Chabad & Moshiach; War In Israel; Facing Anxiety and Stress; Cultivating Happiness

I didn't know what to end and the rebel was waiting and waiting and waiting I remember that I blushed I was not comfortable I was thinking to myself you know can we just move on like can the re just move on there were 5,000 eyes gazing at me I can feel it why did the reban not appoint a successor and how come the Reb never put a stop to the mhia movement somebody once started to sing in the in 770 for bring in I just got a call today about a family actually of kabat family in AAS in kir Mali one son was killed in Gaza this week a second son Second Son lost his life a second son passed away so we're talking about a time that is extremely extremely difficult and a time when all of us all of us have been mobilized to fight the war of the Jewish people each one in our own [Music] way Jewish and joyful helping you live a better and happier life hi everybody it's ARA finger welcome back to the Jewish and joyful podcast in this episode I had the great honor and privilege to sit with r Jacobson we had hard questions candidate answers uncensored interview now to this ex episode with bwaa Jacobson hi everybody welcome back to the Jewish and joyful podcast it's a great honor and privilege havewe Jacobson please start off by telling us a a bit about yourself about your background I was born in Brooklyn New York in the year T lamad Bay 1972 my parents both came from the Soviet Union they grow up they grew up in communist Russia under the dictatorship and tyranny of Joseph Stalin both of their families suffer tremendously in the Communist Regime but they were saved from Hitler and ultimately made it out of Russia after the second world war with false passports they came to What's called the DP camps and from there they ultimately made their way to the other side of the ocean my father came to Canada my mother came to New York and uh yeah we grew up in Brooklyn my father was a journalist for most of his life he served as the correspondent of the largest Israeli newspaper it's a daily Israeli newspaper secular newspaper called Y and he was its correspondent in New York in the United Nations he also worked for other newspapers and journals so I grew up in the home of a journalist um I also had the privilege of growing up at the feet of the laab of blessed memory in Crown Heights and that's where I study that's where I learned and uh for the last I would say 25 years or so a little more I really had the privilege of traveling and visiting I guess hundreds of communities schools yeshivas schs Jewish centers speaking to audiences from all backgrounds and walks of life even non-jewish audiences and uh trying to be a uh Ambassador for love and for truth and for joy and for authenticity and for tah and for yish so that's a little bit about me why would you say made you the powerful influential and popular Rabbi course yay but which aspects of it made you so great well let's you you you stated a premise about popularity and influence and then you're asking me what happened that way what made it that way I don't know that that premise is at all accurate what I will say is that uh over the years I've had the privilege with hashem's Grace and as you said say I think to be able to uh serve as a channel for inspiration and for empowerment to many many people and probably uh one of the greatest uh things I would attribute that to is number one the rebba I grew up with as I said I grew up at the feet of the LA and his Holiness and his wisdom and his truthfulness and his have affected me very deeply and today I have Theus to serve as a channel for that wisdom that's number one and number two I try to share with people uh not just words but I share try to share with people who I am in other words not just preach words and messages but really share from inside I think number three I try to speak to people's real struggles to their authentic selves not just to an imaginary idea that may be abstract but to really speak to people's hearts and souls where they are today and I also always feel that uh it's important to make yides and extremely relevant that people should be able to feel it in their bones have a visceral experience of a understand not just as something nice or even holy of course that too but to be able to really see how it can touch them them in their own deepest Nish in their own deepest mind and in their own deepest heart and uh I'd say finally maybe one more thing I think that I think speaks to a lot of people is you ask me a deep question so that's why I'm being reflective I think very often we have a challenge in making space for the strugglers among us as though they're like different when really I I think that all of yish is really about creating space for all the struggles inside of us and then we could create space for the struggles inside other people I think very often a lot of people feel that if they're struggling somehow they have to hide it they have to go undercover there's no place for it in our world and I think a lot of my messages really help people understand that life is all about finding The Light Within the darkness finding the truth within the falsehood and finding godliness within all parts of the self and of the universe those are some things that I think speak to a lot of people everybody to a lot of people so going back to your relationship with BBA what was your relationship like when you were a young boy so my relationship with the rebba wasn't personal on that level that I would go in and speak to him those days when I was growing up in the 70s and the 80s uh the laab already had so there was so many people there I mean there were tens of thousands of people hundreds of thousands of people that would come just amounts of letters I me he would get hundreds of letters every single day so I didn't have a an ability you know to go into the room and Shmo was that level but I grew up in his daladas in his for cubits and uh I would attend all of his s his talks his addresses his my his faans and in the later years the Reb's last years and my early years my formative years I had the great Merit of joining the group of k k is a the word for oral scribes the re would speak for many hours but most of the times it was on shabas and yam so there were no recording devices of course everything had to be memorized so there was a grou small group of whose job it was to memorize the Reb's talks because they were very very deep and intricate and long this wasn't a 15 minute 15 minute you're talking about that can go for three four five six seven 8 hours this is not an exaggeration uh 3 hours was very very often and then go for more and the rebis talks were very very deep meaning walk you know with a joke and another joke and a story and another story you're talking [Music] about and each talk can be an hour an hour and a half a half an hour so there was a small group whose job it was to memorize and then transcribe so in the last years I had the privilege of being on that team and uh we would write up the rebis talks very often he would edit them so I had that connection with the Reb and I would say that a lot of my my my identity as a human being as a Jew especially in the approach to Tyra how to learn and how to teach I received a lot of it from the re so what was your story as a young boy um with by one of the Big M with the the when the re point or something the story is that I was a boy I was a young boy and was the middle of a fa andin is the word in yish for Gathering it's theic term especially inab when and students would come together sing and Inspire themselves but the Reb was more like a Shear but it wasn't one Shear it could be like eight she each each talk was another she so one she could be in the Rashi on the par another she could be be on the in the par another sh could be on a another sh could be a or another so like one for can have eight or seven or six sh and talking about a long sh and the Shir were very very very deep and intricate and once was giving such a she it was a Rashi developed a in how to learn rash on a whole fascinating over 25 30 years and every shabas he would dedicate a half an hour an hour two hours to learn a Rashi on the par with tremendous depth was m in every word of Rashi and he showed sometimes unbelievable perspectives on how to see Rashi how to understand Rashi how Rashi wrote his sh his P so the was talking about one of the rash I think it was shabas or maybe shabra that time before P the truth is I was a little kid I wasn't concentrating he was saying I was I was daydreaming and the re was talking about mosa and iron the difference of mosa and iron according to in middle I see a finger pointing at me if the rebba was sitting in his place where he sat I would stand Mish parallel to him like against him straight if you make a straight line I was there as a kid for many years I stood there as a child little kid and I see the Reb who was already an older man so he was his finger was shaking a little bit his finger goes up that was very uncommon cuz the Reb would hold his hands under the table a whole time you could see that he was moving his hands cuz the tablecloth would jump up and down but he always held his hands under the table they would not come out that's how you would talk sit at the edge of a chair and his hands on the table and suddenly I see his hand coming up his finger like this m and his extends his hand and he's pointing and like everybody maybe 5,000 men in the room the women in the women's section everybody's turning like including me like what's next this was not a common thing the wouldn't talk or engage with people during a was very very rare that in middle of a you should turn to somebody it was almost not never but it was almost never and it's like OMG I think that's me you know first it was you know who's behind who's the guy behind me right like I was certain it was not me it was maybe some guest some interesting person that I wants to speak to I was a kid there I was there for years I grew up there when I see that finger is is pointing right at me and the place was stunned everybody was looking at this person whom the re was addressing and I still recall he smiled and he asked me a question in yish as he was pointing like this his finger was shaking a little bit and he said to me how do you know that the world exists how do you know that there is a world that there is a universe truth be told I did not know where that's coming from how do I know the world exists how does anybody know the world exists I never thought about how I knew the world exists I really never thought about I was a young child and I wasn't thinking about these types of things but this was the discussion the devil was having earlier in the talk I didn't know what the devil was talking about cuz I was daydreaming I was doing something else I didn't know what to end and the rebel was waiting and waiting and waiting I remember that I blushed I was not comfortable I was thinking to myself you know can we just move on like can the re just move on there were 5,000 eyes gazing at me I can feel it and the re just waited it was maybe I don't know 10 seconds 15 seconds to me it seemed like eternity and I didn't answer I didn't know what to answer I was also a shy boy I didn't have what to answer and I didn't know what to answer so the rebba waited and waited and he smiled and then the rebba decided to answer the question for me instead of me answering he answered as so to speak as my representative the Reb said ENT the child answers how do I know the universe exists because the opening of the whole T in the beginning of states in the beginning created the Heaven and the Earth that's how he knows that the Universe exists cuz it says if it says it got to be true and then he went on to continue the discussion I remember next week I was afraid he's going to ask me another question so I started to listen and ultimately I became one of the people who was WR writing down those talks as I grew up a little bit and I went back I always remember this I went back to the talk and I saw that the rebba was really addressing the purity of children we talking about the difference of M and that M was M's whole his whole reality was Wason was involved with people Aon dealt with people and conflicts and Shalom bias and Aon was much more in mesed in the struggles of people therefore it says was explaining that youngsters children especially are learning ter all day they have that ability to see the world from a very very pure and innocent place when you ask them how they know the world exists it's not from the newspapers it's not from the outside it's all from today when I ask myself why the re asked me the question to a lot of people in SCH I don't know the answer but perhaps one of the messages at least that I took from it out of it is that uh the most powerful Source the most powerful message that I and we can give to other people and and to ourselves is to be able to teach people the world from the perspective of b's no so before we start talking about joyful and how to get through challenging times being just while we're on this topic I want to ask you first of all my family our family has great respect for leaba cherea however there are some things that are bothering some people and perhaps you can elaborate on this and clarify first question was why did the rebon not appoint a successor and how come the rebon Never put a stop to the mhia movement so if you could please clarifying that cuz it's it's bothering a lot of people and we want to hear the answer great question why did appoint a successor I don't feel I'm in a position to answer such a question you know I don't have the authority and the the type of knowledge to be able to know what was going on in the Reb's mind right I can't answer the question all I can suggest is it could be that the rebba didn't feel that he had a successor sometimes in life you know you just have to rely on Hashem like realize that Hashem has a plan we have to respect that plan like you know even the greatest of people you know we we we we're all a Hashem we're Servants of Hashem the re didn't have children um his father-in-law who he succeeded had three daughters one was killed in the Holocaust there were two daughters left two sons-in-law there have the middle son-in-law became the rebba but the Reb didn't have biologically any children and it could be that he didn't feel that he has a successor to a point so what was he supposed to do you know he gave everything he gave he hoped and prayed and craved and yearned that Messiah would come in his lifetime but it could be he didn't feel that he has he has somebody to appoint it's interesting though I just remembered as you asked me the question there was a finging of the Reb before P 1966 is the yard of the I don't know if you know theed was the Reb's great great grandfather he was a grandson of the balat the third was the seventh who theb was named after was one of the great of his he was a grandson of the the thir his Y and he passed away which is 1866 so 100th anniversary was 1966 so the they told the story that when the was in Petersburg with many other they were trying to fight the movement and the changes in in anyway the got arrested 22 times in Petersburg because of his 22 times they arrested and one of the I think it was was a son of who was a student of the worked very closely together generally in that generation already there was a much more peace between the different groups within the Orthodox World worked very closely with a lot of the great Lithuanian leaders as did the later the relationship was magnificent so one of the I think it was I don't know Reb said the name but he told the story so as you're going to be arrested and they could take you away they can kill you they can Exile you had tens of thousands of tens of thousands of throughout Russia there were hundreds of thousands of Jews that were connected to him in some way or another so he said how can you do this what are you going to do with all your disciples all your students all your so theed said in gor we have answer an answer and then v a second answer so he said I'll do the same thing I'll give you an answer and then V he said the first answer is I have children had many children he had seven sons half children and the second answer he said the unity of the will hold them until M's coming this is what answered so listen to this 100 years later the Reb said over the story then he said these words he said that now the first answer is not applicable anymore but we still have the second answer you understand first answer is not applicable anymore because we didn't have children right have the second answer that the unity of Eden and their dedication and commitment to ter will hold them that's what he said publicly so that's really the best answer I can give uh in in in any genuine and serious way in terms of the whole uh the whole Mia issue the was not I mean I heard myself uh somebody once started to sing in the SCH in 770 foran and theb said then that I should really leave when I hear this I should really leave but the reason I'm not leaving is first of all I'm not sure it's going to help and second of all if I leave everybody's going to leave and is going to be obliterated um it was very clear the Reba a few times expressed himself quite emphatically that the obsession with promoting him as Messiah is counterproductive and in fact there were times that he spoke very very very sharply I I I saw it and I heard it myself and uh it was clear but I think there's also another side to it another side to it is and this is important to understand uh I heard this from Rabbi btz btz from Baltimore Maryland and then today's I heard this from him and he said you know that uh he said listen he said for somebody that to say that it's kir it's it's it's against amuna to believe that the was potentially mashiah he says it's ridiculous he says it's not true every generation says if Messiah could come any day that means in every generation there has to be somebody who's a potential Messiah we say right it means today Mia can come another 20 years ago 30 years ago every day a Jew believes Mia comes today every single day in every generation there is a potential Messiah that if Hashem wants he will choose him to be Mia someone me right would said and the in fact the says that many students would say that their RAB is Mia the says that the students of said Yan his name is Yan the students of said goes to a whole list they saidash says that the used to say that Messiah is the same name like their says over there so to say that somebody who believes that his Reb is Mia especially somebody with such qualifications to say that that's against ta that's not fair I don't think it's true I think Bri is right about that so you could say I don't agree I don't think it's a good idea I don't think it's wise right it can be misconstrued it can be misunderstood that's all fear but to say that it's against that's against to believe that someone has the potential to be mashia if he fits the qualifications of I don't think that's fair so the Reb was also very careful in that the RAB spoke about it a few times but the Reb could not tell people right that they're not allowed to believe something that is not against Tyra on the contrary you know theba himself I feel it was clear from him that he felt that his father-in-law was potential M you know there were there were many used to say on their on their right I mean you have over the generations in the world and world where people felt that their Reb had the potential to be mashiah I also heard from RAB Bri I can't confirm this that somebody once came in one of the great this is what I heard from him and said to him you hear people are saying that is Mia I guess the person was very upset very bright with said M looked at him and said so what Hali Hali so what so they're saying Hali let Messiah come and then we'll see who's mashiah so I think you know it's it's it's there once wrote a letter to somebody I saw the answer he wrote to him there is no obligation whatsoever to search who is M there is an obligation to love every Jew like we love ourselves so the question of Mia's identity is a very sensitive one if somebody is following I don't have to agree but I wouldn't condemn it somebody's violating we have to condemn it somebody is saying something that's not inconsistent with one can't condemn it there's a lot of different and a lot of different different as long we follow the all of us that's what binds us as Jews if a Jew follows I can't condemn it even if I don't agree with it but I think we always have to be careful not to live in a in a situation where we hate each other and we mistrust each other and we are fragmented with each other the truth is inab itself they had a split about this they had a lot of arguments about this which it's very well know right right there's still some arguments going on today it's much less but there's still arguments going on and they had to deal with it you know within their movement because there were different perspectives and different but I think that the most important message I got from there re is that we are living in the generation of gula before messiah's coming and our greatest responsibility today is to do everything to unite the Jewish people to live in a place of do everything to be the Jewish people to do everything to promote love and light and among all of our brothers and sisters and prepare is and the world for so I think it's very very important especially for those who feel themselves to be students of the Reb not to allow ourselves to be and to be uh to to deviate at all from the main mission of Our Generation which is to fill our lives in the world with truth with authenticity with ano M and with the light of of of the G which is the light of and the light of and the light of T and if I may ask what about the Messianic movement that's going on now these days the the little that's going on yeah listen there are those who call themselves and some of them are very very loud so there is a small Fringe group of people who say things that are very very irresponsible and are very very misguided I know some of them and I have to say that that some of them have emotional challenges you have to realize that some of them have emotional challenges and uhab has a tremendous Mila but it comes with a price Mila is it's very very Democratic which means kaban is not a community it's a movement you know the difference between ail and a movement a community there's a community there's a rabbi there's a rabbi there's a Riva this is how you dress this is how you speak this is how you behave you're in or you're out so people think kabad is that way it's like a community with unified leadership it kabad is a movement it spans the globe hundreds of thousands of Jews probably today millions of Jews connected to kabad if you include everyone who goes to kabad houses kabad camps kabad schools kabad shs right from one extreme to another you have kabad of Sydney have kabad of Moscow right you have kabad of Melbourne you have kabad of Hawaii kabad of Las Vegas and kabad of of of of of Mexico and kabad of of Alaska and Los Angeles and Peru now even though they're all connected because they get their inspiration from from from of course from yish and from and from the but it's manifested in so many different ways and styles and and it's just very very very diverse you're talking about a world movement not not a community because of that is also so much diversity and so many different types of people and you sometimes have people who are very very loud and sometimes do things in a very very irresponsible way and say things that are either foolish or ludicrous or or absurd and and uh they don't have at the moment you know that unified uh leadership that that controls things in a very very powerful way but I think that the immune system of kab is more healthy than many people imagine because it has the immune system of and of the and of the AL the balat and of the Reb and these were people that their entire life was a story of mes and so I think ultimately the truth of the AL the balat the Reb the B it spits out anything that is not consistent with t and with sh and with sometimes it takes time sometimes it's painful but anything that's not consistent with normal with with and with the AL wanted ultimately there's no place for it in because is a movement that entire and that that's uh and I'm I'm trying to be to be very authentic very very authentic and very real you know I knew the Reb I I saw the re for many years I know what laich is at its core I know what kabad is at its core and and I'll tell you something the Reb had to make this decision he decentralized kabad he did not control it like a community he did not and there was a reason for I think one of the reasons for it is because it allows people and gives them creativity that is unprecedented if the devil would have controlled kabad everybody would just be working in a very very limited fashion told people go out take over the world build create build communities build schools build movements build websites build hash build ASAS build build build physically spiritually so every every Rabbi goes out it's his baby he's working for himself then it's his Bal it's his baby so it created unprecedented growth I think they have also is the fastest growing movement Judaism wow and after the rebba passed away kabad didn't double didn't triple it quadrupled quadrupled more than quadrupled more than quadrupled how' that happen it happened because the re's entire approach us to empower people to take responsibility it's not about me it's about you you take responsibility you take initiative because of that his whole D of mentorship was to give people a lot a lot of power power much more than you'll see in other places yeah it comes with a price you know the price it comes with it comes with a price that sometimes people get out of hand and they do their own thing and you don't have this tight control you don't have this tight control on the bage but on the other hand it's really like like Orthodox Judaism what gave the K of Orthodox Judaism to survive after thousands of years and not be diluted the answer is because this Shar Shar is the immune system the Jewish people when somebody ultimately Rebels against even if they have a thousand excuses you know the sh of the world the duim the cry the reformers the system spits them out may take 50 years may take a the system spits them out because there is documented this is the the same is true with any authentic Jewish movement the the immune the immune system that alter the balat and the Reb and all the rebes in between established is so powerful that ultimately any deviation from clear and and the of established ultimately will is allergic to it and it will not be able to survive its sick cells will not be able to survive in the organism of so we're now in the month of and and it says so we know this I think says that this proves that during the year you have to be happy and AD you have to you have to be even more happy so especially now with all the crazy things going on in the world the very challenging times how do we balance happiness and pain because we hear about um the soldiers that are dying the hostages and we feel very sad and some people could get depressed but we also have to be happy we have to have so how do you balance the two factors of being happy and the pain going on wow very very powerful question about are I'll tell you how I how I see it at least one aspect of how I see it what does s really mean s joy in y I don't think it means you know that everything is bliss and beautiful and perfect and I'm living in la la land and and life is Rosy we're living in a time where the Jewish people are being challenged to their core CLA soul is at war thousands and thousands and thousands of families in the Holy Land have been affected in ways that are unfathomable yeah I just got a call today about a family actually of kabat family in AAS in kir Mali one son was killed in Gaza this week a second son Second Son lost his life a second son passed away so we're talking about a time that is extremely extremely difficult and a time when all of us all of us have been mobilized to fight the war of the Jewish people each one in our own way what does s mean what SIM I think means is it means the conviction and the knowledge of knowing what is my job at this time and knowing that I'm in the right time I'm in the right place and I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing now s is the Deep sense of satisfaction and conviction and awareness that I am showing up the way I'm supposed to show up with my authenticity with my sincerity with my love with my light with my energy it's that conviction and that knowledge of showing up and knowing that I am ready to fulfill the mission that is asked of me to fulfill at this moment that creates a sense of belonging of connectivity of authenticity of knowing I am who I'm supposed to be and I'm doing what I'm supposed to do that's what one level of is what makes a happy and successful person and what's the true key to a happy life wow what a big question what gives a person happiness and what's the key to a happy and successful life that's a very very big question it's probably we could sit on this for a few years maybe a few decades maybe a few lifetimes but one thought that comes to mind I didn't prepare for this so I'm Just one thought that comes to mind is I think Sim is very much connected with integration when we can integrate all the parts of ourselves into a seamless hole if you really want it's in the a very famous which means as the great great spiritual Masters especially the Shah the B explain based on that doesn't only mean there's one God and not a thousand Gods true also means that Hashem is Oneness Hashem is Oneness everything is part of that one and I think when we achieve that in our life when we can integrate all the parts of ourselves and see them as a mosaic as a tapestry as part of a unified piece of art as a note in the cosmic Divine Symphony that is what SIM is that is what I think at least one major part of joy and what that means practi ially in a person's life is you know we have different voices we have different emotions we have different experiences different habits and instincts and different inner visceral triggers and responses based on the day based on the people we're with based on the circumstances based on the space that we're in and so many things can derail us and plunge us into a space of anger despair uh whack iness unpredictability I'm overwhelmed I'm sad I'm resentful and we go down those rabbit holes so easily and I think s is when we're anchored in a place of essence when we're anchored in a place of Oneness and then from there we can watch all of our parts and ultimately bring a certain sense of purpose and unity and meaning and Divinity to all of them and then when I'm having a certain emotion instead of it slepping me down a particular path which may end up in the abyss or may end up in a ditch MH I allow it to pass through me and see what I can learn from it what should my response be how can I grow from it what is is it teaching me what is it telling me so when I'm rooted inem in my own in my own Oneness then all the parts of me and all the parts that I'm encountering and all the parts that I'm experiencing can become part of that Oneness I know this may be a little bit of an abstract answer but I think there's truth to it beautiful thank you what does Jewish and joyful mean to you Jewish and joyful means what thek says and we say it every morning in the beginning of serve hem with joy when do we serve Hashem according to yish when do we serve Hashem and the answer is 24 hours a day seven days a week is not when I'm daving only or when I'm learning when I'm doing a Mitzvah of course that's is as the says in in all your ways you should know him know him d means connect to him so is 247 how can that be why should I do it with joy it's a burden it's such a burden learning this Mitzvah that mitvah it's enough now I have to serve you 247 the answer is the exact opposite doesn't mean you're giving energy it means you're taking energy you're receiving energy says in we say it also in the morning in his space there's confidence and joy plugging into the space of Hashem plugging in ourselves as hm means plugging into the source of all confidence and to the S source of all joy it's beautiful thank you if I may ask what was the most stressful time of your career how do you get through it and in general how do we all become more Jewish and joyful Jews talking about the stressful times of my career I don't know have to think I my career can often get I hope this is not stress right now no no no no it's not stressful it's actually a very beautiful question I just I I I can't identify right now the most stressful moment in my career my career often come could come with a lot a lot of stress right um uh it took me it took me a long time and it took me inner work to figure out how to navigate things and it's still work in progress I'm still trying to learn and discover things every day um a major part of I think dealing with uh with with stress at least for me is really understanding who I am and that is I'm a channel my my greatest truth is that I'm a channel for hashem's light at every single moment if I'm showing up to do something in order to get my ego validated in order to feel good in order to get compliments in order to make money just to make money or get compliments or get Val validation or be a celebrity or get honor or whatever I'm trying to feed my ego then things can get very very stressful when I can be a channel I can show up as a channel for Hashem in every moment then a lot of the stress is taken away and the reason is let's say a class right let's have to give a lecture if I need per if if it's about my ego I need Perfection and Perfection never happen so it's always stressful and every little mistake I made I'm going to kill myself and beat myself up for the next 3 days about that mistake but if I could say I'm a channel for Hashem they're not coming to me I didn't create this world I don't own anybody's life I can't give anybody even a little oxygen I can't give I I mean I didn't create anything about this world there's nothing I can give to anybody that's going to give them life all the things were created by hasm so what's my job my job is to be the channel That Hashem wants me to be at this moment so I'm going to show up right now with the tools that I have right now and be that channel so so much of the stress is taken off you get it now it's easy to preach but to feel that way in my body to feel that way in my nervous system to feel that way in a visceral way that is work that's that is what I see as one of the main issues of to really come to a place always uses the word b b means that my ego lets go it lets go of having the need to to control and allows me to be a channel and those are the moments of bliss and deep happiness and deep joy and deep meaning W beautiful answer thank you um who is the happiest person that you know oh that's a wonderful question who's the happiest person that I know I don't know have to think about that but you are reminding me of you are reminding me of a story very very powerful story for me it's very powerful that is and that is that the at whose feet I grew up he became the 1951 1951 a year after the passing of his father-in-law the six and I once saw a letter written in 1952 Somebody by the name of rabit golden rabit golden was a very special Jew he was uh he worked he spread yish kite in the Soviet Union and he was was sent to Siberia really really special man then he came to New York he was the principal of a big girl school and was he was a deep soul and I saw that he wrote a letter to in Europe about the and he described his personality just one line that touched me he wrote In yish wow a joyous and broken man of God I thought it was such a such a powerful description because if you're a Jew there's but because if you're a Jew your heart your heartbeat experiences the pain of Galos and the pain of the world and the pain of the the pain of Every Soul so there's a there's a sense of a sense of Brokenness this pain I just thought that description was very powerful so back to the question um does Rob have in mind any specific person I don't remember I don't remember usually there something that comes to your to to one's mind right away yeah I don't remember somebody particularly think about I'm sorry okay yeah maybe I see too much pain children yeah I love to see children giggling and playing and happy life with innocence and I want to jump right into the sandbox and play with them so I asked RAV gav the question from ER RAV gav yeah so he said that is is one of his son like his young sons are are the happiest person he knows cuz it's just the the innocence of Life he's always just always happy that's beautiful yeah so now why are there so many people that are sad depressed it's like never before especially in our generation and un Fortune it's coming more than ever so many people walking around down and glum so what what what could be the reason for this and what could be a possible solution wow that's a powerful question and that is I would say one thing actually my wife shared this with me today a few minutes before this podcast and I really appreciated it she said you know we see that the present war between Israel and its sworn enemies theas is being fought a lot of it is being fought in tunnels Mish tunnels which makes it so unique and so unbelievable and so challenging and so difficult and so dangerous because Kamas took the billions of dollars that were given to them and they built an incredibly impressive underground Network an infrastructure of Terror that is Subterranean and therefore so inaccessible I mean just incredible incredible what happened with these billions of dollars and Hamas and Iran's useful idiots are busy condemning Israel yes after spending squandering billions of dollars to be able to help murder innocent people Arabs and Jews so you know the B say everything is a lesson and everything in the physical physical world comes from the spiritual world my wife shared with me that maybe one of the big elements of today is to go into our own tunnels the maral speaks about the tunnels that exist in every soul the gor says that Hashem made a tunnel from anasha to be able to reach him the tunnels are the Subterranean Parts in our system that are that are not at the surface and what that means is really to be able to go into our own pus and identify the wounds the coping mechanisms the coping mechanisms that we developed over the years from Youth and operating from that place and often causes us to live such restrictive lives such sad lives such fearful lives such stressful lives such anxious lives and really go into those tunnels and get rid of the terrorists in those tunnels and what I mean by that is I don't mean thatas lives in your heart sh what I mean is to be able to identify the dark the dark secrets and the Darkness in our tunnels and then we can also identify the infinite love in our tunnels and I think that may be what part of our calling today and it's it's it's a it's a new Avida for many of us like many of us don't have the skills or the mechanism or the wisdom or the humility to be able to go to those places so we need to support each other what but I don't think there are shortcuts today thank you so much for coming on thank you for this the yeshiva.net [Music]