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What to make of this emunah story?



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amother
OP


 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 9:15 pm
I was skimming thru garden of emunah in shul today. I read a story (page 121 for those that have the book) that the author was experiencing a bad tooth ache on shabbos that would require a root canal. Since he couldn't go to the dentist on shabbos he went out to a private area outside and considered why hashem is giving him this nisoyon. He realized something he'd done wrong and why hashem was giving him tooth pain. He was mekabel not to do it again and basically did teshuva. The swelling went down and the pain went away and he was recovered.


1. Is this story true? Did it really happen as the author says it did? I'm skeptical. I don't believe hashem runs the world this way.

2. What is the message? That if we have emunah hashem tangebly takes away our pain and suffering. That is simply false.

The book is FULL of similar stories. Big problems disappearing for people with emunah.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 9:37 pm
I think that Breslov is very big on regular "mefashfesh b'maasav." Which is a very fundamental idea. But not something most of us do when presented with a nisayon. In fact, we generally do NOT make such correlations. Sometimes someone will be presented with a serious situation and talk to a wise person who will say, it sounds like this is something you should work on. Not that it'll be THE answer and everything will clear up. If it does, wonderful, but at least we should get the message that we need to work on something and that working on a better connection to Hashem in itself is a win.

But don't we all have those days where we see such correlations? It doesn't happen too often but it does happen. We can't help but wonder if x happened because we did y. And if we "listen to our messages" (Rabbi Frand wrote a book, Listen to Your Messages) we might repair whatever happened. But no dramatic happy ending.

I think that there is so much Breslov thought has to say. I'm actually blown away by some of the conversations I've had with very highly developed women in the community. But I've had to wonder if these sefarim are best learned WITH someone to bounce things off of. Hopefully you'll hear from more people in different time zones.

ETA: One can say this about other sefarim etc. out there, not just Rabbi Arush.
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amother
Hawthorn


 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 9:39 pm
I personally couldn't read that book. I really tried, because I'm struggling with my emunah and so many people recommend it, but most of it was either unbelievable to me, or I had the same reaction as you, this is not the way Hashem works. As we all know there are so many tzadikim and talmidei chachomim who have lots of emunah and daven with emunah and do all the right things, and they still struggle.
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amother
Dimgray


 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 9:47 pm
Personally, I found the book not to be for me.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 9:47 pm
amother [ Hawthorn ] wrote:
I personally couldn't read that book. I really tried, because I'm struggling with my emunah and so many people recommend it, but most of it was either unbelievable to me, or I had the same reaction as you, this is not the way Hashem works. As we all know there are so many tzadikim and talmidei chachomim who have lots of emunah and daven with emunah and do all the right things, and they still struggle.


I have to confess, I never read the book. When it came out I heard a lot - that I don't really remember now - that led me to the conclusion that one needed to read it with someone else if not familiar with Breslov thought. Maybe this was part of it. But like I said, there are other books, etc. that have the same issue.
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amother
Marigold


 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 9:52 pm
The story sounds like Xtian Science to me. My own tooth pain is definitely due to my sins: many years of underconsumption of milk, overconsumption of sweets and other sticky foods and failure to brush and floss afterwards.
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amother
Dahlia


 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 10:13 pm
I personally find that then way one chooses to live their life is the way things go. So in this story if this is the way this man consistently runs his life then it works for him. But wouldn’t work for you and me if we don’t live this way.
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amother
DarkOrange


 

Post Sat, Oct 16 2021, 10:40 pm
It's sixty years since the trial of Adolf Eichmann traumatized a country, eighty years since the Holocaust. How quickly we forget the millions of men, women and children who went through unfathomable suffering. Were they all sinners? Chas veshalom we should think that for a second. Emunah doesn't mean happy endings. It means coming to the realization that Hashem runs the world and we have to believe in His truth, His justice, His great kindness, even as we struggle through dark days when it's hard to believe. We know there's a reward for even the smallest good thing we do, but this world is a place where we don't necessarily see it. Teaching our kids that every sad story gets a happy ending if only the protagonist says the right word or thinks a happy thought, that every question can be answered, that life is a bowl of cherries, can be dangerous. At the right age we want them to know the truth, that people went to the gas chambers singing ani maamin and then died al kiddush Hashem. We pray never to be tested that way but we all have our struggles. We can help and support each other by admitting that, not by pretending to live in a fairy tale.
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amother
Yarrow


 

Post Sun, Oct 17 2021, 7:28 am
amother [ DarkOrange ] wrote:
Emunah doesn't mean happy endings. It means coming to the realization that Hashem runs the world and we have to believe in His truth, His justice, His great kindness, even as we struggle through dark days when it's hard to believe. We know there's a reward for even the smallest good thing we do, but this world is a place where we don't necessarily see it. Teaching our kids that every sad story gets a happy ending if only the protagonist says the right word or thinks a happy thought, that every question can be answered, that life is a bowl of cherries, can be dangerous..


Wow this is amazing, well said.
Needed to hear this today.
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