Transcript
Okay, good morning, good morning, Boker Tov, Boker Tov. It should be a day of Yeshuos Venachamos, Vesurot Tovot in Israel and around the world. Our Emuna series is generously sponsored by Drs. Avi and Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut and in memory of her mother Dr. Ellen Schanzar. We're grateful to the Morgans for their incredible generosity and support and friendship, and sponsored of course for a Shmira for all the Israeli soldiers and may the hostages come home. This morning's shiur is also sponsored by Jenny Schwartz in honor of her father for Father's Day, her mother for her birthday, both of whom exemplify what it means to lead a life of Emuna, and anonymously in honor of her birthday and the Yahrtzeit of her great-grandfather שרגא פייבל בן דב, in the zechus of shidduchim for שירה בת חיה רבקה, טובה ריבא בת יהודית חנה, תמר יפה בת נעמי אילנה, and שושנה טובה בת מרים ליבא, and anyone else searching for their zivug, may it be an easy process where they find easily. Thank you for your flexibility. Baruch Hashem, traveling for simchas this week. That's why we had to move the shiur to today, but I'm very grateful that you've joined me in person or virtually online. Please forgive the sounds of construction. It's the sound of building Torah. It's a beautiful sound, albeit a little bit interruption and a little bit could be a little bit annoying as well. Okay, so obviously there's a lot going on in the world and it's hard not to feel Emuna and Bitachon. Not only our brothers and sisters who are running in and out of bomb shelters who of course are feeling it, but the miracles of this past weekend, the miracles of... I've been thinking a lot, there's a couple of books, a series of books that's called What If, and What If talks about anomalies of history, the what-ifs of history. What if the world, the foremost historians imagine what might have been, turning points of history, right? Gettysburg in 1863, Berlin 1945. All these moments that if they didn't happen the way they did, what if, what if? And as I was thinking as President Trump courageously made the decision to defend the world from the tyranny of a nuclear Iran, you know, what if he hadn't turned his head at the last minute? What if he had won the election in 2020 and he wasn't in place since October 7th after Hezbollah, Hamas, and now Iran? What if, what if he and Bibi didn't mend their ways after he was annoyed that Bibi wished a congratulation to the Biden... There are so many what-ifs of the last few years, the what-ifs of history that are so incredibly, incredibly powerful. So I want to just, I want to share with you, I want to open with an Emuna email. It's not an Emuna email, it wasn't written to me. When I first saw this video, somebody sent it to me yesterday, I thought for sure this was AI, artificial intelligence. AI is able to make all kinds of videos. And as much as I admire, as much as I'm blown away, as much as I appreciate that Prime Minister Netanyahu went to the Kotel hours before launching the attack against Iran 10 days ago, and went to the Kotel after America joined and eliminated, obliterating, to quote the president, Iran's nuclear capability, but I wasn't sure about these comments. And maybe I'll post it in the video in our Emuna WhatsApp group because here Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke in Hebrew. This wasn't a press conference that he was giving in English, it was a press conference he gave in Hebrew rather. And he said the following, this is a translation: "Israel has no intention of being dragged into a prolonged war, we're close to completing the two objectives of Operation Am K'Lavi." Okay, at the start of his remarks, Prime Minister Netanyahu said the following quote: "When I first took office I participated in the March of the Living at Auschwitz, I felt a strong need to wrap myself in a tallis and say שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד. 10 days ago, just hours before launching the historic mission against the evil regime of Iran, I visited the Kotel and again felt a strong urge to wrap myself in a tallis. I prayed for the success of our heroic pilots, our soldiers and commanders, the security of our nation, for the peace of our people. I placed a note in the Kotel, I read הן עם כלביא יקום, a people rises like a lion and lifts itself like a lion. Today, 10 days later, I returned to the Kotel with my family. Again I wrapped myself in a tallis and offer a prayer of thanksgiving and a request for continued success. Gratitude for the incredible bravery of the IDF, for Mossad, for the resilience of our people on the home front, for the unprecedented partnership with my close friend President Trump. We've taken our teamwork and cooperation to historic heights. As President Trump said so clearly, there's never been such coordination between two leaders." Then later on he said the following: "I said it from the depth of my heart and belief, the most important party in the Knesset, the most important party in the Knesset is Siyata Dishmaya. We witnessed incredible courage from our fighters and citizens and intense help from our allies, but above all we had the help of the Ribbono Shel Olam. And for that I give thanks on behalf of generations of Jews who longed to establish our state and hoped we would protect our future, that's exactly what we are doing." It's unbelievable. You have the political leader, commander-in-chief of Israel's army and air force who after the... is the hand of Hashem, the guiding hand of Hashem. So essentially he wrote a big emuna email for the whole world to hear, for the Knesset, all of Israel and the whole world, to go to the Kotel before, to go to the Kotel after, to want to wrap himself in the tallis and to feel the embrace, the hug, literally the hug. Who couldn't feel the hug from Hashem? Who couldn't feel the hug from Hashem? These miraculous things are happening, greater than the Six-Day War. Rav Yaakov Emden, Rav Yaakov Emden writes in his siddur, I've quoted this before, I didn't discover it, others shared it. The great Rav Yaakov Emden a couple hundred years ago writes in his siddur that the miracle of Jewish survival, the miracle of the Jewish people, the miracle of the Jewish people thriving today, what the Jewish people have had to persevere and overcome and navigate over the last 2,000 years of exile, are greater, the miracles are greater, he writes, than the ten plagues and the splitting of the sea. You're so impressed, you say in Shema about Yetzias Mitzrayim, we have a whole holiday called Pesach, we commemorate, we think about Shabbos as zecher l'yetzias mitzrayim, writes Rav Yaakov Emden, the miracle of our survival, the miracle of our perseverance, the miracle of our resilience, the miracle of our existence is greater, is far greater. And between the Beeper episode, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the head, the head of the octopus, Iran, what Israel was able to accomplish that we don't even begin to know, what military experts will study for generations and generations to come, and we merit and we're privileged and we're seeing it. So all those who say, I would believe if I saw miracles, if I saw miracles I would believe in Hashem. If I saw miracles I'd be more observant, I'd make changes to my life, I'd have a relationship, I would talk to Him if I felt, if I heard Him talking to me. All you have to do to hear Him talking to you is turn on the news. He's talking to all of us. The world events are unfolding in such a way that Hashem is talking to all of us in the most extraordinary ways. So I wanted to open up with this emuna, so to say emuna email from the Prime Minister of Israel, who stood in front of the Knesset and talked about going to the Kotel before and after and talked about the most important party is Siyata DiShmaya. Hashem is the most important party and with gratitude, boundless and endless gratitude. You know when you express gratitude to someone, they're more likely to want to continue to do favors for you. And if you seem ungrateful and you take for granted and you don't say thank you, a person says, why am I doing nice things? What's the point? Forget about it. So the more that we're grateful to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, to the Ribono Shel Olam, to this most important party, the greater the likelihood that He will, that He will continue, that He will continue. I got to see him just this morning. Rabbi Goldberg, it's been too long. We made aliyah in December. It was a life dream and we felt it was time. Not simple moving with tween-age kids. I was listening to your emuna shiur last week. It was a chizuk I needed. I want to share what I wrote to some of our friends this morning. Light life lately from the mamad, from the bomb shelter. I'm writing this after leaving the mamad for the second time in 12 hours. Jerusalem is relatively quiet, though we still hear the booms. This post isn't for the kids so I can be a little more raw. This is hard. Reminds me of the early days of COVID, long unstructured days that blur together, but this time with more fear, more missiles, fewer certainties. It's like living in a casino, we've lost track of time, of rhythm, of what comes next. Yes, we see miracles. The Iron Dome lights up the sky, the IDF works relentlessly, the orange flashes above us remind us of protection we can't fully understand. We feel the chesed, the sense of community, we try to be part of it. And then there's the other side. We're tired. Our sleep is restless and broken. The kids don't want to go outside and when I finally convince them to go to the park, we end up in a public miklat. Yes, people are kind there, it's beautiful, but it's also crazy. What's going to the park look like now? We're still new here, we don't have a wide social circle yet. Zoom school's in Hebrew, we don't even try. A few private chugim we can enjoy. We build Lego, move on to painting, we have dance party, board games, too much screen time and a lot of aimless, a lot of aimless waiting. There's a strange duality to it all, holding both gratitude and grief in the same breath, trying to create a sense of safety and routine while internally wondering what safety even means right now. Laughing one minute, crying the next, answering questions I don't always know how to explain. And yet Shabbos was beautiful. We had guests, we walked to very local friends, all the adults trying in our own quiet ways to pretend this is normal for the kids, for ourselves. We're supposed to go on an adventure next week, a vacation, we still hope to go. We have perspective, it's not a big deal if it doesn't happen, but we needed this. The kids needed this. They're hearing about their friends heading off to overnight camp in the States and this trip was their summer, there's something to look forward to. And honestly, we need a break from aliyah, a pause, a shift in energy, even just a little reset. People keep asking what they can do. If you have a relationship with my kids, send a message, a meme, a silly voice note. If you have some hidden talent you could teach over Zoom, magic tricks, painting, jokes, let me know, you can entertain for 20 minutes. And keep davening for us, for Israel, for the world. We're deeply grateful to be here, to be living history, not watching from the sidelines, but that doesn't make it simple. We feel the weight of this moment and and the hope in it too. So beautifully articulated, so well said, really capturing what they're going through. My sister, who lives in Israel, forwarded me a meme that was circulating among her friends that says what they're experiencing, what they're feeling right now: it's like, she said, it's like COVID and October 7th had a baby. Like COVID and October 7th had a baby. The worst of COVID—of being shut down and locked in and online—and the worst of October 7th—that it's missiles falling, and it's and it's enemies fighting. It's like COVID and October 7th had a baby, which is what's happening now. So we daven, we've seen miracles, we should continue to see miracles. And every time you turn on the news and military experts are talking about—I was flying back last night and as I was working I was watching a network I don't normally or have access to, to hear what they had to say. Sometimes you want to hear what you think is the other side, and even their military experts were saying that the low—every loss of life is the loss of an entire world, an entire world—but the relatively low, in military terms, casualty count in Israel from hundreds and hundreds of ballistic missiles is miraculous, defies logic, makes no sense, is the hand of Hashem, is the hand of Hashem. We should continue to see it unfold. And the biggest miracle—I want to say the biggest miracle right now is not the Iron Dome and the Arrow's Sling and David's whatever they're called, the anti-missile. It's not only the IDF and the Israel Air Force and what they're pulling off. The biggest miracle right now are the Jewish people themselves: their perseverance and their resilience, how they're living and how they're navigating. I got an email from someone I know, a family I love, whose son is supposed to get married in Israel in a couple weeks, but who's here in Boca, in America: "Dear Rabbi, thank you for the chizuk, the Torah, the inspiration. I'm reaching out honestly as this week's emuna shiur. Our family is not giving up trying to get to our son's wedding in Israel. I know in my heart that truthfully this is in Hashem's hands, but it's challenging nonetheless. We're trying our best. Whatever the outcome, the wedding will go on in Israel. Half of our kids are in Israel living there, kallah's sister, married brother in Israel, he still has their family there. I'm preparing as if we'll be there, only if Hashem wants, but to protect my heart I must know that whatever happens is in Hashem's hands." These are not regular times. He writes on with more, more personal details. We want to be there. My son says, "Ma, I know it's in Hashem's hands. I can't hear that you cannot come right now. It's too hard." But this is the Jewish people: to embrace your place and to know you are where you're meant to be. It's one thing when you're stuck at a red light or your flight's slightly delayed, it's another you could miss your child's wedding. Please God, hopefully they'll have one wedding in their life, and to be on Zoom to watch it from a distance from afar. But I want to say to our holy brothers and sisters, whoever's listening and I know it's many because the emails I get blow me away: so easy for me to sit and speak, it's so easy for us to come together with slushies and coffee and pastries in Boca under palm trees with the sound of construction outside, but what's happening in Israel, we're so grossly inadequate to even be hosting or sharing. But I want to say to those who are listening from there, you are the miracle. You are the biggest miracle: your perseverance and your tenacity and your resolve and your emuna and your bitachon and your faith and your hope and your optimism and your determination for our people. And every one of them, this is a contribution to this war. History will look back when we defeat, not if, but when we defeat our enemies and say it was the pilots of the Air Force, it was Prime Minister Netanyahu who pressed go, it was President Trump who had the courage to help finish the job. But you know what? Also the family who missed their child's wedding, that was their contribution to the war effort. And the people who had young children whose gan was closed, cheder was closed and had to navigate working from home with little kids around and in and out of a bomb shelter and no sleep, that was their contribution to the war effort. Certainly the soldiers on the front line get the biggest credit, but everything that everyone does, every sacrifice that's made, it means something, it makes a difference, it matters to Hashem. He sees it. We as children are fighting for His name, for Him. Sonei Yisrael, anyone who hates the Jewish people hates God. We're fighting His war, His name, His mission. And therefore He sees us and every sacrifice that's made, big or small, every risk that's taken, every compromise that's offered, every loss of not being there. Every child who can't spend their summer they were supposed to go to camp in Israel, every kid in Israel who was supposed to go on vacation out of Israel, every plan that's cancelled, it's all Hakadosh Baruch Hu is counting it all. He's got a big spreadsheet and He sees it all. Every person who wakes up in the middle of the night, every trip to and from a bomb shelter, every person whose plans were altered or cancelled, everything Hashem sees, it matters, it means something and it makes a difference and they are all contributions. Hakadosh Baruch Hu counts it. It makes a difference. It makes a difference. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, I want to share a recent experience profoundly reinforced our faith. My daughter had booked a flight to Israel Erev Shavuot, eager to arrive in time for Yom Tov. However, her flight was delayed almost four hours. After much deliberation she decided to disembark, understanding she might not make it in time. While it was initially a difficult and frustrating decision, we soon realized it was all part of Hashem's greater plan. At the time my father-in-law was unwell and hospitalized. Because of the delay, my daughter was able to spend precious moments with him, providing comfort and connection during his final days. Just a few days later he passed away and the time she spent with him became an invaluable gift we will always cherish. While my husband and his siblings spent Shavuot with the father in the hospital, my daughter and I spent most of Yom Tov with my mother-in-law. That too proved to be a deeply meaningful and special time because my mother-in-law passed away suddenly during the Shiva for my father-in-law. And the memories of our time together over Yom Tov have since taken on an even greater significance. The experience helped us realize through the Shiurim that we truly are where we're meant to be. What initially seemed like a series of setbacks was in reality Hashem guiding us to be the exact place we needed to be during these challenging moments. So at first what do you mean the flight's delayed? What do you mean it's cancelled? What do you mean I'm not going to get where I'm meant to go? No, you are where you're meant to be. You're never stuck. Thank you for the Shiurim which continually help us recognize, blah blah blah, thank you for the kind words, they are greatly appreciated. Greetings from Kibbutz such and such. In Wednesday's Living Emunah Shiur you read an email from someone talking about how the warnings are not only time to prepare ourselves physically and mentally, but also spiritually. Inspired by that we all chose a Perek of Tehillim that we put on the wall in the Mamad above the spot where we sleep. And when the warning went off today we all ran in and said the Perek, our Perek. Our five-year-old said Shema. Thank you for the ongoing inspiration, Living Emunah highlight of the week, Am Yisrael Chai. And here's a picture over the over where they sleep in their Mamad, they each hung their Perek of Tehillim. So with the siren and when they run in, they don't just get in bed and try to fall back to sleep. First they use it as an opportunity, the warning, the 10-minute warning and then the 90-second warning is an opportunity to still Daven. Not just get in a bomb shelter, but the ultimate shelter, the ultimate Teivah. In Noach, when the world, when there's a Mabul, when the world is flooding and raging and storming around him, he builds and he enters and he survives in a Teivah. Teivah means an ark, but Teivah also means a word. The Teivah shel Torah, the Teivah of Tehillim. When the storm is raging, when the world around us, it's a wild storm, ballistic missiles are falling, drones are launched in the air, you run into the shelter, the Teivah, but you also run into the Teivah of Tehillim, the words of Tehillim. And this is this is the Jewish people. This is the Jewish people. These are crazy times and the Jewish people are crazy not normal. The times are not normal and the Jewish people are not normal. מי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ. There's one people, one nation in the land. We are one people, and it's incredible. So to take those 90 seconds not only to run into the shelter, but to say I have 90 seconds to still Daven that these missiles get blown out of the air, that they not land in a populated place, that we're all safe and secure and protected. The Jewish people are amazing. I'll read one last letter, and this one's a little bit lighter, it's not from Israel, something that happened yesterday. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, my name is such and such. I just had the incredible Zechut of bumping into you earlier at Seasons in Scarsdale. I'm a huge fan and follower, I listen to so many of the podcasts, Parsha Perspective, Living Emunah, I'm constantly reading and watching the articles and videos, I have many times print out the letters to share at the Shabbos table, learning with friends and family. I was honestly struck when I saw you and Rabbi Moskowitz and couldn't get the words out to tell you how much I appreciate the Torah inspirational message. Among all the unbelievable ideas and life perspectives shared, one that stuck, struck me tremendously was something I had first heard at the Eretz Hemdah event in Jerusalem Theater shortly after October 7th. You stressed the importance of Am Yisrael striving for unity, not uniformity, and those powerful words have stayed with me since. I was in Seasons because I was picking up a list of items for my wife so she could make a meal for a person in the community who recently had a baby. To be honest, when I left Shul after Minyan this morning I was tempted to come home, stay with the kids so she could go out and run the errand, but I knew she'd appreciate it if I ran it for her. And wow did Hashem reward me with the opportunity to get to meet you and Rabbi Moskowitz face to face. Sorry we don't have a better cafe or coffee to sit down breakfast. Hope you enjoy the food, enjoy the wedding you are here for, should hear only Besorot Tovot, hope to see you again soon. That's his Tzad of the story. My Tzad of the story: Rabbi Moskowitz and I flew to New York yesterday, Baruch Hashem we had a beautiful wedding, flew back last night. And when we landed and we went, we were looking for a place to get Apes a coffee, a Danish, a little something to eat. And we couldn't find a place, so we found Seasons. It's a supermarket, Kosher, beautiful supermarket. And so we went there. We thought of going here, we maybe stopped there, we were two indecisive pathetic grown men who couldn't figure out after waking up really early in the morning, early in the morning and terribly overtired where to go. So we settled on Seasons. Then we walked around. and two things of herring and went to Starbucks and got coffee and sat outside and made a little kiddush on a Sunday morning. That's haimish. That's not haimish, I don't know what is. So those who say BRS and its rabbis aren't haimish, Sunday morning of all things we could eat, we passed up the muffin, the bagel, we went right for the flat kichel, kichel crackers, and honey mustard, and everything bagel herring, which was wonderful. So that's why we ended up in Seasons where we met him. It was so sweet, he walked over, Rabbi Goldberg, Rabbi Moskowitz, it was very sweet. So he decided to go shopping instead of his wife, we decided to hit Seasons, and then you meet people and you are where you're meant to be, embrace the place, never random, a Jew is never stuck, וכולו וכולו וכולו וכולו as we say each and every week. Okay, let's get back to our learning together, we're on page lamed chet, Emuna u'Bitachon of Rav David Abuhatzeira, the great tzaddik in the north of Israel in Nahariya. And we've been learning the perek, Ratzon Yereiav Ya'aseh, that Hashem does the ratzon of our will, our will. השתדלות רק בדרך התורה. The effort, the initiative that we take, we have to take initiative and effort. That's the way Hashem designed and created the world. We have to take initiative and effort. We can't sit back and wait. Hashem says, I want you to fly your B-2s, I want you to drop 30,000 pound bombs, I want you to blow up the nuclear sites. Don't just sit back and daven and think they're going to implode on their own. Hashem can make anything happen, but we don't rely on miracles, אין סומכין על הנס. We have initiative, our initiative's called the IDF and the Israel Air Force, our initiative is called, our initiative is called lobbying America and I hope everyone's spending a lot of time sending emails and hoping support the campaigns of the elected leaders who are standing by protecting the free world and Israel and I hope we hold accountable and I hope we elect the opponents of those who are critical, who are against, embarrassingly so some of them Jewish, pathetically so, shamefully so, some of them Jewish. So we have initiative and everyone has to figure out their initiative. The heroes on the front lines taking the greatest, most heroic initiative, and the initiative that we have to take and can take, supporting them behind the scenes. But how do we do it in the Torah-dik way? How do we do it not in a way that swells our ego and our arrogance, kochi v'otzem yadi, it's my effort, my initiative, my ingenuity, my creativity, my strength, my power. I don't, do you understand the time in which we're living? That Prime Minister Netanyahu gave that speech that we started with, but also the President of the United States of America, who doesn't seem to lead his life in a particularly religious way, let's just say that. In his address to the nation from the White House, flanked by his Secretary of State and Secretary of the Defense and Vice President, not only thanked Israel and the IDF and the Prime Minister for what they did to open the skies for America to do what it needed to do, but he thanked God Almighty and then the only part, which itself is perhaps a miracle, that he ad-libbed of the speech, he said, we love you God, we love you God. That was an emuna email and message to the world. Like the President was overcome with emotion, this worked. We sent unprecedented, first time B-2s flew 30-something hours straight, they're back, refueled in the air, went in undetected, blew up three places, with the coordination, what had to happen, the deception, and the President of the United States of America addressing millions, maybe billions around the world, was so overcome in that moment, he didn't just say and we thank God Almighty, he said, we love you God. He couldn't help it, we love you God. That's the way a Jew should wake up every day, every morning, we love you God. Wow, I feel your hug. Prime Minister Netanyahu just wanted to wrap himself in a tallis, I want to just tell you, I feel Hashem is hugging me. He's hugging me. The Prime Minister feels Hashem is hugging him, and the President, we love you God, thank you God Almighty. So with all the surveys and all the polls that show that most Americans, many Americans, more Americans than ever don't see God in their life, with all the crisis of faith that's going on in the world, we are living in a time that the President of the United States declared his love for God and thanked God, and the Prime Minister told the Knesset the most important party in government is Siyata d'Shmaya, the hand of Hashem. You can't write this up. If I would tell you something's going to happen next week where the Prime Minister is going to go to the Kotel twice, he's going to wrap himself in a tallis, he's going to say Shema, he's going to thank God, President Trump is going to talk about loving God and thanking God, you'd look at me and you'd say, whoa whoa, Rabbi, what are you... The balance of initiative and effort, but also recognizing its success comes from above. חלק בלתי נפרד מרצונו יתברך בעת השתדלות הפרנסה והגדול שבהם this perek this chapter we're on page lamed ches on the left hand column on the bottom. This chapter has been focusing on that balance between initiative and effort and faith in the area of parnasa, in the area of livelihood. שישמור עיניו מכל מראה אסור ורק כך יזכה לברכת השם. A person shouldn't look around and shouldn't be drawn to forbidden images, inappropriate, immodest, idolatrous. יש לבאר זה בדרך דרוש על דברי הרבי הקדוש רב נפתלי מרופשיץ ויש שהביאו מאמר זה בשם החוזה מלובלין. This is from the Rupshitzer, some quote it from the Chozeh. שתי פעמים הוזכר אשרי בספר תהלים המסודר לפי אותיות אלף בית. Twice, twice we have Ashrei in Tehillim organized by the alef bais. First, Ashrei yoshvei veisecha, it's in perek pe dalet, chapter 84 of Tehillim. שיתקנו לאומרו בתפילה יחד עם פרק תהילה לדוד. So we really towards the end of Tehillim we have aromimcha, tehilla l'david, aromimcha Hashem, what we call Ashrei. But when they organized the siddur, they tacked on the sentence of Ashrei to tehilla l'david, so much so we call it Ashrei. Did you say Ashrei? You're up to Ashrei? Don't forget to say Ashrei, there's Ashrei before Shema then Ashrei at the end of davening, Ashrei three times a day. But it's not really Ashrei, it begins with tehilla l'david and they tacked on Ashrei before tehilla l'david. אשרי המסודר לפי אלף בית והשני אשרי תמימי דרך. And then we have what was in yesterday's Tehillim or two days ago Tehillim if you divide Tehillim by 30 days. It's a beautiful way. Many, many, many, many, many, many years ago when I first came to the Boca Raton Kollel, I saw the Rosh Kollel at the time, Rav Moshe Miller, who remains a mentor-teacher of mine, he used to say Tehillim every day. If you break Tehillim into 30 days, it takes a few minutes each day and every month you complete Sefer Tehillim. And it's nice to have extra conversation with Hashem. It's nice to offer something you're not obligated. Not just the words of the siddur, a little Tehillim every day. And in that Tehillim you could have your list who needs a refuah shleima, who needs a shidduch, go through each of your children, your grandchildren, your family members, your parents, the people you're blessed to have in your life. And it doesn't take long and you feel accomplished. You know the way life works, why does Daf Yomi work? Because you make a siyum on a masechta and then you make a siyum and that's why Nach Yomi, any system that you make a siyum that you feel you complete something, it motivates, it drives. So if you could finish Tehillim every month, it motivates you. I finished Tehillim and now I'm starting to get familiar, oh, it's towards the end of the month, kuf yud tes, which follows the alef bais, which is the long one. Kuf yud tes is the longest perek in Tehillim. So you get a rhythm of what you're up to in the month and you get a rhythm of Dovid Hamelech's life and you get a rhythm and a familiarity with everything you're saying in Tehillim. It's a beautiful thing if you're looking to take something new on. Saying all of Tehillim is a lot, dividing Tehillim into seven and finishing it once a week is a lot, but finishing Tehillim every day is a few minutes, a few minutes. So two days ago kuf yud tes, first half of kuf yud tes was two days ago, also has a pasuk Ashrei temimei derech. אך באות אשרי יושבי ביתך נאמר בסדר אלף בית בחד אפי כלומר פעם אחת בכל אות השני אשרי תמימי דרך נאמר בתמניא אפים מדוע. So this is a teaching from the Rupshitzer and as well from the Chozeh of Lublin. That twice we have the word Ashrei. What does the word Ashrei mean? Fortunate, blessed, praiseworthy are you, Ashrei. Once Ashrei yoshvei veisecha, those who sit in your home, and that we say with tehilla l'david. And the second Ashrei temimei derech. באות אשרי יושבי ביתך נאמר בסדר אלף בית בחד אפי. One time with each letter and the second time Ashrei temimei derech is betamanya apin with eight alefs. If you look at תהלים קי"ט, you follows the alef bais and for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet it is eight psukim that start with that letter. Alef, eight psukim that start with it, bais, eight psukim that start with it, gimmel, eight psukim that start with it. That's why anytime, sometimes they have at hakamas matzeiva, at an unveiling, sometimes they have it at a yahrzeit, you come to the kever, you come to the grave and one of the ways to say Tehillim at a gravesite is to say Tehillim that spell out the name of the person who's buried there. So how do you do that? You go to chapter 119 of Tehillim, קפיטל קי"ט, and there you have eight verses so you say all of alef, let's say whatever the person's name, Avram, all of alef, all of bais, and all of reish, eight psukim. So the first time we have the word Ashrei, it's one pasuk following the alef bais, one pasuk for alef, one pasuk for bais. one possuk for Gimel. The second time we have the word ashrei in kuf yud tes, it's eight psukim for ashrei, eight psukim, eight psukim for Aleph, eight psukim for Beis, and so on. Madua? What the Heilige Ropshtizer and the Chozeh both wondered is why. Why does it appear this way? כי אשרי יושבי ביתך עוד יהללוך סלה שנשתנה פניו כפי שהיה עד עתה. Because the first time we use the word ashrei we're praising the person who sits in his home and finds God there. אך תמימי דרך ונזקק לצאת לדרך משתנה צורתו וטהרתו לשמונה פנים שאינו יכול להישאר בתומה וצדקותו כפי שהיה עד עתה. But now the second time we use the word ashrei, so the first ashrei is Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha. Praiseworthy, fortunate is the person who sits in his home, אשרי יושבי ביתך עוד יהללוך סלה. If you sit in your home and you're protected in the environment of your home and you see Hashem and you feel Hashem and you talk to Hashem and you hear Hashem talking to you, it's beautiful. But the second time we use the word ashrei, it's describing the ashrei for whom, not the one who's Yoshvei Veisecha, but rather the one who's Ashrei Temimei Darech, who's now going out on the road, who's now leaving his home, going to work, going to the supermarket, going to the gym, who's traveling, and that person doesn't have the luxury of being in the protected environment, isn't able to sit at home and be that same consistent person. Now they've got to navigate the world. כמו שאמרו בשמו של החוזה בפסוק ואיש אשר הוא טהור ובדרך לא היה. מפני מה איש זה טהור ובדרך לא היה? What does it mean a person who was pure because they weren't on the path? It means that traveling, and this is something to keep in mind particularly this time of year that people do travel and they do go on vacation, so we keep this in mind that traveling is fraught with danger. Did you find a minyan? Did you daven with kavanah? Did you consistently kosher? Did you go to places where you saw the right things or the wrong things? You know when you go on the road, now spiritually when you're in your habitat, so you created a habitat and habits in your habitat that protect you. Wake up, I go to Daf, I go to minyan, I go to Kollel Boker, I say Tehillim, I meet these friends, I go to the Emuna Shiur, I've got my routine. Routine protects you. A routine is a very protective thing if you have a good routine, a positive routine, a proper routine. If you have a bad routine then you're in a bad way, in a bad place, but if you can set up a good routine, a positive routine, a healthy routine, you're in good shape. You're in good shape. You're a creature of habit and you make a habitat and you have a good routine, you're on your way, you're on your way. What happens when you break routine? You learn a lot about somebody when they break their routine. I know people, they're such creatures of habit and they need and they thrive on their routine. If you break their routine, it's a crisis. What do you mean I don't know where I'm going to daven Mincha? What do you mean when am I going to have time for Daf Yomi? Will I learn? Is there a Beis Medrash? What's going to happen? What do you mean we're going there, we're going here? My routine, I need my routine. I go to bed at this time, I wake up at this time, I eat this for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner, this is when I have my snack, this is when I do my sit-ups, my push-ups, this is when I call my mother, this is when I speak to my kids. What are you doing in my routine? There are people who implode. They have a crisis. They dissolve. You take away their routine, they have no idea what to do. You learn a lot about somebody if they can remain consistent, can they live their life even without their routine. So Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha is the ashrei of your routine, when you're protected by your routine, when you have your habit and your habitat. Ashrei Temimei Darech is when you're on the road. Now that you're on the road, you're broken from your routine, what does life look like? Did you still set time for learning? Did you still present yourself modestly? Did you still eat only kosher, make a bracha before and after? Did you still daven with kavanah? Did you still make an effort to find a minyan? ובדרך לא היה לכך לא הפסיד את קניניו הרוחניים שנאבדו חלילה כאשר יוצא לדרכו. People can often lose their spirituality when they go on the road, וחלילה אינו שומר את עיניו. It's so easy when you break your habit, when you break your routine, it's easy to take a big step backwards. So the first thing is to be aware, to be mindful, to be conscientious. I've broken my routine, I'm set, we're traveling, we're doing, we're going. How will I incorporate into my new routine, my temporary routine, my travel routine? How do I ensure that what I say are my core values I care about? What I look at, what I speak, how I dress, how I present, where I go, what I do, that I don't lose or compromise. What do I do? ולכן באשרי יושבי ביתך אומרים בסוף הפרק תהילת ה' ידבר פי. When it comes to the ashrei of routine, the ashrei of staying in your habitat, the ashrei of being home, then we end תהילת ה' ידבר פי. My mouth speaks the praise of Hashem. Besof Perek... אשרי תמימי דרך נאמר תעיתי כשה אובד. שהרוצה לשמור נכסיו וקניניו הרוחניים ימנע עצמו עד כמה שיכול מלהסתובב בדרך. Keep your routine even when you break your routine. Still, try to wake up the same time. Try to set a time for learning. Try to daven from the same siddur at the same pace in the same way. Try to, try to maintain that routine שלא ימצא עצמו חלילה בחינת תעיתי כשה אובד. ואף היוצא לדרכו ישמור עיניו לבו ומוחו שישבו בטהרתם. And even when you break your routine and you're out on the path, on the way, on a journey, still be careful what you look at, what you say, how you dress, where you go, how you think, what you do. אזי יאמר עליו אשרי תמימי דרך ההולכים בתורת השם. And then we'll say about you, ashrei, ashrei, fortunate, blessed, praiseworthy is the person who breaks their routine but haholchim beTorat Hashem, but still continues to go in the path of Hashem. כי אשרי ואשרי חלקו של אדם שכאשר אין לו ברירה ונצטרך ללכת בדרכים ובשווקים עם זאת הולך בתורת השם. We don't leave the Torah back home. When we break our routine, we don't say, that's for when I'm home. When I'm home I daven with a minyan. When I'm home I daven slowly. When I'm home I keep kosher. When I'm home I wear that tzniut. When I'm home I... But when I'm on the road, you know, what happens on the road stays on the road. That's not a Jewish idea. We don't believe that. אשרי חלקו של אדם שכאשר אין לו ברירה ונצטרך ללכת בדרכים ובשווקים עם זאת הולך בתורת השם ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם. Last week's parsha. ומוחו תפוס בתורת השם. Now we are always consumed with and consumed by the Torah of Hashem. It's part of our core identity, it's who we are, it's what I am. I give you an example. God forbid when a person breaks their routine, they have to travel, they're not home because they have a business trip or they're going somewhere, they don't say when I'm home I'm married, but when I'm on the road I'm single again. God forbid. There are people who do make that mistake because the road is fraught with danger. When you break your routine, it is fraught and threatening and inviting with opportunity, with temptation. It's very dangerous. But we know the proper way to live is to say whether I'm on the road or home I'm a married moral man or woman. Whether on the road or home I'm a parent who feels responsible and cares about and thinks about and checks in on my children. Just because I'm relocated, just because I've broken my routine, I'm on the road doesn't impact my core identity and who I am and the core covenant and commitments that I've made. And if that's true in marriage, we don't say I'm only married at home, I'm single when I go on the road, then that's true in our marriage with Hashem and his sacred Torah and mitzvot. We take it with us. It's not just when I'm home, but when we're on the road, when we're journeying, we take it with us as well, wherever we go, wherever we go. We'll pick up next time with with page mem. But I think that's what you're seeing from our heroes we're talking about the incredible miracle that is the Jewish people. With all the other miracles, the biggest and greatest miracle is the Jewish people. And I think the biggest challenge that they're going through in this experience that is the ugly child of Corona and October 7th is their lack of routine. I know my siblings, my children, it's a challenge, in and out of bomb shelter, you never know when you're going to sleep how long you'll stay asleep, if you sleep, where you should go to sleep, should you go out, should you shop, do you go to the playground, will you make it home, where would you go, what happens if something happens? It's the ultimate break of routine. It's the ultimate. And they're passing this test with flying colors because it's not compromising their faith, hope, and optimism, it's strengthening it. It's not causing them to give up, it's causing them to lean in. And they are our hotspot that we are riding and connecting through. Read and listen and learn and check in on loved ones there and they are absolutely extraordinary and amazing and inspiring and uplifting and we should all continue to care, to check in, to love, and to help in every which way that we can. שיהיו בשורות טובות ישועות ונחמות. A Jew is never stuck. Wherever we are in our routine or out of it, we have to embrace our place and know it's where we're meant to be, which I understand and know is easier said here than elsewhere, but it's what gets us through whatever is happening in our lives. And it's not easy, as I alluded to. There are those who right now their whole summer their plans are not yet. Is the trip going to happen to Israel? Is the camp going to go? Are they doing it here instead? Where, what, how? Will the counselors make it in? What's going to be? There's an aura of uncertainty. They're in the cone of uncertainty. South Floridians know the cone of uncertainty. We're heading into that season. Maybe we're in it. I don't even want to say the word. But for... from hurricanes, the cone of uncertainty. There's this cone of uncertainty, what will be, where, when. All of us don't know, will we make the simcha, will that trip, will that vacation, will that mission, will they come here, can we go there? What's going to be? All the plans, all the plans, what's going to happen? But in that cone of uncertainty, there's one certainty and that is Hashem. In that cone of uncertainty, there is one thing that there is no doubt and that is that nothing is coincidence or chance, it's all from above. And wherever everyone's meant to spend their summer, whether the trip will work out or not, whether they'll make it, we'll make it, where we'll end up, none of it is random or chance, it's all from above. And instead of perseverating, getting anxious, worrying, feeling angst, lean in and know that whatever happens, it's all from above. It's all what's meant to be, and whatever sacrifice, whatever is made, it's all contributing to this war effort. It's all from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, it's all from Hashem and it matters and it means something and He counts it all. As we do, we're going to turn off our stream and our recording, we're going to stay for questions and answers and conversation. Till next time, בשורות טובות, ישועות ונחמות, may we hear only good news.
