Twerski on GYE - Members Share
"All My Needs"
I heard Rabbi/Dr.Tweski speak a couple of days ago and he asked, "why is the bracha of 'she'asah li kol zarki - He did for me all my needs' in past tense, when the other birchos hashachar are in present tense? He answered that chazal didn't want people to make the bracha while thinking, "hey, I don't have this and I don't have that, and Hashem still hasn't fixed this or that problem". Only when we look back on things later can we realize that we had everything that we needed, and that He did indeed provide it to us.
Hopefully, very quickly, we will be able to look back and see how far we have come and things will start being better for us. And hopefully we'll even merit to see that this struggle was good for us all along
One Day at a Time
I have the zechus of hearing Rabbi/Dr.Twerksi speak most days for a few minutes in between Mincha and Maariv. Today, Hashem gave me some much needed chizuk. Rabbi Twerksi asked the famous question from the parsha, what does the pasuk mean that Yaakov's waiting for Rochel felt like "yammim achadim"? Why did it feel quick, it should have been the opposite? And he answered something we all have heard many times, but it resonated a lot more with me today. He said that one of his patients, an alcoholic, once gave him the answer. He said what is "yamim achadim"? Singular days. HE TOOK IT ONE DAY AT A TIME!!! That is what made it manageable. He didn't say, "Ok, it's time to work for 7 years". That would be too hard. Instead, he said, "let me work today". And that's exactly what we all need to do!
While I have obviously heard this many times before on this site, it really struck me the way he said it. My Maariv was definitely different, and hopefully I can start living more right now.