Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov. Welcome back to Living with Emuna. So grateful that you've joined me on this Wednesday morning to continue to try to grow, to learn, to improve, to feel better connected, more connected with our Creator, to live with Emuna, not just in theory and not just with lip service, but in practice each and every day. I want to thank our generous sponsors for the Emuna series for the year, our friends Dr. Zavi and Bella Morgan in memory of the great Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut, zichrono livracha, and as well as Bella's mother Dr. Ellen Chanzer, whose neshama should have an aliya. If you'd like to sponsor a future class of Living with Emuna, we've made it easier than ever. Go on brsonline.org/sponsor, brsonline.org/sponsor. You can choose the date, make the payment, put in the language, all conveniently in one place. Thank you for your generosity and partnership in helping promote the principle and the life of living with Emuna. So before we jump back into Rav Itchamayer's B'yam Derechecha and the chapter on bittul that we've been learning, that we've been studying about, I want to tell you the other day something that happened that really struck me, that really inspired me, that really motivated me, and I hope it will you too. I had the privilege of participating in recording something for an organization. And it had been a long time in the making to coordinate and to schedule and the technology and it was something just on the phone, it wasn't with video. So all the parties were on the line and they were about to press record for us to begin. And the hostess, the woman who organized the program, right before we began she said, "Wait, one more thing." And she said the words, without exaggeration, she said the words הודו להשם כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו. We want to thank Hashem for enabling and allowing us to have the privilege to record this podcast to try to make this difference, and we ask Hashem that everything should go smoothly, everything should go well, and it should have the impact that we desire. And with that, we were ready to go and she pressed record. And it really struck me, it really struck me because we talk all the time about living with Emuna. We talk all the time about not leaving God in the shul and not leaving God in the siddur and in the Tehillim, but taking Him with us to every activity, taking us with us, taking us with us to every aspect and every area of our life. Hashem, I need to drive somewhere. Not a full Tefilas Haderech, but Hashem, let me get the green lights, let me arrive there safely, let me get there expeditiously, let me get there. Hashem, I'm about to put this cake in the oven. Hashem, I'm about to negotiate this deal. Hashem, I'm about to have this difficult conversation. Whatever we're going to do, to daven that it work out. I've shared many, many times, I'll keep sharing. The Gemara says הלוואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו. Wouldn't it be beautiful and wonderful if we could daven the entire day? And of course we don't really mean that because we need to balance our davening with so many other responsibilities and obligations. We can't just sit and daven all day long. Most of us don't have the focus and the attention to do it, and even if we did, we have other responsibilities. We have to earn a living, we have to support and provide for our family, we have to shop and cook and wash dishes and do laundry, we have to shower, we have to go to the bathroom, we have to sleep. There are all kinds of activities. We can't daven the whole day long. So several beautiful commentaries explain הלוואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו doesn't mean that we sit in shul and daven all day long or that we have a Tehillim and daven all day long. What it means is Halevai that all day long, whatever we were doing, we introduced it with a tefilla. May this go well, may this be successful, may we feel Your presence. We have deliberations, we have considerations, we have things that we have to think about. Hashem, please be part of the conversation. Hashem, please come around the table. Spoke on Monday night, I gave ten tips for parents of children in shidduchim. You can find it online. Ten tips for parents of children in shidduchim. And I said, you know, the Gemara in Kiddushin says שלוש שותפין יש באדם, that there are not only two biological parents, there are three parents for every child: a mother, a father, and the senior parent, the senior partner is Hashem. That child would not exist, that child would not come into this world without Hashem. So when we sit down to think about resumes or to think about dating or whatever world you're from and whatever mechanism you're employing for dating, do we invite Hashem to that conversation? Hashem, You're the third parent, You're the third party. We want to make sure that You're happy with this suggestion, You're happy with this shidduch, You're happy with this process, You're happy with this timeline. Do we invite, do we involve, do we welcome Hashem to that process? There's an opportunity to grow in Emuna, bitachon, and dveikus as a parent of a child in shidduchim, as somebody who's in shidduchim themselves looking to find a spouse. Whatever area of life we're looking for: fertility, parnassa, health, whatever we're looking for, to offer a little tefilla. הלוואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו. So I've been saying that Dvar Torah over and over for the last several years. The Slonimer Rebbe has a corollary we're going to say shortly when the month of Elul begins that... Well he also says אחת שאלתי מאת השם, I have one request from you, Hashem. It's actually connected to this parsha, ועתה מה השם אלוקיך שואל מעמך, that Dovid Hamelech, God calls Dovid out, because Dovid says achas sha’alti, I want one thing, and then he lists several things. So God says, Dovid, nice try. You said one thing but you listed several. So Dovid said, you know where I learned that from? I learned it from the best. I learned it from you! Because you, in our parsha Eikev, say ועתה ישראל מה השם אלוקיך שואל מעמך, and now you, Jewish people, what does God want from you? And then he goes on to list several things. I learned it from the best, I learned it from you. So Dovid Hamelech says I want one thing, and what is the one thing he wants? שבתי בבית השם כל ימי חיי לחזות בנועם השם ולבקר בהיכלו. And again the Slonimer Rebbe's bothered. Dovid Hamelech, are you kidding? He's the king. A king has responsibilities. King has obligations. King has to go to war, and the king has to legislate, and the king has to adjudicate, and the king has to rule the people, and the king has to provide financially, the economy. The king has a plethora of responsibilities. The king can't afford, king doesn't have a license, shivti beveis Hashem, to sit in the beis Hashem all day long. He has to go out and he has to do. So Slonimer Rebbe says that's not what Dovid Hamelech was asking. Dovid Hamelech was asking is wherever I go and whatever I do, let me feel that I'm sitting beveis Hashem. Let me take the house of Hashem with me. Hashem is with me in the car, he's with me at work, he's with me in the kitchen, he's with me in the supermarket, he's with me in the gym, and oh yeah, he's with me in the beis medrash and he's with me in the shul. So הלוואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו. Why am I sharing all this with you? Because I was so moved, I was so moved that before she pressed record, she said, wait, one more thing. הודו להשם כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו. How grateful we are to Hashem for this opportunity and how much we turn and lean on him that it be successful. She was manifesting, she was fulfilling, she was actually executing and applying this principle, this idea, this beautiful insight of inviting and involving God in all that we do. Our days and our lives would be absolutely transformed. Imagine with our children. Okay, we're sitting down to do homework. Wait, child, little kinderlach, let's first say Hashem, let the homework go well, let it go quickly, let it go easily, let it go smoothly, let us come to the right answers. Hashem, studying for a test, let it go well, let it go smoothly. We have a tradition in my family when I was a child, back many centuries ago, the dinosaurs roamed the earth, before my sister, my brother, or I went for a test in school, my father gave us a raw noodle, and a raw noodle would sit on our desk and it would remind us while we took the test to use our noodle. My father was concerned that we'd rush through the test and we'd just want to get it done and hand it in and be the first, so that little raw noodle on our desk was a reminder, use your noodle when taking the test, and I still give my children on days that they have tests, big tests, all tests, they get a raw noodle, they bring it to school, they put it on their desk. But what could we give them to put on their desk that would remind them that when they take out that number two sharpened pencil, when they're about to take that test, an AP or SAT or a regular Chumash test, to remember Hashem, halevai sheyispalel. Hashem, turning over the paper, I'm about to start my test, please help me do well, please help me think of the right answers, please allow it to go smoothly, please allow it to be frictionless. Halevai we teach our children, halevai we practice ourselves and through that teach our children that we involve and invite Hashem to be part of every activity of every single day. Let the car ride go well, let the airplane ride go well, let the negotiation go well, let the cooking go well, let the recipe go well, let the conversation go well, let the homework go well, let the test go well, let it all go well. This woman taught me and reminded me it's not only an idea to share Wednesday morning's living with emuna, but it's an idea to put into practice in our lives. Okay, we go on with Biyamdecha, Rav Itche Meir. We are on page nun gimmel, still in perek alef, mahus habittul, the nature of nullifying ourselves, and the idea is not to erase ourselves. This is the ultimate cancel culture. Not just to cancel people around, to cancel ourselves. That's not what Rav Itche Meir is endorsing. We are not canceling ourselves in the service of Hashem. What we are doing is realizing that when we are with Hashem, which is always, we are in the presence of such greatness, such greatness, so all-consuming that we are subsumed under him. We realize and recognize the tzelem Elokim, the godliness in us, and when we do that, we tap into him. Bittul, we are mevatel. That life and the world are not about me. They're not about my ego, my wants, my needs, my desires. I am not the center of the universe. He doesn't work for me, I work for him. Sometimes a person can be in the presence of such greatness, such power, such a person who has such skill, whether it's a person who's a super-genius, a Nobel Prize winner, a gadol b'Yisrael, a person who's with a politician or a powerful elected official, and they walk out and they forget they existed. In that moment. They didn't feel hunger or thirst, they didn't feel a need to go to the bathroom, they forgot that they were breathing, they forgot they existed because when in the presence of someone something so great we don't even have an awareness or recognition of our own existence. Not in a way in which we're canceling ourselves, but in a way in which we are most fulfilling ourselves because the true us, the greatest us is the tzelem elokim, is that Godly soul and Godly spirit within us. So we continue. והנה אי אפשר להגיע לזה ברגע אחד. We cannot arrive at that life and lifestyle of bittul, of going through life and realizing I'm not going to lose my cool and get angry because the world's not about me. I've nullified me, it's about God. How does this fit into God's plan? I'm not going to be envious or jealous, I'm not going to be anxious, I'm not going to be arrogant because it's not about me, it's all about Him. But getting to that level is not easy. Getting to that level is an effort, it's a lifetime ambition. So he says, v'hinei, sorry about that, והנה אי אפשר להגיע לזה ברגע אחד. We cannot get there in one moment, אלא צריך ללכת שלב אחר שלב. We have to go incrementally, we have to go step after step b'daled madregos habittul and there are four levels, four levels, four steps towards living this life of bittul, of that capacity to nullify שהם ד' מדרגות כמה אדם מכיר וחיות מציאות השם יתברך, four levels of where we can involve, where we can integrate this attitude into our regular, into our regular lives. By the way, continue to share your stories with me, I welcome and I invite your emails telling me how you've lived with emuna so I can share it with our chevra. I'm inspired and it inspires others. If you fulfill like this woman taught me הודו להשם כי טוב הלואי שיתפלל, introducing your activities, you have a great story with that, please share. So level number one, madrega number one, shalav one, first step and the first level. המדרגה הראשונה היא המדרגה שיש לכל יהודי. The first level, the first step is a level that applies to every Jew ועניינה שהאדם מכיר במציאות השם יתברך as melech ha'olam. Step number one is cognitively, rationally, intellectually to know that if the world exists, the sophisticated, complex, detailed world filled with these minutiae that it didn't come to be randomly and it didn't come to be by accident, that it takes more faith to be an atheist than it does to be a believer, that there is a King of the universe, there is a Creator and that He's involved in our lives. והוא מבטל את רצונו מפני רצונו יתברך and to realize that if there indeed is a Creator, if there indeed is a King, that we serve Him and therefore it's not about my need, my want, my interpretation of the world, it's about His blueprint for the world, it's about His vision for the world, it's about how He designed and created the world ומקבל על עצמו עול מלכות שמים and then we accept upon ourselves that first act of bittul is to realize the yoke of heaven upon ourselves לעשות את רצון המלך. My life is about serving Him, He doesn't serve me, my life is about submitting and surrendering to Him גם כשזה נגד רצונו הוא. I really want to eat that but God says it's not good for me, not physically, spiritually it will corrupt, it will compromise me. I really want to look at that, God says that's not good for you to gaze at, to look at. But I really believe the world should function this way, my philosophy, my attitude, my weltanschauung is different. God says that's not the Torah way of life, the Torah hashkafa, the Torah vision, this is how I created the world. I know, I am the Creator, the programmer, the designer, the manufacturer, it's my world. But I really want to go there, do this, eat that, doesn't matter. Are we willing to be מבטל רצון מפני רצונו? Are we willing to nullify what we want for what He wants for us because what He wants for us comes from a much higher place, a much broader vision, a much more perfect want? ומדרגה זו נקראת ביטול בקבלת עול. So level number one of bittul, level number one of submitting, surrendering to God is to realize that what I want will not always be compatible with what He wants for me. What happens when the rubber meets the road? What happens when there's that tension in that moment? What happens? This can be true in the area of halacha, in the area of Jewish law. In the area of Jewish law it can be how I spend my shabbos, could be the rules of kashrus, could be business dealings, it could be in so many aspects or areas of life. It's incompatible what He wants or asks of me with what I want. So what do I do in that moment? What do I do in that, in that conflict and in that tension? Am I asking God to bend, to defer to me? Or am I willing to bend, to submit, to surrender, to defer to Him? That says everything about me. Soloveitchik in Halakhic Man in the famous footnote four talks about religion is submission. That we think religion is about geshmak, it's about a kumzitz and a farbrengen, a l'chaim, religion is about spirituality and singing and song and zmiros. It's about a sunset, and religion has all of that and it is geshmak, it feels good, and religion moves me, and religion fills me, and religion is spiritual and beautiful. But sometimes it's going to demand and ask for submission. Sometimes I want to do this but God says no. What happens when God says no, when it's incompatible? Am I going to ask God to defer to me or do I defer to him? If I ask God to surrender to me, then am I really serving him to begin with? Am I really in a relationship with him? Am I really in a relationship with him, or am I using him as a means to pursue my vision and my perspective for the world? So bitul b'kabbalas ol, do I accept that kabbalas ol? Kabbalas ol can come in a minor fashion, which means that I want to eat this, but God says that hechsher is no good, or you can't eat it right now, you're fleishigs or whatever it is, and kabbalas ol, bitul b'kabbalas ol can come in an enormously consequential way, where God sometimes says no to a tefillah, when a person davens for a loved one to have a recovery and the answer was no. A person davens for fertility, a person davens for a shidduch, a person davens for parnassah for that particular job and the answer is no, and in that moment we're asked: submit, surrender, accept that there is a master plan, that there is a purpose, that nothing is random, that God is in charge, stick with him and attach yourself to him. ומדרגה זו האדם מרגיש כעיקר עצמו אלא שהוא זוכה להבין שיש מנהיג ומלך לעולם. In that first level, the lowest level, the first step, the first rung on the ladder, a person continues to feel their independent identity. The person knows I am who I am, I exist independent of God, but I also recognize his position, his existence. That there is a Melech Malchei HaMelachim, there's a king of kings, there's a Ribono Shel Olam, there's a master of the universe, there's an omnipotent, infinite, all-perfect, all-knowing, providential God, and I exist and he exists. We're categorically different, and in a conflict between our two wants, our desires, I defer, I submit, I integrate mine, I mold mine to conform with his. At that level, הוא זוכה להבין שיש מנהיג ומלך לעולם. He merits to know, to live, she merits to know or live that there's a manhig, there is a driver, and I'm a passenger. There is a king and I serve him. הוא נותן מקום גם למציאות המלך. So that first lowest level is to make space for God, to make space for God, that me, I, my sense of I, my sense of ego, my sense of anochi does not flood and fill the universe. Everything is about me. You know the narcissist syndrome, which exists both those who have been clinically diagnosed and many have amateur armchair diagnosed people around them that they see and know to be narcissist. Every conversation's about them, everything has to be the way they want it, everything is about their micromanaging their power, their control. They are at the center of the whole universe, the world according to them. They're always the victim, they're always the damaged party, they're always the one who needs to be deferred to, they're always in charge. Such a person, such a person thinks they're the center of the universe. Ego, Edging God Out, there's no makom, there's no space, there's no room for God. So the lowest level is to do a gut check. The lowest level is to once in a while stop and evaluate and measure: have I made space, have I made room for God? Have I made room for God? And how do I know if I've made room for God? Is God involved in my life? How do I know? Because I look and I see what happens when I want to do one thing and God wants me to do another. Does it always go my way? If it always goes my way, then I have an ego and I've edged God out. But sometimes I'm willing to, all the time I'm willing to when there is that conflict, not make it go my way, which by the way, again, critically important reminder: what God asks of me is for me, not him. So when I make it go God's way, I am not in fact doing something that's not good for me and deferring to what's right for him. All that God asks me for me is for me. But anyway, that said. So do I make a space, do I make room? It's the same in relationships. On that ten tips for parents of those in shidduchim, this other podcast I recorded, also had to do with dating and shidduchim, what to look for in dates, what are red flags? And I said, I'm not an expert by any measure, by any definition, but in my experience as a married person, as a parent of married children, and as a rav who does a significant amount of marriage counseling, what to look for in dating is—the question that was posed to me was: is it okay to disagree? Disagreement's healthy. Our debate, disagreement, different opinions, does a couple have to be entirely the same in sync, ultimate compatibility that they never disagree? I said disagreements are part of the natural order. The Gemara Chazal tell us, כשם שאין פרצופיהם דומין זה לזה, the same way that we have no— Two people of the same DNA we don't have the same face, we don't have the same facial features, we don't have the same appearance. The same way that God designed and created us to look different, He also designed and created us to think differently. We have different personalities and we have different filters and vision through which we view the world. We have different opinions. And of course within dating and within marriage within life there has to be some level of compatibility in hashkafa, in halacha, in lifestyle, but there will be disagreements. You like fleishigs, let's rephrase that, you like milchigs and I like fleishigs. You like vanilla and I like chocolate. You like this and I like that. You like how do we navigate those differences? So my answer was the differences, there's nothing wrong, not only is there nothing wrong, it's natural for them to be there and a couple who act like they have no differences are in fact living in a relationship which is in black and white not in color. It's not dynamic, it's not vibrant, it's not alive, it's not there's no room for passion and romance. It's the differences and the way you navigate and negotiate them that create the love, the bond in marriage, that create the up and down and the vibrancy of marriage. What we do need to look for, what is a red flag is: do we have a healthy discussion? Does the other party have an interest in hearing what I have to say? Do they make space and room for me to have an opinion? Do they validate, do they acknowledge, do they follow through or do they interrupt, do they shut me down, do they close me off? Is it always their way? Am I never allowed to have an opinion? Am I not dignified to have my own position? Those are the red flags, that's what need to be looked for. So the same which is true in a relationship is nothing wrong with sometimes things not being entirely the same but what happens when there are those differences? Is it the other person, is it their way or the highway? Do they not dignify with a difference? Are they willing to listen? Do they interrupt and so on? So do we make a makom, do we make space? The first bitul is the bitul of kabbalas ol. The bitul of simply a concession, a submission, admitting there is a God, there is a king of the universe, I am not the king. And you are not the queen. That we are here in this world we have a mission, we have a purpose, we are here we have duty, we have responsibility, we have obligation. It's not about what we could take, it's about what we give. It's not about what He owes us, it's about what we owe Him. It's not about what we want, it's about His vision for us. דהיינו הוא חי את עצמו אלא שבמקום שיש הוראה מהמלך אז הוא עוזב את רצון עצמו ונכנס לעשות את רצון המלך. So this first level, this lowest level is where many of us are, it's where many of us start, which is I exist. I recognize my existence, I feel I have a healthy ego, I really know what I want and I pursue it and I drive for it. But I also make space and have room for God, for the king of kings and when what He wants is in conflict with what I want I'm willing to defer, I'm willing to submit, I'm willing to recognize that it is that I have to defer to what He wants. That is all level number one. Let's start with level number two. It's what's called bitul bimiddos so that we're trying to climb that ladder. First level is I exist and I have a healthy self-confidence and I know I exist independent of God. I have a place here in this universe. I know what my wants are, I know who I am but I also recognize, make space and when necessary defer to Him. המדרגה השנייה היא המדרגה השייכת לעובדי השם יתברך ואוהביו. The second level is the madreiga that applies to those of service of God and his lovers, those who love God and those who serve God. והעניין שהאדם מכיר מאוד את מציאות השם יתברך. We have such recognition in the existence of God עד שמרגיש אליו אהבה ויראה ודבקות. It doesn't remain cognitive. It's not just upstairs. It's not just when I have a yom iyun, it's not just that when we have a day that we analyze and study we the Bible codes, the evidence of God's existence, philosophy 101, advanced philosophy, so then yes I come to the conclusion, I read Permission to Believe and Permission to Receive and I read every book of the evidence of God's existence and I've come to the conclusion He exists, there's a space for Him when necessary I defer to Him. No, level number two is not only do I know cognitively, intellectually, rationally that God exists, that knowledge filters down into my heart and into my soul and it generates feelings, it generates connection, it generates love and it generates awe and it generates my desire to cling to Him, to stick to Him. It generates passion and romance and desire. It generates an emotional connection and yearning for God. So there are those who walk around and if you sit them down and stop them and ask them about God, they can have an intellectual conversation. For these reasons, this is the evidence, I believe God exists and therefore I try to follow His laws, follow His rules, defer to Him in my life. But is there a love affair? Is there awe? Is there a healthy dose even of fear of yiras ha'onesh, yiras haromemus? Is there dveikus, do you cling? To think about him? Is he in the room with you? Do you consider? Are you driven to give him nachas? That's level number two. ומתוך שהוא מוותר חלק מעצמו והרגשותיו. So there, where I'm mevatter, we submit, we surrender a piece of who we are. we submit and surrender a piece of our emotion. We give God our heart and we give God our soul. ומרגיש גם את האהבה. You know, back in the old days you would pin somebody, you'd give them your heart, you'd give them your letter, so do we give God our letter, do we pin him, do we give God our heart? Not only to say God, I recognize your right to exist. I could have people in my life that I recognize their right to exist, I don't love them, I don't have awe of them, and I'm not seeking to cling to them. Yes, they exist and yes I have a keen awareness of their existence and their role, their influence in my life, but that's as far as it goes. That's level number one. Level number two, kicking it up a notch, getting it to that next level, advancing and progressing is not only to intellectually know, but then to have a connection, a genuine real connection. ומדרגה זו נקראת ביטול במידות. This is bitul, this is giving God my heart, nullifying, bitul, I'm giving him my heart, I'm giving a piece of my soul, I'm giving God a piece of my kishkas, I'm giving God my emotions. Bitul b'midos. U'vmadreigah zu, in this level, האדם נכנס לקשר של הרגשה עם השם יתברך. A person enters into being tied emotionally tied to God, emotionally invested in the relationship with God. One can be intellectually invested in a relationship with God, but there's a level of being emotionally invested. You know, we walk around, many in the certain community, we'll call it the modern orthodox community, and I'm not going to get into it right now, my article or my feelings or how I define, I don't apologize for of course the parts of my life that are defined or compatible or consistent with the philosophy of modern orthodoxy, but I'm not limited by that definition, I wrote a whole article about that, but sometimes we pride ourselves in being academic, scholarly, in using fancy words like ontological and axiological and eschatological and every fancy word about religion. And what we've done is we've generated an atmosphere of an intellectual religion, of an intellectual connection with God. And that's nothing wrong with that, that's beautiful and in some ways that enriches. However, is that at the expense of an emotional relationship with God, of the emotional relationship with God? The intellectual component should supplement and complement, it should enrich, but I think the core, the foundation, this level two, has to be the emotional relationship, the emotional connection, a living, a breathing God, a God I talk to, a God I'm grateful towards, a God I answer to, a God I'm connected with, a God I confide in. Are we willing l'kasher es hahargashah? Are we intellectually invested, academically invested, or are we emotionally invested? דאצלו השם יתברך אינו כדבר חיצוני בחייו. God is not external to my life, אלא הוא חלק מחייו ממש. He's part and parcel of my life. He comes with me everywhere I go, when I'm home, when on vacation, when I'm in shul, when I'm at work. ויש לו אהבה ודביקות עמו. I have a love and I cling to him, I'm connected to him, I can't stop thinking about him. He's ba b'cheshbon, he's part of my calculation of life, there's an emotional connection. ובמדרגה זו אדם גם מרגיש את עצמו וגם מרגיש את השם יתברך. So even here too on the second level, there's still, I exist, he exists, like I exist and my wife exists, but I love her and I think about her and I want her to be happy and I cling to her, connected to her, and my heart skips a beat when her name comes up on the caller ID. So I exist and God exists, but I'm emotionally connected with him. So level one and level two, we'll stop here, but level one and level two, in both of these first two levels, I have an independent existence from God. Level one, I just recognize his right to exist, it's intellectual. He is the king, I carve space for him, and when there's conflict, I defer to him. Level two is not just intellectual, rational, I've studied about him, there's evidence for him, therefore I make space for him and I defer to him, but I love him. There's passion, there's romance, there's dynamism, there's an actual relationship. So I still exist and he exists, but there's passion, there's a relationship between. And what we'll get to next week is bitul yesh. The third is I actually nullify myself. I actually submit and surrender and integrate my very sense of self into him. The bitul, the I have no ego. There is no I. There is no I. There is just God and I am an expression of him, but there is no I independent of him. We'll begin with that im yirtzeh Hashem next week. Again if you'd like to sponsor a particular shiur, made it easier than ever, brsonline.org/sponsor, brsonline.org/sponsor, you can choose the date, you can write the language, you can make the payment, all conveniently in one place. Thank you again to the Morgans for sponsoring the series for the year, and wishing. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
