Transcript
Good morning Boker Tov. Welcome back, Living with Emuna, our Wednesday shiur, support group, gathering, friendship, in which we come together to remember what really matters, what is most important, who we are, who we're meant to be, and our relationship with the Almighty. Our mission of feeling and seeing His presence in our life on a regular basis. So thank you for coming back together again and for joining. I want to thank our generous sponsors, the series sponsors for the year, Doctors Avi and Bella Morgan, so generously have sponsored in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut, zichrono livracha, in memory of Bella's mother, Dr. Ellen Schanzer. Thank you so much for your generosity. Also want to thank this particular morning sponsor, today's class, Yvette and Dr. Aaron Kablam, dear friends, in honor of the shloshim of Yvette's stepfather, Solomon Schlosser, שי בן אפרים משה. His neshama should have an aliya, and Yvette and the whole family should find comfort. Okay, we've been studying the wonderful sefer by Rav Itamar Morgenstern, Derech Bi'odecha, and we're learning Darchei Kinyan HaDveikus. How to acquire the attribute, the character trait of dveikus, how to cling to the Almighty, how to feel His presence in our lives, how to connect to Him in a most meaningful way. And if you remember last time we left off with some out-there heebie-jeebie stuff. I hope that you're back today and we didn't lose you since the last time, because Rav Itamar talked about the fourth suggestion in which we can live with dveikus. The fourth critical suggestion about how we can live life with an awareness of a presence of Hashem, feeling connected, feeling loved, feeling comfort, feeling support, feeling confidence. Let's review them very, very quickly what they were. Number one, emuna. You have to set aside time to think, to just be. So much noise, so much momentum, so much chaos, so much motion sickness. You forget what matters, what's important, who's there. A relationship with God needs time and needs communication. We have to talk to Him and we have to listen and perceive when He's talking to us. Number one was emuna. Number two, Torah and tefilla. That we sometimes forget that the process of studying Torah, the process of doing mitzvos, are there in order to enrich our lives spiritually. Sometimes we're so consumed or caught up with the minutiae and the details, sometimes we're so concerned with did we fulfill the mitzvah, we forget that through it we're meant to feel more connected to God. So we can imbue and embed all of our actions with some mindfulness and some meaning so that they result in our feeling closer, feeling closer to God. Number four is what we're up to, which is shemos hakodesh, using Hashem's holy names. And this is what was out there and where I said I hope I didn't lose you, I hope I don't lose myself. The shemos hakodesh, using God's names. That if a person were to sit and meditate, a person were to concentrate and reflect, a person were to trace God's name, either letter by letter or see the whole name like a neon sign flashing, and be thinking about that name, thinking about what that name means. You know, one of the ways when I'm counseling particularly young people who are in the stage of dating and they're not sure if this is the one, or I talk to people who are in marriage and they're not sure if they're in crisis, one of the barometers, one of the metrics that I try to use is I ask the following question: When you see the other person's name come up on your caller ID, how do you feel? How do you react? How do you feel? If when you see the other person's caller ID name come up on the caller ID, if your heart skips a beat, if you can't wait to press answer, if you're so excited to have them check in with your day and you check in with theirs, it's a good sign, it's a healthy sign. But if you see someone's name come up and you go, oh, what do I do? I ignored it the last three times, can I press ignore again? At what point will I be in trouble? Maybe this one I have to answer, but I could keep it short. Then your relationship might be in crisis, you might be in trouble. A name, when you see that name flash, it tells you everything about the relationship. A name is extraordinarily powerful. And therefore, says Rav Itamar, if a person dedicates time to meditate, to reflect, to be, to exist, to think, sit, take some deep breaths, the neshama, the neshima, restore that sense of soul, picture Hashem's name, different names reflect different aspects of God, and when using His name, feel that affection, that love, that connection, even that intimacy, that confidence. A name. You had homework. I don't know if anybody did their homework, but if you recall the homework I gave you from last week was to try to use people's names. So when you're online at Publix, the supermarket, or whether you are in a conversation with someone else, in the middle of the conversation use the person's name and see what that does, see how it makes you feel to use a name, see how it makes the other person come alive, feel validated, feel they're not invisible, just by using their name. Names are extraordinarily, extraordinarily powerful, and that's why that is the fourth mechanism to achieve a level of dveikus is to sit and to think and to picture and to visualize and to concentrate and to feel connected, and especially when it comes to Hashem. You see, when it comes to people, so I'm streaming on three platform- four platforms simultaneously right now, but one of them I can see other people, including my amazing wife. So when you see someone's image, when you see their picture, you could think about them through their image, through their picture. But with Hashem, we don't have that luxury. There is no image of God that we can picture. We don't know Hashem through explicit conversation or an image or a connection. How do we know Hashem? We know Hashem through his name. His name is as close as we come to his essence and to who he is. So that's why when it comes to other people, I might sit and concentrate and I might picture them. I might picture an experience I have with them, I might think of somewhere we went or something we did, or a laugh, or a fun time, or a meal, and that's how I feel connected. But with Hashem, we don't have that image. We don't have that memory of being able to see or picture, the closest we come to him is his name. His name is a description of who he is, or his names, the many names he has are descriptions of who he is. And that's why, not coincidentally, what do we call it? Our mission and our mandate in life, I hope everybody's already on their way to doing it for today. נקדש את שמך ברבים. Our goal is to make a Kiddush Hashem. We're trying to sanctify God's name, and the opposite is what we're trying to avoid, God forbid, not to create a Chilul Hashem. God forbid, not to desecrate God's name or to make God's name diminished or to push God's name further away from people. Our mission and our mandate is to make a Kiddush Hashem and to avoid a Chilul Hashem. And when we talk about that relationship with God, we connect with and we're talking about doing so through his name. And that's why the name is the medium or the mechanism, the name is the vehicle through which we can try to further connect to him. V'chol she'yarbe b'zeh and the more that a person does this, says Rav Itche Meir, l'fi kocho v'inyano according to their strength, their ability, יירש וייפתח לו עולם חדש. It's going to open up a whole new world. It's going to open a whole new world. Dedicate three minutes a day, go on airplane mode, take a few deep breaths, dedicate 30 seconds before you daven. Just picture his name, think about it, concentrate, reflect. ואף שבתחילה האדם מרגיש שהוא אינו רגיל בזה ושהוא אינו מבין כל כך, and when you first start don't give up. You're going to feel like a total wackadoodle, you're going to feel like a total weirdo, it's going to feel so unfamiliar and out of character. You're going to wonder what you look like and why you're doing it. מכל מקום אם יבקש ויתחנן באמת ויתאמץ ויתעקש יזכה שהשם יתברך יפתח לו, but if you persevere and if you have courage and if you stubbornly continue, you will merit that God will open it up for you. v'yavin es haderech, you'll understand the way, ויצליח להדביק את מחשבתו בהשם יתברך, and you will succeed in attaching yourself, in clinging through your thoughts to Hashem b'koach hashemos hakadoshim by using and imagining, by picturing and connecting with Hashem's holy names. Now he points out here in the footnote, v'tzarich lada'at meirosh, you have to know at the outset, שכמו בכל עניין רוחני לא מוכרח שמיד יפתח ויאיר לו הרגשת אור with everything spiritual, it takes effort, it takes time, it doesn't happen overnight, it doesn't happen immediately. וכמו כן גם אם האיר לו בעבר לפעמים האור נעלם. So maybe the first time you did it, or maybe the fifth time you did it, it was incredibly moving, powerful, you got up, you felt so much more connected, you felt so much more alive, you felt so much more confident about Hashem's role in your life. But then the sixth time you did it, it disappeared. Where'd it go? That didn't do it for me. You need to know, says Rav Itche Meir, that that's the pattern, that's what's going to happen when it comes to inyanei ruchni, when it comes to spiritual endeavors and efforts and ambitions. Sometimes they come easy, they feel connected. You know that with davening. Sometimes the davening moves us, we feel incredibly connected, and other times we struggle to connect to our davening. It fluctuates, it fluctuates. וצריך לא להניח אלא יגעתי ומצאתי אז תאמין. Don't give up, don't stop, don't concede, don't surrender. ויאריך ביחודים כפי כוחו עד שיאיר and keep sitting and thinking and connecting and picturing until until your life becomes illuminated, until the light goes off, until the light bulb appears over your head and you say ooh-ah, I see him, I feel him, I know him, I know him. ואם לא מאיר לו אז יעמוד בזה בדרך של השתוקקות. And if it doesn't work, stay stubborn and persevere and the merit of continuing and trying. והיינו לדוגמא כשחשב בשם הוי"ה בניקוד חולם when you think about Hashem's name with the punctuation of a cholam, יעורר בלבו תשוקה מתי אזכה להרגיש דבקות. One of the things that you can concentrate and meditate on while you're doing this exercise is why isn't it working? One of the prayers you could have is why aren't I connecting? That gufa is one of the thoughts and one of the reflections that you can have. So so important. ומי שמתאמץ יזכה שיקבל המתנה משמים and the person who perseveres, who courageously and stubbornly The pleasure of an intimate connection with the Almighty, with the source of the entire universe. ולבסוף אציין שכמו בכל עבודה צריך מאוד להיזהר לא לקפוץ מדרגות just like when it comes to every other effort, every other area of our own personal growth, you can't skip steps, you can't run too fast, you've got to go slowly, incrementally. ובתחילה יקבע לעצמו זמן בישוב הדעת. So when is the best time to do it? When you wake up in the morning? Probably not. You've got kids, you've got to get off to school and carpool, you've got to get to davening, may not be the best time. Late at night? Maybe you're exhausted, maybe you're spent, maybe you've got nothing left in the tank. When is your best time? Middle of the day? After you exercise? Before you exercise? When is your best time to sit and to experience just being and thinking and reflecting and picturing the name of God be'yishuv hadaas with a certain serenity and calmness. Not with your device going berserk and not when your mind is clogged and polluted by all the things you have to do. שבו יחשוב בשמות ובהרגשות to try to take an honest assessment about how do I feel and in what way am I connected. ויתפלל לשם יתברך לזכות לזה באמת and to daven to Hashem to truly connect to Him in this way, authentically. ואחר כך יוסיף מעט קודם הלימוד והתפילה וכך יוסיף ויעלה לאט לאט עד שיזכה ממש לחיות עם ייחודים. So imagine if before the emunah shiur starts at 8:45, at 8:43 you sat at your device and you said: I'm going to take a few deep breaths, I'm going to picture the name of Hashem, I'm going to picture myself attaching and clinging to Him, I'm going to picture a life where I'm sanctifying His name, I'm going to picture that I'm calm and serene, I have no anger, I have no arrogance, I have no envy, I have no jealousy because I'm just attaching myself to that neon sign, to that name. I'm seeing Hashem's name on His caller ID. He's calling me, He's connecting to me. I see His name coming up and my heart is skipping a beat. And now I start the shiur. And now I start the Daf Yomi. And now I start Mincha. And now I start to braid my challah. And now I start homework with my kids. But first I spent a moment, 30 seconds, one minute picturing Hashem's name, connecting, attaching, feeling His presence in my life and feeling that sense of comfort that comes, that comes with it. ונציין ד' ייחודים יסודיים שעל ידי המחשבה בהם נקל עלינו לזכות לדבקות עוד ועוד בעזרת השם יתברך. So Rav Itshamar continues, he says now we're going to give it a try together. I'm going to tell you some of the names of God and what to picture and what they look like, and if you thought it was out there last week, wait until now. We're going to picture some group meditation over technology, over online, and to picture these names. But before we do I wanted to share two other thoughts with you, two other thoughts with you. One, so last week, you know we have indoor davening at shul, distanced, masked, safe, secure. We also have a large tent we put up outside, two tents side-by-side to have outdoor davening. So I try to daven in the outdoor minyan at least once a week, Mincha Maariv, I speak, I give a Dvar Torah out there. Last week I'm davening at the Mincha outdoor minyan and a car pulls up and pulls in the handicap spot. And to be honest, I'm somewhat cynical of the people who park in the handicap spot when they don't need it. Chassid came out of the car, and frankly and embarrassingly, I'm ashamed to say, I was skeptical why he was parking there. He was late, we had started Mincha, but nevertheless that's not an excuse to park where you don't belong even if you're running late. But then he went to the back door of the car and out came what looked like a young 13, 14, 15-year-old boy and the father took out a walker and was helping this boy out of the car. Chassidishe yid with a Chassidishe child. And this 14-year-old boy, I'm making up his age but that's what he seemed to me, I noticed I was wondering all while I was trying to concentrate on davening, I admit, but why did he need a walker? And then I saw that out of the bottom of one of his pant legs there was no foot, there was no leg that emerged. The boy had one leg and he was using the walker to hobble and jump and make his way to the tent where we had our minyan. And I was watching this father so lovingly and so affectionately and so selflessly care for and help balance and protect and lift this young boy, who undoubtedly he had to do, I'm going to guess, maybe since he was born and likely will have to shower with that love and support for a long time to come. And I watched the father help the boy sit down in the chair and when it was time get up from the chair, and I watched the boy with his walker hop on the one foot the three steps back at the end of the Amida, hop on his one foot the three steps forward the beginning of the Amida, and I could barely concentrate on my own davening while I was watching this. Because there was just one thought that kept overwhelming me, and that was: Wow, this life is not easy for this young man. And in his world, his Chassidishe world, who is he going to marry? What family will he build? What career will he have? What will life look like? Look like when it has that challenge? And this father, what did it take to get this young man on a plane and to travel and to be here? What does it mean with every time they need to go somewhere, the extra time that has to be built in, the extra effort that has to be expressed and exerted? It's all I could think about. And then I thought about a beracha we say every single morning in our Birchas Hashachar in the 15 blessings that we wake up for, that are supposed to calibrate and orient our day with an attitude of gratitude. If you've never listened, you could go back to the beginning of Siddur Snippets, we went through these berachos one by one. And one of them is Hameichin Mitzadei Gaver, that God, you prepare our steps. You prepare our steps, you give us the ability to wake up and to walk. You give us the capacity to have a certain level of independence. You give us the ability to engage and encounter and navigate around your world. And I thought to myself, boy, if you woke up this morning with two feet, you're ahead of the game. You're certainly ahead of this young man and his family. And looking at him and watching him, and the joy, he had a smile and he seemed joyful. I don't know him. I didn't come to know him. And I didn't see him again. And for all I know, he focuses on the challenges of his life. But in that little interaction I had from a distance and to say Shalom Aleichem, there seemed to be a joy and a simchas hachayim and a happiness despite what he was missing. And if you have two feet and you woke up this morning and put two feet on the ground when you got out of bed, and if you didn't have to think twice about carrying a child to a car or out of a car or with their walker or how to get them into class or how to get them where you needed to go, but you're able to just run and do and push and walk and go, what a beracha. Hashem loves you. Boy, does Hashem love you. So these are the things that we take for granted until we don't have them. But that's what it means to live a life of deveikus, it means that when I wake up in the morning and I put on my two shoes, I'm putting on my two expressions of gratitude that I have two feet. If you put on two shoes this morning, if you have two feet, Hameichin Mitzadei Gaver. שעשה לי כל צרכי, Hashem you've done everything that I need. The Gemara says that in the old days, in Talmudic times, these blessings, the Birchas Hashachar that we say, we didn't say as part of davening, we said as part of the way we woke up in the morning. When you opened your eyes and you said, wow, I can see, Pokeiach Ivrim. I've not been getting a lot of sleep and I'll tell you, not for your sympathy, when I wake up tired in the morning, my eyes can be blurry. And it's not just a few times that I wake up wondering, do I have a problem with my eyes? Do I need to get new glasses? Can I see? Baruch Hashem, with a little rest and the trusted cup of coffee, the sight returns and the blurriness disappears and dissipates. But Pokeiach Ivrim, Hashem I can see. Wow, I can see. We're scheduled today, right Linda? We've got a conversion today, our beis din for conversion, converting a wonderful woman who's legally blind, who struggles to be able to see, who wants to join the Jewish people. What courage, what perseverance, what beautiful attitude with joy and wants to join the Jewish people. So welcome to have her, can't wait for her to be a member of our tribe, a real tribute to our tribe. You open your eyes, Pokeiach Ivrim, Hashem loves you. You woke up, you have two feet that you could put on the ground, two feet to put shoes on too. You woke up and you could run to your car and get the kids in the car, Hashem loves you. And so Hashem is speaking to us each and every day, but do we hear him? Do we hear him? Hashem is talking to us and he's expressing his love to us and you'll say, well, I'm entitled, I'm supposed to have two feet and I'm supposed to have my eyesight and I'm supposed to have my hearing and I'm supposed to have a roof over my head and I'm supposed to have food in my mouth. To which I ask you, who says? Who says you're entitled to anything? Who says that you should start with anything and that you're entitled to anything? We're entitled to nothing and whatever we have is from above as a blessing. And every day we should wake up with that feeling of gratitude for having it, but also recognize from where it comes and how quickly it could disappear. That's what these berachos do. But unfortunately many people say them while driving or running to shul or while getting the kids in the car for carpool or running through while still cleaning or straightening up the house, or don't say them at all. They are the compass to calibrate and start our day with an attitude of gratitude. Wow, God, I've got two feet. Wow. Can you imagine someone would think you're insane if every day you say to them, I just wanted to let you know I still have two feet today, I'm so grateful I woke up, I have two feet, I'm putting on two shoes, I'm feeling great. That's what our life is supposed to be. And imagine how much more rich and meaningful life would be if we had that level of awareness and sensitivity to see the blessings that are all around us and to express gratitude for them, to feel his love. You know when we don't feel his love? When one of the shoes is stuck under a bed and you can't find it, when there's a knot in the shoelace and it's taking five extra minutes to get ready in the morning. Where are you God? Woe is me, why do bad things happen to good people? You still have two shoes, you have two feet, be grateful. You have two feet, you got a lot to say thank you for. So I wanted to share that reflection of seeing this young man and watching the effort it took. and the love and affection of his father and the recognition that I looked down at my own two feet and I said, "Wow, am I grateful. Hashem, boy do I want to attach myself to you and feel your love, and feel grateful for all that you do. That is number one. Number two. I wrote an article a few weeks ago about smiling. And I spoke about a study came out that shows that if you smile while you receive an inoculation, if you get a shot, if you smile while you get the shot, when you use engage the micromuscles in your face it releases endorphins that give you strength, and the study showed that the shot that you take, the shot in the arm, literally shot in the arm, is 40% less painful if you smile while you get it. If you haven't gotten your shot yet, don't forget to smile. But I also in the article I talked about the importance of smiling, the pasuk praises Yehuda, the white of his teeth are whiter than milk, Rav Wolbe says that milk can nourish the body, calcium, milk, arguably, can help the body grow, but smile, the the energy that you pass to someone when you smile is even greater than milk or calcium you give them to help them grow, you'll make a person sit upright, stand upright, you'll make a person more confident, more happy, more secure when you flash your your white teeth, when you smile at them, even more than if you give a wonderful beverage that lifts their spirits. I spoke about Rabbi Yisrael Salanter says our face is reshus harabbim, our face is a public domain, and we have to therefore take responsibility for the demeanor and the disposition that we project to others because of the impact that it has on them. And I spoke about lastly in the article that one of the things I think we've been deprived of for almost a year with these masks is the ability to exchange smiles, that half the time I'm in shul I see someone across a room, I haven't seen them in a long time or I want to check in and so I'm smiling at them and wondering why are they ignoring me back until I realize they can't even see me smile. So wearing these masks has deprived us of the smiles, and smiles we need, we need smiles to exchange energy, we need smiles in order to create a sense of of love, companionship and so on. So I got the following extraordinary email from someone, I don't have permission to use her name, but I was blown away by this email and I want to share it with you. So much of what I receive, emunah stories, please keep them coming, they give me enormous chizuk, they strengthen me, and they enable me to share them with you and I hope they strengthen so many other people. So someone shared with me that she heard about read the article about smiles, and that five and a half years ago their 19-year-old son became paralyzed overnight, was sick for three months and passed away soon after his 20th birthday. I can't and don't even want to imagine that pain of losing a child, that's not darko shel olam, that's not the way the world is supposed to be, that pain must be borderline unbearable. And the person says during this period of the illness one of the biggest complaints was that no one smiled at her anymore. And she says I understood that friends felt they needed to show me they shared my pain, and if they didn't demonstrate the pain I might think they didn't care. However, being in the position I was she writes and having the happy disposition I'd been blessed with, the lack of smiles was a large part of the nisayon I endured. It took months after he passed away for people to start smiling at me again. And I was blown away that it never occurred to me and it was counterintuitive. I would think that someone went through such an acute loss, such a painful event, it'd be inappropriate, grossly inappropriate, insensitive to smile at such a person. And of course I'm not suggesting that you pay a shiva call with a big smile on your face or that you attend a funeral with laughter. What I am saying is that soon after you have to be able to continue to smile because we draw from the smiles the energy of one another. So here's someone who went through such pain, the loss of a child, and nowhere does she suggest that it wasn't painful, nowhere does she suggest that smiling or trying to be positive is a contradiction to mourning or grieving or feeling the pain of the loss. What she says though is that at the same time simultaneous to feeling that pain of the loss to also be deprived of smiles, the energy of smiles from others, that is something which only compounds the pain and is so grossly unfair. So our ability to have a positive demeanor, if you woke up with two feet, if you open your eyes and you have the ability to see, if you have and identify the areas and the things in life to be happy about, then there's so much to say thank you Hashem. There's so much to feel dveikus and cling to and be grateful to Hashem. And that's part of the exercise that we can do in following Rabbi Itche Meir's suggestion of sitting and meditating and reflecting and picturing whether the letters that comprise Hashem's name or seeing the whole world flash at us the word the name of Hashem in a neon way, but maybe one of the things that we can do is attitude of gratitude, is to think about, okay, what am I grateful for today? I have two feet, I can see. What am I grateful for today? That people smile at me and I can smile at others. What am I grateful for today? The big things, the little things, what am I grateful for today? But to use those moments for an attitude of gratitude. Okay, back to the text. So let's try the first one. Hayichud harishon, the first way to picture this. If you're driving, Yocheved, don't try this while you're driving. Hashem shayach l'midas hadveikus, the name that applies to the character trait of dveikus, of gluing ourselves, attaching ourselves, clinging ourselves to God והוא שם הוי' שכל אותיותיו מנוקדות בניקוד חולם. The shem havaya of Hashem's name. ויצייר שם הקדוש במחשבתו, picture that name in your thought process ותוך כדי המחשבה בשם הקדוש יכנס להרגיש בכל לבו איך הוא נדבק בהשם יתברך. So picture yud then hey then vav then hey, picture Hashem's name, haya hove veyihye, he was, he is and he will be, and while picturing that name of Hashem that spells out was, is and will be, thinking about that name let your heart fill with love, with connection, with gratitude, with attaching ourselves to him. Wow, that's his name. That's his name: president, prime minister, master, king, was, is, will be, all powerful. Who doesn't want to attach themselves to the name all powerful? Who doesn't want to attach themselves to the name all powerful? וכל שירבה בזה יראה איך בעזרת השם מתלהבת נפשו בדבקות להשם יתברך. And the more that you surrender and let yourself go, the more you connect to that name, the more you see it flash before your eyes, the more you lean in and recognize his greatness, his omnipotence, the more you realize his providence, the more you realize every big word you could think about about him, the more connected you're going to feel to him, the more you will let go and let God, the more you will submit to that higher power, the more you will cling to him and realize that I have nothing to fear and nothing to be worried about, everything is and will be the way it's meant to be, he's in charge, he's in control, I can get through it. Whether you're lying in the MRI machine or waiting for a result, whether you're waiting whether you're going to make your flight, whether you're waiting for news from somebody, whether you're struggling with an investment that went sour or a relationship that's in crisis or bad medical news or whatever the challenge is, pause, stop, think, picture and connect, attach. Hayichud hasheni, the second one, העליה לפי סדר העולמות כפי שביאר לעיל במאמר על ביטול. He says the notion of climbing a ladder and connecting to God, and he spoke about this earlier וצורך כל בן עליה כפי כח נפשו, and every aspiring, spiritually aspiring person according to their level and according to what they're capable of וכל עת ממצא להיות מטפס ועולה מטפס ויורד, climb the ladder to connect and then descend from the ladder. And this notion of the ladder is important because you can't close your eyes and picture Hashem's name, you can't attach and submit if you're supposed to be having dinner with your spouse or your children. What kind of a parent or spouse will you be if you're supposed to be fully present with them, but right now you're doing that? You can't do it if you're driving, that will not end well for you. So you need to know when to climb the ladder and when to come down from the ladder, when to be intensely spiritual, when to be closing eyes and connecting and when to come down and to regroup and to take it and to take it back into the regular life. דהיינו שיכניס לקבלת עול ואחר כך לאהבה ויראה דבקות. The first rung of the ladder is kabbalas ol. There's a God, I accept it upon myself, I have responsibility, there's accountability, and that's the first rung. Then I climb the next rung to ahava and I love this God. To know God is to love God. I'm going to spend time to come to know him, and once I come to know him, to know God is to love God. But whoa, I can't just love God. When I think about who he is and his greatness and how much power he has, then I also have awe and reverence and a little bit of fear. And the next rung on the ladder is dveikus. Wow, I have a kabbalas ol, I accept upon myself the yoke, the accountability, the responsibility. I love God, I have a healthy dose of awe or fear of God, and now I want to connect and attach to God ואחר כך להתבוננות ותשוקה והתלהבות ואחר כך לביטול. And then contemplativeness and then yearning and then being on fire and then to nullify ourselves to God, surrender. Each of these is a rung on a ladder and you have to picture and think about and climb that ladder of these experiences ואז ירד שוב מלמעלה למטה כי הכלל ביחודים הוא שמצד אחד יש להאריך בכל יחוד. You have to dwell and spend time on each of these rungs until yargish shemismale be'orosav, you feel yourself filling with his light אבל מצד שני אי אפשר להישאר על מקום אחד. But on the other hand you can't stay there too long, you get stuck יותר מדי הרבה זמן צריך לעלות ולרדת ושוב לעלות. You have to be going up and down, there has to be movement, rhythm and movement in that relationship with God. If you stay still or stay in place too long it grows stale and you will be paralyzed. That's also not healthy. So those were the first two: number one shem havaya and number two the sulam, the picturing, the climbing, ascending, descending the ladder. And then hamuvan and we'll start with this next week is yichud hamerkava, the notion of the chariot and traveling in the chariot with God, and then we're going to come back to something that feels more relatable or more familiar to many of us, but that's your homework. Your homework is to try this. Homework is to be grateful if you have two feet. Be grateful if you have two feet. If you have one foot, be grateful you can hop. Imagine having no feet. Be grateful for what you have. Grateful for what you have and an attitude of gratitude and to spend this time to quiet the noise, to just be, to picture, attach ourselves to his name and if I have to leave you with one bumper sticker or motto, it's live life where you see God's name coming up on the caller ID. So when I saw that young man and my reaction and my feeling was wow, I have two feet, I looked down at my two feet and what I saw were not two feet, I saw Hashem's name on my caller ID. When things work out, when things go well, you're feeling Hashem's name coming up on your caller ID. So when you look at your children's face with their big smile and their joy and their happiness and that you're blessed to have them in your life, that's Hashem's name coming up on your caller ID. Look for the blessings, see his name come up and get to a place where when God's name comes up on the caller ID, you never press ignore but your heart skips a beat and you can't wait to connect and to connect even further. So thanks for connecting with me this morning and joining, don't forget to smile even to the people going through challenging times, maybe they need smiles even more than anyone else. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. Tonight nine p.m. we're going behind the Bima with Sivan Rahav Meir, amazing media personality in Israel and just amazing personality in general, very, very excited to go behind the Bima with her. We also have a short special appearance by a Jewish music world superstar, very excited, you don't want to miss, that's nine o'clock tonight on behind the Bima. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be alerted about every time we go live and the opportunity to learn together. Thank you to our sponsors this morning and everybody have a phenomenal, phenomenal day.
