Thought for the Week Parshas Vayakhel The Path to Inner Peace, Rabbi Yaakov Winner - 5786

How are you? I hope everyone is today. What is the connection between all these in any case we'll start with should come now then we'll go to a prayer which we say three times a day at least but some of us say it many more times and that's how we finish and we go back we take three steps I'll call which means he who makes peace in his heavens may make peace for us and for all is and for ye all of the nation and say amen. So that's what we're all waiting for. Immediate peace, a physical peace from war, but also an inner peace. And that's what today's sh is going to be about. The path to inner peace, which is connected, of course, to shave. So we'll start with the para. What I'm going to say today is based primarily on one discourse of the Reb which was also rewritten as a primarily see there page 188 190. So the beginning of the par starts off that Moshe descended from Mount Si for the third time and he gathered the people He gathered the people. He assembled the people and he gave over to them the laws of Shabas and in connection to that the building of the temple. In general speaks about the construction sorry of the Mishkan but over here he mentions Shabas also again and the P says six days a week work may be done. The seventh day shall be holy for you a complete rest from work as prohibited to do work on Shabas. So over here there are many questions. First of all, a very obvious question is this seems like a major statement. Headlines CNN, ABC, CBS gather all the Jews. He probably made a lot of gatherings. As we learn outlen the brings down also that's a who says over here that he gathered the yidden and then he spoke to them about shabas. So from here we learn now that gatherings rabbis leaders spiritual leaders have to make gatherings and on to teach them. So from that itself you seem to imply he made many shabas fbrins and he made many gatherings. What's the over here that we make such a major announcement? Wow. Let's make an announcement by what's the what's the great novelty that he made a gathering of Jews. He made them in many gatherings. So that's one question. Another question is what he told them about Shabas over here. Shabas is it was actually mentioned just recently. So again, so what's what's the over here that we're mentioning Shabas? And even though some commentators bring out that he's mentioning it over here to teach us that you might think that you build a Mishkan and you could transgress Shabas. No, when it comes to Shabas, we're not allowed to do the males that we do to construct the Mishkan. And we also learn what's considered work which you're not allowed to do in Shabas. Work which was done in the Mishkan. But we're not talking about the inner significance. What new message is there about Shabas here that's not being told in the other places? Because if we're talking about keeping Shabas in the other places, that means obviously when you tell somebody you have to keep Shabas, you have to tell them what it means to keep Shabas. So if we're talking about the technical laws of what to do already told them the other times when I mentioned shabas that you have to keep shabas so what's the novelty and also what does it mean shabas seems like there's a level called shabas that's a regular shabas plain shabas and then there's like shabas shabas which is like the shabas of the shabath What does that mean? Sometimes goes, which it's also connected to what we're speaking about over here because Rashi says the day after and Moshe came down the mountain for the third time. And this herein lies the answer to our whole issue. Why does it say because for the last 120 days things were not normal the committed the sin of the golden calf which is a sin of idolatry which in a certain sense is like the wife cheating on the husband. God forbid we served idolatry which could be considered the greatest sin of all time. The eagle similar to the by Adam and Eve. In any case, he went up the mountain the sixth of he got he heard from the and all of the heard them. Then he came down and he saw what was going on and he smashed the L. He came down for a bit to take care of certain things and gave some instructions then he went right back up and then he came down again alert certain things but then he went back up to the meanwhile back up to the mountain. The third time he went up to the mountain he left a message to the second 40 days from he was trying to pate Hashem that Hashem should forgive the Eden. The third time he went up was basically he was then downloading the information for the second and then on He put him he came down the mountain and he gave him the and here is the next day he's calling calling the whole nation together. Why? Because this is like a new beginning and since this was the disaster the catastrophe of epic monumental cosmic proportions of theel. So now Moseno is going to give us the message, the plan, the tips, the ability how we fixed up what happened before we did chu true but how could we prevent that such a thing should never happen again. In other words, in order to rectify a certain situation, to fix to heal, you have to understand what went wrong and then to put into place now you're wiser and you have education to make sure that such a thing should never happen again. So now we answer the question, what's Misha was basically not with the people for the past 120 days. If he came down for a bit for a half a day that was just like in middle of crisis situation but there was no normal relationship with him as business as usual as things that should be as good as before. So therefore now is coming down from the mountain for the third time and he's going to give them the path to inner peace to harmony to being intimate with Hashem and staying intimate and making spirituality a priority. So therefore it's big news and it's a this time of every other time when is gathering the people that's business as usual that's normal it's not so therefore the doesn't say when there's a special special occasion there was never a time from the time that leaves the Eden till 40 years in the midbar there was no time when was absent so to speak, out of the office for 120 days. For 120 days, generally speaking, in pockets of three, he was in the mountain. He was in a place far far away, unfathomable with himself. So therefore over here now the to say there's another point which I didn't see emphasized but it could be that over here similar to what it says about I have to I have to look into it like it says about when the mitzvah of was the only time where all the to be gathered including infants now I'm not saying over here was infants but the over here could be there is an emphasis And there could be a side explanation for that which I don't want to get into because if we're talking about the construction of the temple of the of the Mishkan, we want to make it a collective thing. Everybody has to be involved in it. And significantly speaking, you could say like when we talk about the service of making this world a dwelling place for Hashem, we say it's the purpose of every single person. Anyone who's part of the nation has to do his part in making this world a better place. But that's a whole side she a whole side talk. We're not getting into that now. We're talking about a different point. The main point over here is the Misha has to call the whole nation and they all have to hear about how now is going to be the most important lesson in their life about how from here on in things should go well that such a thing that happened with theel should never happen again. And what's the answer to that? The answer to that is our relationship, our perspective, our attitude, our mindset to work in general which means to physicality to the business world and that's why over here right after he says then he says and then he speaks about chabas what are the connection between all these things. First, let's talk about what a desor is and then we'll talk about what's diametrically opposed the antidote to a des what's first aor and then we'll explain what it is according to the ra and pic olive straight away he brings out that there were the days of How did our desire start? You know, it's like good intentions. They always they have this explanation how things start with good intentions. What were the good intentions? I'm reading you that there were people that they thought in their wisdom since Hashem created stars and spheres And they are partners so to speak leading the world. We get sunlight from the sun, rains from the clouds, whatever. So the aisha made them the sun. Hashem placed them on high. He gave them special powers. They live longer than us. Hashem gave them honor and he gave them powers and they're loyal servants to Hashem the sun and the moon etc. So therefore the people they deserve to be praised. They convince themselves that this what wants to make them glorified to praise them. Just like a king wants that you should respect his servants. They thought that Hashem wants us to respect, show a special respect to the moon and the stars and the sun and things like that. Problem was that afterwards they lost the plot. They built temples to the stars and they brought sacrifices, you know, like all these different pagan religions, the god, the son of the god, the godson, the moon god, whatever it is. So, how did it start? They attributed power independence power to the stars to the moon and to the sun. Okay. So that's a simple meaning of comes along. We elaborate about this many many times. The mainish of is that serving a des bow down to wood or statues or something physical. of a desur means the real concept of the unification of Hashem means that not only there's no other god there's no other existence there's no other reality we spoke about this many times there's no time now to get into it again so the mistake in the times of they actually believed that the stars have some autonomy and have some powers when in truth I should mentioned this before as the famous Lion is brought down. All they are is like the hatchet in the hands of the wood chopper. The hatchet is completely inanimate. It could do nothing. It's only the wood chopper that uses the hatchet to chop down the tree. So who do you have to give credit to? Only to the wood chopper. Let's get back to the way it is. Once you attribute and give respect and believe in anything, give value to something which is not the himself that's now what does it mean in a practical way? go on about this for hours because it I would say that according to this could be the number one principle in life because really I'm sure you guessed it starts with the ego. The ego is the greatest antithesis to godliness. That's why the says when somebody is holiness he makes himself in existence. He's in a way pushing away Hashem. Anyways, so now let's talk about business. What happens if a person is in business and there's two things that could be problematic here? Either he attributes his success to his brains. Hey, I'm such a wheeler dealer. I'm such a heavy man. I'm such a champion. I know how to take $5 and turn it into $500,000. YOU KNOW WHY? CUZ I'M SMART. And I'll tell you why I'm smart. Everybody else went one way. They didn't realize what's going on, but I realize what's going on. And you know why? Because I'm smart. So either he's attributing his success to his reigns, to his talents. Or he'll say, you know why I made a lot of money? Because I worked very hard. When I came to this country, I didn't have even one dollar. But I worked 20our days. There's no such a thing as a day off. I worked so hard. Therefore, I have what I have. So again instead of him living with the Salem and the is the one who's running the show and the is the one who's causing giving you life and gives you sustenance and give you financial security like it says with the greatest toil you will not earn one cent more than what Hashem wants and have to do and that's the famous interpretation to the words. So there's two interpretation. We mention this many times you got to do something. BUT WHATEVER you do will be good. The main point is wants you to make a vehicle in the natural world. So you have to do something. But what is it that can do it that's going to bring you the blessings? When you answer in and you do the right thing. That's how you really get the blessings. It's not in the scope of this year to elaborate how this is so important. I cannot underestimate underscore how how monumental this concept was speaking of. And therefore, as the Reb brings in the mimer, this is a verse that talks about very much. The verse says The ones who toil by the hands should be praised. I.e. your involvement in your work should be only a hands level, not your mind and heart. It's the idea that you didn't sell your soul to the devil, so to speak. You are not your work. You are not your business. I don't think it said on anyone's tombstone that he made a lot of money or that he was a very smart businessman. If he gave a lot of charity, so it says he gave a lot of charity. He's a famous benefactor what he did for others. So the point is this is the question. Did you go to work? Did you go into the financial world and did you drown over there? Did you become like other people that live with the with the principle of doggy dog and the one who barks louder and the one who's more vicious? Nice guys finish last might think like that. And there's very many ways that a person could measure himself. Is he living according to the integrity and character the way Hashem wants according to and the main foundation of it is do you believe that it's Hashem that's giving you your livelihood or it's something that's attributed to you? If you believe it's Hashem so therefore you're not going to work on Shabas, you only work six days a week. If you believe it's Hashem, then there's certain laws of business, of honesty, clean money, and so on and so forth. If you believe it's Hashem, you only work as much as you have to work. What happens? What are you doing in your free time on a Sunday? Are you more involved thinking to yourself, if I invest more, I'm going to gain more or no? I do what I have to do, but it comes to Sunday where I can learn to sit and co and learn or shabas, I do that. And that proves that's really where my heart is. You could be in one space with your body, but your heart and soul and mind are somewhere else. And that's what the means. Only your hands should be involved in the work. And now let's get back. Oh, so this explains why over here he's telling them how will such a thing never happen again. Idolatry when your approach to work the workforce the business world is in the right way i.e. we cause the spiritual to dominate. We see Hashem in everything. So then it will never come to a situation where will give value and attribute worthiness to anything else. There's only one thing. So the the the the the the correct approach to the regular all day, six days of the week, the regular Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, when I work in the proper way, then it will never come to a situation that I'll commit to as we explained the interpretation of that we're not attributing success. We don't attest value or importance to anything else but Hashem. So we understand why it was a over here because this was a very important message. We're going to set things straight after the catastrophe after Mosha was there for 120 days. And now we understand the P. There's a lot more detail to this. You'll see it in the but first of all your whole approach to work is to be which is translated in the passive sense work may be done not that you should do it if the person would say a word that would say you should do it that would emphasize your actions and how much you have to get involved but in a certain sense if you say you're saying that a work may be you observe it passively. That means it's like you don't get over involved. That's number one. And here the says I'm ready to keep. Now we understand what means that if you six weeks you do this and then you keep shabas then the shabas is shabas. In other words, so number one, this answers the question, why does it say shabas over here antidote? But also that it wasn't about the laws of shabas that he was telling them. Now he was telling them how to reach a true shabas. How do you come to a true shabas with inner peace and tranquility? Because that's what shabas means, a day of rest. And why? How do we come to that? If you want your shabas to be a shabas, that means then the whole week has to be many shabas. See the says amazing. If your whole week you're drowned, submerged deep in the world of stocks and dollars and the cutthroat competition and whatever it is, how is it going to be that it come Shabas? you'll just be able to turn it off and have peace of mind. The Reb is saying you won't be able to. It's too difficult. So the Reb says only if a whole week you're practicing the Shabas model. A whole week you're practicing the Shabas model. I what does that mean? That there's a space mind space brain space where your shabas you're higher. You transcended the mud and the quicksand of the business finance world the whole week. So then when it comes to Shabas, you have a really true shabas. You'll be able to reach the ultimate level of transcendence and spirituality and elation which Shabas could accomplish. The whole atmosphere of the world changes shabas that with your whole week living the way you meant to live which means you make spiritual dominant his then the shabas will be it'll be a true shabas the shabas there's a lot more to speak about over here but that itself said it in The mime is so beautiful. Um, I'll just add one more thing the Reb also mentioned over there because I think this also tells us the importance of the message right over here. The Reb points out that over here we have the three components of Jewish survival. Hashem set up that there's there's community mo represents there's three things in the world means space place means time means soul. So in general the way it's explained I'll just make it very very quickly because it's late. We have is a place of holiness. We spoke once many times for example that's the epitome of holiness in space in place really in the it's the becomes the which is really the the whole purpose is that we have a central headquarters from the holiness of that central headquarters of space we take the energy spiritual nurturance then to make our own private space holy. That's then we have sha we take from the holiness of shabis and then that's holiness in time. Holiness in place, holiness in space is mishkul. Holiness in time is shabas. From the holiness and time of shabas, it extends again. And we get nurture. It's an inspiration that an extension of that array of reflection goes throughout the whole coming week. And it's from how we became hooked up, recharged, elevated in our power source that then the rest of the week remains that our mundane time also becomes spiritualized. And then we have nephesh a reb a moha if you're connected to the epitome the ultimate of the sadik who represents the ultimate of nephesh holiness. So then in your world of holiness, you're able to also bring out the best in you. Regular people that are not sadikim are not spiritual. They have sides of them that are pushing them to be lazy sometimes to do the wrong thing. Instead of being constructive, they're destructive. Whatever the story is, when you connect yourself to the epitome of that brings out the best in you and the most in you. So here also we could say is giving us a message in order for never to happen again we have to always remember these three things and focus on these three things to get surround us and make sure we we come fortified in the world in the realms of make sure that you go to you make your a room where you focus on spirituality. A safe space that's called a safe space. Make sure you have a safe space. That's also when it comes to Shabas. Press that maximum button. Go for it. People think that Shabas means rest relaxing from work. Shabas means you're busy busy busy. be charging your spiritual batteries because what you can accomplish is you can't accomplish it all. And the same thing means the same thing is true spiritual leaders of the Reb connect to the Reb. The more you learn from the Reb, the more you fill yourself up with Reba knowledge, the more you're fortified so that nothing should go wrong. I'll just say one new story that I heard this week. Just today, I was speaking to somebody and we're talking about how Shab is is a different world. So it says in the of the Reb that on Shabas a person's heartbeat is different. That's brought down from the Reb mentions it. If you check the balatur by the way in the beginning of this week's par the justification of why the end of parisa speaks about how's fa face shown there was a new array of light when he came down the final time from the mountain caught on the balatin brings that on shabas the reason why this week's pure starts with shabas because everyone's face is shining differently on shabas So to my friends, I heard today that there was a certain the he was a they say that on Shabas he grew a foot taller. His spiritual the aliyah of the world and of himself was so great that he was seen as taller physically taller every single shabas. the spiritual level of his spiritual heights manifest itself in a physical way. So now we answer all the questions about which means the idea of being able to reinvent yourself but really doesn't mean to reinvent yourself. It means to get to the ultimate potential which you'll be able to accomplish unpredictable things. We're still in which is month of so the last days of one of the Reb's interpretations of means the joy is to accelerate to accelerate that means we're coming to the last days of PES we're holding by the highest highest levels of intensity of so let's go let's go take advantage of these last days of and this is that I'm sure she's doing whatever she can to look after everyone on her birthday is. So it should be in all areas and in all ways and the on that if we all make the rightus to become more spiritual and therefore which will bring us to greater inner peace and tranquility no question about it. So we'll come to the ultimate of the means take of posting from my home your man in Melbourne.