One Day at a Time

The Chasam Sofer, zt”l, learns a very practical lesson about one’s daily avodas Hashem from Sanhedrin 100. “Our sages teach that one should not worry about tomorrow since perhaps he will no longer live by then. Why worry about a world he has no part in? This is very valuable advice that shows how to overcome our yetzer hara. If one focuses on the long struggle he will have throughout his entire life, he can easily give up on himself. Just thinking about the unrelenting effort required to overcome the evil within is enough to discourage anyone, since who knows that he will be able to keep up the struggle?
“Instead, one should focus on the day he is in right now. He should act as though he only has this day to live, since he really has no guarantee that he has a moment longer. He should tell himself that just for that day he will refuse to listen to his yetzer hara. After all, one day is really not too difficult. The next day he should once again focus only on that day. In this manner he will be able to overcome his yetzer hara with relative ease.
“This is the meaning of the verse, 'ואתם הדקבים בה' אלקיכם חיים כלכם היום'—‘And you who cleave to Hashem your G-d, your are all alive this day.’ Those who wish to attain true dveikus with Hashem can do so through focusing exclusively on living and overcoming the evil within only on the day he is now living. In this manner he will truly cleave to his Creator and never need to feel overwhelmed by the task ahead of him.”
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, zt"l, also adjures us to live only in the present. In his words, "Yesterday and tomorrow are man's downfall. Today we may be inspired to come close to Hashem but yesterday and tomorrow hold us back."
This is one of the many paths Rebbe Nachman shared with us to come to joy when things are hard. Just focus on the present, as if we were born today.

Cruelty to Animals

Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, shlit”a, once gave a very inspiring talk on the prohibition to cause pain even to animals. “The verse in Nitzavim adjures us to cleave to Hashem—ולדבקה בו. Chazal explain that although one cannot literally cleave to Hashem, we can emulate His attributes. Just as He is merciful and gracious, so should we emulate His ways. It is very simple to determine whether a person truly emulates Hashem: just observe his actions. How does he treat animals, for example?
“This topic in general is a very important one. Very often, one finds that when children go to the zoo, they delight in pestering the animals. They throw objects into the cages, and sometimes even throw stones at the hapless creatures to see how they will react. Of course such actions scare the animals and cause them pain. Strangely, their parents often do not rebuke them for violating the prohibition of tzar balei chaim, and we can only conclude that this sin is not known to many.
“The Sefer Chasidim point out that a person will be brought to judgment for any needless pain he caused to animals. Even overloading an animal and striking it when it cannot walk on account of being overburdened will be cause for judgment. In addition, those who pull the ears of cats to hear their cries of pain are sinners.
The verse states, ‘וביום ההוא נאום ה' מכה כל סוס בתמהון ורוכבו בשגעון’—‘This is the promise of Hashem: On that day, anyone who strikes a horse will be struck with confusion, and who rides it will be struck with madness.’ Our sages teach on this verse that Hashem will collect payment from riders of horses who kicked their horses needlessly.
“Instead, we should use the time at the zoo to point out to our children the wonders of creation. Each animal or bird is designed exactly as he should be in order to survive in his environment. Some have scales, others fly while others have a protective house on their backs. There is no end to the lessons and wonder one can extract from focusing on the animals in the right way with the proper guidance.”