G-d wants you

Why were the all of the “mothers” of the Jewish people barren?

Hashem wanted to hear em
He was craving the voice of tzadikim[1]

Hashem loves to hear Jews
Even those that don't make the news[2]

Praying is not a shopping list

That part is just the mist

If that’s all you do – you missed the point

Oh and yiddishkeit is not about scoring points

Loving Hashem like a child loves his parent
This love is inherent 

A parent can take care of 10 kids

But 10 kids can’t care of 1 parent

But we try

---

[1] Talmud Yevamos 64a

[2] See list of sources here whether Torah and Mitzvos are to benefit the Jews or Hashem 

Sing to be happy?

Song expresses joy

Song suppresses the opposite[1]

At times we sing to change the mood

Just make sure you know who composed the song

For the new mood might be one you don’t want

You got to know who’s under the hood

Does he live in the hood?

Or is he where he should?[2]

Escaping with a sweet tune

It’s not really an escape

One is really coming home

Tapping into to his deeper self

---

[1] See Sefer Hamamorim 5680 p. 15 about these two forms of song

[2] General sources in Torah about non-Jewish music see here, for some Chabad sources see here

Are you an angel?

Do you know any Angles?

I know a few who think they are

Brighter than a star

The truth is quite different…

Angles take baby steps

We take big steps[1]

Their feet might be bigger

But we are the ones with the trigger

We are the movers and shakers

We shake things up

We shake things down

Accomplishments are beyond our perceptions

But one day we will receive our collections

Think a lot

Talk small

Act huge

Real huge

Start moving

Even if we stumble

And fumble

Just don't sit and mumble

All G-d wants is a finger[2]

But the finger he wants

Sometimes a pinkie

Often a thumb

The finger is often worked

Until it's numb

We can take big steps to good places

And we can take big steps elsewhere too

To the zoo...

Places the angel can't go in even 1000 years

We can travel in a flash

So get up and dash!

And then you'll earn the cash

Way beyond your finger

---

[1] Torah Or 30a - bottom of page

[2] Medrash Koheles Raba 1

Yud Tes Kislev with Honey

I was bit by a bee
While I was trying to get some honey

It got me right in the knee

The honey I was hoping to get

Was substituted by “splenda” – what a regret

The Talmud says[1]-

The art of rebuke is hard to find
So try the softer approach

Please don't scream, try to be kind

It used to be that to get the honey

One had to be 40 or 120[2]

Our Rebbe’s found some secret tunnels-

To reach the honey, sifted through funnels[3]

Many Jewish leaders opposed the study of the Tanya

Better stick to the Talmud

Study it with horivanya

Today almost all agree

That we need Chassidus, YIPPEE![4]

With it we stay more focused on G-d

Instead of getting lost in our I-pod

These tunnels bypass the sting of the bees

Give me some more, please, please, please!

The sweetness of the honey

Gets you straight to the money

We serve G-d with joy

No more saying oy voy!

Once I touch the sticky stuff

It really does stick

It shows me how to connect to Hashem

No time for shtick

These secret tunnels of the world we must share[5]

Love G-d with all you heart

No reason to fear

Yet fear of Hashem is also a must

The bee’s make the honey

In Hashem we do trust

---

[1] Erchin 16

[2] Shach Yora Deah 246:106

[3] See Kuntres Etz HaChaim (Rashab) Ch. 13

[4] http://www.aish.com/jl/h/cc/48954961.html

[5] See Kuntris Etz HaChaim ibid.

Have you got some change?

Change

Sounds strange

Is this some political stage?




Why not ask for big bucks?

Maybe it's not about the big things




Oh the little stuff

I think I like this

Maybe my 1 will turn into a 100 or maybe a 1000




Elul is supposed to be about change

Well the weather does sometime change

Don't they talk about the "Elul vint [winds]"?




Did you ever have a pauper turn down a penny?

I once had it thrown back at me

[I did hear they are talking about discontinuing the penny]

Maybe G-d doesn't want the change to be that small...

Inspired

The Gerer Rebbe center ("Imrei Emes") c. 1930 looking "inspired"

So inspired 

I'm not getting tired

I feel very wired

Yet I know this will eventually fade and get expired

I don't want this to end

I want it to continue on end

Getting inspired is something I highly recommend

Your spirit it will mend

You folly it will bend

To get it, cash you need not spend

It can come in a moment 

It can come at any time

In me it does come

In me it does chime

It does eventually decline

After is subsides

You might feel a low

You feel slow

It's out in the distance

A far away crow

It will probably return 

For that we can yearn

Our desire does burn

We wait out turn

Maybe it, we need to earn 
In the intern 
We can use that inspiration
And become like a 'new born'
We can grow tall like yellow corn [1]

[1] See Torah Or 31a, Tzidkas Hatodok 1

Holy Sweat

When he first arrived we were skeptical

To this Yeshivah being smart, was not enough

To be accepted to Tomchei Temimim, you cannot be a bluff

This boy looked like tough stuff

He was so full of puff

Yes he had mastered much Talmud

But his heart is no too refined

Can he become one of our kind[1]?

The Rebbe Rashab told his son

We might have a chance

To mold this boy

And mature him into the real McCoy

His face is so ‘rough’

Will he always continue to scoff?

In preparing the wheat for Matzah

Give him the most grueling jobs

When it comes to the baking

Make sure he sweats the most

For this he will not boast

His ego will become toast

He did not complain

He did not sigh

This Yeshivah is based on honesty, love, trust and dedication

In this Yeshiva no student ever asked why?

When it came to checking for chometz

He was asked to do it all

He was not through until he was about to fall

It was not till five in the morning

The Rebbe Rayatz said to bed you will not go

Learn this mammar

Till the birds start to crow

Then at seven I will test you on it

He had better know it well, every bit

After the test he went to pray

He thought to himself, what a day!

He had no time to go to rest

For it was his job to set up for the seder

And this could not be pushed off till later

The next day the Rebbe Rashab said to his son

I think, I know, with this boy we won

True growth is not always fun

But look at his face

To me it looks so warm

So full of embrace

So full of grace

It’s no longer what it was before

This is what this Yeshiva was made for

The transformation is this young man

Came from the ‘sweat of the Mitzvah’

When you toil in a Mitzvah with all you’re might

You’ll sore and fly up like a kite

We might not recognize you when you’re through

You might need a name badge

For us to know it’s you

---

[1] See Lekutei Diburim Vol. 1 p, 165 regarding an application sent in 1907 Avraham Eliyahu to be accepted to Tomchei Temimim the new Lubavitcher Yeshivah at the time run by the Rebbe Rashab and his son the Rebbe Rayatz.  This poem is based on that story of his acceptance.