Siyum Bava Kama | Englewood, NJ - Full Siyum

uh I want to introduce Rabbi schwed Rabbi schwed is the uh director of the OU aloff uh Division and he's one of my close friends and before uh further Ado I'd like to introduce RW thank you Josh good morning welcome like to thank everybody for taking some time out of their Sunday morning to come celebrate seeum bakama Torah learning the grow of Torah learning in the Igor community and so nice to have the rabim of the various schs coming to join I just wanted to welcome as well Mitch ader president of the OU and Rabbi yakob Glasser director of community engagement for coming and gracing us with their presence I would like to also thank Asher tesser and Reena H and YY ler Li flam all the people that have put in lots of time and effort and of course Yakov Jacob adens Sasser for the beautiful catering this morning thank you as Josh said I'm not here to speak there are some great speakers coming I think we have Rabbi friend is on the way a surprise guest speaker he'll be here as well I just want to share one brief thought we're in middle of learning the paros now of building the mishan who built the mishan Torah tells us the the ones who had the skill set the brain power the craftsmanship to build the Mish the Torah says when introducing this tells you should speak to these I filled them up they're full they're complete with asks it seems to be redundant speak to the who I have given them obviously he says something which I think is very appropriate for today there are many people who have that they have the wisdom they have the skill set to do many different things they don't realize it their potential is never tapped into they could be the biggest they could be skilled at tremendous with tremendous skills but they never realize their potential hasem told you should speak to the you should tell them you should be the one to bring out their skills you should go around and figure out which one of the people in the room could do each one of the different skills that were needed for the mishan I think here in Anglewood with the ranim in each with the night col going on here together with balab batam like Josh Goldberg and other balab batam that are giving sh they are the ones who are telling the people you are the you have the opportunity as you'll hear soon in a video we recorded many people in this room talking about how before whenever that day was we talk about Co and maybe we don't want to talk about covid but certain things came out the learning that started during dur the covid pandemic started with people like Josh and other people that said we could do this and they're still going strong with that I would like to call upon Rabbi rikman to introduce and be Messi wow thank you so much and again big thank you to all the ranim to the leadership of the OU and a tremendous thank you to The Goldberg family to Josh and to his parents and his sister and the extended family for making this all happen bringing us together to celebrate a completion here of bakama before I complete the M I just want to share a thought of theim of blessed memory about the importance of AAR tells us said I deserve reward for this all the things abay did all of his lessons and his arguments but he said I deserve reward for this T that whenever there's a whenever there's a young Torah scholar the Messiah who's finishing a tractate Aid I make a big party for all the rabbis everyone in the Yeshiva gets to eat at my expense because one boy in the Yesa is finishing the m so the asked has many merits what's this great Merit that everybody gets to celebrate for one boy making a seeum and that's what AB says t for this I'm going to get reward and the answered that the teaches us that the goal of Torah learning is to try to reach a level of Torah LMA Torah for the sake of the Torah not to learn because it's interesting not to learn because it makes us into a better person not even to learn because it's a Mitzvah and we're going to get reward for it but to learn for the sake of the Torah the Torah is God's treasure and we should treasure what God treasures and we should be happy when the Torah succeeds when the Torah is understood when the Torah is clarified if a person celebrates his own there might be a degree of selfishness in that what I've learned what I've achieved but if abay is celebrating when someone else completes a m he's not thinking about himself he's thinking about the cause of Torah he's happy that there's more Torah being learned and he's so excited that Torah is being learned his learning is for the sake of the Torah that everyone who learns Torah should participate in this celebration and for all of us here in Anglewood we've benefited from Josh's passion that Torah be learned that everyone should learn there should be more and more opportunities for learning more growth in learning and that's what abay said tasy that's what I deserve reward for so again a tremendous Yash for all those who are learning all those who are thinking about it join in and we should Merit to see more and more learning throughout our community and throughout our nation just to complete the very end of M bakama very end of M bakama is talking about leftovers that a an employee is working on things so the gamar says said the various Hops and the green grain that a worker is working in the field he can take for himself because the balabas doesn't care about it it's not theft to take it but but in a town where the owner is particular there is theft to take these things said the town asra it's a place where people are particular and therefore if somebody's an empy employee in Mia he can't take anything um from the field even the wheat that hasn't yet ripened who's coming up for thein oh Daniel Cohen for the hin [Music] de abari barpa RAF Bara rakish Bara Sur Bara Ada barpa amen amen amen for Shalom before I say that before uh Daniel is gonna say The KES I ask every person who's part of the doomi crew in Anglewood whether you're Messi him or not to try to come together now once the food goes up no one's going to get together for a picture so anyone from any of the minim any of the shs any of the uh groups of d kabas who've learned one page of Bubba let's all come up together now and Daniel will say the CSH and after that we'll do a picture I'll do a see him again all you have do is come to one do yomi of Bubba right after we get this great picture we're gonna ask Daniel to do the cottage and then we'll start the the food part okay however close you guys want to get you guys decide how to take the picture Okay r Rabbi come in the middle okay you can't eat before the cottage so now we got to say the cottage Daniel go ahead [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] am shalom [Music] shalom up [Music] [Applause] [Music] Daniel Jo [Music] us okay so as Rabbi schwed mentioned this was a combination of a lot of different doomi programs in Anglewood and it gives me great uh privilege and honor to ask Rabbi ganak to come up and speak and talk about uh the doomi and and the learning in in his in his scho as well as in the broer community R gak I want to first um thank and acknowledge Josh for sponsoring this being so committed to dfom especially the U daf yomi program all daf at the OU and this is celebration for him also for good health hasem his parents should have much Nas um as all of us have from his his really extraordinary activities within our community and Beyond we're about to have a seeum not only on bakama but on saos in another week and dealing with last few weeks with the the mishon and the ramban comments we're going to have about the orur this coming chabas again in V ran truma points out from Kaz that by Clik by the oven it says in the plural by the other the and so on it's in the singular V and the ran quotes that that the Reason by the or it says or in the plural because everybody has a Torah and therefore that's really the theme of the DFI the um the tells us that there are three um like borders around the different clay mikash the shul the man and the Orin and those three zum which were crowns represent the crown of Torah of malus and Kahuna Kahuna was given to and his brothers and and his Descendants the crown of malus was given to David and the crown of Torah was given to everybody and the r quotes this gor the Jewish people crowned with three crowns went to Aon the that Crown is available for every Jew and that's part of what we celebrate at a is that everybody can participate and this was really the initial idea that Raa Shapiro had when he first instituted the daf yomi his idea was no matter where anybody was on the globe he could participate in a DA and therefore through that be united through Torah with the Jewish people wherever they are and these times especially when the unity of the Jewish people is so critical and we know that divisions that were were existed before unfortunately brought pre brought to catastrophic events prior to October 7th so this idea of Mayor shapir to unite all the Jewish people through Torah Theon is especially significant in these times and that's what we celebrate in every Community when we have DFI and we hope that Theus of Torah should be there to protect us for cl soul and most importantly to unit clol in its Endeavors I just close with saying in terms of the mishon the Mish the mikdash one of its critical roles was that it represented the unity of the Jewish people this is something ra salich would often emphasize you ramban the r ramban in Kish which we just read recently says he has a suff whether the of alel Applied in the mid also but Le regel that everybody came to the Bas of MDES andm was also to emphasize the unity of the Jewish people and the r pointed out that the rambam when he speaks at the beginning about the Mitzvah of of building a mish mik the r says the purpose of the mik is a place for a forus and then the bash and there was a Le Regal three times a year and the ra sping about the the Mish in the midb the r pointed out you see that even in the midb that's part of the of mishkan is to bring everybody together and therefore that's part of the theme of the Dai that's what we pray for as well well the unity and the safety of Cl ma to all those who completed bakama may be the the base for many many this in the [Applause] future thank you reab gak um I see people are still waiting for some food which is uh good me flowing here um it means a lot to me actually that uh somebody here uh just arrived uh her name is Natalie newworth she's sitting right here on the right and um she is really and her family uh her late husband Stephen newworth were instrumental in starting the aloff app and we're going to talk a little bit more about the aloff app uh later but I just want to acknowledge uh her presence and thank you for coming [Applause] um it's been fortunate for me that uh I feel very comfortable in Anglewood in both in in all the shs but my the shs that you know that really are are occupy most of my time are the East Hill synagogue and and avas Torah and East still has been very special for me and my family and has really welcomed welcomed us um aast Tor does the same thing uh they have welcomed me in in in an unbelievable way um and it gives me great honor to ask Rabbi pupco to say a few words thank you Josh so much really um it's been really such a a special privilege to have you in our community uh when you first arrived when you first started spending shab Basim here you were just a uh flurry of activity pursuing all sorts of different opportunities different ways to engage people and you have been such such an amazing partner to the rabbis and to the leadership here in the community we really thank you um before I begin I just want to acknowledge those uh who came before us because uh we are blessed that dfom began here in Anglewood uh many years ago in the 80s was a project overseen of course by Rabbi ganek who was here together with Rabbi golden our Rabbi amerus and Rabbi Swift Z and I just want to acknowledge the uh the members of the first dafi KRA uh some of whom are no longer with us Rabbi Joseph singer Rabbi Stanley Rosenberg Rabbi Lewis feder Jeffrey Newman Bim and I also want to mention those who were part of that team who were part of the uh the original substitutes the backups who participated in in DF yomi and and helped it to continue and to grow uh Charles poer is here uh who was part of that that early team together with Medina uh and of course uh Gila Albert uh her husband her late husband Joe Albert of blessed memory who was a powerful force in the doomi we certainly remember him as well and it's such a pleasure to have you here with us Gila you know the Jewish people are are fighting a very uh important and dangerous battle right now and this battle is being fought on on many fronts it's being fought in Gaza the border of Lebanon yehud and shomron in the UN in the international court of justice and really in communities around the world as we Face a rising anti-Semitism the the battlefronts themselves are are diverse of course there are those who are in very clear danger our brothers and sisters in Israel our soldiers who are at the front but we also know that those who DAV in and recite toim and of course who study Torah are on the front of as well they are also fighting they are also contributing and supporting the efforts with their mitzvos with their filos and with their learning and in fact there's a uh there's a garami which captures this perfectly that coined DET term that unfortunately was co-opted by another group but it's still a very important concept and that is the Nur Carta that the gar says that at a certain point rebud nessia dispatched some of his students to go inspect the cities in Israel to make sure that they were properly protected and when these students went to the cities they asked to meet the Defenders of the city and so of course they brought them the political leaders the administrators and the students of Reb hudia said no no no no no that's not who we're talking about out we're looking for the narta we're looking for the people who teach Torah Torah and Torah shab because it's the study of Torah that adds that supports that leads the protection of the Jewish people but one of the reasons why we love studying gamarra and I know that all those who are in the room really appreciate this especially those who learn gimar every day as part of the dafi one of the reasons we love the gimar is because of how intellectually honest the gimar is and how Brave the gamarra is in asking difficult and challenging questions and so when the gamaran so says that Torah study protects a person both when they're learning gamar and even when they're not learning Torah the gamarra challenges this Ral SA declares Torah mag says that Torah study when one is engaged in it and even when one is not engaged in it it protects someone from Misfortune and saves someone from the eight sarara but then the gamar says masaba Rob says wait a second do we really see that is that really our experience elata doel mil Torah what about these great Torah Scholars do and AEL were they protected by their Torah learning no no they weren't they succumbed and so what does he conclude Roba concludes it must be that no Torah maglo when you're involved in Torah study it protects you but Torah when it when a person's not studying Torah they are afforded a certain amount of protection but they're not necessarily protected from the at orara and so what we see from this gimar is that Torah study yes Torah study is part of our efforts Torah study is certainly contributing to the battle to the war effort but only to a certain degree and the question is how do we understand this how do we understand the the efficacy of Torah study to everything that's going on in defending our people and so we were blessed several weeks ago to have rasher Weiss here in our community here in our schul and he was asked this question he was asked how is it that our Torah study our fos add to the to the efforts to defend our people to defend our brothers and sisters in Israel and rasher Weiss in his enormous said I can't tell you exactly how how The kesu Works he said but I can tell you that every time we turn towards the kesu every time we learn every time we pick up a safer every time we put Onin every time we start daving recite toim every time we turn towards the K KES who turns to us and so torah's study as AB says in the gamarra is not a magic force field that just protects us wherever we go and whatever we do but rather what we learned from this and what from rashar Weise is that every time we turn towards Torah every time we open a gamar every time we make it toomi Hashem turns towards us and the more we do that the more the K turns to us the the greater the greater our success will be physically spiritually and in all our in all of our endeavors and I think this is certainly an important message something that's reflected I think beautifully in what bakama is all about because when we started bakama all the way back on DF Bay in those very first do we talked about how the essence of theik there shmir is on you that the obligation the liability for Dam images stems from the fact that we have an obligation to protect we have an obligation to watch we have to have obligation to be careful and to be sensitive and if we feel that sense of every day then we'll be motivated to constantly turn towards a turn towards learning Torah turn towards and and the more we do that Hashem will turn to us and give us many many Bros and we should see Shalom and shalva uh for Jewish people across the world very very soon just to give everyone who is in the room uh just sort of the plan from here on out the OU and the CM for the Anga Community I thought it would be really appropriate to coincide with a sudas uh for me and and for my family and um for the rest of the program it's going to be about a little bit about my my story uh and I invited uh a few rabbis who are close with me to speak afterwards um in between that there will be a video uh about a group of guys here in Anglewood that have started learning together and um I would just ask everyone during the video if you have to talk or you have to make a phone call try to go outside because I think for the people that are here listening to the video would be very very powerful okay and um you know thank you all for coming this morning thank you Hashem for getting me to today I was wondering if I should say sheu or not and I decided the answer was yes so thank you to the rabbis from angland have joined together today thank you to my parents for being here for my sister Adrian and Sean and their family and to all my family and close friends who are like family thank you for coming everyone here is responsible for helping me in even a small way that I'm alive and I'm thankful for that thank you to my kids Evelyn and Phillip Evelyn and Phillip I love you from the bottom of my heart I love you for the bottom of my heart I love you from the middle of my heart I love I love you from the top of my heart I love you from the left and from the right of my heart basically I just love you thank you so much for coming it's a heavy heart that we're here celebrating in Anglewood with what's going on in Israel and it's so palpable in our community this past week I was fortunate enough to attend a organization called The Next Step the next step is an organization Israel dedicated to providing comprehensive prosthetic care and support services to individuals coping with limb losses through a wide range of programs including education and other support it aims to enhance the well-being of Israel amputees ensuring that they never need to walk alone I thought about that this week about next steps how do people deal with their next steps in life you know sometimes the first step and this next step aren't the same and who's there to take care of these people and uh I I I I got involved in this organization I think it's something that the angle community be be very proud of okay here goes to Mish appropo of a Jewish Le year the final asks the question of whether we assume or observe perm cutan or not for the calendar guys out there like me the Jewish leaper and the secular leaper have simultaneously is very rare the next instance is actually 2052 7 years from now 7 leap years from now today is also World hearing day which we talked about before okay back to perm kuton do we have a party on or not today we're in the middle of interestingly we know that does apply to both Al andon since we're enjoying Adon today and we know in Mama there were a few questions in the ninth per go about whether you were lending for a year does that include a leap year number of months versus number of years the concludes that we just celebrate a little bit on P Katan just a little bit it's good for the heart to have some fun however the gamar migil Ala says that the Jewish people were punished because they were celebrating along with why don't we apply the same concept of to Le if we're just trying to have fun then to should apply again to the answer is is that you need to synthesize the last of the with the first and the first for any of you that doesn't know is means to spend your entire life with God living with has all your life without the first of the it's impossible to have the to you need to synthesize the two almost like I felt that this was the reason why I wanted to have a personal sudas Mitzvah to be connected to the community the combination of the two embodies the to and the shiv AEM it's a 1+ one equals much more than two to move your life to a higher and more meaningful life as some of you know this past week I met with some doctors and I was amazed at what a doctor can tell you after you've been seeing them for years the doctor I met with today this week was Dr Constantino safac cleus and he asked me to say a few of these things in my speech so I wanted to share them with you today first thing he said he said Josh you should tell the people that I have as much cancer in my body as you [Applause] do second thing he said was Josh you can schedule your own follow-up appointment now for people who are go through treatment you would know that the follow-ups are always right away set up you know every two weeks as some of you might have remembered and so hearing those two things were really powerful for me and my story is about resilience and it's about Hope and I ask myself over the last five years what what did I do what did I change how did I make myself better from this experience how did I incorporate to M with SH Hashem so I came up with six helpful helpful hints that I've tried to find in the last five years to make myself better the first I would describe in the Tove La camp and the last three I would describe in the shisi Hashem ldu Summit for tol the first thing I advise for everybody in this room is to get scoped and to get more healthy colon cancer is prevalent more in young people than ever in America over 18,000 people under the age of 40 get colon cancer getting a colonoscopy at age 40 rather than 50 can save your life when I was diagnosed at age 40 I told all my friends at that time to get scoped and to my surprise a handful told me that they did have pups and if they didn't get checked sooner it would have been a big problem in the same vein I've improved my health considerably I've maintained a pescatarian diet I've lost 60 pounds I exercise I exercise at least twice a week with somebody unnamed and I try to walk 10,000 steps a day improve your mental health as well therapy visits or meditation breathing exercises or just clear your head it goes a long way get scoped and get healthy the last thing in my health Journey was to try to focus on regular doctor checkups as doctors as kids as guys get older they forget to get checked up every year and before you know it you're 233 lbs eating spicy fries every night that was me in July 2016 number two in tol is to live live a great life when Dr sopak leus spoke to me this week he told me the following Josh today is the youngest you'll ever be again life is about living I think the song says something like I have high high hopes for a living shooting for the star when I couldn't make a living did it know how but always had a feeling I was going to be that one in a million go away somewhere you never thought you would take that once in a lifetime trip buy front row tickets to a game or even splurge on first class for the first time there's a saying that the two most important days of your life is the day you're born and the day you realize why you are born live for today I've tried to do this more in my own life number three in the toe wave is never give up when I was told in May 2017 that my illness was worsened I was focused on winning and beating this disease I was maniacal on how to get a better role model to my kids and how to be a better role model to be strong and stand strong my dad after my first meeting with the doctors told me Josh I raised a strong son none of these things will happen to you might as well give it your best shot great things do take time what we don't realize or at least I didn't realize is that we are all a statistic of one there is nothing you can't achieve or as Ray Lewis told me during my treatment Josh Goldberg kiss your babies and let them know you're in this fight for the long run that quote is hanging in my office and I look at it every day I think it's appropriate to think about that with pum Katan even though there are two adars we don't have a plan a and plan B in life everything is plan a those are the three ways I've done to improve my lifestyle my health here are the three ways I've done to get closer to Hashem and they're all pretty simple it's pray more it's give more and it's learn more pray more I've tried to increase my prayers since uh my illness and I think I've doing about 50% more than I did before if you're a 15minute doer add another 5 six minutes if you're a two-minute doer add another minute it can't hurt and pray more means pray with more intense meaning have a conversation with Hashem remember that your prayers have no expiration date you never know when where or how Hashem will answer give more I have tried to give more stucka over the last five years it's known that sta is T but if that's not enough for you stucka has many more Powers as well if you aren't in the right place right now then give more of your time I've tried to go to a funeral in the middle of the day to visit someone or visit someone you've never seen in a while or just give in more in an argument be M on things that you've held back let it go it's a better feeling to give more as one of my good friends would tell me all the time takers eat better but givers sleep better I have undertaken the alof as one of the most cherished stuckas of mine and I hope you will join me as a partner to continue to raise funds for the aloff please see rabed privately for every information takers eat better but givers sleep better okay I do sometimes help myself to go to sleep take one of these medicines and stuff but the final item the final item the last thing I wanted to say say and this is really why I'm here today is what I changed in the last 5 years is that I wanted to learn more and the past few years I've been lucky to give the do Sunday morning here in angle New Jersey with some of the best guys you will ever asked for thank you to my kids for letting me sneak out sometimes without breakfast and when I wake you up at 4:30 in the morning and you see me studying the do I have tried to improve my learning because learning is what makes you grow as a Jew the learning is what drives change and Improvement I'm here today because of the improve in my health and the Improvement in my yish kite it's my combination of to and shiv Hashem lit thank you Hashem for giving me this opportunity cancer popped by now it's time to tell it [Applause] goodbye I want to introduce the video we're all about to watch there's an amazing example of the Ang Community coming together it's been a privilege to be here during this growth spurt and I want to introduce the upcoming special video which will highlight one of the DFI kabas in Anglewood this group this group was an outgrowth of the Band of Brothers I just realized I didn't look up once in my speech I'm sorry uh otherwise known as the grumberg minion it's really special to spend time learning and studying with some great friends these interviews were conducted over the last few weeks and 15 students were interviewed with how learning has changed their life in the last few years I thought it was especially appropriate they were doing this seeum along with the OU aloff since it's actually been a big plus for the kevra one of the guys showed me his app usage and he told me that the aloff recently overtook Instagram as his top usage app another guy said I wish I met R Rabbi Rosner five years sooner before we start the video I'm going to ask anyone that needs to talk or make a call to leave the ballroom so that the families that are on the video can pay proper attention thank you really all for coming for me and for my family today and [Applause] enjoy well it's really remarkable what's happened the last 3 years since the last time the OU has been in Anglewood at that point in M Tanis it was early on in the Dai cycle and we were thinking about as a group of the guys from the grumberg minion to get together and to learn together Anglewood had a major Resurgence a few years ago in terms of its Torah learning when one of our very close friends father had passed away Irving grumberg that was during the pandemic and we got together despite the pandemic and created a certain Bond of banded brothers that decided to motivate and Inspire each other to learn together and that learning has reel electrified a community for generations to come thanks to one of our very close friends Josh Goldberg who is really the Iron Dome behind putting it all together Josh was like well we got to get more learning and angle with more learning and I used to tell him just relax slow down when my dad passed and we were doing over zoom and then that ended and everyone started come to my house to my backyard similar other neighborhoods and this minion kind of uh exploded out of the ground from there my wife kind of really took this upon herself out for us for me and for my dad's memory and then it just flourish into something much bigger and more um more fruitful so I do have to I I I have to mention her as well Dina who uh is a um Co B Malak p so she is uh that that is really her uh proper description of my wife Dina so I want to thank her for that I stopped learning for about 30 years got married had a job just uh it just just all right learning was was was not something that was unfortunately a priority and then when Josh came I think combination of uh Co our our our group really all started to bond together um during that time around one of our friends who was saying hottish and from there I think everything really grew in terms of our Rus and our con and our connectivity to each other and our connectivity to Hashem and our connectivity to our uh our daily responsibilities just one example of the growth of angelwood is when I first moved here we only had one daily minion now that we have I don't know maybe five daily minions I think that's emblematic of the growth of not only Torah learning but of the growth of Anglewood in and of itself when I first moved to Anglewood almost four years ago now actually I stumbled upon the grumberg minion by chance because my friend was naming a baby it was an outdoor minion I was doing the doomi spe Redman was doing the doomi Willie balk was doing the doomi but one thing led to another and slowly but surely every single one of those guys who I couldn't believe we going to minion started doing the do with us together so I I we do it during the week with uh s on Sundays with Josh Goldberg on chabus with s or alternate alternatively with Rie bulk and sometimes with Phil Catz it's been incredible I think a lot of the guys really and including myself before we took this upon ourselves really never looked at a gamar maybe you know we'll go to a Shear occasionally but the transition really has been to see guys day in and day out I heard the famous line I think it was rby stefansky who said it's not about the do it's about the yomi that we're doing this every day it doesn't matter what's on the do that's secondary it's the camaraderie and the learning and the growth has been incredible also a certain amount of time Mike follow docum program here is incredible um you know ranges all different age groups it's uh interactive the stars are the mid Shear who come prepared every single time and they personalized learning so you get into the gamarra and it's not like ruen and Shimon it's like me and my brother yakob it's gillad and yakob and it's it's just exciting D yomi and fun to me was an oxymoron I can never understand the relevance of the gamarra till I came to Anglewood and the first time I walked into Josh goldber she and then later spe Rudman Shear was the first time in 60 years that I that I went into to when I I learned gamar I went into to AER and I never left what Josh Goldberg and speed rubbin are able to do when they give over the do is they are able to bring their entire personality into what they learn and to what they teach and and you see it in their creativity in their Insight in their sense of humor they really bring their whole self to the doth and that's what attracts the guys because not only you learning but but you're learning with someone who's engaging and who's connecting and it's a it's a tremendously inspiring experience when you're teaching a Shear not only do you need to know the material you need to really know what's behind the material because I learned with a lot of very very smart guys whether they're smart in gamarra but just as importantly they're they're businessmen they're professionals and they ask the right questions they ask important questions most weekends that I'm giving the do on Sunday I listen to Rabbi Rosner then I go to Rabbi elephant then I go to Rabbi lioz and then I finish off with Rabbi stefansky on Sunday morning so I try to listen to all four this year and try to get as much as I can out of the old off while at the same time going online trying to see what's going on in that day in history or maybe the happy birthday birthdays or something really special to highlight olda I use almost daily because as I said before to teach a sheer you really need to know and there's no better guys than Rabbi elephant Rabbi Rosner I mean these guys are incredible when I'm giving this year and I need to prepare and it's I got to get a day ahead I listen to R lewitz uh to help me prepare I like rbby schwarzberg do reviews those are always helpful the AL do is a powerful app it's not just the amount of learning that you can pick up there but just the ease of the use of the app the idea of how much different sheum there are whether it's insights of the do following up on the do or just the actual doomi itself there is nothing else online that I can think of that has made such a difference in learning like the OU alof app and somebody mentioned to me a few uh months ago when I was away that outside of the art scroll doomi which was developed uh through the shottenstein family there is no single gift to the Jewish people for learning like the OU aloff [Music] app I grew up in Edison New Jersey rpr y for elementary school pesak Isa um JC High School Yesa University probably the last time in the last time I opened a a gamarra was when in in yiva University and and this has been absolutely life-changing for me both from coming to minion every day da it's been something that I wake up in the morning I I I wake up with a smile cuz I come and I see the same people the same KRA and it just it just it makes my day for us there's a another unique ingredient for the group here is that we all are very tight friends who have uh very common backgrounds almost where where we grew up together uh so so there's the the time together while we do the do and the banter in the do and then the banter the social banter and then the camaraderie together is uh is is is infectuous and uh we we've we you know we look forward to to that when guys are walking out of SCH now it's not just that they're talking about the score from the Nick game or anything else they're talking about the da they're talking about you know Concepts we're talking about or you'll see it during sheer where you know we'll bring up a concept that was mentioned either a few D ago or a few masas ago and say oh we talked about this in kadushi we talked about this in nazer it's just something like you know the interconnectedness of Torah is so beautiful and it's amazing because when you when you're learning you see that this is connected here and this is over here but when you're seeing it with you know with with friends of yours with with the KRA it's uh it's really really beautiful it's a great bunch of people and that's what also makes it very exciting and interesting because aside from the gamarra you have that added incentive of the of the people around you you talk to them you back and forth that you're all on the same page you nobody's any different or any better than anybody else there a lot of relevance and that makes it a very uh enjoyable experience it's been incredible the group is not stopping we're in for the long run you're going to have the coolest Suite of guys from the angood community at the CM hasas whenever that is and is what the key is guys love being with each other they love turn learning Torah they love doing we're fortunate that in this community we've made it so attractive to want to do it and guys motivate each other we're going pretty strong you know Josh is Josh Goldberg is spearhead of this entire this entire you know Revelation or or you know revitalization if you will of of Anglewood with with Torah and spirituality and it's just been something that has has really consumed me for the for the better and has really impacted my life significantly It's a combination of just not only the guys but also the the minim the shs the reim there's just so much that's exploding right here in Anglewood that you know one person once told me Josh when you move to Anglewood you'll see there's going to be two Woods in New Jersey coming up and learning it's going to be Lakewood and then there's going to be Anglewood and look out Lakewood here we come with the encouragement of of my friends my family my wife um to be uh involved with some with um to be involved and and to to do the do and to be learning every day to make Co and to to have Co e them be something that has become uh a responsibility not just a priority a responsibility it's something that we have to do you know every day and it's uh it's it's been a very um uh it's been a game changer for me in terms of my uh the way I approach my life to see guys on a shabis afternoon leaving their families leaving their kids to come learn at 4:00 4:30 in the afternoon it's it's bathtime it's dinner time for the little kids taking the time out of the day to to be able to come and learn is just such a rewarding experience for me and I know it's rewarding for them to be able to to share it together with uh with their KRA what's so special about the DFI KRA uh is that their their consistency their consistent presence creates the environment that inspires so many people uh to then either join doomi or to find their own opportunities to learn on a consistent basis to be ktim Lor I've got three daughters they see me doing the do every day they know it's happening um and certainly when we're say at the shopas table and other times during the week there's always a hey you know that this came up in this situation the do says this I really just wanted to thank my kids my kids have kept me alive my kids have done everything to do what's best for uh for me and to really allow me the ability to sneak out Sunday mornings give classes uh wake up at 5:00 in the morning sometimes they don't know what breakfast is sometimes and it's still okay this I learned in my father's memory who had passed away a few years ago and my close friend Willie bulk always makes sure to buy me the gamar he inscribes it and then I send them a venmo so now I have a whole collection not of of gqs and Sports Illustrated of garas and we're going strong and I'm excited to keep challenging myself in such a soft World whenever we don't have a an in-person sheer I listen to Rabbi Resnik to the point where now my entire family when they hear it they actually say they end the she and everyone have a wonderful day so RAB resnic is has really like uh just been a huge part of me with the with the do and a huge part of my family so we have group chat my father my brothers my children my nephews where we talk about you know things that we observe in the do and it's pretty powerful to see this multigenerational learning you know when a grandfather sits with his son and his grandson uh it's it's pretty rewarding I have you know younger kids at home that need need to be helped you know getting ready for school school and getting their stuff up so just want to thank my wife also and you know my uh my children for allowing me to have this time to myself and never complaining that I'm leaving the house too early or on a shabus afternoon when we're still finishing up lunch and I'm already saying you know I got to go prepare I have to leave I'm sorry you know it's a it's a real privilege to be able to be given the opportunity uh you know by my wife and by my family for being able to to do this and um you know thank you in Anglewood what's changed with this 8:00 minion with the grumberg minion with all the guys doing the ja fomi is incredible and and if anybody thinks that Anglewood is not a makam Tor they're wrong because What's happen in this period of time and and you know we didn't even talk about the Anglewood Tor Center which Josh is also very very involved with rabic cus um and all the different ranim and and you know Rabbi and Rabbi pupco and Rabbi Goldberg you know just real hakar to to all those guys because you guys got guys here every single morning learning every single night learning you know and you've got shum that are going on till 10:00 at night it's incredible I I I never thought it would be like this in angle this is a message for my parents I mean I really want to thank them for giving me everything I have um I'm lucky that they're alive I'm happy that they're um strong and we spent some time together in Israel a couple weeks ago and I was able to see you know what kind of uh what kind of people they are and how much uh love of Israel and and appreciation uh uh for their life so obviously you know I wish them uh good health until 120 um I'm also very uh you know indebted for my reum uh there's a lot of rabbis that have helped me in my life um I feel very lucky to be alive today and um those people have really been instrumental I don't want to name them all but a lot of them are here today so I want to thank them as well um you know there is nothing without your friends and uh over here in uh in Anglewood there really is a is a special place so people laugh that I joke and all this stuff and then I Cry Sometimes whatever but at the end of the day you cannot find this group of friends that we have here this this Band of Brothers as we talk about uh really anywhere else and um you know I I could shout out to a few of them but you know Yi obviously been a big part of this whole uh growth his his his opening of his home you know obviously as you mentioned with his with his father's passing how it sort of you know galvanized uh everyone to sort of work and do this uh you know for for his the shama and uh you know real big real big thank you to Yi and his family lot of people in the room from different parts of my life and it seems like it's looking through uh different hourglasses and stuff it's pretty powerful um but I wanted to introduce Rabbi cus uh who's going to introduce our NE next speaker and I've been fortunate enough to get to know R cus not just uh uh in a way of uh being taught by him in his classes but he's always said that his table extends for me and him and his wife Mary M here have always opened their home to me and allowed me in and spent shabas and many shabas meals so it gives me really great honor and privilege that somebody that has left such a big impact on my life uh is is here and um and Rebecca will be introducing him thank you there's a the quotes the and the g says that when there was a transition of power between Moshe and yahushua the rabbi said that the transition is somewhat interesting the says from and points out not all of it the Elders of that generation commented the face of Moshe was like the face of the Sonu but the face of yahushua is like the face of the Moon a cursory glance of this it seems that the rabbis are saying something pejorative they're looking at yahushua and saying woe unto us we had somebody so great mosenu and now we have yahushua they're lamenting the fact that the leader of today is no is not like the leader of yester year however theim points out that that's not in fact the case what they were saying was the rabbis of that generation they remember yahushua as a young student and like the ramban points out when it lists the members that were part of the the uh spy the episode with the spies yahoshua has listed Fifth and the rabbis point out the ramban mentions that yahushua was the fifth the greatest and yet he rises and he becomes the great student of mosenu zik they were lamenting the fact that we could have been in this position the rabbis point out what was it specifically that caused yahushua to rise to the top it was the fact that he was he was a lad we refer to him as n a young man sh which means he never let go of his rebi no matter where he thought his status was no matter how great he felt his accomplishments in Torah were he knew that he cannot proceed without his rebi and therefore yahushua never left the side of mosenu and eventually in hindsight when the rabbis were looking back and they realized it was that quality that caused their tremendous growth Josh there's much to admire about you over the past few years Miram and I and the entire Kus family has been blessed to have you at many many Shabbat but there are a lot of things that really every time you come I walk away inspired specifically your love for Tora is something that really warms my heart each time and it strengthens my resolve to continue to expand the programming in the anglea Torah Center your resilience is remarkable you're somebody who's gone through a lot but yet yet you still smile you still laugh you still face life with such positivity your commitment to your family to your friends your brilliant mind there's much to say but there's nothing as inspiring as your relationship with your rabim with all your wisdom with all your smarts with all you've accomplished in life you have an ability to negate your own perspective your own accomplishments and turn to your AA most specific ially the rashar Fran many many years after leaving RAB Fran she I know you still consult with him on all important matters on anything that's truly meaningful in your own life and it's so admirable because sometimes as we Ascend the ladder of success and it could even be in areas of Torah we could never make important decisions on our own we all must have a rebi that we can turn to and ask them if the things we are doing are correct and if we think that we can make those decisions on our her own after all we're accomplished Torah Scholars you're going to be looking back and realize there are people that blew past you in life n loam Rabbi Fran is one of the most dynamic inspiring and thoughtful speakers of today he's the person that the entire world turns to at moments of great import to just hear his perspective hear his inspiration personally I'm incredibly grateful I've benefited tremendously from his from his books that speak about many of the other important matters of the world year in year out a very important part of my preparation for the amim is the rashash trha and I have no doubt that this entire morning is well worth it for the rashash trip to be able to say a few words it gives me great Cav to invite R [Music] friendi ladies and gentlemen it's truly an honor to be here and like many of you I feel very very close to Josh and and that's why he came as um of a mark the relationship that that we have we're all here together to celebrate a sudas what exactly is a sud a meal of Thanksgiving we're familiar with several occasions that have the status of a sudas mitzvah for instance the sudas that you made today on which is no small feet we know other sudas mitz sud sud P sud they're all sudas mitzvas but what exactly is a sudas I don't think it qualifies as a Bonafide sudas Mitzvah the gorah tells us in BR that many of you are familiar with there four categories of people that have to give thanks y people that have a a ocean Voyage people that traversed the desert person who was sick and got better beur a person who was imprisoned and has gotten out the common denominator of all these four people is that they were in dangerous situations and they were saved but how does one Express this H in the times of the b h mikos there was a special corbon called a carbon TOA the truth of the matter is that a carbon TOA is a carbon schumin but a carbon TAA is unique and different than most carbonis schin and that is a regular carbon schling can be eaten for two days but a carbona can only be eaten in the same day in addition to that the carbona has to be brought with 40 loaves of Kala so n points out you have to eat this meat and you have to eat all of these Breads in one in 24 hours how do you do that the answer is you invite people to a suda so that everybody can share and that's what this is Josh has invited so many people in the angle community and other places because he wants you to participate in the sudas and share the good news and the Thanksgiving with all of you I don't know how many of you know Josh well but we go back many years he came to n Israel after graduating from the Wharton School and he had about six weeks before he was to start his first job with Morgan Stanley he asked to come into my shear and truth be told I was reluctant to take him I often say I'm not a motel you don't stay by me for a couple nights or a couple weeks but in the end I took him and in the end I see I've had talum that have been in my Shear sometimes for three or four 4 years he was in my Shear for 6 weeks but he is one of my closest to meet him and I have been with him over the many major events in his life you know sometimes there are things in one's life that you remember they never not really that significant but I still remember that night that Josh called me and told me about his illness it was a Thursday night I was on the way to my Thursday night sheare I was picking up some tailoring that my wife left at a seamstress and he told me what he was diagnosed with I'll never forget the panic and the Fright in his voice I was once in Europe on a European tour and Josh called me for an update I was in basak Forest I was in a cemetery I remember daving at the K of our Bor horovitz was a slatka Riva I remember his treatments in slone cering and the roller coaster life that he was on and here we are celebrating his retort he his restored Health barem such events in a person's life can change a person sometimes for the good sometimes for the bad in my observation of Josh I sincerely believe that he has changed for the good and he is a better person than when he started this journey let me share with you an interesting gamor sanedrin the gamor says t when the Great tab elzar got sick for the sages of the talmud talim his students came to visit himaru aaria RAB AKA and they each wanted to encourage and give to rabi elzar you're better at and rain because rain is only in this world not in the r world to come and you Rabbi are with us in this world and in the world to come you're better than the sun because the sun is only in this world and you're and this world RAB Yeshua said your aarya said you're better than father and mother because father and mother are only in here in this world and you're here in this world and the next World Lord finally RAB said Raba said youum suffering they're precious they're G they're good lift me up let me hear the words of RAB AKA he hit the nail on the head he said the gor seems to be saying that it was only the words of RAB AKA that made an impact on Rabbi elzar why is that I believe I once heard from Rabbi Dr Abraham J tski theat and the understanding of this gamorra the other sages were praising rabi elazar for what he had done when he was in full health and he was in good health and he could teach Tyra but about me now now in the reduced state that I'm in I'm in what good am I and the other Tom him they didn't address that but rabika said Rabbi even in this state even in the state that you're sick you're teaching us Tyra because you're teaching us how to deal with yur how to deal with illness how to deal with suffering anyone who has followed Joshua's life over these eight years knows that joshh has taught us how to deal with hurum and the many challenges that go with it Josh has changed he's a bigger minman he believes stronger in the rebish he's a better doer he's a bigger B stalker and he's a bigger mmid and learning of Tyra I think there's a posk in last week's par this week's par that encapsulate J's Journey the word person that seeks God he goes to the allm and that's what Jos has become he has become aak hasem rabor ssk was the Tela during the 60s and 70s he was stricken with cancer and he was suffering but he s survived for several years after that he once comment to someone that while he was going through the ordeal of cancer if someone had made a deal with him and said I'll take away the cancer for a million bucks he would have said yes in a in a in a an an eye blink but after he finished the ordeal he said if someone would say I want to buy that experience for a million dollars I wouldn't sell it because it changed me made me a different person a better person and that can be said about Josh as well we all wish Josh and his parents and his uncle and his children Lang gunur should be able to continue in his hasem and give to all of us