Nesivos Shalom Working on Middos: Recent Episodes

Reb Yirmi

This is a weekly chabura on erev Shabbos. We are learning chelek aleph of Nesivos Shalom. It covers the most essential and foundational topics in yiddishket and how to practically live by them.

The sefer Nesivos Shalom is one of the most popular Seforim in the world. Most people learn the Slonimer Rebb’s Torah on the Parsha and Moadim. However, he also wrote Seforim on foundational topics in Yiddishkeit. Emunah, Bitachon, Dveykus, and Purifying one’s Middos are a sample of these topics. In this series we’re working on purifying our middos.

If you have any questions or comments please email YirmisChabura@gmail.com Check out the other chaburas Nesivos Shalom - Shabbos Likutei Moharan - Rebbe Nachman Niggun Chabura Bitachon For Real

סולם של תורה

The pain within our conscience that paves the way for Torah

The only way to dveykus is with cleansing and refining oneself

We need a middos cleansing in order to acquire the Torah

Dveykus to Torah through bittul

The way to ביטול

Torah affects the entire person and at all times

Hashem’s big mussar shmooze before giving the Torah

The big, subtle yetzer hara

Taking the crown

מתוך לא לשמה בא לשמה

Torah LShma and into the soul

A second understanding of תורה לשמה

What’s so big about this Shabbos?

Only with Torah can one fight the yetzer hara

Living high up in the sky and looking down

The results of learning Torah L’Shma

The expanded vision of Torah L’Shma

The great revelation and benefits of Torah L’Shma

20/20 vision

The ways and type of Torah L’Shma

Torah closes the gap and reveals the truth

Next section in Nesivos Shalom on Torah

We’re moving to Nesivos Shalom - Torah

The top of the Holy Mountain - Bittul

Think what Hashem wants

Living above your nature and changing your middos / Kedusha

Middos and Kedusha are the two pillars that יהדות stands upon

Middos middos middos

Do what’s good in Hashem’s eyes

Seize the auspicious moment!

נשיאת חן

New Teshuva for this Elul!

How we can learn from the wicked

Desiring Kedusha

Dveykus is the key

תשוקה

The root of all desire - and way to destroy bad taivos

Being the 7th maamer

Deep tikkunim

Shabbos is the ultimate Tikkun

Only mesiras nefesh

Advice to help our Kedusha

Torah is the tikkun

No one is fully cast away

Kedusha and Bittul

100% pure or 100% impure

The wonder regarding our Avodas HaKedusha

3 areas to guard Kedusha and 3 ways to increase Kedusha

Tahara and Kedusha

Proactive Holiness

עשה טוב שבקדושה

Continued from last week

Shovavim - the way to purifying that which we never thought possible

Preparing for Shovavim

The first derech in Avodas Hashem

make a choice

Fortifying the weakest stronghold against the attack of the yetzer hara

New maamar

Deepest desire

Realigning the most important middah

One of the most important middos!

What brings the world to cruelty and destruction?

The thoughts and feelings of the heart determine your actions

Nesivos Shalom on Succos

Thoughts feelings actions

יצר לב ויצר מחשבות

Tests that are above nature brings bracha that are above nature

Chizzuk and advice to working on Kedusha

Proper cheshbon hanefesh part II

Proper cheshbon hanefesh

Getting clarity within oneself

The severity of p’gam habris in nigleh and penimiyus

Maamar 2 - סור מרע

Last Torah from first maamar

Kedusha in soul, place, and time

Kedusha and Dveykus

Kedusha all the way

Build your ratzon, create your life!

Being the essence of Kedusha

Two levels of Kedusha

We begin the 1st maamar

Part II of middos discusses the sugya of Kedusha

Positivity is everything

The Lev Tov - optimistic and positive

The greatest middah of them all

Choose chessed and ahavah

good middos good life

Connecting to Hashem through middos and building pipeline from emunah and Bitachon into our heart

Purifying middos is choosing life and goodness

Culmination of chessed - sympathy vs. empathy

Making your home into a holy place - chessed Lmaaseh part 2

Chizzuk in avodah and chessed l’maaseh

Being an ish chessed - a deep look into Avraham Avinu

Being an ish chessed - a deep look into Avraham Avinu

Full chessed

Doing acts of chessed vs being an ish chessed. Two different worlds.

The real chessed

All middos are connected and needed to be considered כולו טוב

Getting to the essence

Deepening our good middos

No end to middos as middos allows one to live with Hashem

Acquiring good middos doesn’t only mean uprooting bad middos

New section on acquiring good middos - review of middos work

Finish up sugya of the “root evil”

Fighting the war - The source of evil

Know thy warfare

Proper thinking - we get depressed to easily and the yetzer hara beats us

Being weak and depressed vs being alive, strong, and energetic is the foundation that everything stands on

What allows the deep rooted evil within us to grow, spread, and flourish?

Still digging - What is p’gam habits and why it wreaks havoc in our lives

Getting to the root of the matter - problem is that the roots are deep and even when you find some roots that are visible there are others that are hidden

We need to daven to Hashem to help us work on our middos and find the root problem. Best advice is to transfer energy of רע and realign it towards טוב

Page 91 Getting to the root of the imposter within

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Ridding oneself of selfishness Finding your personal mission

Self-איש-ness is the root of all problems no-thing-ness and אין עוד מלבדו is the תיקון

What is the root trait within that is the source of all bad middos? we analyze anger and hatred and see where they really come from

Purifying bad middos through specific mitzvos and through emunah

We start on page פז getting into the root of bd middos and we learn that EVERY middah has an appropriate balance

A person’s life is dependent on what he considers to be ikkar vs tafel

Bring the light of Hashem in and you’ll see where to begin

We learn about high level and holy ways to work on our middos

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Stop looking outward and blaming someone or something else and start looking inward - it’s the only way to true Middos

The true definition of success Looking to uproot the bad Middos

We continue understanding the importance of Middos so we are willing to put in the time and effort to purify them

The Rebbe teaches us the whole point of Sefer Breishis is to guide us to working on our middos

We continue by discussing the intellectual, emotional, and behavioral middos and how they are interconnected.

We continue on page 78 in Nesivos Shalom “A” We discuss practical advice according to the Noam Elimelech how to start purifying our middos

We start the actual work on purifying our middos. The goal is to attain a mastery over our heart and mind...the proper actions are only the tip of the iceberg.

Final piece in the introduction

The introduction continued

Introduction to purifying our middos