Transcript
Okay, good morning, Boker Tov. Welcome back to Living with Emunah, Boker Tov edition. As always, we want to thank our generous sponsors, Dr. Zavi and Bella Morgan, in memory of Rabbi Dr. Brian Galbut and in memory of Bella’s mother, Dr. Ellen Chanser and in the z’chus, the merit of our holy, precious Israeli soldiers. As always, we thank the Morgans for their incredible generosity; we don’t take it for granted. Our series is also generously sponsored anonymously in memory of the fallen soldiers and alumni of Bnei David Mechina and Yeshiva in Eli. Unfortunately, very sadly, this morning, Itamar Sapir, 27, fell in Lebanon. He was tragically killed by a terrorist. He served in Miluim with our sponsor’s son-in-law, who was with him when he was killed. Itamar was a reserve officer in the Maglan unit. His family had spoken with him just days earlier. He grew up in the yishuv of Eli, studied at Bnei David. Those who knew him described him as someone with a huge smile, kind eyes, a deep desire to do good wherever he was. He leaves behind his wife and a young son, whom he named after a close friend who was killed on October 7th. Oy, what a loss for Klal Yisrael. We wish the family comfort and strength, and our heart breaks with each of these news—it has to end, it has to end, no more. Also, today’s shiur is sponsored by Aliza Hershkovitz, in memory of Shlomo ben Chaim—his neshama should have an aliyah on his first yartzeit—by Shmuel and Esther Shaiowitz le’ilui nishmas his father יעקב יהודה בן גדליה in z’chus of refuah sheleimah for her mother בת שבע בת זולו רבקה, anonymously in honor of the wonderful strength Living with Emunah shiur gives—okay, we like that—and by Gila Levenson in honor of her beloved grandfather, Dr. Norman Sohn, on his first yartzeit; his neshama should have an aliyah as well. As always, we thank our generous sponsors. We’re going to read some emails and we’re going to dive back into the text that we began last week, and I have copies of it here if you’d like to learn and follow inside, this beautiful sicha, the beautiful ma’amar of Rav Shaul Alter, the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva, that we began last week on Kapittel 23, on Psalm 23. But first, some emails. This one is very tiny print, this is a glasses email. Hi, Rabbi Goldberg, in the beginning of my Shana Aleph last year, I came in alone and really struggled the first few months. After Sukkos, I went to the Kotel and cried out to Hashem for I don’t even know how long, asking Hashem to just send me a sign He’s with me and that I wasn’t alone. After probably taking on every kabbalah I could think of, I walked away from the Kotel feeling a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. The next day, however, someone made a comment and I immediately broke down. I said, “I’m done. Seriously, Hashem? I literally davened for so long; what else can I do?” Five minutes later, my mother called. She said she got a package for me at the front door in America—this person’s in Israel. I told her it was weird, I hadn’t ordered anything. She opened it up and inside was a siddur that literally said and it had this girl’s name, “Hashem loves you.” The box didn’t say a sender; all it said was her name, “Hashem loves you.” So this girl’s feeling alone, struggling, goes to the Kotel, davens her heart out, feels a huge weight lifted, someone makes a comment, feels all alone again, and says, “Hashem, I’m done. Where are You? I can’t believe it, why am I going through this?” And a package comes—no idea from whom—that just has her name and the words “Hashem loves you,” and you are not nearly as amazed as I am by this story. It’s amazing. I took it as a direct sign from Hashem saying, “It’s going to be good; I’m with you; you’re not alone.” Later, when thinking who could have sent it, I realized literally two years from that day, I happened to be scrolling on Instagram and saw a random link of someone donating “Hashem loves you” siddurim. That was two years ago and I completely forgot about it until it appeared the exact time and day I needed it most—a hug from... okay, now you’re impressed? People wake up! What’s the matter? You’ve had your head in the cheesecake too much? You’ve been making cheesecake? Wake up! After that, Baruch Hashem, things slowly started getting a lot better. Later, I brought that siddur to a wedding and after davening from it, putting it back in my bag, I checked my bag and it totally disappeared. However, I wasn’t upset at all because I knew the siddur served its purpose. I hope it gets around to someone else who needs it. Thank you for the Living with Emunah shiurim, all that you do. Here is a photo of the siddur, and there it is: “Hashem loves you.” Just when she needed it, in the mail, a message from Hashem: “Hashem loves you.” Unbelievable. Hashem is sending us messages, hugs, and winks all day. We shouldn’t see it or interpret it or view it as some form of magic or sorcery or witchcraft—those are prohibited by the Torah—but we do live our lives looking around and picking up the signal. I spoke to a group of girls yesterday, young women, and I said, “You have to extend your antenna, pick up the signal.” And then I said, “Do you know what an antenna is?” I told them, “I remember when I was a kid, the coolest people in town on their car, the antenna would come down and when you turned the radio on, the antenna would go up. It was like, wow, that is so cool! Antenna comes down and goes up.” That's so cool anyway they were like yes we know what that is our parents used to have these phones that you have to pull up the antenna I'm like okay and I don't know how much longer we'll be talking about antennas but you've got to extend the antenna pick up the signal Hashem is sending us messages they are all around us if we're just looking. Rabbi Goldberg thank you for deciding to teach in the Five Towns last week after we teased it two weeks ago we had generous offers last week and we had the privilege of living with Emuna from Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst again a big thank you to Rabbi Trump and the rabbis my friends over at YILC and I was blown away by the incredible group and community that came. Baruch Hashem was a beautiful morning cause after the Shiur lots and lots and lots of conversations it was really really amazing really really cherished it and it was fantastic and it's a reminder we're not just a local community here in Boca this people the group living with Emuna working extending our antennas picking up the signal exercising our Emuna muscles it's all over the world and we're in it together and we have one another and we're supporting one another and it strengthens us. In fact in a few weeks I have another wedding in New Jersey it's on a Tuesday night which means I'm not flying back till Wednesday and I thought maybe I'll give that Wednesday morning in New Jersey so if you're listening Teaneck-Bergenfield area maybe maybe we'll see. Anyway I'm going to hop on the Shema card since October 7th I've taken Shema at night more seriously in the merit of a particular soldier. The last words I say are in Adon Olam ה' לי ולא אירא. We Daven every day and ask Hashem not to test us but through life's challenges big and small it is so important to remember and believe and remind ourselves ה' לי ולא אירא. Hashem is mine Hashem li I have Hashem I have this relationship I have this access I have this love I have this affection I have this connection and therefore lo ira I have nothing to be afraid of. As I go to sleep I let these words and the truth linger in my thoughts and outlook praying that this this remains with me constantly in my life. What a way to end a night knowing Hashem is with me. One other thing I'd like to share it's amazing how our fitness outlook and often align with our Torah teachings. Rebecca Kennedy never heard of her. Anybody? A Peloton instructor recently said during a class quote recently said during a class now we're quoting unlikely sources but she said quote there's always a reason you don't have to understand it right away but notice take notice connect the dots because there's always a reason. Living with Emuna on the Peloton. Thank you for helping us achieve greater awareness and mindfulness great email thank you so much. Hello Rav Ephraim my name is Eyal I understand that my mother reached out to Rav a few times regarding my army service but now I've completed my service it's about time I reach out myself to personally express my hakaras hatov for the Rav's incredible Emuna Shiur. The Shiur gave me tremendous strength through my time in Gaza. I'm sharing this not to flex it's again our Shiur it's our community it's all of us together but I was blown away from this because I think everyone who has served is an Emuna Shiur. Sitting here in the comfort under the palm trees of Boca pleasant air conditioning and the coffee and slushies in the Shai Reish Shayla corner and we talk about Emuna and it's easy and people who have been serving on front lines and fighting enemies and defending our people you you Eyal you are the Emuna Shiur just unbelievable. During both training and combat this perspective transformed hardship from obstacles I simply had to endure into opportunities to grow closer to Hashem and recognize His presence in the most difficult moments. After experiencing losses and situations I could never have imagined the constant reminder that Hashem is beside me and partnering with me throughout became incredibly meaningful to me. Experiencing my army service through the lens of Emuna had such a profound impact on me that I felt obligated to share some of the experience with others. This summer I'll be visiting the communities in the US on a musical tour called Stories of Emuna from the Battlefield with the hope of giving over even a small fraction of the inspiration and chizuk that the Shiurim gave me. And then he shared with me he was interviewed on a podcast and he talked about the living with Emuna in the battlefield in Gaza I'm going to post that minute and a half clip in our Emuna WhatsApp group but amazing absolutely amazing Eyal thank you for all that you've done and you do and for sharing it with us it really really blows me away. I got a relatively long email from somebody who describes that they're standing outside the hospital that they work at tearing up hard to formulate into words they wanted to write it down after going through nursing school taking out loans going through really challenging time hard in the relationship life it's a long email painful email sad email we Daven and we Bench that we give a Bracha only for good. As I was feeling all these emotions and more someone walked by me at the hospital this is what the person was wearing. Someone walked by them at the hospital that we're now making famous she was caught on camera she's wearing a shirt that says Psalm 23. I don't know who wears such a shirt this is the shirt you see it Psalm 23. Even remembering that moment makes me want to cry again. My immediate response was Hashem is with me, it's going to be okay. There's also a feeling of no, it means nothing. Hashem isn't doing anything. He caused all these issues. I decided to sing Mizmor L'David to myself in front of the hospital with the Shalosh Seudos tune, tearing up and just putting all my feelings of confusion and loss in this world and not know where Hashem wants me to be. All I want to do is Hashem's will and help His children. How in the course of me doing so I ended up more disconnected, still frum, Baruch Hashem, but so alone. I remembered and singing it, Ki Ata Imadi, you are with me, Lo Ira Ra, I will fear, I will not fear. I need to go back to work and I wish I could say I feel better. Maybe a teeny bit so. I don't know what Hashem wants from me. But and she included this picture and that moment. השם לי לא אירא. Hashem is with me, I have nothing to fear. Ki Ata Imadi, you're with me wherever I go. And again, it's in those moments. Why did that person come to the hospital at that exact moment that the author of the email was sitting outside? And why when she woke up that morning did she decide to put on, why did she decide to buy or order a Psalm 23 shirt? And to wear it to the hospital that day, just as the person needed to see that message, to get just that little hug, that little, it didn't make the problems go away, it doesn't heal and solve everything, but it just gives that little bit of chizuk sometimes we need just to get over the hump. Sometimes a little bit just to go a little bit, a little bit further. I wanted to read to you an email now because we spoke a few weeks ago about somebody whose spouse is not aligned with them in living with emuna and struggling. They're on fire, they're living with emuna and they're feeling frustrated that their spouse is not. And what's the best way when one member of a household or one member in a marriage is feeling more awake, more inspired, more connected and the other is not? What do we do about it? So this person wrote me an email and you remember my answer to them, I think I read to you my answer to them, and my answer was absolutely do not, do not lecture, don't proselytize, don't try to coerce, just live. The more on fire you are and the more measurably impacted by living with emuna you are, who wouldn't want part of it? When someone sees you're calm, you're serene, you're happy, you're healthy, your relationships are enriched, you feel empowered, your life is better, who wouldn't want it? So this is the email somebody wrote me. There are countless emuna emails I've written in my head but never actually sent. Living with emuna 384 prompted me to finally actually send that email. Someone sent in a question asking how to get their spouse on board. I felt obligated to weigh in because I've been there. My house is a classic solution-oriented feet planted firmly on the ground, somewhat pessimistic male, all in the name of I only deal with reality. Being somewhat more idealistic, I learned early on to not express that part of myself because it wouldn't earn me any points. I always considered myself a striving person who believed in Hashem. I never realized how shallow my connection to Hashem really was. I'm here to tell the tale from the other side, and I never would have believed it if I wouldn't have actually gone through it. At some point, many different things in my life came to a head and I was literally drowning. I tried working on my marriage, my kids who were struggling, my kids who weren't. Hashem wanted a better life for me and He pushed me into a corner. I found the emuna shiur and I started actively working on my emuna. I won't miss a week listening to the shiur no matter if I'm feeling it or not. If I'm feeling desperate, if I'm feeling fine or just totally checked out. I refer to the emuna shiur as my IV drip, constant and consistent. There are weeks where it talks to me, weeks where it doesn't. Hey. But I keep at it. I never pushed it at my husband's face because that would obviously be a bad idea. I just started living with Hashem at my side more and more. It went from a vague cerebral experience to a real embodied reality. I started using emuna talk out loud but only in reference to myself and matters that concern me. Recognizing the hugs and winks from Hashem and verbalizing it to the people around me in a matter-of-fact way without an agenda has been huge. Hearing my husband talk about big scary things in our life and hearing him say Hashem is in charge has been some of the most surreal experience in my life. It's a real hug from Hashem. I also found actively working on my emuna to be an incredible segula for everything else going on in my life. All those other things I was working so hard on with limited success, marriage, kids, once I started actively working on my emuna, besides for all the benefits of living life in a completely different reality, I saw unnatural progress in all those areas. And absolutely nothing compares to being able to give difficult decisions over to Hashem. Difficult situations over to Hashem. I've had Hashem send a right shaliach literally knocking at my door, calling me on the phone to offer solutions to problems I've been trying to solve for years, even when I was no longer actively working on them. It had all been too much, I was burned out, I handed it over to Hashem. It's been a wild roller coaster ride, ups and downs, twists and turns. It has gone from really scary to exhilarating and exciting because I'm trying my best to live with the knowledge that Hashem has a plan. There's a bigger picture. He loves me and He knows I can be a version of myself that I can't even humanly fathom. I want to thank you for choosing to be the shaliach to do Hashem's holy work. Your shiur saved my life. May Hakadosh Baruch Hu give the Rav koach to continue. and it is spreading the light and love. Hashem should bentch you with all the bracha your words have reverberated in everyone else's life. Amen. Amen. I thank her, kol tuv. But that is a actual testimony to what we were saying. Don't proselytize, don't coerce, don't lecture, don't give musar. Just simply He'emanti ki adaber. You increase emuna just by talking about it. Please God, thank God, God's help. Let me, let's pray on it. Oh my goodness, I want to thank Hashem. Look at this, that thing that worked out. I can't believe it. Yocheved knows when I'm working on a drasha or shiur, sometimes I feel I've hit a wall, I don't know how this is going to come together, I don't know how I'm going to put it together, I don't know how I'm going to pull the source sheets together. And then I find something or just it starts to make sense, I always send her a text. Hashem loves me. She knows, oh the drasha's working out, oh you found the shiur? Hashem loves me. Just the He'emanti ki, you just feel it. That's not a coincidence you stumbled on that article or you saw that source or on that walk or during davening. It all came together. It's all from Hashem and you can feel how Hashem loves me. And when we talk that way and act that way and we display and demonstrate the results of that way, other people want a part of it. Who wouldn't want, who wouldn't want to see the calm and the serene that it brings? And that's what it does, and that's what it does. It doesn't make our problems go away, the problems still unfortunately are often there. Having emuna doesn't make you automatically heal or healthy and it doesn't automatically fix a marriage or put children on a particular path. It doesn't solve every problem, but it makes them lighter and livable and it gives us the strength and it enriches and empowers us to be able to navigate our way through them. And what's the alternative, as we always say? To feel it's all random? Just chance? It just happened? It's all from Hashem, He has a big plan. He has big plans for us. He has big plans for us and He wants us to live it. Okay, let's get back to our text that we started. I still have, I'm holding onto it. It's rather long. Coincidence, providence and remembrance, a Yom HaZikaron story. One of my sister's friends wrote it up that happened to her. It's powerful. We're going to get back to it. I'm still holding onto it. But for now, this ma'amar that appeared in something called Chavrusa, which is a publication from the Gerer Bais Medrash, Bais Medrash. The Gerer Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Shaul Alter, we began it last week. And it's all on Mizmor Kaf Gimmel. It's on Kapittel Kaf Gimmel, Psalm 23. מזמור לדוד ה׳ רועי לא אחסר. The Lord is my shepherd. ה׳ רועי לא אחסר, we always quote these several interpretations. If we see Hashem as our shepherd, we'll never lack. Either Hashem is my shepherd, I don't lack, whatever I have I'm meant to have, I have what I need and I have what's meant for me. Or ה׳ רועי לא אחסר, may I never lack in knowing that He is my shepherd. May I live my life and know, fall in line, He's my shepherd, He's my shepherd. Stay on the path, follow Him, even as we spoke last week, even שבטך ומשענתך המה ינחמוני. Your staff and your rod they comfort me. Even when you have to give me a little nudge, shtikel patch. Even when you're pushing me back on the path because I veered off it. I started to eat the grass on the side of the road. I started to get distracted and curious and wanted to see what was going down by the river. I started to go off the path, off the derech. He gave a little nod, nudge, a little push. שבטך ומשענתך המה ינחמוני. Your rod and your staff. What do you mean, a rod and a staff, they comfort? How does a nudge and a patch comfort? Because it puts us back on the path. It means we were veering off, we were distracted, we were forgetful and He's putting us back. So ה׳ רועי לא אחסר, may we never forget or may we never be lacking that Hashem is ro'i, He is our shepherd. Bin'ot deshe yarbitzeini. He causes us to lie down in lush, lush pastures. He causes us to lie down in grass. And Rashi was bothered, grass is animal food. Why did He cause us to lie down in animal food? He should cause us to lie down in a bed of steak and french fries. He should cause us to lie down in a bed of human food. We spoke last week, Pesach korban ha'omer is barley, that's animal food. Shavuos the korban was the Shtei HaLechem, wheat, bread, that's uniquely human. Only humans make bread, animals don't know how to winnow and grind and knead and bake. Animals never made bread in their life. Only humans do. Because the whole period of Sefiras HaOmer, tonight's the last night. Don't forget tonight, that's bad. That's bad. Don't forget tonight. Don't forget tonight. Tonight's the last night and the whole period of Sefiras HaOmer, this march is from going from being an animal, following our impulse and our instinct and our appetite, to going to being a human, חלק אלוה ממעל ממש. By Shavuos, the time we get to Shavuos and we stand at the base of that mountain, we are a piece of God. We are in control, we are disciplined. Today was day 30 of our 30-day technology challenge. Mazel tov to all those who completed it. It was amazing, but we're not done, we're just getting started. We're going to transition to once a week. 30 days was 30 days straight and some of these challenges were very difficult. We're going to every Monday post a challenge for the week. Manageable, for the week, just to keep us mindful about technology. That we own it, it doesn't own us. It serves us, we don't serve it. And the results, the testimonies what people have shared with me are out of this world. And we did it davka during sefirah because mastering technology, trying to recognize that it can't control our life we have to be in control of it is what Sefirat Ha'Omer is all about. From impulse, indulgence, acting like an animal with no control to becoming a godly spirit, to becoming a piece of God. Sovereign, disciplined, regulating ourselves, having that control, having that, having that ability to put it down. And the challenges have been fantastic. From leaving it plugged into the wall for 3 hours of your day, which was a throwback to when telephones were plugged into the wall. If you wanted to be on the phone you had to be near a wall. And if you went for a little walk from it, right? Another day we had, one of the challenges was to not bring the phone into the bathroom. And you'll excuse me but I won't tell you how many people texted me that they read the challenge from the bathroom. It was too late. They woke up, took their phone with them. So, but these are small things that can change your day. And how many people have told me that since the challenges they've discovered incredible amounts of time. The things they thought they had no time for. To read, spend time with their family, to work out. Turns out that if you don't bring it with you and then spend way too much time there, you're healthier, you're happier, you walk better, and you have more time to do other things. Anyway, we did it davka during this time because the march from Pesach to Shavuos, the count of Sefirat Ha'Omer is the count of coming into control, of being in control. And then you hit the cheesecake and you're totally out of control. But be in control, it's being in control. So why was it animal food? Benaot deshe yarbitzeini. It should be human food. So Rashi explained because Hashem Ro'i. If the metaphor is God's my shepherd and I'm a sheep, then I have to give animal food like kale, which is animal food, it's meant for animals. It's meant for animals, not human food. But then Rav Shaul Alter asked, shlita, Rav Shaul Alter asked, well then you just, you still have the question. I understand you gave the example of animal food because we gave the example where sheep, he's our shepherd. But why'd you give that example? The metaphor, the paradigm should have been Hashem Avi, Hashem Malki, Hashem Mori, Hashem Adoni. Hashem, you're my master, you're my father, you're my king. So many other metaphors we could have given where we get to still be a human. Why'd you give the metaphor where he's the shepherd and we have to go down to being the animal, to being the sheep? And he explained because a human has autonomy. A human has some sense, genuine or illusory, of independence. But the animal realizes I'm just an animal. The sheep know I just wherever the shepherd tells me to go. I eat what the shepherd puts in front of me and that's what I need for the day. I walk when the shepherd says walk, I stop when the shepherd says stop and rest. I go where the shepherd directs me and I'm just a sheep. I surrender, I submit, and the shepherd is in control. And that's what Dovid HaMelech was saying is: to get to a place, I'm a sheep, I'm a little sheeppeleh and you're my shepherd. Where you tell me to go, I go, and when I veer off you push me back, and what you give me to eat is what I need at that day, and I follow your direction. I'm not competing with you anymore. I'm not trying to force your hand, I'm not trying to do your job God, I'm not trying to tell you how to do it. I'm just a sheep and you're my shepherd. Lo Echsar. May I never be lacking in that capacity at the end of the day. To live a day in which I take initiative and effort, to live a day in which I do my best, to live a day in which I try to solve problems and repair and redeem and build and grow and earn and accomplish and conquer. That's how I live my day. But at the end when the day is over, when I do hit that proverbial wall, I say Hashem, I'm just a sheep and you're my shepherd. This is as far as we're going, the rest is up to you. I surrender and I submit to you. You're in charge, you're in control. Which brings us to the bottom of page 1 for us, which is page 70 in this book. Sfas Emes omed, the Heiliger Sfas Emes, Rav Shaul Alter's great zeide, same name Alter. Sfas Emes על המושג של ה' רועי לא אחסר מביא ווארט מזקינו החידושי הרי\"ם. Sfas Emes quotes his zeide, the Chiddushei HaRim. ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה' והיה ה' מבטחו. Like I said last week I'm not going to sing it for you, I'm not going to ask you to give me a beat. We're not going to end bentching together right now. But the pasuk in Yirmiyah that comes at the end of bentching: Baruch hagever. I'm really tempted, but ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה'. Let's talk the words. Baruch means blessed. Hagever, the man. Now we could have used a lot of words: Ish, Adam, Enosh, Gever. We have a lot of words for man, but But again here the pasuk Yirmiyahu, the Navi Yirmiyahu used the word gever. Blessed is the person asher yivtach b'Hashem, who does what? Trusts, places their trust in Hashem. We haven't talked about, we could, we won't now at length, but I'll just tell you the root of that word yivtach, bitachon. If you're in Israel, there's a big sign over or next to the metal detector and the guy standing there with his wand, on his patch that identifies his uniform, what he is, he's bitachon. What's bitachon? Security. So when we have, when we have bitachon b'Hashem, what we're saying is: who's my security? Hashem is my security. You're my ultimate security guard. Hashem, you're my security. Bitachon is bitachon. Maybe you pronounce it differently, but bitachon is bitachon. Our faith in Hashem is not just some blind faith in some genie in a bottle who's going to grant us wishes. Bitachon is bitachon. Hashem, I put my trust in you. What is security? I put my trust in you. I put my trust and my faith in you that you're going to protect, you're going to secure, you're going to keep me safe. Hashem, I put my trust in you. So baruch hagever, blessed is the person asher yivtach. Where do they put their security, their trust? Is in Hashem. Now, you need security. We have security guards on this campus right now. We have TSA, wonderful TSA people at the airport. And we have, you need security. You need security. As we discussed in shul a couple weeks ago, in the great free state of Florida, in addition to our paid professional security guards, half the shul is walking around as unpaid security. Many men with their shirts untucked, there is a reason. So there's a lot of security and here you have now open carry in the free state of Florida, but it's sending an important message that we don't only rely on others, but we can and do step up to take care and secure ourselves in a world that unfortunately is telling us we need it. We have to be reasonable and responsible and you've got to invest and take care of security, but ultimately we realize and recognize, and I don't want to go on a tangent, but I'll just tell you as I've had to say to some people: Rabbi, we need 20 security guards. Rabbi, we need a million dollar a year budget. Rabbi, we need snipers... literally have had people... we need snipers on the roof of the shul. And we need to put barbed wire around the campus. You know what I'm talking about? And I tell them, and unfortunately we had to just say it again, I said, who has the best security on planet Earth? The President of the United States of America probably has the greatest security budget and the best security on the planet. And there've been three assassination attempts on his life. That means to say if somebody is out and wants to... so we do security, security's a deterrent, security says go to the next place, security says don't mess and don't start, don't come here, but there's no end and you'll never be able to provide it at the level that people want. And ultimately at some point you have to say: here's what's reasonable, here's what's responsible, here's what's affordable, and then ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה'. In the end of the day, our ultimate trust and faith, the greatest security we have is in Hashem. Don't act irresponsibly, don't go to dangerous neighborhoods dripping in jewelry, don't act out in foolish and silly ways, be cautious, be careful. But once you do, then let go and let God. Once you're careful and cautious, once you act responsibly and reasonably, once you behave in the way that you should, then ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה'. Here we get to the hard part. So far we've translated okay? So far so good? So far song's rolling off our lips. V'haya Hashem mivtacho. Blessed is the person who puts their trust in Hashem. By the way, it's not only true about security. I'm sorry, I was about to... not only is it true about security like TSA, security, armed guards. It means also when you go to the doctor's office. ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה'. You're nervous and you're what will the doctor diagnose it? Will the doctor do security, the surgery successful? How will the biopsy go? Will the doctor... will it work out? Do he or she know what they're doing? What's going to happen? What's going to be? Whoa, relax. It's a good doctor? You did your research? You did your best? You made your appointment? You're following what they ask, the treatment? Now you're done with the doctor and ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה'. Now realize who's directing the doctor's hand in surgery? Who's directing the doctor's mind in radiology, in diagnosing, in treatment? This is the formula and recipe for life. That's why we sing it at the end of bentching. ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בה'. You want a blessed life? You want a happy life? You want a calm life? You want a serene life? Baruch hagever, the blessed person is the one asher yivtach b'Hashem. Go to the right doctor and then put your trust in Hashem. Hire security. Hire security, then you put your trust in Hashem. You do everything that's reasonable and within your means, and when you're done, you put your trust in Hashem in every area and arena of life. Vhaya Hashem mivtacho. Now translate those words. Blessed is the person, lucky, fortunate, blessed is the person puts their trust in Hashem and then vhaya Hashem, Hashem will be mivtacho. What does the word mivtacho? Then Hashem will be mivtacho the source of their trust, the provider of their trust, the provider of their security. Put your faith and trust in Hashem and then Hashem will provide and be the source of your trust. שאומרים בסוף ברכת המזון, we say this and sing this at the end of benching. Vyesh lehaktim. However, now we'll ask the question of the Baal Shem Tov on this pasuk, שנכתב הדגל מחנה אפרים, we're giving you a whole background lineage. Shul Alter zeide is the Sfas Emes, Sfas Emes zeide is the Chiddushei Harim. But first we have to see something the Baal Shem Tov said. The heiliger Baal Shem Tov, his grandson is the Degel Machaneh Ephraim on Parshas Beshalach, mevi bishmo, quotes the name of the Baal Shem. Lichora yesh lehavin אחרי שאמר אשר יבטח בה', once we describe this person as a person who puts his trust in Hashem, מה יש להוסיף ולומר והיה ה' מבטחו? It's redundant. We're duplicating, it's unnecessary. What do we add? Blessed is the person who puts his trust in Hashem and Hashem is his trust. Yeah, if he put his trust in Hashem, of course Hashem is his trust. What do we add? Mah hakphelus? What is the double language? This was the question of the heiliger Baal Shem, brought by his grandson, his einikel, the Degel Machaneh Ephraim. ומבאר הבעל שם טוב זכותו יגן עלינו, and the Baal Shem Tov, may his merit protect us, sheha'sheilah hanal, this question, נובע מזה שאנו מערבבים מושגים. The reason we have this question is because we have a bad assumption, a false assumption. The whole question is predicated on a bad, on a bad assumption. We mix things up. כי יש ג' חלקים בביטחון. There are three parts, listen carefully, my dear Emunah community movement family friends. Listen carefully. There are three separate parts to bitachon. Listen carefully, three separate parts. Boteach, mavtiach, and mivtach. You listening? Don't shut off because a little grammar here. Don't break out in an allergic reaction because we got a little grammar here. Boteach, mavtiach, and mivtach. Boteach, היינו אדם שיש לו ביטחון. The boteach is the trusting person, the person who has trust, the person who has faith. Mavtiach, mi ha'adam boteach? רבונו של עולם שהוא מבטיח ומקור הביטחון. The mavtiach is the person being trusted. They're the mavtiach, the one in whom, in whom because I have a good education, the trust was placed. Namely, the Ribono Shel Olam, who's the mavtiach and the mekor habitachon. והמבטח היינו הסיבה שעל ידה הוא בטוח שישיג לו אותו דבר. The mivtach is the cause or the catalyst, the explanation for why he should trust. The boteach is the one who trusts, the mavtiach is the one in whom there is trust, and the mivtach is the reason to trust, is the cause of the trust, is the medium and the mechanism of the trust. ויש מי שאמנם מאמין ובוטח בה'. There are those who believe in God. There's a Creator, there's a first cause, there's a source. This world is not brought to randomness, it's not chance. But there's a first cause, there's a Creator, there's an artist, there's a designer, there's an architect. They believe. And they're boteach bashem and they say, this source who's greater than I and he exists, I put my trust in him. אבל הביטחון הוא שהקדוש ברוך הוא יצליח דרכם במסחר ובעסק שלהם. But what's their trust? Their trust is, I trust He will make everything work out for me the way I want. I trust he's going to give me the spouse I want on my timeline, children I want on my timeline, the livelihood I want, the career I want, the money I want, the house I want, the car I want, the health I want. He's going to give me what I want. The campus I want, the funders and donors I want. He's going to give me everything I want. ונמצא שהמבטח שלו הוא פרנסה. כלומר שהסיבה והגורם לפרנסה זו הוא מה שהוא עוסק במסחר. וכל ביטחונו בה' הוא על ידי סיבה. שמעשה ידיו ומי שבדרגה כזו עליו נאמר אשרי הגבר אשר יבטח בהשם. Let's read that again. This is important. His trust bitachon שהקדוש ברוך הוא יצליח את דרכם במסחר ובעסק. I trust God will make my business successful. Now, but what's in what way will God make it successful? What's the miftach? הסיבה והגורם לפרנסתו הוא מה שהוא עוסק במסחר. In the end of the day, what made me successful? Me. I worked hard. I chose what to invest in. I got those clients. I got those customers. I figured it out, the branding, the marketing, me. So my trust is in God, He's the source of success, but the mechanism, the medium through which the success comes is me. My hands, my head, my heart. v'chol bitchono ba'Hashem and all the trust in Hashem v'chol bitchono ba'Hashem was על ידי סיבת חיצונית שמעשה ידיו. My trust in Hashem is that He'll direct my hands to bring about the successful outcome of my business. And that's the darga, that's the level of אשרי הגבר אשר יבטח בהשם. Such a person who says I'm going to work today and I'm going to use my ingenuity, my creativity, my entrepreneurship, I'm going to decide what stocks to invest in, when to buy, when to hold, when to sell, I'm going to market, I'm going to pick up clients, I'm going to navigate, I'm going to negotiate, I'm going to be successful in business. Who's the source of that success? God. But through what will He bring the success? Through me. הדרגה היותר גבוהה והיותר גדולה בביטחון הוא, the higher level, the level we aspire to get to is v'haya Hashem mivtacho. God is not just in whom I put my trust, but God is the one who executes and brings about all the success. שהריבונו של עולם הוא לא רק המבטח אלא הוא גם המבטיח אלא הוא המבטח הסיבה דהיינו להכיר לדעת שמה שהוא עוסק בפרנסה אין המפתח והסיבה הקדוש ברוך הוא הבטיח ויתברך שמו המבטח והשתדלות ועסק בפרנסה אינה סיבה להצלחתו. We have to know, ready for this? It's a totally different paradigm, totally different way of view of your life, totally different way of living your life. The effort and initiative we make is all, listen to me, the effort and initiative we make is all necessary prerequisite to bring about Hashem's blessings and results, but they don't necessarily and most often don't at all correlate. The success is not because of our initiative, it's just that the results can't come without our making an effort and taking an initiative. I gave this example in the past. I will make meetings and I will solicit people who want to be partners and investors and stakeholders in changing the entire world through please God what we're building here. And often those people who I solicit it wasn't right or the right timing or they weren't sold or they don't want to partner. And then all of a sudden someone else out of nowhere will drop off a check or will make a call or will say I'd love to hear more about the campus. Wait, what happened? The success didn't come from the people I solicited. People in business will tell you this. They network, they reach out, they try. I just had a conversation with somebody who does wealth management and let's just say investments, wealth management, private equity, insurance. And he says, you know how often there'll be a case he's working with a client on, hasn't closed it, hasn't closed it, can go for years, and in the end it doesn't work out and in one day someone needed them and wanted them and they close it and that income that they were hoping and expecting and wanting came from another source entirely. Hashem set us to set up such a world that you can't sit back, you can't sit on your couch and wait. Miracles aren't going to happen. אין סומכין על הנס. There is a level of bitachon we don't even think we're capable or competent or qualified to be on that level, maybe. But for the every person, He set up a world that we don't rely on miracles. You don't sit on your couch, nobody's knocking on your front door and dropping off a bag. Ed McMahon's not showing up with a big check cut out, you won his lottery. It's not happening. It's not happening. You've got to go to work, you've got to make an effort, you've got to take initiative. But, here's the point he's making. You listening carefully? Never, ever get confused and think that the success was because of the effort you made. The effort you made became the key that turned the lock that let the blessing flow. And you needed to do it. Go back to Bereishis. Hashem creates a world. And it creates an ecosystem in this world where there’s what’s it called clouds rain. Yeah, but then it forms back into the clouds. Condensation, not the word I’m looking for, precipitation, condensation, group effort here, group effort, group effort. Anyway, He created such a world, but it didn’t rain. It’s a Pasuk in Bereishis and Rashi notes it didn’t rain, even though He created the heaven and the earth and He created the clouds and the seas and the rivers, condensation, perspiration, evaporation, every ration, He created all the rations and He created the cloud, but it didn’t rain. What was He waiting for? Rashi says אדם אין על האדמה because man hadn’t been created and God didn’t press go on His system until man was in the world. And what did man need to do in order for God to press go? He needed to do two things: he needed to work the ground and he needed to ask God for help to make it rain. And that’s the model we’ve followed ever since, that in order for the blessing to flow, in order for it to rain, which is the colloquial word we use to describe livelihood and Parnassa, for God to make it rain in our lives, and some people consider themselves rainmakers, but there is only one rainmaker. In order for it to rain in our life, we need to do the same two things: we need to do work, take initiative, and we need to ask. But never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever get confused and think that your work or your initiative correlates with the outcome and with those results. The results and the outcome are from Hashem. It's just that the access, in order to access them, the way we access is with our initiative, with our work. And that’s what these three words: Boteach, Maftiach, and Nivtach. We trust in whom we trust, but then there’s how the one in whom we trust brings about the outcome that we want and hope and trust in. Is it through us, our hands, our efforts? No, that’s an illusion. That’s an illusion. We can be proud and we should be grateful and we work hard and if we get results, we should be proud and celebrate. But always realize that it’s all from Hashem. It’s all from Hashem. There are other people as smart, there are other people who put in the same hours, there are other people who work as hard and they don’t have the kind the results necessarily we do. It’s all Hashem. What differentiates A from B? How come this person broke out with incredible extraordinary success and the other didn’t? Same IQ, same SAT score, same educational track, same, same, same. Because it’s all Hashem. And never think it’s you and it’s us. קשה מאוד להשיג דרגה זו. It's very hard. Next paragraph. It's very hard to understand this level, to live this level. אמנם יש סיפור ידוע שהיה יהודי תמים ששמע דרשה שצריך לבטוח רק בהשם. There’s a story of a very pure Jew who heard a Drasha that you have to trust only in Hashem. ולמחרת לא יצא לשוק לעסקיו שהרי הוא בוטח בהשם. So the next day he didn’t go to work, he didn’t go to the market to sell his merchandise because he said, I heard this Gantz Drasha, I went to put on Spotify, he heard this Shiur, sometimes it hits and sometimes it doesn't, apparently. Just joking, I'm just joking. Sometimes it doesn't hit me either. Anyway, he didn't go to work that next day, he didn't go to the market. בני ביתו באו אליו בטענה איך יתפרנסו לאחר שהוא יושב בבית. So the members of his house came home and they said, Dad, what are you doing home from work? What’s going on? He said, what do you mean? I heard the Emunah Shiur yesterday. God provides. God’s the one, just put your trust in Him. Have faith. And they say, yeah, but we’re not going to be able to pay the mortgage and put food on the table and send us to school and get us the latest iPhone and buy the latest clothing if you don't get up and get to work. לבסוף הגויים באו אליו הביתה כדי לסחור אתו ובאמת לא היה צריך לצאת מביתו. In the end, in the end his customers and clients came to his house when he didn't show up at work selling his merchandise and he was able to do his business without ever leaving his house. אבל אי אפשר לשחק מדריגה כזו של ביטחון. זה צריך להיעשות מתוך תמימות אמיתית וביטחון גמור בהשם. That level. That level to really surrender and submit over to Hashem. That level to say He has the ability to make it happen in any way. לצערנו אנחנו כבר מדי חכמים ואיבדנו את התמימות הזאת. Don’t feel bad about yourself, don’t beat yourself up, because the great Gera Rosh Yeshiva is saying we’ve already lost that purity, we’ve lost that capacity. אבל בכל זאת איננו בני חורין להיפטר ממנה וצריכים לחתור להגיע לשלמות הביטחון בהשם. להשכיל להבין עד כמה הסיבה היא רק סיבה חיצונית כיסוי המעלים את האמת. But we have to understand and we have to realize and we have to recognize that even if we can't yet or maybe ever get to that level, we don't have that purity, we don't have that clarity, we don't have that confidence, we don't have that conviction. But we need to know it is a possibility. There are people like it. And we have to aspire to it. And to know that even while we're working, Hashem, I'm doing my work because I have to. But even while I work I know, and I never lose sight for a moment, I remain mindful always that it's all You. It's from You. Just two days ago somebody called me. They davened to a certain tzadik and they asked for help from Hashem in a certain thing parnassah-wise and it was unimaginable how it would happen and two days later, two days later, I don't want to be too descriptive but they sent me a video and they showed me a property and something that had happened there and the timing of when it happened meant that an expense that they didn't know how they'd cover all of a sudden would be covered from some other source because something that happened on that property that was out of control and they see, you just have to believe and you have to know Hashem's going to orchestrate and believe and no, it doesn't always, and there are people struggling and it's not so simple and it would be malpractice for me to sit here and tell you all you have to do is trust in Hashem and the money flows in and all of a sudden the dots connect and the things happen and it's easy, the bank account gets full. It's not the case. It's not the case. And yet this is the life that we are directed and encouraged and inspired to live. To look and to extend that antenna while we still have it and to realize, pick up the signal. Pick up the signal. Hashem in the end directs and guides and lifts and helps and the people are not in our community sometimes through agents and angels that He sends, homeless and abandoned. There's a plan and there's a tomorrow and things get better and we have to make our effort and we have to take our initiative. And so that's number one for today. That's the message today is that even when we take our initiative, never get confused. Never get confused. What was successful. Yeah you could go to daven to Hashem and thank Hashem and you did well and Baruch Hashem, but if you still think that you were the one who brought it, He blessed you with it but through you, it was never through you. That's an illusion. It's a mirage. It was never through you. It's through Hashem who brings the results and even if we are the agent and it looks and it appears it's us, it's always Him, which is the double-edged sword. It means never take too much pride because you think it's you and never give up hope when it's not working through your hand that it's not going to come out of left field, it's not going to come through some circuitous way, it's not going to come in some other way. We make our effort and then sit back but you gotta trust. If you've done your effort and now you say but I don't see the results of my effort. Take shidduchim, we're going to make more videos, we've had wonderful feedback of what we've tried to do, some of the messages we've tried to get across. But it's true in shidduchim. People and they push too hard in the hishtadlus in shidduchim. I called 40 shadchanim, gone to all these networking events, posted the resume in every chat I know, hired and gave a deposit to put on, on retainer every famous big shadchan for the stars, and where are the results? Where are the results? And then all of a sudden somebody you never met, you never heard of, that wasn't on your list, wasn't in your network and came out of nowhere says, \"Oh, by the way, is your son or daughter dating? I have an idea for you.\" Whoa, what happened? What happened? The initiative, the effort we take is because that's what's necessary to Hashem set up the world. But the outcome and the results don't necessarily and most often don't correlate with the effort that we took. In shidduchim, in health and wellness, in parnassah and livelihood, in all these areas of our life. So we should focus and concentrate not only on the boteach and not only on the mivtach, the maftiach, but also on the mivtach. Not only on the one who trusts and the one in whom they trust but also what they're trusting, how the trust is manifest, manifest. How the trust manifests itself. Is it manifesting in us or is Hashem the one who makes it manifest? That's what there is for us to work on. Wishing everyone a beautiful Yom Tov and a beautiful Kabbalas HaTorah, a genuine and a real attendance come to the mountain. Because Kabbalas HaTorah Shavuos is not recreated, this isn't the Renaissance Fair. We're not recreating that thousands of years ago we got the Torah. Let's decorate the shul with flowers, let's eat cheesecake and let's re-imagine, let's celebrate that we got the Torah years ago. We are getting the Torah together. We're getting the Torah in two days. Be on time. We overslept when we first got it, but every year we get another chance. That's why the minhag to stay up all night. Whether you stay up all night or you set an alarm, don't be late because we're not... We're not just remembering that we got the Torah, we are getting the Torah. We're coming back to the mountain. And we've been marching and walking for 48, tonight will be 49 days. And we've been elevating from animals to humans. We're conquering that impulse, that instinct, that animal voice, to become human beings who could put down our technology. Human beings who have some regulation, some sovereignty, some self-control. And part of that self-control is the awareness, self-awareness to know that we're not responsible for our success, and therefore don't panic if you don't know where it's going to come from. Put your ברוך הגבר אשר יבטח בהשם, Baruch Hagever, place your trust and your hope in Hashem. See you at the mountain in two days.
