Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov. Welcome back. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful, safe, happy, healthy, meaningful, uplifting Pesach. It's good to see everybody again. Welcome back. Many who have left for the season are watching online, so hope you're enjoying where you are. I want to begin as we always do with our attitude of gratitude. A huge thank you to our Emunah series sponsors, Dr. Zavi and Bella Morgan in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut and in memory of Bella's mother, Dr. Ellen Shanzer. Very grateful to the Morgans and think about them in Israel often. And also sponsored the series, co-sponsored in memory of the fallen soldiers and alumni of בני דוד מכינה ישיבה in Eli. This week's shiur is dedicated, continue to daven for the Refuah Shleimah of soldiers who were injured in Lebanon, some severely injured, including the son of our sponsor, רועי חיים בן מאירה, Ariel ben Itai, Matanya ben Tzivia, David ben Ziva, Liam ben Revital, איתן דוד בן טובה, מתן מרדכי בן מאירה, and אביעד חיים בן נועה, as well as two men who were injured in a car accident, Dekel ben Vered and Hillel ben Shlomit. We daven they should have a Refuah Shleimah. Please remain after, as always, we'll divide up Sefer Tehillim. Take just a few minutes to complete all of it, if everybody just says their booklet, and we'll know that we didn't only learn and grow ourselves, but we also said Tehillim for others. Also Refuah Shleimah for Leah bat Sarah undergoing surgery today. We should hear good news. Today's shiur is also sponsored by a very special family, the Dikman family, in honor of their beloved—in memory of their beloved daughter and sister, דניאלה רחל בת שלום עזרא, a young woman who tragically left this world way too young. Really tragic circumstance in childbirth. Her baby was named during her shiva. A young woman whose smile lit up every room she walked into, who was loving and deeply accomplished, who balanced Torah and learning with creativity and kindness, who had a quiet strength, who learned Emunah with us and lived Emunah as an example for us. And our shiur, Parsha shiur, now the whole series, is also sponsored in her memory. But I wanted to mention her this morning, our learning should be l'ilui her special neshama. Also sponsored by Rabbi Ari and Richie Mirzoff, our dear friends Reuven and Shlomit Berkowitz, commemorating the 30th yahrtzeit of their grandfather who was liberated from Buchenwald, Reuven Grinbaum, Reuven ben Chaim. By Marly Tasher in memory of Jenny Lehrman, Sheindel bat Faiga. Neshama should have an aliyah. By Rona Cohen commemorating the yahrtzeit of her dear father Yosef Jaffe and by Tamar Friedman for the Refuah Shleimah of Avram ben Hadassah who has shown strength and acceptance, should have a Refuah Shleimah, a complete and speedy recovery. Thank you. Thank you to all of our generous sponsors who make all of our learning and promoting our Torah possible. So I want to begin with a—not an email I got—we'll get to our emails in a moment. And it was not easy trying to select because it's been a few weeks since we had our shiur, Erev Pesach and Pesach. Baruch Hashem the emails continued to flow. There's—I don't know—I need some system. Maybe AI can help me decide because I want to read every one. They're all so inspiring. Continue to write. Even if I don't read it out loud, it continues to nevertheless inspire and touch and impact and it's good for the person who writes it to continue to write. This is not an email written to me. I could pretend it was, but it's on foxnews.com. foxnews.com has an article—someone did share it with me and I'm grateful to her—but this was an article on Fox News. I consider it an article the author wrote for the Emunah shiur. Let me read you the title of the article: The Quantum Mystery That May Explain How God Knows Every Thought You Have. I'll begin the article: For millennia, the concept of an omniscient God—a deity who knows every sparrow that falls, every thought that forms, every star that burns across the vast expanse of the cosmos—has boggled the human imagination. How in the world can any entity, no matter how supreme, know everything that's happening everywhere, all at once, in real time and with atomic-level intimacy? It's a question that maybe some of you have thought. It's come up in our question and answers after the shiur for the live local people. Like maybe that little doubt has crept in. Does He really know? Does He really care? Is He really—He's involved in big things, like will the ceasefire last, the Straits of Hormuz—that's on God's agenda. How does He have time for the Straits of Hormuz and whether my flight's going to take off on time today? How does He have time for the Straits of Hormuz and whether my kugel's going to come out—how does He—does He really know? Does He really care? Is He really involved? Any honest person will admit at some point in their life they wondered. With whatever they're going through, whatever they want, whatever they need, Hashem, does He really know? To the strict materialist, it sounds like an impossibility, a wondrous but completely illogical relic of ancient philosophies and religions. And yet, writes the author, when one plumbs the depths of modern physics, one discovers something utterly profound. The concept of divine omniscience is not just plausible, its mechanism is woven into the very fabric of spacetime. And then he gets into this deeply mysterious mechanism called quantum entanglement. Anyone familiar with it? Dr. Yosef Wolf is; I shared it with him. Not surprising. You need a couple cups of coffee to get into quantum entanglement. It was first acknowledged 1935 by, I'll give you one guess which famous Jewish physicist, Albert Einstein and others. It was verified theoretically in 1964 and validated experimentally in 1972. And here's how it works, I'm not going to get into, but subatomic particles are intimately related, and when one acts the other has to know, and the author therefore derives from it that just as an object instantaneously knows and feels whatever happens to its entangled partner across the universe, God instantaneously knows and feels everything that happens to every single atom anywhere in the universe and beyond. Many people carry with them the image of a deity who's far removed from human affairs, peering down at his creation through a cosmic telescope, waiting for the light of our actions to reach him in heaven. Quantum entanglement offers a radically different image, a God who's strongly entangled with the whole creation, right down to the very atoms of our being by virtue of his being the source of the universe and everything in it. In other words, the existence of quantum entanglement offers a fresh perspective on God's omniscience. It suggests that God's awareness of the universe is not obtained through observation, it's acquired via an intimate, instantaneous connection. Amazing. And he goes on and on and explains it, you can read it, we'll post it in our Emunah WhatsApp group, but it's not that God is sitting afar and watching. We just sang this and said this in Hallel over all Pesach, because we describe that God is in heavens but המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ. Sometimes we make the mistake of this God who's a spectator, God who is watching, he's observing from the heavens. He's, after all, omnipotent and infinite, omniscient, and he's far away and distant, he's inaccessible, unrelatable, incomprehensible. And while he is responsible for the origin of the universe, he's the source of all of existence and everything in it, he's the source of our lives, but he's busy with big things. He's big, he's huge, he is everything, and therefore he's far away and he's just watching. And there are other religions who believe that. Some believe in multiple deities and gods, there's a God who's far away and then there's the God who's up close and there's the God of the moon and the God... we of course see one integrated, one and only God. Only when you study ancient paganism do you appreciate why Shema is so important ה׳ אלוקינו ה׳ אחד the unity of God's existence, there is one God. And that same one God who dwells and is in the heavens, who's distant and incomprehensible, simultaneously he is המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ. He comes down here. He created a world because what does he want? Dira B'Tachtonim. All he wants is a dwelling place in this world. He wants us to make space, to give expression, to manifest, to be his ambassadors and his agents, to see him and welcome him and invite him and have a Shechina. What is the word Shechina? We use the word Shechina. Shechina means the divine presence. But the root of the word Shechina is Shachen. What's a Shachen? Like a good neighbor, God's there for you. God wants to be your neighbor. He doesn't put on a sweater or cardigan, he doesn't flip a shoe, but he wants to be your neighbor. And he wants to be a good neighbor, and he's there for you. He's there for you after you need it, he's there for you before you need it, he's there for you when you didn't even know you needed it. Shechina, Shachen, Shachen is... your Shachen, your neighbor is is your neighbor because he's next door, she's next door, they're your neighbor, they're close by, they're connected, you share a boundary, a border, you share with one another. The Shechina, the image of the Shechina is not the God who's far away, inaccessible, nothing to do with you. The idea of Shechina, Mishkan, the Mishkan is the house of Shechina, the root of the word Mishkan is Shechina, it's the place of Shechina, the shul's the place of Shechina, but our homes also could be places of Shechina in a healthy marriage when there's harmony איש ואישה שכינה שרויה ביניהם. Doesn't say God or Adnus or Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei. What word do Chazal use to describe God dwells among you? When a man and a woman, Ish and Isha, both have an aleph and a shin, but Ish has a yud and Isha has a hei, the yud and the hei spell God's name. So Ish and Isha the aleph and the shin overlap, but the yud of Ish and the hei of Isha, when there's harmony, when there's love, when there's patience, when there's understanding, when there's connection, when it's two halves becoming a whole, then Shechina Sheruya Beinehem. God says I want to be in that house. So Hashem is not only in the Mishkan and he's not only in shul, we spoke on Pesach how the shul is the embassy of Israel in chutz l'aretz. It has the... spiritual status of an embassy of Israel in chutz la'aretz, and the justification of its rabbis who are the ambassadors of Israel leading its embassy in the shuls of chutz la'aretz, but it's not only in the Mishkan, it's not only in the Mikdash, and it's not only in shul. It's in our home. When we have harmony and peace. If we're married with our spouse, with our children if we have children. If we have peace and harmony with the guests, with the people, with the neighbors we welcome in. When there's peace, when there's harmony, when there's love, when there's a sense of mission and purpose, when there's Hashem's presence, then shchina shruya beineihem. So lest we think that God is the God who's far away and inaccessible and we can't understand and we can't comprehend him and he created a world and he moved on. You know, we're building this beautiful building. I don't know if I mentioned there's still some dedication opportunities. We had a meeting late into the night last night finalizing the magnificent designs. We're going to be blowing up and putting up the rendering soon. You'll see them and you'll get goosebumps. They're beautiful. But I have to tell you, the architect who designed it, and the designers who designed it, and the contractors who are building it, please God when we move into it Chanukah time and we're done, we won't have a relationship likely. I mean, I'd like to think we will. It's nice. Don't tell them, I hope they're not watching or listening. They're going to move on to their next project, and we'll move on to ours. And they will have built it and they'll move on. They won't maintain, they won't be involved in how many people showed up at that class, at that minyan, at that youth activity, what you do with the space, who was in it, what happened next. We're involved, we're in control, we're influencing and they're going to move on. And some people's image of God is the architect who created and built a world and then he moved on to his next project or retired altogether. But that's not accurate. We know המשפיל לראות בשמים ובארץ. God is involved and invested. He influences every atom, everything, every aspect of our lives. That's our whole embrace your place. That's our whole let God let go. That's the whole philosophy that makes our life so much better, which I'm going to share these emails in a moment. So I love and thank you to the person who sent me this Fox News article. It happens to be on Fox News, but you could read it anywhere about this physicist. If you enjoy physics, study, maybe later in the day after a few more cups of coffee, but understand that physics now supports what we knew all along. We don't need it to, but it's beautiful when it does. But this notion that if God is the source of our existence, by definition he has to be involved, so to say. He's not a spectator, he's not observing, he's not watching from above. He's involved, he's invested, he's aware of, and he's involved in every aspect of our lives. Like I said, Im Yirtzeh Hashem I'll remember to post in the group. We've got some Tehillim chaf-gimmel Psalm 23 sightings. Hi, Moadim L'simcha, this was on Chol Hamoed. Chol Hamoed Pesach during a war leaves us with not much to do. So many of the regular activities are closed. I decided to take my girls to Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv for a change of mall scenery. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought of it. When I got there, the parking lot was overly full. Every space taken by a car. In true Israeli fashion, she writes, many people just made their own spots. After driving around many times in the lot, I told the girls Hashem would find us a spot when he wanted us to. Sure enough, after who knows how many circles, we found an empty spot. We pulled in, got out of the car, I couldn't believe it. When I looked down at the spot number and saw there was spot 23. I smiled and laughed out loud and told my girls I would have to email you. Thank you for the Emunah muscle workouts. Hope you're having a wonderful Pesach despite all we are through. So again, I love it. Little things, little hints, little hugs, little winks, just when we need them. Spot 23. So the cynical will say, yeah, there's a 23, okay, it's not Tehillim, it's not Perek 23, what does it mean? But for the person who experienced it, and if our antenna is extended and we live our life with that mindfulness and consciousness and we're looking for it, then we're going to see it. Sometimes the number on a parking spot that you feel Hashem, thank you, that one was just for me. That one was just for me. Other times it's more explicit. Another person sent me working on my Emunah while shopping, and this is what they found: a nice framed embroidered Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not lack. I don't know if they bought it or not, but while they were shopping, I don't know what they're going through, I don't know what they're thinking, I don't know why they needed that wink, that nod, that hug from Hashem, but if you're shopping and you see, this is sort of explicit, Psalm 23 in a frame. Sometimes it's on a parking spot, and other times we're just looking for it, which brings me to the next email. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, hope the email finds you well. I'm an avid listener from London. I stumbled across the shiur four years ago when I typed Emunah into Spotify. Ever since that day, every week I eagerly wait for the next episode and appreciate it. Thank you for your kind words, yada yada, blah blah blah. I've recommended the shiur. I have many fantastic almost Emunah stories. The truth is those moments when I said to myself, \"Whoa, what did Rabbi Goldberg say? You're meant you are where you're meant to be, embrace your place, ein od milvado.\" It doesn't always translate. Sometimes Emunah is lacking, but I'm working on it. Anyway, since we started the Psalm 23 sightings, I've been looking for my sighting to send in, but I've yet to see any jersey as Parking spot he could add to his list now. Every week at the end of Shabbos, Arvit as a Sfaradi, we read Tehillim Chaf-Gimel just before Aleinu. Ashkenazim, we’re not familiar, but Sfardim, Motzaei Shabbat before Aleinu, Tehillim Chaf-Gimel. Every time I read it, it reminded me I’ve yet to have my Psalm 23 sighting. But after weeks of waiting, I finally clicked. One week it became clear, this is my sighting. How unbelievable. Instead of getting just one sighting, Hashem sends me one every week. It just made sense, as if it was right in front of me all along. So from then on, every time I read Tehillim Chaf-Gimel on Friday night, sorry, Friday night, a wave of warmth comes over me and I feel the guiding hand from above. As you say, I know the shepherd. I feel as if I’m being personally spoken to. As Shabbat comes in and the busy stressful week comes to an end, it’s a message from Hashem that now is time not to worry. Turn off all the emotions from the chol which are out of my control and enjoy Shabbat, all will be okay. And I really love, I don’t lack, that Hashem is my shepherd and therefore I shall not lack. I shall not lack. Anyway, a beautiful thought. So sometimes it’s explicit while shopping, it’s in a frame. Other times it’s the number on a parking spot. And other times while we were looking for it, it was under our nose all along. You don't have to join this. I can’t believe how long we’ve been going. Tehillim Chaf-Gimel, our streak. I can’t believe how long we’ve been going. You don’t have to play this game. It’s a fun game. You can find something else you’re looking for, or just have an open, curious, adventurous mind and see what Hashem is going to send your way. The key is that your antenna is extended. The key is that your WiFi signal’s on. The key is that you’re trying to pick up the signal. Look, Hashem is broadcasting messages all the time. How do you know it? Because Fox News told you. Because physics tells you, physics tells you, He is integrated with us by definition, by definition, quantum physics tells us, and therefore He’s sending us messages and winks and hugs and signals, just pick it up, and sometimes it’s right under our nose. We’ve been seeing it and saying it all along, you just have to look and listen. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, right before Purim, my friend introduced me to Living with Emuna. I’m hooked. Following story is my foray into your words into thought and action. I’m a pretty nervous person, some might say a real worrier, believer in the numerator, meaning when most people say the odds of that happening are one in a million, I assume it’s likely to be the one. That’s a great way of putting it, I never heard that before. I’m a believer in the numerator, not the denominator for those who are... my parents are watching, I want to impress them with their investment in my education. I still remember the word denominator. Recently my son was on a business trip and called to say his meeting ended early, he was running to the airport, try to catch an earlier flight. My first thought was to assume he tempted fate by switching flights. My mind began to race. I paused and remembered the teachings, having Emuna that he is in the right place at the right time. If Hashem wanted him to be on the earlier flight, He would orchestrate it in a way He wanted, end the meeting early, have no traffic to the airport, let there be seats on the earlier flight. And if God forbid something happened on the earlier flight, it’s all Hashem’s will. To be totally honest, I was not completely cured of my worry. She continued to be a numerator person. But I did find comfort in repeating your mantras. I took deep breaths, embraced his place, and channeled my inner Emuna. What would have normally been many hours of worry was an occasional thought that he was flying home on a flight he hadn’t originally booked. As I continued to remind myself to have Emuna, my son was on a flight that Hashem intended him to be on. I could feel myself bringing down the worry factor. As I’ve heard you say, we must always continue to strive toward a higher level. For me, this was a great first step in what I hope will be a long staircase. I love the email, it’s a simple everyday mundane. Why am I sharing it with you, that email? I’m sharing it with me, because it is a reminder over and over and over again. It’s a healthier, happier life when you live with Emuna. Had she spent the hours of worry, would her grown son on his business trip, wasn’t her young son on his school trip, her grown son on his business trip, would her worry have impacted the outcome at all? Zero, gurnisht, nada, nothing. How many of us spend so much energy, so much emotion, so much time, so much stress worrying about things that will not impact its outcome? The only impact it has is our blood pressure, our cardiac health, the people who don’t want to be near us or around us because we’re nervous challerias. All it does is drive people away. And when you can remember to take that deep breath, restore the neshama with neshima, and remember to let go and let God and embrace your place and it’s all... and you live with Emuna, you say, it’s up to Him. Two nights ago my children, my daughter, her amazing husband, and two beautiful, gorgeous daughters were heading back to Israel. And they were supposed to fly through Paris and then El Al to Israel. They went to the airport early, on time. They got on the plane at 7:30 PM, two nights ago, and they sat on the plane because as they took off, the plane made a noise. The pilots, wisely so, hit the brakes and decided we should explore that noise before we take off. So he explored the noise before he took off and they couldn't figure it out. And the clock ticked. And my daughter says the worst part of this, everyone has their own, her worst part of the story is as soon as they hit the throttle down the runway, you say Tefillat HaDerech and you give your children the melatonin. Then when he hit the brake, she had two sleeping children. The melatonin kicked in but they hadn't gone anywhere. Everyone has their own definition of the worst part of a story. For her that was the worst part. So the minutes turned into hours that ticked by until they finally identified what they thought was the source of the noise, but they couldn't fix it. They needed to replace it until they finally concluded they couldn't find the part in Miami airport. And onboarded at 7:30, only at midnight did they get off the plane, have to go to the carousel, get their luggage, and take an Uber from Miami back to Boca. They're amazing. They didn't complain once and they took it in stride and they're fantastic. And they said the whole time, they kept texting us, embracing our place where we're meant to be, we'll see how it works out, not knowing Im Yirtzeh Hashem now they're on a flight later tonight and hopefully that will work out. I'm sharing that story and this past email why? Because today, not tomorrow or next week, today every one of us in this room will go through something frustrating. Something small, minor, big, significant, we will go through something. And we should not relinquish, we should not abandon, we should not concede that we don't have, we have control to decide our mentality, our approach, our attitude. It's our decision, it's in our control. Will we be nervous and anxious and miserable and frustrated and resentful and bitter and upset or will we embrace our place and recognize this is part of some plan. Especially the more unusual something is, the more this is by design. It's not a fluke and for whatever reason it was meant to happen. Maybe so Air France will reimburse us those flights. Whatever reason, we'll find out. But there's always a reason. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, listening regularly to your parsha perspective, living with emuna, thank you. I live in Yerushalayim. Two nights ago I got back into bed at 1:30 AM after being in our safe room after another siren. I was thinking to myself, how am I able to fall back to sleep after each siren and interruption? How am I able to fall back to sleep? Listen to what he says, this is so beautiful. My first thought was the pasuk in Tehillim: הנה לא ינום ולא יישן שומר ישראל. God neither slumbers nor sleeps, the guardian of Israel. I don't have to stay awake and worry because Hashem is there as the ultimate protector and He's always awake. Please don't misunderstand me. I absolutely am aware and totally appreciative of the IDF, the Iron Dome, all the Israeli security forces do. I mean ninety-five percent accuracy of missile interception is unbelievable. But my first thought was הנה לא ינום ולא יישן שומר ישראל, a verse we recite when Bnei Yisrael are in a time of tzara and war. We say in קריאת שמע על המיטה before we go to sleep, a verse recognizing God's protection over each individual over Klal Yisrael. Hashem is our watchman, our shomer. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. As long as this war continues, I pray just as the Seder night is Leil Shimurim, may every night be a Leil Shimurim. May we enjoy Hashem's divine protection. Amen. Such a beautiful email, a holy Yid who has a, I know his son, beautiful family and such a beautiful thought. Such a beautiful thought. Maybe you're one of those people, I'm not, I'm not. I sometimes fall asleep before my head hits the pillow. It can be dangerous. I'm not one of those people. I'm not one of those people. She's not here, so I could say things out loud she wouldn't want me to. But my wife says to me, sometimes not only do I fall asleep while she's in the middle of talking, she said I sometimes fall asleep while I'm in the middle of talking to her. Like the sentence just doesn't end, it just - so I'm not. I have a lot of problems, that's not one of them. That's not one of them. But there are people who lay awake in bed all night and they can't fall asleep. In קריאת שמע על המיטה one of the things we say is הנה לא ינום ולא יישן שומר ישראל. It's as if Hashem is saying to us, I neither slumber nor sleep. I don't sleep. Shomer Yisrael. I'm watching over you. I'm guarding you. You can go to sleep, ketzeleh, go to sleep because I'm staying up. Go to sleep. Sleep well. Sleep comfortably because I'm watching you. I'm Shomer Yisrael, not like some senator from New York but I'm the real Shomer Yisrael. I'm the shomer. I'm for real. I'm legit. I have a proven track record. I'm the Shomer Yisrael. So ketzeleh, zisseleh, sleep. Close your eyes. Like it's okay. Sleep. I got it. Whatever is keeping you up and whatever you're worried about. Just go to sleep. Let go. I'm here. I'm holding you. I'm watching you. And I'm not going to sleep. I'm staying up. הנה לא ינום ולא יישן. I won't go to sleep. I'm watching you so you could sleep. well. What a beautiful new way to go to sleep at night. Hinei lo yanum, Krias Shema, it's going to change the way you say קריאת שמע על המיטה for the rest of your life. הנה לא ינום ולא יישן שומר ישראל, you know what? I'm going to take some deep breaths, I can let go and let God, I'm going to fall asleep because I know He's watching me, because I'm good, because I'm good to go. Dear Rabbi Goldberg, we're going to get to our learning, I promise. We've been learning throughout, I know, I have to apologize, whatever. I'm a 15-year-old boy. I love it. I was coming back home for Pesach break, I go to Yeshiva, I love listening to Living with Emuna. I was on the plane waiting to take off, there was an announcement, \"We are having trouble closing the door, but the airplane crew is on the case.\" This announcement went off three times before they deboarded us. I was waiting on the plane for almost an hour, and I started freaking out. I did what any 15-year-old kid would do, I called my mother. I was on the phone for 45 seconds after I got off the phone I remembered your podcast, and I told myself I am where I'm meant to be. Remembering this helped me calm down, as soon as I calmed down there was another announcement, \"If you'd like to leave on a different flight, we have a flight leaving in four minutes with a connecting flight. There are limited seats available.\" I booked that flight, was able to come home, no further issues, thank you for your lessons in Emuna. 15-year-olds! If a 15-year-old can embrace this place on his own, traveling back from Yeshiva, with no worry, called his mom and then he called his father. Called his biological mom and then he called Avinu Shebashamayim, his father. And when we call our father, and our father says \"I got it, הנה לא ינום ולא יישן שומר ישראל, go to sleep on the plane, I got it, it's going to work out, you're going to get home, you're going to get where you're meant to be, I'm watching, I've got it, you can sleep, you can rest, you can relax, you can let go.\" I got an email a few weeks ago I read in the class about somebody who desperately wanted to connect to davening again but was struggling. I got almost the exact same email a couple days ago from someone who says \"I miss connecting to Hashem but I'm not feeling it, and I'm going through some motions and I'm trying to say it but I don't feel it.\" And I read to you my response to that person, if you remember, in which I suggested tell Hashem that you miss talking to Him and ask His help to be inspired to talk to Him, even though that sounds counter-intuitive and paradoxical, try it. It's in fact what we've been learning in Shaarei Tefilah of Rav David Abuhatzeira, in this perek of davening for ruchnius is telling us is don't only daven for the physical, material, mundane, daven for help in believing in Him, daven for help in wanting to talk to Him. So I made the suggestion, particularly focus on the words, anyone remember? ה׳ שפתי תפתח ופי יגיד תהלתך. We take three steps forward, many make the mistake, you don't say it while you're taking the three steps forward, you take three steps forward and you begin, Hashem sefatai tiftach, God move my lips, upi yagid tehilatecha, open my lips and may my mouth talk to You, tell You Your praise. Says Dovid HaMelech after he receives the harsh rebuke after his episode with Batsheva, he struggles, he hesitates, he's wondering if God wants to hear him and he says Hashem sefatai tiftach, God open my lips so I can talk to You. So I said focus on those words. So the person wrote a follow up, \"Dear Rabbi Goldberg, thank you for your response and for discussing this in the shiur. I want to let you know I took the advice and I began saying out loud Hashem sefatai tiftach. I realized last night the tefillos I feel most passionate about I begin saying out loud, not just thinking. It feels so amazing, surreal to see the effects on my tefillah, it's impacting my whole life, thank you.\" Try it. So nice when the person follows up and tells you, so nice. So thank you for following up. But try it. If you're struggling, try it, you'll see its impact. Okay, we've got a bunch more but we are out of time. We're out of time. Okay, let's get into learning. We're on page kuf lamed zayin, Shaarei Tefilah. I want to finish this perek and then I want to get to, we've spoken so much about Mizmor, Kapittel Chaf Gimmel, I want to get to a beautiful maamar by the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Shaul Alter, on Kapittel Chaf Gimmel. But first I want to finish this perek of Rav David Abuhatzeira. So again we've been learning about davening not only for the physical, material, mundane, but davening for spirituality, davening for faith, davening for prayer, davening for connection, davening to extend our antenna and improve our signal so that we can get those winks and hugs from Hashem that we need. בזה גם מבוארים דברי משה רבינו. I have source sheets here on either side, we're in the left-hand column, page kuf lamed zayin. בזה גם מבוארים דברי משה רבינו: האזינו השמים ואדברה ותשמע הארץ אמרי פי. Moshe Rabbeinu in Sefer Devarim towards the end, the two columns, the song Ha'azinu: ha'azinu hashamayim va'adabeira, listen heavens so I can speak, תשמע הארץ אמרי פי, and harken, harken heaven so I speak and listen earth to the words of my mouth. Beautiful, poetic, what does it mean? Isn't it redundant? כבר עמדו בזה המפרשים, the commentaries already ask, שלשון האזנה משתמש למי קרוב. What's the difference between ha'azinu and tishma? Ha'azinu, ozen means ear, harken ear, and tishma, listen. We don't have... Extra words, so what's the difference between the two? So they say ha'azana means to someone standing close, speaking into the ear, someone standing close by. שמיעה יתר לעומד מרחוק. Shemia is you're yelling someone's name, you're calling them from afar. אם כן מדוע השתמש משה רבינו בלשון קרב לשמים ורחוק מן הארץ? So it's the opposite. If ha'azinu is close and tishma is far, which verb should you use for the heavens and which should you use for the earth? The heavens should be listen because that's far and the earth should be harken or ha'azinu because that's close. Doesn't the pasuk get it backwards? That's the question. ויש שפירשו כי אכן משה רבינו היה קרוב יותר לשמים מאשר לארץ. So some answer, you know why? Because Moshe, where was he closer? He was closer to the heavens and further from the earth. Even though Moshe's feet were firmly planted here on earth, but Moshe, lofty, heavenly, great, spiritual Moshe was so great, he was ke'ilu in the heavens, closer to the heavens than even was to the earth. וכדברינו יבואר עוד כי רצה משה להפנים מוסר שבנייני שמים צריך להיות קרוב להיות מחובר לקדושה ובכל שיכול להוסיף להתקרב טוב לו מאוד אך לענייני ארץ וגשמיות יש לאדם להרגיש עצמו מרחוק שלא יבקש להתקרב לגשמיות רק יעמוד מרחוק. This poem is also offering a message and the message Moshe is saying is when it comes to your physical material world, it's part of our identity, it's part of who we are, enjoy it, but it's not a core part, it's not a primary part, it's not a central part of who we are, it's just a part while we're here, while we're passing through. But the real us, what really matters is the heaven. So what do we feel close and connected to and what do we feel further from? That's what it's telling us. The heavens, that's who we are, that's what we're about. Our pursuit, our yearning, our stretching. I don't know if I remember if I mentioned it recently, but I've mentioned it often. The Maharal, behema, the animal walks on all four because it's focused, it's facing the earth, that's what it lives for, the here and now, the earth. And the human being walks on two, why? Because we're stretching, we're reaching for the heavens. We're trying to go higher, we're living for more, we're living for more. So that's why ha'azinu hashamayim. Listen, harken, closer, we're closer to the heavens because that's what matters, that's who we are, that's what counts. You know, if you're going on vacation or a business trip and you have to book a hotel, once you're booking a hotel, you look to get a nice one, depending what you can afford, depending your status, depending your connections, depending your points. But you don't say, you know, it's only temporary, it's a few nights, it's a week, eh, I might as well stay in a hovel or a hostel. You try to stay in the nicest place you can, but while you're there, the whole time you're there, you say to yourself and you feel, you don't even need to say to yourself, I'm just passing through, I'm here temporarily. I want to enjoy something nice because once I'm going I might as well enjoy it. But your whole mentality and attitude while you're there is I'm just passing through here. This whole world is a place, it's one long business trip, it's one long vacation. Once we're here we try to book ourselves to a place we're going to enjoy, but we're not moving in permanently. This is not central and core to who we are. It's not in our identity, it's not why we're here and this is not forever, this is not forever. So you're at the hotel and you don't love the decor, you're at the hotel and the drawer is a little stuck, you're not worried about it because it's not who you are, it's not who you are permanently. You're just passing through. Try to enjoy it, try to get a nice place, you try to enjoy it while you're there. This world, it's not the essence and the core, it's not so central and a priority to what we're about. We try to book a nice place, we try to enjoy our time here while we're here, but we're just passing through, chevra, we're just passing through. So what do we feel closest to? Ha'azinu shamayim. Heavenly pursuit, our neshamas, that's going to endure, that's eternal, that's immortal, that's forever. So the finite mortal part of who we are, we enjoy it while we have it, but it's not what we're about. The immortal infinite part of who we are, that's where we should be the most connected to and the most invested in. והסתפק במועט לעשות גוף לעבודתו של מקום וסלולו כמאמר הכתוב צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו. And now he moves over. Listen to this beautiful idea. כדרך זו מבואר בצרור המור לבאר מדוע נוהגין לכתוב שם שדי על מזוזה מבחוץ. We spent some time learning about the mezuza. Did everyone take? We've got to get more of those, the little sticky to put under your mezuza. Say I love you Hashem when you touch the mezuza. We spoke about it in the parsha class yesterday. Chazal saw when you walk through a doorway, a threshold, you touch, the Rambam describes. He doesn't say kiss, the Gemara didn't say kiss. We've added kiss because we like to kiss, we're affectionate. But it says touch the mezuza when you walk by. The image is so profound, so powerful, and yet so many of us neglect it. Even if... If we do touch or kiss it, we forget to think what we're doing, why we're doing it. Whether we're walking in our house or out of it, when we touch that doorpost, when we touch that Mezuzah, and we remember the message it contains, the charge it holds. We think about, as I walk into this house, is this a place of Shechina? Will I be on my best behavior? Will I remember what counts and what matters? Will I keep the main thing the main thing? Will I pursue peace and harmony? Will I involve and invoke Hashem so the Shechina is Shruya in my home? All of that while I walk through and pause and just touch. When I leave my home and enter and interact the world, the workplace, the gym, the supermarket, do I touch the Mezuzah and say I'm going to take these values with me wherever I go? That's the power of the Mezuzah. Power of the Mezuzah. Too many people the last time they thought about the Mezuzah was when they hung it. But you don't hang it and move on. It's there to remind us, it's there to broadcast to us, it's there to stop and pause and touch it and be grateful for everything in our home and everything when we leave our home. To stop and say thank you Hashem. I love you Hashem and I feel the love from you Hashem. So beautiful, so powerful. How should the Mezuzah go on your doorpost? It's a big Machlokes Ashkenazim and Sefardim. Rishonim Mechaber Rama, do you put it vertical, do you put it horizontal? So what do we do, how do we put it? Slanted. So Sefardim put it vertically and Ashkenazim put it slanted. What happened? I thought the Machlokes is vertical or horizontal. Why do we put it on an angle? Why do we put it on an angle? Because we're trying to find a compromise between the two, we're hedging. So I ask you, is there any other area of Halacha that we hedge? Is there any other area of Halacha that we find a compromise between the two? If you think about it for a moment, our compromise is actually compromising the Halacha, because the two opinions were either vertical or horizontal. By doing it in between, we're not fulfilling either. So in our pursuit, in our effort to try to fulfill, we're actually not fulfilling either. Why do we do that with Mezuzah? So I once saw a beautiful idea. The only area we do this is Mezuzah on the entrance of our home. You know why? At least for Ashkenazim. When you walk through that doorway, you look at the Mezuzah, you remember. You know what's going to bring the peace and harmony, you know what's going to make this home a place of blessing? When I bring a spirit of compromise. The way we hang the Mezuzah is telling us how to think and behave when we enter that home. Compromise. It's not your way or the highway, you don't always have to be right, it doesn't always have to happen the way you want. Compromise. Are you prepared, are you ready, are you willing, are you eager, are you running to compromise? The Mezuzah is screaming it. But you got to be listening. You got to look over. You got to touch it and you got to kiss it and say mwah, thank you for reminding me. I was about to charge in here and tell everyone what they're doing wrong and tell everyone what I want and my way the highway and my feedback and my micromanaging but mwah, I kiss you Mezuzah. Thank you for reminding me. The spirit of compromise. That if I want peace and harmony I have to compromise. Such a beautiful message. So the outside of the Mezuzah are the letters Shin Dalet Yud, one of the names of Hashem. ויהי מבפנים כמו שנפסק בטור ושולחן ערוך. This is not made up, it's not modern, it goes back to the Tur Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah סימן רפו סעיף טו. It goes back before that to the Rambam הלכות מזוזה פרק ה. Why? Why do we have God's name Shin Dalet Yud because it's a name of God, we don't pronounce it outright, we say Shakai, but Shin Dalet Yud. Why is that on the outside of the Mezuzah? Says הרב דב בערל קצירא שליט\"א כי מידת ההסתפקות ופתח במבוא השלום עבודתו יתברך שמו. What does that name of God represent or reflect, Shin Dalet Yud? Shin Dalet Yud Sha'amar Le'olamo Dai. When He created the world He said expand. We'll go back to Fox News and physics, impress you with my knowledge. Quantum physics, the expansion of the universe. He said to the world grow, expand, add on. But at some point He said stop, enough. Sha'amar Le'olamo Dai. The water wanted to encroach the land, the land wanted to take over the water. Sha'amar Le'olamo Dai. Six days create and then He said Genug, enough, Dai, stop. Sha'amar Le'olamo Dai. That's in the name Shin Dalet Yud Sha'amar Le'olamo Dai. We just invoked this and we just tried to practice this and remind ourselves of this when we sang a very catchy tune. My grandchildren are back in my house still singing Dai Dayeinu Dai. What did we sing Dayeinu? If only this, enough. Now it wouldn't have been enough, but enough to say thank you. The capacity to say Dai. Dai. Sha'amar Le'olamo Dai. Why is that on the outside of the Mezuzah? לבדי יסתחר ויתפניס לביה לבטלא הוה עלמא המדומה ויצא מקינין אחרת שאר פרטי עבירות שהעין רואה על גב חומד. Says the Rav of Divrei Dovid, you know why? Because when you walk into your house, you can see what's there or you could see what's missing. You could walk into your house and see what you're grateful for or still see what you want and you wish you had. When you see the Shin Daled Yud on the outside of the mezuzah when you walk into your home, it is a reminder: She'amar leolamo dai. He said to the world: enough. We have the ability and the capacity to feel I have what's meant for me. What I have is what he's given me, it's what's right, it's what's meant for me. I can still work hard to get more. I want a new couch and I want a new kitchen and I want more jewelry and I want more square footage and I want... it's okay. It's okay to want and have goals. It's okay to work to try to achieve them. But all the while say: but whatever I have in the meantime, it's from him. It's what's right for me and it's dai, it's enough. So his name, Shin Daled Yud, is on the outside of the mezuzah to remind us when we walk into the house, whatever I'm about to find, this spouse, these children, they're enough for me. I'm happy with what I have. I hope and I'll work and I want more harmony and all of us should grow. But you know what? Dai. These children are the ones meant for me. With everything I love about them and with everything I want to change about them, but dai. These are the ones meant for me and I love them. And I love them. And I'm gonna try to help them grow in the ways they need to grow, but thank you Hashem for them and dai. And when I leave the house and I walk by the mezuzah, because we walk by the mezuzah in both directions. When I'm going to work, I'm going to remember that while I have goals and I'm working hard to achieve them, dai, whatever I have and get in the end of the day, it's enough because it's from him and it's what's meant to be for me. ומדה זו נרמזת בשם שדי הנקבע על פתח שנוטריקון שלו שומר דלתות ישראל. Whoa. Shin Daled Yud that name of Hashem is an acronym for Shomer Daltot Yisrael, who guards the doorways of the Jewish people. Who guards our homes and guards our doorways. וסוד הצמצום שתכף בכניסה ויציאה יעלה זכרונו לגדור עצמו מהתאוות והחמדות כי העיקר להשתמש במדה זו ובחוץ בענייני עולם הזה אבל לצמצם בהם. When I'm heading out and I'm going to the mall, we should have a mezuzah on our phone and laptop, on amazon.com. It's possible my family has a dedicated Amazon driver. It's possible. I'm just saying. It's possible the Goldberg family on Hollyhock Trail has a designated Amazon driver and truck. It's very possible. It's very possible. That's what happens when my family doesn't come to shiur, I can say whatever I want. I don't have to look over and feel guilty. So on the Amazon, on amazon.com, maybe we need a little a little icon, a little emoji of a mezuzah. Shin Daled Yud. Enough, dai. You've ordered enough, enough deliveries, enough packages, enough. Shin Daled Yud. But when we're heading out and you're going to the mall, when you're heading online and you're going to shop, when you're going to work in life and when you want, see that mezuzah, touch the mezuzah, kiss the mezuzah, and remember Shin Daled Yud. She'amar leolamo dai, Shomer Daltot Yisrael, and we should be able to say: it's okay to want more, it's okay to work hard towards more, but ultimately to feel I have what I need, I have what's meant for me and what I have is enough. Dai. I can find gratitude and happiness in what I have. And what I have, I'll refer you again to Elisha Rabi in the conversation we had before Pesach, who in a tunnel for 491 days while starved and beaten underground with the three people he was held with had a daily exercise of saying what are we grateful for? What can we say dai and dayenu about in a tunnel underground, legs chained, starved and beaten 491 straight days. And if in those circumstances every day could find things to say thank you for, so can every one of us. So can every one of us. He credited his survival with that. And so can every one of us. So can every one of us. But it takes mindfulness. We have to remember, it takes intention. And it's so hard, it's so hard. You know why? You know what most of us are doing, we'll end with this. You know what most of us are doing when we're walking through that doorway in both directions? What are most of us doing? We're typing, we're scrolling, we forgot there's a mezuzah, we forgot there's a doorway, we forgot there's a family, we forgot there's a Creator, we forgot everything because we're scrolling, we're typing, we're walking. We're so busy, there's so much noise, there's so much friction that we forget to stop and pause and touch that mezuzah and say, what does it take? A millisecond. Thank you. And it's going to change my mind. I'm going to reframe when I'm going into my home. First of all, the way you're holding, compromise. I'm going to, I'm ready to compromise. It's not my way or the highway, I'm ready to compromise. And thank you for everything you give me. And whatever I have while I'm working for more, it's enough to feel good and to say thank you. And all that is in the millisecond mini-pause micro-moment of touching the mezuzah when I'm walking back. On the way in, and again on the way out. But it takes our ability to disconnect from the technology. We spoke about the Shabbos HaGadol our addiction. I wrote an article yesterday about it. And this Monday we begin our 30-day challenge. Rabbi Ephraim Goldberg dot org slash challenge, you'll join the WhatsApp group, ironically run through a WhatsApp group. Each day for 30 days we're going to have a unique challenge for that day. Small easy challenges to overcome to disconnect from our relationship with our phone. We're not trying to get you to turn in your smartphone for a dumb phone. We're not trying to tell you to, but little challenges that will re-establish a healthier relationship with our phone, the 30-day challenge. You can join the challenge, we're going to have regular raffles and prizes and all in the WhatsApp group so you can join it. But it's going to change everything about life. Because if you make a commitment, you know what, when I walk into my house I'll never be on my phone. That's not only not fair to the people in my house, that's unfair to myself. Because if I walk into my house while I'm on the phone, you know what that means? I'm not looking at the mezuzah. I'm not remembering what I need to be thinking about. The לשם יחוד קודשא בריך הוא before I walk into a הנני מוכן ומזומן לקיים walking into my house. So maybe that's a kabbala. I don't know if it's one of the 30-day challenges because I haven't gone through them yet, but maybe we'll add it. Day 31 is when I walk into my house to never be on my phone because it'll change the relationship with the people in the house and it'll change the relationship with yourself because you know what goes along with that? If I'm not on my phone when I walk into my house then I'll remember to stop and pause at the mezuzah shin daled yud. I'll remember to think about and thank Hashem for everything I have and to work on feeling that what I have is enough. We'll pick up with it im yirtzeh Hashem next week. We have a few minutes for questions and answers for those who are here in person. If you live locally in Boca, don't watch or listen online, come in person so you can participate in the salacious, controversial, cutting-edge questions everyone would want to hear but only those who come in person. Afterwards Tehillim, so please stay to complete Sefer Tehillim until next time.
