Kishutei Kallah – Shinov – The Soul Speaking

The 24th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Moshe Yosef Teitelbaum (1842-1897). The son of Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum, he was was appointed Rav and Av Beis Din of Stropkov when Rav Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam returned to Sienawa in 1880. In 1891, he left the town for a post in Ujhely, Hungary. The Foundation Stone offers some thoughts from the Kishutei Kallah of Shinove.

There are times when a person is saying the Shema that he feels as if the words are speaking to him. This is the voice of his soul encouraging him to increase his love for God and his desire to attach. A person does not need holy Kavanot – meditations – in order to hear the voice of his soul.

Each and every letter of the Shema enhances the light and spiritual power of his soul. In order to achieve this, a person must reach a state of Kedusha – holiness.

The holiness comes from seeing the blessings before and after the Shema as gates that preserve and protect the Shema. He must imagine himself entering a well-guarded room in order to recite these holy words. He must then recite the blessings after the Shema as a way of forming walls of protection around the heights he achieved through Shema. (Likkutim)