Transcript
Good morning, welcome back to Living with Emuna our weekly gathering to review what we already know that there is a creator who loves us, who's intimately involved in our lives, who's always there for us and to whom we must be so grateful and if we cling to him, if we stick with him, if we attach ourselves to him we have no reason to ever worry, to envy, to be arrogant or anxious but we can live a life of tranquility, a life of peace and we'll see benefits physically, emotionally, spiritually in every single which way. I want to thank our generous emuna sponsors, series for the year Doctors Avi and Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Doctor Brian Galbut and in memory of Bella's mother Doctor Ellen Schanzzer. Thank you so much for your generosity, it means the world. If you'd like to sponsor a future shiur, please go on beirasonline.org/sponsor beirasonline.org/sponsor. We've made a convenient one easy place choose the date, fill out the dedication, make the payment, all and be able to sponsor Torah learning and growth and emuna in honor, in memory of someone. Thank you so much in advance for your generosity. I want to begin not by delving back into bittel. We have been learning Biyodecha, Rav Itamar Morgenstern, and the notion of bittel, how to nullify our sense of selves, it's not about us, it's not about our ego, but if we can sublimate, if we can submit, if we can surrender, if we can recognize there is a creator, there is an Almighty, he has a plan and therefore never get bent out of shape, then we can live, truly live a meaningful life, we can truly be alive as opposed to be caught up in our own ego and sense of ourselves. We'll get back to that in a moment but I want to share with you an insight from our parsha Ki Seitzei. Whenever you're listening to the emuna shiur, whether it is this week's parsha or not, the message nevertheless will be relevant. At the very end of the parsha of Ki Seitzei the Torah tells us that we have to be very careful when it comes to business dealings. We have to be scrupulous and vigilant and careful and honest. We have to have integrity. לא יהיה לך בכיסך אבן ואבן גדולה וקטנה. Don't have two different weights and measures in your pocket, large and small and switch them out. אבן שלמה וצדק יהיה לך, איפה שלמה וצדק יהיה לך. We have to have very honest weights and measures. When we weigh the food, when we weigh the ingredients, when we weigh the materials in order to to figure out the price, we have to have honest weights and measures. Don't cut corners, don't bend rules, don't cheat people. Have honesty, have integrity. Why? למען יאריכון ימיך על האדמה, longevity, because if you do it you'll truly be alive אשר ה' אלקיך נתן לך. ותועבת ה' אלקיך כל עשה אלה. It is an abomination whoever cheats in business, whoever's dishonest on their income taxes, whoever cuts corners, whoever's ruthlessly competitive. It is a תועבת ה' אלקיך כל עשה אלה, kol oseih avel. We mentioned yesterday in the parsha shiur that Rav Menachem Ben Tzion Sacks, the Menachem Tzion explains kol oseih eileh, what is a to'eiva? What's an abomination to God? Kol oseih eileh, kol oseih avel. If kol oseih eileh, if you're observing Torah and mitzvos, you volunteer chesed, you say Tehillim, you learn the Daf Yomi, you come to shul and you shuckle, kol oseih eileh, if you're keeping Torah and mitzvos and yet oseih avel, and yet you're dishonest in your weights and measures, yet you cut corners and you lie and you cheat in business, yet you have no integrity, that's a to'eiva. To Hashem it's an abomination. It's an abomination, it's duplicitous, it's hypocritical. You claim to embrace a God, you claim to live life with emuna and you and yet you leave God in the shul, you leave God in the Tehillim circle, you leave God in the beis medrash, you leave God in the Daf Yomi and when you go out to life, when you go out to business, when you go out to the market, there you're ruthless, there you're competitive, there you cut corners, that's a to'eiva. Kol oseih eileh, you do eileh, you do all Torah and mitzvos and yet kol oseih avel, and yet you cut corners, that's a to'eiva. Hashem has no patience. The Rashi on this the very next section in the end of parshas Ki Seitzei, the very next pasuk, זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים. The very next pasuk is remember what Amalek did to you on your way from Mitzrayim. What is the connection between having honest weights and measures, honesty and integrity in business and not being attacked by Amalek? So Rashi tells us based on the Midrash Tanchuma that im shikarta be'midos, if we're dishonest and we lie and we cheat and we're deceitful when it comes to measures, when it comes to business, then havei doeig, one should be worried and afraid because the enemy's coming. כי תועבת ה' אלקיך כל עשה אלה כל עשה עול, זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק. If you're dishonest with weights and measures, if you cut corners with business, then fear that the enemy will attack. And the great Netziv, Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin wonders what is Rashi talking about? What is the connection, what is the juxtaposition between being dishonest in business and then being vulnerable to attack from Amalek? What does one thing have to do with the other? So he points out the Netziv that when it comes to the attack of Amalek, we said היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין ויבא עמלק. Just at the moment that we were wondering, is God among us? Is God involved in our lives? Does God care what we do? Does God provide? Maybe everything's random, maybe it's natural, maybe it's coincidence. And that is when Amalek attacked. When we don't live lives with a consciousness and a mindfulness that there's a God, there's a creator that we report to him, we work for him, he doesn't work for us. If we don't live lives with the recognition that there are consequences to our actions and to our behaviors. If we live lives thinking that we are victims of randomness and that the world and life are all chance, then we get attacked by Amalek because Amalek is Asher korcha baderech; it's the next passuk. Amalek attack us how? Asher korcha. Asher korcha is lashon of mikreh, chance, happenstance. They seize on that. The very fact that we have some doubt, the very fact that we have uncertainty, the very fact that these thoughts creep in and we wonder, is everything in my life by design, was it curated and choreographed from above, or is it coincidence, is it random, is it chance? And in that moment, that pause of doubt, in that moment, that crack of worry, of uncertainty, boom, Amalek attacks, asher korcha. They happen upon us on the way and they infiltrate and penetrate and teach us to subscribe to an attitude and a philosophy of life of happenstance, of mikreh, asher korcha. So says the Netziv, we say to ourselves היש השם בקרבנו אם אין, is God in our midst or not? Vayavo Amalek, that's when they come. That's the connection to dishonest weights and measures. What are you talking about? Dishonest weights and measures, that's interpersonal, that's between man and man, that's me cheating my fellow man. When it comes to God, there I'm whole, there I'm complete, I shakel and I daven, I have a long Shemoneh Esrei, I learn the Daf Yomi, I do chesed, I give tzedakah, I deliver Tomchei Shabbos, I everything. So what are you talking about? What does one thing have to do with the other? And this is the big insight of the Netziv. The Netziv says business is where the rubber meets the road of emunah. It's easy to shakel in shul. It's easy to say Tehillim at home, but when you go out to the workplace, to the boardroom, to the operating room, when you go out to the courtroom, when you go out to business and to life, do you believe in God, do you take him with you? Do you recognize and realize that he's the one who empowers us, Hanosein lecha koach? He gives us our skills, he gives us our strength, he gives us our ideas, he gives us our creativity, our entrepreneurship, he gives us our vision. It's all him. Do we recognize that the way things turn out, the results that come after we take our initiative and effort, it is all from above? A person who cheats, a person who has dishonest weights and measures, a person who manipulates the scale, a person who cuts corners, who thinks the only way I can get rich is if I cheat and I steal, that person is a kofer, that person doesn't believe in God. That person is asking Hayesh Hashem bekirbeinu: Is God really in my midst? Does God really provide? Is all that I have really by design? That person hesitates, they have doubt and uncertainty, and that's why they cheat and that's why they cut corners and that's why they lie and that's why they steal. Such an individual, when you steal from fellow man, it is an act not only of, you're not only violating the interpersonal relationship, bein adam l'chavero, but when a person steals from a fellow man, it is an act of kefira. It is an act of heresy, it's an act of denying God's very existence, because the person who believes that God exists says, you know what, I work hard, I try my hardest, and then I let go and I let God. I will not ruthlessly compete, I will help my competitor because God is so outstanding that God has enough for both of us to be able to make it, both of us to succeed, both of us to become wealthy. I'm not going to ruthlessly compete, I'm not going to cut corners, not going to cheat and steal from my customers because if God wants me to do well, God has ordained from above how much I'm meant to have. So when a person misreports business expenses on their tax returns, when a person is dishonest in business, it's not just interpersonally where they failed, they have failed in the relationship between man and God; it is a very act of kefira. It is a very act of kefira. And that, says the Netziv, is why the story in our parsha of dishonest weights and measures is immediately adjacent, it is juxtaposed to the story of the attack of Amalek, because emunah doesn't, is not relegated to the shul, emunah is not relegated to the Beis Medrash, emunah is not relegated to our homes when we're zuging, when we're saying Tehillim. Emunah is in business, emunah is in life. Whether we're honest and whether we have integrity and whether we're kind and whether we help even our competitor, that's what shows that we have emunah. Do we live with Hashem, do we take him, do we carry with us everywhere we go? You know, we say in Mizmor l'David in Tehillim Chaf Gimmel, we sing on Shabbos Shalosh Seudos, we say מזמור לדוד השם רועי לא אחסר. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. The simple understanding is Hashem ro'i; when Hashem is my shepherd, then lo echsar, I'm not missing, I'm not lacking. I have everything I need, I have everything I want, I recognize that what I have is what is meant for me. השם רועי לא אחסר. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. I'm not missing anything. But there's another way to understand this. מזמור לדוד השם רועי לא אחסר. Hashem is my shepherd, lo echsar is a tfilah. השם רועי לא אחסר. Hashem, may I never be... A shepherd is the best friend of their flock. A shepherd has to keep the flock in order. A shepherd protects the flock, shepherd nourishes and nurtures the flock. A shepherd is responsible for the flock. A shepherd takes care of the flock. But sometimes a member of the flock, a little shiepeleh, it goes off the way, it veers off the path. That shiepeleh has a mind of its own, it thinks it knows better, and it doesn't follow with the rest of the herd. The sheep thinks I'm going to go off the derech, I'm going to go off this path, I'm going to explore on my own. And in that moment the shepherd sometimes has to give a stikel patch, has to give a little bit of a nudge to the sheep to bring it back on the path. But you know the sheep knows that shepherd he loves me. That shepherd brings me to food to eat, and the shepherd brings me to water to drink, and the shepherd protects me when the weather's inclement or when there's an attacker that's coming on. And therefore the shepherd understands the sheep understands that all the shepherd does is coming from love. Ro'ee, a shepherd is a rei'ah, is a great friend. Hashem ro'ee, God, who is our shepherd, lo echsar. So it means I'm not lacking if I embrace him as my shepherd, but it also means a tefillah. Hashem ro'ee, let him be my shepherd, lo echsar, may I never be lacking in feeling in that very feeling that he is indeed my shepherd. So where do I take him? To the boardroom, operating room, to the boardroom, operating room and the law courtroom, I take him with me to business, I take him with me to life, I take him with me to the gym, the supermarket. I take him with me everywhere I go. And when I leave him behind, when I close the Tehillim or siddur, I close him out with it, and then I'm ruthless, then I cheat, then I cut corners, then I have dishonest weights and measures, now I'm vulnerable to be attacked by Amalek. Because the very fact that I think that God's not the one who provides what I need, the very fact that I think that I have to cheat and steal in order to gain because I don't trust that God will give what I need is an act of kefirah. And it means that אם יש ה׳ בקרבנו, it means I'm doubtful, it means I worry, it means I have uncertainty if God is in fact in my midst or not. And therefore and therefore I'm vulnerable to the attack of Amalek, the attack of asher korcha baderech. That's our tefillah, that's our hope, that's our wish. Our hope and our wish is that Hashem ro'ee, that Hashem should be my rei'ah, my best friend, lo echsar, and never be missing out. Okay let's dive back into the Biyom Darechecha and the bittul that we've been learning about from Rav Itche Meir. So he's been describing to us the four levels of bittul that a person needs to go through life. I feel like an ich, like an I, like an ego. I feel like I exist. I look in the mirror and I feed myself, I pamper myself, I put on this handsome-looking tie and I think there's an I, there's an ego, I have a sense of identity independent of God. It's true I live in his world and he operates it, that's the first level of bittul, the bittul of קבלת עול מלכות שמים. The first bittul is I exist independent of God, but I defer to God, I report to God, I submit to God. In the end of the day I work for him, he doesn't work for me. Second level was bittul be-middos, not just intellectually to know I report to him, but to be in a relationship, to be invested in a relationship, to feel love, to feel awe, to feel closeness, to feel longing, to feel clinging, to feel there's a romance to the relationship with Hashem, not just a bittul with a sense intellectually, not just to study about God, but to nullify and to submit and surrender with a sense of emotion, with a feeling to God. The third level was bittul yesh. The third level was to have my entire feeling that when I'm in the presence of God there is no me, all there is is him. And the fourth level is bittul be-metzius. I don't even exist. All of us are a matrix, we're part of the illusion of the world, but we only exist because Hashem imagines, he wills our existence to be. And then we last left off last week with this very, very important balance Rav Itche Meir spoke about. He says if you live with too much bittul, if we nullify ourselves too much to the point that we don't even think we exist, then you could become very passive, you can become very fatalistic, you can assume why try, why work, why do, it's really all God. On the other hand, if you think really it's all me, I exist, it's my ego, it's my I, my anochi, my ich, I exist, then you're going to work excessively, then you're going to take too much initiative, then you're going to take too much credit, too much blame, and you're going to cut God out of the equation. Our mission is to do both, our mission is to do both. הדרך הישרה היא להתחיל כל דבר עם הרגשת ביטול, we start every effort by first remembering that I don't exist on my own, really I'm just an extension, I'm just a shliach, really I'm a messenger, I'm an agent of God. מתוך הכרה שהכל זה השם יתברך. Really everything is Hashem, והאדם בעצם אינו כלום. I really don't exist, I'm an illusion. Really ה׳ אלוקינו ה׳ אחד, he is all that exists. Now that he's what exists, and he's positioned me, he's put me in this world at this time in this place, he's given me this personality, the skill set, now I have work to do, now I have a difference to make. אחרי שהרגיש הביטול יכנס לפעול ולעשות כל מה שיוכל, after we feel the bittul, after we submit and surrender that the outcome will be whatever He wills and that He is the senior partner and He is responsible for our success, now I get to work. Now I take initiative. Now I do everything that I can. bechol kocho with all my effort למען כבוד השם יתברך in order to honor God תוך כדי שיזכור כל זמן שלא הוא עושה אלא הוא רק שליח. I have to remember the entire time that I'm not the one doing it, I'm just a messenger and an agent for God. וכשיסיים מעשיו יחזור להרגשת ביטול גמורה. So I act as an agent, I act empowered, I'm on a mission, I'm sent out, I'm charged by the most powerful, by the King of kings, by God Almighty. But on the one hand, the fact that He has sent me as an agent is empowering. On the other hand, the fact that He has all the power and I'm just His agent makes me submit and surrender, feel a sense of bittul בבחינת קל גומר עלי ויזכור שאף שבחיצוניות הוא עושה even though externally if you check the security camera, if you were to watch externally, on the surface, it looks like I'm the one doing it. The surgeon's the one who saves the life, the doctor's the one who diagnoses the patient, the lawyer's the one who makes the successful argument, the rabbi's the one who gives the drasha, and the chef or the cook is the one who makes the great meal, and the examples go on and on. Externally, superficially, it looks like we're the ones who do it. be'emes השם יתברך הוא העושה האמיתי. But the truth is God is the one who makes everything happen. It's all just an illusion. He is behind that illusion. He is the matrix. He is making it all happen. vehasiman lezeh and what is the sign, what is the symbol, what is the evidence? שלא ישנה לו כמה הוא הצליח בפועל כי כאשר אדם חי האמת שהשם יתברך הוא העושה האמיתי when a person lives the truth and they live the reality that God is really the one who does, אזי אם עשיתי כפי יכולתי אזי השלמתי את שליחותי. A person doesn't get bent out of shape. We make our best effort, we do our best, and the outcome now is up to God. If I realize that I'm simply the agent, the delivery mechanism, the instrument, the vehicle, but I am not the source, then I do my best, and once I've done my best and I can take pride in having done my best, I've completed my mission. Now the outcome and the result is entirely up to God. ואילו התוצאה בפועל שייכת רק אליו יתברך. So I make my best effort and I do my best, but I don't ever get bent out of shape, I don't worry, I don't spend too much time on the outcome because that's up to God. הוא כבר ישלים את הענין על צד החיוב הכי טוב רק הוא יודע מה טוב באמת. Only God knows what is truly the best outcome. He knows the way it is meant to be. So we do our best to be the best agents that we can be. We do our best to fulfill the mission as best we can. But in the end of the day, it is up to Hashem. In the end of the day, it is all up to, it is all up to God. And he says here in a footnote: ledugma be'inyan tfillah. So he gives an example when it comes to prayer. mitzad echad להיות בישות דקדושה להתחזק ולבקש ולפעול רחמים לכל ישראל ברוחניות וגשמיות ולא יגיד mi anochi. In the moment that we have an audience with the King of kings, in the moment that we have His ear, Hashem sefasai tiftach God move my lips, ufi yagid tehilasecha give me the words, move my lips, empower me, enable me, enrich me, elevate me, Hashem make me believe that my words matter. Let me daven not only for my own well-being, let me daven for the people around me, let me daven for the world, let me daven for those who need it. You can't stand up to daven and say mi anochi. You take those three steps forward and you're about to, in a very direct first-person way, challenge God, you're going to ask God, God please give me this, give me that, give me the other thing. So if you really felt mi anochi, if you succeeded in bittul, what kind of davener would you be? If mi anochi, who am I, what am I, איך בין א גארנישט, I'm a nothing, I'm a nobody, I'm unworthy, I'm inadequate, what right do I have to stand before You? I have nothing to say. So you'll never daven. You'll never daven. umitzad sheni on the other hand יהיה מלא בביטול וידע שרק השם יתברך עושה והוא עושה הכי טוב. On the other hand, if you daven and then you walk away and you say now I'm going to get answered. Boy did I have kavana. I concentrated, I davened well, I was present in the moment, I was mindful with everything I said. Now I'm guaranteed to be answered. So now you've also made a terrible mistake. You have to realize that the whole purpose of davening is not that God automatically answers or not that we're entitled or that we deserve. We ask and now the result is up to Him. הסימן אם חס ושלום יש מחיצות ועיכובים מניעות ולא רואה שתפלתו נענתה אם יהיה מלא ביטול בשמחה ויאמין שודאי תפלתו נשמעה ופעלה אלא שלא יודע חשבונות שמים למה לא נתמלאה בקשתו. What happens when you daven from the bottom of your heart? What happens when you give it your all? What happens when you're mindful and you're present, you concentrate, and you brought an energy and an enthusiasm beyond and it turns out the answer is no. Do you accept it? Do you say you know what, now's the time to submit and surrender, now I have to practice bittul? After I've taken my initiative, after I've given my all, after I've given it my everything, if the answer is no, the answer is no. Now I have to submit. Submit and surrender. Now I have to practice bittul. If you're willing to do that, then you successfully are practicing bittul. But if you're not, if you're not willing to say that God has his own cheshbonos, the Almighty has his own calculations and the deposit of my davening will be withdrawn at another time. But you know what? I did my part, the rest is up to God, then in fact it's really all about you, it's not about God to begin with. So the idea of bittul is very, very important to create this balance. You can't take no initiative, you can't sit back and be passive or fatalistic and say God will provide and God will heal and God will take care. That's not the way God works. God gives us gifts, he gives us opportunity, he gives us the ability to heal ourselves, to protect ourselves, to vaccinate, to take care of ourselves, he gives us the ability to earn an income, to provide a livelihood, he gives us all kinds of ability and we are obligated to take that initiative. However, once we've taken the initiative, once we've given it all, then we have to sit back and say, let go let God, it's entirely up to him. Daven as if it's all up to God and then work as... daven as if it's all up to God and work as if it is all up to you. I'm afraid we have to cut it a little short today, thank you for understanding. If you'd like to sponsor a future shiur, brsonline.org/sponsor. Honor me please by subscribing to our YouTube channel. You'll be notified in real time every time we go live and we can learn together. Speaking of which, 9 o'clock tonight, Behind the Bima with the great Hall of Famer, the great five-time World Series champion, Mariano Rivera, the greatest saver of all time of the New York Yankees. Very spiritual, very religious, this conversation, we'll ask him a lot about his faith in God, his love of the Jewish people and his commitment to Israel. It's at 9 o'clock tonight, behindthebima.com. Join us live for Behind the Bima. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy and stay holy.
