Quote of the Month

Everything that is written in the sayings of the elders—rebukes on transgressions, castigations and hard sufferings, snow and thorns, series of fasts, and tortures—are only remembered for those who have no labor in the Torah. But the person whose virtuosity is Torah, and who is familiar with the wisdom and awe of the Lord, will [act according to] the following regulation: he will not weaken and will not cancel his study, but once a week he will distance himself from [his] fellow men. He will be alone with his Creator, and his thoughts will connect to Him, as if he would already stand before Him on Judgement Day. He will gently talk to God, blessed be He, such as a servant [talks] to his master or a son [talks] to his father.

 

(El‘azar Azikri, Sefer Ḥaredim)