MATOT

I also quoted the holy words of the Holy Zohar in my book (Yesod Veshoresh Ha'avodah) that a person must be very careful about these things, and especially when pronouncing the letters "aleph - 'ayin - heh - yod" when they come after the conclusion of a syllable. They are then easily swallowed, as I explained in my book, Gate 3, Ch. 2.

My beloved children, one of the saints has already testified that he heard from the Prophet Eliyahu that this is the reason that our exile is so long -- because we do not enunciate the letters and vowels distinctly in our prayers. I have already explained this in my book, Gate 5, Ch. 3. Although I am lowly and disgraceful, I can also testify that this sin is the reason for the length of this bitter exile. All the prayers and praises which come from our mouths do not do their function in the transcendental worlds because the words of the prayers and praises do not come from our mouths in a whole and proper fashion.

The Holy Zohar has revealed an intimation of this matter in the verse, "The flesh was still in their teeth, before they could tear it, and the anger of G-d burned among the people..." (Numbers 11:33). May G-d save us. In the chapter of my book that I just cited I copied the words of the Holy Zohar where it was explained how our prayers function in the transcendental realms, and how they ascend to become acceptable to G-d, may He be praised and exalted. Thus they bring into action our requests to hurry our Redemption. But woe to us, and woe to our souls....

Therefore, my beloved children, I am warning you about this very strictly. And be careful to warn your chidren about it as well. Then, G-d will merit you for being careful about this warning.

Also, you must exhort the teachers of children to be precise in their pronunciations with the children, that they should enunciate distinctly, and especially the letters "aleph - 'ayin - heh - yod" when they come after the conclusion of a syllable....

(An excerpt from the Will of the author of Yesod Veshoresh Ha'avodah)

The great Torah leaders of Israel have always worried, and still worry very deeply for the "holy sheep," i.e., the Jewish children. Their dedication and sacrifice for the development and education of the children is unbounded.

In turn, the pure children of Israel feel the love of the righteous tzadikim. In their small, precious hearts there is always a place for special appreciation and love for the tzadikim alongside their feelings of awe and fear for them. This is the aspect of "dechilu u'rechimu" -- "fear and love."

Once a man came into the room of Rebbe Yisrael of Gur. He said that he had been offered the opportunity to acquire an apartment in a certain place. He wanted to know if the Rebbe advised him to buy the apartment, and he began to explain all the benefits and defeciencies of the apartment. "The apartment is on this floor, and there are this many steps to it, and the sun comes into it during the hours...."

The Rebbe interrupted the man's words, and asked, "Tell me, to what do the windows of the apartment look out? What will your children see when they look out the windows or from the terrace?

"I am asking this," the Rebbe continued, "because I know that in the area of the apartment there is a youth club. If your children can see from the windows or the terrace this club, then do not buy the apartment. If they cannot see it, then you may buy the apartment.

"You should know that even when a person is considering buying an apartment, he must think first of all about the education of his children. This is the most important thing of all."

There was a very wealthy woman who had ten sons. They were all talmedai chachamim and studied Torah all day.

One day the woman did not have any bread in the house, and her maid had gone to full the water buckets. She asked her neighbor to bake some bread for her because her sons were coming home from the Bet Midrash and she did not have anything in the house for them to eat. Her neighbor obliged her request, and entered her house to knead some dough. While she was doing this two gold coins that had been tied in her kerchief fell into the dough, but the woman did not notice them.

When she returned to her own home she did not find the coins that were in her kerchief. She said to her neighbor, "Is this the reward I get for coming to your house to do you a favor? Why is it that my gold coins got lost in your home?"

The Lady said, "G-d forbid that your coins were lost in my house."

The two looked for the coins throughout the house, but they did not find them. The Lady of the house said to her neighbor, "Certainly you dropped the coins outside."

The neighbor said, "I don't think so. The coins fell in your house."

The Lady said, "If they are in my house, then I will receive an evil report about my eldest son."

Immediately afterwards a report came to her that her eldest son had died. Her neighbor said to her, "You see that you spoke falsely. That is why G-d paid you back by taking your eldest son."

She said, "If what you are saying is true, then may all my children die!"

And that is what happened. In that same day all her children died and were buried.

The sages were astonished and their eyes were dimmed. In one day ten giants of Torah were lost. After the funerals, the bereaved mother returned to her home. They brought before her bread to restore her soul. It was the bread that her neighbor had baked.

Rabbi Akiva was there, and he made the blessing, "...The truthful judge." He broke open the bread, and the two gold coins fell out. Rabbi Akiva asked about them, and the bereaved mother said, "Master, this gold was the cause of my sons' demise." Then she told him the whole story.

Rebbe Akiva said, "Woe to us on the day of judgement! Look what happened to her because of an oath that was true. How much worse is it for one who swares falsely."