Yud Alef Nissan first farbrengen , Rabbi Yossi Paltiel - 5786

I I want to share some stories with you just for fun. Okay. whose grandmother's brother lived in Leningrad which is now called Pet or Leningrad uh when the Reb was there as a teenager and his name was he was a big he was a he was an important person he lived all the years behind Iron Curtain you know we all got out Some of which got out in the 40s. Some of got out in the 70s. >> But if fall might lived in Russia till the end, till this as long as the Soviet Union was the Soviet Union, he lived in the Soviet Union. He fen was a by profession. He was a ritual slaughterer. He was a pious man. Rabbi um can I get the Wi-Fi? >> Um each other because when he slept, the Reb didn't sleep. When the Rebba slept, he didn't sleep. They they could have had one bed. It would have been fine. They kept different schedules. He walks into the apartment, the room was one room. And the Reb is sitting on his bed studying something. So he says, "So what are you learning now? I'm learning shortorthhand." You know what shortorthhand is? It's an abbreviated language with instead of letters, it's squiggles. So he laughs. Ah, you're wasting your time with something else. And the Reb says to Yiddish, which means one day I'm going to have use for this also's curiosity's need to know is unreal mish unreal there's a description in the videos of a of a man who was involved in electronics when the when they went from macro to micro what do they call it the transistor you know what the transistor means It's so long ago. This is like ancient history where instead of a radio being this big massive thing, it was a small little thing cuz you have one little strip of plastic with these little wires. So this fellow was involved in the in in the technology of developing the micro. You know, he visited the Reb and the Reba started asking questions about his work for a long time. And when it was all over, the Reba said to him, you know, most people come to me so I should teach them things. Today I you came to me and said you should teach me something about an incredible need to know wanted to know everything and he found a way to use it all. So I'm going to share little stories just little stories about the Reb's vast knowledge and the use of that knowledge. for the work that he was doing. Here's a story. I have a friend I have a friend who knew Rabbi Kayam Gutnik from Melbourne, Australia. An old Kabad rabbi. He's now in he's he's in the world of truth for more than 20 years and he was he was sitting with Rabbi Guttik. He says, "Has the Reba ever surprised you? Has the Reb ever surprised you?" He says, "Well, yeah, there were things that the Reb did that surprised me. Give me an example. Tell him the following story that he visited in New He lived in Melbourne. He visited the Reb in New York and often when he would visit the Reb when he would go home the would ask him to stop along the way uh to meet different people and to do certain things for him. The Reb knew people all over the world and he had an incredible ability to mobilize people to get him never left his house, you know, but the whole world was at his fingertips. He he never missed an opportunity. You're going there. Okay, I need this done. You know, that's how he was. So, you're going home. I need you to stop in Japan. Why in Japan? Because on the islands of Japan, there was a man who was a Christian minister who had become interested in Judaism and what's called the seven laws of Noyak. Instead of practicing Christianity, he would practice a Jewish version of Yiddish guide for non-Jews, which is which is a real thing. It's a real thing in Judaism, a real thing in Jewish law. And this man who had been a Christian minister, for whatever reasons, decided that he didn't want to be a Christian, but he wanted to be a monotheist. So, he got involved with Judaism, and he suffered a lot because a lot of his fellow ministers were threatened by him, and it was hard for him. So the rebutt I have a friend in Japan he's a former Christian minister he's a practitioner of what we call the seven laws of noah and he could use the support go to wherever whichever island he lived and send him regards from me so raik stopped in Japan I don't know how you do that he stopped on one of the islands he came to this fellow he knocked on his door and he says that I'm coming from the york and I um the labber Raerson told me that you have a relationship and he asked that I should come and see you and send regards. So this fellow said yeah my friend that's my friend Raberson and they spent some good time together they talked he explained to him his journey and his struggles and so on and then he said to Rabbi Gutnik from Melbourne I have a correspondence with the many letters back and forth and I wrote many letters would you like to see them? He says, "Sure." So he pulls out a stack of letters written in English where the Reb wrote him letters in English. And he's looking through these letters and in one of the letters after the Reb signs his name, there's some funny looking characters, you know, funny looking pictures. So he says to this fellow, "What is this? What are these pictures?" He says, "This is a blessing from the Reb in Japanese." A blessing from the Reb in Japanese. Rabnik says to my friend, could you please tell me why the lab needs to know Japanese? Why do you need to know Japanese? Um, another interesting little story. Again, I've heard these stories from people. They're anecdotal. In other words, they could be true. Maybe they're true. I I can't promise. Um, there was a professor, an academic, a really smart guy who was involved in psychotherapy and he walks into the Reb's room and the Reb starts speaking to him in a language that he doesn't understand. He starts in a language which is unfamiliar to him. for a few minutes and he's talking and when he finishes speaking in this foreign language says so how does this juxtapose with the yungian theory of psychology gives a whole speech and I no idea what he's talking about because he's speaking another language says how does this juapose with the yungian theory of psychology so he looks at them say rabbi I have no idea what you're talking about ahari you're also ignorant he he recited the Iliad it's one of the oldest stories in the original Greek And he says to him, "So how does this juxtapose with the Yungian theory of psychology?" These are stories, little stories. And there's many, many, many, many, many stories where you see that he he knew so much. He had a need to know. And he was one of those people, to use a psychological term, who was so integrated. He was so one. Everything that was in his sphere was used for his mission. Everything that was in his sphere was used for his mission. Nothing was a hobby in the sense. Nothing was a hobby. There was a curiosity. There was a a ravenousness, a hunger for knowledge. It never ever stopped. Um but it was all it always served the mission. There's a professor Green who's now passed away. Velvable Green. Interesting person. I never met Vel Green. I read his books. I feel like I'm his friend. I never met him. I know his son. But Professor Vel Green was a biologist. Very smart guy. And he was also extremely normal. He was he wasn't a professor walked into the tree and said, "Excuse me." He was very very very normal fellow. Had a very special relationship with the Reba. And one of the stories that he tells, one of the stories that he tells is he would visit DBA often and uh DEB would ask him questions about his field. He was a biologist and he studied bacteria and viruses and disease. He was one of the first people to look for life on other planets. He was involved in that project in the 60s yet. And the deba wanted to know what he's doing. So one of his stories was that he was doing preliminary research for for a possible trip to Mars. This is going back 60 years. And they of course they were they were trying to artificially create a Martian environment and how they would look for life. I mean a lot of you know this as well as I do which isn't very well at all but you've learned enough biology to understand the conditions necessary for life and how they were trying to create those condition trying to create the Martian like condition to see if there's a possibility for life and they were doing a lot of work and of course we do this work you create all kinds of proposal all kinds of possibilities and the rabbis said to professor Green um I would never ask you to give me something which is classified. But if there are reports, if there are documents in this field of biology that are not classified, I'd like to see I want to see what you're doing. Send me your work. And he says to the reb, it's boring and it's preliminary. We're going to change our mind five times. I don't want to waste your time with this stuff. And say, don't worry about my time. Send me the reports. He never did. He never did. Why? Because he he was so he didn't think it was worthy. He knew how valb's time was. So one day he walked into 770 to d and walks up to him after him. He says, you know, you owe me something. What do I owe you? You promised me the reports. You didn't send me the reports. Yeah. So then he tried to play. He says, you know, they say about you that you have that means you have you have divine vision. You you know things other PEOPLE DON'T KNOW. YOU KNOW WHAT'S WRITTEN IN MY reports without me sending them to you. So the said to him what people are saying they should say but I need the reports. So he started sending these reports he didn't think they were important. Fast forward 20 years 20 years he's sitting with the reb in his room and he's talking to him about his field of science and he shows the rebba a current report and the rebba says it doesn't make any sense. I don't doesn't make any sense. So he says to the Reb, why doesn't it make sense? It's a contradiction here. I don't understand. So finally the Reb tells him 20 years ago you sent me a report with opposite conclusion. You sent me a paper where you done preliminary work and you draw a different conclusion. Now it's 20 years later you're rewriting the report. It was of course much more advanced and there's a contradiction. He completely forgot about it. He said I'll go I'll look I'll go home. I'll check it out. Anyway, he went home and he found the contradiction. They had changed their mind. The Reba remembered he didn't. Said 20 years on. So his next visit, he tells the I I looked it up and you're right. You're right. There is a contradiction. 20 years ago, we had written such and such and such. Since that time, we've changed our mind. And the says to him, I'm very happy. He he I have a difficulty with contradiction. I need everything to fit. I need to work. And with the contradiction, it's unsettling to me. So, I'm happy that you were you clarified this for me. So, Velv Green tells a story. Velv Green tells a story that he was doing research and the research that he was doing was trying to understand the nature of viruses and bacteria. As it relates to hospitals, we all know this, right? Hospitals are supposed to be a place of healing. The problem is a hospital is a concentration of illness >> and consequently the hospital its intent to heal can actually bring illness. So it's a big deal. So the hospitals have to figure out the hospitals have to figure out how to heal people without making them sick. See he was involved with the study of these bacteria and he came to the but he told the what he was doing and I think part of the issue was mutations. I I I I don't remember the details myself. mutations. You know, you'll use penicellin. Uh so one of the big issues with these with these uh miracle drugs, they are miracle drugs is that they very quickly adapt. They they uh they mutate and then they stop working and then you have to find new it's a very complicated business to to use medicine in a way that it heals. So he tells the this is what he's studying and the hears out and says you know I appreciate what you're doing. It all makes a lot of sense. And the says to him, you're the expert. I'm not the expert. I I I hope I tell the story correctly because I don't understand enough of the science to be able to say it correctly. But what the Reb said to him was instead of studying the nature of mutation, study why bacteria mutate altogether. Something like that. Go back to the very root. And he says to the Reb, well, this is what's going on in the field today. Everybody is studying um m mutating viruses and the I think you should look at the root causes of these mutations. So this Velva Green says that he did the interview in 2000s. He says in the last 10 years you look at the Nobel prizes for medicine there many of them are in the field that the deba predicted that I should go into in the late60s and the deb would say to me you're the expert. I don't mean to impose my will ON YOU BUT I THINK that was so far ahead of his time. He was doing a study of medicine. Said go back to the more basic building blocks of this and 30 40 years on the medical community had come to a place where the dev was a pretty busy man. You know the dev did not spend his days and nights studying science. He had a lot of other things to do. And when I think about this I I don't know how to put myself. So much of the Rev's time so much of the Rev's time was not spent with ideas. It was spent with people, regular people, just like me and you, regular people. He gave his time to individuals. He saw people as more important than all of this incredible incredible knowledge. I'm just going to share one more illustration of this uh idea of the Reb is just his his incredible hunger for knowledge and the vastness of his knowledge and the way he saw his knowledge as a tool for spreading Yiddish. There was a Jew who's still alive and he needs a fool. He's going to live till Mashia cuz he cuz he's a he needs to. His name is Professor Yer. Professor Bra. He's not well but he's hanging in there. He's waiting for Mashia to come. He is a brilliant scientist and an extremely devout. You know some people think that the smarter you are the harder time you have a faith with faith. If you met professor Branover you would discover how incredibly true that is. The man was brilliant and his amuna his his his faith side his religious side was was extraordinary. There was no contradictions between faith and knowledge in this man. See he he came out of Russia in the late 60s early 70s. By the time he came to the Rebba the Reb was already an international rebba very very busy had very very little time and the time that he gave people was very in other words if you met the in 1950 you could sit in his room for an hour and he'd literally be your therapist. If you met the in 1970 you stayed in his room for 30 seconds and you're happy. You know I have to tell you something Rabbi Drizzen this is an interruption but you can all listen in there's a man who just recently passed away that you knew very well his name was professor Barak Bush so professor Barak Bush quoted Rabiz you made him from and you sent him to Crown Heights so when he was sitting with his wife we went to and he told me in your name that two things I'm going take you back to a different time in a different place. basically a little nas he says number one you're going to crown heights you should know not all like me this is uno number two in crown heights there's a rebba the best thing that could happen to you is that should ignore you the reb should ignore you if he starts to notice you know something is wrong he says I moved to crown heights and the reb ignored me. I knew everything was good. Ra Drizzen, do you take responsibility for that quote? It's a good ah this is from 1979. This is regards from almost 50 years ago. You know that, right? You were in touch with him. But but he told this to me in your name, so I'm giving it back to you. Anyway, never comes out of Russia. His whole story with leaving Russia is a story and he would sit in the Neb's room for hours. never didn't give anybody hours and much of the conversation was physics. I I know more than one man. I knew a professor who's now passed away, Professor Khan, who said to me, this is a direct quote. I want to talk to the Rebi about avor. And the Rebi wanted to talk to me about mathematics. So we talked about mathematics. I WANTED TO TALK TO ABOUT RELIGION. WELL, HE became he's not a religious person. He become religion as an adult. And the Reb was a religious uh inspiration and he wanted to draw from the Reb direction in his religious life. And all the Reb wanted to talk about was mathematics because the Reb saw mathematics as a tool for his religious life in bringing another Jew closer to God. That's how the Reb operated with every person he met. You see? So he wasn't talking about mathematics and was curious and nobody else understood the stuff. He was talking to professor Khan about mathematics because he understood that that mathematics is going to make another Jew do a mitzvah and to the that was all important. So professor spent many hours at the I think he said 18 hours which is unheard of at that time. He was involved in a field that has so many syllables when I say that word which I can't pronounce I have to go to the dentist. It's about it's about liquid metal. It's about it's about I guess it's about fusion. It's not about fision. It's about fusion. It's the pro the prospect of creating energy through nuclear fusion which is gluing atoms together as opposed to nuclear fusion which is called splitting the atom. And it's if you can create more energy than the energy it takes to create it, you create free and cheap and clean energy, which is basically uh it's renewable. You're never going to run out of it. It's not like fossil fuels that we're running out of. This was his field. It's it's l it's it's it's liquid metal. It's you know the the sun is plasma, right? It's it's liquid. It's extremely extremely hot. This was his field. Understand that it's there's there's hydro in the word. Okay? Hydro means liquid. It's about electricity. It's about energy. He spent a lot of time with and he he he loved. He was a real braver. He he edited a a an orthodox science journal that came out for many many years for orthodox intellectuals and scientists to write on subjects of of science and secular knowledge in a way which was respectable and true and consistent with faith. This and he was he did a lot of things in that vein. So one of the many stories that professor Branover tells is the following story. I heard it from him directly. I didn't read it in the book. I was sitting across from he told the story. The story is remarkable. He was in the Reb's room with a perspective with a with a stack of papers with a uh a proposal about his field of science and the debasing through like a picture book. You know I mean what do we know about physics? If anybody in the room is a physicist or a mathematician, you understand the degree to which non-physicists, non-mathematicians don't know what we're talking about, the how how brilliantly ignorant the non-mathematician and non-physicists can be. And Deb is looking through this perspective. He's turning the pages, but he's not reading it slowly. He's just glancing at it. He's flipping the pages. And he stops and he says to Professor Brown, "One of these two numbers is wrong." At a glance, one of these two numbers is wrong. One of these two numbers is is wrong. There's a mistake. Brown couldn't understand how it's possible for a person just to look at a page like that and decide that one of the numbers is wrong. But he knew that everyone was playing around. So after the audience, he took this perspective and he gave it to a graduate student and said, "I think there may be an error here. See if you can find it." It took him six months >> using supercomputers to find a mistake that the Reb saw at a glance. So when you meet a guy who's that smart, you know, you meet someone who's that smart. Ron said, you know, the Reb is he's very very fundamentalist. The Reb's belief in the truth of Toyra is more conservative than a lot of Orthodox rabbis. And one of the most contentious issues that the Reb is very conservative about but all areas of science and and religion is the question of helocentism versus geocentrism and any person was any s today says that there is a helioentrism right a smaller body revolves around the larger body not the other way around although in the ancient world they believed that the center of the universe was the earth. So, Branover, professor, scientist Branover, who of course understood the solar system to follow helocentism, but he knew he knew that the had a different idea. So, after one of these meetings where the blew his mind with his his ac with his genius, he decided President Rab decided that if the Reb tells him that the moon is green, he's going to believe him. whatever you can tell. In other words, he he appreciated how much more intelligent than he was. The Reb is and then he was a pretty smart guy. He's a pretty smart guy. Anyway, went into the Reb and said, "Okay, RABBI, TELL ME STRAIGHT OUT." Does the sun circle the earth or the earth circle the sun? And the Reb says, "What do you mean? It says in it says in my that the sun circles the earth." Now, see, he he went into the deb's room as a scientist and as a and a faith-based person, and he he's got to now spend the rest of his life making that position right as as as possible as it is. And he's he's tried very hard. He's tried very hard because he knew that if the Reb told him something, it was thought through. It wasn't it wasn't dogmatic. It wasn't blind. It wasn't irrational. He just sometimes the Reb is so smart. I don't understand what he's saying. But the point of this whole little spiel is the Reb said to him, "You wonder why I spend so much time talking to you physics and mathematics. You wonder why I spend so much time talking to you physics and mathematics. I want you to know that I do all of this that one more Jew should put on fillin that one more Jew should put on." So the Rebe in all of his genius values one more Jew putting on fillin because he sees that it's actually more important. It's actually more important. It's actually more important. You know the Reb had a stroke on a Monday. You know that the Reb had a stroke on a Monday. The Reb suffered with his eyes for many years. Reb's eyesight was poor. In the later years they used to print extra-l large books for the Reb to use. He was wearing reading glasses. The did not like to read use the reading glasses in sh but in his room when you met him privately he would use his reading glasses to read the letters going back to the 50s probably um his eyesight was poor the day before the stroke a man came to the rebba with a model of the bame mikt of the holy temple and he told the rabb that it's a scale of 1 to 400 in other words the model is perfectly to scale but it's a it's 400 TIMES AS LARGE. THAT'S HOW THE ACTUAL B LOOKS. YEAH. I looked at it. It seems to me that the ramp know what the ramp is outside the temple. There was a big altar was a massive platform and then to the southern side of this big massive platform. There was a ramp that that had a certain angle that went down whatever the the dimensions were. It seems to me that the uh the ramp is off by a few millimeters. This is a a person who could barely see. So he says to the I measured it. I measured it. Oh, you measured. Okay, if you measure it, I'm not going to argue with you. Anyway, he measured again. And he was right. He was like, "How you supposed to see that? How you supposed to see that?" I I really don't mean to talk about the Reb's genius, although there's so much to say about the Reb's genius. There really is so much to say about the Reb's genius. Let me give you I want you to think about this, okay? I want you to think about this. I want you to think about this in real time. Okay? The Reba met people three times a week. started 8:00 at night and sometimes s until 56 in the morning. He did this consistently. At some point the Reb's health became a issue. So he reduced it from three times a week to twice a week. But the Reba met people for many many hours at night several times a week till the mid70s for 25 years. The Reb's schedule became so measured, so precise, so dense that the Reb did not have time to read letters when you would go into him to his office. So they made a new rule. If you had an appointment with the Reb, you gave the letter in in advance. You would walk in, there would pull your letter out and he would talk to you. Now I want to ask you a question. If you're going to meet a hundred people in a night, and that's literally how many it was. A 100 people in a night, you have a 100 pieces of paper pile on top of one another. Yeah. What's the quickest way to find that piece of paper? Start at the bottom. >> The quickest way that person walks in and hands it to you. The deb would sit with that style of paper. You walked in, he'd pull your paper out right from the middle of the stack. Never made a mistake. I don't know if this is the holy deba or the brilliant but it was more efficient for him to read your letters ahead of time. You would walk in, he immediately knew you knew your letter, pulled it out and it was more efficient. I I think to myself, how's that possible? Wait, I have to FIND YOUR PAGE. WHICH ONE IS YOURS? HUH? Which one? Pulled it. WHICH ONE? HE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH THAT. WE FOUND YOUR PAPER IMMEDIATELY. INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE. and what he cared about as a put on film. I I believe and this is another whole conversation and we have to stop. I'm talking too long. It's one of my problems. I believe that we're living in an age where people are beginning to realize more and more that we simply cannot survive without religion. The world is going so mad. People are experimenting looking for alternative ideas of truth with no barometer. There's no measure. There's no measure. There's no science. There's no effort to prove or disprove. Anybody can say any theory and it's if it feels right, it's true. We're living in an age where people are becoming so confused and so lost about simple truths. And I think more and more people are coming to understand that if we are going to survive as a as a civilization, we're going to need an anchor. And it's not enough. Listen to me carefully. It's not enough that the anchor is God. It's not enough that I believe in God. It isn't even enough that I believe in Torah. I got to do it. I got to do it. It's a funny thing. You know, we're very intelligent people. Does it matter if I put on the blacks as people tell me? You know, I'll meditate. I'll think about the meaning of the blacks. Why do I have to physically put on the film? Explain it how you wish. The fact of the matter is if you do mitzvah, they they hold you. They make you better. If you practice, if you eat matzah on pes rather than meditate and give lectures on freedom, it has a greater impact on you in the area of freedom. The ebe made it his life's mission to get people to get people to do mitzvah to do religious acts. He believes that we when we behave in our personal lives the way God wishes us for to behave there's many a lot of mitzvah some of us do all of them nobody we try to do as many as we can some of us do one or two or three those mitzvah are not just nice cultural things they hold us they keep us from becoming insane and they help us create the lives for ourselves that are meaningful and true to the extent that the devil will say to a physicist I'm going to spend spend 20 hours of my time talking with you about hydro, whatever it is, magneto, electric, whatever that word is. So, another Jew should put on film because when a Jew puts on film, he's a better person. And there's another thing practically, he's in fact a better person. And wait, one more story. And with me, there's always one more story after the one more story. I saw a film from Jem. I'm I am a gem junkie. If you don't know what Jem is, you're missing something very real. Kabad produces Jewish educational media. The gem in the last bunch of years has made a smogus board. I I'm going to publicly protest. I publicly protested before. They used to do if you go to if you go to.org, okay, and type in my encounter and just watch, you're not seeing the you're seeing people telling stories about the Reb. They're the most, in my opinion, the most important and educational window you can have into the if you never met him. Because the stories that the people tell are real. They're real people telling real stories. Watching the Reb is wonderful, believe me. But hearing people tell their experiences with the Reb is is it it educates you. It teaches how to think like he thinks and you start to understand this person. A Jew lived in South Africa. His name was Rabbi Lapin. Rabbi Leine. Rabbi Lapin was not a kabadnik. He was a orthodox Jew. He was not a lab. But he he fell into kabad work. He was a businessman. A businessman and I I I suppose he did well. You know, in my narrative, he did well because it makes the story better. I have no idea if it's true or not. Um anyway, he joined the congregation of the Shul in Johannesburg and there was a rabbi who made speeches and shook everybody's hand and went to the baritzvah and so on. But this rabbi was a bit aloof and Rabbi Lapen who was simply a parishioner who was a member of the congregation felt that there's not enough Torah study in this particular sh congregation. So we got permission from the rabbi and he said to give classes gave one class gave a second class gave class to men class to women class to both. And people in this community began to study and you know what happens to Jews when they begin to study it. People don't realize how beautiful and how intelligent and how relevant the Tyra is until you actually study it. Anyway, one thing led to another and he became a teacher in this congregation. All the while he's running a business. That's how he's supporting his family. Anyway, it got to a point where he was harried. He was exhausted. He was basically working two jobs. the job that supported him and the job that he was supporting. So he flew to New York. This must have been in the mid70s. He made an appointment to see the Reba and he said to the Reba, "I I am notic but I respect you very much and I want to take a step in my life that I want to get your opinion on." He says to the I'm going to liquidate my business. I'm going to close my business down. whatever in the business leaves me will be fine and I am going to dedicate my life to to raon to being a rabbi and very predictably the told him absolutely not in quote this is the words more raonus more business you should be more of a rabbi more of a businessman which is typical of the you come to the I'm not managing well you're not working hard enough and somehow it actually makes sense there's a story with about with the about that which I'll tell you next even though this is the last story in segment. Is that a hint? I'm very stupid. I'm a guy. I don't get hints. >> Um, he says to the, "I I appreciate your flattery. I'm very flattered by the fact that you say I can be more of a rabbi, more of a businessman, but I can't. I'm falling apart." And the Reb does something incredibly wise. He says, "You know what the problem with you is? You envisage a a an act of outreach. You envisage an act of encouraging a Jew to be more Jewish like a chemical reaction. What is a chemical reaction? You have a chemical which is stable and you have another chemical which is stable and they each have a different atomic number. You put the two chemicals together, they interact, they react, they they affect each other. But when the reaction is over, there's a new normal. It stops. The Reb said, "Every act of teaching Torah to a fellow Jew, every act of encouraging a Jew to do a mitzvah is not a chemical reaction. It's a nuclear reaction that has ripples. It's a chain reaction. You you feel that you can't do it. You can't do it because you think you have to carry the whole Lord by yourself." Your work will carry itself. Your work will energize itself. This what they never told us. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. It's incredible. It's incredible. And I'll just tell you the story with the and hopefully I won't find another story to tell you after that. And we'll stop and we'll sing a song. I really would like to know what you would like to see because I I sang all by myself. It was wonderful. But uh like my wife says, keep your day job. I'm not much of a um Rabbi Adinstein was a true genius. He really was brilliant. Um I remember reading as a kid in the new in the what was it called? People magazine they wrote about that a mind like his comes into the world once in a thousand years. It wasn't written by a rabbi. >> Time magazine. >> Time magazine. I thought it was people magazine but a mind like this. He was brilliant. Brilliant. And what's interesting about him was he really was a when he do when he died he wrote he wrote his own tombstone. He wrote his own epitat what they should put on his mate and you can see it. It says two things. He opened up the the secrets of to thousands and thousands of Jews who would not have had access without it. and he was connected with his whole heart and to his whole soul to the lab. That's all it says. And the very bottom his children added a quote that the Reb wrote to the president Shazar of Israel. President Shazar sent him to the Reb. The first time met him in 1970. Adaul was all of 33 years old. And um Shazar sent him president was the president of Israel sent him to the Reb as his emissary for the 20th anniversary of the Reb is becoming a Reb. And he wrote him a note. He writes back to Shazar. I met I met this young man and all the things you said about him are true and more. All of the things you in other words you didn't exaggerate. So they put those words from that letter from the to president on the bottom of his tombstone and the said all of the qualities you said about him are true and more but his tombstone is empty you know a lot of lesser people are more words just two things he opened up the doors of the for thousands and thousands of people was connected with his whole heart and his whole soul to the and it was true he was his own guy he marched his own drum but so did the reb they had a very very special special personal relationship so one of his stories that he tells is he says I had four four four one two three four four full-time jobs four times jobs and 11 I think he said part-time jobs he was so busy you know we had a network of schools he was involved in Torah study in Russia he published the Talmet he's a oneman show you know people trying to take the tal a team of 50 60 rabbis he was one guy he sat in in his room and spoke to a tape recorder record of someone typed it up. He handed it to his public. The brilliance of this person is unimagined. It's really hard to imagine how brilli smart he was. And he writes to the I'm falling apart. I can't. It's too much. So what should I cut? He gave the a list of all of his activities, all of the things that he's doing. And he was a he served. Rabbi Stein, Rabbi Evanro dedicated his life to making Jewish people more Jewish because that's what does and he did it in his way and in his fields. So he said to the what should I cut? What did tell him? You can take a wild guess. You should add a couple more. So now if if you would get an answer like that from the deb you know you're working three jobs you're exhausted. Oh just do a little more. You know the story bring the goat into the house. It's still not comfortable. Now bring the cow into the house. Now take them all out. You'll have plenty of space. Um said but Stein's house was too deep a man. He he when the told him something didn't make sense instead of saying it doesn't make sense he would think about it. So he said, I saw an interview where he says, I was falling apart. I was falling apart. And the Reb says to me, I should do more. How am I supposed to do more? I can't. It's impossible. He says, but I thought about it. And this is what the conclusion that he came to. This is what he says in this interview. He's an Israeli and Spanish. He speaks English with an accent. He says, "You have a box of met, a box of met, a box of matter, and the box is full. is full to the brim. It's full of met. There's no room for you can't put more in. It's just full. But if you apply enough pressure, seven, here's two numbers. 7,000 lbs of pressure per square inch. 50,000 pressure. The material will come apart and rearrange itself so densely that in the area of a teaspoon, you can have the weight of a ton. Right? In in physics, there's such a thing. If there's enough pressure, if it collapses quickly enough, it's becomes pure matter. It's extremely extremely dense. So he says, says the Reb wanted to make of us what he made of himself. That's how he understood it. I'm falling apart. The Rebi tells me, do more. What's he talking about? So his conclusion was that the Reb was saying if you squeeze hard enough, you'll become a neutron star. You'll you'll re you'll reform on a fundamental level. And there'll be so much more of you. I'm not trying to do that. I'm not trying to do that. But this is a window into the deb's world. So let's sing. But you have to tell me what to sing. I'll say that's not hard. But we have to sing together. I want to thank you all for coming and sitting at this. >> We sell it's my pleasure. It's my pleasure. Hashem should give all of us full hearts >> and easy hearts >> and joy and not afraid is not over again. >> You can give blessings anytime you want. You have success. We should have we should be together >> and we should never be afraid. la. I lie lie lie la lie lie la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la. la. You know my brother everlasting God. la. So my heart This is my heart. Yes, the La. launch You have to take a picture and send to Ellie. This is my >> This is me. I la. Amen. La, can I give you cards. >> She grew up with >> Oh, really? >> Yeah. Well, >> my parents love me. I remember when he left, but he was refusing. Father always got you. Oh, not >> but you're sitting in right now. >> And actually my father my father came from >> Yes. He told me to see him. He was still a young a young boy >> and saw him and then my mother. >> But wait, what happened? But but they refused. They called him sympathy. That's was And but also I remember also his PhD but my father was also a engineer this we spoke that his idea never worked you know seems that way >> his idea you know what was his idea you know electro you're talking about >> yeah thank you >> he walked the idea was mercury in field is a mele when the meter moves Do >> you speak Russian? >> But he says that blan came he made him alcoholic. He gave him to drink as a boy. Can I give you my card? This is my website. >> How's Reishi? Your sister? >> Yes. How do you know? >> Because I lived in town. >> What's your name? >> Hanu Claris. I had the Swiss to to rent from the Helers. from I was there from 80 to 90 >> on Empire Boulevard. >> 600 >> 600. So my sister now lives in Arizona. >> Oh, really? >> Yeah. >> She was wonderful. >> Yeah, she's still wonderful. I'll take a picture >> and I'll send it to her and she'll get >> Yeah. Polaris and I lived at Shagalog in 820 Eastern Parkway. >> So I want to say hello. >> Okay. I'm not good at this. Oh, here we are. >> Hi Rishi. Okay. You want to do a video? I'll do a video. >> Go ahead. >> Hi. Hak. It's Hannah Ruth Laris. >> I don't know if you remember me. Well, well, sure. She married. >> That's correct. >> That's right. I call I call him every week. So, yeah. >> I try to. >> Okay. Kosher. >> Kosha. Thank you so much. >> You're welcome. You're welcome. >> You're going to be so interested. I want to hear more from you also. Okay, everybody. Okay. So now if you're still here, if you're still here, so we could uh I'm not sure what the right word is, but we're going to go a little bit deeper. I want to say this as a preface. The alter has a the is a letter where the alterba discusses greatness. Greatness. And he juxtaposes he correlates he compares and contrasts Yanku Jacob our father from his uncle Ishmael Ishmo it's a mystical discourse but the essence of it is what happens to a person when they become great to a person when they become And he argues the alter does that there's two possible effects, two possible results of a person becoming greater. One possibility is they become more self-important. I'm a bigger maka. You know, one of the terrible jokes that Orthodox Jews tell, you know, the joke in the Orthodox world, we have what's called matchmaking, a shik and a and by the way, amongst the many things that the world is discovering that's not so crazy about our cloistered world is having someone arrange a you actually makes a lot of sense. It saves a lot of time and money and nonsense. But but it's a it's a sin. You have to fall in love with somebody in a bar after a few drinks. Otherwise, it's not genuine. and then you can spend the rest of your life being miserable. But you did it the right way. Someone suggested somebody to you that's organized that's controlled. It's unamerican. So the story goes that there was a shaken a fellow or fellow who whose role it was to set up boys and girls for marriage. There was a kid a boy who really was self-important. If you would ask him he was second to Moses. He was like really he was a great scholar. He was intelligent and he was sincere and he was pious and he was handsome and he was tall and anyway no girl's good enough for him. He dates one girl now she's this no good for this reason you know you meet a person and you're shopping you know I am entitled to this this this this and this and this of course all the right reasons to not get married anyway so this continues to propose girls and none of them are good enough because he's too good so finally the says you know what I'm not going to find your girl there's not a girl on the planet worthy for your imagination for your illusion of grand work. We are going to send you to the academy of the humble ones. We're going to teach you humility. So you're going to become humble and then you'll you'll contemplate the possibility of marrying a girl. It's not exactly to your fantasy. Anyway, the kid goes to humble school. He graduates with honors. Now on top of all other qualities humble and he comes back to the makes a suggestion for say, "Wait a minute. I met that girl." Yeah. Yeah. But now I have to meet her again. I don't understand. When I met her before, I had I was intelligent and I was scholarly and I was learned and I was pious and I was righteous and I was tall and I was handsome and d and she wasn't good for me. Now I'm humble also. So now she's for sure not good enough for me. So there's that result. So the alter doesn't make jokes but he says it very directly that some people the greater they become the more self-important they become. other people the greater they become the humbler they become. He uses the expression the closer you get to God the less you feel yourself. I I am a teacher. I've been a teacher for 35 years. Okay. I started teaching a few years before Giml Thomas before the Reba passed away and I have seen generations come and go. The first students that I had knew the Reba well the students that I currently have not only they didn't know the parents often didn't know that. So my role as a teacher and as an inspirer has evolved. You know we used to talk about what the Reb tells us to do. Now we have to explain to people whatever means who the reb is what the means and I I say this over and over I said it twice tonight already I one of the things that gets you know the story there was a guy in Crown Heights who was in love with the absolutely in love with the so he wanted the to have a very very sophisticated lectern you know the that's the the stand that when stands at when they pray you know like the kazan has. So he went to a carpenter and he ordered a custommade lectern for the Reb to use in shul because he wanted the rabbi very beautiful. So he says to this man, "How big is the rabbi? How big is the rabbi? He's the biggest man in the world." So he came back the top of the was above the rabb's head. It was like 6'1. He says, "How are you supposed to use it? You don't mean the biggest man IN THE WORLD." I WANT YOU TO understand um what gets lost on us what gets lost on us is this it even si it's silly to talk about it really is silly but it needs to be talked about nevertheless The Reb had a pretty good idea of who he was. The Reb had a pretty good idea of who he was. The Reb understood there's nobody like him in so many ways. In so many ways. In so many ways. He was extraordinary. Not just his intelligence, his sensitivity, his gentleness, his ability to feel people and allow people to feel felt. I mean, there's stories that are just extraordinary about his gentleness. There's so many different sides to the pretty good idea he was. He was very close to God. He was very close to God. But because he was so close to God, he was nothing. I wish I could give you the feeling that's in my heart. I I don't have words for what I'm feeling. You know there was a fellow named David of King David. Yeah. King David. King David had a son whose name was King Solomon. Are you familiar with these two personalities? King David. They mentioned there's a book called the Bible. They say they talk about talk about they were extraordinarily great people. And then it's not our place to pass judgment on anybody. But David, King David never slept half an hour without an interruption. David, King David never slept a half an hour. He was a king never slept more than a half an hour without an interruption. The story of his life, the story of David's life is an extraordinary story. He started as a shepherd. What was he the shepherd? He blew a bugle and he wrote poetry. He was a real romantic damel as a as a young man till the age of I don't know what 20 30 was a was a he wrote poems he was a wrote spiritual he's an artist couldn't hurt a fly right the first time he killed somebody was a guy named Goliath yeah golius he was not he's described as little but he wasn't little he was in his 20s and one thing led to another he became a warrior he spent so much of his life fighting spent so much of life killing people he don't by killing people. He just liked Jews more than and he became one of the most successful Jews in history. David is one of the most successful Jews in history. I I I like to say that there God has favorites and God has guys that he picks on. Who are God's favorites? Who are God's favorites? Who are God's favorites? Huh? >> The one more. >> Huh? Ah, God's favorites are Abraham and David. And who does God pick on? Huh? Shame. The first, the son of Yanke. And there's explanations for why this is. Hashem has an unbelievable love for if you study. Just read the without any just read the scriptural text. the characteristics that came together in him. He was he was beautiful physically gorgeous, extremely talented, unbelievably likable, an incredible warrior, an incredible warrior, a leader of men. He had so many reasons for people to love him. And he never slept a half an hour at a time. You know why? Cuz he served God. He served God. He would not allow himself more than a few minutes to sleep at a time because he was the says the Talmud says that all day long he he was a rabbi. He was a practicing rabbi. People came to questions and David would answer and he spent the whole night singing songs of David. King David was an extremely great person. But if you could open up his heart and look inside, you know what you would see? You would see brokenness. Not a sad brokenness, not a depressed brokenness, a humble brokenness, a brokenness of service, a brokenness of service. If you study his life well enough, you understand why God loved him. He did some bad stuff according to read literally did things that are not good. God forgave him for many crimes. other people did that fire lesser crimes that God didn't forgive him because David's complete sense of service his brokenheartedness dominated him defined him imagine being so successful and never stopping to notice oh look at me LOOK WHAT I JUST did you realize that King David for all intents and purposes created the Jewish nation the Jewish nation was 400 years old. You know the story. Once upon a time there was a group of there was a fellow named Ara. He had a wife named S and they had a bunch of kids. One of them name was and he had a wife named they had a couple of kids and he had a kid named Yank. Yanka had a couple of wives and 12 sons. They went into Mits went into Egypt. They became assimilated in Egypt to the point that they became almost as pagan as their Egyptian masters. And then one fine day, God took him out of Egypt and took him to Mount Si and he gave them all the Ta and the Jewish nation was born and they built a t a tabernacle, a mobile house of God. They traveled through the desert. They came into Israel and they conquered the land. What happened next? They became tribes. It was like America before the civil war. You understand? And you ever hear the southerners say the democracy ended the civil war because it used to be state run and now it's federal run and it's a big exactly what happened to the Jews. For 300 years the Jewish people live tribal existence. In the north of Israel, Jews are being attacked by Arum. In the south of Israel, people are vacationing and they don't know what's going on. You're talking about how many miles? 40 miles, 50 miles with 12 tribes. The father of the Jewish nation, the one who made us a nation is actually Samuel. Samuel's disciples, Samuel's prodigy was David. David worked, fought wars to consolidate to create a Jewish identity. He is extremely important to the Jewish people. He for all intents and purposes built a temple. Solomon built it, but it's called the house of David because David sacrificed his life for it. If you would meet him, if you could meet David Melik, he's a pretty powerful man, very powerful man, but he was inside of him. All he was was servant. The Reb was the same way. The Reb was the same way. He was extremely successful, extremely talented. You know, the Reb used to sit by a for five, six hours at a time at the edge of his seat. He wouldn't lean back. He his he served God. What can I tell you? He served God. I think when you think about Kabat, people there's two kinds of people who study Kabat. People inside Kabad and people outside Kabat. People inside Kabad don't really think objectively because I I tell my students with BBB born, read, brainwashed and happy about it. But if you people try to understand us, you cannot understand unless you understand. You can't understand unless you appreciate the two dynamics of an extremely capable capable leader who was 100% a servant of Hashem and people who drew from him. People who defined their entire life by his lead did so because they felt both dynamics. Do you know the story with Rabbi Jonathan Saxs? It's an incredible story. You remember Jonathan Sax? It's such a you know what's incredible about it? The Reban called him to go into the rabbinet but never told him how to rabbi. Jonathan Saxs did not rabbi like a kabad rabbi. He rabbi like a modern orthodox. his his philosophy. He was an academic. Jonathan Sax was was an academic. He was a scholar. He was Cambridge and he brought Cambridge into the synagogue. Kabadum don't bring Cambridge into the synagogue. They bring 770. And there's a little bit of a difference between Cambridge and 770. The Reb asked him to be a rabbi but never told him how to rabbi. I met a Jew in South Africa who's now passed away. His name is Rabbi Bernard. Rabbi Nah Bernard. The Reb begged him to move to South Africa in the 1960s. He wasn't a kabadic. There was a time of the salvic of of the shib university. The reb insisted he moved to South Africa and become a rabbi. One of the most important post holocaust rabbis in South Africa. But the reb never told him how to rabbi. Do it your way. Never said do it way. Do it your way. Do it way you want. So Jonathan Saxs talks about meeting that and spending time with the if you haven't watched him talk. I saw the revi blow chauffar. You have to listen to him talk. You don't understand what that means unless you witnessed it because what he's describing is not this great charismatic leader. He's describing a deep servant of God that he saw and his story is his story is that he wanted to become a professor. He's a brain. He's not a rabbi. He's an academic. And he came to came to them with three proposals that he should go into some field of business, some field of philosophy and whatever it was. And the Reb said, "Become a rabbi, but don't become a rabbi. Become a teacher of rabbis. Become a professor at what they call Hebrew calendar, the Jewish college, about what it's called." Anyway, he listened. He he changed his entire trajectory of his life because the Reb's suggestion. The Reb did not meddle in his affairs. The Reb did not tell him how to rabbi, but the Reb saw that he had the ability to lead. And uh what the the Reb that he saw wasn't just this smart charismatic leader. The Reb that he saw was the he was near the and he experienced what it means. The closer you are to God, the smaller you are. That's the expression. Some people the greater they become, the more self-important they become. other people, the greater they become, the less they become because they're in the presence of God. And that's the reb that's the this is the reb that we follow. This is the reb who makes us do what we do. The em the genuiness of it, the genuiness, the brokenheartedness of it. It's a it's very important, I think, to to try it. Understand this. It it helps you. It helps make you understand why the babes do what they do. Because the Reb did not preach. He practiced. You know, the Reb did not preach. Never preached. He practiced. Whatever he told us to do, he tried first. He practiced and he was he was never watching Mafar. He was on the front lines with every soldier, whatever, every he was a part of it in the most. He was in the trenches with every He sat in 770. But when you went on a mission from him any place in the world, he went with you on that mission. He was with you on the train. And you felt that. You felt that. You felt that in your relationship with him and your interaction with him. For me, this is important. It's important for me to share this. It's very important for me to share this. But this is not what I wanted to talk about. This is only introduction. But since the introduction for so long, we're going to say and then we'll get to the topic unless I run to another introduction. Huh? name. Yeah. All might Hoim might be a Oh, let me la. Give me yours. >> Did I give you my card? Yes. >> Did I give it to you? >> Yes. >> Good. Good. Please visit me. I live on the internet. Okay. My website is inside. I have cards. If anybody wants, I'd love for you to check me out online, please. >> Did you Ellie said your >> I'm sorry. Huh? >> The app is down. >> The app is down and it should be up now. When was the last time you checked? >> Ellie checked it as I was coming in. >> You can't see this. Go over to the website or Facebook. >> Then he went to the website and then Wi-Fi and started working. >> Hello. We need to take a picture and send it to him and make him happy. >> Okay. My sister sent a response to you. It's 8 seconds long. I don't know how to listen to it in public, but okay. >> Oh, I'm coming up on the black. I spoke to your brother yesterday. He called me. >> I was in the middle of something. I was very preoccupied, but okay. We talked a little bit. >> No, I'm embarrassed. What's your name? What's your name? What's your last name? This is termin. I'm no good. I'm old. I'm old. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Picture. Come here. Come here. Make your brother happy. Very good. Okay. Good. Okay, everybody. We want So here's the deal. One of the things that we do is we say is capitalap. We say every day. Now I just want to tell you a little bit of history. We were saying the isap every day and there's a capitol in till which is a 176 Psalm 119. It's like a book. It's very very long. And I remember thinking so what's going to happen when we get to 119? How are we going to do it? It takes 10 minutes to read. You know what happened? We read it. I I I think about it all the time. KUFI, IT'S A LONG SO WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? HOW MANY OF US ARE getting Nobody just you just read it took longer. But the reward for reading 119 is the next 15 together are less than 170. You see they're very short ones. A song of ascent. There's 15 of them. from 120 to 134 is at the shortest on average the shortest psalms in the whole book. So this this Sunday we're going to start reading Psalm 125 is going to turn 124 years and the Reb wants discussed this and he brought proofs from the expression in the Talmud is which means do people age after they pass and this the said for the scholars it's debate between and they're two great commentators discusses. So anyway, this is so this is reading 125. Um like everybody else on this planet, I have my bias. I have my bias. When I look at the last few of the Reb is Psalm 123, 124, and 125, the Psalm of the Reb is describing exactly what's going on in Israel. Exactly what's going on in Israel. The Psalm that we read two years ago, the psalm they read two years ago, it's desperate. It's very desperate. You don't know Hebrew but you understand the spirit. A slave has no rights. He's a property belongs to somebody, right? The last person in the world he can expect benevolence from is his master. His master looks at his channel. He's he's a commodity. In that psalm we read, we're like slaves looking to our master. Like a maider looking to a mistress because you got nobody else. The cap till we read two years ago was very desperate. Very desperate. The psalm we read last year was far more optimistic. But it was conditionally optimistic. We'll be still reading. Then when we read every day now if not if not for if not for if not for God if not for God the whole psalm speaks about what could have been and that God looking after us and if you study the mysticism you could visit my website inside I have a bunch of classes on that last years I already did three for this one for the one that's upcoming one of the things that I do every year is I try to teach is pic so I've already recorded and posted two and the third one is ready to go when I get back to New I'm going to post I teach the pic. You can go to my website which has a calendar. It goes by months. Go to the 11th of Nissan. I have a page called the kap and you can find from psalm 102. I think I have every single cap and I have classes that I do on the pedic this pic that we read in the sun. It's a celebration of trust. It's extremely positive. But the anchor of the cap, the essence of the cap is what happens when you trust God. What do they say in the 12 steps? What is it? 12 steps. Huh? You want to say 12 steps? Nobody know. If you know, you don't want to admit it. Yeah. Let go and let God. That's what this pic is about. Let go and let God trust Godem and it's a celebration of trusting Hashem and it's celebration of the reward for trusting Hashem. the kap the psalm the whole psalm is four or five so it's very short it's shorter than last year's and what it speaks to is that when a person really relies on Hashem really trusts God Almighty God didn't look after him God doesn't only protect him he protects his faith he protects his trust he not only looks after the person he looks after his amuna he looks after his looks after his trust the the the key words. You trust God. You trust God. You trust God. Now, what's the truth of the matter? What's the truth of the matter? What's the truth of the matter? The truth of the matter is that we become God's best friend when our lives are at our worst. Right? We all become very religious when we're in the foxhole and there's bombs falling. Right? if things are okay. You know the famous story about this lady, it's 2:00 in the morning. He said, "God, if you give me a parking spot, I will donate $100,000 to a yeshiva." And a car pulls out. And she says to God, "Don't worry. I got it myself. I got it myself. I got it. I FORGOT TO DEAL. I GOT MYSELF THIS." SO, we all have an easy time for God when our lives are difficult. But the one of one of the challenges of life is is the challenge of faith. It's a challenge. Now, I said before, and I'm not changing my mind. This tablecloth is a challenge. It's far too long for people like me. Um, I spoke before about mitzvah. You have to do mitzvah. You have to do religious acts. You can't just have God in your heart. You have to do mitzvah. Mitzvah frame our lives. Mitzvah anchor our lives. Mitzvah change us. When you do, you become a different person. When you do kosher, when you do shabas, it's it's far more effective in helping you grow up than studying books or doing meditation. It's just how it is. And it's it's fundamentally Jewish. Judaism teaches us that to be a religious person means to do a religious thing. Now, of course, that religious act is based on faith. It's based on a certain spirit. It's based on a certain warmth. It's based on a certain joy. It's based on a certain positivity. It's based on a certain optimism. But those feelings are not enough. You got to do the deed. And if you don't do the deed and you have the feelings, it's very fleeting. Doesn't last. If you do the deed, they hold it. It's like it's like it's like earth, right? That holds water or whatever it is. Plants that hold the top soil from rolling down the hill. You have to it has to be anchored. Mitzvah anchor our lives. The other side of that coin is that faith. Faith. Faith is the tricky business. Faith is a tricky business. If a person goes to school to study, I don't care what it is. You study anything you want. study tal you want to study casidus you want to study mus you want to study whatever mathematics biology science chemistry physics social science history whatever you want so there's there's a there's aptitude there's proficiency there's you you study and you master it you know you study a certain body of knowledge you achieve a certain measure of proficiency some people really become expert in other words not they have a lot of information. They actually understand it. Some of us can spew deep data, we don't know what we're talking about. Some of us, you know, a few little facts and we make the most noise in the world. Some people are really experts. But if you study something and you mastered it, you move on to something else. And that, as they say in Yiddish, you have in your pocket. You've mastered it. You can study the next state of Tal because the track that before you know, now you have to review it occasionally, but the review is not nearly as arduous as learning it for the first time. And every time you review it, you enjoy it again and you see more of its light and more of its nuance and more of its richness and more of its subtlety and more of its depth and so forth. When you study something and you master it, you have it. Faith every day is new. I believed in God yesterday. I have to believe in God. Of course, I believe in God. Of course, I believe in God. But believing in God is not the scientific question. Is there a God or is there not a God? Believing God is do I live in God's world? Is Hashem present for me? And every day that challenge is new. Every day you have to wake up in the morning and say again, I acknowledge before you the God, the king who is living and existent because you've given me back my soul with your mercy. You know what those words means? You're reliable. You're trustworthy. You make a word. You promise you keep it right now. What are you thinking? Not like my husband. No. No. I didn't say that. It's not nice. It's not nice. I can trust it. You're reliable. You Your trustworthiness is great. You make a word, you keep it. We don't Those are not words we say in the morning when we're half asleep. That is a statement that we're really making more to ourselves than we're making to God. Every day we have to have a connection to Hashem and every day that connection has to be vibrant and new and fresh and alive. That's why we domin every day. Why do we pray every morning? It's not just we have a we have a a laundry list of requests. When we pray, we're dialing God's number. We're not just dialing God's numbers. He should pick up the phone. We're dialing God's number that we should tune in to Hashem every day. And there's a barometer. There is a test. There is a test of the daily success or failure at tuning into Hashem on a personal level. It's a simple test. It's very disturbing. You know why it's disturbing? Because it's accurate. It's extremely accurate. And you can't even lie to yourself on this one. I mean, we're the best liars in the world and to ourselves, we're brilliant. But this we can't even fool ourselves about. It's a simple test. Am I in a good mood or in a bad mood? If I'm in a bad mood, I didn't dial the number. >> What? >> If I'm in a bad mood, I did not dial the number. I know you somehow. How do I know you? You've been here before. Nice to meet you again. Next time I see you, I'll ask you again. I know you somehow. Don't worry. Or maybe I maybe I'll forget. I forget that also. Working on it slowly. If you if you get up in the morning and you do and when you finish davening you, your your life doesn't have energy. This is what connection, the measure of our connection to Hashem is the measure of our energy, of our positivity, of our optimism. You know, you know who's positive and optimistic? You know who's you know who's positive optimistic? >> Little kids. Why? Cuz they're stupid. But I'm smart. You see? And religion says get up in the morning and go directly towards stupid. That's exactly what it's saying. Why? Because stupid isn't stupid at all. It's hard. It's hard. Why is it hard? Because life's not simple. It's not. It's not. This psalm, Psalm 125, falls 124 123. If you look at these three, you're literally seeing what's been going on in Israel last three years in the Rebik. And this year, we're celebrating trust. We're celebrating believing in Hashem. We are literally we are celebrating this capitol celebrates people who have a straight line to god. I mean I don't know you which is both good and bad but if you remember co co happened a long time ago. Once upon a time there was an epidemic. It was called covid. The world shut down. A lot of people got sick. Many people died and some people survived and they were singing songs and people come home from the hospital after being on a respirator. They would sing thank you Hashem. Remember, thank you, Hashem. Thank you, Hashem. Thank you, God. Thank you. We sing these songs, simple songs, thanking Hashem for his kindness. >> So, in my biased lens, I have a very biased lens. my biased lens. The the next year, the year that's in front of us is a year where we're going to celebrate trust, you know, the believing in Hashem, seeing the miracles of Hashem in the world, seeing the miracles of Hashem in our lives and celebrating them, saying, "Thank you, Hashem." This cap is thanking Hashem for the for the trust, for the relationship that we can have with Hashem. That's what this is about. We're going to be every day. We're going to say the pedic that's going to speak about the fact that if you get up in the morning and you do what you need to do to develop a relationship with Hashem that's real, that's alive, that's positive. What What am I supposed to tell you? What am I supposed to tell you? Should I tell you that life is hard? I know. You know how I know life is hard? Cuz I'm 60 years old. I'm married. Got nine kids. Of those nine kids, five are married. They have kids. Life is hard. A lot of the things in my life are not so positive. But you know what else? Life is full of blessings. Now there's there's a way of avoiding the hardships of life. There's a way. But if you avoid the hardships of life, you avoid the blessings of life. If you embrace the hardships of life, you embrace the blessings of life. And now you got a choice. My life is good or my life is bad. Right? So the correct answer, my life is complicated. But how do I define myself? How do I define myself? A religious person defines himself by saying life is great. I'll tell you a sweet story. A very sweet story. A very, very sweet story. There's a rabbi should live and be well to 120 years. I know you. I know you. How do I know you? >> The same way I know him. Huh? >> Yeshiv in. >> Yeah. >> You're not my age. >> You're a student. You went out of my class, were you? >> That's terrible. It's depressing. How many years ago? >> 20 years ago. >> 20 years ago. What's your name? >> You were in what we learned together. What we learned? >> It's a good question. >> So now we're even my friend. >> Tell me some of your classmates. >> Y >> you were in high school. >> No. Yeshua Schneider. >> No. >> Lady Schneider. >> Ley Schneider. You were not in my class. >> 35. She was my age. 39. >> Give me some more names. Give us some more names. >> Winner. >> Winner was your teacher. >> Yeah. Tomorrow. >> I understand. But you probably you were in my class. That's pretty depressing. Anyway, you still have black beard. So, shalom. Stay young forever. Now, where was I? If I don't remember your name, I have no idea where I was. Where was I? This is the story. In 1983, the Reb spoke on his birthday. This is now 43 years ago. on his birthday, the Reb introduced a campaign to teach non-Jews about the seven laws of I don't know if you're aware of this spent a lot of time launching a campaign to teach non-Jews by the seven laws of he spoke about on his birthday and then he spoke about it for the next three months. Every he defended it. We defend it and defend it and defend it and defend it and defend it. Anyway, imagine you're a kabad rabbi and you're used to putting on filling with Jews. Now, you can't put filling with non-Jews. You're not supposed to. But all of a sudden, you have to tell non-Jews to do mitzvah. I mean, the only easy mitzvah you tell non-Jew to do is to give charity. I mean, if you tell him don't murder, he probably knows that already. You know what I'm saying? If he's a murderer, he's a murderer. He's not a murderer. He's not a murderer. But to give stuck, you know what the catch about stuck is? You know what the catch? You know what the hook of saddaka is? Does anybody know what's the trick of giving to duck? Does anybody know what's the trick? I'm going to tell you the trick about giving to duck is that charity begins at home according to Jewish law. Not social science or the Jewish law. According the first person you need to be charitious to is your wife. God forbid. What a terrible thing. I must be nice to my wife. I can't stand it. God, WE'RE MARRIED. WE LOVE EACH OTHER. We just can't stand each other. It's a mic. It's a minute. Yeah. The next most important person you char this to is your parents and your children. What's the worst worst worst worst worst of all? Your siblings. Forget about you. Don't forget about your siblings. I have to be nice to my siblings. It's a mitzvah. Charity according to is first to the people closest to you and afterwards to the pygmies in Asia. You understand? Why? Because the pygmy in Asia is a check of dollars. charity to your sister who you had a fight with 44 years ago and you still haven't forgiven her is humbling and it's heartbreaking and it actually grows you up to be nice to the person you're married to as a mitzvah wife. >> Yeah. Yes. Yes. Your wife. Absolutely. First >> wife has everything. >> Huh? >> She has everything. >> If you say so then your your wife is very lucky. You have to ask her that. She's not here right now. I'm able to talk about it cuz I know my wife's in New York and the flights are getting a hard time getting out of there. She may be watching online, but I'm not going to pick up the phone if she calls. So, we're good. Yeah. The the you know, you know why charity begins at home? Because when you give cha to a stranger, all it is is a dollar. When you give ch people close to you, that matures you because you don't want to do it. It's so complicated. And that's what it's all about. Mitzvah grow us up. Rituals. Mitzvah. Mitzvah grow us up. When you do mitzvah, some of them are very hard for us. They push us out of our comfort zone. They make us better people. It's it's it's just a fact of life. And the non-Jew simple teach had this whole 1983 in his birthday. That means 43 years ago this Sunday and he launched this campaign. And I remember I was there. It was very official. It was an expose. He started off when the Reb introduced the new campaign. You knew it was a new campaign. He presented it with background and he spent a long time presenting source material, explaining it and explaining why it wasn't done until now. And like I said before, he spent literally spent four months defending it. He probably spent 50 hours defending the concept. So Robbie Mosha Fellows was lives in Minnesota. He was at Ever Minnesota. He was a dad and he was traveling back to Minnesota for Pes and he's thinking to himself the Rebi just spoke you have to speak to non-Jews about being righteous not just Jews being righteous and again if you're a kabadnik it's got to be connected to a mitzvah you got to do something do something don't meditate don't philosophize meditation is one philosophy is great you got to do an action do an action Okay. So, he gets into a taxi to go to Kennedy airport and his driver is a 6'4 Barbadian with a voice like this. You know those people extremely deep voices and he's sitting in the back of the taxi and he says to this barbarian taxi driver, "I want to talk to you." So, I said to talk to him about God and whatever. He's trying to get his attention. So this this Barbadian says to him, "You know what? I know." And in perfect Hungarian Hebrew, he says, "I know." I don't know what his I don't know what accent the Barbadians have was, but he said in perfect Hungarian Hebrew, "Bootm 6'4 African-American guy saying inat." He says, "Where'd you get that from?" He says, "I used to work for Hungarian Jew as a Holocaust survivor in the city, Manhattan. Your little shop with those grates. Remember the grates? They still have grates in some places. And I would wait in front of the store for him to come. He would roll up the great that was full of graffiti. He'd unlock the door. He'd walk into this little shop. He'd step across the threshold. This was a Jew. Went through the Holocaust. Went through Shiva Madur all seven gates of hell. And he survived. And he got married. And he had a family, had this little business. He made a couple of dollars. He every day he'd walk into a shop and he would say full of joy which means thank God one day at a time. That's what it means approximately is thank God. So this this nonjew he never knew the Hebrew but he knew exactly what it means. You know what I'm saying? He never told what it means but he knew exactly what it means. A Jew walks into his shop the day is going to start. He has no idea he's going to make a lot of money, make a little money. It's going to be a good day and not a bad day. First thing is thank God. This is is a positivity that comes from a connection to Hashem. For kids, it's easy. For adults, it's a job. For adults, it's an avoid. But you really can't live without it. You You really cannot be a human being and be acher, a negative person. When a person fetches and complains, everything they say is true. Everything they say is true. and they make everybody around them miserable. But most of all, they make themselves miserable. Right? That's how it is. It's it's easier to live there. It's easier what they call to be honest. A faith person is a fool. A faith person just looks at his life and says it's good. It's not perfect. Nothing is perfect, but it's good. Whatever it is, it's good. this theap we're going to be starting to say in three days hence it's a celebration of it's a celebration of getting up every morning and saying thankf God for the great God in the sky and on earth and in my kitchen and in my place of work and in my place of worship and with my children and my wife and my family that's what we're going to sing and to me when I look at the events of the last few years it's just to me it's so fascinating it really is fascinating two people look at what's happened in the last two and a half years in Israel now of course what happened to what happened October 7th we don't have words for we don't have words for but since that day we have seen the love of God to the Jewish people in a way that maybe we haven't seen in hundreds of years. The miracles that are happening and yet one person looks at what's going on and says, "Lord, is terrible." Another person, the very same Israel, lives in the same country and doesn't see it at all. He sees one person sees miracle after miracle after miracle. Other person sees fear and death and uncertainty and chaos. What's the difference? How could two people look at exactly the same thing and one person sees Mashia coming to mind and the other guy sees the world coming to an end? What's the difference? What's going on here? The difference is not the facts. The difference is you have to trust. We're we're we're lab. We had the good fortune being raised around that. He was a compulsively positive man. He was an obsessive. He was an unreasonably positive person and he didn't tolerate negativity in anybody. Anybody that ever met got a message of positivity. He made a book. Medie Collinsson, he lives in England. He made a book called the positivity bias. You know what the positivity bias is called in the world of smart people? The not growing up bias. The naivity bias. That's what it's called. But it's not naive. It's not naive. It's powerful. It's powerful. The positivity bias. There's a story that they posted on Jim about a man. This is this is really a miracle story. It's a story that you can't explain. There's a man who lived in Kit. This is the 50s now. A long time ago. Wasn't but he liked the he got in 770. Whenever he had a chance, he would say hello to the Reb. Anyway, his family lived in Israel and his brother sent him a letter or a telegram that his father had a massive heart attack. I think very severe heart attack. He was very ill. He panicked. He panicked and he quickly wrote a note to the probably 58, 1958 saying, "My father's very sick. They're saying he may not make it." Whatever it was, he wrote to them. It's all panic. And he got a note back. And the note back said, "Think good and it'll be good. Think positive and I'll be positive. Fine. Anyway, a couple of days later, he couldn't control himself and he called Israel. Now, I remember when calling Israel was $2 a minute. I remember 58. It was probably $5 a minute. It was very expensive. But he was so desperate for news. He called Israel. His brother picked up the phone. He says, "I don't know what to tell you. He's out of the hospital." He suddenly took a turn for the better. and he's feeling better and he's not his life is not in danger. He's going to make it. He's going to recover. So he went to 770 and he stopped the on the in the hall and he says to the I got great news. I called Israel. My father is suddenly feeling better and he's out of the hospital. Life is not in danger. Says, "Yeah." And when did his situation turn around for the better? So he tells the Reb approximately when. Yeah. And when did you start to think positive? He says around the same time. Said you see I don't want to ever hear from you that you have a PESSIMISTIC THOUGHT. I NEVER WANT TO HEAR OUT OF YOUR MOUTH THAT you have a pessimistic look at the world. Do me a favor. The dev is not a child. The is so connected to the and he sees the connection between amuna and life. You know nobody's life is made better because they're happy. Nobody's life is made worse because they're sad but their lives are completely different. A positive person world. We are embarking on a year. Listen the we're going to say every day is going to celebrate. It's going to celebrate a positive attitude. A positive attitude about a positive attitude about the Jewish people. A positive attitude about ourselves. a positive attitude about our lives and um it it would be a wonderful idea if this wasn't just a psalm that we read you know we would have to contemplate you contemplate means the nicest part about this it starts one who has trust in God like the mountain of Zion which is interpreted to mean a person trusts Hashem in the kind of way that he can't move him away he has so much he trusts in Hashem so much nobody can nobody can dissuade him. Nobody can take his trust away from him. That's how powerful the trust is. That's the spirit. That's the spirit of how explain the words of but the nicer part of it is you can see that I've been working on this. I'm sitting now at my home preparing classes on this. It says which means which basically means when a person has in the when a person has trust and faith in Hashem, Hashem does not allow the skeptic near him. He doesn't allow the person with the negative attitudes to come near him to contaminate him. If a person chooses a path of sim, a path of joy, a path of trust, it's a big deal. It's not easy and it's like I said before knowledge you you you know you learn baba you know baba you can go on to san you understand you learned you know you go on to whatever that doesn't mis doesn't matter what yeah but every day every day in the morning you have to say what that barbarian fellow said thank God for today every day it's a new and Jewish people are reared on faith. Jewish people are reared on faith. Jewish people are reared on positivity. Jewish people are reared on a connection to Hashem that gives us this positivity. And we're going to be celebrating Hashem. And I I feel like the when you trust God, think when you when you're smiling at God, God smiles back. When we celebrate the of the and we acknowledge the of Hashem, he gives us more. Why? He likes he likes when we celebrate the he likes when we show happiness at the good that we have in our lives. And um I I feel I know other people that feel I feel like we're we're watching Msiah come with our physical eyes. We're literally watching Msiah come. We're watching Mashia come >> the I mean the stories the stories the stories the stories the stories I I I mean I I I always focus on one thing and the reason I focus on it because I don't find many other people focusing on it. What's the greatest miracle the last three years? You don't have to ask me. I can tell you my answer. If you don't like it you can tell me you disagree but let me finish first. The greatest miracle the last three years is that Syria disappeared. And we didn't even do it. It happened. You you know the the story of the Exodus. Yeah. Yeah. There was a civil war in Egypt. This Shabas and that year was also Shabas in 2448. Five day before we left Egypt civil war. They were beating each other up. Why? Cuz the firstborn got wind of the fact that they were going to die in 4 days hence and they were not in the mood of dying. So they said to the Pharaoh, "Let the Jewish people go." And the Pharaoh refused. So we're killing each other. The greatest threat to the Jewish people since 1948 has not been Egypt. It's not It's not even been Iran. >> The greatest threat to the Jewish people has always been Syria. Militarily, I'm speaking. And the the Reb said during the Kip war which is 50 years ago that it says in Zoya that Jerusalem will not rise till the Damascus falls. It just happened. Just happened. We were not even involved. It was Syria on Syria. It happened. The pieces of the puzzle fit together. You know where it starts? You know where it starts? It starts with Russia attacks the Ukraine. Russia attacks the Ukraine. So Russia's busy. They can't help Syria. Syria is exposed. The people of Syria rise up. Syria falls apart. The link between Iran and is cut off. The pieces of this puzzle that are falling together. You know, if you if you if you ever study the Porm story, there's not a single miracle in the PM story. But the sequence of events, boom, boom, boom, boom, dominoes, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It's a miracle. miracle where we're seeing this influence. I I understand that there's loss of life. There's loss of property for sure and there's fear and I I I live in New York. What do I know about fear? But believe me, there's plenty of people who are afraid. People the worst kind of fear is the fear of the imagined. You know why? Because you can't cure it. If you're afraid of something, it's if you're afraid of the boogeyman, the boogeyman's just he's always going to be there. Why? Is he he's a figment of your imagination and we're going to celebrate. That's what this is about. We are going to celebrate is celebrating. And what's the capital is a year and two weeks older than theb. So two weeks ago we started saying Psalm 126. What's it about? It all goes as a dream. You look at these capit and whoever wrote them knew what he was doing. One second. It's like dominoes. You're watching the dominoes fall. One, two, three. But now let's be babbage. Okay. None of this is Msiah. This miracles are incredible. None of this is Msiah. You know why it's not Msiah? I tell you why it's not Mashiach. Because Mashiach is not a guy who fights wars. Mashia is a guy who teaches people how to serve Hashem. Is a human being. who's going to teach yen to keep mitzvah. He teach to keep their mitzvah. And it's going to make sense. It's going to make sense. Mashiach is going to tell people be righteous. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good to be righteous. It's good to be righteous. And the the thing that makes Mashiach so special is not that he's going to have good ideas. A lot of people have good ideas. Even I got good ideas. What makes Msiah so special is going to succeed? I ask my students all the time, what's the one word that separates Msiah from all other great Jewish leaders? One word, one word that he finishes when he starts. But Mashiach is Mashiach because he succeeds. He comes into the world. He has good ideas and he's going to actually Msiah is is about fillin about Shabas about kosh about mikvah about Jewish education and Mashiah as you teach Jews how to keep mitzvah teach how to do their mitzvah and they're going to listen to him. You're not Mashiach cuz you teach you're Mashiach because other people learn you see what I'm saying? This is all this these miracles are extraordinary. They're setting the stage for Mashiach. Mashiach is gonna teach the world about Hashem. And you know who's Mashiach? You're Mashiach. You're Mashiach. You're Mashia. You're Mashiah. You're Mashiach. You're Mashia. I'm Mashiach. That's our job. It's our job to teach the world. It's you're also Mashia. The literature representative of Mashia. Theinsk represented Mashia. Sales. Aobia. All south saints. All the same thing. That's mashia. That's my thesis. Okay, that's my feeling. Now, of course, everybody has their own feeling. You're welcome to share yours. You're welcome to argue with me. Give me 101 reasons what I said isn't true. I'm not even going to argue with you. You know, I'm not going to argue with you because I'm so sure I'm right. I'm not even going to care. Okay. Where are you learning in Yeshiva? >> What grade? Eighth grade. Seventh grade. Seventh grade. With a hat and a jacket. In seventh grade, you're learning. You're going to dictate a good never good enough to be hungry. And what grade are you in? Where are you learning? >> Huh? What grade? Yes. Alf. >> You should give him. What do you do next year? >> That's how it is. Detroit goes to Baltimore. >> Huh? >> I can't hear. >> My I have a son in Baltimore. So you'll meet the next year. And where are you? I know. >> Ah, how's that going? >> How was that going? >> How'd you get into America? >> Uh, rescue flight. >> Oh, there you go. What's the mad who led us through? You're an old man. These guys, huh? >> Um, >> huh? >> In Miami. >> Ah. Ah, I met you, I think. Yeah. Okay. I forgot. I very good. >> You were right when I told him before that I talked to me again. You said that you remember being Say that again. >> How many times you remember meeting me? >> That's right. Takes me a while to remember meeting them. Higher and high and high. Can you hear my car? Give it to God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I yeah da da. Nah. Oh la. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I am from Detroit. Don't be afraid by where do you learn >> your your brothers. So your sh >> okay I give you a that when you're 77 you should look just like you look now it's okay you have a bigger hat and a bigger beard full you know how it's supposed to be that a has so much to learn that he has no time to sleep not that a has so much time he can't sleep anymore you see the difference you see The plan the plan is the the system is the whole you know there was a sad was a boy Khadak was one son so when he come home from yeshiva he would hang out in his father's office there's no place home was boring you know so he was in meas and in those years the used to walk into the medius a lot go to get the mail himself he didn't wait for the second day he get go out of his room and pick up the mail a few times a day and the reb walks into the mansions and Rabbi Khadakov's son show So it's after school is playing and the Reb says why are you playing around like what's do you mean why because it's after school I'm done finished till tomorrow in the Americas there was always a big bookcase full of it's still there was full a whole bunch of the whole wall of and the says when are you going to know all of this but you got to know that you got to know all of this but that's not enough you have to desire You know what that means? When you start learning when you're 14, you're not learning for the e you're learning for you. What about all those bad midas? The more the marrier. Just learn day to day and that you live so long you'll reach also. But really really really see all the things that are complaining about are rooted in one thing. They have too much free time. Why do they have free time? Cuz nothing to do with nothing to do. Because they do not appreciate that TA is theirs. It's a challenge. It's beckoning. have a minute to open a now you have to have a leave you have to have a favorite subject and whatever you leave is you have to keep it you know when they teach you learn but whatever it is that you're passionate about every minute then you become and it is you protect yourself the answer to the ish But all I do is shove the ball. Some of us do it's not it's not it's not the is It's not complicated. And if you're consistent, it's not even hard. If you're a high and low person, then it's hard. But you got to persevere. Persevere. You go magical. Lent. Not just to get marks in the test. The head has to be so full it explodes. Don't worry. It's not going to explode. That's just And Hashem will help make a difference, neighbor this world. Make a difference of the world. A little bit of a flavor of the lemon base. >> Huh? >> A little bit of the flavor of the lamb base. The mimer. >> Oh, the m >> a little bit of a tidbit. >> I want you to understand there is a problem with TSA. It's not an official strike, but apparently they're not being paid because the politicians are busy being very very grown up. You understand? I care very very much about America as long as it follows my whole American. I have no idea who's right and who's wrong. I don't waste my time with this. how much could be built. But there was a line I I have pre-check otherwise I wouldn't have made my plane a line the whole length of the terminal from the back to the front outside the outside the terminal. So you walked the whole length outside then you went inside and you worked the opposite back the whole thing and then you got into your line. So I got to the airport early. My flight was 9:30. I got there by 7:40. I I I they they sent us messages. I left my house early. The taxi made incredible time. Mish I think it took us 25 minutes to the airport. Remember the last time I went there was so quickly and I and I knew I know me. I'm a nervous wreck. Who happens when I'm nervous rack? I make everybody around me nervous. So sometimes I emote. You know I I'm justified of being miserable. You know I don't like say in Hebrew. I'm miserable myself and I make everybody around me miserable just as well. But sometimes I have enough presence of mind. Okay. So what am I going to do not plat my mind and there's two reasons I want to go out of my mind. A I'm wasting time. B I'm going to miss my flight. So one is seduk seduk I sugu if I don't want to use my head I have tetris. I have three different games depending on how much my brain I want to use. 5% 3% 1%. We have another I took with myself a bunch of mym because I teach my how to prepare. So there's two mym of shabas which I'm learning those who I'm carrying. Why? That's what I'm holding. I teach my I started from the end and I'm holding. So um I take it my take a m I finished one m put away take a second mment I finished the second I put the third mment I'm not going to say I know that my m but that's how long I stood in line the important thing was I didn't make myself crazy and it didn't make anybody else crazy the the guy in front of me Jason says Hashem loves you the Jewish guy he didn't tell me he was Jewish till about to leave him in the airport his sister became orthodox but she doesn't want to come home from pesa I said, "She has to be your rabbi." She says, "There's no orthodox rabbis, women, rabbis." No, she can be in the house. She can be your rabbi. Say he told me, "Hashem likes you. You're going to make the plane." So the you learned B. You're whispering to your father like, "You know what I'm talking about." >> Huh? Was giving us back thinking on that. >> Oh, L. >> Yeah. How old is he? >> In his early. Oh, yari. I say yes, he remembers he was there. They just came out a book of his father's kush. You know that, right? It was a wedding. I have a copy of it. I say he was there. He was a bak. Yo yo yo. So the mime of shabas and this is say but two shabas and it looks like one of them is not really a mime. into the mime is based on a medish. The mime is based on a medish. What does the medish say? starts to with the words to the choir master and the conductor to the mask to remember. So the Reb asks the question what do you got to remember? Hashem to remember what does he have to remember? So he answers because there's a medish that says medish that says that there was a king who had a flock of sheep and they had a deer. They had a a is a uh a pen or a stable and they had a shepherd. If you if you're going to leave I got to let you listen to my sister's 10 cents. Um Here we are. Oh, it's a long one. You want to listen to yourself? I'm bring my phone. Okay. There's two messages there. You know, I don't even know what she's saying. Maybe she's saying not nice things about you. >> Nice to see you. Thank you so much for saying hello. >> Okay. She had a very nice message. This is Yeah, I spoke to Sa before. I know she's probably very >> okay. Anyway, >> okay, this is a wonderful place. We should meet only for happy, healthy, successful things. >> Okay. >> So, he brings a medish. There was a king who had sheep and a shepherd and a a stable or a pen. And the king got upset with the sheep and he threw away the sheep. He destroyed the pen and he fired the shepherd. Finished. One day the king woke up and he said, "You know that was a bad idea. I shouldn't have done that." And he brings the sheep back. You know the says the says, Every day, Hashem says, "I can't believe what I did. I destroyed the base of Mikdash. I kicked the Jews out of Who? Who did I hurt? Who did I hurt? Who did I hurt? I hurt myself." It's a funny thing. It's a funny funny thing. But the gets upset with us. He can't punish us too bad. You know why? Because he needs us. But maybe so he gets upset and he has to fix us. But he has to fix us. So anyway, so this king was upset. He kicked out the sheep. He destroyed the the deer. He destroys the stable and he fires the shepherd. And one day the king wakes up and says, "You know, that was a big mistake. I got to bring them back." So he brings back the sheep and he rebuilds the stable and they all come back and live happily ever after. But he doesn't bring back the shepherd. So says, "Excuse me, what about the shepherd?" What about the shepherd? I'm saying, "Why do you remember the shepherd?" So says, "I'm going to remember the shepherd." That's how starts. He must remember said this. The last day of the year that he was saying this, the next day he would start saying of Psalm 71, the day before the said, about the from before and Debb has a bunch of questions. Most important question of all is you think the forgot the shepherd? Of course he did forget the shepherd. So why does David have to say you have to remember the shepherd. So a whole m a whole mime the entire point of the mime is that worries about the whole world and nobody worries about the I can't remember the time I learned the m like this. I have over here the the M if you don't mind since Rabbi Mendo asked me to mention the M. So it's not on me. There's a lot of whichever quotes listen. You understand Yiddish? You don't speak Yiddish. You don't speak I know you're solo. You don't speak Yiddish. Your wife is the happiest person in the world. Just everything you want and you don't speak Yiddish. >> It's Moro. >> Ah. So do you speak French? >> No. >> You speak Arabic. >> So your wife is the happiest person. You don't speak French or Arabic or Yiddish. You Jewish leaders that you put aside your other people. What's going to be with you? This is this statement. The whole you got to think about the reb thinks about the whole world and nobody thinks about theb is about the makes it very fancy you know thinking about the but just the idea that the said this the day before he turned 70 and the of the is think about the why because the doesn't think about himself so I gave a class this afternoon so I learned it in the airport this morning for the first time that I looked to get on the plane. Then I learned it again. I gave a class. You know how I give classes. I send a message. I'm giving a class in five minutes. And there's a group of people. So seven different people showed up from different continents from Israel, from Australia. I'm very proud of myself. I give this year without very people come. I have whatever I have a small group of people. Whenever I give a class, I give classes in my basement. It's very hard to talk to a computer. It's very very depressing. So I invited some people. So you join a group. If you can come on, you come on. So you click. So I had a whole of people listening to the man. So I told them of that during the pious during the whole ordeal of the books I don't know how many of you know the I don't know how involved you are in in the I think you need to put the air conditioner on. You think it's a possibility? >> I see change. >> It's it's it's it's not going to be a good idea. We don't want to melt. You know what I'm saying? >> Let me ask if they can change it now. >> The Reb was forced by the situation to write a job description of himself. What's his job? So the writes, "My job is to be a living example for other people to teach people how they can serve Hashem. And then it says after I think about others then comes my job as an individual Jew. My first role is collective. My first role is the people. In other words, what does it mean to be? Abbe doesn't mean that you think about other people. Abba means that his life is to think about other people. We all think about other people but first we think about ourselves and then we think about somebody else. The life of a rebella somebody else. So this puzzle is saying if I may use these the Reb doesn't think about himself at all becomes our task that we should think about the Reb the whole what's the point of thinking about the Reb on the one hand it's obvious the other hand it's not necessary say oh it goes very cababalistic very high veryistic but I was just very taken by this m you got to think about the because the doesn't think about The there's a a story. This happened a few times. The Reb pushed himself very hard. The Reb didn't have any slept very little. Reb worked extremely extremely hard. And there were people who were very worried about the Reb's health. You know how this goes. If you would ever say something to the Reb about his health in public, the would be very upset. He'd push back. Don't talk to me now. You know, don't help me. You know, I know how to do my job. I don't need your help. There's actually a tape literally an audio tape where you can hear the saying to somebody who's giving advice in the middle of you hear the saying to this person you speak Yiddish you want to take over the previous you want my job >> you don't want it yeah keep quiet like what are you mixing in you want the job you don't want the job you want just tell me I'll do I can but you can actually hear the de saying those words it's incredible So if you ever went over to the and said you know maybe the should stop this but people will go into privately and the was very receptive if you went in respectfully to the you know I think maybe the shoulder go to the last there stories like this one of the people who who was very who loved very deeply he really did he love her very much who wrote the a letter about the was a Jew by the name of Rabbi Yolis. Rabbi Yolis lived in Philadelphia. He was what they call in the culture. He had a but he he sat by the he was older than the heb yet. But he had so much respect for the Reb it's unimaginable. He when he would come to one of the few people who sat by the table you know when no one sat next to him sat alone about 10 feet left at the end of the table when came he would sit on the reb's right he would sit by the table the only man this was his regular place he s by the table had a lot of and he wrote the a letter that the has to sleep more >> but it was private he didn't do it in public and like I said before when you wrote to the rebba privately and respectfully would respond respectfully. So he wrote that a letter sleep more. So immediately he got back a letter from the an answer. The answer was that writ that it's enough for a person to sleep eight hours out of every 48 every in other words 16 writes oneird. So he wrote back to the you know it says in it's enough to sleep one eight hours after every 48 but you have to have to be able to do it. It's not so to sleep 4 hours a night is not a lot. Anyway, this was the Reb's answer to him. Then there was a big fab and everybody else was there and he went over to the Reb and he said to the Reb, "I hope what I wrote to the Reb was not disrespectful." Is it disrespectful? If I felt it was disrespectful, I wouldn't have answered you. I answered you right away. And the says to him, "So you think you can keep the safe schedule of sleeping 84?" Look what the Reb did. He turned the whole letter around around as if it was a letter about him but yours not about the Reb. So you know you can you can you handle four hours a night. So when he realized what just happened he wrote the Reb should sleep more and the answer was it's okay 4 hours for you. So he finally says the needs to sleep and the says me I BUT HE SAID IT like if he sleeps 17 hours I have a neighbor who sells flowers. He sold flowers. So he told me a story that there was a ye inhab basically built 770. He built something said the what you call the first sh the second sh the third sh he was he's okay he understood real estate and he didn't come from so he understood that is allowed to have paneling it doesn't necessarily have to have mud on the floor to be considered he built he was very close to the he had a very special relation with and every couple of weeks he would go visit the and every time visit he would come to the store and buy roses because he knew that loved roses so one day he comes into the store and he buys a bunch of roses An hour later comes back into the shop and he says to my neighbor Gil, "Since you're the last person I saw before I went to see the Rebbitson, I'm coming back to you to tell you what was happening because I need to tell somebody." I went to see the and the Rebson said to me, "I don't know what to do with my husband. Every day he sleeps two hours. Two hours. One hour sitting in a chair and one hour he lays down. two hours. Everything's a lot. I forgot why I'm telling the story, but it's a good story to tell anyway, right? What are we going to sing? What happened? >> It's too complicated. Yeah. Who have I Hey Christ. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. May you might Hallelujah. We came back. Hallelujah. Very good. Very good. Let's see how good you make coffee. You didn't taste it since you made it. >> Could be stronger. It's okay. >> Maybe you're like a three star. You don't need to know better. >> It's not hard. Just coffee. No sugar, no milk. Poison. >> That's poison. >> Huh? >> That is poison. First coffee. >> That's >> so what's the background to the bas that he's referring to? >> This is the one that G had a whole the whole background to it. >> This m that I just mentioned. >> What's that about? >> Tell me the background. I want to hear it. >> What is it? He was first of all describing all the >> This was Shabas. It was the day before. >> Yeah. So he just grabbing all this like I think do something. Okay. >> Okay. So, so after after all the and finally was whenever says in this I don't remember exactly how it connected in but but some some was saying I expected more. >> That's a good way to look at it. I I I appreciate that. I want to what happened you learn the m the first time you don't understand it. You get the punch. So the first time I learned it the was saying that doesn't think about himself we have to think about but you learn a little deeper it's a fancy it's a whole explanation why the is not thought about and why nevertheless you have to think about the so so that was the feeling that they had but they were sure because Got to go. >> You got to go. You want to go? >> What's your name again? >> Yako. >> Yankee. I'm Yosi. Can I give you my card? >> I have to have >> Oh, good, good, good. >> All the fish and all them are for him. >> Oh, thank you very much. So, that's how I remember you made a herring last time in the other room. Okay. >> You see, I knew I knew you. I >> have to wake up. I have a class and I also do, but okay. >> But you're younger than me, that's fine. Am I? I'm 60. Younger than you, >> huh? >> I'm getting there. >> Ah, so I'm older than you. >> He's young and stir. >> I used to be the youngest guy in the room. And I'm discovering more and more that the old people who want to go ahead of me are younger than me. >> A wrinkled guy. He's not necessarily older than me. >> Huh? >> That that was when you were teaching my class. >> I never taught you. I taught you brother your class. >> I teach you my class. I think you were the at the end of the day. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> When I was in ninth grade, I was supposed to be in your class. >> Somebody ruined it. I was going to show up the last day and introduce myself. Somebody told you about me on my second to the last day. >> Oh god. >> You have drunk kids. You have >> Who are your teachers? Who are your friends? Who are your friends? >> D Brownstein Medal winner Newports. >> You never came. Not a single time. >> I was only there half the year. I started off in inan >> then I came and then yeah I was supposed to be that was part of the thing and I told Ra I'll be there >> that one day >> there was 91 that means >> if you told Rab but 92 wasn't gone it was my first year my very very first year yeah but I didn't teach ninth grade I taught 10th grade >> you said this at the end of the day >> I taught 10th grade I didn't teach nth grade I took 10th 10th grader already. I was in New Haven. >> You made the rounds. >> Yeah. >> Ellie's busy. Ellie's busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> He likes to tune in. At least when you're here, you know, his and I are at the same ring and he likes he likes to tune in. You saw me sort of with the with the girl on Shabas with the with the app yesterday. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> But you see what it means? >> Yeah. >> He was telling me his brother is a student of mine from 30 years ago. So he called me yesterday just to say y say he told me that the girl he knows who's not from but shabus morning she dials in the >> she wakes up this morning she learns to say this >> and then she drives the show >> not good mom not good I I don't know if it's a joke or they say there was a you know a girl that grew up with them and then you know I I I heard it through you literature circle that you know you know called so you know she wakes up at her boyfriend's house on shabas morning and she goes no she's going to she's going to drive a mile why she has to take a >> Ellen told me that yesterday also tell >> and we know we know the same stories >> is that >> she's driving on >> that that's the whole drone that >> there's a girl I know woman I know who has a she works in a So she decided to make a Tanya class and see she invited some women not a lab place and there's a girl there a former lab who's not religious at all and she was afraid to invite her because she's one of them really angry kids you know but you let me try I tell you every day you can't you I you can teach me I tell you every day so he's supposed to look is it good or bad is it good or bad is it good or bad is it good or bad but they tell that there was a who used to travel to the by car chavis and once waited for him for they waited for and the were eating themselves off >> here in America >> yeah of course in America and the comment was mentioned you know you don't understand >> you don't understand the typical single person very you know you understand >> but it's not necessarily the typist It could be >> I mean we don't understand. I mean it's just like >> this person has probably a thing has different so you know >> don't hate me different than you do. >> That's that's what we that's what we're here for >> and it's why we have to get better. >> Oh but right we have to get better. >> We have to get better. We have to grow. We have to get better. You have to get better. Have to get better. I was talking to a parent last night. I had a couple I went to a couple last night. The question was they they're struggling with their children. The kids are teenagers. So I I this is a truth what happens. Kid's 13 years old. He's 14 years old, 15 years old. Yeah. He's a very good boy. Gets up every day on time. Never misses me. He's always by dominating and then one day doesn't get up. How could I not get up? And the next time to get up, the third time have to get up. And at first he hates himself for it. Then he stops caring. Then it becomes you talk about you don't got to do it. What happens? Then the body got a little bigger. Whatever the explanations are, all of a sudden everything is so much harder and he has no tools to deal with the test of the >> What's the answer? Nobody is born perfect. we work. >> So when you're little and it's easy, you just assume you're righteous. >> Sadic is perfect. >> But a sadic is tough. You see the thing about sadikin that you have to understand is sadik are so tough. They're sweet. But that's what makes them tough. For a person to live in this world and to go through all the understanders in this world and to love every person, no person can hurt you. How come people can't hurt you? So the official answer because anything comes from mashem the practical answer they're tough they have an inner strength which which is the consequence of their nobody can hurt me we're very fragile the first person looks at us takes a month to recover you understand I once heard that there was a certain who was not a pleasant person and the devil looked at him there Mak. So somebody said to Reba, "How could you mak this guy? He's so unpleasant and he's so phony." And that's the reason to be mad. It's a whole different attitude. You know, he's going to take advantage you. Okay, he'll take advantage. But the V is learning. The V is learning. So the kids have to know that it's a fight and you fight and you win one day at a time. So what else did tell you about your listen? >> You listen to the video. You listen to the >> watch. >> You could feel the you could feel the love. You could feel. >> So this is the one that you just >> right. There's two shad Sunday. >> Yeah. Same this year. >> Same day. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This Sunday. So they never said the same m twice. The second of the m of Sunday is the same. Basically, it's a mindb but walks out of that. You could see the Reb was so late. What a fab. And you know what happened by that? The Reba asked for a present for a birthday present and the birthday present was that she gone which was in 1972 71 new institutions was a lot. I mean the Babage was so much smaller than ever got over 140. It never happened before or after. Not only got what he asked, he got twice as much. He >> did. Took said I took a test. He told the rabbi. So he made seven. But he made seven. You must understand you know when he went. So bathed me seven years. Seven years. And he opened up San Diego. He opened up city. He opened up the valley. He made seven real oasis. I think he made he made the drug center. I think seven real is called has a matches. You know what I'm talking about? You know the has a beautiful golden silver picked that out himself. So in tab days they gave the reb his cit that matches >> that came from California. >> What was the other potato mean? >> The Reb's personal potato the white one the little one >> that's potato which is his. He considered it his own. You must understand when the rebba became they had the feel and the first year or two the danc then whenazi bought that potato I heard he bought it that's a potato it's a it's potato it's a very old potato the brothers are sitting in jail >> that's how old it is >> that's the guess that's what it is it's called and they wrote a very small one and they smuggled it into their jail cell in not a complete imitator. When they came out of jail, they tore it together. I think the also come from a very holy source and the wanted to sell it. Thank you for the fish. >> Yeah, come back. >> The AC is back on. >> Oh, yeah. I noticed what happens. >> He's on the flight now. >> He turned on the AC. >> He's after the flight now. Yeah, they boarded already like 9:00. >> His whole is together. He told me he divided divided. So two boys you saw they came earlier. They came through Long Island >> and they went through Newark >> or the other way around. Sorry. They went to New York. Whatever. >> He was on the goal. >> Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, they went to Newark. Yeah. >> The feeling of love for the love the leaf field. You could hear it. You play the You could feel the You could push and feel and what does the Reb do? Put him to work. It's such a funny thing. You go, you you sacrifice your whole life and you say, "Thank you for the opportunity. Sacrifice my whole life." Think about it. Just think about it. It's unbelievable. It's the same. >> But this is an infinite consciousness. >> Every has his and every accomplishes. West accomplished and every feed his daughter and where did it's an amazing thing in the light today they go to places where there's no way they're going to make up for they have to find they have to turn themselves into pretzels to make up but they go they so happy to go just give me a spot I can be It's unreal. And the Reb has no patience for anything else. You know what I'm saying? Don't waste my is good. Don't bother me. All the holy rolly stuffs. That's all he cares about. You can talk loud, you know. You talk loud. You saying this about two two years ago. So, so that brain he said about 20 25 years ago he was he was listening learning of listen starts off being a serious so he very curious what's referring to the serious so before the the video was out so he was going through a whole just to find find the video said the thingy >> you talic Right. >> So if he puts it in said that's understood that year like four or five right that they sang also The ter all the lip shot still had time was never didn't waste his time on titus and he felt neglected. And I don't think that's the way we said low self-esteem. Yes. >> Oh, no. Low self-esteem. Wants to be a mutual relationship. >> Yeah. >> I don't want it to be a oneway relationship. >> There's a letter from the Reb I think that he wrote wrote to the Reb that when he does, he thinks about the Reb. So, I think it's a minor. I think it's a letter. If it was 10 years ago, I wouldn't say I think I'd be sure. Now I don't remember not yet think about that ever said that he was always about start off things said all all whatever was here was all that the same thing was always about what we need what we need what we need >> and it's m that's all they wrote If you take obey last year last a catman. He was from Ohio. He became >> He's not in his 70s. Mental catsman. >> I don't know. He said he got married. So, >> right. I'd say >> Yeah. 65 better. Yeah. you know, so so he was speaking a lot about the importance of writing the one story one story that he was said about service that he said he said he was he was he he was always the guy that would help help because he he was he was strong physically was able to help people push by by a coffus wasn't able to get to get their So, so, so, so after the interview, he's thinking, well, why don't I just felt the energy that way? So, so but but so so on. So um so so my hems himself so so so he so he convinced the people core task task he can be there also doesn't feel less awkward whole thing and then so so as so so he's our he's our wife then two months yesterday that was >> this is not Catsman. His tree is still alive. Metal Catsman >> I don't know what it means. >> Who who came to a break? >> Yeah, I think his name is Cat. He has a famous film story. >> The what? >> From I don't know. I don't know. Is it in Ohio? >> I think so. No, >> he's in one of the small states. He's in Arkansas. No, he's not Arkansas. hidden.