Erev Rosh Hashanah Limiting Beliefs - R. Yaakov Moskowitz - TorahAnytime.com

able to do. You know, at the shiva of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zt"l, whose yahrtzeit is coming up very soon, there was an individual, a talmid chacham, who came into the shiva in a wheelchair, and he told the family that he too had Parkinson's disease, just like Rav Nosson Tzvi. And as a result, for a long time, he wasn't able to learn, he wasn't able to daven, it was so difficult, and it was, until his doctor had told him that he was the same doctor for Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel. And he said that his case is approximately 1/10 of what Rav Nosson Tzvi has. And despite the fact that Rav Nosson Tzvi's case was 10 times worse than this individual, Rav Nosson Tzvi had the ability to learn, to daven, to carry the financial burden of the largest yeshiva in the world, to have approximately 80 chavrusa's per week. Yeah, that's right. It's said that Rav Nosson Tzvi, over the course of his lifetime, had approximately 25,000 talmidim, similar numbers to Rabbi Akiva. That's what he was able to accomplish despite the challenges that he had. Rav Nosson Tzvi didn't allow the limiting beliefs to kick in and hold him back from accomplishing what he's able to do. You know, the Gemara in Yoma tells us that when the aniyim, when poor people will go up to shamayim at the end of their lifetime, and Hashem's going to ask them, "Did you have time to learn Torah?" and they may say, "I didn't have time to learn Torah because it was so difficult. I was involved my entire life in trying to earn a parnassa." And Hashem will say, "Were you poorer than Hillel?" Look, Hillel was able to do it. And the Gemara concludes, "Hillel mechayev es ha'aniyim." Hillel obligates the poor. Rav Shimon ben Henoch Leibowitz, zt"l, said, "Huh? What does Hillel have to do with anything? If you were able to learn Torah despite your challenge, Hashem will hold you accountable for it. If not, then you're patur. What does Hillel have to do with this?" And he answered so beautifully. He said, "Because these individuals could have looked at Hillel as a role model and said, 'Look at what a person is able to accomplish. Look, despite that incredible challenge of poverty that Hillel has, he is able to push himself and find these great strengths within him that he really has, and recognize who he really is, and develop those capabilities in a major way to really accomplish.' And we