middot diligence

Memory Verse: "Always find something to do - for yourself or for a friend, and don't allow a moment of your life to be wasted." --Rabbi M. M. Lefin of Satanov, Cheshbon HaNefesh

In our own pursuits of being light enough to be moved about in learning and positive growth, we are strong enough to pursue these goals without being shaken or giving up. One who is diligent is eager to learn and grow, persistently working to realize the next level - whatever that may be. The diligent person is never idle – always assessing, always reevaluating.

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quotes

On Diligence... “Act while you can: While you have the chance, the means, and the strength.” – Talmud “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; fo...
by riverton mussar on Oct 6, 2010
daily living

Rabbi Joseph Karo begins his code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch) with a statement concerning the way one should get up in the morning: ...
by rabbi benjamin ehrenfeld on Sep 9, 2012
Over the few years of my life, I have encountered many people who were enthusiastic over one thing or another. Sometimes they seemed too excited over whatever it was than I thought...
by rabbi michael schiffman on Mar 12, 2012

torah

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them:Sing to the Lord, ...
by rabbi russ resnik on Jan 20, 2013

besorah

“Enthusiasm,” for most of its history as an English word, has had a mixed connotation. The word literally means “being possessed by a god” and by the 18th century had come t...
by rabbi russ resnik on Sep 9, 2012
I love to run. Three years of cross country in high school planted that love firmly in my bones. For any sport, enthusiasm plays a big role. ...
by rabbi benjamin ehrenfeld on Jun 10, 2012

mesorah

Fiddler on the Roof teaches us that there is a blessing for everything in Judaism (including the czar)! One can come to the same conclusion with careful analysis of a siddur or ha...
by rabbi benjamin ehrenfeld on Feb 25, 2011

stories

Visitors entering his room in Halberstadt would find him [Rabbi Yisrael Salanter] with a German book open in front of him, performing physical exercises, following the instructions ...
by rebbetzin malkah on Feb 25, 2011

meditation

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov is well known for his promotion of a practice called hitbodedut (make-oneself-alone). Hitbodedut is the practice of taking one hour (or however long you can...
by rabbi benjamin ehrenfeld on May 26, 2011
accounting

Use these questions to evaluate your day: What were the seeds that started to affect your enthusiasm today? Think of matters in which you were successful today, versus one...
by riverton mussar on Oct 11, 2010
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this week


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the age of consumerism
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