Transcript
Good morning, good morning, boker tov, welcome back to Living with Emunah. I want to thank our generous series sponsors, Dr. Zavi and Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Gabet, and in memory of Bella’s mother Dr. Ellen Chans, we remember we remain indebted and grateful to the Morgans for their generosity and their sponsorship. They also do their sponsorship is a shemira for all the Israeli soldiers who are fighting on our behalf. Also co-sponsored our series, anonymously in memory of the fallen soldiers and alumni of Bnei David Mechina in Yeshiva Eli. This week the shiur is dedicated to the refuah sheleimah of soldiers who were recently injured in Lebanon: רועי חיים בן מירב, Ariel ben Itay, Netanel ben Tzviya, David ben Ziva, Liam ben Revital, איתן דוד בן טובה, מתן מרדכי בן מאירה, אביה חיים בן נועה, and two additional young men who were injured in a car accident, Dekel ben Vered and Hillel ben Shlomit. Also sponsored by Leah bat Sara who is recovering or for Leah bat Sara who is recovering from surgery. Today’s shiur is also sponsored by Hilly Astrabsky on the yahrtzeit of her beloved mother Ava Stein whom we miss, our beloved member, her neshamah should have an aliyah. By Yonatan Isaacs le-ilui nishmat שמואל ישעיהו בן זאב for our soldiers protecting Israel. Anonymously in the zechut of rebuilding and healing our family, be blessed with a peaceful home. By Tova Singer le-ilui nishmat רב נפתלי הירץ אנשל בן קלונימוס on his sixth yahrtzeit. He continues to be an inspiration for his children and grandchildren. Anonymously le-ilui nishmat טבריס בת אהרן אלייסיב and anonymously commemorating the first yahrtzeit of שמעון משה בן דן צבי אריה. Grateful to all of our sponsors, don't take anyone for granted, I thank you. So before we dive back into our emails and our text, I want to begin by sharing the following and maybe I shouldn’t, but I feel I have to, and I want to. If you open your calendar you see that today is not only the twentieth day of the Omer, you see that today is the fifth of Iyar. And the fifth of Iyar is noted or observed or not by different people in different ways and I am not here to proselytize. I am not here to try to tell you how you should interact with or thank the Ribbono shel Olam. And in fact it for me is a complicated day. It doesn't need to be, but it feels like it is because while we all should be on this day marking the miracles of our time and finding our own way to express that to Hashem, unfortunately for too many it becomes a day filled with divisiveness and judgment, in looking and criticizing how other people are or are not connecting with Hashem on that day and we should all figure it out. These are halakhic shaylas, Hallel, Hallel with a brachah, Hallel without a brachah, music, no music, these are all halakhic questions and a person should follow their tradition. But I think personally one thing that we all have to do is press pause to say that a miracle happened on this day and what we learn in the Living with Emunah shiur is that when miracles happen we don't neglect them, we're not numb to them, we don't ignore them, but we recognize them, we appreciate them, and we're inspired and transformed by them in whatever way we want. And I'm sure now I'll earn criticism on every side for saying that. No, everyone has to do it this way, or nobody should do it that way. It really is a comp difficult it's so unfortunate and so unnecessary that it become weaponized to be a day of criticism when it should be a day of love and unity and appreciation. So I just want to share with you a few sources towards that end that are consistent with this Emunah shiur on this day that whatever you note or however you observe, I think it's incumbent on all to recognize and appreciate. So Rav Soloveitchik in a sefer called Kol Dodi Dofek his presentation what originally originated as a presentation was transformed into a book Kol Dodi Dofek based on the pasuk in Shir Hashirim that the my beloved is knocking. He established what he called the six knocks on the door. I don't want to elaborate we don't have the time, but that Hashem is knocking on our door. The political knock, the military knock, the theological knock, the knock of assimilation, self-defense and of refuge. Six different ways that Hashem is knocking on our door saying hi, hello, I'm here, I'm answering your tefillos, I'm the one who's shaping your fate and your destiny. And he elaborated and that's not surprising if you know Rav Soloveitchik that he felt that way and that that was his approach. Maybe you'll be more surprised to learn these sources inside with me. That in Michtav Me-Eliyahu in the third volume of Rav Dessler the great Mashgiach of Ponevezh, in England later of Ponevezh, the great Rav Dessler zatzal in his Michtav Me-Eliyahu Chelek Gimmel is a long essay and I'm just going to read to you the last paragraph. מה שאנו בו עכשיו בארץ הקדושה, that which we are now in the holy land. Rav Dessler hesitated and rejected the categorical labeling of it as Atchalta De'Geula. He wasn't prepared to say we're living through the beginning of the redemption. אבל על כל פנים, however even if one ideologically is resistant to say that we are living through the time of redemption, אבל על כל פנים חסדים גדולים מן הקצה אל הקצה הם, we find ourselves... We are living in a time of divine compassion and kindness from one extreme to the other, מקצה הייסורים של חורבן ששת אלפי אלפים מאחינו. How could a Yid, how could a Jew look at history, still live history, still have survivors in our midst? How could a Jew be aware of the murder and the attempted extermination, the elimination of six million people, el hakatze hashani? And a few years later, the opposite extreme, התיישבות עמנו במדינתנו בארצנו הקדושה. That we went from being passive victims, six million slaughtered, to a few years - not a few decades or centuries later - establishing hityashvus ameinu bemedinasenu, the establishment and the settling of our people in our own country, our own state, he says. He doesn't just talk about Eretz Yisroel, he says, bimedinaseo, in our own state, our own sovereignty. מזה צריך ללמוד ולקבוע אמונה בלב. The reason I'm bringing this to our emunah shiur, again, I'm not here to proselytize, I'm not here to get into this issue, I'm not here to try to convince anyone what they should do, but something I think is incumbent on us all in the words of Rav Dessler, is to pause and reflect on that transition from victimhood of a Holocaust, six million martyrs, kedoshim, to establishing sovereignty and autonomy and an army and settling and more Yeshivos and kollelim and learning in shuls than ever before in our homeland. מזה צריך ללמוד ולקבוע אמונה בלב. That has to grow the emunah in our heart. אוי למי שיבוא ליום הדין ועדיין סומא הוא מלראות דבר מוחשי כזה. This is Rav Dessler. Rav Dessler says, woe to the person, woe to the person who will come before the heavenly court and will have chosen to remain blind to this clearly empirical sensory truth. עדיין סומא הוא מלראות דבר מוחשי כזה. So this is something, likvo’a emunah balev. On this day, however you express it, everyone in their own way, with no judgment from me and I hope not dividing. We should be united, each in our own way though, of being kove’a emunah balev. Looking how we observed Yom HaShoah last week and hearing the story of a child survivor who lost everything and rebuilt, to transition to a country flourishing and thriving whose shekel is the strongest it's almost ever been, who's fighting on seven, eight, ten fronts, and still in the middle of a war, economy is stronger than it's... the miracles! The emunah should be kove’a balev, whatever arguments, important disagreements, serve, yeshivos... there are more Torah, more Yeshivos, more kollelim than ever before. It's extraordinary what we're living through and that's got to grow the emunah in our heart. And it's not me and it's not the Mizrachi, it's Rav Dessler, third volume Michtav Eliyahu, you could look it up yourself if you don't trust me - although I'm not sure you should come back here - but you should look it up yourself if you don't trust me. But it's Rav Dessler who says, אוי למי שיבוא ליום הדין. Nebach on the person who doesn't see that, who doesn't sense that, and who doesn't grow the emunah in your heart and you don't feel thankful for that. It's not just Rav Dessler. Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, Emes LeYaakov, Shemos, Perek Yud Beis, Pasuk Beis, footnote 17. And I'm reading to you from the Emes LeYaakov, I'm not paraphrasing because I want to read it to you in their own words. Writes Rav Yaakov, בחידושיו על פרקי אבות ביאר רבנו, his talmidim quoting: Our Rebbe said שחלק מהסיבה שהחזירנו השם יתברך לארץ ישראל הייתה בשביל שיוכלו לעסוק ולהאריך התורה שבעל פה כי ידעה ההשגחה שבשביל להחזיק מעמד הגולה שוב אי אפשר שהתורה שבעל פה נחלתם הפרטית של חכמי התורה אלא היא מוכרחת להיות נחלתם של כל ישראל ולכן גם עמדו אז וגזרו פתאום שמד על הכל כדי להתרחק מהגוים and so on. Od hisbir rabbeinu bekama hizdamunuyot. Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, his talmidim wrote and recorded in Emes LeYaakov, our Rebbe Rav Yaakov bekama hizdamunuyot, on many occasions, shekach oleinu lehavin, that we must understand, גם את הקמת מדינת ישראל בימינו, that the establishment - not the return to Eretz Yisroel - but the establishment of the State of Israel שלאחר החורבן הגדול והיאוש, after the utter devastation and the hopelessness שנאחז בקרב שארית הפליטה, וכן לאור מצבם הנואש והאובד של יהדות רוסיה. After the utter devastation and the mere skeletons who barely survived limping out of Eastern Europe, combined with what our brothers and sisters went through in Russia. סובב הקדוש ברוך הוא את הקמת המדינה כדי לחזק את עזות היהדות ולקיים את הקשר שבין יהדות הגולה וכלל ישראל. Hashem caused the establishment of the State of Israel to strengthen the connection to Judaism, to sustain the link between the Jews in exile and the Jewish nation. Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and Aguda, doesn't just talk about Eretz Yisrael. He talks about the divine providence in establishing Medinas Yisrael. And I just share this because some people, particularly young, particularly unfortunately ignorant, and all has become politicized and divisive and people trying to feel somehow religiously or morally superior, flexing, and it's just ignorance. Because Rav Yaakov didn't feel he had to. And Rav Dessler didn't feel he had to. And Gedolei Yisrael, and I could bring countless more examples but I want to get back to the Emuna shiur, they didn't feel they had to. They were comfortable seeing what was obvious in front of their eyes. That the miracle not only of the return to Eretz Yisrael with its kedusha, but Medinas Yisrael. It's not me, look it up, Emes L'Yaakov, Michtav M'Eliyahu, Artscroll book on the Klausenberger Rebbe. Yesterday we publicly apologized to the Klausenberger Rebbe, today we will again quote the Klausenberger Rebbe. This is the Artscroll biography of the Klausenberger Rebbe, the last source I'm going to bring you then we'll get back to our regular scheduled program. He said, this is the Klausenberger Rebbe: When a non-Jewish doctor asked me during those years what will be in the end, I answered him, in the end Hitler will be defeated, he will die a terrible death and our nation will continue to live and to thrive. You know the story of the Klausenberger Rebbe whose wife and eleven children were killed in the Holocaust and who fought valiantly and survived and didn't just survive, he thrived and he rebuilt a dynasty and he rebuilt Klal Yisrael in New Jersey and in Netanya and really all over the world. How do you know, this non-Jewish doctor asked him during those years. I replied, Artscroll biography the Klausenberger Rebbe: History has proven this over and over. Throughout our history, wicked people have arisen who tried to destroy us and exterminate us. They killed us by thousands and tens of thousands, but in the end they are gone and we are still here. Hashem always saves us. There are always those survivors who go on to rebuild. I think Eretz Yisrael is now the place where the rebuilding of our nation in accordance with the divine promise will happen. The climax of his emotional speech was the Rebbe's clarion call. It was a call that emanated from the depths of his neshama, a call that reverberated from one end of the world to the other. Quoting the Rebbe: Our opinion is that now in our times it's possible for every Yid to come to Eretz Yisrael. There's already a large community of truly God-fearing Jews here, even with all the difficulties and negative aspects. It's possible for Yidden to serve Hashem in this land in the way we want and in the way of our mesora. Our opinion is that every Jew is obligated to fulfill the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael and move here. This is indeed the proper and fitting preparation for the generation of Moshiach. This historic calling echoed throughout Eretz Yisrael and the diaspora. The Klausenberger Rebbe who had lost everything in the war, who despite his losses had rebuilt an entire thriving community and network of mosdos in America, was calling on all Jews to leave the diaspora and rebuild Eretz Yisrael in the way it should be built, by yireim u'shleimim. He was further stressing that doing so would be the key to finally bringing Moshiach. The Rebbe concluded with a detailed sketch of his plan of exactly how he was going to do it. In a poignant conclusion to his fiery address, the Rebbe exclaimed, today not Hey Iyar, it was establishment of a Klausenberger- today is a great yom tov, a great holiday for me. So many times I've wondered why I was saved. Why was I the only one in my family and extended family who remained alive. Today I know the answer. Today the answer is clear. It was all so I would merit to lay the even apina for Kiryas Sanz located in our holy land when he established his community in Netanya. I'm just trying to draw it to your attention. I share all this not to be controversial or divisive, the opposite, to explain how obvious and universal. How if you're a Yid in the words of the Klausenberger Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, Rav Dessler, certainly Rav Soloveitchik and the six knocks of Hashem, however you do it, just pause it sometime today and say thank you Ribono Shel Olam. Thank you. Thank you. We can go, we can move. Children, our grandchildren, could learn, could live, could fight, could defend. Extraordinary. On Sunday we heard- I was at an event, heard a presentation from an incredible think tank, action tank, real experts in the area and they were presenting the truth. Scary. About Qatar's influence it's bought in America, over a trillion dollars of influence. And of Iran and Syria and Lebanon and the whole landscape and the Houthis. And after over an hour of it you just sat there saying like, oh my goodness, this was the most depressing thing I've ever been to in my life. But I thought to myself and I had the opportunity to share there when I was asked to speak, I said on the one hand how terribly depressing, on the other how extraordinary and miraculous the times that we're living. That while we're talking about this geopolitical landscape, there's a Kirya in Tel Aviv. and there's some Mossad group somewhere who are embedded in all those places, who know exactly where the enemies we want to eliminate are, who are able to fly freely through the air with Hashem's miraculous support and help and do what we need to. And we're not hearing this presentation or briefing from the perspective of woe is us, what can we do, there's no one to defend us. We're doing it through a miraculous time that Hashem has created, this extraordinary IDF and Israeli Air Force and our heroic soldiers and a country that's able to fight with His help. We can't leave Him out. Every briefing, every think tank and action tank has to include HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Ribbono Shel Olam, and this emuna that we have to be koveia balev in the words of Rav Dessler. But I did want to because of the confluence of our shiur and the calendar, I did want to share that. I think it's incumbent on all of us. I hope that's something that resonates for you and that all of us can feel connected to because the people who think that they can only talk about Eretz Yisrael and not the state of Israel, or that there isn't something to be grateful for, or that it's not a miracle because it was not religious people who established it, they're just ignorant. I'm sorry to say, Rav Yaakov didn't feel he had to have that, and the Klausenberger Rebbe, and Rav Dessler, and I can give you countless other examples, and I'm sure the emails are going to come in from this, but I couldn't help it. Okay, let's get to a few emails and then back into our text. I really want to finish up this perek from Dovid Abuchatzeira and then move on to our next limmud about Kapitel Chaf Gimmel, the mizmor we've been referencing and spotting for all these weeks and months. I want to dive into it together, but first some emails. Hi Rabbi Goldberg, hope you're well. I've written so many emuna emails in my head and spoken about them to friends, which is very meaningful, but I never sent. This isn't really an emuna email, but somewhat inspired by things you've said in the shiurim. I thought you'd appreciate it. This is what I put on my running bib as a nickname for the Jerusalem Marathon this year. So this was someone who ran in the Jerusalem Marathon this past Friday and this was their bib. Hoped to make a Kiddush Hashem while running. And this was their bib. And their bib that they wore, you wear a bib, it's a really funny name for it, we couldn't come up with a better name for what the bib, the bib they wear. So this individual, their bib is כי הוא הנתן לך כח לעשות חיל. It's a posuk on the bib that Hashem is the one who gives us the energy, the talent, the skill for whatever we accomplish in life. Whatever training you put in, whatever protein bar you're eating, however much you carbed up the night before, whatever expensive running shoes you got, כי הוא הנתן לך כח לעשות חיל. It's a wonderful posuk that we've learned about, that Hashem is the one who gives us the beautiful Ran I've quoted before, but I'll reference it because we like to darshen our emails. כי הוא הנתן לך כח לעשות חיל. Moshe Rabbeinu warns the people before we go into Israel that the danger that we face is we say כחי כחי ועצם ידי עשו לי את החיל הזה. A person can mistakenly think it's my strength, my energy, my talent. I'm the one responsible. That outcome in business, on the battlefield, that outcome in the kitchen, that outcome in the Beis Medrash, that outcome anywhere, me, my hard work, my energy, my entrepreneurship, my creativity, me. That's a danger, that arrogance, that ego. That person who thinks they get the credit, that they're responsible, they deserve the honor, it's a mistake and it's a danger. And that's when we're in trouble when we think that, when we think kochi, my koach. Ah, asks the Derashos HaRan, but tucked in, didn't we work hard to write the drasha? Didn't you work hard to put together that beautiful lavish Yom Tov meal? Didn't you work hard to design that building or raise the money to put it up? Didn't you work hard on that beautiful shul dinner that's coming up that's not too late to sign up for? Shouldn't the chairs and honorees say yes, you know, we're proud? Why is pride wrong? So the Ran says something magnificent and critical to know. He quotes this posuk on the bib and he says that it's not wrong to recognize that we have talents and skills and to be proud for how we use them, but who gave you those talents and skills? Who gave them to you? And to always remember they're on loan, they're never part of your permanent collection. כי הוא הנתן לך כח לעשות חיל. There's nothing wrong with saying, you know, I'm proud. I'm a good chef, I'm athletic, I'm artistic, I'm good at comedy, I'm a magician, I'm a good speaker, I'm a good baker, I'm a good... there's nothing wrong with saying I have talents and skills and I'm proud of how I use them, as long as you remember where did you get them, who gave them to you, and they're never yours forever. They're not permanent, they're on loan. Just ask the Mets. Twelve in a row, I'm loving it. See how far we can take it. The Amdani curse, the Mets have lost twelve in a row. Baruch Hashem. It's clear that God loves the Yankees, but that's not for now. That's not for now, that's not for this group. But all of our talents and all of our skills... They're on loan, they're not permanent. הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. It's the moment. So when you realize it's Elokus, I have skills, I have talents, I have gifts, I'm grateful for them, thank you, please continue to give them to me and I'm proud of how I use them. Nothing wrong with that. When you think that you can't be proud of anything, that's a very hard, that's a bitter pill to swallow, that's a very hard way to live. We're all proud of the hard work we put in and hopefully the results that we get. So the Ran is giving us a license to feel pride, as long as we recognize where did we get the talent and skill, who gave it, who gifted us and to never mistakenly think we have it forever. הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. The Ribono shel Olam is the way. So you're about to run a marathon, put on your bib, remember your bumper sticker. Yes, I trained and I'm proud of the work I put in, but הוא הנותן לך כח לעשות חיל. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the one who gives us that skill. Hi Rabbi Goldberg, appreciate the Emuna shiur. I have a question. Does embrace your place, you are where you're meant to be, apply even if there was a human error involved? Example, if one's family member forgot to turn on the fridge light before Shabbos—turn off—and now you can't use the refrigerator, is that where you were meant to be? Or is the person responsible or both? I'm going to guess family member here is husband, but maybe I'm reading into it. And what if it was you forgot to turn on the fridge? Was it the intersection between personal responsibility and Emuna and embracing your place? So that's a great question. That's a great question. Where's the overlap, the intersection between free will, personal choice, autonomy and that's what Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose, that's what he meant to have happen, that's what he meant to be? And I think the answer is, it is both. It is both. If you were meant to spend Shabbos with the refrigerator light off, then Hashem wouldn't have allowed whoever's responsibility it was to forget. Hashem would have put some reminder, someone else would have remembered, the lightbulb would have gone out, something would have happened. And if that's the result and that's the condition you find yourself, then that's only the divine will. Because everything is from above. Does that mean that the other person, the person who was responsible and forgot, shouldn't take accountability, shouldn't apologize, shouldn't learn from it, shouldn't figure out to make sure it doesn't happen again? Of course they should. They're both true at the same time. So the person who forgot to turn off the light in the fridge cannot turn to hypothetically his wife and children and say, what are you angry at me for? It's nothing to do with me, Hashem clearly wanted me to forget. We're all hungry and eating cold, we're all hungry because that's where we're meant to be. Don't you listen to the Emuna shiur? Don't you listen to Goldberg? Don't you have the sticker on your phone? That's where we're meant to be, sitting here hungry with no food. He's not entitled to say that. What he has to say is, it's on me, I forgot, sorry, I apologize, I take responsibility and I've come up with a system to make sure it doesn't happen again. But by the way, nobody get too bent out of shape because this was also clearly part of Hashem's plan. This is the way he wanted it to be. It sounds contradictory, but it's possible to believe and live both simultaneously and even in interpreting our own actions. We learned together the Heilegeh Izhbitzer. The Izhbitzer held that Reshaim meleim charata. To be filled with regret and remorse is the thought process of the wicked. And the Izhbitzer asked, Baal Shem Tov, but the Izhbitzer really expanded it to the extreme. And he asked, what do you mean? That's Reshaim, wicked? I thought remorse, regret is good. When you feel bad and regret something bad you did or a mistake that you made, feeling regret for that is a good thing. So what do you mean, Reshaim are meleim charata? What does that mean, Reshaim? So he said no, remorse or regret which is accountability to learn and to grow, to say sorry, that's good. But to get stuck, to perseverate, to feel it was all you, to beat yourself up, to knock yourself down, to be unforgiving to yourself, that type of remorse, it's debilitating, it's terrible. It's terrible. It'll sabotage your ability to move forward, it holds you back. That was the message, remember we learned, when Lot's wife—Lot and his wife were not allowed to look back, they'll turn into a pillar of salt. Why? Hashem said you lived in Sdom. That wasn't the best neighborhood you chose. You weren't surrounded by the best influences. You too made mistakes. But I'm taking you out and I'm giving you a new chance and I'm giving you a bright future. Don't turn around. If you turn around and live with regret, if you nostalgically long for living there, if you beat yourself up and can't let go, if you can't move forward, you turn into a pillar of salt because what does salt do? What does salt do? Salt preserves. So you want to be stuck, you'll turn into a pillar of salt and be stuck. We can't learn, live with regret and remorse and turn around. So said the Izhbitzer, you did something foolish, you made a mistake, you came up short, you didn't get it done. Learn from it, take responsibility, apologize to the appropriate parties, take responsibility, learn from it and don't let it happen again, and then importantly, let go. let go. Don't get stuck. Don't live in the past. Don't get stuck. Don't remain always turning around. You'll turn into a pillar of salt. Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted that outcome. That's the Ishbitzer's extreme. That a person, even who made a mistake, should know that if Hashem wanted to prevent you from looking at that thing, saying that thing, doing that thing, it could have been prevented. And if it wasn't, it was also part of a divine plan. Aye, but I thought free will, I did it. You did. So how is it part of a divine plan? It was. Now move on, weiter. Let go and go forward, learn and grow. So that's the answer to this question of this email. Once, when I really first started getting- I'd like to think I lived with emuna since I'm a child, but when I really started learning about emuna and getting into emuna and studying it and trying to understand it and be more mindful of it, was many, many, many summers ago. Our family was in Israel for the summer and I read The Garden of Emuna and we went to go see Rav Shalom Arush. And I might have told you this story before. And we were going in our rental car and I think the gas light was on. And I'm pretty sure my better half was saying to me, we gotta stop and get gas, we're gonna run out of gas. We had a carful of young children at the time. And I said, but Hashem is in charge, He's in control, He'll make us get there. Who cares what the light or the line say? Hashem is in charge of the gas tank. And we kept driving. Now, we got lucky and we made it to Rav Shalom Arush and hadn't run out of gas. I asked my questions, he gave his answers and then Yocheved said, I have one question. I have one question for the Rav. Our gas light was on, it was below the line, any normal person would have stopped to pull over to get gas, not thinking they could continue to drive. If we ran out of gas and we were on the side of the road and we missed this appointment to meet with you, would that be because of Hashem or because my husband's a moron? And I'm pretty sure I'm quoting verbatim. Is that because of Hashem or is that because the driver is an idiot? And Rav Shalom Arush said, for a person to see the gas light on and the gas to be below the line and keep driving is not a normal thing. That's not a reasonable or rational thought. So who suspended the rational thinking and made the person drive that way anyway which might result in that? It's Hashem. It's Hashem. That was his answer. At the time I didn't like it. At the time I rejected it and for many years I struggled with it. But I'm actually coming around to it. And I think it's a very healthy way to live because what it essentially says is, we have to learn from it. If we were on the side of the road, ran out of gas, I would owe my wife a huge apology and my children. I'd have to stop for ice cream and slushies and shawarma in that order because I'd owe everyone a big apology, I'd take responsibility. If I did something foolish and irrational, I'd owe everyone a big apology. And I'd have to make a commitment, maybe in paper- maybe on paper that I would never do it again. But I would also have the ability to forgive myself and say if I did something so foolish, so irrational, it must be because Hashem wanted us to have that experience and what were we meant to learn from it. And while those seem incongruous, while those seem contradictory, it's possible to live with both of them simultaneously and I think that's the answer to that question. One more email, or two more emails then back to our text. Rabbi Goldberg, yesterday was a tiring day of travel for work, four flights in one day. I booked my own flights and I'm by no means an expert travel agent. In the early evening, I was waiting for boarding to begin for my departing flight, the one that would bring me to my connecting flight and then finally home. I suddenly heard a nearby counter begin boarding for a flight to Newark on a different airline. Whoops! If I had known there was a direct flight option, I definitely would have taken it instead of the out-of-the-way route I had signed up for. I would have gotten home at a decent hour instead of after midnight and avoided the stressful rush from arrivals to departures to make my connection. But I embraced my place and I avoided feeling regret. I was reminded of my single years- I love this formulation so listen carefully. I was reminded of my single years, watching friend after friend get a direct flight to married life while I sat at a different gate wondering when I'd get there. And I was reminded of those early years of marriage when we waited and waited for our direct flight to parenthood, but we had a different ticket with other stops along the way. We'd get there in our own time. It was a powerful reminder that we're each assigned our own ticket, one that will take us exactly where we need to go. And along the way, I got to enjoy a scenic flight over beautiful fields and farmlands, which I wouldn't have otherwise. Isn't that a beautiful formulation? We have our own ticket and we have our own flight route and flight pattern. And others may look like they have a more direct route or they have a better seat, but we'll get there where we're meant to go when we're meant to get there. And enjoy the ride, look out the window, take it in, sit back. Separately, a highlight for me, and I was worried we weren't going to get a sighting and break our streak. Separately, Highlight for me was sitting in 23A on one of the flights. Does it still count if I picked my seat myself? Honestly, when I was booking my seat, I was just looking for an open window spot and I wasn't even thinking of Tehillim chaf gimmel. Thank you for the perspective, inspiring shiur, which keeps me relaxed and focused on emuna during travel and beyond. Thank you for that email because I really loved it. And I love that image and that formulation and it does give us that strength and it does give us that faith. Okay, let's leave it there. We're gonna get back into our text together. We're on page kuf lamed chet of Daver el ha-chatzera, Sha'arei Tefilla, the left-hand column. We've been learning about the mezuzah, and I have a gift here for you from Julie Ehrlich and a sponsor gave it to her as many as you could want and need. Put under your mezuzah of every doorway in your home. We got a lot, which says we got Hebrew and English. Say \"I love you Hashem\" or נא לאמור אני אוהב אוהבת אותך השם. Put them on under your mezuzah. Anyone do their homework since last week? I hope we're not walking through doorways the same way. Shin daled yud, Hashem's name. We're supposed to walk in and say what I have is what I need. I am so grateful and satisfied with what's in this home and with my attitude when I leave the home, and that the mezuzah makes us pause. Not always running, not all the noise of life. Press pause. Press pause. We'll get to maybe one of our challenges. We're on day three of our 30-day challenge. I think we're over 2,200 people who are part of it and everyone then weighs in with the at the end of it did you do that day's challenge? So one of the challenges, whether it's going to make it in the 30 days or not: don't walk into your home on your phone. Don't be texting, don't be scrolling, don't be watching, don't be talking. Instead, stop and touch the mezuzah. Remember what's contained in it. Remember its messages. Remember the spirit, at least Ashkenazim, of compromise, the way it's posted on the doorway. Remember the attitude of compromise. Remember humility. Remember Hashem and His presence to involve and invite Him. Remember everything about the mezuzah. Remember mistapek bemu'at. Shin daled yud, she'amar le'olamo dai. God told the world enough and we have the ability to say what is in this home, even while outside I work hard for more, what's in this home is enough. So before you leave, please take one or more. יש לאלוקים מלין להרחיב דברי חכמים וחידותם. The left-hand column kuf lamed chet. כי שם שד\"י מורה על צמצום. That name of God reflects tzimtzum, restriction, constriction, kemevo'ar be-Gemara Chagigah. בשעה שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא את העולם היה מרחיב והולך כשתי פקיעות של שתי עד שגער בו הקדוש ברוך הוא והעמידו. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu was creating the world there was tension and conflict. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, שנאמר עמודי שמים ירופפו ויתמהו מגערתו, דאמר ריש לקיש מאי דכתיב אני אל שדי אני הוא שאמרתי לעולמו די. Enough competition, enough friction, enough tension, enough trying to conquer, enough trying to expand, enough trying to broaden. Enough! The capacity to say genug. Enough! ומובא בספרי קודש כי מה שהיה העולם מרחיב והולך פירושו שההעלם שיש בבריאה המסתיר את חיות השם ושעל ידו נתהווה כלל הגשמיות היה מתרחב ומתגשם יותר מדי. Ha-helem. That which is hidden in the creation that enables and empowers expansion. In other words, the scientific theory of the Big Bang and the expansion of the universe is completely consistent with the Torah view. You could read Dr. Gerald Schroeder's books and see exactly how, as a physicist, he explains that, but let's just say I can't. But it's completely consistent with our Torah view. The universe is expanding. It was created and built with that capacity. Hakadosh Baruch Hu programmed and designed it that way. ולכן אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא די שלא יתגשם העולם יותר. Yitgashem. The root of the word yitgashem is geshem. What is geshem? Rain. Which is the same root as the word gashmiyut. What's gashmiyut? Materialism. Gashmiyut. You know when you went to seminary, you would rank on gashmiyut. Gashmiyut is bad, don't be so focused on gashmiyut. Gashmiyut versus ruchniyut. Ruchniyut is spirituality and gashmiyut is materialism. So but it really comes from material, geshem. Where does materialism come from? Nourishment, income, in an agricultural society came from the rain. שאם יהיה כך לא יוכלו נבראי העולם כנגד רוב ההסתר ותתבטל תכלית הבריאה שהיא להכיר אלוקותו הנסתרת בטבע. If the world would continue to only expand and expand and broaden and broaden and more and more and physical and physical, then we wouldn't find Hashem in it. We wouldn't recognize and appreciate and honor. We were just learning this in Chassidut snippets. We're in Kedusha when we speak about... ברוך כבוד השם ממקומו. Blessed is the honor of God *mimkomo* from His place. Where is His place? And we offer three or four interpretations of the word *mimkomo*. Blessed is the honor—we honor *Hashem mimkomo* from—where is His place? The answer is this whole world is His place. He is all of existence and if He hides in existence, leaving room for denial of His existence so that when we step up and honor His existence and talk about it and proclaim it when we're good brand ambassadors and we make a *Kiddush Hashem* when we're *marbe kvod Shamayim* and we bring other people close to God and so on, then in that moment, then in that moment we fulfill, we honor God *mimkomo* from His place, the place He made for us by restraining Himself. That idea that comes from *Chaim Friedlander* based on the *Ramchal* is very similar to what he's saying here. To *Rav David Abuchatzeira* saying here, that that's *Hashem* said to the world enough, enough, שאם יהיה כך לא יוכלו הנבראים לעמוד כנגד רוב ההסתר ותתפשטה תחת הבריות שלהכיר אלקות הנסתר בטבע. The essence and the purpose of creation is for us to be in search of God. For us to be bringing the world close to God, to living lives that's *Kedusha*. נקדש את שמך בעולם. God will sanctify Your name in the world. We're here to sanctify You in the world. That's what our life is all about. *Reb Muskots* told me that he went to—we had before *Pesach*, we had a men's *Haggadah* night, a men's *Seder* as some of the communities call it—which was a four-course meal, four different beverages, and *Divrei Torah* on all 15 parts of the *Seder*. And we held it in a local new large restaurant and he was there last week and a waiter came up to him and he said, \"Rabbi?\" Said, \"Yes.\" He said, \"Can I shake your hand?\" He said, \"Sure.\" He said, \"I just want to tell you I served the group that night, we had 100 people, and it was such a beautiful thing to see 100 people coming together to study and to learn and the insights that were shared. I was so impressed by, 'Can I shake your hand?'\" *Reb Muskots* was telling me he said, \"You know it was such a beautiful *Kiddush Hashem*.\" Unfortunately I think that often waiters in these establishments we are contributing to the rise of antisemitism. You know sometimes I look at *Pesach* programs and restaurants and I'm not pointing a finger at anyone, but we can overindulge and be demanding and fail to have courtesy and gratitude and appreciation and have expectations and sense of entitlement. We have to be so careful because the entire world is this enormous stage and they're watching so carefully. And they're not predisposed to see us favorably. We're living in a world where today more, more likely they're looking to confirm their bias that they already have. So it's even more incumbent upon us to be overly compensating. Whether it's on the airplane to the flight attendant, the flight attendants, or whether it's in a restaurant where they're now called servers, had to learn a whole new glossary and vocabulary. But to be overly compensating. Give generous tips, say please and thank you. Don't take off your seatbelt or stand up until everybody else is. Someone needs help putting their luggage in the overhead compartment or taking it down, be the first to jump and run to do it. Don't be loud and talking on your phone when the door is closed and everyone else is quiet and it's a 6 a.m. flight and everyone's comatose and you're destroying them. Don't be the stereotype. Don't be the stereotype. נקדש את שמך בעולם. Sanctify *Hashem* in this world, at work, at gym, in the supermarket and everywhere we go. And that story *Reb Muskots* told me I tell it to you because it's a great example where nobody went to the restaurant that night for this program and said, \"I'm going to make a *Kiddush Hashem*.\" We said, \"We're going to learn about the *Haggadah*, we're going to eat well, we're going to have a designated driver to get home, and we're going to have a nice night.\" That's what we went in to do, but if you do it right, you can make a *Kiddush Hashem*. What an amazing platform we have called life. Every time you leave your home and that's part of stopping and touching the *mezuzah* is to remember I got a job, to remember I have a mission. When you leave your house touch the *mezuzah* wherever you're going. You go on a work, you go on a Pilates, just touch the *mezuzah* and remember I have a mission. I gotta smile and be positive and be joyful. I have to say please and I have to say thank you. I have to be honest, I have to tip, I have to not feel entitled, I have to be sensitive, I have to make a *Kiddush Hashem* wherever I go in everything I do. If I do that I have nothing to apologize for at all, should stand tall proud practicing Jews, but make that *Kiddush Hashem*, that positive impression wherever we go. That's one of the messages if we can get off our phone and stop and pause and touch the *mezuzah* on our way out to make a *Kiddush Hashem* in your home too, but on the way out then we'll make a *Kiddush Hashem* wherever we go. That's our mission. That is in the words of *Rav David Abuchatzeira* here, that is as he writes, *tachlis habria*. That's the *tachlis*. That's the essence, that's the goal, that's the purpose. that's the mandate. That's why we're here, להכיר אלוקותו הנסתרת בטבע, to find and see Hashem hidden in nature and to make others aware, כמו בעולם כך הוא בכל אדם, she'olam katan. What's true for the world at large is true with every individual, we are a world in miniature. וכל מה שיש בעולם יש גם באדם, whatever exists in the world exists in every person. וכן כולו מכללות הבריאה שהוא שמים וארץ וים, just like the earth is made up of the heavens and the earth and the sea. Lefichach nikra, one of the names for man is Ish. Ish, rashei teivos is an acronym for eretz, yam, shamayim, land, sea, and heaven. It's a Kli Yakar. כי נשמתו מן השמים, our soul comes from heaven. Vegufu, our body comes from the dust and the water. ולכך נכתב הסברו שם שדי, הרומז שאמרת לעולם די. So therefore on the entrance, on the threshold of our home, outside the mezuzah is that word Shakai, she'amar le'olamo dai, שבבריאת האדם מן המים ועפר עם תום הטבע לרצות להתפשט בכל דבריו ותמיד מתאווה לרצות להתפשט בכל גבול ואף לא דברי איסור אלא שגרע רצונו של הקדוש ברוך הוא בכח התורה יעצור אותו ומגבילו שלא יתפשט מן הראוי לו והתורה מלמדת את האדם לעשות גבול ומידה לכל מעשיו שלא לצאת מגבול המותר לו. You know what that mezuzah reminds you on your way in and on your way out? To live with boundaries, to say enough. Just like the universe does not have to continue to expand, physical particles, materialism doesn't have to continue to grow. She'amar le'olamo dai, Hashem gave the world the capacity to say enough, genug, enough! Stop! When we walk into our home and out of it, we have the ability to say there's boundaries. I have ambition and I have aspiration, but I also know when to say I'm good and I'm grateful. I'm good and I'm grateful. Sometimes that insatiable drive and appetite for more, it robs us of our serenity and our happiness and our joy, but also our service of Hashem. Sometimes we have to imitate God she'amar le'olamo dai and that's that mezuzah. It is a billboard on the doorway of our home. And it's a billboard reminding us: it's enough, be grateful. Continue to work, it's okay to continue to have dreams, but also know that what you have is what's meant for us and say thank you, say thank you. We don't have to conquer the world, we don't have to take over everything, we don't have to... sometimes it's okay. It's okay to press pause and it's okay to say genug. Sometimes it's okay. It's okay to press pause and to say thank you. Again, coming full circle how we started, that's what today is about. Press pause and say, with all our problems, with all our issues, with all our challenges, with all our infighting, thank you. Thank you for the gift to be in this position to fight about who goes into an army. Thank you for the gift to be in this position. Thank you for the gift of where we are, who we've overcome, and what we're going through. Thank you. And thank you for the miracles of our time. As Rav Dessler said, to be koveia emunah balev, because chas veshalom he writes, oy, oy, woe unto the person who yom hadin will fail to see what's right in front of their eyes and say thank you. Azoi zugt Rav Dessler. That's Rav Dessler, not me. So on this day, whether it's regarding that gift of Israel or any gifts in our lives, to pause and say thank you. Do I want more? Yeah. But am I grateful for what I have? Absolutely. And is it enough? Are you enough for me? Absolutely. Absolutely. It's true for every area of our lives. I did another video yesterday that will come out in the shidduch series we're trying to do to give some chizuk about the idea of settling. To settle is a dirty word. People were told their whole life: \"Don't settle. Don't settle. Don't settle. Whatever you do you don't have to settle. Don't ask me to settle. I'm not settling. Don't settle. Don't settle.\" But is settle really a dirty word or do you have to settle? Is settle good? If you ask someone what they're majoring in or what profession they go into, who's struggling what they'll do, when they say, \"I've settled on law. I'm going to be a lawyer. I've settled on medicine. I've settled on business.\" Then the word settle is a very good thing. What does the word settle mean then? I've shut everything out. I've determined that there's distractions, I've rejected all the other alternatives, I am focused, I am all in, and I am determined to make this successful. I've settled that this is who I want to be. And that's an attitude we have in relationships too. If we're waiting for other people and relationships to be perfect, if we always need more and we need other people to be more, then we'll never be happy. But if we can recognize, if we can recognize who they are as what we need and there's a reason we made the decision to be with them, and whether that's true about people, I'll elaborate more on that video, but whether it's about people, whether it's about our career, whether it's about our possessions, sometimes it's about ourselves, the ability to say she'amar le'olamo dai, to be gratified. And satisfied, to be grateful for what we have, that's what we press pause on and that's what we do. We'll pick up with im yirtzeh Hashem we'll finish this soon and then get into our next text. We'll stay for four, we have time for questions and answers those who come in person. Aren't you curious if you're watching or you're listening, aren't you curious what we talk about? It's amazing, it's controversial, it's salacious. You so badly would want to hear it, but you got to come here in person for it. It's the reward for those who wake up early and come until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. And after our questions and answers, we'll complete all of Sefer Tehillim with the merit of Klal Yisrael.
