“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing, that you will heed the com-mandments of the Lord your G-d, which I command you today; and the curse, if you will not heed the commandments of the Lord your G-d, but turn away from the way I command you this day, to follow other gods, which you did not know.” (Devarim 11:26-28)

The Alter Zutshka Rebbe teaches us that in this week’s parsha we find a hint at what Chazal taught us in Pirkei Avos (2:12) that “whatever Hashem created in this world He did so solely for His own honor and glory.” This means that whatever natural tendencies and ingrained attributes we as human beings possess, these too can all be harnessed to serve Hashem.

Even the vice known as arrogance and pride, it too serves a positive benefit in avodas Hashem. Using ga’avah we can fulfill the pasuk (Divrei HaYomim II 17:6) to expand and up-lift our heart in the ways of Hashem. We can also harness pride in the face of those who would mock us or shame us and despite them, we can continue in avodas Hashem unabated, as we are instructed in Shulchan Aruch )(OC 1:1).

Whenever we embark on the path of avodas Hashem we begin with the insincere and ulterior motives known as She’Lo liShmah - insincere avodah, since as Chazal promise (Pesachim 50b) “if we start off even She’Lo liShmah eventually we will succeed to serve Hashem LiShmah.

Therefore our pasuk tells us “Re’eh Anochi” see the “I” in everything. See and recognize your own anochiyus – your own selfish ‘I’ that stems from the vice of midas ga’avah (arrogance and false pride).

Hashem says “I place (that I) before you today as a blessing and a curse.”I am giving you this feeling of self esteem and it’s your choice and your decision how to use it, as either a blessing or a curse.

You can utilize the anochiyus as a berachah, when you strengthen your resolve against peo-ple who mock and shame your avodas Hashem. When they put you down, steel yourself against them.Serve Hashem with true pride and self esteem be proud of being a Jew and an eved Hashem. However if you use this attribute of self love and aggrandizement to bolster your selfish ego and to be vain and arrogant then it shall be a curse a kelalah.

Lovingly Dedicated in Memory ofReb Avraham ben Yitzchok Isaac of

Caracas, Venezuelawho passed away 16 Av

dedicated by his daughter Golda Nash of Miami

Lovingly Dedicated in Memory ofRav Meir Isaacson ben Rav Shlomo of Roman

Author of Mevaser Tov, passed away 30 Menachem Av

dedicated by his daughter the Clevelander Rebitzen tlita

Lovingly Dedicated in Memory ofRebitzen Sarah Lipsha Isaacson Bas Rav Yosef

the wife of our dear friendRebbe Chaim Shulem of Nadworna Philadelphia Shlita

who passed away Chai Menachem Avdedicated by her son Rav Shlomo Issacson Shlita

“The blessing if you listen and hear,” if you say I love myself, and want the best for myself, therefore I shall listen to Hashem’s voice. I will hearken unto Him taking Hashem’s com-mands and advice to go in His ways and merit the coming world of Olam HaBa, then this attribute will be a berachah. And even though this is still self motivated and She’Lo LiShma nonetheless as we said it will lead to sincere avodah LiShma later on.

However, this is not the case if your self love causes you to indulge in luxuries and extrava-gances and exchange a life of Torah and eternity for the false good life of this fleeting pass-ing world. Then the selfish I of anochiyus transforms the blessing into “a curse if you do not listen.”

Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu tells each and every one of us Re’eh see what is before you, this very same middah - the attribute of Anochi, can be either the greatest barrier to prevent you from proper avodas Hashem, as it says “Anochi I am standing between you and Hashem,” (Devarim 5:5) that hints that Anochi can be as a barrier between us and G-d as was taught by the Maor vaShemesh in the name of the Zlatshuver Maggid. But that very same middah - can be a berachah when we use it to bolster our self esteem to help us listen to Hashem follow His ways and fulfill His Torah and mitzvos.

On a Shabbos when bless the upcoming month of Elul that contains the power of the entire month and so we must ask and daven to see the true path of life. We recite all Elul the Tehil-lim Chapter 27 LeDovid Hashem Ori VeYishi, which hints to us that Hashem is our guiding light, lighting up the path, guiding us like a beacon so we can find the right way lighting the path so we don’t falter or stumble or take a wrong turn this should be the focal point of all our tefilos and requests all month long during Elul and the days of judgment and mercy and when we merit this yeshuah we will also merit all the other salvation both physical and spiritual each of us all Amen.

The Berachah of Shabbos Kodesh

“Rebbe! What an honor what can I get you?” the nervous shopkeeper approached the tzadik who sat there all serene on Shabbos watching the hustling bustling business, incongrous-ly dressed in silk beketshe and fur shtreimel Shabbos attire sitting in the open store. “No nothing really just resting a bit.” And so the rebbe sat watching. Eventually he revealed to the shopowner the real reason for his visit, “I wanted to see for myself what a nisayon it is to have to close your store on Shabbos and now I truly understand after watching the custom-ers and seeing how much business goes on.” The shopkeeper couldnt believe his ears was the rebbe saying he understood his predicament? “Rebbe I am so sorry but yes now you can see for yourself that Shabbos is one of my busiest days and I cannot just close my store and lose so much money I cannot afford to lose all this business.” “Lets make a deal then,” the rebbe said, “You will calculate how much you earn on Shabbos, and I will pay you the same amount to close your store, do we have a deal?” The shopkeeper eventually agreed and the rebbe would send the money secretly so the man’s angry wife would not find out! Eventually he told the rebbe to stop sending the money, his profits did not diminish they increased after keeping Shabbos!

Those were the years after the war and hundreds of Jewish owned stores were open on Shab-bos itself back then. The Jewish shopkeepers refused to close and lose the large amount of business that shoppers brought on Shabbos. The weekend was the height of sales and profits, as customers received their Friday paychecks and rushed to spend them and shop.

The Zutshka Rebbe spearheaded the initiative and during his tenure in America established the chevras Shomrei Shabbos with the goal of reawakening the spirit of Shabbos and getting the store owners and shopkeepers to close their stores. To achieve this goal the Zutshka reb-be waged a war of love and darkei noam. During the week he had a Shomrei Shabbos truck and parade like floats that advertised the consciousness of Shemiras Shabbos messages. And week after week on Shabbos itself, he lead a small group of loyal devoted G-d fearing Jews. They awoke early in the morning they davened early and would begin entering the stores as they opened going from one to the other pleading with the store owners and shopkeepers, crying passionate tears of pain to please close and shutter Jewish stores and businesses on Shabbos Kodesh.

He did his best to speak with each man on his own terms in his own language. Once they explained that that they could not give up on the immense profits and the rebbe promised them that they would not lose out instead the berachah of Shabbos would repay them the lost profits. Indeed there were those who believed with emunas tzadikim in the tzadik’s berachos and accepted upon themselves to close up shop. Later they would testify that it was all true and their profits never suffered because of Shemiras Shabbos. Some were more hesitant to believe and the rebbe accepted upon himself the responsibility to cover them and that they should calculate what they earned and he paid them up front what they were afraid to lose, all so long as they would close their stores on Shabbos until they themselves witnessed that they did not lose out!

Some refused despite all efforts and when someone once asked the rebbe why he persisted week after week at the seemingly fruitless endeavors. The rebbe responded that “Even down here in this world they do not seem to listen I know that up in Shomayim my efforts sweeten all the harsh judgments. My efforts always bear fruit.” And they did. Shop after shop, store after store closed on Shabbos one after another. Persuasive efforts, campaigns, protests all added up. The Rebbe’s son in law of Chadeira Nadworna once tallied up a total of 130 stores that closed their doors on Shabbos, all thanks to his father in law, the Zutshka rebbe’s efforts.

The Sadigura Rebbe zatzal, who passed away this week, attending the Rebbe’s daughter’s wedding Cheshvan תשע“ח

The Shomrei Emunim Rebbe zatzal, who passed away this week, attending the Rebbe’s daughter’s wedding Adar תש“פ