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10 Keys To Holding On In Life

by Meir Elkabas
10 Keys To Holding On In Life
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The following is a collection of encouragement for holding on to Emuna in life, along with valuing every drop of good that one can do to please and serve his Father in Heaven.

1. Life is like walking along a very narrow bridge – meaning, that there are many “casualties” to the left and to the right who have already fallen off this narrow bridge…. and the odds of us “making it” along this narrow bridge are against us 1000-1 (see Likutey Halakhot, Yoreh Deah, Beitzim #4). Yet, the true tzaddikim exhort us and encourage us not to be afraid and not to give up – that the odds against us are only possible if we allow the “mirage” to fool us. You must put on blinders and simply look forward!

2. You need what’s called “holy chutzpah” to make it in life. The Torah was given to the Jews simply because they are brazened-faced, namely for holiness. Be tough and don’t let the evil side win you over with depression and thoughts/feelings of futility.

3.  The tests for personal purity are so difficult in life that only with the help, assistance and merit of the True Tzaddikim can one stand up to all of these tests. This is as the Holy Ari teaches that when a Jew sins and thus goes “off the path” he needs the soul of Moses himself to “enter” into him and help elevate him out of the realm of impurity to the realm of holiness… Thus “attachment to the Tzaddikim” is a very necessary ingredient in coming close to Hashem. HaShem purposely gave us the Torah via the Tzaddikim. This can be seen by the fact that Hashem chose to redeem the Jews through Moses, as opposed to directly redeeming them. This is a very delicate and misunderstood subject, but it is extremely fundamental to Judaism, as Rebbe Nachman himself says, coming close and travelling to the Tzaddikim is something that “one’s whole Judaism is dependent upon” (Likutey Moharan #66)

4. The main thing is to express in words your good desires. Even if your actions totally contradict you inner-desires, still express them to Hashem, since they have the upper hand in life. And with enough time, when the good desires accumulate, you will eventually get back everything you lost out on in your quest to come closer to Hashem (see Likutey Halakhot, Choshen Mishpat, Matanah 5-end).

5. Divine Justice is inconceivable. Why am I going through this? What did I do? Where is Hashem? The list of questions goes on and on. Basically, it boils down to the concept of “The righteous man who has it bad, and the wicked has it good”. What do can we do? How do we get out of this dilemma? Only Emuna. With pure crystal-clear faith that Hashem is running the show and that He knows exactly what He’s doing with us… this itself will mitigate the difficulties.

6. The reason why we perceive a “crooked justice system” in our lives is because of a lack belief in Hashem’s justice system, namely that He knows exactly what He’s doing with us. Once we re-accept and reaffirm His presence in our lives “walls begin to move”!

7. Thus a presentable “argument” to Hashem can be: “Hashem! I know that You are running my life. I know that You are just and right in everything you do and in your dealings with me. I recognize that You are behind everything happening to me. But, Hashem, it hurts big time. Please help me accept your justice system with complete emuna…”

8. The greatest Tzaddikim, by lowering themselves to the level of “filth and dirt” are thereby able to elevate and extract the lowest people (those who almost everybody gave up on)  from the lowest depths.

9. The evil one will do “everything” to get you to say the 3 magic words: “I GIVE UP”. He will turn your life upside down, your family, etc…… all in order for you to finally “give in”. This is because the one thing he cannot access is your desire and yearning to be a good Jew and to come ever closer to Hashem, His Torah and His Tzaddikim. For this reason he will uproot everything in order to encourage you to stop yearning and wanting. But as long as a person doesn’t “give in” there is always hope to retrieve everything which is seemingly lost. This is so because the inner desire and yearning of a person is what maintains the entire Creation, it is the essence of everything else.

10. Just as in halakhah the law is regarding finding lost items (HaShavat Aveidah) “so long as we can assume the owner of the item has not given up in retrieving the lost item, it is forbidden for the finder to use or partake of the lost item.” So too on a spiritual dimension, all the potential good which is seemingly lost due to the tricks and tests of the evil one, can be found and retrieved so long as the person does not give up in attaining and perceiving them (See Likutey Halakhot, Choshen Mishpat, Matanah #5:end).

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