Για να το διαβάσετε στα Ελληνικά, κάντε κλικ εδώ
Cheshbon Nefesh
A Jew finishes his day as he started it, by connecting himself to G-d. Before going to sleep, we recite Shema Israel, our declaration of faith in the One G-d.
This is an opportunity to connect to ourselves as well. Every day, many things happen to us. Our entire life somehow goes by and many times, we do not even notice it.
What happened today, our Sages say, is not only something that is finished and belongs in the past. It is a lesson for us to take for the next day of our life, on how to become a better person.
Our Sages urge us to do a Cheshbon Nefesh, a “soul accounting”, every evening before sleeping. Just as a shop owner who checks the balance at the end of the day to see how much he earned, we need to make an account of our actions of the day, the good ones and the ones who could be better. We should not let the previous day go by without utilizing it, that is, learn something from it. Thus, our next day will be better than the previous one.
This is the right way to finish our day: connect to G-d and get the maximum of the previous day in order to do (even) better in the future.
Shabbat Shalom,
Arie from the Yeshiva
