Alei Shur: How Much Do You Love G-d? - Rabbi Guy Matalon

[Music] so we went through a list of moral virtues qualities that we need to pay attention to when we are learning motor learning motor learning to focus our energies learning to pay attention to certain things that can enhance our service session so we're going through a list of ten items and we've covered I think we're a number eight we covered eight we didn't do nine so just a quick rundown of the other the first eight so that we're all on the same page first one was remember paying attention that we whatever we're doing we're making a choice we're choosing to do and if you're choosing to learn Torah you're choosing to do mitzvahs you're choosing to pray giving sadaqa all those things or choices it's something though you're doing consciously no one is forcing you you're not doing it because you're a robot that you have to be good no you have the possibility of being really bad there are people who are really bad and they're making a decision to be bad so the idea is pay attention you are making a choice you're being a choice to be good you're making a choice to be in your shoe you're making a choice to become good servant of Hashem it's a choice Harry got it secondly when you're learning Torah make sure that you take it with you that is when you close the book you're still thinking about it you're talking to your friends about it you are in engaged in Torah learning it's not something that you you know you take a biology class and once you take the exam you forget everything about biology because a lot of people do they cram for whatever class they're taking and then after the class they you know take the test that's it nothing I was sort of my undergraduate career you take a class in geology you have no idea what this stuff is just pass the test and then you let sit sell the books and you're gone that's it that's not what tour is about Torah is supposed to affect you change you make you a better person so if you're not talking in Lynnwood in learning Torah it's not doing its job 3 you have to work on three things loving fellow human beings as our colleague our student from our left or love Jews from our colleague to the right right bad doing cressid acts of kindness and has it and having patience number four is that we have to look around and see the wonderful beautiful acts of God that he has done for us and around us so that we could see that there is only one God and that he is the one that has done so much good for us and that's important five is that's four and five four and five six is remember we talked about having boundaries boundaries are not only in relations to girls but also with food with other things that we live a life of kedusha of holiness and holiness comes through having boundaries the boundaries should not be how shall we say just whatever I want but the boundaries that has are that the rabbi's have helped us with those boundaries should be part of our lives incorporate them and those boundaries can help us reach a level of kedusha number seven is that we should take on things consistently as we should grow and become consistent in our observance of Jewish law it's not something that should be you know today I'm gonna do it tomorrow I'm gonna skip and then Tuesday maybe then the next day is okay I'll do it twice because I didn't really do it day before now have be consistent be in control make the right choice that's the idea but consistency is there's a certain momentum then then once you have it when the balusters is rolling it's a lot easier to stay with it as opposed to try to stop the ball turn it around and then you know it's much much harder it is that's what the color Sparkle wants to see consistency number eight we should fear god should fear god he's gonna punish us we should be aware that there is such a thing as punishment if you're not rewarded but we should have a healthy not obsessive but a healthy uhm I'm a fear of of God and the person once again when a person learns Mooser he works on his Emunah right in his belief in Hashem and that is the starting point of how do you know if you really have fear of God in your life is that you don't do whatever the heck your heart tells you to do if you have boundaries if you're living within certain limitations then you hold yourself back then it shows now obviously not because I'm afraid of health or I'm allergic to strawberries and that's why I don't need strawberries that's not what I'm talking about talking about that somebody says Harry I'm not going to do this because I Shem says I shouldn't do it and then that's the beginning of your so we talked about the idea of being consistent and if you have boundaries and you don't do what your heart desires that you have limitations because you believe in Hashem it is the beginning of believing in God number nine he says that we have to love a Shem which means the Rambam right he says that we should think about and contemplate his Commandments his statements that is the Torah and his actions so that we should reach him to the level that we could and thereby develop love towards a Shem okay so that's the idea where do you really feel the love but if you have a love trap when you learn tomorrow when you're getting deep into it that will bring about a feeling of love in connection yes if you do for which is knowing that there's only one God and looking at the wonderful things that he's done to you for you and five is focusing on all the good things and becoming a grateful person then you develop into nine correct but you also develop into seven and eight right because seven talks about being consistent because that helps you with a consistency and with aid of fearing God because if you know that he did so many wonderful things for you you kind of want to do what he says I don't want to really rock the boat things are good then just keep going walk the plank okay good nice metaphor okay number ten we a person should connect with ha ha Meem with rabbis and learn torah with them and to also he says be with them so that you are learning their ways the way they eat that way they drink the way they handle their business and you could see how they are living according to the rules of the Torah so that's what the Rambam says and he says the Alisher says that we have very few of my Torah today as opposed to in the past okay so that's something that we don't have and remember that the Shoah happened Holocaust were many times we did a commie passed away so that there was that also limited the trend this connection that the Ramba was talking about but the most important thing in learning Muslim and learning and working on ourselves to become better people is to make sure that you don't get despaired don't give up don't give up it is a lot of work it's difficult it's not gonna be easy but their reward is tremendous not only for you for your family for your community for the Jewish people for the world just imagine that more and more people will be more caring people with boundaries people with self-control people with understanding that the spiritual aspect of their life is important that will dedicate time in their day to think about what are they doing why are they doing it should they keep doing it should they improve it not improve it those type of questions is something that I think is better forever single person with her Jewish or not and that's what really the idea is we are learning in the new Zion the difficulty is that we think that we can't do it it's too hard it's too much I can't do it and I want to share with you something outside of the alley sure if I can have that full mesh please thank you so in this week's partial anybody know what the parsha is good so what's the general rundown of the story real quick Yaakov sans what he sends gifts and messengers to ASA right he moves his family from one side of the river to the other and he stays behind and what happens gets it in a fight with a being that turns out to be an angel correct so there's a wrestling match and Jakov defeats right defeats the angel this is on chapter 32 I'm looking at verse 29 and the verse says like this angel system no longer will it be said that your name is Jacob but Israel for you have striven with the divine and with man and have what overcome you one so I heard a very interesting question if he won why aren't we because the Hebrew word is about to Holland which means and you succeeded you were able why aren't we called me hail why are we called this man he said means to to fight to struggle but the whole point is that he didn't only struggle with the angel he defeated the angel and if he defeated the angel why aren't we called million well the idea is this Michaelis is to be able to from the word yeah hole so it says what to hell and you could and you did here we have we're talking about the essence so if the idea is the lack of a vino fought against human beings and angel and one why isn't he called because he wrestled and won the answer is because we're not gonna win all the time what we're expected to do is to strive to struggle if that's our role the role that we have is to battle sometimes you're gonna win you then sometimes you're gonna lose but if you stay in bed with your blanket over your head you're not in the battle you're not in the fight but the idea is that you're goof and there neshama are in a battle and you have to make the neshamah help the neshamah win the forces of light and the forces of darkness are in the battle and we are right there we can either increase the forces of good or we can increase the forces of evil you decide it's up to you but the idea is first is don't give up don't fold and say there's no way I could win and believe that you can you can do it you can do it you have the tools you have the support you have to see I'd the dish my ash and will help you but make a stand fight fight so that's what the I'll issue here is saying that you have to believe that we can we can't win he says the the ball pocket suck the dick fear of our generation the disbelief of our generation is the disbelief that we have a choice the people say I can't you know I was born like this that's how I grew up there's no so each and every single person here in this room made choices to be here it was not determined by something for somebody else you made a choice Jim you walked in the door and you can walk out if you want no one hears hold your hand you kidding you don't get locked up in the room we have to believe we have to work on this belief that we can live days months and years without sinning we talked about this before you are capable of living without sinning it's up to you it's not that you can't so I'm easier to slip up here and there but you can live days weeks months years without sinning nobody decreed that you have to sin yes sir I'm serious nobody said in shimano yourself you have to sin today so you have to walk around and punch I don't know Ronnie in the face said I have to send today yes you have to believe it you have to have a Munna that it's up to you but the idea is you get the idea no one no one has decreed that you have to sin Zac you could be in every class every minute you could be the greatest Matt Smith must be to somebody who comes to every class and always learning that the Shiva's ever knows it's up to you it's just a decision that you make each and every one of us has weaknesses question is what do you want to do with them it's hard to fight against them to their natural tendencies okay nobody says in the alley sure that it's easy but you certainly can do it you can become the person that your future wife is praying for each and every one of you just so you know your wife your future wife right now is sitting and praying that you become the best that you can this is what she's praying there is no limit to shameless there's no limit to how good you can become no matter how good you are you will be in let's say a day you can get even better and let's say you reached it no that's it this I am so good there is no more good above better than me trust me you could become even better there's no limit there is no limit and it means that we have to work on it we have their responsibility we have the obligation to work to become better people so no one is gonna do the job for you there are no shortcuts here yeah no shortcuts if you don't do the job it's not gonna happen you don't get to become like sure without hard work so listen what you have to do is that you have to instill in your heart and in your mind that you can be a person who fears God was a good person that is learning Torah and that is keeping mitzvahs could do it and how do you do it you do it by learning you do it by practicing and by praying praying means you're asking him for help Hashem can only even help you but it's really up to you the c---eight that the smart that Hashem will give you the question is are you going to actualize it and monopolize it internalize it or are you gonna let it slip through your fingers there are many many opportunities that are given to us in our life question is to what extent that we grab them and we actually do it we're supposed to do with them how do you become great I've talked about this idea but the goal is not only to be perfect reaches level of sleemoth completion perfection but also to become great how do you become great do you know how to become great Yosef do you know how to become great look at my flaws that usually depresses me I can hear me down there's three things in order to become great one that you have to have dot two you hear ya you get hard work and three Hosoda we will talk about them tomorrow based on the show [Music] [Applause]