Transcript
Okay good morning boker tov and a very happy Tu B'Av to all. Appreciate everyone's flexibility as I said this summer is erratic baruch Hashem traveling for many simchas we should always travel only for simchas. That's why it's critically important to be part of our WhatsApp group, get bonus material and find out the latest schedule. You can join the WhatsApp group at rabbiephraimgoldberg.org/whatsapp. Join all the WhatsApp groups of the different shiurim, get bonus material and find out the schedule. Our Emuna series is generously sponsored by Dr. Zvi and Ayala Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut, in memory of Bella's mother Dr. Ellen Shantz. This morning's shiur is also sponsored by the Felder family in memory of חיים שמעון בן יוסף, a survivor who spent his days educating our youth and found emuna in the darkest places. We're very grateful to the family for sponsoring. Okay, as always we'll start out with a couple of emails, inspiration emails and then we'll get back into the text, into what we are learning together. Before we get even into the email, I just want to share, we have visiting with us this week from Eretz Yisrael, from Israel, a very special soldier. When Rabbi Brody, Rabbi Gibber and I went to Israel shortly after the war began, we went to army bases, we connected with the Eretz Hemdah community in Yerushalayim and we had some events together. And there's a very holy soldier, a very special young man. I don't want to say his name, telling these stories without his, not without his permission, but I don't want to say his name. But he is a very, very special, very special. He on October 7th, on that Simchas Torah morning, he's a Hummer driver in the Tzanchanim, in the paratroopers, he's a reservist. He is married with three beautiful children, has a fourth now, has a new baby. And he left his family to go on October 7th to drive down to Kfar Aza to begin his journey to participate in this war, in this battle, in this fight. And was tasked in those first days, and I don't want to share in graphic detail, but with really unimaginable, unimaginable responsibilities of collecting bodies, retrieving bodies, parts of bodies, identifying bodies, while fighting enemies. And in the five months he was in Gaza over the last ten months, continued to risk his life on missions like that and others in really extraordinary and selfless ways like so many, like so many. And they're now here for a couple of weeks in New York and in Florida in order to reconnect with his family. You know what it is for three young children, six and younger, four young children, six and younger now, to go five months without a father? Every time now he leaves the house they run after him, they hold on to him. When he says I'll be back soon, they say you're lying, you're not coming back. It's horrific, it's scary. And as I've been saying in Israel, there are soldiers who have visible physical wounds and there are countless who carry other scars that you can't see but yet are deep and painful and also need love, support and recovery. So I was talking Friday night, we had the family over for Shabbos dinner. Every trip I've taken to Israel over these last ten months, connected with this young soldier and his family. He's young, young means younger than I am. He's thirty, so young, anything younger than me is young. So we've connected and baruch Hashem we're close and grateful to be close. So they were Friday night, we were talking. We were talking about hashgacha pratis and emuna and living with emuna and seeing Hashem's hand everywhere and the incredible stories that happened to us. I heard the most remarkable, extraordinary story when I paid a shiva call to Mrs., to Rebbetzin Miriam Fox. Heard the most incredible story, we'll save it for next week or a couple weeks. It's an amazing story of hashgacha pratis, really one of the most amazing stories. So I told the story at the Shabbos table, we were talking about emuna and he says, this soldier says, he said Rabbi I have to tell you, emuna stories don't inspire me, don't impress me anymore, they don't touch me because when I was in Gaza for five months, it was all hashgacha pratis. And so everything that happens and everything I see and everything I live and everything I put down in front of me and everyone who steps in the room and everywhere we go, it's all from Hashem. And he continued to list horrific, tragic moments that he felt were divinely, divinely designed. And also incredible miraculous moments. A moment they were walking into one of the houses that they were clearing bodies in Nachal Oz, in Kfar Aza, and they were about to open a door to go in and to look to see what they'd see, and one of the soldiers yelled stop! And on top of that door, which was open just a little bit, was a grenade. Now if they opened that door, the grenade would have fallen, he wouldn't be here today. He was driving his Hummer in Gaza through a battlefield and one of the passengers yelled atzor, hit the brakes, stop! And he slammed on the brakes and he stopped and he saw an RPG pass right in front of them at that moment. It was aimed, it was directed, it was right at them. And there were many stories he told like that of hashgacha. So he said everything is hashgacha. And it's just transformed his life. So on his, on their way, this family's way from New York down here, four young kids, six and a half and under, not easy to travel, and they had challenges with the luggage when they were checking in, which made them a little delayed getting to the gate. They got to the gate and the gate was still open and people were still... They got to the gate and the gate agent said, "You're a minute late," and closed the door in their face. They missed the flight, their luggage was already on. He said, "The door is open, we saw the last people getting on, we're here, we have young children." Slammed the door in their face and said, "You're a minute late." And he said before October 7th, he would have been fire, upset, angry, disappointed, frustrated, he would have responded. Now he just said, "Okay, Hashem, you don't want us to be on that plane. This is not the flight that we were meant to be on. We'll see when, which is the next flight, where we're supposed to be." Whole life is now seen through the glasses, through the prism, through a life of Hashgacha, just extraordinary stories and extraordinary perspective and I share them, these are real life people. We're not reading about them in a book, they're not a fairy tale, they're not aspirational, who we want to and one day should be, when we meet, when we see, when we listen, when we learn, then you see these are real people, ordinary people. If you're in Yerushalayim and you walk by this family in the park or in the supermarket, they're just ordinary people, but they're living extraordinary lives now and always. There are ordinary people living extraordinary lives and it's all an enormous inspiration and a mechaye and obligation for all of us because it means we're capable of living those lives too, we could be living in that way, we could be living with that life. It doesn't just mean oh, when the RPG passed, Hashgacha pratis, slammed on the brakes, we're alive. Hashgacha, the grenade didn't fall from atop the door. It's not just the miraculous moments that have the positive, happy ending to them, it's also when the door gets slammed in your face and you say that door closed, another will open. I don't know why doors close and why some open, I am where I'm meant to be, like we shared last week, Sapir, who spoke here on Tisha B'Av, held hostage by Hamas 55 days, when she transformed her thinking to feel, I am where I'm meant to be, this is where Hashem put me, what do I do with it now? Not why am I here and I only have myself to blame and the mistakes I made, I wouldn't have been taken, but I am where I'm meant to be, a Yid, a Jew is never stuck, why am I here? Rabbi Goldberg, hope you're enjoying your time away, we're still catching up on the emails. I was at BRS this evening to deliver packages for Tomchei Shabbos. You may not know, but we started an organization called the Florida Chessed Network and every Thursday night, every Thursday, young children come and pack for over 40 families and others come and pick up and deliver Tomchei Shabbos boxes of food for those to be able to make Shabbos. Different than the BRS Tomchei Shabbos, which is done a little differently and more discreetly, but this is the classic Tomchei Shabbos, packing boxes, delivering boxes, we're very proud we have to share more of the difference Florida Chessed Network is making. So this is somebody who delivers. I was driving a very large SUV, which was a rental car I got this week because our van was at the mechanic. I pulled into a spot, turned off my car and popped the trunk so I could load the boxes. As I crossed the street, I see the boys who help out started to bring my boxes and all of a sudden, I see my rental car starting sliding backwards, I forgot to put it into park. I was so stunned that I froze and in that moment someone happened to be standing in the parking lot, saw what was happening, jumped in my car and put it in park. I was literally three inches from hitting the car behind it. Baruch Hashem, no one was behind the car, despite it being a busy time with lots of people coming to volunteer. I felt and continue to feel such gratitude to Hashem that someone was in the exact right place at the right moment, had the fortitude to act so quickly and without hesitation and then no one was hurt, no damage took place. I wish I could carry this feeling of gratitude all the time, perhaps it's not within human nature. Thank you for the shiur, reminding us to see everything as being from Hashem even when it's not so obvious, wishing a good Shabbos. Okay, while we're talking about cars, next car. Thank you for your shiurim blah blah blah blah. I really the following story occurred to me the other day. I just finished class and went to the parking garage to get my car and leave. I got in my car, drove to the exit, got my ticket to pay for the parking pass. I opened my door, rolled down my window, got out my credit card to pay. As I reached over to put my credit card into the reader, the credit card fell right into the window sill. Immediately I felt like no way, no way, dumbfounded that was even possible, right where the window goes down, the little slit, credit card, right down the window sill. I searched all around my car and on the floor, but it was quickly confirmed my credit card was in the exact place and the exact angle needed for it to slip right into the car window without being able to be retrieved. I paid with another card all the while thinking okay Hashem, I don't understand why, but let's see how this turns out. I left and then phoned a friend who immediately burst out laughing when I said over the story and my prior embarrassment immediately faded. She said I could just get a new credit card, it's not a big deal. I then realized that this card, which we all put so much value on, is just a piece of plastic, it can easily be replaced. My car and window were working well, Baruch Hashem, and I was reminded, although I don't know why Hashem decided to have my card fall the exact angle and time to go straight into the window, that all things considered, it was harmless. Perhaps it was to teach me there are things that can be stressful occur throughout life, it's up to us to choose how to handle the situation. Shiurim have definitely helped, may we be zoche to give many more podcast up to 1,000, 10,000, 100,000. Again, small, insignificant, inconsequential piece of plastic. The point is, living with Emunah changes your life. Instead of stressing and fretting and getting anxious and frustrated, it’s a piece of plastic. It’s replaceable. So much else is not replaceable. It’s all replaceable. It’s all replaceable. It puts in perspective what’s important and what’s not important, what counts and what matters and what doesn’t. It is all from Hashem. Okay, I have so many emails. Here’s another fun one. Thank you for the weekly Emunah support group. It gives me tremendous strength and optimism, particularly as my family’s been coping with a challenging time. We are blessed in every important way, but finances have always been tight as both my husband and I are Jewish educators. Recently we were given a very difficult financial challenge that coincided with our family relocating. Our current home will be occupied after us by a Kollel family that is generously supported by a wealthy benefactor. When touring our house, which has many doorways, sixteen, it was determined that we will have to leave the Mezuzos for the incoming family. This is a not well-known Halacha in Hilchos Mezuzah, but even when you move you’re not entitled to take your - you can’t leave the home without Shemira. If a non-Jew is moving in or Mezuzos will be taken down to paint, then you’re allowed to take your Mezuzos with you. But if a Jewish family is moving right in after you, then you’re not allowed to take your Mezuzos, zeh mishum shemira, for the protection that the Mezuzah offers on a home. So their house has sixteen doorways. It was determined that we will have to leave the Mezuzos for the incoming family. The house we are moving into has no Mezuzos, meaning we’ll have to bear the expense of purchasing all new Mezuzos. I had a flash of resentment. Why do I have to give my Mezuzos to them? Can’t their daddy Warbucks cover their new Mezuzos and let us take ours, sparing us a big expense? But then I immediately let it go. Halacha is Halacha, and accepting that is also part of Emunah. It’s a powerful lesson. Part of Emunah is that when the Jewish law dictates that we have to do something in that moment. Turns out the food was not Kosher, you gotta throw it out. It turns out the price of Jewish education is expensive. The Lulav and Esrog are expensive. To live as a Jew, to be observant, when we are a Beis Din for conversion, interview a candidate, and when they stand in the Mikvah, one of the questions we ask is, are you aware of how expensive it is to be an observant Jew? And are you still ready to go through with this? Do you know what the cost of Kosher food, do you know what the cost of being Jewishly observant, do you know what the cost of Jewish education is, do you know what it costs to live in a Jewish neighborhood? And when they’re out of their mind and say yes, I want to do it anyway, we welcome them with open arms and we love them with all of our heart. Halacha is Halacha and accepting that is also part of Emunah. I immediately felt better and the resentment was gone. Hashem gave them my Mezuzos, and Hashem will help us buy for our new home. Hashem is the greatest daddy Warbucks and his largesse is infinite. Hashem is the greatest. She’s resentful, let their daddy Warbucks, whoever’s supporting them in Kollel, let them buy the new Mezuzos, why do I have to be out on both ends? Because Hashem is the greatest daddy Warbucks there is. He is the greatest sponsor. He is the greatest benefactor. He is the most generous. Furthermore, I reflected on how the Kollel has benefited our community and now I get to be a part of their mission by leaving them sixteen Mezuzos. How fortunate am I. I went on with my day unencumbered by resentment and worry, unburdened by what was. Just joking. Lo and behold, as I listened to this week's Emunah Shiur, you spoke all about the expense of buying Mezuzos. A few weeks ago we spoke about that, you remember? How when people put up a new home, they knock down, build a new house, and they calculated the smart house and the rooms, the pool, the backyard, but they forgot to calculate how much Mezuzos. Remember we spoke about? When they ask me, Rabbi, can I buy a forty dollar, sixty dollar, hundred and twenty dollar, which one do I have to get? I say, let’s go outside and look in your driveway. Let’s see what kind of car you drive. And based on what kind of car you drive will determine which Mezuzah you should get. Are you satisfied with the bare minimum in your furniture, in your home, in the car you drive, in your technology, in your latest phone? Or do you have the newer versions, does it have the bells and whistles? In which case you gotta get that for your Mezuzah and your Tefillin as well. So I spoke about that a few weeks ago and that’s the Emunah Shiur she turned on right when she was having to leave her Mezuzos and was beginning to feel resentment and it turned things around, turned it around. It felt like a wink from the Eibershter and that just as I have faith in him, he’s proud of me. Thank you for the weekly support group. May we hear good things for Klal Yisrael. So it’s another example of how living with Emunah changes our life. Not just a delay at the airport or when they close the door, the gate agent. Living with Emunah not just being able to be grateful that the car, somebody jumped in and put it in park and nothing happened, but living with Emunah also helps us live as passionate, practicing Jews because we don’t become resentful of Halacha, of the expense of being a Jew and the Halachos of being a Jew, and we’re able to see Hashem in all that we do and be happy with the privileges that we, that we have. Okay, one last one then we'll dive into the text. I know I keep saying one last one, but I find them inspiring. This is the *Shiur*. The *Shiur*, they're the *Maggidei Shiur*. You, when you sent you, when you send me emails, you are, you're giving the *Shiur*. I just have the privilege to be able to read it and then we'll get into רב משה שפירא זצ"ל. Hope all's well with your family. I started listening to the *Shiurim* after I heard you speak about Brian Galbut's funeral. His *Neshama* should have an *Aliya*. I've not stopped listening since. His *Neshama* should have an *Aliya* from all the *Torah*. Our *Shiur* is sponsored in his memory. His *Yahrtzeit* was on *Erev Tisha B'Av*. It's hard to believe it's five years since this incredible walking role model of *Emuna*, of *Emuna*. Isn't *Hashem* amazing? That was his refrain if you knew Brian. No matter what, I don't mean isn't *Hashem* amazing when he had all of his children and had his *Nachas*, when he had his successful medical practice. I don't mean isn't *Hashem* amazing when he had a great golf shot. I mean when he was diagnosed with a death sentence of a glioblastoma and he made his way through those therapies and at the very end of his life and with his last breaths he still said, 'Isn't *Hashem* amazing? *Hashem* is so amazing.' So you talk about a, he is a *Mussar Shmuz* in *Emuna*. A few weeks ago I was listening to the *Parsha Shiur*, you talked about the *Lubavitcher Rebbe's Yahrtzeit* and the holiness of *Davening* at the *Ohel*. I was listening to this and as I was at life crossroads. I, the *Ohel's* a special place. I went a few times this summer while I was in New York and I said then, I'll say again now, when you're in Israel you want to go to the *Kotel*. Why? Because it's the closest we come to the intense presence of *Hashem*, but it's also the place to go where you can find every kind of Jew. And if you want to see all your siblings, every kind of Jew, the entire cross-section of *Klal Yisrael*, you go to the *Kotel*. And where do you see that in America? At the *Ohel* of the *Rebbe*. No matter dressed differently, background, *Ashkenazi*, *Sefardi*, religious, non-religious, at the *Ohel* is the place to go. I went. *Baruch Hashem* we just had a granddaughter. When my daughter was in labor, her mother was helping her, I had nothing to do, I went to the *Ohel*. Took my grandson, we went to the *Ohel* and we *Davened* until the phone rang. It's a girl, *Baruch Hashem*. We should all have only *Simchos*. So at the *Ohel*, I spoke about it and that's the *Emuna Shiur* this person put on that day. I have the privilege of choosing between two career paths. One that I had always wanted to do that makes less money, but that I think leans into the strengths that *Hashem* has given me, or Path A, or I chose Path B, which makes significantly more money, better hours, but I was not completely sold on as the work day-to-day is not what I love to do. I recognize what a *Bracha* it is between these two choices, but it was causing me a huge amount of stress. I hope to raise my family in the Jewish community in the same way I was raised, but it's expensive. It was hard for me to decide to choose a path when I cannot tell the future. I did all the tricks everyone says, sleep on it, flip a coin, but I was still unable to decide. That's when I heard your *Shiur* and decided to go *Daven* at the *Ohel* and I hoped that I would gain clarity. I went to *Daven Mincha* at the *Ohel* that Friday afternoon and also to *Daven* for my *Zivug*, which I always *Daven* for, for my to find a spouse, and I'm still waiting patiently for and sometimes impatiently for. As I walked out of the building after *Davening Mincha* and saying *Tehillim* for the hostages and soldiers, a sense of calm came over me. I don't know why, but I felt like everything would be okay. When I woke up *Shabbos* the next morning, I decided to choose Path A and I was happy with my decision. I don't know what the future will hold and I don't know who my *Zivug* will be, but this story is a happy ending, not because it ties up in a nice, neat bow, but because I'm working on my *Emuna* every day and when things happen as they always do, I try to remind myself I know it's from *Hashem*, I know it's for the good. Thanks for helping with the *Emuna*. Thank you to everyone who writes emails that inspire all of us to keep chugging along each and every week. Okay, I have a pile of more emails. It's taking enormous self-control, but *Baruch Hashem* we're going to continue to learn in the weeks ahead and we'll come to more. *Rei'ei Ha'Emuna*, the beautiful *Sefer* of רב משה שפירא זצ"ל, the 13 *Rambam's* 13 principles of faith. We've been learning about *Emes V'Emuna*. *Emes* is the abstract, conceptual, theoretical, the axiom, there is a *Hashem*, there's a source, there's a first cause. *Emuna*, putting it into practice. *Emuna*, making it real. *Emuna* is living with it regularly. *Emes V'Emuna*, it's why *Avraham Avinu* both had the epiphany. *Avraham Avinu* had to come to the conclusion, the reality, the *Ba'al Habira*, there is a creation, there's a building, there's an architect, there's a painting, there's a painter. But that *Ba'al Habira* also had to come up to him because there also had to be that close, intimate, personal connection relationship, putting it into practice. The *Gemara Bava Basra*. גמרא בבא בתרא דף טז הביאו פסוק המלמד על משמעות הכפירה בעיקר. What does it mean to really be a heretic? What does it mean heresy? To deny God, to deny God's existence, to deny God's relationship, ongoing relationship with us. What is that really all about? So the *Gemara* in *Bava Basra* says the following. *Amar Rabbi Yochanan*, חמש עבירות עבר אותו רשע באותו היום. We all know the story, the day that *Esav HaRasha*. *Esav HaRasha* comes home from the field. He was doing what he always does, he hunts. What did he hunt? He hunted animals, he hunted fur, he also hunted women, even if they were married to other men. He hunted that which didn't belong to him. He came back. exhausted, physically, emotionally spent. And that's the day that Yakov Avinu purchased the bechora, the right to the firstborn, and we all know he therefore received the brachos and the whole rest of the story. But Chazal tells, Rabbi Yochanan teaches that that day that rasha, that wicked Esav, did five aveiros. What were they? Ba Na'ara Me'orasa, he was intimate with an engaged young woman. Harag Es Hanefesh, he murdered. Kofer B'ikar, he denied God's existence, he was a heretic. Kofer Bitchiyas Hamessim, he denied the fundamental faith principle of our faith that we believe there will be a resurrection. Vayivez Es Habechora and because of that he diminished, demeaned, ultimately sold the right to the firstborn. V'hamakor Kofer B'ikar, and how do we know that he was a heretic, how do we know that? Although we see from the psukim, from the text itself it sounds like he was tired and he said give me some of that red stuff. Give me some of that red stuff, that looks good, that looks good. Where do you see kofer b'ikar, where do you see that he was a heretic? Ksiv ולמה זה לי בכורה. Why do I need this firstborn? This is not a commodity I need. This is not something I need to hold on to. I'm hungry, happy to barter, happy to trade it in, happy to sell it away. למה זה לי הבכורה, from that word zeh. Could say lama li habechora, why do I need to hold on to the firstborn? But it says lama zeh li. Where else do we see the word zeh? Fast forward many years, the Jewish people will be standing on the other side of the banks of the river, of the sea. They will have just survived miraculously, the sea split, opened up, a path came for them to go forward when they thought they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Egyptians were pursuing them behind and the sea stands in front of them before. They have nowhere to go, the walls are closing in. Do you ever feel that way? The walls are closing in. I have nowhere to go. There's no path that's open. How am I going to pay this bill? How am I going to recover from this illness? How am I going to get out of this predicament, this situation? How will this war end? How will the hostages come home? The walls feel like they're caving in and Hakadosh Baruch Hu makes miracles. He made one last night. We should have said Hallel this morning. Do we begin to appreciate what happened last night? It wasn't clear, but now Hamas took credit and it's been confirmed. There was an enormous explosion in Tel Aviv last night, a truck exploded killing only its driver. It was an attempted terror attack, but before this truck filled with explosives could go create mass casualties, it exploded on the terrorist who was driving the truck. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is amazing. Hashem is incredible and he did an unreal chesed for Klal Yisrael. We could have woken up this morning to horrific, horrific tragedies, casualties, injuries, funerals, shivas, fear, panic, anxiety, terror. Hashem is amazing and we just go on with our day and you get the text or you read the article and you turn the page, you say oh, what a coincidence, that's great, thank God it blew up in his face. It's a miracle. הודו להשם כי טוב. Stop, pause. Mamash. Maybe we should have said... it's a miracle. Hashem makes miracles when it feels there's no way out. So Klal Yisrael stood on the other side of the sea and they pointed with their finger and they said zeh keili v'anveihu. This is my Hashem v'anveihu and I'm going to glorify him. You read that story, the truck blew up on the terrorist, zeh keili v'anveihu. So the same word zeh, למה זה לי בכורה, lama zeh li, zeh keili v'anveihu. Chazal darshen, Chazal learn, they conclude, they extrapolate from here Esav was a kofer b'ikar. Esav was a heretic, he denied God's existence, he denied God's role. Says Rabbi Moshe Shapiro במה שאמר עשו למה זה לי בכורה שמעו חז"ל כפירה בזה קלי ואנוהו. I don't understand still. Where did Esav say it? He said למה זה לי בכורה. Why do I need this firstborn status? What does this identity do for me? What does this membership get me that I'm the firstborn? Where do they see in that heresy? Where do they see in that kfira? What they saw was by saying למה זה לי בכורה, what do I need this for? He violated zeh keili v'anveihu. והביאור שלהאמין בעיקר אינו נגמר בידיעת מציאותו יתברך אמונה משמעותו להראות באצבע על העיקר ולאמר עליו זה. Emunah is not, if I stop you and ask you do you believe in God, you say yes, I went to Aish HaTorah's Discovery seminar and I can repeat to you the Bible codes and I can tell you all the evidence for God's existence and I can quote St. Thomas Aquinas and I can quote Yehuda Halevi and I can quote from all over and I'm happy to provide for you. I've read Lawrence Kelemen's Permission to Believe, I'm happy to repeat and recite all the evidence for God's existence. Lovely. That's called emes. That doesn't need you to say it to be true. God's existence, God's presence, God's providence is all true whether As we go about our daily lives, it's not just emes, it's emes v'emunah. What's the v'emunah? Zeh Keli Ve'anvehu. Wow. Zeh. To go through life and point and say Zeh. I just got this parking spot, I ran into the person just this morning. I was leaving a voice note for somebody, and then as I was leaving the voice note walking the hallway this way, they were walking the hallway this way. I pressed delete on the voice note, I said, "Just the person I was looking for." So Zeh! In that moment, thank Hashem. That's a wink. That's a smile. It's insignificant, inconsequential, I could have left the voice note, he could have responded, maybe we would have gotten the same result, but just what I needed in the moment I needed it. Zeh. Zeh. Hashem, Zeh. Zeh. Someone jumped in the car and put it in park. Zeh. Zeh. I went into the pizza store and they had the pies ready even though I didn't call in advance. Zeh! And Zeh. I got good news from the laboratory. Zeh. I found it's Tu B'Av. It's Tu B'Av. Do you know it's miraculous? If you're married, it's a miracle. If you're happily married, it is an improbable miracle. I say it half-jokingly, but statistically I say it entirely seriously. All you have to do is look at the statistics and realize if you're married and if you're happily married, you're an anomaly. You're in the minority. You're a miracle. You're a miracle. The Gemara says הקדוש ברוך הוא מזווג זיווגים. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the one who sets people up and it's קשה כקריעת ים סוף. It is as hard as the splitting of the sea. The Maharal in his Chiddushei Aggados on Sotah explains why is it as hard as splitting the sea? Because you know people are very self-centered, people are selfish by nature. We need to have that instinct to survive, self-preservation. People are independent and they're apart and they're self-centered. It's the nature of the world. And when two people who are separate and apart and distinct can come together and become one, says the Maharal, it is miraculous as something that was one becoming two. The sea is naturally one. Water molecules flow down to the lowest point and they stick together, and you can't take a fork and a knife and cut a bowl of water in two. It doesn't work. The water will keep coming back together because water is one. So when something which is one became two it was a miracle, when something which is two become one it is equally a miracle says the Maharal. It's קשה כקריעת ים סוף. So if when we stood on the opposite side of the water we said Zeh, we pointed, Zeh, wow, every day you wake up and your spouse is still looking at you and talking to you and tolerating you and maybe even likes you, point and say Zeh Keli Ve'anvehu. This is a miracle like splitting the sea. That's Tu B'Av. That's Tu B'Av. Tu B'Av is disparate, separate, independent, competing things unifying, unifying. All the reasons Chazal gave for celebrating Tu B'Av, shevet Binyamin, the Civil War, all the Beitar, all the reasons that were given are all about being apart and divided and coming back together and becoming one. Including the women putting on white, dancing in the field. Imagine the shidduch initiative today that would suggest that. You'd be in cherem, nobody would talk to you. We're not even allowed to allow them to socialize, you're going to watch people prance in a field and choose your one. I'm not suggesting that we go there or do that, but it's all about unification, unifying, becoming one. And anytime that things become one, Zeh Keli Ve'anvehu. So last night a miracle happened in Tel Aviv, Zeh Keli! And you woke up today you're married, it's a miracle. So many people are looking and searching and waiting and yearning and we daven for them. Today should be the day they find, this Tu B'Av today should be the day they find that happiness that they're looking for. You woke up you're not only married but you're happily married, you won the lottery. You won the lottery. And given the choice between winning a financial lottery and a marriage happiness lottery, it is maybe harder but certainly better to win the marriage happiness lottery. And if you have it, you are a lottery winner. So stop complaining that you didn't win the actual monetary lottery. If you're healthy and you're married and you're happy, you've won the lottery. You think a lottery winner complains because they didn't win another lottery? You won a lottery once, lightning struck, you're grateful the rest of your life. You're not sitting there kvetching it's not fair to me I didn't win another lottery. You won a lottery. You have your faculties, you're healthy, you're alive, you're married, you're happy, you won a lottery. Zeh. Zeh Keli. That's from Hashem. That's a wink, that's a smile, that's His doing. He's mezaveig zivugim. That's Tu B'Av. He's the one who did it. So emes is there's Hashem, here's all the arguments for His existence, here's all the evidence for His existence. I can recite all the psukim and all the lamdus and all the mekoros. Emuna is: I go through my day and I point ze! The door slammed in my face at the airport, the gate agent, ze Keili v'anveihu. This is a—that's emuna. Emes v'emuna. That too is Hashem. Everything that happens, it's all from Hashem. מי שיודע את האמת עזר משה אך אינו רואה את האמונה במציאות שמסביבו עד שיוכל לומר עליה זה. A person who knows the truth, learns the truth, can repeat the truth, but doesn't live life, doesn't live a life where the emuna is bamtzius, is not living with the emuna glasses, seeing Hashem behind everything, seeing Hashem everywhere. A person who doesn't see themselves surrounded by Hashem, Hashem is revealing Himself in everything, doesn't want to point and say ze, כדרך שאמרו ישראל זה אלי ואנוהו הרי לא הגיע עדיין לאמונה. That לא הגיע עדיין לאמונה. Such a person has not yet arrived at living with emuna. What is the measure or metric of your living with emuna? Do you point and say ze? Do you have a hashgacha pratis family WhatsApp group where daily people are recording "you're not going to believe it" and then it worked out, I hadn't studied for the test, the teacher didn't show up, it got canceled? Every day! And then—and then the parking spot. The pizza store, the pizza was already, I didn't have to wait. Big things, little things, things that worked in our favor and the thing that didn't go right. But that's also Hashem. That's also ze Keili v'anveihu. When it didn't go right and it didn't go well and didn't have that happy ending. If you're not living that, if you don't have a story to tell at the dinner table every night where you saw Hashem's hand in your life, if you can't point and say ze, then you're not yet, you have not yet arrived at emuna. סילוק האמונה מעולם המוחש הריהו בגדר כפירה. And here's the chiddush, here's the chap. You ready what Chazal understood from Esav? So you'll say Esav didn't point and say ze, so he's a kofer? He's a kofer? If you got the parking spot, it worked out entirely right, you're running late, you say Hashem give me all green lights. This just happened to me recently. I was going somewhere to speak, I was running late, I said Hashem give me a kfitzas haderech. I promise you—you're not supposed to promise. I'm telling you, I never saw anything like it in my life. I got every green light. I beat Waze, it's a game I play regularly anyway, I beat Waze by like seven minutes of when I was supposed to get there. On time, early, ready to go. Got every green light. Ze Keili v'anveihu! And if you don't point and say Hashem, I asked you for the green lights, you gave me the green lights, ze Keili v'anveihu, Chazal's conclusion: you're like Esav, you're kofer be'ikar. It's not you're a frum Yid, you're an erliche Yid, you could work on your emuna. No, you're a kofer, even if you have the emes. You know the emes. You know the emes there's a Hashem. You know the emes you can tell all the evidence. You live the emes. You davened this morning, you put on your tallis and tefillin, you gave your tzedaka, you learned your daf yomi, you're dressed tznius, you're honest in business, you're living the emes. But if you don't live to the point that when He reveals His hand, when He winks and He smiles, you point and you say ze, like Esav, kofer be'ikar. Ad kedei kach kofer be'ikar. It's mind-boggling. What an insight! What an insight! What was the evidence? So Chazal, Bava Basra, what's the evidence Esav is kofer be'ikar? Because he failed to say ze Keili v'anveihu. He had the bechora and he didn't say, "Wow, that too is Hashem that I'm the firstborn". He gave it up, he sold it, he demeaned it, he diminished it. That too is a kofer be'ikar. Peirush hamilim, what's the translation for Esav? V'lama ze li? V'lama ze li? Klomar, eini meunyan badavar, I could care less about it, שאיננו משמעותי עבורי לחיים בהווה. Because I don't live in the here and now, I don't live in the present. I could care less. What does it do for me? What does this membership in Klal Yisrael do for me? What does being a firstborn do for me? What do I need this membership for? What does this status get me? קדושת הבכורה איננה נכנסת לכלל דברים שאני זקוק להם. That membership doesn't get me into anywhere where I want to go, says Esav. What does it do for me, the identity of being a bechor? Gornisht. Nothing. Doesn't get me in anywhere. If I'm a platinum member, I get in the lounge, I get an upgrade, I get a free alcoholic beverage, psh, that does something for me. That does something for me. If I have a membership to Costco, I could shop in Costco, that gets something for me. If I'm a pillar member at Boca Raton Synagogue, reserved seating, that gets something for me. What does bechora get for me, said Esav? הפך ממחשבה זו המאמר זה אלי ואנוהו kemoshe tirgum Onkelos אבני ליה בית המקדש v'Ramban hoshiveinu binaveh במקדש נמצאת הקדושה באופן גלוי עד שאפשר להצביע עליו ולומר זה. You know what it gets for you? Originally, who was supposed to serve in the Beis Hamikdash? Not the Kohanim and Levi'im, the bechorim. That status was going to get you special leadership place of role in the Beis Hamikdash, in the holiest place, the holiest work and the holiest task, and Eisav says, eh. Not for me. Doesn't do anything for me. Not interested. Not interested. כל מי שאינו מקבל את המציאות של הקדושה כדבר נוכח שאפשר להצביע עליו באצבע ולומר עליו זה, anyone who doesn't take upon themselves and say, I've been endowed with a great holiness. I'm not living in the world the same mundane, profane, secular way as everybody else. I'm living a holy life. I strive and I live not for happiness, I live for holiness. Holiness in how we speak and relate, holiness in how we dress, holiness in how we interpret the world, holiness in being on a mission to repair and redeem the world. I'm living here for holiness, not for happiness. If we don't live for holiness and point and say zeh, הרי הוא כאומר למה לי זה הבכורה, ve-zos kfirah b’ikar, and I say, why do I need to be a Jew? Why do I have to wear my yarmulke? Why do I have to be a visible Jew? Why do I have to make a bracha? Why do I have to show that I'm... yesterday I went shopping with a son-in-law, we both needed suits, and it happened again. I got, I got bagelled again. The person in charge of the fitting room, they now have to count how many things you take in. I guess stealing is so prevalent, it's like a TSA, you know, going into the fitting room. Count how many things on your way in, on your way out, you don't steal. Just gonna put a suit in my pocket, I don't know exactly what the thing... anyway. So the woman on the way in, she says: The suits for Shabbat? I said maybe, yeah, thank you. And on the way out she says: Shabbat Shalom. I said it's Sunday afternoon. But why was she... her neshama was screaming out! The pintele Yid was screaming, I'm a Jew! I'm a Jew! I don't know what else to say to you other than Shabbat Shalom, but I want you to know I'm a Jew. My soul is screaming, it's screaming. That's what's happening. That's what antisemitism, the gift of antisemitism, it is waking up Jews who were fast asleep. And we weren't succeeding in waking them up. It's waking up a piece of ourselves that was fast asleep, in that it needed to be woken up, it needed to be woken up. So the challenge again, Shabbat Shalom on a Sunday, on a Sunday afternoon. The Jews are waking up, the kedusha of a Yid, the sanctity, the holiness of a Jew. We're not living for happiness. The whole world who's running for the pursuit of happiness, why do you have to run after happiness? You ever wonder why America, why in the declaration the constitution, what is the right that we're given, the pursuit of happiness? You don't have to run after something that's not running away from you. It's the pursuit of happiness because it's fleeting, it's elusive, it's running away. If you're running after happiness, you're not going to catch up. If you're living for holiness, you're going to find a lot of happiness. If you live for happiness, you're miserable. We're in the most prosperous generation of all time and the most miserable generation of all time. If you're living for holiness, you're going to find a lot of happiness. So Eisav says למה זה לי בכורה, what do I need this for? But we see zeh Keili ve’anveihu, this is my life, my identity, who I am and what I live for. I'm not kofer b’ikar. כך ניתן להבין מהגמרא אדם הראשון כופר בעיקר היה, בחטאו הוא עזב את מציאות הברור של אמונה וסילק את העיקר מהעולם שבו הוא חי בפועל, the same was true with Adam HaRishon, we'll pick up with this next week. The same was true with Adam HaRishon, he too denied his role, his place. So kofer b’ikar, zeh! Hashem, this is why I'm here. Why did I decide to go to this store and not that store? Why did I come at this hour and not earlier? Why did I decide to go try it on even though I could've just bought it? Because I needed to be bagelled by that person. Have a gut Shabbos on Sunday afternoon at 2:00. That's why. And you point and you get in your car and you say: Zeh li, zeh Keili ve’anveihu. This moment and every moment is you, Hashem. Everything about it. Hashem, your fingerprints are everywhere. Zeh Keili ve’anveihu. To live a life not just of emes, to know Hashem exists in theory, but to live a life of emuna, Hashem, your fingerprints are everywhere in my life. I don't have to be a detective. I don't have to, you know, dust for fingerprints. I see them everywhere, like on the mirror in your house when you have your children and grandchildren over, the window. You don't need to dust, you don't have to be a detective. The fingerprints are everywhere, that's Hakadosh Baruch Hu. His fingerprints are making a mess everywhere. You see them everywhere. And just like if you're lucky enough to have children and grandchildren, you don't mind those fingerprints because they're the biggest bracha that could be, Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s fingerprints everywhere is the biggest bracha that you could find. We should be zocha to continue to see his fingerprints everywhere, and his fingerprints on bringing the hostages home, sweeping victory, הודו לה' כי טוב, we should pause to say thank you to Hashem for the miracle of last night in Tel Aviv. We shouldn't need such miracles, but thank him for the miracle. And here's the thing: when you're thankful, when someone's thankful to you, doesn't it make you want to do more for them? If someone doesn't even acknowledge that you've done something extraordinary for them, doesn't it make you want to lose their number and forget they exist? So if we want Hashem to do more of these miracles, stop and pause and say thank you. Say thank you. How could we not? Should be a day filled with בשורות טובות ישועות ונחמות.
