Unveiling the Power of Intention - Chovot Halevavot: Cheshbon Hanefesh - Introduction

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Dov Ber Weisman’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

Says in the Gemara and Sanhedrin, "The Rachmana liba ba'i." What does that mean? Rachmana liba ba'i. Mercy in our hearts. The compassionate one wants your heart. Rachmana is the compassionate one. It's the name of God. Liba is your heart. Ba'i is wants. Rachmana liba ba'i. Is it common? Is it the same word as common? No. It's Aramaic. Mhm. Mhm. Rachmana liba ba'i. Hashem wants your heart. You have an inner world and you have an outer world. And you might be ticking the boxes in the outer world, but if there's no inner world, then it's meaningless. It's a body without a soul. The Rambam goes so far to say that if you read all the words of Mincha in Hebrew and you didn't understand it, you won't yotzei Mincha. You didn't daven. You read Hebrew words. Because tefillah, prayer, is actually avodah shebalev. It's the duty, the work of the heart. So, if there's no heart in of the heart. So, if there's no heart in your prayer, then you're not considered to have been praying. And you'd have to daven again. But the same goes with everything we do. In your relationships with other people, in your relationship with God, it's all about your inner world. Now, in the world that I grew up in and maybe you grew up in, it was all about your exterior world, the external world, what you look like and what you have. So, Judaism says it's not about what you have or what you look like, it's about who you are

Jump to a moment

1. 0:02Says in the Gemara and Sanhedrin, "The Rachmana liba ba'i." What does that mean? Rachmana liba…
2. 2:06this is a phenomenal thing. Just like there are some things you're not allowed to eat.…
3. 4:08as a tzaddik, a righteous person, is based on your inner world, not really at all…
4. 6:08my own benefit, not for me, it's because this is what Hashem wants me to do.…
5. 8:09So, I feel bad. Not cuz I love the person, not cuz I care about them…
6. 10:13few people consciously work on these things. Now you're a ish, so that's what we excel…
7. 13:21Harris. Go to YouTube, put in Sam Harris, "How does matter give rise to consciousness?" Or…
8. 15:22process. Because I was standing there davening mincha with my tzitzit, I got strings sticking out,…
9. 17:24can use it, but you can't turn it on and off. But, there was a huge…
10. 19:24difference between knowledge and wisdom is knowledge is I know that tomatoes are a fruit, not…

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