for a person to do and also controls
the negative side.
There are, of course, certain
mitzvos that we do not understand and they are called חוקים, statutes, for example, shaatnes, namely, that
one may not wear wool and linen together. May I suggest that similarly, there
are organs in the body which we do not understand the function of, for example,
the appendix.
To sum up, the more we personally
can perform the mitzvos which are available to us nowadays, as well as
davenning and learning about them, and supporting people who are studying and
davenning with kavonnah, the more we will be spiritually at one with all the
mitzvos of Torah, all the 613 mitzvos and, therefore, have a strong and growing
affinity with Hashem.
Somebody who is not capable of
learning can create a partnership similar to that the two tribes יששכר and זבולון
participated in. Namely, that זבולון was the merchant who earned money and contracted to keep יששכר who sat
and learned Torah. That is a very high level of affinity and there are examples
of people, even nowadays who do so.
We must never forget the כח דרבים, a
minyan who can recite numerous דברים שבקדושה, for example leyning a Sefer Torah and the
shechinah dwells among them. Therefore, davenning with a minyan is very
important
Many of the 613 mitzvos are בין אדם לחבירו,
mitzvos between one person and another. They are directly connected with מידות טובות,
good qualities that every person is supposed to work on. Let us just quote a
few:-
The Torah states ואהבת לרעך כמוך, love
a fellow Jew as you love yourself. Not only רעך a fellow Jew who keeps mitzvos but also ואהבתם את הגר
The Torah also commands us, לא תעשק שכיר עני ואביון מאחיך או מגרך אשר בארצך בשעריך. In short, if somebody hires a worker
whether he is Jewish or a Ger, and he has to pay him that day, the Torah quite
clearly states that this is a mitzvah asei, namely that you have to pay him
before sundown for work that is carried out the previous night or pay him
before the next sunrise for work which was carried out during the day.
I recall a story, I believe,
regarding Rav Eliashiv who was unfortunately on the way to a leviya for one of
his close relatives, I don’t remember whether
his wife or his daughter, and he stopped on the way looked for money and
gave it to somebody with instructions to pay a worker. Even in such
circumstances, when one would understand it if the money was not paid by the
due time, he was careful to do so.
There are, of course, numerous
other positive mitzvos which are connected with middos tovos.
Among the negative mitzvos we are
enjoined not to transgress, we find לא תגזול and
לא תגנוב
The difference between them is
that גזל
means robbing somebody in public and people can see and know about it, whereas לא תגנוב means
that this is carried out in private without anybody knowing.
In addition to these two mitzvos
which are general rules, the Torah goes into detail on occasion, for example, לא יהיה לך בכיסך אבן ואבן גדולה וקטנה לא יהיה לך בכיסך אפיה
ואיפה גדולה וקטנה אבן שלמה וצדק יהיה לך איפה שלמה וצדק יהיה לך. The Torah tells us that one may not have
weights and measures which are deliberately faulty, they must be 100% accurate.
The Torah carries on, interestingly למען יארכו ימיך in order that your days should be
lengthened. We see that here, the Torah actually gives a special brocho to
people who keep this mitzvah properly.
The Chofetz Chaim when he lived
in Radin was busy with Torah and mitzvos but his wife had a small grocery shop
open, so that they should have some parnoso. There was another Yid in the small
townlet of Radin who had a similar shop but as people got to know of the צדקות, the
righteousness, of the Chofetz Chaim, they started buying more and more from his
wife rather than the other shop keeper. The Chofetz Chaim decided that this was
not acceptable and his wife only kept the shop open for half a day each day.
This still did not help very much and the Chofetz Chaim was worried about the
loss and aggravation he might have caused another Yid. In addition, the Chofetz
Chaim was very worried about weights and measures. He always insisted that
their scales should be checked very often and that, if anything, extra should
be given rather than the exact weight.
Finally, after some years, by
which time he was publishing his own seforim and selling them himself and,
therefore, had a certain amount of income from this other source, he decided
that his shop, run loyally by his wife, should close down. Even them, once he
decided to close it, he had a well dug in the town which everybody was entitled
to use free of charge. This was just in case he had, by accident, overcharged
or given underweight unknowingly.
We know that the Chofetz Chaim
lived to a very ripe old age, in his 90’s למען יארכו ימיך.
I am also reminded of a story
that happened to me many, many years ago, where I had a client who was
considering whether to use a tax scheme which was then very popular. This would
have saved him a considerable amount of money. Eventually, he came back to me
and said that he would not go ahead with the scheme because “he wanted to sleep
peacefully at night”. By ensuring that one has the right scales being used,
people can achieve lengthier lives because they can sleep peacefully at night.
We are all aware of how the
Chofetz Chaim publicised and emphasised the strictures against loshen hora and
rechilus, which, of course, are written in Torah. These include לא תלך רכיל בעמך and
also there is a mitzvah of מדבר שקר תרחק, to actually distance oneself from any
untruths. This is the only time in the Torah that there is a mitzvah where the
Torah, itself, enjoins us to distance ourselves from something wrong תרחק!!
We all know how difficult these
mitzvos are to keep, how nasty situations are created by idle gossip and
statements made which often are half truths.
Performing the above mitzvos,
even when it is difficult, enables us to improve and perfect our middos.
The sedras we have been reading
over the past few weeks have basically all been about Yaakov Avinu and his
children. Yaakov is known as the בחיר האבות, the chosen one, the special one of the
Avos. We are further told that whereas Avrohom served Hashem with chesed,
kindness, Yitzchok with gevura, stressing the fear of Hashem, Yaakov Avinu
employed a mixture of the two and therefore, came to שלימות, a complete oneness with Hashem. חז''ל tell usהראשון שופרה של יעקב מאין שופרה
של אדם the beauty,
meaning the spiritual level of Yaakov Avinu reached that of Odom Harishon,
before he ate from the etz hadaas.
We can also understand a further מאמר חז''ל, a saying
of our chochomim, namely that the Avos kept the Torah before it was ever given.
They had achieved such a level of oneness with Hashem that all their 248 limbs
and all their 365 sinews did what Hashem wanted them to do, namely, His will,
even before the individual mitzvos were given to us at Har Sinai. They elevated
their whole physical being to a very high level.
We might be forgiven for thinking
to ourselves, how can we, individually, reach such a high level. We are
approaching Chanukah and we all know the miracle that took place with the
menorah, the oil that should have only lasted one day, or maybe less, lasted
for eight days. This was because the B’nei Yisroel at the time showed such a מסירת נפש such
extraordinary bravery and dedication to do what Hashem wanted and not turn
aside from the ways of Torah and because of that they merited supernatural
help.
We, ourselves, can also achieve
much more than we think if we dedicate ourselves to keep the mitzvos available
to us nowadays, properly. To learn Torah, support Torah daven with kavonnah
and, of course, improve our middos.
All this will help to tone our
bodies up and B’Ezras Hashem, keep us healthy, physically as well as
spiritually.
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