Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe

People are afraid of joy. They are afraid they'll get out of hand and lose control.

These people haven't experienced real joy -- the joy that comes from doing something G-dly and beautiful with all your heart. The fact is, there is nothing that will lift you higher. Where there is that joy, the Divine Presence can enter. Where there is that joy, there are no pits to fall into, and all obstacles evaporate into thin air.





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
17 Shevat, 5764 * February 9, 2004

There are three ways to bring unity between two opposites:

The first is by introducing a power that transcends both of them and to which they both utterly surrender their entire being. They are then at peace with each other because they are both under the influence of the same force. But their being is not at peace -- their being is simply ignored.

The second way is by finding a middle ground where the two beings meet. The two are at peace where they meet on that middle ground -- but the rest of their territory remains apart and distant.

The third way is to reveal that the essence of every aspect of the two beings is one and the same.





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
16 Shevat, 5764 * February 8, 2004

Above, before its descent, the soul steps higher each day. And that is a prison, because the soul is G-dly and G-dly means infinite and for a G-dly being, stepping higher each day is standing still.





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
14 Shevat, 5764 * February 6, 2004

The ego is not a source of strength. It is weakness in disguise.

Inside there is invincible strength. Remove the cloud of the mind's ego, and the inner power will shine through.





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
18 Shevat, 5764 * February 10, 2004

Why do parents love their children? Because the lower world reflects the higher world. And above, there is a Parent and He loves His children.

Why do parents of an only child have such unbounded love for their child? Because this is the truest reflection of the world above: Above, each one of us is an only child, and His love to us is unbounded.





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
10 Shevat, 5764 * February 2, 2004

In prayer, we are taught, we must stand in perfect stillness, as though overwhelmed and absorbed in the Infinite Light.

But should we lie? Should we pretend to be so far beyond what we really are?

No -- it is the truth. Within, we are truly there. Our minds, our hearts and our egos may not know the true magnificence of our souls, but the physical body reflects it.

It is so often the case: the most lofty can find no other place to appear but in the most lowly.

If you were there and the Romans or the Babylonians were about to destroy Jerusalem and you had the power to do something about it, would you sit and mourn and cry? Or would you turn the world upside down?

So what is stopping you? Overturn the world today!





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
9 Shevat, 5764 * February 1, 2004

We pray and He answers with blessings. But we ask, "If you are giving us blessings, already, why in such clumsy packages with so many strings attached?"

And He answers, "If you are giving me your innermost heart and your beautiful soul in prayer, why in so many thick layers of ego? Why such coldness? Why do you hold back your tears?"

"I'll make you a deal," He says. "You unravel your souls from their packaging, and I will remove the cloudiness from around your blessings."





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
6 Shevat, 5764 * January 29, 2004

How could it be that a prayer goes unanswered?

Some will tell you that every prayer is answered, but sometimes the answer is, "no."

Those who say this do not understand the secret of prayer. For prayer is when a consciousness below breaks out of its ego and causes delight to the Consciousness Above. And when delight is brought Above, it must return below.

So some will tell you that, yes, the prayer is always answered, but perhaps only in a spiritual realm. Not always can a prayer affect the coarseness of our material world.

But this cannot be, for the consciousness below did not pray for a spiritual blessing, but for a material one. From the place the prayer came from, to there the blessing must return.

Rather, it must be that every prayer is answered, in our world, now, for the one who prayed and for that which he prayed.

The problem is only in the packaging -- that it is packaged in the artifacts of our coarse and dark world, so that at times we cannot see through the wrappings to discover the answer to our prayer.

But there will be a time when all of us will return to the One Above with all our hearts, and then all the concealment of this world will be shattered. The wrappings will fall away and we will see how each prayer was answered in its time. And we will hold all the blessings of all those millennia in our hands.





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
5 Shevat, 5764 * January 28, 2004

Intellect is inadequate because not all things can be explained. Intellect needs faith.

Faith is impotent because truth remains forever unreal. Faith needs intellect.

But they are opposites, as contradictory as nothingness and existence. Faith surrenders. Intellect asserts its own reality.

Miraculously, there is wisdom: The vision to see the truth as it is and quietness to let it enter without loss.





A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
30 Cheshvan, 5764 * November 25, 2003

Abraham worshipped idols as did his father, Terach. Abraham was an intelligent man, as was Terach. But Abraham came to recognize the falseness of the idols, while Terach stayed behind.

Because Terach never truly believed in the idols and never truly worshipped them. But when Abraham worshipped idols, it was with all his heart, mind and soul, every hour of the day and night. It had to be real. Everything Abraham did had to be real. And therefore, he found truth.

Do you only believe when you can see with your eyes? When your prayers are answered and miracles carry you on their wings? Or do you also believe when circumstances fly in your face?