Tu B'Shvat Tefillah for a Beautiful Esrog

יהי רצון מלפניך י-ה-ו-ה א-לה-ינו וא-לה-י אבותינו, שתברך כל אילנות האתרוג להוציא פירותי-הם בעתם, ויוציאו אתרוגים טובים יפים ומהדרים ונקיים מכל מום, ולא יעלה בהם שות חזזית, וי-היו שלמים ולא י-הי-ה בהם שום חסרון ואפילו עקיצת קוץ ויהיו מצויים לנו ולכל ישראל בכל מקום שהם, לקים בהם מצות נטילה עם הלולב בחג הסכות שיבא עלינו לחיים טובים ולשלום, כאשר צויתנו בתורתך על ידי משה עבדך, "ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר כפות תמרים וענף עץ עבות וערבי נחל"(ויקרא: כ"ג, מ), ויהי רצון מלפניך י-ה-ו-ה א-להי-נו וא-לה-י אבותינו, שתעזרנו ותסעינו לקים מצוה זו של נטילת לולב הדס ערבה ואתרוג, כתקנה בזמנה בחג הסכות שיבא עלינו לחיים טובים ולשלום בשמחה ובטוב לבב, ותזמין לנו אתרוג יפה ומהדר ונקי ושלם וכשר כהלכתו.

Translation:

"May it be Your Will, HaShem, our G-d, and The G-d of our forefathers, that You bless all of the esrog trees to bear their fruit at the proper time, and that they shall bear esrogim that are good, nice, beautiful, and clean from all blemish, and that no lichen should come upon them, and that they shall be complete and they should not have any deficiencies, even pricked by a thorn. These esrogim should be available for us and for all of Israel in every place that they are, in order to fulfill the mitzvah of taking [the esrog] with the lulav on the Holiday of Succos, that shall come to us with good life, and with peace, as You have written in Your Torah by way of Moshe, Your servant, "And on the first day you shall take for yourselves a beautiful fruit of the tree, date frond, and branch of a myrtle tree, and [branches from a] willow brook..." (Vayikra: 23; 40) May it be Your Will, HaShem, our G-d, and The G-d of our forefathers, that You Help us and Assist us in this mitzvah of taking the lulav, myrtle, willow, and esrog, in the proper manner, in its proper time, on the Holiday of Succos, that shall come upon us for good life, and peace, with happiness and good-heartedness, and that You shall make a nice, beautiful esrog [that is] clean [of all blemishes and deficiencies], and complete, and kosher, according to its laws, accessible to us.

Eruv: Walled or Stringed

There are two general kinds of eruv's that are acceptable, one walled and one surrounded by a string. The potential issue with the stringed eruv is that it must be checked regularly. It is important to determine that the eruv stand up on a regular basis so that it is very reliable. If the eruv falls down frequently, one should determine whether they should rely upon it until the problems are resolved and review the laws of eruv.

Moshe's Example to True Jewish Leaders

If one aspires to be a true Jewish leader who fights for what is best for The Jewish People, it is recommended that he look to Moshe Rabbeinu's example for guidance.

After all, HaShem picked Moshe to lead The B'nei Yisrael out of exile. Moshe is described as the person who is the most faithful person to HaShem. (Bamidbar: 12; 7) When he went to Paroh to ask that he free The B'nei Yisrael from Mitzrayim, he wasn't giving-in to the desires of Paroh, but rather acted based on The Command of HaShem and in line with what was in the best interest of The B'nei Yisrael. Paroh told Moshe that The B'nei Yisrael could leave to the midbar to serve HaShem but should leave his animals there. Moshe responded that not only would The B'nei Yisrael take their animals, but they would also take animals that Paroh would give to him. (Shmos: 10; 24 - 26)

The point is that on an individual basis and in leadership roles, the person should act in accordance with The Torah and not based on his personal desires that run contrary to The Torah.

The Chofetz Chaim's Admonition Against Involvement in Idle Conversation in Shul

The following is quoted from the Chofetz Chaim when discussing the importance of not involving oneself in idle conversation in shul: (Chofetz Chaim, Introduction, Positive Commandments, #6)

"Now that we are on the topic of the severe prohibition of idle conversation in the shul, I have seen it appropriate to mention the greatness of the stumbling-block that is created through these conversations. This being that it is common in our numerous sins that prior to the Reading of The Torah one congregant begins to relate to his friends of his anecdotes which are mixed in with lashon hara and rechilus from their beginning to their end. Before finishing the anecdote, they begin to read The Torah and the yetzer hara entices him to not pause in the middle of his story, so he finishes the lashon hara during the Reading of The Torah. Many times this person is one of the distinguished people who sits in the eastern part of the shul, his sin is witnessed by the public. By acting in this manner, he desecrates Hashem's Name publicly, that being in front of ten Jews, his sin being much greater than a typical desecration of Hashem's Name, as is explained in "Sefer Hamitzovs" of the Rambam (Prohibiton 63), see there. He violates the prohibition of "Do not desecrate My Holy Name..." (Vayikra: 22; 32)

By speaking idle conversation in shul as described above, the person violates the following prohibitions:

1. The prohibition of lashon hara and richilus which themselves include many prohibitions and positive commandments.

2. He has violated the prohibition of "Do not desecrate My Holy Name..." in front of ten Jews.

3. He missed out on the mitzvah of krias haTorah, which is the case even if he missed hearing one verse or even one word, it being a severe sin, his sin being too great to bear, for even leaves in the midst of the reading from the Torah is referred to in the pasuk, "and those who abandon Hashem will be destroyed" (Yeshaya: 1, 28) (Berachos, 8a - Taught in the name of Rav Ammi).

A number of times idle conversation takes place in the shul on Shabbos, the person's sin being much greater than during the weekdays, as is explained in a number of holy sifarim. It happens regularly that those who are accustomed to speak in the shul or in the beis medrash, will finish their anecdotes even during the recitation of Kaddish, and prevents himself from saying "Amen Yihei Shimei Rabba...", its' recitation being very sublime according to the gemara, as Chazal have said (Shabbos, 119b) that even if someone has a bit of Apikorsus, he is forgiven for it on account of reciting "Amen Yihei Shimei Rabba..." Even if the talker will respond by reciting "Yihei Shimei Rabba...", if it's recited too late (more than approx. 2 seconds after he can recite it), it is an Amen Yisomah (orphaned Amen), and Heaven Forbid that his children will be orphaned due to this, for this curse can befall one even if he pushed off the Amen out of laziness, as is explicit in the poskim (Orach Chaim, siman 224, sif 8).

Aside from the above, the talkers in our time transgress a fourth prohibition, that being idle conversation in the shul and in the beis medrash, it being a great prohibition that is elucidated in the Shulchan Aruch, as is written above... woe to those who speak and those who listen, as the Gra already wrote in his holy letter, "Alim Litirufah", that for every single word the person must descend a great deal into Shiole. It is impossible to estimate the magnitude of the suffering and the troubles that the person experiences for every single word, not one word being lost, see there for more."

I think the words of Chazal and of the Chofetz Chaim speak for themselves. The best thing to do is to only speak when you know it's acceptable.