HaBeerA Crown of Fragrance
On one small deed, done in a pleasant voice and with a whole heart, that is worth far more than it seems.
Sunday, 30 Tishrei 5787 (Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan)
From "MiShulchan Shlomo" ยท Issue 299 ยท Parshat Bereshit
I was stirred to gather and draw out upright, practical ways of living from the holy writings "MiShulchan Shlomo" (Issue 299, Parshat Bereshit 5787), by our master and teacher the Yanuka, the Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda shlit"a, a hidden mystery of our generation.
From an immense depth, our Rabbi reveals to us the glory of the Kingship of Hashem precisely through the small things: one small practice, and then another small practice, which reach all the way to the Life of all worlds.
Each time, I will take one point from his words and try to bring it down from learning into action.
This week I read a story in "MiShulchan Shlomo" that I cannot stop thinking about. My master and teacher told it, from the book "Or Zarua."
It is the story of Rabbi Bonim, who used to bury the dead. One morning he came early to the synagogue, before the congregation had arrived, and saw a man sitting at the entrance. On his head was a crown of fragrant herbs, and its scent was wonderful.
Rabbi Bonim recognized him. It was a man he himself had buried not long before.
"How were you judged in the World Above?" he asked him.
And the man answered: My place is in the Garden of Eden, in a very high place. I was a simple man in my deeds. But one merit stood by me: I used to say the blessings in a pleasant voice in the synagogue. Because of that they brought me straight into the Garden of Eden, and in Heaven they honor me greatly.
๐ฟ Not a great deed. A whole deed.
He was not a great scholar, and he did not build institutions. He had one small thing, and he did it with a whole heart, and out loud.
And that small thing was his ticket to the Garden of Eden.
We are used to thinking that to change something we need a big decision. A plan, a revolution, a new year.
And sometimes the thing that truly changes us is so small that we hardly notice it.
๐ฃ๏ธ A blessing out loud
My master and teacher always tells us to say the blessings over food out loud.
Shehakol, Borei pri ha'etz, Borei pri ha'adamah. Blessings we say dozens of times a week, and usually mumble in a hurry, our mind already on the next bite.
When we bless out loud, something changes. The blessing no longer passes us by.
I hear myself. Whoever is next to me hears, and can answer Amen. And the children learn, without my saying a word.
And suddenly a simple glass of water becomes a moment of thanks.
๐ Honor for the creation, honor for the Creator
And it is not only about blessings. Because in the end, the blessing out loud and the kind word do the same thing: they increase the glory of the Kingship of Heaven in the world.
When I bless out loud, I say plainly: everything is His.
And when I say a kind word to an employee, to a family member, to the person standing in front of me, I give them value and importance. And every bit of value I give a person is, in truth, value and importance given to their Creator, Hashem, may He be blessed.
Each of us can choose a "pleasant voice" of our own.
A warm good morning at home, eye to eye and not from behind the phone. A kind word to an employee, by name. A conversation I answer with patience, even when I am in a hurry.
Small things that no one will write about. But this is what the crown is made of.
๐งญ Three small steps
- Choose one deed. Not ten. One, that you do every day. For example: a blessing out loud over everything you eat and drink.
- Do it slowly. Pause for a second before. Have intention. Say every word.
- Do it in a pleasant voice. Not like someone fulfilling an obligation, but like someone singing. The pleasantness is part of the deed.
๐ My crown
The end of the story moves me most of all. Rabbi Bonim asked the man what the crown on his head was.
And he answered: These are fragrances from the Garden of Eden. I place them on my head to take away from me the bad smell of this world.
In other words, his small deed did not only bring him in. It also cleansed him of what had clung to him along the way.
I think that is true here too, in this life. One blessing out loud, with a whole heart, cleanses the noise of the day. It brings me back to myself.
So this week I suggest that each of us choose one small thing, and do it in a pleasant voice.
Shavua tov u'mevorach ๐น
Yaniv
โจ From the Great Light to the Small Deed
I was stirred to gather and draw out upright, practical ways of living from the holy writings "MiShulchan Shlomo," by our master and teacher the Yanuka, the Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda shlit"a, a hidden mystery of our generation.
Our Rabbi is great beyond measure, and we cannot grasp his greatness. And it is exactly here, in my eyes, that a great wonder lies.
From an immense depth, from the secrets of the Torah and the heights of heaven, he reveals to us the glory of the Kingship of Hashem precisely through the small, simple things of life.
One small practice, and then another small practice. One deed you can do today, and another you can add tomorrow.
What seems far, high and complicated to us, our Rabbi brings close, breaks into small steps, and gently leads us into the service of Hashem within everyday life.
Here, in the kingdom of this earth. At home, in speech, in thought, in how we treat others, and in every simple act.
And those small practices, whose greatness we sometimes barely notice, act and reach all the way to the Life of all worlds.
And from this awakening came the desire to write: each time to take one point from our Rabbi's words, to reflect on it, and to try to bring it down from learning into action.
Not to grasp the depth of his words, but to begin walking in their light.
One small step, and then another small step.
of our master and teacher the Yanuka, the Gaon
Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda shlit"a
Issue 299 ยท Parshat Bereshit 5787 ยท 4 pages, in Hebrew, ready to print
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