BEHAR

"Today is the ... day to the omer."

A person should think in his mind that the saying of these words does tremendous and awesome rectifications (tikunim) in the sephirot of the spiritual realm. He should also think that by this recitation he is causing serenity in those realms and giving satisfaction, so to speak, to the Creator, may His Name be blessed and exalted.

He should then pray: "May it be Your Will... that the Holy Temple should be built... and there we will serve You... and it will be pleasing...."

A person should pray for the building of the Temple with a broken heart and from the depths of his soul. He should direct his prayer to the Creator, may His Name be blessed and exalted, asking that the building of the Holy Temple should take place speedily in our lifetimes in order that we will be able to bring sacrifices there, and this will give satisfaction to G-d, may His Name be blessed and exalted and remembered forever. This is the main kavannah of this prayer which is a further rectification of the sephirah whose tikkun was accomplished by the counting. Because it further rectifies the spiritual realms, it is obligatory upon a person to recite this prayer immediately after the sephirah. All this is according to the writings of the Arizal, and therefore, a person should be very careful about what is in his mind when he is reciting it.

Afterwards he should say with tremendous kavannah Psalm 67, "To the chief musician on neginot, a psalm and song.... G-d, be gracious unto us...." It is also one of the rectifications of the sephirah. Even if it is said with thought to the meaning of the words alone, as they are explained by Rashi, it will arouse within the person a fiery and powerful love for his G-d, may His Name be blessed and exalted and remembered forever. Also, he will be aroused to think about how fortunate he is for the pleasing portion allotted to adorn him. Similarly, he will be aroused to a great desire for the glorification of the Name of G-d in the world because all this is harmoniously included in the words of this Psalm. He should prepare his mind to think about these things, and say each word slowly with great kavannah for the meaning of the words according to the commentary of Rashi. Then, automatically, he will achieve all the proper kavannot.

(Yesod Veshoresh Ha'avodah, Shemini)

There was a lonely and downtrodden Jew who had a reputation for being a thief. People kept him at a distance and shamed him. It happened that he came to the town of Radin where he met our teacher, Rabbi Naftali Tropp z"l, who greeted him kindly. The Rabbi invited the poor man to his home to eat at his table, and he prepared a bed for him to sleep during the night. The Rabbi did not spare any trouble to please the guest during his stay in the Rabbi's home.

The Rabbi's associates wondered what was on between the Rosh Yeshivah and this Jew of questionable character. Rabbi Naftali suspected their amazement, and he said the following.

"Until now I knew that a thief has to repay double if he is caught. If he steals sheep or cattle and slaughters them, then he has to pay four or five times the amount. If he does not have the money to pay, then he is sold into slavery for a maximum period of six years. But I never knew that it is written any place that as far as he is concerned we are exempt from the mitzvah of "hachnasat orchim" (taking guests into our home). Isn't he a Jew? Isn't he a human being like us? Didn't our father Avraham fulfill this mitzvah with everyone, even Arabs?

"It is true, however, that when we take such a person into our himes we are endangering ourselves with the threat of impoverishment. He might steal things from the house. Therefore, we need to take care, watch him and guard ourselves all the time that he is in the house. But this is not a cause to be exempt from the mitzvah."

The house of the Rosh Yeshivah became a place where guests who wandered into Radin could spend the night. There they all felt like honored guests.

Once one of the members of the Rabbi's household told him that one of the guests could not find a bed to sleep in during the night and he gave the man some money to go sleep in a hotel. When Rabbi Naftali heard this he became angry and said, "Why didn't you go to sleep in the hotel. You feel at home here, but you must know that from this day onward the house of these poor people is also here. No member of our family has any more right here than any one of them."

To our beloved brothers who fear G-d and think about His Name, To those communicating one with the other words to strengthen and arouse, rebuke expressed openly because of hidden love, To those participating in the holy convention for the sake of the glory of His Name, may He be blessed:

May you be blessed, and blessed is the reason that you have answered the call of our honorable activists to devise strategems and arouse the hearts to strengthen the foundations of our households and set up fences of holiness against the breaches of defilement, may G-d's mercy save us. The evil inclination runs amok in our generation. It is trying to penetrate into the midst of our institutions and habitations, and break through the fences of modesty and the obligation to guard against reading literature which is not kosher and periodicals which are full of false opinions, heresy and indecency. May G-d protect us from them, because they are poison to every Jewish soul, and especially to youth.

There are parents who not only fail to protect their children from all this, but they themselves are caught up in it. Parents themselves bring the plague into their homes, and they want it, and they do not see any fault with it. For a person who transgresses repeatedly, the sin becomes something permitted. How will the child not sin in the same way?

A person must keep far away from these things. He must run away from watching television, even occasionally, by a neighbor, like one who runs away from fire. These things are like hoses to wash away with their evil waters every remnant of good in the life of a holy people. Their entire purpose is to accustom a person to corrupted ethics and to drive him away from Judaism. The ears of anyone rings when he hears cursed, vile things about G-d and Torah and the voice of the Evil One and his cohorts breaking forth from these things.

These words are being said in a convention of benai Torah, people who watch themselves and who are distinguished in yirat shamayim, may their numbers increase in Israel. It would seem that these words are superfluous in this company which is not suspected of such things, G-d forbid. Nevertheless, it is undoubtable that in these times even the great ones must be warned, if only for the sake of the minors, and everyone must review for himself the prohibitions entailed here. Even the accoutrements of these transgressions are prohibited, as it is written, "Do not go after your hearts and your minds." Tradition has explained that what is meant here is to keep far away from heresy and indecency.

It is fitting here to mention the words of the author of the Sefer Hachinuch in mitzvah #188. Wherever Chazal have warned us, a person is not allowed to stray from their good discipline. Even if he finds himself siezed with lust, he should not say to himself, "Since I find myself in this state, what is the difference if I look. I know that my evil inclination will not be aroused by it." Many have spoken like that and fallen. Concerning this Chazal have hinted that the evil inclination starts weak, and then it gets stronger and overpowers the person. Therefore, my son, take care, and do not let the evil inclination assure you, even if he will give you a thousand guarantees.

(It is worthwhile to see there more of what is written in his beautiful language.)

These words are more applicable in our days than ever before.... A person is likely, G-d forbid, to be caught in these sins, and he is already in the category of sinner and one who causes others to sin. It is obvious that even the slightest lack of scrupulousness in these things will fix the course for his sons and daughters and the people of his household. The damage is not seen at first, but afterwards it is very bitter, and who can straighten it. Furthermore, one who causes others to sin is worse than one who kills him.