Basics of Emunah #3: Five Features of a Faith-Based Life - by Rabbi YY Jacobson

so a few days ago Donald Trump decided to go campaign in Florida he wanted to make sure he gets the Floridian vote so he went to a home for senior citizens what they call a home of assistant living and as he walked in he encountered a 95 what looked like a 95 year old woman and he looks at her and he says do you know who I am and she says son I don't know who you are he says look look again it's impossible you must know who I am and she says I'm so sorry my little boy but I don't know who you are he says how can you not know who I am I am the celebrity today I am in television all of the time and look at my hairdo look at my height look at my stature here the way I speak how nobody doesn't know me in the world she says sir I don't know who you are he gets very very upset he starts hollering this can't be how could you not know who I am nobody is ignorant of my existence and of my identity another woman was probably a hundred years old walks over to him and says relax relax this happens very often around here we'll call the head nurse and she'll tell you who you are don't feel bad you're not the first and you will not be the last around they're asking who you are so today tonight our theme is our there's more source sheets if anybody needs sauce cheese is more source sheets in the back just pass it around for the men and for the women please Thanks thanks John okay tonight our theme is in basics of Emunah number three focused on addressing the question of who am i Who I am based on the fundamentals the basics of a moon of Jewish faith in last class we try to explore somewhat a very profound topic and that is what is the role of ammonia and Judaism what is the contribution of ammonia disguise it's not like some might think it's here to replace intellect to supplant reason it comes because of insecurity or fear to grapple with human creature react curious et inquiry questions not at all reason is valuable reason as cherished reason as a gift of God reason must be used rationality is one of the unique components of the human being of the tell'em elekid where reason ends that's where faith takes over meaning the role and function of a moon is not to substitute reason but rather to allow as we explain the human being to allow the Jew to experience the divine to have an intimate first-hand experience of the reality of Hashem that's that's the role of Emunah and this is the birthright of every Jew it's not something one has one does not have by nature of you who you are it's something inherent it's something innate it's something that's there it may be plugged may be eclipsed that may be concealed but it's a sixth sense of the soul like any sense it may be completed completely covered up and it may be eclipsed by many forces within or without but the reality of a munna is there it's a state of the neshamah it's the state of the Jewish soul which has eyes that perceive the reality of a Shem it's a helical economy mile it's a part part of the divine they tell the cute anecdote that there was this temple in Indiana that heard that right across the street somebody's planning to build a big bar huge bar and the worshippers at the temple are very upset because this would of course change all of the dynamics so they tried to petition the government and they tried to Perdition politicians and activists to try to stop it to no avail they started to gather every week in prayer and pray to God that he shouldn't allow this bar to open up but the plans were going well and the construction was on the way and right as it was complete and the owner of the bar was about to open it up a light - it was a storm and a lightning struck the bar burnt it down to the ground with simcha and sawsan they were very happy in the temple but a few weeks later they got a summons to the court the owner of the bar sued the congregation because they prayed and they didn't stop praying and as a result of that they owe him compensation for what he lost they put up a defense and they said it's ridiculous for anybody to assume that our prayers caused his bar to burn down the judge was examining both sides he was reading through the case and then he turns to the court he says listen I don't know yet how I'm going to decide this case of the congregation is guilty or not guilty but what I find is something very astounding and that is it seems like that the owner of the bar believes in prayer and the congregants in the temple absolutely don't believe in prayer he said I find it to be very interesting very funny in that sense Emunah is the inheritance of every single Jewish soul by the nature of it being an Hashanah of it being the soul and does the role of cycle and a moon are two very different things and even if somebody has doubts they have doubts because of their reason because of rationality life is filled with questions the universe is filled with mysteries with enigma there's pain this challenges etc the Emunah remains pure their muna remains undiluted uncompromised that if in a few sentences was a summation of what we discussed last week tonight I asked this question how is this state of emunah expressed how does it play itself out how is it manifested is it really does it really belong practically to every person or to put it in different words if emunah is the state of the soul what does this soul look like if somebody can take a picture of the neshamah what would it look like what does this neshama that we call a helical akame mom Amish a piece of God what exactly does it look like or what does a life with the neshamah look like what does a life of a muna look like if somebody is in touch with this dimension of themselves what would their day-to-day life look like what does it mean in other words to live with your soul to live to live with your Emunah how do I know if I'm in touch with it how do I know if I'm in touch with my soul it's there but how do I know if I'm consciously connected to it so we're going to explore tonight vazaha Shem five features of a faith-based life five features of a soul based life or five features of faith five features in which the quality of a muna the truth of a muna would express itself in a person's life a person who's in touch with this dimension of themselves which is there but they may be in touch with it they may be in touch with it and they're all in the word of a Munna Munna as you know is a very strange word in the Hebrew language and ocean condition has many different interpretations that don't seem connected but we'll soon see that each one of their nee each one of the meanings of the word is representing another feature of the way I'm gonna manifest itself the first is in your look in your source sheet the first is let me tell you what these five are and then you'll see the connection to our Munna I'll say them in Hebrew and then in English is ms breakers similar Alva confidence integrity divine intimacy joy and love if you look the word Emunah is can be understood as a moon like they say in Hebrew a moon adds me self-confidence in moon as in confidence poise it could be translated as NER Manos as we say MSV Munna truthfulness honesty integrity confirmation or mein khayal Mela naman truthfulness another meaning of a moon is we say in the Megillah of Esther kasha hi sir but um na ito bomba eita she was faithful she was loyal loyal loyal to Mordecai another meaning of Emunah is from the word homeless Uman is a craftsman Amano's is is as a craft a trade or we call art you say this is my somnus my saruman right and halacha this is a craftsmen's work you say homeless this is a piece of art that's also a muna and then there's omen as in the Megillah again via he humane Hadassah he was like the stepmother of a dasa he nurtured Hadassah oh you men like an eye menace on a menace said he said I Menace azhagan and she she nurtures him she nurses him she raises him by he in this case it's a heave ahoy - ah dasa she had no father and mother and somebody was there Vere hell being hadassah blossom what's the connection between all of these all of these meanings in the word emunah so we have confidence we have integrity ms we have the Vagos faithfulness loyalty we have similar joy connected to openness and finally we have our love I he I'm Annessa docile there's a parsec we say it every morning lover Dominic says always Vasudeva BIM coin boy in his space in a sham space there is noise and hedva always means strength confidence hedva means joy how do you recognize the space of hashem mccoy two features or ease confidence and hedva this is the first feature of a soul based life the first feature of a faith-based life this is the first symptom of somebody who's in touch with this quality with this aspect with this dimension of themselves that hail akela kami mal number one confidence amoun Emunah as in a moon true confidence in themselves because because what does always really mean is means that you have a person who is truly secure truly confident within themselves they need not validation externally from outside this is a person who's never involved in people-pleasing they're not here to please other people to make sure that they say or do the right thing so that certain people or groups or clubs should like them they don't say things in order to make themselves suitable to the environment in order to fit in they don't have to copy other people you know the expression all of us are born originals most of us die as copies the person of true inner confidence is comfortable in his or her originality and need not become at some point a copy of somebody else if I am involved in people-pleasing if I am seeking validation from outside I am NOT in touch with that part of myself I'm not in touch with my with my soul with - Shama we're from the neshamah perspective a compliment doesn't save me a compliment doesn't make me a compliment doesn't create me and criticism does not destroy me I don't melt of course we all love compliments as öhlins Oliver Sun you should get as many compliments as you can especially from your wife if it's possible or from your husband there's nothing like getting a compliment from your wife and the cabeza from your shraeger nothing wrong with giving compliments are getting compliments but the question is am i desperately yearning for the compliment am i desperately fearful of the criticism so somebody who lacks a true internal sense of self it's the validation that makes me a human being makes me a man makes me a woman it's the criticism that can destroy me gets me angry derails me off my track but somebody who has inner eyes they may enjoy and appreciate the compliment but they don't seek that validation because they have a wholesomeness and what does it have to do with if one truly realizes and makes peace with the fact that they had they are at selam aleykum furthermore a helical akame mouth so you think a compliment our chef makes him and criticism destroys him he would have been gone long ago the kala kala Comi mal exists essentially it exists in Nate Lee it exists essentially and innately because it exists and therefore it need not copy it need not pleased at need not that type of validation is a vert of the magician Margot Sutra Margot once said says in pre Kiev is he he avoid Javert ha ha viva la hawkish Allah literally the covered the honor that you friend the honor of your friend should be as precious to you as your own covet in other words I should treat another person and be sensitive to their respect as I'm sensitive to my own cover to my own respect ask them as mr. maggot a vintage question for them as it to market and that is that's really the pinnacle of pricky others my covet is an absolute necessity if you've messed with my covered forget about it we're not on speaking terms for the rest of my life we're saying he verification lock in pre-k ovis it says hakima of art I've ever covered mightiness other man oil the kymaro Saddam Baba kama DAF lammott Monde I am a heavily boy man the boy man the person who wants to be lava Casa de la calle Millard Ava's pre-k Elvises Miller the Casa deucey it's extra piety extra casa this so he's saying the covered of your friend should be as hover Vaz your own covered you would think this person may be transcended a little bit of covet the magician Margit answers and he says the meaning of the mission means something very different he might have erikak of evil efficacy Locke means the honor that your friend bestows upon you should be as valuable as the honor you bestow upon yourself imagine imagine I'll give a personal example if I go to an event and the introduction is lousy sometimes you have an introducer he knows that introduced I told you once of crimes from leverage that's how the mirror Shiva once said that when they call him up for civic addition to a hooker to do a hooker so the master of ceremonies gets on the mic and he says is mimic habits the Russia achieve Robin shall Cobra a gorilla God lador gone a dorm Hemi toisan - Tyson - tell me did my bit see Tyler again one of the great Greg greatest receivers who ever lived the primal average litter Saira Tyler force in the condition so high I met a good sense of humor he says it main tasks a roof you think I go up I don't go up is it Willis Hara noch amol I want to hear it again why should I go up he doesn't a second time I go up right he was explaining to your mother in Sanhedrin with your oven benefit of Kokomo but so imagine imagine the situation so the introduction is lousy the introduction is lousy so I'm already not feeling good about myself Ramona let's long then I go up and I finish and this brilliant applause never mind those standing ovations people don't even notice they were sleeping they were texting so I go my feel empty so what do I do I decide I'm gonna replay the whole experience and I'll give myself the honour I need it so I give myself an introduction and of course it can be limitless with praise nobody's watching and then I do this speech over I just do it a little shorter so I shouldn't fall asleep and then when I finish the speech I give myself a standing ovation for ten minutes right so everybody understands if you're dealing with a normal person even people who are desperate for validation and compliments and cover don't do this why it's meaningless it's so let's let's say what some is it's a mockery it means nothing I'm gonna give myself a standing ovation I'm gonna give myself applause I'm gonna give myself nice titles what's the what's what it's worthless doesn't mean anything says the maggoty he's void cover of evil etiquette along the cover that other people give you has exactly the same value exactly the same value it means exactly as much as the cover you give yourself and one of the explanations is because a person who's really in touch with themselves meaning with their soul with their Heil akela commie Mao your compliment doesn't make me it doesn't do anything significant it doesn't contribute something if it's authentic its authentic if it's inauthentic it doesn't make me just like your criticism does not destroy me I'm not dependent on it I don't operate on that level of consciousness I don't live in that zone and if I'm living in that zone I am that person whose craving the valley datian people-pleasing copping whatever it may be it means I am in touch with a different dimension of myself I'm not in touch with that part of the self where there is a Munna with us kala kalah Comi mal and that's why there's no amoun that's why there's no real confidence there is a weakness and by the way when a person has this it's not by the way a person is capable of being there for somebody else person is capable of giving of giving to somebody else meaning if if your spouse say your wife or your husband says something sharp to you criticizes you or a friend or a colleague or a partner so you'll see different people respond in different ways some people respond by attacking back they attack in return or even if they don't attack aggressively they don't explode and they implode inside they attack the other person in other words they stoop down to the same place that the attacker is they also go down to that place what does it come from it comes from the fact that I needed you to validate me and instead you're challenging me you're criticizing me it shakes me up so what happens what happens is I am now in a very weak position a very defensive position and I'm busy attacking you back but somebody who has true confidence somebody who has inner eyes somebody who has a moon somebody who's in touch with their soul then if you have a Nani then you can become ayan unnie is the same letters of I in somebody who has a real I can suspend themselves and really listen to the other person and actually objectively analyze what is the other person going through I don't have to define myself based on your position or based on your words are based on your emotions I can actually listen what is this person going through and how can I perhaps help them I can actually listen to them I could suspend myself and be there for them a fellow comes home at night from work a guy tells me comes home from work and his Rebbetzin tells him how difficult the day was this is my symbol : the day was difficult the day was stressful immediately and she goes on explaining to him how difficult and challenging the day was you often have two responses one fellow gets very upset he gets very upset and the other fellow can actually listen and empathize which is all she wants why does a person get upset so often the reason is not always but often the reason is because he came home and he wanted validation he wanted his wife to tell him that he's amongst handsome fellow and all of Muncey he's the most brilliant guy on the planet she appreciates his work infinitely his tie matches his suit something special he's something unique instead he has to hear how difficult today was because if essentially I need that validation I need you to compliment me to fill my void I can't be here for you I always have to take and take and take and take because there's no wholesome I but if I have an inner wholesome I I could say this person had a hard day they're sharing it with me as well so listen empathize what happened when you have a nanny you could suspend yourself and be there for another person even if they're not only complaining about what they went even though they're actually criticizing you so what even if they say something strong something powerful think about it how do we respond do we ride away become defensive and attack because we're in a weak state or you're actually awesome somebody said what they said you'll examine it you'll listen to it you'll maybe try to understand where they're coming from etc it's brought in soir him that one of the differences between kedusha not kedusha holiness and antithesis of holiness is kedusha could be a much SPEA clipper the opposite of kedusha is always amicable will not give will receive why it all has to do with the same thing somebody who's wholesome and confident they can give somebody who's not confident they could never give they can't afford to give because I have a bottomless pit that I need a fill so if I don't have essential confidence I always need to take and take and take I'm always parasitic when I have a wholesomeness now I can afford to suspend myself and actually give to you and what really has confidence in life only that which is connected to the source of life so it feels that it has essential value it's not going to melt away but something that doesn't have a real connection with the source of life it never feels completely wholesome it has to feed off every situation it can't really be there for another person that's feature number one a life of a life of ease a life of amoun which brings us now to another another another feature and that is you see number two you have MS via Munna Munna from the word truthfulness Ms like we say in my roof Emma's vimana cosmic I am Elena or like you'll say nay Manos ish naman a truthful person honest integrity this is a second feature of the soul meaning somebody who is in touch with their soul truly with their Emunah with this state in themselves this person will first of all never lie and this person is not afraid of revealing their own truth to other people this is a person who will not live in cover-ups this is a person who can be vulnerable this is a person who can be very honest why is it that so many of our conversations are full of cover-ups how many conversations do you have with people that are truly truly honest people really really talk about their own truth their own MS their own Plinius it's often rear to find such conversations and such relationships sometimes it's so bad that if the people don't even know that they're doing it they're not even aware of how much they're covering up how much they're blocking but all the conversations are based on wrote on habit one person is so entrenched in this mode of conversation and communication that a person often doesn't even know how dishonest they are and doesn't necessarily mean that they're actively lying they may not be lying but there's nothing truthful coming out what does this have to do with in many situations it has to do with a very simple but a very profound truth and that is if I communicate my true feelings my true emotions I am afraid that my identity my image will be belittled in your eyes you will never look at me the same again so I have to walk around life with masks that will make me believe that other people will feel that I am perfect or close to perfect it's very hard for me to be vulnerable because when the masks are removed what will remain of me what will remain and I may be terrified of what will remain what is this based on once again do I feel that I really exist although I feel that my existence has value as long as there are cover-ups here again it's interesting the term most used in Kabal aniseh this for the opposite of holiness is clipper kedusha versus clipper so some of you were trained and you heard the word clipper so you know Clippers Clipper Clippers Clippers Clippers but what does the word clipper really mean clipper is a very sophisticated term clipper means a shell a husk a banana shell is called a clipper an orange shell the shell of an egg eyes of a walnut it's a husk why do we call it a clipper what's the idea of clip of a shell of a cover of a husk but the truth is that the word expresses the essence of what it is because whenever something or a person needs to exist within a clipper within a shell within a cover-up it means they're not in touch with their own holiness it means they're not in talk with their own soul kedusha thrives in openness Klipper thrives in cover-ups anything that is afraid that if you expose it you remove all the layers it will cease to exist needs to have one clipper and another clipper to survive kaduche on the other hand doesn't need any cover-ups because it exists essentially it exists innately and because it exists innately the person doesn't live a life where they cover things up so it's a whole different type of reality there's people to walk around with bulletproof vests you can't have a real honest conversation with them they live in a shell they live in a husk when I have confidence I never lie I can say I'm sorry why is it that some people could never say I'm sorry why is it because to say I'm sorry is a very vulnerable thing I'm exposing my weakness I'm saying I made a mistake I made a mistake so you're gonna think that what that I'm lowly I'm despicable I'm horrible again my existence is based on cover-ups but somebody who has an inner always an inner wholesomeness feature number one so then they're honest they're honest about themselves they're honest about life they could be vulnerable about their emotions on the contrary they can be extremely vulnerable because it does not shatter the core of their identity that's why you'll see an interesting thing whenever you're at a group where people reveal the whole truth about their life you'll always feel kedusha there if you go to places certain groups of recovery or whatever where people have no cover-ups they say the truth complete truth and nothing but the truth about their experiences about their mistakes about their emotions about life about their feelings and so forth you could vividly almost vividly feel a certain energy of spirituality there a certain energy of godliness there because will you remove shells husks that's the first catalyst it's the first springboard for experience for experience is something without cover-ups of the gemara says I saw my Shalaka there's Baro who ms the seal of Aramis truth that's the basics of Judaism of Judaism is predicated on the fact that people are not in touch with their own truths and they don't speak their own truth and everyone is busy wearing masks and creating bigger masks and thicker masks they can't have a relationship they can't have a relationship with their soul that's the second feature ms ms via muna now there's a third feature the third feature has to do with a pasta key McGillis Esther it says that Esther was by Akash various and she fulfilled the wishes of Mordecai CarShare HOSA vom na ito what does bomb na mean but um not what does mean by aamna that Esther remains loyal she remains faithful tomorrow hi she's in the palace of Akash parish but she remains but um nah she remains loyal and faithful to Martha hi what does this mean in life this is the third feature of Anna Munna based life a soul based life and this you can convey in the one word called da cos meaning when somebody becomes aware of their soul when somebody becomes aware of their Emunah they become cognizant of the truth that I may be in the palace of a hysteric but I remain baaaam na e ty I remain faithful and I remain loyal there is always a part in you there was always a dimension in you that exists an absolute Vegas absolute oneness and intimacy with Hashem in which they could be absolutely no separation there are people who walk around all day and all night thinking that they are evil they're bad they're messed up they're dirty they're taunt parn --is-- they're morally and spiritually filthy because mistakes that they made and they feel the guilt they feel the heaviness and they may have made mistakes but if this is your perspective on yourself I am damaged goods I am bad I am lowly it means I am NOT in touch with my soul with - Rama if you would be in touch with your soul you would know that there's a part of you the true is part of you that is absolutely pure sacred sigh of like untarnished in complete intimacy with the divine where no mistake or no sin or no transgression can ever ever damage it or tarnish it or contaminate it sometimes it seems like we look at ourselves or our loved ones our children our students and we embrace a doctor and that's really from another religion and that's called original sin we often look at our boys at our girls they come into our homes or they come into our schools or our communities and we look at them as guilty till proven innocent this is the doctrine of original sin I assume your bad if after a few months you will prove yourself that you're behaving and you're living up to my standards maybe I'm going to change my position about you that you are good this is one of the great violations of one of the most important doctrines of Emunah and a V despite the lack of the true understanding and awareness that in your core presently right now there's a space in you which is absolutely wholesome and it's absolutely sacred and it's absolutely pure we say nine times iam Kippur after your daya Rosalyn Vassallo my sister called Phi after call cadre votin avoiding lawyers believe in darwin element Mehta Minister Maneka de Naga over say near optimal for NASA shattrath Himalayan of essential oh no meaning you know the secrets of the universe you know the hidden secrets of every living creature you see what's inside the kishkas cadre button you see in the kidneys and the heart and intestines of every person nothing is concealed from you over shame and therefore we say please forgive us for all of our sins somebody once asked a question it doesn't make sense if you really see everything that's going on so you see I don't see so I look at you you look like it's Adak but you see so you see all the dirt you see all the corruption you see all the agendas you see all the politics you see all the lies you see all the falsehood you should say Hashem even though you see please do me a favor attractiveness in Kelowna over Haines means and therefore you see everything and therefore you should forgive us what's then here for and therefore you may think you'll never forgive or still forgive us but this is endless but this is exactly what we're saying we missed the whole point athlete they arezzo Ellen because you know the true depth of every person over same therefore forgive us because you know that my core self was never engaged in this mistake in the sin on the contrary the only reason I did it is because I didn't know who I was if I would have been in touch with my true eye I would have never engaged in this I would have never done this take a look this is one of the foundations of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov here's a quote from Lakota Tyra the mind machine I'm Alice my mama came just a few lines but the way he expresses it is absolutely gorgeous he says opinon see Sir all who Leroy every Jew is called you all you all is two words Leroy's my head you sir all right does you have Lee Lama dude and then rach olive who penis neshama Sheila Milam and I go for me now safer this is the neshamah which he centrally transcends the body and also transcends reason it's not just a logical being a transcends reason ok mazui acharyaji to me you cut from the negan whoever hit me usually my shammies borrows beliefs from peer admission life this dimension is always one with Hashem without any separation ok mizuage bacala corrected mr. Olaf Alok al-sabah column and this dimension exists in every single Jew even in cash of a column meaning even the most light-headed person among all the lightheaded ones so you might think this person is a cow shove a column as they used to say what's the culture of a column that even the column column account even those who are lightheaded Cola Macau right even there even the SATs cos Cola Motzkin so he says says Lakota Tara that this planer which Pinner that there's no Peter these f4d yoshida me you could completely one with Hashem exists in every Jew even a cache of account or Marcia castle we ask to give all the kakashi on himself Oh Marcia cause of the past success he courage to caress a nephesh there are certain sins through which you cut your soul off and let's add to the question if you read NEC free mu sir throughout all the generations you will see how often they tell you watch out because if you do this and this you're dead meat you're done you're cut off in this world the next world the barbecue that you are going to burn in we cannot even describe the intensity of its heat because of how evil you are comes here a year who wrote Herschel Furnari who was one of the greatest masters of Halawa the bow Latanya vassal american says he's heard yahudim a you thought how can he say that this pronoun how can he say that this of an element in a Jew even in a cow shove a column which means a Russia that is a qaddafi'd Oh me you heard with Hashem beliefs should pitted without any separation here's a arou may have dedicated years to surah chorus the prohibitions that have the penalty of chorus how can you say this this is um a loaded question mark mashayikhina Vedas come Buddha's my master I think probably mark Mustafa evaded Hamoudi suceava Chris's because he transgressed serious sins for which a high of chorus so he answers he says NMR algunas Yakov Shan is mr. massage Avelina sister all a nun if read this my memory is barakah sure my wherever the Toyota speaks about chorus is talking about the dimension of Yaakov Yaakov is you'd a cthe it's the element of the soul that comes down into the heel meaning it's a certain element of spirituality which can get cut off but there's always a state of you sir oh that's articulated in Titus Aniston and terrorists are Baal Shem Tov particularly and over there there could never be any separation what so ever or as the same author once said I eat nish take an initiative ill Zion appreciates fun Ilocos a Jew can't and doesn't want to be separated from godliness l'll ask him he'll tell you I can and I want what do you mean I can and I want the State of Israel is always in an absolute condition of Vegas hi I'm noe thing you could be four years by our house Raiders but the faithfulness is there and the loyalty is always there does this mean the person never made mistakes of course the person made mistakes but they shouldn't confuse making mistakes with concluding that they are a mistake or confusing making mistakes with the idea that I am damaged it's irreparable irreversible that's a tragic error that's a terrible mistake so living with the soul means that you always know there's a part of you that is completely pure completely wholesome and if I don't feel this way if I can't feel that about myself then at this moment I am completely not in touch with my neshama with my am with my soul which means I'm detached from the truest aspect of myself I'm gossiping about the cameras as alpha pizzicato you swallow now we understand the deal kiss not Yahoo bot but he swallow that's the Draco's the beautiful part from the hoisin below blue highs available in one said we say in my roof for hustler Sutton dolphin a No Oh Mia her a no she says I understand you ask Hashem to remove the Sutton from before you ahead of you'll the phony no he's in front of me what is he doing in front of me he's showing me a certain way a certain path what's masquerade know why is he behind me what what does he gain from being behind me so he says there's the Sultan ahead of you who's telling you where to go but after you do the Sindh is the something behind you who's telling you I you're a really really bad person you're a rat nap Apple you're a rotten apple you're damaged and in many ways that Sultan is worse than this Sutton Lu Fernando because for the sudden the Fernando there's a remedy you can do chuva but for the sense of guilt and shame that you feel horrible and damaged for this does no sugar because you think it's a good thing you think your guilt is spiritual you think your guilt is coming from your holiness you were told that you're bad you tell yourself that you're bad and when somebody is not in touch with that part of themselves it means they are detached from their own truth and that's why it's brought in zoya and said there's two levels of true ver this true but at our anchovy law the lower level of Troop of the higher level of - what's the difference the lower level of truth is a person does tribute for their mistakes I made a mistake I do true ver I remorse i express regret I say I'm sorry I make a resolution for the past and I rewrite I make a resolution for the future just like I regret the past that's true batata jovial or the higher level of truth is something else it's realizing that there was a part of me that never sinned there was a part of me that always remained devil on the contrary that part of me with not only it did not sin I never sinned because if I would have been I if I would have known who I if I would have been in touch with I I would have never sinned I never sinned and maybe what I have to do truven should realize I have to do Trouville for the fact that I think that I have to do trivia sometimes you have to do truther for the fact that you think that you have to do Trula for the fact that you don't forgive the you you don't realize that you you don't realize the depth the beauty the purity the godliness the holiness of the you sometimes that's the greatest river that you need to do the truth is that you think that you need to do children other words that you are essentially evil and tarnished for that one has to do River that's a higher level of truth that relates to a person's pure essence this is the third component of a Munna a moon Akasha is abominated is a part that's always lay loyal that's always faithful that always good and do not gossip about yourself and walk around saying how bad you are I made mistakes but it's not the I that made mistakes it's because I didn't know how beautiful the are is that I made mistakes I played a a rosy or a lump you know who I really am since you know who I really am before Haines yachts in Chatham : walk all of innocent if somebody else doesn't know who I really am but you do know who I really am so that changes that changes the whole picture which brings us now to the fourth feature which has to do with joy this has to do with joy simply simply in life what makes certain people happy what makes certain people miserable anybody here is happy what's the secret what's the idea behind similar I once read about an experiment that a scientist made I read it I did not research I did not research it well Seidel I can't say that it's an authentic experiment but somebody brought I read it once in an essay and a captive it was very interesting so that a scientist once he took a number of fleas you know the little tiny bugs and he put them into a glass jar and jar was open on the top so what does a healthy flea do when it's in a jar they just florid they were just all left you know they they left a giant they fly out of the jar and they see this fine now what he did was they quickly they quickly they quickly jumped out of the jar so what did he do he put the fleas back into the jar but this time he placed a glass lid over the top so now the fleas began jumping trying to fly out but each time they jumped they hit the glass lid falling back down into the jar so they tried this hundreds of times maybe thousands of times and each time they stepped out the happen cup and vaunt each time they knocked their head into the glass lids trying to jump out fly out and they went back down so after experimenting with this many many times at some point at some point they realized something what did they do conditioned to the presence of the glass lid they began jumping but slightly below the glass lid so that they shouldn't hit they shouldn't hit their body into the glass lids so they began jumping but each time now they learned exactly the heights how high you can jump and not to yourself because they didn't want to hit it the scientists then removed the glass lid he was expecting what's gonna happen they are going to fly out of the lid and be free but what happens was they did not they flew till the top and they went back down they learnt to limit themselves from jumping beyond the height of the lid even though was removed because once upon a time they could not fly higher than that and therefore they learned that they cannot fly higher than that and they remained imprisoned they couldn't escape the jar when I read this I thought to myself what is this really about this is basically a limitation that didn't really exist but it's a limitation that exists in their mind it existed in their mind since one apart once upon a time they couldn't fly above the lid so therefore they came to believe that they simply can't and because they simply can't they would not even try I asked you is this not a metaphor for so many people's lives at some point perhaps when the person was young they tried to fly but somebody knocked him over the head and said you stay in the jar it could have been a comment it could have been an experience it could have been an encounter whatever it may be and sometimes for the rest of their life they will not fly too high they will always limit the height that they're ready to jump and fly because of an internal belief that tells them you can't you're gonna hurt yourself so who are they imprisoned to their own beliefs not even themselves their own beliefs that's what happens when you don't know who you are the truth is I think this is demeaning is an extraordinary Evan Ezra obey now Rama as a rights and partial smiles this week why is it that moisture Boehner the leader of the first leader of the Jewish people was not raised among Jews you would think that our son would warn that the first leader of the Jewish people should be a homegrown tomato as they say he should know what Jews are like what a shallow moussaka looks like what a kiddush looks like what a bris looks like what a Sheva brachot looks like what a Jewish parking lot looks like he should know the matzo he came from a different culture imagine mama she didn't fit in that's what Evan has an interesting question so there Vanessa says me over beside a sham who knows but then he offers two answers answer number one Devin Ezra says is that if moisture would have grown up among the Jews nobody would respect him the old expression ain't no vbe ray some cypher brings that you can't be a prophet in your own city every enter would come over to him and say i remember how you cried by your bris and i remember when your mother dropped you off in school and you threw a tantrum for three hours and we couldn't calm you down and every person would tell emotion about know if your ding-dong columns Oscar I remember when you still ran around in Pampers really when did you become an avi really you became an avi when did that happen we barbecue together I don't understand we were eating spareribs together when did you become a prophet suddenly go handle go mark on a sec with them every every custom was gonna tell him that he knew him before sups Rhenish before his Bar Mitzvah fired the Craig that's one reason to have an educator then he gives another reason astonishing reason that Vanessa says that if moisture would have grown up among the Jewish people you know what the problem would have been he would have developed a slave mentality and he would not be able to overthrow the Egyptian Empire because he would have grown up among slaves full of insecurity and fear he had to grow up in an atmosphere of aristocracy in an ambience of royalty he had to grow up with fiery Peres himself yet so that way he thought of things expensively he didn't have a godless mentality he wasn't mediocre he was in meek he wasn't surrendered to his fate he could think big he could think like a king so paradoxically it was pyro who fuelled the revolution against pirate because only royalty can give you an experience of royalty that's what Evan Ezra says so essentially it's what the scientists proved or didn't prove with this lid because many of us have what I would call an invisible lid we have an invisible lid we just don't know it but it's an invisible lid you don't see the lid but it's there it's there in my fears it's dear in my consciousness it may be there from childhood or from tea whenever it's there but it's there all right why because I don't know that I'm a Haley Kelly call me Mom I don't know about the part of me that is absolutely free the part of me that is absolutely confident the part of me that is absolutely truthful and the part of me that is absolutely good and holy and therefore powerful and divine and infinite I don't know about it I have a lid and I become a prison to my thoughts and believes about myself so what's this third feature of Akos it means that whatever happened to you in your life either by you're doing or by other people's doing there are people people sitting in this room who suffer with addiction there are people who have been abused there are people who have been abused badly that people have been abused as children or older or as adults in physical ways or in psychological ways or both emotionally spending they're very and they look at themselves as damaged and they have an invisible lid we have an invisible lid we will never jump too high because at some point somebody told us we can't and we bumped our heads and it was painful and we learnt to keep low for the rest of our life the symptom of Emunah means that there's an element of you that reflects the freedom of its creator it reflects the infinity of its creator it reflects the power of its creator that's what we Lehrer means that's what real choice means the real soul has real choices it's free it's not a slave it's not a victim to its own faith and it never deals with the lid never has a lid and therefore it may be that there are components of me that I have to deal with that are painful I may have made mistakes and I may have made serious mistakes but not because I am a mistake and not because the mistake has penetrated to my core that's not true it's usually the other way around if I would have been in touch with my eye I would have never made these mistakes I didn't know who I was which is what relieves most people to engage in things most destructive because they don't understand their power they don't understand their depth and they don't understand their relationship with God and what is really addiction if not looking for substitutes in things that really only Hashem could fill for you all the diction is basically a person is looking to fill their void with certain substances or things and the only one who can really fill that void is God and I attribute to these substances divine power but it's ultimately going to fail me because today I'll make me satisfied for a few hours but then tomorrow the void is still there and I just need more of it more of it because that's not where my issue is going to come from but when you're truly in touch with yourself and that relationship so then you can fix that you can always fix these mistakes because your core as he says here there's never car race you were never cut off you're always in a state of well-being there which now we can understand the concept of of simcha and here it's important to understand what simple is what creates joy in people's life what makes people happy there's a few components that I want to emphasize and they all have to do with a feature of Emunah number one it's it's stream ly important to understand the soul doesn't need anything to be happy oh is the head verbum coma in his space there's happiness in the space of the neshamah naturally there simcha it's always in touch with its source and in his space and are some space just confidence and there's joy the soul doesn't need stimulation in order to get it going in order to make it but simply in order to make it happy when you're in touch with your soul your soul is one with the source of all life there is a natural flow of positive energy and joy don't mix up joy with fun life is not always fun sometimes life is painful but there's always joy there's a sense of purpose a sense of wholesomeness a sense of simcha sense of happiness the soul doesn't acquire joy from outside it is in a state of joy now and I'm feeling stressed I'm feeling angry I'm feeling jealous all of these things I am right they're not in touch with the state of my soul and it's very important for people to be able to see which side their thoughts are coming from let's say I'm feeling very angry I'm feeling very jealous I'm feeling very stressed don't ask yourself why you're feeling jealous or why you're feeling stressed or why you're feeling angry ask yourself a deeper question and that is which part of me is feeling jealous which part of me is feeling angry which part of me is feeling stressed and you will see it's not your soul it's never your soul you came to the made of premise lon and he said that this other Jew opened up a store on the other side of the city and it's gonna destroy his whole business said it's the other side of the city was a real store there's no he said it's gonna destroy his whole business he can't rest anymore his life is destroyed so that made of the finish line said to him that there's an interesting phenomenon when a horse you ever watched a horse comes to the ocean or to the stream or to the to the lake to drink so the horse bends down to start drinking but before it starts drinking the horse starts kicking say hey Pathan break-ins a astark the horse start kicking very strongly why why and when it kicks the water gets murky and dirty and cloudy with the with the sand and then the hordes drinks why she the maid Oh said I'll tell you why the Maas behind the Pacifica loggia for nigh ferret I'll explain to you the psychology of the horse the horse comes to the hall to the beach to this stream to the lake puts down its head and is about to drink and who does the horse see in the water another horse as the horse is looking down into the water the horse sees a horse it's a gum leaf Bush is how maliki me bye boys you come into my territory my domain you're gonna just take away my water my paw no sir so the horse starts kicking the horse starts kicking it's trying to kick and destroy the other horse that it sees in the waters and other horse would go away and the water should be his to drink the may little smiles and he says new the horse is making three mistakes number one what the horse sees as his competitor is essentially a reflection of himself number two by kicking all he's doing is making his own water dirty and number three there's enough water for everybody and the truth is most jealousy is this which part of me is getting jealous say I'm jealous I'm angry you said this to me you're obnoxious I don't like you wait wait wait remember this there's never a mad serious in life that you have emotions about what another person said I'll say it again there's no situation in life will you have emotions about what somebody said now you're looking at me from which Velka love one is Arabic a fallen just tonight I got into a fight with somebody cuz he told me something and I told that he's a narcissistic selfish person I didn't tell him but I thought it we never emot-- from something that somebody else said or did our emotions are coming from the way we think about what they said or did it's the way we process what they said you say something challenge yourself we say he's obnoxious I hate him I'm angry at him no no wait one second before you go there how did you experience what he said what are the thoughts he said so and so you had a thought in response to that it's the thought that made you feel the way you feel the time you always says mid this come from saeho meaning if you change the way you think you change the way you feel but this takes a lot of work because we don't even realize the way we think we take for granted that our thoughts are higher in Menasha maíam halal emotion is sin it's not true your thoughts are your thoughts the person said what they said what are my thoughts about what they said the person did what they did what am i experiencing how am i processing it that is what's producing my emotions so you always have to ask the question I'm angry I'm jealous which part of me is angry and jealous what are the thoughts that created that anger and jealousy and did those thoughts come from the clip in me or they came from the hailer Kelly Comi mal and me that those thoughts come from the shells and me which they may have or they came from the pardon me that is absolutely one with the divine which part I'll tell you if the thoughts came from the part that's completely divine you probably would not be jealous you probably would not be angry because when you're in that space you're good you're good why don't we get angry in life people get angry because they feel powerless I get angry because I feel powerless in this situation your hailer Kelly Comi mal never feels powerless on the contrary it always feels empowered and what's its power its power is that this situation happened and it allows me an opportunity to work on myself and to accomplish something so simcha in the soul is a natural state this the soul is naturally happy when we see people are happy we want to know what they're taking we expect people to be miserable when people are miserable everything is wonderful when we see people are happy we want to know what's wrong are you want something something happening you won the lottery but that's not the case the naturals look at a child the natural state of a human being is to be happy to celebrate life not to worry and be anxious but our thoughts take us over and every experience stresses us out and the real main point here is that the soul always knows that in every situation there's meaning this purpose I am where I have to be I'm in the right place I'm in the right time and I am given all the resources I need to achieve what I have to achieve in this place in this situation it may be a challenging situation but happiness doesn't mean fun happiness means a sense of inner contentment and fulfillment of knowing I'm capable of doing the right thing in this situation and that's a gift that a person has where does this come in to the word emunah this is the fourth feature that has to do with first of all of course trust and Munez entrust betoken which is the cause of simcha but also the word luminous luminous why because this attitude allows the person to be able to see the art in every single situation I should be able to see every moment as a my sominus I should be able to see the artistic component the ominous the my sonís in every situation it was fashioned by an omen by the great craftsman who brought me to this place put me in this situation I'm in this place I'm in this time and I have all the resources that I need in order to achieve my career to achieve my mission in this particular place that's what simcha ultimately is that's joyas the final feature is love Alva by he remain as Hadassah Mordecai nurtured he nursed s' he gave he was therefore Hadassah she didn't have parents and he became so to speak the stiff tata the stiff mama he he raised her this is another major quality of of the soul be Sol Sol anta founder of the Muslim movement once saw drew eating chicken and Camilla gonna give him Emma for some Emmy was eating the chicken with a lot of passion and debe salsa lanta said why are you eating the chicken with so much passion so this Jew said because I love the chicken she says you really love the chicken he says yet he says Wow is this what you do to all those you love you have them killed and plucked and sliced and sauteed and boiled and cooked and then convert it into your blood is this what you do with all you love you don't love the chicken you love your abdomen you love your taste buds you love your stomach and the chicken is a hasty tempter in your love of yourself so here's the big question are we really capable of loving a philosopher once said we don't love other people we love our version of them am I really capable of of love am I really capable of loving another person you would think I'm capable of loving myself if you can help me achieve my goals then I love you but it's like the Mishna says a vittoria bird over it's conditional as long as you do what I need so then I love you because essentially I love me and I love you only because the you somehow contributes to the me and of the you would not contribute to than me I would never ever love you but I can't really love you I can only love me and you as long as you're doing something for them me I can love you I don't love the chicken I love myself the chicken tastes good so I say I love the chicken is our love to others really different I love you because you enriched my life however you enrich my life physically or spiritually emotionally or your compan whatever it is you do for me that's why I love you that's on one level that's true but on the level of the soul this is why he I - Hadassah here a person is truly capable of love so when the convert when the Gentile comes to hillo in Shaba stuff Lama dollar Franz has teach me all of Tyria on one leg teach me the whole teri on one foot how long can you stand on one foot for let's say 40 seconds teach me everything there is in Judaism in 40 seconds so he'll law says no problem what you dislike to be done to you don't do it anybody else that's the whole trade everything else is commentary go study the commentary video finishes vilgum are so rashly asked the question how could you say the whole Toyota is about human relationships focus mezuzah hookah citizen festival on hill festival Allah all the hell off has been Adam are mahkum hoaxes Cassius what does it have to do with wearing the Stanley suits are my signal a sign I for you just like to be done to you don't do that anybody else but that's only half of Judaism all the mitzvos is about what you like to be don't don't - you don't do to somebody else what I do with mezuzah was with not eating on Yom Kippur what I do with keeping Shabbos most of that laughers don't have to do with personal relationships at least many don't but the truth is as follows every single Mitzvah is there to open up a window to the soul every Mitzvah opens up a window to the salic alikom Imam and the only way a person can really love is when they're in touch with that place in themselves because when I'm in touch of that place within myself two things happen first of all I could love wildly and passionately and I'm not afraid we're often afraid of loving because love is vulnerable love is attachment love is taking risks if I don't love you if I live in solitary confinement ever see how people give Shalom Aleichem give Mira or how people say is Chicago yet I can't love because it's dangerous if I stay in my own dollar Damas if I stay in my own cocoon I'm safe to love passionately to love violently well I don't mean literally violently but I mean to love like Troy my malik says i've as Akama vez a ver to love with real passion it's very vulnerable it's very vulnerable so you really have to be truly confident to be able to love with all your soul to love others and if you can't love others you can't love Hashem even to love yourself even your own loved ones to really really love not just selflessly but really love that's number one but it's deeper because when I recognize my Haley Kelly Comi mal then I can truly love you because on that level there's real oneness because the God who I am a part of you're also a part of and if I really love myself I really love you if a half dollar Erica Monica doesn't mean only love your friend as much as you love yourself it means love your friend like you love yourself it's an extension of loving yourself because which part of yourself do you really love if I can't love you it means I don't love me I love my suit I love my nose I love my bank account I love my car I love my watch and some people just love that and all their life they're investing in buying things so they should be able to love themselves and be able to say I'm a success story then I can't love you but if I love my real self if I love my true self if I love my true identity my true core which is part of our M so then that's in you too so I can really really cherish and respect and embrace that part in you too that's in you too it's one on that level is real one is so if I truly love the true I then I love the true you so then Ava is not just an option Ava's the natural state love is the natural state it's not that I have to subdue myself and force myself and challenge myself it's really the natural state of the person but he only main s Hadassah I can be the true ultimate nurturer because I'm in touch with that part of myself so Hillel says Zeljko Latoya cool the whole traders a commentary on how to love the whole Terrier why is the locus of yom kippur a comment and how to love the locus of not eating meat and milk is a commentary in house but not eating me to milk because it's all there to be able to get you in touch with your soul everyone every single I love every midst and if you get in touch with you so that's the key to love so therefore Hillel says that's that's that's call a traitor Kula so I saw this story that I want to conclude with and I thought it's quite a story that captures this message it's about a senator a u.s. senator his name was David Rice Atchison David Rice Atchison what's the useless of David Rice Atchison how does he end up here in 1840 a March fourth so since this is the campaign for the next president of the United States is in full full force and fiery passion so I guess the story is appropriate there no Garre March 4th 1850 a couple of years ago was the scheduled inauguration date of president-elect Zachary Taylor this was the day that Taylor was supposed to be inaugurated March 4th 1850 the problem is it was a Sunday and he was a faithful observer of what used to be called the Christian Sabbath so therefore Taylor refused to be inaugurated as president on that day he said it has to wait till Monday I'll become president on Monday this would leave the nation without a president for 24 hours because hailers predecessor President James Paul he already left office as scheduled Sunday at noon and there was no new president till Monday at noon so the nation for 24 hours with be without a president according to the rules of succession who would fill the shoes of the President of the US for those 24 hours it was Senator HSN he was to be the president for one day unfortunately David Rice Aitchison was very fond of food but he was also very fond of a good drink Saturday nights there were very large and festive inauguration parties and action s'en overdid it a little bit and he draped and he drank into the wee hours of the morning and he said I'm exhausted and he gave strict instructions nobody should wake him up nobody should wake him up so you know what happened he slept through all Sunday and by the time he woke up it was Monday afternoon he slept through his entire presidency he simply slept through his entire presidency I asked you a question is this not the story of so many lives exactly the same story we forget that we're children of the king we sleep through our presidency we sleep through great possibility great potential instead of living lives of greatness we settle for mediocrity to be a senator is nice but it's not a president ask Hilary we forget that though not always great ourselves we are always connected to a greatness beyond ourselves a potential that is absolutely infinite we forget that we're the sons and daughters of royalty we were given the gifts to literally be able to create transformation because of the divine core that's in us we say I wish I wish I can have coffee with a friend and help him he's hurting but I'm too stressed out to take on somebody else's Sarris I know the new kid in school really needs a new friend but I can't do anything about it I got my own problems we convinced ourselves we can't be any kind or more compassionate less angry more understanding we convinced ourselves that our marriages are destined to be war zones that Shalem by is happiness on our home is not a real option fighting in our house will endure we convince ourselves we can't be liberated we can't free ourselves of addictions bad habits instincts anger stress anxiety depression sadness melancholy simply because we don't know who we are we think like slaves what was yesterday will be tomorrow and I am always the victim the five features of an a muna based life of a life in which you live with your soul is to change that paradigm it begins with changing your thoughts you learn to discover real confidence that's always there and then you learn to discover real honesty that was always there you learn to discover your intimacy of acres that was always there you learn to discover your joy that is always there and you learn to discover the gift of love that was always there have a wonderful week [Applause] maja pox on ya sh t thank you of I teach I'm always now meet and it certainly would for someone for sure that we know that right always is the same confidence you have to have inner peace yeah then you have inner peace I know is that the Toyota because I thought it is yeah thank you yeah you