We ventured further into Chapter 9 today.
The Ramchal’s insights into laziness, anxiety and rational fear continue to amaze me.
Today contrasted rational fear for one’s safety with imagined fear used to excuse laziness.
Worth a listen, as always…
Audio is below.
All audio classes are available by clicking podcasts on the top of this page. Or just click here.
You can also [...]
Posts under ‘Messilas Yesharim’
Mesillas Yesharim 12/06/09
Mesillas Yesharim 11/22/09
Today’s class was another really informative and relevent topic.
We learned about fear, worry and anxiety.
With anxiety affecting tons of us it was interesting to find sources bemoaning the difficulty of dealing with anxiety as well as its debilitating nature.
Very enjoyable class, as always.
Audio is below.
All audio classes are available by clicking podcasts on the top of [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 11/15/09
Last week we talked about the Healthcare plan that was ratified by the house the night before.
This week we got back on track and started Chapter 9.
In my opinion, this was one of the best Mesillas Yesharim classes to date. The Ramchal was so insightful and I shared an insight of my own which I [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 11/1/09
Today, we learned the methods of acquiring zrizus.
Ramchal hearkens back to the methods of acquiring zehirus that we studied earlier and for the benefit of us all, we reviewed them together.
Along with any review comes new insights and understanding. Today was no different.
Audio is below.
All audio classes are available by clicking podcasts on the top of [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 10/25/09
We began today’s class by delving deeper into the ground-breaking concept we studied last week.
Basically, the Ramchal teaches us that we can use our physical actions to arouse spiritual and emotional change.
We discussed a number of applications for the concept.
Then we began the next chapter.
Audio is below.
All audio classes are available by clicking podcasts on the [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 10/18/09
After a Holiday break, the Mesillas Yesharim class returned today. Today’s class was a bit shortened due to the extra long Rosh Chodesh prayers.
What was short on time was long on content. The end of the Seventh Chapter of Mesillas Yesharim contains what I find to be the most profound insight in the entire text.
We [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 9/13/09
Chapter 7 continued with more inspirational words to help us do our Mitzvos with more Zrizus.
We completed Zrizus part A, beginning your good deeds with speed and we began Zrizus part B, completing your good deeds quickly.
There was also a short discussion on good review habist for Mesillas Yesharim. Aside from reviewing by listening online [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 9/6/09
Today we began Chapter 7 of the Mesillas Yesharim. Having established that Zrizus is the opposite of Laziness the Ramchal explains how and when we must implement Zrizus.
We need to know how to use good behaviors to maximize their benefits.
Learn all about it by listening to the class below.
All audio classes are available by clicking podcasts [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 08/16/09
I returned to Venice after a short Summer break and today we resumed our Mesillas Yesharim class.
Highlights today included a very interesting insight from Maimonides regarding laziness and the “Golden Path”. My father told me that in the Shmona Prakim, Maimonides gives a very surprising opposite to laziness.
Messilas Yesharim 6/6/09
We began Chapter 5 of Messilas Yesharim.
Ramchal begins to define for us the word “Zrizus”.
The basic idea we learned this week was the parallel from Zehirus to Zrizus.
Zehirus helps us avoid morally harmful activity. Zrizus helps us take action to do morally good activity.
We also discussed Sotah and some of the ideas that were mentioned [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 05/24/09
You may recall that last week we did not get any further in the Messilas Yesharim text.
Oh yes, we had a great discussion about getting serious about life. We devoted much of our discussion to clothes.
Clothes has been a hot topic at the Pacific Jewish Center lately.
Yesterday, we supposed to talk about the number 50 [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 05/24/09
After a wonderful Rosh Chodesh morning services we began our weekly foray into the depths of Ramchal’s Mesillas Yesharim.
Last week we began to learn about the detriment of scoffing or sarcasm to out spiritual growth. The general principle is that one who is incapable of seriousness about life will not be able grow spiritually. This [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 05/17/09
This week we ventured further into the detriments to watchfulness.
The last two weeks (catch up here and here) have focused on setting aside time for Torah and spiritual growth. This is to avoid becoming mired in materiality and neglected our spiritual needs.
Today we moved on to the next detriment. The next thing Ramchal teaches us [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 05/10/09
Moving right along in Chapter 5
We quickly reviewed last week and continued until we wrapped up category number 1 of “things to avoid’ so as not to hinder our “Zehirus”.
The main idea is to avoid overwhelming oneself in materiality.
Also, a discussion ensued regarding our natural resistance to morality. It’s like a magnet pulling us towards [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 05/03/09
Mesillas Yesharim was electric today!
The 5th Chapter is all about avoiding the things that may hinder our ability to be “watchful”. We need to know what we are doing before we can improve our actions. We need to avoid traps that will take our minds off of watching what we are doing.
This is in the [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 04/26/09
…And we’re back. After a brief hiatus the Mesillas Yesharim class returned today with a bang.
We completed the fourth chapter of Mesillas Yesharim!
We began our class today with a re-reading of what we studied during our last class (just added – sorry about that).
It was just as incredible as the first time we studied this [...]
Mesillas Yesharim 03/15/09
Incredible.
Today we learned about an amazing concept in Judaism. We learned Ramchal’s reconciliation of a very important conceptual contradiction.
We learned recently that we believe GD’s judgment is exact. He is truth and truth is absolute justice. We use this to contemplate the consequences of our actions. When we contemplate the consequences of our actions we [...]
Messilas Yesharim 03/08/09
We changed the clocks the night previous to this class. You can tell because I sound extra groggy!
Walking along Ramchal’s “straight path” we continued to analyze the impact of our actions.
There are no small things, nothing gets brushed under the carpet. Meditating on this idea can help us remember that all of our actions all [...]
Messilas Yesharim 03/01/09
We had a really exciting class today. We began the most practical method for instilling watchfulness in our lives and this sparked a very vibrant discussion.
Ramchal mentions many situations where great people in Jewish history going back to Biblical times found that their actions, while nearly perfect, demanded retribution from GD.
The questions were insightful and [...]
Messilas Yesharim 02/15/09
This week we did a review of the first way Ramchal provides to inspire us to be watchful. This is a method useful for very spiritual people who just need a small push to get them started on the path of watchfulness. Then we went over the second way to become watchful. This way is [...]
Messilas Yesharim 02/15/09
Last week PJC was honored with a guest speaker and the Messilas Yesharim class took a one week siesta. The class returned this week.
We took another step forward along the “Pathway of the Just”. We continued Chapter 4 and learned how to channel our thirst for respect into inspiration for growth.
We also had a discussion [...]
Messilas Yesharim 02/01/09
Today we began the 4th Chapter of Messilas Yesharim.
The 4th Chapter deals with the method by which we can acquire the very useful characteristic of Zehirus (watchfulness). The fist step in the process is study of Torah. By studying sections of Torah that deal with inspiration and motivation we can give ourselves a much needed [...]
Messilas Yesharim 01/25/09
Today we completed the 3rd chapter of Messilas Yesharim.
Perhaps the most famous of Ramchal’s ideas is present in this week’ section. I won’t ruin it for you so you will need to check it out for yourself…
As we completed the section we talked about practical applications of “Zehirus” and in what ares we need watchfulness. [...]
Messilas Yesharim 01/18/09
As we continued the 3rd Chapter we learned more about the necessity for watchfulness. Ramchal compares each of us to merchants which must check, double check and triple check our wares to ensure their quality. Similarly, we must check our actions for their quality.
There was a tangential discussion about how the Rabbis will use verses [...]
One Month Anniversary & Best of the Blog (So Far)
Well it has been one month for me on the blogging trail. I must say, I quite like it. I like the idea of expressing myself to an infinite (sometimes reluctant) audience. If the world stops being interesting to me then the blog posts will probably end. I don’t think that is going to happen [...]
