I just submitted my latest Sefer to Amazon. It should be available for sale next week
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Table of contents to my new Sefer on Parnossa
AAmulets 17
Beis Din Judges Poskim Rabbinical Authorities 18
Bitachon 21
Acquiring and Strengthening Bitachon 21
Advice from Gedolim? 25
Benefit and Harm are only with G-d’s Permission 26
Choice of Life with Bitachon or Effort 27
Combining Torah and Work 29
Competence – Significant for Success? 31
Definition 32
Different concepts – Ramban vs Chovas HaLevavos 36
Everything that happens is good? 37
Life Insurance 38
Luxuries also 41
Protects from Harm 41
Questioning G-d – Don’t 45
Rely on it 45
Righteous not relying on Bitachon 72
Righteous Suffer even with Bitachon 75
Sinners also helped? 76
Talking 78
Types and Levels of Bitachon 79
Yakov was afraid 84
Yosef was the epitome of Bitachon yet was punished 85
Blessing 87
Berachas Cohanim- Priestly Blessing 88
Consequences - Significance 96
Mitzvah 102
Pleasure 102
Source of Beracha – Good/Evil 105
Torah 105
Tzadik 106
Curses 107
Blasphemy- Cursing G-d 107
Consequences 112
Examples 113
Father or Mother 115
Forgive 115
Harmful 116
Harmless 117
How 117
Jew 119
Oneself 120
Prohibition 120
Punishment 122
Reason 123
Removing 124
Ordinary person curses 124
Talmid Chachom 124
Talmid Chachom or Tzadik curses 124
Why 125
Working 126
Charity 126
Amount to give 126
Benefits - Consequences 130
Mitzva 133
Damages 142
Divination and Darchei Emori – permitted for health 147
False Belief 147
Permitted 147
Prohibition 151
Used For Medicine permitted 154
Economic Competition or Interference - Hasagas Gevul 157
Examples 157
Rabbinic or Torah Law? 164
Teaching Torah 164
Effort – Hishstadlus 164
Amount - Type 164
Bitachon – shows lacking? 169
Bitachon results from Effort 170
Blessing 170
Choice of Life with Bitachon or Effort 171
Curse 172
Definition 173
Dependency 175
Difficult 176
Father obligated to Teach Son 176
Indicates importance 178
Insurance 178
Love Work 179
Male vs Female 179
Man was created to toil 180
Medicine 180
Minimize 181
Minimum or no effort with bitachon 181
Miracles are minimized 190
Motivation 191
Move to Another Place 191
My Strength 192
Prayer 198
Punishment 202
Secular Studies 203
Stops Sin 206
Success always requires? 208
Success and knowledge 221
Success not dependent on amount or type of effort 222
Success Always Attributed to G-d 231
Trade is Important 240
Trade desirability is individual 246
Working vs Fearing Heaven 247
Evil Eye- Good Eye 247
Avoid because of Evil Eye 247
Good Eye 249
Harmful 250
Protect Against 253
Why harmful? 256
Honesty 256
Lending Money 267
Leniency if there is financial loss –chosoron kis or hefsed merubah 270
Permit Torah Prohibition 270
Large loss only 270
Lost objects – returning 271
Mazel luck 272
Accuracy 272
Astrology is prohibited? 273
Astrology connected to Witchcraft 275
Bad Luck 276
Children Livelihood Lifespan 276
Divination 278
Everything guided by mazzal 279
Fortune shines Shaah mesachat 284
Good luck - Mazel Tov 285
Jews influenced by mazel 287
Obligation 293
Outdated and Worthless belief 294
Palm reading 295
Success dependent on mazel 295
Medicine 299
Best Doctors Destined for Gehinom 299
Book of Cures – Why it was concealed 299
Chazal – Disagree 301
Errors 301
G-d cures 301
Good vs Bad Doctor 302
Natural effort – need to go to doctor 302
Need for doctors – Sin causes Illness 310
Medical Views of Chazal differ from Doctors 315
Permission to heal 316
Permitted cures 319
Pikuach Nefesh – Life Threatening 320
Prayer 321
Suffering is desirable 321
Testing 322
Miracles 323
Appreciation 323
Beracha 324
Deserving a Miracle 326
Effort of Man required before Miracle can Happen 327
End of Miracles 328
Everything is miraculous 328
Hidden vs Open 328
Laws of nature 329
Minimize 331
Miracles are built into creation 332
Miracles that happened 342
Mitzvos protect if danger is not common 353
More Common in Previous Generations 354
Natural laws violated 354
Need for Miracles 355
Proof – not to be viewed as Proof 357
Praying for miracle is prohibited 357
Relying on a miracle is prohibited Even for Tzadikim 358
Salvation through Miracles 364
Sign a miracle will happen 365
Sun Standing Still 365
Types 366
What is a miracle 366
Tzadikim can make 369
Oni Mehapech BCharara Interfering with another’s Purchase 370
Definition 370
Parnossa 371
Advice for success 371
Determined on Rosh HaShanna 388
Effort Desirable 390
Everyman’s trade is fine in his eyes 394
G-d Provides all Parnossa 394
How Provided 402
Not Easily Obtained 406
Predestined or Free Will 408
Same as Father’s 411
Spirituality 411
Test 411
Wife : profession compared to loving wife 412
Working vs Fear of Heaven 413
Poverty 413
Always exist 413
Causes 414
Decreed before Birth 418
Definition - Nature 418
G-d Loves the Poor 420
Helping 421
Mocking 425
Poor are considered dead or sick 425
Problems and Benefits 426
Robbing 437
Torah Scholars 438
Tzadik 438
Wheel which impacts everyone 439
Ribis – Usury - Prohibition 440
Secular Studies 467
Segula - Parnassa and Abundance 470
Simonim – signs or omens 480
Permitted 480
Parnossa 489
Prohibited 490
Rosh HaShanna 490
Temimos being Whole Hearted with G-d 492
Bitachon 492
Chanufah is opposite of temimos 492
Definition 493
Mitzva 498
Prohibition 499
Theft 499
Common – most people 499
Consequences 500
Definition - Examples 509
Debts non payment 519
Fraud 519
Mitzva 531
Predestined? 534
Repentance - Restitution 534
Steal from Parents 540
Steal from poor 541
Steal from Rich? 541
Steal from Dead 541
Steal from Non-Jews 541
Steal from Thief 542
Talmid Chochma not a robber 543
Tempting 543
Thief vs Robber 543
Trade 544
Withholding Wages 545
Torah Study and Working 545
Benefits 545
Chazal also worked to earn living 545
R’ Gamliel gave poor students jobs 546
Hillel was a laborer 546
R’ Yehoshua was a charcoal maker 546
Torah study should be combined with working 546
Choose life of bitachon or effort 549
Charity 551
Combining Necessary? 551
Cruel to family as a raven 563
Diaspora only 565
Exclusive Torah Study & Bitachon 566
Financial security required to study 576
Honor Torah 582
If son learns Torah doesn’t have to learn profession 582
Intellect from Torah Study 582
Poor in Torah 582
Poor Scholars 583
Rambam received financial support from brother 583
Rambam would allow if no other way 584
Rich 584
Scholars in early times didn’t have to work 584
Scholars in early times only 587
Segula 588
Taking money for Torah is prohibited? 589
Torah and derech eretz 591
Torah is Primary Work is Secondary 601
Torah Study - without work - is obligatory for the minority 603
Torah Study is Difficult 606
Torah Study is Important 607
Torah Study supported by community 613
Torah Study with charity profanes G d’s name 614
Torah thoughts while working 614
Work interferes with learning 617
Work is a Curse 619
Yisachar Zevulen partnership 620
Tzadikim - Righteous 623
Alive – Truly 623
Angels Greater than 623
Ascetic? 624
Attachment to Tzadikim 624
Atonement Needed? 625
Avraham 625
Baal tshuva is Superior? 626
Become Wicked? 627
Bitachon only for high level 627
Blessing 628
Bounty Source 629
Called by Name of G-d 630
Cancel Merits of Wicked 633
Cannot become poor - law of nature 633
Chanoch Enosh 634
Chariot of G-d 634
Chasidic rebbe 635
NOAM ELIMELECH: 636
Compared to G-d 638
Confronting Wicked 639
Counterpoint to Wicked 640
Create 640
Curse 640
Death of tzadik brings Atonement 640
Decree Against Houses 641
Death Decreed 642
Death – Minimized Pain 642
Death difficult for World 642
Definition - Nature 642
Described as G-d 655
Dies Another Replaces 656
Die Before Time 657
Disobey G-d 657
Doctors not needed 657
Doesn’t suffer from poverty 658
Don’t lack food even without effort 659
Doubts 659
Faith in Tzadik 659
Faith - Lives By 660
Few in Number 661
Finding What was Lost 661
Flourish 661
Forced to be righteous? 661
Foundation of World 662
G-d is Crown 663
G-d is Sanctified through Them 664
G d nullifies decrees because of Tzadik 664
G-d Sees Actions 666
G-d’s Chariot 667
Give Money 668
Good Natured? 668
Greater after Death 668
Greater person has greater lust for evil 668
Handiwork greater than Creation 669
Heresy 669
Imitating? 670
Ish Elokim – Man of G-d 670
Life is only Good for the Tzadikim 671
Many reasons for the suffering of the righteous 672
Miracles - Nature Change- 673
Miraculous protection is only for compete tzadik 673
Misfortune 675
Money is precious to him 676
No fear of judgment either in this world or the next 677
Noach 677
Opposition 678
Partners With G-d 678
Powers similar to G-d 679
Prayers 680
Predestined 680
Protected from all sin and error? 681
Protected if as spiritual as R’ Pinchas’ donkey 684
Protection from Harm 685
Punished 686
Reason World Exists 687
Rebuke Giving 688
Rely on miracles 688
Revealed before Creation 689
Reward 689
Rich 691
Rosh Hashanah 692
Sarah 692
Say little and Do Much 692
Seeing 692
Serving the Tzadik 693
Son of Tzadik 693
Son will not lack sustenance 694
Suffer 694
Suffer first 695
Suffering of Love 695
Suffering is beneficial 695
Suffer for Sins of Generation 697
Tempting 697
Tests 697
Thirty Six or Thirty 697
Too Righteous 698
Tzadik Decree G-d agrees 698
War conducted in natural way - except for tzadikim 699
Wicked Son Prospers 700
Wicked Interfere 700
Women 700
Work not needed so Much 700
Working vs Fear of Heaven 700
Yakov 701
Yashar vs Tzadik 701
Yosef 702
Wealth- Money 702
Acquiring - causes 702
Amount 713
Avoid being Dependent on Others 715
Consequences 715
Decreed before birth 716
Definition - Nature 717
Desire for Wealth 721
Determined on Rosh HaShanna 723
Honor 724
Israel only 725
Money 725
Other people’s Money 728
Predetermined 728
Preserve 729
Problems and Benefits 730
Prophets 738
Rescue by destroying another’s property 738
Solomon- Shlomo 738
Spirituality 739
Steal from Rich? 739
Test 739
Tzadik’s money is more precious to him 740
Undesirable 741
Dedication of my sefer on Parnossa and Luck
Dedication
This volume is dedicated to Rabbi Ronnie Greenwald. He was active in many areas, despite being a successful businessman he devoted his life to the well-being of other Jews. While he ran Camp Sternberg and other business activities, he served as the go to person for anything requiring wise negotiating skills, love of fellow man and patience. He was involved at the highest levels of secular politics as well as with Torah leaders, despite this he was a gentle highly approachable person who was available to all those in need. He was intimately involved in freeing not only Nathan Sharansky from Russia and but others such as Lori Berenson who he visited while she was jailed for life in Peru for alleged terrorist activities.
He traveled the world to provide people in impossible difficulties with real help. He was often called on to negotiate in difficult divorce cases. He was a pioneer in dealing with youth who were on the fringes of society. He even founded a school which dealt directly with young ladies with difficult backgrounds. In short he was a true Torah Jew who was a servant of G-d. He remained a humble and pleasant and easily accessible person despite his many accomplishments.
I met him many times when he came to family simchas in Israel from his home in Monsey. I also corresponded with him by email regarding the issue of divorce. He told me he had had a discussion with Rav Dovid Cohen about the lack of awareness in the Orthodox community about child abuse as indicated by its absence in the Rabbinic responsa literature. Rav Cohen assured him that there must be significant discussions of this important topic but after much effort was able to find only two from 100 years ago.
I also mentioned Rav Dessler’s view that there needed to be universal single minded devotion to only Torah study even if it causes harm to the majority, He agreed that was the dominant view as expressed by the Chazon Ish and Rav Aharon Kotler, but noted this seems to have come about as a reaction to the devastation to not only the nature of Orthodoxy but also the lack of competent leaders by WWII. He added that now after several generation of Torah only that perhaps the emergency situation no longer existed and it might be possible to return to the norm of Torah Study and working.
His wisdom and devotion is sorely missed