A Yeshiva Student and Playing Sports | Letter #16

good evening welcome to 30 letters in 30 days I just want to remind everybody that you can print out the PDF so you could have the exact same printout that I am using over here go to 30 letters 30days.com and there you'll find all sorts of different resources for this course including the archives so if you haven't been able to keep up with a letter a day you can catch up and that's what double speed was created for on letter number 16 which means that we are in the second half we're already uh past the midpoint things are heating up Shabbos Nissan already was and we're in the home stretch tonight's letter is a short letter short comparative to some of the letters that we've had recently uh but a very interesting letter uh there's no big drama nobody here involved in this letter is to my knowledge is a famous person or person of global influence and at least not in the conventional sense um but there's a lot here as there is in every letter of the web Hashem tests in your test Brooklyn by the grace of God the 16th day of adeshani that means this is not the day after Purim but it's the day after the day after promise called shushan Purim so this is the day after shushanpur um Brooklyn greetings and blessings that I was writing to a man and what do I know about this man well he's a teacher um I'm suspecting from contacts some of the things makes me think uh not in a Chabad Yeshiva um he seems to be dealing with um students who are not necessarily from religious backgrounds or at least not fully religious backgrounds but you'll understand as we start reading okay wow fast turnaround the Rebecca says in response to your letter from out of poor so this is three days later also your letter in your letter you enclosed a letter from one of the mothers of one of the students in your class okay so you know that there was a time when people wrote letters I know now people um write texts but um the mother wrote the teacher a letter and the teacher wrote the Reba letter and in the latter that the teacher wrote to the rabbit that the teacher included the letter that he got from the mother and basically was asking that what do I do with this how do I respond to this this is a mother one of one of the kids in my class so uh the web is giving him guidance about that okay so you can close that ladder the tiger it's token its content is what uh summarizes it as yes she's concerned about the religious observance the religious uh habits of her son in other words she thinks her son's a little bit too far from a little too zealous if you know what I mean that according to her understanding of things he's uh overly religious and what's more uh it's having a bad effect on his health what does it mean it's having a bad effect on his health because the the mother could be nervous about the sun being too religious and it could have nothing to do with health but in this case it actually does and in fact that ABBA says that it's a legitimate complaint we're going to read what the connection is between this boy's uh religious observance and his health and we're going to read um says it's uh she's got a point she's got a point okay moving it's understood that there's a part of her ladder kavanasi what am I talking about I'm referring to lamasha mask where she mentions that her son doesn't participate in the games that his friends are playing he doesn't partake in their outings he refrains from it said she's right about that in other words The Woman made some comments about her son's religious observance the rabbit is not mentioning what all of the points were and that I was not mentioning if they're valid or not although you can sort of infer that I was implying here that um since the devil says this one point was valid maybe the other points were not so valid that's what I'm picking up but at any rate the devil says she makes one point which I agree with which is valid and that is she says that his his religiosity at least the way that this boy understands religiosity is preventing him or he's preventing himself from playing uh games playing sports maybe he doesn't think it's uh befitting a young serious Torah scholar and the mother is worried she says this is not good for his health and she complains to the teacher now the teacher is turning around and saying Help this Mother's complaining to me what do I do so the number says she got a point over there um because listen I'll tell you why she's got a point the body has to be healthy and intact birthday boy in order to be able to serve Hashem properly says go see what is the source that I bet would off and off and often quote this rambam um from El casteus where the Rama speaks about various different modes of proper conduct the way a person ought to live and uh that I'm of course as a physician dedicates much uh much of the of this section to outlining practices which are conducive to to bodily health and there's a line that that Adam says there in the beginning of of chapter four liaison body uh miracius Hashem the service of Hashem I should actually mention uh Darke avedis Hashem uh that is the Reba's Edition uh the the ways of the service of Hashem there's some versions which read that to have a healthy body is one of the ways of Hashem and that actually adds the word avidas Hashem so to have a healthy body is one of the ways of uh service of Hashem so the number says she's right mom's got a point the rambam agrees with her you have to have a healthy body Uber and we're not only quoting the album here although their album is enough but we have a nice quote from the rava Magid that's the successor and chief disciple of the balship famous quote from the the Magid that neck of cotton by goof is a native Godel Shama or the way that I believe it was originally said because it was orally transmitted it was in Yiddish as a a cleaner in goof can machen a Grace a small hole in the body can make a big hole in the soul and uh the background of this of course was that the market had a son of avram who was called the malach the angel because he was angelic because he uh was more into the spiritual worlds than this physical world to the extent that he unfortunately neglected tending to his physical vessel and his father the market actually warned him about it and nonetheless he passed away at a fairly young age that's why when his the alterable named a child after avram he named him avraham because it should be the hebraham he should be like avranda Malik but he should be a khaim of ram he should actually be able to live in this world at any rate so this is a well-known saying of the Magid which basically means it's very important to look after your health not as an end in and of itself but rather because it is essential to the service of Hashem that if you don't take care of the body then your soul is not going to be able to do what it needs to do in order to serve Hashem so this mother is backed up by the rambam and by the Missouri Market s now who says that he's got a play who says he's got to go participate in uh their uh their Sports and their their hikes and whatever it is that they're doing so the number makes a very interesting observation we see with the Youth of America it's very interesting that something that is a a function of the body I mean I guess it shouldn't surprise me that much but it did and I'm still sort of processing it something that's a function of the body would differ um depending on the cultural setting you know you would think a body is a body if if that's the way that people did things and it was healthy for them uh back in the out the Heim so why should it be so different in uh in America but the Reba says it is different and that we see that in America the youth at least in America um when they change from their habit anything that pertains to the body harize this has an effect that rabbit never uses negative words or hardly ever uses negative words so that everybody just says it has an effect on their nerves but obviously that I was saying it has a negative effect on their nerves a very interesting uh observation here um of course the idea that changing one's habits can be disruptive to the uh the balance the equilibrium of the of the of the person there's uh that that's a a well-known hazal that uh shinoy vesus that changing one's habits changing one's uh their uh schedule when it comes to physical things can be the can bring the onset of uh a physical illness it's actually interesting the source of foreign speaks about when children uh uh on Shabbos that they shouldn't be introduced to new material because then Shabbos they eat differently than on the week and uh so you have to take it easy on them so there is such a concept in in hazal perhaps the web is saying but especially with the youth in America and maybe it just means that we're uh a weaker generation you read the sedodus and all of that I'm not sure Robert doesn't explain uh why this is the case he just points to this as a phenomenon that the youth in America um if they change their their habits if they change their routine it's not good for them um as far as uh their their call it the their mood regulation so and that is concerned about that so he's saying basically to this teacher that the mother's got a point if this kid used to go out and play basketball at recess I don't know if he played basketball I don't know Toronto I don't know maybe they're playing tag I have no idea but the point is um if he used to do that and now for whatever reasons he's refraining from that and the mother's saying she's worried about his health that I was saying yeah that actually could be a concern um not just because of the importance of exercise which seems to be what the devil is implying by quoting the rambam but then also a second point which compounds this uh which is that it could cause him uh to become disordered as far as his his mood and his emotional well-being so uh she's right so Mom is right okay um Yeshiva albana fish the devil says particularly in my opinion it's important that if the mother will see how the Yeshiva is the one who is um pushing to improve her son's happiness and influence him to to partake in outings with his peers obviously uh my printer's low on ink come on this is just the realities over here okay come moving past them obviously in keeping with uh the ways of Toyota so that makes a another point she's right the mother's right and if the Yeshiva will be the one who is like sort of the hero to come in and save the day this will be really good because remember the mother's nervous that the kid is becoming too religious and we want to calm her down we want to give her good feelings so let's uh have the Yeshiva be the one who comes in and gives mom what she wants because this is something that the Yeshiva can very happily uh give her because it's something that's in line with Terror values like we said from the rambam from the Magid so this is something that we would be glad to uh to Grant her wishes because this is was what this is what Toyota wants as well so it would be a good thing as far as this mother who is nervous about her child's uh religious involvement foreign another further point the mother should see that the ones who are pushing for the boy to play sports with his friends should specifically be the same teachers who are teaching him Torah I I I'm assuming that this school especially the way this letter sounds was was not all Luma decadesh they had it sounds like you know General Studies there so if you would have had a secular studies teacher uh be the one to push for um physical activity it's it's you're kind of wasting an opportunity to make a kidish Hashem rather it should be the teacher and it sounds like this teacher writing to the web is that teacher that the same one who's teaching the kids Torah should be the one who's sort of the hero who says to the mom you know what you're 100 right you got to make sure that or we got to make sure we're gonna make sure we're gonna uh get your kid to uh to play sports again and to have fun during resources recess with his friends and run around and and uh and be healthy like a good red-blooded American boy you're 100 right okay foreign makes that not only will she then agree to her son's uh that doesn't seem to like this word he's quoting her uh the dossius the religiosity I'm assuming this is this took place in America see just from the time it was an air of poor letter that I was writing back three days later I'm assuming it was not only America I bet you it was New York maybe even Brooklyn so I don't think that the mother was writing in Hebrew I don't think there are very very many mothers who were worried their kid was becoming too from uh who are writing in in Hebrew I'm assuming them I'm just doing a little Sherlock Holmes over here I'm assuming the mother wrote in English so I don't think dossius was the word it was probably religious um but the Reba says if if you meaning the teacher can be the guy who steps up and facilitates that her son should get some exercise which is something we have no problem with I'll Peter to the country Toyota wants the kid to exercise so then this will help that not only she should agree to her son being religious and then the devil says I don't really like that word that's really her word I'm just using her word but if if we'll give her what she wants in this area not only she'll agree but she could even um encourage it more she could add to it it's it's remarkable to me you know like the the to the debit everyone is a potential ally and we've seen this in so many letters um in the past two weeks the dev is always networking always reaching out to people always trying to find common ground and even here like here's this complaining mom what's the worst nightmare right oh no one of the moms is a Jewish mother no is complaining who needs it and then I was like hold on a second she's got a point and you know what let's Grant her her point because it's a good point and then not only will she agree see there's like three levels she right now she's annoyed with him being religious okay but not only was she not it would not be annoyed she could even agree that's like the second level but then there's even like a higher level she could actually push him to be even more religious see than Evan's always going for that for that uh that gold like what are you talking about that we should settle that the mother should just stop being annoyed that he's so religious no no we're gonna get the mother on board that she should encourage him to become even more religious we just have to you know we have to take care of her and she has a good point this is something that we're happy to to Grant her okay moving right along bavande La Meister he look s like okay I'm sure I don't have to explain to you the difference between what potato calls something that's wet and something that's wet enough to make other things wet I'm not going to get into a whole discussion of the contexts where this makes a difference but there are various different situations in Jewish law where this is pertinent a lot of it has to do with ritual Purity and impurity in in imparting the ritual impurity but the point is there's a difference between something that's wet like a person's hand let's say that's just merely damp or wet enough that if he touches something else then the thing that he touches now becomes wet so that's that's the expression right there the cave in yes now the job of every Jewish teacher the Nemesis in parentheses even a teacher who does not overtly teach anything Jewish meaning even secular studies teachers but how much more so someone who is teaching our Toyota of life and that seems to be the case here that the this teacher is teaching Toyota and it's just an interesting point again you know there's nothing secular in a Jew's life in in the Reba's world view like and by the way there's a letter and a couple of nights from now uh where the dev is writing to somebody who's teaching agriculture and that I was saying to him that yeah even agriculture goes into the category of what King Solomon referred to as know him meaning God in all of your ways so for that but there's really nothing secular everything is ultimately an opportunity either to directly promote religious observance or or at least indirectly or like we saw what was that was that last night the letter to Olivia to the politician he was looking to make some changes in the government and that Eva was telling him oh it's a perfect opportunity to introduce some spiritual changes some spiritual improvements and maybe this is the whole point why by Divine Providence you're in the position you're in and in other words every capacity of influence that a Jew is in is in order to promote hashem's ultimate desire that's that's without exception so the devil says every teacher even if he's not teaching Toyota but especially if he's actually teaching Toyota has to be an influence he has to be moist enough meaning with like good holy stuff so it's not just he is he's got the juice but he's able to transmit it to others so those matters that you have to um inculcate into the to the students those matters have to be things that you have and you have them in such a way where it's it's contagious that not only you have it but you have it in such a way that it's overflowing and it and it it affects that the students pick it up as well you caught him and this includes in general two main aspects there's two qualities that Eva says to this teacher that you need to personify and personify so strongly that your students will automatically pick it up just by being in your proximity what are those two qualities of God and hashem's uh wisdom yidah is our fear his wisdom and what does it mean uh wisdom the real wisdom the wisdom will of God that is revealed in his title and the order is important it has to be in the order where the of God precedes the wisdom the the knowledge of of God's wisdom um it's an important concept here it speaks about it in perkiaves that uh the the fear of God has to come before the the wisdom and uh we have to have both but it can't just be scholarship it can't just be intellectual Acumen it has to be the pursuit of the knowledge of God's wisdom predicated and built upon a strong foundation of the awe of God so the lesson here is is obvious what I'm telling you of English saying nothing stands in the way of will uh I don't know the background I don't know the context I didn't see this person's letter when the devil says nothing stands in the way of will the Deb is basically telling somebody that they're about to have a big breakthrough but then they're going to need to um to devote themselves to this next uh phase of their development so basically the guy wrote to that I don't know what else he mentioned he enclosed that letter from the complaining mother uh the rabba deals with the the mother's complaint and then the Abba says to this guy you're gonna really need to step up in matters of Hashem you're gonna have to be uh a paragon of of a God-fearing Jew and as and as well as well as a a knowledgeable Jew a tourist scholar in such a way that these qualities will become apparent in the students who you are teaching Tanya how you doing uh certainly you know about the three daily study Cycles of Tanya which are well known which were established by the rabbis we refer to it as kitas we go through the entire homish once a year by learning one Aliyah every day by the way we're starting vayicro today have fun uh we do the entire Tanya once a year by starting from the title page on YouTube we're in the middle of Zion right now and we do tell him on a monthly basis so today was called valve finished kufio Tess the longest capital and tomorrow's of Zion so we'll start with uh koof we finish it every month and then there's also Shabbos where you say the hotel I'm in one sitting so then we end up saying the hotel twice a month really okay anyways the rabbit tells this teacher to start doing hitas Val koponim Ishmael and at the very least you should start keeping it from now on meaning kind of like implying you should have been doing it I I it would be nice to hear that you're already doing it okay but if you're not yet doing it let's get started all right with a blessing for that you should report Good Tidings and everything uh mentioned and that's our letter tonight we will see you tomorrow night for a letter number 17.