Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

June 12th, 2021

The Rebbe of Peasetzna, ZTZ”L HY”D, wrote about the difference between symptomatic treatment and healing. An analogy would be someone with a gastric infection that causes him to regurgitate. If he visits a quack doctor who treats only the symptoms, the infection itself will not be healed. The infection will continue to spread, pus and poisoned blood will increase. The underlying causes will overcome the suppressing drug, and the patie …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

June 3rd, 2021

It may be that the Hebrew word m’funuk and the English word finicky are cognate.  Even if they share an origin, they have parted company in meaning. Rashi defines the term istenis as m’funuk.  (Sotah 11a) Finicky people are picky and often unsatisfied.  They complain more than they suffer. An istenis suffers. Rabbi Yannai says: All the days of the poor are terrible (Mishlei 15:15); this refers to one who is an istenis.& …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

May 27th, 2021

Rabbi Yehuda of Kefar Giboraya, and some say of Kefar Gibor Chayil, taught: What is the meaning of that which is written: “For You silence is praise” (Tehilim 65:2)? The best medicine is silence.  When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Bavel, he said: In the West [in Eretz Yisrael, which is west of Bavel] they say: If a word is worth one sela, silence is worth two.  (Megillah 18a) The best medicine is to refrain from sayin …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

May 6th, 2021

Okay, the title is not quite accurate.  Rabbi Elimelech mi’Lizhensk did not draw this flowchart.  I drew it, based on the Noam Elimelech on Parshas Vayeira and Parshas Shemini.  (Pages 60 and 341 in Pe’ar Mikdoshim edition, 5774) The above diagram shows the hashpaah flowing from Hashem to the parents, who in turn, channel the shefa of Hashem to their children.  The children, seeing, hearing, and feeling Hashem&rsqu …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

April 29th, 2021

V’es Amalaynu, ailu ha’banim.  (Haggadah shel Pesach) Our hard work: this refers to the children:  For they are the hard work of man See how much effort man invests to raise them and teach them derech eretz and Torah, and he also works to leave them money after his death.  (Ritva, cited by Haggadah shel Pesach Misivta, 5774, page 553)   Our hard work: this refers to the children: The main reason that a person works …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

April 29th, 2021

A person should say, Masai yagiu ma’asai lima’asei avosai Avraham, Yitzchak, v’Yaakov? When will my deeds reach those of my forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov? (Tanna Dvei Eliyahu Rabba chapter 25) According to Chazal, we should aspire to be like our ancestors. This is a realistic expectation. Each and every one can be like Avraham our father and like the other holy fathers, and there is no generation in which there is no …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

April 17th, 2021

Igneous rock and logarithm are not musical terms. The slide rule is not about how to conduct yourself at the playground. In case these terms are not at your fingertips, may I remind you: Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic.  Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. A logarithm is a quantity representing the power to which a fixed number (the bas …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

March 26th, 2021

Abaye and Rava were seated before Rabba. Rabba said to them: To whom does one recite brochos? They said to him: To Rachmana [the Merciful, i.e. Hashem]. Rabba asked them: And where does Rachmana reside? Rava pointed to the ceiling. Abaye went outside and pointed toward the heavens. Rabba said to them: You will both become Rabbis.  It is as people say: A cucumber can be recognized from its blossom.  (Brachos 48a) Abaye and Rava were chil …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

March 18th, 2021

Ben Zoma says...Eizehu ashir?  Hasomeach b’chelko.  Who is wise?  One who is someach with his portion.  (Avos 4:1) Someach.  What does that mean? Someach is often translated as joyful.  How often can we joyfully celebrate our portion?  Rav Nachman of Breslov famously taught that it is a great mitzvah to be in a state of simcha always!  Does he mean that we should always be joyful?   Maybe no …
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Author: Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman, LMHC

March 11th, 2021

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi would recite these verses [Tehilim 90] until he fell asleep. How could he do that?  Didn’t Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi [himself] say: One is forbidden to heal himself with words of Torah?  Prevention from harm is different.   (Shavuos 15b) It is permitted to use words of Torah, including Tanach, to prevent harm even though it is not permitted for healing.  During a visit to Boston in 1733, Benjam …
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