Fri Jun 22 '07 - 6 Tammuz 5767

• Verse (Posuk) of the day
  "Thus said G-d of hosts: In those days, it shall come to pass that they shall take hold, ten men out of all the languages of the nations, and they shall take hold in the shirt corner of the person who is a Jew, saying: Let us go along with you, for we have heard, God is with you." (Zechariah 8:23)
  
  
• Gemara (Talmud or Midrash) of the day
  A person who just sits and doesn’t commit a transgression (when he had the opportunity to do so) is given reward as if he would do a good deed. (Tractate Kiddushin 39b)
  
  
• Character Trait (Middah) of the day
  Anger: Become accustomed to speak gently, to every person, and at all times. In this manner, you will be protected from anger, a most evil character trait which causes people to sin. (Iggeres haRamban)
  
  
• Quote of the day
  “Better be a tail for the lions than a head of the foxes” (Ethics of the Fathers 4:20)(meaning: It is better to be a minor member of a good group, than a prominent leader of a bad group.)
  
  
• Halacha (Jewish Law) of the day
  A person is obligated in honoring his father-in-law, and it is therefore why King David called his father-in-law King Shaul: “And my father, see, yea see...”(Samuel-1 24:11) and the same law applies that he is obligated to honor his mother-in-law. The woman as well is obligated in honoring her father & mother in-law. It says in the seifer "Shiurei Brucha" in the name of "Tana Devei Eliyahu" that if a person marries his wife and doesn't honor his own father & mother in their old age, it is as if he would have committed adultery all of his life, that's why the dibra of Lo Sinof (Thou shalt not commit adultery #7 of the 10 commandments) is next to the dibra of Kabed es Avicho (#6 Honor thy Mother and Father), [look in there for more details]. And a person is obligated in honoring his father's father and his father's mother And is as well obligated in honoring his mothers father. And also obligated in honoring is father's & mother's brothers, and upon him shall come a good blessing. (Ben Ish Chai Parshas Shoftim cue 30)

Thu Jun 21 '07 - 5 Tammuz 5767

• Verse (Posuk) of the day
  G-d will establish you for a holy people unto Himself, as he had sworn unto you, if you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your G-d and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of G-d is called upon you and they shall be afraid of you. (Deuteronomy 28:9-10)
  
  
• Gemara (Talmud or Midrash) of the day
  …and had founded his vault upon the earth (Amos 9:6) Another interpretation: It is a commonality in the world that when a person takes a bundle of stalks, he is not able to break it at once. Individually even a child can break it. Same phenomenon do we find by the children of Israel, that they will not attain salvation unless they get together in one bunch. As it says (Jeremiah 3:18): In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north… (Yalkut Shimoni Amos 9 cue 549)
  
  
• Character Trait (Middah) of the day
  Lashon hara: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, instructed his servant Tuvi: “Go to go to the market and bring me something good” Tuvi went out and returned with tongue (meat). R’ Shimon then asked Tuvi “Go to the market and bring me something bad”, again Tuvi went out and returned with tongue. R’ Shimon asked him to explain himself: “when I ask you to buy something good you bring me tongue, and when I ask you to bring me something bad, again you bring me tongue?” Tuvi replied, "When the tongue is good there is nothing better from it, but when the tongue is bad there’s nothing worse from it." / Rebba (R’ Yehuda Hanusi) invited his disciples for a meal, and he brought in soft tongues and hard tongues, upon filling up their plates they chose the soft tongues and didn’t touch the hard ones, so Rebba said to them: “You shall know in the same manner that you preferred to eat only the soft tongues, so to should you use your language in the same manner between each other (to speak softly and not harsh) (Midrash Raba Vayikra 33:1)
  
  
• Quote of the day
  "A Foolish person makes a lot of noise"
  ("Istra balagina kish kish karya" A single coin in an empty vessel makes a loud noise, which sounds like “kish kish” Tractate Bava Metzia 852)
  
  
• Halacha (Jewish Law) of the day
  Since a healthy and fit body is required by Hashem. One cannot understand or know any matters from the knowledge of the creator if one is ill. Therefore, one must keep oneself away from things which damage the body and accustom oneself to things which heal and make well the body. As it is also written [Yalkut Shimoni, Yitro]: "And keep well your souls" (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 32:1)

Wed Jun 20 '07 - 4 Tammuz 5767

• Verse of the day
  How beautiful are your steps in sandals, O prince's daughter! The rounding’s of your thighs are like the links of a chain, the work of the hands of a skilled workman. (Song of Songs 7:2, G-d is saying this about his nation Israel)
  
  
• Quote of the day
  "Words of the wise spoken in quiet are more acceptable than the cry of a ruler among fools." (Ecclesiastes 9:17)
  
  
• Gemura of the day
  It has been taught: Abba Chunin says in the name of R' Eliezer: What is the purpose [of placing the basket upon her hands]? In order to weary her so that she may retract. If the Torah has such consideration for those who transgress His will, how much more so for those who perform His will. (Tractate Sotah 14b)
  
  
• Middah of the day
  Says R' Eluzer: Whoever is a person of flattery, even the fetuses in their mother’s womb curse him...falls into hell. (Tractate Sotah 41)
  
  
• Halacha of the day
  Setting Aside Time for Torah Study at Night: A person should be more careful about learning [Torah] at night than during the day, and one who abstains from it - his punishment is great. If he has a set schedule to learn a specific amount [of material or of time] during the day, and he got involved in his work during the day and did not fulfill it, he should fulfill it immediately at night. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 238 19:1-2)

Tue Jun 19 '07 - 3 Tammuz 5767

• Verse of the day
  G-d is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble and He knows those that take refuge in Him. (Nahum 1:7)
  
• Gemura of the day
  For we have learned: A person should wash his face, hands and feet every day because of his creator (G-d), for it says [Proverbs 16:4]: G-d had made everything for His purpose. (Tractate Shabbas 50b)
  
• Middah of the day
  A person's good, then, is to seek honest friends, who will open his eyes to what he is blind to and rebuke him with love in order to rescue him from all evil. For what a man cannot see because of his natural blindness to his own faults, they will see and understand. They will caution him and he will be protected. (Mesillat Yesharim Chapter XXIII)
  
• Quote of the day
  "The entire purpose of our existence is to overcome our negative habits" (Vilna Goan in his commentary on Mishlei 4:13)
  
• Halacha of the day
  One should not wear expensive clothes, for this leads a person to pride, nor clothes that are too open or dirty, in order that he will not be ridiculed by people, but he should have moderate priced and clean clothes. "A man should always sell even the beams of his house to get shoes for his feet. [Tractate Shabbat 129a]" (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 3:3)