Transcript
Okay, good morning. בוקר טוב Boker tov, שבוע טוב Shavua tov. It's a beautiful week. It's wonderful to continue to be in person, growing by the week. It's great to see everybody, to learn together. It's a whole new thing to be in person. I want to thank our generous פרשה parsha sponsors for the year, for the פרשה parsha perspectives, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father David Grosman, a נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנשה le'nishmas David ben Menachem Menashe. Also this morning's שיעור shiur is sponsored by Tzipora and Mandy Fishman on the wedding today of their son Leiby to Sarah Lefkowitz. The wedding is this evening in New Jersey. Please God, I hope to run out of here and get there in time. Big מזל טוב mazal tov to them. They should have a lot of שמחה simcha. Thank you for sponsoring. What a beautiful idea to honor a שמחה simcha by sponsoring the learning of תורה Torah. We are learning פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, page 54 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash this morning.I forgot to record.פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, page 54. ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך Vayomer Hashem el Avram lech lecha me'artzecha u'mimoladetecha u'mibeis avicha el ha'aretz asher areka. This morning we are introduced to אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, a special welcome to my sister Daniela who is here from Israel. It's great to have you here in person, Daniela.אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, we are introduced. Now the truth is, we pick up in the middle of his story. This is not the beginning of אברהם's Avram's life. אברהם Avram has already endured, he has already very tenaciously surpassed several tests. And yet this is the point of departure. This is the point in which we pick up the story. We're not going to get into it right now, but clearly the תורה Torah feels that this is the relevant part. The earlier part that is in the מדרש Midrash is not explicit in the תורה Torah. It's only through Rabbinic tradition. It is only at this point in אברהם's Avram's life, it's only at this time on his journey, it's only in this conversation he's about to have with the Almighty that we begin to be introduced to him. And השם Hashem says to him, לך לך lech lecha. Now, previously in prior פרשיות parshiyos, last week about 80% of the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur was on the first פסוק pasuk. I heard about that all week long. So we're going to try to get a little bit past that this week. So previous פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, and you can find them all online at YUTorah.org or RabbiEfremGoldberg.org, you could find many of our previous פרשה שיעורם parsha shiurim and there we elaborated and there we went into depth in what does it mean לך לך lech lecha. Where was God sending him? It's the most bizarre journey of all time. It has no destination. השם Hashem gives him no coordinates. He doesn't give him an address. He doesn't tell him where they'll be landing. He says, board the plane and I'm sending you and let's see whether you are really committed to me, are you devoted to me, do you trust me, do you believe in me? Let's see whether you board this plane where you have absolutely no idea where in the world it is going. And אברהם Avram in fact does. Now is that much of a is that fulfilling much of a test? He's told, אשך לגוי גדול e'escha le'goy gadol, I'm going to make you a great nation. ואברכך Va'avarechecha, I'm going to bless you. ואגדלה שמך Va'agadlah shmecha, you're going to be a great name. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha, you're going to be filled with blessing. So he tells him I'm not sending you on some journey where you're going to be a no-name, you're going to be invisible, you're going to struggle to survive. I'm sending you on a journey in which you will be, you will be, your reputation will precede you. You'll be well-known, you'll amass great wealth, you will be able to wield great influence. And אברהם Avram engages this test. So לך לך lech lecha, previously we studied the most moving idea to me comes from the סלונים רבה's Slonimer Rebbe's נתיבות שלום Nesivos Shalom, זצ\"ל zatzal, שלמה נח ברזובסקי Shlomo Noach Berezovsky, where he elaborates and says the לך לך lech lecha, the test of לך לך lech lecha is to go, where is the destination? There are no coordinates, it's not an address. The לך lech, go where? לך lecha. The hardest journey of all is the journey of self-discovery. For us not to simply be the composite or result of everything around us. Don't dress, don't look, don't listen to the music of, don't speak and use the slang and the vernacular, don't simply be the composite of everyone and everything around you, be an independent thinker. Don't be too an independent, too independent of a thinker. We have something called מסורה mesorah. We have something called הלכה halacha. We are bound by a Jewish tradition, we are bound by a תורה Torah lifestyle. We can't be too independent. הלכה Halacha guides us, it creates the boundaries for us. But within the הלכתית halachic system and within the שבעים פנים shivim panim with the 70 faces of תורה Torah, לך לך lech lecha. Go discover who you want to be and who you think you can be. שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos this past week, my father was sitting next to my son, a beautiful intergenerational שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos. We were talking, today we're talking about the diversity of the שול shul, אשכנזים Ashkenazim and ספרדים Sefardim and all types of the שול shul. And my father asked my son, what is your father? And my son turned to him and said, my father thinks he's a חסיד chasid. I thought that was pretty funny. I said, he's right, I am a חסיד chasid. And I'm also a מסנגד misnaged, and I'm also Modern Orthodox, and I'm also this and I'm also that. I'm part of the שהכל shehakol. לך לך Lech lecha. Go discover who you are. Go on that journey. How do you arrive at that destination? The journey of לך lecha, how do you get to where you're going? So you have to rise above, that's what the תורה Torah tells us. מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך Me'artzecha u'mimoladetecha u'mibeis avicha. You have to be able to transcend, you have to rise above the influences around you. So many people are simply the result of everything around them. They bow to peer pressure and they fold, they become the composite of everyone around them. And that's what השם Hashem is testing אברהם Avram and he says, 'אברהם Avram, you're living in a morally corrupt and decadent and lost society. Are you going to start watching the things because pop culture tells you this is what's appropriate to watch? Are you going to use this language because this has become an acceptable mode and modicum of conversation? Are you going to begin to dress this way or adopt these behaviors because the world around you, society around you thinks that these are normal slogans and marketing to have on billboards on 95 that children drive up and down?' מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך Me'artzecha u'mimoladetecha u'mibeis avicha. Transcend, rise above. Take a moment and think about who you are, who you're meant to be. Discover your mission in this world and go fulfill this purpose. And the סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe in this section, again we've covered this before so we are moving on. The סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe says that's the way of the concept called עבודה זרה avodah zarah. עבודה זרה Avodah zarah which translates to idolatry, עבודה זרה avodah zarah, idolatry. So we think of someone who's bowing down to an idol. We all know that story of אברהם Avram in the מדרש Midrash that precedes what we're introduced to here in the תורה Torah itself. His father has this great workshop of idols, and his father goes out to lunch and he smashes the idols, puts the hammer in the biggest idol, and his father comes home and says, 'What happened?' He said, 'What do you mean? The big idol did it, not me.' And he says, 'אברהם Avram, little אברהם Avram, that's ridiculous. It's a stone, it's a statue. They can't destroy the little ones.' And little אברהם Avram looks up at his father and he says, 'Exactly. If it can't even destroy the little ones, what are you doing bowing down to it?' And he understood that. He intuited that. That made sense to him. He rose above the pressures of the society around him to a journey of self-discovery to find out and to figure out what he believed and who he was. So says the סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe, you know what עבודה זרה avodah zarah is? עבודה Avodah which is זרה zarah. An עבודה avodah, if you dedicate your life and you think you're on a mission, which is זרה zarah, it's strange and it's foreign to you. You're trying to compete or you're trying to be someone or something else. You see the way someone else looks, how they dress, you see their mission, you see the impact that they're and you're trying to be them, that's עבודה זרה avodah zarah. Trying to be something you're not, trying to compete or compare, trying to follow a foreign influence, עבודה avodah which is זרה zarah to you. לך לך Lech lecha. So we begin with the נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, the הייליגע ר' אלימלך מליז'ענסק heiliger Rebbe Elimelech mi'Lizensk. Some of you were with me on Poland trips several summers ago, we were in ליז'ענסק Lizensk, and we had what was one of the greatest טישים tishes of all time, not on a שבת Shabbos, in the בית מדרש beis medrash of the הייליגע ר' אלימלך heiliger Rebbe Elimelech from ליז'ענסק Lizensk, opposite his קבר kever, the great נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech. So he says the following. He says the following, and I continue to draw from, this week we're going to draw very heavily from this new חומש Chumash I told you I got, which is the מקראות גדולות הפארדס Mikraos Gedolos HaPardes, פשט רמז דרש וסוד pshat, remez, drash, v'sod, and it has a lot of, since I think I am a חסיד chasid, I have to learn this חומש Chumash, because that has a lot of the, I am a חסיד chasid, it has a lot of the חסידישע chasidishe teachings. So he says the following, I thought this is very powerful. האדם צריך לעבוד את הקב\"ה בשלש מדרגות Ha'adam tzarich la'avod es Hakadosh Baruch Hu be'shalosh madreigos. A person has to serve השם Hashem on three levels. The journey of self-definition, to determine and define who we are and who we're meant to be. We're not simply the bumper sticker that our parents put on the back of their car when we were growing up, although of course our parents have a big influence and should. My daughter from Israel is also here. I welcome her. Your parents should have a big influence on who you are. You should listen to them and you should follow them, even as you're discovering and on the journey to figure out who you are. So there are three levels. Number one, says the נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, מתחילה צריך לשבר כל תאוות האכילה ושתיה שיהא אכילתו בקדושה ובטהרה Mitchila tzarich leshaber kol ta'avos ha'achila v'hashtiya she'yehei achilaso bi'kdusha u'v'tahara. We are physical beings, we live in the physical world and we are drawn to physical pleasures. So many of us, not all of us, love food. We're foodies, we love food. We love the texture and we love the flavor and we love the aroma, and we love the diversification of the foods that we eat. We love the crunch, or we love the squish, or we love the, we're drawn to different things, as you know by now for some reason on שבת שובה Shabbos Shuva, I chose that half my דרשה drasha would be about, first of all, very few emails that said, 'Great תורה Torah or it changed my life.' I probably received two dozen emails, either endorsing my endorsement of Cape Cod potato chips or of Trader Joe's corn chips. So I'm glad that people got out of the שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuva drasha the most important parts. And I hope I get a commission from Cape Cod and from Trader Joe's. So some of us are, I've come to conclude, why do I love the crunch? There's something about that crunch. Something about that crunch. I can have a delicious salad for lunch. I need a rice cake or a corn cake. I need the crunch. We're drawn to אכילה ושתיה achila v'shtiya. People love to eat. Some for some in a very unhealthy and damaging way and self-sabotaging way, we love to eat as a way that we comfort or escape or numb ourselves. Eating is a form of addiction. One of the anonymous recovery programs is Overeaters Anonymous. So says the נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, אכילה ושתיה achila v'shtiya, we're drawn to eat, as physical beings we're drawn to the act and the pleasure and the satisfaction and the fulfillment of eating. And that is the message of the first לך לך lech lecha, מארצך me'artzecha. ארצך Artzecha is ארץ eretz, is ארץ eretz, is the material physical world. Transcend the physical world. Eat to live, don't live to eat. Use food as a way to connect with others and to bring joy to others and to host others. Use food as a way to enjoy family time. Use food for fulfillment of much more meaningful things than very unhealthy things. Says the נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, that's number one. ובזה נשבר כח אלהים אחרים, שהם בגימטריא הטבע U'v'zeh nishbar koach Elohim acheirim, she'hem b'gematria ha'teva. האלהים Ha'Elohim foreign gods in גמטריא gematria, the numerical value is הטבע ha'teva, nature, natural. ואחר שנשבר כח אלהים אחרים, אז זכה למדרגת יראה של אלהים חיים V'achar she'nishbar koach Elohim acheirim, az zacha le'madreigas yirah shel Elohim chayim. So the first level of what we need to transcend is being physical beings. Now you can't transcend it. I got a news flash for you. Everyone's going to break the fast after יום כיפור Yom Kippur. Nobody reaches that level of נעילה Neilah and says, 'This is unbelievable. I haven't had anything to eat or drink. I don't wear leather shoes, I'm anointed, I don't need any pleasures. I am an angel, I'm going to keep this going. Why do I need to break the fast? I'm just going to keep this going.' So maybe you do a little bit, I was just reading about ר' בונים מ'פשיסחא זצ\"ל Reb Bunim mi'Pshischa zatzal, who it took a little while after the fast before he ate or drank because he did, he felt like an angel. Most of us, we really didn't leave this world too long. We're pretending, we're trying, we're imitating being angels. But the truly righteous who actually left this world to be angels for 25 hours, you know, reentry is not easy. You don't just come right back in. So people like ר' בונים מ'פשיסחא זצ\"ל Reb Bunim mi'Pshischa zatzal, he didn't eat for a couple hours after יום כיפור Yom Kippur because he was still trying to transition back to this world. But for most of us, we're already eating by the middle of מנחה Mincha. In our head, we know what the break fast is, we've already made the plate, we can already smell the coffee. Is it the iced coffee which is really just another way of saying milkshake, or is it a real proper coffee, which is just a black coffee in a nice good mug? So we're already sipping it, we're smelling it, we're already right, we're already right in there. We're already right in there. So the first מארצך me'artzecha is to rise above that physical definition. But you can't. We need to eat, but we need to have it in the right definition. In אלול Elul we had a four-part series about eat, sleep, move and breathe. I gave the one on eating, you could listen, it's online, you could watch it on YouTube, and we talked about the תורה השקפה Torah hashkafa of eating. We have to eat. And השם Hashem wants us to enjoy eating. Eating is a beautiful thing. As we said, it does bring happiness and it connects us. We have a מצוה mitzvah to eat at every ceremony and ritual and life cycle event, and every יום טוב Yom Tov and on every שבת Shabbos, eating is not just mundane, eating is not neutral or פרווה pareve, eating is a value and a virtue. We believe in eating, there's a סעודת מצוה seudas mitzvah. Eating is something beautiful, but we have to have it in the right context, in the right השקפה hashkafa. And that's the first level of transcendance. The first מדרגה madreiga, the first level we're trying to rise above is מארצך me'artzecha. Control your eating, don't let it eat control you. Eat to live, don't live to eat. That's number one. Number two says the ר' אלימלך Reb Elimelech. Number two, צריך לשבר המדות רעות שנולד בהם, טולד, טולד, מיולי דוסה. Tzarich leshaber ha'midos ra'os she'nolad ba'hem, told told, miyulid duso. ואחר שמשבר מדות אלו, הוא זוכה לבוא לעבודת הבורא V'achar she'mishaber midos eilu, hu zocheh lavo la'avodas ha'Borei. Number two, we all have predispositions. Every one of us. We are born with genetic predispositions. There's the age-old debate, nature versus nurture. There's a lot that we learn from our surroundings, we are conditioned from our family or friends, but we also have natural instinct and inclination. We have natural predispositions. Some are naturally predisposed to be patient and calm and nothing makes them flustered. And others emerged from the womb in a fit of rage. They were already excitable. They were already dramatic. We have different predispositions. So the second level, מארצך me'artzecha was rise above being a physical being. ממולדתך Mimoladetecha, מולדתך moladetecha means from the place of your birth, it means your genetic predispositions. Just because you were predisposed to be angry and filled with rage, a fire in your belly, you're predisposed to be envious or jealous, you're predisposed to be impatient, predisposed to be stubborn doesn't mean you're locked into those behaviors. We have the capacity to change. We have the ability to transform ourselves. We can become the people we were yet meant to be. And that is the second level. So the first level is לך לך lech lecha, you want to figure out who you are? מארצך Me'artzecha. Don't be defined by food and drink and your pursuit of physical pleasure. Enjoy the physical world but be in control of it, don't let it be in control of you. Number two, ממולדתך mimoladetecha. Don't just be the result of your genetic predisposition. ממולדתך Mimoladetecha. This is who I am. This is who my father was, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my brothers, my children. This is who we are. No, there's nothing that's locking you in to be that. לך לך Lech lecha. Go be who you were meant to be, go be the best you were meant to be by transcending the second. And the third says the נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech. ואחר כך, צריך לבוא למדרגה שהיא תכלית, כמו שאמרו, יהא יפה בפורום V'achar kach, tzarich lavo le'madreiga she'hi tachlis, k'mo she'amru, yehe yoffa ba'forum. וזה רמז כאן פסוק לך לך מארצך V'zeh remez kan pasuk lech lecha me'artzecha. רמז למדרגה ראשונה Remez le'madreiga rishona, the first מארצך me'artzecha, the first level of תאוה taavah, rise above impulse, compulsive behavior. ממולדתך למדות הרעות הנודע במאדם Mimoladetecha le'midos ha'ra'os ha'noda ba'adam. Second level is from the genetic negative traits that perhaps you were born with. ומבית אביך U'mibeis avicha, the third is רמז למדרגה שלישית remez le'madreiga shlishis, which is to rise above the lowliness to be מסתפק בעבודת אבותיו הגדולים mistapek b'avodas avosav ha'gedolim. צריך לצאת מהמידה הזאת Tzarich latzeis me'hamidah hazos. Understand the greatness that we come from. Don't just be defined by the people who gave birth to you. That's the final level. That's the last level. ומבית אביך U'mibeis avicha, ומבית אביך u'mibeis avicha. How many people are riding the coattails still of their parents? On שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos we spoke about נח Noach was the son of למך Lemech. In Yiddish a למך lemech is a לא יצלח lo yutzlach. A למך lemech, you'll excuse the expression, is a loser. A למך lemech is an unsuccessful failure. Why was נח's Noach's father named למך Lemech? Poor guy, he had no shot in school with the name למך Lemech. Somebody texted me on מוצאי שבת Motzaei Shabbos, his kids were at שלוש סעודות Shalosh Seudos. Thanks, Rabbi, now my kids are calling each other למך lemech. But anyway, a למך lemech, a למך lemech is an unintended consequences of דברי תורה divrei Torah. File that under unintended consequences. A למך lemech is a לא יצלח lo yutzlach. Why was נח's Noach's father a למך lemech? Because when למך Lemech names his son נח Noach, he says, 'כי נחמתי ki nichamti', because, you know what? Our generation's a failure. But my son, did you hear what he got on his SATs? Did you hear what school he got into? Did you hear he made a סיום הש\"ס siyum ha'Shas? Do you know who my son is? There are parents, if as a parent, if as an adult, you have no independent identity, you have no impact on the world, you leave no legacy other than living vicariously through your children, then you're a למך lemech. But the opposite's also true. If you're a child who has no independent identity or contribution to this world, you live off of the literal or virtual trust fund, the spiritual trust fund of a parent. All you can talk about is, 'Yes, my father finished ש\"ס Shas. Yes, my mother runs the חסד קמיטי chesed committee. Me? I'm a nothing. But I live off of my parent.' You're also a למך lemech. You may not be named למך lemech, but ומבית אביך u'mibeis avicha. That's the third level that we need to transcend. So says the נועם אלימלך, ר' אלימלך מליז'ענסק Noam Elimelech, Reb Elimelech mi'Lizensk, he goes on and on with this, but he says, the three levels of the journey that אברהם Avram had to take towards self-discovery, to לך לך lech lecha to figure out who he is, who he's meant to be, the best version of himself, are the same ingredients. They are the same directions on the journey that we take. מארצך Me'artzecha, don't be defined by the physical world. Enjoy it, but be in control of it. Don't let it be in control of you. ממולדתך Mimoladetecha, don't feel bound and shackled by the genetic predispositions that you have. They don't define you. We can yet break through them. And thirdly, ומבית אביך u'mibeis avicha, you're not just your last name. You're not just your last name. You're not just where you come from. You know they say that יחוס yichus, יחוס yichus is an entire string of zeros, but you've got to put the one in front of it. You've got to put one in front of it. So a long string of zeros, ten zeros is zero. If you put a one in front of it, it's a big number. So where you come from, your parents, your grandparents, your great-grandparents, your last name, your legacy, who you are, it's a long list of zeros. You've got to still put the one in front of it if you're going to transform that יחוס yichus into giving you an identity of who you are. Okay, look at this. We're already up to the next פסוק pasuk. We are improving every week. אשך לגוי גדול, ואברכך ואגדלה שמך, והיה ברכה. E'escha le'goy gadol, va'avarechecha, va'agadlah shmecha, veheyei bracha. I'm going to make you a great nation. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to make your name great. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha. And you are going to be a ברכה bracha. What does it mean that you are going to be a ברכה bracha? So I want to share with you several interpretations of והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. So buckle in. We're going to see six or seven different interpretations of these words, והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. Now the question of והיה ברכה veheyei bracha, why is it a question? How do you define the word והיה ברכה veheyei bracha? Let's prove to the people who are watching or listening that there are people in the audience. Once upon a time, there wasn't a seat available for the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur as you know. We'll get there again, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. So let's prove to them. You know what the words והיה ברכה veheyei bracha mean? Straight translate. I promise I'm not all alone in this room. I promise. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha. Who will? You, we, it, what will be a blessing? Will be blessed? It'll be a blessing. Why is it difficult? Why is it complicated? Because look at the פסוק pasuk. Others will want to be blessed like you. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha. You'll be the gold standard. Okay. The reason that this is challenging is because the פסוק pasuk, God already said to him, 'ואברכך va'avarechecha.' Okay, so a רבה rebbe could repeat a ברכה bracha when he gives the ברכה bracha, but השם Hashem is perfect, omnipotent, omniscient, he doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't have to repeat himself. So if he says, 'אשך לגוי גדול e'escha le'goy gadol, you're going to be a great nation.' First of all, great in quality, great in quantity, what does it mean to be a great nation? 'ואברכך Va'avarechecha, I'm going to bless you.' What does it mean to be blessed? 'ואגדלה שמך Va'agadlah shmecha, I'm going to make your name great. You are going to be an Instagram sensation. You're going to be the biggest influencer of all time. I'm going to make you, ואגדלה שמך va'agadlah shmecha. You're going to have the most followers ever. And, והיה ברכה veheyei bracha.' So didn't we already cover everything? What's left for the definition of והיה ברכה veheyei bracha? That is the challenges that we have to deal with. So אברהם Avram is 75 years old. He's rejected a life of paganism. He has discovered השם Hashem and השם Hashem gives him a promise. 'נו Nu, come aboard. I'm not giving you the destination. The destination is לך lecha. I want you to figure out at 75 years old, at 75 years old, you're just beginning, you're not done.' So if you're nearing that age, at that age, or over that age, realize that אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu was just starting his life then. You're not finished, you're just getting started, your best is yet to come. לך לך Lech lecha. אברהם Avram's just discovering who he is. And he ends with והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. So what does it mean? So says רש\"י Rashi, look at רש\"י Rashi, והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. רש\"י Rashi says, הברכות נתונות בידך ha'brachos nesunos b'yadecha. The ברכות brachos are handed over to you. עד עכשיו היו בידי Ad achshav hayu b'yadi. Says God, 'Until now, I was the exclusive holder of the ברכה bracha. Someone needed or wanted a ברכה bracha, they had to come to me. They gave the קוויטל kvittel to me. They handed over the cash to me. I was the lone person who gave out ברכות brachos. I blessed אדם Adam, and so on and so forth. But now I have given you the power, I've given you the כח koach of ברכה bracha. הברכות נתונות בידך Ha'brachos nesunos b'yadecha, the power to bless has been given to you.' השם Hashem empowered him to choose what and who and how and when to give a ברכה bracha. To give a ברכה bracha, I gave it to you. By the way, he gave it to all of us through אברהם Avram. The גמרא Gemara makes a very powerful statement. It says, 'ברכות הדיוט אל תהי קלה בעיניך birchos hedyot al tehi kalah b'einecha.' When we give ברכות brachos to one another, don't take them lightly. The power of a ברכה bracha, of wishing well for another person, what we draw down from שמים Shamayim, the good energy that we give, it is the exact inverse or opposite of an עין הרע ayin hara. The עין הרע ayin hara is that I can't פרגין fargin you, I'm not happy for you. So I draw a negative energy. I put a target on your back. I ask השם Hashem to check into whether you really deserve this. But the opposite is, I give you a ברכה bracha. ברכות הדיוט אל תהי קלה בעיניך Birchos hedyot al tehi kalah b'einecha. שרומת הדשן Trumas HaDeshen writes that we make a קידוש kiddush at the birth of a girl. We have a ברית bris at the birth of a boy. We make a קידוש kiddush at the birth of a girl. Why do we make a קידוש kiddush at the birth of a girl? Because not only do we want to express our gratitude, many reasons are given why you make a קידוש kiddush, why, whatever event that you have in order to express gratitude and welcome the birth of that girl, he writes that שרומת הדשן Trumas HaDeshen, the reason is that everyone's going to say, 'Oh, מזל טוב mazal tov, should have a lot of נחת nachas, she should get married, she should do מעשים טובים ma'asim tovim, she should give you a lot of children', because it will, it will provoke, it will inspire others to give a ברכה bracha. So you have an event that people can wish you the מזל טוב mazal tov for the ברכה bracha they will give because ברכות הדיוט אל תהי קלה בעיניך birchos hedyot al tehi kalah b'einecha. Never dismiss, never underestimate the power of the ברכה bracha of an average person. Of an average person. By the way, there are no average people. There are extraordinary people, extraordinary people. So people line up to go get a ברכה bracha from חיים קנייבסקי Chaim Kanievsky and חסידישע רבעס chasidishe rebbes. They line up, literally in בני ברק Bnei Brak. They line up, if you've been to ר' חיים Reb Chaim, out of the apartment, down the stairs, up the block, line up, all to get a בוהה buha. So many people want to get a ברכה bracha from ר' חיים קנייבסקי Reb Chaim Kanievsky, it was inefficient to say ברכה והצלחה bracha v'hatzlacha, so he condensed ברכה והצלחה bracha v'hatzlacha to בוהה buha. 'בוהה, בוהה, בוהה' buha, buha, buha. And it's great. ר' חיים Reb Chaim is the שר התורה Sar HaTorah, the גדול הדור gadol ha'dor. To get a ברכה bracha from him is unbelievable. But how do you know that the person who at the end of שול shul said 'גוט שבת gut Shabbos, you should have a good week,' or at the end of מעריב Maariv on מוצאי שבת Motzaei Shabbos, הבדלה Havdalah, said 'you should have a פרנסה טובה parnassah tovah week and a wonderful week and a healthy week.' How do you know about that person, what they've been through, who they are, and the power of the ברכה bracha they're giving? So this ברכה bracha was given to אברהם Avram and through אברהם Avram it was given to every one of us. And never underestimate the power of a ברכה bracha. Power of a ברכה bracha. The לובביטשער רבה Lubavitcher Rebbe was a big proponent that on a person's Hebrew birthday, they are in a position to give ברכות brachos to everybody. On a person's Hebrew birthday, it's kind of the opposite of the secular definition. On a person's birthday, everybody gives them ברכות brachos and gifts and check and Venmo and Zelle and parties and balloons. The רבה rebbe turns it inside out. He said, on a person's birthday, on the day that השם Hashem determined that the world needed you in it and renewed that contract with it, you are in a position to give everyone else a ברכה bracha. On your Hebrew birthday, you should give, next year when we'll be zoom in, you give a ברכה bracha on your, on your birthday. It is very powerful. Where did we get this power from? והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha. It's from אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu. השם Hashem said, 'I had the exclusive rights on giving ברכות brachos, and I'm sharing those rights with you. I no longer have exclusivity, I no longer have a monopoly.' Imagine parents give a child a ברכה bracha on their way out to school every morning. A ברכה bracha about the kind of day they should have, a ברכה bracha how they do on a test, a ברכה bracha to get along, a ברכה bracha that they learn well, a ברכה bracha they have good מידות midos, a ברכה bracha they win their soccer game. Whatever ברכות brachos, the power of a ברכה bracha, says רש\"י Rashi, והיה ברכה veheyei bracha, השם Hashem gave that power to אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu, and through him he gave it to us. The רמב\"ן Ramban understands differently. For the sake of time, we won't read it inside. The רמב\"ן Ramban says that you will be the ברכה bracha through whom people make a ברכה bracha. In other words, people are going to say, 'May God make you like אברהם Avram.' They just celebrated yesterday, I think, Ambassador David Friedman launched a new initiative in ירושלים עיר הקודש Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh in celebration and trying to expand the success of the Abraham Accords. We are, this is a fulfillment of this פסוק pasuk. Peace has been reached between nations that heretofore didn't have peace, and what's the name of this accomplishment? The Abraham Accords. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha. השם Hashem says, 'אברהם Avram, when they want to give a ברכה bracha they'll say, 'May you be like אברהם Avram. May you be like אברהם Avram.' First השם Hashem told אברהם Avram, 'I'm going to bless you', and then the, like additional, the ברכה bracha that you want on steroids, the supersize ברכה bracha that I'm giving you is, not only am I blessing you, but I'm giving you the ברכה bracha that everyone's going to want to be like you. That you will become the standard by which people live. That people will say to their children, 'Why can't you be like אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu? I bless you, you should be more like אברהם Avram.' ספורנו Sforno, ר' עובדיה ספורנו Reb Ovadia Sforno has yet a third definition. He says, 'ברכת השם היא שישמח השם במעשיו Birkas Hashem hi she'yismach Hashem b'maasav.' To be a blessing means, give נחת nachas to השם Hashem through your actions. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha means השם Hashem says, 'I'm giving you a ברכה bracha, give me a lot of נחת nachas.' That's like the parent sends the child out of the door and says, 'I'm giving you a ברכה bracha. You know what your ברכה bracha is? That you give me a lot of נחת nachas. Not עגמת נפש agmas nefesh, not צער גידול בנים tza'ar gidul banim, that you give me a lot of נחת nachas. That's my ברכה bracha to you is that you're a source of ברכה bracha to me.' That's how the ספורנו Sforno understands והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. So 'ואברכך va'avarechecha, I'm blessing you, אברהם Avram. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha, and you should be a source of ברכה bracha, you should be a source of נחת nachas to me.' ר' הירש, ר' שמשון רפאל הירש Reb Hirsch, Reb Shamshon Rafael Hirsch gives a, I think we're up to number four, interpretation of והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. You're all going to be tested afterwards, so I don't know why you're not scribbling notes. והיה ברכה Veheyei bracha. ר' שמשון רפאל הירש Reb Shamshon Rafael Hirsch says, it does not say 'והיית ברכה v'hayisa bracha' or 'תהיה ברכה tiheyeh bracha', but 'היה ברכה heyei bracha', become a blessing. And he writes, ר' הירש Reb Hirsch, 'In these two words, the whole moral task is summarized. All others strive not להיות ברכה lihiyos bracha, to be a blessing, להיות ברוכים lihiyos bruchim.' Everybody else strives להיות ברוכים lihiyos bruchim. Everybody else wants to be a blessing. Sorry, everybody else wants to receive a blessing. Says ר' הירש Reb Hirsch, this ברכה bracha was that we should be a blessing. There are two ways you could live your life, where you're working hard to be blessed or you're working hard to be a blessing. You could have both at the same time. In fact, if you spend your life trying to be a blessing, you will in fact lead a very blessed life. But there are people who want to lead a blessed life. It's all about them. They want everybody to bow down to them. They want everyone to fall in line with them. They want the world to revolve around them. They want all the material physical pleasures in the world, all the honor and glory in the world, and they think the whole world revolves around them. They think that they deserve and they are entitled to all the blessings there are. So there are people who spend their lives in pursuit of having blessing. Says ר' הירש Reb Hirsch, השם Hashem here tells אברהם Avram, 'You, your progeny, your children, the Jewish people, we have a different ambition. We have a different aspiration and goal. Our goal is not to enjoy blessing, our goal is to be a blessing. To be a blessing in other people's life.' How do you know what blessing you're supposed to be? Are you supposed to head this committee or head that committee? Are you supposed to be a public person or a very private person? Are you supposed to focus on this area or that area? How do you know what, in what way you're supposed to be a blessing to others? So that goes back to the first פסוק pasuk. לך לך Lech lecha. You have to go discover who you are, what you're made of, what are your skills, what are your talents, what are your liabilities, what are you born with, what have you learned, what are your challenges, what are your opportunities, what are all the ingredients that make up who you are. לך לך Lech lecha. Figure out who you are, and then, היה ברכה heyei bracha. Once you know who you are, don't worship עבודה זרה avodah zarah. Don't serve a foreign life and lifestyle that should be foreign to you, but rather, היה ברכה heyei bracha. לך לך Lech lecha. Once you figure out who you are and who you're meant to be, then היה ברכה heyei bracha. And our life and our life story puts us in that position to be that ברכה bracha. Some people here have gone through challenging times, and do we use that challenging time? My wife just got a text this week about, נבך nebach, a woman who lost a baby, stillbirth. And the person thought to call my wife because, נבך nebach, when we were much younger, after our second child, my wife had a stillbirth. And so she understood that all these years later, whatever you've been through in your life, היה ברכה heyei bracha. You could either be miserable and retreat and you could turn inward with what you've been through, or you could take what you've been through and say, 'That positions me to help others.' היה ברכה Heiyei bracha. Let me take my experience and let me try to help others. Not only in the negative, in the positive, too. You've been blessed with opportunity and you're in a position now to teach others who've been blessed similarly. Take that and teach that. That is לך לך lech lecha. So that was what, four? We started with four. Let's keep going with a few more. Says the זרע קודש Zera Kodesh, the ר' מרופשיץ Rebbe from Ropshitz, ר' נפתלי מרופשיץ Reb Naftali Ropshitz. He says, והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. So רש\"י Rashi here writes another interpretation of והיה ברכה veheyei bracha, that you will be the ברכה bracha, is, אשך לגוי גדול, זה שאומרים אלוקי אברהם. ואברכך, זה שאומרים אלוקי יצחק. ואגדלה שמך, זה שאומרים אלוקי יעקב. יכול יחתמו בכולם? E'escha le'goy gadol, zeh she'omrim Elokei Avraham. Va'avarechecha, zeh she'omrim Elokei Yitzchak. Va'agadlah shmecha, zeh she'omrim Elokei Yaakov. Yachol yachsomu b'kulam? So these three correspond with the three ברכות brachos of אלוקי אברהם, אלוקי יצחק ואלוקי יעקב Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak v'Elokei Yaakov. You might think that we'll end the ברכה bracha, the first ברכה bracha of שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei, the first ברכה bracha of the עמידה Amidah will end invoking all three, מגן אברהם יצחק ויעקב magen Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov? בך חותמין Becha chosmin. This והיה ברכה veheyei bracha is בך חותמין ולא בהם becha chosmin v'lo bahem. We're going to end with you and not them. How do we end the first ברכה bracha of שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei? מגן Magen? See, there are people here. מגן אברהם Magen Avraham. We end the first ברכה bracha, we never had to think about these kind of things, proving to people that they're people in a room. One of the gifts of the pandemic. בך חותמין ולא בהם Becha chosmin v'lo bahem. The Gemara in פסחים Psachim says Hashem to Avram, היית ברכה heyei bracha, you're the ברכה bracha. Yeah Yitzchak, yeah Yaakov, אלוקי אברהם אלוקי יצחק ואלוקי יעקב Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak, v'Elokei Yaakov. It's true all three are significant, we have three אבות avos, three patriarchs, but you know what? בך חותמין Becha chosmin. When we end the ברכה bracha, it's on you. מגן אברהם Magen Avraham. Hashem preserves the Avraham within all of us. Says the holy Ropshitzer Rebbe, says the holy of Natali Ropshitz in the זרע קודש Zera Kodesh, פירוש, שהיזבורך שמו מנהיג עולמו בחסד peirush, she'yisborach shmo manhig olamo b'chesed, ואף שיש דברים שנראים לנו שאינם ממידת החסד v'af sheyesh dvarim shenir'im lanu she'einam m'midas ha'chesed, עם כל זה החסד גנוז ונסתר בהם im kol zeh ha'chesed ganuz v'nistar bahem.You know, sometimes we go through life and we think, why would Hashem punish us? Why would Hashem cause us pain? Why must I endure this hardship, this challenge, this struggle? We need to know that Hashem is a kind God. He's a loving father and everything he does comes from kindness and compassion and love. And sometimes we see that love right on the surface. Sometimes a parent gives a child a gift, a parent gives a child a hug, a snuggle, a parent Venmos a child or sets them up on their debit card with some money. Sometimes the child feels the love of the parent directly. And other times the parent has to say to the child, taking away your technology so you do better in school. I need to give a little פאטש patch, you ran in the middle of the street, you stuck your finger in the middle of the outlet. Is that also חסד chesed? Is that also love? 100%. It's also love which is cloaked with rebuke, but it's really driven by love. Every way in which Hashem interacts with us is driven by that love, by that חסד chesed. However, sometimes we don't know. אך אחר כך כשמתגלה החסד מבינים ורואים, שהכל היה בחינת חסד, שלא היה חסד נראה. Ach achar kach k'she'misgaleh ha'chesed mevinim v'ro'im, shehakol haya bechinas chesed, shelo haya chesed nir'eh. Sometimes it's only after the fact that we can realize that really it was all חסד chesed. The thing that didn't work out that we were devastated and broken by, thank God it didn't work out. Had it worked out, do you know what would have happened? Sometimes we, we have to live life forward, but often we only understand life backwards. When we look at our life after the fact, in retrospect, we can try to make sense of it. נמצא שסוף כל דבר תכליתו וסיומו בחסד Nimtza she'sof kol davar tachlito v'siyumo b'chesed. So therefore we see that Hashem's signature is חסד chesed. So that's what it means, בך חותמין becha chosmin. What's the מידה midah of Avram? חסד Chesed. בך Becha, Avram, with your מידה midah of חסד chesed, חותמין chosmin. When Hashem ends the story, he always does it with חסד chesed. Sometimes it's only at the end and the after-fact, sometimes it's only in retrospect. בך חותמין Becha chosmin. With your מידה midah of חסד chesed, חותמין chosmin, that's how he ends the story, it always comes back to חסד chesed. We may not understand it, we may not appreciate it, we may not ever understand or appreciate it in our lives and in this world. But ultimately when we look back on our lives, we will be able to see how it was all driven and inspired by חסד chesed. בך Becha, Avram, with your מידה midah and quality, חותמין chosmin, that is how it all ends. ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו. אמן. Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro. Amen.make sure that everybody can see. Okay, good.Next, Kotsker Rebbe. What number are we up to? Six. I think the sixth interpretation of והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. Kotsker Rebbe. This is the new ספר sefer I got. Mendy Fishman, who co-sponsored today's שיעור shiur, whose daughter is getting married, the son is getting married tonight, got me half of these ספרים sfarim. So we all owe him a debt of gratitude because every time he comes down, he brings a new ספר sefer he thinks I need to have, and he's usually right. And then I share his beautiful תורה Torah with you. So thank you, Mendy, for this. So the Kotsker in this new אמת ואמונה Emes v'Emunah, collection of the Kotsker Rebbe's teachings. ואעשך לגוי גדול v'e'escha l'goy gadol. Some of you get the Cape Cod potato chips, he gets me ספרים sfarim. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. פירוש רש\"י, גוי גדול, אברכך Peirush Rashi, goy gadol, avarechecha and so on. יש לומר על דרך מאמר חז\"ל Yesh lomar al derech ma'amar Chazal, על ג' דברים העולם עומד Al gimmel dvarim ha'olam omed. I find this Kotsker very powerful. So, you ready? Listen. Listen carefully. We know the Mishna in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos says that three things hold the world. Three things that are foundation to the world. תורה, עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, u'gemilus chasadim. What does it mean, by the way, העולם עומד ha'olam omed? על שלשה דברים העולם עומד Al shlosha dvarim ha'olam omed. Everybody knows this Mishna. There are three things that hold up the world. תורה, עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, u'gemilus chasadim. What is the עולם olam, the world? Like, what does that mean? Physicists have studied the world, and if we don't have תורה, עבודה Torah, avodah, earth is going to fall off its axis, the world's going to collapse? What does that mean? העולם עומד Ha'olam omed? What does that mean? That was not a rhetorical question. What does that mean? Okay. There is coffee available in the back by the way, if you have not yet woken up. You can have some coffee. So, רבנו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah has, there are many interpretations. All the commentators in the Mishna and the אבות Avos give interpretations. It does not mean the physical world. Maybe it means in the merit of these three things. Others interpret that it means that it is to live with these three things, that is why God created the world. העולם עומד Ha'olam omed means, the reason God created the world was to express, to learn and live תורה Torah, and to be a life of service, עבודה avodah, and to practice חסד chesed, loving kindness. These three, by the way, correspond with the three relationships we have in our life. I always tell you the מהר\"ל Maharal in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos says, פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos is brought to us by the number three. פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos is brought to you by the number three. Three all over פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos. And every time you see the number three in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos, it is an allusion to the three relationships we live. Namely, בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chaveiro, interpersonal. Everyone knows that one. בין אדם למקום Bein adam la'Makom, between us and God. Good, everybody knows that one. And what's the third? בין אדם לעצמו Bein adam l'atzmo. Between a person and themselves. That is the most neglected relationship in our lives and in our time. Thanks to technology and other things. I embrace, I love technology, which is an enormous blessing but it also has been a curse. Because there's always noise, there's always background, there's always contamination. Our environment is so polluted that we never just be. So we don't have a relationship. We're not in conversation with ourselves. Our level of self-awareness. So that third relationship, בין אדם לעצמו bein adam l'atzmo, is very challenging in our time. Very important to carve out some space and create some margin to nourish and invest in that relationship, בין אדם לעצמו bein adam l'atzmo. So, תורה, עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, u'gemilus chasadim. You have עבודה avodah is בין אדם למקום bein adam la'Makom. גמילות חסדים Gemilus chasadim is בין אדם לחברו bein adam l'chaveiro. And תורה Torah is בין אדם לעצמו bein adam l'atzmo. That's how we learn about ourselves and that's how we can live our best selves. So we have these three things, the Mishna in אבות Avos. I was getting back to עולם עומד olam omed. What does it mean the world exists? So some say it means the whole world was created for these things. I was teaching way back when I had hair, I was a young married person, we spent the summer in camp, and I was on the חנוך chinuch staff and I was teaching a group of young middle school girls. We were learning פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos. And I asked them, what do you think העולם עומד ha'olam omed? And a young girl said, and I love this answer, I've never forgotten it. She said, a עולם olam, every one of us is our own little world. We're all a world unto ourselves. We each are our own little world. And our world, the equilibrium, the balance of our world, the health and stability, mentally, spiritually, emotionally of our world, requires these three things. If תורה Torah doesn't ground us, and if עבודה avodah if we don't remember with humility and faith where we come from, and if גמילות חסדים gemilus chasadim we don't care about the people around us, then our world is out of whack. We are imbalanced. Then our life is not healthy and stable. Maybe העולם עומד ha'olam omed doesn't mean the world as in the greater world, the globe, maybe it doesn't mean the world as in the cosmos and the purpose of creation. Maybe it simply means, she suggested, maybe it means our world. Each of us need to have a healthy dose of תורה, עבודה וגמילות חסדים Torah, avodah, u'gemilus chasadim every single day. Says the Kotsker Rebbe, says the holy Kotsker, וידוע v'yadua, we know it's a זהר Zohar, that ג' עמודים אלו מתייחסים עם ג' אבות הקדושים gimmel amudim eilu mityachasim im gimmel avos ha'kedoshim. The זהר Zohar already tells us that these three things correlate with our three great patriarchs. שכל אחד בפרטות היה עובד במדה אחת ממדות אלו shekol echad bifratus haya oved b'midah achas m'midos eilu. Avram was synonymous with גמילות חסדים gemilus chasadim. His tent was open on four sides, selfless, giving, caring. Yitzchak is defined by עבודה avodah. Yitzchak was offered, prepared to be offered as a קרבן korban on the altar. Yaakov, תורה Torah. Yaakov is the איש תם יושב אוהלים ish tam yoshev ohalim. Yaakov שטייג'ט shteiged, the מסמד masmid, Yaakov sat in the tent and learned. So says the Kotsker, לעידן עקבתא l'idan ikvesa. So you know what's going to happen when we head towards the time of the גאולה geulah, when we are reaching the end of days. What if I were trying to impress you, I would say is the eschatological era. When we're heading towards the end of days, ימות המשיח yemos ha'Mashiach, שאז יתמעט תורה ועבודה נגד דורות הקודמים she'az yitma'et Torah v'avodah neged doros ha'kodmim. So in our time, in our generation, ירידת הדורות yeridas ha'doros, the diminishing of the generations, our תורה Torah, it doesn't compare to those who came before us. Now arguably there's more תורה Torah being learned than ever before. There are more ישיבות yeshivos and more כוללים kollelim, more seminaries, more opportunities to learn תורה Torah than ever before in history. We have more ספרים sfarim published in more languages. Thanks to technology, we have hundreds of thousands, we'll hit I'm sure millions of שיעורים shiurim online. You can listen to it any hour of the day, six days a week. There's more תורה Torah than ever. But our knowledge of תורה Torah and תורה's Torah's transformation of us may be less than it was. With all the technological progress, when they just had a ספר sefer and no noise, they knew it better. עבודה Avodah, our דאווענען davening. Our דאווענען davening, I've shared many times before. My wife's grandmother's תהילים Tehillim hangs on the wall of our home. Her תהילים Tehillim is saturated with tears, it's worn out. Our בביס Bubbies, the way that they דאווענט davened, they didn't understand necessarily one word. They couldn't translate, they couldn't give you seven interpretations on והיה ברכה veheyei bracha. But you know what they did do? The תהילים Tehillim moved them to tears. It moved them to tears. They were connected to the shepherd, and they spoke about the Lord is my shepherd, ה' רועי לא אחסר Hashem ro'i lo echsar. They felt I'm a little sheeple, he is my shepherd. They cried over it. And we, ירידת הדורות yeridas ha'doros, עבודה avodah. We, we can get 14 interpretations on every פסוק pasuk of תהילים Tehillim. Rabbi Moskowitz gives a phenomenal תהילים Tehillim class on Thursday mornings. I highly recommend that you go, in person, you're able to come back now and listen. If you can't, listen online. As much as we can interpret תהילים Tehillim, but do we cry? Does the תהילים Tehillim move us the way it once did? So says the Kotsker, we have a diminishing of the generations, ירידת הדורות yeridas ha'doros when it comes to תורה Torah and עבודה avodah. So what's left? אז יתרבה פעולות גמילות חסדים בעולם Az yitrabu pe'ulos gemilus chasadim ba'olam. You know what will be left? You know what's going to get us to the end of days? You know what's going to help us across that finish line to bring משיח Mashiach? גמילות חסדים Gemilus chasadim. And that's what it means, Avram, בך חותמין becha chosmin. Avram, at the end, חותמין chosmin, the חתימה chasimah is the end. The חתימה chasimah is the conclusion, it's the seal. You know what's going to seal the deal? You know what's going to seal the deal of bringing משיח Mashiach, Avram? בך חותמין Becha chosmin. Yitzchak's עבודה avodah and Yaakov's תורה Torah, they're going to still be committed to it, they're going to still do it, but it's going to be less than the generations that came before. But you know in what area they're going to thrive and surpass the earlier generations? חסד Chesed. And on that ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, are we not seeing that? We have the ability to do first of all in ways you couldn't before. If you lived in Europe in different cities, a five-day wagon ride from the next city, you were limited in the חסד chesed you could do to the local people that you interacted with. Today חסד chesed is global. It's global. Somebody launches a charity campaign, a matching campaign, in hours they can raise enormous money to spare a family, to save a home from from people being kicked out, to put food on people's table. The ביקור חולים bikur cholim that's going on in hospitals, whatever your opinion of Satmar, השקפה'דיג hashkafadig, you agree, you disagree, you like, you don't like, you've never seen anything until you've seen the Satmar ביקור חולים bikur cholim in the hospitals of Manhattan, you've never seen anything until you've seen that. בך חותמין Becha chosmin. Avram. Avram, says Hashem, when the generations will wane, when the תורה Torah won't be what the תורה Torah once was, when the עבודה avodah won't be what the עבודה avodah once was, בך becha, in your מידה midah of חסד chesed, חותמין chosmin. What will seal the deal and what will get you across the finish line is the מידה midah of חסד chesed. The גמילות חסדים gemilus chasadim. You know, when when last Monday WhatsApp was down for several hours, it wasn't just that we couldn't send cute gifs and memes and you know, communicate in our family chats. The חסד chesed couldn't be coordinated. We had שבעה מנינים shivah minyanim that we needed to make sure that each one had a מניין minyan. Meals that needed to be arranged, things that needed to be done. Technology has enabled us to supersize the חסד chesed that we perform. בך חותמין Becha chosmin, the חסד chesed that you do. So I think that is the last one. So what do we see? I think eight interpretations of והיה ברכה veheyei bracha, בך חותמין becha chosmin, why Avram is called that. Okay, so now that we've introduced the שיעור shiur, we are ready to begin. פרק י\"ב, פסוק י'. *Perek Yud-Beis, pasuk yud*. Page 56. We're even turning a page this week. ויהי רעב בארץ וירד אברם מצרימה *Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz vayered Avram Mitzraymah* לגור שם *lagur sham*. What happens? There's a famine in the land. ויהי רעב בארץ *Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz*. There's a famine in the land of Israel, which the holy חסידישע ספרים *Chassidishe sforim* talk about, לא רעב ללחם ולא צמא למים *Lo ra'av lalechem v'lo tzama lamayim*. Is this a famine for food, or is this a famine, a spiritual famine? A foreboding of the spiritual famine in our time. Not for now. There's a famine in the land, and Avram goes down to where can food be found? In מצרים *Mitzrayim*. And why is food accessible in מצרים *Mitzrayim* and it's not found in Israel? What does Israel depend on that Egypt is not? The rain. Israel depends on the rain. Has it rained yet this year? In Israel? A little bit of rain, just very little. We דאווען *daven*. We give a ברכה *bracha*. A ברכת הודאה *birkas hoda'ah* that it should rain, it should rain at night while they sleep, but enough rain for Israel to be able to flourish and not have a drought. Israel relies on the rain. By design, Israel relies on the rain. Because when you rely on the rain, really whom are you relying on? Hashem. So by setting up a system by design that causes you to rely on rain, it promotes a deeper relationship with Hashem. Egypt has the Nile. And therefore, you have less of a relationship with Hashem because you think you're in control. Pharaoh thought he was a god because he controlled the Nile and the Nile controlled the economy. But Pharaoh was not a god. And what did he have to do? Like every other human being, he had to relieve himself. And where did he go to relieve himself? At the Nile. All non-coincidental. When Avram and Lot split in our פרשה *parsha*, Lot is drawn to the Nile to Egypt, and Avram is drawn to Israel. Why? Because Lot is drawn to a world of self-sufficiency, independence, power, feeling you're in control of your own economy. And Avram says, no, no, I submit and surrender to him. He's in charge, he's in control, I want to live that life. So ארץ ישראל *Eretz Yisrael* and מצרים *Mitzrayim* are not just geographic locations, they are symbols of what they represent, different attitudes and approaches to life. Which is why the תורה *Torah* in three places tells us we are forbidden to live in מצרים *Mitzrayim*. Jews are not allowed to go back and live in Egypt. We once gave a whole שבת הגדול דרשה *Shabbos HaGadol drasha* about it, because we talked about how the רמב\"ם *Rambam*, the רדב\"ז *Radbaz*, ר' עובדיה יוסף *Rav Ovadia Yosef*, how many great rabbis lived in Egypt, isn't that a violation of this הלכה *halacha*? How did they do that? For another time. But Egypt and Israel, ארץ ישראל *Eretz Yisrael* and מצרים *Mitzrayim* are not just geographic locations, they are representative of attitudes or approaches to life. So Avram has to leave ארץ ישראל *Eretz Yisrael* and go down to מצרים *Mitzrayim*, כי כבד הרעב בארץ *ki chaved ha'ra'av ba'aretz*, because the famine was very heavy. And when he gets there, ויאמר אל שרי אשתו *v'yomer el Sarai ishto*, he turns to his wife Sarai. I do not suggest you try this at home. He turns to his wife Sarai and he says הנה נא ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את *hinei na yadati ki ishah yefas mar'eh at*. Ha! You know how long we're married? You know what number anniversary this is? I never noticed that you're pretty. I didn't get your picture on the resume before we went out, and you know, my mother gave me a שידוך *shidduch*, I didn't even look at you over the Diet Coke in the lobby. And since we're married, you know, I'm אברהם אבינו *Avraham Avinu*. This is the first time I'm really looking at, I never noticed. I never noticed. All those times I said you're sorry, I never really meant it. I never noticed. I never noticed how pretty you are. What's going on over here? Never noticed how pretty you are? Like I say, don't try that at home. Listen to the בן איש חי *Ben Ish Chai*. Listen to the בן איש חי *Ben Ish Chai*. הנה הרואה אישה יפה עד למאוד, הוא יאכל לומר שזה מצד שמתקשטת בצבעונים ותכשיטים. *Hinei ha'ro'eh ishah yafah ad l'me'od, hu yachol lomar she'zeh mitzad she'mitkashtes b'tzivonim u'v'tachshitim.* When you see a beautiful person, beautiful woman, you can say, you know why she's beautiful? Makeup, the jewelry, the Photoshop, the makeup artist, the שייטל *sheitel* artist, every artist, they're artists today. It's not just makeup, you don't just apply, you're an artist. So it's the makeup artist. Look at the artwork they created. This beautiful person. They're not really intrinsically, inherently beautiful. Like the canvas isn't beautiful. An empty canvas isn't beautiful, but by the time the artist is done, what a beautiful piece of artwork. So, you know, honey, I never noticed you are a beautiful piece of artwork. ומאידך יכול לומר שהיא יפה מצד עצמה *U'meidach yachol lomar she'hi yafah mitzad atzmah*. So a person can be beautiful for one of two reasons. They can have a natural beauty, an inherent, internal, natural beauty, or they can clean up nicely, for lack of a better description. You can dress them up nicely. You can use them as a canvas for a beautiful art. והמבחן הוא *V'hamivchan hu*, so what's the test? How do you know if someone's beauty is natural or if someone's beauty is applied? How do you know? כשהיא יוצאת מן העיר מהלך כמה ימים *K'shehi yotzes min ha'ir mahalach kama yamim*. You know how you know? When the flight from Israel lands in the airport and you come out of customs. You know what's the beauty's natural or whether, am I in trouble? My sister's beautiful naturally, always was, always will be, right off the plane, my daughter, the women who came from Israel to celebrate with us this week, their natural beauties. This is the בן איש חי *Ben Ish Chai*. The test of whether someone's beauty is natural or is applied, so to say, is what happens at the end of a long, arduous, difficult journey. You're tired, you're exhausted, you had no ability to keep it up. You did not take the makeup artist with you. שאז אינה יכולה להתקשט כמו שהיא בביתה *She'az einah yecholah l'hitkashet k'mo shehi b'veitah*. You don't have that close-up mirror like you have at home. You don't have that fine lighting. You don't have the entire, I don't know what's in there, like 1,500 of the same thing, makeup chest that you have at home. וגם הדרך משחיר את פנים *V'gam ha'derech mashchir es panim*. And the journey itself puts bags under your eyes, the journey itself makes you look exhausted, tired, and spent. ואם תתמיד ביופיה, סימן שיופיה מצד עצמה *V'im tatmid b'yofyah, siman she'yofyah mitzad atzmah*. And if the person continues to look beautiful even at the end of such a journey, that is the evidence that their beauty is natural. וכן איתא על שרה, גם כן יכול להתפאר ביופיה *V'chein eita al Sarah, gam kein yachol l'hitpa'er b'yofyah*. אך כשהיה עם אברם בדרך לירד מצרימה, וראה שיופיה רמה ולא נשתנה כלל, הנה בזה היתר שיופיה מצד עצמה. *Ach k'shehayah im Avram ba'derech lered Mitzraymah, v'ra'ah sheyofyah ramah v'lo nishtanah klal, hinei b'zeh heker she'hayofi mitzad atzmah.* And that's what Avram meant. Avram always knew she was beautiful, he complimented her beauty. It's not the first time he's noticing she's beauty. It's how much that beauty is natural and how powerful that beauty is that that beauty is so powerful that it can overcome and supersede the trials and travails of the long journey. That's what the pasuk means, says the בן איש חי *Ben Ish Chai*. They always stayed local. They never traveled internationally before. This is the first time they've ever taken a long flight. First time Avram sees Sarai at the end of a very long flight. And he says to her, even at the end of the long flight, even as they're handing out that washcloth which burns your hands and wipes your face, she wipes her face, returned that washcloth, that wet whatever, and he says, wow, still beautiful. You're as beautiful as when we were, you're as beautiful as when we were waiting at the gate. I never noticed. I never noticed. And that's what's going on, it says the בן איש חי *Ben Ish Chai* here in this in this פסוק *pasuk*. That's what he is saying to her. That's what he's saying to her. Okay, that is the בן איש חי *Ben Ish Chai*. That is the בן איש חי *Ben Ish Chai*. The בעל שם טוב *Baal Shem Tov* has a alternative interpretation. Listen to what the בעל שם טוב *Baal Shem Tov* says. בעל שם טוב *Baal Shem Tov* says the following, ודאי שהיה אברהם רואה זאת תמיד. *Vaday shehaya Avram ro'eh zos tamid.* Was Avram, he didn't look at pictures of women. He was so מחמיר *machmir*, not only did he not look at pictures of women, he didn't look at his own wife. Is that what's going on here, that he never noticed her beauty, that's the first compliment her now? אי אפשר *Ee efshar*, it can't be. אלא שיצרו של אברהם אבינו היה במרכבת השכינה, ולכן לא ראה זאת מצד הראייה הגשמית בחיצוניות בלבד, כי אם יופיה. *Ela she'yitzro shel Avraham Avinu haya b'merkavas ha'Shechinah, lachein lo ra'ah zos mitzad ha're'iyah ha'gashmis b'chitzoniyus bilvad, ki im yofyah.* See, Avram only cared about מידות טובות *midos tovos*. Avram only ever saw Sarah's נשמה *neshamah*. He only ever saw Sarah's נשמה *neshamah*. He wasn't attracted to her to her physical appearance. So what changed? What happened now? What happened now? You know, let me just give a two-second editorial commentary and rail against one of my hangups about the pictures on resumes and how you can't tell from a picture. Someone in the community recently told me they went to a singles event. An older single went to a singles event and they saw, he saw a woman there and he wasn't, didn't was not physically attracted to her. So in his mind, she was not a candidate for him. But he met her through the event nonetheless, and she was someone who had certain questions, needed certain help in life, and he was happy to try to help her. So they met up for coffee to try to help her afterwards, even though there was no potential romantic relationship because he had no attraction to her, but he was happy to help her with the thing he was an expert in that she needed help with. So they met for coffee. And what do you think happened? They met for coffee again, and then they met for dinner, and then he helped her. And all of a sudden this woman he had no attraction to became the most beautiful thing in the world to him. And he thinks that she's the one because she's so beautiful. Had her picture been on a resume, he actually saw her in person and rejected her in his mind. But only once he got to know her and connected with her in a deeper way, did he realize that attraction is relative and subjective, and the attraction to the פנימיות *pnimius* of a person influences how drawn and attracted we are to the חיצוניות *chitzonius* of that person. Okay, end of my commentary. I have a lot more to say about that, but for another time. So come back to אברהם אבינו *Avraham Avinu*. Says the בעל שם טוב *Baal Shem Tov*, says the holy בעל שם *Baal Shem*, says Avram was always attracted to Sarah's נשמה *neshamah*. He sat with her, the external, the superficial, the physical appearance, Avram had no interest in that, a picture on a resume. He didn't Google her image, he didn't look, he didn't care. All he ever saw was the נשמה *neshamah*, her נשמה *neshamah*. So what happened? What's going on now? So listen to what the בעל שם טוב *Baal Shem Tov* says. אך עכשיו שהרגיש ביופיה, הבין שזה מחמת שמתקרב למקום הטומאה. *Ach achshav she'hirgish b'yofyah, havin she'zeh machmas she'miskarev l'makom ha'tumah.* All of a sudden he says, I feel this awareness of your external beauty. I've always been drawn to your נשמה *neshamah*. Your external beauty is a given. Everyone who looks at you knows you're beautiful, but that's not what draws me. That's not the source of my attraction. Source of my attraction has always been your נשמה *neshamah*. Why all of a sudden am I feeling physically attracted? So you know what the reason was? שמתקרב למקום הטומאה *She'miskarev l'makom ha'tumah*. Because he was leaving ארץ ישראל *Eretz Yisrael*, the place of spirituality, and he was on his way, he said, we've prepared for your initial landing. And when he's preparing for the initial landing, he looks out the window and he sees מצרים *Mitzrayim*. He's going to a place of lewdness, licentiousness, promiscuity, moral depravity, and corruption. All of a sudden, Avram realizes, because we are all influenced from the energy of where we are, he's going to a place where the energy is the energy of טומאה *tumah*. המקום גורם לו לרדת ממדרגתו *Ha'makom gorem lo laredes m'madreigaso*. And the מקום *makom*, the place that we're in, has the ability to lower us from the level that we were on. ולכן חשש שיהרגו אותו, וחיפש עצה איך להינצל מזה *V'lachein chashash she'yahargu oso, v'chipes eitzah eich l'hinatzel mi'zeh*. So now he understood, well if I'm physically attracted and I'm drawn to her, this is a place of טומאה *tumah* that doesn't see נשמות *neshamos*. This is a place that doesn't is not attracted to the beauty of the נשמה *neshamah*. This is a place in which they flaunt and reveal and expose and worship and celebrate the גוף *guf*, the body. He says, uh oh, I'm in trouble, because it turns out I'm married to someone who's very beautiful. And now he realizes only now. When he was in a place that was all about the נשמה *neshamah*, he felt safe and secure in being her husband. But he's going to a place which is all about the physical beauty, and now by being in that place, he becomes aware of his attraction to that physical beauty, now therefore he realizes he might be in trouble and that's why he concocts this whole scheme with with Sarai. Okay, moving right along. פרק י\"ג, פסוק ב' *Perek Yud-Gimmel, pasuk beis*. I know we're not flushing out any of these stories comprehensively, they deserve greater treatment, but I'm trying to give a cross-section of some דברי תורה *divrei Torah* from across the פרשה *parsha*. Page 58 in your ArtScroll חומש *Chumash*. פרק י\"ג, פסוק ב' *Perek Yud-Gimmel, pasuk beis*. ויעל אברם ממצרים *Vaya'al Avram miMitzrayim*. He finishes the whole episode in מצרים *Mitzrayim*, where he departs safely, still intact with his wife, הוא ואשתו וכל אשר לו *hu v'ishto v'chol asher lo*, and his wife and everything he has, ולוט עמו הנגבה *v'Lot imo ha'negbah* and he goes with the nephew Lot, and they're heading to the south of Israel. ואברם כבד מאוד *V'Avram kaved me'od*. And Avram is כבד *kaved*. What does the word כבד *kaved*? Heavy. What does that mean? Avram gained, ate too much שווארמא *shawarma* in Egypt? ואברם כבד מאוד *V'Avram kaved me'od*. He ate too much in Egypt? What happened to Avram in Egypt? No, the פסוק *pasuk* itself tells us. What is he heavy? What is he weighed down with? במקנה בכסף ובזהב *Bamikneh, b'kesef, u'v'zahav*. Says the holy נועם אלימלך *Noam Elimelech*, what could or should have the פסוק *pasuk* said? It means to tell us what? That Avram amassed an enormous amount of wealth. When he was in Egypt, he extraordinary extraordinary riches, wealth. He got in on Bitcoin early and got out in time. Avram was a great investor. He invested in the market, he bought houses on Montolivo Circle before the boom. He understood. Avram was he was כבד מאוד *kaved me'od*. So but כבד *kaved* is not the word for rich or wealthy. What should it have said? עשיר *Ashir*. Avram was עשיר מאוד *ashir me'od*. Avram had an enormous amount of wealth. Why does it say כבד *kaved*? כבד *Kaved* means heavy. So says the נועם אלימלך *Noam Elimelech*, back to רב אלימלך מליז'נסק *Rav Elimelech mi'Lizensk*. הצדיק כשנשפע לו שפע מהקב\"ה מסייערי מאוד. *Ha'tzaddik k'shenishpa lo shefa mei'HaKadosh Baruch Hu, mis'yarei me'od.* ולכן הוא מתגבר יותר בעבודת השם *V'lachein hu misgaber yoser b'avodas Hashem*. וזה מה שכתוב כאן, ואברם כבד מאוד במקנה, שהיה לו למעלה מה שהשביעו השם יתברך מקנה, כסף וזהב, וילך למסעיו דהיינו לשורשו. *V'zeh mah she'kasuv kan, v'Avram kaved me'od ba'mikneh, she'hayah lo l'ma'alah mah she'hishbi'o Hashem Yisborach mikneh, kesef, v'zahav, v'yelech l'masa'av, de'hainu l'shorsho.* Avram was weighed down by the fact that he was so wealthy. Some people have great wealth, they have enormous blessing, and they don't understand it comes with great responsibility. They don't understand that they are now going to be challenged whether they will be defined by their wealth or be defined by their נשמה *neshamah* and by their spiritual contributions to the world. Now I know what many of you are thinking right now. Test me like you tested Avram. Bring it on, Hashem. I'm ready for it. I'm happy to, it's not so simple. There's a great expression. It's a sad expression, but there's a great expression. Have you ever heard it? נבך *Nebach*, there are some people so poor that all they have is money. Have you ever heard, נבך *nebach*, there are some people so poor that all they have is money? I know several extraordinarily wealthy people who have physical wealth but they are impoverished in other areas of life, in their self-esteem, in their interpersonal relationships, in their family, in their lack of נחת *nachas*, in their living in doubt who has a real relationship with them and why do they have that relationship, the burden of maintaining and sustaining and distributing all of that money. Avram understands the enormous responsibility of that money, and that if Hashem blessed him, it wasn't random and it wasn't chance, but it's because there's a reason. There's a reason he's in that position to have that wealth. And understanding the responsibility, the awesome responsibility of being the steward of that wealth for Hashem, it weighed heavily on Avram. Says the נועם אלימלך *Noam Elimelech*, that wealth weighed heavily. That's why the פסוק *pasuk* doesn't say that he was wealthy, the פסוק *pasuk* says that the wealth weighed heavily on him because he understood that responsibility. Ooh, we have time for one or two more. Which ones should we do? There are such good ones here. Okay, we'll skip to one more. Such good ones here. I was going to tell you how to make a proper לחיים *l'chaim*. Do you first make the לחיים *l'chaim* and then you say the ברכה *bracha* and take a sip? Or do you take the ברכה *bracha* and make a sip and then say לחיים *l'chaim*? Who do you bless first, Hashem or the person in front of you? It's all from our פרשה *parsha*. Believe it or not, there are פוסקים *poskim*. I have a whole packet of source sheets here. I have nine sources. There are תשובות *teshuvos* about the proper way to make a לחיים *l'chaim*. We're not glorifying drinking, in moderation, responsibly, for those who can or should, but if you're enjoying a nice לחיים *l'chaim*, what is the proper method or mode of a לחיים *l'chaim*? Do you say לחיים *l'chaim* and then make a ברכה *bracha* and take a sip? Or do you make a ברכה *bracha*, take a sip and then offer the לחיים *l'chaim* to whomever you're making the לחיים *l'chaim*? It comes from our פרשה *parsha* and the interaction that Avram had and that he was held accountable for, but we don't have time for that one. So we're going to go to a different one. Got to bring you back next year, פרשת לך לך *Parshas Lech Lecha*. Let's just end with one insight of Rav Soloveitchik. One insight of Rav Soloveitchik. Go to, I didn't give the answer. Go to פרק י\"ז פסוק א' *Perek Yud-Zayin, pasuk aleph*. Long פרשה *parsha*. Skip from chapter 13 to 17. פרק י\"ז פסוק א'. *Perek Yud-Zayin, pasuk aleph*. Top of page 74. It says אני קל ש-די *Ani Kel Shaddai*. God introduces himself to Avram and he says אני קל ש-די *Ani Kel Shaddai*. I am the Almighty God. What is this name that he's using with Avram? אני קל ש-די *Ani Kel Shaddai*. י\"ז א'. Not י\"א. י\"ז א'. I apologize. Go back a page. *Yud-Zayin aleph*, not *Yud-Aleph*. *Yud-Zayin aleph*. I apologize. Go back a page. פרק י\"ז פסוק א'. ויהי אברם בן תשעים שנה ותשע שנים, 99 years old. וירא ה' אל אברם. God appeared to him. and he said, Good to see you, nice to see you again. Let me remind you, אני קל ש-די *Ani Kel Shaddai*. I am קל ש-די *Kel Shaddai*. התהלך לפני והיה תמים *His'halech lefanai v'heyei samim*. And be תמים תהיה *tamim tihyeh*, be תמים *tamim*, be whole, be complete, be a complete person, be a pure person. What is this name that he uses to introduce himself to God? So Rav Soloveitchik writes, the מדרש בראשית רבה *Midrash Bereishis Rabbah* records that prior to his circumcision, Avram mingled with others and gathered many adherents. When Hashem commanded him to become circumcised, Avram was concerned that an insurmountable barrier would be placed between him and his neighbors. Hashem said, דיך *dayecha*. It is sufficient for you that I am your God. Don't worry what others are going to think. Don't worry you're going to be embarrassed or ashamed. Don't worry they won't let you into their medical school, their law school. Don't worry they won't let you into their country club. Don't worry you won't break into the social scene. You don't need them. דיך *Dayecha*. All you need is me. אני קל ש-די *Ani Kel Shaddai*. Invest in a relationship with me and you have everything that you need. Of course we want relationships with others and of course we can contribute and benefit in the beauty of what society has to offer. But says Hashem, don't worry about any doors that close in your life because דיך *dayecha*, the door to me will always be open and that's all you need. דיך *Dayecha*. Hashem assured Avram by explaining that if one relationship has a relationship with God, then one needs no one else to obtain fulfillment. Hashem in essence responded to Avram, you may lose others, but you'll never lose me. The name ש-די *Shaddai* as explained by Rashi is אני הוא שיש די באלוקותי לכל בריה *Ani hu she'yesh dai b'Elokusi l'chol briyah*. I am he whose divinity is enough for every creature. At first, Avram thought that his mandate was to convert the entire world, his mission was primarily a universal one as the father of the multitude of nations. Avram traveled large segments of the civilized world to spread monotheism. He thought that he would complete the process of his lifetime. But השם `Hashem` told him, די `dai`, enough, suggesting a limit to the expansion of אברם `Avram`'s circle of followers, a limitation that would result in his circumcision. So this name refers to this concept. די `dai`. אני קל שדי `Ani Kel Shaddai`. I am the one who, דיך `dayecha`, it's enough that you have me.I put out a video last week. We started a new series called Behind the Mitzvah, and we did a video on מזוזה `mezuzah`. And I mentioned in that short three-minute video that on the outside of our מזוזה `mezuzah`, on the inside of the מזוזה `mezuzah` is שמע `Shema`. And there are themes, קבלת עול מלכות שמים `kabalat ol malchut shamayim`, we're submitting and surrendering to God, ואהבת `v'ahavta`. In other words, the מזוזה `mezuzah` is on the doorpost of our home and the important places of our life. And we're meant to walk by it and drawn by the themes that are in it. We're supposed to draw from those themes that are in it. That's why the רמ\"א `Rama` quotes that you touch it. The idea of kissing the מזוזה `mezuzah` doesn't have a source. It has a source in transmitting germs. It is a source of transmitting germs. But the רמב\"ם `Rambam` and the רמ\"א `Rama` when they quote the idea that when you walk by, you touch the מזוזה `mezuzah`. You touch the מזוזה `mezuzah`. When you touch the מזוזה `mezuzah`, it's meant to touch you. How should it touch you? On the way into your home, you remember ואהבת `v'ahavta`. You remember the theme of love. You remember the spirit of compromise. But when you roll up that מזוזה `mezuzah`, what's on the outside of the scroll that's supposed to face out when you put it in the case? שין דלת יוד `Shin Daled Yud`. This name of God. We pronounce it שקי `Shakkai`, שדי `Shaddai`. Why? So I suggested because maybe when you walk into your home you remember the concept of דיך `dayecha`, of דיינו `dayenu`. Whatever I have, I have enough, because I have him. Now when I walk through the threshold of this home, when I go into my home, I don't see what's missing. My neighbor has a nicer car in the driveway. My neighbor has a nicer home. My neighbor has bigger ליכטער `leichter`. My neighbor has more silver. My neighbor has more things. My neighbor has an updated phone. My neighbor has, don't look at what anyone else has. שדי `Shaddai`, שאמר די `she'amar dai`, who said it's enough, is the source of having enough. And if we have him in our home with us, if we have a home that has השם `Hashem` in it with us, then דיך `dayecha`. It is enough, and it is all we need. A lot more ideas we didn't get to, but have a fantastic day. Tomorrow. Tomorrow Living with אמונה `Emunah` is going to be 9:45, not 8:45. So please note, we are in person in the ספרדי `Sefardic` שול `shul`. So we will be in person, Women's Living with אמונה `Emunah` in person with coffee and water and a granola bar and whatever leftovers from the ברית `bris` that will take place. So 9:45 in the ספרדי `Sefardic` section. Tomorrow night we're going behind the בימה `bimah` and we're back. Our opening guest tomorrow night is the great אברם פריד `Avram Fried`. You don't want to miss a great conversation with אברם פריד `Avram Fried`. Till next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
