Transcript
Okay, Boker tov, top of the morning. We continue our study of the נתיבות שלום Nisivus Shalom, the Slonimer Rebbe's magnificent Chassidic interpretation of our parsha. He has so many beautiful pieces on this week's parsha. I was really debating which piece to do. He has a beautiful piece on, on really one of my favorite insights in the whole Torah is how Yosef has שם שמים שגור בפיו Shem Shamayim shugur bifiv. Yosef is, is the first really nuanced kiruv individual because he doesn't do overt, explicit, in-your-face kiruv, but very nuanced. And I and I think it's really a model for um, בעלי בתים baalei batim, so to say. Non-professional. People in the workplace who are interacting. If Yosef could interact with the people in his life, always בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem, אם ירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem, חסדי השם chasdei Hashem. What are the other Hashems? All the Hashems. So then we can too. Anyway, he has a beautiful piece, but that's not the one we're going to do. We're going to do the next one. Not חלילה וחס chalila v'chas. גדול הניסיון של יוסף Gadol ha'nisayon shel Yosef. The Medrash. This is why it comes Sunday mornings, girls go for your entertainment. The Medrash, ויהי אחר הדברים vayehi achar hadevarim, etc. אמר אב נתנסה זקני ואני איני מתנסה Omer Av, nisnasa zekeini v'ani eini misnasa. אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא חייך שאני מנסך יותר מהם Omer Hakadosh Baruch Hu chayechah she'ani menascha yoser meihem. Yosef complained to Hashem and he said, \"My grandfather was tested and I'm not going to be tested?\" If it's true, Hashem, that the way you express your affection, your love for your children is to put them in a possession of a position that they're tested. And we've spoken about in the past, the notion of a test. A נס neis, that word נס neis, נון סמך nun samach is the root of לנוס lanus, you could run away from a test, but it's also ושא נס u'sa neis, as we say in our davening, a banner, a flag. So, the moment that you're tested can either be a banner, a flag, you plant in the ground that represents a moment in which you broke through, in which you had a growth spurt, in which you realized your potential, you saw something in yourself, or it can be וינס vayanas, you ran away from your test. You tried to flee. Like Yona, you try to run away from your mission in life. So Yosef says, if a test is an expression of your affection, Hashem, it's how you help people realize who they're meant to be, the best version of themselves, to fulfill their potentials. So how come you tested my grandfather? How can you tested my forefathers? You haven't tested me. Hashem says, oh, you want a test, huh? No problem. I'm going to throw a test your way that's going to make theirs look like a joke in comparison. אני מנסך יותר מהם Ani menascha yoser meihem. I'm gonna give you a test that surpasses, that's greater than theirs. משמע מזה שהניסיון של יוסף היה יותר גדול וקשה מניסיונות אבותיו Mashma mizeh shehanisayon shel Yosef hayah yoser gadol v'kasheh m'nisyonos avosav. It sounds like Yosef's test was even greater. והלא איזה ניסיונות גדולים של אברהם אבינו, ניסיון אור כשדים וניסיון עקדה V'halo eizeh nisyonos gedolim shel Avraham Avinu, nisayon Ur Kasdim v'nisayon Akeidah. Are you telling me that Yosef endured a test that was more challenging than being thrown into a furnace, attempted murder? Yosef endured a test that was greater than take your son, the one you love, the one through whom I promised you a legacy, violate everything you've preached publicly and go take him and slaughter him. עוד יש שם, הים ראה וינס Oid yesh sham, hayam ra'ah v'yanas. בזכות עצמותיו של יוסף נקרא הים לישראל Bischus atzmosav shel Yosef nikra hayam l'Yisrael. The Medrash says in parshas Beshalach, the shira when the Jewish people go to the sea splits, we cross the sea and we compose, we sing the shira. הים ראה וינס Hayam ra'ah v'yanas. The sea saw and it split. So in what merit did the sea split? The Medrash says because Moshe was carrying on his shoulders ארונו של יוסף aronah shel Yosef, the bones of Yosef HaTzaddik were being carried across the sea. And in the merit of the bones of Yosef, the sea split. That's what it says, הים ראה וינס hayam ra'ah v'yanas. בזכות וינס ויצא החוצה Bischus vayanas v'yeitzei ha'chutza. That same word וינס vayanas, in the merit of בזכות וינס ויצא החוצה bischus vayanas v'yeitzei ha'chutza, when אשת פוטיפר eishes Potifar, the wife of Potifar, in a reverse me-too movement moment, when she is coming on to Yosef and relentlessly is pursuing him, pursuing him, pursuing him, propositioning him, propositioning him, propositioning him. And a moment where he's about to give in, it says he came that day לעשות מלאכתו la'asos melachto, he came to do his work. Which Rashi quotes two opinions. To do his work can mean he was balancing the books, he was doing his work, his accounting, his management of the, of the family. Or לעשות מלאכתו la'asos melachto means that he was, he was, that was it. He had resisted the the pressure endlessly, but he couldn't anymore. He knew that was their holiday, Potifar and his family were all going to be out at the house of idolatry. אשת פוטיפר Eishes Potifar feigned illness, she stayed home for the day. No workers around. It was a national holiday. Everyone was, the house was empty. He came לעשות מלאכתו la'asos melachto. He was ready. He was going to give in. Because after all, if you think about it, what did he have to lose? What was he going to ruin, ruin his family name? He had no family. His family had abandoned him. He was utterly by himself in the world. So what exactly did he have to lose? And he wasn't the one who initiated it. So he was ready to give in. And yet, at that moment he found the superhuman strength to run outside. And the pasuk describes, וינס ויצא החוצה vayanas v'yeitzei ha'chutza, he ran and he went outside. So the same word וינס vayanas is used in both places. The description of Yosef fleeing the, the place is וינס vayanas, and what the sea did when it split was וינס vayanas. ועיני ששזכות משה וששים רבוא בני ישראל אשר עברו את הים לא נלם להיקרע הים V'eina she'zchus Moshe v'shishim ribo bnei Yisrael asher avru es hayam, lo nolam l'hikorea hayam. The sea was not ready to split in the merit of Moshe. The sea was not ready to split in the merit of Aharon, or the 600,000 Jewish people. ורק בזכות ארונו של יוסף נקרא הים V'rak bischus aronah shel Yosef nikra hayam. It's only because the aron of the holy Yosef, the bones of this outstanding righteous individual were about to pass through it, that's the only reason it split. ומשמע ממאמרי חז\"ל אלו שהניסיון של יוסף היה הקשה מכל הניסיונות U'mashma m'ma'amarei Chazal eilu shehanisayon shel Yosef hayah hakasheh mikol hanisyonos. So it sounds like this is the greatest of all the tests that any of our forefathers passed. כמו שאמרו עוד, הגמרא ביומא אומרת, יוסף מחייב את הרשעים, שאם בא רשע לדין וטוען טרוד ביצרי, אומרים לו כלום היית טרוד ביצרך יותר מיוסף הצדיק K'mo she'amru oid, ha'Gemara b'Yoma omeres, Yosef mechayev es ha'r'shaim, she'im ba rasha l'din v'to'ein tarud b'yitzri, omrim lo, klum hayisa tarud b'yitzrecha yoser m'Yosef HaTzaddik? Yosef is mechayev all of us. Because when we're drawn to an internet page, when we have our cell phone, when we have a private moment and we're tempted to violate a boundary, to give into our yetzer hara, to look at something, do something, say something, go somewhere, we say, what can I do? I was totally hijacked by my yetzer hara. It wasn't me. It was a momentary lapse of sanity. Don't hold me accountable, Rebono Shel Olam, because there's nothing I could do. So the heavenly court's going to look at you and say, \"Were you gripped by your yetzer hara any more than Yosef? Was what drew you and tempted you even stronger than Yosef? Was the opportunity you have stronger than Yosef's opportunity? Did you have less to lose than Yosef? And if Yosef could muster the courage to do what was right, if he could have the resolve to nevertheless overcome the urge, so can you.\" הרי לכאורה הדברים תמוהים, הרי יוסף הצדיק נולד מאבות קדושים, אב היה יעקב בכיר אבות הוא עצמו קדוש מרחם, איך הוא מחייב את הרשעים שאין להם מקור הרע? הרי כל ניסיונם אין לו שום דמיון לרשעים שנולדו ברע Harai l'choira ha'dvarim t'muhim, harai Yosef HaTzaddik nolad m'avos k'doshim, av hayah Yaakov b'chir avos, hu atzmo kadosh m'rachem. Eich hu mechayev es ha'r'shaim she'ein lahem mekor hara? Harai kol nisyonam ein lo shum dimyon l'r'shaim she'noldu b'ra. Says the Slonimer Rebbe, tell the heavenly court, yeah, bring that on. That's your case against me? That's you kidding me? Yeah, it's true. My test doesn't come close to what Yosef faced. But I also don't come close to who Yosef was. I didn't grow up in the house of Yaakov. I grew up in a lovely home, my parents are incredible people, just for the record. But none of us grew up in the house that Yosef grew up in. He grew up in the house of Yaakov. יעקב בכיר אבות Yaakov b'chir avos, the choices, the chosen of all the Avos, Yaakov the greatest, who has within him, bless you, who has with him not only his own qualities, he has the great qualities of his, of his father, of his grandfather, of his mother, of his grandmother. So yeah, we're going to be challenged, we're going to be indicted for the fact that we gave in to our yetzer hara, because if Yosef could overcome, you can over- I'm not Yosef. What is the Gemara talking about? Says the Slonimer Rebbe, let me tell you. כמו שמצינו בניסיון העקדה של אברהם, שגם שם יש להקשות מהו גדול הניסיון הרי הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו, אמר לו אברהם קח נא את בנך את יחידך, הלא כל יהודי אילו היה הקדוש ברוך הוא בעצמו מצווהו לשחוט את בנו היה עושה זאת K'mo shematzinu b'nisayon ha'akeida shel Avraham, shegam sham yesh l'hakshos mahu gadol hanisayon, ha'rei Hakadosh Baruch Hu b'chvodo u'v'atzmo, amar lo l'Avraham, kach na es bincha es yechidcha. Halo kol Yehudi ilu hayah Hakadosh Baruch Hu b'atzmo metzavahu lishchot es bno hayah oseh zos. You could say the same thing about the Akeida. Is what Avraham Avinu did so great? Yeah, it's pretty impressive, but he also had Hashem explicitly telling him what to do. So we say to ourselves, you know, if the Rebono Shel Olam, if the Almighty would talk to me, if he would articulate to me, if he would explicitly reveal himself to me, of course I would jump also. My shai, I don't know, but okay, if Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, this is what you need to do, of course we like to think to ourselves, if Hashem revealed himself to me, of course I would jump and do it. ומה גדולתו של אברהם אבינו בזה? אלא כזה שיש, כששמע מהקדוש ברוך הוא אברהם אשר אהבת, נתלבש בלבו כל מידת האהבה שיש בעולם לאב לבנו יצחק, ולא היה עוד אהבה כזו בעולם כאהבתו ליצחק באותה שעה, כי רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא להגדיל ניסיון הזה, ולכן גדול הניסיון הזה מכל הניסיונות U'mah gedulaso shel Avraham Avinu b'zeh? Ela k'zeh sheyesh, k'sheshama me'Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'Avraham asher ahavta, nislabesh b'libo kol midas ha'ahava sheyesh b'olam l'av l'bno Yitzchak, v'lo hayah oid ahava kazeh b'olam k'ahavaso l'Yitzchak b'osah sha'ah, ki rotzeh Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'hagdil nisyon hazeh, v'lachen gadol hanisayon hazeh mikol hanisyonos. So at the moment Hashem told Avraham to slaughter Yitzchak, he also created an incredible, excuse me, surge of love of Avraham towards Yitzchak in that moment. So now the nisayon was truly great. Yes, it came directly from Hashem. Yes, Hashem revealed himself, but it also was in direct conflict with this surge, this overwhelming love that he had for Yitzchak. The thought of doing that to Yitzchak was unimaginable. ולא היה עוד אהבה כזו בעולם כאהבתו, רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא, אלא אומר אם אף אחד מבני אדם לא היה יכול לעמוד בניסיון כזה, לפי שכל כוחו ואהבתו שהיה לו אז לבנו היה הולך לשחוט את בנו V'lo hayah oid ahava kazeh b'olam k'ahavaso, rotzeh Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Onim af echad m'bnei adam lo hayah yachol la'amod b'nisayon kazeh, l'fi she'kol kocho v'ahavaso shehayah lo az l'bno, v'halach lishchot es bno. So great was the surge of love for his little Yitzchak. So great was his affection, not so little Yitzchak, that no one else would have done what Avraham did. But his love for Hashem was even greater than his love for Yitzchak in that moment. וכן היה אצל יוסף שבשעת הניסיון נתלבש בו כל כוח היצר הרע שיש בעולם, ולכן גם יוסף מחייב את הרשעים, כמו לפי שבשעת ניסיון על היצר הרע כמו רשעים הגרועים ביותר, ולבעלי התאווה הגדולים ביותר בעולם V'chein hayah eitzel Yosef she'b'sha'as hanisayon nislabesh bo kol koach ha'yetzer hara sheyesh b'olam. V'lachen gam Yosef mechayev es ha'r'shaim. Kamu l'fi she'b'sha'as nisayon al ha'yetzer hara k'mo r'shaim ha'gruim b'yoser, u'l'baalei ha'taavah ha'gedolim b'yoser b'olam. Yet you're picturing Yosef this tzaddik, a בקיא בש\"ס baki b'Shas, who davens בכוונה b'kavanah and does chesed, never looks, never talks לשון הרע lashon hara, never does, grew up in the home of יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu, he's the son of the גדול הדור gadol ha'dor. He's a tremendously righteous, virtuous individual. You're picturing that Yosef, so like big deal. You're telling me that if a woman propositioned the גדולי הדור gedolei ha'dor, I won't even use a name, I don't want to be מבזה תלמיד חכם mevazeh talmid chacham. But if a woman propositioned one of our greatest רבנים rabbonim, our greatest צדיקים tzaddikim of our generation, are you telling me it'd be a nisayon for a half a second? It'd be nothing, they'd turn around, they'd walk out. You kidding? So for Yosef it was a nisayon? And the answer is yeah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu created such a power, a surge of the yetzer hara in that moment. Every voice of self-sabotage, self-destruction, every voice of excuse, of rationalization entered Yosef's head at that moment. Like I said before, I had nothing to lose, my family abandoned me, I have no legacy. What what's the point of a name? All my teaching, what's it relevant? A God himself orchestrated that I'm here in the galus. What's it all about? Why not? I've resisted it all this time. Why not? After all, she's the one coming on to me. He had this incredible surge of a yetzer hara, irresistible. And yet, he resisted. And that's why we can say Yosef is mechayev even r'shaim. Because Hashem implanted within Yosef this surge of a yetzer hara, which far surpassed the yetzer hara, even the most wicked, even the most immoral, corrupt, unethical person has. Can we ask a question why he put himself into that situation? He didn't. In other words, one would say yichud, okay, you don't put yourself into a situation like that. He went to the house knowing she was going to proposition him and there was nobody around, but he went there. So it's two answers. It's two answers. First you can you can answer is you're right, he was ready to go do the the deed, he was ready to go give into the yetzer hara. So the miracle is that he stopped himself, he walked away. So maybe he had begun to be taken down the the rabbit hole, the path where that yetzer hara can lead you, he had rationalized, and that's his gadlus is that even in that last moment he walked away. It's a very powerful lesson in that too, because sometimes we begin to give into our yetzer hara, and once we're halfway into our yetzer hara, I won't be explicit now, but we we say, you know, I'm already I'm already doing this. I'm already I already crossed the line. I'm already despicable to Hashem. I already am such a disappointment to myself, so I might as well just finish watching, looking, doing whatever the yetzer hara is. So look at look at Yosef, it's not true. To whatever degree, if for a moment you didn't click one more time, you press stop, you walked away, whatever degree you overcome and overpower, to whatever degree there's some discipline over the yetzer hara, it is an enormous, enormous thing. Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves you. He understands the superhuman strength that it takes. But the second answer is that Yosef did nothing wrong. Meaning, he went to the house, the front door was unlocked, Baal ba'ir, her husband was still in town, he could have walked in at any moment. There's no technical issur of yichud, let's assume. So what did he do wrong? He went and he was going to lock himself in the study in the house and work on balancing the books. He was going to go wash the dishes in the kitchen, he was going to go mow the lawn. And she's the one who did not stop propositioning him. How did he end up in her bedroom? Okay, fair questions. Anyway, so, ועל דרך מדרמה בגמרא בקידושין על רב עמרם חסידא שהניסיון גדול מאוד וראה יצרא דמתחזי כאמודי דנורא, נפק ליה כאמודי דנורא V'al derech madrama b'Gemara b'Kiddushin al Rav Amram Chasida she'hanisayon gadol meod v'ra'ah yitzra d'mischazei k'amudei d'nura, nafek lei k'amudei d'nura. אמר חזו דאת נורא ואנא בישרא ואנא עדיפא מינך Amar, chazu d'at nura v'ana bisra v'ana adifa minach. ועיני שאז היה יצר הרע רגיל בגינוי אמודי דאישא, ויתר הרע שלו V'eini she'az hayah yetzer hara ragil b'ginuy amudei d'isha, v'yeter hara shelo. The Gemara there tells a story of his challenging the yetzer hara as Hakadosh Baruch Hu presents the yetzer hara and presents like a pillar of fire. We see the yetzer hara like fire burns and it consumes and it rages. So the yetzer hara it it totally renders rational, smart, intelligent, accomplished people into morons. That's the power of this yetzer hara. Right? Which again we have a mature version of the yetzer hara. It's not some devil sitting on your shoulder with a pitchfork. It's not an external voice. Yetzer hara means the inner voice, the inner voice, the the nefesh bahami. Tomorrow night's the Yud Tes Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. So from the Chassidishe perspective, the nefesh bahami, we're all made up of an animal and we're made up of a godly spirit and our entire lives is the battle that rages between us. The animal impulse, the animal instinct, the animal voice that says be an animal. Act like an animal, eat like an animal, keep your room like a pig sty, all the we use in our language, in our vernacular, all the references to animal, there's an animal in us. The Gemara says we have everything in common with an animal. We eat food, we eliminate the food, and we reproduce, just like an animal. Anatomically, we're just like an animal. So on the one hand, we're we're animals. We have an animal instinct, an animal impulse. Do what you want as an animal. An animal has an urge to relieve itself, it lifts its leg next to the closest tree. An animal has another urge, it finds the animal of the opposite gender, who cares whose backyard, who cares didn't take the other animal out to dinner first, didn't buy the other animal a gift, it didn't court the other animal. It just does what it wants with the other animals. So that animal drive is within us. We have a nefesh bahami, we have an animal instinct, an animal impulse. But we also have a tzelem Elokim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu filled us with ruach memalela, he breathed his life into us. He gave us the capacity to be disciplined, sovereign, self-controlled, to rule over that animal instinct, to reject it. For first says the whole institution of korbanos is a Jew who had sinned or for whatever other reason wants to bring a korban, would go take an animal, bring it to Yerushalayim, go up to the Beis HaMikdash and slaughter the animal. And in so doing was essentially affirming to Hashem, Hashem, by killing this animal, I'm slaughtering the animal inside me. I'm slaughtering the animal impulse that's inside myself. I want to rid myself of that animal impulse, that animal voice and I want to reign supreme. I want to be a godly, I want to be a godly spirit. Is that really the mission to kill the animal impulse or to redirect it? That's the fundamental difference between the Sefer Tanya, which we'll talk about tomorrow night at our Yud Tes Kislev farbrengen and the and the Mesillas Yesharim and most mussar sfarim. Baal HaTanya for the beinoni had a very different perspective about what we're trying to do with that animal impulse, the animal instinct. Unlike most who suggest we're trying to slaughter it, eliminate it, purge it, get rid of it, the the Baal HaTanya, the Alter Rebbe's perspective is we're trying to redirect it, we're trying to channel it. We're trying to actually inject a kedusha, imbue a holiness within even that animal impulse, that animal instinct. We'll talk more about that tomorrow night. So, so back to this. So, this pillar it rages, it rages like a fire, the yetzer hara. וקדוש המודא שבשעת הניסיון הרים סולם שעשרה נכלו יציאת שעתו, ורוב כוח נתלבש היצר הרע בו באותה שעה. ואף שכמובן שהרב עמרם חסיד היה היחיד המוכן בתורה זה, ובוודאי לא עשה מעולם דבר שהוא בניגוד לרצון השם, אלא שהיצר הרע נתלבש בו למעלה מכוח אנוש V'kdosh hamuda she'b'shaas hanisayon harim sulem she'asarah n'chlu y'tzias se'dso, u'b'rov koach nislabesh ha'yetzer hara bo b'osah sha'ah. V'af shek'muvan she'Rav Amram Chasid hayah ha'yachid ha'muchan b'Torah zeh, u'v'vadai lo asah me'olam davar shehu b'nigud l'ratzon Hashem, ela she'ha'yetzer hara nislabesh bo l'mala m'koach enosh. So the yetzer hara it has a power that's greater than our rational brain. Just look in our own world. How many people, how many great men or women, accomplished, successful, smart, intelligent, ambitious, driven people, for momentary pleasure of the yetzer hara, threw away their entire lives. Threw away their entire lives. Threw away their legacy, threw away their success, threw away everything, their good name. Why? For a momentary opportunity. Because they couldn't control themselves. For a moment, driven by their ego, by their arrogance, by their id, whatever they were driven by, they threw it all away. No shortage of this list. The list is only growing with the MeToo movement, which is shining, shining correctly shining a light. Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant, said Justice Brandeis. And the internet provides a lot of sunlight and shines it on the people who who need to be disinfected. So, you know, the Matt Lauer and Tiger Woods and Bill Clinton and uh, Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner and then you go down the whole list. Right? These are people who are who had who had arrived at certain positions of success. It took something to get there. And yet, they didn't give it all up for some permanent pleasure, you know? What's his name? Who's the running back for the Dolphins? decided he likes smoking pot more than playing in the NFL. Williams, Ricky Williams. Ricky Williams. I don't admire Ricky Williams. Let me be on the record. I'm not telling you I admire Ricky Williams, but there is something incredible about a guy who said, I'm ready to give up millions of dollars and wealth because that's not the lifestyle that I like, that I find meaningful. I want to be able to lie on a beach, read books. He actually is a smart guy with a with a degree who enjoyed challenging himself intellectually. But I like getting high, I like smoking pot and lying on the beach and reading books and I like it more than being wealthy. So I'm walking away from the game at the height of the game. No one in here knows what I'm talking about? Ricky Williams, remember Ricky Williams? I'm not tell you I admire that guy, but he made a permanent decision in his life because he said that the permanent pleasure of this lifestyle for me transcends, it supersedes having all that wealth. These other morons didn't make a decision for a permanent pleasure and a change of lifestyle that would be forever. It was a momentary pleasure. It would be fleeting, transient, gone in a moment. So if you would freeze the frame and you would say to Bill Clinton, I know you just met Monica Lewinsky, but is this really worth it? You really want 30 years later, like the documentaries being put out about you, like is this what you want to be your name? You tell Eliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner, I know you just got Twitter on your phone. Is this really what, is this how you want to go down? Like is this what you want the world, is this what you want the headlines on the daily news to be about you? Like no one in their right mind, Tiger, you're on track, you're gonna surpass the record of majors, then you're gonna lose it all, you're gonna lose your the game, you're gonna lose the edge, is it worth it? Is it worth it? Everything you want to lose, everything is it worth it? Nobody would say yes. So how could it be rational, smart, intelligent, accomplished people throw it all away for a moment of pleasure? How could it be? It defies logic. It defies logic. אלא מאי Ela mai? That's what the Gemara says, it's a, it's a pillar of אש eish because this yetzer hara, it drives us to be irrational. That's exactly what it does. The yetzer hara is like someone slipped you a Mickey that caused you to to to be in a cloud that you can't think clearly, that your judgment is gone, and that you do stupid things. That's the yetzer hara, only it's natural within us. Nobody had to slip anything in your drink. That's the power of the yetzer hara. לכן היה אצל יוסף שכוח היצר הרע של כל העולם נתלבש בו בשעת ניסיונו, ומשום כך היה הניסיון גדול כל כך, ורק בזכות העמידה שלו, העמידה שלו בניסיון, הים ראה ארונו של יוסף וינס Lachen hayah eitzel Yosef she'koach ha'yetzer hara shel kol ha'olam nislabesh bo b'shaas nisyono. U'mishum kach hayah hanisayon gadol kol kach, v'rak bischus ha'amida shelo, ha'amida shelo b'nisayon, hayam ra'ah aronah shel Yosef v'yanas. So was the the drive within Yosef at that moment. Externally, he looked like, by the way we've seen this also in our generation, there are accomplished, certainly they were never גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael, there are supposedly accomplished rabbonim with long beards and a long black coat and a big black hat and they published lots of sfarim and they know lots of Torah, and they too gave into this nisayon of Yosef. Some of whom we all know about, have ever read about, and others that you haven't read about, but who have faded from the limelight, their sfarim have been pulled from the shelves, because it turned out what they were doing with young women they were counseling or with or with conversion candidates that they were supervising. So the yetzer hara is so strong that even people with great Torah, even people accomplished in Torah and printing sfarim have fallen prey. Yosef was had that incredible drive at that moment and nevertheless surpassed it. That's the zechus that the sea saw and that it split. ועמידתו בניסיון היה רק בכוח שהיה זורע, שהתנער בהגמרי מתביעות עולם הזה V'amidaso b'nisayon hayah rak b'koach she'hayah zorei'a, she'hisna'er b'gamri m'tivius olam hazeh. So how did he do it? What was his answer? And this is the beautiful insight. This is what I wanted to get to. The Slonimer has such a beautiful insight over here. He says the answer is Yosef tapped into something that was above nature. When we view ourselves as, look, I'm just human. And I'm subject to the rules of nature. And nature implanted within me testosterone and a certain drive, a certain natural instincts, natural impulse, natural arousal, natural reactions. That's the way God created me. What do you want from me? That's how God created the world. It's biologically how God created me and I'm part of the natural world. That's the nature of things. That's the way it goes. That's the nature of things. So if that's our attitude, you're right, then your nature is to want to eat everything that's put in front of you. Your nature is to want to share every piece of gossip that you have. Your nature is to only care about yourself, to never want to give or share what you have with others. If you're driven by the limits, by the boundaries of nature, if you're going to use an excuse and rationalization that that's how I was naturally made, that's all there is, what can I do? You'll never be a Yosef. I think it's more for Yosef, no, because he was made extremely good looking. So Hashem, you know, put that in him so people would be attracted to him. It was an even greater drive. Right. So it was an even greater drive for Yosef. Yeah, the women would climb over the fence to get a to get a peek, to get a look. He was so good looking, he was so handsome, he had so many followers on on his Yosef Instagram page. They all wanted a piece of him. And made the yetzer hara even greater, even stronger. So what was his solution? What was his strategy? Says the Slonimer Rebbe, he realized, you know, I have the power to be למעלה מן הטבע l'mala min ha'teva. Yeah, biologically, anatomically, chemically, yeah, psychologically, I was created a certain way. All men were, the whole world was. That's how Hashem created up the created the world. But just because he put those natural drives within me, doesn't mean I have to see myself as subject to nature. I can make nature subject to me. כמו שאמרו חז\"ל על פסוק ויהי כהיום הזה ויבוא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו, ותתפסהו בבגדו ויצא וינס החוצה, כפץ בזכות אבות ויצא החוצה K'mo she'amru Chazal al pasuk, vayehi k'hayom hazeh v'yavo ha'baisah la'asos melachto, v'tispeseihu b'vigdo, v'yeitzei vayanas hachutza. Kafatz b'zchus avos v'yeitzei hachutza. I love this gishmak insight. Pasuk says וינס vayanas, Yosef ran, ויצא החוצה v'yeitzei hachutza, and he ran outside. Why do you have to tell me that? If he ran, where else did he run? Obviously, he ran outside the room. So what are these extraneous words telling me? So the Medrash says it's reminiscent. What's it reminiscent of? When Yaakov, when Hashem tells Avraham, go outside. על פי דברי המדרש על פסוק ויוצא אותו החוצה ויאמר הבט נא השמימה וספור הכוכבים, כה יהיה זרעך Al pi divrei ha'Midrash al pasuk, v'yotzei oso ha'chutza v'yomer ha'beit na hashamayma u'sfor ha'kochavim, koh yihyeh zar'echa. Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells Avraham, ויוצא אותו החוצה yotzei oso ha'chutza, he escorts Avraham outside. And he says, give a kick. Look up, look up. Go give a look at the stars. See all those stars? Count them. כה יהיה זרעך Koh yihyeh zar'echa. Thus will be your children. אמר רבי יהודה בשם רבי יוחנן, שהעלהו למעלה מכיפת הרקיע, הוא דאמר ליה הבט נא השמימה, אין הבטה אלא מלמעלה למטה Amar Rabbi Yehuda b'shem Rabbi Yochanan, she'he'elahu l'mala m'kipas ha'rakia, hu d'amar lei, ha'beit na ha'shamayma, ein ha'bata ela m'l'mala l'mata. What Hashem was telling Avraham, because all the m'forshim are grappling with this. Count the stars. You know many stars there are in the sky? If you went to Dr. Yosef Wolf's talk last week or you could go this Thursday night. Ben it was there. I don't know how many galaxies, universes, galaxies, billions, gazillions, gatrillions, whatever the numbers are, it's astounding. Avraham Avinu's gonna one, two, three, wait, two, three, four. Avraham's going to go count all the stars in the sky. That's crazy. So the Slonimer Rebbe is saying, pshat is Hashem was telling him, not you're going to be like the stars in the sky in number, quantitatively, you're going to be like the stars in the sky qualitatively. You see how the heavens are above earth? You see how they transcend over earth? They transcend nature? They're in the heavens? Look up. Look למעלה l'mala, look up. Because you and your children, you're going to have the power of up. You're going to transcend nature. You're not ruled by the natural world, by natural instinct, by the natural limitations. היינו שיאש על פי הטבע, היה אברהם רואה שלא יהיו לו בנים, אברהם, יא אלטע קאקער Haynu she'yash al pi ha'teva, hayah Avraham ro'eh she'lo yihyu lo banim. Avraham, ya alte kacker, you old man, you have no right to be having children. You should be going to the early bird and pushing shuffle board. What are you doing thinking you're going to be a tatteh, you're going to have a child at this crazy age? ולכך העלהו הקדוש ברוך הוא למעלה מכיפת הרקיע, למעלה מכל סדרי הטבע V'lachach he'elahu Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'mala m'kipas ha'rakia, l'mala m'kol sidrei ha'teva. He takes him outside and he says, you're not subject to the rules of nature. Gravity, all these rules, you're too old. You're not subject. You're למעלה מן הטבע l'mala min ha'teva. שם אין מניעה שיהיה לו בנים Sham ein m'nia she'yihyeh lo banim. You see in the heavens, you see up there where I am, Hashem says, there's nothing holding anything back. There's just opportunity, just possibility. There is no impossible. There's only possible when you're למעלה מן הטבע l'mala min ha'teva, when you transcend the natural rules. על דרך זה מפרש המדרש את הפסוק אצל יוסף וינס ויצא החוצה, שידע בעומק רוחו ויצא החוצה, ולשם כך הוציא ויצא Al derech zeh mefaresh ha'Midrash es ha'pasuk eitzel Yosef v'yanas v'yeitzei hachutza, she'yada b'omek rucho v'yeitzei hachutza. U'l'shem kach hotzi v'yeitzei. וללמד שבזכות אברהם שאמר בו ויוצא אותו החוצה, שבבאותו אופן כמו אצל אברהם שקפץ למעלה מכל חוקי עולם V'lilamed she'bischus Avraham she'amar bo v'yotzei oso hachutza, she'b'oso ofen k'mo eitzel Avraham she'kafatz l'mala m'kol chukei olam. Just like Avraham turned the impossible into the possible. Just like Avraham believed in the unbelievable, so too, Yosef. You think it's impossible to resist? It's impossible to run out? It's impossible to say no to this yetzer hara? Draw from the strength you have from your great zaydeh. Draw from the Avraham Avinu within you, where the impossible is possible. Your you're able to overcome this impulse, you're able to overcome this instinct. Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the Lubliner Rav, has a great insight on this. I shared it in a parsha shiur recently. He says, what does it mean כה יהיה זרעך koh yihyeh zar'echa? Thus will be your children. You can't count the stars in the sky. He says no. The כה יהיה זרעך koh yihyeh zar'echa is, Hashem says to Avraham, Avraham, your children are going to be like the stars in the sky. Start counting. Any normal person would have looked at Hashem and said, that's impossible. I'm not going to bother. Why am I going to start counting? It's impossible to count that number of stars. I'm not even going to bother. You know what Avraham did? He started counting. Why? Because for Avraham, nothing was impossible. And that's the כה יהיה זרעך koh yihyeh zar'echa. Your children will be just like you. Where they will turn the impossible into possible. If we didn't have that perspective for 2,000 years, would we be here today? If we didn't believe the impossible was possible, to face enemies, to face attempts to exterminate us, to face annihilation, to face disappearance, expulsions, if we didn't believe the impossible was possible, would we still be here? What Avraham planted within us is, whatever one else looked and said, that's impossible, forget it, it's never going to happen. He looked at the impossible, he said that's possible. Look at the survivors and what they rebuilt and how they rebuilt and what they did to turn the impossible into possible. The entrepreneurship and the and the sense of vision and the dream, the famous story of Rav Kahaneman and Ponevezh, where all he saw was a hill. And he said, do you see what I see? So I see an empty hill. He said, I see a yeshiva flourishing with boys. To turn the impossible to possible, that's the כה יהיה זרעך koh yihyeh zar'echa that Avraham, says the Lubliner Rav, who who saw a world learning the Daf Yomi, millions, hundreds of thousands of people, and make a siyum in a year on the daf, on the next on the next round of Shas, of siyum HaShas, to see the impossible and to make it possible. כה יהיה זרעך Koh yihyeh zar'echa. And that's what the Slonimer is saying. Yosef had that legacy. The teaching he had was, don't ever think, ah, I can't lose the weight. I can't conquer my anger. I can't become patient. I'll never be generous. I'll never big a build a big business. I'll never save money. I can never retire. I can never heal my marriage. I can never, my children will never give me nachas. Never think that anything is impossible. Never give up hope and never say, look, that's just not my nature. I'm big-boned. I have a different metabolism. I have a different anger inside me. I have a different rage in my belly. I have a different, don't think my nature, my DNA, my genetics predisposed me and I can't ever change it. We have the ability, we are למעלה מן הטבע l'mala min ha'teva. That's all natural. That's teva. Teva is not an excuse. We are a people, אין מזל לישראל ein mazal l'Yisrael. We are a people who are transcend, we transcend the teva, we transcend the nature. Where do we get this from? Our great zaydeh. Avraham looked outside, he started counting. Hashem said כה יהיה זרעך koh yihyeh zar'echa. You know what? We are a people that can make the impossible possible. And that's what gave Yosef the strength. Yosef drew strength saying anyone else would have failed in this moment, anyone else would have given into their natural instinct, natural desire. Yosef says, nature, nature, pfft. That's not me nature. I'm supernatural. I have the ability to be supernatural. שהניסיון היה כל כך קשה עד שמתגייס הטבעיות של עולם הזה, וחולש של עולם, ולא היה יכול בשום פנים ואופן לעמוד בו. והיה מוכרח לעשות לו שום עצה, רק על ידי שקפץ בזכות אבות למעלה מכיפת הרקיע, ויצא החוצה מחוץ לחוקי עולם She'hanisayon hayah kol kach kasheh ad shemisgayes ha'tivius shel olam hazeh, v'chulash shel olam, v'lo hayah yachol b'shum panim v'ofen la'amod bo. V'hayah muchrach la'asos lo shum eitza, rak al yedei she'kafatz bischus avos l'mala m'kipas ha'rakia, v'yeitzei ha'chutza m'chutz l'chukei olam. When it means that Yosef ויצא החוצה v'yeitzei ha'chutza, he went outside, means he went to the same place Avraham went when he counted the stars. Just like with Avraham it says ויוצא אותו החוצה v'yotzei oso ha'chutza, Hashem took him outside, outside of a world of nature, outside of a world of what's natural. So to Yosef, ויצא ויצא החוצה v'yanas v'yeitzei hachutza, he went outside of the place that's natural. He went outside of where we naturally go. שהתנער לגמרי מתביעות עולם, והתרומם למעלה מכיפת הרקיע, למעלה מכל תביעות ומכל ענייני עולם הזה, רק בכוח זה עמד בניסיון הגדול והקשה הזה She'hisna'er l'gamrei m'tivius olam, v'hisromem l'mala m'kipas ha'rakia, l'mala m'kol tivius, m'kol inyanei olam hazeh, rak b'koach zeh amad b'nisayon hagadol v'hakasheh hazeh. How was he able to overcome this unprecedented and maybe unparalleled surge of a yetzer hara? Because he didn't see himself as a subject of the yetzer hara. He didn't care about the natural limitations. He didn't care what the lab report said, what the doctor said, what the psychologist. He didn't care about the natural limitations. He said, I have the ability to transcend that nature. I can accomplish great things. It's never. It's never too late. I can make the impossible possible. בזה מבאר כ\"ק אדמו\"ר מהריי\"צ נ\"ע את השאלה הנ\"ל. שבית יעקב ובית יוסף הם כנגד בית עשו. שדרשו חז\"ל וייראו אחי יוסף כי מת אביהם ויאמרו לו ישטמנו יוסף, יעקב אבינו אמר להם יוסף הוא הכח שכנגדו עשו. ומשנולד שטנו של עשו פירש יעקב מעשו. ואמר ללבן שלחני ואלכה לארצי. שבאמת גם קודם שנולד יוסף כבר היה בית יעקב איש תם כנגד בית עשו איש יודע ציד. אלא שקודם שנולד יוסף, איש בלהבה ואינו שורף את מרחוק. אבל הוא חשש שמא יתגבר עליו מרחוק. וזה סיבתו של עשו. ועל דרך זה בעת נסיונו של יוסף הוא היה צריך להתגבר על יצרו הרע. זה היה עניין הניסיון של יוסף. שהיה ניסיון כזה שעל פי דרך הטבע לא היה יכול בכלל לעמוד בו. וזהו פירוש חייך אני מנסה אותך יותר מהם. השם Hashem says I'm going to test you more than I tested them. ולכן הים ראה וינס בזכות ארונו של יוסף V'lachen hayam ra'ah vayanos bizchus arono shel Yosef. And now we understand, what does it mean the sea split in the merit of Yosef's bones that were crossing in it? What does that mean? The sea split in that merit. כי הים היה צריך לצאת מגדרי טבע Ki hayam haya tzarich latzeis m'gidrei teva. וזה היה יכול להיות רק בזכות יוסף שכתוב למעלה מן הטבע V'zeh haya yachol lihiyos rak bizchus Yosef she'kasuv l'maalah min hateva. בזכות הים ראה וינס Bizchus hayam ra'ah vayanos. I love this pshat of the Slanimer. I say it every year Pesach time, שביעי של פסח Shvi'i shel Pesach.What does it mean? It means that, was it just a cute play on words? That same word וינס vayanas, Yosef ran outside. הים ראה וינס Hayam ra'ah vayanos, the sea ran and split. Just a cute play on words? No. It's much, much deeper, says the Slanimer Rebbe. The sea, a body of water, is naturally one. Water flows to its lowest point, and water's molecules stick together. You can't take a fork and a knife and cut a bowl of water into two. The water won't stay apart. The water flows to one. So the water looks at השם Hashem and he says, השם Hashem, you created me with a certain nature. Water molecules stick together, water flows to its lowest point. What do you mean tell me to split? That's not how you naturally created me. I have a nature, there are rules that govern how I operate. What do you mean you tell me to split? השם Hashem said, take a look over there. See that coffin? You see that ארון aron? It's passing in front of you? I gave him a nature, too. You know what his nature was? A handsome, good-looking young man, far away from his family, abandoned and all alone, with certain יצר הרע'ס yetzer haras, a magnificent beautiful woman propositioned him ruthlessly, relentlessly, over and over again. And you know what he did? He went against his nature. He transcended his nature, you could transcend yours. And the sea said, okay, I'll split. It doesn't mean that we are to believe that literally the sea had a conversation with השם Hashem. But what it means is, says the Slanimer Rebbe, the notion of וינס Vayanas, this word וינס Vayanas, in what merit did the sea split? The sea split in the merit of the ארונו של יוסף arono shel Yosef is that Yosef reminded the sea and Yosef reminds all of us that just because naturally we're predisposed to have high glucose or a big appetite or anger or a lack of patience or or an addictive personality or whatever it is that's our that's our פעקל peckel that we're facing, just because that's our nature is no excuse. We are descendants of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu. We come from the legacy of Avraham, of ויוצא אותו החוצה vayotze oso hachutzah, הבט נא השמימה habet na hashamaymah. We come from a legacy of going outside of our comfort zone and going outside of our natural limitations and going outside of our genetics and transcending it to become who we're meant to be, to turn the impossible into possible. וזה מה דאיתא בדברי שמואל מדרש אבכיר על הפסוק ויהי כהיום הזה V'zeh mah d'ita b'Divrei Shmuel, Midrash Avkir al hapasuk 'vayhi k'hayom hazeh', שאותו היום שבת היה she'oso hayom Shabbos hoyoh. כי הכח של יוסף להתרומם לכבוד מעלה למעלה מן הטבעיות שלו היה מכח שבת Ki hakoach shel Yosef l'hisromem l'kvod maalah l'maalah meihatevius shelo haya mikoach Shabbos. What was that fateful day when Yosef broke out of his natural limitations and lived a supernatural life? It was Shabbos. Every single piece we learn from the Slanimer Rebbe ends with applying whatever you just learned to Shabbos. That's the חסידות Chassidus which is what I love about the Rebbe. That day with her was Shabbos. כי שבת קודש היא מציאות על-טבעיות Ki Shabbos kodesh hi metzius al-tivius. שהיא בחינת כל מלאכתך עשויה Shehi b'chinas kol melachtecha asuyah. ובכח שבת קודש הגיע יוסף למדרגה שלמעלה Uv'koach Shabbos kodesh higia Yosef l'madreigah she'l'maalah, שבכוחו התגבר על הניסיון sheb'kocho hisgaber al hanisayon. Shabbos is the notion that all my work is done. The natural need and drive to have to work, to produce, Shabbos is the idea that that's done. Now I can experience the supernatural. שבת קודש נותן כח לכל יהודי להתגבר אפילו כשהיצר הרע שלו בבחינת להבה Shabbos kodesh nosein koach l'chol Yehudi l'hisgaber afilu k'she'yetzer hara shelo b'vchinas lahava. On Shabbos you can't be on the internet. There is no יצר הרע yetzer hara. You can't be looking or searching or watching or doing. שבכח השבת קודש יכול להתנהג למעלה מכל עניני עולם למעלה מן הטבע Sheb'koach haShabbos kodesh yachol l'hisnaheg l'maalah mikol inyanei olam l'maalah min hateva. On Shabbos you can transcend our nature. בדברי שמואל כתוב על דברי המדרש אלו B'Divrei Shmuel kasuv al divrei haMidrash eilu, שנראה לכאורה דהאדם נמשך בשבת קודש להתעלות ונהיה יותר גבוה she'nir'eh l'choirah d'ha'adam nimshach b'Shabbos kodesh l'hisalos v'niheyeh yoser gavoah. ואם כן אינו צריך להיזהר כל כך מן היצר הרע v'im kein eino tzarich l'hizaher kol kach min hayetzer hara. ולזה אומרת התורה ויהי כהיום v'lezeh omeres haTorah vayhi k'hayom. שדווקא בשבת קודש היה יוסף בסכנה She'davka b'Shabbos kodesh haya Yosef b'sakanah, כי זה לעומת זה עשה השם ki zeh l'umas zeh asah Hashem. דווקא כשהיהודי מתעלה גם כח שכנגדו מתחזק יותר Davka k'she'haYehudi mis'aleh gam koach she'k'negdo mis'chazek yoser. The holier you are, the greater the opposition to it, the greater the enemy of it. ושני הפירושים אמת U'shnei hapeirushim emes. אמנם כח היצר הרע מתחזק יותר Omnam koach hayetzer hara mis'chazek yoser. מאידך גיסא בשבת קודש ניתן ליהודי כח על-טבעי Mei'idach gisa, b'Shabbos kodesh nitan laYehudi koach al-tiv'i. ואף שיש אצלו ענינים שעל פי דרך הטבע אינו יכול להתגבר עליהם v'af she'yesh etzlo inyanim she'al pi derech hateva eino yachol l'hisgaber aleihem, הרי בכח השבת קודש ניתן להתגבר אף למעלה מן הטבע harei b'koach haShabbos kodesh nitan l'hisgaber af l'maalah min hateva. In the power of Shabbos, we can overcome our nature, overcome our limitations. I mentioned yesterday we did this shiur on on about שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos. And we talked about that Shabbos is the only day that evolves, that grows, that develops. Every day in the weekdays is the same. We say the same שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei, שחרית מנחה מעריב Shacharis Mincha Maariv. Yom Tov you say the same שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei, מעריב שחרית מנחה Maariv Shacharis Mincha. Shabbos is the only one that you say a different שמונה עשרה Shmoneh Esrei because the day goes on. What does it mean the day goes on? It means the deeper you get into Shabbos, the more you're in touch and the reality of who you are, who you're meant to be, the best version of yourself. On Shabbos, you're detoxing. You're going on a cleanse from technology, from the internet, from the world, from work, from troubles and from from all the to-do list and from all the all the pressures and the burdens and the anxiety. And you're able to peel off layer after layer after layer. The deeper you go into Shabbos, the more time you've spent with family, with friends, with הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim, more time you spent eating not just to satisfy your בויך boych, but לשבת קודש l'Shabbos kodesh, כבוד שבת קודש kvod Shabbos kodesh. The deeper you go into Shabbos, there's more זמירות zmiros, more דברי תורה divrei Torah. And by the time you get to שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos is רעוא דרעוין raava d'raavin. You get to the holiest time of of the week, you you're at the apex of your detox, of your cleanse from technology, from the obsessions and addictions of the world around us, the pressures, the shopping, the working, the doing, the going, the keeping up. And and now you're able to reveal our truest, our truest self. And that's why the Chassidim have שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos in the pitch black, in the dark. Donnie and I were in New Square for Shabbos this past summer. The שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos I described it yesterday, aside from being the greatest fire hazard in the world, is an incredible, incredible experience. Thousands of Chassidim packed into bleachers. The Rebbe comes out and he washes and he makes המוציא hamotzi and he gives out the שריים shirayim of the חלה challah. And a few minutes into שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, the room goes black. When I say it goes dark, if you've been to the blind museum in Tel Aviv, there's more light in the blind museum than there is at that. It is you can't see your own hand in front of your own face. So after you panic a little bit and you settle in, it is it is an absolutely incredible. And it was that way for 45 minutes. 45 minutes where there's not one body in the room, all there are are נשמות neshamos. There's just souls in that room. There's no inhibition. You're not worried about what you look like and how you're singing and are you singing and do you know the words? Is anyone looking at you and are you looking at other people? There all you are is a נשמה neshama. It's at the apex, the climax of Shabbos, the רעוא דרעוין raava d'raavin in שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, the holiness, the end of Shabbos, you've peeled back all these layers. All the natural part of who you are is gone. You're in this pitch black room and all you are is a supernatural יד Yid. You're someone who transcends nature. There's no limitation, there's nothing holding you back. There is no impossible. And that's the energy and strength that you take into the week ahead. Because as they call שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos, the Yom Kippur of the week, the נעילה Neilah of the week. What Yom Kippur is to the year, שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos is to Shabbos. It's the moment where you feel, you know, in נעילה Neilah you're like, this is the real me. I'm on fire. Who needs food? Who needs to ever... I'm this is me. I'm never going to talk לשון הרע lashon hara again. I'm never going to not come to shul. I'm never going to... And then by the time you've broken your fast, you know, it's like it's gone. But at least for a moment, you get a glimpse into who you are, who you're meant to be, the best version of yourself. And that's what שלש סעודות Shalosh Seudos is. So that's what he's saying. Shabbos is this day. ויהי כהיום הזה Vayhi k'hayom hazeh. All this happened on a Shabbos, because Shabbos is the day that gives us the capacity, the window to who we are, who we're meant to be, to peel back the layers, the limitations of nature and to rise, a וינס vayanas, to go חוצה chutza. Sometimes you have to go outside your comfort zone. And you have to say, you know what? I don't care if it's my nature. I don't care what the odds. I don't care if the statistics are against me. I don't care if it looks like the trajectory is leading me in this path. I don't care what my genetics tell me. I don't care what my nature tells me. I have the ability to be supernatural, to go חוצה chutza, to go outside, to leave my comfort zone, to leave my nature, leave my genetics and to be who I am meant to be.
