Transcript
Good morning Boker tov, welcome back to Living with Emunah. Thank you for your flexibility, Baruch Hashem another simcha to travel to this week. Next week we're back our regular schedule Wednesday, but it's so meaningful to me that you are here on a Monday and flexible with your schedule, I greatly appreciate it. Our Emunah series is generally sponsored by Dr. Zvi and Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut and in memory of Bella's mother Dr. Ellen Chanzer. We remain deeply indebted to the Morgans for their generosity. They also sponsor as a shmira over our holy precious IDF soldiers, may they be safe while they protect our people. Series is also generously sponsored anonymously in memory of the fallen soldiers and alumni of Bnei David Mechina in Yeshiva and Eli. This morning's shiur sponsored by Shmuel and Esther Shisler l'ilui nishmas his father יעקב יהודה בן גדליה and in zchus of refuah shlema for her mother בת שבע בת בלומא רבקה and by the Shuchman family in memory of their grandmother Holocaust survivor רבקה בת לייב יחיאל מיכל whose yahrtzeit is on the 19th of Sivan. A big thank you to all of our generous sponsors. There are source sheets here if you'd like to learn inside with us. We've also posted it to the WhatsApp group themselves, but as always, we begin with a few emails. And we read these emails not simply to distract or divert or avoid having to prepare a shiur, we read these emails because we darshen them, we learn them. The emails themselves are a demonstration, the emails are manifesting what we're learning, putting it into practice is an example and model for all of us to hopefully follow. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, been meaning to write for a few months but never made the time until now. The push that made me write was my own Tehillim Chaf-Gimmel citing and the hug from Hashem I felt with it. I'm 25 years old, the oldest in my family. She describes a particular challenge or issue she was going through. When on a Friday, she was very upset, she wanted a break. There were two more hours until Shabbos coming in. I decided to leave the house and go to Target to cool down and gather my thoughts. Due to the Friday afternoon traffic, Waze instructed me to get off at an exit before I usually do and take some side streets to get to Target. I never gone this way before and had never seen the streets in my life. As I was nearing Target, I was waiting by a traffic light and looked out my window to see a shop awning with Hebrew writing on it. This area isn't part of the Jewish community, so I was surprised to see Hebrew letters. As I got closer to the shop, I felt Hashem gave me a huge warm hug. Someone's frustrated, had a certain conflict, just went for a ride, couple hours to Shabbos, retail therapy, Target. Target solves all the problems. It certainly does not, creates sometimes some new ones. But anyway, as she's driving in this area not near her home, on the awning some Hebrew. And what was on the awning in quotations: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. Psalm 23. Here it is, a tire store and on the awning of the tire store אדנ\"י, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not lack. Not in a Jewish neighborhood, not in a religious neighborhood, a tire store with אדנ\"י, the Lord... can I throw this out now? I don't know, Shem Hashem. Wasn't written exactly by... I don't know who printed it. In that moment, I felt Hashem was telling me that He saw how hard I worked, how frustrated I was, my potential to do better. I also felt He was reminding me that my pekelach in life aren't random. It was all designed by Him and He knows what I need the best. If Hashem gave me this, it must mean I need it to become the best version of myself I can be. It was so comforting to feel, although I feel like I did the wrong thing or reacted the wrong way, Hashem is with me on my journey, He is with me every step of the way even when I mess up. Thank you for helping me find my Emunah glasses and how to use them. I'll admit I don't always see the winks and hugs from Hashem, but I'm trying to get better at identifying everyday moments with each shiur I listen to. Thanks again. That's the idea, we've been focused on extending our antenna, picking up the signal, looking for the hugs and the winks, the nods from Hashem just when we need them. And whether it's a pick-me-up, whether it's some feedback, whatever the message is, but to feel and to know that Hashem is in constant communication with us. And that is a theme of so many of the correspondence. Hope you're well Rabbi Goldberg, surely appreciate the time, yada yada yada blah blah blah. Thank you for the compliments and the kind words. Yeah let's skip down to... going through a hard time, shidduchim, feeling alone, drained, speaking to Hashem. That night I spoke to Hashem after Krias Shema and I said I have no clue how this can turn around. But I know Hashem is Kol Yachol, Hashem is capable of all. Nothing is beyond Him. The next morning things were turning in the right direction, far from over but the moment was huge to see how Hashem heard me by giving me a glimpse of hope. I kept asking Hashem for a win, something small, give me some chizuk. Although these requests aren't always answered right away, I was grateful to hear that in a span of 12 hours, two Rebbeim I often listen to their shiurim were speaking in my hometown the Five Towns. Thank you for coming all the way to Lawrence and giving your Wednesday morning shiur. When one works for a... There's some busier weeks, some quieter weeks. Same goes for shidduchim. I've been in touch, I've been in both for about the same amount of time. I've learned the hard way that although the quiet times are frustrating, I prefer it to the wrong type of noise. That being said, the quiet times get disheartening, making one question what else there is to do, if anything, in terms of hishtadlus. I took advantage of the sunny weather this afternoon and while I walked on the boardwalk, I saw a woman with a tattoo which read Exodus 14:14. Nothing like seeing someone with a tattoo and having to do your research. Then you gotta go look it up, gotta go walk on the boardwalk with a Tenach in case you run into someone with a tattoo. Then you gotta carry a Chumash with you. Baruch Hashem in today's smartphone, one of the blessings of technology is you have kol hatorah kula at your fingertips. I found that basically discusses how Moshe gives Bnei Yisroel chizuk of let go and let God just before the splitting of the sea. I'm still waiting to have my own Psalm 23. This is exactly what I needed at the time, another reminder of doing effort but maintaining the awareness of where it all comes from, of where it all comes from. I'm happy I was able to experience Emunah Shift in person and look forward to coming down to Boca to hear it again. Again, you see someone with a tattoo. Why'd they get that tattoo? Why'd they cross your path? Why you on the boardwalk? Why you walking opposite them? Why'd you notice it at that moment, just when you need to hear it? We can live our lives and should live our lives feeling it's not random. And these aren't isolated, and they're not chance, and they're not coincidence, but Hashem is talking to us, is communicating to us in these moments when we choose to see and read and feel His presence and in that way. Hope all's well, hakoras hatov, the shiur. I was supposed to be in seminary in Eretz Yisroel this year. But three days before I was supposed to leave, I found out I have a very sick heart and I was in desperate need of a heart transplant. A young girl finished high school on her way to Israel for her year, and three days before she's supposed to leave, learns that she needs a heart transplant. When I found this out, I was in complete shock. I don't know how, but some crazy wave of Emunah came over me, and I kept saying to myself, I'm exactly where Hashem wants me to be. These words gave me a lot of comfort, but eventually it didn't, and I was really struggling. My mother's a frequent listener of Emunah Shift, and anytime I'd be in the car with her, the shiur would be playing. I always heard what I needed to hear and it was a constant chizuk boost when I needed it most. Baruch Hashem I had a successful transplant the third night of Chanukah, crazy story into itself, and my recovery is going really well. Thank you for the chizuk, it's a huge source of strength as I get through these difficult times. I happen to know this young lady indirectly and understand she is an extraordinary young woman, she should have a complete and speedy refuah shelaima and get to go where she wants to go and experience everything she deserves to experience and kol hakavod. Three days before, it's not like she knew her whole life she likely wouldn't be able to go with her friends because she'd need it. All's hunky-dory, you're assigned, you got your roommate, you're ready, your bags are packed, three days before going. And that capacity, that ability to pivot and to realize על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו. This week's parsha, we mentioned it last night in the parsha shiur we also gave earlier this week because of Baruch Hashem the Simcha travel schedule. But our parsha, Behaloscha, says על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו. Our goings and our comings, our travel, our journeys, and our encampments, they're all al pi Hashem. Hashem is directing, He's dictating, and that's why this is the source I mentioned last night for Embrace Your Place. It's not some cliché, we didn't come up with it to put it on a pillow for your couch, on a throw pillow. This isn't just a bumper sticker or for your mirror, although those are all good places to put it too. This is a way of life, it's a way of thinking, this is an existence, it's a mentality, it's an attitude, it's a personality to embrace our place and to know we are where we're meant to be. And you'll say, what'd you come up with that? Is that just some coping mechanism? Is that the opium of the masses? Is that some drug that we take to numb ourselves to the reality that we desperately don't want to be there? And the answer is a big fat no. It's a pasuk in our parsha, על פי ה' יחנו ועל פי ה' יסעו. Where we go and where we stay, when we go and how we stay, while we are always where we're meant to be because it's all al pi Hashem. You can fight it, try to overcome it, take our initiative, we make our effort, we do all we can, but ultimately and in the end of the day, and this is the attitude, this is what the Emunah Shift is all about. When it comes to initiative, effort, action, it's all up to us, but when it comes to the results and the outcome after the fact, we surrender, we submit, we recognize it's all up to Him. We do everything in our power, everything in our possibility, but then when we're done, it's al pi Hashem, על פי ה' יחנו. This is where we have to be. This young lady, this outstanding young lady was on her way to Israel for her gap year, her seminary year, the year that everyone looks forward to. And Hashem said nope, על פי ה' יחנו, unpack, you're going to be camping out here for a little while. You need a new heart. על פי השם יחנו. And please God, she'll have a full recovery and Hashem will determine, על פי השם יסעו. It'll be time to go, whether it's for a trip, half a year, or making up for a gap year or where she goes next, I don't know, but it'll be Al pi Hashem. We make our effort, we take our initiative but in the end of the day, it is up to Hashem, it's not ours. And that's easy to say when it all works out and it's all smooth, when you get off the plane, which too often we forget to do to say wow, took off on time and we landed early, and my seat was comfortable, and everything on the plane worked, and what I got done, and I had my snack and my drink, and none of it landed on my lap, and it's all wow. We failed to often say thank you. We're the first to complain and notice when there's a glitch, a delay, something goes wrong, we're unhappy, we didn't get the right seat, the guy next to us took the armrest the whole time, and he's our husband, I can't even believe it. That we find a way to complain about. But when it all happens smoothly and seamlessly, and it happens exactly the way we drew it up, do we stop and say מודים אנחנו לך השם? Thank you. Wow, that was amazing. The default these days in travel is that something's going to go wrong. If it doesn't, you've just experienced a miracle. I'm not exaggerating. TSA, tower, strikes, delays, airlines going under, with all the issues out there, if things worked out smoothly and seamlessly, and this is my form of a tefillah to Hashem for our travel tomorrow, then it's a miracle you experienced. How do you not say thank you even for minor miracles? על פי השם יסעו ועל פי השם יחנו. It's all. So it's easy, it's easy when it comes to the flight. But when it comes to a heart transplant in the last moment, when your bags were already packed, and to be a young lady who writes an email that says I accepted it's from Hashem, I realize He's in charge, He's in control, I surrender to Him, I'm on this adventure called life, and we'll find out what comes next. That, that's impressive. That's a shiur. That's inspiring. So thank you for writing it. And now a more difficult one. I've been listening to the shiur for years but events this week have compelled me to write. Our community was rocked by the sudden death of one of our members. 23-year-old woman from the Chabad community, married less than a year, and 35 weeks pregnant with her first child, died of a ruptured aneurysm during Shavuos. No preceding signs. The baby may be gravely injured, is currently in the NICU. I'm in the medical field and have spoken with people who were in the hospital and they assured they did all they could to save her. I heard that the prolonged and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at resuscitation cast a pall on all the staff there. Every healthy delivery is a miracle. A miracle. In antiquity they knew that, because it was common and frequent that women did not survive childbirth. The choice to have a baby was a life and death choice. It was a risk. Today we live in such an incredible time that we take for granted that a smooth and healthy delivery is only a question of how long the insurance will let you stay in the hospital, you get out, all is good. But it's not so simple. And stories like this break our hearts, they're devastating, and they're also a reminder of the miracle. The miracle that is a healthy delivery, not only of a healthy baby who has all limbs and organs and everything well. Our community went through a loss recently of a dear member's grandson who was born with a terrible illness, wasn't expected to live, lived five months and then soul left this world. When a baby is born healthy it is a miracle. I've told this story so many times so I won't repeat it, but of the head of the NICU who took other doctors on a tour of his hospital, a good friend of my parents, a parent of one of my good friends, and they said wow, it's miracles. Have you ever seen today the pictures or videos, the image of a baby that fits in the palm of your hands? Born so prematurely and yet science can keep them alive. And he turned to this group of doctors on this tour and he said, this isn't the miracles. You want to see miracles? And he took them, he took them to the baby nursery where the healthy babies were. And he said, the NICU is where all the babies should be with all that could go wrong, but the nursery, the healthy babies born with all their parts and everything working right, that's the miracle. That's the miracle. And the fact that a woman survives childbirth with everything that could go wrong. There are all kinds of halachic questions that come up. Can a woman choose to be induced? Can a woman be induced? So that's a halachic question, it's a halachic question for two reasons. One you might expect and one you wouldn't. When a woman is in labor, it's a life-threatening situation. Can you elect, can you choose to go into a life-threatening situation? It's a halachic question. And the poskim, the halachic authorities say, if it's medically mandated then yes. The doctor says you're running low on fluid, you, you, whatever the circumstances are, The doctor going on vacation maybe is a medical reason. You want that doctor who's followed you the entire time. They're going on vacation, that could be a medical reason. But if it's you want to be that sign, that horoscope, whatever, that's not a medical reason. And that doesn't give you a right to elect to put yourself in a life-threatening situation, as sadly we see in this email. Second reason why it's a halachic question, believe it or not, it's brought down in the Teshuvos Be'er Moshe, Debretziner brings down, because what is the baby doing in the womb? What's the baby occupied with the entire gestational period, nine months? The baby's learning Torah with the malach. The baby spends this time learning the totality of Torah. When they're born they're caused to forget, which is a whole separate reason for another time. What's the point? Why learn if you're only going to cause the baby to forget? Soloveitchik says because that's what plants the pintele Yid in every Jew. When we learn Torah, we say that's familiar. I feel like I've seen this before, I've heard this before, I've been here before. That feels familiar because we have. What gives us that familiarity, what gives us that holy Jewish spark, what gives us that pintele Yid is the fact that we have been there before. So you're going to cut that seder short? You're going to cut that learning short? You're going to induce and you're going to end that learning that could have gone on longer? Only when it's medically mandated, you can't do it just because you want. But it's a miracle. When a woman survives childbirth, it's a miracle. And when a healthy baby is born, it's a miracle. And that's what this email's reminding us. But he continues. I've thought about the Emunah shiur a lot during this time. Some of your lessons have resonated with me and others I find unhelpful for real trials as this. Either one chooses to see the world through Emunah tinted glasses, even though I sometimes worry this is pure self-deception, or it is viewed as pure chance, which leads to helpless despair. I don't see how it is helpful to say to oneself, \"You are where you're meant to be,\" as is often the summary of emails for the shiur. When true tragedy strikes, it may be better to simply admit we have no idea what Hashem's plan for us is, or why righteous people have to mourn the death of their child and wife. I know you receive many emails, may not get to this one. Feel free to anonymously share its contents if you think it will be helpful. And I do think it will be helpful, and I want to address it. I'm not sure exactly, I read it as someone who's in pain, but I'm not sure I understand exactly what he's asking. Because that which we say to embrace our place and we are where we're meant to be, that which we say that all that happens and all that comes is from above, that nothing is chance and random, it's all carefully curated and choreographed. It's all meant and determined for us. Doesn't mean therefore we embrace it with a smile. Doesn't mean life is hunky-dory or kumbaya. Doesn't mean the world goes the way we want or wish it would. It means that even when it doesn't, especially when it doesn't, we lean in to our relationship with Hashem, we don't lean out. We lean in and we find comfort and strength in knowing that what happened wasn't random or chance, even when it defies explanation and comprehension. We've gone through our share, our community, not me personally chas v'shalom, but our community and often I have a front-row seat to horrific tragedy, loss, pain, chronic pain and suffering. And in those moments, we don't flippantly hand a bumper sticker that says, \"Eh, you are where you're meant to be, embrace your place, you're all good to go, smile, it's what's meant for you.\" Chas v'shalom! We've had a horrible string. The last six weeks have just been filled with shiva email after shiva email after shiva email. Comes in waves in our community. We can go periods with nothing, and sadly we've had now, hopefully it ends. Today someone got up from shiva. The loss we'll dedicate our shiur to was of Rabbi Mordechai Cohn. Most cheerful, positive, loving, incredible person, sweet, delicious Kohen who gave brachos and a kiss on the keppy to everybody he met, to everybody he met. So of course, when someone's sitting shiva, what, you pay a shiva call and say, \"Forget Hamakom yenachem eschem. We've come up with a new thing to say. Instead of when you take leave of a shiva call, embrace your place, you are where you're meant to be,\" sitting low on the ground with a torn shirt, miserable and chas v'shalom, of course not. That's never what we meant. It's never what you say in those moments, nor is it something that we impose on others. This attitude and this perspective, this statement of life is not something we impose or use to judge others. It's for us and for ourselves, for ourselves only. When others are going through a hard time, we're only meant to be there with them, love and empathy and sympathy and support. When we are navigating the hardships of our lives, we're meant to remember על פי ה' יסעו על פי ה'. על פי השם יחנו. That where we go, our goings and our comings, it’s all up to Hashem. Are we sitting on a regular chair or a low chair? Are we sitting in a NICU, an ICU, or are we sitting somewhere celebrating something? על פי השם יחנו ועל פי השם יסעו, it’s all up to Him. That doesn’t mean that we don’t challenge Him, protest Him. We spent a long time in our shiur talking about and justifying and giving license to be angry at Him. Hashem, where are You? And how could You? And why would You? That too is an expression of faith and emunah. That too is faith and emunah. That’s a fundamental of our shiur. That we don’t only surrender and submit with a smile. We don’t just passively accept an outcome without protest, without appeal, without even anger. But an anger that brings us closer, doesn’t drive us further apart. An anger that expresses, I believe in You, I know You. An anger that we’ve discussed of Elie Wiesel, when they put Hashem on trial for what He did in the Holocaust and the beis din found Hashem guilty and they gave a clap and said, it’s time for mincha. That we can get angry and we can find Him guilty of causing us pain and then we still give a clap and say, but it’s time for mincha. It’s time to daven to Him. It’s time to love Him and feel His love for us. It’s time to say despite the fact that I can’t understand, don’t understand, will never understand. Have we not all drawn the most incredible chizuk from the most extraordinary people of these three years? We’ve earned and received greater teachers and rabbeim in these three years than maybe the longest time before it. And those who’ve lost family members in this war, hostages who suffered the most, the worst unimaginable things. Derech Emunah Bacharti, but they found Hashem in those places. Parents who’ve lost children fighting battles on front lines who come out not asking, where is God and how could God, but somehow are using it to feel and draw closer to God. So I understand this email that’s written in pain. And nor would I ever suggest to this family or to that whole community that the punchline of \"embrace your place\" is somehow a medicine or a salve for that open wound. Of course cry, grieve, mourn, be frustrated, be angry. But all of it with the recognition that it’s from Hashem. What’s the alternative? It was random? It was chance? It was chance? That’s the alternative? That’s the alternative? A ruptured aneurysm? Well, there’s a certain amount of statistic aneurysms, that’s the data, had to go to someone and it went to her. That makes you feel better? That gives greater comfort and strength? I don’t see it. I don’t believe it. I think we’re meant to live understanding and knowing it’s all from above. It’s all from above. So it’s not clichéd and it’s not meant to be used or deposited towards others. This is the attitude we’re meant to have for ourselves, of where we are we’re meant to be. And yes, even when the person is low to the ground. The Rambam in Hilchos Aveilus, the Rambam talks about mourning and grief is a time of teshuva. Not chalila to think what they went through is because of a, God forbid, a punishment. How could we learn? How could we grow? How could we draw close? How could this become a springboard for a breakthrough in life? We never welcome, we never want it, we’ll never fully understand and we still don’t ever really accept what happened, but yet we choose to instead ask, lama? Why? lema? For what? How will we grow and what will we learn from it? So I understand the email from pain, but I don’t think we say what he suggests we do. We never chalila suggest that we mean it in some trite fashion. It’s always an orientation of life that we calibrate where we are based on our relationship with Hashem to know that things come from Him and from above. Rabbi Goldberg, thanks for the shiurim. I had a difficult pregnancy filled with a lot of anxiety. Every week I would save the emunah shiur for my drive to the doctor and continue listening while I sat in the waiting room. I could listen to at least one shiur. I needed that constant reminder that everything is from Hashem no matter what. Toward the end I ended up being induced on Erev Shabbos. It all happened quickly and last minute, and even after speaking with a Rav, I had questioned whether I made the right decision. Our Zahava Emunah, love the name, was born on Shabbos and the recovery room they placed me in was room 613. It felt like such a clear hug from Hashem, reassuring me we made the right choice. She's now three months old, absolutely loves listening to the shiurim. Look at this emunah listener right here. What a beautiful emunah listener, the latest. We should make emunah onesies. I don’t know what would it say. See, Alana, you’re here today, dafke. You’re here not by chance. We have to make emunah onesies that we can send imirtzeh Hashem to all those who want to put their children in them to wish a mazel tov. What should it say, the emunah onesies from the emunah shiur? Wait till she gets a little bit older but okay we'll take it for now. We'll take it for now. Okay, we got to get to our text even though we've got a bunch more great powerful powerful loves and hugs from Hashem. I'm going to read part of another one. This one is a little lengthy. I'm going to leave out the other part although it is also connected to a family. Our Parsha Shiur is also now week the series is dedicated in memory of Recheli Dikman who also passed away on Purim morning in childbirth. Oy, a horrific tragedy. Also an outstanding person who also listened to our Shiur. We feel connected to her and the Parsha Shiur is dedicated in her memory. So someone, a relative of her, wrote an email, but I want to just share this part of it. Two days ago at the gym, a person who was going through a hard time, understandably from that and other things, I saw a guy next to me doing something I was curious about, so I asked him what he was doing. I'll say based on the kind of shape he was in he clearly knew about things and how to take care of the body Hashem gave him. He was perfectly helpful and answered my question. I thanked him for teaching me something. I asked him his name. He said Ro-ee. Maybe there was something in how he said it, I wanted to make sure I heard him correctly, so I repeated Ro-ee? And then he said with a thick Israeli accent that was totally absent when he answered my question before, not Ro-ee, Ro-ee as in השם רועי לא אחסר. I smiled. I told him that was a very nice name. We chatted a little more. I was glad I opted to wear a Kippah at the gym. So what if I get a little sweaty? It's worth it to broadcast who I am and get into conversations like this. And then I was gob-smacked. First gob-smacked in an Emuna email. He was gob-smacked. That was a Psalm 23 sighting right there. How common a name is Ro-ee in Israel anyway? Are people there hearing Psalm 23 all the time? So Hashem Ro-ee. It was a Psalm 23 sighting at the gym when he asked the guy how to do that particular exercise, Ro-ee as in השם רועי לא אחסר. One more short one. Few weeks ago I told you I cancelled the New York Times subscription after the rousing call to fight back after their blood libel. I don't miss their so-called news but it's been harder for me to give up the crossword puzzle. For some people they could give up their kidney faster than the New York Times crossword puzzle. I've been doing the New York Times crossword puzzle since I was 11 years old, writes the author of this email, a very long time. When I saw the puzzle today I knew it was time to cut the chord. Look at the circled cues. There's a picture of the crossword puzzle. 30 down and 31 down. A clue with bacon right after a clue about Kashrus. This is more than a wink and a nod from Hashem. I'm reading it as a direct communication that even the crossword puzzle of the New York Times is Treif. So I'm going to stop all interaction immediately. I consider personal I don't know what specifically I'll do with the time I just added to my day but I think it would be appropriate to study more Torah in that time. Wow, so says somebody who's studying more Torah maybe than anybody else in our community each day. Okay, back to our text. There are copies here and we did put it in our WhatsApp group. We're learning this piece from Rav Shaul Alter the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva who's been taking us to השם רועי לא אחסר. May we never be lacking in knowing he is our shepherd. He's our shepherd. Sometimes we forget it. Horrific. Two women died in childbirth at young ages. It's easy to forget he's our shepherd in those moments and that's Dovid's request. By the way, did Dovid say Hashem is my shepherd I shall not lack because he won the lottery, everyone in his family had good health, all they had was Simcha and joy and success and trial? No. Dovid Hamelech study Sefer Shmuel and Dovid Hamelech had an incredibly difficult life. Those learning Nach Yomi, one day, it's on my list, I want to give a Shiur, really I want to learn for myself and the best way is to obligate myself by giving a Shiur. But one day I want to give a Shiur, I want to study Shmuel and Tehillim at the same time. Take a Perek in Tehillim and then study the story that inspired that Kapittel. We read the Tehillim but we take it out of the context. Every day we do it in our Davening. Ashrei and all the Hallelukas are the very end of Tehillim. Hodu after Baruch Sheamar, it's filled with Psukim from Tehillim. So much of Davening is Tehillim in addition to the Tehillim that people say daily. But we just mumble it, we say it, we don't even necessarily know the words, the poetry of it. But imagine if we studied the story. We put ourselves in the shoes, we felt that we were in the presence, we lived the narrative. And then we saw, and this is Dovid's diary, this is the entry he wrote that day. This is the poem that he authored after that moment. And what were these stories in Tehillim or that motivated Tehillim? What are these stories in Sefer in Sefer Shmuel? He didn't have an easy life. I don't know, his father-in-law wanted to kill him and his son wanted to kill him. When I say wanted to kill him, I don't mean like at the Shabbos table he mutshured him and he wasn't kind to him and he grew impatient with him. and his father-in-law wanted to kill him. I mean, his father-in-law tried to kill him, murder him, take his life. His son rebelled against him and tried to usurp the throne. His wife was embarrassed and ashamed of him, Michal. He went through an episode with Bat Sheva, which we're not allowed to ascribe any guilt, כל האומר דוד חטא אינו אלא טועה, we make a mistake to think he did, but he says about himself chatasi LaShem. The list goes on and on. David HaMelech, the people who hunted him, he had to hide. By the way, he wasn't selected, he wasn't appointed as the king with some coronation that it was clear from the beginning. He was the last choice of all of Yishai's kids, all of Yishai's sons. Only afterwards did Shmuel, when he was ready to give up, Yishai, oh yeah, there is one more. I mean David HaMelech's life is filled with hardship, difficulty, disappointment, challenge, loss. How about the fact that he's told he doesn't get to build the Beis HaMikdash after he sacrifices so much and dedicates his life? And with all that and navigating all that and in hiding and in fear and in fighting and in leading incorrigible people, David HaMelech authors Tehillim and he says Hashem Roi, You are my shepherd. Wherever I go, whatever I'm running from, all my success and all my challenge, You're my shepherd, I shall not lack. I never lack knowing You're my shepherd. And whatever I have is what's meant for me. And even if I sustain loss and shame and embarrassment, and even though I'm running and fleeing for my life and I'm regularly in frightening situations, I know it's all from You. I embrace my place because על פי השם יחנו ועל פי השם יסעו, I know Hashem, You put me on that throne, that Ir David, if you haven't gone to visit, they keep on uncovering more and more and more and it's amazing to see the City of David, the City of David, which by the way was designated as an American Heritage Site in Trump's first term, the President, with really the vision of Ambassador Friedman, our friend Ambassador Friedman, there's a huge plaque at Ir David, City of David, it's designated why would it be an American Heritage Site in a section of Jerusalem that not all think is part of Jewish sovereignty? Because if America was founded first on Judeo values, they all come from Jerusalem, they come from David, they come from that place and therefore it's an American Heritage Site, which is what the world needs to know and as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of America, America first to know where America first came from and that if one wants to believe America first then they should first support the US-Israel relationship and recognize the Judeo founding of this great country. But in any case, David HaMelech, השם רועי לא אחסר. So we've been learning to recognize, to understand that we take our ishtadlus, we make our effort, but never fool yourself and think that the outcome correlates with what you did. That's an illusion, a matrix, a mirage. The reality is that the outcome and results are always from Hashem. We're in the middle of page 72. אך כשמדבר על הבטחון בהשם בכל מעשה האדם שהוא עוסק לפרנסתו, we're speaking on trusting and putting our faith in Hashem with all of our actions, with all of our efforts, with all of our work to work on our income, להאמין ולבטוח שרבונו של עולם עושה הכל, to have faith and to trust to know that the Almighty does all. He uses both words emuna, amen. Emuna is knowledge there's a source of existence, a first cause. Livtoach means to then take our faith and our trust and put it in Him. haboteach vehimivtach to both trust Him but to know that the outcome correlates with Him. מאוד קשה להשיג זאת. This is very difficult to achieve. This is very hard to live this level of mindfulness that when we make our deals, we deposit our paycheck, when we bring in our new client, we land that new sale, when the stock that we went in went up, to know, we may think it's because of our ingenuity, our creativity, our entrepreneurship, but to recognize no, Hashem used us and through us that outcome came, but the outcome is entirely His not ours. כי מאז חטא אדם הראשון נגזר על האדם, and why is it so challenging? Why is it so easily confused? Where do we go wrong in thinking that the outcome correlates with us instead of surrendering and recognizing it comes from Him? Because it all goes back to the original sin. What's the original sin? The real original sin. Adam HaRishon in the Garden of Eden when Hashem says you can have it all, it's all yours. That's why we call it the forbidden fruit. Why is that phenomenon called the forbidden fruit? When you can have absolutely everything but one thing, what do you want? The everything? No. You want the one thing. Adam HaRishon can have everything he wants. The smorg is available to him. The world is his. There's one thing he and Chava are told hands off. Can't have the Etz Da'at. And what does he crave? The one thing he can't have. That's why Haman, Haman haRasha, HaMin HaEtz, where is an allusion to Haman in the Torah? This Etz, this tree of knowledge, because Haman too had everyone bowing down in the world, but instead of seeing who bowed down, what did he want? All he saw was the one thing he couldn't have. This is a situation that plagues us. It plagues us in our desire. It plagues us also in our appreciation of things. There's a phenomenon called the missing tile syndrome. People walk into a room and instead of seeing every tile clean, pure, and perfect, all they see is ooh, that tile, that tile is tilted, that tile is not perfect, that tile has a stain, that tile's missing. What type of person are you? The one who walks in and sees all the perfect tiles, or the person whose eyes are drawn to the missing tile? That's true in the tiles in a ceiling. It's true sometimes in the way we see other people. Do you see all the attributes they have? All the good things they did for you? All the effort they made? All the wonderful times you have in the history of your friendship? Or are you drawn to the thing that's missing? But the one time you didn't answer my text, but the one time you did something that I didn't appreciate, but the one time you didn't reciprocate and invite me back. Do we see what's there or do we see what's missing? Do we see what we have or do we see what we don't? I wrote an article last week about from my experience making a few weddings, officiating a lot of weddings, and attending many, many weddings, baruch Hashem, it can never be enough. I love going to weddings, I love simchas. So I offered some suggestions as people plan weddings. That was the article last week. One of them, which is very hard, I say to myself with every simcha we've been zocha to make, halevai we should be able to say it more often. It's hard. You send the invitation, when the response cards come in, the people who say they're coming like they're a given. Yeah, of course you're coming, you're coming. What do you mean you're not coming? I flew to your simcha halfway around the world, I put everything on hold, that much money was spent. What do you mean you're not coming? All of us, we don't just see who's there, where do we gravitate? What do we focus on? What do you mean you didn't make it? What do you mean you're not coming? Not the benefit of the doubt, you did the best you could, and we all do, but baruch Hashem we have a lot going on, but we often tend to not see who's there but to see who's missing. That could be true at a simcha, chalila it's true at a shiva. People get up from shiva and they think not about all those who showered love and support on them, who were there, very often they'll say to one another, you know who I'm surprised didn't come? You know who I'm surprised we didn't see? It's natural, it's human, but it doesn't help, it's not productive. The better attitude in life is not like Haman and not like Adam and Chava, not to gravitate to what's missing or what you can't have, but to see what's there. HaMin HaEtz. So Adam and Chava were told, you can have anything and everything, but this tree? Out of bounds. This you can't. So of course what'd they want? What'd they focus on? What was missing, what they couldn't have? And they ate from it. They touched it, they ate from it. The nachash was to blame, and this was the original mistake of the blame game. The blame game. This was the original blame game. Hashem says to Adam, excuse me sir, didn't I tell you one thing you can't have? Not my fault, she told me to do it. He goes to her, Chava, he says, what's going on over here? I said one thing. Not my fault, the nachash, the snake, told me to do it. Had any of them taken ownership and responsibility, Hashem would have forgiven them. We'd still be in the Gan Eden today. But because they passed the buck, because they played the blame game, because they refused to take ownership or responsibility, we were expelled. Chucked out, kicked out. A new beginning in this world that includes each their punishment. Her punishment was the pain of childbirth and the snake slathers on its belly, slithers on its belly. And what's man's punishment? בזעת אפך תאכל לחם. You'll only earn bread through the sweat of your brow. You're gonna have to work for that livelihood. That smorg ain't free. There is no all-you-can-eat buffet in life. You're gonna only eat what you kill. You're gonna have to make it rain, you're gonna have to work. וצריך לעשות השתדלות כפי הצורך and you'll have to make effort, initiative כדי שתתקיים ברכתי בכל אשר תעשה. You want the blessing? In Gan Eden the blessing flowed without work, without effort. But Hashem then recreated a world in which we only receive blessing when we do the work. וכאשר עושים השתדלות צריכים לעשות אותה טוב and when you do the work you have to do it well. Don't mail it in. Don't do mediocre. Don’t do haimish. Excellence. Excellence. Person has to strive for excellence. One of the five core values of our staff here at Boca Raton Synagogue, one of the five core values in our EOS model that are not aspirational that we want to live by, but are the covenant and promise to one another that we live by. One of our five is strive for excellence. Strive for excellence. צריך לעשות אותו טוב. You’ve got to do it well. You can’t do it mediocre. ומסופר שפעם בא אדם לפני הרבי רב שלומקה מזוויל זכותו יגן עלינו. Once someone came to the great Rebbe, Reb Shlomke of Zvil, שרצה לשלוח ידו במסחר כלשהו u-l'fachos maafia, maybe he’ll open a bakery. והשיבו שלא לעשות כן. And he said, don’t do it. I don’t see that for you. Don’t open the bakery. חזר ושאל הלא רב זלמן בריזל עושה כן ומצליח. He came back to Reb Shlomke of Zvil and he said, but there’s another Yid who opened a bakery, he’s succeeding. Why’d you tell me not to do it? השיב לו הרבי מזוויל שרב זלמן מצליח משום שמחייך לעוגייה שלו. He succeeds, you know why? He smiles at his cookies and cake. רב זלמן בריזל היה חסידישע דהנא ייד ובוודאי לא היה שקוע בגשמיות מה שהשתדל לפרנסתו אלא זה ביטוי שגם כשצריך להתעסק בגשמיות צריך תמיד להיות בשמחה וריצוי ולעשות אותו טוב. Reb Shlomke of Zvil was saying you don’t like cake, you don’t like cookies, you like money. You’re not opening a bakery because you love what you do, you’re opening it because you love to deposit money in the bank. Reb Zalman Brizel I told to open the bakery because he smiled every time he put a cookie sheet in the oven. He loved what he did. Now, what does that mean? He loved gashmius? No, says the Gerrer Rosh Yeshiva. He was a holy Yid. He was a righteous Jew. Of course he didn’t love the physical material world, whether it’s baking in a bakery or the money he earned from it. What it means is whatever you do, do it well and do it with a smile and do it with joy and do it and get it right. Chana and I were away a few months ago and there was a server who was taking care of all of us and all the tables near us. This was the greatest server we’ve ever, fair to say, the greatest server we’ve ever had in our lives. She had a smile, she kept checking in, she knew the exact, she didn’t stifle you and suffocate you every three seconds. Everything about the way that she took care of you. And we noticed not only did we engage her, like tell us about where you’re from and how long have you been doing this, every table was blown away by her. There was someone, I don’t know if you experienced this, whether it’s the valet driver or the person, the bank teller, or the server, or the flight attendant, or your lawyer, your doctor, or ever, whatever profession, when someone gives an energy and aura that they love what they do, they’re happy to be there. It’s not only a paycheck. Maybe it’s not their calling, I’m sure she has aspirations greater than serving in a restaurant, nothing wrong with it. But while you’re there and while you’re doing what you’re doing, do it with a smile and do it with joy and do it with a positivity and do it with an energy. It changes the entire experience for the person who’s getting it, who’s benefiting. And that was what Reb Shlomke of Zvil was saying. Don’t go into anything that you can’t do with a smile, that you won’t illuminate with a smile. ועל ידי זה הצלחה יש הצלחה וסיעתא דשמיא. Because השכינה שורה לא מתוך עצבות. Hashem doesn’t dwell where there’s sadness and despondency and misery and anger and resentment and bitterness, farbissener. Hashem, like people, want to hang out with positivity, with joy, with smile. So when does He bestow and shower siyata d’shmaya? When you put a smile on your face and you love what you do, and even if you don’t love doing it, put the smile on your face and it’ll come too. Force yourself to smile. Like the Chovos HaLevavos writes שכדאי שאדם ישתדל להתעסק בתחום שנמשך עליו כי כשעושים צריך לעשות טוב. When you’re identifying and finding what you should do, find something where you think you’ll find success, and success is not only defined by how much you’ll earn. Success is by can you do it well, does it take advantage of your skills, will you bring a positive energy, can you smile while you do it? אבל עם כל זאת צריך לזכור שכל פעולה היא רק בגדר משחק בעלמא. But here’s the main point he’s making. Whenever we do whatever we’re doing work-wise, we have to know it’s a game, we’re playing a game. שאדם אינו מחזיק בידו את ההגה האמיתי אלא את ההגה הכוזב ששם לו השם בצד שישחק בו. We are going through these motions, we are going through this. When you roll the dice while you’re playing Monopoly with your family, whether whatever property you’re going to land on and will you collect the rent. collected the rent. What are you talking about? It's a game. How the dice turned out and what spot you landed on and did you collect the rent, it's all not random and chance, but it's all from above. You think it's any different when you spin the dice of life? I'm not saying you should take the same risk as if you're spinning the dice. And don't bring an attitude that it's a game because the Gerer Rebbe he just said a person has to take seriously and aim to succeed in whatever you're doing. If you're going to do it, do it right. Go bigger, go home. Do it right or don't do it at all. So critically important. So important. So important. But while we're doing it and doing it right, know that it's a game. Hashem, you're spinning dice. You're you're going on spots whether you collect the rent or not. זה מאוד מאוד קשה. And it's very hard to do that to know putting out my ad, I'm putting out my marketing, I'm trying to land clients, I'm negotiating a deal, I'm investing in whatever opportunity, and to know I have to do that and I should do it as well as I can, but the outcome of it doesn't correlate with me. It's from above. I'm just playing the game of Monopoly. I'm just in this matrix. I'm just living this illusion. אבל כאן היא נקודה של עולם מה שהעולם מכסה. How do you say world in Hebrew? Olam. The word Olam etymologically its root is from he'lem, ne'elam, which means hidden, hidden. We live in this world but this world is a place of hiddenness. ויש לעמול ולגלות ביטחון גמור בהשם. Work hard and make effort to get to a place that I put my trust in Him. שההשתדלות לא יעלים ממנו את הידיעה שהשם הוא הרועה. Here's the challenge, here's your homework, you ready? Your homework, our challenge is to do effort and initiative, but never in a way which will compromise or take away from knowing He's our shepherd. How can we recognize and realize that the outcome's all up to him and yet give it our all? They say, work like it's all up to you and daven like it's all up to Hashem. And that's the formula, that's the prescription. That's how we're meant to live. When it comes to the effort we put in, bring your all, your A-game. Do your best. Work like it's all up to you. But recognize that the outcome is entirely up to Hashem. That's that balance. Initiative, effort, work like it's all up to us. Don't be lazy and don't hide, don't be lazy and hide as if you have some emunah, that's why you're lazy. Do your best, give it your all. Go bigger, go home. A-game, show up, don't settle for mediocrity, mediocrity. Give it your all. But never in such a way that then goes to your head that you think I'm responsible, I get the credit, it's all about me, I take pride. Make the effort but understand that the outcome is all up to him. לזכור שהריבונו של עולם לדעת שבכך הוא עושה רצון הבורא ברוך הוא. את גזירת מלך שבזיעת אפך תאכל לחם והקדוש ברוך הוא בעצמו הוא מבטחו. Hashem is our promise. Hashem is the source of whatever success or whatever we experience in our life. Okay, from here the Gerer Rebbe then goes to questions and answers on this and he continues to dive deeper into our great song. Baruch Hashem, yishtabach shemo, Baruch Hashem. Next week we're Baruch Hashem back on regular schedule Wednesday morning. We'll turn off and take a couple questions if you have for those who are in person. Always questions and answers. Thank you for being flexible and adjusting to today. And as always please stay after we're done speaking of David HaMelech and Tehillim we have so much to daven for. There's still a war being fought in the north of Israel. Nebach there are soldiers every day that we're losing, halevai we don't lose any more. But we'll say Tehillim right afterwards for those who can stay for a couple minutes, we have time for.
