Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov. Welcome back to Living with Emunah. Always wonderful to be together, especially on this frigid cold Florida morning. Feel like we have to make a little fire right here in the middle of the room, but instead we'll have to suffice with the fire of Emunah, the fire of Torah, the fire of Achdus and of community. And so it's great to be together. As always we begin with gratitude, thank you to our Emunah series sponsors, Doctors Avi and Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Baruch Gan-Zvi and in memory of Bella's mother, Dr. Ellen Chanzer, incredibly grateful to the Morgans for their generosity and their friendship. Also, the series is co-sponsored anonymously in memory of the thirty fallen soldiers and alumni of בני דוד מכינה ישיבת עלי who fell on October 7th and through the war. This morning we are highlighting Sergeant Major Yona Betzalel, Hashem Yikom Damo, he was twenty-three years old, a combat medic in the elite Duvdevan unit from Modi'in. He died on November 6, 2024 from wounds sustained while fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7th. He and his team fought house-to-house to eliminate terrorists. Despite being critically wounded, he treated himself, moved to safety and helped save many lives. He endured 417 days of severe pain, multiple surgeries, amputations, while battling life-threatening infections. Survived by his parents, Hazel and David, and his five siblings. Hashem Yikom Damo with endless and boundless gratitude to him and to the heroes of Am Yisrael. This morning's shiur is sponsored by Henna Loeff in memory of her mother, Tonya Wilder, תמר בת אברהם ישור, may her memory be a blessing. Where is she? She has a cold. She has a cold, okay, she should have a Refuah Sheleimah too. We're going to throw that in for the sponsorship. For the sponsorship, we'll take a vote, by a majority we wish her a Refuah Sheleimah. And as well by Michal Cohn in appreciation of BRS. And anonymously, quote, in honor of my sister who introduced me to the class and who lives with Emunah daily. To celebrate her birthday we have flown in to attend the class in person, wishing her many years of Simcha and Nachas, and don't spend the rest of the class trying to figure out who that is. I'm also going to try to spend the rest of the class not figuring out who that is. And anonymously for the Zechus of a Shidduch for אריאל ליאורה בת שרה רולא, she should have a fine zivug quickly, speedily, with confidence and clarity. All those who are looking should find theirs. As always, we will start with some emails and then we will dive into our Sefer together. Yes, I did fly this week. I spoke somewhere in New Jersey Sunday night. As always, I have stories, but you're sick and tired of hearing my flying Emunah stories of delays and of people who come up to you and of what worked out and what didn't work out and the Hashgacha of it all. So, I'll just have to bore my family with it. I want to get to an email that I printed out a couple weeks ago and it made it, kept making it to the bottom. Please keep sending. I read every single one. I respond to every single one from my heart. I don't get to read them all and they're all deeply meaningful to me. But I want to share one I got a couple weeks ago I didn't get to. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, I hope you're doing well. Thank you. It's a hard email to write as the emotions are still fresh. Person writes their father's Shloshim was on Thursday night, Friday, but I want to share what felt like a tremendous hug from Hashem and how the Shiurim helped embrace our place. Thank you for the Emunah Parsha Shiur. I randomly found your Parsha Shiur on Spotify about two years ago, recommended them to my mother when she asked for a podcast to listen to during her daily walks. She later found the Emunah Shiur and encouraged me to start listening as well. I began a year ago around the same time my father was hospitalized. My father fell on the last day of Chanukah last year and over the following eleven months was in and out of the hospital and rehab. During that time the Shiurim kept me company and gave me strength. First short rides to the hospital, later much longer rides to the unit where he was eventually transferred and where he was Niftar, where he passed away. Shiurim were a tremendous source of Chizuk for both my mother and me, especially on the more difficult days. My father passed away on Tuesday, November 18th. His Levaya was the next day, Wednesday the 19th, at his Shul called Yismach Moshe. At the time of his Petira, my mother, myself, and four siblings were with him. One brother joined via FaceTime from Eretz Yisrael. As my father's Neshama left the world, his wife and children stood around his bed singing his favorite Pasuk to a Niggun whose source we never knew. שבענו מטובך ושמח נפשנו בישועתך וטהר לבנו לעבדך באמת. Fast forward to Monday. My mother was taking her first walk on the boardwalk since my father's passing, listening as she always does to the Emunah Shiur. She texted me immediately. If you haven't listened to the November 19th Shiur, you should. I called her right away to ask why. And she told me she had started crying when you began discussing the Yismach Moshe and his interpretation of the Pasuk Sabeinu MiTuvecha. Remember that a couple weeks ago in Rav David Abuchatzeira? You have the Sefer in front of you. In his Sha'arei Tefilla, in what we're learning, Rav David Abuchatzeira quoted the Yismach Moshe's... understanding of sabenu mituvecha. It felt like a hug from both Hashem and my father. The shiur you gave on the very day of my father's levaya, which took place in his shul, Yismach Moshe, was centered around a discussion the Yismach Moshe made on the exact pasuk my father loved and that we sang on his deathbed. I remember once hearing you say in response to an email a certain comment you made in a shiur was off topic and unplanned, but that you clearly said it because someone needed to hear it. On November 19th you planned to give that shiur and it was because my family needed to hear it. So thank you for being the conduit for that hug from Hashem. And then they shared a second story about Waze and timing, which is also a wonderful story but I thought that was powerful. Last week we had a couple of attendees who had flown in from London. They understood my English and they came to the shiur anyway. We have coffee, we didn't have tea or crumpets, what do they have, scones? We don't have an eruv shaila corner but we're open if any British people or otherwise would like to sponsor scones, we'll add it to the eruv shaila corner happily. Anyway, they brought a letter from a friend in London who also listens to the Emuna Shiur. Dear Rabbi Gopher, like many others I stumbled across your podcast on Spotify. I owe Spotify so much. So many of the emails begin, 'I stumbled upon randomly it came on,' of which we know there is no stumbling and nothing is random. Spotify is the greatest shadchan. I'm not giving a shadchanus but it's the greatest shadchan when searching for some chizuk in a time of need and I've never looked back. You accompany my husband and I in our daily lives and have enhanced it significantly so thank you. We're warriors not worriers. We embrace our place our lives with an attitude of gratitude. My friends have traveled from London and planned to come and hear you in real life. Therefore, I seize the opportunity to share a moment with you that blew my husband and I away. We were traveling home from a wedding with one of our lovely Rabbis and his wife and his wife thought it was only fair to share our love of your podcast with them. As is our habit, poor Rabbi, as is our habit, we randomly searched for historic podcasts and hit play, but as we all know nothing is ever random when Hashem is in charge. We listened intently to the story you shared about a well-loved member of your congregation who was sadly on his deathbed. As his family rallied around him, one of them went to retrieve a siddur for viduy and grabbed one from the prayer room of the hospital at random. As they took it to his room, the family were touched and uplifted to see the inscription. The siddur that had been chosen was dedicated to this man. A wink and a kiss from Hashem indeed. However, for us it was a profound moment. Sixteen years ago to that day and approximately that time, Eliyahu was being put in a coma on life support. We were parents to a two-year-old girl and I was 32 weeks pregnant when he had been taken critically ill with toxic shock syndrome, sepsis, and within 12 hours deteriorated rapidly. At this time I was sent home to rest when I received the call that they would need to put him in a coma. I asked if they could wait for me to arrive so I could see him. However, I was told no, it needed to be now. We spoke on the phone and needless to say, it was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life. The community had over 100 people in a Tehillim group and prayer stormed the heavens. That same evening one of our wonderful Rabbis heard of his condition and called his daughter to ask her to retrieve a siddur from Chabad in Edgware. She grabbed one at random, took it to the hospital for her father to leave by his bedside. On reading the inscription he discovered, 'Presented to...' her husband, at his primary school. The siddur remained by his side for the six weeks he remained in the hospital. Baruch Hashem he made a full recovery. He's an incredible soul, lives his life to the max with simcha and emunah, devoted to his family and community. Nothing is random or coincidence. Those siddurim were exactly where they were meant to be. Thank you for reading out loud, please come to London very soon, maybe if the weather ever got better. Okay. Oh there's so many. Got more pictures, got more sightings, more Psalm 23, we are on a roll and a streak, we're going to see how far we can take it. Here's one, someone wrote a long and very heartfelt email, very personal so I'm not going to read it, but many of the challenges and the hardships and navigating life's complications and doing so with Hashem, feeling His presence, trying to connect, trying to surrender, trying to let go and let God, but also shared the picture of what she wears on her wrist and every day looks down on it. It is her Hodayah bracelet, it says ה׳ רעי לא אחסר לא אירא רע כי אתה עמדי. Hashem is my shepherd I'm not lacking, as we learned in our Rav David Abuhatzeira, let us never be lacking in knowing He is our shepherd and therefore I fear no evil because Hashem is with me. And it's a beautiful image and idea and im yirtzeh Hashem everything is going to turn for... Rabbi Gopher, thanks for everything, really appreciate what you've done. It changed my perspective, yada yada. It's a flight story happened a couple months ago by the time I told Hashem I'll email you. We had an 8 AM flight planned to land just in time at 8 PM, keen to make it to a family event in London, which is why we got that flight after a wedding in America the night before. We go to the plane now, on the plane for some time, they announced technical issues with the engine. At that point, they allowed us to get back in the airport to get snacks, which didn't feel like a great sign. Very soon after, we deplaned entirely. What was meant to be an 8 AM flight slowly turned into a 12-hour delay, finally scheduled for 8 PM, after we had already been at the airport for hours. While it was disappointing, especially for a family member where the event in London was meaningful and hard to miss, I felt a real sense of clarity and calm, I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. It was clear this was not meant to happen, and I was thinking of you. We went from Newark into town to get some supper, took a taxi to the airport, traffic was increasing heavily, a drive that should have taken straightforward took much longer. While we definitely kept an eye on the ETA, something to work on, and said some Tehillim along the way, Baruch Hashem we made it on time. But throughout it all, I kept repeating, I am where I'm meant to be, I am where I'm meant to be, I am where I'm meant to be. I had done my hishtadlus, the rest was entirely in Hashem's hands. A very much extended trip, missing two nights of sleep, wedding, early flight, the actual night flight, remain calm and in touch for what Hashem meant to be. Hashem definitely gave us the strength to keep going, stay calm, turned out all good, and appreciate the good, yummy lunch and extra day in town. Thank you for instilling this awareness in me. I'm in the 1%. The 1% listeners on Spotify, so they get their emails read. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, why did I read that one again? Because for all of us, we have situations and we have moments and they're frustrating and they take enormous patience and we wonder, why are we here and stuck here? But again, all along, just let go and realize we're passengers, we're along for the ride, and life is an adventure and be curious in this adventure. What's coming next? I wonder how the story turns out. I wonder what is the next scene. I wonder where this goes, because worrying never got the plane to take off faster. Dear Rabbi, do I have a story for you? Last week I went to pick up local newspapers at the Grove, to my dismay they weren't there. I had to go back to carpool, but one problem: there was a huge truck blocking my car. I couldn't leave. I was extremely frustrated. I didn't want to be late. But as I got out of my car to look for the missing truck driver, lo and behold, I saw the guy walking with a large cart of all the newspapers I'd been waiting for. Hashem gave me a big hug and blocked my car so I'd be able to have my newspapers for Shabbos. As you always say, you are exactly where you're meant to be. Sincerely, full of emunah and very grateful. Rabbi Goldberg, I am an original listener to the Emunah Shiur and first-time writer, long-time listener, first-time caller. No one knows what I'm talking about. I'm so floating on cloud nine, wrapped in Hashem's loving embrace of what happened yesterday. Each Monday I meet a friend at a local Starbucks in neighboring community to study and connect. We were literally talking about emunah and hashgacha pratis when I saw an amazing sight. A young man walking into Starbucks wearing a sweatshirt with, look at this sweatshirt, where do they sell this sweatshirt and who wears this sweatshirt? Whoops, I got to Psalm 23. A young man. I was excited as a little child seeing this with my own eyes. I totally appreciate it was a wink from Hashem. I watched the door hoping he would exit, when he did, like a fangirl I approached him, asked if I could take his photo. He now has a restraining order against me. No. I said I did not have to include his face to share with the group I study with. He was so kind, said of course, gave a big smile, and he and his friend walked away. They said, God bless you. I know I had to write my first letter to you sharing this story. Thank you for the class, all you do. I aspire to come one day in person. You gotta love it. Psalm 23. There's the young man in the picture. Okay. I want to thank you for continually inspiring me in all ways. So when I have my hisbodedus each day, I always thank Hashem for the podcast, sending you a screenshot of my Spotify Wrapped summary of the year 2025, which shows I'm in your top 1% of listeners. Although I may not be there for coffee, pastry, super slushy, rest assured I would be there if I could. And here, by the way, and this is what all your Spotify should look like. This is her top podcasts. Her top podcasts. And what are the top podcasts? Number one, Living with Emunah. Number two, Parsha Perspectives. Number three, Ten Minutes of Meaning. Number four, Tanya. And number five, some other Jewish podcast. These are her top five podcasts. And this is what every one of your Spotify lists should look like. And she shared that with me. And listen to this, this is an amazing picture, an amazing story, and also that she's in the 1%. Last year she listened to 5,000 minutes of Emunah Shiur and the top 1%. God bless you. I don't know what award you get. Recently, I've taken a six-week hisbodedus bootcamp where I learned about different methods of speaking to Hashem, but also listening to Hashem when He speaks to us. Sometimes difficult to see or believe. Couple weeks ago, unrelated to the bootcamp, I saw someone post a link for the I love you Hashem plaques to put under your mezuzah as a tribute to Rav Avigdor Miller, who taught that a simple effective practice to cultivate a love for God is to say, I love you Hashem, every time you pass and kiss the mezuzah. I received two plaques in the mail last week. And every time you walk in or out and you remember I love you Hashem wherever you're walking into I have a house I have a roof I have people who live there I have food wow I love you I can walk I wasn't wheeled through this doorway and I wasn't wheeled out God forbid in a body bag I am walking I can see I can touch I can kiss I love you Hashem it's a beautiful beautiful idea beautiful reminder all week I was kissing the mezuzah saying I love you Hashem listen to this this is crazy the end of the week I went outside my house to an area that I rarely go I was in shock as I looked down into an empty planter that was filled with rainwater and rocks floating in a picture of a perfect heart have you ever seen anything like that these are the rocks that were floating in a planter and they randomly were floating in the picture of a perfect heart I couldn't believe it I ran inside and asked my husband and my kids if they did it they had no idea what I was talking about this time it was not difficult to hear Hashem speaking to me it was like he was saying I love you too truly one of the most amazing moments I experienced just showing me we just need to be open to seeing Hashem and he's always speaking to us she ordered and puts under her mezuzah I love you Hashem spends a week kissing the mezuzah saying I love you Hashem and the rocks in the planter in the area of the backyard she never goes to happened to float into a formation of a perfect heart have you ever seen anything like that she could probably have tourists come and stop by offer a prayer make a lot of money donate it to the campus at BRS thank you for reading and thank you for the emunah the shiurim wishing a life of emunah all the best regards from the community in which she lives on another coast there are many more incredible emails not only to talk to Hashem but hear Hashem talking to us Hashem is talking to us everywhere and at all times even when we're stuck even when we feel that we have to take deep breaths be patient we are where we're meant to be he's talking to us he's saying I need you there I need you not where you think you need to be I need you not where you think you belong I need you where you are that's why I'm keeping you there what are you meant to do while you're there maybe work on yourself and your patience maybe there's someone you're going to meet and have a conversation with you never know but I need I need you I need you there I need you in that place my father I mentioned this yesterday my father and I were waiting to board the plane on Sunday and a man walked over to us we were both visibly wearing our yarmulke obviously Jewish and he leaned in this is in West Palm Beach PBI West Palm Airport you'd think who in Florida תשפ\"ו 10/20/25 the man leans in and he whispers I'm Jewish too and then he says how is it walking around like that have you had a lot of anti-Semitism and we had a whole conversation about being Jewish regrettably I didn't take it far enough I didn't invite him for a Shabbos meal or take his number and that's a major failure of mine I didn't put tefillin on him should have put tefillin on him weak you know what we were actually boarding but still no excuses I could have found him on the plane weak weak I'll be accountable for that but while waiting on that line you can be frustrated it's a line why aren't we boarding already we were delayed there was a snowfall but I was meant to be on that line near that person whose pintele yid a Jewish spark and soul came alive seeing fellow Jews shared it just made that brief Jewish connection I hope that left a positive impact and impression because I spoke about being proud wear this yarmulke wherever we go and don't worry be proud and be practicing don't cower don't be shy he was telling me as a child as in Michigan he was wearing all his Michigan clothing his child's in Michigan where they're having a very hard time and the university is failing to protect them and I said good channel that into your being a more proud practicing Jew the answer is not cower or hide be more proud and practicing wherever you are that's the line that you're supposed to be on those are the people you're supposed to be surrounded with those are the conversations you're supposed to have that's what life is throwing our way because that's where we're supposed to be Lehashlamas ha-amur back in the sefer page Kuf Chaf Chet 128 towards the end of this piece of David Abuchatzeira Sha'arei Tefillah להשלמת האמור שאמונה משפיע על תפילתו של אדם we've been learning about the idea that emunah impacts the prayers of people the idea that counterintuitively or somewhat paradoxically we have to daven for emunah that makes no sense daven to the one that you're not sure you believe in to ask for his help in believing in him illogical makes no sense and yet it's exactly what we're supposed to do with the recognition that I surrender to you God I know just like the addict who in recovery one of the steps is to surrender to a higher Whatever I'm trying to overcome and confront, whatever I need to navigate, I cannot do it alone. I need you. That's how we begin, that's the middle, that's the end of every one of our days. Whatever we face, whatever we're going to navigate, whatever we have to overcome, whatever we get, receive, whatever we have to be grateful for, it all comes from you Hashem. That's what tefilla is. Whatever I have ahead of me, whatever's in this day, I don't know how anyone davens without first looking at their schedule. The most powerful thing to me to inspire my davening is to look at the schedule, whether literally or figuratively to think about what do I have in the day ahead. And that informs the davening. Because how could you possibly say I struggle to concentrate, I'm having trouble focusing on the words, my mind wanders. All you have to do is look at your calendar. You have a doctor's appointment and visit, you have a big meeting and business deal you're negotiating, you have a meeting with your child's teacher because you're concerned about how they're doing, you call the shadchan about your child, reminding them, putting them back on their radar, whatever is up in your day. You have to travel to an event in Bal Harbour, where it's easier to fly to New Jersey these days than to have to drive. Do you remember when Bal Harbour was 35, 40 minutes away? They moved it! Now it's like an hour 20. Maybe because today hopefully there's no traffic, everyone's preparing their fireworks or whatever they do, I don't know what, whatever. But you look at your schedule, you say what do I have on tap? What do I have on board today? What's on tap? What's on board? Yocheved and I, I won't get in trouble for revealing this, often in the morning we text, \"What do you have on tap today?\" We're sharing. What do you have on tap today? What's happening for your day? I want to feel connected to you. I want to know what you're planning, I want to know where you'll be, I want to know what's going on, I want to think about you, I want to wish you well. What do you have on tap? That's our what do you have on tap today? So that's tefilla. Hashem, here's what I have on tap today and I need you. For a successful outcome to whatever's on tap today, which could be whatever's on tap today. What's on tap today is going back to bed. What, will you fall back asleep? Will you have a restful sleep? Will you stay asleep? Okay, I don't know who has that luxury, I'm going back to sleep today, but whatever you have on tap today, you need Hashem for its success. How could your mind wander in davening if you actually were to before davening think about, here's where I need you and I know the success of anything I need you, the outcome is all entirely, ultimately dependent on you. You're gonna not concentrate? You're gonna not concentrate? What do I have on tap today? Lab results. You're not gonna daven? Doctor's appointment, business meeting, shidduch phone call or first date or tenth date, whatever is on tap, whatever is on tap. Meeting with the lawyer, meeting with the advocate, outcome of, whatever's on tap. Just waking up and getting out of bed, that's what I have on tap today, not falling down. What I have on tap today is making it where I want to go safely. Whatever we have on tap... so don't look at your phone necessarily. It's a very good practice to not look at your phone before you daven in the morning. 'Cause once you engage, you're elsewhere. Once you start checking headlines, what's happening in Iran? Could this be it? Are they going to take down the regime? What's going on in Israel? What's going on in Florida? The weather... do I have to watch... you know what I have on tap today? You know what I have on tap today Hashem? Let no iguanas land on my head. 'Cause we are back in falling iguana season. Now New Yorkers who have no sympathy for us, just because when I left this morning, my weather app registered thirties. Wow! It was, feels like in the thirties, but the actual weather now is forties. So we're not asking for sympathy. We're not asking for sympathy. Aye, we don't really have heat, we don't have coats, we're not set up for this, okay, but we're not asking for sympathy or an empathy. But we have something you don't have in New York, which is the iguanas, weren't native to South Florida, when the weather dips below a certain level, their bodies go into hibernation. Their bodies become solid and still, they go into hibernation. And when they do, they fall out of trees. And every year someone is injured, baruch Hashem not in our community, but you can look for the crazy Florida stories of someone who's walking on a sidewalk when a iguana fell out of a tree, solid in hibernation, and knackt them on the head. So what do we have on tap today? Check the weather app and then say I'm gonna fight with my kid what they're gonna wear, will they be warm enough? Do I have the wardrobe? I got a text from someone I'm not going to say who it is, \"Can I just listen at home? It's too cold out, I don't feel like coming to the Emunah Shiur.\" Not going to say who it is. Not going to say who it is. Possible I said you have on tap today to come to the Emunah Shiur. Anyway, so how much trouble am I, every sentence I say I'm just digging a deeper and deeper hole, deeper and deeper hole. So we all have on tap today things that we need Hashem. I gave a... I had the privilege of giving the opening shiur for that program locally. I actually posted it online if you go to my YouTube page you could watch it. It was half an hour on Hashem Sefasai Tiftach. We did six minute snippets on Hashem Sefasai Tiftach, but half an hour. And we quoted Rav Tzadok HaKohen and other interpretations. But essentially what I said I want to repeat. Hashem Sefasai Tiftach is exactly what we're learning in Avoda She’balev. What is Hashem Sefasai Tiftach? Why, we're about to daven to Hashem. So before I daven to Hashem I daven to Hashem that I am able to daven to Hashem. I take my three steps forward. People get it wrong. You don't you don't say it while you take your three steps forward. You don't say it before you take your three steps forward. You take three steps forward and then you begin. Deep breath. Neshima to restore your neshama, a breath to restore your soul. And you say Hashem Sefasai Tiftach. Hashem open my lips. U’fi and my mouth yagid let it say tehilasecha. Six words. Six words. Hashem Sefasai Tiftach. Hashem, I'm here to talk to you. Open my lips, let the conversation go well. And then we begin. Then we begin. Okay, just begin. You're here. You have an audience. You got in lehavdil to the Oval Office. And you're sitting in front of the president, the prime minister, the king. So you say can I please meet with you, let me share with you, let me speak to you. They say, \"Yeah, you're on the clock. You got 30 seconds. Talk. Why are you wasting it with those extra words?\" So we have an audience with Hashem. We're here, the amida. We're supposed to ask for what we need. Thank Him, praise Him, ask for what we need. Why are we spending the time Hashem Sefasai Tiftach? These six words? Open my lips the answer is what we're saying is Hashem it's so easy for me to be distracted. It's so easy for my mind to go elsewhere. It's so easy to take three steps back, not even remembering when I took the three steps forward. I go right from three steps forward to three steps back and don't remember anything in between. Find myself at the end of the siddur. It's so easy, it's so hard to daven. That's why Chazal, the Gemara says four things need chizuk and one of them is tefilla. Tefilla needs enormous chizuk. It needs chizuk. So how do we begin our tefilla? We begin our tefilla with a tefilla for tefilla. We begin our davening for a davening for davening. Hashem, this matters. This means something. This is important. This is critical for the outcome of my day. And so I ask for Your help. Help me focus. Help me concentrate. Help me be mindful. Help me be intentional. Help me knowing what's on tap today turn to You for Your help in wherever I'm going and whatever I am doing. Help me ask for the right things. Help me not squander this moment or this opportunity. I don't want to live with regret after the fact that I didn't ask. I don't want to live with regret that I didn't ask. That I didn't ask. Time to tell a story but I don't remember the details and I'll butcher it. But there was a story during World War II where there were orphans who had gone on the Kindertransport and were taken living in London who were dressed and lined the streets because the king was going to be passing through. And everyone was going to honor. Everyone was going to honor. And one of the children who had been rescued on the Kindertransport as the king ran through rushed from the sideline. Again, I'm not doing it justice and I apologize. I wasn't planning on telling it. But someone somewhere needed to hear it. That's why Hashem's making me say it anyway. So curious to find out who that is. Maybe they'll write a letter. And one of those children saved on the Kindertransport rushed towards the King of England at the time and navigated around the security and insisted he had to have an audience and came to the king and said my parents are still caught in the fiery furnace of Europe. My parents are still in the target of Hitler and the Nazis yimach shemam. Please rescue them. And the king, caught off guard, who couldn't believe that this child had rushed and had actually accessed him, asked for the names of those parents and in fact and in fact saved saved the This was shared on a radio program in London. Someone was being interviewed and told that story. It was another boy. It was not the boy who had rushed and saved his own parents. It was a boy who stood next to him who said that for the rest of his life he lived with regret. Why wasn't it me? I had access to the king and I could have asked and I didn't. And for the rest of his life having lost his parents he regretted, I could have run to the king. I could have asked the king. I could have saved my parents. And he lived with the regret that he didn't. I shared that before Ne’ila one year to inspire: this is our chance. The gates are still open. We have access to the king. Don't let and neglect this chance. But the truth is it's not a pre-Ne’ila story. It's a pre-Shacharis, pre-Mincha, pre-Ma’ariv, pre-Tehillim, pre- when... any day of the year. We have access to the King, we're in the Oval Office, we can ask him for anything. You're going to squander that? You're going to let that go by? You're going to let that pass? You're going to wake up at the end of the Amida, you're going to close the Siddur and give it a kiss and realize I didn't talk to him about anything going on today. And it's a big day. I got big things happening. I got a lot on tap. I got things for me, for my spouse, for my children, for my parents, for my grandchildren, for Klal Yisrael. How did I not rush to the King? How did I not take advantage to talk to the King? So all of that's in these six words. We take three steps forward, we take a deep breath, we turn to Hashem and we say Hashem sefatai tiftach. Hashem, open my lips, let me ask for the right things, let me be mindful and present, let me be intentional, let me talk to you from the bottom of my heart, let me focus and let it register what's on tap so that it's real. You know the example I've given countless times, the anniversary, the birthday, the Mother's Day, the Father's Day, you can't just write in the back of a napkin and you can't just give a blank card. You gotta take a card and you gotta write something else in it. The Tefilla, the Siddur is the card. It was written by the Anshei Knesseth Hagdollah, not American Greetings or Hallmark. And we take the Siddur as a template, we take the Siddur as the card, we don't just write our Tefilla in the back of a napkin, but we have to author in our own words and who wouldn't want to? אתה חונן לאדם דעת. Hashem, you give people intellect. Help me with my memory, it feels like it's starting to go. Help me with my intellect, help me with my thinking and thought process and cognitive ability. Help my child on their test, help me study or do well in school. Who would let Atah chonen go by without inserting something about themselves? Who would let Refaeinu... do we not all know people who need our heartfelt Tefillos for a speedy, complete, painless recovery? How about all those injured in Israel visibly and invisibly? How about all those injured in Australia still fighting? We don't have people to think about and talk about in Refaeinu? How about Barech Aleinu? Is anyone so secure that they don't need to ask Hashem, help me with my livelihood, help me do well with my investments? And if I'm secure and I'm doing well, Elon Musk doesn't have to pay attention in Barech Aleinu. But think about somebody else who does. Barech Aleinu, help them, set them up. Who doesn't have to think about Tekah b'shofar gadol? We want Kibbutz Galuyot. Help gather us together, help bring us in, help the exile, help bring Geula. Shema Koleinu, do we not have other things to insert? Do we not have things taking place in that day? I got this krechts and this hurts and that needs to be replaced and I got this issue and that doctor's appointment, this child's going through that thing and that child I'm worried about what's going to be with this and which camp should I send them to? Help me have clarity and confidence and finally come to a decision which is the best camp so it doesn't haunt me and keep me up that I can't sleep at night. Who doesn't have things to insert? So you could have asked the King for clarity and confidence on which is the best camp and instead you just let it go by? You didn't think about that or ask for that in Shema Koleinu? Hashem sefatai tiftach. Lehashlamas ha-inyan, back in the Sefer. האמונה משפיעה על תפילתו של אדם. The more Emunah we have, the better the Tefilla will be. This is the critical mistake we make. I forgot to mention it the other night, I meant to say it to the group who are working on this initiative. The initiative is beautiful and amazing and my friend Rabbi Yeman's is fantastic for introducing it and I encourage everybody to embrace it. But here's the thing. You won't improve your Tefilla just by memorizing the Hebrew and the English and the translation, understanding the rhythm and the themes of Tefilla. All of that's critical and it's important and it will enhance and empower your prayer. But if you don't have Emunah, if you don't know who the Shepherd is, you don't have a relationship with him, are you really going to talk to him? If you don't believe in Hashem, you could know what every word means, you could offer seventeen divrei Torah on every sentence, you could be in the one percent listeners of Siddur Snippets, you could be in the point zero one percent of Siddur Snippets, you could be the one who gives Siddur Snippets, but if you're not tuned in, plugged in high speed in your Emunah, if you're not connected, you're not talking to him, you're not feeling him talk to you, you're not in a dynamic relationship, you're not giving it the time it needs, you're not communicating in a transparent and open way, then knowing all the divrei Torah in the world on the Siddur is not going to help. Not going to help. That's what Rabbi David Abuchatzeira is writing. האמונה משפיעה על תפילתו של אדם. Emunah influences and impacts the prayers of a person. יש לנו להקדים ולומר we're on the page kof chaf tet, we're on the page. We should introduce with a vort of Rabbi Yechiel Meir from Gostynin. Says the Me'ir Einei Chachamim. וכן רגיל על לשון חסידים וישרים. It's a famous vort. What's the vort? Omrim anu b'tefilla at the end of davening on Shabbos, with Nusach Sefard daily, Eretz Yisrael daily, Ein K'eloheinu, Ein K'adoneinu. Usually people are closing the Siddur by then. They're already tasting the kiddush, they've already put on their way home, finishing setting the table, they've already checked out, tuned out, they're done. It's a very holy prayer, Ein Keloheinu. What does it mean? אין כאלהינו אין כאדונינו. No one like you God, no one like our Master. מי כאלהינו מי כאדונינו? Who is like you God, who is like you our Master? U-lichora tamua, fregt di oylam, the world asks the following question: מן הראוי לשאול שאלה בתחילה והלאה להשיב תשובה. Did this ever occur to you? It's a famous vort. Ein Keloheinu is backwards. First you ask the question, then you give the answer. You don't make a statement that's an answer and then follow it up with the question. We start out, \"Oh, ein Keloheinu, there is no God like our God. Ein Kadoneinu, no Master like our Master. Mi Keloheinu? Is there a God like our God? Mi Kadoneinu? Is there a Master like our Master?\" We get it backwards. First ask מי כאלהינו מי כאדונינו and then get to אין כאלהינו אין כאדונינו. But we get it back—that was impressive, no? But we get it backwards. We get it backwards. ואילו כאן אנו משיבים התשובה תחילה אין כאלהינו ורק אחר כך שואלים. תירץ הרבי מאוסטרובצא יסוד גדול בדרך אמונתנו. Listen to the answer and listen to the insight. Ve-navi bi-leshono. He says, I'll bring it in his name, in his words: כי מי שרוצה לחקור בשכלו להשיג אמיתת מציאות השם יתברך וכל פרטי אמונתנו על ידי ראיות והקדמות שכליות צריך מקודם להשריש בלבו היטב היטב אמונה שלמה בפשיטות. We have to start with the end in mind. We have to begin with the answer and only then are you entitled to ask the question. We have to start with the solution. We start out: Hashem, I have faith in You. I've got emuna peshuta. I know there's a God in my heart, in my kishkas, in my soul, I know from my parents and my grandparents and my great-grandparents, I know from my intuition and my instinct, I know, I know there's You, Hashem. I know You exist, I know You're here, I know You created the world, I know You're intimately involved in my life, I know I'm in a relationship with You, I know You're here. Now that I've said that, now that I know where I'm going to arrive, now that I know what the conclusion will be, now and only now am I entitled to say, but let's talk about how do I know? Is there evidence? Is there proof? Where do you see Him? Where do you feel Him? Where do you hear Him? Only when we begin with the conclusion, only we start with the statement, I know You're here, I love You, I know You love me, and it's going to be good. Sometimes even in a relationship, in a reconciliation, in a marriage that had a conflict or tension or a fight, or parents and children, it's really healthy and it's really wonderful to start out that says, let's begin with how we're going to conclude. Here's how this is going to happen. I have a meeting coming up between two people who started to go at it, not related, but we need them both. And the community will be better off if they love each other, they're cooperating, they're collaborating on things they both care about. Right now, they can't be near each other. So when I have this meeting and try to mediate, the opening statement—spoiler alert, if they're listening, they're not—but spoiler alert, here's the opening statement: Guys, we're not leaving this room until we can, with everyone hugging it out. When we leave, we're going to be hugging, we're going to be brothers, we're going to care, we're going to collaborate, we're going to be close, we're going to be connected. Now, let's get to work. Now we've got to figure out: take accountability, take responsibility, apologize for things that were said, that were done, understand where were the impediments, obstacles, roadblocks, why did this happen, this fight, how do we avoid it happening again? It's a lot of work that has to happen, a lot of questions that have to be answered. But we start with the end. A couple having a fight: Okay, let's start. By the end of this we know we love each other, we know we're best friends, we know we're confidantes, and by the end of this we're going to be madly in love. Now let's talk about what happened, who has to apologize, where we went wrong, why did this come up, how do we avoid it happening again? But we start. Ribono Shel Olam, we start. Here's how we start: אין כאלהינו אין כאדונינו. We start, there's no God like our God, there's no Master like our Master. We love You, You love us, we know You're here, You created the world, You're intimately involved in our lives. That's how this ends. Big hug with You, Hashem. However, we've got some questions. Is there evidence for Your existence? Why would bad things happen to good people? And why do I feel so alone and abandoned and why am I struggling? Yeah, I'm coming—don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, by the end we're going to be as close as ever, but in the meantime and along the way I've got some questions. אזוי זאגט דער רבי מאסטראווצא. That's his brilliant insight in Ein Keloheinu. Shekibel me-avosav ken. This is what we accepted, this is what we received, this is the tradition from our forefathers. ולחזקה בלבו כי היתד שלא תמוט. This is what we put and this is the peg in our heart that can't move. Va-achar kach yuchal... We start with the end. We begin with the conclusion. We begin with a statement, Ein Keloheinu, Ein Kadonenu, Hashem, this is where I'm at, this is how what I received from those who came before me, this is what we know. But now I'm also entitled to ask some questions. I've got some legitimate, compelling questions. ולכן סידר מקודם אין כאלוהינו אין כאדונינו שמתחילה צריך להעמיד בקרבו ולקבוע בליבו שאין כאלוהינו אין כאדונינו בלי שום שאלה וחקירה. First we make an absolute categorical statement with no doubt, no uncertainty, no equivocation. ואחר כך שכבר נשרש זאת בליבו היטב, and only once we've planted that deeply in our heart, only once we've shouted that statement from the roof, now, only then, אז הרשות נתונה לו לחקור ולדרוש בדעתו ושכלו מי כאלוהינו מי כאדונינו ולאמת את אמונה בהשם על ידי מופתים עיונים ראיות ושכליות עד כאן לשונו. That's the insight of the Rebbe of Ostrovtza. That's what he said. That's our daily grind. Hashem, I'm starting my day, I know You're here, I have complete clarity, confidence, I believe in You, I see You, I feel You, I'm talking to You and I know You're talking to me. But I have to be honest. I struggle, I have some questions, I'm searching, I'm yearning, and I'm also trying to understand and see the evidence and the proof. What's the point is that we don't start and say, I'm undecided. You know, they do the polls of voters, I'm undecided. Do you believe in God? Are you in a relationship with God? Do you live with Emuna and Bitachon? Ich bin undecided. I'm an undecided voter. I'm undecided. There is no undecided. What is that? You're not undecided. I'm a decider. I vote for Hashem. He's got my vote. I vote. Hashem, that's my statement. I don't first look and investigate and ask, give me evidence, give me proof, satisfy my questions, make me feel good about my dilemmas. We don't begin with, I have all kinds of questions and if you can answer and if you can persuade and if you can solve my problems and if He does what I want and if He reveals Himself to me, then I'll vote for Him. No, we're the opposite. I vote for You. I'm in, I'm in this relationship through and through. I'm not going anywhere. By the way, the best way to answer questions and the best way to heal rifts is to start out by saying, I'm not going anywhere. When are you on eggshells and when do you not want to be vulnerable and when is it difficult to talk? When you're worried that if I say the wrong thing or this goes the wrong way, then this may be over. But if you already begin by planting the flag that says, I'm not going anywhere, I'm in it to the end, this is it, this is real, this is forever, now, let's talk. Now let's work out, now let's have the conversation that we need. Then you could have a healthy and a great conversation because you're not living with the fear and the panic, what if, and they might leave, and what if I'm alone. With the Ribono Shel Olam we don't start out, let's see how it goes. Let's see my, I'm going to go to the seminar, I'm going to go to the conference, I'm going to spend time with the expert, I'm going to listen to the podcast, I'm going to read the book and let's see, see if they persuade me, see if they make the argument, see if they answer my question, see if they satisfy my issues. And then I'll see. No. If we start out, Hashem, You created the world, You created me, You've given me all the blessing that I have, even among the difficulties I struggle with, there is so much to be grateful for. I'm not going anywhere, Hashem. I know it, I see it, I believe it, I live it and I love You and I'm not going anywhere. Now, is it okay if we have a difficult conversation, Hashem? Where were You? How could You? Why do You? How do I know? Is there evidence? Is there proof? You'll never say Ein Keloheinu the same way again. Don't run out and rush out, it's a very holy prayer. And that's, says the Ostrovtza Rebbe, that's Ein Keloheinu. We start out every Shabbos or however often you say Ein Keloheinu, that's what we're reminding ourselves. We're reminding ourselves to begin with a statement and then we can ask a question. וזהו יסוד נחת לכל ענין התפילה שהתחילה יש לקבוע ממסמורות אין כאלוהינו ומתוך אמונה תמימה זו לשפוך שיח לפני קונו ולבקש מלפניו על התגלות החסדים והרחמים בטוב נראה ונגלה. That's the insight of the Rebbe of Ostrovtza. That's what he said. That's the model of prayer. We begin prayer, Hashem, I believe, I know, I know You are the answer. Now, I'd like to talk to You about some things. Can we have a conversation? That is Tefilla. Hashem sefasai tiftach, those six words, please help me pray that I can pray. Please give me faith that I have faith. Please be the answer to my questions. And when we live that way with that clarity, our Tefilla, our day, what's on tap today? Hashem says, hey, what's on tap today? Come talk to me. Come talk to me. That's what Shacharis is. What's on tap, who would neglect Shacharis? Who doesn't have time for Shacharis? Who's going to Daven Shacharis while drinking coffee and putting away last night's dishes and emptying the dishwasher? Seriously? You're talking to the King of Kings, you're talking to the answer and solution to any of your problems, you're talking to the person who can bring the outcome that you so desperately claim you need, and you're gonna do it while you're emptying the dishwasher? Stop. Give it attention, give it some time, have a conversation. And if you say, \"But I don't connect, their words I say every day, they're old and stale,\" just look at your schedule. Look at your to-do list, look at the problems in your life and tell me you're not gonna be inspired to daven. Don't be like that young man on the radio, who regretted for the rest of his life, \"I could have rushed to the king. I could have asked for anything, and I didn't take the opportunity.\" And the anything could be my kid has a math test in school to somebody's in the ICU in the hospital. Everything in between. The king wants to hear it all. Nothing's too big, nothing's too small, nothing is beyond his grasp and his reach, and nothing is beyond what a father wants to do for his child. And so vayi-gash, he says, \"I'm approachable. Approach me. No matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, no matter how you've behaved, no matter how absent you've gone, I'm approachable.\" That's why the word vayi-gash says Rebbe Nachman, says Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, we learn from vayi-gash elav Yehuda, vayi-gash, Chazal says lashon tefillah because what Hashem wants us to know is, you're always, always approachable. Always approachable. Unlike the young man who came to meet with me, who had to appear before a judge the next day, someone who grew up intensely religious and had walked away from it all and said, \"Rabbi, what do I do? I know I need to pray, I know I need to daven in order to have the judge have a favorable outcome, but I can't imagine Hashem wants to hear from me, I haven't spoken to him in so long. I don't even know how to begin the conversation.\" You know what I told him? Hashem sefasai tiftach. That's exactly why we begin by saying \"Hashem, open my lips.\" Maybe I haven't opened a Siddur in a week, in a month, in a year, in a decade. So I don't know where to begin. I walked away, I abandoned you, I haven't been on my best behavior, I haven't lived up to your expectations of me, and I don't even know where to begin. So Hashem says, \"Here's where you begin: Hashem sefasai tiftach.\" I'm here, I'm your father. Vayi-gash, I'm approachable. Come, fall into my arms. Come, let me hold you, come let me take care of you, come let me guide you. I didn't say it in the drasha. A couple of people asked, \"What happened?\" The young man appeared before the judge the next day. \"What happened? Aren't you curious?\" Baruch Hashem, the judge let him off. His tefillah was answered. He had a heartfelt tefillah after the conversation, in which he was convinced that Hashem does want to hear from him, and a parent always wants a child. And the more authentically you surrender to him and you recognize that you need him for that outcome, then the more he's gonna hear you. And the answer's not always yes. I don't want to, you know, I hate those stories where, well, he met with me, he davened well, and therefore he got the outcome he wanted. The answer's not always yes, in his case it was, and I give us all a bracha that for us, the answer is also yes. We're gonna continue with questions and answers, but only for those who are here. And while I'm tempted to record and post, it is only for those in person. So, any topic, nothing big or small. First of all, I want to end by encouraging you, before you go anywhere tonight, Behind the Bima is back and it's better than ever. We put out two episodes already so far, they were fantastic. Tonight, tonight, my co-host is none other than Rebbetzin Yocheved Goldberg. Together we interviewed Mayor Michelle Weiss of University Heights, Cleveland, the first female Orthodox Jewish mayor in America. And we interview her, it's a fantastic conversation, you don't want to miss it. It drops tonight at 8:00 PM. And now, any topic, nothing big, small, salacious, controversial, halacha, hashkafa.
