Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov, and welcome back to Living with Emuna, our weekly effort to remind ourselves what we already know, and that is there is a creator, there is a God, He loves us, He is intimately involved in our lives, and when we attach ourselves to Him, we have nothing to worry about at all. This is our final shiur for the season. We are taking a break until the Wednesday following Tisha B'Av, so please make a note. We will not be meeting. It is a good chance, if you have not listened to all the previous ones, to catch up. I think we are closing in on two hundred Living with Emuna shiurim, so you could always listen to previous episodes at RabbiEfremGoldberg.org or on YUTorah or YouTube. I want to thank our generous sponsors for the series for the year, Drs. Avi and Bella Morgan, really from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your generosity for sponsoring the series the entire year in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut, who was an incredible example of living and dying with Emuna, and in memory of Bella's mother, Dr. Ellen Shanzar, who lived a life of service of great Chesed to the community. Thank you for your generosity and thank you for your friendship. This morning's shiur is also sponsored by Roda Shoval in honor of her new granddaughter, Raizel Emuna Bienenfeld. Thank you so much, what a beautiful baby and a beautiful name. You should have a lot of Nachas from Railey Emuna Bienenfeld. The shiur is also sponsored in honor of the birthday of Mendy Fischman by his children. Mendy is an amazing friend. Mendy gives me Sefarim, inspires me, shares ideas, he is a Ben Aliyah, a Mevakesh. Mendy, this should be your best year yet. Have a lot of Nachas from your family, a lot of Simcha, and only the best be benched with Gezunt until one hundred and twenty and beyond. Okay, back in B'Yom Dorchacha. We are back in Rav Itche Meir Morgenstern's wonderful work, which is a really practical—Rav Itche Meir has Chassidish Kabbalistic ideas that are very, very out there and a person has to be steeped in the language, the vocabulary of Kabbalah to understand. But B'Yom Dorchacha, at least the way I have been able to understand it, is really simplified. He has taken those very deep, very mystical, very sophisticated, very profound ideas and communicating in a way which is accessible for the masses. We have been learning about Bittul. We have been learning about the notion that we cannot attach ourselves to the infinite as long as we think that we are a something. As long as we have an ego, as long as we live with arrogance, as long as we think that I matter, as long as we think that we actually take up space, then we cannot truly attach ourselves to the divine, to the infinite. Then we are competing, so to say, with Him. We are competing: my needs, His needs; my interests, His interests; my agenda, His agenda; the world according to me or the world according to Him. The moment I let go and let God, when I forfeit, when I finally put myself under the care of God, of the higher power, that is when I can feel His presence and attach. Bittul, and I want to be very, very clear—Rav Itche Meir was very clear—the notion of Bittul, of self-nullification, of letting go, of stopping to think that we are actually something, is not about a lack of self-confidence, inferiority, insecurity, having no sense of self, having no self-worth. It is the opposite. Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin, Tzidkas HaTzadik, Rav Tzadok writes that the same way that we have to believe in God, we have to believe in ourselves. He says there are two beliefs, there are two Mitzvos of Emuna: there is a faith in God, and we have to have faith in ourselves. Isn't that arrogant? Isn't that counter to Bittul? The answer is no, because Rav Tzadok explains the faith we have in ourselves is not because I am an independent entity. The faith is not in me, who I am, my skills, my personality, my talent, my capabilities, my capacity. The faith in myself is that there is a godliness in me, that God expresses Himself through me and in me, that Hashem breathed life into me and I have a Tzelem Elokim. So there is the worst side of me, there is the animal instinct, the animal impulse, there is that which I need to fight and struggle with in me, but there is also the best version of myself. And the best version of me, the best part of me, that voice of discipline, self-control, that voice that strives for holiness to go higher and higher, that is God expressing Himself through me. The talents, the skills, the gifts, the personality, they are on loan. They are not part of my permanent collection. It is not who I am; I did not earn it or achieve it. It is part of my DNA, the biology, it is part of the way I was created and constructed. We still have to work hard to realize those potential talents. We have to take the initiative in order to express those gifts within this world, but their very presence is nothing we can take credit for. It is the Tzelem Elokim. So says Rav Tzadok HaKohen, you gotta believe in God. Emuna, Bitachon, Dveikus, you gotta wake up, you gotta know there is a higher power, there is a creator, that there is a master of the universe, that we do not exist independently, He controls the world, He is in charge. A person has to know that. But we also have to know that He isn't just in the heavens, He is not just far away, Lo bashamayim hi, כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאד. It is right close to you, and there is nothing closer than in your own heart, there is nothing closer than in your own belly, in your own kishkes, in your own skin. Hashem finds Himself inside each and every one of us. And every one of us. We have to believe in God, but if we are alive then Tzelem Elokim, then God is expressing himself through us. We are each חלק אלוה ממעל ממש, we are each a portion, a piece of God literally, and therefore we have to believe in God and we have to believe in ourselves. So it doesn't matter if you've retired, it doesn't matter if you've moved on to a new stage in life, it doesn't matter if you're incapacitated in some way. God forbid a person is debilitated, struggling with illness, convalescing, recovering. It doesn't matter if a person has certain physical, mental, emotional, spiritual limitations. Whoever we are and whatever we have, we are alive, there's air in our lungs, if God renewed our contract for another day then he is expressing himself through us. Our unique personality, how we can persevere, what we can overcome, what we have yet left to dedicate ourselves to, how we will write the next chapter of our life. God is that author, God is our partner, he's by our side. We have to believe in God and we have to believe in that Tzelem Elokim inside each and every one of us. So therefore what it means Bittel, what we're talking about says Reb Jeremaya here, we'll get back to the text in a moment. But what Bittel means is not I never enjoy myself, I don't matter, I let people walk all over me, I let people step on me, I feel inferior, I'm insecure, that's not what it means at all. I can't be any more secure. I can't feel any less inferior. You know why? I'm not me. I've been mevatel the personal sense inside of me into the Tzelem Elokim of me. You know who I am? I am an agent, I am a shliach of Hashem, I am an ambassador of God. And therefore I carry the greatest confidence. You know, if someone's an ambassador to a country and they represent the President of the United States of America, someone's an ambassador they represent the Prime Minister of Israel, when they walk into a meeting with confidence, what gives them the confidence is not their own sense of self, is rather their role, their assignment, their mission, their charge to be an ambassador of someone who's a much greater power who has a much greater perspective. So we are ambassadors, we are agents of the Almighty, we are shluchim of Hashem, we are his messengers in this world. So when I am expressing myself as my own independent self, when I'm expressing myself as my needs, my wants, when they run in conflict with God, then that's not good. That's what I need to be mevatel, that's what I need to nullify. But when I tap into, when I identify, when I set goals that are all about being of service to God, then I'm his agent, I'm his ambassador, I have a mission in this world. It's not easy to define, it's not the same for everyone, I can't define my mission the same as yours. Slonimer Rebbe calls that avodah zarah, avodah she-hi zarah. When I do an avodah, when I think that my life, my mission, my service has to imitate, has to be exactly like yours, it's zarah, it's strange, it's foreign to me. It has to be based on who I am and where I've come from and where I'm going, what are my assets, what are my liabilities, what are my strengths, what are my weaknesses. Everyone has their own avodah, everybody has their own mission, everybody has their own reason they are here and their own things they need to accomplish. You can be inspired by others but don't try to copy, don't be a poor imitation of someone else. Don't try to do something zarah to you, don't do an avodah, don't do a service which is zarah, which is foreign to you. Figure out your avodah. But we're all agents of Hashem. So what is Bittel? Bittel is not I'm a gornisht step all over me, I am nothing, I have no needs, no wants, no ability to feel satisfaction, pleasure, happiness, or joy. Bittel is I'm mevatel, I'm nullifying the part in me that is not the Tzelem Elokim. I'm nullifying the animal instinct and impulse, I'm nullifying the ego, the arrogance, I'm nullifying the envy, the jealousy, I'm nullifying the anxiety, the worry, and the only thing left inside me is a Tzelem Elokim. I recently wrote about an AA meeting I went to, I think I spoke about on Living with Emunah a couple weeks ago as well, and I heard somebody describing that, a woman was describing that every day she prays, and that third step of AA which is putting yourself into the care of the higher power, which is essentially Bittel, essentially Emunah, we've known it long ago, that she said every day she davens, she prays, she didn't say davens, every day she prays and after she prays she meditates. In other words, she talks to God and then she sits for a moment and thinks. And then she said something I thought was very profound. She said when I pray I'm talking to God and when I meditate I'm listening to see if he's going to talk to me. Now what does that mean? She's crazy? She's off her rocker? That means that she's hearing sounds, hearing voices, she's nuts? No, what it means is we have a Tzelem Elokim inside ourselves. There's a godly spirit and a godly voice in us, and when we sit and we think and we listen, when the neshama speaks to us, when we're willing to listen to our neshama, when our neshama finds its voice, that's God talking to us. Now again, I'm not saying well God really wanted me to do this, God wanted me to do that. I'm not saying cross God's own boundaries and then claim God told you to do it, cross God's will or values and then claim that God told you to do it, hurt or harm or injure. others and then say well I heard a voice God told me to do it. I'm not talking about we're, you know, we need to go to the loony bin, we're hearing the voice of God, it means that we have to listen to our neshama, listen to the pintele yid, listen to the voice of God within ourselves. Listen carefully, listen attentively, see if he is expressing himself to us. Sometimes you have to daven on something. It's a big decision that has to be made. You're working on a project. You have a dilemma you're trying to work through or fight through. You're trying to just find yourself and find your calm. I'm going on vacation I'm heading out of town tonight and I'm excited to unplug after two years with no break to be able to rediscover who I am and spend time with my family. And a lot of time without that technology. And a lot of time talking to him but also working to see if he's going to talk back to me. Again, not tell me the lottery numbers, who's going to win the Super Bowl, but rather just listening, listening to the pintele yid, that voice of our neshama within ourselves. So that's bittel. That's bittel. Bittel is I'm not nullifying who I am, I'm actually trying to give expression to the ultimate, most authentic part of who I am and the most authentic, the highest, the part that is immortal, the part that lives eternally is the tzelem elokim in me. So there's a lot of noise and a lot of layers that covers that tzelem elokim. God created us אלקי נשמה שנתתה בי טהורה היא. You created us with this pure godly spirit and godly soul. And then you said, now go, go into my world and go be my agent. I'm hereby declare, I deputize you as the ambassador wherever you live. God says you're my ambassador, represent me, have the confidence when you walk in. And what happens? Oh, we have layers and layers on top of our neshama and we forget our mission and our role, our ambassadorship, and instead there's a lot of noise. There's the noise of our own personal needs and wants. There's the noise of keeping up with others. There's the noise of a complicated world to navigate. There's the noise that absolutely hums in the background and we can't hear him talking to us anymore. Sometimes we have to quiet that noise. We have to quiet that noise. We have to pray, talk to him, and quiet that noise and listen to see if he's talking to us. Bittel. Bittel is the act of quieting the noise. Shut down that noise, disconnect from that technology. Listen to that godly spirit, find him within ourselves. Okay, we're on page nun aleph, page 51, we've made our way. Says Rav Itche Meyer the following וטוב לו בכל אשר השם יתברך מנהיגו וחיים מאושרים ברוחניות וגשמיות וכל עבודתו נעשית מתוך טהרת הלב. If we can live with bittel, if we can quiet and shut off the noise, if we can disconnect from the technology and from the pressures, chaos, and complications of this world. If we can listen to that pintele yid, the godly soul, the spirit in us, if we can mevatel the selfishness and the ego and actually let the best of ourselves shine through, our lives are so enriched beruchniyus uvagashmiyus. Spiritually our lives are enriched, we feel the ultimate satisfaction, fulfillment, happiness, and begashmiyus, physically. In other words, and he's going to get into this in the book, what I love about the sefer B'yam Darechecha, he has a chapter, should I give you a little teaser? We had our planning meetings BRS this year, and now not only locally, primarily and most significantly directed locally, but globally you'll all have access to it as well. In our emunah theme, in our Elul theme rather this year, our Elul theme will include a four-part series called Breathe, Eat, Sleep, Move. The Torah view on those four practices. Breathe, eat, sleep, move. Torah view... Torah's all about how I daven. Torah's all about how I do mitzvos. Torah's about how I keep Shabbos and keep kosher. What's the Torah have to say about how I breathe, how I sleep, how I move, how I eat? The answer is, only everything. Torah has everything to say about how to do those things with discipline and what the right values of those things are, and why we do them and how much is too much, too little, what our attitude, what our approach, what their role is in our lives. In B'yam Darechecha Rav Itche Meyer has a chapter on sleep, a chapter on eating, a chapter on not being sedentary, moving. Because there are countless Torah sources, there is a hashkafa. When you are an ambassador of God, then you're training and you have to be at peak performance. And to be an ambassador of God at peak performance, what is the ambassador, what does God have to say about sleep, about eat, about breathe, about move? So not only when you live this life of emunah and bitachon, not only are we enriched beruchniyus, it's not just that spiritually we've grown, but also physically in this world we feel our most healthy, our most happy, our most well-rested, we are doing our best. I won't take time now, you can google it but you'll find countless studies that show the health benefits, blood pressure, sugar, diabetes, cardiac health, cardiovascular health, it all improves. The calmer you are, the more you let go, the more you practice bittel, the more, the longer you'll live, the healthier you'll be, the less shallow your breathing וכל עבודתו נעשית מתוך טהרת הלב. All that we do, our entire service, our ambassadorship or mission will come from a pure heart. והוא שמח בחלקו גם ברוחניות, says Reb Itche Meyer, if we live with this way, if we live with this attitude, we can be satisfied even beruchniyos. We have a concept, excuse me, our rabbis tell us in Pirkei Avos, eizehu ashir, who doesn't want to be wealthy? You want to win the lottery? You know how to win the lottery and be the wealthiest? Be happy with your lot. If happiness is defined by what you have, then you'll always be happy because you always have something. If the happiness is defined by something you want, if only, if I had this spouse, and these children, and this job, this income, this car, these clothes, this technology, if only I had that, then I'd be happy, then you'll never ever be happy. That's why it's called the pursuit of happiness because you never arrive, you never achieve it. You keep pursuing it. If happiness is something I don't have, there will always be more. You could be number one on the Forbes 400, you could be number one on the Forbes 400, Fortune 400, Forbes 400, whatever it is. You could have billions and billions and billions of dollars, more money than you can spend if you ever tried to, and yet you won't be happy because there's always something more to want. If happiness is defined by what I have, I can always be happy because I can always find something I have. If happiness is defined by what I want, I'll never be happy because there could always be more. So we have a concept, samei'ach bechelko, be happy with what you have, realize it's what you, now you could be ambitious, I'm a somewhat ambitious person, set goals, pursue them, be ambitious, want more, but be happy with what you have. It's not a stira, not a contradiction. You could be driven, you could have aspiration and ambition, but simultaneously, in the end of the day, after all that effort, after the initiative, be satisfied with what you have. So this principle of being samei'ach bechelko, this principle of being satisfied with your lot in life is true not only in the world of ruchniyos, it's true not only in the spiritual realm, I'm sorry, not only in the physical realm, be happy with your car, be happy with your home, be happy with your salary, be happy with your income, be happy with your looks, be happy with your bald head, be happy in life, not only begashmiyus but also beruchniyos. I miss seeing whether you smile when I make a joke. Please God, we're going to resume in-person when I come back following Tisha B'Av. We're going to have a hybrid model. We're going to stream and be in-person. I hope everyone local will come back in-person, and for those who are not local, we will stream as well. So the notion of samei'ach bechelko, maybe it's better this way that I see that you're not smiling even when I make a joke, and at least I can still humor myself. So samei'ach bechelko, the principle of being happy with your lot applies not only in the physical world, gam beruchniyos. כי אף שצריך לרצות לעשות מצות השם יתברך בשלימות, even though a person should have spiritual ambition, drive, aspiration, ולרצות להגיע למדרגות גבוהות, you should want to climb that ladder, get higher and higher, be more and more pious and great. אבל זה צריך לבוא יחד עם פשיטות. There's a combination. Person has to find the balance between on the one hand being driven to davven with more focus, pray with more focus, live with more faith, improve in your behavior, but on the other hand live with simplicity. הכרת הפנימיות ותכלית הכל זה רק להשיג השם יתברך ולהדבק בו באמת. In the end of the day, I don't know what's intended for me. Just like this car, and this spouse, and this income are what God wants for me. I try hard, I work hard, I try to do more, do better, but in the end of the day, I'm satisfied with my lot. Similarly beruchniyos, maybe I'm not meant to have a memory that can recall shas by heart. Maybe I'm not meant to be able to sit with that diligence. Maybe I can't have that focus when I pray. But I have to realize that I have to give it my best. What it has in common is both in the spiritual and the physical world, I'm only entitled to sit back and say, "this is my lot, I'm satisfied," once I know I gave it my all. If I didn't give it my all, then maybe coming up short is not because it's my lot, maybe coming up short is because I didn't try hard enough. היינו שאני משתדל ושואף לשמח בוראי ולקיים כל המצות בשלימות, really my goal, my she'ifa, my ambition is to bring nachas ruach, I want to bring joy and pride to my creator by fulfilling everything that he dreams for me, that he commands of me. אבל לא בשביל שאני אהיה מה שהוא. Why? Why do I want to davven better? Why do I want to learn more? Why do I want to volunteer? Why do I want to be a better leader? Is it all contributing so ani eizeh mashehu, I'm a somebody? What's my purpose? What's my goal? What am I running after? To be a somebody? וגם לא בשביל שהדבר עצמו יצא אל הפועל? Is it about the mission? אלא רק כדי לשמח את הבורא ולהדבק בו. My article last week was about the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zechuso yagein aleinu, זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה. Sunday, Gimel Tammuz, was the 27th yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. And the Lubavitcher Rebbe, I described in my article, was the definition of Jim Collins' level five leadership. Jim Collins, the author of the book Good to Great, defined a level five leader in the five levels of leadership as the person who they are not the brand, the institution, the company comes before them. It's not about them. So therefore there will be a seamless succession. They don't have to be, they may be the face of it, they may be the spokesperson of it, but they are not the brand. That's level five leadership. It's not about you, it's about the cause, it's about the mission. Whatever it may be. And I spoke about the Lubavitcher Rebbe was a ultimate example of that. And here Rav Itche Meir is saying the same thing for us. We're doing all the right things, but are we doing them for the right reasons? Like we discussed in Mesillas Yesharim in the chapters on tahara. You do all the right things, are you doing it for the right reason? Why do you go to daf? Why do you volunteer? Why do you write that check and sponsor that learning? Are you doing it so that you are a somebody or are you doing it because you believe in the mission? Because you believe that's your mission? Because you want to advance the institution, the cause, the effort? What is the goal? What is the drive? וממילא אם זה לא הצליח לא יתאכזב אלא יחנה בשמחה לרצון השם יתברך כי הרי מעיקרא רק זו היתה מטרתו. And when you're doing something for a noble reason, when you're doing it for God, then even if it's unsuccessful, you have no regret and you don't feel sad or bad because it's not about you, it's not about your success, it's not about your track record. It's all about advancing the cause, the mission. It's all about the brand is Hashem, the brand is His Torah, the brand is our service to Him in this world. ואף שחשב שרצון השם יתברך שיהא אחרת עכשיו נתגלה על ידי המציאות שזה רצון השם יתברך. So what happens? I think that God really wants this committee, this program, this idea, this institution and then I try. I work hard. I work hard to raise money, to launch it, to put it together, to get it together and then I discover it doesn't work, it just doesn't go. But what I found is that this wasn't the ratzon Hashem, this is not the will of God. And so that is the challenge for us. If when something hits a wall, if it fails or stumbles or struggles and do we walk away with a smile with our head held high saying, I guess this wasn't the ratzon Hashem, I guess this wasn't the will of God, it wasn't meant to be, it's not part of His plan? Or are we devastated, are we debilitated? Was it really all along all about us and not about Him? כי גם אם נראה שזה קרה בגלל פלוני הרי באמת רק השם יתברך עושה את הכל. בדעת נאמנה שכמה שאדם בטל ומבוטל לפניו יתברך כך נפתחים לפניו שערי עלייה והצלחה ואור השבת והדבקות העליון בנועם הטוב ושאר מדרגות. So the more that a person is batel umivutal, the more that we can continuously try to nullify, eliminate, suppress, purge that sense of self. Again, I have an identity, but my identity is because I have the gift of being a tzelem Elokim. I have an identity, but my identity is I'm here on a mission from God, not because I'm a rabbi. Everybody, whether you're klei kodesh or lay kodesh, whether you are a balabos or whether you are working in avodas hakodesh. It's not just professionally if a person's chosen their career in the rabbinate or education or outreach. Every one of us, no matter what we're in, no matter what we're doing, no matter what stage of life, no matter what gifts or talents, we are ambassadors, we're agents, we're here on shlichus from Hashem. And we have to be mevatel the other side of us. Whatever voice in our head, whatever instinct or drive in our heart, listen to that pintele Yid, listen to that godly soul, give it expression in this world. כי לפי כמה שאדם בטל להשם יתברך כך שורה עליו השכינה. To the degree that we nullify. God doesn't want to come into a space in which He's competing. Have you ever been in a place where everyone's trying to talk over you? You can't get a word in edgewise, you can't have your opinion expressed. Everyone is just talking. The decibel levels go higher and higher, people are competing for interrupting one another, everyone's trying to talk over one another. You say I'm out, I'm just going to sit quietly, I don't need to compete, I don't need to compete. You're not interested? It's fine, I'll sit quietly or I'll leave. I don't need to come, I don't need to come again. So God, the hashras hashchina, the presence of the Almighty, is not in a place where He's going to need to compete. He doesn't want to come somewhere where we're outshouting Him. So when the side in ourselves, when the personality within us that's outshouting God, who's speaking at a higher decibel level and says, nah, who cares what You want, this is my agenda, these are my needs, these are my wants, this is what I think, so God says, I'm out of here, I don't need to be there. But to the more that we suppress and we quiet that other voice, the more that we say, sha, everybody quiet, let's listen to Hashem, let's listen to the tzelem Elokim. What does He think? What does God want? What is God assigning us? What's our next mission? What do we need to do? Then God says, ooh, that's a place they invite me, it's a place they want me, that's where I'm going to hang out. So says Rav Itche Meir, לפי כמה שאדם בטל להשם יתברך, the more that we can quiet that alter ego in us, the real ego inside us, not ego in the negative sense, but the real identity in us is the tzelem Elokim, it's the godly soul, the godly spirit. The alternate alternative ego inside us, the alter ego is that animal instinct, the animal impulse, the sense of self, the ego. Ego is Edging God Out. Ego's an acronym, Edging God Out. It's you or God, there's not room for both. So the more that we're batel umvatel, the more that we can nullify ourselves, the more the room there is for God. All of that was a very long footnote. and we go back upstairs. Back upstairs. V'hinei, שכל זה דבר פשוט ומוסכם שהכל זה רק השם יתברך, ein od milvado, there is no one, there is nothing, all there is is God. He is everything. Everything. אמנם לזכות להרגיש זה בפועל זה לא פשוט. It's hard. It's hard, you know why? Because when I drive the car, I think who got me from point A to point B? I drove. I worked hard, I had the money to buy the car. I filled it with gas or if I have an electric car, I plugged it in. I'm the one who navigated. I drove successfully. I am the one who got us there. And that's just a mashal, it's a metaphor for every other area of life. Income, children, every area of life, I think I'm the driver, I'm in control. It's very confusing, it's very complicated. I have to stop and remind myself and be mindful and conscious and conscientious that no, no, no, no. Yeah, I'm the agent, I'm the one who drove, but only because God allowed me to get from point A to point B. The car didn't stall, and the car didn't run out of gas, and the car didn't break down, and I didn't get hit, sideswiped by anyone else, I wasn't in traffic, I didn't get in an accident, I didn't get lost, only because of God. ולא רק זה אלא שיש טבע בנפש שמתנגד להחיות ידיעה הזאת. It's moreover. It's not just that we're in neutral, that it's pareve, and we have to remind ourselves of what we're supposed to believe, we're actually fighting inertia. There's actually momentum against us, because there's a natural instinct within ourselves to say ego. It's all me, ego. I take credit, my ego. ולכן צריך להבין היטב a person has to know well את מהות ענין הביטול ודרכי קנייתו הנכונים. So because we're fighting inertia, and because we're trying to overcome the momentum, and because we're trying to persevere over the natural instinct within us, nobody wants bitul. What do you mean? I want what I want. I don't want to suppress the voice of my pleasure, my needs, my wants, and give in to some higher power telling me, give in to the better version of myself. I like the weak version of myself. The weak version of myself eats well and doesn't have to exercise and sweat and is lazy and sleeps in. The weaker version of myself, I like it. I don't want to suppress that weaker version of myself, the weaker voice, and only amplify the loud and give sound to the better version of myself. Who wants to do that? We don't want to naturally. And that's why we need to spend time dissecting and unpacking and understanding and planning and executing on what bitul's all about. And I am very excited to do that with you, and I'm excited to do that in a few weeks from now. So we're going to be taking a break. Again, you can listen to old episodes. I want to thank the Morgans very much again for their sponsorship of the whole series for the year, and hope that they will please God continue. Thank you for that generosity. Thank you for all the people sponsored throughout the year. Hopefully we can continue to live with emunah and dveikus and to improve and enrich our lives in that process. Join us for the last episode of Behind the Bima tonight for the season, going behind the Bima 9 PM with the great Rav Manis Friedman and his son, the great Benny Friedman, using their voices to teach and to sing and the father-son duo in anticipation of Father's Day tonight 9 PM behindthebima.com. You can watch and join us live. Looking forward. Until next time, until after the summer, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
