TROUBLES

FROM THE PEN OF FRADEL BERGER 1929-1983

                         TROUBLES


                You're worried and troubled
                About everything
                Wondering and fearing     
                What tomorrow will bring


               You long to tell someone
               For you feel so alone
               But  your friends are all burdened
               With cares of their own


               There is only one place
               And only ONE FRIEND
               Who is never too busy
               And you can only depend


               That HE will be waiting
               With arms open wide
               To hear all your troubles
               That you come to confide


               For our holy Al-mighty
               Will always be there
               When you seek HIM you find HIM
               In your daily prayer 

HAPPINESS

FROM THE PEN OF FRADEL BERGER   1929-1983

                                Everybody everywhere
                                Seeks happiness it is true
                                But finding it and keeping it
                                Seems difficult to do


                                Difficult because we think
                                That happiness is found
                                Only in places where
                                Wealth and fame abound


                                 And so we go on searching
                                 In palaces of pleasure
                                 Seeking recognition
                                 And monetary treasure


                                  Unaware that happiness
                                  Is just a state of mind
                                  Within the reach of everyone
                                  Who takes time to be kind


                                  For in making others HAPPY
                                  We will be happy too
                                  For the happiness you give away
                                  Returns to " shine on you"

TORAH

I LOVE LEARNING TORAH,
SHASS AND POSKIM THAT IS
MY BIGGEST DREAM OF LIFE.

IN LAST WEEK'S PARSHA, RE'EH IT STARTS:
" BEHOLD I SET BEFORE YOU A BLESSING AND A CURSE.
THE BLESSING.
IF YOU LISTEN TO THE COMMANDMENTS,
THE CURSE,
IF YOU SHALL NOT  LISTEN TO THE COMMANDMENTS."
RE'EH WRITTEN IN THE SINGULAR,
LIFNEICHEM  WRITTEN IN THE PLURAL.
IF ONE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY  TO REBUKE,
A GROUP ( PLURAL ) THAT WILL PROBABLY NOT LISTEN,
HE SHOULD DO IT REGARDLESS THE UNLIKELY CHANCE
THAT ONE PERSON ( SINGULAR ) MIGHT BE INSPIRED.

THE TORAH TELLS US TO REFRAIN FROM DOING THINGS,
DISTANCE OURSELVES FROM THE PRACTICES OF NON-JEWS.
AN EXAMPLE: IT MAY BE THAT IT IS FORBIDDEN FOR US TO
PLANT TREES TO DECORATE OUR SHULS,
BECAUSE OF THE PROHIBITION OF FOLLOWING THE
STATUTES OF THE NON-JEWS.

INDEED IN HIS TESHUVOS THE MAHARSHAM RULES
THAT,FOR THIS REASON, IN AREAS WHERE THE NON-JEWS
HAVE SUCH A PRACTICE IT IS FORBIDDEN FOR JEWS TO
PLANT TREES.

MY QUESTION TO THE RABBIS AND RABBONIM,
WHY DO THEY NOT SHOW THE WAY
SPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO HOLIDAYS.
NOT FOLLOWING THE WAY OF THE NON-JEWS.
EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE IS WITH YIREI SHAMAYIM
AND MESIRUS NEFESH OF SELF SACRIFICE
TO PASS ON THE MESSAGE OF G=D
OF TORAH  AND MITZVOS,
TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. 

THE ROSH YESHIVA

YEARS AGO I WENT TO A SEED MEETING IN
HASMONEAN HIGH SCHOOL IN HENDON.
THERE WERE OVER A THOUSAND PEOPLE THERE
ABOUT 600 MEN AND 500 WOMEN.

THERE WAS ONLY ONE SPEAKER, THE FAMOUS
MANCHESTER ROSH YESHIVA RABBI SEGAL. ZT,L
HE STARTED OF HIS DROSHE:
"YOU MAKE A BROCHER EVERY DAY:
BLESSED ARE YOU, HASHEM, OUR G=D KING OF THE UNIVERSE,
FOR NOT HAVING MADE ME A GENTILE."
THE ROSH YESHIVA SHOUTED FOR OVER TWENTY MINUTES
THE BROCHE YOU MAKE IS A LIE,
A BROCHE LEVATOLA.

YOU DO NOT MEAN IT ! !
YOU COPY THE GOYIM,
YOU BEHAVE LIKE THEM !
YOU RESPECT THE GOY'S LIFE
YOU WANT TO BE A GOY ! !
HE DID NOT GO INTO DETAILS.
HE ONLY SHOUTED THIS FOR TWENTY MINUTES,
"YOU WANT TO BE A GOY!"

I MUST TELL YOU THAT IT CHANGED MY LIFE.
SPECIALLY EVERY MORNING WHEN I MAKE THIS BROCHE
I WANT TO BE A YID ! !

IF I WERE I

THE KOTZKER REBBE SAID ABOUT LIFE:
"IF I WERE I AND YOU WERE YOU,
THEN I WOULD BE I AND YOU WOULD BE YOU.
BUT IF I AM I  BECAUSE YOU ARE YOU ,
AND YOU ARE YOU BECAUSE I AM I,
THEN I AM NOT I.
AND YOU ARE NOT YOU."

IF YOU COME TO THINK OF IT GUR
WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TO-DAY
THE HERITAGE OF KOTZK,
NOT ONLY GER HAS DRIFTED FAR AWAY
FROM THE ORIGINAL CHASSIDUS.
BUT OTHER CHASSIDIC DYNASTIES
HAVE DRIFTED AWAY FROM THE 
ORIGINAL CHASIDUS.
THE ONLY THING THEY HAVE LEFT,
IS THE WAY THEY DRESS.

THE SAME AS WE ARE SO IMPRESSED BY THE GOYISHE
WORLD, LIKE JOE LOBESTIEN BEING MAYOR.
ITA SIMONS AND OTHERS GETING O.B.E. OR M.B.E.
OR THE  LATE CHIEF RABBI BEING MADE A LORD AND HIS WIFE
A LADY, MY THEY REST IN PEACE.
THEY WANT GOYISHE RECOGNATION,
WHEN I CAN GET RECOGNITION FROM THE GOISHE WORLD ON
MY BRAINS AND DEEP UNDERSTANDING.

THAT THE B.B.C. FINDS IT WORTH WHILE TO
MAKE A PROGRAM ON THE WAY I THINK.
JOE AND ALEX WILL NOT GIVE  ME OR ANY OTHER
" FRUM FROM BIRTH " JEW A PLACE AS DIRECTOR
OF THE AGUDA OR EDITOR OF THE JEWISH TRIBUNE,
THEY ONLY LOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BA-ALE  TESUVA.

INDIVIDUAL​ITY

BY MY REBBE, THE BEIS YISROEL, CARED ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL PERSON.
I ASKED MY DEAR WIFE,  " DO YOU THINK IN TODAY'S
CASSIDIC AND JEWISH ORGANISATIONS,
THE RABBIS OR THE RABBONIM CARE ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL  PERSON?

EVERYBODY NEEDS RECOGNITION  AND WANTS TO BE VALUED."
NOT JUST THE RICH OR PEOPLE WHO THE CASSIDUS OR ORGANISATION
CAN HAVE VALUE FROM.
 IF THESE RABBIS OR RABBONIM  DON'T GIVE THE  RECOGNITION
 THEY NEED,THEY WILL GET IT FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

THE ONLY THING THAT OSHER SHAPIRO DOES IS
TO STOP THE DROP-OUTS BECOMING DROP-OUTS. 
HE GIVES THEM TIME, RESPECT AND RECOGNITION
BUT SOMETIMES THE PAIN FROM THE PARENTS NOT
UNDERSTANDING THE CHILDREN HAS CAUSED PAIN THAT
CAN NOT BE RECTIFIED.
THE PARENTS AND THE LEADERS OF THE COMMUNITY SAY
TO THEM " YOU ARE CAUSING US EMBARRASSMENT
BY THE WAY YOU BEHAVE."
THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

NEARLY ALL MY NEIGHBORS HAVE GONE ON HOLIDAYS, POOR OR RICH.
YOU MUST NOT SAY I CAN NOT AFFORD IT.
EVEN IF YOU CAN'T, THE CHILDREN
MUST NOT KNOW THAT YOU CAN NOT AFFORD IT.
IT IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO SAY TO THE CHILDREN
WE ARE CAN NOT A AFFORD IT.

YOUR SITUATION IN LIFE IS FROM G=D.
BUT WE DO NOT TEACH THIS TO THE CHILDREN.
RABBBI AND RABBONIM LIVE THERE LIVES
AND PASS ON THE WRONG VALUES IN LIFE

THE BEIS YISRAEL

FIRST OF ALL I HAVE TO THANK NACHMAN SELTZER
FOR THE LOVELY ARTICLE 18  AUGUST 2011
THE REBBE'S LETTER.

MY NAME IS GABY LOCK I CAME TO GER AFTER PESACH 1962.
IT WAS ONLY HALF A  YEAR AFTER THE OPENING OF THE
BEIS HAMEDRASH.
IT WAS FRIDAY NIGHT BEFORE THE TISH OF THE BEIS YISROEL
ABOUT 9-20 P.M.
I WAS SITTING ON A SIDE TABLE WITH ITCHE MEIR ALTER AND A FEW
OTHERS TALKING.
ITCHE MEIR ALTER WAS THE SON OF SHIMON ALTER ,SADLY HE DIED VERY YOUNG.

SUDDENLY A TALL NON FRUM MAN WALKED PASSED US GOING TO THE STAIRS
TO GO INTO THE BEIS HAMEDRASH.
HE HAD HIS HANDS IN HIS TROUSER POCKETS AND NO HEAD COVERING
I WANTED TO GO UP TO HIM AND TELL HIM THAT YOU
CAN'T  GO INTO THE BEIS HAMEDRASH LIKE THAT,
BUT ITCHE MEIR SAID TO ME,
" DON'T SAY A THING TO HIM. FOLLOW HIM AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS."
AS HE CAME UPSTAIRS AND WENT THROUGH THE BROWN DOORS
IT WAS 9-25 P.M. AND THE BEIS YISROEL CAME INTO THE TISH
IT WENT ALL QUIET.

A BIG CIRCLE OPENED UP AND THE BEIS YISROEL WALKED AROUND THE BEIS HAMEDRASH,
TO SEE WHO WAS IN THE BEIS HAMEDRASH, TO SEND SOME PEOPLE
INTO THE TISH, THIS MAN WAS STANDING
IN THE FRONT ROW STILL NO HEAD COVERING AND HANDS IN HIS TROUSER POCKETS.

A YUNGERMAN, AVROHOM WEISSMEAL SAW THIS AND STOOD IN FRONT OF THIS MAN .
THE BEIS YISROEL SAW THIS AND RAN UP TO AVROHOM WEISSMEAL AND SHOUTED:
 ( I AM TRANSLATING IT INTO ENGLISH )
 "IN MY BEIS HAMEDRASH YOU DON'T PUSH PEOPLE,
BY ME EVERY BODY HAS A PLACE."
AVROHOM WEISSMEAL MOVED AWAY
AND THE BEIS YISROEL  LOOKED AT THIS MAN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
FOR A FEW MINUTES.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MAN I DO NOT KNOW.
WHAT I DO KNOW  IS THE LESSON I LEARNED,
BY THE RIBBONO SHEL OLAM EVERY BODY HAS A VALUE.

MY REBBE

MY DEAR WIFE AND I ARE AT THE STAGE IN LIFE WHICH WE GOT TO WITH A LOT OF TOIL AND TRUST IN THE RIBONO SHEL OLOM.
WHERE I CAN OPEN MY LIFE STORY AND TELL YOU STORIES ABOUT US AND HOW WE WORKED TOGETHER TO BRING INTO OUR  LIFE LOVE FOR EACH OTHER
AND THEN LOVE FOR THE RIBONO SHEL OLOM.

NUMBER ONE, THERE MUST NEVER BE A LIE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU.
GOOD OR BAD THE TRUTH MUST PREVAIL AS TRUTH IS THE NAME OF G=D.
AND WHERE TRUTH IS, G=D IS THERE EVERY MINUTE OF YOUR LIFE.
THIS WITH THE HELP OF G=D I HAVE PASSED ON TO MY CHILDREN.

THE BEIS YISROEL SAID TO SOMEONE:
IF I PROMISE HIM SOMETHING THEN IT IS A PROMISE I WILL NOT BREAK IT.
I KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO WAS VERY NEAR TO THE BEIS YISROEL.
THE REBBE CAUGHT HIM TELLING  A LIE, HE WAS FINISHED. HE STILL HAD A PLACE BY THE REBBE. EVERYBODY HAD A PLACE. BUT IT WAS NOT THE SAME AS BEFORE.

BUT IF YOU TOLD HIM THE TRUTH, HOWEVER BAD YOU WERE,
YOU STILL HAD A PLACE BY HIM.
I USED TO COME EVERY YEAR FOR ROSH HASHONA TILL
AFTER SUCCOS TO THE BEIS YISROEL.
SOME LONDON PEOPLE DID NOT LIKE ME IN GUR .THEY STILL DON'T .
SO THEY SENT A MESSAGE TO THE BEIS YISROEL
THAT GABY LOCK WATCHES TELEVISION.

AFTER SUCCOS WHEN I WENT PRIVATELY INTO THE BEIS YISROEL
WITH A QUITTEL, JUST BEFORE LEAVING FOR LONDON,
IN MY QUITTER WAS WRITTEN ASKING A BLESSING FOR TORAH LEARNING.
THE BEIS YISROEL TURNED TO ME WHILE HOLDING MY QUITTEL IN
HIS HOLY HAND.
HE ASKED ME: " YOU WATCH TELEVISION ? " ( THIS WAS BEFORE I MADE PROGRAMS )
IN THE SECONDS THAT PASSED, I THOUGHT IN MY HEART,
HOW CAN I LIE HOWEVER BIG THE EMBARRASSMENT IS ?
I ANSWERED HIM :"  I HAVE A BIG DESIRE TO WATCH ,
I DO NOT HAVE DESIRES TO SMOKE OR DRINK,
BUT IN HALF AN HOUR I CAN UNDERSTAND THINGS WHICH
WOULD TAKE ME HOURS TO READ IN BOOKS
AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS  ARE MUCH BETTER ." 
HE LET ME STAND IN FRONT OF HIM FOR TWO MINUTES ( THAT WAS VERY LONG ).
THEN HE STRETCHED HIS HOLY HAND OUT AND SAID TO ME
BE CAREFUL AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.

I ASKED FOR A BLESSING THAT I SHOULD HAVE A DESIRE FOR TORAH LEARNING
THE SAME AS I HAVE TO WATCH TELEVISION,
 HE BLESSED ME WITH THAT.
 THE BEIS YISROEL, WHEN YOU STOOD IN FRONT OF HIM, 
BECAME YOU AND UNDERSTOOD YOU.
EVEN THOUGH HE WAS FAR AWAY FROM YOUR BEHAVIOUR.
"THEY TREMBLED BEFORE HIM
YET THEY BEGGED TO BE ADMITTED INTO HIS PRESENCE."

DOING TESHUVA

MY DEAR WIFE WHO  WAS ON THE TELEVISION PROGRAM, SHOOK HANDS WITH THE GOY.
SHE COMES FROM HOLLAND WHERE EVERY SHABBOS
AFTER DAVENING YOU SHOOK HANDS WITH THE ROV.
WHEN SHE WENT TO SEM. AT EIGHTEEN SHE CHANGED THAT
AND TOLD THE RABBONIM IN HOLLAND THAT SHE CAN NOT
SHAKE HANDS WITH THEM ANYMORE.
THEY WERE VERY ANGRY WITH HER BUT SHE HAD GUTS.

AS SHE SAID IN THE PROGRAM THIS WAS A MISTAKE.
IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF TRAGEDIES SPECIALY IN STAMFORD HILL. 
THE RABBONIN AND RABBIS ARE QUIET AS THEY ARE ON HOLIDAY
SOME IN NAZI AUSTRIA OTHERS IN ANTI-SEMITIC SWITZERLAND, ARE THESE NOT SIGNS FROM G=D TO REPENT OUR WAYS.
SPECIALLY IN  BEHAVIOUR ONE TO THE OTHER.
WHEN ARE THE RABBONIN  RABBIS GOING TO HAVE  THE GUTS
OF MY WIFE AND TELL THEMSELVES! !
THE RESPONSIBILITY THEY HAVE AS RABBONIM AND RABBIS.

IT IS SAD THAT GABY LOCK ON HIS BLOG HAS TO WRITE ABOUT THIS.
BUT MY DEAR WIFE HAS A LIST WHERE SHE PRAYS EVERY DAY
IN THE  MORNING FOR ALL THE CHOLIM IN TOWN ETC,ETC,
AND WHEN SHE HEARS ONE OF THEM HAS PASSED AWAY
SHE SITS DOWN AND CRIES HER EYES OUT,
DO THESE RABBONIM AND RABBIS FEEL THE TROUBLES,
OF ANOTHER PERSON AS IF IT WAS THEIR OWN?

MOSHIACH

I I AM WAITING FOR THE MOSHIACH, YOU KNOW WHY?
BECAUSE I AM WAITING WHEN JEWISH PEOPLE WILL BE ONE
NOT ONLY ORTHODOX AND NON ORTHODOX, BUT ORTHODOX AND ORTHTODOX,
LITVISHER AND CASSIDIM
SEFARDIM AND ASHKANEZIM.
ONE CHASSIDC ORGANISATION WITH THE OTHER.

THEY WILL ALL SEE THAT THE MAIN AIM IN LIFE IS TO BELIEVE
AND PRAY, DO MITZVOS AND LEARN TORAH FOR HASHEM.
AS IS WRITTEN:
HASHEM WILL GIVE MIGHT TO HIS PEOPLE,
HASHEM WILL BLESS HIS PEOPLE WITH PEACE.

AS THE BEIS YISROEL OF GUR TOLD ME
THAT THE ONLY WAY TO OVERCOME THE YETZER HORAH
IS THROUGH TORAH LEARNING AND NOTHING ELSE.
THE YETZER HORAH WILL LET YOU DRESS AND DO ANY MITZVOS
YOU LIKE EXCEPT FOR TORAH LEARNING.
THE MORE TORAH LEARNING WE HAVE THE MORE PEACE
WE HAVE AMONGST OURSELVES.
THE NEARER WE GET TO THE MOSHIACH.

THERE IS NO WAY TO BRING JEWS TO BE ONE
ONLY THROUGH TORAH LEARNING, EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY.
TO PASS THAT ON TO YOUR CHILDREN WITH G=D;S HELP.
IF YOU SEE THAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE LEARNING TORAH
AND PASSING THAT ON TO YOUR  GRAND CHILDREN,
THEN YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A PLACE BY G=D.
THE MAIN AIM IN MY LIFE IS TO SPREAD HOW IMPORTANT
TORAH LEARNING IS TO G=D.

IT DOES NOT MATTER WHICH MEDIA YOU USE TO GET THIS
MESSAGE OVER TO ORTHODOX JEWS AND NON ORTHODOX JEWS.
PASSING ON G=D'S MESSAGE ( IN WHAT EVER WAY )
IS A KIDDUSH HASHEM .