Thought for the Week Parshas Ki Savo What's Your Story, Rabbi Yaakov Winner - 5786

Hello, what's the matter? How are you? Today is the first day of Passover. It's the 129th birthday of the founding of the community. It's and we have to discuss the connection between all these as usual we'll start with the first day of Passover. Messiah should come now. I hope I mentioned that everyone is healthy, strong, and happy physically and spiritually. I hope everyone is healthy, strong, and happy physically and spiritually. Now we'll say one of the most famous prayers that everyone knows that's the first thing we say in the morning as soon as we open up our eyes. Money that I need for my vacation. I offer thanks to you living and eternal king for you have mercifully restored my soul within me. Your faithfulness is great. In this week's parsha we have the midst of all the olive which means we make a declaration of thanks to our sham when we bring the first fruits. The choicest fruits of Israel. So the midst of is already mentioned before in the Torah in parsha so there's one midst to bring the current and there's another midst to make this special declaration when you saw it all in the beginning of parsha it is very very very amazing. The whole midst of current is something unbelievable and unusual which is discussed in what kind of celebration it was what sort of procession it was and the declaration that we find over here in the parsha where it speaks about of also the coin. the silver market of and we speak about the history it seems like it's and the national identity of the Jewish nation and Hashem's providence has got to practice in the survival of the Jewish nation there's so much of the speak about it. There was a lot of obvious there was a lot of and then we went to Egypt and then they took us out of Egypt and he brought us to the promised land and now we're offering up to you the products of the promised land and that is the midst of the and this is the declaration which is the unique addition to the midst of the of making this declaration in speech. That's the midst of this week's parsha. And what is the point of the midst of of making this special special when you say the matter which we don't see but other midst of this. You could have said there's there's a midst of of doing this shaking the little of connected to something or let's say circus to say you have to have a mind keep a circus of shaft in the middle so we don't verbalize it. So what is what is what what do we learn from this midst of so there's a couple of major points over here. I want to also connect it to the birthday of Tim and Tim and Tim. So let's first talk about the first thing is gratitude. The most of the common they speak over the here that the midst of is a lot of faith. What's the midst of making this declaration in speech? Because you meant to verbalize it not only think it. If someone does something good for you you should say thank you Hashem so that's several way down like a little bit we have to have gratitude and by the way there's a side point and again as we spoke many times how you this guy is so awesome. Everything we find today in self-help books about mental health or being healthy and happiness and whatever you're seeking and looking out for in life. So, if we look at the list of things that are important to have happiness, the number one thing which we are on every single list IN THE TOP FIVE is gratitude. Through gratitude, you will have happiness. And gratitude is connected with the idea that you realize you're not God. Not everything is in your control, if anything. So, therefore, don't take anything for granted. Don't be ungrateful and say thank you. Immediately thank you. And that's also why the first thing the basis of gracious our way the week of Shasha to the entire day, which means the entire life of a Jew starts with my data and either for now my entire Shasha to be Shasha to be him that I that we say thank you Hashem. And the fact is, thank you Hashem on a simple level, we'll soon get deeper is that Shasha to be Shasha to BE HIM, I'M ALIVE. I call Shasha to be Shasha. One of the explanations of Shasha to be Shasha to be him is because since every single Jew has a certain level of debt to Hashem so come be the day of Shasha to be Shasha to be him, he's going to keep you as payment to the debt. But no, he returns you to the body, gives you life even though you're still in debt. And we could trust you, Hashem, that even though we're in debt, you still restore us to full life and every single day there's a sense of a mini resurrection. You went to sleep dead tired and you wake up full of life and full of spirit. See the famous contest of the Rebbe which he wrote a pamphlet which is a work of unbelievable genius. One of the greatest greatest books written Contreras papers called it in Torah scholarship is what the Rebbe spoke and was edited his talk about this prayer of Melech HaKayam. If you haven't studied what's called Contreras run, study it. It'll change your life. Over there he speaks about Meidani and all the levels of interpretation of Meidani. So we see from this first of all we're talking about the mitzvah of this declaration of the Korban Hakaras Hatov that you have to verbalize the thank you. Now to see how important this is in general there's the Medrash Rabbah in Bereishis which says the following and we're going to maybe interpret it on different levels but there's a famous Bereishis Rabbah that says that he said in the merit of three things the world was created. B'shvil challah B'shvil ma'aser and B'shvil Bikkurim. In the merit and for the purpose of challah there's a mitzvah of challah and there's a mitzvah of tithes ma'aser and the mitzvah of Bikkurim. That we have to offer up the first fruits. Why these three mitzvahs? Lamah Tam? Because with each of these three mitzvahs says Bereishis. So Bereishis for those three mitzvahs where they're called the first Bara Elokim Hashem created the the And it mentioned it by by by challah and by ma'aser. And then it says the ain reishis el dibikurim. Bikurim is also called reishis. Shenema reishis bikurim at moshav goymer. The possuk where we first learn the mitzvah of bringing bikurim, it says the choices of the first fruit. So, in general, when we speak about mitzvahs, you know, even though on the one hand we say we don't make differences between mitzvahs, kallah shabakallah achmura shabachmura shavin, but on the other hand, when it comes to some mitzvahs, we we consider them the major ones. Faith in Hashem, tzedakah, tzitzis, tefillin, Shabbos, kashrus, teshuvah, they're all the they're some of the major major mitzvahs. Just like for example, the Rambam chose 13 ikrim, 13 principles of faith. In the same way, there's the 10 Commandments. So, there are those mitzvahs, zoy chukas haTorah parah adumah, there are those mitzvahs that for whatever reason, in Torah, it says this is like all the other mitzvahs. We say it about 2,000 mitzvahs, this is like all the mitzvahs. And that means that in a certain sense, there's a certain thing we have to learn. There's a message, there's a lesson, there's a theme, there's a concept in these dozen 2,000 mitzvahs, which is tells us something about the entire Torah. So, comes this week's parsha Ki Savo, we have to realize as soon as we're learning about the mitzvah of bikurim, wow, for the mitzvah of bikurim, bishvil shlosha dvarim nivra haolam, the entire world was created for the merit and for the purpose of the mitzvah of bikurim. Why is bikurim so special and so comprehensive in general that for that alone the entire world should have been created? Okay, so one explanation we had, basic basic, is because gratitude is the key to happiness and gratitude is your window to something which is higher than you because you acknowledge that there's something greater, something in control. And will bring you to humility and will bring you to happiness. So you can see how it's a fundamental basic rule of life. Okay, so that would be one explanation. Another explanation that I don't want to talk about and it seems that these three are together is that there was a rabbi who once said, "God is of no importance unless he is of supreme importance." This is a subject which I personally find so important, but I'm not going to elaborate it today and it's about priorities. I'm always getting into these conversations and it's about whatever it is. You can have a school, you can have an office, you can have a a business and you have to you have to focus on what are the priorities. You'll never be able to be perfect in every single area, but you have to know what are the priorities of what stands out. And this is the most important thing, first things first. So it's not only that I also serve Hashem. It's not only that spirituality is also important. No, it's the most important. That's what it's all about. That's the iker. That's primary. Everything else is tofel. So that's also one of the messages probably in this mitzvah and why we say these three mitzvahs, for that alone, it was worth to create the world because in my interpretation over here right now, what the Midrash is teaching us is this very point. Oysam nafsha mecha v'gufam t'le, what's rishus? You have to know that spirituality always comes first. Always dominates. That's what life's all about. Oysam nafsha mecha v'gufam t'le, there's always a battle going on between the spirit and the flesh. Between the tzu and the chaimer, and the question is, which is going to win? And this is the mitzvah of always giving rishus ad sheshes mitzvahs b'chala, and the same thing by ma'aser, first you give to the Eibershter. And the same thing is over here, rishus b'kurim ad mashcha, not only you make spirituality first, but you also give the choicest, etc., etc. So, that's another separate discussion, maybe we should leave for another time. I'm just mentioning it because I believe that this is also a message from this Midrash about what makes the mitzvah of bikurim so special. But now I want to talk about another thing. I know we're mentioning um a couple of things very quickly. But this declaration, manissa v'amarta, which is so special, so beautiful, so awesome, it seems it's about our history, our collective history, our very identity. And this comes only in the mitzvah of bikurim do we recount our history as a nation from Arami Oved Avi from Lavan and what happened over there. We could say the greatest story of triumph over adversity. You could say the greatest miracle, the greatest testimony of Hashem's existence. Am Yisrael loses a payroll. The survival of the Jewish nation. How we're less than 1% of the world's population and we're going strong. Thank you, Hashem. And these few pesukim, as we arrive at the land and we settle in the land, in other words, from the promise that Hashem told Avraham Avinu, that one with is going to be a nation, they're going to be enslaved, and then they will come to Eretz Yisrael. And every single person who brought Bikkurim had to mention this. And they mention it as if they're experiencing it. Like at the time of and we actually say these verses by the Seder, the first night of Pesach and the second night of Pesach. So, what is the mitzvah of Bikkurim? The mitzvah of Bikkurim is also the mitzvah of knowing who you are and knowing where you come from. And that is essential to your identity. Your narrative. The reality of your true being. As they say, if you don't know where you come from, you don't know where you're going. Who are you? Who is your father? Who is your grandfather? That's how you find out about yourself. It was Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and the Shvatim. You have a history. Your history is who you And this is what makes one other explanation, in my humble opinion, of why the mitzvah of bikurim is one of the greatest mitzvahs in an all-comprehensive way. Where do we find another mitzvah where the concept of the mitzvah is recounting the history of the entire nation as something that you personally experienced and therefore tells you who you are? And that's what we say when we bring the bikurim to Hashem. And the lesson for us personally is every single person has to ask himself who are his parents, who are his grandparents, who are your mentors, who are your heroes, who are your teachers, and to learn from Jewish history. The past is the greatest teacher for the present. And this I want to connect with Tumkhit Temimim. Before we get to that, I just want to mention that there's another whole Gemara which is very, very important, also connected to these three mitzvahs that we said ma'aser, and we said challah, and we said bikurim. There's not enough time, so we'll just cut it short cuz it's late. It's It's a Friday in the winter in Melbourne, but there's a Gemara in Shabbos which we spoke many times. And the Gemara in Shabbos says, "Omer Resh Lakish, mai dikhsei?" Resh Lakish says, "What does it say? Vehoyah munasei techa." There's a pasuk in Yirmiyahu that says, "Vehoyah munasei techa," the faith of our times, "cheil yeshu'os" will be the strength and salvation. And Resh Lakish said, "What does it mean vehoyah munasei techa, the faith of our times?" Zeh seider Zera'im. He talks about a pasuk and he shows how all the Shisha Sidra Mishnah are alluded to in a certain possible and he says say this rhyme the say this rhyme the order of seeds which means the agricultural laws in Judaism that is connected to faith. And this is the ultimate explanation. I'm going to speak in a 2 seconds now without really the explanation. But the reason why my sister and be good is before that all the world was created was because they have a strong desire to dwell in place down here below and in these the agricultural where man works hard by the sweat of his brow planting seeds working the cows working the donkeys working the field they should get products. He could have felt that it's connected to nature. He felt it's connected to his talents as a gardener or as a farmer. And we learn out from this why is a Muna say this rhyme and the Gamara says traces brings it down from the show me the meaning of her words because my man the higher lower a Jew would not take a seed and put it into the ground unless he believed in a sham. Not because he believes in the nature the cycle of mother nature that if you put a plant in the ground that it'll take root and then from that will grow. No. And this the rabbit spoke many times he seek about it. We might talk about another time but the point is where do we see the novelty of a Jew? My man the higher lower higher. Come and you seek in the show how I am again with the good and good and if not for you this guy I would be like every time they can hire you as a farmer. Why does he there's two fields over here? Tom, Dick, and Harry on one side, Reuven, Shimon, Levi on the other side. When Tom, Dick, and Harry takes a seed and plants it in the ground because this is the laws of nature, you have to take a seed and plant it and through planting it will grow. When Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov and Reuven, Shimon, and Levi take a seed and plant it in the ground, they're not doing it because they believe in nature. They're doing it because they believe in the Aibershter. The Aibershter said you have to do things in a natural way. That is Jewish faith. Jewish faith means I'm looking at the seed and I'm looking at the field that I plowed by the sweat of my muscles and I still don't attribute the success of whatever I'm going to grow, but I come to the Aibershter with Bikurim and with Simchas HaChallah, whatever it is, and I proclaim, "Thank you, Hashem. It was ONLY THROUGH YOUR GRACE and your kindness that this is the result." And that makes the difference between a year that's mine and the Chiyuv Olam is there. And that's what it's called Emunah Sheleimah. Emunah. Cuz what's the Chiddush? The Rebbe would always emphasize this point. The Chiddush of the Jewish faith is not when he sees miracles, then it wouldn't be faith, it would be obvious. Something which is supernatural. The Chiddush of Jewish faith is when it's Tachtonim, meaning in the world of nature, and you could think that it's nature rules, and nevertheless you see through that veil and you don't see this nature, but you see it as something which is supernatural. You see it as something which is totally the Aibershter. Because by the Jew, the natural and the supernatural is exactly one. There's one source, there's one Hashem, and he causes both equally. So that's another explanation why the Mitzvah of Bikurim and these other two Mitzvos also, cuz they're connected to agriculture, is the idea of Din of B'Tachtonim, in a field with seeds, with land, with earth. The most earliest thing you can speak about and we see a over there and that's the whole purpose of everything. But I want to go back to the previous thing that I spoke about. The sense of history. That comes along with this mitzvah that we came finally came to Israel. The promise was fulfilled and we we we we we repeat and proclaim the history from Abraham Jacob and then we finally came to the land. And this is I want to talk about I am a graduate of Tiferes Yisrael. What was the point of Tiferes Yisrael? The point of Tiferes Yisrael was that the Rebbe Rashab founded the Yeshiva and the purpose of the Yeshiva was to create individuals that would be people that would serve the community. The whole purpose is to serve others. And that's what the history is. And that's the sense of identity. And I want to connect it with what we started with the Sheyichiyer see. And this ties in the with the with which is who are you? Your sense of identity. One of the Sheyichiyer of the Rebbe in when he speaks about was that the Rebbe emphasizes Sheyichiyer see. As soon as you OPEN UP YOUR EYES and you say thank you Hashem. According to the Rebbe we're not really saying thank you I'm alive even though of course we give thanks to the we're alive every single second, every breath we take. But really the thank you is not that I'm alive but Sheyichiyer see. I'M THANKING HASHEM THAT I'm a Jew. She'asavtani Nishmasi, that you returned to me my soul. That's what we're giving you thanks. That's the main thanks of modeh ani. Thank you that I'm a Yid. And the same thing is with the story of Bikurim. It's not only thank you Hashem for providing us with our produce and giving us sustenance. But as we see from the declaration by Bikurim, it's thank you Hashem for the Jewish nation. Thank you for our existence as Jews, that we have a homeland, and that we have a special providence, that we go through all the trials and tribulations of history. No matter what, the Jew will be down, but never out. There might be casualties, Rachmana litzlan. And there might be some wounds, Rachmana litzlan. But in the end of the day, just knowing Jewish history is the greatest proof positive of Hashem. And for that we give thanks. And that's part of the mitzvah of Bikurim, proclaim. And that's why we have to have this this story, this history, and say it. Because just by thinking about it very very quickly, you'll come to an amazing sense of gratitude to Hashem, of appreciation of what it means to be a Jew, of who you are and what your identity is. And it will bring you to humility to give in return. So that's modeh ani. Posha, according to the Rebbe, the meaning of modeh ani, thank you, means that I'm a Jew. This is the deeper meaning of the mitzvah of Bikurim. It's not just a thank you, but a thank you as a Jew, as the Jewish nation, as a special providence. And the same thing for Hasidim, from the Babachev, who went through the Yeshiva, the academy of Tomchei Tmimim. So, just like we have West Point Academy, and people are trained a certain way. And what does it mean to be a soldier? To be a soldier means that you're ready to give up your life and to dedicate your life to focus on one thing. How could you make the world a better place? When the Rebbe Rashab, 129 years ago, he founded the Yeshiva, but he gave some talks. One of the major talks that he gave in the early years was the concept of kol ligyois malkhus Beis Dovid koisev kris krisus l'ishto, which means the purpose is that we're all soldiers. And we're fighting the Moshiach wars. We're fighting the wars to make the world a better place. And in that talk, he explained at length what it means to be a soldier, what it means to be a healthy soldier. And for that, to use a general term, these are all the shluchim of the Rebbe of today's generation. Everyone knows about the legendary Hasidim of the previous the Friediker Rebbe's times, how they were defiant against communism. They were fighting a war against secularism. And Baruch Hashem, whatever Yiddishkeit there is in Russia is connected to the Friediker Rebbe's inspiring and galvanizing the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Tmimim. The graduates of Tomchei Tmimim are called Tmimim to fight the war. Again, to fight the war, the triumph of the spirit over the flesh, the triumph of spirituality over a etc., etc. So, to have the sense of gratitude, I just want to read you one one piece of the Frierdiker Rebbe's sicha, that's in Sefer Hasichos Taf Shin Hei, Omud 43. I'm going to read it to you in Yiddish and we're going to have a translation here also. And only the Frierdiker Rebbe could say this. And he's talking about his father, who was the founder. The Frierdiker Rebbe said this in 1944, Sukkos. He said, "Alle Rabbeim got mesirus nefesh of the chassidim. All of our Rabbeim had absolute self-sacrifice for the good of their chassidim. Ober Kreikidus Amure Rabakodesh had got a sach mer mesirus nefesh of temimim. But my revered father had far more self-sacrifice for the sake of the temimim. A filu mer vi Kreikidus Rebbi Nachum of Zana chadorim. Even more than the Alter Rebbe had for his chadorim. The Alter Rebbe had set up three classes. And he taught with them, and they became unbelievable great chassidim, leaders, scholars, teachers. And the Frierdiker Rebbe says like this, Dortn zenen zich der geven baalei tziur fun frier. The Alter Rebbe's students already had a defined scholarly and spiritual stature. In other words, before they became disciples of the Alter Rebbe, they were already giants to a certain sense, in a certain sense. Ober Kreikidus Amure Rabakodesh hot genumen a logik is. But, when my father took disciples, in other words, the original students of Tomchei Temimim, he also accepted, so to speak, coarse earthenware vessels. That's what our latches are. Earthenware vessels that we put milk into them to make it sour milk. So, there was these earthenware vessels that had already sour milk in them. These vessels first had to be emptied of their sour milk. And then had to be freed of the traces of sourness that had been absorbed in them. And then he filled them with rich butter. And ultimately, they became moist enough with life-giving spirit to moisten all those with whom they came in contact. So, this is what me, I, personally, I'm saying a thank you. Thank you, Hashem, for everything that I have in my life. And thank you for the Lubavitcher Rebbeim that founded Tomchei Temimim. You have I am it. If the Frierdiker Rebbe was able to say about his father that his mesiras nefesh black on white explicitly says that the Rebbe Rashab is the fourth of the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbes mesiras nefesh, dedication to the students was greater, more involved than what the Alter Rebbe had accomplished in his students, than what the Rebbe Rashab had accomplished in his students. Imagine if we think about me. I'm looking at myself. And I'm thinking about where would I be without Tim Hekma Timim? So we could say, and we should say, that the Rebbe had the most mesiras nefesh from all the Rebbeim in taking children of the Pepsi generation, the hippie generation, I don't know what gen gen X, gen Y, gen Z, you name it, whatever it is, situations, conditions that nobody ever imagined. And he took all of us and made us graduates of the Tim Hekma Timim Academy, which we dedicate our lives to serve others and to lead others. And others come first. Like Jonathan Sacks said, there's many leaders that had many followers, and the Rebbe was a leader who created leaders. And that's what Tim Hekma Timim is all about. So the Aibishiter help that in the merit of the founder of Tim Hekma Timim, the Rebbe Rashab, and the merit of the one who was the executive director of Menachem Mendel Futerfas, and the merit of the Rebbe who's called the president of Tim Hekma Timim, and all the mesiras nefesh of all the Timim for the last 120 years of being on the forefront fighting the war of goodness and kindness to make the world a better place, so it should be begulah mitzvah shleimah takeh umiaz mamash, posting from my home, your man in Melbourne.