Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov. Good to be back together with our Emunah friends, living with Emunah friends and support group, every Wednesday morning in order to remind ourselves that which we already know but so easily forget, escapes our mind. The way that we live in this world reinforces the erroneous notion regularly that we are in charge, that we are in control, that we are the ones who forge our own destiny, that we take responsibility and can be proud of our own success, and therefore we need the reminders. That's why 100 brachos a day were instituted. The 100 brachos a day, 100 interruptions to the day, remember 100 times a day that there is a God, that bid for connection, make that bracha, express that gratitude, ask for that help, remember that He's looking over your shoulder 100 times a day. Our Emunah series is generously sponsored by Doctors Avi and Bella Morgan, so grateful to them in memory of Dr. Rabbi Dr. Brian Gabbitt, ברוך צבי בן ראובן נתן, and in memory of Bella's mother, Dr. Ellen Chanzer, who lived a life of service to the Jewish community and of chesed. We're very grateful to the Morgans for their generous sponsorship of the series for the year. Okay, we're not going to start a new limud because we're going to take a break after today until after Sukkos, not really taking a break, there's a lot of conflict. So I want to just share with you a few thoughts that will put us in the right mindset in these Aseres Yimei Teshuvah, these ten days that we are supposed to really recalibrate our compass, refocus our priorities. These ten days that we're supposed to not be on our best behavior in some way that we're trying to trick or fool God, that we'll do our best for ten days, we'll push through so that He answers us positively and then we'll revert back, then we'll just go back to the way we were, but rather these are ten days that are meant to transform our entire year. We're meant to form new habits. We're meant to break through and realize new parts of ourselves and to bring Hashem into our daily life and into our daily living. That's really what it's all about. That's really what it's all about. We say L'David, the minhag is to insert לדוד ה' אורי וישעי, Tehillim Chaf-Zayin, at the end of davening. Ashkenazim, the Nusach Sefard have different customs of when to say it. Ashkenazim say it at the end of Shacharis and at the end of Maariv, others say it after Mincha instead of Maariv, but Tehillim Chaf-Zayin, Tehillim Kapitol chapter 27. And in there we have the famous words that have been made into many beautiful songs, many beautiful melodies. אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותה אבקש. Dovid Hamelech says there's one thing I want and there's one thing I ask for: שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי לחזות בנועם ה' ולבקר בהיכלו. I want to sit in the house of Hashem, kol yimei chayai, all the days of my life. I want לחזות בנועם ה' ולבקר בהיכלו, to gaze upon the beauty, to frequent, to be a regular, to be a visitor in His heichal, in His home. There are many questions on this one simple sentence. First of all, Dovid Hamelech says achat sha'alti, there's one thing I want, and then he goes on to list several things he wants. Just one thing, one thing I need, one thing I want, please Hashem favor me with one thing: A, B, C, D. So the Midrash itself says, you know where David got this from? David got this from God Himself who said there's one thing I want from you: yiras Hashem, hatznei'a leches, a whole list of things that He wanted. But in any case, what does it mean לחזות בנועם ה' ולבקר בהיכלו? I want shivti, I want to sit there all the days of my life, u'l'vaker, I want to be a visitor. It's a famous question and the Chofetz Chaim gives a famous insight. Chofetz Chaim says you know that when you live somewhere you're the least likely to visit the most significant places there? If you grow up in New York, how often have you been to the Statue of Liberty? If you grow up in Florida, how often do you go to the beach? How often do you go to, I don't know, where are our monuments or what are our major places that people frequent? The Everglades or whatever else. When you're a resident of a place, you take the places that the visitors look at for granted because you live there. You'll get there someday, sometime, not necessarily for now. What Dovid Hamelech is saying, says the Chofetz Chaim, is I want shivti, I want to feel like a resident. I want to feel like I belong. I want to feel like I live there. But at the same time, I want the mentality of l'vaker. I want to have the mentality of a person who's visiting. The excitement and the energy, the curiosity and the inquisitiveness, I want there to be the energy of a visitor who wants to take it all in and wants to get it all in. That combination, which ordinarily are in conflict, Dovid Hamelech says I want them to be in consonance. I want to be shivti, I want to be a toshav, I want to be a resident, I want to live there, I want to feel comfortable there, but bikur, l'vaker, I also at the same time simultaneously want to bring the energy and the attitude of a mivaker, of a tourist, of a guest, of a visitor, who's going to try to see everything and get it all in and is so excited to be there. So that is number one. The attitude that we have towards our relationship with Hashem is a level of comfort and closeness. casual, and at the same time, an attitude of getting it all in. This time of year, the pasuk says דרשו ה' בהמצאו קראהו בהיותו קרוב. Call out to Hashem when he's close. And the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah says, when is he close? Behimatzo, when is he more ready, accessible or available? When is an auspicious time? When is a proper time to reach out to him where he is more likely, he is more ready to answer? And the Gemara says אלו עשרת ימי תשובה שבין ראש השנה ליום הכיפורים. And these are the ten days of repentance. HaMelech BaSadeh, the king's not in the palace. It's hard to find him when he's in the palace, he's hiding in the palace. Now we have the ability to find him. He is accessible, he is available, he is out there. And therefore, we can go and we can ask him for what we need. We can ask him for what we need. We go, we look for him, we ask him, and we access him now. We don't wait, we don't give up, we don't miss out on that opportunity to be able to, to be able to speak to him. HaMelech BaSadeh, HaMelech BaSadeh. So that's the mentality, that's the attitude. That on the one hand, we're a toshav. We feel comfortable in the audience, in the vicinity of Hashem. There's a comfort level, there's a love, there's a relationship, there's a connection. But simultaneously, we want to have the energy, the excitement of a newbie, of a fresh view, of somebody who's visiting, of somebody who's checking it out for the very first time. To bring that attitude and to bring that mentality of a mevaker. I'll tell you an amazing story. HaMelech BaSadeh, the king is in the field. Now is the chance. After Yom Kippur he's going back in the palace. After Yom Kippur we can still speak to him but by appointment only and you have to make it past the secretary and the secret service, you have to somehow be able to get into that Oval Office, and when you're there you'll only have a brief moment. But now, HaMelech BaSadeh, he's out in the field. Now is the time. Pour out your heart. Tell him what you want, what you need, what you hope for, what you dream, what you wish. Tell him what you're disappointed in, what you're angry about. Tell him what you're so grateful for. HaMelech BaSadeh, right now he's most accessible. I'll tell you an amazing story, an amazing story. It was recounted in an interview on Israeli radio station about a gentleman who was brought to England on the Kindertransport. He was living in an orphanage with other refugees and one day the teacher entered the orphanage in a state of great excitement and he said King George the Sixth was coming. All the children were told to put on their best shorts and scrub their faces and knees and they're going to meet the king, they're going to have an audience with the king, King George. And along with all the other residents of the street, the school children turned out on the pavement, there was this great sense of anticipation, a parade was going to come by, the king himself. But as all the other spectators were aware, the meeting with the king was not really a meeting with the king that the children had imagined. The kids were so excited. Instead, merely they were part of a welcoming party. The king's fancy car and entourage and parade turned the corner and proceeded down the street. Now nonetheless, the children joined in the cheering and the flag waving and the car passed at a processional pace. The man recounted the story on Israeli radio, explained that for the boy standing next to him in line, simply watching was not enough. And the boy next to him, lining the street from the orphanage, broke ranks and proceeded to run into the street and chase down the car. And when he reached the vehicle that the king was in and it was still moseying along at a processional pace, he began to bang on the boot, on the tire, with all of his might. Finally the car stopped and lo and behold, the door opened and the boy stood face to face with the king. Now in America where the police carry guns he probably would have been shot. In England don't they not carry guns, they wear those furry hats, so I guess that's why he wasn't shot. So he kicked the tire and the door opened and lo and behold the boy stood face to face with the king. And King George asked him what's the problem young man, what do you need? And the boy said he had been told that he'd be meeting with the king and he very much wanted to thank him for having brought him to this country and rescued him from the ravages and the fires of Europe. But the boy continued, you see I'm terribly lonely because my parents are still there. And the king responded, he asked the boy's name and the name of his parents and where he was from and he thanked him and he bid him on his way back to the rest of the children. And the boy was sure that he'd be severely punished for his actions. But surprisingly the school did not make anything of the incident. They let it go. Until a few weeks later the headmaster summoned the boy to his office to which the boy was sure he was to be reprimanded. He was positive, having broken ranks and left the line and chasing the car and being so brazen to speak and confront directly the king, he was in trouble. But it turned out that the headmaster wanted to talk to him about the incident but instead of punishing him, he told the boy he had made quite an impression on the king. So much so that King George had sent him a gift. And with that the headmaster opened the side door of the office and standing there waiting was the boy's parents. And the narrator recounting the story on the radio continued and said for the past sixty years he has asked himself, right? The one who told the story on Israeli radio said he was standing next to this boy. He too was in the orphanage, he was standing next to this boy that brazenly and spontaneously broke ranks, ran, confronted the king and as a result was reunited with his parents. And the one telling the story said... and wouldn't have lost them in the gas chambers. It's a very powerful story and again, supposedly, it was recounted on Israeli radio and is true. But the image and the message is exactly what we're saying, Dirshu Hashem behimatzo. Right now we have an audience, don't regret later 'Why didn't I speak to the king?' These ten days he's ha-melech basadeh. The king is in the field, the king is in the shul, the king is in your kitchen, the king is in your car, the king is on your walk, the king is while you're cooking, the king is while you're working. Talk to Him, open your heart, pour out your heart, take advantage. שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי. Yes, all year long we can sit in His home, yes, all year long we can talk to Him, open our heart to Him and He hears. But levaker be'heichalo. When do we have the opportunity of levaker? To bring that attitude and to have that approach of levaker, to be like the energy and the excitement, to have the enthusiasm of a guest, when is that? It's these ten days and we're running out of them. We're coming closer to Yom Kippur each and every day. Take full advantage. That is point number one. Point number two, the Slonimer Rebbe says, I don't understand, how could Dovid Ha-Melech say שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי? I want to sit in your Beis Ha-Mikdash all the days of my life. Dovid Ha-Melech couldn't have sincerely meant that. It's impossible. Dovid Ha-Melech was the king. He had to adjudicate, he had to legislate, he had to rule over a kingdom. Dovid Ha-Melech was a warrior, he had to lead the Jewish people in battle. Dovid Ha-Melech was a scholar, he had to sit and learn and study. Dovid Ha-Melech was a human, he had to eat and eliminate what he ate, he had to sleep. So how could he say שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי? How could Dovid Ha-Melech say I want to sit in your house all the days of my life? Impossible. A human being has other human things they need to do, it is impossible. Kol yimei chayay. Dovid had many responsibilities and obligations. He couldn't shirk them and he couldn't ignore them in order to be able to sit in the Beis Medrash, sit in the Beis Ha-Mikdash, שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי. We have responsibilities. So the Slonimer Rebbe, listen carefully, says, you know what Dovid Ha-Melech was saying? It's what we're saying each and every day when we recite this mizmor during the month of Elul and through Succos. What we're saying, שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי, is Hashem, I want to have the feeling that I'm sitting with you kol yimei chayay. Not that I'm in your house all day, every day, but you're with me wherever I am. You're with me in the gym and you're with me in the supermarket. You're with me in my kitchen, you're with me in my bedroom, you're with me at work. You're with me in shul, you're with me in the car, you're with me on my walk. Wherever and whenever, shivti bevais Hashem, I want that sense, I want that attitude, I want that feeling, I want that energy, I want that spirituality, I want that knowledge that wherever and whenever you're right next to me. I don't segregate. My life is not my religious activity and my secular, my holy and my profane. It's not that when I'm in shul I'm davenning or when my Tehillim is open I'm davenning and other than that, see you God. What time are we meeting again? Oh, Mincha's at seven? See you at Mincha. Oh, Shabbos is when I see... see you on Shabbos. When do I... oh, Wednesday mornings I go to that shiur? See you next Wednesday morning. It's not that I'll see you later, God. It's not that I'm gone for the day. שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי. Wherever, whenever, you're on my mind, you're looking over my shoulder, you're with me, you're with me. I gotta tell you, I'm scrambling right now. I'm running out of time to prepare the Shabbos Shuvah drasha. Yom Kippur, as smoothly as Rosh Hashanah went, baruch Hashem, 13 services on the Boca Raton synagogue campus alone, hundreds and hundreds of people, masked, distancing, bli ayin hara, safe, such gratitude to Hashem and the enormous work that the committee put in to make it happen. As smoothly as Rosh Hashanah went, Yom Kippur is proving to be very, very, very complicated. And you know what I've been doing? I've been talking to Hashem. I'm sitting here, Zoom after Zoom. I'm here late at night, I'm looking at the computer and I'm like, Hashem, how are we going to do this? What's the plan? Hashem, what's the plan? What's the weather going to be? Will we have enough tents? Indoor, outdoor? How's it going to work? Hashem, what's the plan? This is your people too, they're not just my children, these are your children, these are our children together. It's not just on me, what's the plan? Hashem, Shabbos Shuvah, I'm doing this for you, not for me, trying to inspire everybody for your values, your message. Give me some good stories, give me some goods, give me some material here. Hashem, this is for us, we're partners in this. Yeah, I got the speaking part, but you're the speechwriter. Come on, speechwriter, where are we? Where's the material? I literally, yesterday last night, I was talking out loud in my office to Hashem. Why am I sharing that? Because שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי. It wasn't Mincha, it wasn't Maariv, it wasn't Shacharis, it wasn't time for Selichos, I wasn't saying Tehillim. I was talking to Hashem. Help us figure out Yom Kippur, give me the right words for Shabbos Shuvah, give me more time to make this happen. Wherever we are. In the car, on the airplane, in the... whatever you're doing, talk to Hashem. That's what Dovid Hamelech says, is l'omrah bah. Dovid Hamelech was not saying I want to shirk or forfeit, I want to abandon my other responsibilities and I want to sit in your house kol yemei chayai. Dovid Hamelech wasn't saying I want to sit in the Beis Medrash, I want to sit in the shul, forget battle, forget writing poetry, forget leading a kingdom, forget my family, forget eating and sleeping. I just want to sit with you. That's not what he was saying. It's not possible, it's not responsible, and it's not what Judaism wants. What was he saying shivti b'veis Hashem? I want the feeling that you're with me wherever and whenever. At all times. When I'm on the phone with FedEx endlessly, you're on the line with me. It's a three-way call. Here's the end of that story by the way, we could finally put it to bed. The check from FedEx has arrived in the mail. Shetel is gone forever, but the check has arrived, Baruch Hashem. It's all from Hashem and for a reason. That story now comes to a close and we could, we can move on to other emuna stories. But shivti b'veis Hashem kol yemei chayai. Kol yemei chayai says Dovid Hamelech. I want to feel you're with me all the time. I want to feel that you're with me all the time. There's a beautiful insight of רב שמחה בונם מפשיסחא, the great holy tzaddik רב שמחה בונם מפשיסחא. The Gemara says in Berachos on דף ו עמוד א. The Gemara our rabbis say, הלואי שיתפלל אדם כל היום כולו. Halevai. Wouldn't it be beautiful if a person could daven all day long? What does that mean, wouldn't it be beautiful? I'll be honest, it's not easy. We're saying selichos right now. So selichos add on, depending what minyan, depending what shul, depending who you are, what time you got there. Selichos can add on another twenty-five, thirty, forty minutes to davening. Davening itself you've got additions, Avinu Malkeinu and Shir HaMaalos and you've got additions. So davening now on an average morning with no Torah reading, this morning Wednesday morning, davening is over an hour, hour ten, hour fifteen. It's hard. I'm not going to lie. I try to put my all into it and by the end of it I'm ready to close the siddur and get on with the day. It's difficult. It's a struggle. You put everything into it for that hour. So הלואי שיתפלל אדם כל היום כולו? Halevai? That's not my halevai. Halevai that I got to eat all day, halevai I got to play golf, halevai I got to be with my family. Not in that order. Halevai I got to be with my family, halevai I got to sit and study. I love learning Torah. Halevai I got to hang out with you and give the emuna shiur all day long. Halevai a lot of other things. הלואי שיתפלל the entire entire day from when I wake up until I go to sleep, hours on end? Halevai I could daven the whole day? Is that really my halevai? Is that really what I wish for, what I want, the halevai? Listen to the insight of רב שמחה בונם מפשיסחא, the great tzaddik he says שלא הכוונה שיהיה אדם מעוטף בטלית ותפילין ויושב בבית הכנסת כל היום כולו ומתפלל. The rabbis were not saying halevai I could wear my tallis and tefillin and sit with my siddur and in my makom and with my mask in shul all day long davening. No. שירגיל עצמו תמיד להתפלל ולבקש ממנו יתברך שמו על כל דבר מקטון ועד גדול ובטרם יעשה אפילו הצעד הקטן ביותר יקדים להתפלל תחילה שיצליח במעשיו. You know what the halevai was? Halevai that while I'm making my potato kugel and while I'm writing my Shabbos Shuva derasha and while I'm getting in the car, halevai that every activity and every moment and everything I'm doing my entire day is introduced with a tefilla. The הלואי שיתפלל אדם כל היום כולו is halevai that my whole day is defined, I'm talking to you the whole day long. I'm talking to you. It's a throwback to another time, another generation. Some of us had parents or grandparents that we saw that. Europeans, they were talking to Hashem the entire day long. Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof. Halevai, halevai we should be like Tevye. That while we are turning over the hay and feeding the cows and climbing that ladder and filling the milk, halevai the entire day I'm talking to you, Hashem. I'm making the potato kugel, I'm talking to you. I'm writing the Shabbos Shuva derasha, I'm talking to you. I'm lifting the weights, I'm trying to beat my plank record, I'm talking to you. I'm driving the car and I want to make sure I get there safe, I'm talking to you. הלואי שיתפלל אדם כל היום כולו says the tzaddik רב שמחה בונם מפשיסחא doesn't mean halevai I have my siddur open and I'm sitting in the shul all day long. It means halevai that my life and my lifestyle reflected that wherever and whatever I'm talking to you all day long. Halevai this difficult conversation I'm about to have goes well. Halevai Hashem, I'm walking into the boardroom, halevai I can negotiate a good deal. I'm walking into the courtroom, halevai I can defend my client or I can advocate for myself. I'm walking into the operating room, halevai Hashem that this goes well, it's a successful surgery. Halevai each patient I see, I say and do the right thing that is best for them. It's an entirely different mentality and attitude. Not that I'm done with davening Shacharis, sayonara Hashem, see you at Mincha. It's not that I take a break in between. It's I left from Shacharis and between Shacharis and Mincha I have not stopped davening the entire day. Yes, I closed the siddur and yes, I folded my tallis and yes, I exited the shul, but I never closed my lips, I never stopped davening to Hashem. On my drive home I was talking to him, over breakfast I was talking to him. If I was talking to him. As I got to work, I was talking to him with whatever I need to do that day, from the significant to insignificant, from the consequential to inconsequential, from the big to the small. Every part of the day was introduced with a two second to three second, every part of the day, every aspect of the day, from the holy to the mundane, to the sacred to the profane. Halevai Hashem my Wi-Fi's working and I can order the thing on Amazon. Halevai Hashem that my AC will continue to cool this house. Halevai Hashem as I change the thermostat. Whatever I'm doing is introduced with a two second tefillah. I never took a break, I never stopped שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי. Wherever I am I'm in the house of Hashem. הלואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו. Halevai that a person should daven to Hashem all day long, that you come with me wherever I am and whenever I am. Halevai, halevai that you're with me, that you're with me all the time. That you're with me all the time. That is the wish, that is the hope, that is the hope. The pasuk we say in Eichah that Reb Shlomo put to beautiful melody, שפכי כמים לבך נכח פני ה'. Shifchi kamayim libech, pour out your heart like water, nochach p'nei Hashem opposite Hashem. When are you nochach p'nei Hashem? When are you opposite Hashem? Only when you're in shul opposite the aron kodesh? Only wherever designated space in your house that you made as your designated makom kavua, your prayer space, your prayer room? That's when you're nochach opposite Hashem? No, nochach p'nei Hashem is the mission of a Jew wherever and whenever. Rav Wolbe writes in Alei Shur—we don't have time to go through it now—but this is our mission, wherever and whenever. And that's what I want to impress upon you, that's what emunah is. הלואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו. Wherever, I'm davening all day long. Shivti b'veis Hashem, you're with me, not I'm sitting in your house, but whatever house I'm in, we've transformed it to become your house. Says Rav Wolbe in Ne'ilah, we're going to say a sentence: אתה הבדלת אנוש מראש ותכירהו לעמוד לפניך. In Ne'ilah we're going to stand before God and we're going to say that you designated us, you created us la'amod to stand lifanecha before you. That's our goal, that's our job, to live my life and to know I am always lifanecha. I'm always lifanecha. I'm lifanecha when I'm choosing what to watch, I'm lifanecha when I'm choosing what to say, I'm lifanecha when I'm filling out my taxes, I'm lifanecha when I'm talking to my friends, I'm lifanecha when I'm choosing what to eat, I'm lifanecha, I'm nochach p'nei Hashem wherever and whatever. How I do business, in my interpersonal social relationships and interactions, in how I fill out my tax returns. הלואי שיתפלל כל היום. I'm shifchi kamayim libech, I'm nochach p'nei Hashem, I'm before you all day long and every day. I'm la'amod lifanecha. You designated us to recognize that I'm la'amod lifanecha, that I stand before you, that I stand before you. This la'amod lifanecha we say in the bracha of Asher Yatzar. I come out of the bathroom, the most mundane, most animal, most base act that a human being does, I come out of that bathroom and I say the bracha of Asher Yatzar and in it what do I say? Ee efshar lehiskayem. If all my pipes and plumbing weren't working right, I would not be possible אי אפשר לעמוד לפניך. I could not stand before you God. I couldn't stand before you. There are people who can't attend minyan because they have gastrointestinal illnesses that don't allow them to have the confidence to stand there. A person who has a colostomy and ostomy, a person who's not sure that they can daven properly. So you know Hakadosh Baruch Hu, if my heart weren't beating, if my health weren't in place, if I had a kidney stone or gallstone, if I had a bladder infection, if I had a GI disease, אי אפשר לעמוד לפניך. I wouldn't be able to stand before you. I'd be incapacitated, I'd be debilitated, I wouldn't be able to la'amod lifanecha. I couldn't stand before you. The bracha of Asher Yatzar, I come out of the bathroom and a Jew says, thank you for allowing that most animal base mundane act to work because without it I couldn't fulfill the very purpose with which I'm here which is la'amod lifanecha. That's why we're here. That's why we're here. Shifchi kamayim libech, Hashem, pour out my heart, nochach p'nei Hashem, I want to feel wherever and whenever. The boardroom, the operating room, the courtroom, the kitchen, the gym, wherever and whenever I'm nochach p'nei Hashem. I'm opposite you, I'm la'amod lifanecha. It's why I'm here and what I was designated to do is to stand opposite you and to know you're in my life and therefore to never be anxious and never be angry and never be envious because I know you're in charge, because I know you've got my back, because I know everything is for a reason and nothing's random. And when I'm la'amod lifanecha, when I stand before you and when I successfully cultivate that feeling of nochach p'nei Hashem that I'm equal and opposite to you when I talk to you and I ask you and הלואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו. I introduce as I walk into that courtroom, that operating room, as I walk into that boardroom, as I walk into the gym. I'm standing before him. And then we can let go and let God, you could smile. You'll see the wrinkles disappear. You'll see your shoulders lower. You'll see your blood pressure drop. You'll see that you have the strength and the courage and the energy to confront whatever it is in your day that you need to battle and overcome. You'll see your ability to make it to the end of the day. *Nochach p'nei Hashem*. He's in the room, the only question is whether you recognize him or not. He's there. He's there, he may be invisible. He's *nochach*. He is *lefanecha*. The only question is are you going to open your eyes and see him or not? Are you willing to extend your antenna and pick up the frequency? Are you willing to put on the blue light and see that he's really there all along? He's there either way, so you might as well embrace him. You might as well feel his presence. You might as well draw that comfort and that strength. You might as well feel that responsibility. You might as well express that gratitude because he's there all along. He's there all along. So I want to wish all of you my holy *Emuna* friends that we should succeed in שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי. *Halevai* *Hashem* should bless us and we ask him for help to feel that we're in his presence. Talk to him. Talk to him to the point that you look like a madman. You know the best thing that ever happened, the best thing that ever happened was hands-free in the car. Because before there was hands-free, if you were driving talking to God, you looked like a lunatic. You know if you're at a red light and you look over and the person's talking out loud, now you just assume that they're on their hands-free. They're talking to somebody through the phone, through the car. Before that, just a few years ago, the car is the best place to talk to *Hashem*, you looked like a lunatic. An actual lunatic. And now thank God you've got, you know, if you have hair or a *sheitel* or long hair you have an advantage because you wear your little AirPod. Half the time my wife or one of my kids walk in the room, I think they're talking to me and it turns out that their AirPod underneath their hair they're having a conversation with someone. So now you have the ability wherever and whenever to talk to God and nobody knows. You know what one of the blessings of this mask is? The masks everywhere, it's a curse, it's a pain. Nobody's enjoying these masks, they're miserable. You know a blessing, a hidden blessing of these masks? You could be in public and have to make an *Asher Yatzar*. You no longer have to find a corner and cover your mouth and pretend. You could stand and *daven Mincha*. You could stand and be talking to God and nobody knows the conversation you're having underneath that mask. You no longer have to be shy or reticent or embarrassed or ashamed. You no longer have to hide it. Take advantage of it. With that mask on, at Costco, at Publix, at Neiman Marcus, at whatever store before it closes down and declares bankruptcy. At whatever store, talk to, tell *Hashem*, my favorite store, let it not declare bankruptcy. Whatever you want to talk to him about. I'm actually uttering a prayer, let nobody be at that store using my credit card buying anything. Everybody's uttering their own prayer wherever they are under their mask. Everyone has their own prayer that they have to utter. Spending freeze. But everyone's uttering their own, I guess we got some money from FedEx now we can spend. But everybody's uttering their own prayer. הלוואי שיתפלל כל היום כולו wherever and whenever, talk to *Hashem* all day long and then *shivti b'veit Hashem* you'll find that you're sitting in the house of *Hashem*. My dearest friends, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. Join us tonight, we're going behind the *bimah* with Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a federal judge from New York. We'll hear about his tips for how to come before the judge on the holiest day, by the, his tips as a judge how to come before the judge. That's 9:00 tonight. And this *Motzei Shabbat* 8:30, *Shabbat Shuva Drasha*. I hope and pray that *Hashem* will answer me, be my speechwriter so I can give a good speech. This *Motzei Shabbat* 8:30, *Shabbat Shuva Drasha*. Until then, wishing everyone a *gmar chatima tova*. We resume after *Sukkot*. The first Wednesday morning following *Sukkot* we resume. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
